Millionaire in a Stetson

by Barbara Dunlop

  Her brain moved to Sawyer, and his amazing kisses. He’d be a wonderful lover. He had to be. She remembered how great his body looked at the river. Though she couldn’t exactly picture him in a bubble bath.

  “Travis is going to love your outfit,” Katrina put in.

  Right. Travis. Niki had completely forgotten about Travis.

  “Tomboy,” Katrina said, shaking her head. “Man, is he in for a surprise.”

  Niki returned Katrina’s smile. It was fun to dress up and look sophisticated again. But she couldn’t quash the feeling of disappointment that Sawyer wouldn’t be there to see it.

  * * *

  Sawyer could not get Niki out of his mind. He’d lain awake two nights running, reliving the feel of her slick, wet body pressed up against his. When he thought about her kisses, his body ratcheted up with lust, urging him to track her down and do whatever it took to get her into his bed.

  Outside the Lyndon City arena, the cavernous building pulsed with the sounds of a country band and the whoops of hundreds of people enjoying the rodeo dance. He steeled himself against seeing her again. He had to keep his mind clear, or he wouldn’t be able to do his job.

  “Good luck finding her in all this,” said Dylan as they made their way through the doorway and across the foyer.

  Sawyer pulled out his wallet and handed a fresh-faced, female door volunteer a twenty.

  She stamped his hand with a blue, long-horn head. “Welcome to the Buckaroo Ball.”

  Sawyer couldn’t help but grin at the combination of the name, the stamp, the music and the overall ambiance.

  “Not your usual crowd?” Dylan guessed as he handed over his own twenty-dollar bill.

  Sawyer surveyed the hundreds of dancers, men in everything from suits and string ties to faded blue jeans and scuffed boots. Most wore Stetsons, and many twirled their partners around in square-dance formation.

  There were women in gingham and crinolines, wide skirts that flared out as they whirled. Others wore blue jeans and ponytails. While some were decked out in cocktail dresses and jewelry that could have easily fit in at the Ritz.

  “What makes you think I prefer my usual crowd?” he asked Dylan. “This looks like fun.”

  Sawyer had gone with a pair of blue jeans, a white, Western shirt, and a black blazer, topping the outfit with a white, curved-brim Stetson. As they moved into the crowd, he and Dylan received friendly glances from a number of women. A perky brunette in a fitted, white, off-the-shoulder, full-skirted dress gave Dylan a long, alluring gaze.

  “I’m having fun already,” said Dylan.

  “She thinks you’re a bronc rider,” Sawyer warned.

  “I am a bronc rider, and a steer roper and—”

  The woman’s mouth curved into a broad, sparkling smile.

  “Catch you later,” Dylan said to Sawyer, tipping his hat to the woman and offering his arm for a dance.

  Letting his grin fade away, Sawyer began moving methodically through the crowd, scanning as he made his way in the general direction of a bar. His gaze passed over the back of a sexy woman in a glimmering gold dress that dipped low and hugged her rear end. He felt a jolt to his solar plexus.

  He paused, staring at her.

  She turned, and he saw her profile. It was Niki.

  She was speaking with a man, laughing at something he had said. She held a glass of white wine in one hand, her fingernails shimmering against the pale liquid. Her glasses were gone. Her makeup was perfect, and her hair was fluffed and curled, looking beautifully feminine, emphasizing her delicate features.

  She looked over at him and their gazes met. A shower of sparks seemed to flash through his body, making him nearly burn, before they rushed away, leaving longing in their wake. Now, this was the Niki he’d expected when he first came to Colorado.

  He took an automatic step toward her, while her companion stopped talking, looking confused. Then the man followed her line of sight and saw Sawyer baring down. His eyes narrowed.

  “Hello, Nellie,” Sawyer opened. “You look lovely tonight.”

  “John Reynolds,” the man beside her announced as he stuck out his hand. It was a challenge more than a greeting.

  “Sawyer Smith,” Sawyer returned, shaking, taking his eyes off Niki for only the barest of seconds. “Pleased to meet you.”

