Cowboy Bounty Hunter

by Lori Wilde

  Now it clicked. In the back of the yearbook had been a mock-up of a wanted poster with Allison's picture on it and text underneath that read:

  The senior class of Hay Springs High is offering a reward of one dollar for any information about AWOL classmate Allison Webb. She was last seen spreading nasty rumors about the cheerleaders.

  "Well, it looks like the mystery might be solved tonight," Sam said, bored with old high school drama. "All you have to do is ask her where she went and why."

  Lila smiled as she swept her arm in Allison's direction. "Be my guest, Mr. Holloway. I'll be waiting to soak up all your juicy tidbits."

  Sam walked across the ballroom, driven more by a desire to escape Lila than any curiosity about Allison. As he approached her, she caught sight of his name tag, her eyes widening in surprise.

  "Gilbert Holloway?" she said, looking him up and down.

  "That's right," he replied, still imitating Gilbert’s voice. "How are you, Allison?"

  "You know how I am." She moved closer to him and whispered, "The question is, what are you doing here?"

  "Catching up with old friends," he replied, caught off guard by her reaction.

  "Are you nuts?" she hissed. "This isn't the time to be playing games. There's too much at stake."

  His instincts as a bounty hunter kicked into high gear at her words. It looked like there was more to the mystery of Allison than anyone here had imagined. There was obviously something going on between her and Gilbert. Probably not a physical relationship, he determined, since she didn't realize he was an imposter—which left another incriminating possibility.

  "I guess I like to live dangerously,” he improvised.

  "I know why you're here," she accused, her gaze narrowing on him. "You want to see goody-two-shoes Gracie."

  The jealousy in her tone was unmistakable. But he still couldn't be sure about her connection to Gilbert. He needed to draw her out and make her reveal something that would lead him in the right direction. "What makes you say that?"

  "Maybe the fact that you're compromising the entire plan by showing up here tonight. Why did you insist that I contact Walker Mullen if you were planning to be here?"

  Walker Mullen? The name didn't sound familiar. Unless there was an alumnus from Hay Springs High that he’d forgotten about.

  "In case you're interested, he bought my story about the stalker and is making the plans for us to travel incognito. I'm supposed to pick up our travel itinerary at his agency on Monday morning."

  So, this Walker Mullen was a local travel agent—and a dupe. That answered one question but it still didn't get him any closer to finding Gilbert.

  "Now you're taking a chance of blowing everything. And for what?" She rolled her eyes. "A chance to moon over Gracie Delacroix?"

  Sam wished he knew what she was talking about. He was floundering here and had no idea how to dig for more information without revealing himself.

  "Let me buy you a drink," he offered, noting the empty glass in her hand. He could smell the alcohol on her breath and hoped a little more would help her loosen her tongue.

  She shook her head. "I'm leaving now. Besides, I prefer to keep a clear head. It's safer that way. And I suggest you do the same—especially around Gracie. If she gets in the way...”

  "What?" he prodded, his skin prickling at her tone.

  "Just follow the plan and Gracie won't get hurt," Allison said in a low voice. "I know where she lives, so if anything goes wrong—and I mean, anything—then she'll be the one who pays. Got it?"

  Before he could reply to her not-so-veiled threat, Allison turned on her heel and walked away. Sam started to follow her when another woman came into his view. The woman he'd only seen before this moment in a yearbook photo and in his dreams.

  Gracie.

  #

  Gracie stood in the crowded ballroom at the Claremont Hotel, her gaze skimming over the faces of her old high school classmates. Some were familiar to her; some she barely recognized anymore. A few of them cast curious glances her way, but most were engaged in conversation, gathered in small clusters at tables or standing around the bar.

  She wondered why she’d spent money on a low-cut, slinky black dress and designer jewelry. At least she’d been smart enough to wear shoes with a low heel, sympathizing as she watched her female classmates struggle to dance while wearing their fancy stilettos.

