Cowboy Games

by Wendi Darlin

  “I always wanted to meet somebody who wouldn’t bat an eye when I said I was the other woman,” she said as they made their way toward the big house.

  “Love defies reason,” he said. “Always has. Always will.” He looped his arm in hers. “You love him don’t you?”

  “I do, and I don’t want to stop.”

  “I understand.” He squeezed her arm. “You have no idea how well I understand.”

  She smiled. “His name is Harold.” God, it felt wonderful to say that so freely. “I love Harold.” She laughed. “I wish I had a son like you.”

  “I’m available. Especially if you’re looking to pass down any antique Biedermeier. I eat off a card table at my house.”

  As they passed the corral, Rebecca was holding the reins of two horses while Gavin walked the gate closed. Clayton steered a wide berth, keeping Marge as far from the horses as he could.

  “What do think about those two?” she asked.

  “The horses?”

  “No, the lovebirds.”

  “Gavin and his guest?” He chuckled. “I’ve only got eyes for you, but of course you’ve broken my heart since you confessed to loving someone else.”

  “I’m serious. Look at them.”

  He looked back. “They make a great-looking couple.”

  “A real couple, don’t you think?”

  “Honey, this is Fantasy Ranch. The only thing that’s real is the fantasy.”

  * * * *

  A half-hour later, Rebecca and Gavin slowed Pilgrim and Gavin’s horse, Silver, to a walk. Gavin’s eyes searched the sky, studying both directions. “We can’t stay out too long, it’s going to rain.”

  “How can you tell?” She examined the clouds, trying to see what he had seen.

  “The weather channel.” He grinned.

  “Cute,” she said, but couldn’t keep herself from laughing.

  At the lip of a gorge, dizzying in its depth, Gavin dismounted and came over to help her down. He was in no bigger hurry to let her go than he’d been the last time.

  “I like this game,” she said, putting her hands over his and leaning her back into his chest.

  “What do you want to happen next?”

  She turned herself around to face him. “This is your ranch. You’re the cowboy. As long as you keep your hat on and call me darlin’ I’ll let you take the lead.” She tipped his hat back just enough to raise the shadow of it above his eyes. “Provided, of course, we don’t do anything I’ll regret in the morning.”

  “We wouldn’t want to do that.” His eyes danced with humor.

  She stepped back so he could unbuckle a saddlebag and let the horses wander off to graze nearby. Together they spread a flannel blanket on the ground and divided the sandwich and potato salad he’d packed.

  “This is breathtaking.” She sat looking out over the gorge, while he faced her. The sun was warm overhead, and there was no sign of the rain to come. “Makes you feel small and bigger than life all at once.”

  He passed her a bottle of water. “I thought you might like it.”

  “Do you bring all the ladies out here or did you break the rules again?”

  “I’ve never brought any of the ranch guests out here.”

  “You bring your real dates here?” She studied him. Any idea she’d had of flying across the country to play with a warm-blooded blow-up doll had been completely misguided. Gavin Carter was someone she wanted to know, someone who held her interest longer than any of the pretty pictures on the Fantasy Ranch brochure. But she wasn’t even allowed to contact him after she left. There’d be no lasting friendship, nothing more than a single week of make-believe. The rules of this game were more complicated than she had imagined them to be.

  “I don’t like to date.”

  “Don’t you have…needs?” she asked.

  “Of course I have needs.” He narrowed his eyes, and added, “I go out and pick up a nice young lady when I need to, but I wouldn’t exactly call that dating.”

  “How often do you need to?” She bit her lip, curious how honest he would be about his appetite. She couldn’t imagine he didn’t get laid anytime he wanted to.

  “A lot more often than I do, unfortunately.” He shook his head and lifted his eyes to hers. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this. Or why you’re asking.”

  “Because it tells me a lot about you.” She bit into her sandwich. “And sex just happens to be my favorite subject. Speaking of…” She grinned. “I’m sure the casual sex is fine, but don’t you ever want more than that?”

