Million Dollar Cowboy

by Lori Wilde

  “Not me,” Lynne said. “But someone might. Just saying. Mistletoe at a drunken Christmas party or something.”

  Everyone looked at Vivi again.

  “What?” Vivi glared. “Am I officially the town ho’ bag? It was ten years ago, people. Let it go.”

  “Thank you for hosting the brunch, Vivi,” Casey said. “It was very nice of you to offer. I know this can’t be easy.”

  Vivi fluffed her hair, looked appeased. “You’re welcome.”

  “Granny B,” Aria said. “I’ve got a question. If it’s true that our female DNA has a built-in soul mate detector, then why haven’t any of us girls experienced it?”

  “She makes a good point,” Tara chimed in. “Between the four of us, we’ve kissed a lot of guys and none of us have ever heard the humming.”

  “That’s because you have not found your soul mate,” Granny Blue said.

  “We’re getting a little old,” Ember said. Ember had even been married once, but no one ever brought up that ill-fated union. In fact, everyone pretended it had never happened. “You’d think one of us would have found our mate by now.”

  Granny Blue smiled slyly. “You can’t hurry true love, as you found out the hard way.”

  Aria grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl, pretended it was a microphone, and started singing the Supremes’ song.

  Tara and Ember both grabbed bananas and joined Aria.

  “Me too!” Kaia said.

  Then all the women in the room were on their feet, bananas in hands, dancing around the room, singing a heartfelt rendition of “You Can’t Hurry Love.” Even Granny Blue and Atticus joined. The toddler was wriggling and jumping, throwing himself fully into the endeavor. The women surrounded the boy, everyone singing to him about being patient for love.

  That’s what they were doing when Ridge sauntered into the kitchen.

  Everyone froze. And it was like that ominous moment just before a tornado hits when everything goes utterly quiet.

  Chapter 5

  All the women had been dancing and singing like doo-wop girls, but it was Kaia alone who nailed Ridge’s attention.

  For one thing, her voice rose above the others, sincere and adorably off-key, belting out the song like she was Adele. She was hopping around, banana to her lips, eyes bright, braids flying, breasts jiggling.

  For another thing, she was fully, one hundred percent alive, and it stirred him. How did anyone come by such pure joie de vivre? For another thing, it was such an unexpected bonus, to witness how she’d flowered in womanliness.

  And those eyes!

  Dark and mysterious as the bottom of the ocean. Her eyes made him think of spelunking in Cupid caverns.

  He appreciated her pert sense of rhythm, her delicate collarbone exposed by the cut of her T-shirt, the two piercings in each earlobe adorned with gold studs and twin dream catchers that swayed seductively when she moved her head. She wore a dozen multicolored leather strap bracelets on her right wrist and a heart-shaped necklace around her slender throat.

  Kaia caught him watching her and everything came to a screeching halt. The joy drained from her face, quickly replaced by red-cheeked embarrassment.

  Regret kicked him. He’d done that. Sapped the joy right out of her simply by walking into the room.

  Kaia was the first one to toss her banana back in the fruit bowl. Immediately, everyone else followed her lead.

  “Ridge,” Vivi said breathlessly, pressing a hand to her chest, and it wasn’t until that moment he even noticed his ex-girlfriend-turned-stepmother. “You’re here.”

  “You always were sharp as a tack, Vivi,” Ridge drawled.

  Vivi hadn’t changed much, still thin, and tanned, and artfully made up. Well, except for what was clearly a boob job. She wore a white, snug-fitting tank top with a plunging neckline, black short-shorts and gold flip-flips. Her hair was longer and fluffier, rocking the Texas big hair. She was a good-looking woman, but in his estimation she couldn’t hold a candle to Kaia.

  He bore Vivi no ill will. He’d always known she was all about the money, and he’d not ever considered marrying her.

  Truth? In retrospect Duke had done him a favor. Vivi and his father deserved each other.

  Vivi laughed nervously under his scrutiny. “Well, come on in. We’re just waiting for the priest. Are you hungry? Thirsty? Where are your bags? I opened up your house. Had it cleaned and stocked it with supplies. It’s unlocked and ready for you.”

  That was damn ballsy. Bringing up his house. Assuming he’d want to stay there.

