Cowboy Daddy

by Hannah McBride

  Ashleigh caught it, her mouth still open slightly, totally in awe of the fact that she was going to be wearing one of Rico Fernandez’s shirts. There were thousands of girls all over the world who probably dreamed about scenarios like this and now here she was, living it. And all because of some spilt coffee. It was like a dream.

  “It might be a little big for you, but it’s better than being in something wet and dirty.”

  Wet and dirty. Just those words were sending her mind to places they probably shouldn’t go.

  “No, no, this is totally fine.” She smiled and glanced at the shirt. Just a simple, faded red Dolce & Gabbana.

  “The shower’s through here…” He took a few paces and opened up a small door that led to a tiny bathroom with a toilet, sink, and shower.

  “Thank you so much,” she smiled and began to walk over.

  “I’m so sorry,” he suddenly shook his head. “I forgot my manners. I don’t even know your name.”

  “Oh, it’s uh…it’s Ashleigh.” She blushed and held out her other hand for a shake – the one that wasn’t holding his T-shirt.

  “Ashleigh. That’s a pretty name. I’m Rico.”

  Well, she knew that already, but of course she didn’t say that. She simply shook his hand and mumbled, “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “You too,” he grinned. “So, what’s your job on the shoot?”

  “Oh, I’m just a runner,” she answered with a blush.

  “Never say you’re just a runner.” Rico pulled a sad face, looking at her with an expression that made her knees weak. “Everyone starts out somewhere, and with a pretty face like yours, you were made for the screen.”

  And now she blushed even deeper. It seemed that all she did since meeting Rico was feel her cheeks turn red. She could see why everyone called him a charmer and said he had a way with the ladies. He certainly knew the right words to say.

  “I…” she stammered. Apparently the same couldn’t be said for Ashleigh, finding herself physically lost for words and not knowing how to reply. “It’s my first time in LA,” she blurted out. “Never done this kind of thing before.”

  “I’m sure you’re doing a great job,” he smiled at her reassuringly. His face looked so warm and happy, she almost believed him. Those sparkling dark pools of eyes that she could so easily get lost in. “What made you want to do it?”

  She was so caught up in him that for a moment she didn’t realize another question had been asked of her. It was one she’d been asked many times since her arrival in Hollywood. Everyone wanted to know who she was, where she’d come from, how she got into doing stuff like this, what her plans were. But she didn’t mind answering, especially not when it was Rico asking the questions.

  “I’ve always wanted to work in movies,” she admitted quietly. “Before this I was a personal trainer but…”

  “I can tell! You look super fit.” His eyes glanced her up and down but not in a creepy way. He was charming and flirtatious. Or maybe she was just imagining things. He was probably just being friendly and she was reading too much into it, letting her imagination run wild as usual.

  “Thank you,” she mumbled, then continued her story as he remained silent and expectant, obviously wanting to hear more. “Well…I quit my job at the gym to come and do this. Maybe I’ll go get it back again once the shoot is over.”

  “No, you’re done with that life now,” he insisted. “Your place is in Hollywood. I bet you’ve got bags of talent.”

  “I’m not sure about that.”

  “You want to act?”

  “I’d love to.”

  “Well, you’ve come to the right place.” He grinned and gave her a light squeeze on the shoulder before turning away. “I’ll leave you to use the shower.”

  “Thank you,” she smiled at his retreating back, still clutching at his T-shirt and wondering how she’d managed to get herself into this situation. Thank God for spilled cups of coffee.

  The conversation done and assuming Rico was going to head off back to set and leave her to shower and get changed alone, she headed into the bathroom and closed the door.

  Being a trailer, it wasn’t the biggest bathroom in the world, just small enough to serve its purpose, so it was a little cramped getting undressed, her arms banging against the sides of the wall slightly as she took her wet shirt off. It really did look pretty see-through, how embarrassing. She wondered whether he’d looked at her bra.

  She removed that too and dropped it onto the floor, draping Rico’s shirt over the edge of the sink to make sure it didn’t get wet.

