Not Looking for Love: A Cowboy Romance

by Martini, Mae

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, baby. What’s going on?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Is this a bad time?”

  “No.”

  “Are you home?”

  “No.”

  “Where are you, work?”

  “No, shopping.”

  “I tried calling you yesterday. Did you get my message?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Why didn’t you call me back?”

  “I guess I was too busy.”

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m good. Look I gotta go.”

  “Okay, I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  She paused. “Bye, Richie.” She hit the end key, sighed, and stared at her phone a moment before tossing it in her bag. She wound up buying nothing that day, instead she went straight home to sulk.

  It was driving her crazy. Why should he matter at all to her? She knew what they had was just a little fun, nothing more. On Tuesday, he did call, but she didn’t pick up. She noticed he didn’t leave a message.

  When she strode into work on Wednesday and saw the scene she was supposed to do she stormed into Poppy’s office. “You know I don’t want to work with that animal, Poppy. Why’d you schedule it?”

  Poppy was on the phone and picked his head up. “I’ll call you back,” he said into the phone. He tapped the end key and set it down. Don’t you knock before you enter an office?” He leaned his elbows on the desk and clasped his hands.

  “Why?” she asked, ignoring his question.

  He blew out a breath then removed his signature rimless eye glasses and tossed them on the desk. “I didn’t schedule it. Ray did, and he is one of my finest directors. He only came on board after I gave him free rein. He’s gonna put Velocity on the map, baby.”

  “Oh, come on, Poppy, don’t—”

  “Both Ray and I spoke with Danny. He is to be on his best behavior. He’s on warning.”

  She tilted her head and twisted her mouth. Shaking her head, she turned and walked out and headed straight for the locker-room. Simone knew it was no use arguing. Everyone in the organization knew Lou was one thing but Ray Brodsky was his boy, and if Ray wanted something he got it.

  In the dressing room while she was prepping, she listened to a couple of other women talking about ‘the big break’. She laughed to herself when it was revealed that the big break wasn’t main stream movies, no, these women were talking about signing with the biggest agent in the industry. Mentally shaking her head, she chuckled to herself. They’re looking to become big porn stars and I’m looking to get the hell out of this business.

  Simone kept them waiting on set, but eventually she couldn’t think of anything else to do to stall, so she walked out. She caught Danny’s smirk and wanted to smack it right off his face.

  “Alright, let’s get this rolling,” Ray said to no one in particular.

  Simone was not enjoying the pounding Danny was giving her. She knew he was taking it to the limit with her and was smiling the whole time. As for her, she’d wait until Ray would tell her to act like she was enjoying it before she would even utter a moan.

  By the time she walked out of the building, when it was over, she was fit to be tied. While showering, she just couldn’t get Danny’s essence off of her and scrubbed herself raw. Only towel drying her hair and throwing on a pair of ripped-at-the-knees faded jeans and a small white T-shirt, sans bra, she walked toward Poppy’s door, ready to complain again.

  “He’s gone for the day,” Diamond D, a long time aging star in the business, said from the doorway of the office next to his.

  “Thanks,” Simone replied and without another word, and with her large Chanel hobo bag on her shoulder she walked toward the back door to her car.

  Chapter 11

  Simone kept her head down, as she walked through the parking lot, in deep thought about not wanting to end up like Diamond D. She had seen early movies of the woman and she was gorgeous. Now, though, she looked used and abused. She had taken to wearing wigs for the past few years. No one has seen her real hair in a long time. Her fake boobs sagged and Simone saw the wrinkly indents around them that Richie had pointed out to her a while back. Diamond D used to have the cleanest, clearest complexion, minimal make-up was used, but now it always looked caked on. She overheard Poppy talking about how used up Diamond was and only used her occasionally. There was a small market for aging fans who wanted to see their, once, fantasy girls still in action, yet, Simone always heard her arguing with Poppy to use her more. Something about needing the money to pay someone. She wasn’t sure who that someone was, but she got the feeling it was a drug supplier.

