by Lauren Wood
Yeah, Karen dodged a bullet this time. Dante really was a big mess that would cause anyone who cared heartache.
Turning off the light in the office, I went out on the porch and watched the moon as I had a hot tea to calm my nerves. Every night I came out here. The familiar sight was something that reminded me of my parents. It was night’s like this, when I was exhausted to no end, that I wondered if I would be able to do this all. They had died almost two years ago and I really thought by now I would have it all together. Sometimes, I wasn’t so sure. Was I really better off than I was when I had to take over? I felt sometimes like I was taking two steps forward and then three steps back.
“Tomorrow will be a better day.” I whispered the reminder before I went back in the old ranch house and up the stairs to my room. The bed was calling to me and I was unable to not hear the call. With any luck, I could get some people in tomorrow and get some training done before next week.
Chapter 2
Cecelia
The week was a long one, but I did manage to hire both of Dante’s suggestions, as well as a couple other stragglers that came through. It was going to be the first time I had left the ranch in months and I hoped more than anything that it would all still be here when I got back. Taking the horses up to Houston was just me and Dante. I wasn’t looking forward to the car ride, but I knew that it would be good to get out for a bit and get away from all of the pressures at home.
I didn’t have to go to the rodeo, but it was a favorite past time of mine. I used to travel to many in the area with my dad and I just wanted to get that feeling back that I had when I went with him. It didn’t matter that I had to drive in with Dante. He was already going and I was really just tagging along. I had a little business to conduct, but more promotional and not really all that needed. What I needed was a break.
“Are you ready to go?”
I had a duffel bag in my hand and I nodded my head that I was. He had already gotten the two horses in the trailer and squared away. We weren’t supposed to leave for another hour, but I think we were both anxious to get out of here. I know that I was.
“Yeah, you?”
“Yeah, hop in and let’s go. It is going to be a long trip. We won’t get there until this evening. Do you want to drive first, or do you want me to?”
I told him that I would take the wheel first. I felt refreshed in the mornings and it would give me something to do besides that accounting paperwork that was in the front pouch of my duffel. The last thing that I wanted to do was get into that. It was another part of the ranch running that gave me a headache.
So I got into the driver’s side of the truck and moved the seat up so that I could reach the pedals. Dante had me by about a foot and a half and he chuckled from the passenger side when he saw me do it. I just ignored him, like I did most of the time.
He started in pretty quickly, asking about Karen and how she was doing. I didn’t say much, letting him know that I wasn’t going to entertain the thought of the two of them together and I certainly wasn’t going to promote it.
“It was a mistake to say anything Dante. I don’t want her getting hurt, so if you could just blow it off, I would appreciate it.”
“I still think you are jealous.”
“I could have had you before if I wanted to.”
Dante looked out his window. “You know, you are about the only woman around here that can tell me no.”
“Your kryptonite doesn’t work on me Dante. It is just that simple. I know what you are looking for and I know that I am not looking for the same. You are a nice guy, but I bet you are a horrible boyfriend.”
“I sure the hell wish it did. The more you tell me no, the more I want you.”
I just shook my head and told him that it just proved how perverse he was. I pulled the subject away from what it seemed to always go to and enjoyed the drive. Ever since taking over the ranch, I hadn’t had much time to myself. The main reason I hated talking to Dante half of the time was the fact that he got me thinking about my love life, or lack thereof anyways.
It had been a little barren lately and though I had a friend back home that I hooked up with on occasion, even that had gotten to be too much commitment and I hadn’t seen him in almost a month. I didn’t need that reminder that I had now.
“Gosh, it is hot in here.”
“I told you that I would fix the A/C if you wanted me to.”
“No, usually I am okay with it. It is just this traffic. There is no moving air.”
The windows were both down and I finally held the wheel with the top of my knee and maneuvered in the twenty mile an hour traffic so that I could take off the shirt that was starting to feel like it was suffocating me. I had a camisole on underneath it and I instantly felt better as cool air dried the sweat off of my skin.
Moving over to throw the shirt in the back, I caught Dante staring at me. “What? Do I have something on me?”
He had a strange look in his eyes and I wasn’t sure what was going on in his head. I never really knew. That was the challenge of him.
“No, nothing.”
I sighed and leaned my head back on the rest. My trip out was already becoming too much. It wasn’t what I had envisioned and even though I was going to enjoy the rodeo, I had known all along that I wasn’t going to enjoy the ride too much.
***
It was dark when we got there and Dante nudged me a little. “Wake up Cece, we are here.”
My eyes were finding it hard to adjust and it took me a minute to realize that I was propped up against his shoulders and I had a little drool on the side of my face. I wiped it away quickly, hoping that he hadn’t seen it and sat up. I mumbled an apology for crashing out on him. “I have told you before Cece, anytime.”
I wasn’t going to listen or look in his eyes. This is what I told myself and I turned away before I could be roped into it. I was still a little sleepy and since he couldn’t stop talking about intimacy on the way up, I had of course had several disturbing dreams that left me in a strange state of mind. I needed to get away before I did something that I was going to regret later.
