Rope My Heart A cowboy second chance romance

Chapter 2

Jax

Seeing Lily Mae again for the first time in a long while, six years had his stomach all tied in knots not to mention his tongue. She always was one for getting Jax tongue tied and twisted even when they were dating. Her beauty is beyond compare and she literally takes his breath away. Only, their first encounter he mused, could have gone better.

Sitting so close to her at the large pine table was making his heart race and pulse quicken. He could smell her lavender fragrance, it brought back memories of sitting out by the lake, nights in the back of the truck with the end open, laying on blankets looking up at the stars. He was so close to her right now that he could make out the smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose and the dusting of them on her cheeks. If he drew them all together it would be a picture of his heart swelling for her.

"How is Rose doing?" He heard Eliza ask as she offered him some mash potato.

"She's doing real fine, Rose. Loving working in the florist right now and earning some of her own money. That girl loves flowers." It's true his sister has always wanted to work at Dizzy Flowers ever since she was a little girl. And when their mother was alive it would always be Rose who was out in the garden with her mother, planting, watering, weeding. Her nose was always in a book to do with plants and flowers.

"Glad to hear it. I'm so happy she has managed to get a job there. Does she not want to go to college though?"

"She doesn't want to leave Whispering Pines to be honest. But she is doing online classes in the evening and will do her studies long distance." Jax helps himself to more mash before setting the serving plate down by Lily Mae whose hand brushes his as she reaches for it. Electricity shoots through his arm and sends a message to his dick. The hell, he thinks, what is going on here?

Lily Mae glowers at him. Why she does, he has no idea, it's not like he had ever hurt her. Far from it. In fact if truth be known it was Lily Mae who decided she wanted to leave Whispering Pine Mountain and go experience life in the city. She'd had enough of being on the ranch and the confines of a small town and being with her elder brothers who kept a watchful eye on her no matter what she did.

It's true her elder brothers, Colt, Hendricks and Wesley were very protective over their younger sister, and Lily Mae being the baby of the family sure did have an awful lot of protection around her. It amused Jax that they even let him date their sister when she was in High School. After all, Jax was new in town with his family, his father got him the job on Eagle ranch owned by Lily Mae's folks and they guys bonded quickly.

They never saw Jax as anything else other than their best friend. Their bond was formed early on when they came to realize that Jax was a hard working guy, he'd put everyone else before him and the way he cared for the horses, and sat up night with a newborn foal showed them just how much he was to be trusted and respected.

He and Lily Mae became close, they attended the same High School, they went out for milkshakes and sodas, hung out together and when he wasn't at school he was on the ranch helping out. It only seemed natural that these two would end up together.

Colt her eldest brother now thirty-five had warned Jax that if he ever broke his sister's heart, he'd have him to deal with. Jax swore he'd never do anything to hurt Lily Mae and he would do everything he could to protect her.

When she told him she was leaving that she had a corporate job as an event planner in the city, he almost choked on his own feelings of desolation and heart break. It came out of the blue, it wasn't as if she had even mentioned it to him before. Okay, sometimes she'd talk about getting away from Eagle Ranch and experiencing new pastures.

And now sitting here again he felt as if his heart was spilling on out for her all over again. Lily Mae removed her hand as quickly as she had placed it on the dish, almost as if she had been scalded. Jax raised his eyebrows and smirked at her as she moved her chair slightly to further away from him.

"It's too crowded in here. I'm done." She announces and shifts her chair backward.

"You've hardly eaten, Lily Mae." Eliza says her eyes full of concern for her youngest. "You're already way too thin, you need some food inside you."

"Nah, it's good, Mom I'll eat later." She steps away from the table leaving Jax with a shiteating grin on his face. He knows the reason she's running just like she did before, she is running away from him. She's scared of committing to him, scared of her own feelings and when anything gets to Lily Mae she does what she is good at and that is run away.

"Would you excuse me please, Eliza, Jake?"

"Of course." Eliza beams at Jax, he's like a son to her and she treats him no differently than she does Lily Mae and her elder brothers.

Jax scoots his chair back and heads through the rustic kitchen, through the open plan with vaulted ceilings of the property and out the heavy oak front door where he sees Lily Mae kicking the earth with her cowboy boots. Pretty cowboy boots too, pink with jewels on them. She always did like a fancy pair of boots that girl.

"Lily Mae, we need to talk." He moves towards her. She turns, her auburn hair swishing over her shoulder, the sunlight catches it showing off some brilliant streaks of copper. In his eyes she is the most beautiful woman to grace the planet.

"We ain't got nothing to talk about, Jax."

"I beg to differ, Lily Mae. Are you going to try to ignore me forever?"

"If I can, yes. Pretty much." She stuffs her hands in her jean pockets, keeping her head down.

"Look, I don't get how you can be horseass-mad at me, Lily Mae I ain't the one who ran out on our relationship."

"Behave, Jax. We were kids, I had a job to go to, a big world to go and see. I wanted more than just Whispering Pines."

"I get that, of course I do but to cut me off completely. You never answered any of my messages, and you blatantly ignored all my calls. What was that all about?"

She stops scuffing the ground with her boot and turns to him, placing her hands on her hips. "You just don't get it do you?"

Oh, he gets it alright, she ran away because she was too damn scared of her own feelings, too damn scared to think that maybe he was the only man she would ever be with, to have the house, the kids, the truck out front. The whole nine yards.

"No, I don't. Why don't you explain it to me, and how long are you back for?"

"I don't owe you any explanation Jax McCoy and I'm back for a month. Sorting this rodeo charity event then I'm heading back to the city."

His breath catches as he absorbs the information, one month. He has just one month to get Lily Mae to stop running and accept that their hearts are joined and meant to be together. One can't beat properly without the other. His stomach feels like it has just been punched good and proper.

He let her go once but he sure as hell isn't going to let the love of his life run out on him again. Now all he needs is a plan. And a damn good one at that.

Lily Mae huffs and turns her back on him. "See you around, Cowboy." Her voice fills his senses, this woman will be the death of him as he watches her sway her hips, he swears she is doing it on purpose, her high ass all pert and peachy. Damn she's one fine woman, but stubborn as a mule.

Jax watches her walk away towards the stables, wondering if he should follow her and try to get her to talk to him. Instead he kicks the ground with his own boot and heads back inside to finish his dinner, his stomach growling at him. Lunch was a few hours ago. He shakes his head wondering how on earth he is going to get that woman to change her damn mind and realize Whispering Pines, her family, her friends and him, is where it is at.