Dearest Cowboys Box Set

by Mia Brown

  “Was it amazing though?”

  I sighed. “It was. I’ll be honest, Tyler, I really like her. It wasn’t just the sex, which was damn incredible, but just the way she makes me feel. She’s so fiery, and so willing to stick up for what is right. I don’t know. There’s just something about her. She’s also super sweet. Unfortunately, I’m not getting to see the nice side of her these days. Every time I see her she just gets angry at me. I don’t blame her either.”

  “You don’t think it’s going to happen again?”

  “Definitely not. I want it to, but I’m sure it won’t.”

  “You know, you should just tell her that you like her. Maybe that’s all she needs. Some truth from you. Or, do what most guys do, woo her. Buy her flowers, send her chocolates. It’s cheesy, but it might just work.”

  I nodded. I hadn’t told Tyler about the flowers yet, and I definitely hadn’t told Dallas yet. I had come close to telling her but I kept holding back. I wanted to keep it a secret a little while longer. I had a feeling that this was going to help me one day win her over, but I just had to wait for the right time.

  “She’s so damn hot,” I said to Tyler.

  “I can’t believe you slept with her. Maybe I should buy this French girl some pizza tonight.”

  I laughed. “Yeah, win her over with food first. It seems to work.”

  Nineteen

  Dallas

  I didn’t sleep at all. I kept tossing and turning and thinking about what I had done. I was angry at Blaze, but most of all I was angry at myself. I was the one who had given in to his charms and I hated that I was so easily swayed by him. What was wrong with me? Didn’t I have any self-control? When I got out of bed I looked in the mirror and groaned. I had bags under my eyes and I looked awful. I was not one of those people who looked good no matter how much sleep they got. I needed my eight hours a night if I was to function in the day.

  I took a long shower and then noticed the time. I had an appointment in an hour at the office and I was nowhere near ready. I quickly got changed, and looked around my kitchen for something to eat. There was nothing much other than bread, so I popped two slices in the toaster, wolfed them down and headed out. When I finally got to work I still had twenty minutes to spare. Madison wasn’t there yet, so I grabbed a file to check on my first appointment. I was grateful when I saw that it was only Mrs. Peterson and her dog, Annie. Mrs. Peterson came in once a month without fail with her dog for a check up. Most of the time there was no need to come in, and I had told her countless times that she didn’t have to come in so regularly, but she was adamant. She said that if she brought her dog in often enough then even the slightest illness would be caught in time. She loved that dog dearly, and I knew that she would do anything for it. Unfortunately, I also knew that Mrs. Peterson didn’t have any money. I cut her fees down in half and told her that she got a special rate because she came in so often. Every now and again I didn’t charge her either. It probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do in business, but I didn’t care. She didn’t have anyone other than her dog and it was the least thing I could do.

  I was about to make myself a much needed cup of coffee when I heard a rap on the door and saw her standing there with the dog in her hand. She was fifteen minutes early but that was okay. The sooner she came the sooner she would leave. I was far too tired to deal with people that day.

  “Good morning, Mrs. Peterson. It’s good to see you again.”

  “Good morning my dear girl,” she said. Then she frowned. “You look tired.”

  I nodded. “I’m exhausted.”

  “Up partying all night were you?” she teased.

  I laughed. “No partying for me I’m afraid. Just work.” Not entirely true but I wasn’t about to tell her that I had slept with a man I didn’t even like.”

  “Oh dear. Well don’t work too hard. You’re only young. You do some very important work but you must also take the time for yourself. Okay?”

  “Okay,” I said. “Now, let’s take a look at little Annie over here. Hello my girl.”

  Annie was used to me by now. She was a scruffy little thing with curious eyes, and probably the most obedient dog I had ever seen. I got the impression it was because she was so used to having her owner carry her around everywhere. She lived a good life, but she was a good companion too. I had never understand why some people didn’t like animals. To me they were so much better than humans. I gave her a little scratch behind her ears and she let out a little happy bark.

