Cowboy 12 Pack
Page 87
“…and her voice was so shrill, we had to dub it over.” Steele laughed. “She looks so sexy, but when she opened her mouth…” His gaze shot to Reno then to Tracy, and his unique gray-green eyes popped wide.
Reno glanced at her friend. Tracy smiled at the country star, putting every ounce of her sexy acting talent behind the look. Wow, what man could resist that?
Steele gestured to them. “We have company.” He stepped around two other men to stand beside Tracy. “Ladies, welcome.” He looked at them with those gorgeous eyes. Dark haired and very muscular, Steele’s star quality mesmerized Reno, and she could see why Tracy had a fascination for this man.
Chase winked at Reno and moved close beside her. “Miss Reno, Miss Tracy, let me introduce you.” He made introductions, Reno and Tracy shook hands with the three actors and Steele. Reno greeted them, but Tracy was strangely silent.
Steele tipped his head, looking at Tracy. “What role did you play in the movie?”
“I was the sister.” Tracy pitched her voice high and nasal. “I had very few speaking parts.”
Steele’s eyes went wide, then a grin curved his lips and a loud laugh burst from his lungs. “Tracy, honey, I’ve seen you act before.” He took her hand and pressed her knuckles to his lips. “I know damn well what your sexy voice sounds like.”
She smiled and leaned closer to him. “But what if…” She spoke in her normal, sensual tone. “That wasn’t my real voice, and I actually do sound like an off-key mouse?”
Taking her elbow, the country star stared at her, looking like he wanted to scoop her up and carry her off.
Tracy leaned a tiny bit closer to Steele, her champagne glass quivering in her hand.
Reno looked up at Chase. He dragged his gaze from Steele and Tracy and waggled his brows.
One of the actors cleared his throat. “Looks like we’re out of luck here, guys.” The other two actors laughed, and all three of them wandered off.
Steele seemed to come out of his trance. Glancing at Reno, he still held Tracy’s arm. “So you’re the woman Chase has been talking about nonstop.”
She looked up at her cowboy, feeling a blush rise. “All good things, I hope.”
Steele nodded. “Of course.” He stepped a fraction closer to Tracy, and she leaned in just an inch. Amazing how they clicked so quickly. “How did you get into writing?”
Reno gave the condensed version and talked a little about screenplay writing. “How did you get into music?”
Steele shrugged. “Fell into it. My dad…” His face tightened and his brows dropped. He looked at Chase and the two shared a meaningful stare. Steele smiled at Reno. “Dad and Mom had a band that traveled around Texas and Louisiana, and my sister and I went with when we weren’t in school. Learned every part of the business.”
“Does your sister sing, too?” Tracy sipped her champagne.
His gaze dropped to Tracy’s face. “No. I guess the intensive immersion turned her away from music. She’s married and has a baby on the way.”
“Congratulations.” Reno and Tracy said it at the same time.
Steele and Tracy stared into each other’s eyes, and Reno knew she wouldn’t be getting any more out of him.
Chase rubbed his hand up and down Reno’s back, warming her deep inside as he tipped his head down to her ear. “Wanna get out of here?”
“I don’t want to leave Tracy alone.” Tracy and Steele conversed quietly.
Chase caught Steele’s gaze. “He’s a good guy. She’s safe with him.”
Tracy turned toward them. “Go, you two. Be together. It’s your last night.” She put her arms out and stepped toward Reno.
A burn of emotion clogged Reno’s throat “Thanks, Tracy.” Her words croaked as she hugged her friend. “I’ll miss you.”
“No, you won’t.” Tracy sniffed back tears. “I’m going to visit you in South Dakota as soon as it’s warm enough to be outside without dressing like an Eskimo.”
Reno laughed. “I’ll text you when it gets above eighty.”
“And I’ll be watching the weather to make sure you do.”
Reno said goodbye to Steele and turned into Chase’s arms.
He got them heading toward the exit. “It was a long day without you.”
If he got mushy on her, she would break down and… “Can we get out of here quickly?”
