The Taming of Delaney Fortune (The Fortunes of Texas: Cowboy Country)

by Michelle Major

  “And your perfect match?” he suggested.

  “So it would seem.”

  “Are you finished seducing me, Delaney?”

  She bit down on her bottom lip, watching his eyes darken in response. “I’ve barely gotten started.”

  * * *

  Cisco bent forward and picked her up, once again loving how tiny she felt in his arms. As spirited and independent as Delaney was, there had been a lot of risk in coming to him today. She’d put aside her pride and allowed herself to be vulnerable for him.

  He knew things weren’t going to always be this easy, especially since he still owed her an explanation for why he’d sought her out in the first place. But that was a conversation for the morning. Tonight he wanted only to show her how much she meant to him, to make sure the memory of her first night would always be perfect.

  “Did you put clean sheets on the bed while I was in the bath?” Delaney asked as he walked into the bedroom with her.

  “I cook and do laundry,” he said, setting her on her feet next to the bed. “I think that makes me quite a catch.” He tugged on the belt of the robe. “You’d better not let me go.”

  “I’m definitely not letting you go.”

  He slid his hands inside her robe, watching as she hitched in a breath. The robe fell from her shoulders and she was perfect standing in front of him, her skin flushed and soft to the touch.

  “Oh, no,” she whispered, lifting the hem of his T-shirt. “I’m not going to be undressed alone. We’re in this together.”

  There was nothing he wanted more at this moment than to be joined with this woman, skin to skin. The shirt dropped to the ground along with his boxers and the two of them fell to the bed, kissing and exploring each other. Delaney’s hesitation from earlier was gone. She was all innocent curiosity and confidence. It drove him crazy in the best way possible.

  But he wanted to savor every moment with her, so deliberately slowed their pace. As if sensing what he wanted, Delaney did the same. They took their time, whispering endearments to each other as the fire between them built again, even more intense than before. When he finally entered her, Cisco could barely speak.

  “I love you,” he managed to whisper, and she tightened her hold on him. She couldn’t know how much it meant to him to say those words. He hadn’t even realized how long he’d been waiting to find her. But when they fell over the edge together, he had no doubt that he’d spend the rest of his life trying to make Delaney as happy as she made him.

  So when he woke up the next morning alone, Cisco wasn’t immediately worried. After making love, they’d stayed awake talking for most of the night. He’d finally drifted to sleep with her wrapped in his arms. He usually set the alarm on his smartphone for 6:00 a.m., but the clock on the nightstand showed that it was almost seven thirty. His phone wasn’t where he’d plugged it in to charge and neither was Delaney’s. He got out of bed, pulled on a pair of shorts over his boxers and headed to the kitchen.

  He hoped she wasn’t bothering with making breakfast. He was still worried about her resting her ankle and wanted to take care of her as much as he could until she was back to normal.

  The house was empty and eerily quiet as he came out from the bedroom. “Delaney?” he called, but silence was the only answer.

  Glancing out the front window, a flash of unease skittered down his back when he realized her truck wasn’t in the driveway, where he’d moved it to late last night. He kept walking toward the kitchen, where a carton of eggs and jug of milk sat out, as if Delaney had been interrupted in the middle of pulling food from the fridge. What the hell had happened and where was she? His gaze stopped on a piece of notebook paper that sat on the counter, his cell phone placed on top of it.

  He read the words printed in Delaney’s delicate handwriting. “Your boss texted. He wants an update on when you’re going to ‘close the Fortunes.’ You should have plenty to tell him after last night.”

  His heart dropped as he picked up his phone and hit a few buttons to review the text that had come in early this morning. Damn. He wasn’t sure how or why Delaney had seen that text, but it didn’t matter. All he cared about was making her understand that there was more to the story—more to him—than she clearly thought.

