by Dawn Brower
“Please tell me that snake is long gone.” Shelly shuddered.
He shot them an evil grin. “Yeah it was slithering off in the opposite direction when I left it. They are harmless, anyway. It’s the rattlers you have to keep an eye out for. Let me know if you see one of those, but remain as calm as possible so they don’t strike you.”
The color drained from Ginnifer’s face. “Oh God.”
Cassidy and Shelly nodded their head at him in agreement. “We’ll do that. What’s a rattler look like?” she asked
“Very similar to a gopher snake,” he told them.
“Well how can we tell the difference?” Cassidy asked.
“Well if it hisses at you and there’s a rattle in its tail, there’s a good chance it’s not a snake you should mess with.”
With a grimace on her face, Ginnifer shook her head. “In my opinion no snake is worth messing with. They can all keep their distance from me.”
Dallas nodded at her. “Well, Gin, if you see another one, let me know. I will gladly untangle it from your legs.”
“Right. ’Cause that would be my damned luck a snake would choose to twine itself around my leg again,” Ginnifer muttered under her breath.
A smirk on his face, Dallas looked at her. “Well, they are mighty fine legs. Can’t fault their taste.”
Ginnifer rolled her eyes at him and with heavy sarcasm made her displeasure known, “Sure I can. Snakes are evil creatures. I don’t want them slithering all over me leaving a taint on my skin. It’s best to avoid that at all cost.”
Dallas frowned and heard her double meaning laced through her words. She was warning him away from her. Damned if he was going to let her go that easy, so he said, “No reason to take out your anger on the poor snakes, Gin. Make sure you aim at your true target with that pessimism.”
With disdain in her eyes, she looked directly at him. “Oh, I thought I had. Snakes. Evil. Taint. Those are all things I’ll avoid as much as possible in the future. Isn’t that clear?”
Pissed that she thought of brushing him off like garbage, he returned her look with equal measure. “Crystal.” Fuck if he was going to deal with her while she was in this mood. He would have to wait until she was alone and deal with her then. He saw a small rope around her belt loop and thought it might be a good idea to make use of it. If he tied her down, she wouldn’t be able to escape him. It would definitely ensure she had to listen to him. He didn’t give a damn if she was mad about Melody. She could have at least given him some time to explain the situation. Instead she had gotten all moody about it and decided they were done. Gin was wrong. They were far from done, and he was going to prove it. He had a plan, and once everyone was asleep, he would make it happen. While he waited, he would make sure everyone else was settled in and the campfire was lit. They were going to roast some food over the fire for dinner and tell stories around the fire. He had a good one about snakes sure to make his Gin a bit nervous.
His plan firmly in his mind, he walked over to Wes and told him he was going to gather some wood for the fire.
Wes looked at him in confusion. “But we already have some gathered.”
Was his brother seriously that dense? “I know that. I need to get away. Gathering more wood is an excuse. Just pretend it’s a good one and let me leave.”
“Ah. Okay. Take as long as you need.”
“Please keep the women busy while I’m gone. I need a breather from all the estrogen,” he said as he walked away. In reality he needed a bit of time to cool off and solidify his strategy for dealing with Ginnifer. If she thought they were over, she was dead wrong. He didn’t give a damn about Melody. Their relationship had ended years ago. She was next to nothing to him. Dallas would have a long talk with both women so they knew where he stood. Melody was going to be sent back to whatever hole she had crawled out of. Ginnifer, well she was going to get a lesson in what would happen if she ever ignored him again. She needed to realize there were penalties for her actions. It was time she got that spanking she wanted so much…
Chapter Twenty-One
Ginnifer was far from amused. Dallas had walked off over an hour ago to only God knew where. Night had already fallen, and the temperature was starting to drop. The time to abandon the sexy cowgirl look for something on the warmer side was fast approaching. A shiver rolled over her making her glance at her bag and think about the warm sweatshirt encased inside. Tori was nuts if she thought she was sacrificing warmth just to make a point. However, she didn’t want to grab the sweatshirt yet. If torturing Dallas was the goal, she couldn’t accomplish it with him absent from the camp. So the bastard had better come back soon so she could commence with the torment she wanted to inflict upon him. She didn’t know how long she could go without pulling the sweatshirt over her freezing limbs.
