Unfortunately, he’d already earned the title of ass whether she suspected it or not. For starters, he’d been skulking in the woods watching her ride and freaked out her horse. He had no idea horses were such drama queens.
Scaring the horse might have been an accident but lying about his name had been deliberate. He wasn't sure what prompted him to do that. She might not even recognize his name since it’d been so long since he’d made headlines.
Since his popularity had gone down the tubes, the only women interested in him were gold diggers and publicity seekers. The Gold Diggers had no clue that his money had followed his popularity into the toilet. The publicity seekers wanted to exploit him for what it was worth. He figured a little white lie about his identity in exchange for a month of anonymity wasn't too much to ask.
The horse snorted and pawed the ground, demanding Mariah’s attention. Rico studied the animal. It blinked its big brown eyes at him. Perhaps he had an ally in that furry, four-legged beast. “What’s his name?” After all, a guy should know the name of his ally.
“Sueño. Sueño Araña.” Removing her riding helmet, Mariah plucked a clump of mud and grass from her long mahogany hair.
“Dream Weaver,” Rico mused. “Is he your dream weaver?”
“I guess you could say that.” Mariah chewed on her lower lip. “I really need to clean up and finish my ride, Rodrigo, but it was nice meeting you.”
“Nice meeting you.”
She hesitated, as if she were about to say something else, only she didn’t. Leading Sueño, she turned away and walked through the gate toward a small red barn.
Rico watched her go. He knew a dismissal when he heard it, but he didn’t give up that easily on a woman who intrigued him.
Reluctant to let her leave, he hurried after her. She glanced at him but kept walking. “Do you need something else?”
“Uh, yes. What’s the best restaurant around here?”
“Rosario Resort has good food. It’s not cheap, but the view of the bay is worth the price. They have a piano bar and dancing, too.”
“Sounds romantic.” He winked at her.
She blushed and looked away, increasing her pace. He ran to catch up. Imagine, Rico Sanchez running after a woman, but a damaged ego was a small price to pay for a reprieve from the loneliness, and he hated the loneliness.
Rico quickly checked her left hand and didn’t find a ring. He made it a practice not to mess with another man’s woman. He did have some scruples.
He tagged along into the barn. The wide aisle was neat and tidy with a couple stalls on both sides. Mariah tied the horse to a post and used a wet paper towel to clean her face. Even in her messed-up state, she enchanted him.
“What time can I pick you up?” He grinned. With an expertise born of practice, he disguised his insecurities behind a wall of cocky confidence.
“I don’t even know you.” Her green eyes took on a stubborn glint.
Rico focused the full heat of his gaze on her. “Have dinner with me tonight, and we can work on that.” He flashed his most disarming grin, guaranteed to charm the resistance out of any woman. In his younger years, he’d mastered hustling a woman to the point of perfection then to the point of boredom. He suspected hustling this woman would prove to be anything but boring, especially as out of practice as he was.
His gaze roamed over her killer body. The skin-tight riding breeches and soiled t-shirt did little to hide her delectable curves. In fact, the mud stuck to all the right places. Plus, the black leather riding boots were a nice touch. He grinned with true appreciation as he brought his eyes back to hers.
“So, what time?”
“I can’t, I have plans tonight.”
“Change them. Please.” He smiled and turned on the Latin charm, attempting to disarm her reluctance. Her emotions played across her face, making her as easy to read as a theater marquee. He’d never considered innocence to be sexy before, but it sure as hell was on her.
“Sorry. I can’t.”
“You break my heart, querida.” He put his hands to his chest in a dramatic gesture.
“I doubt that. It was nice meeting you, Rodrigo. Now I must get back to work.” She turned her back on him, dismissing him just like that.
Rico opened his mouth to protest then snapped it shut. He didn’t give up easily, and she’d find that out soon enough.