  Punching in her number, he hurried back to the bedroom and threw on a shirt and slid his feet into running shoes. The phone clicked immediately to Delaney’s voice mail. Cisco muttered a curse, then left a message, asking her to call him back, that he could explain what she’d seen. He needed her to give him a chance and didn’t care that he sounded as if he was begging.

  He’d get down on his knees if that was what it took to make things right with Delaney.

  He grabbed his keys from the kitchen counter, then ran to his truck and headed out toward the Fortune Jones family ranch. The phone rang when he was halfway there and he picked it up before looking at the display.

  “Where are you?” he blurted. “You have to let me see you.”

  There was a pause at the other end of the line. Then Kent Stephens’s deep voice answered. “The better question is where the hell are you, Mendoza? Did you get my texts this morning? Alden is here in the office and he wants to meet with you. Now.”

  “Can’t do it.” Cisco turned onto the county highway that led to the ranch and hit the gas pedal hard. He put the phone on speaker so he could concentrate on driving.

  “You don’t have a choice,” Kent practically yelled. Cisco heard him take a breath and his next words were at a more normal pitch. “He wants an answer on the Fortunes. We need the meeting set up with the family ASAP.”

  “No Fortunes,” Cisco shot back. “That part of the deal is off the table.” He started down the driveway that led to the ranch, tension radiating through him.

  “Are you kidding? Alden is going to—”

  “Gotta go, Kent.” Cisco parked in front of the house and turned off the ignition. “We’ll make this thing go without the Fortunes or not at all.”

  “Listen to me, Men—”

  “I’ll call you later.” Cisco ended the call and pocketed the phone as he jumped out of the truck. He ran up the steps and rang the doorbell twice, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he waited for someone to answer. He was ready to figure out which bedroom window was Delaney’s and climb up to her Romeo-style if he got that desperate.

  It didn’t come to that when a moment later the door opened. Jeanne Marie smiled at him. “Cisco, what a lovely surprise.”

  He tried to keep his face neutral, shocked that he was still getting such a warm welcome from Delaney’s mother. “Could I speak to Delaney?”

  A frown creased Jeanne Marie’s brow. “I’m sorry—she’s not here this morning. She spent the night at her sister’s house, so she’s probably still there. You didn’t know?”

  “Uh...I guess...I haven’t been able to reach her this morning.”

  She reached out and patted his arm. “Is everything all right, Cisco?”

  He scrubbed his hands across his face, unsure how to answer. He didn’t want to reveal too much to Jeanne Marie if Delaney hadn’t talked to her yet. How did you explain to a mother that you’d taken her daughter’s innocence and betrayed her in the same twelve-hour time stretch? Not a great way to endear himself to his girlfriend’s family.

  Was it safe to call Delaney his girlfriend after this morning? He couldn’t very well call her anything if she wouldn’t speak to him.

  “If you talk to her, would you please tell her I stopped by?” He cleared his throat and added another “Please.” He met Jeanne Marie’s kind gaze. “I care about your daughter very much. No matter what happens, I hope you know that.”

  “Of course you do. She’s never opened herself up to someone like she has with you, Cisco. Delaney is special to all of us in the family. She’s supported her sister and brother
s as they’ve found love and deserves to be happy in her own life, too. I believe she could find that happiness with you.”

  Cisco took a step back then locked his knees so they wouldn’t buckle. In her gentle way, this sweet, well-meaning woman had run him down harder than a two-ton bull. “Thank you, Mrs. Fortune Jones. Delaney deserves the world, and I’m going to be the man to give it to her.”

  He returned to his truck and drove, slowly now, down the driveway and back onto the highway. After a few minutes, he pulled over, unsure which way to go. He called Delaney and again went to voice mail. He left another message, then texted her for good measure.

  Jeanne Marie’s words reverberated in his head. Delaney could find happiness with him. What had happened between them was a misunderstanding. Yes, he should have told her sooner, but once he explained it, she’d see why he’d waited. Then there was the issue of Cowboy Country and making the deal go through without the support of the Fortunes. Cisco would just have to convince Alden Moore of how the condo development could work and why the changes he was suggesting would benefit everyone in the end.

