Big City Cowboy (Harlequin American Romance)

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Big City Cowboy (Harlequin American Romance) Page 17

by Benson, Julie

No way would both she and Devlin survive the day.

  “The animal’s fine. It’s Rory’s horse. That adds a familiarity, a relationship element, to the commercial,” Elizabeth snapped. “You need to let me do my job.”

  “Wait a minute,” Devlin countered.

  She’d opened her mouth to tell him to keep his insane questions, comments and ideas to himself when Avery placed a hand on his arm. “Mr. Devlin,” she said as she flashed him a dazzling smile.

  “Call me Micah.” He turned his attention to Avery, and if his mouth hadn’t been closed, his tongue would’ve scraped the floor. Not that Elizabeth blamed him. No woman in a plain pink tee, khaki shorts and no makeup should look as good as Avery did.

  “Micah, how about I show you some of our other horses?” She linked her arm through his. “Then if you aren’t happy with Blaze—that’s Rory’s horse’s name—you’ll know what other animals you have to choose from.”

  “That’s an excellent idea,” Elizabeth said.

  As she stood there, slightly stunned at the masterful way Avery managed Devlin, the pair strolled off. Of course, it helped when a woman looked like a cover model. After a couple steps, Avery looked over her shoulder, smiled and winked.

  Elizabeth smiled back. Avery had just saved Devlin’s life, because a minute more and she’d have strangled the man.

  Rory’s family amazed her, accepting and helping her more than her parents ever had, making her soul ache, knowing she’d have to leave.

  Forcing back ridiculous, pointless tears, Elizabeth turned to the crew. “Okay, everyone, let’s get those close-ups shot.”

  Later, when they broke for dinner, she turned to Avery. “Thanks for running interference with Devlin.”

  “Is he always that big a pain?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “How do you stand working with him? I’d tell him to take a hike, and hope he got lost on the trail.”

  “I wish I could, but his company is responsible for over half my agency’s business. Otherwise I’d have told him that a long time ago.”

  “I hope all your clients aren’t like that.”

  “They all have their moments, but he’s the worst.” Elizabeth thought back over the last couple years since Rayzor Sharp Media had landed Devlin’s account. Had she truly been happy? Hell, no. The answer burst through her. She hadn’t realized until now, but the joy had been missing in her work lately. Every day it became harder and harder to get up, knowing what she’d find when she went into the office—messages from Devlin questioning something she’d done, or informing her of his latest brainstorm. If she didn’t have him to deal with, then invariably, another client had a problem needing her attention.

  Was this how she wanted to spend the rest of her life, working with pain-in-the-ass clients?

  Rory had turned her world upside down. Now his family added to the emotional chaos churning inside her, making her want what she couldn’t have. She’d been way happier, or at least thought she was, before she’d met him.

  She wished she could turn back the clock, because ignorance was definitely bliss.

  PEOPLE HAD NO IDEA how hard and monotonous modeling was. Rory had spent the day doing the same thing over and over until he thought he’d go crazy. If people knew what the job really entailed they’d never say it was a glamorous profession.

  At eight, Elizabeth finally wrapped up the shoot and told everyone they’d start back at six tomorrow.

  Rory stood in a stall brushing Blaze after he’d unsaddled the poor horse for the last of countless times today. The animal snorted and shook his head.

  “I know, fella, you don’t get why I saddled you so much and we never went anywhere. Welcome to the wonderful world of modeling.”

  The horse snorted again.

  “That’s what I think. It’s a real blast.”

  “Commercial filming days are long,” Lizzie said as she came up behind him. “Unfortunately, it’ll be another long day tomorrow, too.”

  “We’re tough. We can take it.” He patted Blaze’s neck, then turned to Lizzie. He’d been so busy concentrating on following directions during the shoot, he hadn’t gotten a chance to really look at her. While some color had returned to her cheeks and she seemed steadier on her feet, she still had dark circles under her eyes. “You hold up okay today? I’m tired, so you must be exhausted.”

  Terrific line. Real romantic. Tell the woman you’ve got the hots for that she looks tired.