  He cast a covert glance at Kaia. Saw a worried expression at odds with her inviting smile. He yearned to dip his head to her ear and whisper. Nothing to worry about, sweetheart. All is well.

  Vivi pressed a hand to her ample chest. “I hope you don’t mind. I um … I had the master bedroom redone.”

  “Thanks for the effort, but I’m staying at Archer’s place.” Ridge kept his tone even, but his eyes sharp.

  “Oh. Um … sure… . right. ” Vivi hem-hawed. “I should have expected that since you’re the best man. Of course you’ll want to spend the night at his place.”

  He enjoyed watching her squirm. Petty? “Where is Archer?”

  Vivi hovered, wringing her hands, looking uncertain, but trying not to show it.

  “He and Armand went to pick up Father Dubanowski,” Casey said, coming over to give him a hug. “It’s so good to see you again. I had such fun in Banff.”

  Ridge tolerated the hug, stepped back as quickly as he could. He wasn’t much of a hugger. “You look great.”

  “Thank you.” Casey blushed and smiled. “I’m so thrilled you were able to make it. First thing Archer said after he asked me to marry him was, ‘I can’t get married without my best friend. We have to plan the wedding around Ridge’s timetable.’”

  “Archer is a lucky guy,” Ridge said.

  “No, I’m the lucky one. Not only am I getting the most wonderful man in the world, but I inherited this amazing family.” She swept her hand at the women in the room. “No one could be luckier.”

  “The Alzates are pretty special,” Ridge agreed.

  The Alzate and the Lockhart siblings had grown up together on the Silver Feather. Back then, their father, Armand Alzate, had been the Silver Feather Ranch’s foreman, and he’d lived with his wife and kids in the original Lockhart farmhouse built in the 1860s.

  Bridgette Alzate had served as the ranch cook and housekeeper and she’d often played surrogate mother to Ridge and his brothers after Remington and Rhett’s mother, Lucy, had died. Like Ridge, Archer was the oldest child of his family. The nine of them had been pretty close in those years—running wild on the ranch, riding horses, being young and carefree, getting up to all manner of mischief.

  Thinking back on it now, it was the most idyllic time of his life. Thanks to the Alzates.

  But things changed. Kids grew up. Went off to college. Dad married Vivi, and arthritis forced Armand Alzate to give up ranching and move into town, leaving Archer to take over as foreman.

  “This is my sister, Lynne.” Casey introduced a slightly older version of herself. Lynne had a toddler on her hip. “And this is her son, Atticus. Atty is our ring bearer.”

  The boy stared at Ridge owl-eyed, accusatory as if he could see right through him, knew all his secrets and every lie he’d ever told.

  Kids made Ridge edgy. He hadn’t been around them much. Had no idea what to say to them. Especially kids this age. They were just so damned vulnerable, but clueless as to just how vulnerable they really were.

  Not knowing what else to do, he offered up an uneasy smile to the kid and the boy’s mother, and quickly moved on to greet Kaia’s sisters, mother, and granny.

  Now women were another story. Women, Ridge knew how to handle. He charmed and grinned and flattered. Going through well-oiled motions.

  Hi. How you doin’. Been too long. Prettier than ever. I’ve missed seeing you.

  Smooth. Easy. Not particularly since
re.

  Until at last he turned to Kaia, and everything he’d been thinking and feeling turned upside down.

  “Hi!” she chirped, happy as a robin, and she disarmed the hell out of him by enveloping him in a fierce hug right in front of everyone.

  His heart slammed into his chest, a train wreck of sensation—bam, bam, bam—twenty-boxcar pileup. Her scent wrapped around him, welcoming as home-baked bread. He froze, unsure of what to do. Alarmed because he was getting aroused right there in front of everyone.

  Christ, he hadn’t gotten a hard-on this easily since he was a randy teenager.

  Quick. Think about something else.

  Right. Drilling stats. Think about drilling stats. Except the word drilling put a wholly different picture in his mind than silver mining.

  Fine. Forget drilling. Stock quotes. Yesterday’s stock quotes. The current trend in silver stocks should put him in a downward mood. PAAS was down 0.31. SSRI down 0.16. TAHO down 0.23.