“You are going to take the horses in, right?”
“That is my job boss.”
“Good, I am going to go down to the hotel and get us checked in. Your key will be waiting for you at the desk. I will see you in the morning Dante.”
He had hesitation in his face, but after a moment of waiting for more of a response, I realized that I wasn’t going to get anything else. I grabbed the duffel bag and threw it over my shoulder. Dante most likely didn’t get why I was just leaving, but I knew it was because of the way my mind worked right now. He had me thinking about nothing but sex and I had to get away. Maybe I wasn’t as immune to him and his kryptonite as I liked to think I was.
Making my way the short walk to the hotel we passed as we drove in, I wished that I had waited around as the bag got heavier. That or I wished that I hadn’t packed as much as I did. It was getting heavy and I still wasn’t even all the way awake. I had a lot of things on my mind and the walk wasn’t helping.
When I got to the hotel, there were a few people in line that were waiting to check in. From their attire, it was clear that I wasn’t the only one coming over from the rodeo. It was a line full of cowboy hats and boots. I felt right at home here for some reason. It wasn’t the sight I had expected to see in Houston.
As I got to the front, the man behind the desk was called away to answer a question for another employee and I was left there to wait.
“Didn’t think it would be this busy, did you?’
I turned around to answer the posed question and stopped when I saw who it was. Even though I was unable to get to many rodeos lately, I still knew that it was Cliff McGow standing next to me. He was a famous bull rider in the rodeo world and I had had a crush on him since I was a teenager. He was older than me, but it didn’t matter when he smiled my way. What were the chances of running into him of all people?
&
nbsp; “Well the rodeo brings in the crowd. You in particular Mr. McGow.”
“Are you a fan?”
“Transporting some horses for a couple of clients for the events. I own a horse ranch about 6 hours from here in Conroe. But I am definitely a fan of yours, have been for years.”
His smile got brighter. “A fan that knows her stuff, even better.”
The look on his face was one I had seen before, but never did I imagine that it would have been generated towards me from him. This guy was on the cover of magazines and he was even hotter in person than I would have thought possible. What a coincidence that he was here and I was here at the same time?
The guy from the front desk came back and I can’t say that I was that excited to see him. Just minutes before I had been so worried about how long everything was taking. I just wanted to go back to the room and lie down, finishing the nap I had started earlier. Now everything had changed and I wasn’t sure how I felt, but I knew that I didn’t want to walk away from Cliff. I wanted to run towards him and now the desk clerk was getting in the way of that.
But I had no choice. I set up the rooms and got the keys, leaving one for Dante when he decided to show up. He should have been here by now, something else that seemed easier to contend with before I knew Cliff was behind me.
I was about to go to the elevator when he got out of line and stopped me. “I will be around for a bit tonight. Would you like to go out and get a bite to eat with me? I know a few great places around her for barbeque and I hate eating alone.”
“Yeah, okay. Um, I have to go upstairs and change real quickly. It was a long drive up here.”
His eyes moved over my figure and I felt self-conscious for a moment, hoping that he liked what he saw. I know what kind of girls he was with in the news, so I was left blushing from the attention from him.
“You are worth the wait. Meet me down here in an hour. I didn’t even catch your name.”
“Cecelia Robart.”
“Nice to meet you Cecelia. My name is Cliff…”
“I know who you are.”
He smiled and for a moment it reminded me of Dante and the way he smiled at me as well. The difference was that I had fantasized about Cliff a whole lot longer than I had fantasized about Dante. Cliff was something of a dream and going out with him was something else together. I just wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do, or what I was supposed to say.
“Good, I will see you in a little while Cecelia. I look forward to taking you out.”
My heart was slamming in my chest when I pushed the elevator button. I knew that I had lots of stuff to do while I was here, but an opportunity like this wasn’t going to happen very often. I was going to have to get used to it.
When I got to my room, I quickly got in the shower. I didn’t have much time and I really wanted to make a good impression. I was going to be going out with Cliff McGow for goodness sakes. This was not something that I thought would ever happen again. I couldn’t just let such an opportunity pass me by.
Chapter 3
Dante
I watched Cece take off and I can’t say that I minded the view as she left. She was tiny in all comparison, short and petite, but there was something in the way that she shook her hips. It wasn’t something that she did on purpose or to entice anyone, it was just how she walked. Nothing about Cece was done intentionally to turn a man on, but she couldn’t help it. The woman exuded sex and I would give my right nut for a night with her.
But she didn’t want me like that and made it clear on an almost daily basis. She would make the sweetest moaning sounds when I rubbed her shoulders, but that was as close as I was able to get to what I really wanted. She wasn’t going for anything more, no matter how hard I tried to persuade her.
At first, when I first started working for her, I couldn’t believe that she was running the ranch by herself. It was the largest in the area and she was so young. But she was a great boss and even if I never got in her panties, I would always want to work there. I got to do what I loved, she respected me and the local bar was full of loose women that would give me what it was that I wanted. Cece was the only woman that told me no.
