A Cowboy's Temptation

by Barbara Dunlop

  He called her name, but it seemed to echo down a tunnel, coming from a long way.

  “Darby,” he rasped again. “Darby, Darby, Darby.”

  His weight came down on top of her, pressing her warmly into the soft mattress. He twined his fingers with hers, holding her hands on either side of her head. He kissed her swollen, tender lips, softly, almost reverently.

  “Are you okay?” he breathed on a rush.

  “Good,” she managed.

  “I didn’t hurt you?”

  “Not that I noticed.”

  He raised himself up on his elbows, tracing a line from her shoulder to her belly. “Oh, man, I’m in big trouble here.”

  “Why?” she asked, with a quick glance around the room, wondering if they were caught.

  “Not that kind of trouble.” He smiled and brushed her messy hair back from her face. “I’m afraid that every night from here on in, I’m going to wish you were here.”

  She smiled at him. “That’s a very sexy line.”

  He eased himself to her side, and she immediately missed his weight.

  “It wasn’t a line,” he told her, a little edge to his voice.

  She shifted to come up on one elbow. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

  He met her gaze. “How did you mean it?”

  “I meant it was a nice thing to say. A woman likes to think she’ll be remembered.”

  “Darby, I didn’t mean I’d remember you.” He cupped her chin, gaze boring into hers. “I meant I’d ache for you.”

  “Okay, that one was even better. I was half afraid I was going to regret doing this again. But that’s a line that’ll keep a girl going for months.”

  He let his hand drop. “I have a feeling we’re having two different conversations here.”

  “If you’re saying we’re fantastic together, then we’re on exactly the same page.”

  His expression perked up. “You think we’re fantastic together?”

  She traced her own line down his chest and over his belly. “You, cowboy, know exactly what you’re doing.”

  His lips curved up in a satisfied smile. “You want to do it again?”

  “Absolutely.”

  Ten

  Though his private suite didn’t have a kitchen, Seth was able to find a tin of chocolate-covered blueberries and some California wine to stave off their hunger. Both had been gifts from the mayor of San Diego.

  “Saddle broncs, maybe,” he answered Darby’s question. “But Travis still rides bulls.”

  “I’ve never even ridden a horse,” she said.

  She was sitting cross-legged on the bed, enveloped in his black robe. He’d pulled on his slacks and lit a couple of candles. The tin of blueberries sat half-empty between them, and they’d started on a second bottle of Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon.

  “I could teach you,” he offered.

  “I don’t know, Seth. A month from now, one of us is not going to be speaking to the other.” She popped another dark-chocolate–covered blueberry into her mouth.

  “You think it’ll come to that?” He felt a twinge, thinking about Danielle down in Denver right now, and what was about to happen to Darby’s hopes of winning.

  “If you win, I’ll be leaving Lyndon,” she said.

  He sat up abruptly. “Why?”

  “The business will close. I’ll have to sell out. The sale price will barely cover the outstanding mortgage, and I’ll have nowhere to live.”

  Everything inside him balked at the idea of her leaving. It was frightening to think about why he felt that way.

  “Of course, if I win, only good things happen,” she continued.

  “Sure. Except for the part where Lyndon loses the railway, and the part where I get kicked out of office.” He was exaggerating for effect.

  He reached for the wine bottle and polished it off between their glasses.

  “I don’t think they can impeach you for losing a referendum,” Darby mused. “Though, I suppose you might not get re-elected next year.”

  Seth replaced the empty bottle on the bedside table. “I doubt I’ll run for re-election.”

  “Seriously?” She looked up at him as she took a sip.

  He hadn’t told his family or his staff yet, but he was questioning the wisdom of having gone into politics in the first place.

  “It’s a frustrating job,” he admitted.

  For some reason he wanted to share with her in a way he hadn’t with his family. Maybe it was because they were half-naked. Maybe it was the wine or the candlelight. Or maybe it was because she had shared some of her unguarded thoughts with him.

  “Did you expect it to be easy?” she asked.

  He was surprised by the challenge in her tone. “No.”

  “The most rewarding things in life are hard fought and hard-won.”

  “What makes you think I don’t know that?”

  “Because you’re talking about quitting. I felt like quitting during basic training. I felt like quitting all the time. But I’m eternally glad that I did not.”

  “You eventually did quit the army,” he pointed out, feeling slightly defensive. Maybe he shouldn’t have shared his true feelings with her.

  Her tone turned reflective, her expression less challenging. “Because I thought I could do more good on the outside.”

  “Bingo. I can’t do what I expected to be able to do as mayor.”

  “Because of me?” There was a surprising look of guilt in her green eyes.

  “If I say yes, will you give up the fight?”

  She seemed to think about it for a moment. “If I believed you, I might.”

  He tried to put a wounded tone into his voice. “You don’t believe me?”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  It was Seth’s turn to think about it. “You’re a very intelligent woman, Darby Carroll.”

  “You’re probably just a bad liar.”

  “I thought mayors would concentrate on the big things, issues of strategic importance that could impact the citizens, change lives, improve the community. But it’s the little stuff, the crazy-making stuff that sucks up all your time.”