* * *
Mariah waited several minutes then snuck from the tack room. She peered down the barn’s aisle. Rodrigo had taken the hint and left. Something in the aisle caught her eye. His sunglasses. Picking them up, she studied them. Gucci. They probably cost more than she made in a week.
Putting the sunglasses on the shelf, she decided to finish her ride before she took a shower. A little mud wouldn’t kill her. She led Sueño back to her riding arena, irritated at the man's presumptuous attitude and that she'd have to see him again to return his sunglasses.
“Who does that guy think he is, Sueño? I can’t believe he waltzed in here like he owned the place and assumed I’d go to dinner with him. The jerk.” The gorgeous, presumptuous jerk.
With resignation, Sueño accepted his role once again as her four-legged confidant. He sighed one of his long-suffering sighs and stood quietly. He let her carry on, taking it like a man, well, actually, like a gelding, while his eyes blinked shut several times.
“The nerve of him. Good looks don’t give a guy a license to have anything he wants. Besides,” Mariah huffed, “did you see his clothes?” She stopped and looked down at her muddy shirt and started giggling, her anger draining out of her.
Sueño watched a butterfly flit past his nose and yawned. He nudged her.
“It’s time to get down to business, huh? I guess you’ve heard enough of my babbling for now.”
Taking in the beautiful morning, Mariah couldn’t help smiling. She'd never regretted her decision to leave Seattle for the peace and quiet of the San Juans. The morning sun peeked through the trees and reflected off the water in the cove. Strips of sunshine formed bright patterns of light on the ground. She savored the warmth soaking into her bones. As a true Pacific Northwesterner, she appreciated sunny days even more than she appreciated gourmet coffee or I-5 without traffic.
Mariah gathered the reins in one hand and swung herself into the saddle. Sueño stood motionless until the slightest squeeze of her legs told him to move forward. She walked him around the arena a few times, giving him time to warm up his muscles. The gray gelding plodded along like an old plow horse until Mariah picked up the reins. Then he came alive.
Sueño’s controlled power surged beneath her. She sat motionless in the saddle because even the most inconsequential movement on her part disturbed their delicate harmony. Sueño’s hooves drummed the ground in a hypnotic, steady rhythm as he floated across the arena. For such a large animal, he was light and graceful, changing his direction and speed with fluid ease.
In a magical union of two species, they danced in the morning light.
* * *
Rico lounged in a deck chair by the pool, oblivious to the million-dollar view laid out before him like a postcard. The Delgado house was nestled in a private cove and bordered Mariah’s farm. The large, two-story cedar home sprawled over a wide expanse of lawn which ended at a small private beach. Rico’s eyes rested on the madrona tree that grew on the bank along the water’s edge. It looked like it’d been on a week-long drunk the way it twisted and turned its burgundy trunk to find sun. Sometimes he felt that way, too, unable to find himself or the sun.
Like a smoker craving his next cigarette, Rico picked up his cell phone and started to dial. He cut the phone off after the first ring. He wasn’t going to give in just yet. He’d made it four days. One phone call from him, and his entire family would descend upon him. He wouldn’t have a moment’s peace. Not to mention they expected him to pay for everything, and that well had almost run dry.
Rico put his head in his hands. The weight of the world, at least his small world, sat
on his shoulders. Everyone looked to him to make things right. Except this time, he wasn’t sure how to do that.
Shit.
He sighed. This was why he dreaded vacations. There was nothing to occupy his mind and too much time to think about his empty life, his financial issues, and his uncertain future.
Yet, there was hope. An attractive time-occupier in the shape of a gorgeous female and her mind-reading horse had just tangoed into his life. Nothing like a good old-fashioned seduction to get the creative juices flowing again. Now he needed to map out a strategy.
