The Shy Girl and the Stripper (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Cooper McKenzie

  “Um, thanks for the rides. And everything,” she said, her face burning with a blush she could not hide. “You’re a nice person, Geo, and I hope you meet a woman who can be everything you need her to be.”

  Before he could respond, she opened her door and slipped out, dragging her briefcase behind her. In less than a minute, she had her bags out of the back of the truck, and was headed into the airport. Thankfully, Geo could not see the tears well up and overflow her eyes as she whispered, “Love you, sweet George Hartland the third.”

  There was so much she wanted to tell him, so much she wished she knew how to say, but their time together had come to an end. Her weekend with a sexy, outgoing, gorgeous man was over. He would return to his life on the stage in front of hundreds of panting women, and she would go back to life as an uber-shy introvert with an overactive imagination, and some potentially life-threatening health problems.

  * * * *

  Geo watched his woman walk away without a backward glance. He could tell from her posture she was not looking forward to her trip home, but there was nothing he could do about it. Until he got a chance to sit down with Gigi and find out exactly what was going on with Sunny, and figure out how he could get them together in the same place forever, he was stuck.

  And he had a ranch that needed his attention after being away for the better part of a week. Tucker James, his foreman, was probably ready to quit, though from the way the man had been staring at Gigi on her last visit, there might be a way to entice the man to stay.

  When a car behind him began to honk its frustration, Geo put the truck into gear and drove away, sending a prayer with his shy Sunflower for a safe trip home and speedy return to his arms. Once he was away from the craziness of the airport and on the highway home again, he pulled out his phone and called Gigi.

  “Did she get off okay?”

  “I left her at the drop-off for her airline, if that’s what you mean,” he answered. “Now tell me why she’s going back to a doctor’s appointment. She said something about possibly needing surgery, but we didn’t get into it too deep. I wanted to keep her happy in the here and now.”

  “She’s had some female problems. The doctor ran some tests over the last weeks before the conference to figure out what the trouble might be. Her appointment is to get the results of the tests,” Gigi said. “She’s afraid it’s cancer but doesn’t want anyone to know. Doesn’t want to burden anyone with her problems.”

  Geo swore silently. “You coming home tonight?”

  “Yeah,” Gigi said. “And I’ll be sure to bring everything I know about Sunny with me.”

  “Thanks,” Geo said before cutting the connection.

  Setting the phone in the cup holder where it normally sat, he turned his attention to driving in the growing traffic. By the time he arrived at the front door of the ranch, he had not come up with any brilliant plans. How could he break down the emotional walls his beautiful Sunflower had built on their drive back into town and get her to admit that they were perfect for each other? He had hoped their night out on the range would bring them closer together.

  And it had, until the sun came up. On the drive back to town she had retreated behind a wall of polite, remote coolness as if the last three days had never happened. It was then that lightning struck, and Geo realized that Sunny had taken his heart home with her.

  Now he just had to figure out how to get it, and her, back.

  Chapter Ten

  “Okay, Sunflower, time to wake up. I need to see those pretty blue eyes.”

  The gentle, deep voice was familiar, but Sunny was so out of it, she could not put a face on the voice. Fighting the drugs that wanted to pull her back to unconsciousness, she lifted eyelids held down by heavy weights and looked into a face she had not expected to see again. Especially so soon after leaving him behind in Texas.

  “There they are,” Geo said as he brushed hair back from her face. “Welcome back, baby girl.”

  “Why…you…here?” she managed to get out through a throat that felt like she had swallowed sandpaper.

  “Where else would I be when my sweet Sunflower is having surgery? We’ll discuss your not telling me everything about it when you’re feeling a little better. For now, you need to rest and recuperate, so I can take you home with me.”

  Sunny frowned, trying to make sense of his presence, and his words, but she was too befuzzled by the drugs that still had a mighty hold on her. Closing her eyes, she relaxed, allowing sleep to carry her off, but not before she sighed. “Love you, Geo.”