  The one classmate she didn't see in the ballroom was Gilbert. Her heart sank when she realized all her preparation—the dress, the shoes, the manicure, just might have been for nothing. It looked like Gilbert was a no-show. Maybe he hadn’t seen her email. Or, more likely, she’d misunderstood his note and he’d never planned to attend the reunion in the first place. After all, they’d both hated high school, so why come back to celebrate it?

  Gracie walked over to the punch bowl, telling herself not to obsess about it. She could still have a good time tonight and maybe even find some new clients for her business, or better yet, steer her old classmates to Jolene’s Antique Emporium.

  "Gracie Delacroix, is that really you?"

  She turned around to see a buxom redhead barreling down on her. The woman held a name tag in one hand and a full glass of red wine in the other. Her face looked somewhat familiar, but Gracie couldn't place her.

  "You don't know who I am, do you?" the woman said, laughing as she slapped the name tag onto the spaghetti strap of Gracie's dress. "It's me, Lila Atley! And here I thought geeky Gilbert would win the award for Most Improved Since High School. You look great, girl!"

  "Geeky Gilbert?" she echoed, her heart skipping a beat. "Is he here?"

  "Of course, he's here," Lila replied. "And wait until you see him. You won't believe your eyes." She grabbed Gracie by the elbow and pivoted her around. "He's right over... there.” Her voice trailed off and she frowned. "Well, he was right over there. I'm not sure where he is now."

  Gracie smoothed down her dress and suddenly felt nervous. What if their friendship hadn’t survived ten years apart? She’d certainly changed since high school, so maybe he had too.

  She cleared her throat and tried to relax. "So, how have you been, Lila?"

  "Fantastic," she replied. "I just got transferred to the bank here in Hay Springs from the main branch in Dallas. It’s great to be home again. I’m still a teller, but I've got my eye on a management position. It's all about networking, you know, and I've already scored some great dirt on the current bank manager.”

  Gracie forced herself to maintain eye contact with Lila instead of looking around for Gilbert. Let him come to me.

  "So, what about you, Gracie?" Lila asked. "Are you married? Any kids?"

  "Oh, no," Gracie replied. "Not yet anyway. My work keeps me too busy."

  Her smile softened with pity. "Are you still at that cute little antique shop in Pine City? Your aunt owns that, right? I remember you always had to work there whenever the pep club was decorating the hallways for the football team.”

  “Actually, I’m doing something else now,” Gracie replied, not bothering to elaborate. This conversation reminded her of why she’d never really fit in at Hay Springs High School. She’d had so little in common with most of her classmates. Obviously, ten years hadn’t changed that, and a quick perusal of the ballroom showed that many of the old cliques still existed.

  "There's Honey Pate." Lila pointed across the ballroom. "Rumor has it that she's marrying some oil tycoon from Houston."

  "I don't recognize half the people here," Gracie said, still amazed at the changes in some of her classmates. She wondered if she looked as different to them as they did to her. Gracie’s hair was a little shorter than it had been in high school, and she'd slimmed down after swearing off taffy.

  "Who is that over by the fake palm tree?" Gracie asked.

  "Mitch Putnam," Lila replied. "Isn't it a hoot? The guy's at least three inches taller than he was in high school. He must have gotten lifts or something."

  "Maybe he just had a late growth sp
urt."

  "It's certainly possible." Lila adjusted her cleavage. "That's what happened to me." Then she dug her elbow into Gracie's ribs. "Don't look now, but here he comes."

  "Mitch?"

  "No, it’s Gilbert!"

  Gracie's breath caught in her throat as she turned to see a man approaching them. He was tall and brawny, wearing a western gray suit with matching boots and a gray felt cowboy hat. But as soon as she saw him, she realized it wasn't Gilbert. This man was too handsome. Too confident. Too... sexy.

  Despite her disappointment, she couldn't take her eyes off him. She barely heard Lila's whispered plea to put in a good word for her before she found herself standing alone with him.

  "Hello, Gracie."

  He sounded just like the Gilbert she’d known, but the way he said her name sent a shiver of awareness down her spine and she forced her gaze from his dark-brown eyes to the white name tag on his jacket. It had the words Gilbert Holloway written on it, but that couldn’t be right.