  Finally, thankfully, Kaia released him and stepped back, and Ridge could finally breathe again.

  “Hey,” he said rather idiotically, as if ten years hadn’t passed since the last time she’d hugged him in a parking lot at the University of Texas, his business diploma clutched in his hand. “Hey.”

  “Welcome home.” She smiled and his world slid sideways.

  Home.

  There was that word again, a twitchy word that usually tied his stomach in knots. But now, standing here, looking down at Kaia’s adorable grin, home didn’t seem half-bad.

  The front door opened, letting in the sound of voices. Seconds later, Father Dubanowski and the rest of the wedding party showed up. It had been a long time since Ridge had been around so many people in a nonwork capacity. He’d forgotten what things were like on the ranch, and with the Alzates. Everywhere they went, people congregated.

  There were more greetings and backslapping and lively conversation as they sorted out transportation to the chapel.

  Vivi volunteered to stay behind with the housekeeper and Granny Blue to get the brunch set up. Ridge ended up in Archer’s Suburban with Archer, Casey, Lynne, Ned, and Atticus. Both sets of parents took the priest in the Alzate’s Wagoneer. Ranger and Ember zoomed away on an ATV. Those two had been best friends their entire lives, and they tended to hang out together whenever possible.

  Ridge watched Kaia walk off with her other two sisters and the two ranch hands, Zeke and Kip, who were serving as groomsmen, to the blue Tundra, and he felt a pluck of disappointment.

  Kaia hopped into the driver’s seat and waved as she pulled out. Was she waving at him or someone else in the Suburban?

  The chapel was a fifteen-minute drive from the mansion down a dusty dirt road, but it was only a stone’s throw from Ridge’s house in the east quadrant. The house he hadn’t stepped foot inside in over a decade.

  When they pulled up, Majestic was tied to a hitching post outside the chapel, and Duke was standing on the front porch, arms akimbo, black Stetson pushed back on his head, larger than life. The Lord of the Land waiting for their arrival.

  Everyone got out of the vehicles. There was more talking and hugging and backslapping. Ridge jammed his hands into his pockets, wishing they’d get the show on the road. He’d forgotten how small town folk took life at a leisurely pace.

  He took out his phone—hey, why not do some business while he waited—but he couldn’t get any bars. He was in the boonest of the boondocks, and still no decent cell reception away from the mansion’s Wi-Fi. Ah, the Trans-Pecos. He slipped his phone back into his pocket.

  Kaia popped over to him. “You look antsy.”

  “Bored.”

  “Mom says boredom indicates a lack of inner resources.”

  “Meaning?”

  “That fact that you’re alive is reason enough not to get bored.”

  “Um, yeah, okay.”

  “You’re not bored.” She tapped her chin, eyed him up and down. “You’re nervous.”

  He lowered his eyelids, sent her the most bored look he could conjure. “Do I look nervous to you?”

  “It’s okay to be nervous. You’ve been away a long time.”

  “Not long enough.”

  She grinned and wriggled like a puppy. “You were missed around here, you know. You cast a big shadow, Mr. Lockhart.”

  He snorted.

  “Give us a smile.” She prodded. “It’s a glorious morning and you’re home and your best friend is getting married to the love of his life. There is so much to be happy about and thankful for. I know I’m thankful you’re home.”

  “Oh yeah?” He simultaneously raised one eyebrow and the opposite corner of his mouth in what Archer called his Pablo Picasso smile.

  “You earned the number one spot on my gratitude list this morning. First thing I wrote down.” She pantomimed taking notes. “Ridge is coming home.”

  “Gratitude list?”

  “Yes, I make a gratitude list every morning while I have my cup of coffee. Perfect way to start the day. By remembering how lucky I am to be alive. I started the list after my accident. Keeps you from being bored with life. Try it some time.”

  “I’m sorry you had to go through that.” He dropped the smile.

  “I’m not.” She upped the wattage on her grin and it did something to him. “It changed my life in so many beautiful ways. These days, I take nothing for granted. Now, whenever life puts an opportunity in my path, I always say yes.”

  “Even if it’s a mistake?”

  “There’s no such thing as mistakes. Everything we do and experience is a chance to grow and learn. When you look at it that way, nothing can ever go wrong.”