  She thought she heard him chuckle and brush a kiss on her forehead. “I love you, too, Sunflower.” But it could have been her sleepy, drugged-up imagination.

  The next time she was conscious of what was going on around her, the nurses were trying to get her to move from the recovery room bed to a bed in a room. But she was too loopy to cooperate with their instructions.

  Before she ended up on the floor between the two beds, strong arms eased under her back and knees and carefully lifted her. Geo’s spicy, sexy cologne wrapped around her, cutting the antiseptic hospital scent, as he carried her a few steps before placing her onto another bed. When he moved to back away she reached up, grabbing his shirt and pulling him close again.

  “You smell so good,” she whispered.

  A darkly masculine chuckle was his only response. After prying her hand from his shirt, he laced their fingers together then stepped aside so the nurses could get her settled. Once they left, he pulled a chair up and sat down beside the bed.

  Sunny tried to stay awake, tried to answer Shey’s questions, tried to keep the dream of Geo actually being beside her alive. But the anesthetics were too strong, and she lapsed back into sleep once more.

  It took a full twenty-four hours after the surgery before Sunny opened her eyes and really knew what was going on around her. Looking around the room, she was stunned at a man’s head resting on the bed beside her shoulder. The mussed-up black curly hair looked familiar, but she could not fathom why he was there.

  Before she could piece together the short conversations she thought they had had during her drugged-out delirium, the door opened and two nurses entered, followed closely by Shey.

  “Good morning, Miz Carlyle,” the older of the two said, sounding much too chipper for this early in the morning.

  “Shhh, he’s sleeping,” she admonished, her throat raw and her lower belly sore.

  “No, he’s not,” Geo said, lifting his head from the bed.

  He looked tired and ruffled, but much too good for Sunny’s peace of mind.

  “Miz Carlyle, we need to get your vitals, and then we need to get you up and to the bathroom. While you do that, we’ll change the sheets, and then bring your breakfast,” the nurse who was obviously in charge vibrated with a brisk, almost prickly, energy that made Sunny tired just being in her presence.

  By the time she was back into bed with clean linens and a breakfast tray of clear liquids sitting in front of her, all she really wanted to do was go back to sleep. But Geo and Shey were here, and falling asleep would not be the polite thing to do.

  Once the nurses left as abruptly as they had arrived, Sunny rolled her head and looked at the man who had remained silent but supportive during their stay. “Why are you here?” Though she was certain she had asked the question before, she had no idea what the answer had been.

  Geo met her eyes, his expression gentle and patient. “And where else would I be with my Sunflower in the hospital?”

  Sunny frowned, that answer echoing through her memory. She had heard it before. “Oh, I don’t know, your home? Your job? Your life in Texas? Why are you here, Geo? And how did you know I was in the hospital?” For the answer to that question, she turned to Shey who stood at the foot of the bed.

  Shey lifted her hands to her shoulders in an “I surrender” pose. “I called Gigi when you got admitted to let her know what was going on. I had no idea she would send gorgeous George here to play bodyguard.”<
br />
  With that Sunny’s attention returned to George. “Gigi told me what was going on. She told me you were admitted to receive blood transfusions before they could do any surgery, and I decided I had to be here. I’m just sorry I got here after you were already in the operating room.”

  “But why, Geo? Why come halfway across the country to sit by my bed and watch me sleep?”

  Before Geo could answer, the door swung open again and the always smiling Dr. Ashi walked in, her chart in one hand. “Good morning, Sunny. How are you feeling today?”

  Sunny tried to smile, but her nerves kept it from being a full smile. “Good morning, doctor. Was it cancer? Did you do the hysterectomy?”

  He glanced at Shey and Geo before turning his attention back to them. “Do you want them to hear?”

  “Yes, they’re fine,” Sunny said, though she wasn’t really sure she wanted Geo to hear that she was a shell of a woman.