  “I made it through relatively unscathed, thanks to Avery. She had Devlin following her around like a little lapdog.”

  “She has a way of doing that with men.”

  “I can’t imagine why. Just because she’s tall, blonde and gorgeous. Do you think she’d consider modeling?”

  Rory shook his head. “Avery’s in vet school.”

  “Wow, she’s got brains, too. God was way too generous with your sister.”

  He reached out and tucked a strand of hair that had escaped from Lizzie’s ponytail behind her ear. “You’re every bit as pretty and as smart as she is.”

  A pink blush spread across her cheeks. “I wasn’t fishing for a compliment.”

  “I didn’t say you were.” He moved closer, wanting to explore the attraction boiling between them. Since he’d met Lizzie he’d been thinking about things he hadn’t in years—marriage, kids, building a house of his own on his patch of land.

  Blaze whinnied and shoved his muzzle into Rory’s back. Glancing over his shoulder, he said, “Can’t stand not being the center of attention, can you, boy?”

  “He’s a beautiful horse.”

  Blaze stepped toward Lizzie.

  “He’s a sucker for a pretty woman.”

  She reached out as if she wanted to touch the horse, but pulled back at the last minute. Rory moved behind her, took her hand in his and placed her palm against Blaze’s neck.

  Her pretty flowery scent filled his senses. Hell, everything about her filled his senses. Her fast, shallow breathing echoed in his ears. Her tight little butt brushed his thighs. Electricity from the simple contact shot through him, threatening to incinerate him from the inside out, and bringing him immediately to half staff.

  Lizzie stroked Blaze’s neck. The image of her stroking Rory in an entirely different manner materialized in his mind.

  “He loves being scratched behind the ears.”

  She glanced over her shoulder. “How about you?”

  “Honey, you can touch me any way you want.”

  He bent down and kissed the sensitive spot where her neck met her shoulders. Her moan filled his ears. She leaned back into him, and her hands clutched his thighs.

  While everyone thought making love to a woman in a barn was romantic, it wasn’t. Hay got in all kinds of awkward places, and the stuff itched like crazy. He wanted more for his first time with Lizzie. She deserved more.

  “Your room or mine?”

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Rory, Elizabeth, you still in here?” Devlin shouted from somewhere in the barn.

  Elizabeth flinched. Rory rested his forehead against hers.

  “Damn. Talk about bad timing,” he said, his voice and body tight. “If we ignore him maybe he’ll leave.”

  “No way. He’ll search the place until he finds us.” Elizabeth pulled away and straightened her clothes. “We’re in here, Micah.”

  Rory picked up the brush and moved to the opposite side of the stall, behind his horse. She smiled when she caught sight of the evidence of his desire.

  “Micah, I thought you’d left,” she said, when he entered the stall. “Rory and I were going over the day’s events, and discussing the plans for tomorrow.”

  While her body still hummed from Rory’s touch, she clamped down on those emotions, trying desperately to slip back into business mode.

  “I need to talk to you both before I leave for the hotel,” Devlin said.

  “I’m off the clock,” Rory barked. “We can talk first thing in the morning.”

>   “I agree,” Elizabeth stated. “It’s been a long day for all of us.”

  “What I want to discuss affects tomorrow’s shoot.”

  When Elizabeth glanced at Rory, he looked as if steam would roll out his ears any minute. “Doesn’t matter. I’ll talk to you in the morning,” he insisted.

  “You and I can talk in the house,” she told Devlin as she headed out of the stall.

  “I need to talk to both of you.”

  The CEO’s words halted her. She spun around and glanced back at Rory with a please-help-me-out-here look.

  “You’ve got five minutes. No more,” Rory conceded as he stormed out of the stall toward the barn door, Elizabeth and Devlin scurrying after him.

  A couple minutes later Rory ushered them into the living room.

  “I’m getting some water. Either of you want some?” He looked directly at Elizabeth.

  “I’m fine,” she mumbled as she sank into the nearest armchair.

  “Me, too,” Devlin echoed from his spot on the couch.