  Once she’d removed the rest of her clothes, she turned on the shower and stood there naked, waiting for it to warm up and checking her appearance in the mirror. She’d put a little bit of makeup on that morning, just a touch around her eyes and lips. It helped with her confidence. She smiled slightly to herself, feeling giddy about being in Rico Fernandez’s trailer, about to get into his shower! Was her life even real?

  She giggled a little then finally got in under the hot water. It felt pretty nice to just stand there and let it wash down over her, and she felt in such a good mood that she began to sing, just quietly at first, but eventually getting louder until she was having a good ol’ little bop to herself in the shower.

  She got out about five minutes later, and wrapped herself in a towel, then picked up all her dry clothes and pushed the door open, walking out into the main part of the caravan again.

  She was expecting it to be empty.

  But to her surprise, and once again, utter embarrassment, Rico was standing there, almost in the same spot where she’d seen him turn and walk away.

  Standing there, just staring at her, his mouth slightly open.

  Chapter Seven

  “Oh my God! I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize you were still here,” Ashleigh gasped in surprise, standing there in just her towel and feeling all exposed, even more so at the thought that Rico had potentially heard her singing. How long had he been there? Did he even leave the trailer at all or had he been there the whole time? Why did she even assume he was leaving in the first place? Oh God, what an idiot she was.

  So many thoughts were running through her head in that split second, but Rico just fixed her with one of his laid back, easy smiles, his pretty, smooth cheeks creasing up as he grinned at her.

  “Hey, that was amazing!”

  She was confused for a moment, unsure what he was even talking about or referring to, so she just stood there, gawping.

  “Your singing,” he continued, elaborating. “It was fantastic.”

  Ashleigh started and stammered at the compliment, overawed. “O-oh, I…well…th-thank you, it was…it was really nothing. Just silly shower singing.” She shrugged, still standing there, dripping.

  “It wasn’t just that,” Rico shook his head, looking into her eyes seriously. “I swear, Ashleigh. You’re gonna be one to watch.”

  “Thank you. Again. That’s…honestly, that’s really amazing coming from a guy like you, with so much talent and–”

  “I couldn’t sing like that,” he interrupted, still staring at her. Then he bit his lip and turned away. “Listen, I’m gonna leave you to get changed in peace, go and get myself another coffee but…” He hesitated and turned back to her. “I’ve got no plans for tonight and I was wondering…maybe we could grab some dinner. I could show you a little of LA. Or at least, my favorite restaurant?”

  He looked at her with hope in his glimmering eyes, and her heart nearly stopped in her chest.

  Was he…was Rico Fernandez asking her to dinner? As in…a dinner date? Was it a date? No, just dinner, right? As friends. She tried to tell herself that. It wouldn’t make sense otherwise.

  She realized Rico was still waiting for an answer.

  “I would love to,” she grinned broadly, probably from ear to ear. “That would be amazing.”

  “Great,” he returned the big smile. “Well, it’s gonna be a late-ish kinda shoot tonight I think but, as
soon as we’re wrapped, and I’ve had chance to go back and get changed, I’ll call for you. What hotel are you staying at?”

  Ashleigh quickly gave him the details and then, as promised, he left her alone in his trailer so she could get dressed and mentally take on board what had just happened.

  Once she was alone, she squealed and jumped in the air, the towel dropping from around her, leaving her standing there naked.

  Oops. Good job he wasn’t still in the room.

  She quickly grabbed it before anyone could see through the window, and then pulled down the blinds and got changed, slipping into Rico’s oversized shirt. It felt comfortable and soft on her skin, and she raised it up to her nostrils, sniffing slightly.

  She wasn’t sure what he smelt like. She hadn’t exactly gotten close enough to know, but if it was anything like what his shirt smelled of, she had no complaints.

  “Mm…” She let out a soft noise and closed her eyes, smiling to herself. It was like a mixture of coconut, cinnamon, and vanilla. Heavenly. Perhaps she’d get chance to smell more of it later that evening.

