The Cowboy's Surrender

by Anne Marie Novark

  They were standing at an angle on the side of the ravine, and the force of their passion made it tricky to keep their balance. More than anything, Dallas wanted to push Gillian to the ground, strip her naked and make love to her. With infinite regret, he broke contact with her sweet lips, kissing her nose and eyes and forehead.

  "We have to stop." He forced himself to let go of her and step away. Why was he so strongly attracted to this woman?

  Gillian opened her eyes and drew in a ragged breath. "Yes, we have to stop." Without another word, she turned and ran the rest of the way up the hill.

  Dallas stayed where he was and watched her flee. He wouldn't go after her. Not this time. Except now that he'd held her in his arms and tasted her sweetness, he didn't think he'd be able to ignore Gillian Bankston any longer.

  ****

  Gillian sat alone at a booth in Sarah Sue's Cafe, picking at her salad, gazing out the window. The place was full to overcrowded with the lunch bunch. She could have eaten in her trailer, but she was tired of her own company and needed to get away from the site. Besides, she liked Sarah Sue.

  She took a long sip of iced tea. The heat of the summer reflected off the pavement outside the cafe. She watched as a big tan truck pulled into a parking place. She groaned inwardly when Dallas McCade climbed out of the pickup.

  For the past week, Gillian had attempted to put the sexy rancher out of her mind. She'd tried not to relive the kisses they'd exchanged or the disastrous dance they'd shared at Billie G's. She'd tried, but failed miserably.

  Quickly averting her face, she hoped he wouldn't see her; she hoped he'd sit on the other side of the cafe as far away as possible. She would finish her salad and leave, hopefully avoiding another mind-jolting encounter with the man.

  Gillian almost jumped out of her skin when Sarah Sue walked to her table and touched her shoulder. She was ready to sink when she saw Dallas standing behind the waitress.

  "Darlin', you know my policy of seating customers," said Sarah Sue. "You can see the place is full. Dallas seems to think you would object to him sitting with you. You wouldn't mind if he sits here, now would you?"

  Gillian glanced up at the rugged face. His crystal blue eyes held a hint of challenge. What did he expect her to do? Make a scene in front of all these people? Lifting her chin, she forced a beaming smile. "Of course, I don't mind. I'm almost finished anyway. Mr. McCade can have the table to himself when I'm done."

  Sarah Sue placed a menu and tumbler of water on the table. "There you go, darlin'," she said to Dallas. "I'll be back for your order in a jiff."

  He slid into the seat opposite Gillian. She continued eating as he picked up the menu. When his boot scraped against her shoe under the table, her fork froze in mid-air. Her head snapped up and she watched him warily.

  "Don't look so scared," he said. "I won't bite." He paused. "At least, not until you want me to."

  Gillian sputtered in her iced tea and glared at him. "I don't want you to. Ever."

  Dallas raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Don't lie to me or to yourself. You want me. You wanted me when I kissed you. And you wanted me when we danced."

  Gillian swallowed the lump in her throat. "I'd rather we forget all about that, if you don't mind."

  "Oh, but I do mind." He took a drink of his water.

  Gillian watched his throat work as he downed the whole glass. A fleeting vision of placing kisses up and down his neck and him doing the same to her made her stomach clench. She was lying. She did want him, but she could never let him know it.

  Setting the glass down, Dallas raised his brows again, locking his eyes on hers. "I don't think you really want to forget, do you, sweetheart?"

  "Don't call me 'sweetheart.' And don't you dare call me 'lady' either," she said.

  "What do you want me to call you then?"

  "I don't want you to call me anything." She took another bite of salad, angry to see that her hand was trembling. Damn the man.

  "I have to call you something. We seem to bump into one another on a fairly frequent basis."

  "Well, that needs to stop, too."

  "Tell me truthfully if you really never want to see me again." Dallas frowned at her with squinting eyes, the skin at the outer corners creasing like leather from his hours in the sun.

  Sarah Sue walked back to the table, saving Gillian from having to answer. Thank goodness, because Gillian wasn't quite sure what she wanted when it came to Dallas McCade.

  The waitress smiled as she wrote down the order, and her eyes gleamed with speculation. "You going to the Founder's Day Jubilee, darlin'?" she asked Gillian. "It's at the fairgrounds and it's always a lot of fun. Isn't that right, Dallas?"

  He nodded. "That's right."

  "The Founder's Day Jubilee?" Gillian said. "When is it? I haven't heard anything about it."

  "You haven't heard? Why it's next Saturday. You really ought to go," said Sarah Sue. "And bring that Harold with you. He works way too hard and needs some fun in his life. I'll be there around four near the kissing booth. I'll be glad to take him off your hands so you can go about your own pleasures."

  Gillian smiled. "I'll think about it. Thanks."

  "You all are going to be there, aren't you?" Sarah asked Dallas.

  "Ma wouldn't miss it for the world."

  "I thought so." The waitress winked at Gillian before hurrying away to another customer.

  "What was that all about? Why was she smiling like that?" Gillian asked.

