by Dawn Brower
“Pfft, you better save more than one. I have needs.”
“I don’t know. You might have to make do with only one. I hear that they have a lot of stamina. I’m sure you could make do.”
“Stamina? We will have to see how much they actually have. I bet I could wear them out.” A hint of devilishness filled Tori’s voice.
“If anyone could do it, Tori, no doubt it would be you,” Ginnifer agreed.
“Okay I have to go. I need to go tell Colt that he has to drive me to the ranch tomorrow to meet with you. Wish me luck. He’s one stubborn quarterback.”
“You don’t need luck. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Ginnifer said and hit End on her phone.
The first order of business was to call a cab. She hadn’t already called one because she thought Tori was meeting her. The plan was to share a cab to the airport. She picked up her phone and called the cab company. She accepted there would now be a twenty-minute wait until she could go to the airport. While she was waiting, she thought about everything she needed to do before she got to the ranch. She made a mental note to make sure she packed her tablet. She would need it to complete her notes and article while she was on vacation. Ginnifer walked around and made sure she had everything she needed one last time so she would be ready to leave her apartment when the cab arrived. She sat by the large window in her apartment staring out the window until her ride to the airport appeared.
She thought again about her upcoming vacation and her impending interview with Colt Lewis. She hoped she didn’t regret agreeing to do it for Tori. So far it had turned out to be more hassle than it was worth. This vacation better be everything she hoped it would be. Ginnifer would be pissed if this interview hindered it in some way. The break was supposed to be fun. Yes, it was a working vacation, but it was also something she had always wanted to do.
Looking out the window from her apartment, Ginnifer saw the cab had pulled up and parked next to the curb. She grabbed her luggage and got into the elevator outside her apartment to make her way down to the first floor. She lived on the fifth floor, and she was grateful she didn’t have to carry her luggage down five flights of stairs. She exited the building and walked over the cab. Once she was there, the cab driver got out and helped her put her luggage in the trunk. She walked to the back of the car, opened the door, and climbed inside to get comfortable for the ride to the airport. She had two layovers from New York to Washington. It was going to be a very long trip, and she was looking forward to relaxing once she arrived at her final destination. The ranch sounded so peaceful, and she prayed it lived up to all of her expectations. Visiting a ranch and experiencing everything it had to offer had always appealed to her. She hoped it lived up to every one of her desires, including the hot cowboys of her imagination.
***
Dallas walked into the den and found his sister sitting at the table going through a bunch of lists. She was so completely engrossed in her plans she hadn’t realized he walked into the room. That appeared to be a family trait. They tended to get lost in their own worlds from time to time.
“Hey, sis, what are you working on?”
“Oh last minute details. I am checking off items on my lists. I had all the cabins scrubbed clean. Fresh linens put on the beds. Mrs. Henly agreed to cook all of the meals for our guests. You know, those kinds of things you stopped caring if I told you about.”
“You know it’s not like that. I’ve been trying to talk to you to apologize. You know that I do care. Please don’t stay mad at me,” Dallas pleaded.
“Are you willing to help with the scavenger hunt?”
“Yes. I don’t like it. But I’ll help.”
“It’s going to take more than that for me to forgive you. I don’t think you helping with the scavenger hunt is enough.”
She had a wicked glint shining from her eyes. His sister was up to something. He didn’t think he would like it much, either. There was a price to pay, though, and he was more than willing to pay it. Hurting Emma had never sat right with him. She had always depended on him to fix things, not make them worse.
“What do you want from me? I will do whatever you ask. I do have responsibilities on the ranch, though, so please take that into consideration as you exact your revenge on me for making a mess of things.”
“I want you to be part of the prize for winning the scavenger hunt.”
“Okay…” he started to agree. “Wait, what?”
“You heard me.”
“I don’t understand. You are going to pimp me out to a bunch of women? That’s taking things a bit far, don’t you think?” Dallas said, appalled at her suggestion. He didn’t think Emma had an evil bone in her body. He had to rethink his opinion of his little sister if she was going to torture him that way.
