She raised her brows, looking at his face. “And you think you know what’s best for me?”
“I know you pretty well,” he countered.
“You once knew me pretty well,” she corrected.
“I still do. People don’t change that much.” He paused, and his expression turned intense. “You and me...”
She was getting a bad feeling here. “You and me, what?”
His hands squeezed hers. “I can’t help but wonder if we made a mistake. Moving to different cities, breaking things off, we never really—”
“Wait a minute.” She tugged her hands from his. “You said you had a girlfriend.”
“I do.” He nodded rapidly. “I do. But, well, I’m not exactly sure where that’s going.”
“Don’t do this, Randal. I’m not—”
He put an index finger across her lips. “Shh.”
She was too shocked by his touch to react.
“Let it happen,” he told her.
To her horror, he leaned in, tilting his head, closing his eyes, clearly intending to kiss her.
“Randal!” she squealed, quickly jumping back.
His eyes popped open and he stumbled.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she demanded.
He rubbed his hand along her arm. “I’m showing you what can be.”
“It can’t be. It’s not going to be.”
“You can’t possibly know that. We had something great once. If you take this job, if you come to D.C., we’ll have a second chance.”
She shook her head, moving farther back, and his hand dropped from her arm. “I’m not looking for a relationship, Randal.”
“I’m not talking about two kids, a dog and a white picket fence. We can be good for each other. I can be great for your career.”
She didn’t deny that. Randal was a very successful lawyer, well respected in D.C. and across the country.
He stepped forward, expression softening, tone cajoling. “I’m not asking for a decision right this minute.”
“I’m not going to mislead you, Randal. Yours isn’t a direction I’m going in right now.”
His features tightened. “So, that you can decide right here and right now?”
“Yes.” She was positive she didn’t want to rekindle something with Randal, surprisingly positive, in fact.
He frowned in annoyance. “It’s him, isn’t it?”
“Him, who? There is no him.”
“The bull rider.” There was venom in his tone. “You’ve got the hots for the bull rider.”
“That’s none of your business.”
“That means yes.”
She stepped away. “Good night, Randal.”
“Danielle.” His tone turned sweet as he took a step toward her.
“Don’t.” She held up her palms to stop him, continuing to walk backward. “You’ve had too much to drink. At least I hope you’ve had too much to drink. This isn’t like you.”
“Dani.”
“No.” She turned on her heel, walking swiftly down the path toward the hotel lobby.
There, she turned abruptly into the ladies’ room, letting the door close behind her and dropping into a padded, French provincial chair in the entry area. She’d hide here for as long as it took, hours if necessary. But she wasn’t going to risk running into Randal again.
Her mother had been right. And if it wasn’t so late, Danielle might have been tempted to pick up a phone and tell her so. A woman couldn’t trust any man to look out for her best interest. Men would always look out for their own.
* * *
Back-to-back with his paintball team member Reed Terrell, Travis gasped for breath. They were crouched behind a wooden barrier, having sprinted away from the “enemy.” Both men were decked out in protective gear, and each held a paintball rifle filled with yellow balls. They’d split into three teams, blue, red and yellow. He and Reed were the last of the yellow team to still be “alive.”
“How many do you think are out there?” Reed asked.
“Alex for sure on blue.”
Reed coughed out a deep laugh. “Nobody wants to kill the groom.”
Travis gripped his weapon. “I’ve got no problem killing the groom. But I think Caleb’s still alive on red, and maybe Seth, too.”
“I’ll take out your brother, if you want to take out mine.”
“I got Zach on the other side of the hill. So, I don’t think there’s anyone else besides Alex left on blue.”
Something clanged against metal, and both men stilled.
“The shed,” said Travis.
Reed peeked over the top of the wooden wall. “If we’re fast, we can make the trench and follow it down to the hay bales.”
“I’m fast,” said Travis. “But you’re more power than agility.”
“You go first. I’ll cover you, and maybe you’ll get a shot.”
“Unless he’s inside the shed.”
“Or maybe on the roof.” Reed reached out and tapped Travis’s shoulder, silently pointing upward.
Travis saw it, too. A slight movement at the peak of the roof. “Seth,” he said.
“You sure?”
“Oh, yeah. He had that twisted gray thing on his helmet.”
Reed peeked up again. “You can see from here?”
“Just a glimpse. But it’s him.”
Three rapid-fire shots echoed through the air, paintballs smacking against the wooden wall.
“They’ve found us,” said Travis.
“Go for the trench.”
Travis nodded. “On three.”
Reed counted off. When he got to three, Travis sprinted out of their cover while Reed shot over his head.
He dove into the trench, quickly checking himself for paint splatters. He was unscathed.
He looked back and gave Reed a thumbs-up. Reed pointed toward the hill, and Travis quickly looked over, spotting Caleb. It took him a second to realize that Caleb was creeping up on Alex. He quickly signaled Reed to hold.
