Her Favorite Cowboy

by Mary Leo

  “No. I remember everything you taught me.”

  Gramps gave him the once over. “Then start actin’ like it.”

  Gage watched as Gramps slid onto the dance floor and merged into one of the lines like a pro. He and his grandmother had loved to dance, and Gage had countless memories of spirited barn dances with not only his grandparents but also his parents. Those summers on the ranch were the only times he’d ever seen his parents dance.

  Gage had done his share of clubbing in New York City, but those nights usually ended in a drunken blur. “Brownies? Cookies? Seriously?” Cori said as she approached. He welcomed her sudden appearance, albeit to critique his ridiculous gesture. He loved that she’d worn that same purple skirt and the Western boots she’d worn on their dinner date. This time she swapped out the red blouse with a formfitting Western-type one that showed just the right amount of cleavage.

  Did she know the affect she was having on him, or was she completely oblivious to his attraction?

  Hoots and laughter echoed throughout the room, along with syncopated pounding from a lot of boots hitting the wooden dance floor. Everyone seemed to be having a good time—everyone except Gage. He couldn’t catch a break...at least not until Cori stopped by.

  “I needed to do something to break the ice with him. I guess sugary desserts weren’t exactly the icebreaker I had hoped for.”

  He plunked the plate down on one of the many tables that surrounded the dance floor, each one covered by a red checkered table cloth. Two large dessert stations had been set up at the back of the room, along with a drink station that served only non-alcoholic beverages. Gage had already downed his share of sparkling cider and soda water and wished like hell he could have a couple shots of bourbon to help him get through the remainder of the evening.

  “You should dance with Gage, Mom,” Hailey insisted as she rushed up to them. “He taught me everything I know, and I’ve been dancing all night.”

  “Oh, I don’t...” Cori said.

  “Don’t you want to dance, Mom? It’s so much fun.”

  “Well, sweet pea, Gage hasn’t asked me.”

  “I didn’t think you would want to,” Gage said.

  “I don’t,” Cori snapped, then started to walk away, until her grandmother stopped her.

  “Corina-May, you haven’t been on that dance floor all night. It’s not healthy for you not to whoop it up at least once in a while.”

  Gage caught up to Cori, and with all the graciousness his grandparents had taught him he said, “Doctor Cori Parker, nothing would give me more pleasure than to have you dance with me.”

  A slow warm smile slipped across her full lips as Gage patiently waited for what he hoped would be a positive reply.

  “I’d love to, but I don’t know how to line dance.”

  “It’s easy, Mom,” Hailey said as she slipped in front of Cori.

  “I can teach you. We’ll take it nice and slow,” Gage assured her.

  Gage wanted to keep his distance, so he figured line dancing would be a safe choice.

  “I have two left feet.”

  He gazed down at her boots. “They look normal enough to me.”

  “I...I...”

  The song ended with a cheer, and one of the women onstage made an announcement, “We had a request to slow it down a bit, so we thought we’d do one of our favorite Patsy Cline tunes. Hope you like it.”

  “Now you can’t say no, Momma. I know you know how to slow dance. You used to dance with Daddy in our kitchen all the time.”

  “You remember that?”

  Hailey’s dad had loved to dance, especially a waltz. Whenever a slow song came on the radio, wherever they were, he’d take her in his arms and they’d dance. It didn’t matter if they were in a store, out on the sidewalk, in a restaurant or in the car, he’d have to dance with her. It was one of his most endearing qualities, and Cori was so happy that Hailey had kept that memory.

  “Uh-huh,” Hailey said, nodding. “I used to dance on Daddy’s feet. He taught me all about slow dancing.”

  Cori squatted in order to be level with Hailey, then she hugged her. “Don’t you ever forget that, okay?”

  When they parted, Hailey said, “How could I forget? It’s locked up in my brain with all the rest of the junk I remember.”

  Gage’s eyes watered imagining a much younger Hailey and her daddy dancing together while Cori stood back and absorbed the moment. He was beginning to understand how that kind of loss could devastate a family. Being sober put him in touch with his emotions and even though it was sometimes painful, he felt more alive than he had in a very long time.

  “But that’s a special memory. One that you’ll want to retrieve when you’re my age and you’re reminiscing about your daddy.”

  “Do you have those kinds of memories about Daddy?”

  “Yes, and I put them in a very special place in my heart.”

  “Don’t be silly, Momma. Our hearts can’t remember things.”

  “Sure they can. It’s where we store all our love moments.”

  “Okay.” She closed her eyes tight for a few seconds and when she opened them again, she said, “I just locked it away in my heart forever, but it’s going to get really crowded in there with all my love moments. I already have so many I can’t keep track of them, and I’m just a kid. What’ll happen by the time I get as old as you?”

  “You’ll be able to buy more space on the internet,” May said, breaking in on the moment. “Now let’s you and me dance and leave your Momma and Gage to their own devices.”

  May pulled Hailey out on the floor just as the lead singer crooned the first line of “I Fall to Pieces.”

