“I had a couple of semiserious relationships. Both ended because I wouldn’t stay overnight in their places and I wouldn’t let them into my bedroom to sleep. I’m not saying I was a virgin before the hotel, Colton. I’m saying that to let someone into my personal space scares the devil out of me.”
He squeezed her hand gently. “You slept in my room at the hotel.”
“That was a big step for me and it was the prince and princess, not the rancher and the computer geek.”
He tugged at her hand. “Come here.”
She planted both feet on the wooden porch floor and stood up. In one swift movement he pulled her onto his lap, wrapped his arms around her, and drew her mouth to his for a kiss so filled with emotion that it brought tears to her eyes.
“It’s me, not you,” she muttered when he broke away.
“Darlin’, I’ve got trust issues too. It comes with the territory. We’ll just have to work through them.”
“I saw a therapist for more than a year. He didn’t help me work through them. What makes you think that we can work through anything? We don’t even have a real relationship here. We’ve had some good sex and enjoyed spending time with each other but…” She let the sentence dangle.
Everything felt right with him rocking her. The setting sun dimmed the daylight and the gentle movement of the chair relaxed her. His arms felt good around her as their hearts beat in unison. But nothing was right. All the right could not erase the fact that in reality what they had was just a shell with nothing inside.
He tucked a thumb under her chin and tipped it up. She could see past the present and into eternity in his green eyes and she wanted so bad to shed her baggage and join him there. When his lips found hers she felt as if she was floating right up to the tops of the pecan trees.
She didn’t even come crashing down when the kiss ended and he said, “It’s up to you to decide whether this is real or fake. As for me, I’m ready to declare it real and tell the family that we are dating. You just tell me when you want me to make the announcement.”
***
Thursday morning Laura awoke, touched her lips to see if they were still kiss-swollen and hot, and bounded out of bed. Maudie said they had a busy two days ahead of them and if Maudie said it, it was gospel. Besides, staying busy meant the time would go by fast and then Janet would arrive. When her sister got to the ranch everything would fall into the right place, she was just sure of it. She’d understand what she needed to do next with Janet by her side.
Maudie was at the buffet when Laura reached the dining room. Roxie was pouting at the end of the table. Colton looked up and winked. Andy concentrated on his breakfast and Rusty sipped a mug of coffee.
Laura filled a coffee cup and sat down beside Roxie. “What has that boyfriend done now?”
“It’s not him. Aunt Maudie is mean to me. Make her let me stay home from school today and help decorate, Laura.”
Maudie carried a plate to the table and sat down. “The answer is no and when I say no, it never becomes yes, so stop whining. You don’t have to go to school tomorrow because it’s a professional day for the teachers so you can get in the middle of things then. Today you are going to school and that’s the end of the conversation. You’ll be home by four o’clock and believe me, we won’t be finished by then. You’ve got to make every class so that in the fall you can be counted in with the junior class. You think I’m mean?”
Roxie raised her head and nodded.
Maudie smiled. “Thank you. Mean mommas make good kids. I hope someday in the far distant future you are even meaner than I am.”
Roxie looked over at Laura. “Are you going to be a mean momma?”
The room went so silent that a feather floating from the rafters would have sounded like a jet airplane taking off. Laura glanced at Colton, who was not smiling. Andy Joe’s fork stopped midair between plate and mouth. Rusty’s coffee cup did the same thing.
Laura shook a finger toward Roxie. “Honey, I’m going to make Maudie look like a wimp. If she says you are going to school, then I’m on her side—you are going to school. All mommas should be mean. It means they love their kids. I promise to save lots of fun stuff for you to do when you get home.”
She’d said it but the idea of being a mother with her DNA background terrified her even worse than facing the commitment and trust issues. Her mother hadn’t been mean; she’d been indifferent. She didn’t hate her two daughters. They were just a weight tied around her neck, holding her back from having a good time. And her father hadn’t even been in the picture. Not a very good genetic pool to be wading in and expecting to be a decent mother, now was it?
“You better or I’ll put you with the preacher and Colton with Cynthia,” Roxie threatened. “I’m not printing the final copy until after supper tonight.”
“Whew!” Laura wiped her brow with the back of her hand. “That’s a lot of power you’ve got there, kiddo.”
Roxie picked up her backpack and marched out of the room.
“Well, I’m staying on her good side until tonight. I don’t know a thing about your sister, Laura, but I’ll take my chances with her rather than make Roxie mad. I’ll be off in the west forty on the bulldozer clearing off scrub oak and mesquite if anyone needs me. I’m taking ten men with me,” Rusty said.
Andy finished his last bite and pushed back his chair. “I’m hiding out in the office. There’s enough work in there to keep me busy all day. I’d love to know what Darcy is like but I guess I won’t know until the party.”
“Even if I knew Darcy, I wouldn’t say a word because Roxie might team up with the preacher,” Laura said seriously.
Andy rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. “Lord, have mercy.”
“I forgot the books and left them in my apartment. I’ll be right back.” Maudie hopped up. “Laura, would you please refill my coffee cup?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Laura said.