  “Her fur is looking great,” I said to Mrs. Peterson.

  “Thank you. I gave her a bath this morning. I always want to make sure that she looks good for her favorite vet.”

  I chuckled. “Well, I’m certainly a very lucky lady. Right, let’s check you out now, shall we?” I said to the dog.

  Every month I went through the exact same routine and I was always pleased when there was nothing to report. I dreaded the day when there was actually something wrong with Annie. I had no idea how Mrs. Peterson was going to handle it. For now though, everything was looking great and the dog looked like it still had many years in front of her.

  “Everything is perfect. In fact, she might be even healthier than before. She’s one lucky dog to have an owner like you,” I said.

  “And I’m one lucky owner to have a dog like her. When are you going to get a dog of your own?” she asked.

  “I will. It’s just that I spent so much of my time at work. But you’re right. I need to get one. I need a whole flock of animals. Life is not the same without one.”

  “Absolutely. Your whole life will change. Well, thank you so much for seeing us again. How much do I owe you?” she asked as she took out her purse.

  I shook my head. “Nothing. This one is on the house.”

  “Oh goodness. No, no. I would feel too bad,” she said but I could see she was already putting away her purse.

  I smiled. “Trust me, it was only a pleasure.”

  “Thank you so much. You don’t know how much this means to me,” she said as we made our way back out into the office. Madison was there now and Mrs. Peterson waved at her. Then she turned to me sternly. “And you get yourself some sleep. Okay?”

  “A dog and a sleep. Got it,” I said. “See you next month.”

  The moment she was gone I rushed over to the coffee machine.

  “Coffee. Need coffee,” I said in my most zombie-like voice.

  “What’s gotten into you?” she said. “Oh, and make me a cup while you’re there.”

  I made us both a cup and handed one to her. The moment I did she looked at me with suspicion.

  “Why does your face look like that?”

  “Wow. Way to make a girl feel good about herself. I’m just tired. That’s all. I got no sleep last night.”

  “Oh yeah? Out partying?”

  I groaned. “Do you and Mrs. Peterson not know me at all? She said the same thing. Do I look like the partying type?”

  “It’s called sarcasm and I think you’re just too tired to get it right now.”

  “Tired. So tired.”

  She laughed. “So if you weren’t out partying all night then what the hell have you been doing?”

  I shrugged. “Having sex.”

  Madison burst out laughing. “Good one. Glad to hear you still have your sense of humor even when you’re tired.”

  “Hmm.”

  “So what were you doing? Am I going to have to drag this out of you?

  “Having sex,” I said again.

  I looked over at Madison and saw she was staring at me. I could see she was trying to read my face for signals as to whether or not I was telling the truth.

  “Wait, are you being serious?”

  I laughed. “I am. Bet you didn’t expect me to say that?”

  Madison wheeled her chair over to me.

  “TELL ME EVERYTHING!” she yelled.

  I rubbed my temples. “Ow. Not so loud. You’re hurting my brain.”

  “Drin
k your coffee, and tell me what happened. You had wild sex all night and now you’re tired? I need details woman. Details!”

  I took a sip of my coffee and shook my head. “I didn’t have wild sex all night. I had sex and then spent the rest of the night tossing and turning and wondering what on earth I had just done.”

  “With who? Will? I knew he liked you. I bet you those flowers were from him,” she said.

  I shook my head. “Uh, no, not Will.”

  She frowned. “Who then? Why do you look so guilty? Go on, spill it. I’m not going to let you out of this place until you tell me.”

  “Blaze,” I said softly.

  “What? I didn’t hear you.”

  I looked up to meet her eye. “Blaze,” I said again.

  She gasped. “Blaze. You’re messing with me. I know you are.”

  I shook my head. “I’m not.” Then I groaned. “Oh, I can’t believe I actually did that.”