  Only when she got closer to her car did she pick her head up and spot him leaning against the driver’s side door with his feet crossed at the ankle, his powerful defined arms folded in front of his chest, and a Dallas Cowboy cap on his head. Her breath caught at the handsome yet formidable sight he made. He didn’t look like the millionaire that he was. She noted he wasn’t smiling. That’s okay, she wasn’t smiling either, yet they held each other’s gaze.

  “You wanna tell me why you’re avoiding me?” Richie asked.

  “I’m not avoid—”

  “Don’t…” He cut her off. “Don’t insult my intelligence, Simone.”

  She bit her lip as her shoulder bag slid down her arm. Looking around, not wanting to meet his eyes, she subconsciously brought her bag up on to her shoulder.

  “Well?”

  Hoping she’d be able to hold back the tears that had threatened to fall, she looked him in the eyes. “Look, Richie, I don’t think this is going to work out. We’re at two different places, here. And, I’m not even sure what this is anyway. My profession is not something a man of your stature warrants, you know?”

  “No, I don’t know.”

  She blew out a breath and turned her head to the side to wipe the tear that fell, hoping he didn’t catch it.

  “So, let’s define what we have here,” he said.

  She shook her head. “No…” With her head down, she said. “Please move, I’m late for an appointment.

  Richie’s eyes flickered in anger. He blew out a breath at the same time Danny walked by.

  “Great shoot today, Simone,” he said. “Your pussy tasted so damned good, girl. I asked Ray to schedule another—”

  “Fuck you, Danny.” Simone turned, cutting him off.

  “Yeah, Ray’s gonna schedule it.” He wryly smiled.

  Her embarrassment quickly turned to rage. She flew into him and started punching him in the chest. How dare he talk to her like that in front of Richie?

  It was when Danny struck her in the mouth that Richie pulled her back and punched the guy in the face. “You raise your hands to a woman, asshole?”

  Danny swung but didn’t connect with Richie and Richie came back with another couple of punches. One landed on Danny’s face again and the other in the gut. Danny doubled over holding his middle, his legs wobbly. Richie landed one more blow to the face and Danny went down. Richie squatted down and pried opened an eyelid. He swung his head to Simone, his eyes wild, his face tight. “Who is this?”

  “He’s one of the biggest stars with Velocity Studios. He’s Poppy’s most sought after stud.

  Richie rose, grabbed Simone, and dragged her toward his car.

  “Stop it, Richie.” She tried to pry herself loose.

  “Get in,” he said as he opened the passenger side door of the red Ferrari Simone had seen at his house the first time she was there.

  “What are you doing?”

  He loosened his hold. “Simone, just get in the car, while I go tell Poppy his—”

  “Poppy’s not here, he left early.”

  He nodded. “Okay, just sit in the car and lock the door while I go alert someone that their ‘stud’ is passed out on the ground.”

  She nodded and got in and watched him walk into the building. A few moments later he walked back to her as Ray, a cameraman, and Diamond D, came out and
ran over to Danny who was slowly coming around.

  When Richie got in the car he started it up as he looked at her, but she just looked forward, staring at the glove box, then she opened the door and said, “Happy Birthday, Richie,” without looking at him, and started to get out of the car. That was when he put a hand on her arm to stop her.

  “Simone…” He blew out a breath. “Come on. Let’s talk.”

  She finally looked at him. Oh, why was it every time she looked at him she felt flutters deep inside her. She studied his perfectly trimmed beard and mustache and was reminded of when he went down on her. There was just enough friction to drive her wild. She looked into his eyes, so bright, so mesmerizing.

  The corners of his mouth lifted. “Come on… Please?” Inside, anger festered as he stared at her swollen lip.

  She nodded and closed the door, and he let go of her arm.

  “I didn’t know how to tell you. I felt stupid saying, yeah, I’ll be here but I can’t see you I’m having a birthday party.”

