by Liz Crowe
“The Marriott near the airport. The conference is being held there in the business suites and ballroom.”
“How’s the conference been?”
“Pretty boring, actually. I was hoping for more reader interaction, but it’s been mostly panels and such. There is a book signing tomorrow, but I think I’ll skip it for the research the ranch offers me.” She pulled down the road toward the hotel. The Marriott stood five stories high and encompassed the whole block. Concrete walls and steel framed windows, painted a bright yellow with white trim, outlined the hotel. Native bushes lined the walkways. She pulled into a space and shut off the car. “Do you want to wait here? I don’t have much to repack.”
“I can help you bring the stuff down if you like.”
Hmm…a sexy man in a hotel room with a bed? So not a good idea. “Why don’t you wait in the car? It’ll only take me a minute.”
“Okay. If you’re sure. I came to help, you know.”
“Yeah, but you don’t need to see all my underwear and stuff strung all over the room.”
He laughed a deep, throaty laugh that made her toes curl. “Fine. I’ll stay in the car.”
“Great. Be right back.”
After she slipped out of the car, she shut the door and hurried toward the side door of the hotel. Luckily, her room was on the second floor, so it wouldn’t take much to get her big suitcase and her computer bag down to the car. She really didn’t want Joel seeing all her makeup, toiletries, and personal unmentionables. It seemed weird to have a guy in her room, especially since she’d only known him a few hours.
The door lock beeped open as she slid the keycard into the slot. When she pushed the door, the darkness of the room surrounded her for a few moments until she flicked the lights on with a press of the button on the wall. She grabbed her suitcase from the closet and quickly folded her clothes to pack back in the bag. Shampoo, conditioner, makeup bag. I think I got it all.
She grabbed her computer and slid it into the case. That didn’t take long. She glanced around the room to make sure she had everything as she pulled up the roller bar on the suitcase. The conference had included her hotel room so she would be losing the money there, but the chance for front row seats to a real ranch setting would be worth it in the long run. Her book would be authentic and her hero would be to die for!
*****
Joel checked the reflection in the side mirror of the car. He could clearly see the door Mesa disappeared through in the glass. What to make of her? When he’d found her stranded in her car, he wasn’t sure she had a brain cell in her pretty head. Who would take a drive out into the middle of nowhere without enough gas to get back? But while he chatted with her, he realized she actually was a very intelligent woman with a big heart. She sure is beautiful with all of her long, dark hair and brown eyes.
He checked his watch. She’d been in there for several minutes. What the hell is taking so long?
Tap, tap, tap.
Joel turned his head to see a security guard tapping on the window with his flashlight.
“Can I help you?” he said, after he rolled the window down.
“Can I ask what you’re doing sitting in this car?”
“I’m waiting for a friend to come out. She’s getting her stuff.”
“She’s checking out?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you go in and help her?”
“She asked me not to. Come on, man. I’m just sitting here.”
“In a guarded parking lot of a nice hotel. How do I know you aren’t casing cars to break into?”
“Do I look like a thief? I’m sitting here in muddy jeans, cowboy boots, and a T-shirt.”
“Step out of the car please.”
“Are you a cop?”
“Yeah, I am.”
Joel glanced at the man’s shirt and noticed the San Antonio police badge. Shit. This is all he needed. Trouble with a capital T. He pushed open the car door and stepped out. His six-foot-four frame towered over the cop, but he didn’t try to intimidate the guy. Be nice to the policeman, Joel. He heard his mother’s voice in his head as clearly as if she were standing next to him. After all, the man had a gun.
“What’s going on here?”
Mesa skidded to haul next to him with her suitcase dragging behind her.
“Our friend here thinks I’m casing cars.”
“He is not, officer.” She tapped her chest with her finger. “He’s with me. I came to check out and get my things before I headed back to his house.”
“His house?” the cop asked with a raised eyebrow.
Great. Now the guy thinks I’m soliciting or something. Shit. He stuffed his hands in the front pocket of his jeans. “It’s not like that, officer. My family owns a dude ranch out in Bandera. She’s a guest. I came with her to get her things so she wouldn’t get lost driving back out there since it’s dark now.”
“Do you have your check out paperwork?”
“Not yet. I brought my suitcase out here first to put into the car before I walked back into the front desk.”
“Put your things in the car then and we can all walk in together.”
“Seriously? This is ridiculous,” she snapped, hitting the trunk latch on her key fob. She slid the suitcase in the back before she slammed the hatch with a loud bang.
Joel walked behind her with the cop beside him. He couldn’t help but notice how her ass jiggled a little as she stomped her feet. The girl had a temper, it seemed. He liked girls with enough gumption to stand up for themselves.
They walked in through the sliding doors. The desk stood off to the left with large plants flanking either side. Mesa had her dander up now. She slapped her hand down on the counter and snapped, “Tell this idiot I am a guest at this hotel and I don’t appreciate my guest being harassed in your parking lot.”
“And you are?”
“Mesa Arraguso. I’m here with the writer’s conference and I’m checking out.” She slid her keycard across the counter. “My room is 2103.”
