by Wanda Edmond
Devin felt ridiculous standing in the crowd holding up the piece of cardboard with some stranger’s name on it. He had positioned himself toward the back of the crowd, when he confirmed that the flight had landed. He waited impatiently as a never-ending line of people passed through the revolving glass doors. He looked around as people hugged and kissed loved ones; and people meeting for the first time shook hands. Where the hell is this Mary Lou Carpenter? He asked inwardly, getting agitated. With any luck, she had changed her mind about making the then, he wouldn’t have to worry about playing nice with some tourist, he had more important things to do with his day.
Just then he spotted woman heading directly to him. He wondered if it was Mary Lou. The medium built, about five feet four inches tall, African-American woman, was a quite a stunner, her deep brown skin was flawless, and she had the fullest, most kissable lips he had ever seen on any human. Her mane of dark, curly hair bounced off her shoulders as she walked, and had the strange urge to run his fingers through it to see if it felt as soft as it looked. She wasn’t model thin, she had firm, and ample breast, a small waist that flared out at the hips, hips made for child-bearing, and her short dress reveal shapely legs, emphasized by sexy, incredibly high red sandals. Wow, a real pretty girl, not his type, but pretty none the less. However, the fact that she was attractive did nothing to improve his sour mood. He still didn’t see why he was the one the one that had t be here, his day was now wasted. The thought caused him to scowl deeply.
As Mary Lou approached the man holding up her name, she almost toppled over high heels. Her breath stopped in her chest as she took him in. He was about six feet three inches tall, with biceps that were honed by physical labour, or maybe in a gym, who knows. Her gazed continued up to his broad chest, wide masculine shoulders, up further to his sexy pink lips and chiselled jaw; strong nose, and dreamy blue eyes, topped off with his sandy brown shaped in a crew cut. Mary momentarily forgot about her decision to avoid dating and relationships. She had never thought of dating a white guy, but she would definitely do this one. This cowboy was drop dead gorgeous!
Mary then noticed the frown on his face. Sheesh what’s eating him?, she wondered before politely holding out her hand she said with a smile “Hi, I’m Mary Lou Carpenter.”
“Devin Cooper” he said gruffly, gripping her hand briefly. “If you will follow me”, he turned and walked towards the exit.
Mary was taken aback by Mr. Cooper’s attitude. Not even a smile, or a “welcome to Oklahoma”? He didn’t even offer to help me with my luggage. A real gentleman this one is she though sarcastically. Sticking her tongue out at him, she followed him to his vehicle.
Devin loaded Mary Lou’s suitcase in the trunk of vehicle and quickly drove off. Thirty minute drive to Norman was going to be extremely awkward. Neither said a word to the other for a good ten minutes. The tension in the air could be sliced with a knife. Mary Lou focused on the scenic country surroundings, enjoying the fresh, clean Oklahoma breeze caressing her face. As they drove she saw acre of open pasture, some with cows, and some with horses. Everything just looked so peaceful here, and to think she was dreading the trip to country. Oklahoma didn’t seem half bad, and that was saying a lot coming from a bonafide city girl.
She closed her eyes briefly and inhaled deeply. Maybe this trip won’t be so bad after all, if can avoid mister sour puss here. She thought. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye; he wore the same scowl he had before they left the airport. She was getting the vibe that he really didn’t want to be here. Well, that was just fine with her; she wasn’t exactly jumping for joy at the thought of his company either. When she got to the ranch, she would unpack, catch a snooze and entertain herself. She made up her mind to avoid Devin Cooper for the next five days.
Chapter Three
Twenty minutes later. Devin’s van turned into a narrow dirt road leading up to a charming, rustic looking cabin like, scattered about were several smaller cabins. The dirt road continued passed to the cabin where Mary Lou spotted the sign “Horse Ridding” with an arrow pointing behind the main cabin. She felt a jolt of excitement, she had always wanted to learn how to ride a horse, but there wasn’t much access to horses in Detroit.
