Billion Dollar Cowboy

by Carolyn Brown

  “Oh my God,” she muttered.

  “Too warm?”

  “Just right. Join me?”

  “I already had a shower. This is just for you. Lay your head back on this towel and shut your eyes,” he said.

  He hummed the song they’d danced to that night and she smelled vanilla. She peeked and he grinned. “I knew you couldn’t keep them closed.”

  “What are you doing?”

  “Giving you a bath.”

  She glanced at his big hands. “Is there a washcloth under all those bubbles?”

  “Now where’s the fun in that?”

  Rough cowboy hands started at her neck and touched every inch of her body from there to her feet. The soap dissolved too quickly and it took him forever to lather up his hands again. She could not keep her eyes closed. She wanted to see his eyes and bask in the glow when he grinned.

  “My hair?” she asked.

  “Looks beautiful.”

  He scooped her up from the water when he was finished and wrapped her in an oversized white towel and patted her dry. She listened to his heart beat as he carried her from bathroom to the bed. He laid her gently on the bed and stripped off his shirt, boots, and jeans.

  “Yes,” she said.

  He was every bit as ready as she was.

  “Not yet.”

  Hell’s bells, what was he waiting for? She was about to explode and she could almost feel him pulsating with desire. His face was a study in sexy angles in the candlelight of a dozen candles scattered about in the room and… was that… yes, it was. Velvety soft red rose petals covered the top of the sheets.

  He brought her to a sitting position and rubbed vanilla-scented lotion on her back, massaging the tension from her shoulders and neck until she felt like a rag doll.

  “Feel good?” he asked.

  “Have I died and gone to heaven?”

  He chuckled, flipped her over, and in one firm thrust, he was inside her. She wrapped her legs around him and they rocked together in perfect unison.

  “Oh, my! I wasn’t expecting to float,” she groaned.

  “Neither was I.” His breath came in short gasps against her neck. “I wanted to touch you more and taste you again but I was about to explode.”

  “I’m not really on earth, am I?”

  “No, darlin’, we really are floating,” he said.

  He took her right up to the edge of release, slowed down to let the flames cool, and then did it again and again. When the final thrust brought her to the highest point she could reach and still be on earth, she couldn’t even utter his name. All she could do was loosen her leg hold and pant for breath. She touched the top of her head to make sure it was still there and then his cheek, planted firmly on her collarbone.

  “Good?” His voice was even deeper.

  “No.”

  He raised his head and looked into her eyes.

  “Freakin’ amazin’!” she managed to say before his lips closed in on hers for the sweetest yet most passionate kiss they’d ever shared.

  “There’s dessert,” he said.

  “Honey, I can’t even wiggle.”

  “Not that kind. Real food and dessert. I noticed that you didn’t eat very well at the supper.” He rolled to one side, kept her in his arms, and pulled the sheet up over them.

  Her stomach growled. Colton was right. She had been a whole lot more at home with the games they’d played and in her flower beds than she was at the Dallas party or the reception.

  “Did you put leftovers into my fridge?” she asked.

  He propped up on an elbow. Enough moonlight filtered through the lacy curtains on the window and softened his features. She reached up and traced the outline of his jaw. “You are so damn sexy.”

  “Is that even better than just plain old sexy?”

  “A billion times better,” she whispered.

  Her stomach grumbled again.

  “Let’s raid the fridge naked,” he said.

  “I’m going to wrap this sheet around me but you are going to be naked,” she said.

  “How about both of us being naked while we eat?”

  “Good grief, Colton! What if…”

  He put his fingers over her mouth. “Watch this.”

  He swung his legs over the side of the bed. Rose petals stuck to his back and fell to the floor as he padded barefoot across the floor and made sure the apartment door was locked. Rose petals had slid off the slick sheets onto the floor during all the rolling and tumbling around. She picked one from under her breast and laid it on the end table. Tomorrow morning, she would remember to pick it up to put in her memory box where she kept precious things.

