Blame It on the Cowboy

by Delores Fossen

“Logan,” Helene greeted as if everything were hunky-dory between them. She moved in for a handshake, maybe even a hug, but Logan made a beeline toward Reese.

  “Sorry, I’m late,” he told Reese.

  Reese didn’t dodge the hug he gave her. Or even the quick kiss he dropped on her mouth.

  Oh, Reese got it then. Logan must have heard that Helene had followed Jimena and her here to the mall, and he’d come to run interference. Or maybe he’d come to give Helene a little payback. Either way, Reese was glad to see him. Glad about the kiss, too, and not because it was possible payback but because a kiss from Logan always made things feel right.

  Even when it was a fake kiss.

  “There’s a purple one in the dressing room that I think Reese should pick,” Jimena piped up. She gave Helene some stink eye, and coming from a woman who was even more beautiful than Helene, it was far stinkier than anything Reese could have squinted out.

  “Purple, huh?” Logan said. “Maybe I should see it.” He took hold of Reese’s arm, leading her back to the dressing area.

  Thankfully, there were no other customers trying on clothes because this wasn’t exactly a man-friendly zone.

  “Sorry about that,” Logan added once they were in the dressing room. “Greg heard that Helene was coming here to the mall to shop, and I figured it was so she could follow you. I didn’t know which store you were in so I had to go to six of them before I found you.”

  It touched her far more than she wanted that Logan was looking out for her. “Thanks, but it wasn’t necessary. Helene is just sizing up her competition, and I’m pretty sure she’s decided that I’m not much competition at all.”

  “You’re wrong.”

  It was one of those perfect things to say. Then Reese realized why he might be saying it. “Don’t worry. I said I’d go to the reception with you, and I will. I just won’t be going in this.”

  She plucked out the purple dress Jimena had mentioned. The opposite of a crack back. This was more of a cooch front since the neckline plunged all the way to the navel and then some.

  Logan eyed it, not at the absurdity of the design but with an interest that any red-blooded straight man would have. “It would, uh, get everyone talking. And drooling.”

  “You’re not the drooling type. But thanks for coming to my rescue.” She was about to usher him out, but Logan didn’t budge.

  The cooch front must have put some thoughts in his head, or maybe he was still in the “I’ll show Helene” frame of mind. Either way, he kissed her again.

  “Helene can’t see us,” Reese reminded him.

  Reese had figured that would get that gleaming look out of Logan’s eyes. It didn’t.

  “Good,” he said. And he kissed her again.

  This one definitely wasn’t just some little peck on the mouth to get back at his ex. This was a full-fledged, openmouthed kiss that sizzled in all the right places. Of course, Logan had a way of sizzling just by looking at her.

  “So, is this the dress?” he asked. But he wasn’t really looking at it. He dropped a kiss on her neck. Then lower.

  More sizzling, but Reese knew she had to get some things straight before he sizzled her right out of the dress. She took hold of his chin, lifted it. “What’s this really about?”

  Logan stared at her. “If you don’t know, then I’m doing this all wrong.”

  “No, it’s right.” Reese winced at the confession. Best not to bare her soul when the soul-baring needed to come from him. “I just don’t want this to be about Helene.”

  The stare turned a little glare-ish. “Yesterday I invited you to my place to have dinner and sex. The only reason it didn’t happen was because of the migraine.”

  Yes, and then the morning meeting. Then Helene’s arrival. Reese was about to remind him of all that, but then Logan pushed away the grip she had on his chin and kissed her again. That caused her breath to vanish, and she couldn’t very well give him reminders when she couldn’t speak.

  But Logan gave her a reminder, all right.

  A reminder of just how hot this attraction was between them. Of course, it was just that—an attraction—and Reese should have held back as a self-preservation thing. But then Logan kept kissing her, and thinking about anything except the pleasure seemed to be well beyond her present mental capacity.

  Logan kissed her neck again. Then he went lower and used that clever mouth on the tops of her breasts. The dress was cut just so that he didn’t have to work too hard to hit his target. However, he did have to work when he dipped lower to catch on to the hem. He slid up the slinky dress, all the while his hand sliding along the outside of her leg.

  Then the inside of her leg.

  Mercy, that felt good even though his fingers landed against her panties and not bare skin. It rid her of what little breath Reese had managed to gather, but it also did something else.

  He’s not stopping.

  That flashed in her brain along with remembering one teensy little detail. They were in a women’s dressing room at a department store while Jimena and Helene were just yards away.

  “I don’t do things like this,” she managed to say.

  He didn’t laugh, but he could have considering their one-night stand. A one-night stand that had been amazing but was still complicating her life. Like now. Reese wanted him to keep kissing and touching her, but she didn’t want him doing it for all the wrong reasons. Considering the timing and the place, it seemed wrong.

  But then Logan lowered himself, drawing up her knee to his shoulder, and he gave her such a well-placed kiss that wrong suddenly seemed very, very right.

  He slid down her panties and made the kiss even more special.

  Reese groaned. Too loud. So she clamped her teeth over her bottom lip in case she did it again.

  “Is everything okay?” Jimena called out.