  John Reynolds glanced from Sawyer to Niki. “You know this guy?”

  “He’s my neighbor,” she answered, her own gaze still resting on Sawyer.

  Then she seemed to catch herself, and she returned her attention to John. “He just bought the Raklin Place, across from Reed and Caleb.”

  “Oh, new in town,” John observed, his arms crossing over his broad chest.

  He wore a blue plaid shirt, the sleeves rolled up, and a new pair of blue jeans. His face was clean shaven, and his hair was trimmed neat. But there was something keenly predatory and proprietary in his eyes. His hands were beefy and strong, liberally covered in calluses.

  The thought of him touching Niki sent Sawyer’s blood pressure climbing. Every instinct he possessed told him to get her away from this guy.

  “New in town,” Sawyer acknowledged.

  He returned his attention to Niki, vaguely annoyed now that she’d dressed to the nines. Didn’t she know what kind of attention she’d attract?

  “Nellie,” came a new voice, and Travis Jacobs stepped up, beaming at her. “I believe you promised me a dance.”

  And, just like that, Niki was swept onto the dance floor, and Sawyer was left standing next to John.

  “I realize you’re new in town,” said John. “But I’m going to warn you—”

  “That Nellie is taken?” Sawyer arched a brow, watching her smile in Travis’s arms. At the moment, he was jealous of Travis, not John.

  “I have no desire to fight you,” John warned.

  Sawyer nodded to Niki and Travis on the dance floor. “It doesn’t look like I’m the one you’ll have to fight.” Though Sawyer felt like taking on Travis himself all of a sudden.

  Why did Niki look so relaxed and happy with Travis Jacobs? And why were they suddenly a thing? Both of them had been at the construction barbecue. And they’d both been at the river swim. Travis hadn’t shown any interest in Niki then, nor she in him.

  “They’re practically family,” said John, but his gaze narrowed on Travis.

  The music crested toward the end of the song, and Sawyer asked himself why he was wasting any more time talking to John. He set a course for Niki, and stepped up, just as the music faded.

  “Dance?” he asked her, ignoring the glare Travis sent his way.

  Niki shot a quick, questioning glance to Travis, but then nodded her agreement to Sawyer.

  He drew her into his arms. Thankfully, the next tune was slow, and he had an excuse to pull her in close. Her compact curves moved up against him, thighs touching his, breasts brushing his chest. If he looked down, he could see the delightful curve of her cleavage, creamy breasts draped in shimmering gold.

  “John seems to like you,” Sawyer opened, seeking information.

  She tipped her chin, looking up at him, her movements sinuously matching his own. “He’s a nice guy.”

  “Nice, as in you’d like to share an iced tea at the kitchen table? Or nice as in you’d like to share a moonlight walk by the lake?”

  “Aren’t you nosey.”

  “I thought you might like to know that he’s thinking about the moonlight walk, and more.”

  “Have I done something to make you think I’m stupid?”

  Sawyer was beginning to think she was brilliant, cunningly and deviously brilliant. She’d co-opted half of Lyndon Valley by blinking her big green eyes and pouting those sexy, red lips. And right now, she had three different men vying for her.

  “You’re not wearing glasses,” he said instead of answering.

  “Contacts.”

  “They look nice. You look nice. In fact, you look stunningly gorgeous.” For some reason, Sawyer’s mouth kep
t going when his brain told him to shut up.

  “You are a gentleman, Sawyer Smith.”

  “Are you a lady, Nellie Cooper?”

  She drew back, frowning. “I take it back. You’re a cad.”

  “A cad? You’ve been hanging around Colorado too long.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Sawyer regrouped. “Cad is not exactly a Boston term.”

  “You’re an expert on Boston? You’re from Montana.”

  “I’ve also been to Boston, and I’ve been overseas.”

  “Really? Where?”

  “Off the East Coast of Africa. In the Mediterranean. Through the Suez Canal. Wherever there was trouble or potential trouble.”

  “Have you seen a lot of the world?” she asked, the edge gone from her tone, replaced by what seemed to be genuine curiosity.