“Well it isn’t quite like that. I am also going to need Wes to be part of the prize as well.”
“I’m so glad you clarified that. It’s not just me you are going to throw to the wolves. You’re going to throw both of your brothers, I feel so much better now. Thanks for making it easier to understand.” Dallas shook his head.
“No, silly. I want you both to take them on an overnight campout. It’ll be fun.”
“I think your idea of fun differs greatly than mine. Are you sure Wes is open to doing this?”
“Not in the slightest. I’m going to count on you to make that a reality. You said you would do anything to help.” Emma batted her eyelashes at him.
“Fine. I will talk to Wes and make sure he will participate. He said he would help. Don’t think this was exactly what he had in mind, though.”
“You’ll both be fine. Like I said, it will be fun. I’m getting excited, guests should be coming soon.”
“You said Mrs. Henly agreed to cook the meals. Is she going to stay at the ranch for the two weeks?”
“No. She said she’d rather go home. She has the kitchen fully stocked for everything she needs. She’ll come out each morning and make breakfast and lunch. She said she’d prepare something we could heat up for dinner. So I’ll have to be done with everything in time to make sure dinner is ready for our guests each night. I’m grateful for her help. This is a lot more work than I thought it would be when I started it out.”
It sounded like Emma had everything organized and planned out to the last intricate detail. For a brief moment he let his pride for her roll over him. She accomplished a lot in a short amount of time, and he started to believe this business idea of hers might be successful.
“It will be great. I’m sure you will make everything run smoothly. I believe in you. I know I was reluctant in the beginning, but I understand how much this means to you. That will make all the difference,” Dallas said.
“Thanks. I appreciate you saying that. I will make this work. I’m determined.”
“Excuse me, Emma,” Mrs. Henly said as she walked into the den. “You have some guests arriving already. Do you want me to show them to their cabins, or do you want to greet them first?”
“Go ahead and show them to their cabins and get them settled. Tell them that I’ll meet with everyone this evening before we have dinner to explain what we’re going to be doing over the next several days,” Emma told her. “And Mrs. Henly, thank you so much for agreeing to help out over the next couple of weeks. I couldn’t have done all of this without your help.”
Mrs. Henly beamed at her with a huge smile on her weathered face; her soft blue eyes glowed with the praise. “It’s nice to be helpful. I enjoy helping your family out. I’d do anything for you three. I’ll go make sure the guests get settled in. Do you have a list of all of the guests so I can check them off and make sure they get into their assigned cabins?”
Dallas watched as Emma looked over some papers in front of her until she found a list of names and handed it to Mrs. Henly. “Here it is. I have every guest name listed under the cabin they are going to be in. There are three to a cabin except in the blue and green cabins. We have twelve total guests each week. The blue cabin
has four guests. The green cabin has Ginnifer Zeiss and Vitoria Miene. They’re our special guests, so make sure they’re settled in and let me know once they’re here. I want to speak to them before this evening.”
Mrs. Henly took the list and left Emma and Dallas alone in the den. Yes, it looked like Emma really had thought of everything. She had a decent plan, and it all had been organized down to the last detail. Dallas was proud of her. He hadn’t been lying when he told her he believed she could make it work. If anyone could do it, his little sister could. He knew he had a large amount of cynicism that he carried around inside of him. It spilled out into most of the areas of his life. He didn’t want it to become such a huge part of him that he couldn’t support his family. They needed to depend on him, and he couldn’t let his own demons into that equation. Melody had hurt him, his family hadn’t. That made all the difference in the world.
“I have some paperwork to go over. Do you need me to do anything before I leave?”
“No I have this. Go talk to Wes for me. Tell him we will have three groups for the scavenger hunt, each led by one of us. The prize is an overnight campout reminiscent of the old days. Open skies, campfires, and cookouts… You get the idea.”
