Confident in Chaps (Crossroads Book 2) Read online

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  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  All Rights Reserved

  Confident in Chaps

  Crossroads

  Book 2

  Copyright Em Petrova 2020

  Ebook Edition

  Electronic book publication 2020

  Cover Art by Bookin’ It Designs

  Photo by Sara Eirew Photographer

  All rights reserved. Any violation of this will be prosecuted by the law.

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  More in this series:

  BAD IN BOOTS

  CONFIDENT IN CHAPS

  COCKY IN A COWBOY HAT

  SAVAGE IN A STETSON

  SHOW-OFF IN SPURS

  When it comes to second chances, he won’t take no for an answer.

  Kaoz Bellamy left Crossroads to ride the range. Upon his return, he finds his girlfriend gone—and she even took his custom beer tap. Worse than the fact he won’t be accessing his favorite brewski anytime soon is the realization she isn’t coming back.

  Did the big jerk of a cowboy actually think Brielle would wait around pining for him, when he didn’t give any indication how he felt about her? No amount of rope in the county could tie her to that man again. But after one look at him, she finds that old flame still burns hot, his hands are just as perfectly rough…and he can still light her on fire with his kisses.

  No matter how sexy and out of control their interludes are, Brielle will never fully trust Kaoz again. He claims he’ll do anything to win her back, even help out her pain-in-the-neck brother with his startup ranch. Kaoz never did see eye to eye with her family, but if he can help get her brother’s ranch on its feet, he might have a second chance with the little firecracker he loves. Working alongside him means ample opportunities to remind her how good he can make her feel too…and Brielle fears if she loses her heart to the determined cowboy this time, there might be no getting it back.

  Confident

  In

  chaps

  by

  Em Petrova

  Chapter One

  This wasn’t how Kaoz pictured his homecoming. After months in the West working on a big ranch, he thought he would run home, bend his girl over his arm and kiss her breathless.

  Their last conversation swirled in the depths of his mind, shooting that pang through him all over again. Talk of breaking up. Moving on. He never should have left Brielle, but dammit, he thought going to learn everything about ranching as a big business would benefit them both. What better way to provide for her than to learn everything he could about the life they both wanted?

  Driving through the streets of his small hometown of Crossroads, Georgia didn’t leave him feeling all warm and fuzzy like he hoped. Home sweet home might soon be home in hell.

  Kaoz swung his head right and left, drinking it all in. The main street lined with shops. The town square with the tiered fountain he used to toss pennies into as a kid and wish for a new horse.

  If he had to toss a coin in there now, he would only hope that he and Brielle could work things out. But her words didn’t leave him feeling easy.

  When he spotted the gift shop doors thrown open to the Georgia breeze and the usual selection of flowers on display, he whipped his truck into a spot on the street. Inspiration struck—everything went down better with flowers.

  As soon as his boots touched pavement, someone called out his name.

  He glanced around to see his own cousin Cort Bellamy crossing the street to him, a huge grin splitting his face.

  “Kaoz!” The thick Southern drawl of his name—kay-awwz—reached his ears. “What the hell, cuz? You didn’t tell us you were coming home.” Cort reached him in a few long strides, and Kaoz grabbed him and pulled him in for a rough bro-hug. Right now, he needed some family support, though he wasn’t about to spill his guts and tell him about the upset between him and Brielle, not when everybody expected a wedding soon.

  “Yours is the first face I’ve seen.” Kaoz thumped him on the spine and stood back to look over his cousin. As boys, they were mistaken for brothers, but nobody would think that now. They might be the same height, but where Cort’s hair had remained on the light side, Kaoz’s had deepened to the near-black from his mother. Plus, he sported quite a bit of ink on his arms where Cort remained unmarked.

  “Damn, it’s good to see you. You just getting into town?” Cort nudged his hat up to peer at him.

  “Yeah, and I’m about to grab some flowers for my girl.” He fought to keep the despondence from seeping into his tone.

  “Not a bad idea. I’ll join you.”

  “You always did take your cues from me.” Kaoz tried for a light tone as he turned for the shop.

  Cort followed. “Nothin’ wrong with admittin’ I’m clueless when it comes to ranchin’ or women.”

  “From what I hear from your dad, you’ve got the ranch in good shape, and I know you’re capable of keeping Joss a happy woman.” He shot his cousin a grin he didn’t feel as they entered the gift shop.

  Relaxing music filled the air, and the place smelled like flowers and candles. It made Kaoz’s nose tickle with a pending sneeze, but he held it in as he looked around for some trinket or other that might catch his eye for Brielle.

  “Joss’s birthday’s coming up, and I have no idea what to get her,” Cort said.

  The shop owner stepped out from around the counter with a smile—knowing two bachelors in her shop meant a sale.

  “Hi, Mrs. Bright. I was thinkin’ of some flowers for Brielle.” Kaoz offered his nicest crooked grin to the older woman.

  Cheeks flushed, she patted her hair as if checking to see if her permed curls were in place. “What a charmer you are. Brielle will be so happy to see you after all these months.”