  “Fine,” Reese answered, her response too fast and clipped. Jimena would certainly know what was going on.

  Or not.

  “Can I see what you’re putting on now?” Jimena asked.

  “Not just yet. I’m not ready.”

  But Reese was certainly nearing the readying point with each kiss. She gasped, then groaned when Logan flicked his tongue.

  “That must be some dress,” Jimena remarked.

  Reese figured if Helene had said anything that would have pulled her right out of the moment. Heck, Jimena might have pulled her out of it, too, but Logan seemed to sense that speed counted here.

  “Is Logan helping you?” Jimena again.

  “Yes.” He was helping. Helping a lot.

  Reese pressed her back against the wall to anchor herself. A hanger poked her in the side, and her one foot on the floor was suddenly feeling as it were on the verge of a charley horse. She hung on by latching onto Logan’s hair. And it didn’t take long for the pressure to build, build, build.

  Until the climax rippled through her. Except it wasn’t really a ripple. It was more like a tsunami.

  “Reese, are you okay?” she heard Jimena ask. Heard the concern, too, in her friend’s voice.

  But Reese was past the point of answering and worrying about the concern. She just held on and let Logan finish what he’d started.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  LOGAN GLANCED OUT the window of his office to make sure a real storm wasn’t coming. It wasn’t. The sky was clear, not even a hint of a cloud. So, the only storm warning was the one inside him, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

  Helene had something up her sleeve.

  But what?

  Logan hadn’t been able to figure it out yet, but he was certain she was going to use this reception tonight as some kind of ploy to do something he wasn’t going to like. That concern alone nearly made him want to cancel, but that could be pl
aying right into Helene’s hands. If Reese and he didn’t show, then Helene could play spin doctor and somehow make herself the victim.

  However, he got the feeling that his ex was planning something much worse. And he’d had that particular feeling since she’d followed Reese to the mall two days earlier. Thankfully, Logan had gotten to Reese before Helene could try to sabotage things. Again, he wasn’t sure how she’d planned to do that, but he had considered lots of possibilities.

  Some stupid.

  Like maybe Helene talking Reese into choosing a dress that would fall apart when she stepped into the reception. Or a dress that would turn see-through in the lights Helene was planning to use.

  Of course, maybe Helene just wanted to get inside Reese’s head. It was that possibility, and the stupid ones, that had sent him running to the mall.

  Logan had no idea what had sent his mouth running into Reese, though.

  It had started as a way of, well, thanking her. Not just for going to the reception with him but for putting up with all the other shit he’d pulled. Any other woman would have plotted his castration if he’d accused her of conning him and then trying to run her out of town.

  In hindsight, though, an orgasm probably wasn’t the best way to thank her.

  Especially an orgasm in a mall dressing room.

  Reese probably wouldn’t believe he hadn’t planned that down to the final ripple of her climax. He hadn’t. She had mentioned something about her not doing things like that. Well, he didn’t, either, but Logan hadn’t figured out yet why he’d thought it was a good idea.

  Why he still thought it was.

  Hell, fucking her was an even better idea. But he wanted to make sure that Reese understood that sex between them didn’t have anything to do with Helene. First, though, he had to make sure that was the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

  Logan signed a contract that he should have been reading just as there was a tap at the door. Part of him expected it to be Reese, coming to cancel out of the reception, but it was only Greg. His assistant was wearing an orange suit with a pink bow tie. Probably the outfit he was planning on wearing to the reception since the event was only an hour from starting.

  Greg had some papers under his arms, some in each hand, and he was also balancing a large mug of coffee that Logan figured he would need. He hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep the last couple of nights, mainly because Reese had seemed to be keeping her distance. She hadn’t called, and Logan hadn’t called her for fear of that cancellation thing.

  And her dumping him.

  Though they’d actually have to have a relationship first before he could become a dumpee.

  Greg handed Logan the coffee first. “The McMillian contract,” Greg said, placing some of the papers in front of Logan. Then he added another batch. “This is the work contract for the vet you’re hiring.”

  “What vet?”

  Greg gave him a blank stare. “The one to deal with the rodeo bulls and cutting horses. Remember, you and your brothers thought it was best if you had a vet assigned just to the ranch.”

  Logan had some vague memory of that. Hell. He was going to run this business into the ground if he didn’t get his mind off Reese and back where it belonged.

  “I had your car filled up with gas,” Greg went on. “I assumed you’d be using it to pick up Reese. I mean, instead of your truck.”

  “I’ll use the truck.” It would seem less of a big deal that way, and he figured Reese wanted to stay as far under the radar as possible. “But there should be enough gas in it.” And even if there wasn’t, they could walk. The civic center was just a few blocks from the Bluebonnet Inn.

  Greg nodded. He had two more sets of papers, and he put one of them on top of the vet contract. This one was in a manila envelope. It was sealed with a large swatch of tape. “It’s a report from the private investigator,” Greg explained. “He finally managed to get Reese’s juvie record.”

  Logan looked at the envelope as if it were coated with anthrax. He certainly hadn’t forgotten about the request he’d made to the PI, but the timing sucked. A couple of weeks ago, he would have been plenty glad to read what was inside.

