Billion Dollar Cowboy

by Carolyn Brown

  She managed to tilt her head forward.

  “I love to swim but did not bring a swimsuit,” she said.

  “No problem. We keep suits of every size and shape in the shower room. And the pool is heated to the same temperature, winter and summer, so we can swim whenever we want.” He grinned.

  A picture of him in one of those skimpy Speedo bathing suits popped into her mind. Who needed a sauna? She could sweat the aches out of her muscles by just letting her imagination out of the chute. It came out romping and kicking just like a wild bronc at a rodeo and it was all she could do to stay in the saddle for eight seconds. And the images that it put into her mind of Colton were downright sinful.

  She reminded herself emphatically that this was all make-believe and there was not one real thing about their crazy new relationship. She told herself to kick those sexy images of him to the curb and leave them there.

  “Why would you have…” She stopped. It wasn’t a bit of her business how many women had been invited to swim in his pool or why there were bathing suits in the cabana room. She’d only met the man the day before and she’d probably never see him again, no matter how much he stirred her imagination by kissing her or holding her hand.

  He smiled. “It’s easier to keep bathing suits at the pool in case someone forgets to bring theirs. What do you say we go work off some of that potluck dinner?”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Yes, I am, but if we want privacy we’ll have to get our laps in now because Dillon and Roxie will be out there pretty soon and they get real noisy when they play. Plus, some of the hired hands love to get in a workout and then a swim on Sunday afternoon.”

  “So you let others play with your toys? And who is Dillon?” she asked.

  “Roxie’s boyfriend. I worry about her sometimes. She clings to him like he’s her rock, and he’s the only real friend that she has. It hasn’t been easy for her with her mother being so wild,” Colton said.

  “She’s in a good place now and maybe that will help her get through,” Laura said.

  He nodded seriously. “I hope so, and to answer your question about my toys, it’s part of the package when I hire someone. They get a fair wage, room and board if they want to live in the bunkhouse, and access to my toys.”

  “But you didn’t hire me,” she said.

  “Andy has needed an assistant for a long time. He’s interviewed dozens of applicants. If he hired you, then you get the same privileges as anyone else on the ranch.”

  A pretend girlfriend. A hired hand. An enabler. She’d have to remember to wear the right hat on the right day to avoid confusion.

  She thought that she could not be surprised any more after the gym, but she was dead wrong! He threw open another door and there it was. Radiant glory wouldn’t come close to describing the pool room. She had seen pictures of waterfalls in remote areas of the world with ferns and flowers surrounding them, but not in her wildest imagination had she ever thought to see one in a barn in north Texas.

  Crystal clear water tumbled over rocks into a pool surrounded with natural-colored stones. No wonder the flowers around the house went begging; a full-time crew would have to work twelve hours a day to keep the waterfall in such perfect order.

  “Oh, my!” she gasped.

  “I’m pretty low maintenance myself, but the gym and pool are my two luxuries. I never had much of a hankering to travel, but I always dreamed of swimming at the base of a tropical waterfall, so I made it happen. This old barn was sittin’ empty and it seemed like the perfect place. From the outside, no one would ever guess that it’s not housing hay and cattle feed. Restrooms and changing rooms are this way.”

  The pool was surreal with its emerald-green tile sides and bottom. She half expected to see dolphins or at least flashes of minnows darting around. But there was nothing but cool, clear water reminding her of the ocean in Florida.

  He walked behind the waterfall and she followed, not caring if her dress and hair got soaked, but a sheet of glass protected her from the splash as the water tumbled down to its final destination.

  “Here’s the ladies’ room.” He swung a thick wooden door open. “See you in the pool when you get changed.”

  “Holy shit!” She sat down on a white wrought-iron bench before her legs turned to jelly. “I could sure enough get used to this. No, no! I’m just the hired help. Barely a step up from a call girl. Now that’s a sobering thought, but it’s the truth. I’m getting paid to be his girlfriend. Maybe not in money for that job but in benefits, because if I don’t, I can’t see Janet before six months are up.”

