Cowboy Games

by Wendi Darlin

  “Nothing is wrong.” The tennis ball landed in the trash bin with a thud.

  “You should be escorting her to the limo in a little while.”

  Gavin shook his head but didn’t make eye contact. “You take her. And don’t forget her suitcase.”

  “This isn’t the way you treat a woman.” Garrett folded his arms across his chest and stared hard at his brother.

  “Don’t try telling me how to treat women.” He didn’t have enough fire left in him to yell. Outside the bedroom, he didn’t know what in the hell to do with a woman. That much was obvious. He damn sure didn’t need to be reminded of it.

  “I’m saying this isn’t the way you treat a woman,” Garrett said. “Not even one you don’t care about. And John told me what you did for her yesterday.”

  “How many times have you told me, it’s just a game?” Gavin surrendered. Obviously people around him had a lot more figured out than he did. It was time he started listening to more of what was said, and worrying less about his own opinions.

  “You haven’t played the game all week,” Garrett said.

  Gavin rubbed his face. What was he supposed to do, go let her see what she’d done to him? Let her see what an idiot he was? He’d done enough of that already when he told her he loved her. How in the hell had he ever let himself fall in love again with a woman he knew he couldn’t have? A woman who told him right off the bat that lust was all she could manage.

  * * * *

  Rebecca rolled over to face the wall closest to Gavin’s bed. The pillow smelled of him, a clean outdoor scent with a hint of warmth, sandalwood, and something all at once new and familiar to her, the subtle musk of his passion. She pressed her face into the soft down and blinked away her tears.

  On the wall next to a highboy, a framed picture of a Harvard track team hung next to a couple of high school track photos. Gavin stood to the left of the Harvard group, younger but not very different than he looked now. He really did go to Harvard. He really was real. She knew that. She didn’t have a single doubt. And he’d said he loved her. Her heart was aching too bad to not be loving him back.

  She shivered beneath the covers. She was so cold. Her blood was like ice in her veins. She had to leave Gavin’s room, even if it meant she could never come back into it again. She had to find him, but she didn’t know what she could possibly say that would make a difference in what he must think of her now. She had already said one word too many. He didn’t want to be Todd, and he hadn’t been, but she didn’t know how to convince him of that. She only knew she couldn’t cling to Todd as an excuse anymore, and Todd wouldn’t want her to. He had loved her because she wasn’t afraid to love. And Gavin deserved all that she could give him.

  Her stomach tensed. If she had thrown away her second chance would she get a third? She didn’t want another chance with anyone but Gavin. She had no doubt of that.

  Rebecca wiped her palms across both sides of her face and lifted herself out of his bed. She had to find him. She picked her clothes up from the floor and pulled them on. Tangles strew her hair in every direction and her eyes were raw, but she didn’t care. She took one look back at the bed and closed the door behind her.

  Her bare feet padded soundlessly down the stairs. Sounds of the staff came from the kitchen. The smell of bacon and sweet breads was already wafting through the house. She wrapped her arms around herself. People would be coming through the door soon for breakfast. The big house seemed so foreign to her, a place she didn’t have the right to be alone in. She’d only been in a handful of the rooms, if Gavin wasn’t in any of those she was familiar with, she didn’t know where to begin to look. And what if he had left the ranch? What if she wouldn’t even get to see him again before she had to get on a plane?

  She started for the office. Garrett would be there, and as much as she didn’t want to have to explain anything to him, he would know where Gavin was or how to find him. She crossed the foyer. Voices met her in the hall. Her heart jumped into her throat and she swallowed it back down. Gavin was in the office. With Garrett. She was torn with whether she should interrupt them, let Garrett read on her face everything that had happened between them, or if she should slip out the back, return to the cabin and hope that Gavin would come find her.

  He wouldn’t. She had hurt him. Her heart made the decision for her. She had to go to him. She needed to convince him she didn’t want him to be Todd. She wanted him to be with her. She just needed to tell him anything that would bring him into her arms again. Do whatever it took to make him believe.