There wasn’t a damn thing she could do about the situation until he returned. Instead of making him feel like an ass, all she had accomplished was some bonding time with the other two women in her group. Shelly and Cassidy were great, but she wasn’t looking to make any new friends. She wanted to make Dallas burn. Whether it was with anger or passion, she didn’t really care. As long as the flames licked him to the point only ashes remained. In her mind the end totally justified the means.
If only she could get rid of Melody, her life would be so much sweeter right now. At least she was bugging Wes instead of her. Poor Wes looked like he wanted to shoot himself. He clearly wasn’t impressed with Melody and her numerous charms. The last thing Ginnifer had heard her ask him was when Dallas would be back. Good question, when was he going to show his face again? If only Melody didn’t want him back as much as she did. It was a funny thing that she simultaneously wanted him both at camp and wherever he was at the same time. She wished she didn’t yearn for his attention as much as she did. It shouldn’t matter so much if he wanted her, but sadly it was all she could think about.
With a sigh of resignation, she turned to look at Melody and Wes again. The woman had a one-track mind where Dallas was concerned. Like you’re any different? Okay, so she had a one-track mind lately too. Didn’t make Melody any less annoying or predatory. Tori was right about her personality. She didn’t do anything to try to get to know any of the women. She did her best to pretend they didn’t exist. With Dallas gone, the only one in the group that mattered to her was Wes. The women didn’t help to further her agenda, so they were not important to her.
Ginnifer figured Melody didn’t need any additional of her attention, so she decided to walk back to her bedroll and relax. She was so lost in thought she hadn’t heard anyone approach until she heard a voice behind her. “I need you to come with me.” With a gasp she turned around and saw Dallas standing right next to her. When the hell had he sneaked back into camp? Ginnifer thought she had surveyed the whole area a minute ago, and he hadn’t been anywhere to be seen.
“When did you sneak back in?” she asked him.
Dallas’s voice filled with indignation, “I didn’t sneak anywhere. I walked right here in the wide open. It’s not my fault you were lost in your own world.”
Ginnifer sneered at him before saying, “Yeah, whatever. I don’t have time to deal with you right now. Go away.”
Dallas raised his eyebrow questioning, “What, you have a hot date or something?”
Her anger began rolling off of her in waves, and she could feel her cheeks start to heat and pursed her lips in displeasure. What right did he have to question her? Fuck that, she wasn’t going to give in, so she said, “Definitely. So hot it’d burn you alive.”
“Prove it.”
Ginnifer shrugged her shoulders, dismissing him. “Don’t have to. Go away, Dallas.”
“No.”
Ginnifer didn’t know why she had let Tori talk her into this. She really wasn’t fond of confrontations. So she did the only thing that felt right. She picked up her small bag to walk away. “Fine. I don’t have to deal with you. Do whatever you want. I’m going back to my nice warm cabin.”
>
“Like hell you are. I swear I’m going to put you over my knee and spank your ass. It’s dark, and you don’t know the ranch that well. It won’t take you long to get lost, and I’ll be damned if I’m searching for your stubborn ass in the dark.”
Ginnifer pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger. The man was so frustrating. Why wouldn’t he leave her alone? “Spank me? As if I’d let you. No man is ever going to slap my ass. I’ll be fine, get out of my way.” She shoved past him and started to stomp away. She stopped only briefly when she saw Melody look in their direction. It was at that point Melody noticed Dallas had returned. She practically skipped her way over to them shouting, “Oh Dallie, your back. I’ve missed you so much.” She damn near jumped into his arms and started to kiss him. With a disgusted look at the spectacle, Ginnifer turned around and continued walking away from the group. No one noticed her absence. Dallas had been too occupied with Melody to stop her.
