Love on the Wild Side

by Mariah Ankenman

  Accident? The guy intentionally kicked his horse.

  “It has caused him to miss work and incur many costly medical bills. We are simply asking for monetary compensation in order to cover those expenses and losses.”

  Compensation to the tune of fifty thousand dollars! Who was this guy kidding? Even if he’d been bucked by accident, there was no way he needed that much money.

  Dade smelled a scam.

  “According to the incident report my brother filed, Mr. Carr was instructed several times not to kick the horse.” He pulled out a copy of the report Colton had filled out, per their policy. “Your client”—he slid a look to the still silent Mr. Carr—“signed a release waiver indicating he knew the risk of injury before he went on the trail ride. He was told, repeatedly, not to kick the horse. The Denning Ranch is at no fault, and we cannot provide compensation.”

  “That damn horse is a menace,” Carr shouted, slamming his fist on the table. “He’s a wild beast that should be put down!”

  Okay that does it. It was one thing to be a greedy bastard, but no one insulted their horses.

  “Red is a twenty-year-old gelding. He’s one of the gentlest horses we own. Which is why we put many of our more inexperienced riders on him.” He shot Carr a dark look. “But even the tamest of horses will buck if you kick them too hard. You were warned, and you ignored that warning. You’re not getting one penny from me.”

  “We are prepared to take this to court,” Dornes said, pushing his black-rimmed glasses up his nose.

  Dade wasn’t fooled. The lawyer knew he had no case, but his client probably paid him the big bucks to make everyone else’s life miserable. Going to court would mean lawyer fees, time away from the ranch, basically, a big old headache, just to land right back where they were. Carr pissed off and the ranch in the right.

  He didn’t want to deal with all that, but he would, because he didn’t bow down to bullies. No one pushed him around. He would fight this in court if need be. Carr might be used to pushing other people around with his money and power, but obviously, the guy never heard the term “cowboy up.”

  Time to put his boots on and kick some city slicker butt.

  If this guy wanted a quick buck he came to the wrong place. Dade wasn’t afraid of him or his fancy pants lawyer. “Fine. Then I guess I’ll see you in court.” He started to leave when a sultry voice interrupted.

  “James Carr, what on earth are you doing here?”

  Dade turned his head at the surprised lilt and suppressed a groan. There stood Elizabeth in a pair of black shorts that accentuated her long legs and a gray, scoop neck T-shirt covered in a fine dusting of, what he assumed to be, flour. Her stick straight hair had been pulled back into a ponytail, and her face had just the barest hint of makeup. She looked so damn sexy and wasn’t even trying. It made his bad mood even worse.

  “I haven’t seen you since, hmm, when was it?” She tapped a finger on her chin. “Oh yes, Atlanta. The ARM conference.”

  Carr turned a little green.

  Well, this just got interesting.

  “Why are you all the way up here in Peak Town?”

  When neither Carr nor Dornes answered, he spoke. “He’s suing the ranch.”

  The tall strawberry-blonde turned to him with wide-eyed innocence. “Really? Whatever for?”

  He had no idea what her game was, but it was amusing to watch. “He took a trail ride a while back. Kicked the horse after being told not to and got bucked. He walked away just fine, but now he’s claiming back injury. Wants compensation.”

  She winked before turning to the pudgy, green-faced man.

  What was that about?

  “Oh, James,” she began. “How awful. I hope the horse didn’t re-injure you.”

  “Re-injure?” What the hell?

  “You see, James just has some terrible luck with hurting his back. I believe the hotel also injured your back after you slipped on—what was it again?” She paused, as if trying to remember. “Oh yes, you slipped on some ice from the faulty ice machine and fell down.”

  Sonofabitch. He knew he’d smelled a scam.

  “Surely, you signed a release waiver before riding? One that explained the risks?”

  “He did,” Dade answered when Carr remained silent.

  “May I see it?”

  Finally, the lawyer spoke up. “I don’t think that’s appropriate, Ms. Hayworth. You are not a party to this.”