  They both kept glancing toward where he decked Danny. Ray was helping him up.

  “Let’s get out of here. We’ll come back for your car,” he said as he put his hand on the shift knob with the Ferrari logo on it. “You hungry? You want to go somewhere to eat?”

  “No.”

  “Okay. We can’t go to my house. My parents are there.”

  “We can go to mine.”

  “Oaky. Which way?”

  “Make a left at the light. So how long have you been here?” she asked softly as she tilted her head, watching him.

  Richie looked from the road to her. “I went back to Texas on Sunday morning. I had a business meeting first thing Monday morning and wanted to prepare for it.” He looked back to the road. “I just got back here a couple of hours ago,” he continued, then looked back to her while waiting for the light to change. “It upset me that you wouldn’t take my calls.”

  She was looking at him, but then she shifted her eyes to the light that had just turned green and he looked to the light also and took off.

  Her cell phone rang and she dug it out of her bag. “Poppy,” she said more to herself.

  Chapter 12

  Richie followed Simone into the house. Once he closed the door, he grabbed her hand and she turned around to him. Before she could say anything he kissed her. She winced so he lightened the kiss as he brought his other hand up to her face and gently caressed her cheek as he slid his fingers back into her hair while he pried her mouth open and sought out her tongue.

  He dropped her hand and wrapped an arm around her waist, bringing her close, their bodies connecting. He held her tight to his body, not wanting to let her go. There was just something about her scent, her taste that called to him. When his hand began to move down to her ass, she pulled back, sighed, and with pleading eyes, took his hand and walked him into the kitchen.

  “Can I get you anything?”

  “No, I’m good, thank you,” he said as he looked around.

  The kitchen was not that big, and it was messy with a pile of papers on the counter. He counted four pairs of shoes on a mat on the side of the refrigerator, an iron was resting on the table with a towel underneath it, and a blouse was hung over one of the chairs. He remembered her saying that she lives with a roommate.

  “Are we alone here?”

  “Yeah, Lolita is sleeping out tonight. Of course she left the place a mess.” She muttered as she kicked off her shoes, picked them up, and walked out of the kitchen. A short while later, she came back with a bottle of red wine, and walked over to a cabinet to the left of the sink and took out two wine glasses and an opener.

  “I got it,” Richie said. He took both the bottle and the opener from her and opened the wine. After he poured two glasses he handed one to her and she walked to the living room and over to the sofa facing the TV, and picked up the clicker from the table. He followed and sat next to her when she sat. “I’m really sorry I lied to you. I didn’t know how to handle it.”

  Simone took a sip of her wine as she heard the theme to Jeopardy play on the tube. “You know, I know it would be bad for your image to be seen with me, so I wasn’t expecting an invite or anything, but you could have been truthful with me.”

  “I know. Believe me when I tell you, it bothered me from the moment I lied.” He placed his glass down on the coffee table in front of them then whipped out his cell phone and tapped it then scrolled. “Here.” He held out the phone to her.

  She tilted her head in question.

  “It’s my buddy, Logan’s number. Call him and ask him. He’ll tell you, you were on my mind the whole time. He knows I felt bad about it.”

  “Richie, I’m not going to call your friend. I believe you.” Though it didn’t escape her that he didn't comment on her statement about not wanting to be seen with her.

  He nodded, shifting in his seat, as he put the phone in his front pocket.

  “What is least common multiple.” she said.

  “What?” he asked as he picked up his wine glass.

  “Oh, Jeopardy question,” she said as she heard her cell phone chime. She rose up and walked to her purse she had set down on a kitchen chair. Pulling out the phone she scrunched her nose and twisted her mouth. “It’s Poppy again. Probably wants to know what happened to his star.” She looked to the television as she walked back into the living room. “What is La Boheme.”

  Richie grinned. “Give me the phone, I’ll tell him.” He made to get up.