  Colton pushed a cart out of the corner behind the recliner and parked it right beside the bed. He moved around it and crawled back into bed with her. “Dinner is served.”

  “Where did that come from?”

  “I brought it up here earlier today. I had an ulterior motive in asking you to stay in the house. I planned tonight and I wanted free access to your apartment so we could have some privacy. I could live in this little place and enjoy it if you were here with me.” He opened a door and brought out a huge platter of cold buffalo wings, an assortment of cheese cubes, raw vegetables with spinach dip, and fruit surrounding a small bowl of strawberry dip.

  She propped pillows against the headboard of the bed. He brought up a small tray and handed it to her. “You’ll have to pop the tray legs up, darlin’. I can’t do that and hold the food, too.”

  “Kind of like diggin’ for worms, right?”

  “You got it. We’re a team.”

  He dipped a grape in the dip and put it in her mouth. She reached for a buffalo wing and nibbled on it while he removed the caps from two bottles of beer.

  “Champagne would be more romantic,” he said.

  “Depends on who you are talkin’ to. Is that really pecan pie over there?”

  “It is, but not until we finish off our dinner.”

  She grinned. “You won’t get an argument from me.”

  “Will I get one if I ask you one more time to stay?”

  “Not tonight. But this is a magical night so don’t go drawing up the paperwork just yet. I’ll think about it, Colton. You might change your mind, so I’m not giving you my word or holding you to your offer. Things might take a sudden turn in a very different direction when one of us crosses the other.”

  “I don’t see that happening,” he said.

  “See, just like I said. A magical night. Open your mouth.”

  He did and she fed him an enormous strawberry that had been dipped in white chocolate.

  ***

  Janet, Maudie, and Roxie were at the table when Laura made it to the dining room the next morning. They’d either finished breakfast or hadn’t started yet, because the only thing in front of them was steaming mugs of coffee.

  “We’ve been waiting at least thirty minutes for you to get here,” Janet said.

  Roxie shook her head and held up two fingers.

  Laura hugged Janet tightly. “I love you even when you lie. I smell breakfast burritos and pancakes. And there is Chester bringing a hot batch out of the kitchen.”

  Janet squirmed free of her sister’s arms, pushed back the chair, and headed toward the buffet. “Turn me loose and let me up. You know how much I love pancakes.”

  Maudie stood up and pointed at Roxie. “I’m going to the church for an early breakfast with the ladies this morning and then we’ll have Sunday school and services. Roxie, you behave.”

  “Yes, ma’am, but it’s all right if I spend the day with Janet and Laura, right?”

  Maudie looked at Laura.

  “I’d love for her to join us.”

  “Okay then, but no Dillon. This is a girls’ day.” She picked up her purse from a dini
ng room chair and in a couple of minutes the front door closed.

  Roxie giggled. “She’s going to church because she wants to hear what the gossip was about the party, and Colton proposing to you, and she wants to see if Cynthia was in hot pursuit of a holy life.”

  “Roxie!” Laura exclaimed.

  “You know I’m right,” Roxie said.

  Roxie wore a blue halter top that matched her eyes that morning. She was barefoot and her curls had fallen. Like Janet in that respect too. Janet’s hair never would hold a curl very long.

  Janet stacked pancakes six high on her plate and carried them to the table where melted butter and warm syrup waited. Laura wondered if the white robe would go home with her when she left the next day.

  Laura’s brightly colored, flowing caftan and flip-flops were a flash of color as she headed toward the buffet. She opted for a stack of pancakes and a breakfast burrito. “So Dillon is really banned from the place on Sunday. I can’t believe he’s not coming over today.”

  “Who says he ever left?”

  “Roxie! You’d better be glad Maudie didn’t hear that,” Laura gasped.

  Roxie’s flippant answer proved that Colton was right. The girl had changed a lot since Laura had arrived at the ranch.