Caleb made it, stood up and fired once at Alex, hitting him in the back. Travis took three shots, hitting Caleb with two of them. Caleb turned in shock before going down on one knee. Travis quickly turned his attention to Seth.
It was obvious Seth knew somebody was in the trench, but he couldn’t see Travis. He did, however, have a chance at hitting Reed. Travis bounced a shot off the near side of the roof and shouted for Reed to run. He shot again and again, hearing Reed’s footsteps behind him.
Reed plunged into the trench beside him, breathing hard.
“Took out Caleb,” said Travis.
“I saw that. Just Seth left?”
“I think so.”
“I can almost taste the free beer,” laughed Reed.
“He’s got the high ground,” Travis pointed out.
“Yeah, but he’s practically a city slicker these days. And there are two of us. If we split up, the best he’s going to do is take out one. Yellow team still wins.”
“Good plan,” Travis agreed.
“You go north along the hay bales,” said Reed. “When you get to the far end, I’ll run south over the field.”
“That’s suicide.”
“Only if the city slicker can still shoot.”
Travis grinned at the idea of Seth going soft. He couldn’t imagine that ever happening.
“You’re fastest,” said Reed. “By the time he takes me out, you’ll be around the end with a clear shot.”
“Make sure you stay alive for at least twenty seconds.”
“Will do,” Reed said with a nod, adjusting his safety goggles.
“Good luck,” said Travis.
“You, too.”
With a mighty yell, Reed jumped up out of the trench, dodging and weaving his way across the field, firing at the roof of the shed.
As soon as Seth started to shoot at Reed, Travis burst out from cover, sprinting as fast as he could around the end of the shed. He spotted Seth, stopped, breathed, put the rifle to his shoulder and squeezed off a careful shot.
He hit Seth square in the back, forcing a grunt and a cuss word from his lips. Travis grinned, while Reed whooped. The rest of the players cheered and whistled from the hillside.
While Seth made his way to the ladder, Reed appeared around the wall of the shed, grinning from ear to ear, holding up his arms and turning around to show Travis he hadn’t been shot.
“City slicker jokes coming up,” he gloated.
Travis held out his hand, giving Reed a firm shake. “Thanks, partner.”
“Good shot,” said Reed.
“He’s a lot bigger than a gopher.”
Reed laughed.
Seth hopped to the ground from the ladder and started toward them.
“Good day to be me,” Reed joked.
“For the free beer?” Travis asked.
“And someone soft to sleep with. I’m the only one who brought his wife along.”
“Katrina is here?” The revelation surprised Travis. He hadn’t expected his sister to come along on a guys’ weekend.
“When Caleb said he was meeting with Danielle, Katrina decided they should do some shopping.”
“They’re together?” Travis wasn’t sure why the thought bothered him.
Reed looked at him strangely. “Yeah. Why? That a problem?”
“No, no. It’s no problem.”
Danielle and Katrina. Would Danielle mention their kiss? If she did, would Katrina tell Caleb? Would the whole valley end up knowing? Did he care?
“Travis?” asked Reed.
“Huh?”
“You fighting with Danielle again?”
“What fighting? We barely saw each other. She was hanging out with all those lawyers, and I was riding bulls and planning a bachelor party.” He scoffed out a laugh. “Fighting. As if. We’d have to have been in the same room for more than a few minutes to be fighting.”
“Travis?” Reed repeated.
“Yeah?” Travis struggled hard not to feel like a deer in the headlights.
“What the hell’s wrong with you?”
* * *
Katrina gazed fondly at the high-heeled, leopard-print pumps on her dainty feet. “I really don’t need to buy another pair.”
“Did you need to buy the last pair?” Danielle teased, gazing at the jeweled, gold sandals on her own feet.
Her freshly polished, glittering green-and-gold toenails peeked saucily up at her. It was an odd color, but Katrina had talked her into it during their pedicures. Now Danielle kind of liked it. And it certainly went with the shoes.
“I didn’t actually need the last dozen pair,” said Katrina, coming to her feet and moving to the mirror in the shoe store.
The saleswoman stood discreetly by, waiting to see if they needed assistance.
“They’re gorgeous,” said Danielle.
“They’d be great with jeans.”
“Walk around on yours,” Katrina urged.
Danielle stood. The shoes were surprisingly comfortable.
Katrina’s enthusiasm ramped up. “We should go dancing tonight.”
“Your husband is going to be busy at a kegger.”
“Then tomorrow night,” said Katrina. “We should stay an extra day.”
“I can’t,” said Danielle. She’d already stretched out the trip way further than she’d planned.
“Sure, you can.” Katrina waved away her refusal. “The Sasha Terrell Fund and Active Equipment are both very important clients.”
“True enough,” Danielle was forced to agree.
“If we want you to stay in Vegas to discuss, I don’t know, spending strategies, you have to stay.”
Danielle came to a stop in front of the mirror next to Katrina. “Spending strategies?”
