The Rival

by Joanne Rock

  She grabbed a pair of mittens and her jacket and was heading for the door when a snippet of conversation from the common room caught her ear.

  “...I think his name is Devon. And he’s smoking hot,” a feminine voice spoke in a breathless rush, bringing Regina to an abrupt halt. “He came into the lodge today to make a reservation and I was so tongue-tied I don’t even remember what he said to me.”

  Regina couldn’t help but listen. But the response of the woman’s friend was lost to Regina’s ears when someone flipped on a hair dryer nearby. Of course, she shouldn’t be eavesdropping anyhow, but it seemed reassuring to know she wasn’t the only one who found the marketing executive from New York to be ridiculously appealing. Clearly, he affected total strangers that way, too.

  Charging into the common room, she gave a wave to the three younger women decorating a small Christmas tree someone had put up in a corner. There were popcorn strands all around it. Regina guessed that was what Millie and her friends had been working on the night before. Now the younger group—all from guest services, she thought—were hanging pine cones and small, glittery stars on the tree.

  “Have a good night,” one of them called to her as she left for her date.

  She hadn’t even pulled the door closed behind her when she spotted the sleigh.

  The huge wooden contraption rested across the walkway in front of the bunkhouse. It was outlined in white lights and decorated with pine branches and a few red bows. A driver in a parka and Stetson held the reins to matching Friesian horses stamping and snorting in the chilly evening.

  Devon stood beside the sleigh in a dark overcoat, jeans and boots, with a bouquet of white poinsettias in one hand.

  Behind her, Regina felt her fellow bunkmates jostle for position to see. One woman let out a dreamy sigh while another squealed. Reactions Regina could completely understand.

  But she knew this romantic display wasn’t so much for her as a way for Devon to keep close to her. He was as suspicious of her as she was of him, and she couldn’t allow herself to forget it.

  “Are you ready for a sleigh ride?” he asked, striding toward her.

  She met him halfway, bearing in mind the charade was temporary and strictly for the convenience of keeping an eye on her, so there was no reason to feel flattered he’d gone to this much trouble for their evening together.

  “Very ready.” As her boots crunched in the snow, her gaze fixed on her companion for the evening.

  His green eyes held hers, his shadowed jaw calling to her fingertips to test the feel of his skin there.

  “For you.” His breath huffed in the air between them as he handed her the poinsettia bouquet tied with a red bow. The scent of his aftershave, something woodsy with a hint of spice, made her want to lean closer.

  “Thank you.” She clutched the cloth bow and inhaled the bouquet made fragrant by the balsam greenery around it. “They’re beautiful.”

  “Good.” He nodded his satisfaction, his breath puffing in the space between them. “I hope it’s one of many things you enjoy about the evening.” His hand landed on her back as he guided her toward the sleigh. “I’ve heard this tour is fun at night even though you aren’t able to see the sights, as well.”

  Stepping up into the vehicle, she said hello to the driver before taking a seat on the bench padded with blankets in back. She’d worn a short wool jacket over her sweater, but there was a stack of extra quilts neatly folded in an open shelf under the front seat.

  Regina set the flowers on one side of her while Devon settled into the spot on her other side. She could see her bunkmates still crowded in the front door, peering out at them. Their relationship had gone public in a hurry. No doubt it all looked wildly romantic to an outsider. Who would ever guess at the strange way she’d fallen into this evening with Devon?

  “Did you speak to Mr. Rivera about...us?” She didn’t want to give her boss any reason to fire her.

  “I did.” He nodded as he leaned back in the seat, draping one arm across the back of the bench behind her before giving the driver the cue they were ready. “And it’s a nonissue as far as the ranch is concerned. He said they welcome a lot of couples who take temporary jobs together to experience ranch life.”

  The sleigh ride began while Regina digested the news, realizing there would be no getting out of the date for that reason. For better or worse, she was committed to this fake relationship if she wanted to learn more about Devon. But she planned to proceed with caution since she had the feeling Devon Salazar was a man who wouldn’t take kindly to being deceived.

  “I appreciate you checking with him,” she told him sincerely, figuring if she spoke the truth as often as possible, it would go a long way to putting them both more at ease.

  She glanced out over the moonlit snow as the horses trotted away from the ranch buildings on the trail connecting grazing pastures. The lane was well packed here because trucks and ranch utility vehicles used it frequently. The sleigh moved faster, the runners making a gentle swishing sound.

  The evening was clear and starlit, but now and then she felt the kiss of snow against her cheeks from drifts blowing along either side of the trail.

  “I’m glad I could put your mind at ease,” Devon assured her, tipping his head back to stare up at the tree branches when they entered a heavily forested area next to a pasture. “Now that there’s no reason to fear repercussions for you at work, we can relax and get to know each other better.”

  He turned toward her, his presence suddenly very near. Close enough for her to feel the warmth of his chest near hers, the brush of his arm against the back of her shoulders. His leg grazed hers. Her throat dried up at the physical proximity, at the appeal of hard male muscle just underneath a layer of clothes.

