Unmasking the Maverick Prince

by Kristi Gold

  “Why don’t we wait and see how it goes tonight?”

  He knew exactly how it was going to go. He’d be pretending that everything between them was casual, but deep down he would be wanting her with every breath he drew. “All right. I can live with that.” If it didn’t kill him.

  “Fine. I’ll see you later.”

  When Tori closed the door, Mitch dropped down into the chair behind his desk and rested his face in his hands. He couldn’t help but wonder if his behavior, his uncontrolled desire for her, had her believing that he saw her as an easy target because of her history. Very far from the truth.

  Tori Barnett was smart and sexy. A class act. A woman that any man with half a brain would like to know better. He had revealed more about himself to her than he’d ever revealed to any woman. She’d begun to melt his emotional walls and although he found that troublesome, he couldn’t ignore the anticipation every time she walked into a room—and that had little to do with sex, as reluctant as he was to admit it.

  Yet he had offered her no more than a date to the local shindig and a few sessions of lovemaking while she was in town. But then she hadn’t asked anything else of him. Still, he intended to put on the brakes. Tonight, he would treat her like the one-in-a-million woman she was. He wouldn’t expect more than her company and, in turn, prove that he did respect her enough to ignore his own needs. Anything that happened between them from this point forward would be up to her.

  He would be the gentleman his mother had taught him to be. In the meantime, he would remind himself that in a matter of days, she would leave him to return to her own life. He would also try to ignore that bite of regret struggling to the surface every time he thought about her departure.

  He still had six days in her presence and even if they never made love again, Mitch would always be glad for this time with Tori Barnett—an honest-to-goodness good girl.

  “Bobby tells me you were doing Mitch in his office.”

  Tori stopped mid-bite and swallowed quickly in order to deliver a retort to her former best friend. “I was not doing Mitch anywhere.”

  Stella pushed her plate back and smiled. “And why weren’t you, Tori?”

  “Oh, good grief.” Snatching her own plate from the table, Tori walked to the kitchen counter, shoved the uneaten half of her turkey sandwich into the trash, then set the dish in the sink. “Give me one good reason why I should be sleeping with Mitch Warner.”

  “Because you want to.”

  Exactly, Tori thought, staring into the suds as if they could foretell the future. “What I might want to do and what I should do are two different things.”

  “Tori, don’t you think it’s time to stop being the good girl?”

  How weird that Stella should bring that up considering Tori’s recent conversation with Mitch. For a second, she wondered if they’d been plotting the demise of her resistance together. “If you recall, I was not a good girl four nights ago.”

  Stella came up beside Tori and rested an elbow on her shoulder. “Knowing you, you’ve been beating yourself up inside ever since.”

  Tori shrugged off Stella’s arm and began washing the dishes with a vengeance. “I haven’t exactly been beating myself up, although I probably should.”

  “Why? What happened between you and Mitch was nature having a field day. You should be glad you’ve had the opportunity, and you should be trying to grab a few more.”

  She ran the dishrag round and round in a glass until it squeaked. “To what end, Stella? I’ll be leaving here in a few days and then it’s over.”

  “So?”

  A stretch of silence passed before Stella said, “Oh, gosh. You’re falling in love with him!”

  “I’m not. I can’t.”

  “Sometimes you don’t have a choice. I certainly didn’t want to fall in love with Bobby, but I’m glad I did.” She patted her belly. “Now I have a baby on the way and a man who loves me more than his horse.”

  Tori chuckled. “That’s nice to know, but that’s exactly the reason why I can’t fall for Mitch. He doesn’t love me more than his horse, and he never will.”

  “He could. Stranger things have happened.”

  After rinsing off one plate, Tori leaned a hip against the counter and faced Stella. “Not with Mitch. He gives the term ‘confirmed bachelor’a whole new meaning. His determination to avoid commitment is etched in cement.”

  “Then my advice is to make a few memories to take back to Dallas with you. If you’re going to fall in love with him, you’ll do that without going to bed with him again. You can’t make it any worse by having a little fun while you’re falling.”