  “No, let him leave a message. I’ll deal with him later.

  “You sure? I don’t mind.”

  “Thanks, I got it.”

  “What is Gianni Schicchi?” Now Richie answered a question.

  “Nice. For one thousand. You a fan of opera?” she asked him.

  “No. There was a girl, Italy, and one summer.”

  “Hah!”

  “You a fan?”

  “No. I never even heard of that one.”

  “It’s a one act comedy.”

  “Oh.”

  The two of them turned their attention to the show and played along.

  “So, uh, let’s talk about us,” Richie said when a commercial came on.

  Simone nodded.

  “I don’t give a damn what anyone thinks about me, or who I date. I like what we have here. I enjoy you, your company, and your body. And I’m not ashamed to be caught with you. I can’t offer you exclusivity because my head is not there yet. I’m not looking for a girlfriend, just fun. Good times and fun is what I have when I’m with you. Will you be okay with that?” He paused. “That’s all I can offer right now. I don’t know where it will lead, but while we are doing our thing, I will take care of you. Whatever you need or want, I’ll give it to you.”

  She slowly smiled as she nodded. “I like what we have also. I’m not looking for anything exclusive either. So, yeah, I’d be okay with it.”

  “Good. And the reason why I didn’t ask you to the party I didn’t even want was because my parents were going to be there and I didn’t want to introduce you to them yet. Not because of your profession, I know you know how to carry yourself. But simply because we,” he indicated with his hand, “are new. I wouldn’t introduce any new girl to them. It’s just how it is. I’ve only introduce one girl to them, back when I was twenty-one.” He snorted. “And that was a disaster.” He recalled the chick, Shana, and how she kept calling his mother wanting to hang out with her. She practically stalked her. It freaked his mother out so much, and quite frankly him too, he had to cut ties with her.

  “I’m gonna be photographed quite a bit with women. Doesn’t mean I’m doing them. In fact the only time no one bothers me is when I’m home in Texas. Don’t let it bother you. It doesn’t mean you and I are through, okay. You’ll know if and when we’re through first hand. We’re free to do what we want to do. And if you want to end what we have I expect you to be honest with me. Don’t string me along.”

  “That’s fine, I like this arr
angement.” She nodded as she smiled.

  He held out his hand and when she placed her hand in his he pulled her over to him and wrapped his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. “I’m glad we got this cleared up.”

  “Me too.”

  They finished watching Jeopardy with Simone getting more answers than him.

  Richie brought his arms up, stretching. “Now I want to eat dinner. I’m starving.” He brought an arm down and around her shoulder and brought her in close. “Then I want to eat you,” he whispered the last part by her ear.

  Simone sucked in a breath.

  They decided on gourmet hamburgers. Richie called a well-known local joint that didn’t have delivery service, yet they delivered to them. When he found out she loved chocolate malted milkshakes, he ordered a couple from Trudie’s, an ice cream shop not far from where she lived. He even told Simone whenever she wanted anything from those places she should mention his name and they will deliver to her.

  Over dinner Simone asked about the girl in the picture. He confessed it was the same girl from Bella Donna’s and she was just a friend. Then they talked more about Danny and he fumed as she told him how he abuses her. He made a mental note. He also asked her what her real name was again. He was disappointed she still wouldn’t tell him, yet understood her desire to keep it private. But at that point he was on a mission to learn it, to have her trust him enough to tell him.

  Chapter 13

  Richie had left on Thursday morning, after spending the night with Simone, and after speaking with Poppy about Danny. Poppy reassured him Danny would not be allowed anywhere near Simone nor was he going to press charges. Richie was almost hoping he’d press charges, his lawyer would have had a field day with Danny. He had to get back to Texas to interview a few ranch hands because that Rollins ranch was showing signs of trouble again with losing half the hands, and they reached out to him. He didn’t want to but the occupants of the ranch were inept when it came to hiring workers. He had Logan by his side during the interviews.