The Cowboy’s Mistake

by Jackson, Mary Sue

A flicker of hope.

  Charity nodded. “Let’s meet in an hour so I have time to freshen up.”

  Did she imagine it, or did Trey bite his lip? By the time she looked at him again, his face was neutral. “Meet you back here in an hour.”

  Up in her hotel room, Charity threw her bag on the bed and dug into it. There was going to be no more kiddo tonight. She’d brought a simple black dress with a neckline that proved she was no kid, and that was what she hung in the closet to wait for her.

  She showered quickly, then lingered over her hair and makeup. The dress was the final touch, along with a pair of delicate heels.

  They weren’t on the ranch tonight.

  Charity was pleased to see Trey’s eyes pop when she walked back into the lobby of the hotel. They decided on a little place a couple of blocks away, walking there in the fading heat of the evening. He could hardly take his eyes off her. The attention made her feel tongue-tied, and she spoke with a careful precision. She wouldn’t slip back into her old lisp--or anything else that made her feel like anyone’s younger sister.

  Things seemed to go even better once she’d had a glass of wine. With his beer in front of him, Trey’s shoulders settled down away from his ears and his eyes lingered on her face a little longer than usual.

  All through dinner, Trey peppered her with questions about the auction. But Charity couldn’t stop listening to the music.

  After the meal, back out on the sidewalk, she hooked her arm through his, feeling loose and free and well-fed. Next door to the restaurant was a little club. Even from outside, she could tell that it was busy, the music pouring from the front door sultry and smooth. It made her want to swing her hips.

  “Come dance with me,” she said into Trey’s ear.

  He tensed, hesitating.

  “Come on,” she said, and dragged him bodily to the door.

  Even then, Charity knew that he had chosen to give in. He was too strong to let her take him anywhere he didn’t want to go.

  Inside the club she bought him another beer and they hovered near a standing table while he drank it. She could see it work its magic, letting his smile come easily, and when she asked him to dance a third time, he accepted.

  Charity felt like she was in a dream.

  They’d never danced together before—not at any of the school dances, not at a wedding, never—and he was good at it. His hands on her waist gave her another buzz. And as the music got hotter, he got closer.

  So close.

  So close that she thought he might lean in and kiss her. The next time she spun into the firm lines of his body she tilted up her face, an open invitation—

  But Trey didn’t take it.

  Instead, he wrapped that strong arm around her waist and pulled her away from the dance floor.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Home,” he said firmly. “Back to the hotel.”

  Charity’s body rang with anticipation. The heady rush of the wine and the dancing had suffused her with more of that what happens in Vegas mood and now anything could happen. So, what if he hadn’t kissed her on the dance floor? He was taking her back to the hotel. Her heart leaped into her throat. All those years of having a crush on Trey, and the solution had been under her nose all along. Get him out of town. Then she could have him all to herself.

  In the elevator, Trey kept his hand on the small of her back. Charity tried to breathe deeply. If this was going to happen—if they were going to sleep together—oh, this was all turning out so right.

  He paused in front of Charity’s door.

  “Got your key?”

  She fumbled in her purse, hands trembling. “Right here.”

  “All right.”

  She slipped it into the lock and waited for the click, then pushed her door open. Trey craned his neck, checking inside the room, and let her step in.

  Charity turned back, a big smile on her face, only to find him dipping his head to her. “Better turn in,” he said. “It’s an early start tomorrow. Thanks for coming to dinner with me.”

  Her heart plummeted right down to her toes. “You’re—” You’re leaving? “You’re welcome.”

  Then he was gone, stepping over to his darn door.

  Charity shut the door behind her and threw herself onto the bed.

  What was it going to take?

  Two

  It had gone well. She was sure it had gone well.

  Charity lay under the covers in her hotel room. She’d listened as Trey went into his own room and shut the door behind him. There had been one last spark of hope—maybe he’d unlock the adjoining door and come in—but she’d waited forty-five minutes, and it hadn’t happened. Finally, she’d washed off her makeup, changed into her pajamas, turned out the lights, and got into bed.

  Only she couldn’t sleep.

  So much for the wine mellowing her out. Clearly, she hadn’t had enough to help her sleep, because now she lay in the bed listening to the room’s air conditioning unit turn on and off, and on and off.

  What could she have done differently?

  The sandwiches had been good. She’d eaten her own and loved it. And she’d tried to talk to him about his own life as much as possible. She’d flirted a little bit, but carefully—keeping the tone light so she wouldn’t spook him. And it had been working. Charity was sure of it. If it hadn’t, he wouldn’t have taken her out to dinner. All right, fine—Trey would have taken her to dinner anyway, because he was that kind of guy. But he’d gone dancing with her, too. And she could have sworn that he was coming back to her room with her.

  She would not have minded. Not even a little bit.

  Charity could admit it to herself here in the dark of the room. Her old crush was still as strong and pure as the first day Austin had brought Trey over to the house. Her brother had been in middle school, and for the first time Charity had wished desperately that she was older.

  Her phone buzzed on the bedside table, and Charity reached for it, feeling another surge of hope. Maybe the message would be from him.