  She slipped the thin straps of her dress over her shoulders and shimmied out of it and her undergarments. Just like he’d promised, bathing suits of all kinds and sizes hung on a rack. She paid attention to the sizes as she flipped through them. Size twos came in bikinis of all colors, but the half a dozen size eights were all black one-piece suits.

  There were four bathing suits in her size. She picked out a hot pink bikini with fringe around the bottom of the bra top but then remembered that he’d said the hired help and Roxie could possibly be there before long. She hung it back on the rack and chose a tankini printed with brilliant blue peacock feathers. The bottoms were bikini cut and the top had an apron-like front, leaving most of her back bare except for the tie string that kept the thing on.

  He was in the pool when she came out of the cave-like dressing room and waved to her. “Like the old line says, ‘Come right in, the water is fine.’”

  He had a beer in one hand and his chest was bare, water streaming down his ripped abs. He reached up and combed his brown hair with his fingertips and hopped up on the side of the pool.

  He reached over to a table and settled his straw hat back on his head and she came close to swooning. Forget the damn Speedo. That skimpy piece of Spandex couldn’t compare to Colton Nelson, sitting on the edge of the pool in that getup.

  ***

  What was it about a woman in a bathing suit that was far more appealing than a totally naked one? Could it be that just enough was covered up to let the imagination run wild? Colton didn’t have the answer to either question, but his imagination kicked right up into high gear when he saw Laura.

  Her hair had been set free and she wasn’t wearing those thick glasses. Her waist nipped in above well-rounded hips and below a bustline that was slightly bigger than the bottom half. She was built like the sexy movie stars of the past rather than the skinny stars of the present. Her skin was so translucent that it shimmered when the sun rays filtered through the skylight and the dense greenery surrounding the waterfall.

  She sat down on the edge of the pool and dangled her feet for a few seconds before she slithered down into the water like a cautious otter. She disappeared and swam down the length of the enormous pool before coming up for air. That only lasted a moment and she was back under the surface, turning when she reached the other end. Her body brushed against his bare leg and the water suddenly felt ten degrees hotter.

  The next time he saw her she was sitting on the edge of the pool at the deepest end, the waterfall behind her, sunlight dancing on her wet blond hair. He sucked in a lungful of air, remembered to give his hat a toss, and did two laps before he popped up in front of her, braced his arms on the edge, and looked up.

  “It’s beautiful,” she said.

  “Yes, it is.” He continued to stare without blinking.

  Was she blushing? He didn’t know women did that anymore.

  ***

  “I’m talking about the pool,” she said.

  “Oh, well, that too.”

  Laura’s lungs seized up and forgot to inhale when he used his massive biceps to haul himself out of the water to sit beside her. She coughed to cover the gasp. Unlike Janet, Laura did not talk when she was nervous. At least, she’d never had that problem before that minute when words started flow
ing out of her mouth so fast that she had no power over them.

  “This is such a beautiful place. I feel like I’m in the middle of paradise. All it needs is birds and butterflies, not that this isn’t wonderful all by itself, but I was just thinking about the thing on the television above the treadmill and…” She stopped abruptly.

  “Think about why I don’t have birds.” He chuckled.

  They were alone in the pool house, so she couldn’t even pretend that kissing him was for show, but it didn’t keep her from wanting to see if a real kiss could be hotter than the fake one back in the house. She forced her thoughts away from kissing his wet lips.

  “Oh!” She slapped a hand over her mouth. Maybe that would keep her from babbling on and on like a thunderstruck teenager. “I guess that might get messy.”

  “And they’d eat the butterflies and that would make Roxie cry.”

  “How long have you known Roxie?”

  “Her whole life. Her mother was a couple of grades above me at the Bells school and Roxie has been Granny’s project since she was a little bitty girl. Granny was a cook at the Bells school until I won the lottery so she knew all the kids, but she had a soft spot for Roxie’s momma. Said she never got a break in life. She was always searching for love in the wrong places.”