  Stella was probably right. If she was going to lose her heart to Mitch, she would do that without ever kissing him again.

  Until this point in her life, she’d been a model citizen. She didn’t even have a citation on her driving record. She’d been a devoted daughter. She’d waited until she’d been in a long-term relationship before she’d made love for the first time. She’d walked the straight and narrow for so long she was surprised she didn’t step heel to toe. Enough was enough.

  Saint Victoria vowed to say goodbye to the good girl, at least for tonight.

  Seven

  The fair had packed the streets to capacity, both with vendors and townsfolk from across three counties. As it had been from the time Tori was young, all the citizens looked forward to the event as a nice diversion from the everyday grind. Back in her youth, she’d always attended the festivities with her friends. Not once had she ever been on the arm of a boy, taking in the games on the midway provided by the same Oklahoma City carnival company for fifty years. Not once had she sat in Horner’s pasture on a blanket with a date to watch the fireworks light up the sky after sundown. Not once had she kissed on a Ferris wheel.

  Those were nothing more than unrealized teenage dreams. Tonight she enjoyed the company of a dream man dressed in a starched pale blue shirt that enhanced his eyes, just-right jeans that highlighted his attributes and a tan felt hat that crowned him the consummate cowboy. And his cologne—well, that should just be labeled lethal.

  Yes, tonight Tori walked the sidewalk amidst the chaos of the crowd, the gorgeous Mitch Warner by her side—when he wasn’t shaking hands with all the passersby. His political roots were showing, whether he cared to admit it or not. She wouldn’t be a bit surprised if he started kissing babies. That was okay, as long as he saved a few for her later on.

  Right then she stood on the sidewalk in front of the hardware store, waiting while Mitch visited with Lanham Farley, the town’s mayor who happened to be older than Red River dirt. However, he was still upright and able to take nourishment, evident by the fact he was gnawing on a smoked turkey leg with his dentures.

  Tori engaged in people watching to pass the time. She had to admit the excitement in the air was palpable. Strident screams came from the vicinity of the belly-flopping rides scattered around on the vacant lot at the end of the street. That lot used to house the livestock auction barns before people took their business to bigger cities and better markets. She was amazed that Quail Run hadn’t completely died out as so many small towns had. In many ways, she was glad it hadn’t, even if she never planned to live here again. As she’d told Buck earlier that day, not every memory was a bad one. And she hoped tonight that with Mitch, she might make a few more good ones. If he ever escaped the esteemed mayor.

  “Well, my, my, you did stick around.”

  Tori glanced to her right to see Mary Alice Marshall, her jeans painted on her narrow hips and her lips painted fire-engine red. Her perfectly curled long blond hair trailed from beneath a white cowboy hat as she clutched an armful of stuffed animals that Tori would like to tell her to stuff in a place where the sun don’t shine. “Hello, Mary Alice. Looks like you made a haul.”

  Mary Alice squeezed the animals to her ample chest. “Actually, Brady won these for me. Aren’t they cute? I plan to give them to the children’s home in Bennett.”

>   “That’s nice.”

  “And it’s nice of you to support the festival, considering your limited means. But you shouldn’t just stand here.” She pulled a strip of red tickets from the pocket of her jeans. “Take these and go have some fun.”

  Tori intended to, starting now. “Actually, I’m waiting for Mitch, so I won’t be needing any freebies.”

  “Mitch?” Mary Alice’s voice cracked like an adolescent boy’s.

  “Yes.” She nodded toward the cowboy-in-question. “He’s talking to Mayor Farley. I’m sure he’ll be finished in a moment.”

  Mary Alice inclined her head and gave Tori a hard stare. “Are you and Mitch an item, or is he just being charitable?”

  Tori gritted her teeth to halt the litany of insults threatening to spew forth. “Actually, he’s—”

  “Ready to go.”