Colton stretched when he stood up, raising his arms above his head and reaching for the ceiling. “It’s time for another workout in the gym but I don’t see it happening tonight with all that’s going on.”
A picture flashed through Laura’s mind that involved cool floors, hot steam, skinny-dipping, and lots of scorching sex. Her body was already tingling when he picked her up from a sitting position to hug her to his chest. Her feet were six inches off the floor when his lips met hers and the whole world disappeared.
“Good morning. I would’ve done that earlier but I didn’t want to embarrass you in front of everyone. But I sure couldn’t think of anything else,” he said.
“I was thinking about cold floors and hot steam,” she said honestly.
“Well, there is that too.” He chuckled. “Y’all have a good day. Never know what tonight will bring.”
He was gone when Maudie came back with the books. Laura put extra food on her plate at the buffet just to give herself a few more minutes before she had to tackle another day of caterers, food, and the whole game thing.
“Why does this have to be such a big thing? I mean, all those yards and yards of filmy stuff hanging from the balcony on the sale barn seems a bit much,” she said.
Maudie opened the timetable book. “One hour and the first crew will be here. And stop whining. You sound worse than Roxie and it’s unbecoming.”
“Yes, ma’am,” she said shortly.
Maudie looked up. “Ina Dean can smell a lie all the way from heaven or hell or wherever lies go once they are put out there. She’ll be expecting the party to be spectacular this year because Colton has a girlfriend, and if it’s done up cheap, the word will get out what’s going on over here. He will be plagued with women driving him crazy again. These past weeks have been very nice and I intend that it keeps on being nice.”
Maudie’s tone capitalized the word “He” like Colton was God.
“Have you liked an
y of his past relationships?” Laura asked.
“No, I have not. The first couple of girlfriends he had as a teenager liked him because he was on the football team and they wanted the prestige of hanging on his arm. The first serious girlfriend he had was the one right before he won the lottery. She wanted him to quit ranchin’. Mercy, he would die without dirt and cows and fences and hay in his life. So no, I have not liked his women,” Maudie answered.
“Okay, what’s first on the list?”
“Colton is sending six men to sweep out the barn. I expect they are already out there getting it done. At eight thirty, the first people arrive to put up all that chiffon that you are worried about. We ain’t buyin’ it. We’re just rentin’ it. That will take most of the morning and then right after lunch the folks with the tables will back their truck in and get those set up with the chairs around them.”
Laura watched Maudie run her finger down the page.
“And what do I do?” she asked.
“You oversee. You tell them where to put the tables, how much chiffon you want hung. Do you want it really full or just barely there? I can help but I won’t make the final decisions for you. You need to be seen, and all day people are going to be asking you questions, and believe me, the word will get out by nightfall about what you chose and how you looked. So put on your best jeans and boots and get ready to come across as his girlfriend that we all love so much that we’ve put her in charge of important things,” Maudie said.
Laura couldn’t think of a single thing to say to that so she finished her breakfast and went upstairs to put on her best jeans and boots. When she came out of her room, Maudie was waiting at the bottom of the stairs. She nodded and led the way through the foyer, the dining room, and kitchen and right out the back door.
She threw the keys across the hood of a shiny red truck and Laura caught them without even thinking.
“You are driving,” Maudie said. “The van is already there so they need to see you get out of the truck on the driver’s side. You can bet your sweet ass there will be pictures taken on the camera phones.”
“I’m not a celebrity and this sure ain’t Hollywood!”
“You got that right and there’s more than one billionaire in north Texas, but people do love to put everything they know and see on them damn computers for the whole world to gaze at. You mark my words, them things is going to be the undoing of the world before it’s all said and done.”
Chapter 15
Laura came close to fainting dead away when the people who transformed the barn into a sheik’s tent handed her the bill for what they’d done that day.
“This is my first time around with your company. How do you want this paid?” she asked.
“We usually just give the bill to Miz Maudie or Andy and we get a check in the mail the next week,” the woman said.
Laura tucked it away in her notebook. “Thank you. We appreciate all of your hard work. I’ll give this to the right person.”
“One of my assistants has taken several before and after pictures for our website and scrapbook while we were working. Do you mind if we use them? I’m only asking because you are in several of the shots.”
“Whatever you want to post is fine, I’m sure,” she said. At least they’d asked before her face showed up on the social media sites.
Tables were set up by suppertime and ready for the coverings. Chairs were unfolded and placed exactly right. The stage for the band and the dance floor had been gotten out of storage and put together, thanks to the cowboys who knew as much about carpentry and electricity as they did pushing a broom.
By the end of the day Laura’s brain was mush and her butt was dragging. She wanted a long soaking bath instead of supper, but she also wanted to see Colton and Roxie. So she washed up and went to the supper table.
“I’m worn plumb out,” she announced.
“Well, it’s your own fault. If you’d took my side and made Aunt Maudie let me stay home, I could have helped,” Roxie said.
