Cowboys Like Us

by Vicki Lewis Thompson

  Heat flooded through him. “Stop that.”

  “Stop what?” She widened her eyes in innocence.

  “You know perfectly well. Your choice of words. Like massage and input. You’re trying to make me think about—” He realized the more he talked, the more aroused he was getting. “Never mind. Let’s go in.”

  “Yes. Let’s.”

  Noah clenched his jaw and started toward the entrance. He would do this. The object was to set Keely on the right path, while being careful not to amble down the wrong one himself. They were only talking about three days. Surely he could manage to keep his pants zipped for three days.

  THREE DAYS IN A PLACE like this would give her plenty of time and opportunity to corrupt Noah, Keely thought as they walked through the glittering lobby toward the reservation desk. She didn’t need to win the war in the first two hours. She should probably cool it.

  All things considered, she shouldn’t have allowed matters to proceed so quickly in the underbrush. A kiss would have been plenty for this stage of the game. A kiss would have been quite enough of a sampling, thank you very much. But no, she’d gone completely out of her mind.

  Apparently all those years of wanting Noah had created a powerful backlog of needs. If dear Jose hadn’t shown up she would have given away the farm right on the spot, behind a boulder in the front landscaping of the Tahitian. And despite what Noah thought of her shady past, that sort of stunt would be a first for her.

  She wouldn’t call it a bad idea, though. In fact, it was a pretty good idea. Extremely creative. But the timing was all wrong. Moving that fast, that soon, would have scared Noah to death, once he’d done the deed and come to his senses. She’d nearly blown her opportunity by overreacting. If she wasn’t more careful, he might reconsider his weekend plan to save her.

  And she so didn’t want him to reconsider. After that kiss, if she were a pinball machine she’d be on tilt. The heavenly way his mouth had felt on hers had naturally made her think of how perfect his mouth would feel on her breasts. And she’d charged straight for that goal without thinking of the consequences, forgetting that she might be sacrificing a long-term gain for a short-term thrill.

  Yet he was walking toward the reservation desk as if he still had every intention of asking for another key. Maybe after that last demonstration he was even more convinced that he had to save her. Maybe letting her impulses get the best of her hadn’t been such a mistake, after all. Now he really believed she was bad, through and through. Eventually, he wouldn’t be able to resist being bad with her.

  Feeling better about the future of the weekend, she decided to cut him some slack. “Why don’t I wait over by the potted palm?” she said. “That way you don’t have to feel so uncomfortable about asking for the extra key because I won’t be standing right beside you looking like your babe-for-the-night.”

  He glanced at her, a gleam in his eyes. Then he looked away, and when his gaze found hers again, the gleam was gone. “That’s okay. After the incident with Jose, this will be a piece of cake.”

  “Really?” Now, this was an interesting development. She had the urge to dampen her finger and chalk up a point on an invisible scoreboard. In a very short time, she’d raised Noah’s sexual daring a sizable notch. That was something to be proud of. At this rate, no telling what sort of adventures he might be willing to undertake by Sunday night. And though he’d tried to disguise it, she’d seen that gleam of desire when she’d mentioned being his babe-for-the-night.

  Noah walked up to the desk, gave his name and asked for an extra key “for the lady.”

  Keely was majorly impressed. He hadn’t even tried to pretend she was a relative.

  “Certainly, sir.” The desk clerk, a wholesome type of guy, didn’t even blink as he called up Noah’s account on the computer. But whatever he saw on the screen made his eyes widen. “Oh, boy. Good thing you stopped by the desk, Mr. Garfield. There’s been a small problem with your room.”

  “What sort of problem?”

  The clerk frowned at the screen. “I need to get the manager out here to talk with you. Excuse me a moment.” He picked up a phone and punched in a number. “Mr. Garfield’s at the desk. No, I don’t think he’s been up there yet. Right.” He hung up the phone and turned to Noah. “Sorry for the inconvenience, sir. The manager will be right out.”

