The Outlaw Takes A Bride: A Historical Western Romance (Bernstein Sisters Historical Cowboy Romance Series Book 5)

by Amy Field

  “I never saw him after our initial meeting, Mark liaises with his PA most of the time,” she said blankly.

  With a slightly curious tone, Maria leaned forward, "What else do you know about him?"

  “Nothing, I tried looking him up, but the search results came up with very little information. I know a lot about his acquisitions and business but nothing about him personally.”

  “He sounds like someone who has something to hide,” Maria suggested.

  Bonnie shrugged. “I don’t really care at this point, he’s just another client expecting me to move mountains” For a moment she thought of telling her friend about Nate’s behavior at their meeting but stopped herself. She didn’t need another lecture from her friend.

  The food came and they ate, gossiping and laughing. Maria was the perfect gossip girl. She had always been an extrovert who loved sharing little snippets of interesting facts and tall tales she heard through her job being a celebrity PR. Today, however, they were talking about a classmate who had changed drastically from what she had been when they were in together.

  “How do you know this?” Bonnie asked in wonder.

  “I met her the other day,” Maria said blithely.

  Bonnie and Maria had been friends throughout high school. She was the person who Bonnie had talked to about Dustin when he was nothing but a crush. She had patiently listened to Bonnie and given her sound advice. Bonnie never liked Dustin much and always told her that he was a maverick and when, years later, Bonnie ran into him at the graduation party, and Maria warned her again, Bonnie chose to ignore her and started dating Dustin anyway. Even so, Maria had supported her, but after Dustin came back from his last mission, her attitude towards Dustin had changed and she no longer supported the relationship. Bonnie understood why. As her best friend, she that Maria didn't want her to have to settle for someone who lived so close to the edge, and skipping off to foreign countries when the mood fitted him, but Maria hadn't factored in the love that she felt for Dustin and how she couldn't live without him.

  “When is he coming back?” Maria asked.

  “I don’t know. He said that he was going to be back in two weeks so I am going to hold him to that.” Bonnie shrugged. “Then again, who knows…”

  “Don’t hold him to that,” Maria warned. “I have seen you go through this. Two weeks for him means two months. I know I have said this for a long time, but why do you even put up with it? He never keeps his promises and you always end up a wreck.”

  “Maria, you’re overreacting,” Bonnie said reluctantly.

  “You deserve better.” Maria took Bonnie’s hand. “I care about you, and he is self-destructive, which isn’t good for you,” she said in a concerned tone.

  Maria’s words scared Bonnie, and she steered the conversation in another direction. They eventually parted on good terms, hugging as they went their separate ways. Bonnie walked home, thinking about Dustin and wondering what he was doing right now. Was he working? Was he in trouble? She had no idea and wished that she did.

  She opened the door and the emptiness seemed to engulf her. Her heart sank as she walked around the empty apartment. She was back to receiving letters by mail and waiting desperately to hear his voice. It wasn’t what she would have wanted, but it was she was going to get.

  Just then she saw that the light on her answering machine flickering. She pressed the button and waited to hear who it was.

  "Hey, it's me," Mark's voice came through. "Mr. Woodrow's PA called today and said that he is going to come by in the morning to discuss what he wanted. She said that he'd be here by 9 AM."

  The message ended, and Bonnie emotionlessly deleted the message. It didn’t jar her that she was going to see him tomorrow, she had too many other things to worry about and there was no way she was going to let a playboy like Nate Woodrow faze her.

  With that thought, she decided to get to work. She was going to be prepared, and she wasn’t going to give him any cause for complaints.

  That was how she dealt with people like him. This wasn’t her first time seeing a playboy come on to her, but it was the first time she was attracted to one. Tomorrow, she was going to show him that she was a taken person. This, she swore to do.

  Bonnie armed herself by way of her clothing.

  The day of the meeting, she put on her most professional attire and even tied up her hair to show how serious she was. She wore minimal makeup but indulged herself with just a dab of her coral lipstick, making her feel sophisticated and strong. She was ready to take the bull by the horns.

  She walked past the bistro on her way to work, which served as a bittersweet reminder of Dustin. Seeing the place gave her the strength she needed to face the day with control and patience. She wasn’t going to let Nate Woodrow get her down. At the office, Mark was taken aback by how offside she was with him, but it was all done so that she could get into the mood of being aloof. She worked steadfastly without letting anything distract her. But when she found herself repeatedly staring at the clock to see how much time was left before the meeting, she knew she was nervous. Slowly, the clock ticked to reach nine, but there was no sign of him... She was about to give up on waiting for him when he walked in, looking every bit as handsome as he had when she had first met him.

  He didn’t have that playful flirty tone in his voice or in his eyes. This time, she was sure that he was all business and that relieved her. Bonnie gestured for him to sit down. For a few seconds, there was silence, and then Nate cleared his throat.

  “I suppose I should apologize for what happened the other day,” he said quietly.

  “I wasn’t sure you would be back,” she said blankly.

  “No, you were right. I shouldn’t have acted so unprofessionally with you, and I think it was a good thing that you put me in my place. I’m sorry for offending you,” Nate said.

