Cowboy of Her Dreams

by Kira Barcelo

  So don’t bother getting that close to him, she advised herself that evening. Even if he is so good at that sweet-talking thing.

  He was several feet ahead of her, riding in Midnight’s saddle, when he turned to ask, “This way good?”

  “That’s fine.”

  “You know the trail better. I should’ve let you go on ahead of me.”

  She laughed softly. “You’re doing fine. Go on. I’m right behind you.”

  “Yeah, let’s see if you say that when I go over a cliff!”

  That teasing smirk he gave her was too irresistible for her not to return it with a smile of her own.

  No matter how much she tried to wheedle out of it, Stone had still managed to get her out for a ride on horseback. Right after supper he’d suggested it, saying it was a great night to take Midnight and Calliope out for a ride.

  After that spanking he’d given her, Jenna had sort of tried to steer clear of him. Although…she wasn’t angry. Not really; more like confused. If she was honest about it, she had to admit she’d been out of line, though getting bent over the kitchen island and being on the receiving end of some well-aimed, stinging swats had totally taken her by surprise.

  Maybe it was a choice between getting spanked and getting fired. He hadn’t said so in so many words, but that might have been it.

  Whichever the case, she’d kept out of his way, keeping busy with her own work around the place. Lord knew she had enough to keep her occupied, including the fact that she was now the ranch cook. Louis, the gentleman who’d cooked for Stone’s father, had retired shortly after Mr. Farrell’s death. Jenna knew the man had suffered with the beginning stages of Parkinson’s, but she’d suspected he’d stayed on because he didn’t want to leave his beloved boss throughout his illness.

  Until they could find another cook, she didn’t mind fixing the meals. She’d learned from the best—Louis, who’d often allowed her to assist him in his kitchen. Secretly, she’d been flattered by Stone’s reaction to her cooking, when he’d told her he’d be gaining weight if her cooking was that good and he didn’t continue making time for some cardio.

  To her, there didn’t seem to be one thing wrong with his weight. Or any part of his body, really. Cardio? Exercise for her was found either right there on the ranch or either in riding or walking.

  For now, Jenna watched him up ahead of her. She almost hated to tear her gaze away from him. Sure looked like a cowboy, at least while that sexy butt of his was in a saddle. According to him, he was rusty after so many years of being away from horses. If that was true, it hadn’t taken him long to become acclimated. Those first couple of days had been hard on him; she knew after all that riding, in addition to all the physical work he’d done alongside the hands, his muscles were sore. Whatever work he’d done on a TV show or movie set hadn’t prepared him for life on a ranch.

  To his credit, Stone had continued to get up early and gotten right back to work. She respected him for that, but that didn’t mean anything in and of itself. In a nutshell, she didn’t know what to make of Stone’s being there. He owned the ranch—that part, she understood. His father had willed it to all his children, with the sisters agreeing to share a stake in the ranch or to be bought out by their brother, if he chose to keep it.

  But what was going on here…exactly? Was he coming back to his roots? Or was this a working vacation for him? Or worse, was it research for a future film?

  Jenna had kept tossing those questions around in her head during their ride, which was coming to an end now as they were heading back in the direction of the house. She slowed when she saw him dismount up ahead, deciding she’d also get down to join him.

  “We’re stopping?” she asked.

  Stone turned, his mouth curved by a trace of a smile. “For a few minutes, if you don’t mind.”

  “Not at all.” It had been a long day and she was tired, but then again she was feeling more at ease around him.

  “I used to love this spot, Jenna. It’s just—when you look out at the house, the ranch, it all looks so beautiful with the mountains in the distance.”

  She only nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Out of the corner of her eye she watched him, marveling at his very masculine, attractive silhouette. She understood why those movie people had often cast him as the dark, brooding bad guy. A handsome dark, brooding bad guy. His directors had to love how he commanded the camera, especially with that defined facial bone structure of his, those high cheek bones and his strong chin.

