Cowgirl Rescue (Selkirk Family Ranch Book 3)

by Irene Vartanoff

  “When did that happen?” Rolf asked. What was she doing with all her free time?

  “Oh, a couple months ago. It was just a minor thing.” She was breezy about it.

  The surf shop guy helpfully added, “But you were bleeding like crazy. Good thing Dan called the EMTs.”

  “Are you ready to try again?” The question came from a much older man who emerged from a clicking beaded curtain behind the counter. This must be Dan. He wore surfer shorts and zoris and nothing else. He was muscular in a taut way, and his skin was a permanent mahogany while his hair was dead blond, bleached by the sun.

  “Absolutely,” she said. “Plus I brought you a new victim.” After introductions and outfitting Rolf, they proceeded to the beach. They picked a spot and started dumping their extra stuff. When Rolf took off his shirt, Dan saw the scars on Rolf’s body.

  “What happened to you, man?”

  He froze. Were his scars that bad?

  Tess said, quickly, “Bull-riding, right?”

  Rolf put a hand on her arm. Her eyes signaled sympathy and he bit back a curse. Would this happen every time he took his shirt off from now on? Nobody at the ranch had said anything. Then again, most everybody at the ranch had scars, some a lot worse than his.

  He should say something.

  Finally, the rusty words slipped out. “Iraq. It’s just shrapnel. I was lucky.” No lie. Even the PTSD nightmares he’d suffered for years, and his dismissal from the army, weren’t a high price to pay for emerging from that horror with all his body parts in decent shape. Unlike Rob and JD.

  “Sorry, man,” Dan said.

  The sticky moment passed, and they walked down to the water.

  Three hours later, windburned and exhausted, Rolf stood at the edge of the water with Dan after yet another wipeout. “I’m crying uncle. I thought I worked hard on the ranch, but this is a lot harder. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve fallen off.” He sliced the salt water from his burning eyes. Dan had patiently coached him through numerous attempts, but something in Rolf froze when he was on the board.

  “You almost made it in a couple of times. You’re holding back,” Dan said. “I’ve seen it before. You can’t surf by trying to control the ocean. You have to let go—let the wave be in control and just go with it, shift as the wave shifts.”

  “I like control,” he said. Maybe he needed it. He hadn’t had any way of being in control in Iraq. There, his job was to obey orders. If he followed the rules, did his work correctly without skipping important steps like making sure he had backup, he’d come out alive.

  But Rob Wright had been following the rules when he and JD had consulted and decided to talk to the woman who had waved them down. And she blew them all to hell. Rob had a widow and two little girls somewhere in West Virginia. JD had spent a year in the VA hospital, getting operation after operation.

  Dan pointed to Tess. “See the difference? She lets it happen. Then she follows the wave.” They watched Tess come all the way in, riding her board, perfect form. “She’s a natural,” Dan said. “I keep telling her she should do action movies. She’s got the physical daring to carry off being a spy or an international jewel thief, or whatever. Could probably do her own stunts, too.”

  Rolf frowned. “Bite your tongue, man. I want her to stay in one piece. This daredevil stuff has got to stop.”

  Dan snorted. “Good luck with that.”

  With only fifty feet to go, Tess wiped out spectacularly, her board flying in the air and knocking her sideways. Rolf started running toward the water.

  Dan held him back with one tanned arm. “Give her a second. Plenty of time for a rescue if she needs it.”

  Rolf wrestled himself free and took off. He dove into the water just as Tess popped up from a wave, laughing.

  Rolf’s heart was beating irregularly and he was having trouble catching a breath, but she was laughing. He stood up in the surf and tried to calm his body.

  “Did you see that?” she yelled, wading to the shore. “My board tried to kill me.”

  Rolf turned back and slogged through the knee-deep water, watching her nonchalantly retrieve her board. He opened his mouth to scold her.

  Dan, waiting at water’s edge, said, “You know what means, right?”

  Tess nodded. “Time to call it a day. I was careless because I got tired.”

  “Good girl. You’ll make a great surfer yet.”

  Her face lit up.

