This Love (Cowboys & Angels 6)

After spending entirely too much time getting ready, I stared at meself in the full-length mirror. The green dress popped against my dark hair, making me eyes stand out a little more. Me mother used to tell me I was special because I had emerald green eyes. Not many people had truly green eyes, even in Ireland.

I bit me cheek to keep my tears at bay when I thought of me ma. I missed her and could use her advice right about now. For the first time in my life I was attracted to the bad boy in town. I chuckled, because whether Cord was good for me or not, I wanted to find out what made him a bad boy.

“Cord Parker is certainly not a boy, Maebh O’Sullivan,” I whispered to meself.

I gazed at me body. I didn’t think I had a sexy body, but I was certainly not bad looking. I was barely five feet four and had curves. Me ma used to tell me I had good birthing hips, just like she did. I got her brown hair, but I had me father’s eyes.

I’d pulled my brown locks up and let a few strands hang down around me face in curls. I didn’t wear much make-up, and I was lucky to inherit me ma’s darker skin tone, thanks to her Portuguese heritage. Growing up in Ireland, I stood out among the other girls with my year-round tanned skin up against the fair-skinned lassies who lived in our town.

After pulling in a deep breath, I slowly pushed it out. I had to know for sure if Jackson was right. I had to get Cord’s attention. If I didn’t, then I knew for sure I was barking up the wrong tree.

The bar was packed, and I wasn’t going to complain. I fucking loved summer. It meant a lot of business and a lot of tourists…female tourists…female tourists looking for a good time, no strings attached.

Trevor wasn’t working for once. He sat with a group of young women who looked like they had all just turned twenty-one.

“Lori,” I shouted to the waitress working the table. “Did you card them all?”

She nodded. “I did, and they’re all twenty-one.”

“Keep an eye on how much they drink. Limit it, okay?”

“Will do, boss.”

Trevor was smiling at one of them, and I shook my head and chuckled. He pulled out his phone and read a text message. Standing, he tipped his cowboy hat to the women and made his way to the bar.

“I’m taking off, bro. You sure you don’t need me tonight?”

My brows pulled tight. It was a Friday night, during the summer, and he was leaving solo? This didn’t sound like Trevor.

“Who you going to meet?”

His mouth rose into a cocky smirk. “A friend.”

“Uh-huh. Who?”

He shrugged and winked at a few girls who were staring at us…openly eye fucking the hell out of us, I should say.

“Scarlett.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? What the hell are you doing, Trev?”

He looked back at me. “What do you mean?”

“Why are you leading her on?”

His head tossed back to laugh. “She sent me a text, bro. I didn’t text her.”

“Is she your fuck buddy now or something? You’re still going to her regardless of who initiated it?”

Trevor’s face grew angry. “Don’t talk about her like that.”

“Then don’t fucking treat her like that. What’s the matter with you? I’ve seen you go off with a number of girls since the benefit dinner, Trevor, and you’re still hooking up with Scarlett? Does she know you’re fucking around?”

He slammed his hands on the counter. “I don’t belong to anyone. So what me and my cock do is no one’s business. Especially not yours.”

I shook my head and gave him a disappointed look. “Had she not texted you, would you have fucked one of them?” I asked, motioning with my head to the table he’d just left.

“Probably,” he mumbled.

“Don’t fuck up, Trev. You know she’s mom’s best friend’s daughter and from the way she looks at you, she likes you…as more than a one-night screw.”

“Listen, Dad, I don’t need a lecture. Scarlett’s sick, and she needed some medicine and couldn’t get a hold of anyone else, so she texted me to see if I could pick something up for her. Her folks are out of town, so I told her I would get it. This ain’t a booty call so back off.”

My face softened. Trevor was actually going to do something without the reward of sex. Interesting.

“I’m sorry, Trev. What’s wrong with her?”

He shrugged. “Not sure. She said she was on a prescription, but needed something for her chest. I guess she has a cough and isn’t sleeping good.”

“You better get going before everything closes,” I said.

There was something in his eyes that looked like he wanted to tell me more. I knew my brother, and I knew he cared about Scarlett. There was no fucking way he’d be running out on a Friday night to play delivery boy—with no chance of sex—if he didn’t like her. A lot