  Gage held out his hand for Cori. “This one’s ours,” he said.

  Her smile deepened and her eyes sparkled as she reached out for his hand. “You know I’m still angry about the auction.”

  “I’m not asking you to forgive me. I’m asking you to dance with me.”

  He gestured toward the dance floor.

  “Just this once,” she told him, but he could tell she wasn’t being truthful.

  “That’ll do for now.”

  Within a few breathless seconds, they stepped on the wooden floor and he held her wrapped in his arms. The smell of her perfume clouded his thinking, and when she leaned in against him, he knew this was one of those special moments he would tuck away in his heart forever.

  * * *

  CORI NEVER ANTICIPATED what a roller coaster of emotions she would feel while dancing with Gage, especially since she now knew about his addiction to alcohol. Dancing with him, being so close to him that she rested her head on his shoulder tore at her emotions. Part of her knew better than to play with fire, and Gage was most certainly fire. How could he be anything else? The man was a recovering alcoholic, and he hadn’t been recovering for very long. The odds were not in his favor. She knew the statistics and had done extensive research when her husband had been killed by a drunk driver. The accident had spared the driver’s girlfriend, who’d been a passenger in the car, but that wasn’t the case for the guy behind the wheel. He had died at the scene, along with Cori’s husband.

  Statistics showed that an educated man like Gage was more prone to drink alcohol again in a social environment, thinking he could handle it and the majority of alcoholics could not.

  Five years seemed to be the magic amount of time for someone in recovery. If the person made it to the five-year mark, the chances of him or her returning to alcohol were almost nonexistent. The driver who had killed her husband had been sober for more than four years. He and his girlfriend had been out celebrating the grand opening of his new restaurant in SoHo with a bottle of wine that she claimed he hardly drank. The autopsy showed his BAC was two times the legal limit.

  That woman nearly lost he
r life that night because she believed her boyfriend “hardly drank,” when in fact he had consumed enough wine to allow him to drive on the wrong side of the road.

  Cori wondered if she would be that naive. Could she believe in Gage’s sobriety long enough to wait and see if he stayed sober, or would she be checking up on him every time alcohol was anywhere near him?

  Or was this simply a vacation romance and nothing more? She could handle a fling, a tryst, a no-strings-attached kind of romance. Maybe she’d been looking at the situation all wrong. Just because she was attracted to Gage didn’t mean she had to be thinking about their long-term future together.

  She wasn’t falling in love with the man. She was merely tempted by him...and heaven help her, the temptation was all-consuming. Especially now, while they were dancing so close she could feel his hard body under the thin fabric of his shirt.

  Still, she had to tell him all that she was thinking, all her concerns and fears. He was a smart man. He had to understand that whatever they were feeling for each other could only be played out while they were in Durango, and even then, it had to be done discreetly. Neither of their grandparents could know, nor could Hailey—especially Hailey, who seemed to be attaching herself to Gage. She couldn’t allow that to happen.

  They had to keep their tryst secret and only while they were in Durango. If he agreed, they wouldn’t have to discuss any of her concerns over his future drinking, because they wouldn’t have a future. They would only have now.

  This moment.

  In this town.

  “Can we go somewhere quiet?” she asked as she gazed into his smoky eyes.

  He pulled back to look at her. “Now?”

  But she couldn’t quite answer. Instead she fell deeper into those eyes of his, wondering what it would be like to make love to him, to have his strong arms wrapped around her while they were naked, lying in bed.

  She pushed the vision away. “Um, yes, I think it’s important. I have something I need to say.”

  He was staring at her, his gaze sliding down to her lips and lingering there until she could barely breathe. The song wasn’t helping her to concentrate on what she wanted to say.

  “What is it?” he said it in a deep whisper, and that vision of them naked in bed came rushing back.

  “I want to tell you...”

  His fingers wrapped tighter around her hand as he pulled her in closer and rested her hand on his upper chest. Her thoughts seemed muddled and confused.

  “You can tell me anything.”

  “I can?”

  “Yes, anything.”

  They spun around a couple times causing her world to spin as she sunk in closer to him.

  His warm breath felt like silk brushing her skin. “You were saying?”

  “Was I speaking?”

  He smiled, and his thumb ran across the inside of her palm, right when the singer let loose with the song’s refrain.

  Oh, yeah, she was falling, all right—into a million tiny pieces.

  “I believe you were. Yes.”

  The heat between them slid through her body and surrounded them with an intensity that could explode into flames if she wasn’t careful. As long as she was in his arms, there was little hope she could act or speak with any sense of reason. The only thing she could think to say was let’s go back to your room and make love.

  Fortunately, the song ended, he took a step back, dropping his embrace and she came to her senses.

  “I’m thinking we should have a hookup.”

  “A what?”

  “A hookup. Isn’t that what sex between friends is called these days?”

  “Let’s get out of here,” he murmured and grasped her hand.