  Not sure on that.

  “How long have you been away now? Three months?”

  “Four.”

  “That’s a long spell.”

  Long enough to get my ass dumped—or almost dumped. If I still got time to make things right.

  “You’d best grab two bouquets, young man.” She turned to Cort next. “And a birthday, you say? For your little fashion designer? I’ve got just the thing.”

  Cort and Kaoz traded amused looks as Mrs. Bright bustled across the shop. She returned carrying a small striped box. When she held it out to Cort, he took it. Kaoz leaned in for a look-see too.

  A silver bracelet with a tiny charm of sewing scissors and another of a spool of thread sat in white cotton.

  Mrs. Bright waited, beaming expectantly. “I’ve been selling these bracelets to a lot of loved ones of the Crossroads Quilters Club, but it seems perfect for your young lady.”

  He nodded. “I’ll take it. And throw in a couple of those candles too. Joss loves ’em.”

  “Any particular scents, Cort?”

  He shrugged. “You choose. They all stink to me.”

  Kaoz chuckled.

  Mrs. Bright rang up Cort’s order and then looked to Kaoz. “Anything for you besides the flowers?”

  “That’s all for now.” He only hoped his offering along with some sweet talk would be enough to change Brielle’s mind about the heavy choice she planned to hit him with. And to think that when he left, she had her nose buried in wedding
magazines.

  After paying for the flowers—three bunches instead of two—he and Cort exited the shop. On the sidewalk, he selected three of the fullest, richest bouquets.

  They strolled to Kaoz’s truck parked along the street.

  “Come over later this week, after you’re settled. Dad will want to see you,” Cort said. “We’ll have a drink.”

  “Love to. Right now…” He lifted the flowers, and Cort nodded.

  “Hurry home to your woman. I’ve got to get back to the Bellamy too. Good to see ya, cousin.”

  He slapped Cort on the shoulder. “You too, man. Later.” He climbed behind the wheel and laid the bouquets on the seat.

  The house he and Brielle shared sat outside of Crossroads, across the bridge spanning the Satilla River. Early in their relationship—only weeks in, in fact—both of them realized they were in it for the long haul. Around the same time, his mom decided to live with his aunt in Ohio, leaving them the perfect place to start their life together.

  Driving the few miles to the house brought to mind all the memories of him and Brielle taking this very same drive. Her hand in his. Her eyes aglow with love.

  His heart knocked harder, and as soon as he bumped into the short driveway, he found it harder to breathe. Over the past few months away from her, Brielle consumed his thoughts. Clearly, she didn’t feel the same way, if her hints that they might not be in the same place in their relationship as they had been when he left indicated anything.

  Quickly, he grabbed the flowers off the seat and jumped out of the truck. His gaze centered on the front door. Then the windows. The curtains didn’t twitch aside, and he didn’t see Brielle’s beautiful face peeking out.

  A sickening dread hit him. He ran the last few steps to the porch and twisted the handle. It didn’t budge. Locked.

  Brielle might not be home, but then again, her car could be tucked in the garage. He fished out his house key and unlocked the door.

  As soon as he swung it open, the empty space greeted him.

  His gut hollowed out as he swept his stare over the mostly empty living room. Only the furniture stood there and the few other items Kaoz brought with him to the relationship. He whipped around to gape at the coat pegs next to the door. No cute denim jacket Brielle favored. No adorable cowgirl boots or even a handbag remained in this space.

  It was as if…

  No. It can’t be.

  As if Brielle no longer lived in the house.

  “Brielle!” he called out, dropping the flowers to the coffee table and hurrying farther inside. He peeked into the kitchen and saw the place looking as if nobody had occupied it in months.

  Heart thumping harder, he reached the bedroom door.

  Oh fuck. All her things are gone.

  Storming to the closet, he called for her again, knowing that he’d only receive the echo of his own voice. The closet stood empty. Not even a hanger left behind.

  In the bathroom, she’d also taken her belongings—makeup, jars of creams…

  She’d moved out on him.

  “What the fuck? She didn’t even give me a chance to talk.” He whipped out his phone and called her.

  His mind whirled. His call went to voicemail, and he grated out, “We need to talk,” before hanging up.

  He took a few steps and sat down hard on the bed, staring at the empty spots on the wall Brielle had filled with her favored décor early in their relationship. All gone. Everything gone.

  Were they done? It sure as fuck looked like it. Too bad he couldn’t make his heart catch up to the news.

  He shoved upward to his feet again and continued through the house, checking every corner. Here, he remembered their argument about him going West. How he told her his decision benefitted both of them, and she hadn’t been on board.

  But he’d gone anyway. How could he have believed she would forgive him for that? He’d been so blind.

  And here, in the living room, she had sat with her wedding magazines and asked him for his opinions on her choices. At the moment, he hadn’t noticed the hurt look on her face when he scoffed her off. But now…

  “I’m such an idiot,” he ground out. When he reached his man cave, he saw the deer horns hanging on the wall, but the bar in the corner had been cleaned out.