  He made for an incredibly sensuous villain. The cowboy dressed in black.

  “I’ve always thought your ranch was beautiful,” she confided.

  Stone turned to her. He was studying her so intently that she blushed and looked away. She wasn’t used to a man staring at her that way.

  “Mind if I ask you something personal, Jenna?”

  “Personal? Like what?”

  First he took a deep breath. The sun was setting, a huge orange fire in the Wyoming sky. It gave enough light to shine on him, giving him an almost mysterious look.

  “You’re such a pretty woman. Why are you still here, working on the ranch?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I—well, I would’ve thought you’d be married. And the way you run this place—because it’s you, the one who’s mostly runs it, right down to making the payroll for the men—you’re a very bright lady. I could see you doing something else.”

  She wasn’t sure she liked the direction that conversation was taking. “What else is there for me to do? I’ve spent a lot of time around horses and cattle and I…well, that’s what I know. That’s what I love.”

  “Uh-huh.” He seemed to accept that answer. “So this is a passion? You could never see yourself doing anything else?”

  Hesitatingly long enough to give the matter thought, she sighed. “My aunt and uncle took me and Jake in when our parents died. They had a ranch. I set out on my own when I was eighteen and they let me take Jake with me. I worked on another ranch before your dad hired me. I don’t know that I’d ever want to be anywhere else but around horses. It’s good work.”

  Stone nodded. Slowly, he stepped closer to her. “What about my other question?”

  “Which question was that?”

  “Why aren’t you married?”

  “Why aren’t you?”

  She wasn’t being argumentative and she was grateful that he didn’t take it that way. In fact, he chuckled.

  “I haven’t found the right person,” he said.

  “Ah, well. Neither have I. But what about Ashley?”

  “Oh—yeah. Ashley.” Strange answer, even stranger that he shook his head and added, “It’s taken a long time because, you know, it’s not like I’ve had lots of time to devote to a relationship.”

  “Same here.”

  Despite his second, quick nod, he asked, “What about a boyfriend?”

  “I’ve had a few. I’m sort of in between boyfriends right now. Well—there’s Riley.”

  “Who’s that?”

  “Actually, his name’s Tom Riley. I call him by his last name sometimes, to tease him.” She glanced back at her horse, just force of habit, making sure Calliope—who was her favorite horse after Thunder—was all right. “We dated a while back, on and off.”

  “Oh. So, I take it he’s a cowboy? Because, uh…you’re a cowgirl and all. I’m thinking that’s the kind of man you’d canoodle with.”

  “The kind of man I’d what?”

  Stone chuckled. “Canoodle. Just this silly word the press uses. Let me use it in a sentence for you: Beautiful cowgirl Jenna Price was seen waiting for her flight at L.A.X., canoodling with on-again, off-again boyfriend Tom Riley.”

  “Seems like something you shouldn’t be doing in public.” She was pleased to have made him laugh. “I think I like that word, Stone. But to answer your question, yeah. Riley’s a cowboy. And he’s also got a ranch.”

  He’d called her beautiful. She’d heard him say the
words beautiful cowgirl and her heart had literally skipped a beat inside her. It was becoming harder and harder to hide her feelings for him.

  “Can I ask you one more personal question?”

  “Oh, for—yeah, I reckon. What is it?”

  “You ever let your hair down? Wear a dress? Something, you know…feminine?”

  Something about Stone was different at that moment. He was looking at her differently, in a way that made her feel something fluttery in her stomach.

  He’s flirting with me. If she’d had more experience with men, she would’ve flirted right back. As it was, she wasn’t sure how to do that. Maybe with Tom Riley or some other man, but not with Stone Farrell, a man she’d only flirted with in her daydreams.

  “I let my hair down sometimes.” Fortunately, she answered the question without stammering. “And I wear dresses. Just not, you know…often.”

  “You mind letting it down now? I want to see what you look like with it loose.”

  “We really should be getting back.”