“Exactly what I was thinking.” He pulled her through the partiers, not giving anyone more than a few seconds to say goodbye.
Chase knew that was exactly what she needed. Just quick goodbyes and air kisses then a few last minutes with him.
His sports car sat in front of the house and they jumped in. He squealed the tires out of the driveway and slowed to cruise along the quiet neighborhood streets.
On a flat stretch, he took her hand. “Reno.” His brow furrowed, but he didn’t say more.
She watched his profile as they meandered past million dollar houses. The quiet time together was what she wanted, yet so poignant it hurt. She’d miss him. Her phone beeped in her purse, and she let out a small cry. “That’s my reminder. I have to get to the airport.”
At a spot with a view of a canyon, Chase pulled over. He tightened his grip on her hand. “One more day, Reno. I promise I’ll make it worth the cost of another plane ticket.” His gaze shot to hers, and with every pulse through her veins, she wished she could stay with him.
Chapter Nine
‡
CHASE GRITTED HIS teeth and fought the urge to steal her away. He wasn’t ready to let her go.
Reno stared at him, her eyes sad, her mouth curled down in a frown. Her hand smoothed over his cheek. “I want to. I wish I could.” She pressed her lips together for a long moment. “But the studio is flying me home in one of their jets.” She swallowed hard. “On their way to Canada to pick up some execs who are fishing, or hunting, or something.” She glanced away. “My luggage is already on the plane.”
He opened his mouth to say he’d arrange for another flight, retrieve her luggage.
She squeezed his hand. “Please, don’t try to convince me. I have a meeting with my agent tomorrow morning, and…” She sucked in a choppy breath. “Putting it off is just going to make things harder. I need to get home.”
“All right.” He released her hand. His brain understood that this had to happen, but his chest ached with the unfairness of having no choice but to let her go. He lit up the tires for a few seconds. Childish, but effective in reducing his anger.
Both of them sat silently as he drove to the airport and found the studio’s hangar.
He wanted to argue. To swing a U-turn and kidnap her. To beg for one more day. She was right, though. The closer they got to each other now, the harder it would be when they were apart.
He helped her out of the car and walked her to the plane’s steps. This was tough. He didn’t know how to say goodbye.
She turned and attempted a wavering smile then broke down and flung herself into his arms. “I’ll miss you, Chase.”
A clod of emotion lodged in his throat. “Yeah, me too.” He blinked to keep himself together. She felt too damn good in his arms. This was where she belonged.
“Okay.” She caught her breath and squared her shoulders, pushing back from him. “Goodbye.” She leaned in for a kiss.
He grabbed her, tipping her sideways and kissing her hard, desperately. He wanted every inch of her, just one more time. He slowed the kiss. It wasn’t meant to be. Not today, maybe not soon, but he had hopes for them, and he would never let them die.
When he set her up straight, she listed to the left, and he caught her. “Goodbye, Reno.”
She stood a moment, her fist clenching the fabric of his shirt. Looking down at her hand, she flattened her palm over the wrinkles, turned, and climbed the stairs.
He tucked his hands in his jeans pockets as her shadow passed the plane’s windows until she took a seat and looked out at him. As the plane taxied away, her hand pressed on the glass.
; “It won’t be long.” He made the sentence a vow as he headed back to his car.
*
THREE DAYS LATER, Reno trekked through heavy falling snow. Her snowshoes strained their bindings, thick with the wet, sticky stuff. Her legs ached, but the exercise felt great. She topped the last hillock in the bare wheat field as the sky darkened with twilight. It was downhill the rest of the way to her house.
As she got closer, she spotted a big, black SUV in the driveway, covered with an inch of snow. “Huh.” Did her brother have a new vehicle? She trudged forward, a dozen thoughts going through her mind. Was it the FBI? Her heart skipped a beat—Chase?
She pushed herself faster, her stomach knotting and her head spinning as she imagined racing into his arms, pressing her lips to his…
Then she saw him. Standing on her porch in the last of the daylight. Her ex-boyfriend, Drake Blastad. Or “bastard,” as she preferred to call him.