  The hall couldn’t have been more than fifteen feet, but it would have been easier to walk a mile. Her heart pounded with every step. Her nails bit into her palms. Tears stung her eyes.

  The voices became clearer. The words easy to discern. They were talking business.

  “Get anywhere with that new marketing plan?” Garrett asked.

  “No. We should keep the cowboy.” Gavin sounded tired. “I need a shower, is there anything else?”

  “Tomorrow you’ve got Erica Hirsh, 41, paralegal, from Florida, divorced.”

  “Great,” Gavin responded. If he said anything more than that, Rebecca couldn’t hear it over the pounding of her heartbeat. Could he really get up in the morning and try to make another woman fall in love with him? The room started to spin. She wrapped her arms around her stomach and held on until she could calm herself enough to listen some more.

  “And Rebecca?” Garrett asked.

  “Business as usual.” His voice was so cold, so different than she had ever heard it before.

  She braced herself against the wall for support. He didn’t care about her. He hadn’t meant any of it. Not the date. Not the stupid peas. Not the ‘I love yous’ he whispered in the dark. She was just an assignment and her week was up. He was better than she had imagined him to be. He had her believing it all, every word. He made her fall in love. Just like he was supposed to.

  She swallowed the acid that rose in her throat and pushed herself off the wall. He might be used to getting away with all his lies, but not this time. She wasn’t a woman who put up with men like him.

  “I thought you entertained every other week,” she said from the doorway of the office. Her heart hammered in her chest, pushing the blood through her veins with so much force it roared in her ears.

  Garrett looked up but Gavin kept his back to her.

  “You can’t even look at me?” Her words had never contained such fire.

  Garrett stood and started toward the door she was blocking. Gavin didn’t answer, didn’t turn around. She curled her fingers to keep them from shaking. Her fury built in his silence.

  “Do you tell them all you love them?” She would make him face what he’d done, what a complete and utter ass he was. He wouldn’t just sweep her under the rug without at least coming face to face with what he was capable of. Not that he would have heart enough to care.

  Garrett shifted his weight trying to get by her. He obviously wanted to give them the room to themselves. She ignored him and focused on the back of Gavin’s head.

  “Do you make all of them wait until the end of the week to get in bed with you? Is that the way this game is played?”

  “Excuse me,” Garrett said, he couldn’t get past her without physically pushing her aside and his discomfort was obvious.

  “Why would you leave?” she asked him. “There aren’t any secrets here, except from the guests. Except from stupid, vulnerable women like me. Right, Gavin?”

  He stood up then, facing her, his neck tense and just as much fire in his eyes as she had raging inside her. “No, that’s not right,” he said. “You played the game better than I did. Congratulations. You won. I’m sorry but we don’t give out trophies.”

  “That’s okay. I got a belt. That’s a cowboy trophy, right? But I hope you don’t expect a tip for last night.” Then to Garrett, she said, “You don’t have to leave. I am. And I can find the limo by myself. Please send my bag.”

&nbs
p; The tears were about to fall, and she wasn’t going to give Gavin the satisfaction of seeing any more of those. He may have made a fool of her, but he’d be the only man to do that. Ever.

  She plowed through the front door nearly nailing a guest and her cowboy. The grass had never been colder, but the fire in her veins was gone and she was already freezing before her feet touched it. She didn’t know if she’d ever be warm again. She hurried past the office window and kept her eyes in front of her, chin level. She approached the Honey cabin, hers was next. Darlin’. She never wanted to be called that again.

  Inside, her phone was ringing. The screen said she had eight missed calls. She ignored this one from Melinda too, ripped her clothes off and stuffed them in the wastebasket by the sink. She caught her reflection in the mirror and turned away. She didn’t need a picture of what he’d done to her. None of it had been real, and it was time to go home.

  She showered and put on the sundress she’d worn on the flight out to Wyoming. She had a suitcase full of clean clothes in the office, but Garrett hadn’t sent it and she wasn’t going back over there to pick it up.

