Cowgirl Rescue (Selkirk Family Ranch Book 3)

by Irene Vartanoff

  “My purse is full of chips. It was a big win. Maybe five or even six figures?”

  He restrained a whistle of surprise. “Which would explain why he’d be pleased if you left. He doesn’t want the joint to run out of cash tonight.”

  “I never take cash. That’s an invitation to be robbed. I always take a check.”

  “I got the impression that your friend Nathan would be quite happy if we’d just had dinner and didn’t gamble,” Rolf said.

  “Nathan doesn’t like people to win, but he’s got to give us a chance to, or it’s hardly fair.”

  At the cash window, Tess turned in her chips, filled out the forms, and was issued a check. The girl in the window recognized her and said she watched all her TV appearances.

  “Thanks. I’m hoping to be in a new show in the fall—but I don’t know which one yet.”

  “This win should tide you over until the next TV paycheck and then some,” the woman said.

  Tess waved her hand. “Don’t worry about me. Gambling is my only expensive hobby.”

  “What about paying lawyers?” he muttered. She shot him a quelling look.

  Driving in Wyoming was so peaceful compared to this crowded mess of cars and trucks dueling each other and darting in and out of lanes attempting to gain an advantage. Yet when he glanced over, Tess looked relaxed in the seat next to him. He could almost imagine they were an established couple going home after an evening out. They could be that couple, if he played his cards right.

  Cards. They’d made a quick stop at a drugstore and picked up a couple decks of cards once Tess said she didn’t own any. Too bad. A few hands of solitaire instead of solitary drinking might be a better way to approach life. He didn’t say that out loud.

  Back at her house, Tess emptied her purse and threw her casino check and a few random chips onto a hall table where he saw a small pile of similar checks. She really didn’t care about the money.

  Tess started giggling. “So you’re going to let me win this, right? You want to strip for me?”

  “No way.”

  “Then why bother with strip poker? You know I won’t agree to a commitment. We said it all three months ago.”

  “Did we?” He realized his voice was hoarse.

  She aimed a sad look at him but quickly returned to gaiety. “We should put on more clothes, so the game will be interesting.”

  At Dan’s surf shop, Tess had bought a patterned shift dress to wear, but that and sandals were all she had on. She ran to a closet and pulled out jackets and a short raincoat. “Why do I even own a raincoat?” She shook her head.

  ***

  Why did Rolf keep trying? Why couldn’t he settle for wonderful sex and leave it at that? Didn’t he realize they had no future unless her brothers and her father cut her in on running the ranch? Rolf couldn’t live in a noisy city and she could never live on the ranch without a share in managing it. Baron was okay. He only wanted to play with his rocks. JD was a problem. JD and Rolf were tight. Old army buddies. She had a sneaky suspicion that if JD said “Jump,” Rolf would ask, “How high?” They were that close, even with JD being married to Paula.

  A pang hit her. She missed her friend, the sister of her heart. Now that Paula had captured JD’s love, she was fiercely devoted to him. He came first with her at all times. Her life was too busy to include Tess, and anyway, JD never wanted to be with his sister. She was nothing to him. He despised her for some reason she’d never understood. It hurt even to think about it.

  It couldn’t work with Rolf, or with the ranch. There were too many obstacles. But maybe they could have tonight, before he gave up and went home. If she played her cards right.

  They set up in her living room, playing at opposite ends of the couch, with the coffee table as their card table.

  She said, “To make it fair, we should each wear the same number of garments. Otherwise, it won’t be much of a competition.”

  Rolf agreed. “I’ve got seven, counting my socks and shoes each separately. Eight if we count my belt.”

  Tess recited hers out loud. “Two sandals, my dress, and underwear make five and the raincoat makes six. I’m not wearing enough to make it interesting.”

  “I could take off some of mine.”

  “No, then the game will be too easy. I’ll put on some more.” She rummaged through the closet again and found a sweater. She put it on and then the raincoat and a rain hat. “Eight apiece.”