  His phone rang and he grabbed it off the seat, disappointed when Matteo’s name showed up on the display. He answered anyway, hoping maybe Delaney had turned to Rachel for support after leaving his house this morning. Cisco had to find a way to track her down.

  “Hey, Matteo.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “How do you know something’s wrong?”

  “You sound like someone just kicked your puppy.”

  “I don’t have a dog.”

  Matteo chuckled. “You know what I mean.”

  Cisco wrapped the fingers of his free hand around the steering wheel. He hated asking for help but had little choice right now. “Any chance Rachel’s talked to Delaney today?”

  “Doubt it. We’ve been together all morning. Why?”

  “I’m trying to track her down and having trouble reaching her.”

  “You’ve called?”

  “Yes.”

  “And texted?”

  “Matteo,” Cisco said in a warning voice. “I’m familiar with how to contact a person. That’s not the problem.”

  “So when you say ‘trouble,’ what you mean is you’re in trouble with the girl.”

  Cisco sighed. There was no point in hiding what had happened to his brother. Horseback Hollow was small enough that Matteo would find out eventually. “She’s really mad and won’t take my calls. I messed up and am scared as hell that I’ve ruined my chances with her. I’ve been to her parents’, but she’s not there. I don’t know what else to do, bro. I’m desperate here.”

  Silence filled the line and then Matteo burst out laughing. “Scared? Desperate? Did I just hear those two words from the unbeatable Cisco Mendoza? My brother knocked off his game by love. I never thought I’d live to see the day.”

  “Come on, man. I’m serious.”

  “What happened? Did you flirt with another woman? Call her the wrong name?”

  “Don’t be a jerk. I care about Delaney. I...” He paused, then said, “I think I’m in love with her.”

  He heard Matteo whistle. “That’s a big deal for you.”

  “No kidding. But there’s a business deal I’ve been working on and it involves Cowboy Country.” He rested his head on the seatback. “And the Fortunes.”

  “The Fortunes aren’t known to be fans of the theme park. From what Gabi says, most of them have been against it from the start. All except...”

  “Delaney,” Cisco finished for him. “There were things I didn’t tell her. Details I should have shared and now it might be too late.”

  “You’ll be fine, Cisco.”

  “What makes you so sure?”

  “Because you’re a master negotiator, king of the close. Hell, you could sell snow to an Eskimo. Delaney doesn’t stand a chance against your skills.”

  “It’s different with her.”

  “No way. All deals work the same way and I’ve never seen you fail once you put your mind to something. Give her some time to cool off, then work your magic. She’ll see—” The line beeped, cutting off the rest of Matteo’s words. “I need to take that call,” his brother said a moment later.

  “Sure thing.” Cisco sighed. “Thanks for listening.”

  “My pleasure, believe me. Let me know how things go once you track her down.”

  His brother clicked off the line and Cisco tossed the phone onto the seat. Two months ago he would have taken Matteo’s words as a compliment. He prided himself on the career he’d built, making money and his professional reputation. He was a master at convincing people to do what he wanted, both in his work and his personal life. But Delaney was different. She’d seen more in him and he’d wanted to be that man for her. He’d make things right between them, but not because he could manipulate her into forgiving him. He had to make her see that he’d meant it when he told her he loved her.

  Suddenly he had an idea of where she might be. He called his sister for directions, then turned the truck around on the highway until he could pull off at the road that led to the small ranch house Stacey shared with her husband, Colton, and her daughter, Piper.

  It made sense that Delaney would first go to her sister’s instead of back to her parents’ house since that was where she’d supposedly spent the night. His heart jumped when he saw Delaney’s truck parked next to the cozy house.

  The sun shone bright as he climbed the front steps of the house. It had been only hours, but it felt like days since he’d seen Delaney. He couldn’t wait to be near her again, to make her understand and then wrap her in his arms and never let go.