  “Gotcha. You ain’t as swift as you usually are,” Roxie said. “But he’s not coming around today at all. Remember, I get to have a girls’ day with y’all at the pool this afternoon.”

  “I’m still wonderin’ where this pool is. We were all over this place for the games yesterday and I didn’t see the faintest sign of a swimming pool,” Janet said.

  Roxie giggled. “You were fishin’ in it.”

  Janet almost choked on a bite of pancake. “You have got to be kidding me!”

  “Of course I’m jokin’. Finish your pancakes and we’ll ride down to the pool house. You’ll want fifteen minutes in the sauna first to get them old bones to workin’ before you hit the water. And FYI, the sauna is a two-man pup tent on the side of the pond. We haven’t let the cows out of the pasture to get to the water yet, so all the bullshit should be settled to the bottom,” Roxie said.

  “You,” Janet grinned at her, “are a smart-ass.”

  “Takes one to know one,” Roxie shot back.

  Janet picked up the burrito and bit into it. “What is that cook doing on a ranch? He could open his own restaurant anywhere in the world.”

  Chester, a short, round cowboy whose straw hat was his chef’s toque, checked the buffet and answered the question, “I’d hate to be cooped up where I couldn’t see the stars at night or hear a coyote howling. I like the Circle 6. Y’all will just have to come back often if you want to eat my cookin’.”

  “Is that an invitation?” Janet looked at Laura.

  “As long as I live on this ranch, you are welcome to visit anytime.”

  “I didn’t bring a swimsuit,” she said.

  “You don’t need one,” Roxie told her.

  “Honey, you are young and gravity has not attacked your perky little cells.”

  “We got bathing suits in every size and description,” Laura said. “You just pick out whatever you are comfortable wearing.”

  “Wouldn’t be no fun skinny-dippin’ without boys anyway,” Roxie said.

  Laura’s fork stopped midair. “You should have gone to church with Maudie, girl.”

  Roxie waved the comment away like a pesky fly. “Hurry up and swallow those pancakes. Aunt Maudie done had Chester set up the food tables at the pool so you won’t starve to death.”

  “Have you seen Colton?” Laura asked.

  When she woke that morning, he was gone. He’d left a note on his pillow saying that he’d see her at the supper table and that Granny had invited Roger and Cynthia and it would be served at five so Roger could get back to preach evening services at seven. It was signed with a loosely drawn heart. Did the space at the top of the heart mean that his was open to her?

  “He and the guys are helping with the cleanup down at the sale barn. He said he left you a note,” Roxie answered.

  She’d slipped the note and the rose petal into an envelope to put with her things when she got back to Hereford. But… she wasn’t going back, and besides, Janet had packed up her things and brought them to Ambrose. She wondered which suitcase the cigar box was in. That’s where she kept her prized possessions: the one picture that she had of her mother and the cheap little heart necklace she’d been wearing the day Aunt Dotty took her and Janet to Texas. Things like that could never be replaced.

  “He did but he didn’t tell me what he was doing all day,” Laura answered.

  “My instructions are to lock the gym doors when we go inside and to not let Dillon in no matter what. And to call Chester if any of y’all want something that’s not down at the pool. Oh, and the only way I get to go play with the big girls is if I promise not to even sip a beer.” Roxie clicked off her orders by holding up a finger to count each one.

  ***

  Laura truly wished that she had a camera or at the very least her phone dug out of her purse when she drove the truck up to the barn and parked. Janet’s jaw dropped and for a minute or two she was totally speechless.

  “No way,” Janet said when she could talk. “Is this another Roxie joke?”

  “Be prepared for the shock of your life, right, Laura?” Roxie said.

  She ushered them into the barn, carefully locked the door behind them, and led the way into the gym. “Anyone like to work out for a few minutes? I’ll be your trainer if I can yell at you like coaches do.”

  “This is my kind of barn. And there is a pool in here?” Janet whispered.

  Roxie crooked a finger. “Follow me and I will show it to you. I don’t expect you’d like to stop by the sauna on the way?”