  Keely wondered if the delay, whatever was causing it, would make Noah more self-conscious about his request for a spare key. Apparently not, because he turned to her and shrugged.

  “Mr. Garfield.” A guy only slightly older than the desk clerk arrived and held out his hand over the counter. “I’m Martin Ames. Could we step down to the end of the counter for a moment? I need to inform you of our problem.”

  “Okay.” Noah looked at Keely. “Let’s go see what this is all about.”

  She hesitated. “Are you sure you want me to—”

  “Yeah.” He smiled and angled his head toward the end of the counter. “Come on.”

  “All right.” Congratulations, Noah, she thought as she followed him. From all appearances he was bringing a call girl up to his room, but he didn’t seem to care whether the staff assumed that or not. His friends were a different story, of course, but his reluctance there was understandable.

  Ames came out from behind the counter and glanced pointedly at Keely before returning his gaze to Noah.

  To Noah’s credit, he made no effort to explain Keely’s presence. “What seems to be the problem?” he asked.

  The manager looked uncomfortable. “We’re a new hotel, as I’m sure you know, and in the rush to get it open on time, apparently the hiring process wasn’t…what I mean to say is, the screening of applicants might not have been quite thorough enough. At least in the housekeeping department.”

  “And you would be telling me all this because…?”

  “One of the housekeepers vandalized your room.”

  Keely gasped.

  “What?” Noah stared at the manager in obvious disbelief.

  “It was a case of mistaken identity,” Ames said quickly. “The woman’s in custody, and we’ve learned from the police that she’s mentally unbalanced. It seems she formed an imaginary attachment to one of our guests, and when her interest wasn’t returned, she attempted revenge by damaging his room and its contents. That would be bad enough, but she became confused and hit your room by mistake.”

  “What about my stuff?” Noah asked.

  “I’m afraid it’s pretty well ruined. She took a knife to your clothes and suitcase and smashed your toiletries. The police took it for evidence, so I’m not sure how soon you can retrieve it. But from what I saw, there’s not much point in getting your things back.”

  “My God.” Noah shook his head.

  “We take full responsibility, of course,” Ames continued. “If you’ll give us an estimate of what you lost we’ll write you a check immediately. And of course we’ve moved you to a new room, and you won’t be billed for your stay. If you should choose to move to a different hotel, we’ll pay for that.”

  “No, I won’t move. My friend is getting married here tomorrow night.”

  “Ah.” Ames nodded. He seemed to be avoiding looking at Keely. “Then let me take you back to the desk and issue you a new key.”

  “Two keys,” Noah said.

  “Oh.” The manager slid a glance over toward Keely. “Of course.”

  Keely could see that the discussion was drawing to a close. She was outraged on Noah’s behalf. Her L.A. apartment had been vandalized once, and she knew the sick, violated feeling he was probably dealing with right now. Given the mental anguish, she didn’t think a different room and some money to replace his belongings, some of which might be irreplaceable, was enough.

  She cleared her throat. “Excuse me, but are you moving Mr. Garfield to another room that’s similar to what he had?”

  “Exactly like what he had,” Ames said with a satisfied smile. “And there will be no charge, of course.”
r />   “I think he should be given a substantial upgrade,” Keely said.

  Ames blinked. “An upgrade?”

  “Now, Keely,” Noah said, “the same sort of room will be—”

  “I don’t think so,” Keely cut in. “You’ve been traumatized, whether you’re willing to admit that or not. And I’ll bet your feelings about this hotel are very negative right now.”

  Noah gazed at her. “I wouldn’t say I’m overjoyed with the place.”

  “See?” Keely turned to Ames. “I would suggest that you give Mr. Garfield an outstanding experience to take away with him, something that will at least partially cancel out the horrible thing that happened. I’m sure you have some luxury suites in this hotel. I would imagine at least one of them is vacant.”

  Ames straightened his tie and glanced toward Noah. “How do you feel about that, Mr. Garfield?”

  Noah met Keely’s gaze.