  “It wasn’t cancer. We did have to clean out some scar tissue around the ovaries, and your uterus was twisted somewhat, so we repositioned everything properly, but you should have no problems conceiving when that time comes. Unless you develop a fever, or can’t hold food down, you should be able to go home this afternoon. But no driving until I see you back in the office in four weeks.”

  Sunny smiled. “Sounds good to me. I hate hospitals.”

  “Doc, how soon until she’ll be able to fly?” Geo asked as the doctor jotted notes on her chart.

  “At least a month. I don’t want any more pressure on her pelvis than absolutely necessary.”

  With that, the doctor left. Shey got a phone call and stepped into the hall, leaving Geo and Sunny staring at each other.

  “You can’t stay here a month,” Sunny said. “Won’t they fire you if you miss a month of work?”

  Geo looked puzzled. “Who, baby girl?”

  “The club you work for.”

  “The club I… Oh God, you thought I was a stripper?” Geo looked stunned for a moment and then began to laugh.

  Sunny waited until he settled before asking, “Well aren’t you? Gigi said you were one of the cover models, and they were all strippers…” She trailed off as Geo began shaking his head at her.

  “I’m not an exotic dancer, sweetheart.” He made air quotes. “I did dance for about three days way back in college, before getting fired for having two left feet. Gigi used a picture of me on one of her books, so when the fourth guy had to back out due to his wife giving birth early, she badgered me into being a cover model for the weekend. But none of the attendees was supposed to know that I wasn’t anything but what Gigi said I was, a cover model slash exotic dancer.”

  “Oh,” Sunny said, feeling confused. “So if you’re not a model and dancer, what do you do?”

  Geo smiled a little sheepishly as he stepped back, to allow her to see him in his jeans and snap-front shirt. “I own a ranch not too far from the hotel. In fact, that was where we spent our night under the stars.”

  “Ah-ha,” Sunny said. “So you don’t have hundreds of females begging for your attention every night?”

  “Well, I do, but they’re cows and need my attention in the morning, not the evening. Are you badly disappointed that I’m not a stripper?” Geo asked as he returned to his chair by the bed and picked up Sunny’s left hand.

  Sunny dropped her face and studied their hands a moment. “No,” she admitted softly. “Truth is, I’m happy you don’t show off that body and those moves every night. From now on, I think you should only ever dance for an audience of one. Me.”

  Geo leaned over the side railing of the bed and said softly, “I think that can be arranged, sweet Sunflower. But only if you’ll show me your moves.” Then he kissed her.

  “But I don’t dance,” she whispered when he broke the kiss several long, long moments later.

  “That’s okay, I can teach you. But you are right. I can’t stay for a month. So how about this? I’ll go back and get the house cleaned up and ready while you stay here and heal,” Geo said. “Then, when the doctor gives you the okay to travel, you come visit me at the ranch. In the meantime, we’ll call and text and all those new-age-y type things people who romance long distance do these days.”

  Sunny sighed then slowly nodded. The pain medications Geo had given her with her cranberry juice finally kicked in and pulled her toward the black hole of sleep once more. “I think that sounds like a plan.”

  “I love you, Sunflower,” he whispered before brushing a kiss on her cheek. “I can’t wait to see you at the ranch.”

  “Love you, too,” she murmured before rolling her head and falling over the cliff into sleep.

  Chapter Eleven

  Six weeks later

  Sunny stopped as soon as she turned at the mailbox marked Hartland Ranch. She had to smile at the two balloons that were bobbing in the air over the large black mailbox. She did not know which one she liked more, the big red heart that read Welcome Home, or the big gold and yellow sunflower. Wishing she had room in her already stuffed-to-capacity SUV for the balloons, she decided she would send Geo out to bring them in. Later. After she got the welcome he had been teasing her about for the last week she had been on the road.