“Of course, ma’am.” The guy tapped on a few keys of the computer. “You do realize there won’t be any refund on your hotel stay because of the special rate and…”
“Yes, I know. Just check me out while I deal with this idiot.” She stomped back to where he and the cop were standing. “Now do you believe us? We weren’t giving you a line of shit, officer. What we told you was the truth.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but we’ve had a rash of car break-ins around the area and your friend here looked suspicious when he kept checking the doors.”
“I kept looking for her. Nothing more.”
“I’m sorry but you have to understand, we are only protecting the hotel guests.” At least the man looked sheepish. “I didn’t mean to harass you.”
“Then I suggest you go out there and find whoever is really breaking into these cars. It’s not my friend.”
“No harm done, Mesa. Really. He’s doing his job.”
“Believe me, I know how these guys work. I deal with the same crap in Los Angeles with the police out there. Everyone is guilty until proven innocent, not the other way around.” The cop tipped his hat before he walked out the doors. Mesa huffed out a sigh. “Really, he should have been more apologetic. I hate being harassed like I’m some kind of criminal.”
“It’s fine. I get into trouble with the police sometimes in Bandera. Luckily, they all know us. They don’t here in San Antonio.” He shrugged. “I didn’t give him my name or he might have recognized me. I don’t like throwing names around, you know?”
“Yeah. I appreciate you standing up to him, though.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“Ms. Arraguso? Here is your receipt. Thank you for staying with us.”
“I appreciate it. I’ll keep this hotel in mind should I have need for a room in San Antonio again. Thank you.”
Joel grabbed her hand as they walked outside. Knowing there were people out casing the cars in the lot didn’t sit well with him. He
had a permit to carry a gun, which he did in his truck, but not in someone else’s car. Bandera didn’t have these kinds of problems. The small town kept to themselves most of the time. To each his own. They took care of each other with their small police force and didn’t have much trouble in the way of things in San Antonio. The bigger city had a lot more issues.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, why?”
“You’re squeezing my hand kind of tight,” she said, tugging on her limb although he didn’t release her.
He kind of liked how her hand felt in his so he pulled her in tighter. “Sorry, darlin’. Knowing there are people possibly hanging out in the parking lot for nefarious reasons makes me nervous for you.”
“Aw, how sweet. I’m fine though. I can take care of myself.”
“Maybe, but as the man, I’m supposed to take care of you.”
“Very chivalrous of you.”
“It’s the way my mom raised us. The men take care of the ladies.” They’d reached the side of her car. Once she unlocked it, he opened the door for her, and then shut it behind her before going around to the passenger side.
“Do you always open doors?” she asked after he’d settled himself in the seat again.
“Yep.”
“I didn’t think men did those kinds of things anymore.”
“Southern gentlemen do, but I don’t know any other way to be, so there you have it.”
“It’s nice.” She smiled and he relaxed.
“I’m just a simple, country boy.”
“Perfect for what I’m needin’.”
“And what might that be?”
Chapter Four
“Inspiration, Joel. For my next book.”
“Ah.” He quirked an eyebrow at her as she flushed in embarrassment from the little smile on his lips.
“Men,” she whispered under her breath.
“What did you say?”
“Nothing.”
They headed out of San Antonio on their way back to the ranch. Quiet surrounded them, so she flipped on the radio to a country music station and sat back in the seat, prepared for the long drive.
“Have you ever been married?” he asked, breaking into the low radio hum of the song playing. His voice reminded her of a sexy growl. She totally needed to use that in a book.
“What brought that on?”
“Just making conversation.”
“No. I had a long-term boyfriend up until about six months ago.”
“What happened?”
“We just grew apart, I guess. We’d been dating about three years.” She glanced across the car, then back to the road. “What about you?”
“Nope. I haven’t found the right girl yet. Of course, if Mom had her way, all of us boys would be married already and have a dozen kids each.”
She laughed. It felt good with everything her life had turned into lately. Her career had gone into the toilet after her last book. Her love life sucked. “Why am I not surprised? Nina reminds me of my mother. She’s trying to marry me off, too. She was pretty upset about my breakup. More so than I was, I think.”
“Only one of our family has been married before. Jeff. It broke up a few years ago.”
“What happened?”
“Misha was a total ho bag. She tried getting half of us in bed with her. When she couldn’t accomplish that, she went after the sheriff. She succeeded there.” Joel rubbed his eyes with forefinger and thumb like he had a headache.
“I bet it’s a bit awkward for Jeff then if he ever gets stopped by the guy.”
“The two of them keep clear of each other. Jeff caught them in bed together. The guy was lucky Jeff wasn’t armed at the time. Jeff just beat the shit out of the guy.”
“He didn’t press charges, did he?” she asked, her voice a slight pitch higher with worry. She liked his family even though she’d only met them a short time ago. They seemed close, like families should be. She loved her own parents, but they constantly seemed to be on her tail about one thing or another. When was she going to marry? What about children? Even though she was only twenty-five, shouldn’t she be thinking about her future? Did she plan on writing novels for the rest of her life? She needed a day job to pay her bills. She’d been lucky. Her first novel took off three years ago and hit the NY Times Bestseller list, as did her second. Her third flopped…badly.