  She glanced at the time, knowing she should probably get back to work. It was only her second day and she’d just spent half an hour in Rico’s trailer; she really hoped Sally hadn’t come looking for her to do a job. She didn’t want to be in trouble.

  She hurriedly grabbed her dirty, wet shirt and left the trailer sheepishly, closing the door behind her and rushing across the courtyard into the main studio building. Thankfully, no one except the catering staff saw her and they were too busy prepping for lunch.

  She managed to get to the office without anyone noticing, and stuffed the shirt into an empty plastic bag.

  She was just settling back down to her work when Sally knocked on the door and told her it was time to get some food.

  The rest of the day went without a hitch. She didn’t see Rico at lunch, or at any point throughout the afternoon. She did glance over at his trailer a couple of times and wonder whether he was in there, but mostly she was kept busy with her work and didn’t have too much time to think of him, rushed off her feet doing all kinds of tasks. It was the best thing for her, the best way to be, because as soon as she had a spare moment to herself, her mind wandered and she couldn’t help daydreaming about what dinner would be like that evening, nervous about what to wear and what she would say to him, and what his intentions were by taking her out like this.

  When the sandwiches and cakes were served at 5pm, she only had a couple, wanting to save her appetite for later, and by 6:30pm, she couldn’t wait for the day to be over, starting to feel anxious and excited about their dinner date, and just wanting it to come.

  Eventually, they wrapped for the day and she was given a ride back to her hotel.

  Although Tim tried to make conversation and ask her how her second day had gone, Ashleigh found that she could barely answer or keep up. She was super distracted and just mumbled her responses until Tim got the idea and stopped talking, the ride falling into a comfortable silence as they listened to the radio and Ashleigh gazed out the window.

  When they arrived back at her hotel, she apologized for her silence, explaining that she was tired and it had been a long day.

  “It’s totally fine, I get it, don’t worry,” Tim grinned at her, watching as she got out the car. “I’ll see you Monday, bright and early.” They had a day off the following day, which would be nice; it meant she could go out late with Rico that evening and not have to worry about getting up really early.

  She smiled and waved goodbye to Tim, then jogged into her hotel and took to the stairs. The elevator still wasn’t working, although the guy on reception promised her it would be fixed within the next week.

  Her main concern now was what to wear.

  She had no idea what time Rico would be picking her up, or what kind of place he would be taking her to.

  All he’d said was that it would be ‘somewhere nice’ and his favorite restaurant. She couldn’t imagine a man like Rico Fernandez eating in some diner or cheap burger bar or chain. It was obviously (probably) going to be something fancy. It was good she’d brought a couple of her dresses with her; the ones she liked to use when she went out singing back at home.

  She got them out of the wardrobe and held them up against her body, posing, turning left and right, trying to figure out which one would look best and finally deciding on a simple, but flattering black dress. It came just above her knee, and showed off a little bit of cleavage, which wasn’t much anyway considering her relatively small cup size, but at least it made her feel attractive.

  Once she was changed, she pulled up a chair in front of the mirror and applied some makeup, humming to herself and keeping her eye on the time. She was rushing a little. She didn’t want him to suddenly arrive before she was ready.

  She was just finishing her lipstick when her phone rang, from an unknown number.

  They hadn’t exchanged contact details, but she knew her name and phone number would be right there on the call sheet, the one that every member of the cast and crew had a copy of. Finding her number would be the easiest thing in the world for him.

  Nervously, she snatched up the phone off the bed and answered it.

  Rico’s deep sexy, slightly accented Puerto Rican voice came down the phone. “Oh hey, is that Ashleigh?”

  “It is. Hi, Rico.”

  “Hey. I’m outside your hotel right now.”

  “Great. I’m ready, I’ll be right down.”

  “See you in a bit.”

  He hung up, and suddenly this whole thing felt even more real. Her stomach was flipping around so fast she felt like throwing up.