  Before she put the SUV in gear, she pulled her phone from the left front pocket of her jeans and pulled up her message app. After texting Shey that she had arrived safe and sound, she called Geo on the phone. Then she put the vehicle back in gear and headed down the drive that, according to the very detailed instructions Geo had e-mailed her when she decided to take a driving tour between her home and his ranch, would take her straight to the front door of the ranch house.

  He answered on the second ring. “Please tell me you’re at least in the state of Texas.”

  “Tell Gigi to set another plate for dinner. I am officially in Hartland territory,” she said, unable to contain the smile.

  The five-day trip had taken ten days as she decided to stop and visit several friends, and spent several days sightseeing at interesting places along the way. But she was here, only a few minutes from seeing the man she had come to love more over the past month and a half. Their nightly conversations had covered every topic under the sun, and then some, allowing them to get to know each other in a way they never would have if she had stayed on after the conference. She thought the most special part of each conversation, whether by text, phone, e-mail, or Skype, was the end when she told him she loved him, and he replied with, “I love you more, my sweet, shy Sunflower.”

  “In Hartland territory where?” he asked, sounding skeptical.

  “I loved the balloons, but didn’t have room to bring them with me from the mailbox. Which means, according to the meticulous directions someone e-mailed me three times this week,” she snarked with a grin, “that I should be pulling into the front yard in about ten minutes.”

  “Have you passed a dirt road on your right?” The question was so unexpected that Sunny took her foot off the gas to think about the answer. Then she looked ahead and saw a turnoff.

  “Not yet. No wait. I see it coming up.”

  “Turn on that road, drive one mile, and park.”

  “Um, why?”

  “Because I want you to, sweet Sunflower.”

  Not sure what Geo was up to, Sunny slowed and turned on the road. Clicking her trip odometer to zero, she watched until it showed she had driven one mile. Then she stopped, parked, and climbed from the driver’s seat. Not sure what she was waiting for, she looked around as she stretched muscles and tendons stiff from days behind the steering wheel.

  The area looked vaguely familiar, with gently rolling hills with grass as far as the eye could see in any direction, except for a pond off in the distance. Overhead hung a deep, deep blue with a yellow-white sun high overhead. Then she remembered, the last time she was here the sky had been midnight blue-black with a million stars and a full moon.

  A strange rhythmic sound had her turning down the road. A cowboy on a big, brown horse was galloping her
way. Even though she could not see the face under the cowboy hat, she recognized the broad shoulders and strong arms. He slowed to a trot and then a walk, not stopping until he was directly in front of her, forcing her to drop her head back to look up at him sitting easily on the back of his mount.

  “Hello, Sunflower.”

  “Hi,” she said, after licking her lips. Even with all the talking and texting they had done over the past weeks, her nerves skittered with fear.

  He swung off the horse easily, and Sunny’s every secret dream about cowboys, horses, and leather came to life right before her. His snap-front shirt was damp and dusty, as were his tight blue jeans, boots, and the worn leather chaps he wore.

  After securing the horse’s reins around the pommel, and untying a thick roll of something from the back of the saddle, he turned the horse back the way he had come. “Go home, Deux,” he said right before slapping the horse on the rump.

  The horse galloped away, leaving the two humans alone in the middle of an endless field of green.

  “He won’t run away, will he?” Sunny asked as she watched the horse grow smaller and then disappear over the horizon.

  “No, he’ll head straight for the barn. He’s fat and lazy and knows a good brushing and big dinner are waiting for him,” Geo said, staring at her and not the horse. “So, you’re finally here.”

  Sunny shrugged and studied the pearlescent snaps on his shirt. “I’m here.”

  “You are planning to stay a while, aren’t you?”

  Sunny shrugged again and swallowed. “If you still want me.”

  Two fingers touched her chin, lifting her head until she looked into golden brown eyes. “I wanted you the moment I started reading your first book. That want grew to a gut-tightening need when I met you at the airport. And in the weeks we’ve been apart, that initial want has grown to a love so deep we might not make it to the house until breakfast.”