Wild Hearts: One Wild Weekend

by Jodi Lynn Copeland

  ONE WILD WEEKEND

  An Ellora’s Cave Publication, June 2004

  Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.

  PO Box 787

  Hudson, OH 44236-0787

  ISBN MS Reader (LIT) ISBN # 1-84360-972-X

  Other available formats (no ISBNs are assigned):

  Adobe (PDF), Rocketbook (RB), Mobipocket (PRC) & HTML

  ONE WILD WEEKEND © 2004 JODI LYNN COPELAND

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part without permission.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. They are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.

  Edited by Briana St. James.

  Cover art by Dawn Seewer.

  Wild Hearts:

  One Wild Weekend

  Jodi Lynn Copeland

  Prologue

  “She actually said that?” Duane Livery stilled with the pizza slice midway to his mouth and gaped across the restaurant table in disbelief. “That you gotta get in touch with your feminine side? Oh, man, how cheesy is that?”

  “Tell me about it,” Nathan Anderson agreed with his long-time friend. Considering the number of women the press had linked him with in the six months since his outdoor superstore chain, The Sports Wharf, had surpassed the fifty million profit mark, the claim wasn’t just cheesy, but absurd. While Nate hadn’t been with all those women, he’d been with plenty; more than enough to know he had the female psyche down to a science.

  They all wanted the same thing, at least the ones not related to him. His money, followed closely by the tanned, blond good looks shared by all five of the Anderson siblings, two of which happened to be women. He knew women. Knew what they wanted, knew what made them tick.

  “As much as I hate to play devil’s advocate, did you ever think that she might have a point?” Nate’s older brother Joe asked. “I mean, yeah, you know women, know a hell of a lot of them more intimately than I even want to think about, but do you really know them?”

  Nate snorted. Joe did not hate to play devil’s advocate. Call it the older brother in him, but he lived for tossing potential hurdles his siblings’ way. It wasn’t that he wanted to see them fail, Nate knew, rather he wanted to help them succeed by pointing out problems that might arise before they could. Only this time there wasn’t a problem, and Joe couldn’t be any farther off base. “I know women.”

  “You know women,” Joe repeated, his look speaking volumes to the fact he disagreed. “In that case, how does Jill feel about her family? Is she close with her parents? Are they even still alive? What about sisters or brothers?”

  How did his ex-lover feel about her family? Nate didn’t know and he honestly couldn’t say that he cared. “Why?”

  “You were together for almost a week, which might not be much for some but is an all-time record for you. She had to have mentioned her family at least once during that time.”

  Jill had mentioned a lot of things. Things like where she liked to be touched, how much she loved the feel of his mustache chafing against her sensitized skin, her endless delight over his staying power. Nate had a sneaking suspicion not one of those things would impress his older brother. He shrugged. “We didn’t do much talking.”

  “Exactly my point.”

  “And my kind of relationship,” Duane put in with a smirk.

  Joe glanced at him. “You are the last person to be getting involved in this conversation.”

  Duane went on the defensive. “What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”

  “That the most meaningful relationship you’ve ever had was with your own hand.”

  Duane didn’t even try to argue, and Nate knew it was because his brother spoke the truth. He also knew the reason why Duane steered away from anything more significant than a one-night stand. Because the poor sap only wanted one woman, Nate and Joe’s sister Candace. And, Candace, God love her, had barely spared more than a glance Duane’s way since the man had moved back to Clarion Heights almost two months ago.

  “The point is you do not know women,” Joe said firmly, pulling Nate’s attention back to the topic of his wisdom where women were concerned. “You know what they want sexually, maybe even what they want for dinner or their taste in drinks, but you don’t have a clue about what’s going on in their heads or their hearts.”

  Nate grunted at the last words. He should have known this was heading toward feelings. Up until a year ago Joe didn’t have a single damned idea what the word even meant, then he’d met Gracie and fell head over ass in love. And that was clearly why Nate was getting the grill session now. Big brother Joe had deemed it time for him to settle down. Too bad for big brother Joe, Nate had no such intention. “I don’t have time for a relationship. Even if I did, there isn’t a woman in this city who could keep me entertained for more than a week or two.”

  The pretentious city of Clarion Heights bred beauties by the droves. Beauties whose idea of a good time was sunbathing by their daddy’s pool, or heading out to one of the local clubs for a hard night of partying. As entertaining as that might have been once upon a time, the appeal for Nate had long run thin. He’d had more than his fair share of debutantes, and he didn’t want another one. At least, not right now. What he wanted now was a woman who found adventure in the world around her, who wasn’t afraid to break a nail while dangling thirty stories up off the face of the mountain. A woman who could share his love for both the outdoors and the bedroom without falling in love with him herself.

  “Then expand your scope,” Joe said. “It’s not like you have to stick to Clarion Heights. You’re jetting off to parts unknown every other damned day.”

  “For business.”

  “In the form of sporting events,” Joe amended. “Ones I find it awfully hard to believe there isn’t a single woman at who can keep you entertained, both mentally and physically.”

