Cowgirl Fever (Novak Springs Book 1)

by Dawn Brower

  Dallas walked outside and headed her off along the path. When she looked up and saw him standing there, she stopped dead in her tracks. She looked like she couldn’t decide if she wanted to turn around and walk back where she came or to continue on her current path. She pulled her lip between her teeth and bit down with indecision spreading through her green eyes. After she made a decision, it became evident as she continued toward him with a purposeful stride. Once she reached him, she stopped and looked directly into his eyes. “Please tell me you have coffee. I would sell my soul for a cup.”

  Dallas couldn’t help but laugh at her begging him for a simple cup of coffee. The question was how to use it to his best advantage. She said she would sell her soul for one cup. Surely she would give him something a little less valuable in the grand scheme of things. A smile grew on his face when he realized what he was going to get from her. “I might. I’d even be willing to give you a cup, for a price of course.”

  Frustration lacing through her voice, Ginnifer said, “I already offered up my soul. Being one of hell’s demons, I figured that’d be payment enough to give your boss for a piece of heaven.”

  The smirk on his face should have been a warning for her to run; luckily for Dallas she didn’t take the hint. “Well a piece of heaven might be worth your soul, but I wouldn’t be giving that up for anyone. I want you all to myself. So it’s a good thing I don’t work for anyone but me. Give the devil his due, darlin’, I’m needing a little heaven of my own, and your soul alone won’t get the job done.”

  Ginnifer took a step back away from him and glared up into his eyes. “I don’t have the time or patience to play right now. Please have a heart and gimme some damn coffee. It would be my preference to not snarl at every living creature today.”

  Dallas took a step toward her and leaned in close with his eyes mere inches away from hers. “I’m not a giving person. If you want something from me, I expect a payment of equal value. I’m willing to make a deal and give you one of the best damn cups of coffee this ranch has to offer. Say the word and it can be all yours.”

  “What do you want for a freaking cup of coffee?”

  His eyes raked over her body, his desire shining through. Her tongue darted out of her mouth, and she licked her bottom lip. The corner of his mouth turned upward into a cocky smile. Oh yes, he was going to get exactly what he wanted from his Gin today. “Well do you want a piece of heaven?” he asked her.

  She nodded her head in agreement, sarcasm filling her voice. “I want some caffeine pumping through my veins. That’s my own personal heaven at this time of day.”

  With his voice growing a bit husky, Dallas said, “I bet I could get your blood pumping in other ways, and because I’m so altruistic, I’m willing to give you both.”

  “What the hell are you getting at? Didn’t I mention already I’m not a morning person?”

  He leaned in and whispered in her ear, “Don’t worry, darlin’, we’ll fix that soon enough. Are you prepared to give me what I want?”

  She glared at him and stomped her foot. “Quit playing games with me and give me what I want, damn it.”

  He grabbed her and pulled her into his arms. “Well all you had to do was ask nicely.” He leaned into her as she looked up at him in shock. Her mouth gaped open in surprise, and he took the opportunity to swoop in and claim it as his own. Glossy lips with the taste of strawberries and cream filled his mouth, and he couldn’t get enough. He pulled her closer, intertwining her tongue with his. No protest came from her. She lifted her arms up, wrapping them around his neck, and rested her hands at the base of his neck. Her fingers wandered up and raked through his hair on the back of his head. He took the opportunity to explore her face with his lips, trailing kisses across her cheeks and sucking her neck below her ear. She sighed in his ear as she relaxed in his embrace. He drew back and looked in her lust-filled gaze. It wouldn’t take long at all to have her in every way he wanted.

  He pulled away from her, and his arms felt empty without her lush figure filling them. “Now how about that cup of coffee?”

  Ginnifer reached up and slapped him across the face. “Damn you, why couldn’t you have given me the coffee without groping me first?”

  His laugh rumbled loudly over the quietness of the morning. “What fun would that be? Come inside and have a cup. I think you need some time to adjust.”

  “Clearly you are losing your mind. You’re in need of a reality check. Give me some damn coffee before I get the urge to slap you again.”

  “Darlin’, if you go slapping me again, you best be prepared for something else afterward. I only give you one free shot. As you already used it, well, you do it again and you’ll find yourself over my knee.”

  Ginnifer’s cheeks started to flush a little at his comment. Hot damn, his little spitfire wanted to be spanked. He would have to keep that in mind for a later date. “Don’t worry. If you want, we can always do that for fun too.”

  “Damn it, I don’t need coffee this bad.” She turned around and marched in the opposite direction. All Dallas could do was laugh as he watched her cute little derriere walk away from him. This morning sure was the best one he had in a very long time. He couldn’t wait to find out what the afternoon would bring.

  Chapter Seven

  Ginnifer was stressed out after her encounter with Dallas. She was afraid if she had actually gotten some coffee in her system, she would be a jittery mess. Normally she needed at least two cups in her system before she could function. Apparently one conversation and a hot kiss with Dallas were enough to not only get her through the day, but the rest of her life. She couldn’t have stopped moving if she wanted to. The things that man had made her feel were beyond her comprehension. What would happen to her if she had to deal with him on a daily basis? Would she even need any caffeine to start her day? She stopped in mid stride as the thought rolled through her mind, and she let out a sigh at the thought of waking up with him every morning. Frustrations aside, it would be pretty awesome to wake up beside a sexy man that got her motor running faster than any strange brew ever would.