  Not so much now, though.

  It felt like exactly what it was—a huge violation of her privacy. Since it was obvious Reese wasn’t trying to con or scam him, there was no reason for him to know what she’d done that had caused her to be arrested.

  No logical reason, anyway.

  Hell.

  Logan might have been tempted to open it if Greg hadn’t stayed hovered over his desk. “Anything else?” Logan asked.

  Greg nodded. “It’s about Helene.”

  “What now?” Logan pressed when Greg didn’t continue and didn’t budge.

  His assistant took a long breath. Then a second one. When he got to the third one, Logan figured this was either bad news or the guy was about to do some yoga or meditation.

  “Well, I thought you should know that Helene has been doing some good things,” Greg finally said. “Today she paid off a bunch of medical bills for people over at the clinic. And she bought a lot of supplies and even some computers for the elementary school.”

  Good things indeed, but Logan had to shake his head. “Why are you telling me this?”

  For the first time since Logan had known the man, Greg fidgeted. This was different from him twitching and twittering about. He twisted the corner on the final envelope he was holding.

  “I think you should give Helene a second chance,” Greg blurted out.

  Logan had already used his screw-this quota for the day. Heck, maybe for the rest of his life, so he just sat there and stared at Greg, daring him to continue with this stupid idea.

  “She’s trying so hard,” Greg went on, “and it’s obvious the reason she’s doing all of this is to win you back. Do you have any idea how much it’ll humiliate Helene to have you bring Reese tonight?” He didn’t wait for Logan to answer. “Don’t get me wrong. I like Reese, but you and Helene were together a long time, and it seems wrong for you to throw that all away because of one mistake.”

  It wasn’t as if Logan hadn’t already considered this. Had dismissed it, too. “It was a big mistake,” Logan reminded him.

  “I know you’re thinking this isn’t any of my beeswax,” Greg continued.

  Yes, he was.

  “Then why are you bringing it up?” Logan snapped. He stood, went to the bar—not for a drink but so he could check his suit in the mirror.

  “Because, well…” After the third time Greg repeated that pair of words, Logan turned back around to face him.

  “What’s going on?” Logan demanded.

  “That.” Greg put the last piece of paper he’d been holding on Logan’s desk.

  Greg didn’t offer any explanation to go along with it. In fact, he didn’t say anything. The man just headed for the door so Logan went to his desk to have a look.

  It was Greg’s resignation.

  Greg stopped in the doorway. “I figured you’d want that. I’ve already cleared out my desk, and I’ve left you a list of suitable replacements to fill my position.”

  Logan didn’t consider himself clueless very often, but this was one of those times. “And why would I want you to resign?”

  “Because I was the clown that night with Helene,” Greg confessed.

  Logan wasn’t easily surprised, but that did it. It took him several seconds to get his tongue working, and by then, it was too late.

  Like Elvis, Greg had left the building.

  * * *

  LOGAN WAS LATE.

  Reese didn’t think she’d get so lucky, though, that he would skip out of picking her up for Helene’s reception. No. He’d show, but if he didn’t make it soon, they were going to be one of the last ones to arrive, which would me
an everyone would be there to see them go in. Reese was hoping for the wallflower mode tonight.

  The dress might help. Much to Jimena’s disgust, Reese hadn’t chosen any of the slut-ish dresses but had instead opted for one with more wallflower appeal. A little black number with subtle sparkles. Of course, it wasn’t without some controversy.

  After giving her that amazing orgasm, Logan had offered to pay for the dress. He probably hadn’t meant it as anything more than a nice gesture since she was going to this reception for him, but there was no way Reese would take Logan’s money.

  No way apparently that she could force herself to calm down, either.

  She wasn’t a pacer, but that’s exactly what she was doing now even though pacing in her small apartment amounted to about eight steps max in any direction. Reese checked her phone. No missed calls or texts, and she was about to call Logan when he finally appeared at her door.

  One look at him, though, and Reese knew something was wrong.

  “Are you here to tell me you’re getting back with Helene?” she asked.

  Logan opened his mouth, shook his head and stared at her as if that’d been the last thing on his mind. Reese was so relieved that she kissed him. It wasn’t nearly as hot as the ones in the dressing room, and it seemed as if kissing her was the next to the last thing that’d been on his mind.

  “Greg was the one with Helene that night,” he said.

  Reese certainly hadn’t seen that coming. Apparently, neither had Logan, judging from the stunned look on his face. She led him into the apartment and shut the door. The walls in the inn weren’t exactly thick, and she didn’t think he wanted anyone else to hear this conversation.

  “How do you know that?” Reese asked, and she was about to launch into a warning for him not to jump to conclusions and believe gossip. Greg seemed like the last person in Spring Hill who’d carry on with Helene.

  “Greg told me.”

  All right, so no warning necessary, though Reese still couldn’t quite wrap her head around it. “I thought he was gay.”

  “So did most people in town. Evidently he’s not.” Logan scrubbed his hand over his face, sat on the edge of the bed. “He told me about a half hour ago, gave me his resignation and then walked out. I didn’t even get to ask him if it was a one-time thing or if Helene and he had been carrying on for years.”