  She pulled at the collar, pantomiming choking. “I’ll die of heat stroke. You’d better hurry up and win.”

  She wanted the sex they were sure to have when they had no clothes on. She had every intention of winning, either way, but she’d string him along first.

  ***

  He had every intention of winning, but he’d string her along first.

  To his shock, within twenty minutes, he was down to his jeans and his boxer shorts under them. Loser got to pick the article of clothing to strip off, which was all that was keeping him decent. After his shirt went, Tess made no effort to hide her hungry glances at his bare chest. Her expression made him want to shuck the rest of his clothes and do what she obviously desired.

  “Royal flush,” he said, showing his hand.

  She made a pretty moue of fake dismay and showed her cards. “Only two pair.” She still had sandals on, but Tess rose from the couch and slowly pulled down the back zipper on her flower-patterned dress. “Oh, what a shame,” she said.

  Was she really about to take it off? He wasn’t convinced he could handle to sight of Tess in only a bra and panties, especially the skimpy kind.

  The dress slipped lower, and she pulled it over her arms. She shimmied out of the skirt and let it fall into a pool around her feet.

  Tess wore her orange bikini from the afternoon.

  “Surprise,” she giggled. “Still decent.”

  Rolf gulped. So she thought. The bikini consisted of a brief bra and panties. Most of her gorgeous body was on display and he wanted it. Badly. He forced himself to deal the next hand.

  Tess lost again. She took off a sandal. Sitting across from him in her bikini and one silly sandal, she was as composed as if she was at Sunday tea with a maiden aunt. She was a helluva better card player than he’d given her credit for. He was pretty sure she’d deliberately lost several hands, just so she could torment him by taking off that ridiculous rain jacket, and the sweater, and then her dress. She could have removed the sandals first, but no, she wanted him to sit there and suffer with her wearing just that tiny swim outfit. For all that the pieces covered, it might as well have been a sequined peekaboo bra and panty set from Victoria’s Secret.

  He’d been thinking of Tess as lucky at roulette, but he was wrong. She’d been brilliant. She had some kind of special memory or something. There was a word for it. She’d been honest with Halbert that her massive win was the result of her childhood love of the game. He hadn’t bought it, which was why he’d banned her from roulette and closed the blackjack table on her once she began to win there, too. Tess had a head for numbers.

  Now she was down to only her bikini bra top and panties. This game was about to end exactly as Tess wanted it to. She squirmed in her seat, making him even more aware of her athletic build and discreet curves. He had plenty of self-control, but sitting opposite a naked and willing woman he wanted badly and doing nothing about it would be asking too much.

  Was she throwing the game? Of course she was. He had to resist her. There was only one way. “Since I’m not going to make love with you again until you decide to commit to a relationship with me, why don’t we change this game up? I wouldn’t want you to shiver in the cool air.”

  She looked askance at him. “Seems to me you could be shivering and naked just as soon. We’re even, cowboy, or hadn’t you noticed?”

  He’d noticed all right. Now he had to keep his thoughts on delayed gratification. Not on her long legs and polished toenails. “I’ve got an interesting proposition for you.”

  She r
aised an eyebrow. “Oh? What’s your offer?”

  “What if we go for broke? Whoever wins the next hand gets what they want. If you win, you get me. If I win, I get you on the airplane, going back to the ranch for a visit.”

  She thought it over, then nodded. “Seems fair.”

  “Shake on it?”

  “Sure.” She offered one soft white hand.

  He gingerly touched her delicate skin. He ached to caress all the way up her arm, but fought the need. “Deal?”

  “Okay, deal,” she echoed, with a hint of doubt in her voice.

  Her suspicion was justified. Too bad for Tess that she didn’t know how he and his buddies used to play poker in Iraq. After they got tired of winning real money and then imaginary fortunes from each other, they settled down to share tricks, underhanded cheats, the works. He would win this important round by sleight of hand and using every dirty trick in the book.