  The door to the house opened before he even knocked. Stacey stood in the threshold, hands on her small hips. He’d met Stacey at the family barbecue but hadn’t talked long to her. Now she held out her hand, palm facing him. “Don’t come any closer.”

  He stopped at the edge of the top step.

  “You might as well turn right around, Cisco. There isn’t anything for you here.”

  It was no surprise that Stacey was standing sentry, guarding her little sister. But Cisco was on a mission and nothing was going to stop him.

  “I’m not leaving until I see her.” A breeze kicked up, and he could have sworn Delaney’s sweet, flowery perfume floated around him on the air. His heart squeezed in response to her scent. “I hurt her, and you have no idea how sorry I am for that. I need a chance to make it right.” He eased forward, his gaze never wavering from Stacey’s. He had to make her see how important this was to him.

  She shifted, crossing her arms over her chest, as if weighing his words against her protective instinct toward Delaney. “Don’t think because she’s strong and feisty that you can’t break her heart. She’s got a delicate soul and she needs someone who will take care of her, not toss her aside when the next shiny penny comes along.”

  “I would never—”

  “Or use her as a pawn to further his career,” she interrupted.

  The words hit as intended, but Cisco wasn’t going to give up so easily. “I made a mistake. I’m here to make things right. I have to talk to her, Stacey.”

  She bit down on her lip, the gesture so similar to Delaney’s. It reminded Cisco that Delaney had a whole tribe of people surrounding her, ready to fight for her.

  “No promises, but I’ll see if she’s available.” Stacey turned on her heel and slammed the door in his face. A moment later it opened and she popped her head out. “Curse my mama for raising us with proper manners.” She gestured for to him to follow. “Come on into the family room. I can’t let you wait out here, even if you deserve it.”

  Cisco wasn’t going to argue a foot in the door. “Thank you,” he said, and followed her into the house.

  She left him in a cozy family room off
the kitchen. “Sit down and wait. If Delaney wants to see you, she’ll come down. It’s her choice, so don’t follow me. Piper is napping, and if you wake her up, I really will have to kill you.”

  He shook his head. “I won’t make a sound,” he vowed. “And I’ll wait for Delaney. It’s her choice.”

  Still worrying her bottom lip, Stacey nodded, then disappeared.

  Cisco lowered himself to the couch, determined to follow her directions to the letter. He checked the time on his smartphone and noticed that he’d missed several calls from Kent Stephens. He ignored the voice mails. There was nothing going on at Cowboy Country that couldn’t wait until he worked things out with Delaney. His gaze was drawn to the shelves that flanked the fireplace in the comfortable room. Despite his promise to Stacey, he stood, drifting toward the bookcases. They were lined with family photos and mementos. He picked up a frame, a picture of a toddler he recognized as Stacey’s daughter, Piper. Other photos showed Stacey, Colton and Piper together while others were pictures that included the extended Fortune Jones family. He traced Delaney’s outline with his thumb, his heart constricting in a way he barely understood.

  Unfamiliar emotions rushing through him, he returned the frame to its place on the shelf and glanced around the room. The house looked new in its construction, but Stacey had decorated in a way that made it seem as though they’d lived there for years. In addition to the family photos, framed pictures of simple child art hung on the walls along with colorful landscapes. A thick rug covered the wide-plank wood floors, and two overstuffed chairs flanked the sofa he’d been sitting on. One corner of the room was taken over by neatly stacked children’s toys.

  This home was so different than the sleek lines and expensive leather that filled his condo back in Miami. He’d always prided himself on having the best of everything—appliances, electronics. His house was state-of-the-art in every way, but now he realized it was also an empty shell. He’d been filling his life with material things, but they’d never made him truly happy. He thought back to his childhood, traveling for his father’s career in the air force. His mother had made every place they lived feel like home, much as Stacey’s ranch house did.