She had walked quite a distance when she got an odd feeling and stopped. A sound made her turn her head, and she saw a snake slithering toward her. Damn it, she really didn’t have any luck where the creepy creatures were concerned. There wasn’t anything she liked less than snakes. Here was the third freaking one in less than twelve hours. Surely this was some kind of record. A rattle caused her to stand still as she remembered Dallas’s earlier warning. Wasn’t that her freaking luck? She would have to come across a damn rattler. Ginnifer looked around and thought about her options. The snake was maybe two feet away with the damned thing heading straight for her. Her options were to stand as still as possible and hope it would slither on past her or to try to move as far away from it as she could. Ginnifer was petrified of snakes, and that fear had left her standing frozen. So option one it was…
Ginnifer must have stood there for an hour before Dallas found her. At least it had felt like a really long time as the rattler moved at a snail’s pace across her boot. Maybe it was longer, maybe it was shorter. All she knew was her heart was beating a mile a minute. Ginnifer didn’t know if she could stand still for much longer. When she heard his voice, she wanted to cry with relief.
“Gin, why are you standing there?”
Her voice shook with fear. “I want to tell you to go away. But I think I need your help. Don’t come closer, Dallas, I mean it.”
His voice was full of confusion as he asked, “How can I help you if I don’t get close to you?”
“There’s a snake. It’s a rattler. It’s like crawling over my boot.” She did her best to remain still as she could feel it slither across the top of her foot.
She looked over and could barely see him shaking his head in the pitch black night. Ginnifer wouldn’t have known that the snake was there if she hadn’t heard it. She hadn’t even had a chance to use her flashlight to guide her back to the ranch. “I’m going to have to get a little closer if I’m going to help you,” he told her. “The problem is it’s really dark, and I can’t see that well.”
“Then stay where you are. It’s got to leave at some point, right?”
Dallas shrugged his shoulder, not giving her an affirmation either way. “Maybe. Snakes do what they want, though. You might be standing there an awful long time. You think you can handle that?”
Ginnifer seriously doubted her ability to stand still for very much longer. She didn’t want him to get hurt, though, so she started to say, “I don’t know. Ouch.”
With a worry in his voice, Dallas asked, “Gin, what happened? Don’t move. I’m coming over there.”
She tried to stop him before he got closer by saying, “No. I’m fine. I promise. I got a cramp in my leg.”
When Dallas got closer, the snake started to hiss. Ginnifer could barely see in front of her under the dark night sky, but with horror she saw it rear back ready to strike. She closed her eyes, bracing for the impact of the bite, but was surprised when none came. The next thing she knew she was wrapped inside of Dallas’s arms. He hugged her tight, practically squeezing the breath out of her. Ginnifer looked up into his eyes and started to cry in relief.
Dallas tried to comfort her by saying, “Ssh, it’s okay. It’s dead. Look.”
Ginnifer just shook her head, weeping. She could see a knife in the snake’s head. Dallas must have thrown it at the snake as he rushed to her side. Ginnifer couldn’t handle it anymore. It was all too much. So in between sobs she said, “Take me back to the cabin. I don’t want to do this anymore.”
With a resigned sigh, Dallas looked at her and agreed, “Okay. I’ll take you back.”
They walked back in silence. It took them less than thirty minutes to get back to her cabin without much light from the dark night sky. She didn’t say anything until they were at her door. Turning toward him, she expressed her gratitude, “Thanks. I’m going to go in and sleep.”
“We still need to talk.”
She shook her head at him. “Not now, Dallas. I’ve had enough. Whatever you have to say can wait.”
The look on his face said he wanted to push her into dealing with it. Something stopped him from doing it, though, so he shrugged his shoulders. “Fine. I have to get back and help Wes with the other women. Try to get some rest. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
Ginnifer nodded her head at him. She would have done anything to get him to leave. “Okay.”
He stared at her with a piercing gaze. “I mean it, Gin. This isn’t over. Be prepared to deal with this when I get back tomorrow afternoon.”