  She made her way back to her cabin and pulled out her tablet to make some notes for her interview with Colt Lewis. She walked over to the small table and chairs in the cabin and sat down to work. There were some key questions she wanted to make sure she asked him when he arrived later that day. If she was organized enough, she could write the article and send it to her editor to make next month’s publication. She would save the article on Novak Spring’s yoga retreat for the Thanksgiving issue. It would be a good idea for potential Christmas gifts. If it was featured before Christmas, it would help both the magazine and the ranch’s new program. Sitting up straight and raising her arms above her head, Ginnifer started to stretch her tight, aching muscles. The tension of the morning was starting to take its toll on her body. She picked up her phone and looked at the time. It was almost seven a.m., and she needed to get walking if she was going to make it to the south pasture for the morning yoga session. It turned out the south pasture was near the main house to make it easier for the guests to find it. Near the south pasture there was a building they had renovated into a small dining area and kitchen for hosting a large group of people. She had spotted the building when she was walking to the house earlier in her quest to find coffee. That building had raised some questions in her mind. More specifically, she wanted to know everything they used the building for and if it had ever been used for something besides hosting cowboy wannabes. She understood it was the dining hall, but she was curious if they utilized it for other events. If so, it could be something she included in her article to draw other individuals to the ranch and help their business grow. It might be the perfect spot to hold wedding receptions or anniversary parties. The ideas going through her head were endless, and she needed more information before she would decide exactly what would be included in her article.

  Crossing through the yard, she made her way over to the south pasture where she saw a
group of women gathering. There were groups of women in various spots gathered around each other making conversation and laughing. The clusters were all preparing for the yoga session across the grassy field near one of the fences, stretching and warming up in the cool morning sun. As she drew closer, Ginnifer spotted Emma pulling out the things they would need for the yoga class and standing next to another woman with a clipboard in her hands. It appeared that some of the women had either known each other before they arrived or had made time to bond once they checked in at the ranch.

  At that moment she was annoyed with Tori again for not already being there to help ease their way into the group. She shouldn’t care, but it always bothered her to be thrown into a social situation where she didn’t know any of the people that were part of the gathering. It also didn’t help she decided to skip having a cup of coffee earlier when Dallas offered it to her. Her energy levels were starting to droop a little bit, and she was regretting not taking him up on his offer. She had been so frustrated with him that she couldn’t stand to be around him any longer. Her feelings concerning the man were a little overwhelming, and she hadn’t been able to handle being around him a moment longer. It had not been worth it, even if it would have gotten a jolt of caffeine in her system. If she was going to be around him, she needed to understand what was going on inside of her first. Her face started to flush at the memory of how it felt to have his arms wrapped around her and his mouth pressed against hers. No doubt that kiss scorched her inside and out, but one kiss wasn’t enough to get through the day like she had originally thought.

  Ginnifer looked over all of the participants and tried to decide where she should go. A petite, busty brunette was talking with the host of the program. Emma looked up and spotted Ginnifer and called out to her. “Ginnifer please come join us, we are getting ready to start. This is Melody. She is going to be the yoga instructor for all of our sessions throughout the next several weeks. She is a yoga genius. It was with her help I designed the program. She has graciously also agreed to participate in some of our other events if I need even numbers.”

  Walking over to join the two women, Ginnifer raised her hand to shake Melody’s hand as she approached. “It’s nice to meet you. I haven’t had time to meet anyone yet. I got in pretty late yesterday. Jet lag hit me hard, and all I could think about was crashing for several hours as soon as I got to my cabin.”

  Melody’s face lit up with a smile only a true morning person could demonstrate to the world past seven a.m. “I’m so glad you could make it to our first yoga session. Today we’re going to mix things up a little bit and do some things besides yoga. We are putting a new twist on things and throwing in some techniques you can only learn in the Cowgirl Yoga program. The beginning is going to be a bit faster paced—to get our motors running. Then we will slow it down and do some more traditional yoga.”

  Ginnifer hated cheery people. Did she ever shut up? Someone should stab Melody’s brown eyes with a sharp stick, or at the very least pull her black hair and smack her head into one of the fence posts. Good God, when did I get such violent thoughts? Maybe she should have taken that damn coffee from Dallas. Clearly she wasn’t fit for decent company. Cruelty was something she didn’t condone, and this innocent woman was only trying to be nice. It became very clear in that moment she needed to keep her distance away from everyone so she could get her nasty thoughts under control. Once the yoga session and breakfast were over, she would head back to her cabin for some extra face time with her pillow. Doing her best to fake a smile of excitement, Ginnifer nodded her head vigorously and lifted the corners of her mouth up with all the effort she could muster. “That is marvelous. I can’t wait to see what you have planned for us.” She turned her back away from Melody the cheerleader and let the corners of her mouth relax into the grimace she was more comfortable donning. Even though she knew she was a bit on the grumpy side, she couldn’t help thinking all that hyperness was not normal before noon. Little Miss Bubbly was the kind of person she had always avoided like the plague. She really was the cheerleader type—all curves and high, perky breasts. All the boys would have followed after her with their tongues hanging out with the hope she would notice they existed. How was she going to stomach an hour listening to her all chirpy-like? Kill me now.