  “I have. Not all of it fun.”

  “I’ve been to Paris and London, Rome and Monte Carlo.”

  “Now those places are the fun.” Sawyer had certainly heard about Gabriella’s glamorous lifestyle. His research told him that she’d taken Niki to dozens of major cities, showed her most of the seven wonders.

  “I saw a lot of it from a hotel room with a nanny.”

  “You were young?” he asked, already knowing the answer. Niki’s world travels had started before she could walk.

  “I’m still young,” she joked.

  “Twenty-one’s not that young.” He felt a strange need to remind himself she was an adult. Sure, there were nine years between them, but twenty-one to his thirty wasn’t a gap worth worrying about.

  Then he caught himself. Where the hell were those thoughts going? He was investigating her, not dating her. The age difference between them was irrelevant.

  “How did you know I was twenty-one?” she asked.

  He missed a beat in the dance. “Somebody mentioned it. I think maybe it was at the barbecue.”

  “Do I look that young?” she seemed concerned.

  “You look timeless, Nellie. Beautifully timeless.”

  She smiled, and a shot of desire gripped his chest. “You’re back to being a gentleman again.”

  “That’s only because you don’t know what I’m thinking.” Despite his resolve, he was thinking he’d like to tear off her clothes, bruise that gorgeous mouth with his kisses, and make hard, passionate love to her until neither of them could see straight.

  She blinked, and something shifted in the depths of her eyes. Her tone went husky. “What are you thinking?”

  His fingertips tightened convulsively at the small of her back, and the tips of her breasts seemed to tease his chest provocatively. He held her gaze. “You don’t want to be asking me that.”

  “I just did.”

  “I am fire, Nellie Cooper. And you are definitely playing with it.”

  Someone tapped Sawyer on the shoulder.

  It was John, and his tone was icy. “I believe the next dance is mine.”

  Sawyer’s hold automatically tightened on Niki. Any other time, any other place, he wouldn’t give her up. But he couldn’t do anything stupid right now. He couldn’t bring attention to himself. And he had to tread carefully where this relationship was concerned. He needed Niki’s trust, her confidence. He needed her to like him, but he needed to keep his distance, as well.

  “Sure,” he said to John, forcing himself to release her and step away.

  “Thank you,” he said to Niki, then he clenched his jaw and turned his back, pacing his way off the dance floor.

  * * *

  As Niki danced with John, she thought about Sawyer’s question. John was definitely an iced-tea-at-the-kitchen-table kind of guy. She couldn’t imagine a moonlight stroll with him. And she sure couldn’t imagine anything more.

  The reason she could so easily tell the difference, was that she could imagine all of those things with Sawyer. She could imagine anything and everything with Sawyer. Which was extremely dangerous. At the moment, she wasn’t in a position to embark on anything more than iced tea in the kitchen with any man in Colorado.

  At the end of her dance with John, Travis cut in.

  “Popular woman tonight,” he told her, leading her into a spin and then back into his arms.

  The music had grown livelier, and couples were having fun with the tunes.

  “I think there’s an uneven ratio of men to women,” she observed.

  “I thought it was the gold dress.” He swung her around in a circle.

  “You know Katrina took me for a makeover.”

  “I do.”

  “And,” Niki hesitated. “You know she, uh, well…”

  “My baby sister is as transparent as they come.” Travis smiled. “I’m guessing she woke up yesterday and realized we were both single.”

  “I tried to talk her out of it.”

  Travis twirled Niki out, then reeled her back. He really was a fun dancer, more skilled than John, less intense than Sawyer. She found herself enjoying the music more and more.

  “I’m sure you did,” he told her, wrapping his arm around her waist again. “And did she listen?”

  “Not even for a second.”

  “So, what do you say, Nellie. You want to give it a try between us?”

  Niki stumbled, her expression sobered.

  But Travis laughed, and she noted there was a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. He drew her close, leaning down to her ear.