  “What…the…actual…fuck? She even took my custom beer tap!”

  A growl escaped his throat. Silently, without even a text message or a lousy phone call, she moved out, plus had the audacity to take the beer tap they bought together for the fun parties they threw with their friends. The thing had his damn initials engraved on the metal—what could she possibly be doing with it?

  He grabbed his phone again and dialed her nine times in a row before he gave up and shot her a text that probably came off more pissed off than he wanted to sound.

  We need to talk.

  Immediately, he saw her typing a reply.

  I’m sorry, Kaoz. I didn’t want you to find out this way.

  He blinked at the screen and tried to process her reply. You cleaned the place out. That didn’t happen overnight.

  I wish things were different, but the fact is, we grew apart before you were gone.

  Air punched out of his lungs. Grew apart? When all he could think about every damn day on the ranch in New Mexico was Brielle? How he could take all he learned, from disputes over mineral rights to cattle drives, and apply it to earning his own living—giving her everything she ever could want before she even asked for it?

  WTF, Brielle?

  Look, you left and ignored me.

  CELL SERVICE IS SPOTTY ON THE TRAIL. I TOLD YOU THAT.

  If you’re going to yell at me, then I’m finished talking about this. Fact is, you didn’t show me you cared AT ALL. You left in the middle of our wedding plans. You were too busy with your dream job to give a damn about how I felt. I waited for months. Finally, it got to be too much and I had to do what makes me happy.

  His throat closed up with emotion he didn’t want to expel.

  Moving out makes you happy?

  A heartbeat followed, then another. His hopes rose up. She only had to give the word that it didn’t make her happy and he’d track her down and bring her back home. With him. Where she belonged. He fucking loved her.

  He thought she loved him back.

  I’m in a better mental place, Kaoz. I’m sorry for the way I did this.

  “Goddammit,” he growled out, thumbs flying over the screen. You told me you’d wait for me and get our weddin’ together while I was gone.

  That was before you laughed at my magazines and wedding notebook. The more I thought about it, the more I realized you weren’t ready.

  YOU DIDN’T EVEN ASK ME IF I WAS READY.

  Long seconds passed without a reply. Ten minutes of staring at the small screen later, he realized he wouldn’t be receiving another. How had any of this happened? This had to be a misunderstanding.

  Dammit, he’d messed up. If he could make it up to her, take more interest in those wedding plans and make her realize how much he missed her…

  He stomped through the empty house and outside to his truck.

  She better hold on for the ride, because he wasn’t givin’ up easy.

  * * * * *

  Brielle dusted her hands off on her jeans and reached for her bottle of water. If anyone had told her a year ago that her day would begin before dawn and she’d be busting her butt on a ranch that didn’t belong to her and her new husband, she would have thought they were high.

  But now she found herself on her brother’s pride and joy, helping him to live out his dream of owning a ranch just like their grandpa had. When Beau purchased the rundown ranch, she told him he was crazy, but eventually, he persuaded her that with hard work, the ranch would flourish.

  Looking out across the acreage that included several pastures for horses and some pigs he thought would bring good prices at market come autumn, she still had her doubts.

  “Brielle, you in here?”

&nb
sp; She turned at Beau’s voice and saw him approaching the outbuilding they were using as a makeshift barn. For now, it housed a single horse and some feed stacked in the corner.

  At the sight of the crease between Beau’s brows, she inwardly groaned. That look couldn’t mean anything good—it never did. If she’d learned anything from living and working on this ranch the past couple months, it was that Beau brought news of a crisis on a daily basis.

  Sighing, Brielle looked to him. “What’s up?”

  Beau faced her, and since they were similar in height, she easily met his gaze. He tugged his hat, something he did when he grew agitated. She braced herself for what would come.

  “Change of plans. The horses we’ll be boarding will be delivered sooner than we thought.”

  She blinked. “How soon?”

  “Let’s say that barn needs to go up immediately.”

  “Oh no. Why are they dropping the horses off sooner?”

  “Dunno their reasons, only that the owner called and told me they were pulling out early and we’ll be boarding them a few weeks longer than the contract states.”

  “We don’t have any place to put them.” She waved at the tiny outbuilding that worked fine for one horse stall but nothing more. “We can’t get the barn raised for another month!”

  He scratched his jaw. “I know that was the plan, but we’ll have to rally all our friends and family for an old-fashioned barn raising.”

  Beau had good intentions—he did. But he labored under the belief that the old ways their grandpa taught them would sustain them. Brielle was more skeptical.

  They didn’t have money for equipment to help make their jobs easier. If they set a fence, they did it by hand. Hauled feed to the cattle on the back of a four-wheeler and made several trips. Nothing came easy, and so far, after two months, they had no profits either.

  Boarding horses would bring some cashflow to the ranch. But the contract clearly stated they required a barn as well as a large amount of grazing land. The bank loan for the barn rode on this contract, and if they couldn’t fulfill the terms, it seemed like everything would crumble.