  “Don’t you ever run out of questions?” He wiped the corner of her mouth with his napkin.

  “Sorry for being nosy. I’m just wondering what I’ve got ahead of me. I’m not exactly a pro at dating anymore.” She tipped her bottle to his and tapped the plastic together. “And for the record, a man like you shouldn’t be lonely, unless of course you like it that way. So I’m guessing you must.”

  “I could say the same thing about you.”

  “I hate being lonely,” she said. “I have to ask one more question.”

  “I give up. Shoot.”

  “Are you really treating me differently, or just telling me that you are? Remember, no lies.”

  He laid his sandwich down on the blanket, and reached for her hand. “Don’t you want the fantasy?”

  “I came here didn’t I?” She put her sandwich next to his and spread his hand open, brushing the rough skin of his palm with hers. It was masculine, but not overly callused, or abrasive. She liked the feel of it. She liked it very much. She rested her hand on his, palm to palm, and met his eyes. “I can play any game you would ever want to play. I just need to understand what parts of this game are real.”

  “If it’s a fantasy,” he asked, “how can it be real?”

  “Fantasy and reality can blend together very nicely when you want them to. Haven’t you tried that yet?”

  “Not so much.”

  “Here’s an example.” She turned around to sit next to him and placed his hand around her waist. “Now you lie down.”

  He raised his brows and shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “Don’t worry. This is a PG example. I’m not going to seduce you.” She winked. “I’ll save that for later, when you’re not around.”

  He laughed and let her push him back onto the blanket. She rested her head on his shoulder, wrapped her arm around his chest, and relaxed into the rhythm that his breath and his heart played beneath her arm. He stroked her hair and held her.

  “See?” she asked.

  “No.”

  “You’re a fantasy, this whole week is a fantasy, but you’re really holding me. I really feel you.” She snuggled closer. “And I really like it.”

  After a few minutes of silence, he took a deep breath.

  “I don’t bring guests out here,” he said. “We stick to specific parts of the property when we’re entertaining. And I haven’t tried to make you believe anything that isn’t true.”

  “So why aren’t you entertaining me where you’re supposed to be?” She didn’t lift her face to see his expression. She didn’t want to move.

  “I guess because I wanted to bring you here.” His hand slid along her side, but not far enough in either direction to cross any kind of sexual line. “I don’t want to treat you like anybody else.”

  “You haven’t called me darlin’ yet.”

  “Darlin’,” he said in a smooth drawl, “is the fantasy the only reason you’re here?”

  “I can fantasize at home. I flew to Wyoming for this.” She ran her hand along his arm. “I miss this. To touch someone. To be touched.”

  He shifted his body and pulled her in even closer. She closed her eyes and held onto what she had been longing for since the day fate took her husband away. Lying there like that, it was easy to remember Todd, to imagine it was him she was holding, to believe for a moment that she had him back again and that she would never have to let him g
o.

  “Why exactly did you sign up for a riding lesson?” he asked.

  “This week is about living my fantasy, isn’t it?”

  “And you fantasize about riding lessons?”

  “I might after today.” She gave him a wicked grin. “What’s your fantasy?” She flattened her palm over the curve of his shoulder and followed the slope of his arm.

  “You’re not allowed to ask anymore questions, remember?”

  “Just tell me one of them, the tamest one, if you’re chicken.” She stopped and waited for him to answer.

  “A biotech consultant with a southern drawl and a thing for cowboys.”

  “That was too easy.”

  “And too true.” His lips brushed her cheek. “Way too true.”

  The sleeplessness of the previous night caught up to both of them. The afternoon became evening, and the first drops of rain hit like ice pellets jolting them awake.

  The sky had grown dark, darker than it should have been. Pilgrim and Silver had wandered at least a hundred yards away. Thunder rolled toward the mountains.

  “I’ll get the horses,” he said as raindrops the size of dimes began a steady descent.