  Her gaze flicked to his face again and she searched for some hint of familiarity. But he looked nothing like the skinny kid with the thick glasses that she’d remembered. He’d gained at least fifty pounds, and all of it muscle. And he’d gone full cowboy.

  But more than his physical appearance had changed. It was the way he stood and the air of confidence about him that made him seem like a completely different man.

  "I can't believe it's really you," she breathed, still a little confused.

  "And I can't believe how beautiful you look tonight."

  He kept his gaze locked on hers, and that was different too. Gilbert used to have trouble maintaining eye contact with people, even his best friend. Now he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her. The boy she'd known had become a man in the past ten years. A sexy, irresistible man.

  "I don't know what to say," she sputtered, realizing she'd forgotten all about the note he’d sent her. This Gilbert didn’t look like someone in trouble. She, however, was gaping at him like an idiot and no doubt sounding like one, too.

  She noticed Lila moving toward them and wanted to talk to Gilbert alone. “Let’s dance,” she said, grabbing his hand and pulling him onto the dance floor.

  “Have you always been this bossy?” he asked, his broad fingers twining through hers.

  “Yes, don’t you remember? We went to prom together and I made you dance with me. You hated every minute of it.” She laughed as they stood awkwardly together while couples danced the Texas Two-Step around them. “I guess some things never change.”

  “Or maybe they do,” he said, sweeping her into his arms and leading her expertly around

  the dance floor.

  Gracie’s breath caught in her throat, but she managed to avoid stepping on his toes. "We're finally together again, after all this time."

  "Finally," he agreed, spinning her in a circle. The old Gilbert had always smelled a little like pepperoni, due to his daily diet of frozen pizza. This new Gilbert carried the aroma of musk and man, an intoxicating combination that almost made her dizzy.

  "When did you get here?" she asked, trying to regain her equilibrium. This was just Gilbert, after all. Her oldest and dearest friend. There was no reason for her heart to be tripping in her chest this way or for her knees to feel weak.

  "Last night. I got a room here."

  “Me too. How was the flight from Houston?”

  “Houston?” he echoed, sounding surprised. “Oh, it was great.”

  “Great?” She smiled up at him. “Does that mean you don’t have panic attacks at thirty thousand feet anymore?”

  He gazed into her eyes. “I’m a new man.”

  “That’s the understatement of the night,” she said, still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that Gilbert was here, in her arms, and more incredible than she'd ever imagined.

  The next song was a slow country ballad and she swayed to the music, feeling like she was born to be in his arms. So far, this reunion was nothing like she’d imagined. "Where did you learn to dance like this?"

  A smile kicked up one corner of his mouth. "The internet."

  "No, really."

  His smile widened. "It's the truth. I always wanted to learn how to dance, but never had the time. So, I used a search engine to locate online dance lessons."

  "Online dance lessons," she echoed, still skeptical. "Nobody learns to dance like this all by themselves."

  "I might have honed my skills at a few clubs on the weekends."

  His admission evoked a pang of envy at the thought of another woman in his arms. A ridiculous reaction since they hadn't seen each other for ten years. The new-and-improved Gilbert had probably dated countless women.

  But why was she thinking about his dating life when she’d come here for a specific purpose—to help him get out of whatever trouble he was in. She found it strange that he hadn’t said a word about the package he’d sent her.

  The music ended, but Gilbert didn't release her from his embrace. "Shall we find a table and have a drink or keep dancing?"

  As much as she'd enjoyed their dance, Gracie needed a few moments alone to refocus. "A drink sounds good to me. Would you mind getting me a glass of Merlot while I make a dash to the ladies' room?"

  "Not at all," he replied. "Shall we meet at a table by the atrium?"

  "See you there." Gracie watched him walk away, then took a deep breath as she went in search of a restroom. She found one in the lobby, enjoying the brief respite from the music and the milling crowd to get her head together.