“Yes I see where you are going with it. I still think it’s an awful idea, but I will do it.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it. You know I’d never really stay mad at you, right?”
“I do. We’re family, we forgive each other. That doesn’t mean we don’t pay the price for hurting each other. You can always depend on me.”
“I know that, Dallas. You and Wes are the only men I can count on.”
Oh hell his sister had sunk down to his level. He needed to work on his attitude toward women. Maybe somewhere along the way he could find a good one. He’d need to step up and show her that not all men were bad. Maybe all women weren’t, either. He didn’t like the idea of opening himself up to that kind of hurt again.
“You shouldn’t close yourself off, Em.”
“You don’t have a lot of room to talk.”
“I know, but I’m not someone you should aspire to be.”
“I don’t see it that way. You’re a good man, Dallas. I think you should take your own advice. Find a good woman. Take a risk. Try to feel again.”
“I’ll take it under advisement. You could be right.”
“I’m always right.”
“No, you’re not.” He laughed. “But in this case you might be. I have to go. Let me know if you need anything else.”
“I will. Now go take care of the ranch. I’d hate for it to go down in ashes before I have a chance of trying out the Cowgirl Yoga program.”
Dallas laughed as he left the room. At least he had been able to get her to smile. Mission accomplished. He had a few things he needed to take care of. Number one on his list was locating Wes and getting him to help with Emma’s scavenger hunt. He couldn’t wait to see the look on his face when he realized what her prize was. That alone was worth tracking him down and giving him the good news.
Chapter Five
Dallas still couldn’t believe he let Emma talk him not only into leading one of the groups on that blasted scavenger hunt but also to take the winners out on an overnight camping trip. Why did he let her talk her into doing these things to entertain her guests? Oh yeah, he wanted to make her happy. He remembered now. It still irked him a bit. The only good thing was Wes’s reaction to it had been priceless. It should be entertaining at least to spend the evening with his brother on that campout.
He had a lot of things to do and most of them involved running the ranch. He sometimes wished he didn’t love his family quite as much as he did. They were the only ones he allowed inside his heart. After what he went through with Melody, he didn’t trust anyone he hadn’t known his whole life, and if he was being honest, sometimes he didn’t trust them. He learned that women were fickle and that he really only needed one thing from them. As long as they understood he wasn’t the staying kind, he would form a relationship of sorts with them. The relationship consisted of one night of no-holds-barred sex and he left them. Once the night was over, he didn’t give any of them a second thought. Why bother? All he needed was to occasionally have his needs met, and he had no problem finding a willing female to give him what he desired most. Of course in light of his discussion with Emma, he believed it was time to make a change. He had no clue how he’d go about making that happen. It was hard to let go of already ingrained attitudes.
As he sauntered out of the barn to walk to the main house, he saw a navy blue Honda Civic pull up in the long driveway. The driver pulled it up to the front of the house and parked it by the white wraparound porch attached to the sunny-yellow house. She got out of the car, closing the door with a small thud. She began to pull her long butterscotch locks up into a messy ponytail that left random strands to fall all over her head and face. The woman adjusted her oversized sunglasses that covered her high cheekbones while her heart-shaped mouth lifted into a smile as she looked at the house. Dallas was awestruck at how beautiful she was; her breasts were full and high, and her waist narrowed into a plump ass. He had never seen hair quite that shade, and he wanted to touch it to feel if it was as soft as it looked. As she leaned forward to smooth away the wrinkles on her shirt, he got a better look at her ass. His mouth watered at the sight, and he ached to reach over and give it a hard squeeze while he took the time to sink his mouth into her lush bosom. It gave him ideas of what he could do with her once he got her naked and in that exact position.