  “Sorry”—he shook his head—“but that’s a horse I just can’t ride.”

  “I know,” she said cheerily. “It doesn’t matter. Things still happen for a reason whether you believe it or not.”

  “So the reason you almost died was because …”

  “The Universe was teaching me to live in the moment and stop worrying so much about the future and regretting the past.”

  “Couldn’t the universe have picked a kinder way?” He was mocking her, but she didn’t take offense.

  “Sometimes it takes getting T-boned by a milk truck to wake you up.”

  “Milk truck, huh?”

  “Driver fell asleep at the wheel.”

  “Would the message have been different if it had been another kind of vehicle?”

  She paused as if actually considering it. “Nope. Delivery method doesn’t alter the content of the message.”

  “Um, okay. If you say so.”

  “Now you’re getting it.”

  Kaia was a regular beam of sunshine. It rubbed him the wrong way. How on God’s green earth did anyone get that cheerful? And stay that way? It wasn’t healthy. Either that or he was just jealous. “Optimism. How annoying.”

  She laughed low and sweet, a soft wind-chime sound that ought to calm, but her naughty-arsonist grin lit a flash fire south of his belt. “Does someone need a hug?”

  “Jeezus.” He fished his sunglasses from his shirt pocket, slipped them on. “Do not hug me.”

  “You can’t stop me.” She trotted after him, arms wide. “I’m gonna hug you like I did when I was a kid. It used to drive you crazy, so I did it even more.”

  Ridge sidestepped her, but crashed into Casey’s mom, Nancy. He apologized, and turned right into Kaia’s hug.

  “There … there … you antsy, uptight city feller.” She poured on the Texas drawl. “Hug it right on out.”

  Oh hell’s bells, pressed up against her body he was getting hard all over again. She was bound to notice. Quick! Stock quotes, stock quotes.

  Fortunately, the priest picked that moment to clap his hands and announce, “Let’s get things moving along, shall we?”

  Kaia giggled and released him.

  Ridge finally breathed.

  “She’s up to her old childhood tricks I see.” Archer leaned in to Ridge. “Pushing your
buttons.”

  “You out to keep her on a chain,” Ridge mumbled, watching Kaia’s butt bounce as she walked into the chapel ahead of them.

  “She’s irrepressible. No holding that one back.” Archer slung his arm around Ridge’s shoulder. “Man, it’s good to have you home.”

  “Good to see you,” Ridge mumbled. The jury was still out on whether it was good to be home or not.

  Kaia stood at the back of the church as the second bridesmaid, waiting her turn to follow Aria down the aisle, holding the banana-turned-microphone-turned-pretend-bouquet in her hand. All she could think about was the fact Ridge had gotten aroused when she’d hugged him in the mansion kitchen, and then again just now on the chapel porch.

  Her face flushed from her cheeks to her scalp. She had turned him on.

  That thrilled and scared her beyond words. The guy she’d had a crush on for years, her first crush to be exact, was hot for her.

  Finally.

  In her heart of hearts, she’d not ever believed he would ever reciprocate her feelings. He’d considered her nothing more than a bratty kid sister. But apparently, a decade apart had changed things.

  Oh gosh, oh wow, what now? Be cool, fool. Right. Pay attention. Don’t go spinning fantasies. It was a wedding rehearsal. Rehearse.

  She took a deep breath, started down the aisle. Ridge was already standing at the altar in the best man spot next to Archer.

  Ridge met her eyes across the chapel and smiled the tiniest bit. So slight she wasn’t even sure he had smiled.

  In an instant she was sixteen again, her knees going weak, her pulse rate kicking up, her stomach shaky and unsettled like the last time she’d seen him. College diploma in hand, his things crammed into a beat-up old pickup truck, denim jacket hugging his lean muscular shoulders, dark wild hair curling down his collar.

  Today, his hair was close clipped in a CEO style, and a suit jacket had replaced the denim. But he still wore jeans and a cowboy hat and boots. How did a man age so well? Fountain of youth? Deal with the devil?

  Knowing Ridge, it was probably the latter.

  He’d always bucked convention, swam upstream, spurred gossip. That wild Lockhart boy born out of wedlock to a mother who abandoned him on his father’s doorstep and then died in a car crash rumored to be suicide.