“I get it. Go. You’re needed elsewhere,” Ginnifer agreed before she turned and walked into the cabin. What he didn’t know was that Gin had no intention of dealing with anything. They were done. She accepted that as she walked back to the cabin with him in silence. This was her last hurrah before she went back to New York. In fact, as far as she was concerned, she there wasn’t any good reason to stay the whole second week. She had enough information to write the article she promised Emma. The e-mail with her remaining questions would detail anything else she might need. So once she was in the cabin, she woke Tori up and told her, “Start packing. We’re leaving when the sun rises.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Ginnifer worked fast in packing all of their belongings. The little Honda Civic’s trunk was loaded up and ready to leave before the sun rose in the sky. Ginnifer didn’t think they had ever packed quite that fast. Tori was motivated, though. She had wanted to leave as badly as Ginnifer had. Wes hadn’t terrorized her as much on the scavenger hunt, but she was ready to put some distance between them. The Cowgirl Yoga vacation didn’t quite go as she wanted it to. In some ways it was the one vacation she would never forget. On the other hand, it was also the one she hoped she could. Her heart was filled with agonizing pain. Dallas only wanted to let her down easy. It was the only thing she could think that he possibly wanted to talk to her about. He wanted to break things off easily or tell her he was going to try again with Melody. Every time she saw them together, Melody was hanging all over him or kissing him. He didn’t do a thing to stop it. It must mean he wanted to be with her. There was no reason to prolong the torture and listen to his spiel on why they should end things. It’s not like it would have gone anywhere, anyway. No promises had been broken, and he had the love of his life back. It didn’t matter that Ginnifer didn’t understand what he saw in Melody. As long as Dallas was happy, she would try to be happy for him.
With the keys in her hand, she walked over to the driver’s side of the car and turned toward Tori saying, “Are you ready?”
Tori nodded in her direction. “I am. Are you sure you want to leave like this?”
Ginnifer had never been so sure of anything in her life. “Yes. I don’t do drama. I want some distance between us and this ranch.”
The front door of the ranch closed on a bang. Ginnifer looked back noticed Emma walking down the front steps. Her cinnamon hair was pulled back into a French braid, and she was dressed in yoga gear. She stopped in front of them. “I thought I saw you out here. Why are y
ou here? I thought you were on the campout, Ginnifer.”
Damn. She had hoped to leave without talking to anyone. Ginnifer pasted a bright smile on her face before saying, “Yeah, something came up. We need to leave early. I thought you might be sleeping and planned on contacting you later. I already sent you an e-mail with those remaining questions.”
Emma frowned before saying, “Oh. I’m sorry you had to leave early. I hope you enjoyed your stay.”
Ginnifer did her best to reassure her the vacation was great. It wasn’t her fault she had fallen in love with her older brother. So she nodded her head, and with as much enthusiasm as she could muster, “Oh, the ranch is great. This is a great idea you have here. Don’t worry, I won’t hold you responsible for our unexpected departure. E-mail me the answers as soon as you can. All’s good.”
Tori piped in saying, “Don’t worry about the extra week I paid for. I had a lovely time. I just have to deal with an issue for my client.”
Emma pursed her lips in displeasure. “Colt.”
“Colt isn’t my only client,” Tori told her, “but for what it’s worth, you’re wrong about him.”
With condescension dripping through her voice, Emma expressed her belief, “Thanks. But I think I know him better than you do. “
Tori nodded her head at Emma saying, “Exactly. Which is why I don’t get why you abandoned him. That doesn’t matter, though. We need to leave. It was nice meeting you and good luck with your new business.”
Tori opened the passenger door and got inside. As she heard the door close, Ginnifer walked over to Emma and gave her a hug. “It was a pleasure meeting you. Please keep in touch.”
Ginnifer walked over and got into the driver’s side. She closed the door and started the engine. After her seatbelt was fastened, she quickly put it in gear and started to drive away from the ranch, away from the place that would always hold her heart. It was her deepest wish that Dallas got everything he wanted. Ginnifer had hoped for a brief moment he would want that with her. She had hoped he would be the one person meant for her. Her last first kiss and her only love.