  “Hello, Mike.” Her voice had a sweet, venomous bite to it. “Still helping your cousin pull scams I see?”

  Cousin? Holy crap.

  Dade handed his copy of the waiver to Lizzy. She read over the paper then sighed, looking up at the men.

  “I’m afraid you’re out of luck this time, James. This waiver is iron clad. It will hold up in any court. You can’t scam Dade. He’s too smart for you.”

  She thought he was smart? He didn’t know why, but that revelation pleased him.

  “Fuck you, Elizabeth!”

  Red haze clouded Dade’s vision. The guy was an ass. Carr could yell at him all he wanted, but he would not let this jerk insult Lizzy.

  He started to stand, but paused when a soft hand landed on his shoulder.

  Gray eyes gleaming with anger, she smiled. “You already tried that remember? And how did that go for you? Still need to ice your crotch every night?”

  Carr’s face turned bright red. The man looked like one of those old cartoon characters. All he needed was some steam coming out of his ears.

  “You know,” she continued. “I still have Detective Jones’ number. I’m sure he would be interested in your whereabouts. Yours, too, Mike.”

  The two men glanced at each other nervously. Carr leaned over and whispered something in his cousin’s ear. The lawyer nodded.

  Ignoring Lizzy, he focused on Dade. “My client has decided to drop his claim.”

  Oh, really? Now why wasn’t that a surprise.

  “He hopes in the future you take better care of your clientele.”

  The two men rose and started out of the restaurant.

  “Bye, bye boys.” Lizzy gave a little wave of her fingers.

  The cousins ignored her and hurried out of the restaurant.

  “What the hell just happened?”

  That tall, tempting body plopped down in one of the recently vacated seats. “I just saved you a lot of headache.”

  “I know, and I’m thankful, but what was that?”

  “That,” she said, pointing to the door the two men just exited. “Was James Carr and Mike Dornes. Cousins, scam artists, and all around asshats.”

  He leaned forward, anxious for the story he knew was coming.

  “I met them a few years ago at the Association of Restaurant Managers conference in Georgia. They tried to scam the hotel out of a lot of money. The hotel offered a settlement just to make it all go away, but there was a detective assigned to the case. He said the guys tried this before, all over the country. He was trying to find enough evidence to put them away.”

  “So, Carr is a manager of something?”

  Delicate shoulders shrugged. “I have no idea. I’m pretty sure they just go from state to state scamming people and trying to stay one step ahead of the law.”

  Definitely asshats.

  “What was that bit about Carr needing ice?”

  A blush rose on her fair skin. It did interesting things to her face. Her cheeks turned rosy and her lips pinked. He wondered if her whole body flushed that pretty after an intense climax.

  Whoa, back up the horse wagon.

  He should not be thinking about climax and Lizzy in the same thought.

  He shouldn’t be, but he was.

  Dammit.

  “Oh that.” She tugged on the end of her ponytail. “We met at the hotel bar. He was hitting on me, but I wasn’t interested. He didn’t get the hint.”

  Dade didn’t like where this story was headed.

  “What happened?”

  “He followed me to
my room.”

  Something dark and ugly rose inside him, making him wish Carr was still around so he could pummel the guy.

  “He waited until I opened the door then tried to push his way in.”

  Shit. He really didn’t like this story. An intense urge to grab Lizzy and protect her from the whole world hit him square in the chest. “What happened?” His voice came out harder than he intended.

  A wicked gleam lit her eyes. “I kneed him in the balls so hard they had to call an ambulance.”

  “Good for you.” She didn’t need his protection. He should have known that. The woman was the most capable person he had run across in a long time. “And thanks for getting me out of that mess. I know I was in the right, but I was not looking forward to taking those two jerkoffs to court.” He took another sip of his coffee. Ahhh, much better. “I’m surprised actually. That was quite brilliant the way you handled them.”

  He watched her smile slip. Stormy gray eyes turned sad. Damn, that was a look he didn’t like. Like a punch right to the chest.

  “You’re surprised? Because I used my brain instead of my looks to outsmart a couple of idiots?”