  She walked inside the ornate restroom, the porcelain sinks and pink stalls on one side and a plush lounge area on the other. As she headed to a sink, she recognized two former cheerleaders from high school, Amy Louise Bloom and Maddie Mackenzie. They sat on a pale-blue suede sofa, talking loudly to each other and completely unaware or unconcerned by her presence.

  Just like back in high school.

  Gracie smiled to herself, remembering how much their behavior would have wounded her back then. Now she had much bigger things to worry about. The biggest, at the moment, being the handsome man waiting for her in the ballroom.

  She pulled a paper towel from the dispenser, running it under cold tap water, then wringing it out before pressing it to her flushed face. As Gracie stood at the sink, part of their conversation caught her attention.

  "Did you get a look at Gilbert Holloway?" Maddie asked her companion.

  "Oh, I know!" Amy Louise exclaimed. "Talk about a transformation."

  "The guy went from geek to Greek god,” Maddie mused. “Makes me wish I'd been nicer to him back in high school."

  Amy Louise laughed as they got up and headed for the door. "Makes me wish I'd left my husband at home tonight!"

  Gracie pulled the paper towel from her face, then touched up her makeup. As she applied her lipstick, she became more determined than ever to help him. Gilbert might have changed on the outside, but he was probably still the same sweet, sensitive guy on the inside.

  So, she didn't need to be intimidated by him. He was the guy who used to sing show tunes to her when she was feeling down. The same guy who had teared up watching It’s a Wonderful Life. Women like Lila, Amy Louise, and Maddie would never appreciate his inner qualities.

  Which meant she'd be crazy to risk her friendship with Gilbert by taking it to the next level—no matter how much she was tempted.

  Refreshed and resolved, she walked out of the restroom and into the ballroom. She looked toward the atrium and saw Gilbert already seated at a table. Lila stood on the other side of him, leaning just far enough in his direction to give Gilbert an R-rated view of her cleavage.

  "We were just talking about you," Lila trilled as Gracie approached the table.

  "Really?" She took a chair right next to Gilbert, then smiled up at Lila. "You're such a dear. Thanks for keeping Gilbert company while I was gone. I can take over from here so you can go have some fun."

  Disappointment flashed in Lila's pale-green eyes, but
she hid it with a toothy smile. "It was my pleasure. I'll see you two later."

  "Bye," Gracie said, watching Lila turn and head in the direction of another lone male. Then she reached for her wineglass, suddenly aware that Gilbert might have been enjoying Lila's little peep show. "I hope I wasn't interrupting anything."

  "You're amazing," he said, turning to look at her. "You got rid of Lila but did it in such a polite way that she thanked you for it."

  When he looked at her like that, Gracie felt like they were the only two people in the ballroom. She found herself wishing she could read his mind. That she could know for certain what he wanted from her.

  "By the way, I want to apologize for not responding to your last email," he said, clearing his throat. "I've been having some computer problems."

  "Don’t worry about it.” Gracie drained her glass, sensing that it was now or never. Her curiosity was killing her. Coming face-to-face with this Gilbert, a man she didn't even recognize anymore, had almost made her forget the real reason she was here.

  "You're full of surprises lately," she said, setting the empty glass on the table. "Like that package you sent me.”

  He arched a dark brow. "Package?"

  "You know, the video." Gracie reached into her purse and pulled it out, almost spilling her breath mints onto the floor. She hastily stuffed them back inside, hoping he hadn't noticed.

  Gilbert didn't say anything, making her even more curious.

  "I brought it along in case the reunion got boring, and we wanted to bail out and go watch it together," Gracie said, aware she was talking too fast. "You know, like old times?"

  As the words came out of her mouth, Gracie wanted to sink into the floor. It almost sounded like a proposition when she’d just meant it as an opportunity to talk in private.

  His silence stretched into an eternity. Then he took the videotape out of her hands. "How about watching it right now? This hotel is so dated there’s still a VCR in my room. I bet we can even order a pizza from room service."

  "Pepperoni?" she said, relieved that he hadn't misread her suggestion. That's when Gracie realized just how much spending this time with Gilbert meant to her.