  The car would be waiting out front to take her to the airport at 9:30, in ten minutes. Her cowboy was supposed to escort her, but she had no intention of waiting around for the send off. She packed her cosmetics bag, rolled her jeans into her carry-on, and lifted Gavin’s sweatshirt off the bed. She put it back down. Picked it up again and pushed it into the bag. She should leave the damn thing, but it would be a good reminder. A reminder to never be stupid again.

  She took everything that belonged to her except her trophy - the belt she would never be able to wear still looped through the headboard - and the check he’d given her. She tucked the check into the belt, it was probably worthless anyway. Another prop, like the hat.

  A hard knock came at the door. Not Gavin’s usual tempo. Obviously, he was still furious. She swung the door open ready to tear into him again.

  “I don’t have anything—” Her voice broke off. The officer Gavin had exchanged words with at the stream stood in front of her. Lieutenant Bening, his nameplate said.

  “Ms. Rebecca Ryder?” he asked.

  “Yes.” Was he going to have her arrested now for sleeping with him? He broke the law as much as she did. More probably.

  “Are you okay?” the Lieutenant asked.

  “Never better.”

  “Do you mind if I ask you some questions?” His eyes swept the room, and settled on the hand towel that covered the air conditioning vent.

  “Can you make this fast?” She lifted her carry-on bag off the bed and adjusted the strap over her shoulder. “I have a plane to catch.”

  “We’ve received a call concerning your safety and additional information about the type of business being operated here.”

  Rebecca slid the schedule of events off the night table and placed it in the officer’s hand. “As you can see, I’m fine. And this is what goes on here. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

  “I can’t do that. I’m going to have to ask you to come down to the station and issue a statement.”

  “Am I under arrest?” Her head was throbbing and she was ready to go another round with anybody who decided to piss her off, including this stupid cop.

  “No, ma’am. You’re not under arrest.”

  “Then I’m not going anywhere but the airport.” She grabbed her purse and took a step toward him, daring him to keep standing in her way.

  “I could cite you with solicitation, but I don’t want to have to do that.” His eyes traveled over to the bed where the dark brown leather of her trophy belt glared against the white birch headboard.

  “I haven’t solicited anything.”

  “We’ve taken Gavin Carter in already.” A smirk settled over the cop’s face. “Once we have a statement from him, we can issue a warrant for you. It’ll be easier if you come now.”

  “He’s under arrest?” Her heart constricted at the thought of Gavin in handcuffs, paying such a price for giving her what she wanted. What she needed. What she’d all but begged for. Even if he was a lying asshole who deserved to have a jailhouse dropped on his heartless chest.

  “He hasn’t been charged. Yet,” Lieutenant Bening said with a look of smug satisfaction, “but he is a key person of interest in this investigation. Your brother-in-law has pulled a lot of strings to make sure you’re okay. You really should be grateful.”

  Fucking Scott. All she wanted to do was go home and forget this week had ever happened and now he had his cronies hauling her off to some Podunk police station.

  Chapter 12

  Rebecca stepped out of the Canyon Creek police station, set her bag on the ground and flipped open her cell phone. The only thing left to do was call a cab to take her to the airport. Hopefully there were more flights back to South Carolina at some time today and she could get on one of them.

  A familiar stretched-out Dodge Ram was parked along the curb. Garrett stepped down from the driver’s side. She averted her eyes and dialed information. He was probably furious with her, ready to throw the contract in her face. He’d have to talk to her attorney. She was done talking about Fantasy Ranch, and after sitting in a tiny room fielding a barrage of questions from Officer Bening and another Barney Fife clone she was too drained to fight Garrett or anybody else.

  “I got you on another flight and I’m here to take you to the airport,” he said, picking up her bag.

  “Why would you do that?”

  “It’s what we do.” The lines on his forehead were more pronounced than usual, but his manner was polite enough. Either there was more to this than she could decipher or he was a heck of a nice guy.

  “City and state please,” the computerized operator chimed in her ear.