  Rolf was still having trouble with his breathing. Tess would give him a heart attack if she kept on this way. He had to rein her in somehow.

  Not today. Tess was raring to go, not at all worn out from hours of surfing while he’d attempted to learn. After they washed off and changed in Dan’s building and made their farewells, she said, “Let’s go to a casino. They have a ton of big, flashy casinos in L.A. Not like back home.”

  “We’ve got a plane to catch,” Rolf said.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You’re coming home to the ranch with me right now. Your family wants you home, where the paparazzi won’t be able to stalk you and you can behave yourself.”

  Tess’s bright smile dissolved into a pout. “If you could hear yourself, you’d think you were eighty years old. I happen to know you’re only twenty-eight, only three years older than me. Anyway, my family doesn’t want to see me. JD, especially. You do realize he moved roundup just so I’d be working and couldn’t come?”

  “Scheduling isn’t personal,” he shrugged. Tess was making a mountain out of a molehill. “Your family is concerned about you. You haven’t been for a visit since the wedding.”

  She gave him a frank look. “You know why.”

  Heat rose in his face. “Yeah. Guess I do. Was I out of line to ask you to stay?”

  Her expression clouded over. Her lips tightened, as if she was holding them back from trembling. “I couldn’t stay. You know my reasons.”

  He shook his head. “What are you doing here in L.A.? An endless round of entertainment as you wait for the next piece of nonsense to act in. Big waste of time, if you ask me.”

  “I don’t ask you. I don’t ask anyone.” Her voice rose. “Stop treating me like a child. I know what I want.”

  “Come back with me now. Show your family that you’re not drinking all day and partying all night—which is what the whole world believes since your screw-up.”

  “No. I want to play roulette.”

  “We can catch the last flight of the day, be home by midnight.”

  “Roulette,” she insisted. “Come on, Rolf. You’re in L.A. The big city. Live a little. It’ll be fun. We can have dinner there, too. Unless you’d rather go back to my place and we’ll have sex.”

  He frowned. “Why do you say it that way? Sex?”

  “Because sex is all I’m offering. You want a commitment and I don’t,” she said in a low voice.

  He couldn’t keep his mind on driving and talk about their relationship. He pulled over to the side of the road, wincing as other cars honked angrily at his sudden move. Once he’d stopped the car safely, he turned the ignition key to off.

  He slewed around in his seat to face his nemesis.

  Tess was beautiful in the slanting rays of the late afternoon sun, her dark hair glinting with amber highlights, her simple dress showing off her perfect body without displaying it. She made him forget everything but the raw need to possess her.

  She cocked her head at him, a smile on her lips. “Want to do it here, by the side of the road?”

  His brain was on fire. He put a hand to his forehead. She was always a step ahead of him, always ready to be daring. “Why do you always say the most outrageous things?”

  “You know why. Because I’m not afraid to be honest.” Tess unclipped her seatbelt and leaned across the bucket seat divider, twining her arms around his shoulders. “This could be a bit difficult, but I’m game if you are.” She lifted her pouty lips to his. “Come on. Kiss me.”

  She surrounded him
with her fragrant softness. It was hard to think.

  “Tess. No,” he managed to say before her full lips touched his. Then all thought fled. She wrapped her arms tightly around him and he held on as if she was a gossamer butterfly and he had to grasp her firmly or watch her flit away.

  She plunged her tongue into his mouth. He bit her slightly before pushing his own tongue between her welcoming lips. His arms held her tighter.

  The jeering honk of a passing semi sent his body and mind into a spin. He ducked as the IED exploded, killing Rob and maiming JD.

  Chapter 5

  When the haze cleared from his head, his fists were clenched. What had he done to Tess? She was all the way up against the window, one hand to the back of her head as if she’d hit it.

  “I threw you into the door, didn’t I?” He made no attempt to hide the blackness he felt.

  Tess moved her shoulders, shaking off what must have been a hard knock. “No harm done, soldier.” She leaned in toward him again. “Now, where were we?”

  He reared back against the driver door. “Keep away. I’ve hurt you enough.”

  “I’m okay. And you’re back to normal again.” Sympathy shone from her eyes.