  She slipped her feet into a set of comfortable, modest heels, picked up her handbag and room key, and began to make her way downstairs.

  Chapter Eight

  Ashleigh was expecting Rico to be sitting out the front in some kind of posh, flashy sports car, maybe even with the top down, probably a bright color like red, yellow, or blue. Maybe luminous green. The seats would be leather and plush, and everything would be state of the art, probably with a personalized number plate too.

  She wasn’t sure why she expected him to be such a cliché movie star, but she was rather glad when she got outside and saw something completely different.

  A motorbike.

  She was surprised at the size of plates, and Rico started chuckling at her expression. He was standing there, in front of the bike, leaning up against it slightly with his arms folded, looking all cool and suave.

  He was dressed smartly too, in a suit, but with a leather biking jacket over the top, so she was glad she opted for the dress.

  “Wow…you look great,” he smiled, glancing her up and down, his eyes roaming freely as he checked out her figure.

  She blushed a little and looked at him coyly as she approached, still too overawed at the motorbike to fret over the compliments just yet.

  “Don’t worry,” he added, noticing her looking at it. “I brought you a helmet.” And at that, he reached over and lifted up a compartment right at the back, delving his hand in and producing a spare helmet for her.

  She took it from his hands in a bit of a daze.

  “Have you ever ridden a bike before?”

  She shook her head.

  “Here, let me help you.” He gently took the helmet back and then carefully lifted up onto her head. “I’m really sorry if I mess up your hair a little.”

  “Oh, it’s okay, it’s short anyway,” she laughed, her voice becoming slightly muffled once the helmet was on. The interior was soft and smelt a little like the shirt she was wearing earlier – Rico’s shirt.

  Once hers was safely secure, he put his own helmet on and swung one leg over the bike, mounting it.

  “Get on behind me and hold onto my waist,” he instructed, and she did as she was told, having to hoist up her dress to get her leg over. It wasn’t exactly the most flattering position in the world, but thankfully her dress wasn’t that short, so wh
en it rode up, it didn’t completely show off her knickers, although it did expose a lot more of her thigh.

  She placed her hands on Rico’s waist.

  He turned around to look at her. She couldn’t see his expression through the helmet but when he spoke, shouting a bit to be heard through the muffle of fabric from inside, it sounded like he was laughing, or at the very least he must’ve been grinning.

  “Are you ready to take her for a spin?”

  “Totally!”

  He revved up the engine, probably more for dramatic effect than anything, because when he set off, it was actually pretty slow at first.

  She soon saw that having a bike around LA was definitely beneficial, however. When the traffic came to a standstill, Rico just weaved in and out of the cars, and took them straight to the top of the stoplights.

  He didn’t drive too fast or recklessly, but it still felt quick compared to other cars they were whizzing past, and with the warm night air rushing along her bare skin, Ashleigh found the whole thing rather exhilarating.

  By the time they arrived at the restaurant, her heart was pounding – and not with pre-date nerves, but with adrenaline.

  Rico found a place to park and they both dismounted the bike, removing their helmets.

  Ashleigh was grinning from ear to ear, her eyes sparkling with excitement and delight. “That was amazing!” She gushed, passing Rico the spare helmet back.

  “Yeah?” He laughed. “You enjoyed it? You handled it pretty well for a first ride. Some people get scared.”

  “No, it wasn’t scary, it was great!”

  “Ha. You’re a pretty cool girl, you know that? You’re interesting.” He smiled at her warmly, looking into her eyes a moment, then he put both the helmets away and switched on the alarm on his bike. “Come on. Let’s go inside,” he said, offering her his arm for her to link.

  She slipped hers into his, and smoothed down her hair a bit with her other, glancing about her slightly as they began to walk into the restaurant. She could barely believe that she was stepping inside a lavish LA restaurant on the arm of Rico Fernandez. She wondered if anyone would recognize them, see them together. What if some press snapped a photo of them and it got splashed all over the place? Oh God. Was it inappropriate for her to be eating out with him? She hoped she wouldn’t get into trouble.