Seducing Mariah called for unique tactics. She didn’t fit the usual mold of the women he dated, when he dated. He liked them beautiful, easy, and lacking in the intelligence department. No way would Mariah be easy. She fit the beautiful requirement. Now, for the brains... Well, a woman who challenged his mind, as well as his body, might be a welcome change. Not since Carmen had he been interested in a woman with a brain. The dumb ones were easily placated with gifts and flowers. The smart ones demanded more than he was willing to give, but this time he’d make an exception.
His body begged for a little female companionship. He’d denied himself pleasure for too long in favor of work, work, and more work. Funny, most people assumed he partied all night, every night. Wouldn’t they be surprised to learn that his personal life consisted of getting up in the morning and going to bed at night? Alone, he might add.
That horse, Sueño, probably saw more action than he did. He probably had tons of little fillies chasing him around the pasture. Rico shook his head and chuckled. Just when he didn’t think things could get any lower in his life, he’d just sunk to an all-time low. He envied a frigging horse!
Okay, so the horse had proven to be useful. That pushing trick couldn’t have worked out better if he’d planned it himself. Little thrills of excitement vibrated through his body as he remembered the feel of her in his arms. She’d been so soft, pliable, and so female. He couldn’t deny the instant chemistry between them, not when his body still sizzled from the impact. Laughing, he imagined burn marks on his chest where she’d clung to him.
Yet, it wasn’t just her body he wanted. In his old world, women with to-die-for bodies had been a dime a dozen. There was something about her. Something indefinable.
The way she mind-melded with that horse fascinated him, too. He needed to know more about...what did she call it? Sounded like massage. Oh, yeah, dressage. Maybe he’d surf the Internet and do a little research. The logical side of Rico researched everything, dissected it into little pieces, and put it back together in a creative way. It was that creative spirit in him that had suffered lately to the point of non-existence.
Rico felt his old depression seep back in, but he tamped it down. He wouldn’t allow himself to fall back into that trap. He loathed his recent tendency to wallow in self-pity. He had better things to do.
Like seduce his neighbor.
Chapter 2—The Next Move
Mariah ignored the growing stack of bills teetering precariously on the antique oak dining table. Next to them lay Rodrigo’s sunglasses. Skirting around the table, she gave it as wide a berth as she would a rattlesnake sunning itself on a rock.
Long ago she’d perfected the Scarlett O’Hara method of handling problems: she’d think about it later. Or tomorrow. Or never.
Between the mounting expenses on this old horse farm and her shopping addiction, money never stayed in her bank account long. Even when she’d worked in Seattle as an interior designer for a prestigious firm, she spent as much as she made. She had a problem, and she’d always been this way, didn’t know how to be any other way. She loved nice things. Unfortunately, she had Armani taste on a Walmart budget.
There had to be better things to think about. Like Rodrigo Perez, for instance.
Her thoughts hadn’t strayed far from him all day, and she half-regretted not accepting his invitation. Someday she’d learn to be bold and less uptight about stuff like that. Someday. He seemed safe enough, though a little too self-assured and cocky for her taste.
But was he really?
Her intuition warned her not to fall into the trap of judging that book by its cover. Something didn’t jive with him. Despite his brashness, he seemed sad and lost. The man hid some secrets behind his devil-may-care smile, espresso eyes, and shabby clothes. He dressed like he didn’t have a penny to his name, yet he wore designer sunglasses. None of it added up.
The more she tried to talk herself out of being interested in him, the more interested she became. She couldn’t recall ever being this attracted to a man upon first meeting him.
A man like him could be deadly to a vulnerable woman’s heart. Here she was, barely thirty and a hopeless case when it came to sex and romance. From the Warren Disaster to Blind-Date Mike, she attracted the wrong men without exception. Maybe there weren’t any right men. Maybe every one of them had their brains buried down south of their bellybuttons. Maybe some did a better job of concealing that fact than others. Maybe she was just a coward. Or maybe she should just stick with horses and shopping.
Those stupid sunglasses called to her. They needed to be returned, but she didn’t want to subject her heart to Mr. Scruffy. She could sneak over to the Delgados’ and leave the sunglasses where he’d find them.
