Hell on Heels (Hotel Rodeo #1)(27)

“How much farther is it?” Rosa asked.

“We’re about halfway. We can either stop in Albuquerque for the night and drive the rest of the way tomorrow, or I can grab a few cans of Redbull and keep driving. If we continue, we’ll get in late tonight. Your choice, Rosa.”

“It’s a very long time driving. Won’t you be tired?”

“Makes no difference at all to me,” he said. “I’ve done this kind of drive hundreds of times before. Hell, I used to live on the road.”

“And that was no proper life for you at all,” she chided. “It ruined your marriage.”

He shook his head with a dry laugh. “That marriage was a train wreck before it began.” He quickly changed the subject. “So what do you want to do? Stop in Albuquerque or keep going?”

“If you are certain, I would prefer to get there sooner. I worry about Tomás.”

“Me too, Rosa.” He realized he was also eager to see Monica again. That thought shook him.

“Se?or Ty, where will I be staying once we get there?” Rosa asked.

“That’s a good question. I haven’t even thought about it, really. You could always stay at the hotel, but I think you’d be much more comfortable at my place, at least until we figure out something better.”

“And you?”

“I’ll just stay at the hotel. I spend most of my time there anyway.”

“For how long will I be there?”

“Dunno that either.” Ty shrugged. “If the docs say it’s okay and you’re willing to supervise his care, I’m hoping Tom might eventually be able to go back home to the ranch. He’ll still need a private nurse, of course, but that should be easy enough to arrange.”

“Tomás would be much happier at home.”

“I agree, but all those decisions are in the docs’ and his daughter’s hands. It might take some persuasion to get Monica to agree to let him go home. Maybe you can talk to her about it? She doesn’t listen to anything I say.”

“I will.” Rosa gave a firm nod. “What is she like, this Monica? Is she anything like her papi?”

“Let’s see now.” Ty scratched his jaw. “If Tom were thirty-some years younger, eighty pounds lighter, and an attractive female with the temperament of a diamondback rattler, I guess they’d be a lot alike.”

Rosa shook her head with a snort.

“She rubs me the wrong way,” Ty explained.

“But you like her anyway?” Rosa asked.

“I’d never say that,” Ty scoffed. “I s’pose I respect her, though. She’s smart as hell.”

“You also said she’s attractive.”

“Did I? Don’t recall that part,” Ty remarked absently.

“Yes. You did. Just a moment ago.”

“Well, that’s not saying much. According to Delaney, I find all females attractive.”

“You and Se?ora Delaney will never get back together?”

“Me and Delaney? God no!” Ty exclaimed.

“But I think she still cares for you.”

Ty sighed. He should have known Rosa would press the point at her first opportunity. She was stubborn as a rat terrier that way. “Maybe I care about her too, but that doesn’t mean I want to live with her. That marriage was a mistake that should never have happened.”

Both statements were true. He did care about Delaney, but he didn’t love her. Their relationship had been founded purely on infatuation. Once the initial lust had worn off, and it hadn’t taken long, there was nothing left to hold them together. Delaney was spoiled, demanding, and controlling. Maybe it wasn’t all her fault. She’d been raised that way, but Ty refused to pamper her. So all they ever did was f*ck and fight.

“I think she’s lonely out there on the ranch by herself.”

“I never wanted her to stay there,” Ty said. “She insisted on it. If she’s lonely now, all she has to do is pack up her stuff and go back to Houston.”

“She wants to be independent. Her family interferes too much.”

“She has a ten-million-dollar trust fund. She can be independent wherever she likes. Why she decided to settle herself in rural Oklahoma puzzles the hell out of me.”

“Maybe she thinks you’ll eventually come back. Maybe she wants a family of her own.”

“And maybe hell will freeze over one day, too. Look, Rosa, there’s no sense in this conversation. Me and Delaney are never going to happen again. She needs to move on.”

“Have you?”

“Yes. I have.”

“But you have not remarried.”

“Because I don’t want to be married. I didn’t like it the first go-round. Why would a second time be any better? I like women, Rosa. I like them a lot, but I also prefer them in single-serving doses. Comprende?”

“So you are a mujeriego,” she stated flatly.

He looked at her in question.

“A womanizer, a player,” Rosa clarified.

“I dunno. Maybe. But it’s not always a bad thing,” he insisted. “At least I’m straightforward about it. I make the rules clear up front. In the end, it’s their choice.”

“How did you become so heartless? Were you like this as a boy?”