Bewitching the Reclusive Billionaire Cowboy

by Paige Cameron

  “If you want to go shopping, it’s time to get up,” Graham said.

  Gina glanced at her wristwatch, seven a.m. She had two and a half hours.

  “There’s nothing in the house to eat. I’m going to Millie’s place, the best restaurant in town for breakfast. Hurry and dress, and you can join me.”

  She jumped out of the bed and threw on a pair of jeans and a green T-shirt. Her tennis shoes were all she had to wear with her outfit, but she was putting boots on her list for today. She gave her long hair a brief combing and a touch of lipstick, and she was ready. Thank goodness her hair had a slight curl. She didn’t need to do much to make it look good.

  “Twenty minutes, not bad,” Graham said, looking at his watch. “Come on.” In minutes they were driving down a two-lane highway headed west. Millie’s restaurant was on the edge of town.

  A short woman with a round face and snow-white hair greeted them at the door. “My, my, who is this with my favorite handsome cowboy?” She smiled at Gina.

  “Millie, this is a friend of a friend. She’d never been to Montana, so she’s here for a visit.”

  “Welcome to Frontier City.” She chuckled. “Not that it’s much of a city. Follow me and I’ll find you two a booth.” The dining room was crowded as usual, and several people waved or called out hello as they passed. All looked questioningly at Gina.

  Millie stopped beside a side booth. Gina was glad to slide into the seat, giving her a small degree of privacy. Millie handed them menus. “I’ll be back with coffee and take your order. Unless you’d like tea or juice,” Millie added.

  “Coffee’s great, and I’d also like a glass of orange juice.”

  “Coming up.” She walked briskly off toward the kitchen.

  “Millie’s amazing, a good cook, and always happy and pleasant. She does a good business.”

  “I like her.” Gina turned her attention to Graham. “You don’t look like you slept well.”

  “You look well rested,” he said, avoiding answering her comment.

  “I slept like a baby. It must be the quiet and feeling like I’m on vacation.’

  His mouth twitched. It was hardly noticeable, but she caught it. This tormenting was going to be fun.

  “Don’t go crazy buying food today. We can always come to Millie’s.”

  “So you’re a regular customer?”

  “Sometimes, or Mom will feed me.” He did that half grin that made her insides clench with desire. “I can live a long time on peanut butter and jelly. I just ran out.”

  Before she responded, Millie was back with her juice and their coffee. After placing the cups and her glass on the table, Millie held her pen ready to write down their order.

  Graham took time for introductions before saying, “I’ll have my usual.”

  Gina hadn’t looked at the menu. She opened it and glanced at the first few items. “I’ll take scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, sausage, and biscuits, with honey,” she added.

  Graham stared at her, and Millie laughed. “I’m going to be surprised if you can eat all that, little lady.” She hurried off to refill several cups of coffee on her way to the kitchen.

  “You must be hungry.”

  “I am. I treat myself on special occasions. Usually I don’t eat as much.”

  “This is a special occasion?” Graham asked.

  “I’m in a new place, meeting new people, and I’m going shopping today. Women, as I’m sure you will attest to, love to shop.” His worried look made her smile.

  “Don’t get carried away,” he cautioned.

  “A woman can never promise that.” Forcing herself to look across the room and away from his handsome face, she turned her head and smiled at the couple sitting closest.

  The man and woman were finished and getting up. They strolled to the booth.

  “Hello, Graham. Haven’t seen you out and about lately,” the tall blond man said.

  “You know me. I keep busy at home.”

  The woman, a short blonde with a wedding ring on her finger, leaned around her husband. “Aren’t you going to introduce us, Graham?”

  “This is Regina. She’s staying with my family for a few weeks. This is her first visit to Montana.”

  The woman put out her hand. “Welcome. I hope we see you around Frontier City. It’s small, but there’s quite a bit to do. Do you knit?”

  “I’ve always wanted to learn.”

  “Then you must come to our knitting group. We’re meeting at my house on Wednesday at one. Ask Mrs. Brodie to bring you. She’s a member.”