“Yeah, you know, what to do with all our money and stuff.”
“These really are killer shoes,” said Danielle.
“That settles it. We’re staying to dance.”
“And Reed is going to agree to this?”
Katrina’s lips curved into a suggestive smile. “I can get Reed to agree to anything.”
“That’s as much detail as I want to know.”
Katrina gave a delighted laugh. “We’re going to need dresses, something outrageously sparkly and short. The kind that make men’s jaws drop open.”
Danielle couldn’t help but picture Travis’s jaw dropping open. She tried to stop herself from thinking about him, but Katrina’s carefree exuberance was infectious. It wasn’t like anybody could read her mind. If she wanted to fantasize about gyrating on a dance floor in a short, sparkly dress and killer gold shoes in front of Travis, it was nobody’s business but her own.
They bought the shoes. Then they made the rounds of some high-end dress shops, each laughing their way through about forty dresses. In the end, Katrina went with a mauve-and-white sheath, with a sparkling bodice and subtle, purple flowers on the skirt, saying that Reed liked her with a bit of color.
For Danielle, there was no choice but gold. She found a strapless party dress, with a glittering, tight bodice that fanned into a short, three layered, crinoline skirt, scattered with gold sequins. It was by far the sexiest thing she’d ever owned. She might have chickened out, but Katrina was very persuasive.
Purchases in hand, Katrina marched them straight to the nearest hotel, easily finding an available limo.
“Now, we’re going to do something exciting,” said Katrina as they pulled out from the entrance.
“This hasn’t been exciting so far?”
It was one of Danielle’s most indulgent days ever.
“Not yet,” said Katrina with a secretive grin.
“I’m getting hungry.” Danielle glanced at her watch, noticing it was after six.
“I have an appointment,” said Katrina. Then she leaned forward to call to the driver. “Abyss Photo Studio, please.”
“You need pictures?” Danielle wondered if they were for Katrina’s dancing career.
“I need pictures,” Katrina confirmed.
“In Vegas?” Surely, she got her publicity shots taken in New York.
“It’s a special photographer that I heard about.”
A few blocks down, they left the strip and pulled into a small parking lot in front of a neat, nondescript building.
“Would you like me to wait, ma’am?”
“That would be great,” said Katrina, sliding forward to hand the man her credit card. “That way we can leave all the bags here. We might be an hour or more.”
“Not a problem.”
“An hour?” asked Danielle. “How many pictures do you need?”
“Quite a few.” Katrina took back her card and bounced out of the limo.
Danielle followed. “These are for work?”
“Not work,” said Katrina as she opened the shop door. “For Reed. He has a birthday coming up.”
“Oh,” Danielle responded politely as she followed her inside. But she was thinking Reed must have hundreds of pictures of Katrina.
Then she glanced around the opulent reception area, taking in the sample pictures on the walls. “Ohhh,” she repeated. Now, she got it.
The portraits displayed were sensua
l, sexy, some of them downright erotic.
She followed Katrina to one of three private reception desks. “I guess Reed’s going to be one happy birthday boy.”
“I hope so,” said Katrina. “What he really wants is a baby.”
Danielle couldn’t help but be surprised. “You’re thinking about getting pregnant?”
“Not right now. Maybe in a couple of years.”
“Would you have to give up dancing?”
“I’ll want to retire from the stage eventually, maybe do choreography, or something else behind the scenes. When your husband donates ten million dollars to your ballet company, you can pretty much have any job you want.”
“Is that the trick to unfettered employability?” Danielle joked. She’d been helping Reed and Katrina manage the Sasha Terrell Fund, named after Reed’s mother, for nearly two years now.
Katrina gave her an answering smile. Then she sat down in an armchair in front of a neatly dressed, friendly looking woman. “Katrina Terrell. I have an appointment.”
Danielle took the chair beside her.
The woman smiled brightly at both of them. “Will we be taking your pictures together?”
Katrina drew back in obvious confusion. Then she glanced at Danielle and her eyes danced with amusement. “Oh, no, we’re just friends.”
Danielle stifled a grin. “I’m only here for moral support.”
The woman was obviously embarrassed. “I’m so sorry. I misunderstood.”
Katrina waved the apology away. “No problem. If I was going to have a girlfriend, it would be Danielle.”
Danielle’s grin grew wider. “Thanks. I think.”
Katrina twisted her body, giving Danielle a considering look. “You know...”
“I don’t think Reed would let me date you,” Danielle gamely carried on the joke.
“That’s not what I was thinking.”
“Good to hear.”
“I was thinking you should get some pictures done, too.” Katrina quickly turned back to the woman. “Do you have time to give us each a photo shoot?”
Danielle felt her jaw go lax. “I’m not—”
“Certainly,” the woman agreed, typing into her computer. “We can manage that.”
“Oh, no,” Danielle stated with conviction.
“Oh, yes,” said Katrina, nodding happily.
The Last Cowboy Standing Page 8