  She studied him, not sure of his intentions or if he was sincere. The saying first impressions last, repeated in her head and she somehow doubted he meant it, but then again, she hardly knew him. To her, he seemed like a player, someone who would use his wealth and charm to bed women and manipulate them into doing what he wanted. His assertive behaviour when they first met, although confident, left her uneasy, but maybe, just maybe she was wrong about him. She believed in second chances, call her naïve, but if she could give Dustin the benefit of the doubt, she should grant Nate the same.

  Bonnie nodded. “It’s all right. Besides, we are going to be working together for the next two weeks, so its best that we get along,” Bonnie said offering him an olive branch, and he smiled at her.

  His smile jolted her, and she felt her heart skip a beat.

  “I would like that,” he said. “How about we get down to business?”

  “Sure, what are your thoughts about the ideas Mark shared with you?”

  “Well, you know, an oil company isn’t something you can advertise in a positive light, you have activists fighting over global warming and nature conservation, it’s a ruthless world out there, but I want you to do the best that you can. I don’t want us to be associated with rumors, and I want everything out in the open for this campaign. I want shots of the factory to show that we promote a good working environment, things like that and that we consider the environment first and foremost.” He went on for a while, and Bonnie appreciated his focus and the level of discussion.

  “I understand,” Bonnie said and leaned in she liked the way he put everything in such positive light and knowing exactly how to frame this, she smiled.

  “I’m very keen to see what you come up with,” he said and returned her smile.

  “I love my job, and I pride myself in the quality of execution, so be prepared to be amazed, she said confidently.

  Chapter Six

  The next two weeks passed quickly.

  Bonnie had never put so much effort into a project as she did to Nate’s campaign. Maybe it was because of the close eye he kept on the project or the fact that she was trying to keep her
mind of Dustin She almost went off the rocker because one of the cameramen didn’t show up on time for a shoot. She was a perfectionist, but throughout the filming, she was on edge and kept staring at Nate’s face to see if he liked how she was approaching it. She was determined to make this her best rep ever.

  Nate proved to be thoughtful, and she took his criticism seriously. He was different from other clients who preferred to leave everything up to her. He had his own vision, but he wasn’t forceful about it, and he liked her opinions. She ended up spending long hours at the office. Sometimes, he was with her at odd hours. Despite the time they spent together, he never asked her out to dinner or asked her for a drink but she didn’t miss the occasional gaze from him that sent shivers of anticipation running down her spine.

  When she did catch him staring, he would quickly avert his gaze. Although it unnerved her at times, in some strange way, she felt flattered. But thankfully he was always polite and kept their relationship professional.

  But still Bonnie couldn’t help the magnetic pull he had on her. She had warmed up to his attitude and his way of dealing with his employees. He was firm but never mean, and he was always sure of his decisions. And even when he had a difference of opinion he never attacked her, but merely made suggestions. The way he conducted himself in selling ideas, he could very well be selling ice to Eskimo's.

  The constant late nights, however, helped her cope with the loneliness that waited at home every night. She was just too tired to roll around and fret about whether Dustin was safe or not. She even went as far as having breakfast with Mark and dinner with Nate; sometimes she went out with Maria, who didn’t make any mention of Dustin. Now that he was away, she needed her friend’s support, and Maria readily gave it to her. The only drawback was that Maria regularly wanted details from her regarding Nate. Bonnie was reluctant to share details about him and kept it vague. Maria pouted but didn’t press the issue. Bonnie, on the other hand, found that she was thinking of Nate far too often. It was his behavior that had done it for her, and she was puzzled by it all.

  Everything was finally signed and the project was concluded. Her blue Monday had was now looking a lot better. Nate made sure to thank her for her effort and diligence. By the time the meeting was adjourned the role players from Woodrow Enterprises were gone, she could finally breathe.

  "Well done lovely," Mark said with his usual flair, "I knew you could pull it off."

  “We did it, I would have sunk if you weren’t around to help me,” she admitted to him.

  “Yeah well, behind every successful woman is a gay friend,” he said and winked at her, and the both of them burst out laughing.

  She rolled her chair back and stood up, “I guess I best get home and sort the place out before Dustin gets back.”

  “Oh yeah, he’s due back today right?” Mark said as he flipped a skittle up into the air and caught it with his mouth.

  “Try not to choke on those,” she smiled and then gathered her handbag and headed home.

  She felt somewhat detached for some reason, unlike other times when Dustin had been away. She was usually a lot more excited to see him. Other than the odd few dishes stacked in the kitchen the apartment wasn't in an overly bad state, but she still felt it would be good to keep busy instead. She was halfway through vacuuming the small living room when the loud ringing of the phone echoed over the blowing sound of the vacuum.

  “Hello?” she answered, wiping the back of her hand over her forehead.

  “Bonnie Trigson?” said a muffled voice.

  Bonnie frowned, not recognizing the voice.

  “Yes, who is this?”

  The person on the other side breathed deeply and then almost whispered, “We have your boyfriend.”