  “Thank you, I might do that.”

  They excused themselves and went on out. Graham frowned as soon as they left. “Now you’ve done it. Everyone’s going to stop by and talk on their way out. Plus you agreed to join their knitting group. You won’t be here long enough to learn how to knit.”

  Gina leaned back and smiled brightly. “I couldn’t not talk to them. I can’t be rude. And I’m a fast learner. I want to knit a blanket for your niece and nephew. It’ll give me something to do.”

  Graham looked at her strangely, but she had no idea what he was thinking. Millie arrived with their meals at the right time.

  She hated to admit it, but Graham had been right. Couples, cowboys, and a family all stopped briefly for an introduction. Since she and Graham were eating, they didn’t linger long.

  Gina loved this town. The people were curious, but they were also pleasant and everyone knew everyone, so a stranger would stand out. The idea gave her some comfort. She felt safe here.

  They arrived back to the cabin just before his mother’s car turned into the drive. Gina waved. “I’ll be right out. I just need a minute.” She ran into the bathroom and brushed her teeth and freshened up. When she came out, Graham was talking with his mother.

  “Good morning. Graham said he took you to Millie’s.”

  “I loved it, and the people are all so nice,” Gina said.

  Graham groaned. “They’ll probably want to stop by and visit her.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with her making friends,” his mother said.

  “She isn’t going to need friends.” He raised his voice then lowered it when his mother frowned. “She won’t be here long.”

  Yesterday, Gina would have been crying inside, but today she was giggling silently. What was the old saying? Ye doth protest too much. Her flicker of hope was getting stronger.

  Chapter Five

  Mrs. Brodie stopped at Chelsea’s, and then they headed for town. “What do you want to buy, Gina?” Mrs. Brodie asked.

  “Definitely groceries, and a pair of boots, but what I’d really like to buy is a can of paint.”

  Chelsea stared at her from the backseat. “You’d have to be brave. He’ll blow up if you try to change anything.”

  “She’s right,” Mrs. Brodie said. “I repainted his room once years ago, and he stormed out of the house. When he returned, he didn’t speak to me unless it was necessary for a week. Still, in spite of his displeasure, I think you should fix up your bedroom however you like. That is the room you’re thinking about changing, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, to start with.”

  Both Chelsea and Mrs. Brodie laughed. “I like you a lot,” Mrs. Brodie said. “You are the perfect woman to challenge Graham. I can tell he likes you. He’ll see how it can be to have a woman in his personal space. He claims he’d go crazy with a wife, but I think you may prove him wrong.”

  Gina went about her shopping with a lighter heart. Basically, his mother had given her stamp of approval on Gina’s plans.

  She found the boots and a cowgirl shirt in green with silver trim, then they went to shop for items for the house. She bought a few kitchen utensils she was certain he wouldn’t have.

  “I love to cook, and some of my dishes are gourmet,” Gina explained to Chelsea and Mrs. Brodie. Each item she bought made Mrs. Brodie’s smile brighter. They left the kitchen department and walked over to the curtains. Gina chose cheerful red-and-white
curtains for the kitchen and yellow and white for her bedroom.

  At the paint center she bought a light-yellow paint for her bedroom and finished her shopping by buying a few small pictures.

  Mrs. Brodie drove them to the grocery store. “This is it.” She pointed to a medium-size store. “If you want items they don’t have, we’ll ride to Wagon Wheel on another day and go for lunch, see a movie, and get what you need. There are several large grocery stores there.”

  “Millie’s is just down a block. Shall we have lunch before we finish our shopping?” Chelsea asked.

  “Great idea, if Gina’s not already tired of Millie’s cooking,” Mrs. Brodie added.

  “Not at all.” Gina opened her door, and they all walked down the block to the restaurant. Since it was one in the afternoon, the crowd had thinned, thank goodness.

  Everywhere they’d gone today people had stared, and many stopped to speak with Mrs. Brodie and Chelsea, which got them an introduction to Gina. Gina liked them all. She just wanted to get over being the new topic in town.