  Melody walked over to a set of speakers and plugged in an iPod. “Okay everyone, if you would grab one of the yoga mats and line up in front of the fence into three rows, we will get started.”

  Ginnifer trekked over and grabbed the first mat she could get her hands on and went to find a spot among the other women. There were three rows forming with four in each row. She wandered over and took a spot next to Emma in the first row. At least she knew her on some level and not everyone was a complete stranger to her.

  Melody’s voice rang out to bring her back to reality for a minute. “Okay everybody, we are going to loosen up a bit first. We are going to walk like toy soldiers for ten steps. One hand up and bring it down and take a step and repeat until you do the whole ten steps, and then turn around and do it all again until you are back in your original spot.” Melody walked a few steps, demonstrating the movements that she wanted the women to make and returned to her original spot. “Okay, let’s start moving.”

  Toy soldiers? Um, whatever. This would at least be a good stress reliever, and Ginnifer was willing to try it. The opening lines to “Country Girl (Shake it For Me)” began to pour out of the speakers. Luke Bryan’s voice saying, “Hey girl and shake it for me” was almost enough to get Ginnifer’s pulse racing. Oh yeah, she would shake anything to the sound of his voice crooning to her. At least Melody had good taste in music.

  At the end of the song, Melody skipped over to put on some softer music and said, “Okay everyone, we are going to start with a mountain pose. Stand tall with feet together, shoulders relaxed, weight evenly distributed through your soles, arms at sides.” Melody stood in front of everyone to demonstrate the position she wanted them in. She looked over at the group and nodded her head in approval at the women. She started to do the next step of the exercise as she spoke. “Take a deep breath and raise your hands overhead, palms facing each other with arms straight. Reach up toward the sky with your fingertips.”

  Once they were done with that position, Melody took them through the steps of each pose she wanted them to do that morning. The session went by without an incident. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. She could go get some coffee and breakfast. It was starting to look like her day would maybe not be so bad after all. The corners of her mouth started to lift into a true smile, and she let out a breath of relief that she made it through yoga without harming anyone.

  “All right, that’s all the yoga we have for today,” Melody said as she turned the music off.

  “We have a little surprise, though; we are going to learn a few cowgirl tricks after each class. Today we are going to learn how to tie a knot.” Emma winked at the group of women. “This is, of course, handy when you want to tie your favorite cowboy up when he’s been naughty.”

  Every one of them started to laugh except for Ginnifer. Her mouth turned up into an evil smile, and pure wickedness shone through her eyes. Well now this was interesting. There was definitely one wayward cowboy she wouldn’t mind tying in knots. It might come in handy to get even with him for this morning’s groping session. If the opportunity arose to actually use her knot-tying skills on him, well it would mean that God was truly a female and understood women sometimes needed the upper hand when dealing with ornery men. Emma was going to find a very willing student in all these cowgirl tricks she was going to share with them. If Dallas was going to constantly ambush her and throw numerous innuendos her way, it was time she started to fight fire with fire, or she would never make it through the entire two weeks.

  Ginnifer sat back and prepared to learn all the different ways to tie a knot and the best situations to use them. In all her life she had never been so excited to learn something. Emma really had something with this Cow
girl Yoga program. She was simply a genius. The article she wrote was going to outline everything so well, Emma would have to start turning people away because she wouldn’t be able to accommodate them all. When Tori realized the things they would learn, she was going to be just as excited. Well that is if she ever made it to the ranch so she could tell her. With a soft sigh, she pulled her phone out of her pocket to once again check the time. It was a quarter to eight. The lesson should be over soon, and they would be heading over to get breakfast. If Tori didn’t get a hold of her by the end of breakfast, she would call her again. Hopefully everything was okay and the five a.m. call wasn’t anything she needed to worry about.

  Once all of the women knew everything there was to know about tying a good knot, Emma announced they were going to head over to eat breakfast. The next meeting would be at noon for lunch, and then they would have horseback riding at two and eight for those who were interested. The evening yoga session was after dinner at six.

  Ginnifer was starting to get extremely hungry. Her stomach rumbled and made a growling sound when she thought about food. She had worked up quite an appetite and couldn’t wait to get something in her stomach. There were several things she wanted to accomplish, but the first thing she was going to do after she got sustenance was go back to the cabin and take a nap until lunch. Tori should arrive around two, and then she could get Colt’s interview out of the way before dinner. She was not going to miss the evening’s yoga lesson. Whatever cowgirl lesson was happening was surely going to be useful in her repertoire and essential for her struggle to get the upper hand against Dallas. Ginnifer had never looked forward to a mêlée with another person quite so much. She was going to be the victor in their battle of wills, and if she did one thing well, it was always coming out on top.