  Dallas shrugged. "She's matchmaking."

  "Yes, she certainly has an eye for Harold, doesn't she?"

  "He's not the only one she's trying to make a match for," he said.

  Gillian swallowed a bite of salad. "You can't mean she thinks you and I--?" She shook her head in denial. "Don't be ridiculous."

  "Is it so ridiculous?" he said, leaning forward. "There's definitely something going on between us. You know it. I know it. I want you, Gillian. And you want me. So, where do we go from here? What are we going to do about it?"

  "Nothing. Nada," she said, keeping her eyes on her plate. "We are not going to pursue this any further. I intend to ignore it. I recommend you do the same." Gillian laid her fork and knife across her salad plate and prepared to leave.

  Dallas leaned even closer and grabbed her wrist. "Don't you think I've tried to ignore it?" he said, his voice a low growl. "I don't like this any better than you do. You're involved with the drilling on my land, for Christ's sakes. You know how I feel about that."

  Gillian stared at the large hand holding hers in a firm grip. He wasn't hurting her, but had her effectively caught just the same. She tried to pull away; he tightened his hold.

  "Then keep thinking about those feelings," she said. "That should make it easy for you to ignore what's between us. Besides, you don't even like me."

  "I wouldn't say that exactly." His mouth tugged upwards in that half-smile that made her insides melt.

  "Well, I don't like you." She quickly extinguished the dreamy feeling in her tummy. Dallas McCade was not for her. It would be foolish to get involved with him. "Nothing can come from any of this. We should just ignore it and hope it goes away." She tugged her wrist again. This time he released her.

  "It's not going to go away." He sat back and crossed his arms over his chest.

  "Well, we don't have to act on it, do we?" She stood up and grabbed her purse. "Good bye, Mr. McCade."

  "The name is Dallas."

  She shot him a look before leaving the table, and Dallas watched her walk to the cash register. She was wearing those khaki shorts again. The ones she'd worn the first time he'd seen her. The ones that hugged her bottom so well.

  Just like that, he was hard for her. Hell, ever since he sat down, he'd been aroused. Would she go to the fairgrounds on Saturday? He hoped so, because he planned to be there. Waiting. But the waiting was nearly over. He'd made up his mind. It was time to snatch a little happiness from life.

  Gillian was the first woman he had really want
ed in a long time. So what if she worked for Copper River Oil? He couldn't do anything about that. But he could damn sure do something about getting her into his bed. And like Austin said, he didn't want to marry her or anything like that.

  Hell, he didn't want a relationship with Gillian. He just wanted to sleep with her. Get her out of his system. Nothing more than that. Certainly, it was nothing more than that.

  Dallas smiled as Sarah Sue set his lunch on the table before him. It had been years since he had flirted and made a move on a woman like Gillian. The women at Billie G's didn't count. They weren't in the same league as Gillian.

  Picking up his sandwich, Dallas took a huge bite. Just knowing he had chosen a course of action helped ease the strain he had been under lately. The idea that he might actually have a chance to sleep with Gillian made him feel a hundred percent better. Life suddenly looked a whole lot brighter.

  CHAPTER SIX

  When Gillian returned to her office, Harold was waiting inside. Something was wrong; the foreman was frowning heavily.

  Tossing her purse in the corner, she sat down at her desk. "Okay, what's happened now?" Her head pounded painfully. She felt a headache coming on. One that had started at the cafe.

  "The joints in the pipe casing are locking up." Harold ran his fingers through his graying hair. "I checked the pipe dope. Someone mixed motor oil with it. A regular five-minute switch is taking fifteen minutes. Those joints are made every twenty-five feet, so you know what that means. This will shut us down for days."

  Gillian massaged her temples with her fingertips. "Damn. Anybody have any idea who did it?"

  "No. Whoever's doing this is sneaky as a thief in the night."

  "You still think it's Dallas, don't you?"

  Harold leaned forward. "So, it's Dallas now, is it? Not Dallas McCade or Mr. McCade? That bastard's not acting sweet on you to get closer to the rig, is he?"

  Gillian shook her head and immediately wished she hadn't. "The man doesn't even like me, Harold. And he's not acting sweet on me." Lust and desire didn't count as sweet, did it?

  "A man doesn't have to like a woman to want her."

  "Look, I appreciate what you're saying, but I really don't want to discuss my personal life." She smiled to soften her bluntness, then looked at him mischievously. "We could talk about your personal life though. I have a message from Sarah Sue."

  Harold arched an eyebrow. "Oh?"

  "She wants you to come to the Founder's Day Jubilee next Saturday."

  Harold placed his hands behind his head and leaned his chair back. "She does, does she?"

  Gillian thought he looked too much like a satisfied tomcat. She smiled. "Uh-huh. Says she'll meet you around four at the kissing booth."

  The legs of the chair thumped on the floor. "The kissing booth?"

  Now he looked like a scared rabbit. Gillian wanted to giggle, but didn't. "Don't worry. She won't be in the kissing booth. At least, I don't think she will."