  Janet shook her head.

  “Well, if you change your mind, this is the door and it won’t be locked.”

  “Oh. My. God!” Each word got louder when Janet said it.

  Laura threw an arm around her shoulder. “Fascinating, isn’t it?”

  “Wow! Just plain old wow!”

  “I’ll take you to the cabana and you can choose a swimsuit. What time do we have to be back at the ranch house, Laura?” Roxie led the way behind the waterfall.

  “Better leave here at four because supper is at five and we’ll have to clean up. And Maudie has invited Cynthia and Roger,” she answered.

  Roxie rolled her eyes. “Why, God? Why did you let me put them together?”

  “I don’t think it was God.” Laura laughed.

  It didn’t take them long to choose bathing suits and dive into the water. Janet swam from one end to the other several times then hopped up to sit beside Laura on the side of the tub.

  “You are an idiot,” Janet said. “If you don’t want to fleece him, then fall in love with him. Just promise me that you won’t make him sign a prenup. Hold your hand up and let me see that ring again.”

  “Money isn’t that important,” Laura said.

  “Honey, it is when you don’t have it. Will you just think about the prenup? He’s so damned much in love with you that he won’t even think of it if you don’t mention it.”

  Laura shrugged. “There is a lot of difference in sex and love.”

  “You’ve changed,” Janet said.

  “I know I have.”

  “I don’t know if I like the new Laura.”

  Laura shrugged again. “That’s your option. Hey, Roxie, let’s play a game of pool basketball and then Janet is going to play the winner of that round.”

  She dived into the pool. Staying would be the easiest thing in the world. Colton had asked her several times and she loved the ranch. But he’d never said that he loved her and until he said the words, she wasn’t committing to anything, not even real dating.

  ***

 
; “Where are Andy and Rusty?” Maudie asked when Colton slumped down in a dining room chair.

  “They’ll be along in a minute. Barn is all put back in order. I hope Ina Dean and Patsy are thoroughly convinced.”

  Maudie smiled. “You enjoyed yesterday more than anyone so stop your bitchin’ about doing half a day’s worth of cleanup. You ain’t gettin’ an ounce of my sympathy. Have you talked Laura into staying?”

  He fanned his face with his straw hat. “I’ve asked her and she’s thinking about it.”

  “She’s fitting in right well. Andy did good when he hired her.”

  The fanning stopped. “She deserves more than I can give her.”

  “Good God, you are a billionaire, Colton! Give her whatever she wants.”

  “That’s not what I’m talking about. Money can’t buy love and I’m not so sure I’m willing to trust anyone enough to…” He stopped so fast that the sentence dangled there above them like the wagon wheel chandelier.

  “Spit it out,” Maudie said.

  The fanning started again, this time slower. “I don’t know that I can.”

  “Well, give it a try and I’ll fill in the blanks.”

  “I’m ready to settle down. I realize that and Laura is a good woman and…” He paused.

  Maudie folded her arms across her chest and waited.

  “Daddy loved Momma but they fought all the time.”

  Maudie leaned forward and propped her elbows on the table. “Is that what your problem is? Why didn’t you talk to me about it before?”

  Colton looked absolutely miserable. “I never was good at showing my feelings. Not like my folks. Lord, they showed everything they thought. Sometimes I think that the DNA skipped a generation and I’m more like you than like my dad.”

  “You are beating around the bush, Colton,” Maudie said.

  “When I was ten, it was sissy to talk about things like that. It wasn’t an issue until now because I didn’t want to let a woman into my heart. Cowboys don’t go around talking about their hearts and love. I’m rambling. Forget I even mentioned it.”

  “No, we are not forgetting it. We’re going to hash this out and get it out of the way. I’m not so sure that your mom and dad were suited to each other but they were in love from the first time they met. They fought when they dated and broke up like Roxie and Dillon do—every other day. I always feared you’d be like them.”