Cowgirls Don't Cry(38)

Brandt tried to take Landon from her, to give her arms a break from constantly holding him, but Landon shrieked and wouldn’t let go of her.

This brought the attention of the whole room their way. Whatever buzz their appearance generated that’d kept people gossiping amongst themselves for twenty minutes ended.

A woman Jessie recognized as one of the local bar rats with half a dozen kids from half a dozen husbands sidled in front of them. Her gaze flicked from Landon to Brandt. She smiled. “Brandt McKay.”


“Francie.”


“I haven’t seen you in Ziggy’s for a while.”


“Been busy. You know how that goes.”


Her gaze zeroed in on Landon. “I guess you have been busy. I didn’t know you had a kid.”


The way she cooed it, as if she was considering him as father material for her kids, set Jessie’s teeth on edge.

“I don’t. This is my nephew. He’s sick.”


Most people would’ve gotten the hint and left. Not this woman. She switched her curiosity to Jessie.

“I know you. You used to come in to Ziggy’s once in a while with—”


“Keely McKay? We hung around for a while during dart league season last year.”


When the woman’s eyes took on a mean glint, Jessie realized this bar wench probably knew more about Luke’s nocturnal activities than she did. “No. You used to come in with your husband. Luke, right?

Although I’ll admit he came in by himself frequently.”


“Yeah, well, I doubt he’s been in recently since he’s dead.”


Brandt stilled next to her, shocked by her smartass response.

Jessie was sick of feigning ignorance about Luke’s blatant infidelity. Better to go on the offensive than to cower in the corner because she’d done that for years and she was finished with the timid routine.

But Francie kept digging for dirt. “So is this your son?” she asked sweetly.

“No. But he is Luke’s son. My dead husband’s secret love child, who I had no idea existed until recently. And yes, I am taking care of him while his mother cleans up her act in jail.”


Francie was dumbfounded, not only by Jessie’s tart response, but by the biting edge to her tone.

“Any more ridiculously invasive questions? No? Good. But you’re more than welcome to fling this really juicy piece of gossip around the bar tonight to get your fair share of free drinks.”


Dismissed, Francie stomped off.

A solid minute passed before Brandt drawled, “Have I mentioned how much I like your new ‘screw you’ attitude? I didn’t think you had it in you, Jess.”


His opinion meant more than she wanted to admit. “I didn’t think I had it in me either. I wouldn’t have done that a year ago. I wouldn’t have wanted to draw attention to myself.”


“You’ve definitely got my attention.”


“Really?”


“But then again, you’ve always had it.”


Jessie faced him. Her pulse spiked when she realized how close their heads were. She could make out every one of his absurdly long black eyelashes. She could see the imperceptible flecks of green in Brandt’s deep blue eyes. She noticed the bump in his nose where it’d been broken in his younger years. She could feel his every quick exhale teasing her lips. She wanted so badly to drop her gaze and leisurely take in the full measure of his mouth, but she didn’t dare. Because for some crazy, mixed-up reason, probably due to lack of sleep, she doubted she’d be satisfied with just a peek at his lips. She’d want a taste. A full taste.