  He started sweating, anyway. If he lost, he was toast. Tess was an enthusiastic and generous lover. He’d have one glorious night, but then she’d send him home alone.

  Five minutes later, he stood, throwing down his winning hand. “Go pack.”

  Tess stared at his cards in disbelief. She looked up at him, her eyes narrowed. “You cheated,” she said, finally. She stood, putting her hands on her bare hips, challenging him.

  “Damn right,” he said easily.

  “Wipe that grin off your face, you low-down…”

  She was so cute when she realized she’d been played. He smirked. “Now stop that. We had a deal. Nothing said about playing fair.”

  ***

  Smug bastard. He’d conned her. Now she had to go back to the ranch or be taken for a bad sport. But she couldn’t let him think he had the upper hand.

  “Don’t get cocky.” She leaned in close to put a hand on that nicely muscled chest of his and ran her fingers through the soft sprinkling of blond hair. He tensed. She was getting to him. Good.

  “I’ll keep my side of the deal.” She put her lips next to his ear and slowly whispered in a singsong voice, “On one condition.”

  His face in profile took on a stony expression he must have learned in the army. “What?” he ground out.

  “No sex on the ranch.” She put a finger to her lips. “Unless I want a booty call.”

  He pulled away from her, his eyes wild. “You expect me to go to bed with you whenever you want?”

  She kept a hand on his muscular shoulder and tilted her head, an enquiring smile on her face. At this angle, their lips were very close. “Would you?”

  “No.” A muscle twitched in his face, telling her how hard that decision was.

  “Didn’t think so.” She straightened, smirking. “While I’m at the ranch, you and I will not talk of a commitment, or of me staying. Any sex we have will be a mere hookup, initiated by me, nothing serious.”

  “No.”

  “Not even kissing and messing around?” She coaxed.

  He shook his blond head. Beads of sweat glistened on his brow.

  She put a fake rueful expression on her face. “Then I guess I’m not going. I need an incentive or I won’t go.”

  He broke. “Maybe some kissing.”

  She wrapped her arms around him and kissed his stiff lips. “Let’s start right now, lover.”

  Rolf broke out of her embrace, breathing heavily. “Come back to the ranch where you belong. We’ll work on the rest.”

  “Kiss me once like you mean it, and I will.”

  Rolf drew her close with one bare arm. When her breasts touched his chest, he tipped her chin up. “I mean it, Tess. This is for real.” He took his time, teasing her lips with tiny kisses that touched their edges. Then he took her mouth in full contact, possessing her completely.

  She reeled.

  A world of time later, they broke apart. She stared at him, knowing her hunger was stamped on her face. The proof he felt the same way was in his eyes.

  “Tess—”

  “Don’t say it. I’ll come with you to the ranch, but only for a few days.”

  She took a breath, consciously attempting to banish the feelings his kisses had aroused. “After all, cowboy, you cheated.”

  Rolf got such a sour look on his face that Tess breathed a sigh of relief. They were back to teasing, to something light that she could handle. She burst into laughter. “You are such a bad boy, Rolf. But you don’t like what you dish out, do you?”

  She picked up her dress and slipped her foot into her sandal. “Do we have a deal or don’t we? Sex only if there’s no talk of commitment?”

  “Deal.”

  From then on, she was in a good mood. He consulted the flight timetables while she threw together a few essentials. They took off for the airport. She wouldn’t hear about the first TV show pilot for a week or two, so she might as well see Paula and set her mind at ease.

  ***

  Rolf remembered driving with Tess for a day in a Humvee, and what lively company she had been. Now that he knew her so much better, traveling together was a pleasure. Tess’s observations about Hollywood from her insider knowledge made the trip home short. She had a knack for making even falling down in a restaurant sound hilarious.

  He updated her on everything going on at the ranch. Her questions about the place were surprisingly detailed, especially about the business decisions JD had made recently.

  At one point she shook her head. “He should have waited another month for that sale. There’s a bigger one. He could have sold the cattle for more at Moseby’s auction.”