  “The way I see it, Nellie. If there was a spark between us, we’d have noticed before now. Katrina’s not-so-secret plan notwithstanding, I don’t need a sexy dress and a fancy hairdo to notice a woman. If I was the one, you’d have noticed me covered in manure. And, if you were the one, I’d have noticed you in sackcloth.”

  Niki drew back. “Do you truly believe that?”

  “I truly do.”

  For Niki, it was the first time Travis had differentiated himself from the general crowd of Terrell and Jacobs ranch workers and family members. She felt as though she was meeting him for the first time.

  “Do you think we could like each other enough to be friends?” she found herself asking.

  “I think we could like each other just fine. I already like you, Nellie. And, hey.” He drew back and gave her a slow once-over. “I could sleep with you at the drop of a hat.”

  She couldn’t help but grin at his audacity.

  “But I don’t see us living happily ever after.”

  “Neither do I,” she admitted.

  He smoothed back her hair. “And, I could be wrong, but I think two marriages between the Jacobs and Terrell families are plenty. Any more, we might be tempting fate.”

  Niki let loose with a loud laugh. “You went from Katrina dressing me up, to the two of us possibly walking down the aisle, in the space of an hour and a half?”

  “I believe in cutting to the chase.”

  “You certainly do.”

  The song began to draw to a close.

  “Travis?”

  “Yeah?”

  “When you do fall for someone? Let me say right off that she’s going to be a very lucky woman. But, my advice? You might want to wait a day or two before popping the question.”

  It was Travis’s turn to laugh. “I’ll try to restrain myself.”

  Niki reached up to squeeze his hand where it rested on her shoulder. “Thanks for the dance, Travis.”

  “You do know Katrina’s been watching us with baited breath the entire time.”

  Niki closed her eyes for a long second. “What should we tell her?”

  He shrugged. “I’m not going to tell her anything. Let her stay curious for a while. It’ll serve her right.”

  “Is that how brothers treat their sisters?”

  “Absolutely, Nellie. We teased them half to death. And I feel like you’re my new sister.”

  She struggled not to grin. “You’re frightening me now.”

  “Don’t worry, it’s not all bad having me as a brother.”

  The song came
to a close, and Travis escorted her off the floor. Niki was happy to take a break.

  Very quickly, she spotted Sawyer. He was sitting at one of the many bars that dotted the perimeter of the arena, sipping a bottle of beer. She decided she needed to set things on the right course between them. He had a point. She was playing with fire, and their flirtation had to come to an end.

  She crossed to him, hopping up on the seat next to him.

  “Looked like fun,” he drawled, an edge to his voice.

  “What looked like fun?” Then she turned to the bartender. “Chardonnay, please.”

  “That dance.”

  “Which dance?” She’d just danced with Sawyer, then John, then Travis.

  “Talking, laughing, touching. I thought Travis was going to kiss you right out there in front of everyone.”

  The light went on inside Niki’s brain. Sawyer had completely misunderstood the body language between her and Travis. She opened her mouth to correct him, but then stopped herself.

  If Sawyer thought she was interested in Travis, maybe he’d back off of flirting with her. She accepted the drink from the waiter. Before she could dig out some money, Sawyer was tossing a bill on the bar.

  “Thank you,” she told him.

  “No problem.” He took a swig of his beer.

  “Travis is a very nice man,” she added.

  Sawyer stared at the crowd. “I take it John doesn’t have a chance?”

  She ran her finger along the condensation from the cold glass. “John’s iced tea in the kitchen.”

  “And Travis is a midnight stroll by the lake.”

  She shrugged, for some reason not wanting to outright lie to Sawyer.

  “And more?” Sawyer asked.

  She swiveled to face him. “That’s a very rude question.”

  “I’ve given up being a gentleman.”

  “Were you ever a gentleman?”

  He angled his body toward her, and she caught a whiff of his scent. It was enticing and intriguing. It cut through the wood and leather, the beer and champagne. It shot straight through her brain, and her entire body clenched with desire for him.

  His tone went low and gravelly. “I can fake being a gentleman, Nellie. But don’t let me fool you. Deep down, I’m as devious as they come.”