  “Like what?” She leaned over to place her glass on the bedside table.

  The robe fell open, baring one breast, and he realized he was hungry for her all over again. She was so indescribably beautiful, almost angelic. He could make love with her, talk with her, or simply sit here and gaze at her forever.

  Forever.

  The word echoed frighteningly through his mind. He didn’t want Darby to leave, not tonight, not tomorrow. He’d never known another woman like her. He doubted another woman like her existed. And he wanted her all for himself.

  “Seth?” she prompted. “What kind of crazy-making things?”

  He gave himself a mental shake. “Barking dogs. Teenagers whooping it up in fast cars. Lawnmowers running too early in the morning or too late at night. There’s a feud going on over on Baker Street over whether the owner of a certain tree should rake the leaves that fall in his neighbor’s yard.”

  Darby laughed at that one.

  “It gets worse,” he warned. “In April, Mrs. Blackstone swears she saw an alien in her backyard. Her neighbor, Bert Campbell, thinks it was a Sasquatch. But both are now sleeping with their shotguns under their beds. The only thing that saves the neighborhood pets from certain death is the fact that neither of them can hit the broad side of a barn, and they both sleep like the dead.”

  “Can’t you get out there and catch that alien?” Darby demanded.

  “One night, Travis and I pretended to go on a Sasquatch hunt.”

  “Pretended?”

  “We took along a case of beer and watched the Broncos game on my tab
let out in the bush.”

  “You actually lied to a constituent about a Sasquatch hunt?”

  “Through my teeth. I told him we saw footprints heading out over Beachnut Ridge.” Seth shook his head as he recalled that night. “Figured we’d scared it off, and it was long gone. So the next day, the mayor’s office got a call from strangethings.com. It seems they’d interviewed Bert Campbell, and he gave them my name to back up his story.”

  Darby burst out laughing.

  “So you can see why I question the value of my contribution as mayor.”

  “So you’ll go back to ranching?”

  “I think so. I should find us something else to eat, or we’re going to end up drunk and unable to drive.” He rolled to his feet, thinking there had to be other edible gifts stored on the shelf of his front closet.

  “I can take a cab home,” said Darby.

  He paused for a moment to gaze down at the picture she made on his bed, in his robe. “Or you can stay,” he offered softly.

  “Seth?” Travis’s voice suddenly interrupted; the main door to the suite banged shut.

  Seth swore under his breath, while Darby reflexively closed the robe.

  “I’ll be right out,” Seth called.

  “I thought we were meeting for a—” Travis appeared in the bedroom doorway, freezing to a halt when he spotted Darby. It obviously took him a split second to recognize her, but when he did, his expression darkened.

  “What the hell?” he demanded.

  “I told you I’d be right out,” Seth snapped, moving to block his view of Darby and drive him back to the living room.

  “Here?” Travis stood his ground, pointing at Darby. “Seriously, here?”

  “It’s none of your business,” Seth told his brother.

  “With everything that’s going on?”

  “Shut up,” Seth ordered.

  “You are not thinking straight.”

  “I’m thinking just fine,” Seth retorted, even though he knew he was losing his mind over Darby.

  Travis growled. “Do you honestly not know a conflict of interest when she’s naked underneath you?”

  Seth grabbed his brother by the collar and shoved him up against the wall.

  The move obviously took Travis by surprise, because he didn’t do anything to defend himself.

  In Seth’s peripheral vision, Darby came to her feet, tightening the belt of the robe.

  “Apologize,” Seth demanded of Travis.

  “For pointing out the truth?”

  “For being offensive and disrespectful.”

  “It’s okay,” Darby cut in, hovering beside the bed.

  “No, it’s not okay,” said Seth. “Apologize now.”

  “I apologize,” said Travis, tone flat, gaze never leaving Seth. “For being offensive and disrespectful.”

  “That lacked sincerity,” said Seth.

  “It’s really okay,” said Darby, taking a step forward.

  “What are you doing?” asked Travis.

  “This doesn’t change a thing,” Seth emphatically stated.

  “It’s true,” Darby backed him up. “We’ve agreed it’ll be a fair fight.”

  Travis shot Seth a look of renewed incredulity. “Fair?” he challenged. “Fair?”

  Seth clenched his jaw, and the two men glared at each other.

  “You can’t blame him for being confused,” Darby added, looking to Seth. “You and me doesn’t make any sense.”

  “It makes perfect sense,” said Seth.

  “You’re going to get hurt,” Travis told Darby.

  Seth took a long, deep breath. Travis knew Danielle was in Denver, trying to get the referendum canceled. He knew the railroad side was very likely to win, while Darby did not.

  “Or Seth will get hurt,” she retorted. “My side is doing very well.”

  Travis slid a censorious gaze to Seth.

  Seth returned it with a warning stare. Luckily, Travis knew enough to keep his mouth shut. But he glanced around the room, taking in the wine bottles.

  “You need a ride home?” he asked Darby.

  “She’s not leaving.”