  She hid a shiver that was more pleasure than worry.

  Frowning, he leaned forward to retrieve one of the linens folded beneath the vacant seat in front of them.

  “Are you cold?” he asked, already unfurling the red plaid wool and laying it over their laps. “There are plenty of blankets if you want another.”

  His fingers tugged the fabric around her, tucking it behind her hip, igniting a slow burn of awareness in her belly. And lower.

  “I’m fine,” she protested, mostly because his hands were a major distraction.

  Her breath came faster as they emerged from the trees back out onto an open field, where it was brighter.

  “Are you sure?” He studied her in the moonlight. “Just say the word if you want to turn back at any time.” His concern sounded genuine.

  “I’m warm enough.” She fought the urge to lick her dry lips—and battled an even stronger urge to taste her way along his shadowed jaw. She dragged her gaze from him to gesture toward the scenery. “And this is really pretty.”

  The Montana countryside unfolded in shades of gray and white around them as they skirted the western bank of the Bitterroot River. In the river valley, the waterway was a frozen layer of ice under snow, the area around it devoid of trees.

  A few deer lifted their heads as the sleigh neared, keeping watch over Regina and Devon while other members of the herd nosed through the snow for a drink.

  “We lucked out with the moon almost full.” Devon shifted on the bench seat beside her as the sleigh took a hard turn away from the water. “I’d heard that the sleigh rides are worth it even when it’s fully dark because of the sensory experience, but we’re getting to see quite a bit, too.”

  “Sensory experience?” She wasn’t quite sure what he meant. She pulled back to look at him.

  “You know how your senses are heightened when your eyes are closed? You’re more attuned to what you hear or feel? I heard this trip in the dark is fun like that—you can really enjoy the experience of the sleigh ride.” A wolfish smile flashed as he lowered his voice. “Sort of like closing your eyes when you kiss so you can appreciate ever
ything else that’s going on.”

  Her belly flipped, feeling almost airborne for a moment.

  Her brain refused to think of a single response that didn’t sound like flirting. Because suddenly, all she could think about was pressing her lips to his.

  * * *

  Maybe it was unwise to kiss a woman who was hiding something from him.

  Everything about Regina Flores—from her fake name to the way she’d rifled through his jacket the night before—had warned Devon she was trouble. At the very least, she was being dishonest with him.

  Yet something about her called to him anyway.

  Because he wasn’t thinking about kissing the woman who was doing her best to deceive him. No, he was mesmerized by the one who could handle a horse in icy trail conditions and build her own fire. Captivated by the woman who knew about Montana wildlife and whose breath caught when he got close to her.

  Like now.

  “Should we try it?” he asked her now, skimming away a few dark strands of her hair where they blew across her cheek.

  Her ivory-colored knit hat framed her face but didn’t constrain her hair.

  “Try what?” Her voice was a barely-there whisper of sound that was almost lost in the swish of the runners through the snow, the clop of hooves and the jangle of sleigh bells.

  Regina’s gray eyes were wide.

  “The full sensory experience,” he clarified, unable to move his fingers away from her face now that he’d felt the smooth softness of her skin. “The kiss.”

  Her nod was almost imperceptible. But she let her eyes drift closed, the dark lashes fanning a sultry shadow on her cheek.

  Hunger for her surged. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders to draw her close and tipped her chin up to taste her the way he’d wanted to since the first time he’d seen her.

  Her lips parted. He breathed in the minty trace of toothpaste and a fruity hint of lip balm before he kissed her. Gently, at first. Her mouth molded to his, lips pillow soft as she sighed into him.

  Her fingers traced over his jaw, back and forth, before her hand fell to the shoulder of his jacket where she gripped the fabric tight. She edged closer, the warm press of her curves against him a welcome weight that took the kiss from experimental to simmering.

  Awareness flared hotter, and he angled her shoulders to deepen the kiss. The small, needy sound she made at the back of her throat was like a torch to dry timber, desire for her cranking into a slow burn. Devon knew that a sleigh in the middle of a snow-covered Montana river valley was no place to take things farther. Yet that didn’t do a damned thing to impede the roll of red-hot thoughts through his mind, the need for her scorching away everything else.

  Especially when she fitted so perfectly against him under the cocoon of the wool blanket. Hip to hip. Thigh to thigh. And before he allowed his thoughts to drift any more astray, he forced himself to break the kiss. Slowly he leaned back, inserting an inch or two of space between them where before there’d been none.

  The cold December air rushed in, filling the gap. Reminding him how much he needed things to cool down.

  “I see what you mean now about the dark heightening the senses,” Regina told him as she opened her eyes, her gaze seeking his. “I’m in complete, one-hundred-percent agreement that it’s a very real phenomenon.”

  Devon breathed in the snow-dusted air as the sleigh bounced over frozen ruts in the ranch trail, the big black draft horses never slowing. Long, spikey shadows of pine trees fell over them. He waited for his heart rate to even out after the head rush of kissing Regina.