  It was four o’clock before they got back to the cabin. Graham came out to the car. “I was beginning to worry,” he said.

  His mother hugged him. “We had a lovely, slow lunch. We women do like to talk and get acquainted, and we took our time shopping.”

  Chelsea and Gina were at the trunk while Graham’s mother kept talking to him. He glanced at them carrying in bags, but as they expected, he was too polite to leave his mother and demand to see Gina’s purchases.

  Gina quickly took the curtains and paint into her bedroom and put them in the back of the closet. Chelsea was putting the food in the refrigerator and cupboards when Gina got to the kitchen. Shortly afterward, Mrs. Brodie and Graham joined them.

  “You bought a lot of groceries. I don’t cook. We could eat at Mom’s or Millie’s.” A frown creased his forehead.

  Gina brushed her hand across his brow. “You’ll get wrinkles if you don’t stop frowning so much.” She started helping Chelsea.

  “Who’ll cook all this stuff?” Graham persisted.

  “I will. I’m a gourmet cook.” Gina smiled at him over her shoulder and grinned at Chelsea when she heard him groan.

  “I don’t eat much. I like plain, simple cooking like Mom’s.”

  “Plain cooking?” his mother asked. “What do you mean by such a comment?”

  “I’m not criticizing, Mom. I love your cooking.”

  “You’d better, as much as you’ve eaten of it. But give Gina a chance. I’m sure you’ll enjoy having someone right here fixing your meals.”

  “We’ll see. I’ll talk to you later, Mom. See you, Chelsea.” He stomped through the living room to his writer’s den.

  “He’ll stay in there for a while, but his curiosity will get the best of him, especially when he smells the scent of good food, flavored with herbs and spices, cooking in his kitchen,” Mrs. Brodie reassured Gina.

  “I hope so. I’m going to make a chicken pot pie from scratch and biscuits for tonight.”

  “Then we’d better get out of your way.” Mrs. Brodie and Chelsea waved as they left.

  Finally, she was ready to begin living here in the manner she intended. The way she wanted it to go.

  The kitchen was the largest room in the house, although she hadn’t seen Graham’s bedroom, and it might be bigger. She doubted it. He didn’t appear to need much space. The layout of this room was also good with lots of counter space.

  She took out the fresh vegetables, cleaned and chopped them, then washed her new large pot and put them in with chicken broth and some of her favorite seasonings.

  Gina hummed as she rinsed the chicken, patted it dry, and put it in the skillet to brown. She was always happy when she was cooking.

  * * * *

  Graham was glad when his mother and sister-in-law left. He could sit in his study and try to work on his edit. But Gina’s image kept getting between him and his pages.

  She’d been smiling when they got back, and her cheeks were rosy. His mother and Chelsea appeared to like her too much. And it felt odd to see three women in his kitchen, unnerving, actually. He hadn’t missed seeing new pots and pans and tons of groceries. She obviously thought she’d need to be here for quite a while.

  When he heard her humming and began to smell food cooking, he couldn’t resist peeking. “What the hell are you doing?” Graham shouted.

  His loud voice startled her, and Gina teetered on the small ladder. Graham grabbed her before she fell.

  “What does it look like I’m doing?” she said and frowned. “I’m trying to put up the curtains I bought. They’ll give this room a more cheerful appearance.”

  Graham stared into her golden eyes. Her pale-pink lips were curved into a smile, and warmth from her soft body was raising his heat level and his cock. He dropped her to her feet abruptly.

  “I told you I don’t like change,” he growled.

  She stood toe to toe with him. He almost laughed. Her face was even with his chest, but she’d bent her head back and glowered at him.

  “I’ll take it down when I go.”

  “And all this other stuff you bought, too.” He pointed to a wall clock, a tablecloth, and matching napkins. They were all in red and white to match the curtains.

  “I will. Get out of here, and let me finish preparing our main dish for dinner.”

  Graham started to say it was his kitchen, but instead he hesitated, took a moment to look around, and went back to his man cave, as he liked to think of his study.