  “She’s going to stay for breakfast?” Travis demanded. “Meet the staff? Maybe walk you to your office? I’ve experienced the mood of this town. Do you have any idea what you’re playing with here?”

  Seth let go of his brother’s shirt. He knew Travis was disappointed in him. And he understood why. But that didn’t change the way he felt about Darby.

  He wanted the railroad, but he wanted Darby, too. It didn’t have to make sense. It didn’t have to be easy. But he had to try.

  “I’ll get dressed,” Darby said into the silence.

  Seth turned to her, opening his mouth to talk her out of leaving.

  “Travis is right,” she told him firmly. “I can’t stay.”

  “You can’t go,” Seth insisted.

  “We’ve risked enough already,” she returned.

  “I’ll be in the living room,” Travis said, brushing past Seth.

  Seth moved to where he was facing Darby. “Stay?” he asked her. “Stay a while longer.”

  She placed a hand on his chest. “You know I have to leave. People might have seen us come back here. It’s plausible you’ve been giving me a tour of the mansion for the last couple of hours, but any longer, and people are going to figure it out.”

  “Figure what out?” he asked. That he’d fallen fast and hard for Darby?

  “That one of us is trying to bribe the other with sex.”

  His stomach contracted. “Is that what we’re doing?”

  “I don’t know what we’re doing, Seth.” She slid her hands up his bare chest to his shoulders. “I only know that it feels good, and I wish it didn’t have to end.”

  “I’m telling you it doesn’t have to end. Not right now. Not this second.”

  She came up on her toes and gave him a quick kiss. “Buck up, Mr. Mayor. Let your brother drive me home.”

  He longed to argue, but he knew she was right. Tonight couldn’t happen. But he feared what would happen when Danielle got back with the state-level court decision.

  Darby gave him a sad smile. “I know when to call for a strategic retreat. But we’ve got some time. It’ll be weeks before we know who wins and who loses.”

  Seth’s stomach went hollow again. “Right. I’ll let you get dressed.” He left the bedroom, heading down the hall to face his brother.

  “Do you hate her?” Travis demanded quietly. “Are you that coldhearted that you’d use her that way?”

  Seth let his indignation come through in his tone. “Of course I don’t hate her.”

  “Then do you care about her?”

  Seth didn’t answer.

  “How much?” Travis persisted.

  “Too much.”

  “Well, then I feel sorry for you, bro. Because you’re going to crash fast and hard.”

  “Maybe,” Seth allowed. “But maybe not.”

  “I take it she doesn’t know about your appeal to the state.”

  “Of course she doesn’t know. Why would I tell her? Why would I compromise our position?”

  “I don’t know. Just off the top of my head, because you’re sleeping with her?”

  “I didn’t tell her,” Seth stated flatly.

  “She thinks it’s a fair fight.”

  “It is a fair fight.”

  Travis snorted. “She thinks she’s getting a referendum.”

  “She knows I’m trying to stop it.”

  “She doesn’t know you’ve succeeded.”

  “I haven’t succeeded yet.”

  “Danielle’s flying home tonight.”

 
Seth stilled, everything inside him going cold. “She’s done?”

  “She’s done. I just talked to Caleb. You won, big brother.”

  “That’s great,” Seth managed.

  “You don’t sound happy.”

  “I am happy.”

  “I’m ready to go,” Darby called as she made her way down the short hallway.

  “Don’t you dare tell her,” Seth growled to Travis.

  “She’s going to find out soon.”

  “Not tonight, she’s not.” Seth needed some time to think this through. And he simply couldn’t stand the thought of upsetting Darby tonight.

  * * *

  “Under a hypothetical situation,” Darby began as she parked her bag in the front closet and tugged off her shoes, after Travis had dropped her off.

  “What hypothetical situation?” Marta looked up from her phone where she was reading email.

  “The one where I slept with Seth to distract him from fighting with me on the referendum.”

  “Okay.” She brushed her thumb across the screen, scrolling, and glanced back down.

  “How badly would it go…” Darby took the opposite end of the couch. “If I fell for him?”

  Marta shot Darby her full attention, eyes squinting down. “As in seriously, I-think-this-is-bigger-than-the-both-of-us fell for him?”

  Darby slumped back in her seat. “Right.”

  “Uh-oh.” Marta set her phone on the coffee table, turning sideways on the couch and drawing up her legs.

  Darby copied Marta’s posture, letting her mind go back over the evening. “He’s just… I mean, he’s intelligent, he’s thoughtful, he’s a lot more compassionate than I expected and he’s funny.”

  “And sexy?”

  The memories had the power to send heat coursing through Darby’s system. “Oh, so incredibly sexy.”

  “So what are you going to do?” Marta asked softly.

  Darby plucked at the wrinkled fabric of her slacks. “I’m trying to see a path forward. If I lose, I’m leaving. If he loses, you know, do you think he’d ever be able to get over it?”

  She’d tried to imagine Seth getting past their fights, maybe coming to the conclusion that losing the railway wasn’t the end of the world, maybe giving the two of them a chance. A chance to do what, she wasn’t exactly sure. But she was sure she wanted what was between them to continue.