  He blinked at her, then sighed. “Yeah, you’re probably right. It’s getting late. I’m glad you stopped for a few with me, though. We don’t get to talk much during the day.”

  “No. No, I guess we don’t.” Jenna turned and started to leave. Then she faced him again, reaching back to take hold of her ponytail holder.

  Had she been wearing it up all that time since he’d been there? She hadn’t noticed, but apparently he had. Most of the time it was easier to wear her hair up, so it wouldn’t get in her way while she worked. As she freed her hair, it cascaded gently around her face and shoulders.

  “This,” she said, “is what I look like. Like the same person, but with my hair down.”

  He caught her playful remark and chuckled. His laughter had a sweet ring to it, as well as a masculine quality that she enjoyed hearing. Stone reached out a hand to arrange her tresses against one rounded, small shoulder.

  “You’re very pretty, Jenna. But I’m sure you’ve been told that before,” he murmured.

  “Not by you…” She swallowed hard. “…Until now.”

  One minute, he was touching her hair; the next, her chin was in his hand. Then the next thing she knew, her mouth was surrendering to his for a moist, long kiss singed with a fire she’d never known she was capable of feeling, as if that was the first man who’d ever kissed her.

  Stone was kissing her. In reality, not a fantasy. Right there on the trail, when only minutes earlier they’d been riding their horses together. Kissing him was absolutely the most fun she’d had, kissing-wise.

  But her heart was attached to that kiss. Maybe for him, it was just a stolen pleasure. The big-shot Hollywood actor—even one who was remembered more for his face than his name—out to show how easily he could turn on the dazzle and seduce her right down to her socks. Jenna caught herself before she got in too deep and ended the kiss abruptly.

  “We—we have to get back,” she said, correcting herself with, “I have to get back.”

  “Oh. Okay.” Was he embarrassed? Disappointed? Or was he just putting on a good performance. “What’s wrong, Jenna? I…thought you liked me. A little bit, at least.”

  She had started away from him and whipped around to snap at him. “Aren’t you forgetting your girlfriend? Ashley what’s-her-name?”

  Stone looked either stunned or hurt; she couldn’t exactly tell which. He pushed his hat up slightly, far enough to scratch his head, then walked back to his horse.

  “I guess I did forget her,” he muttered. “Not nice to say, but…I guess I did. I forgot just because…I was around you. That won’t happen again.”

  She was about to say something but then thought better of it and climbed back into Calliope’s saddle.

  Jenna knew what had happened. Someone—either Robyn, Melanie, her brother, maybe even one of the hands, for all she knew—had told him she’d had a crush on him. In Stone’s mind, that had translated into him being able to take advantage of her easily. No doubt, too, he was used to getting his own way. She knew enough about the line of work he was in to know that most people in the entertainment industry had two or three marriages, even more, and that most of their commitments to a television show lasted longer than their relationships.

  Stone was also used to having his ego coddled. She’d been online that week to find enough people talking about Stone Farrell being recognizable even if his name wasn’t always, and all the fans who thought he was handsome and wildly talented, despite garnering secondary and minor roles. He probably believed that a little flattery, i.e. telling her she’d made him forget his glamorous girlfriend, would be enough to get him in her panties.

  If so, then that man had another guess coming. Maybe he’d gotten Ashley Covington that way—but he wouldn’t be getting her so easily.

  Still, her lips tingled with the memory of being kissed by him. Jenna had gotten ahead of him on the trail, with Calliope traveling at a more energetic clip than Midnight. Glancing back over her shoulder, she saw him looking unblinkingly at her. Looking at her, not glaring, with a mixture of sullenness and confusion. As if he were hurt by her reaction but not out-and-out angry.

  Maybe you did make him forget her. A little bit, anyway.

  She turned around in the saddle and gave her head a tiny shake.

  That was just the kind of thinking that could put her heart in some serious danger.

  “Jenna Sue—don’t you run off on me without speaking to me.”