  There were women at the events all right, and they came in two forms. Those who were there for the express purpose of meeting a muscle-bound man and those who were there to prove they could kick a muscle-bound man’s ass. Neither of them particularly appealed to Nate. A lot like this conversation.

  He tossed his napkin onto his emptied plate and glared at his brother. “What part of ‘I don’t want a relationship’ don’t you understand?”

  “The part where you won’t even give one a try. I don’t get you, bro. When we were kids all you ever talked about was having a family of your own someday. About wanting a wife and a dozen kids. What the hell happened?”

  He’d grown up and realized everything wasn’t white picket fences and lazy Sunday afternoons spent playing baseball with the family. Up until roughly a year ago, Nate had invested all his time and effort into seeing the Wharf became a success, and now that he’d accomplished his goal he wanted time to reap the benefits that came with being a single, sought-after millionaire. Benefit number one was the ability to take off to wherever it might be he wanted to go without so much as a moment’s notice. Benefit number two was not having a wife nagging him to come home and stop acting like a kid. “I’m thirty-two, not eighty. I have every intention of settling down one day, presuming I find a woman who can stand up to her claim she loves both the outdoors and me and isn’t just saying that to get at my bank account. That day isn’t today or anytime in the foreseeable future.”

  Joe stared across the table at him in stony silence. Finally, he said, “I don’t think you know how.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’ve been playing the jet-setting bachelor for so damned long I don’t think you know the first thing about forming a real relati
onship. I bet you can’t even have a normal conversation with a woman you find attractive for more than five minutes.”

  The words were as inaccurate as any Nate had ever heard and still they managed to prick at him, just the way he knew Joe had intended. “I know how, just like I know women. I can sure as hell talk to them.”

  “About something other than sex?”

  “Yes,” Nate said calmly, fighting back the irritation that came with his brother’s doubtful expression and tone, “about something other than sex.”

  The skepticism in Joe’s eyes faded and he smiled. “All right, prove it.”

  “I will, in a few years.”

  “Now.”

  “Why?” Duane asked, pulling both men from their staring match to focus on him.

  “Because I don’t think he can.” Joe looked back at Nate and his smile grew to a knowing grin. “Prove it to me, little brother. Find a woman who you’re attracted to and who shares your tastes and get to know her. The real her. Out of bed. And just in case the concept has failed to enter your realm of comprehension, what I’m suggesting is called a friendship with a member of the opposite sex.”

  It was true that Nate didn’t have any female friends outside of those related to him, but that wasn’t because he didn’t know how to handle a nonsexual relationship with a woman. He’d just never had the desire to have one. He could have one easily. No, he would have one. If for no other reason then to get Joe off his back. That and because he hadn’t backed down from a challenge any other time in his life and he wasn’t about to start now. “Say I agree and take you up on the challenge, where do you propose I meet this woman? And don’t say abroad. I’m not about to start a long distance relationship to prove some ludicrous point.”

  “At the Wharf,” Duane suggested.

  Nate shook his head. “I don’t use the store to meet women.”

  “Then you’d best start thinking of places,” Joe said.

  Nate could only laugh. Thinking of places to meet women for the express purpose of friendly, relationship-building conversation. He would put that on the top of his “things to do” list. Yeah, right. “As much as I would love to continue discussing this, I have to run. I promised Jan I’d come in today so she could take off early.”

  “What about her?” Joe asked. “She’s not a customer.”

  “She’s got a nice ass,” Duane added.

  That she did, along with a decent rack and miles of thick red hair. She also happened to be Nate’s most dependable manager. On the extremely off chance he really couldn’t keep a relationship with a woman he found attractive nonsexual, he wasn’t about to risk tossing Jan into the equation. “She has something going on with Rex and, even if this is just about friendship, I don’t want him seeing the two of us together and getting the wrong idea.”

  Nate grabbed the check and headed for the restaurant’s front counter. As he drew closer a bright yellow flyer taped beside the register caught his attention. “Ninth Annual Wild Woman Weekend” was written in bold black letters and pictures of women camped out around a fire and several others hiking and white water rafting made up the lower half of the sheet. He vaguely recalled donating supplies to the event in the past.

  Duane’s hand slapped over his shoulder and he nodded toward the flyer. “Check it out, man. I do believe we have found your place.”

  “My place?”

  “To meet your woman.”

  “She’s not my woman,” Nate clarified, his gut tightening at the far from pleasant thought of a woman moving into his life and taking over. Yeah, he wasn’t ready for that. Not even close. “As it seems you’ve failed to notice, you might check out the print on the bottom. It’s for women only.”

  “Yeah, as in a hundred or more nature-loving females all alone in the big outdoors. I’m sure I don’t gotta tell you what they do at those things.”

  If the pictures were anything to go by, they sat around fires and went hiking and rafting. If Duane’s lecherous grin were anything to go by, they sat around fucking each other. “Let me guess, it’s one big female orgy?”

  “Couldn’t have said it better myself.”