Devin collected her suitcase form the van, “Ok little lady, follow me” he said and sauntered off carrying her suitcase. Little lady? Marry almost laughed out loud. She has never been referred to “Little Lady” before. Welcome to cowboy nation she mused.
Mary followed Devin in the direction of the main cabin; she had time admire him from behind. He had a confident, bordering on arrogant type of walk, and she could see that he had a tight, muscular ass that she was tempted to just reach out and grab. Whoa there girl, get a grip on your hormones, this in not like you, it must be the country air, she though. When she walked through the cabin door, she drew in a sharp breath, inside was absolutely lovely. It had a cosy, homely feel to it with its quaint wooden furniture and stone fireplace. Over to the right was what seemed like a booking area. She guessed right.
At the same time Devin told her “Over here is the booking/customer service area. I’ll just go and enter your information into our system. All the details were already given to me by my business partner.” He put her suitcase down and made his way to the desk and computer. While Devin typed, Mary Lou decided to explore a little. She walked off to her left and passed through a sitting area, set up like a comfy living room. The dim soft glows of the light made her want to lay down on one of the sofas and relax. Beyond the sitting area, through double glass doors was a dining area, with ceiling to floor windows, where guest could enjoy their meals as well as the picturesque outdoors. This place is marvellous.
Devin found Mary in the dining room; once again he was sporting a frown.
“What’s the sour look for this time? Tired of me already Mr. Cooper?” Mary Lou teased.
Devin raised an eyebrow at her and answered “I’m just wondering where everyone is.”
Mary had been too busy admiring the scenery to realize that the place was completely deserted. It just hit her that she was out in the middle of nowhere with a complete stranger who didn’t seem to like her much. “Yea, where are all the other guests.”
“Actually I was talking about the my emloyees, you are the only guest here.”
“What? Why? What kind of guest ranch has only one guest?” Mary inquired, starting to panic a bit.
Devin must have seen the apprehension in her eyes as he quickly reassured her, “No need to worry darlin’ he drawled, his western accent more pronounced than ever. You’re completely safe here; you’re the only guest here because we don’t official open until five days from now, Friday. The Vice President of the company, Abe thought it would be a brilliant idea to sponsor a raffle ticket draw all the way in Detroit, making this ranch the destination prize. So you will have the accommodations all to yourself for the next five days, and when we open this weekend and invite the press, we will have a raving testimonial, from guess who, you Mary Lou Carpenter.” Devin rolled his eyes and continued “I really don’t know what inspired this harebrained scheme of his. We simple could have had the press come in a few days after we opened started receiving guests.”
“Yea, that sounds like it would have been a simpler, rational thing to do” Mary agreed.
“Well, Abe is neither a simple nor rational man darlin’. He also has high hopes that you will return to Detroit and rave about out little place here. I still can’t figure out how the hell he found about a school fundraiser, all the way in Michigan”, Devin shook his head still confused about that little detail.
Mary considered it for a moment and shrugged well “I’m already here, might as well make the most of it, right? So... you don’t know where your employers are?” Mary asked, finding that more than a little strange.
Devin looked floored. He shrugged “There is suppose to be a skeleton staff in place for the next two days to take care of all your needs, but it’s like every single one of them has bee
n abducted by aliens or something.”
Devin led Mary Lou back to the waiting area. “Just have a seat” he pointed to a chair “and give me a few minutes to find out what the hell is going on.” He fetched his phone from his pocket and dialled while making his way outside.
Mary watched him through the glass door, while he talked he angry hand gestures and she could tell the person on the other end of the line was getting an ear full. Mary took the moment alone to make a couple of calls as well. She called her mother to let her know she had reached her destination safely. Before hanging up her mom warned “You be careful now baby girl, behave yourself and watch out for those cowboy types, they’ll charm the panties right off you, take what they want and gallop away on horse, before you even know what happened.”
Mary dropped her head in her hand “Oh my God, mom. Did you really have to go there?” But Mary could help smiling; she was use to her candidness. “Ok, mom I’ll be careful, I promise. No panty dropping.”
