The Last Cowboy Standing

by Barbara Dunlop

  She let her phone drop into her lap. “Duty calls,” she told Travis, trying not to feel dejected by the need for such an abrupt departure.

  Their interlude was never going to be anything but temporary. It was over, and that was that. She’d have to go directly from breakfast to the airport, and she might not see Travis again for months. If she took the job in D.C., months might turn into forever.

  For a split second the thought of never seeing Travis again made her panic.

  His phone chimed, and he scooped it from the table as she stood up.

  “Yeah?” He paused. “Hey, Caleb.”

  She stilled, locking gazes with Travis.

  “Breakfast?” he asked into the phone. “Sure. When?”

  There was another pause. “I’ll be there,” he said and hung up.

  Danielle hesitated. She felt a ridiculous sense of relief that she didn’t have to walk away from Travis this very minute. But they were going to breakfast with his friends and family. They likely wouldn’t have a chance to say a personal goodbye. She wasn’t sure what to do.

  Travis stood. His expression was serious as he moved the few steps to stand in front of her.

  “Kiss me goodbye?” he asked, gently sliding his hand around the back of her neck.

  “I don’t know what to say,” she confessed. It seemed to be suddenly ending so fast.

  “I don’t, either,” he told her, easing forward.

  His free arm went around her waist, pressing her to his body. His lips touched hers, gently, softly, far too fleetingly.

  He drew back, voice a whisper. “You surprised me, Danielle Marin.”

  “You surprised me right back,” she admitted. In a few short days, Travis had turned her opinion of him on its ear.

  “Are we going to leave this all in Vegas?” he asked.

  “I don’t see that we have any choice.” But an unexplainable pain pressed into the center of her chest.

  “You’re right,” he sighed.

  Then he placed a soft kiss at her hairline, then his lips moved against her skin as he spoke. “When I wave an impersonal goodbye to you in the lobby later on? Know that what I really mean is this.”

  He bent his head, tilting sideways, kissing her long and hard and deep.

  It ended far too soon.

  “I’ll mean that, too,” she managed.

  “Okay.” He nodded and took a step back. “Okay.”

  She put a steadying hand on the doorjamb, ordering herself to move back inside the suite. “I’ll go down to my room and change.”

  “I’ll meet you in the café.”

  “In the café,” she agreed, allowing herself a long, final look.

  Seven

  Caleb was alone when Danielle approached the table. It was large and round, set in one corner of the second floor patio, overlooking the pool.

  “’Morning,” Caleb greeted, rising and pulling out the chair next to him.

  “How are you feeling?” She couldn’t help remembering how jovial he’d been at the end of the party last night.

  “None the worse for wear. Did you have fun with Katrina?”

  Shopping and dinner with Katrina seemed like a long time ago. “We had a great time.”

  “Good. The bachelor party went well. But I think Alex is getting pretty sick of all this guy stuff and about ready to get married now.”

  Danielle laughed at that as she sat down.

  “I had a call from a Pantara executive last week,” said Caleb, taking his own seat.

  “Pantara Tractors?” Danielle named a huge, European equipment supplier, headquartered in Germany.

  Caleb nodded. “They’re interested in a merger.”

  The announcement surprised her, since Pantara was nearly twice the size of Active Equipment. “With you?” she confirmed.

  “Yes, with me.”

  “They want to merge or buy you out?” She certainly wouldn’t recommend Caleb sell to the competition.

  “Merge. I’d remain CEO, with a voting majority, and we’d create a new class of preferred shares.”

  She sat back in her chair, puzzled at the apparent generosity of the offer. “Why?”

  “That’s what I need you to find out.”

  “So, there really was a legitimate reason for me to stay in Vegas.”

  He gave a mock expression of astonishment. “Of course there was a legitimate reason. What made you think there wasn’t?”

  “Well, I haven’t done much work since you got here.”

  “That’s about to change.”

  “’Morning,” came Travis’s gravelly voice.

  She reflexively glanced up, and a wave of familiar warmth flowed through her body at the sight of him. “’Morning,” she responded, her tone more husky than she’d intended.

  Travis, on the other hand, kept his expression perfectly impassive as he gave her a passing smile. She felt half-dejected, half-impressed.

  “Hungover?” Caleb asked him.

  “Me?” Travis took a chair across the round table. “I was pacing myself. Zach’s the one we should worry about.”

  Danielle couldn’t help wishing Travis could sit next to her, but she understood why he couldn’t.

  “Zach’s been a party animal all his life,” said Caleb. “He’ll be fine.”

  “Have you ordered?” asked Travis.

  “Nope,” Caleb answered. “I was just talking to Danielle about being my point person for the Pantara merger.”

  “Is that going to work out for her?” Travis snagged Danielle’s gaze, and she realized he had to be wondering about the impact of the Nester and Hedley offer.

  She could tell by his expression that he thought she should tell Caleb about her possible job change. And he was absolutely right about that. She owed it to Caleb to be honest. If she might not be around for the Pantara deal, he needed to know now.

  “Caleb?” She angled her body to face him.

  “Hmm?” He’d picked up a leather-bound menu.