  “No, of course not.”

  She stood, her brow turning down with disgust. “I’m more than my looks, Dade. I have one or two IQ points rambling around in this pretty head you know.”

  What the hell just happened? All he’d been trying to do was pay her a compliment. He really did not get this woman.

  As she started to leave, he reached out, grabbing her hand. “Lizzy, I’m sorry. That wasn’t what I meant.”

  She glared then returned to her seat.

  “You are a very intelligent person. Maggie talks about how smart you are all the time. I was just surprised you knew those two and had all that dirt on them. You just caught me off guard.”

  She contemplated him a moment. “All right, you’re forgiven. But I don’t remember giving you permission to call me Lizzy yet.”

  Right, her “only friends can call me Lizzy” rule.

  “Well, we’re going to practically be family soon. I figured it would be okay.”

  “I guess,” she conceded with a sigh.

  He motioned to the door in reference to the aforementioned asshats. “I owe you one.”

  She gave him a wicked grin, and he felt the knot in his chest loosen. Damn, but he hadn’t liked seeing that sad look on her face.

  “Yes, you do. Now, how can I call in my debt?”

  He didn’t like that evil twinkle in her eyes, either.

  “How about you let me buy you lunch?”

  She shook her head. “Sorry, I have to get back to the shop. I was just picking up a to-go order for the kids.”

  She held up a brown sack. Had she been holding that this whole time?

  “How about you buy me a drink tonight? That is, if there’s a bar in this town.”

  A drink? Like a date? That would be…dangerous. Yes, he found the woman attractive—sexy as hell, in truth—but she was his soon to be sister-in-law’s best friend. There was a crude saying the old guys down at the feed store had about not eating where you shit. He had a feeling if he started anything with Lizzy, Maggie would find every horse dropping on the ranch and burry him in it.

  So, no. Not a date. Just a casual thank you from one friend to another. Not that they were really friends, but he had promised his brother he was going to at least try and be nice to the woman.

  So, a drink it is, then.

  “The Bucking Bronco. Everyone just calls it Buck’s.”

  She let out a snort of laughter. “The Bucking Bronco? Seriously?”

  He nodded, wondering what was so funny.

  “I swear, this town is a cowboy cliché. I feel like I’m in a Spaghetti Western or something most days.”

  He shrugged. “A lot of town revenue comes from tourists. They like it when we play Wild West.”

  “Okay, Buck’s it is. Nine work for you?”

  “Works just fine.”

  Standing, she sent him another wink before saying, “See ya tonight, cowpoke.”

  He watched the sway of her hips as she left Merle’s. The shorts cupped her ass perfectly, and he wondered if she’d wear them tonight. Or would she wear a dress? A dress would give him access to—

  No. He had to stop those thoughts right now. Lizzy was not his type. Tonight was just about one person thanking another for getting them out of a jam. A friendly drink, that was all.

  So, why was he looking forward to it so much?

  ****

  “Why the hell was that bitch there?” James screamed at his cousin as they left the small country diner.

  “I have no idea. I thought she lived in LA.”

  Barreling his way across the street, he ignored the honking horn from a beat up old truck. His cousin followed like a pathetic little lap dog, eager for attention. He brushed some dirt off his two thousand dollar Ralph Lauren suit. God, this town was disgusting. Dirt everywhere, and the whole place smelled like cow shit.

  “I thought you said this would be a sure thing,” Mike whined from behind him.

  Yeah, I thought so. When they first came to Aspen months ago, their plan had been to scam one of the big hotels. A trip down the stairs or maybe a fall in the slippery shower. A classic scam, easy money. Then he’d seen a flyer for horseback riding in the small town of Peak Town a few miles outside of Aspen. It seemed like the perfect opportunity. Fall off his horse and scam cowboy Clem out of a few grand. He hadn’t planned on the stupid horse actually bucking him.

  Jaw tight, he ground his teeth together. Stupid horse actually gave him motive to demand more. After all, he’d really gotten hurt this time. Who knew the owner of the horseback riding operation had more than two brain cells? Wasn’t everyone out here supposed to be married to their cousin or something? Shouldn’t they all be playing banjos and drinking moonshine on their porches?