  Mitch’s surprise appearance couldn’t have been better timed. The arm he draped over Tori’s shoulder couldn’t have been more welcome. “Let’s go, Tori.” He touched the brim of his hat and said, “’Night, Mary Alice,” but didn’t wait for a response.

  Tori sent Mary Alice a smug smile over one shoulder as they walked away. “Have a good time with Brady.”

  After they’d traveled a block, Mitch asked, “What did she say to you?” concern in his voice and his eyes.

  “Nothing much. She just wanted to make sure I remembered my place and wished me a good time, until she found out I’m having it with you.”

  “She’s just blowing steam.”

  “She still has a thing for you.”

  “She’s jealous of you, but it’s not only because you’re with me.”

  A perfect blonde with big breasts and more money than God was jealous of her? “That’s a stretch, Mitch.”

  “That’s the truth. Believe me, I’ve known her a long time, and I can see envy written all over her face. She covets your independence because she wanted to leave here, just like you, but she was too afraid of her father to make a move.”

  “That’s really a shame.”

  “That’s the past and I want to forget about it and her.”

  When Mitch dropped his arm from around her, Tori couldn’t ignore the disappointment. But then he took her hand and said, “Let’s go play some games on the midway. I usually win.”

  And Mitch did at the basketball toss on the first try.

  The carnie pointed to the myriad stuffed animals clipped to a string above their heads. “Which one do you want, little lady?”

  Tori studied them for a few moments but before she could make her choice, Mitch said, “She’ll take the monkey.”

  “One monkey it is,” the carnie said as he handed Tori the miniature ape with a yellow plastic banana glued to his hand.

  Tori gave Mitch a bewildered look as he took her by the arm and guided her past the fortune teller booth. “I was about to pick the white tiger.”

  “I thought the monkey complemented your house shoes.”

  Holding the ape up, she said, “You’re right. And he needs a name.”

  “He reminds me of the mayor, so you should call him Lanham.”

  Tori laughed. “You’re right. Lanham it is. Lanny for short.”

  Once more, Mitch draped an arm around her shoulder. “What now?”

  “I want some cotton candy.”

  “I can do that.”

  She waited near the stand while Mitch waited in line. Several people passed by her and stared, but she couldn’t say that she recognized any of them. And she doubted anyone recognized her, considering how long it had been since she’d been in town. Still, she suspected that their covert glances had to do with her “date” tonight. Before she returned home, no doubt she would be the notorious nobody who’d wrangled the local icon out of an evening.

  A few minutes later, Mitch returned with the fluffy cloud of pink sugar on a stick and offered it to her. “Here. It was either this or some weird shade of green.”

  “This is great.”

  Tori’s first bite of the candy brought back memories of a simpler time. So did the smells of frying funnel cakes and popcorn. Yet everything seemed much more special with Mitch at her side. For the first time, she walked the midway with a man, but not just any man. A special man who so completely tugged at her heartstrings every time he smiled.

  “How about we try out a ride?” He snagged a hunk of the cotton candy and popped it into his mouth.

  “I don’t go for anything too daring,” Tori replied. “But I do like the Ferris wheel.”

  He grinned. “I can’t interest you in that kamikaze roller coaster?”

  “Not if you value your boots.”

  “I do, so the Ferris wheel it is.”

  Again Tori hung back as Mitch purchased tickets from the booth. While waiting their turn to board, they maintained a comfortable silence, Mitch standing behind her with his palms braced on her waist. She resisted the urge to toss the monkey and candy aside to turn into his arms. Definitely not a good idea at the moment. But when they were alone on the ride, she had a good mind to fulfill one of her fantasies, if he proved to be agreeable.

  After the wheel executed two go-rounds, their turn finally came. Tori climbed into the red car first and Mitch followed, Lanny positioned between them like a hairy, inanimate child. They pulled the safety bar over their laps and as they ascended backward, Tori’s tummy took a pleasant dip. It dipped again when they sat suspended at the top while more riders loaded, providing her with the perfect opportunity to make her request.

  Mitch rested his arm along the back of the seat, their thighs touching. That alone made her breathless. She sounded breathless when she said, “Mitch, can I ask you a question?”