  When Rory returned with two glasses of water, he handed one to Elizabeth. “You need to keep hydrated because of the altitude sickness.”

  Devlin turned toward her. “You’re sick?”

  “I’m fine. I’ve got a mild case of altitude sickness.”

  “It’s more than a mild case,” Rory said as he glared at Devlin. “You’re lucky she’s so dedicated. She should’ve spent the day in bed.”

  “I’ve always admired Elizabeth’s dedication. That was one of the reasons I signed with Rayzor Sharp Media.” Devlin cleared his throat. “Which brings me to the opportunity I have for you two and the agency. Based on response to the billboard and the Wake Up America interview, indications are this campaign will be a real winner. Because of that, I want to expand it to include other aspects of our men’s line. We’ve recently added boxers and boxer briefs to our product line.”

  Elizabeth glanced at Rory. He sat with arms crossed, jaw clenched, staring at Devlin.

  Rushing to prevent Rory from exploding like Mount Saint Helen’s, she said, “Right now we need to concentrate on shooting this commercial. Once we’re back in New York we can discuss expanding the campaign.”

  “Elizabeth, I want you to develop a campaign to showcase our other products, especially our underwear line,” Devlin continued, a big smile on his face. He was apparently unaware of the storm brewing around him. “The average man is the perfect market and, Rory, I want you to be the product spokesperson for all our men’s products.”

  “I’ll model pants, shirts, shoes, even ties, but no way in hell am I modeling underwear.”

  Devlin’s smiled faded, replaced with a scowl. “Let’s discuss this.”

  “There’s nothing to discuss, because I’m not changing my mind.” Rory stood and stalked out of the living room.

  Elizabeth wished she could escape, too, but she had to pacify Devlin.

  Rory’s outright refusal put her in an awkward spot. Again. Smack-dab in the middle between him and the client. She wasn’t cut out to be a peacekeeper. How did UN ambassadors do this kind of thing for a living and not end up in a rubber room?

  With the jeans campaign under way, they’d already started their branding strategy. A new model would confuse the consumer.

  “You need to change his mind,” Devlin said to her.

  All she wanted to do was crawl into bed and pray the whole mess evaporated by the time she woke up.

  “If there’s one thing I’ve learned working with Rory, it’s that there’s no talking him into anything.”

  “Since his contract covers only the jeans campaign, I’m willing to make it financially worthwhile for his participation in this new endeavor.”

  “He’s a proud, private man. Modeling underwear crosses a line for him.”

  “Convince him otherwise.”

  “Let me do some thinking tonight. There may be a way we can get Rory to advertise the product without him having to be photographed wearing them.”

  “My assistant is sending boxers Fed-Ex. I want to get photos of Rory in the underwear here at his ranch. Maybe we could shoot another commercial if you wrap this first one up quickly.”

  Sure, she could whip up commercial shoot details on twelve hours notice. She’d have to be David Copperfield to pull off that trick.

  And what did the guy think they’d do? Put Rory in a pair of boxers and video him riding his horse around his ranch? That’d be classy.

  Elizabeth dug her fingers into the leather couch arms and struggled to control her rising temper. “Micah, creating a commercial isn’t something we want to do on the fly. It takes careful thought and a lot of planning to be a successful part of a coordinated campaign. We’re smarter to finish this commercial and work out a new campaign strategy to include other items from your product line once we’re in New York.”

  As she struggled to decide how to deal with this latest harebrained idea, Devlin continued. “How difficult could shooting an underwear commercial be? We put Rory in the boxers, and film the commercial in his bedroom and his bathroom, showing him getting ready for a day working around his ranch.”

  Yeah, that’s all there was to it. Elizabeth closed her eyes and counted to ten, then counted to twenty. When she opened them she still wanted to strangle Devlin. Maybe if she explained the situation the jury would see the crime as justifiable homicide. She inhaled deeply and pushed aside her murderous thoughts. Calm and factual. That’s how Rory said she should deal with Devlin. “It may seem that simple, but it’s not.”

  “Elizabeth, there you are.”

  She looked up and discovered Avery standing in the doorway.

  A savior. Thank you, Lord.

