“Well, I never—” Mrs. Prestin waddled away, the cabbage roses so tight across her butt they looked like squinted eyes.
Jill giggled. “She’s going to be unbearable now, but thank you. She doesn’t know it yet, but I am giving my two weeks’ notice today.”
“Where are you going to be working, Jill?” Luke asked.
She giggled louder. “Beaumont Breakfast and Burgers!”
“You’ll like it there,” Amber said. “It’s down to earth and is always packed. Good tips for you.”
From a corner of the room, Mrs. Prestin loudly cleared her throat. Jill jumped.
“Here’s our food menu. I mean...here is our com...comp...compendium of our delightful high tea delights.”
Luke took the menu and read it. “Lentil-rutabaga soup with basil, cucumber slices on toast points, clotted cream and shortbread, kale cheese curd and...boy, howdy...cherry tomatoes stuffed with couscous. Be still my heart. Can I get a cheeseburger here?”
“No, but you’ll love the salmon crisps.” Amber laughed.
“Oh, absolutely! I hear they’re a dream with onion dip.”
The rest of their time at the Happy Tea Pot went on the same vein. Amber had never laughed so much in her life. While she really enjoyed the experience with Luke, she knew it would have to come to an end.
Luke gave Jill a hefty tip and she gushed over him and his bull riding again.
“See you at Beaumont Breakfast and Burgers,” Jill whispered.
“I’ll look for you.”
As they were walking out, Amber took Luke’s hand. “Thanks for coming with me, Luke. I know it’s not your thing, but you were really a good sport.”
“Just as long as you liked it,” he said.
“I did.”
“Then it was worth it. I particularly enjoyed the flower floating in the tea.”
“The edible orchid?”
“Delicious. It was the best part of high tea other than verbally sparring with Mrs. Prestin, faux British aristocrat.”
She laughed. “Thanks again.”
“And I particularly liked how you handled Mrs. Prestin and stuck up for Jill. I enjoyed that immensely. You’re quite a woman, Amber.”
Quite a woman. She basked in the glow of his compliments.
Luke squeezed her hand. “I get to pick our next date.”
Date? Was she really dating Luke?
* * *
THE NEXT MORNING, Luke and Amber checked into adjoining rooms on the eighteenth floor at the Pueblo Grand Hotel and got dressed in “casual Western attire” for the welcome reception.
They almost dressed alike, but Amber wore a pink-checked blouse and Luke wore plaid. Amber had a white cowboy hat. Luke’s was black.
Amber was introduced to the whole roster of bull riders—former and current—who rode with Luke.
Amber could tell that they all respected Luke, not only because he was the previous year’s champion, but because he shared his knowledge with his competitors, giving them tips and advice when asked.
Then Luke asked her to dance.
It was a slow dance, a country tune, and it felt natural to walk into Luke’s arms. It felt like she was floating on air. When Luke quietly sang the words in his low, husky voice, her knees almost buckled.
When the dance ended, he was about to kiss her, but a group of young women came over to Luke with pen and program in hand. “Please, Luke. Will you sign my program?”
Two security workers hurried over. “Mr. Beaumont, are these ladies bothering you?” asked one.
“No. They’re fine.” Luke wrote on program after program, and Amber could tell that the girls were one step away from swooning. She could tell because she was the absolute expert on that. Only these days she was more dignified.
“Who are you, lady?” one of them asked. She had big, curly, red hair flowing down her back. It looked great on her.
“I’m Amber Chapman, Mr. Beaumont’s date.” She was suddenly feeling old compared to these young girls.
As if on a rescue mission, Luke put his arm around her waist. “Thanks for asking for my autograph, ladies. Now if you all will excuse me, I’m going to dance with Amber.”
Luke had a way of making her feel like she was special. Before she had a chance of reveling in the feeling, he whirled her onto the dance floor. The cowboy liked to boot scoot.
By the time the welcome party was over, she felt like she had just attended a five-hour exercise class. She didn’t need Marco’s Fit-nasium when she was dating Luke Beaumont!
None too soon, the event was over. “Luke, would you mind taking a walk around the block? I need some air. Or I could go myself. I don’t mind.”
“I’ll go with you.”
He took her hand and she felt euphoric, excited. Then the more they walked, it turned into quiet joy. She just loved being with Luke.
The perfect August evening was interrupted by yelling on the corner across the street.
“I’m going to get you for that, you bastard.”
“Not if I get you first.”
Punches were thrown and Amber could hear the unmistakable sound of flesh hitting flesh. She just had a knee-jerk reaction to trouble. When trouble presented itself, she presented herself. That was her job.
She took off running. Luke followed after her.
“Dammit, Amber! What are you doing?”
“I’m going to break up a fight.”
“You can’t be serious! This isn’t your jurisdiction. We’re in Colorado, remember?”
“Oh, yeah. I forgot,” she said. “Oh, well, too late now.”
“I’ll watch your back,” Luke said.
“Knock it off, you two!” Amber yelled. “Dammit. Stop it.”