Grabbing them, she exited her comfortable, old Craftsman-style farmhouse. The original covered porch extended across the front of the house, and the backside had been remodeled years ago. A mishmash of large windows, French doors, decks, and a patio took advantage of the view. The stairs down to the water had rotted so she carefully made her way down the rocky bank. Her aunt’s property and the Delgado property shared the same cove. Mariah pictured Rodrigo sitting on the deck sipping a margarita.
She skirted the shoreline and picked her way through the darkness. Stumbling a few times, she lectured herself for not bringing a flashlight. Craning her neck, she tried to get a better view of the house tucked back in the cove. The house lights reflected off the water and illuminated her path.
She hesitated.
What was she doing? One minute she’d told him to get lost and now she was spying on him. Well, he’d spied on her, so one good turn deserved another. Moving closer, she positioned herself in the best spot to look in the two-story windows. She didn’t see anyone inside. Mariah crept to the edge of the lawn and paused to listen for sounds in the night but heard nothing. She tiptoed across the dew-dampened grass. Her sandals slapped on the ground, making too much noise. She hesitated. This was stupid. A wise girl would sneak back home. A smart girl wouldn’t have come here in the first place.
“Looking for someone?”
Mariah jumped, and a subdued scream escaped her throat, and she whirled around. Rodrigo stood on the dock about twenty feet away. He’d caught her red-handed and red-faced. Now who was the stalker? “You scared me,” she blurted out.
“That’s the second time today. I’m a scary guy.” He chuckled and shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans.
“The second time?” She pointed an accusing finger at him. “Ah ha! So you admit it. You’re the troll!”
“I’m the what?”
“The troll in the woods who scared my horse.”
“I will never admit to it. You know, most people knock on the front door instead of lurking in the shadows.” Amusement peppered his voice and glinted in his mocha eyes.
“I...I’m...sorry...I...” Mortified, Mariah stared at the ground. She scooted away from the light, hoping to conceal her face. She’d screwed up big time. Just like that, he’d gotten the upper hand. No doubt he’d take that inch and make it into a mile.
“Did you change your mind about going out with me?” He glanced at his watch. “It’s a little late for dinner now, but I am still hungry.”
His self-satisfied smirk irritated her but not as much as the sticky situation she’d put herself in.
“I—I ate dinner,” she stammered.
“So did I. Did you think I was referring to
food?”
Totally flustered, she shut her mouth before she uttered more words of wisdom.
He crooked his little finger at her. “Come here, Mariah. I can barely see you.”
That’s the idea.
“I thought I’d sit on the end of the dock for a while. Enjoy the evening. Why don’t you join me?” He switched tactics from teasing to persuading.
“I should be going.” Only she didn’t go. In fact, she didn’t move—not one muscle.
“Why? You must have come here for a reason. Or were you doing research to see if I slept in the nude?”
“No,” she denied vehemently. “No, of course not.”
She heard his chuckle in the darkness.
“You’re insufferable,” She wanted to be really pissed at him but those eyes made it a difficult task.
“Sorry. Something about you brings it out in me.” He actually did look contrite.
“I brought your sunglasses back.” She held them out to him, but he made no move to take them.
“Mariah.” His soft coaxing voice vaporized the last of her resistance. “Come here.”
Drawn by that sexy voice, she walked toward him. He waited for her. Once she stood beside him, he took the sunglasses from her hand and tucked them in his pocket. Then he rested his hand on the small of her back and guided her to the end of the dock.
Rodrigo sat down on the edge and swung his bare feet back and forth in the water, making ripples. He smiled up at her. The small lights on the dock bathed his face in a soft glow, accenting his chiseled jaw and perfectly sculpted cheekbones. He patted the dock beside him. “Sit down. Keep me company for a while. I’ll behave myself unless you don’t want me to.”
Save the Last Dance Page 2