  He couldn’t get back to work. The kitchen had looked different, brighter. Especially with Gina standing in the middle, the sunlight shining through the window on her auburn curls and the frilly apron tied around her waist. His resolve not to carry her into his bedroom and bury his hungry cock in her pussy was weakening. But he mustn’t take that step.

  He had to keep his mind on his work and get this edit done. Because of Gina, he was making poor progress. Why did he agree to have Sylvia’s sister come here? Especially when he’d reacted to her picture. It was a dumb, dumb, dumb idea. Sylvia had caught him in a weak moment.

  “It’s ready to eat.” Gina stuck her head in the doorway.

  Graham glanced at the clock. It’d been an hour and he was still on page five. “I might as well eat. I’m not accomplishing much in here.”

  “Don’t you like to edit and polish?” Gina asked as they walked across into the kitchen.

  “No, it’s my least favorite part of writing.” He sniffed the air. “Something smells good.” He sat at the end of the table and peeked under the cloth covering a small basket to his left. “Hot biscuits. Did you buy any honey?”

  She turned from the oven, carrying a bowl covered with golden crust. She set it on the placemat in front of him. A wonderful fragrance filled the air.

  “Yes, I have some.” She reached in a cabinet and put his favorite wildflower honey in front of him. “Your mother told me about your passion for biscuits with honey.” She went back to the oven and got her individual dish covered in crust.

  “I’m worried about what all she told you about me.”

  Gina shrugged. “Not much. Women like to discuss various topics,” she said as she poured their iced tea. She put the tea at their places and out of the fridge produced two salad bowls and the dressing he liked.

  “You must have talked about me a lot in the grocery store. What is this?” he asked and pointed to the bowl.

  “Chicken pot pie, try it. You’ll like it. But you’d do better to start with the salad. The pot pie is extremely hot.”

  Graham hadn’t eaten since breakfast, so he did as she said and doused his salad with dressing. When he began to eat, Gina followed suit. For many minutes they didn’t talk, but it was a comfortable silence.

  He got up and went to the living room to turn on the music. When he returned, Gina smiled. “I should light candles and…”

  “Don’t push your luck.” He broke into the pie and took a bite. It w
as still hot, but delicious. Gina could cook. She was waiting for his response. He took his time, drank some tea, and tried another bite.

  “Well?” she asked.

  “Mom makes a superb pot pie. Everyone says hers is the best, but I think this one might be better.”

  Gina clapped her hands and smiled brightly. “Thank you. I practice and take in dishes to the staff. They’ve all said I’m a good cook, but from someone who doesn’t particularly care about food, your compliment means more.”

  “I like food, if I don’t have to fix it.”

  “Whatever, you can’t take away my joy from your words.”

  She went back to eating. Graham found himself hardly able to take his eyes off her. The harder he tried to tell himself not to get involved with her, the more his body struggled with his mind.

  He did manage to clean his bowl and eat three biscuits, two with honey. When he pushed back from the table, Gina stopped him.

  “Dessert is next.”

  “You had time to bake, too? I’m full.”

  Gina pulled a coconut pie out of the refrigerator. “I thought you might want at least a small piece. I have some fresh coffee made to go with it.”

  “You did this on purpose, fixing all my favorites. You knew I’d never be able to resist.”

  “I hoped.” She set the pie on the counter. “Why don’t you go out on the porch? I’ll bring our dessert and coffee.”

  “Just a small piece,” he said and hurried out of the room. He needed time alone to restore his defenses. No woman had ever made them crumble so fast and thoroughly. Graham sat and took a deep breath of the fresh night air scented with the smell of pine. Temperatures had dropped, and he got up to get a jacket for him and Gina. He met her on the way to the porch.

  “I’ll be right back. I’m going to grab us a jacket.”

  He grabbed the one he’d worn this morning and a lined coat for Gina, and then returned outside.

  Gina had placed his coffee and a small slice of pie on the table by the chair on the left. She sat on the other side of the porch in a matching chair. Graham threw the coat across her shoulders before putting his on. Gina slipped her arms in and zipped up the front.