She turned toward him, and as she looked at him, her tongue slowly ran over her lips. In that moment he knew that she was going to be the one woman he couldn’t resist. She was going to be his, if only for a little while. Miss Butterscotch Locks would be the exception to his one night rule. Oh yes, she will be in my bed for as many nights as I can charm her into it, he thought as he hoped she was one of the program’s two-week guests. That might be enough time to get her out of his system. Heavy emphasis on the might. He suspected it wouldn’t nearly be enough time to satisfy his lust for her. He brushed his sweaty hands on the side of his dusty jeans and walked toward her. As he neared her, she looked him over as if trying to figure him out. He must be quite a sight. The chores in the barn had gotten quite dirty, and he was covered in dust from head to toe. A shower was calling his name, and he had been aiming to get inside of one when he stepped outside of the barn.
“Can I help you, ma’am?” he asked.
“Ma’am? Seriously, do I look like a ma’am?” the woman said sarcastically and shook her head. “I’m sorry, it’s been one hell of a long trip to get here. I’m looking for Emmaline Novak.”
“I might be able to help you with that.” The corner of his lip curved up into a half smile. “I happen to know her very well. Are you one of her guests?”
“Ginnifer Zeiss,” she said as she held her hand out to him. “I need to tell her that Tori won’t be here until tomorrow and to, well, get settled in. I need to rest, I’ve been traveling since eight o’clock this morning. The trip from New York was hell, and I could seriously use some down time. God, I am rambling, I’m sorry. I didn’t expect jet lag to hit me quite this hard.”
I sure would like to hit you hard. He shook the idea out of his head. One thing at a time; she needs to get settled in. Ginnifer. It was too long. He needed to think of a fitting nickname for the gorgeous woman standing in front of him. He had never been swayed by someone’s appearance, but he believed by the time she left, he was going to know this female quite well. It would be a vacation she wouldn’t soon forget, and the bonus was that she was leaving in two weeks and he wouldn’t have to see her again. Sounded like a win-win situation in his mind. The key was to try to charm her from the start and maybe they could get a lot closer and soon. Who was he kidding? He wasn’t capable of real charm. She would be his, though, make no mistake about it.
Dallas reached out and shook her hand. “Nice to meet you, Gin. If you follow me inside,
I’ll see if I can find Emma.”
Ginnifer raised her eyebrows, mocking him. “Gin? I’m not some kind of alcohol you can swill at your convenience. Please call me Ginnifer if you’re going to be less formal.”
Dallas’s lips lifted into a smile that could only be described as cocky. The corners of his mouth lifted partially up and his eyes narrowed. His gaze traveled her body upward from her feet, slowing over her torso and chest, and then up to stare boldly in her sea-green eyes. “Trust me, I’d take the time to savor every inch of you. Swill isn’t in my vocabulary. Come along, Gin, and I’ll get my sister for you.”
Dallas started to walk to the front door as Ginnifer followed. They walked in, and he led her into a bright sunny kitchen. The whole room was squeaky clean. There were several fresh rolls cooling on the counters and a huge pot of vegetable beef soup simmering on the stove. The aroma was mouthwatering. It had been ages since he had eaten anything and couldn’t wait to taste what Mrs. Henly had created.
Ginnifer rubbed her hands over the legs of her pants, once again wiping the moisture that was gathering on them. “Emma’s your sister? She didn’t mention she had a brother.”
Dallas raised one of his eyes at her question. “I didn’t realize you two had gotten real cozy and shared personal info. There are the three of us—Emma, Wes, and, well, me.”
“Mr. Novak, I really don’t like being called Gin.”
His mouth twitched into another cocky smile. “Dallas.”
A puzzled look was on her face. “What?”
“Call me Dallas, not Mr. Novak.”
“Right, if you had bothered to tell me your name sooner, I may have addressed you as such. Has anyone ever told you how rude you are?” she asked.
“On occasion.”
Gin raised her eyebrow up and asked, “And you never bothered to question if they were right or not?”
Dallas’s laughter rumbled out of him, and it reverberated through the room. “Oh no, I know I’m rude. It’s an art form, really. Why be nice? It’s a waste of time.”