Her body drained of adrenaline and she nearly slumped to the ground. Why the hell did it have to be him?
She walked out of the deep snow onto the plowed driveway, and up to the foot of the stairs. Unbuckling her snowshoes, she slid out of them, picked them up, and thwacked them together to shake loose the snow. Drake was the last man she wanted to see.
She looked at him. The cocky ass. Just showing up at her home without an invitation. Without warning.
He stared at her, his annoying grin as firmly in place as his wavy blond hair. “Hi.”
She nodded, climbed the stairs, and hung her snowshoes on nails in the horizontal logs.
He turned to follow her movement. “Can we talk?”
She dusted the snow off her powder blue jacket and pink hat and mittens. Outside the covered porch, the snow fell steadily, creating a silence that made it seem as though they were the only people on earth. She’d let him say what he had to say then he could get the hell out of her life.
Crossing her arms over her chest, she lifted a brow. “Talk.”
His eyes opened wide. “This might take more than a few seconds.” He shivered. “Can we go inside?”
“No.” She didn’t want him in her home. This past year, she’d worked damn hard to build a wall between her heart and the memory of him, and she didn’t need any reminders of the hell he put her through.
“Reno, I think you will be interested in what I have to tell you. I pulled some strings, and I might be able to get you a teaching position.”
“I have a teaching position.”
He snorted. “Adult education classes? In South Dakota? You’re better than that.”
Her eyes narrowed. She had let him guide her career for two years, critiquing her last book from a soulful tale of a struggling family into a piece of literary fluff, well received by critics, but not by the buying public.
She had let him modify and polish her personality to fit into his world of snooty scholars, promising her it was the best career path for her. He went so far as to try to change her speech patterns, teaching her how he modified his voice tone and chose words to make himself seem more refined. It had taken her a while, but she’d wised up. Her job as an adult ed teacher was as important to her as her writing career.
He waited a few minutes and when she didn’t move, he stepped to her door and opened it, gesturing for her to go in ahead of him.
She pursed her lips. Damn it, why didn’t she ever lock it? She stomped into the house and he followed, shutting the door. She turned to him and waited, keeping her jacket on and letting her boots drip snow onto the mat, hoping he’d take the hint and leave quickly.
He fidgeted, his way of showing annoyance. “Okay. I see how it’s going to be. You’re not going to give me an inch of breathing room.” He stepped toward her.
She stood her ground, glaring.
“But you’re going to listen to me. I’m concerned about you and I want to make sure you know what you’re getting into.”
Her forehead creased as she tried to fit the puzzle of his words together. Getting into? With adult education classes? “What are you talking about?”
“This man you’re seeing. Chase Tanner.”
“What?” How the hell…? Her mouth hung open and she snapped it closed.
He reached into the breast pocket of his navy pea coat and pulled out a tabloid. “This is you, isn’t it?”
She took the rag. A picture of her gazing raptly at Chase brought heat to her face. “Yes. That’s me.” Sneaky asshole paparazzi. The caption read, “Chase Tanner Sweet-Talking a Pretty Filly.”
“Filly.” She snorted. “Do I really look like a horse?”
“Reno, I know that you and I didn’t end well.”
His words tore open the dark place inside her where she’d stored all her anger. She let her voice rise. “We didn’t end at all. You left me standing with a group of your friends while you sauntered out of the gala with another woman.”
He had the decency to look ashamed. For about three seconds. “I did phone to apologize, but you didn’t take my call.”
She snorted. “Yes, three days later.”
“I didn’t mean it to happen. We hit it off and got carried away.” He took back the tabloid, pointed to the picture. “This is—”
“Hold on.” He wasn’t changing the subject. “Carried away to Vegas? Amazing.” She crossed her arms, but it had to look silly with her puffy coat and pink mittens. “Are you still married to her?”
“Her name is Celeste, and yes, we’re together.”