  Rebecca snapped the phone closed and followed Garrett over to the truck. “Thank you,” she said as he held the door open for her and handed her the bag. “Is Gavin still in there?” She nodded toward the police station.

  “Yeah. Our attorney just got here.” Garrett closed the door before she could ask him anything else. Unless Gavin was stupid he wouldn’t say a word before he had his attorney by his side. And he definitely wasn’t stupid. She’d told her story first. Now the case hinged on how much he trusted her.

  She settled into the seat and closed her eyes. Her intentions for coming on this trip had been so simple, so naïve. A tear slid from beneath her lid. The road to Hell is paved with good intentions. She’d heard her father say that a hundred times. Smart man, but she was still waiting for the laughter to follow the tears. Obviously the tears weren’t finished yet.

  Her cell phone rang. She turned it off, didn’t even check to make sure it was Melinda. There wasn’t a soul she wanted to talk to. Not one. Garrett glanced back at her in the mirror. The glass divider was down between them. She averted her eyes as the tears kept falling. She had never been such an idiot. There was no telling what she had been exposed to making love to him without a condom. What if she’d gotten pregnant? God, she was worse than Melinda. She wasn’t married to the liar. She didn’t even have an excuse for being stupid. How could she have fantasized hard enough to think a week would extend beyond the foreseeable future?

  Miles blurred past the windows. She pulled a small package of tissues from her purse and fingered the plastic, but didn’t take one out. The tears were still coming too freely. It wouldn’t do any good to wipe them away yet.

  Right now Gavin was telling the police what? That he’d taken her to bed. That he hadn’t. Would he keep lying? How many rounds did this game have?

  And he had the nerve to tell her she won. Why? Because she’d bruised his ego, called him the wrong name? How much of what he told her had been true? Some of it had to be, didn’t it? No, it didn’t. Stupid, stupid girl. Idiot!

  She’d gotten lucky with Todd, and she couldn’t expect to ever get that lucky again. At least she knew that now.

  Garrett turned into the airport terminal. Rebecca blew her nose and dried her face.
The pity party was over. Time to go back to where she belonged and pull herself together. And never be stupid again.

  Garrett opened the door and helped her out onto the curb. He studied her, but didn’t say anything. She should be just as mad at him, but at least he had done what he could to keep her in her place, to remind her of what was really going on. Or maybe that was part of the game too, just the good cop/bad cop routine they had worked out. God, they had every angle covered. At least she could believe one thing Gavin said. He hadn’t lied when he told her how fabricated the whole ranch experience was. Selective hearing. Must be innate to stupid women. That’s how they choose so easily which lies to believe.

  “I’ve checked your luggage,” Garrett said. “Here are your boarding passes.”

  Rebecca took her tickets in silence and shivered in the cool Wyoming air. The straps of her sundress did nothing to ward off the chill. Gavin’s sweatshirt was in her shoulder bag, but she couldn’t bring herself to put it on. She didn’t need a reminder of how stupid she was yet. Or probably ever. She should have left it on the bed next to the belt and check.

  Garrett opened the front passenger side of the truck as Rebecca started making her way toward the double doors.

  “Ms. Ryder,” he called after her. He caught up to her before she’d gone more than ten steps. “You’re cold, take this.” He draped a large denim jacket around her shoulders.

  “Thank you, but I can’t take your clothes.” Maybe she’d been wrong about which one was the nicer of the two. They should switch roles for the next guest.

  “It’s Gavin’s,” Garrett said, adjusting the collar.

  Rebecca pulled the jacket off and shoved it back to him. “No thank you. I’ve had enough of his generosity to last me a lifetime.”

  “He wouldn’t want you to be cold.”

  “He wouldn’t care,” she said, pushing the jacket toward him again. Her eyes brimmed with tears. “I’m sure he doesn’t give his clothes away to every woman he entertains. If he did, he wouldn’t have any left.”

  Garrett’s face drew up into another series of concerned lines. “Why don’t you come back to the ranch with me? We’ll get you on a later flight.”