  Rory’s sister glided across the room and stopped in front of Devlin. “I’m sorry to interrupt.” She flashed him a contrite look.

  “No need to apologize,” Devlin answered, his eyes glued to Avery’s beautiful face.

  Elizabeth bit her lip to keep from grinning. Forgive her? What man wouldn’t be thrilled that a goddess like her was interrupting?

  “I’ve been looking all over for Elizabeth,” Avery continued sweetly. “Mom sent me to find her. She has a question about tomorrow’s shooting schedule. I’m afraid I’ll have to steal her for a while.”

  “That’s no problem.” Devlin turned to Elizabeth. “I’ll give you until tomorrow afternoon to get that idea to me. Then we go with mine.”

  Yippee, a last minute reprieve from the warden.

  Elizabeth nodded, stood and followed Avery out of the room. Once in the kitchen and out of Devlin’s hearing, she said, “What’s your mom’s question?”

  “She doesn’t have one. I was rescuing you.”

  “Once again you’re a lifesaver, but how did you know I needed help?”

  “When I saw Rory a minute ago, he said if you and Devlin were still meeting, I was to get you out of there.”

  Elizabeth smiled. Rory playing her knight in shining armor? Who would’ve thought?

  “Where is he? I need to thank him.”

  “He’s in his office, and for the record, he’s the one who asked me to keep an eye on you today.”

  A minute later Elizabeth stood in front of Rory’s office door, suddenly unsure of herself. She’d come to thank him for sending Avery to rescue her, but found herself wanting more.

  Somewhere along the way she’d quit caring about their differences. Even if the relationship couldn’t last, she wanted to feel his strong arms around her. It had been so long since she’d cared about a man. She wanted him holding her close, exploring her body. She wanted him.

  That was enough for right now.

  With courage, hope and longing filling her, she knocked on the door. When he called out for her to enter, she opened it and walked in, having decided to seduce her employee. To hell with not mixing business and pleasure.

  RORY LOOKED UP FROM the pile of invoices on his desk to see Lizzie walking into his office. He’d been amazed how well she’d held up
today, considering the rough night she’d had. In fact, if he hadn’t known she was sick, he wasn’t sure he’d even noticed anything different in her work performance today. She’d been focused, demanding. The same little slave-driving perfectionist.

  So much grit and strength in such a compact package.

  One he’d like to spend a lifetime unwrapping.

  Whoa, back up that train.

  Even if he asked her, which he wouldn’t, Lizzie wouldn’t give up her career in New York to start all over in Colorado.

  “Thanks for sending Avery to rescue me.” She glided across the room toward him, a look he’d never seen before—hot, intense, determined—filling her eyes. Something more scorching than a raging Colorado brush fire blasted through him. He leaned back in his chair. If any other woman but Lizzie looked at him like that he’d think she was about to seduce him, but Lizzie had a clear-cut hands-off policy regarding coworkers.

  She stopped in front of him and placed her dainty hands on his knees.

  Gently, she pushed his legs apart and stepped between them. She licked her lips and looked at him as if he were the last piece of prize-winning apple pie at the county fair. Trying to wrangle in his raging desire, he grabbed a deep breath before he dared open his mouth. “Lizzie, you need to step back.”

  She smiled, but didn’t move. “I’m bothering you?”

  “That’s an understatement, and if you don’t put some distance between us right now, we’re gonna end up a lot closer.”

  “I don’t have a problem with that.”

  Every nerve in his system went on high alert. Before they continued, he had to make sure she understood where things were going. “If you don’t take your pretty little hands off me, in about ten seconds you’ll find yourself under me on that couch over there, my hands exploring every inch of your beautiful body.”

  She licked her lips and her palms moved to his thighs. The fire raging in him scorched another ten acres.

  “What about your not mixing business and pleasure rule?” His hollow voice bounced off the office walls.

  “I’ve decided you’re right. Every rule is meant to be broken.”

  “That’s all I needed to hear.” Rory pulled her into his arms and his mouth captured hers. His body kicked into high gear. Passion gnawed at him.

 

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