  “Even if Elizabeth hadn’t shown up, I don’t think he was going to pay us.”

  “Shut up, Mike.” He turned, ready to take his anger out on anyone near. His cousin ducked; the pathetic little shit was often the one nearest. “It doesn’t matter now does it? That stupid bitch showed up and ruined everything.”

  Just like she had in Atlanta.

  “So, what now?”

  James stopped once they got to their vehicle, a black Lincoln Town Car that sorely stuck out around these parts. He pressed his key fob, unlocking it, and got in the driver’s side. His cousin wordlessly scrambled into the passenger seat. Once he and his annoying relation were inside and had relative privacy, he took a breath. What now? The Denning Ranch scam was a bust. They should really get out of town. He didn’t think Elizabeth would actually call the detective that had been after them in Atlanta…but he didn’t want to risk it.

  “We leave town. Cut our losses.”

  Mike nodded. His cousin was as spineless as a jellyfish. It was pitiful really, but the younger man did what he said, and the chicken-shit did have a law degree. He needed Mike for his scams to work, so he put up with the weak-willed nature.

  “We going east?”

  An idea popped into his head. “No, west.”

  “West?”

  He adjusted the rearview mirror and saw a wicked grin curl his lips. “Yeah. I want to know why little Miss Smarty Pants isn’t in LA anymore.”

  Because there was a reason Elizabeth Hayworth was in Colorado instead of California. If he could exploit that reason to his advantage, then it might make up for her nosy interferences.

  Mike swallowed loudly, rubbing his sweaty palms on his jacket.

  “Do you remember the name of the restaurant she managed?” It had been on her name badge at the ARM conference.

  “I think I have it somewhere.”

  That was another reason he kept his cousin around. The man took copious notes on every scam they did. He had names, dates, and pages of information on each mark. It was helpful, so they knew not to hit the same place twice or pull the same con t
oo many times. Things like that sent up red flags.

  Mike took his small, black laptop out of his briefcase and started to type. The clickety-clack of the keys set James nerves on edge, but he controlled his temper in hopes of good news.

  “Here it is.” His cousin adjusted his glasses, squinting at the screen. “La Central, just off of Hollywood and Vine.”

  He put the Town Car in reverse, grabbing the shifter in a death grip. “Perfect. Let’s go pay the owner a visit. He must be feeling a little put out that his manager is all the way in bumfuck mountain town. I wonder what we can do to help him with that.”

  His cousin, knowing another scam was on, started typing away on his computer, setting things up. James drove out of Peak Town, a perverse pleasure rising in him with each mile he put between him and that dirt hole of a place.

  So, Elizabeth thought she could just mess with his plans, screw with his life, again? He couldn’t wait to see how she liked it when someone screwed with hers.

  Chapter 5

  What does one wear to a bar named The Bucking Bronco? Lizzy pondered as she sifted through her clothes. Cowboy boots? The only cowboy boots she owned were bright red with sparkly rhinestones covering the entire bottom half. She’d bought them for the Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy charity auction a few years back. They’d been auctioning off dates with LA’s most eligible bachelors to raise funds for an equine rescue center.

  Everyone dressed in the most outrageous western getups. Absolutely none were authentic. One woman had worn a pair of boots with actual diamonds on them. She was pretty sure a fifteen-hundred-dollar pair of Giuseppe Zanotti boots were never meant to be within ten feet of an actual horse. Lizzy bought her outfit at a costume shop; it’d looked just as gaudy, without costing her an entire year’s rent money.

  No way could she show up to meet Dade wearing those tacky boots. The cutoff jean shorts and plaid, midriff tie shirt she bought with them wouldn’t work either. Lizzy wanted to look like herself, not Elly May.

  Her stomach fluttered like a million butterflies were all flapping their tiny wings inside her. She shouldn’t be this nervous. It was just a drink. Dade was just thanking her for saving him from the con cousins.

  Just a friendly drink between two friends.