  But it wasn’t.

  It was from her best friend Layla.

  You out of town at the auction?

  Instead of texting back, Charity called. Layla answered on the first ring.

  “Hello, my gorgeous blonde bombshell friend.”

  Charity groaned. “Stop. I might be a bombshell, but—” The wine had loosened her lips. She had always made it a point not to moon over Trey to the point of annoying her friends, but Layla knew. They’d been best friends since fourth grade. She always knew.

  “Did your plan fail?”

  “My plan to ask for Trey to help me choose my new horse? No, it has not failed,” Charity answered primly. “He’s here in Greenville with me.”

  “But not in your hotel room, I’m guessing, since you’re on the phone with me.”

  “No.” Charity sighed. “He’s in his own room.”

  “Come on, Char. Spill the details. How was the ride?”

  “It was…fine. And frustrating. His main goal was to remind me of how I’m basically his kid sister.”

  “Bet that got your goat.”

  “I hate that saying.”

  Layla laughed. “I know you do. But it did anyway, didn’t it?”

  “Of course, it did.” The frustration moved through her again. “He took me to dinner.”

  “Oooh.” Layla’s voice sparkled. “Why didn’t you lead with that?”

  “Because it happened after he was so frustrating on the drive.” Charity rolled over and propped herself up on one elbow. “We had a perfectly nice dinner. He was a total gentleman. And then we went dancing afterward.”

  Layla inhaled sharply. “Dancing?”

  “Yes, dancing. The restaurant was next to this little club with this music…” It was almost as if Charity could hear the music right now. “It made me want to dance with somebody. It made me want to dance with him.”

  “And he said yes?”

  “Yes, and Layla…he’s
a good dancer.”

  “You know what they say about good dancers.”

  “That they take you back to your hotel room and leave you there alone?”

  “Is that really what happened?” There was a clattering noise in the background of Layla’s call.

  “Are you cooking?”

  Her friend huffed a laugh. “Baking.”

  “Wait—how did your day go?” Charity glanced at the clock. It was almost midnight. Her best friend only baked this late when things were stressing her out.

  “Oh, just a long day at the firm.” Layla had gotten out of their hometown almost the very minute they graduated. She’d been a shooting star academically in high school, and Charity wasn’t surprised at all when she flew right through her bachelor’s degree at the state college and headed to law school. Now she lived in a high-rise in downtown Chicago, working for one of the city’s most prestigious law firms. It was not an easy job. “A couple of frustrating clients.”

  “What are you baking?”

  “Chocolate cake.”

  That wasn’t so bad, then. When Layla really felt down, she tackled much more elaborate projects.

  “Mostly, I’ve been waiting to hear how things went with you.”

  Charity fell back against the pillows. “Well, I’m just laying here in bed, not sleeping.”

  “Don’t dwell on it, Char.”

  “I’m not dwelling on anything.”

  There was a clang and a scrape. “If I know you, you’re mulling over every detail of today and wondering where you went wrong.”

  “I am not—”

  “And I am here to tell you that you did nothing wrong. You’re a beautiful, charming woman with a heart of gold and even if you did trap him into coming with you on this trip—”

  “I did not trap him!”

  “—the point is that Trey Miller totally has a thing for you.”

  “He doesn’t. I think tonight proves it.”

  “Tonight proves that he’s still worried about making his best friend mad.”

  Charity rolled her eyes even though she knew Layla couldn’t see her.

  “Don’t roll your eyes at me. I know what I’m talking about. I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”

  “Practically no one has seen the way he looks at me, because Trey never looks at me. He’s always busy training horses and avoiding me.”

  “Like I said—it’s because he’s your brother’s best friend. He’s probably never thought about you as an available woman.”

  “I’ve been plenty available.”

  “Not to him,” Layla insisted. “Guys don’t just casually get with their best friend’s younger sister.”

  Charity laughed. “Oh, so that’s why I try my best to get his attention and he deflects me at every turn.”

  “He’s in that hotel right now for you, isn’t he?”

  “Well, yeah, but—”

  “And he agreed to go dancing.” There was another brush of metal on metal. Layla must have been putting the cake into the oven.

  “But when we got back here—”

  “Girl, have you seen yourself in the mirror lately? There is no way that Trey Miller didn’t want to come into your room. He’s just a man, that’s all. He's worried about slipping up.”

  “He’s too confident for that,” Charity grumbled.

  “Oh, stop. No man is totally confident when he’s faced with the prospect of getting what he’s always wanted—or losing something that really matters to him.”

  Charity couldn’t help it—she wanted to hear this from someone, that Trey’s reasons for rejecting her didn’t mean he didn’t want her. She’d like to hear it from Trey, ideally, but in the meantime, her best friend would do. “Do you really think he’s that into me?”

  “Like I’ve always said. Yes. Now, get some beauty sleep and prepare yourself for another day of showing him you’re worth it. Even if it does make your brother mad.”

  “I am worth it.”

  “You’re the hottest,” Layla said. “Goodnight.”