Getting to the hotel, I waited for the clerk to come back and bring me the key. It took a minute and I was impatient. I wanted to see if I could talk Cece into come out with me. She had left so quickly earlier that I wanted to make sure she was okay. She was a little disconcerted when she woke up leaned against me, but I had found it peaceful and I liked the way she had felt against me. For a man that could have whatever he wanted, whomever he wanted, not getting Cecelia was sometimes the bane of my existence. Why didn’t my charm work on her like it did everyone else?
The ride up on the elevator didn’t take too long. The room was on the fourth floor and I was just getting off the elevator when I saw her. Cece was coming towards the elevator. She stopped when she saw me. I must have had a look on my face because it stopped her in her tracks.
“Hey Dante, I didn’t realize that you were already done with the horses. They must have been on their game today.”
I agreed, but my mind was far more worried about what she was wearing and how beautiful she was. I never got to see her like this. She was dressed in a soft, flowing dress and her jet black hair was down, flowing around her shoulders instead of braided down the center of her back. A slight hint of makeup accentuated it all. She was breathtaking and I didn’t know what to say.
“Hey.”
She giggled at me like I was an imbecile. “So what do you think? Does this look okay?”
My eyes traveled from head to toe and I couldn’t find one thing that was out of place. She was a vision in that white dress and the dark red lipstick on her lips made me want to kiss her. “Yeah, you look great Cece.”
There was nothing else to say and if there was, I certainly hadn’t figured it out. She was damn… I didn’t even know what to say to her.
“Thanks Dante. I will be back in a little while. If you need me for anything, I will have my phone with me.”
I moved back so that she could get in the elevator, but then decided to get in with her and find out where she was going dressed like that.
“Did you forget something?”
I nodded my head that I had. I don’t know what it was, but I was sure I would be able to come up with something anyways.
“Yeah.”
“Well good to have the company. I am so nervous.”
“What in the world do you have to be nervous about dressed like that?”
“I am meeting someone in the lobby and I don’t know what to think about it all.”
I didn’t like the idea of her meeting anyone for a night out. She was too beautiful and I felt a wave of jealousy take over me. She didn’t know how I felt about her, I would never admit it out loud, but for over a year I had thought about Cece as mine. She was mine and she just didn’t even know it yet.
“Who are you meeting? I didn’t know you knew anyone in Houston.”
I pushed the button to the elevator to make it go down and wondered who it was that she was getting all dressed up for. I didn’t want to consider that it was a man, though all of the signs were there that it was a guy she was meeting. I didn’t like the idea of that, at all.
“Well I don’t really know him.”
I heard the ‘him’ part and I felt a fire start inside of me.
“Who?”
“He is a rodeo guy that I have always liked. He rides bulls and is pretty famous. Kind of like you, but they had him on magazine covers when I was a teen.”
“Sounds old.”
Cece turned to me and scoffed. “You aren’t that young either Dante. Besides, it almost sounds like you are envious.”
“No, just worried about you taking off with some stranger in the city. Houston isn’t as safe as Conroe.”
She waved me off and told me that she was a big girl and that she would be fine. I knew she would be of course, but I didn’t like the idea of her meet
ing some guy and then taking off with him. Couldn’t she see that she had all that she needed in front of her? My frustration came out once and a while and this was one of those moments. I wanted to know what was going on and who this guy was. When I looked up at the changing floor numbers on the top of the elevator door, I realized that I wasn’t going to have much longer to figure it out.
“So who is it?”
“Cliff McGow.”
“Never heard of him.”
That didn’t seem to faze her. “Well if you were into rodeos, you would know who he is. He has been the champion bull rider for many years. He is rather famous.”
I shrugged like I didn’t care. “Doesn’t ring a bell to me, so he can’t be all that famous.”
I was jealous and I wanted to see who the hell this guy was. How was she going to go out with him and wouldn’t even give me the time of day?
“Do you want to meet him?”
I did, but I didn’t want to look too eager. I wanted to see what he was about and I wasn’t above saying something if necessary.
“I guess I can make sure he is not a creep. He is a stranger and you just met him. Maybe you shouldn’t be going out with him so quickly. Dressed like that you might give him the wrong idea.”
She giggled and brushed me off. It was a physical light touch that sent a shiver through me. I could barely take Cece when she was in jeans and a long sleeve shirt. Now it was even harder to concentrate when she was dressed up like that and the light touch set me on edge, especially knowing that she was about to go out with another man, looking like that.
The elevator dinged and the doors opened. I looked around figuring that I would know who it was right off the bat, like I would smell the other man from being so close to my woman. But no one stuck out at me as some famous rodeo bull rider. All I could see was a bunch of people waiting for something.
“Well I guess he isn’t here. Since you are all dressed up, do you want to go out and get something to eat? I’m not famous but I can be just as much fun. I am pretty good at riding as well.”