“You are right. Why don’t you just quit school altogether and forget about all your dreams? I bet Dillon wouldn’t forget all about you in a week or two if you weren’t there every day. In the sight of a month he wouldn’t even remember your name. And you can bet your sweet ass Rosalee would not be slinging snot all over her sexy little T-shirt because you weren’t there to interfere with her takin’ your boyfriend right out from under your nose. She might even send you one of them pretty little greeting cards with thank you written in purple ink on the front,” Laura snapped.
Maudie threw back her head and cackled.
Andy looked like he’d been pole-axed.
Rusty kept his eyes on his food.
“That was mean,” Roxie said. “If I hadn’t just handed that list to Colton, I’d make you spend the whole day with the preacher.”
“In that case, she’s right.” Andy grinned. “You’ve been spending too much time with Dillon. You see him all day at school and he’s over here most every night and on weekends. You need to branch out and make more friends.”
Roxie threw up her hands. “Is this gang up on Roxie night?”
Rusty looked at Colton. “You sure you got that list under wraps?”
He smiled and tapped his shirt pocket.
“Then it might be gang up on Roxie night. You’ve been blackmailing us all week, so you deserve it,” Rusty said.
Roxie giggled. “Maybe so, but it was worth every minute, so give it your best shot. And Laura, I ain’t about to quit school and let Rosalee win. Besides, I’m wearing that dress to the prom and I’m going to look just like Miranda Lambert in it and Rosalee can just eat her little heart out.”
“You want to decorate, well you can decorate. Tomorrow get up real early because you are going to be my gofer all day long,” Laura said.
“I betcha I’m finished with breakfast before you even get to the dining room,” Roxie challenged.
“We’ll see about that.” Laura nudged her with a shoulder like she used to do to Janet when they were kids.
***
Friday arrived in a flurry. Laura’s alarm went off and she bailed out of bed. Today Janet was coming to the ranch. Her sister would be there before bedtime and she couldn’t contain the excitement. It had been weeks since she’d seen Janet, but it seemed like years.
Roxie wandered into the dining room when Laura was on her second cup of coffee and grunted as she filled a mug for herself. “Guess you beat me after all. When does the first round of decorators get here anyway?”
“Eight o’clock. That’ll be the folks who bring the linens and tableware. The portable bar is coming at ten and those people stock it,” Laura answered.
Colton crossed the room and planted a kiss on Laura’s forehead. “Good mornin’. Guess y’all are plannin’ another big day, right?”
Roxie did a head wiggle. “Y’all don’t have to play like you are in love in front of me. I know what’s going on.”
“I liked you better when you were shy.”
Roxie’s head wobbled like one of those dolls. “Blame Laura. She’s my new role model.”
Colton looked over at Laura.
She raised a palm. “Woman has to stand up for herself.”
“See!” Roxie grinned.
“You two are ganging up on me so I’m going to change the subject. It looks like we’ve got ten teams for the games, right?”
“That’s right, but me and Dillon are going to win so the rest of you might as well sit back in your easy chairs and watch us,” Roxie said.
“My sister, Janet, is pretty competitive. She’ll give you and Dillon a run for your money, and believe me, she does not like to lose. She was an old bear when we were kids and played cards or Monopoly,” she said.
Roxie’s eyes got brighter with each sip of coffee. “That will just make our win sweeter. You a
nd Colton will be busy pretending to like each other. Darcy and Andy will be trying to learn each other’s ways. The rest of them are married and they’ll be fighting.”
“You got it all figured out, don’t you?” Colton asked.
“Easy to figure things out if you just watch and listen,” she answered and then lowered her voice. “Speakin’ of which, they’re going to blindside y’all, so get ready to be pissed. And that means that Dillon and I will sure have a chance at winning.”
“Blindside?” Laura’s blood ran cold. “Who?”
“Rusty, Andy, and Aunt Maudie. That’s all the warning you’re going to get because I hear them coming right now. You can thank me later,” she said.
“Good morning,” Andy said in a cheery voice.
“Fine morning.” Rusty smiled.
Maudie laid a newspaper on the table. “Take a look at this.”
There was a picture of Laura in the white dress dancing with Colton. From the quality, it definitely was not shot with a camera phone. The caption said something about the billion-dollar cowboy bringing a Marilyn look-alike to a very prestigious party to honor scholarship recipients and there were rumors that they were secretly engaged. If they were she’d left her ring at home. It ended with a question about how big and flashy the diamond was.”
“What newspaper is this?” Laura gasped.
“Gossip rag out of Dallas,” Rusty said. “But it don’t matter. Probably more people read it than the ones that read the real-world stuff in The Wall Street Journal.”
Colton chuckled.
“What’s so funny?”
“I still can’t believe people refer to me as that,” he said.
“What women didn’t know from the local gossip that you have a girlfriend will sure know it now,” Maudie said. “And they’ll be burning up the roads trying to get at you, even harder than before, since there’s competition involved now.”
“So we’ve come up with a plan,” Andy said.
Blindsided! Blindsided! Whatcha gonna do? played in a loop through Laura’s head to the tune of an old song that she’d heard when she was a kid. Only it said something about a bad boy and what was he going to do.
Billion Dollar Cowboy Page 18