  * * *

  The cold water thundered over Trey’s shoulders and back. It felt like tiny shards of ice against his skin, and still—still—it couldn’t wash away all the heat rushing through his body.

  He’d had a problem on the dance floor with Charity. A hard, raging problem.

  It had started the moment she walked into the lobby in that dress.

  No—that was a lie, and he knew it. It had started years ago. He hadn’t ever allowed himself to look at her when he spent so much time with Austin. It was against the code of friendship, for one thing, and Austin would never stand for it. But then they’d graduated high school and left for the circuit, and when they came back—

  When they came back, it didn’t matter how many cold showers Trey took. Charity had gone away for horse camp in the summer and come back a tanned goddess. A woman. She’d grown up seemingly overnight and he’d found her irresistible.

  That had never changed—certainly not this morning, when she hopped into the truck with her little shorts and her tight white t-shirt and spent the entire drive leaning over as close as she could, asking him questions that it took all of his will to parry. What about when you’re hungry for something special? God. He did not think of Charity as a piece of meat, but in one sense, she was right—he was starving for her. She was the one thing he’d denied himself for years and years.

  And she was special. Just being near her lit up his heart like a Christmas tree.

  It lit up other parts of him, too.

  Hence the shower.

  What had he been thinking, taking her out to that little restaurant? The mood lighting had been enough to make him want to rush her back to the hotel then and there. He’d been ready to until she begged him to go dancing. And in that dress, with those blue eyes, and that body, he couldn’t say no.

  It was a betrayal. She was his best friend’s little sister. Austin had done so much for him over the years that he could never take that step. He was disgusted with himself for not being able to turn off the wanting.

  Trey turned in place under the water, forcing himself to stay under the stream. He could not be attracted to her like this. He couldn’t be savoring every single moment they spent together. Even if they were out of town, he shouldn’t be agreeing to take her dancing. He shouldn’t have put his hands on her waist like that and pulled her in so close that she tried to kiss him.

  Or had he tried to kiss her?

  It was hard to say.

  Either way, it was all wrong.

  Trey slapped shampoo into his hair and rubbed it through, furious with himself. It was a losing battle, and he knew it. He’d known it since the day she’d come home from that horse camp. He and Austin had been sitting at the Millers’ kitchen table together when their truck pulled into the driveway and an all-new Charity hopped out.

  He’d never seen her wear shorts like that. He’d never known her to have the courage to tie her shirt at her midriff and expose her belly button. He watched out the window as Mr. Miller chided her to put something else on, and she tossed her head back and laughed. The outfits for the final show at horse camp had been something else, and Charity was clearly reveling in it.

  Finally, he was showered and freezing and couldn’t stand in the water another second.

  It had done nothing to cool him off. He still wanted her, more than ever.

  And now she was just on the other side of the thin wall dividing their rooms. All it would take was knocking on the connecting door. The way she’d smiled with him today made him certain that if he did, she would open it right away.

  He pulled on a pair of boxer shorts and a t-shirt. The door taunted him. One lock. One door. One knock. That’s all it would take…

  Trey could hear her talking through the wall.

  Her voice hooked at something in his heart and he had to resist the urge to press his ear up to the wall. It was thin enough that he could hear the low murmur of her voice, but not t
he actual words. A phone call? A hot stab of jealousy went through him. She couldn’t be talking to another man, could she?

  Well, even if she was, it wasn’t his business.

  He stalked over to the other end of the hotel room and flopped down on the loveseat. Just then, his phone rang. He picked it up and answered it without looking.

  “Trey Cantor.”

  “How formal.” His best friend Austin’s drawl broke him away from his thoughts about Charity. “How’re you doing, Mr. Cantor?”

  “Just fine,” he said carefully. “How was the rodeo tonight?”

  “Took home first.” Austin rarely bragged, so he delivered this news in the same tone a person might use to say that it was sunny out. “Should be back in town tomorrow, if you want to grab a beer.”

  Trey cursed under his breath.

  “I’ll have to take a rain check. I’m not in town this weekend.”

  “You’re not?” Trey could hear people in the background. Austin must be calling him on the way to a bar, or an afterparty. “Thought you’d be busy training.”

  “I’m in Greenville for a horse auction. Charity wanted me to come along."

  “Oh, yeah?” There was a pause. “It’s a good thing she’ll have an extra set of eyes. She’s got to pick the best horse.”

  Trey let out a sigh of relief. Austin clearly had his head still in the rodeo, or he’d be asking other questions about whether Trey really had the time to be there. Just last week they’d had a conversation about how Trey had a full load for the summer and might have to hire an extra person to help out with the chores.

  Austin cleared his throat on the other end of the line. “Are you at least staying someplace decent?”

  “In separate rooms,” he said hastily.

  “All right.” The relief in his friend’s voice was clear as day. After that, they chatted for another minute or two about Austin's competition.

  “Glad to hear you won, buddy.”

  “Me too. Next week on the beer, then?”

  “As long as you’re around.”

  “Be around until Wednesday. I’m assuming you won’t be buying horses until then.”

  “Nope.” Trey gave an exaggerated yawn. “Auction starts bright and early tomorrow, though. Congrats again on the win.”