  For once, he felt like explaining. “The sudden noise of that truck spooked me. Doesn’t happen on the ranch.”

  Tess bit her lip. “I’d love if it you hung out here with me, but I guess you should escape from L.A. as quickly as possible.” She smiled. “Escape from L.A. Wasn’t that a movie?”

  He bit back an involuntary burst of laughter. Tess always could find the fun. “I’ll be okay. It’s you who needs to escape.” His voice turned heavier. “You’re in love with the high life, but you’re riding for a fall and you’ve already taken the first tumble. Trouble with the law.”

  “Pish tosh, as Aunt Ida says.” She leaned closer. “It’s free publicity while I’m not working. Being in the gossip news reminds people that I’m here.”

  “You did the DUI deliberately?”

  “Of course not.” Her tone was exasperated. “You know what I mean. Any publicity is better than no publicity.”

  “You’re wrong. You’re losing jobs with every piece of bad publicity. Film and TV companies don’t want unreliable employees.”

  She got a hurt expression on her face. “I’m not unreliable.”

  “You’re the next step to it.” He raised his hands. “Look, it doesn’t matter. I’m here to take you home, where you belong. The ranch.”

  “If I agree to go home, will we have sex first?”

  He stared at her. Was she serious? “Not until you’re willing to wear my ring.”

  “Are you sure about that, soldier?” she said in a low, provocative tone.

  When she got all breathy like that, he wanted to give her everything. Her breasts heaved and her pouty mouth just begged to be kissed. He was sorely tempted. But making love hadn’t convinced her to stay three months ago, the night of the wedding. If he gave in to her now, he’d never get her home.

  “Direct me to the casino,” he ground out in a voice too gritty to pretend he was unmoved.

  Tess looked disappointed, but then her expression took on a look of triumph. “Let’s do it.” She pointed to the left. “Take a Uey there.”

  Two hours later, Tess sat behind a large pile of chips she’d won playing roulette. Rolf stood behind her, watching. He’d folded after a couple of little bets. He didn’t care for games where the house always wins. By rights, Tess should have been out of chips by now. Instead, she was up. Unlike the other roulette players, who routinely put stacks on random single numbers, she seemed to have an instinct for the right combinations of safe and risky plays. She’d also imbibed several of the free drinks a young waiter had brought her. A crowd had gathered, as she placed her next bet with chips in three areas, including a daring single number.

  “That’s Tess Selkirk. You know. From TV,” a bystander said. “She’s hot.” “Definitely hot.” Rolf turned to glare at them, but the two young guys were ogling Tess, not looking at him. Tess couldn’t hear them, anyway, so no need to bruise his knuckles just yet.

  He turned his attention back to the table. The odds favored the house, so how did Tess do it?

  Her number hit. She won the table. People cheered. She looked up, grinning in acknowledgment. “Time to pack it in.” She tipped the croupier and the waiter, and took her winnings with her in very high denomination chips.

  “Let’s go play blackjack,” she said, her voice soft from the liquor.

  He frowned. “You’ll lose everything you just won.”

  Tess got a mulish look on her face. “I’m not here for the money. If you gamble for money, you’re a loser. You have to do it for the sport of the game.”

  As she turned toward the blackjack tables, a man in what had to be a custom suit came up to her unobtrusively and said, “Ms. Selkirk, may I talk to you in private?”

  The way he said it, it didn’t sound like an invitation she could turn down. Tess didn’t seem to see the menace in the man’s low-key approach.

  “Oh, hi, Nathan. Sure,” she said. “Come on,” she turned to Rolf. “This is Nathan Halbert. He’s in charge here. He’s going to lecture me about winning too much.” She introduced Rolf and threw Halbert a charming smile. Halbert didn’t quite smile back, but close enough. He was a handsome man in a sleek style that suggested he was dangerous. With his short trimmed beard, he could have played Satan in an old morality play.

  They followed him to a discreetly hidden office down a corridor off the main room. It was lavishly appointed in modern chrome and glass but had no windows. He sat at a desk and indicated chairs in front of him.

  “Please, sit down,” Halbert said. “May I offer you a martini?”