“No. Art knew better, even though he could have.” He sighed and shifted in the seat. “Jeff loved her.”
“I’m sorry for him then. It’s not fair to put someone through the heartbreak. Just leave if you don’t want to be married to them.”
“She did want to be. She wanted the money and land she thought went with the Young name, she didn’t want Jeff or their son.”
“They managed to have a child? We wasn’t at dinner.”
“Yeah, purely by accident, I think. She hated being pregnant. Hated Jeff during the whole pregnancy. They fought constantly. She made everyone miserable while they were married. We were all thrilled when it broke up.”
“No one noticed any of this before they got married?”
He shook his head. “You couldn’t have told Jeff anything anyway. He never thought badly of her, even when the rest of us could totally see her flirting. He kept telling everyone she was being friendly.”
Silence enveloped them for a minute as she contemplated how she would have felt had one of her brothers gone through the same thing with a spouse. She probably would have kicked the woman’s ass for hurting her sibling. “I’m sorry for his pain.”
“We all were. I hated seeing him hurting, but I’m glad he saw her for what she truly was. Unfortunately, because they have a child together, he still has to see her on occasion.”
“Does he have custody?”
“Yeah. Mom and Dad made sure she didn’t take off with their grandson. He’s a cute three year old and gets into everything.”
“I bet he’s a total cowboy, like his uncles and dad.”
“Yep. He has a set of boots, a cowboy hat, and the whole nine yards.”
“I need to get a picture of him. I bet he’s a doll.”
“Looks like his dad.” He cleared his throat. “Do you want to be there when the foal is born?”
“I’d love to.”
“Even if it’s in the middle of the night? It’s very possible it’ll come sometime tonight when you’re asleep.”
“I don’t mind. Wake me up no matter what time it is. I’ve always wanted to see a foal come into the world.”
“We can check out her progress when we get back to the ranch.”
The time had flown. Before she knew it, they were pulling back up to the gate of the ranch. “See? I could have made it back without your directions.”
“I see, but it does help having a GPS telling you where to go. They do get lost out here on the back roads.”
“True.” She laughed. “But I memorized some landmarks as we were headed into San Antonio so I’d be able to find most of the way back.”
“I’m glad I went. It was great to sit and talk to you. You’re an interesting woman, Mesa.”
“Thank you.” She scrunched up her nose as they pulled up in front of the hitching post. “I think.”
He laughed and leaned over to kiss her cheek. Goose bumps rose on her arms when the smell of his cologne reached her nose. Of course, he had to wear her favorite scent, damn him.
“It was a compliment. We’ll have to talk more tomorrow, but for now, let’s get you settled in your room. Hopefully, you can get a few hours of sleep before the foal is born.” She bit her lip. “What?”
“Can you get into the kitchen?”
“Sure. Why?”
“I’d love another one of those dessert things we had at dinner.” She smiled hoping she could persuade him to sneak into the kitchen to swipe one of the decadent chocolates for her sweet tooth. She had a terrible one, especially right before bed. Ice cream usually calmed her cravings at home, but here, she needed to improvise
, if only she could get Joel to go along.
The warm chuckle coming from his mouth made her smile. She liked his laugh. Hell, who was she kidding, she liked everything about him from the top of his sexy cowboy hat to the tip of his cowboy boots—the man had it all. Those lips made her want to kiss him into tomorrow. His chest made her want to bury herself against those muscles. She wondered what he’d look like without a shirt. Did he have chest hair? A lot? A little? She knew he had a six-pack. No cowboy who looked as good as he did, didn’t have a six-pack, or sex-pack, as she liked to think about it. He had some of the prettiest blue eyes she’d ever seen on a man, along with eyelashes any woman would kill for. What would his hands feel like stroking her skin? Did he have a sexy happy trail? God, I want to find out. A heavy sigh escaped her lips.
“What?”
“Nothing. I just had a thought.”
“Anything you’d like to share?”
“Really? I shouldn’t because it would totally embarrass me.”
“About me?”
Heat crawled up her neck as she blushed.
“Ah. It was about me.”
“Totally.”
“Share.”
“Nope.”
“Why not?”
“Because you don’t need your ego stroked, I’m sure.”
“Sure I do. Stroke me, baby.”
She rolled her eyes and smiled. I know he doesn’t need a bigger head. “All right. I totally pictured you without a shirt and I wanted to know if you had a little happy trail like most men with dark hair like yours do.”
“Oh, you kinky girl, you.”
He laughed. The rich, deep sound sent shivers down her back. Damn, the man could turn me inside out and upside down. She hadn’t even known him very long. This wasn’t good. How would she feel after being around him for several days? She hadn’t quite decided how long she planned to stay at the ranch, but she knew it would be more than a day or two. The opportunity to have firsthand knowledge of cowboys, how they work, etc. wasn’t something she wanted to pass up. “So?” she asked, her bravery waning now they were back at the ranch.
“Happy trail, huh? I’ve never heard anything referred to as that before. Explain what you mean.”