  “Project?” Laura asked.

  “Roxie’s mother was a sophomore in high school when she got pregnant. Smart girl when it came to books but didn’t have a lick of sense when it came to boys. Granny says that she was like a butterfly that flitted around all the pretty roses and then landed on a fresh cow pile. Roxie’s father was a rascal and wound up in prison. Her mother had too many responsibilities too young and liked to party. Granny took care of Roxie a lot from the time she was a baby.”

  “Then Maudie was her babysitter?”

  “Something like that, only more. More like a surrogate grandmother, but since Roxie’s momma called Granny Aunt Maudie, Roxie grew up doing the same. Two weeks ago her mother ended up in the emergency room after too much liquor and too many pills. They were going to put Roxie into the foster care system but Granny went to battle for her. She’ll be living on the ranch until she graduates.”

  “And the mother?”

  “She’ll be in rehab for a long time. When she gets out she can visit Roxie, but she can’t take her away from the ranch.”

  “Maudie is a good woman,” Laura whispered. “And what’s in this barn is your only luxury? No fancy cars or mansions or your own private island off in the tropics?”

  Colton grinned. “I got a good truck and that big old farmhouse is mansion enough for me. That’s enough luxury for any rough old cowboy. If you won a million dollars, what would you want?”

  “I’d have to think long and hard about that,” she said.

  “What’s your favorite vacation?”

  “Florida, but it wasn’t nearly this pretty.” She fell into the water and splashed it all over him.

  He dove in right behind her and beat her to the other end by one lap. When she came up for air and grabbed for the side of the pool her hands came to rest on his arms. She was still treading water with her feet when she opened her eyes to see him staring down at her. His green eyes went all dreamy and soft.

  His eyes slowly closed and thick brown lashes rested on his cheek. She really wanted the kiss but noisy teenagers jerked Laura back to reality. She moved away from Colton and was swimming toward the other end when Roxie and Dillon made it to the pool’s edge.

  “Where are your glasses?” Roxie asked.

  “Back in the dressing room. I can see well enough to swim without them,” she answered.

  Dillon wasn’t as tall as Colton, but he still dwarfed Roxie. He wore his blond hair cut above his ears with enough left on top to comb over for Sunday or let hang on his forehead any other time. His brown eyes seldom strayed from Roxie, and his smile was genuine and honest. His arms and body testified that he was used to hard work and his hands bore the calluses to prove it. Laura recognized Sunday jeans, boots, and Western shirt and wondered if he was in the same church as they had attended that morning. She didn’t remember seeing him there but there had been lots of people.

  The kids had barely made their way to the backside of the waterfall when Andy and Rusty arrived with two of the hired hands. They were already dressed for swimming in cutoff jeans and wasted no time crawling up the ladder to the diving board.

  “Hey!” Rusty waved from the end of the board.

  Laura made her way to Colton’s side and propped herself on the edge with her elbows. “Water is fine,” she called out.

  “We don’t mean to disturb y’all,” Andy hollered.

  “We were just getting ready to leave anyway. I’m going to take Laura on a tour of the whole ranch,” Colton said.

  “In one afternoon?” Andy Joe’s eyes widened. “That will be one fast tour.”

  Laura opened her mouth to say that she would rather stay behind and swim all afternoon but curiosity snapped it shut. Just how big was a billion-dollar cowboy’s ranch, anyway? And what other surprises might be hiding in the barns that he didn’t even consider luxuries? Being alone with him put her in dangerous territory, but she really did want to see the ranch.

  Chapter 4

  Colton poured a cup of coffee and sat down at the dining room table. Roxie was the only other person up and around and she had her nose in a book. From the hunky cowboy on the cover, it didn’t have anything to do with schoolwork.

  “Granny know you are reading that?” he asked.

