Free Royal Trouble by Becky McGraw Page B

cowboy might steal her away."
    That's what Wes was afraid of...why he felt the way he did about beautiful women.  And why he planned on staying away from this one.  But this man needed to back off.
    "Some cowboy might find himself in a heap of trouble too," Wes warned and felt Leigh Ann's gaze on him.  The waiter nodded and walked off, and only then did Wes look back at Leigh Ann.  He knew his reaction was unreasonable, but he couldn't help it.  Three years of dealing with the same thing with Laura had trained him to be that way.  Laura had liked it, expected it, but Leigh Ann didn't seem to feel the same way.
    Meeting his eyes, Leigh Ann folded her hands in front of her.  "What the heck was that about?" Wes was acting really strange.  Possessive.  She didn't know why it thrilled her a little, but it worried her at the same time. 
    Wes was mostly a laid back kind of guy.  In the week she had known him, he had never been like this.  He had no reason to be, they were not a couple.  Tonight, he was in a surly alpha male mood for some reason though.  The look he sent those cowboys in the lobby could've melted steel.  And he had just been darned rude to their waiter, who had just been being friendly. 
    With the cowboys, Leigh Ann had just ignored them.  That was her typical defense mechanism to combat that kind of attention.  It always made her uncomfortable, but if she took issue with every man that looked her way she would spend half her life defending herself.  She wouldn't have thought it would bother Wes, but evidently it bothered him a lot, if his red face and balled fists were any indication.
    This wasn't a date, it was just a friendly dinner.  His son was even supposed to go with them, but Wes's mother had kidnapped him earlier to go to the pizza place.  Leigh Ann had considered not going to dinner, but decided they both needed a break after the day they had today.  Maybe it was the drink he'd had at home, before they left that was making him this way.  Whatever the cause, Wes was definitely agitated.
    "It's that damned red dress," he growled looking around their table to make sure nobody else heard him.  He leaned across the table toward her.  "Didn't you have anything a little more modest?"
    Tears shot to her eyes, Leigh Ann gasped then shoved her chair back from the table.  Throwing her napkin on the table, she stood.  "I'm getting a cab back home," she said, her hands shaking as she fished in her purse for his keys.  "This was a bad idea."
    The waiter picked that moment to deliver their drinks.  "Is everything okay, ma'am?" he asked setting them down.
    "She's fine," Wes ground out, turning his angry gaze her way, "Leigh Ann, please sit back down."
    "This is your idea of an apology?  Thanks, but no thanks," she hissed, but pasted on a smile for the gawkers staring at them, as she tossed his keys onto the table.  "Don't drink too much and try to drive."  Spinning on her heel, Leigh Ann headed for the bathroom, because she knew she wasn't going to make it to the front door without losing her composure. 
    The cooler air inside the bathroom felt good on her heated cheeks.  Looking around she sent up thanks that nobody else was in there with her.  Leigh Ann was very near the edge, the dam holding back the emotion inside of her could burst at any moment.  Putting her hands on the sink, she leaned over it and tried to steady her breathing.  How dare Wes Jepson treat her that way?  Say those hurtful things?  She hadn't done a damned thing to deserve it. 
    Looking at herself in the mirror, Leigh Ann decided there wasn't anything wrong with the way she looked.  The front of her was totally covered by the high-necked halter of her dress.  Only her shoulders were exposed, and her back.  The dress wasn't too short either, it was longer than most of the dresses women wore these days. 
    When she put it on she felt classy and sophisticated, but Wes just made her feel cheap.  If there was one