  His eyes narrowed. “I thought you didn’t care about the ranch.”

  “’Course I care. Nobody asks my opinion, but I care.”

  “But what do you know about the business side?”

  “Not as much as I want to, because my brothers won’t deal me in.” She had an aggrieved expression on her face.

  Rolf said, “Baron doesn’t like the ranch business himself. He tries to keep out of it.”

  “He could have asked for my help when the burden was all on him. Instead, he struggled and messed up and then almost sold the place to some rich guy.”

  “Why don’t you start a business, like Addie? Prove to your brothers that you can handle yourself?”

  She gave him an exasperated look. “Don’t try to waste my energy with some small-time hobby. I’m not interested.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Addie’s horse operation is one-person business and she likes it that way.” She ticked off points on her fingers. “One, she doesn’t have to manage any employees or develop a team to work for her. Two, she doesn’t have to strategize.”

  Tess bent a serious look on him, willing him to understand. “She’s horse whispering to enjoy the process, not to turn it into something bigger. She could expand the business, hire more trainers who use her gentling methods or teach new trainers how, and make the business prominent in the region. But she doesn’t. It’s a personal, niche business, profitable only because a horse that’s messed up is an expensive liability. She saves horses, and she also saves horse owners, so she’ll always have customers. But unless she expands, it’ll remain a personal operation that’s barely profitable.”

  Tess signaled the passing air hostess and asked for a cocktail. She’d evidently had enough talking.

  Once again Rolf was impressed. With Tess’s almost offhand yet dead-on summary of the horse business, why was she wasting a brain like hers in Hollywood? He would have pursued the business talk, but Tess had sunk into gloom and was drinking the limit. She answered his next questions in monosyllables.

  Rolf had played down how long the trip home would be. Hours in airports, on planes, in more airports, and then he picked up his ranch four by four vehicle and drove through the night. If Paula had been in any shape to do it, she could have flown her plane straight to L.A. to pick Tess up. Paula had the influence over Tess to get her to agree to leave Hollywood without any game playing. She wouldn’t have bothered with a crooked po
ker game to get her girl safely back home on the ranch.

  Tess slept as Rolf drove. As traffic thinned out to nothing, he occasionally turned his head and simply enjoyed looking at her. She was so beautiful. Dark hair that flowed over her shoulders. Nice perky breasts, and a sweet little waistline that widened out to hips a man could hold onto. She’d shown some of her body off in one of those TV guest appearances when she’d played a bad girl, but he’d seen plenty of it today and had seen it all three months ago. Wanted to see it again, up close and personal, real bad. But only if she’d stay. Bringing her back to the ranch gave him another shot at it. The chemistry was still there. Maybe somehow he could bind her to him with it, get her to commit. She’d be safe on the ranch.

  He liked the ranch. It was peaceful. No bombs bursting unexpectedly. No dangerous enemies. It was a predictable life. When Baron wasn’t in charge and exploding like a powder keg over this or that, the business ran smoothly. There was plenty to do at all times, which Rolf liked. His role was people management, something he’d watched his father do back in Texas growing up. He’d learned more about it during his army years. JD made the business decisions, and Rolf carried out the day-to-day with the ranch hands.

  He had time to visit the veterans’ homes and talk to the guys. He often spotted one or two who would make good workers on the ranch and who were suited to the isolated life. They weren’t always the most psychologically wounded ones. Some men didn’t enjoy being crowded in a city, and whatever their intellectual bent, preferred to work with their hands.

  He liked dealing with the men, organizing their workloads and setting teams to specific tasks, and all the rest that Hoot Hawkins used to do. The old man had fully retired now, and was rarely seen outside his cabin. He didn’t go to town to visit the honkytonks anymore, either. Maybe he’d got religion, but probably he was too worn out to make the effort. With their satellite dishes, the ranch got plenty of television reception and internet. The old guy had entertainment if he wanted.