  She lifted her eyebrows in a silent challenge. There was no doubt in her mind that he deserved this perk, but the Noah she remembered probably wouldn’t have taken it. He would have scoffed at the idea of “luxury” accommodations, as if a rough-tough cowboy didn’t need that kind of pampering. She’d love the chance to show him how wrong he could be.

  Gradually a smile touched his lips. “I think the lady’s absolutely right,” he said. “Give us the best you can manage, Mr. Ames.”

  NOAH WOULD NEVER HAVE agreed to a fancy hotel room for himself. After all, he only planned to sleep in it, so extras would go to waste, as far as he was concerned. But he was glad to get the nicer room for Keely’s sake. God only knew the type of place she’d been living in recently.

  Besides, a bigger room meant they’d have more space to spread out. He imagined the suite might have two bathrooms and maybe extra sleeping arrangements. If he wasn’t bumping into Keely every five seconds he might stand a better chance of keeping his vow not to make love to her.

  Ames gave them a new key folder and directed them to a special elevator.

  “I’m so glad you told him you wanted a better room,” Keely said as they stepped into the mirrored elevator. Soft guitar music began to play as the brass doors slid shut.

  Noah laughed. “I’m sure he didn’t want to give it to me. These are the rooms they reserve for the high rollers.”

  “So what? If they’re going to screw up and hire a psycho maid, then they can compensate the poor guy who gets his stuff trashed. I’m really sorry about that, Noah. Did you lose anything special?”

  “I’ve been trying to remember exactly what I brought. I don’t think any of it was that important.” Noah was having a hard time concentrating on the vandalism incident when more potent subjects stood right in front of him. As he faced Keely in the elevator, the mirrored walls gave him many stimulating viewing options.

  On the left and right walls he could admire her figure in profile—the impressive thrust of her breasts, the narrow waist, the long slender legs made even more sexy by the high-heeled sandals. The back wall of the elevator gave him a different perspective. When she shifted her weight, the blue flowered material of her dress quivered against her firm bottom and flounced against her thighs. There was something very enticing about the backs of her knees….

  And without warning, he was imagining Keely naked in this elevator, surrounded by mirrors. He could see her lifting her arms over her head, stretching, turning this way and that, while the mirrors reflected every spectacular inch of her. His breathing grew shallow.

  “…forget to give him that,” Keely said.

  “Hmm? What?” Noah felt his face heat as he realized he’d missed half of what she’d just said.

  She smiled. “The list of what you had in the room. You need to make that up as soon as possible.”

  “Oh. Right.”

  Her green eyes began to sparkle. “Are you enjoying the mirrors?”

  Everything he was thinking was apparently written on his face. “I was wondering how they keep them so clean,” he fibbed. “You notice there are no smudge marks.”

  “Now that you mention it, they are very clean.” Her eyes danced. “Mirrors can be a lot of fun. Ever made love in front of one?”

  “No!” And suddenly that seemed like the only thing he wanted to do.

  “Too bad,” she said. “Well, there’s still time.”

  Way too much time, he thought. Especially this weekend.

  5

  KEELY’S PULSE RACED with anticipation as she took the key card Noah handed her and slid it into the lock that opened the elevator doors to the hotel’s exclusive top floor. Moments later she used the same key for the double doors leading into the suite.

  Spending the weekend in a hotel room with Noah had seemed promising from the beginning. Now that they’d be surrounded by luxury, she was beyond excited. No doubt about it, she was her mother’s daughter when it came to enjoying the finer things of life.

  “I hear water running,” Noah said. “I hope nobody left it on and overflowed the sink or something.”

  “Now that the psycho maid is in custody, I doubt it.” She stepped inside the spacious entry and sighed in appreciation. A waterfall in the entry was a very good sign indeed. This one cascaded down a wall of lava rock into a shallow pool rimmed with lacy ferns. Colorful seashells lined the bottom of the pool. “There’s your running water.”

  “I’ll be damned.”

  “Or there’s some of your water, at any rate. I think there’s more.” The gurgle of another water feature drifted through the arched doorway ahead. “Let’s go see what else they’ve dreamed up.”