  A chill rushed up her spine and she was just about to agree when the music started up again and a Texas Star Square Dance began, complete with calls. Hailey and Gram hurried to join them, along with Steve Court and his wife, Betsy, who Gage seemed to already know. Then a third couple joined the group just as the dance began. The two new couples knew all the calls and led everyone with the correct formations. The band played the music while one of the cowboys crooned out the instructions.

  “Join hands and circle to the left.”

  “Gents go in with a right hand star.”

  “Now left hand back.”

  “All four ladies....”

  The caller went on for at least ten minutes. Keeping up with the right steps and moves turned out to be a challenge for Cori, but to her amazement Gage had no problems at all. He seemed to know exactly what to do.

  “You know how to square dance, too?” Cori asked as they did a short promenade to the left, then to the right.

  “My grandma Rose taught me,” he said with a grin.

  “This is crazy. You really are a cowboy.”

  “Only on occasion.”

  “All four ladies go into the middle, then back to the barn.”

  “I’m glad I’m part of the occasion.”

  “And gents go in with a right-hand star.”

  Gage danced to the middle but fastened his gaze on Cori.

  When the caller sang, “Couple number two go right on through the door,” everyone grasped hands and danced through the circle.

  “Was that a compliment?”

  “Couple three go right on through.”

  When they passed each other, Cori said, “Yes. I believe it was.”

  “Well, I’ll be danged,” Gage said, hesitating for a moment only to get pulled back into his spot by Hailey.

  The dance continued, with Cori getting all tangled up every now and then, feeling like she truly did have two left feet. Fortunately, Gage seemed to be there each time to untangle her and keep her moving. She actually loved the dance and wished she knew the steps better. Between the music, the caller, learning a new dance and her latest decision, happiness simmered inside her, escaping through a chronic smile that was beginning to hurt her cheeks.

  Then, just as she thought she would pass out from trying to keep up with the caller, he sang those blessed words.

  “That’s all there is, there ain’t no more.”

  The room exploded with cheers and whistles. Even Cori let go of a loud woo-hoo!

  Gram had been right.

  She needed to whoop it up, and what better way than to whoop with Gage Remington?

  Chapter Seven

  “I’ve given this some thought, and if you agree, I think it might be beneficial to us both,” Cori explained as she and Gage slowly made their way over to the hotel. It was going on ten thirty and everyone had hustled back to their rooms as soon as the dance was over, including Cori’s gram and Hailey. Gage was still trying to come to terms with Cori’s hookup announcement as they left the dance. Not that he was in the least bit opposed to the idea. He simply never saw her as the casual-sex type. Why the sudden change of heart?

  He knew they had shared some major heat during that slow song, but the square dance had interrupted what would have certainly ended in an unforgettable night.

  “We’re an us?”

  “Yes.”

  “But just this afternoon you told me, and I quote, ‘we should keep our distance.’”

  One thing about Doctor Cori Parker, she knew how to dangle him on the line. Not that he minded it, exactly, but he sure wished she’d stick with a decision.

  “I was wrong and you were right. We should be friends. We’re both in flux right now with our lives, so friends seems like the logical way to go.”

  He didn’t know if he could trust her. She changed her course more than a New Yorker driving through midtown during rush hour. He wanted detailed facts.

  “What kind of friends?”

  They had stopped walking and stood standing in front of one of the Western
apparel shops in the town. “Close...friends.”

  “How...close?”

  “I don’t know. Close, you know, close friends.”

  She began walking again.

  “The benefits type of close friends or the friends-friends type?”

  She took in a deep breath and let it out, gazed down at the sidewalk and then turned to him. “The hookup, benefits kind.”

  He moved in closer, and couldn’t help but smile. “All benefits?”

  “Yes, but I have my terms.”

  “Terms?”

  “This benefits thing is only for while we’re here in Durango. It can’t go on afterward.”

  Those terms he could abide by. Once he was back in New York his focus would be on his family and saving his job. It sounded harsh, but he was glad she’d understand.

  “That’s fair. Anything else?”

  “Our families can’t know. I don’t want Hailey or my gram to know we’re...you know.”

  “Enjoying our benefits?”

  Never had any woman intrigued him as much as Doctor Cori Parker. Not only was he fascinated by her easy relationship with her daughter, but the fact that she had worked in an emergency room and saved lives blew his world apart. His life had consisted of making money and getting drunk. Everything else was merely icing. Cori’s life meant something significant to a lot of people. His life had been, well, less than what he had imagined it would be when he had gazed up at all those stars from his grandparents’ ranch. He truly wanted to change all that, and spending time with Cori, either in the bedroom or on a dance floor, would certainly be the best first step he could ever take.

  Nothing came easy in this relationship. They couldn’t just fall into bed together—there had to be rules. Because he’d won that darn fishing rod when her grandmother had wanted it, they couldn’t be friends, but now they were going to be friends with benefits, a hookup. The woman never ceased to surprise him. Each day brought a new adventure. From the moment he’d met her, something told him he should walk away, but he couldn’t then, and he certainly couldn’t now. “Yes.”