  Rebecca rolled up the blanket, gathered the trash and stuffed everything back into the saddlebag before she ran to help him. The rain came down too fast for the ground to absorb it and puddles dotted the meadow. Her boots splashed mud onto her jeans and her blouse clung to her in a thin transparent layer.

  Lightning sliced the sky and rain pounded harder by the minute. By the time she reached him, Gavin was as soaked as she was, but he had both horses by the reins.

  They rode back as fast as the horses could carry them on the slippery ground.

  In her cabin, water ran off their clothes leaving a puddle on the floor. Her jeans were splattered with mud and her blouse wouldn’t have been wetter if she had gone swimming in it.

  “If my luggage didn’t come today, I might have to run around naked tomorrow.”

  “Give me your clothes,” he said.

  “Isn’t that against the rules?” With her hands on her hips, she sized him up, tempted to hand every stitch over to him and demand his in return. “And not a very smooth come on, for a man with a natural talent for such things.”

  “Unless Garrett has added a No Laundry clause to the handbook we’ll be okay.” The way his smile lit his eyes was enough to kill a woman. Literally kill her, or at least make her think she was going to die from cardiac arrest, she was sure of it.

  “Does your fantasy start anything like this?” She pulled her blouse over her head and laid it in his hand. The paper-thin shirt had already revealed as much as he was openly admiring, but the man obviously had an appreciation for skin. And her skin had an appreciation for his laser-hot eyes. She could feel the burn spread like a flame across her chest.

  Before he could answer, she picked his Harvard sweatshirt off the back of a chair and carried it to the bathroom. Rebecca rested her back against the door and closed her eyes. Damn the No Sex clause. At some point she was going to have sex with someone, and that man probably wouldn’t get her blood pumping half as fast as Gavin could. Damn it, damn it, damn it.

  She toweled off, and came out with the rest of her clothes in her hands and his sweatshirt hanging to her thighs. She unloaded the dripping articles into his arm. She should have kept her underwear to hand wash them in the sink, but she had shamelessly folded them into her jeans.

  “Have I mentioned how good you look in that shirt?” he asked.

  “Not today.”

  He brushed a strand of hair from her face. For a minute she thought he was going to kiss her, and she was surprised when she leaned toward him. The angle of her stance was so awkward she grabbed his arm for balance. She was ready. Ready to taste his lips, feel the warmth of his tongue. The nerves were gone. He moved closer, rested his hand against her neck, his fingertips brushed the top of her spine, shooting life into her every nerve. He inched closer, then froze, his stiff arm holding her at a distance. After a lightning-quick glance toward the corner of the room, he moved to leave so quickly she almost toppled after him.

  The cold rain blew in through the open door prickling her skin and cooling her overheated neurons, finally allowing her brain to make strong enough connections with her nerves to shut them down to a manageable level.

  “I’ll bring you something to eat.” His voice was unsteady. Almost embarrassed.

  Lightning lit the ranch, and crashed in a ball of thunder close enough to vibrate the cabin walls. Enough electricity surged through the air to send the soft down at the back of her neck on end and a tickle zipping toward the base of her spine.

  “I’m not hungry, but thanks.” She was an idiot, brushing away a chance to have him back. “You shouldn’t be running around in a storm like this. I’d ask you to stay, but…” He needed to get out of his clothes and he definitely couldn’t do that in her cabin without serious repercussions.

  “I can’t stay.” The look he gave her suggested his thoughts weren’t that different from hers. “If your luggage is in the office, do you need it tonight?”

  “It’ll be hard, but I think I can live without it.” Hard was an understatement. Fantasies wouldn’t be difficult to come by tonight.

  “Sweet dreams then.” He ducked his hat into the deluge and headed for home.

  * * * *

  In the mudroom, Gavin hung his hat on a peg, stripped and wrapped a towel around his waist. Garrett came in as Gavin was dropping his and Rebecca’s clothes into the washer. Her blouse was in his hand and the strap of her bra hung beneath it.