  Harold stood up quickly. "I won't be able to make it. Got to work Saturday."

  "You're off and so am I. It might be interesting to mix with the locals and have some fun. You know what they say about all work and no play." Was she really trying to convince Harold to go . . . or herself?

  Harold looked at her closely. "You want to go, don't you?"

  Gillian felt her cheeks turning red. "Yes, but I don't want to go alone."

  "What a mismatched pair we'll be," said Harold.

  "We won't be pair. Not really. Sarah Sue will be there waiting for you. She likes you. And I don't think you're immune."

  Harold's eyes held a definite twinkle. "No, I'm not immune. But if I go off with Sarah Sue, where will that leave you?"

  Gillian didn't say anything for a minute, then shrugged. "I'll be okay, once I get there."

  Harold arched an eyebrow again. "McCade's going to be there, isn't he?"

  She straightened a stack of papers on her desk. Her head started pounding again. "I don't know and I don't care. I just think it would be fun to go. I've never been to a country fair before."

  "You're not very good at lying. He's going to be there. You're not as indifferent to him as you pretend, are you?"

  "That's none of your business."

  "You do remember that he may be responsible for all the trouble we're having?"

  "I don't think he's responsible."

  "Is that your heart talking or your brain?"

  Gillian sighed. "I don't know. I don't want it to be him."

  Harold cursed under his breath. "Someone is trying to shut this rig down, and we need to find out who it is. Dallas McCade is the most likely suspect. Who else could possibly have a motive?"

  Gillian swallowed a lump in her throat. "He's innocent, until proven otherwise."

  "Yeah, right. Just watch yourself." He picked up his hardhat and left.

  Gillian opened the top drawer of her desk and searched for her bottle of aspirin hidden beneath all the pencils, paper clips, and rubber bands. Surely, Dallas wasn't responsible for the mishaps that had occurred on the drilling site. Yet who else could it be?

  She found the aspirin and swallowed two tablets. Harold was right. She wasn't very good at lying. To others or to herself. That's what she'd been doing for days. Maybe not exactly lying. She was in denial, that was it. For all her brave words at the cafe, she was extremely attracted to Dallas McCade. It was exciting and frightening at the same time.

  She hadn't been attracted to anyone like this since she'd met her husband in college. Her dream of happily ever after had turned into the cold reality of being married to a big brute who drank too much. Before she could file for divorce, she was released from the nightmare when Nick was killed in a car accident.

  Gillian twisted the wedding ring on her finger. She still wore it to remind herself about the dangers of getting involved with a man. It also helped ward off the advances of the men on the projects where she worked.

  She tossed the aspirin bottle back in the drawer. In the last four years, she had only dated a couple of times. Her escorts were always small-statured men. Men who were complete opposites of her husband. Men whom she felt nothing for. She hadn't allowed herself to be attracted to anyone. It was too dangerous.

  Dallas was big and tall. He scared her sometimes. No, he didn't scare her. The images he evoked frightened her. Dallas made her angry and frustrated with his rude, abrupt ways. He also made her hungry for passion like no one else ever had. She was definitely attracted to him. Maybe, just maybe, she was ready to do something about it.

  ****

  The tantalizing smells of popcorn and hot dogs lingered on the warm breeze blowing over the fairgrounds. It seemed everyone in town and the outlying areas had come to enjoy the Founder's Day Jubilee. Gillian walked beside Harold, looking at all the booths, smiling at the children running around.

  It was nearly four o'clock. Harold set a brisk pace, scanning the game booths and food stalls, trying to discover where the kissing booth was set up.

  They passed the dunking booth, where a good-natured man sat on a platform, beckoning passersby to try their luck, taunting friends to hit the target.

  "Hey, Kelsey McCade," the man called to a little girl skipping in front of Gillian. "You look like you have a good arm. It's hot up here. Give your old reverend a dunking."

  The child laughed and paid for three balls. She took careful aim and missed the first two times, but the third ball hit the red and white bull's-eye, sending the reverend splashing into the clear vat of water. He came up sputtering.

  "Are you cooler now?" the little girl asked, laughing. "Or should I go get my dad and uncles? I bet they could make you real wet and cool."

  Gillian didn't stay to see the outcome, but hurried to catch up with Harold. That blond imp was a McCade. Probably one of Dallas's nieces.

  Sarah Sue stood near a bright pink stall decorated with large red and white hearts. She was talking to an older woman and a very pregnant one, whom Gillian recognized as Jessie Mc
Cade. The waitress's face lit up when she spotted Gillian and Harold.

  "Well, darlin'," she said to Gillian. "Glad you made it. And I'm real glad you brought Harold along, too." She winked at him, laughing when his cheeks reddened.

  "My goodness, where are my manners?" said Sarah Sue. "This here is Ruth McCade. Dallas's mother. And this is my good friend, Jessie. Ruth and Jessie, this is Gillian and Harold. They work at the drilling site."

  Gillian nodded at Ruth and smiled at Jessie.