  Walking into the living area of the suite, she drew in a breath. Whoever had created this setting understood how fantasy worked. She would love describing this place to her girlfriends. They’d be green.

  Automatically her journalistic training kicked in as she recorded details to take home. First of all, the walls resembled a rocky cliff face. Three separate waterfalls spilled down the rocks to gather in an actual, honest-to-goodness indoor stream that circled the room and flowed through an opening out onto a terrace. There it sluiced into a hot tub surrounded by rattan lounges and cocktail tables. She was speechless.

  Inside, the designers had abandoned the idea of traditional furniture. A network of vines and splashes of red and pink flowers gave the impression of a jungle clearing. But this was a clearing with amenities. Velvet cushions in several sizes and shades of green lay in profusion on the smooth rock floor. Sand-colored concrete ledges mounded with more pillows created a raised seating area overlooking the stream. Pieces of driftwood topped with slabs of stone embedded with seashells served as end tables.

  In order to get to the bedroom, she’d have to cross the stream on a bamboo footbridge. The concept was so cool that she hugged herself with delight. The bedroom would probably be awesome, too.

  She walked over the tiny bridge and through another arched doorway into a haven of sheer white fabrics and romance. A white urn held waxy red anthuriums, but otherwise the room was so virginal-looking it slipped over the line to decadence. The huge canopied bed was draped with gauzy fabric and deep in pillows. Two overstuffed lounges, both slipcovered in white, sat in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows that repeated the view from the living area.

  The simple elegance of the setting was a perfect contrast to the lusty mating of bodies she had planned. Seduction was going to be so sweet in this room.

  Through another arch she glimpsed a large bathroom that gleamed with white marble and gold fixtures. Oh, yes. Noah was so dead.

  But where was he, anyway? Maybe he was standing trans-fixed in the middle of the living area, unable to believe his eyes. Crossing over the bridge again, she found the room empty. Apparently he’d bogged down in the hall for some reason.

  “Noah?” she called. “What are you doing?”

  “Trying to figure out how this wall-of-water thing works,” he called back. “Do you think we have to turn it off at night? I’ve been looking for a switch, but I can�
�t seem to find—”

  “I don’t think you have to worry about how to turn it off.” She swallowed her laughter as she headed back toward the entry. He sounded so adorably earnest. Staying in a place like this with a man who’d never experienced luxuries would be a real kick. But she’d do well to remember how different their preferences were when it came to living arrangements.

  Sure enough, he wore a frown of concentration as he surveyed the entryway walls, looking for the on/off switch. “All this water running with no way to control it makes me nervous,” he said.

  “That’s because you live in the desert.” She also thought anything unrestrained at the moment, water or lust, would get to him. “I’m sure they don’t want us fiddling with their waterfall,” she said. “And this is only the beginning, anyway. If running water makes you nervous, wait until you see the rest. Come on.”

  “Well, okay.” He walked toward the arched doorway. “But I’d still feel better if I knew how to control the—” His eyes widened at his first glimpse of the suite’s interior. “Oh…my… God.”

  She stood there with a silly grin as his startled gaze traveled from the waterfalls to the miniature creek to the glass wall looking out on the terrace with its exotic hot tub. Beyond the terrace lay the jeweled fantasy hotels along the Strip and the powerful thrust of the mountain range flanking the town. By day the view was impressive. By night it would beggar description.

  And they were here because she’d spoken up. She was quite proud of herself. “A wee bit better than looking at the parking lot, wouldn’t you say?”

  He was obviously dumbstruck as he surveyed the room again, his attention lingering on the array of pillows and the footbridge leading into the bedroom.

  She loved looking at him standing there, an Arizona cowpoke so delightfully out of place in the lush tropical setting. But get him out of those clothes and he’d fit in much better, at least for the weekend. Under those worn jeans and that faded chambray shirt was a body to die for, and soon it would be all hers to command. This unbelievable hotel suite would clinch her victory. A cowboy in paradise. What more could a girl ask for?