  Bonnie paused and listened, then in a trembling voice asked, “Who is this?” but there was no response on the other end of the line, just an eerie silence.

  Bonnie gripped the receiver.

  “W-w-what did you say?” she asked, panicked.

  “We have your boyfriend,” the voice repeated in a foreign accent.

  Her mind went blank, as the words reached out to hear as if she was dreaming, she had to be. This was not happening, she told herself. “You are lying, I… I don’t believe you!”

  There were muffled sounds, and then she heard Dustin’s voice.

  “Baby, don’t listen to what…” he started, struggling to speak, and

  Bonnie started trembling with shock.

  “There’s your proof. Now listen. If you don’t pay a million dollars within a week then we are going to kill him and you will never see him again.”

  “No, please! I don’t have that much money,” she pleaded.

  “That’s not our problem, now is it? One week.”

  “Okay fine, how do I do that?” she asked nervously.

  "If you look in your post box, there's a postcard, on it is an email address, when you are ready with the money, let us know."

  The disembodied voice said, “And failing to do so, you can kiss your fiancé goodbye.”

  There was nothing but a click on the other end of the receiver, “Wait!” she cried, but she was only met with a dialling tone.

  Bonnie sunk to the floor, the receiver dangling on its cord as she brought up her knees to her chest and broke down; the room had suddenly become colder. She was trying to process what just happened, but her mind was numb. It was unthinkable. How could this have happened to him? There was no way that Dustin had been kidnapped. He was too strong.

  She lifted the receiver of the phone back into place, and just then, the phone rang. Her heart jolted and she rushed to answer the call, hoping it was the kidnappers, but instead it was Maria’s voice on the other end.

  “Hello?” Maria’s voice came through.

  “Maria…” she trailed off and then began to sob.

  She heard Maria draw in her breath. “Bonnie, what’s going on?”

  “I… I don’t… it’s terrible, it’s… oh my word!” she cried, unable to string together a coherent sentence.

  “I am coming over,” Maria said and hung up.

  Twenty minutes later, Maria let herself into the apartment and rushed to Bonnie’s side, hugging her tightly.

  “What happened? Is it work? Is it Dustin?” Maria asked as she led Bonnie to sit down on the couch.

  Panicking, Bonnie told Maria about the phone call.

  “Oh no, Bon, that’s terrible. How could this have happened?”

  “I never should have let him go!” Bonnie wailed.

  “Don’t blame yourself!” Maria said soothingly. “It’s not your fault. You tried to stop him from going off on this… this… suicide mission.”

  Bonnie didn’t have any response to that. She knew that Maria had a point, but it was going to do her little good blaming Dustin for all of this. He was in trouble and she had to save him.

  “I don’t know what to do,” Bonnie said. “I don’t have a million dollars.”

  “That’s a lot of money. Is there any way you can borrow it?” Maria asked.

  Bonnie shook her head. “No, I don’t know anyone who would lend me that sort of money and what exactly do I tell them. They’ll call the police, and if they do, I won’t see Dustin ever again. I can’t take that risk.”

  “Well then what else can you do?” Maria queried and squeezed her hand.

  “I don’t know.”

  Bonnie was in no state to reason, she could hardly cope with the weight of the situation.

  Maria got up and made them both cups of herbal tea and sat down beside Bonnie.

  “What if you asked Nate?”

  “What did you say?” Bonnie said, looking up.

  “I said what if you asked Nate? He’s rich enough. Couldn’t he give you the money?” she repeated.

  “I can’t ask him!”

  “Why not?”

  “He’s a client! I can’t expect him to…” she trailed off.

  “So? You’re bringing him in millions with you
r campaign.”

  “No,” Bonnie said vehemently.

  “Think about it,” Maria insisted. “You have to save Dustin, don’t you?”

  Bonnie bit the inside of her lip, should she even consider asking Nate? Whatever would he think of her if she did? She hardly knew the man, and other than the pass he made at her when they first met, he was still only a client. Asking him was simply not a solution.

  Maria stayed with her that night. Neither of them slept much. Bonnie, judging by the voice on the phone, knew there was no doubt the thugs meant what they said. What did they have to lose? To them, Dustin was just a pawn. Thoughts kept milling around in her mind as she tried to think up scenarios of how she could get Dustin back. None seemed practical. She knew so little about his work; she had no names, no contacts, nothing. Her thoughts turned to Nate. The stakes were just too high to ask him to help her out. It could potentially ruin their business relationship, not to mention cost her, her job. Mr Winston would have her head on a plate if she dared.

  She thought about her assets; was there any way she could gather the money? She doubted that. Even after selling or mortgaging everything she had, there was no way she could get that much money in a week. It was impossible for her.

  Her heart sank, knowing that it was almost near impossible for her to help Dustin and that his blood will ultimately be on her hands.

  By the time she finally drifted off to sleep, dawn had broken over the city and much later she woke with a start, the sun shining onto her bed. It was past eleven already! She looked around in a panic. Then she caught the aroma of frying onions. Maria was in the kitchen cooking for her. She got up, washed her face, and stumbled to the kitchen.

  Maria smiled at her. “I called your office, told them you were sick.”