  “Hang on just a moment. You slept with Blaze? I thought you hated him.”

  “I do hate him.”

  She giggled. “So how did it happen?”

  I sighed. “Well, I had actually seen him earlier that day and we’d had an argument. As we always do. He was being so rude to me. Actually, Will was there too. And he was an absolute sweetheart. Anyway, later that evening, Blaze suddenly rocks up at my house with two boxes of pizza. Said he wanted to apologize.”

  Madison snorted. “Wow, is that all it took? One pizza?”

  “Actually, it happened before the pizza.”

  “Do I even know you?” she asked.

  “Trust me, I feel like I don’t even know myself. I let him in, mostly because the pizza smelled so good, and then he tried to kiss me.”

  “So you kissed him back?”

  “No, I slapped him.”

  Madison clapped her hands joyfully. She was clearly enjoying this. “Nice. I can so picture you doing that.”

  “Yeah, but the kiss was so good, and he was so hot, and suddenly I was kissing him back. The next thing I knew we were on the sofa having sex. I don’t know what got into me.”

  “And how was it? Tell me it was amazing. Tell me he wore his cowboy hat.”

  I laughed. “He didn’t wear the hat unfortunately, but it was amazing. Too amazing really. I’m struggling to get it out my head.”

  “So, when are you going to do it again?”

  “NEVER.”

  Madison chuckled. “Why do I doubt that?”

  “Seriously, it’s not going to happen. I practically kicked him out straight after that and then proceeded to eat an entire pizza by myself. Then I got no sleep, and now I’m grumpy. I don’t even like the guy. Hell, I might even hate him.”

  “Like I said to you before. There’s a fine line between love and hate. Or is it lust?”

  “Definitely lust,” I said with a grin.

  “So what are you going to do?”

  “Nothing. I’m going to do nothing. It was a one time affair. That’s all.”

  Madison was about to say something when we heard someone at the door. It was another delivery man, with yet another bouquet of flowers. Again, they were bigger and more beautiful than the previous ones. This time I knew they were for me. I signed for them and didn’t bother asking if the delivery man knew who they were from.

  “Think they’re from Blaze?” Madison asked.

  I laughed. “Are you kidding me? He’s the most unromantic guy I’ve ever met. No, these are definitely not from him. I wish I knew who they were from though. I have been twice to the florist but I’ve had no luck.”

  Madison let out a happy sigh. “Oh, look at you, Dallas. I’m so proud of you.”

  “Proud? Why?”

  “You’ve managed to seduce our enemy’s lawyer, and on top of that you have a secret admirer.”

  I chuckled. “What is going on with my life?”

  The whole thing was crazy. I put the flowers in a vase and went to make another cup of coffee. I wondered who was sending these flowers and what he would think if he knew what I had done the night before. I wish he would just make himself known so that I could forget about Blaze and have someone better to think about.

  Twenty

  Blaze

  A week had passed since I’d last seen Dallas. I had thought about calling her numerous times but I never knew what to say. “Hi, should we sleep together again?” probably wouldn’t bring about the results I was hoping for. Instead, I thought about her endlessly to the point where I was driving myself mad. It was hard not to think about what had happened and I would be lying if I said I didn’t want to do it again. I wanted to do it over and over again. I wondered what Dallas thought about the whole thing. I assumed she hated herself for giving in to me, but I couldn’t help but hope that maybe she was glad it had happened. She had definitely enjoyed herself. I needed to speak to her again but I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea or not. Should I just leave her alone? Or should I go after her? It was hard to tell which route was the right one with the ever enigmatic Dallas. I called Tyler to ask him what I should do.

  “Well, I never thought I’d see the day,” he said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “The day when my big brother asks me for advice. I honestly thought that this would never happen. I need to mark this down in the calendar. This is one day I want to remember for the rest of my life.”

  I groaned. I loved my brother but sometimes he could really be annoying. “At this rate I’m never going to ask you again.”