  Tess said, smiling, “By some strange chance, that’s what I’m drinking.” She accepted a crystal glass. Halbert looked at Rolf, silently tilting the pitcher in offer.

  Rolf shook his head slightly. Someone had to keep sober in this situation, which could get ugly. “No, thanks,” he said. “I’m driving.”

  “All right. Let me get to the point. I’m sure you have plans for the evening,” Halbert said smoothly, sitting on the edge of his desk. He turned to Tess, and said softly, “Ms. Selkirk, you have been extraordinarily lucky at the table games here. Or possibly it’s not luck?” He lifted an eyebrow, inviting her to confide. “You have some system?”

  Completely oblivious to his accusation, she shook her head blithely, still smiling happily. “I just love roulette. I’ve played it since I was a little girl. My parents gave me my very own roulette game. Little colored plastic chips, a little green felt with all the betting positions.” She grinned. “On rainy days, I only bet on black. On sunny days, I always bet on red.”

  Halbert didn’t quite share her amusement. “That sounds like fun. However, we do have some rules here. I’m going to have to ask you to not play any more at the roulette table.”

  She blinked. “Oh. Bummer.” She cocked her head. “Is it okay if I play blackjack?”

  Was she truly as naive as she sounded?

  Halbert tented his fingers. He appeared frustrated and trying to hide it. He shot her a hooded look. “Are you planning to stay all night again?”

  She looked at Rolf. “What do you want to do?”

  “I’d like to eat dinner.” He aimed a bland look at Halbert. “I hear you have a good restaurant in the building.”

  The casino boss said, “It’s a three-star steakhouse. Foodies praise it.”

  Tess turned back to Nathan Halbert. “How about if we eat dinner, and then I play a few hands of blackjack?”

  Halbert appeared to hesitate.

  Tess coaxed, “Don’t you want a chance to win it all back from me? Why don’t you meet us after dinner and play with us?”

  Halbert picked up a pen. “I’m afraid I’m on duty all evening. Give this to the maitre d’. He’ll treat you right.” He handed Rolf a card.

  Tess stood and so did the men. Sh
e leaned over and patted Nathan’s cheek. “You’re a prince. Maybe see you later?”

  She practically pranced out of the office. Halbert looked shell-shocked at her insouciance. Rolf was glad of the military training that allowed him to keep a stony expression, Halbert’s own mien could easily slide into menace.

  The steakhouse staff treated them like royalty—and wouldn’t allow Rolf to pay. “No, sir. It’s on the house,” the maitre d’ insisted when asked for the check. “You’re Mr. Halbert’s guests.”

  “Nathan’s a sweet guy,” Tess said.

  The man got a doubtful look on his face and didn’t reply. People had been discreetly noticing Tess. Perhaps her minor celebrity status was a plus for the casino, a way Halbert gave her a chance to pay back a little for her big win.

  After dinner, Tess dragged him to a high-stakes blackjack table. He watched as she began to win immediately. She was half-sloshed, despite having eaten a healthy meal. Yet she played soberly and made smart choices. Just as she’d done with the roulette. In fact, she showed a remarkable ability to concentrate, to understand the odds and play to them. Her wins at roulette could have been sheer luck, but not her wins at blackjack. Blackjack was hard to win because at a casino they didn’t play with just one deck. The odds changed.

  Change the odds. That’s what Rolf ought to do. “Why don’t we go back to your place and play a private game of poker?” he whispered in her ear.

  She looked up. “What?”

  He raised his eyebrows meaningfully.

  “Oh, you mean, like, strip poker?” She got a devilish glint in her eye. “I’m in.” She finished the hand, winning again. “I’ll go cash in my chips.”

  Before she could exit the table, the dealer responded to a whispered call on his earpiece and said, “I’m afraid I have to close up now, Ms. Selkirk.”

  Rolf said, “I don’t think your friend wants you to play any more blackjack tonight.”

  Tess sighed. “Guess not.”

  Money and Tess were strange. Rolf had never cared all that much about money, either, but seeing how little mind she paid to it surprised him. As they walked toward the cash windows, he asked, “How much did you win at roulette that Halbert was so ticked off?”