“Good girl. Love you baby.”
“Love you too mom. Mary hung up and quickly dialled Yvonne’s number.
“Hey girl!” Yvonne answered almost immediately. What the hell took you so long to call” I was worried sick. So how is it so far, have you been to any rodeos, ride any bulls, do any cowboys yet?”
Mary rolled her eyes “Slow down will you? I’ve only been in Oklahoma for a few hours; I couldn’t have accomplished all of that. Give me another day or two.” Mary said giggling into the phone”.
Yvonne gave an exaggerated gasp on the other end of the line, “You dirty girl. I should have sent you off to the country much sooner, you already sound different-more fun. So, tell me have you at least seen any hot cowboys?”
Mary Lou smiled, glancing back Devlin. “I sure have darlin’ she twanged, putting on her best western accent “A smoking hot Cowboy picked me up from the airport, his name is Devin Cooper and he’s the owner of the guest ranch. Oh Yvonne, he is sexy, gorgeous, a heart throb.”
“Wow, Mary. Since when do you talk about guys like that? Since when do you even look at guys? This Devin must be the ultimate southern Lothario” Yvonne said, sounding a bit surprised.
“I don’t think he likes me very much though”, Mary shared, sounding a tad gloomy.
Yvonne sucked her teeth, “It’s just your imagination. There you doubt yourself again. Girl, pick your self esteem up off the ground please have a good time and make sure you at least attempt to seduce this sexy cowboy of yours.”
Mary looked up to see Devlin walking back towards the door to come in. “Ok honey, whatever you say. I have to go but I’ll keep you posted. Bye.”
Before Mary hung up she heard Yvonne yell “Forget the horse and ride that cowboy honey!” Mary groaned if her complexion was lighter, she was sure she would be red from head to toe with humiliation.
Devin strode back in, seemingly agitated. Running his fingers through his short hair, he shot marry an annoyed look. “Let me show you to your cabin” he said grabbing up her suit case, and once again heading out the door. Mary wanted to ask him about the lack of staff, but didn’t bother. She was sure he must have sorted everything out, someone would be there soon.
Mary had to run a little to keep up with his long strides, which was damn near impossible to do in the ridiculously high heels. She was immensely relieved when he stopped at a single cabin a good distance away from the main cabin. He turned the key in his hands into the door and pushed open. He stepped aside and beckoned inside, “Ladies first.”
Mary stepped inside, very aware of Devin’s large frame close behind, a little too close. “Oh, my” she breathed “It’s beautiful and so cosy, I love it.”
“I’m glad you find it to your liking” Devin snapped.
Mary turned to glare at him “I don’t know what’s got your boxers in a bunch buddy but there is no need for the stink attitude towards me, you don’t even know me” she snapped back. “It’s obvious that you don’t want to be here, and for some unknown reason you don’t like me, so let me put you out of your misery. Thank you for the room, I can help myself from here. You can go now, Mr. Cooper” she said giving a quick nod towards the door and turned away from him, pretending to study her surroundings; but not before he glimpsed a flash of hurt in her dark, expressive eyes.
Devin stepped outside feeling like a world class jerk. He hadn’t meant to hurt Mary Lou’s feelings. He was just royally pissed at Abe and everyone else for not being here to do their jobs. First of all, this was all Abe’s idea and he should have been here to sort everything out. When he had called the old man to ask him why there was no one here to welcome their one and only guest, Abe had said, “Well, I thought you had taken care of that boy. When I told you my plan, I assumed you called a few staff members and told them to come out a few days earlier than scheduled.” He wanted to strangle the old man right now.
What the hell was he going to do? No one was close enough, or had even planned to make the drive out here by this evening. Now he was stuck with the responsibility for the guest. He sure as hell couldn’t leave the girl out here by herself. Maybe he could take her back to his home in Paul’s Valley for the night; it was only another thirty minute drive. No, he highly doubted she would agree to that, she hated his guts right now. Aw hell, he groaned inwardly. Guess he was staying at the ranch until tomorrow. He would have to make a few calls and cancel a few meetings. He set off back to the main cabin to accomplish the task.
