Hatch Dunlap had sauntered in the front door on his bowlegs just a few moments earlier. The bull riding cowboy had made it clear to Julián several years before in Laramie, Wyoming, on the day Julián met her that he’d already staked a claim on Gwen. He’d made it obnoxiously clear that she was “his woman,” which had been embarrassing for both of them.
When Gwen had recognized him, she’d groaned like she was in pain and leaned back so that Chris body-blocked her, as though hoping Hatch wouldn’t see her.
As if that wasn’t enough of a blast from their pasts, Gwen’s eyes had bulged as she’d noticed the bleached blonde who had strutted in with Hatch, dressed in a fashionable western minidress and tall cowgirl boots, followed by two other cowboys who looked to be with them. “Is that—”
Julián had squinted at the blonde and then wished that he could hide behind Chris too. “Holy crap. We just can’t catch a break here. I thought she was a redhead.”
“I thought she was a brunette. Who knows,” Gwen snorted. “She changes hair color like she changes men.” Julián felt his innards shrivel a little. Crap. Crap. Crap.
Chris grinned crookedly and a slow, hearty chuckle rumbled from him as he sipped his beer. “I take it that it’s our night to play ‘This Is Your Sorry Life.’ I’m so fucking ready for this year to get it over with and move on.”
Julián agreed with the sentiment wholeheartedly. “What’s Judith Bowers doing all the way down here? I thought she was from North Dakota.”
“Maybe she got tired of the snow?” Chris suggested as Gwen rose from her seat.
“Angel and Joaquin need to know that Judith is here. I don’t want Teresa getting riled up.” Emma had let Teresa off of bed rest just for that night, provided she sat in her seat and didn’t get all worked up. Being faced with a woman who had threatened and verbally abused her on several occasions definitely qualified as something to get worked up about.
Chris nodded when Julián shared eye contact with him, stood, and went with her. He’d heard through the grapevine that Gwen had been party to those confrontations and felt very protective of Teresa. He didn’t want any confrontations happening that night if he could avoid it. He also didn’t want to be very far away from her if Hatch recognized Gwen. She had never told him the full story about Hatch but something was just off about the guy.
Gwen got Angel’s and Joaquin’s attention and discreetly pointed out Judith Bowers’s presence to them. Teresa had her back to the largest part of the room and so she might never even notice Judith.
Doing that took care of part of the problem. The other issue was that Julián had hooked up with Judith on a couple of occasions and she’d always made it clear that she was available to him anytime their paths happened to cross. She’d walked in with Hatch but Judith had a way of shifting in midstream to suit her fancy. Julián didn’t care to have either Hatch’s or Judith’s attention directed their way.
Angel and Joaquin nodded and thanked Gwen, careful to keep their conversation “light” looking in case Teresa noticed. At the moment Teresa was busy talking with Grace, Rachel Wolf, Emma Rivers, and Lydia Carlisle, while all of their men congregated around them.
Chris tapped Julián to get his attention and showed him his phone. “Message from my sister, Simone.”
Julián took the phone and read the message. “We looooove Gwen! Your new girlfriend is a goddess! Think she could show us some of those asskicking moves?”
He smiled and handed the phone back to Chris. “I guess the evening hasn’t been a total loss.”
Julián and Chris’s boss, Del Cook, his wife, Lily, and brother, Clay, all showed up at that moment. Del shook hands with the men and hugged Gwen as they found a chair for Lily. Julián and Chris chatted with him, Gwen secure in their midst.
Chris asked Gwen to dance, which made Julián a little tense, but he didn’t say anything as Chris escorted her to the dance floor. Joaquin Martinez must’ve noticed because he nudged Julián.
“You okay, man? You’re watching her like a hawk but you know she’s safe, right? We watch out for all of them, not just our own.”
Julián nodded. “I know. We’ve just had a rough night. We’ve both got old hookups in the club and I don’t feel like playing ‘old home week’ with Judith if you get my drift.”
Joaquin grimaced. “Damn, man. Judith? You know she and Gwen have history, right?”
Feeling slightly nauseated as he nodded, Julián looked him in the eye. “If I could, there are some things I’d go back and do a little differently.”