  “Before we discuss Pantara.”

  “We don’t have to do it over breakfast and bore everyone.”

  But she wasn’t going to let herself off the hook. “You need to know I’ve received an offer to join a new firm, Nester and Hedley in D.C.”

  Caleb lowered the menu, and looked over at her with those piercing, blue eyes. “Is it a good offer?”

  “Yes,” she admitted. “It’s a very good offer. They’re the top, international law firm in the country. It would open up a lot of doors for me, give me a chance to work on issues of enormous significance.”

  He set the menu down and gave her his full focus. “Are you going to take it?”

  “I don’t know,” she answered honestly.

  “When will you know?”

  “I told them a week.”

  “So you might stay with Milburn and Associates?” he pressed.

  She struggled not to glance at Travis. “I might stay.”

  “Can I ask you one more question?”

  “Sure.”

  “Are you looking to find a way to leave Chicago, or did this come at you out of the blue.”

  “Out of the blue,” said Danielle. “That’s part of the problem. I like Chicago. I like my clients. And, don’t take this as me buttering you up, I like working with Active Equipment. You’re a big part of the pull for me to stay put.”

  Again, she fought not to look at Travis. It had nothing to do with him, she assured herself. Even if she was the kind of person to make a decision based on a man, Vegas with Travis had been just that, Vegas with Travis. It wasn’t about to translate into the real world.

  “Then let’s talk Pantara anyway. You can hitch a ride on the jet today and give us some
extra time.”

  “Are you sure?” It was going to be a very complex project. If she left in a few weeks, her work could all turn out to be a waste of time.

  “’Morning, all” Katrina called as she and Reed approached the table. She hopped into the chair next to Danielle, and Reed sat next to her. “What did we miss?”

  “Danielle’s going to catch a ride home with us this afternoon,” said Caleb.

  “We’re not going home this afternoon,” said Katrina. “And neither is Danielle.”

  Caleb lifted a questioning glance to Reed.

  “We’re going dancing,” Katrina piped in. “You should have told him,” she said to Danielle. “We bought great new dresses yesterday, and we have to give them a test run.”

  Reed gave his brother a helpless shrug. “I’m not about to tell my wife she can’t dance.”

  Danielle jumped in. “If Caleb needs me to—”

  “Never mind.” Caleb waved off her protest with exaggerated resignation.

  “But—”

  “We’ll catch a commercial flight tomorrow,” said Reed.

  “I can’t stay and dance.” Danielle turned to Katrina. “I’m really sorry. I’d love to stay, but I’ve missed too much work already.” If she wasn’t careful, Nester and Hedley would be her only option, because Milburn and Associates would be letting her go for nonperformance.

  “You can stay if it’s billable hours,” said Caleb.

  Danielle turned sharply. “Oh, no you don’t.” She wasn’t about to let Caleb pay her to stay an extra day in Vegas.

  But he ignored her, extracting his cell phone from his shirt pocket. “Danielle, I seriously need to talk to you about Pantara. This is business.” He pressed a button and lifted the phone to his ear.

  “That’s a ridiculous stretch,” said Danielle.

  Caleb simply waved her off.

  “Hey, sweetheart,” he said into the phone. Then he paused. “It was terrific. Listen, do you want to go dancing tonight?

  He smiled as he listened to whatever Mandy was saying at the other end of the line. “With your sister and my brother, who else? And Danielle’s coming, too.” Another pause. “No, here. You can come to Vegas.”

  His grin widened. “Absolutely. Yeah. I’ll talk to you in a few hours.” He hung up.

  “I’ll stick around,” Travis offered.

  Both Caleb and Reed looked over at him in surprise.

  He shrugged. “I’m the only single guy you’ve got, and somebody has to dance with Danielle.”

  Both Caleb and Reed nodded, seeming to agree that it made perfect sense.

  Travis’s deep blue eyes shifted to Danielle’s, and she felt a wash of decadent longing radiate from her core.

  “Hey, Zach.” Caleb’s sudden call across the restaurant startled her.

  Katrina nudged her arm. “What?”

  Danielle turned to Katrina in confusion. “Huh?”

  “Is something wrong?” Katrina whispered. “You’ve got a funny look on your face.”

  “Everything’s fine.” It was better than fine. Which was very bad. Danielle shouldn’t be this happy about spending an extra evening with Travis.

  “What’s up?” asked Zach as he made his way closer to the table.

  “The five of us are staying here ’till tomorrow,” said Caleb. “Can you let the pilot know to bring Mandy back? She’ll be at the airport in Lyndon.”

  “Sure thing,” said Zach, taking the chair between Reed and Travis.

  Travis sat back, looking smug and eminently satisfied.

  “What’s that?” Katrina asked Travis.

  “What’s what?” He gazed levelly at his sister.

  “You look...I don’t know.” She turned to Reed. “Did I miss something? Did you guys have strippers last night?”

  “Of course not,” said Reed.

  “We did not,” Zach confirmed.

  “Then why does Travis look so happy?”

  “I’m not happy,” said Travis.

  But it was obviously a lie. Danielle could only hope she wasn’t giving off the same kind of glow. And, if she was, that nobody put two and two together.