Half an hour later Devin was finally able to put his phone down. He sat back in his chair at the check in desk and closed his eyes for a few minutes. Resting his head against the back of the chair, his thoughts wondered to the woman in the cabin a few feet away. He remembered the way her full lips had formed in a cute little pout, when she politely kicked him out of the cabin. He found that he wanted to taste those lips while red and run his hands up her smooth thighs, and under her sexy short dress to grab that rounded, ass of hers. Not to mention her breasts which he gauged were little more than hands full. He pictured himself taking one of her breast into his mouth and sucking, until she moaned with pleasure- whoa there cowboy.
He snapped back to reality, he was making himself hard with thoughts of Mary Lou Carpenter; he shifted to ease the uncomfortable tightness in his jeans. What was the matter with him? She wasn’t even his type. The leggy blond that he woke up to this morning was more his type, but he found that he was incredibly attracted to Miss Carpenter. He wondered what she was doing at the moment. He hoped she wasn’t still sulking over his utter rudeness to her, from the moment they had met. Guilt pricked his conscience, he need to make it up to her.
An idea popped into his head, instead of leaving her to her own devices for the rest of the evening, he was going to take her on a little nature ride, they could take a couple of the horse form the stable around back. It was a while since he had done anything like that of the sort, the day he had taken over the family business was the day he had to forget about horseback, riding, hunting and all things fun. As a younger man, when his father was still alive, Devin had had the time to interact with the guests and even participated in the nature hikes. He smiled at the memory of taking part in the day to day running of a few of the ranches.
Taking over the behind the scenes, business aspect of running Cooper’s Ranch and Tours, he had said goodbye to everything he enjoyed. A sad smile formed on his lips; well somebody has to do it. He would use today as an opportunity to get back in touch with nature, with Miss Carpenter at his side.
Devin got up from the desk and made his way to the kitchen. He rummaged through the cupboards and refrigerator, gathering what little food he could find. Since the ranch was opened yet, the kitchen staff had not stocked up the kitchen with groceries. What little food he found was left over from when construction work was being done on the ranch. He found enough ingredients to make a few sandwiches for he and his quest, tinned goods, crackers with cheese and a few bottles of water. Loaded everything in to a basket he found convenien
tly sitting the counter. He assessed the basket and estimated that there was enough food for two to last for the rest of the evening.
Walking out with basket in hand, he headed up stairs to the ranch manager’s accommodations and rummaged around for a blanket, that could he used for a small picnic. Locating one, he headed back down the stairs and made his way to Mary Lou’s cabin.
Mary Lou sighed with pleasure as she sank deeper into the tub of hot water, feeling every muscle in her body relax, as the underwater jets massaged he body. After she had gotten rid of her inhospitable host, she had unpacked. She then gave herself a tour of the luxurious cabin, going in to the bathroom; she had stumbled upon a Jacuzzi. Who knew guest ranches had Jacuzzis? Apparently this company made enough to provide such luxurious amenities. She had quickly undressed, scrubbed her face free of make-up, piled her hair on top of her head and hoped into the tub. Oh yea, this isn’t half bad after all, she thought with a lazy smile. A girl could use to this.
Devin arrived at Mary Lou’s cabin with picnic gear in hand. he knocked lightly on the door. No answer. Knocking a little hard this time, he waited. When she didn’t answer be became a little worried. Was she alright? He twisted the door knob and to his luck the door opened. He thought a city girl like herself would be in the habit of locking her door. He pushed his head in to the room. “Mary Lou” he called. There was still no answer. With a frown he slowly entered the cabin. He put the picnic basket down on a side table and made his way to the bedroom. She was not in there, so he walked over to the bathroom, he heard o sound coming from in there. Alarmed now, he burst through the door. “Miss Carpenter!” To his relief, he spotted her in the bath tub.