“Of course you are. She’s a critic for a major newspaper. You’re a writer. She can do so much more for your career than I ever could.”
His face grew red and his breath huffed out sharply, resembling a teapot about to boil. “That’s not what it’s about. And I did not mean to hurt you.”
She opened her mouth to spout more of the sarcastic bile she’d rehearsed for the day she finally ran into him.
“I still consider you a friend.” He cut her off. “A very important part of my life. And this man…” He backhanded the tabloid. “He’s not the right person for you.”
“Why? What can you possibly know about him?” This ought to be good.
“I know he’s not in your social strata. He’s handsome and charming, but his lifestyle is not compatible with yours.”
“That seems biased.” He hadn’t been an elitist while they were dating, but then, they’d never frequented events that were not literary-related.
“Can you see yourself with him at writers’ award dinners or scriptwriters’ galas?”
No, she couldn’t. Chase wouldn’t be uncomfortable in those situations, but he’d be bored to death. Heck, some of the speeches even made her drowsy. But no one had the right to tell her whom she should date. “Who the hell are you to come back into my life and give me advice?”
“A man who knows you. Well.”
She pointed to the door. “I’ve heard enough. Goodbye.” She bent and unlaced her boots and slipped her feet out of them then pulled off her wet stocking cap and mittens, shoving them into her coat pockets. She took off her coat and hung it on the rack.
Drake hadn’t moved. “Reno. Why are you so contrary?”
She faced him, shoulders squared. “Contrary?” Her hands fisted. “You say you know me, but you do not know anything about me. Instead of getting to know me, you tried to remake me into what you wanted me to be. Luckily Celeste happened and I was able to escape.” She gestured to the door. “That’s your cue to exit.”
He stared for a few minutes as if he didn’t recognize her. “Reno, I’m sorry. That’s all in the past. It’s your future I’m concerned about.”
How was he able to turn things around so effectively that she felt like the one who was wrong? “Do not concern yourself with my relationship with Chase.”
He let out a breath and tipped his head. “Please, at least let me tell you about the teaching opportunity.”
“Is there a teaching job? Or was that just a way for you to get in the door?”
/>
“There is a teaching job. It’s a grant awarded to a creative writing professional. It covers all expenses for four months—overseas—and it pays a salary.” His lips curved into a smile. “They need someone who can start in five weeks. Since it’s mid-school year, there are very few teachers available to apply. Fewer yet who have a literary background and speak French. And, you’ll love this, I have some input into the choice of candidates.”
He knew her weakness. “Tell me.”
“Could I please have a cup of tea? I’m frozen solid.”
If a cup of tea was the price she’d have to pay to hear about the job, she’d make herself put up with him for a half an hour. She sighed and stomped into the kitchen. Behind her, he took off his shoes, dropping them to the floor. His coat rustled as he hung it on the creaky old rack.
She set two mugs of water to cook in the microwave and turned to watch him. He headed to the fireplace and put logs on the embers. Like he’d done a hundred times while they were together. Holed up here writing in their separate corners.
“Don’t get too comfortable, Drake.”
“You’re not going to let me stay?” He gestured toward the door. “There’s a storm coming.”
She glanced out the window. The sky had darkened since they stepped inside, and the snow came down heavier. “You’re not staying. You’ve got four-wheel drive.”
“Fine.” He strolled to the couch and sat. “I’ll make this fast, then. There’s a last-minute vacancy for a fiction writer teaching graduate students. I can help you secure it.”
“Hmm.” Her lips pursed and her eyes narrowed. Did she trust this man? Teaching college students was her ultimate aspiration, and he knew that. “Does your wife know you’re here?”
He sat back and spread an arm across the top of the couch. “Yes, she does. We can get her on speaker phone if you’d like.”
“She trusts you?” She let out a humorless laugh. “Foolish woman.”
“Yes, she trusts me.” He breathed slowly and loudly a few times.
Reno remembered him doing that when they fought. Which was a lot. Two writers trying to build a relationship, jealousy and competitiveness became high hurdles to overcome.