  He frowned. “I thought maybe we’d forget about the interview tonight.”

  “This isn’t for the article. This is something that I want to know. Off the record.”

  “Okay.”

  “Have you ever kissed anyone on a Ferris wheel?”

  He took off his hat, ran a hand through his hair, then settled it back on his head. “As best I can recall, I tried that once when I was about thirteen. I got slapped.”

  Tori twirled the white cone round and round. “I wouldn’t slap you.”

  “You really want me to do that in front of the entire town?”

  She kept her eyes focused on the lights spread out before them. “Not if it’s going to ruin your rep—”

  He stopped her words with a kiss as soft and as sweet as the cotton candy. Even when the ride started moving again, he didn’t stop. Tori was barely mindful of the wheel’s rotation or the moderate breeze blowing her bangs back from her face. Her awareness centered only on Mitch and the absolute thrill of his mouth moving against hers. He took her hand into his and rubbed her wrist with his thumb in a motion as gentle as the glide of his tongue against hers, as easy as the swaying car.

  All too soon, the ride stopped and so did his kiss.

  He leaned back against the seat, taking his hand from hers to adjust his hat that had tipped back from his forehead. “That probably melted your candy.”

  Tori looked down at the said candy to find it gone. “I think it flew away.”

  Mitch leaned over the side of the car and looked down at the ground below. “Oh, hell. Hope it didn’t end up in some matriarch’s beehive hairdo.”

  Tori released a laugh that seemed to float away on the wind along with the last of her heart. “That should make it in the Quail Run Herald if our little adolescent display doesn’t first.”

  He patted the monkey’s head. “At least you hung on to Lanny.”

  If only it would be so easy to hang on to Mitch, yet that was as elusive as the whereabouts of the candy. “I guess the earth didn’t move just because you kissed me in public.”

  He regarded her with luminescent blue eyes that gave the midway lights some serious competition. “I wouldn’t necessarily say that.”

  The wheel jerked forward and soon stopped on the platform, bringing an end to t
he ride, bringing about Tori’s disappointment over the end of a few very memorable moments.

  As soon as the attendant lifted the bar, Mitch climbed out and offered his hand for her to take. And he didn’t let her go even after they started down the wooden walkway, where they were met with random applause and hoots and hollers from several of the onlookers. Someone shouted, “Way to go, Gus!”, prompting Tori to spin around to find Buck standing nearby, a handsome-looking older woman by his side. She sent a quick glance at Mitch to find he didn’t look at all pleased at being caught by his grandfather.

  Heat rose to Tori’s face when she considered the number of people who had played witness to their behavior—particularly the blond bombshell standing near the exit, two furry friends dangling from her hands and two lying on the ground at her feet as she glared at Tori.

  As juvenile as it seemed, Tori experienced a strong sense of satisfaction that Mary Alice Marshall had seen poor valedictorian Victoria Barnett in a lip-lock with Mitch Warner. Very petty, but pretty amusing at that.

  Again they took to the busy streets, strolling along at a leisurely pace, hand in hand, Lanny clutched tightly in Tori’s arm. The magical evening and Mitch’s equally magical kiss had taken its toll on Tori. With every whiff of his cologne, every casual touch, she realized how she wanted this evening to end. But not yet. Not until they spent a little more time together. She didn’t want to seem too enthusiastic, even if she was.

  The masses began to move past them, mothers and fathers and kids, along with assorted couples, young and old, all heading toward Horton’s pasture. “The fireworks are about to start in a few minutes,” Tori said. “Are you interested in watching?”

  Mitch stopped in the middle of the hordes and looked around. “I have a better idea.”

  Before Tori could inquire about that idea, Mitch turned and tugged her in the opposite direction, against the flow of the crowd. He stopped at the place set up for hayrides provided by a couple of local farmers with tractors and flatbeds. Leaving her behind once more, he spoke briefly with one of the men, handed him what looked to be a few bills, then returned.