elegance. It invited a couple to share their dreams and joys while on its frame.
More than anything, Nina wanted that charm to work for her. One day, in the future. Certainly not in the way poor Valentine had chosen. Clearly the charm was still in serious good form because Valentine was due in about six months, give or take a week or two.
She sighed. “This is really important. I can’t trust my bed to just anyone.”
It seemed the cowboy under the hat got very still, his muscles bunching under his T-shirt. That man was no more resting than she was, Nina realized. He was awake and listening to every word she said.
The word “bed” really seemed to get his attention, she noticed.
Cowboys! Apparently they were only interested in boots, babes and beds.
Well, life just wasn’t as carefree for her. “I’m going inside now,” Nina said. “My room is upstairs. Number five. The wood for the slats is by the front door where the delivery company left it. I am in a desperate position, I will admit, so…” She looked at Crockett uncertainly. “Can you lift heavy things?”
“Of course,” he said, sitting straight up. “Wood is my specialty. Lift, saw, nail, glue, hammer—”
“All right,” Nina said. “Tell the woman at the desk that it’s all right for you to go upstairs. Her name is Valentine.”
“Valentine?” Crockett repeated, his tone surprised.
“I admit it’s an unusual name, but then, one might say Crockett and Navarro are unusual, as well,” Nina said. “My name is Nina Cakes. Nina is short for Eugenia. I’m named after my great-grandmother whose heirloom bed I am trying to repair. Valentine is my sister.”
She noticed Navarro’s posture became even more rigid. The stillest she’d ever seen in a human body. His fingers were clamped around the steering wheel bottom, just over his lap and right next to a large belt buckle. All cowboy. He smelled wonderful, she noticed on the sudden breeze that blew through the open windows of the truck. She stopped herself from giving an automatic “mmm” reaction and backed away. “Tell Valentine. I’ll be upstairs,” she said. “And please observe the house rules.”
“Which would be?” Crockett called after her as she walked toward the salon.
“No talking to the women without an appointment,” Nina said, and went inside, wondering what the man behind the hat had been hiding.
Elusive devil.
Poor Valentine. “You should have stayed up north,” she told her sister grumpily as she walked past the reception area. “Clearly cowboys are just out for one thing.”
“That’s what we like about them,” another hair-stylist called. “Didn’t you read the motto?”
Nina glanced at the glittery sign for the hundredth time, high on the wall, with big letters. “‘Save a horse, ride a cowboy,”’ she muttered. “I can read, thanks.”
She could also heed a warning.
“DUDE! THIS IS TOO EASY!” Crockett said, poking Navarro in the arm. “Drag those boards upstairs!”
“Slow down,” Navarro said, the voice of caution. “We need to think this through.”
“Think! Whatever happened to the man of action?”
Navarro pulled his hat off his face to look at his twin. “The man of action was the one not wearing a condom, drinking suspicious firewater and having a real good time. Which is why we’re sitting here, instead of back in Union Junction at the ranch, where we belong. So, let’s take a deep breath and consider the angles.”
Crockett thumped his head back against the headrest. “Angle on.”
“She scares me, for starters.”
Crockett glanced over at him. “Scares you?”
“Yeah.” Navarro shifted uncomfortably. “She’s cute. She’s got a sexy voice. It’s kind of prim-and-proper don’t-mess-with-me. I think my call of the wild found that to be an invitation.”
Crockett laughed. “She had the hots for me, in case you didn’t notice.”
“I did not notice that.” Navarro stared down the old road that was the center of Lonely Hearts Station. It separated one side of town from the other—and effectively separated the two battling beauty salons: Lonely Hearts Salon and the Never Lonely Cut-n-Gurls.
The Jefferson brothers owed a lot to Delilah, the owner of the Lonely Hearts Salon. She and her employees had chipped in to save Union Junction during the last big freeze. Delilah’s sister, Marvella, was her arch nemesis, and was trying to put her out of business by selling, if rumor was to believed, something more than garden-variety mow-n-go haircuts at the Never Lonely Cut-n-Gurls salon. “Why did you tell her our real names?”
Crockett shrugged. “I didn’t tell her our last names. Besides, she won’t know who we are. You carry the boards up—”
“Why me?”
“Because you’re the one sitting over there twitching for some action. You’re the man with the call of the wild going on. Besides, you’re more cautious than me. We both know I’d do something wrong.”
“Impulsive.”
“And rightfully so,” Crockett said. “Come on, we haven’t busted up a joint in months. We’ve had to mind our p’s and q’s with Mason taking off. Fannin running the joint. Mimi in the family way. The housekeeper taking over our house.” Crockett blew out a breath. “Last going insane. I mean, I’m about tired of my p’s and q’s being so minded. I want our old life back. Before it got so reputation-conscious.”
Navarro shook his head. “Valentine’s sitting at the desk. She’s going to recognize that we look an awful lot like the rest of the family.”
Crockett shrugged. “Keep your hat low. Dump the lumber and go. But see if Valentine’s really got a belly on her, or if that’s just a bunch of bull to rope Last. I bet she’s not even pregnant. And how do we know Last is the father? I mean, this blows.” Crockett pulled his hat down over his face. “When this is all over, I’m going to go find Mason and tell him he’s never gonna learn what happened to our father, and that he needs to deal with the fact that his true-love Mimi got married on him because he dragged his own dang boots, and that he needs to get his butt home.”
“Good luck,” Navarro said. “But first things first.”
WHEN THE COWBOY WALKED into her room, Nina’s blood started moving around in her body the way it never had before. A crazy tickle and then a full-blown rush filled her veins.
No, she told herself. Not this one. Completely inappropriate choice! And there have been enough of those lately. “Thanks for coming up,” she said.
“There was no one at the desk,” Navarro said. “I just made my way upstairs and—” His dark eyes swept her as she sat on the floor, a pencil and metal measuring tape in her hands. “What are you doing?”
“Measuring