  Gavin read his brother’s irritation and intercepted him. “You want her running around here naked, or in more of my clothes?”

  “We should probably install laundry facilities in the little cabin.” Garrett’s shoulders relaxed. “We never use it anyway.”

  “Probably wouldn’t hurt.” He shook detergent into the machine and closed the lid. Garrett was still standing there, watching him.

  Gavin didn’t feel like talking business, didn’t feel like talking at all. He should have been freezing, but he wasn’t, he was hotter than hell. The entire day had been one big exercise in self-control, and he was more than a little tense from it all. Too many thoughts floated around in his mind. Every single one of them had something to do with Rebecca and not many of them involved clothes. And they’d all been amped up a notch by that little peep show she had given him through her oh so wet and oh so thin bra.

  “Rebecca Ryder seems to like your company,” Garrett said.

  “Isn’t that the idea?” The muscles between his shoulder blades tightened. A two-year-old could have picked up on what Garrett was getting at. He was spending too much time with her, and none of it where they were supposed to be. And yes, the ranch was under enough scrutiny right now.

  “Yeah, that’s the idea,” Garrett told him. “As long as we’re on the same page.”

  “I’m not going to fuck her,” Gavin said through clenched teeth. He was madder than he should have been, but he had restrained himself more in one day than he had in his entire life, and he was still catching hell for it. He wouldn’t risk the business or their home for sexual gratification. He could go to Trucker’s, the local night club, for that kind of comfort any night of the week and not risk a thing.

  He rubbed a dry towel over his head, knowing full well when he was done, Garrett would still be standing there. His brother had hit on a nerve, and he wasn’t going to go away until he settled it. Gavin dropped the towel around his shoulders.

  “You seem a little on edge,” Garrett said. “But her luggage still hasn’t come in, so I’m glad you’re washing her clothes. Just try not to let her catch pneumonia either.”

  “Are the cameras in her cabin working yet?” It wouldn’t be good to have documentation of her peeling off her clothes and handing them to him. Especially since he hadn’t had sense enough to do anything but stand there and gawk like he’d never seen a w
oman in a bra before. He got another boner just thinking about it. She had his dick on a string she didn’t even know she was pulling.

  “No,” Garrett said. “They didn’t have the right something or other. They’ll be back tomorrow. Maybe you can keep her away from the cabin again. It’s going to take at least an hour.”

  Gavin exhaled. He shouldn’t be thinking about how easy it would be to go back to her cabin, fold her in his arms, and feel the warmth of her body next to his, especially on a night like tonight with the rain pouring down. And if she wanted that too, there were no cameras to see anything they did. Since when did cameras matter? They weren’t running an escort business and his services sure as hell weren’t a part of the guest package. He’d be happy to extend them to her for free though. Any night of the week.

  Damn. He couldn’t remember the last time a woman got under his skin like that.

  “Anything else or can I go to bed?” he asked.

  “I need you to take my guest next week. I’ll take yours the week after.”

  “Why?” Normally it wouldn’t have mattered. Neither of them ever ventured far from the ranch anyway. They had worked it out early on that they would alternate weeks in the office. One week Garrett took care of a guest while Gavin focused on his part of the business and managed the little things that always popped up, the next week they switched. For the most part it kept them both busy and out of each other’s hair. They never had to spend too many hours holed up in one room together, getting on each other’s nerves with their polar personalities.

  “I need to run up to Cody for a couple of days.” Garrett smiled and Gavin recognized the look in his eyes immediately.

  “John’s in town?”

  “He will be. You don’t mind do you?”

  “Fine.” Gavin carried himself upstairs to take a shower. He didn’t want to take Garrett’s guest, and he couldn’t come up with one logical reason why.

  Chapter 4

  “You don’t know me,” Chet warned. “If you see me at the ranch, don’t even make eye contact.”