Amber realized that Luke was right. She didn’t have any jurisdiction here, didn’t have ID or a gun if things turned bad.
Much to her surprise, the two stopped fighting.
“What’s with you, sweet thing?” one asked, looking her up and down.
“I hate to see anyone fight. Can’t you just talk out your problem over a cold one instead of beating each other up?”
Luke was so close to her side she could feel the heat from his arm next to hers.
“Okay. Now shake hands and walk away before the cops come,” Amber said.
“You are one hot chick,” said one of the guys. “And I dig that dress.”
“And she’s mine,” Luke said through gritted teeth.
Now that was cool!
Luke and Amber walked back toward the hotel. When they were away from the two, Luke said, “Amber, what were you thinking?”
She laughed. “Habit.”
Luke pushed his hat back with a thumb. “She directs traffic, makes arrests, fixes up ranches and breaks up fights in another state... What else do you do, Amber?”
“I can dance,” she said, feeling like flirting. “So, I think I’ll go back to my room and get ready for the dance tonight.”
She wanted to knock his boots off.
* * *
INSTEAD OF KNOCKING on the adjoining door that night, Luke went around to the hallway and knocked on the front door to Amber’s room.
“Just a minute,” he heard from inside.
He stood holding a pink tea rose corsage he’d had made in the flower shop downstairs. The clerk had assured him that Amber would love it.
When she opened the door, he felt like he’d been kicked in the ass by a twenty-one-hundred-pound bull.
“Amber, you look beautiful,” he said.
“Thanks. You are looking mighty handsome tonight yourself, cowboy.”
Amber was gorgeous and then some. Her blond hair fell in gentle waves to her shoulders and that black dress...damn! She l
ooked hot! And elegant at the same time. He was speechless.
“What do you have there?” she asked as he stood in the hallway with his mouth open, corsage box in hand.
He handed it to her. “Happy senior prom.”
Tears shone in Amber’s eyes. “Senior prom?”
“Yes. I’d like to recreate the prom that you’d never had, if you don’t mind. But if you arrived at the gym in that dress, Mrs. Maloney would have made you wear a football jersey over it, like she did with a couple of the girls back then.”
Amber laughed. “I suppose the girls loved it. We all tried to push the envelope between good taste and showing a lot of skin. If Mrs. Maloney made you cover up with a football jersey, it was a great dress.”
“It’s a great dress, Amber. Believe me.”
She grinned. “Come in, Luke. Would you mind helping me with the corsage?”
He fumbled with opening the box, pricked his finger on a long pin, but ignored it. He didn’t remember fumbling like this at his real prom. For heaven’s sake, he was an adult, not a testosterone-crazed high-schooler.
Amber seemed poised, the exact opposite of how he was acting. She was cool and collected in her gown with the plunging neckline and sparkling jewelry.
And he was sweating.
“Pins. Careful.” Luke handed Amber the corsage. Then he pulled out the royal blue satin handkerchief from his outside pocket the tuxedo rental place had included, probably for show only. He blotted the blood from his thumb.
“Aren’t you going to help me pin it on?”
“I’d rather ride a bull than tackle that treacherous thing.” His eyes twinkled in merriment.
“I’ll show you.” She took the pins out of the corsage and held them. “Now take it and slip your hand under the fabric of my dress.”
“Seriously?”
“Totally.”
This was getting good. He did as she instructed, and could feel the warmth of a breast under his knuckles.
“Now take one of the big pins, hold it by the top, and slide the pin into both the fabric and some of the corsage.”
He tried but got cold feet at the last minute. “I’m afraid that I’m going to stab you.”
“You won’t, Luke, but it can be tricky. I’ll take care of it.” She walked over to the mirrored closet door and pinned on the corsage with little effort.
Luke pulled out the blue handkerchief, wiped the sweat from his upper lip and mumbled, “Thank goodness.”
He should have just given her a wrist corsage and slipped it on instead of putting himself through puberty again.
But above all, he wondered if he were losing it. He’d never been this idiotic around a woman before. Never.
What was Amber Chapman doing to him?
“Shall we go?” she asked, letting some kind of sparkly fabric shake out into a triangle, then handing it to him.
Oh, it was a shawl.
Luke didn’t know anyone who wore one, but when he wrapped it around her shoulders and saw how it made her look even hotter in her dress, he wished she’d never take either off. Then he wished she would.
He couldn’t wait to show her off in front of his fellow bull riders and everyone else. “Let’s go.”
They only had to go to one of the conference rooms in the hotel, so they took the elevator to the second floor. He couldn’t resist, he kissed her. He kissed her from the eighteenth floor to the second floor, and it was heaven.
He teased her lips with his tongue, and she opened her mouth for him. He could hear her sigh of pleasure, and he felt invincible, and yet vulnerable.
He might be setting himself up for a relationship that wouldn’t work.
When the doors opened, his brothers were standing in the hallway and he wished he had the time to get out his cell phone, find the video setting and shoot fast enough to capture their jaws dropping.