  “I honestly didn’t expect to prove the point so thoroughly.” He’d planned to woo her into letting her guard down. Letting him see a glimpse of what she was really about. He hadn’t expected to be seduced by a kiss. “It was my intention to take you out and get to know you better.”

  Hell, it had been his plan to confront her about her real motives. Her real identity. Running a social media company had taught him that people in her age demographic rarely if ever left no trace online. Yet that was the case with Regina Flores. The text message from his private investigator had confirmed his hunch—Regina was a fake.

  “You asked all the questions at our picnic,” she hedged, her fingers threading through the fringed edge of the blanket. “It’s me who doesn’t know much about you.”

  “I’m an open book,” he protested, not surprised that she wanted to sidestep talking about herself. Maybe he’d do better to share something superficial about his world, in the hope that it would prompt her to share something, too. Like why had she taken the job at Mesa Falls Ranch. And why she was interested in him. “What do you want to know? And would you like some hot cocoa?”

  He reached under the seat and retrieved two thermal carafes, passing one to her. He used the time to think through topics he needed to avoid if it turned out Regina was a member of the media looking for a scoop about his father’s book.

  And, hell, if the conversation got too dicey, he could always kiss her again. The chemistry between them was hot enough to burn away everything else.

  “Thank you.” She twisted the lid of her thermos to reveal the spout, and steam wafted out the top. “One thing I’m curious about is your job. Why did you start a media company?”

  He seized on the topic to keep his thoughts from straying down the carnal path again. At least for the time being. Once they returned to civilization—maybe to the privacy of his cabin—he would be more than happy to revisit the temptation of Regina’s lips.

  “My brother, Marcus, has a gift for social media and a lot of ambition.” Devon remembered seeing the kinds of things his brother posted in the early days of social media—innovative, creative content that people copied. “We’ve never had much in common, but I’ve always respected his intelligence. I had a strong feeling he would be successful, and I wanted to test my own ideas for growing a small business from the ground up.”

  Regina studied him for a long moment over the stainless steel rim of her drink. “Is it expensive to start a business like that? You must have been young.”

  “We both were. But there wasn’t a lot of overhead at first—just the cost of manpower.” He decided to mention his dad, if only to watch her reaction. “Our father invested in us, which helped.”

  Her head tilted a fraction at the mention of Alonzo. Was it polite curiosity? Or had she been waiting for a chance to discuss the author of the novel that had caused such scandal? He couldn’t be sure.

  “Nice to have a parent’s support.” She sipped her cocoa before continuing. “Is your dad an entrepreneur, too?”

  “He was an English teacher, actually.” He noticed how she peered down as he spoke, making it harder to gauge her reactions. “He died early this year.”

  “I’m so sorry.” Regina’s hand covered his, her tone undeniably sympathetic.

  “Thank you.” He missed his dad even though they’d never been close. If anything, that made it harder since he’d never have the chance to build a relationship with him now. “He taught at a boarding school on the West Coast. The same school the owners of Mesa Falls Ranch attended, in fact. My father remained in contact with them after graduation, visiting Montana whenever he had the chance.”

  He wondered about that. What had tied his father to the wealthy and powerful men who ran Mesa Falls Ranch? A small part of him resented the fact that his dad made time to see them, yet had rarely made the effort to spend time with Devon.

  “No wonder the owners chose your firm to handle their social media as they open the ranch to private guests.” She twisted the top closed on her drink and tucked the carafe into an open slot alongside the bench seat. “I’m sure it would make your father proud to know you and your brother are maintaining relationships that must have been important to him.”

  She sounded almost wistful as she said it, which made him wonder about her family
.

  “You said your mother lived in Tahoe,” he said, recalling their conversation during the snowy picnic. “What about your dad?”

  “We...aren’t close,” she admitted. “He was married to someone else when he had an affair with my mom, so I think I’m a reminder of his bad choices. Especially for my stepmother.”

  Before he could respond, she pointed into the field on their right. There, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, someone had decorated a pine tree with red and white lights. The blowing snow dulled some of them on the windward side, but the rest shone brightly.

  “Are we close to one of the owners’ homes?” he asked, trying to orient himself.

  All six owners of the Mesa Falls Ranch had houses around the property. They’d seen a few of them on their horseback ride the day before.

  She peered around the field, looking from the shadowed mountains to the river and back again. “Maybe Desmond Pierce’s, although I don’t think he’s in Montana this week. And I don’t see lights for a house anywhere nearby.” She turned her gaze back toward him. “Although I’ve heard all the owners will be on hand for the launch event. How are the preparations going for that?”

  Devon noted that she’d once again dodged the subject of her own life.

  But now that she had nowhere to hide from his questions, he prepared to confront her with the bombshell that his investigator had shared with him.

  “The preparations are running like clockwork. My biggest concern right now is you.”

  “Me?” She tilted her head, her expression questioning, but he didn’t miss the hint of wariness in her eyes.

  He met her gaze, the soft glow from the white lights on the sleigh helping him to see her even in the dark. “I can’t figure out why you’re hiding behind a fake identity.”