  He chuckled. “Nah, I’m glad you called. I’m only kidding. You know I’m always happy to help. Hang on a second though…”

  I waited until he came back online.

  “I’m back.”

  “What happened?”

  “I was in the kitchen with mom. I figured you wouldn’t want her hearing the whole conversation. If she knows what happened with Dallas than she’s going to ask you about it every day.”

  “Oh thank goodness. Yeah, that would’ve been a disaster. I barely now what’s happening with this myself.”

  “So, you want to know what to do about Dallas? Have you spoken to her yet?” Tyler asked.

  “No. Nothing at all. She hasn’t called me either though,” I said defensively.

  “The two of you are impossible. Why don’t you just call her? It’s been a week already. I’d say that’s leaving it a bit long now. If you want her to know you’re interested then you really should show her.”

  “I don’t know. I’ve actually picked up the phone a few times and then put it down.”

  Tyler laughed. “You sound like a teenager.”

  “I can’t help myself. You know what I’m like on the phone.”

  “You’re fine with me,” he pointed out. “Why can’t you just speak to her like this?”

  “Yeah, but that’s because you’re my brother. I’m much better when I’m face to face with someone. I feel like I can’t have a proper conversation on the phone.”

  “What you really mean is you feel like you can flirt better if you’re face to face?”

  I laughed. “Okay, fine, something like that.” He was right. That was exactly what I meant.

  “Then go and talk to her,” Tyler suggested. “Go to her house again. Bring food. Do what you did the last time. If it worked then, what’s to say it won’t work now? Hey, was she drunk the last time?” he asked and the question took me by surprise.

  “Drunk? No. Why? Do you think she’d only be with me if she was drunk?” I accused.

  “If she wasn’t drunk then she did it because she really wanted to, which more than likely means she’ll do it again. Just go over there and charm her like you did the last time.”

  “She might slap me again.”

  Tyler laughed. “As if you didn’t like that.”

  “I did,” I said with a smile. I had liked that a lot. Dallas was by far the most interesting woman I had ever met. “Okay, you’re right. I think I should give it a try.”

  �
�You should. You’re too old now. You can’t just hang around and hope for things to happen. You’ve got to make them happen yourself.”

  “You’re so rude. This is the last time I’m calling you for advice.”

  He chuckled. “When you’re back in bed with her you’re going to thank me.”

  “Okay, well I’m going to go there now just in case I chicken out.”

  “Speaking of chicken, bring some food with you. That seemed to have worked the first time. Good luck. Let me know how it goes.”

  “Thanks man. And how did things go with the French girl?” I asked.

  “Poorly. I paid for all her meals, took her out, but then when I tried to get together with her she pushed away. It was a bit rude to be honest. I think she was only using me to get free stuff. She wasn’t even interested in going on a horse ride with me. Anyway, she’s gone now. The dude ranch will be open soon and a whole new flock of tourists will come in.”

  I chuckled. “Life is good, eh?”

  “It sure is.”

  I was hoping Tyler would suggest I go over to visit her. It was what I wanted to do anyway. I just needed a bit of a push in the right direction. Unfortunately, even though I hadn’t spoken to Dallas this week, I had spoken to Steve. He called me most days ranting and raving about all his plans going down the drain because of this one girl. I had to keep pointing out to him that he had no real legal recourse other than to make her an offer but Steve seemed adamant that he wanted to get her out without offering her money. There was only so much I could do. I wished I could think of a way to get her to move sooner just so I could have this idiot off my back. Unfortunately the two of them were as stubborn as one another.

  I was about to head out when my phone rang and I jumped to get it thinking that it might be Dallas. I wasn’t sure how she would get my home phone number but I wouldn’t put it past her either. She was just as shrewd as I could be.

  “Hey, Dallas,” I said in my most charming voice. I was taking a big leap of faith but on the odd chance that it was her it would be worth it.