  “No, she does not,” Roxie said. “You ought to read it before she does. You old people might need a little refresher course in how to kiss and all that so the acting will be more convincing.”

  Colton grinned. “I’m not that old. I think I can remember how to kiss a woman. And what made you so sassy today?”

  “I’m not sassy. I’m just statin’ facts. If you know how to kiss a woman then you need to do it and quit just lookin’ at her with moony eyes.”

  The smile faded. “I am not lookin’ at her with moony eyes.”

  Roxie raised her eyebrows and looked at him over the top of the book. “You just blew the bottom right out of that commandment about not lying.”

  “I’m glad you have to go to summer school to make up for all those times you skipped school,” he muttered.

  “Me too. I get to see Dillon and enjoy his moony-eyed looks.”

  “You use that word one more time this morning and I’m sending Laura and Granny to shop at Tressa’s without you this afternoon.”

  Roxie tucked the book in her backpack, slung it over her back as she stood up, and flicked bread crumbs from her shirt. “I don’t reckon it would kill me.” She lowered her voice as she walked past him. “She’s coming in the back door and headed toward the office right now. There it is—your eyes are all dreamy just thinkin’ about seeing her. Remember, this is supposed to be make-believe.”

  “I warned you.”

  “I didn’t say that word I wasn’t supposed to say.” She giggled. “Good mornin’, Laura.”

  “Mornin’, Roxie. I hear the school bus. Have a good Monday,” Laura said.

  “I’ll be waiting at school for y’all to pick me up.” Roxie waved over her shoulder.

  Laura wore snug-fitting jeans that nipped in at a small waist, a bright blue tank top, and scuffed boots. Colton wished that he’d met her at a NTAA—North Texas Angus Association—dinner or even a cattle sale instead of being thrown together with her in a fantasy world.

  “You are runnin’ behind this mornin’. Roxie is sassy. Something tells me it’s going to be a crazy week. Roxie never ever acts like that,” he said.

  She shrugged. “Maybe she’s finally finding her rebellious wings. You would do well to hope that she does before she leaves the ranch. You and Maudie will still have a little bit of contro
l while she is here. Once she’s gone to college, if she hasn’t let the inner person out, it’ll be hell to pay.”

  “Are you speaking from experience?” he asked.

  “Let’s just say that I understand that girl and let it go at that. Where’s Maudie?”

  “She’ll be along after a while. She cooks on the weekends, but through the week we have a staff that takes care of the house and cooking so she doesn’t get up so early. Have you met Sally?”

  “Did I hear someone call my name?” The door to the office opened and the woman in front of Laura was at least six feet tall. She had the blackest eyes Laura had ever seen on a woman with dishwater blond hair. Her face was round and her shoulders as broad as a Dallas Cowboy linebacker’s. She could be any age from late twenties to early forties.

  “I’m Sally and I just cleaned that pigpen of an office. Tell Mr. Andy that I’m going to clean twice a week from now on whether he likes it or not. I hear you work in there too. Is there anything special that you like done?”

  “I’m Laura and I…”

  “I know who you are, missy. I hear you’re keepin’ company with Colton and y’all done been over at the snow cone stand and you’ve sat together in church two Sundays. I thought I’d run across you before now but you been holed up in that office with Mr. Andy all the time. You just remember one thing, girl. You can’t keep one thing from Sally, so don’t even try. I wasn’t here last week because I was off down to Whitewright visitin’ with my sister, but I’m back now and I’ll be here every day.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Something in those dark eyes said that Sally could smell a lie a mile away.

  Sally looked hard at her, starting at her boots and traveling all the way up to the top of her head. “You’ll do but you sure ain’t what I figured he’d come draggin’ home. You let me know if you want something special done in that office.” She whistled all the way up the stairs, but when she opened a door the whistling stopped and grumbling began.

  “She’s in my room. You’d think I was thirteen the way that she and Granny treat me,” Colton said.