  Halfway out of the stables, she twirled around on her heel. They had just finished taking the saddles off the horses and had shut the door on each when Stone had addressed her.

  “How’d you know my middle name?” she demanded.

  “Melanie told me. I also know, from the hands, that you rode in a rodeo for a while as a teen, but you didn’t want to continue doing it because you thought all that traveling around wouldn’t be good for your little brother.” Stone closed in the space between them and cracked a smile. “And I know you’re good at math, because he also told me you helped a former hand here get his GED.”

  The man could be so infuriating! There she was, trying to be cold to him, trying to distance herself from him, and she found herself softening toward him.

  “I didn’t do that much,” she protested.

  “Maybe you don’t think so, but it meant a lot to him, from what I hear. Oh, and…” Mischief sparked in his eyes. “I know you like hot fudge sundaes for lunch sometimes. Your brother told me that.”

  Jenna folded her arms across her chest, jutting out her chin stubbornly. “Well, you know so much about me. I don’t know half as much about you, and I’m not sure I want to, anyway.”

  “Oh, I think you do.”

  “What does that mean?” She tried to clip on an angry inflection, though she was more afraid of his answer.

  He purposely avoided the question. “I know I’m not…whatever you thought I was, Jenna. You had some idea in your head. I don’t know if people put it in there, or—anyway, I’m who I am. Maybe I’ve got a little bit of that person you thought I was, too. You won’t find out unless you give me a chance, though, you know?”

  “Don’t—don’t you dare kiss me again!”

  That was about to happen, too. She could tell, because he was gazing at her in just that same way as he had before, right before his mouth met hers. Stone closed his hands around her shoulders.

  “Would you prefer I spank you?” he asked. “This is the perfect place for that. Wouldn’t you say? I could sit right over there on that bale of hay and take you over my knee. This time, I’ll take take those jeans down, so I can see how rosy your bottom gets from the spanking.”

  “You—you wouldn’t dare do that!”

  It was more of a panicked reaction than a challenge. Unfortunately for her, Stone didn’t see it that way.

  Growing up, people had always told her she needed to think before she opened her mouth. Jenna could see that rule applying now, with Stone hauling her effor
tlessly over his hip all the way over to the bale of hay.

  “Seems like I should have something to use,” he sounded as if he were speaking more to himself, looking around for a moment. “Uh-uh. Guess I’ll have to use my hand again. But it won’t be over your jeans this time…”

  Both panicky and infuriated, she tried to break free of his hold. His hands were deadlocked on her waist, keeping her in place in spite of her struggling.

  “What’s it gonna be, Jenna? Am I gonna have to take them down or you’ll do it? Because we’re not leaving here until I’m sure you’re going to bed with a sore behind.”

  She couldn’t find her voice, other than to huff angrily at him. Her hands flew around her, covering her bottom instinctively. It didn’t matter, however. The man was determined to spank her.

  “You dared me to do this,” he reminded her.

  “And you don’t have to take me up on it!”

  “I agree. But there’s something else going on here, and damn if I’m not getting to the bottom of it. Now you want to do this or should I?”

  He was asking her to drop her jeans. She’d never taken off any item of clothing in front of a man, unless there was an M.D. behind his name. Even then she’d been shy about doing it.

  Slapping his hand away from her before it could reach her belt, she muttered, “I’ll do it!”

  Jenna turned. Her gaze flew directly to the stable doors while her hands worked her belt.

  I could make a run for it. He’d catch her, of course. The spanking would probably be harder and longer if that happened. It would also draw the attention of James, the only hand who hadn’t gone home. Jake was at a friend’s house that evening. She didn’t want James or anyone else witnessing this embarrassing misadventure of hers.

  Her jeans weren’t exactly tight; through the years of wearing and washing them, they’d sort of melded perfectly to her shape. She took them down as far as the first few inches of her buttcheeks, then declared, “There. Happy now?”

  “Not quite.” Stone surprised her by giving them one, good tug that brought the pants down as far as her knees. “Perfect!”