  * * *

  Travis and Caleb had stayed back to pay the limo driver, allowing Reed, Katrina, Danielle and Mandy to go on ahead along the Strip. Katrina was on Reed’s arm, wearing something white and silky, with a little bit of purple. She looked fresh and young as she always did. Mandy, who had just arrived on the Active Equipment jet, was in basic black. It was tough to get his middle sister out of her blue jeans and into a dress at all. She rarely wore anything very fancy.

  And then there was Danielle. Her dress was strapless, tight, gold and sparkling across her body, then fanning into a short, stiff, multi-layered skirt, scattered with gold sequins that winked under the lights. Her legs were long and shapely, ending in strappy gold sandals. She outshone every woman on the block.

  “My brother’s attracting a lot of attention,” Caleb joked.

  It was true. As people passed Reed and the three women, they craned their necks, clearly wondering who he was to warrant three gorgeous dates.

  “At least he makes a good bodyguard,” said Travis, thinking he’d better not let Danielle wander around alone tonight. He’d have to stick close to her side to keep the wolves at bay. Which he was totally willing, no, make that eager, to do.

  “Hey,” Caleb interrupted his thoughts, an accusation in his tone.

  “What?” Travis glanced around, trying to figure out what was wrong.

  “I can see the way you’re lookin’ at my lawyer.”

  “It’s the same way every other guy is looking at your lawyer,” Travis quickly retorted.

  “They’re not dancing with her.”

  “Too bad for them.”

  “I’m serious, Travis. You can’t be messin’ with Danielle. She’s too important to Active Equipment for you to make her mad.”

  “I’m fifteen feet away from her.”

  “Promise me you won’t try anything.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Travis scoffed.

  “I’m not being ridiculous. I want your word on that.”

  Travis shot Caleb an exasperated look. “Why are you being so paranoid?”

  “Because you’re not promising me anything.”

  “We aren’t ten-year-old girls. I’m not going to pinky swear.”

  “Travis,” Caleb intoned. “Why are you being deliberately vague about this?”

  “Because it’s none of your business.”

  “It is my business, exactly. How is it not my business?”

  “We’re consenting adults.”

  “You’re not—” Caleb stopped short, voice going low. “What did you do?”

  “I’m not going to answer that. Besides, Danielle getting ticked off at me is not your biggest risk. Your biggest risk is her dream job in D.C.”

  It was clear that answer got Caleb thinking.

  Travis took advantage. “If I was you, I’d be convincing her that the Pantara project is worth her giving up D.C.”

  “The Pantara project is worth her giving up D.C.”

  “You’ve got nearly a week to play with.” Travis felt guilty about what he was doing here, but not guilty enough to stop. “Bring her back to Lyndon Valley for a few days and convince her.”

  Caleb focused on Travis again, sizing him up. “You want me to bring Danielle back to Lyndon Valley?”

  “You know Nester and Hedley will be working on her. You know Randal will be trying to convince her to take the D.C. job. Hell, he might even head for Chicago and track her down in person.”

  “Who’s Randal?”

  “A guy from Nester and Hedley.”

  “Just a guy?
” Caleb probed.

  “Just a guy.”

  They started walking again.

  “And you’ll be okay with that?” asked Caleb. “With Danielle spending a few days in Lyndon Valley.”

  Travis shrugged, trying to look unconcerned, as if he couldn’t care less one way or the other. “Sure.”

  Throbbing music rose in volume as they neared the Aster Club’s entrance. Voices also rose from the long line of patrons and carried across the sidewalk.

  If Danielle was in Lyndon Valley, he reasoned, she was away from Randal. She was also with Travis. Not that he expected her to give him the time of day back home. She’d been pretty clear that this was a Vegas thing only. Still, better she was with him than somewhere she might fall into Randal’s clutches.

  Caleb’s tone turned even more serious. “What’s going on, Travis?”

  “Why does something have to be going on? Danielle’s been to Lyndon Valley lots of times before.”

  “And you always fight with her there. And now you’re dancing with her?”

  “Take a look at that.” Travis nodded to where Reed had walked boldly up to the VIP entrance.

  The bouncer unclipped the velvet rope and gestured them forward.

  “I guess three gorgeous women will do that for you,” said Caleb quickly picking up the pace to catch up.

  Travis did the same.

  The bouncer put the flat of his hand on Caleb’s chest.

  “We’re with them,” Caleb explained. “Mandy, honey?” he called.

  Mandy turned. “That’s my husband,” she called back to the bouncer, but the man seemed unimpressed.

  “I won Bull Mania Saturday night,” Travis offered.

  The man’s eyes narrowed, then his expression changed to a welcoming smile. “I recognize you. Come on in.”

  Caleb gaped at him. “You have got to be kidding.”

  “Works ever better if I bring along the belt buckle.”

  “That’s sad.”

  “You think that’s sad. Let me tell you about my complimentary hotel suite.”

  Caleb gave a baffled shake of his head as they made their way through the entry hall.

  Inside the Aster Club, Travis beelined for Danielle. He could already see the interested looks from other men, and he wasn’t leaving her alone for a second.