  “I have serious doubts on the whole orgy thing,” Joe said, coming up behind them, “but he might not be so far off about it being the place for you to test out this supposed friendship skill of yours. The women who attend that thing have to be into the outdoors. Enough so that even you ought to be able to find something to talk to them about.”

  Nate shook his head, noting his brother still thought he was incompetent where inter-gender friendships were concerned. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I’ll wait for something better to come along.”

  “Scared?”

  Nate was handing the check and two twenties to a middle-aged, matronly-looking woman when the taunting word reached him. He glanced back at Joe. “Of what?”

  “That if I’m right and all those women are into the outdoors, you’ll never be able to last an entire weekend on conversation alone, that you’ll find one you just can’t resist and end up nailing her. Or worse, that you’ll get to know one of them for more than their ability to put their legs behind their head, and actually start caring about her.”

  Nate collected his change and started toward the door. “I’m not scared of shit. I’m also not a woman, and I would say that ends this conversation.”

  Reaching the door, Duane turned and cast him an assessing gaze. He shrugged. “I dunno, man. I’d say you could be a woman pretty damned easy.”

  “He can?” Joe asked the same time as Nate said, “I can?”

  Duane frowned. “What, neither of you ever dressed in drag?”

  “No,” Nate said resolutely. “And I’ve also never had to lie my way into a woman’s feelings any more than I’ve had to lie my way into one’s pants, and that’s exactly what you’re suggesting I do.”

  Joe smirked. “The reason you’ve never had to lie your way into a woman’s pants is because they all know you have money. Not to mention, if the tabloids are to be believed, a dick the size of your arm. As far as feelings go, you’ve yet to convince me you have ever experienced such a thing or given any in return. If Jill’s parting comment is a sign, I would say you haven’t even come close.”

  Nate pushed through the restaurant’s front door and struggled to force back the growing frustration his brother could stir in him like no other. “It really doesn’t matter, since it isn’t going to happen.”

  “Because you’re scared of opening yourself up and getting close to someone,” Joe pressed from where he walked beside him.

  Nate came to a halt and met his brother’s overconfident smile with barely tethered exasperation. “I am not scared.”

  “All I’m asking is for you to prove it, little brother. Go to that weekend full of outdoor-loving women and show me you can make friends.”

  Nate’s frustration cracked with the absurdity of the challenge. He felt like laughing or maybe rearranging Joe’s face. He nodded instead. “Fine, I’ll go and I’ll make these friendships you seem to think I’m incapable of handling, and when I do, I don’t want to hear another word from you on feelings or relationships and sure as hell not on getting in touch with my damned feminine side. Got it?”

  “Got it.”

  “Good.” He turned to Duane and spoke words he wished to God had never found their way into his mouth. “Show me my feminine side, Duane. Make me a woman.”

  Joe laughed, obviously enjoying the hell right out of this. “You seriously think you can make him look like a woman?”

  “Oh yeah, man,” Duane said, all confidence. “Just wait and see. This time on Friday ‘Natalie’ here will be so hot he’s gonna want to jump his own bones.”

  Chapter One

  Seated behind the wheel of her Jeep, Kelsey Stuart scanned the area twenty yards in the distance. Trees, bushes, and patches of marshland surrounded the foothills of the Eagleton Mountains. In the middle of it all was an open stretch of ground where women of all
ages, shapes and sizes scurried about, setting up tents, breaking out coolers and grills, and arranging their temporary homes.

  Laughter filtered through her open window and Kelsey breathed out an edgy sigh. She should have stayed home.

  The only reason she’d agreed to come to the Wild Woman Weekend was because of her best friend Jan. Jan, who had canceled at the last possible minute. Jan, who Kelsey had a sneaking suspicion hadn’t come down with the flu at all, but merely had better plans in the form of her new boyfriend Rex. Jan, who if she hadn’t been best friends with since kindergarten, she would sever her relationship with permanently.

  They had been friends that long. On top of the length of time they’d known each other, Jan was one of the few women Kelsey felt she could be herself around. Which was exactly the reason she ought to turn around and head back home.

  The thought of exiting her vehicle and throwing herself into that bramble of chattering females twisted her gut into knots. Still, she had to do it. She’d not only already paid for the weekend, but had driven for over an hour and a half to get here. And, honestly, she’d been looking forward to it. On top of the fact the dense and variegated foliage and rolling landscape of the mountains would provide some prime footage for the latest in a series of nature books she was writing, time away from Grayson City could only do her well. More notably, time away from thoughts of Todd, her latest error in judgment, and even better, the whole male population.

  She could do this. Relax and enjoy herself amongst strangers without Jan by her side to ease the way. With any luck she might even make a few lasting friends. Or she wouldn’t make a single one and end up being paired with women as unexciting as she was for all the partner events.

  “You are not unexciting,” Kelsey scolded herself.

  She wasn’t. In fact, Jan had told her more than once that she was one of the wildest women she’d ever met. She just appeared unexciting, not to mention peculiar, to those who didn’t know any better. She would simply have to make sure these women knew her. And if getting to know her, the real her, meant opening up and revealing things about herself she rarely shared, then so be it.