“Jesse... Reed. Hello!” he said, walking out, his hand holding on to Amber’s. With everything going on, he’d forgotten that his brothers would be attending.
“Aren’t you going to introduce us to your lovely lady?” Reed asked.
“You both know Amber Chapman, don’t you?” Luke asked. “Amber, these are Jesse and Reed, my brothers.”
She held out her hand and they both shook.
“Amber Chapman?” Jesse asked. “Wow.”
“I agree with that assessment,” Reed added. “Amber, I never would have recognized you.”
“Thanks for everything you’ve done to help our father and the ranch,” Jesse said. “Luke has been keeping us informed.”
Reed winked. “And he’s also told us that he’s been living with you.”
Amber winked back. “It’s only because the hotels around Beaumont were full.”
Jesse laughed. “Who told you that? Luke?”
A very tall man approached and tugged at the brim of his hat to Amber. “Excuse me, everyone, but, Luke, you’re scheduled to go on soon.”
He gave Amber’s hand a squeeze. “Not without a dance first. Shall we?”
“Let’s go,” Amber said. “See you later, gentlemen. I’m about to be swept off my feet.”
“Nah. My brother will probably step on them instead,” Jesse said.
“Save a dance for me, Amber,” Reed said.
“Me, too,” Jesse said.
Luke sent them a dirty look. “When bulls fly, brothers.”
* * *
“I HAD A great time, Luke. The best.” Her throbbing feet felt like she’d danced with the top forty-five bull riders and the entire PBR staff.
She was the belle of the ball. She looked good. She felt good. If she had one complaint, it would be that she hadn’t danced with Luke enough.
When she stepped into his arms, it felt as if she was safe and comfortable yet she was overflowing with joy and excitement.
Luke brought out myriad feelings within her. He always had.
She’d never forget this weekend, yet she was looking forward to getting back to Beaumont.
Even Cinderella had to find out what was going to happen next.
Chapter Eleven
As they drove home from the airport, Luke thought of how Amber had him roped and tied like a steer at a rodeo.
He wanted to make out in the car with her, but he didn’t dare. It would lead to more, and Amber deserved better than sex in the front seat of her car, although there was more room in the back seat, but if they folded the back seats down...um, no.
It was for the better that he’d stopped kissing her. He was getting in over his head, but boy howdy, her perfume smelled great. Sort of like roses.
They really didn’t have anything in common other than a love of bull riding and of the town of Beaumont.
Maybe not even that. They both were leaving Beaumont. He’d be going back on the road at the end of summer to get enough points for the Finals and, sooner or later, Amber would leave work for the state police somewhere.
He’d have to think on this one.
From the time she’d driven up to meet him at his autographing to the historical properties grant and even pitching in to help him, Amber had been terrific. Even before all that, she’d given Big Dan two occasions to straighten out. Even when he was arrested a third time, she’d recommended probation and rehab. Now she was driving Luke around Beaumont as if she were his personal taxi.
Amber was nice. Damn nice.
He knew a lot of nice women, but why was Amber the one he couldn’t get out of his mind? Why was she the one he wanted to be with?
What puzzled him was why hadn’t she kicked him out? Instead they were going to clear out a spare bedroom and she was going to make a meatloaf.
And he was liking every minute, even when they disagreed.
&nbs
p; Amber pulled into her parking spot at the Happy Tea Pot.
“Luke, while I’m putting the meatloaf together, how about if I show you the spare room and you can tell me what can stay and what you want to go? I have a sewing machine there, a desk, a bunch of clothes stacked on the bed—just put them in my room, if you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind at all and, really, your couch is fine.”
“Not when I come home early in the morning or have to leave early in the morning. Next week, I’m working four to midnight, so that won’t be bad, but I’d hate to wake you.”
Yeah, she was too nice.
“Thanks for thinking of me, but I’m the moocher. I don’t want to put you out any more than I already have.”
“It’s no problem, and I actually enjoy cooking and baking for someone. After all, when my mother left my father, I cooked and baked for my father and brothers. I guess I’m a nurturer.”
“A nurturer and a cop. Now that’s interesting,” Luke said.
“I think they go together.”
“You’re right. You got my father into rehab.”
They climbed the stairs to her apartment and, after she unlocked the door, Amber headed for the kitchen. She put on a red apron that said Kiss the Cook. Luke was tempted. He’d rather kiss the cook anytime than move clothes.
“You know where the extra bedroom is, right?” Amber asked, her face in the fridge.
“Yep. The room opposite the bathroom.”
“Uh-huh.”
Luke went into the room. It was fine. Everything could stay. He wouldn’t be there that long. Just until some hotel rooms opened up, or if he finished a room in the ranch.
He liked playing house with Amber.
But that’s all it was—playing.
He moved her clothes to her bedroom like she said and called out, “What else?”
“Move the sewing machine and the cabinet to my room, too.”
“Not necessary.” He went to the kitchen. “Amber, the rest can stay. It’s not going to bother me. I won’t be here that long.”
The Cowboy and the Cop Page 10