Rodeo Rancher

by Lauren Wood

  Royce Hamilton had been here before and watched one particular waitress from the corner of his eye. He had nursed a drink one night and talked about his problems. Nicole was very forgiving that she had an outlook on life that was refreshing. He sensed from the moment that he met her that she was sophisticated and had an intellectual offering that most women that he met didn’t. They always wanted something from him, but this time it was him wanting something from somebody else. He knew deep down that she didn’t really recognize him, as a potential suitor. He wasn’t shy in the very least, but he did like to play these little games that tugged at the hearts of those women that he deemed worthy of his attention.

  “If you all will follow me, I’ll be happy to take your coats and hang them up, so that you can be more comfortable.” Nicole took the gray jacket off of Royce’s shoulders and she took a moment to double take at the strong shoulders and the way that his bulging biceps were threatening to escape the prison of the dark blue shirt that he was wearing. He had this smile that made her feel like a little girl. She tried not to make eye contact, but it was virtually impossible with those piercing blue eyes staring her down. “Tiffany and I will be at your beck and call the entire time that you are here conducting business. We have an appetizer that is coming out from the chef. I’m sure that her reputation is quite known to you.” “I want to tell him that he’s magnificent and that one night in the bar where he spilled his guts meant more to me than he could ever know. He probably thought that I was just being that kind of bartender, but I didn’t have to stand there and listen to his lovelorn tales of woe.”

  “I’m sure that anything that Chloe brings out will be much appreciated.” This was the first time that he had been bold enough to require a place that didn’t ooze a certain charm and elegance. He had used the excuse of the new chef and her expertise in the kitchen to woo the clients into business. He was a man that liked to play fast and loose with his money. He didn’t mind enjoying the fruits of his labor. “I think that we will start off with individual drinks, but I do believe that champagne will be in order. Perhaps you can have a bottle chilled and ready when we have finished the business portion of this meeting.” He touched her arm and made it look like an innocent accident, when it wasn’t even close to that.

  Royce liked to be this close to her. He secretly smiled to see her wearing the silver key around her neck. The smile on her face made him believe that his little gifts had been received with a sort of quiet awe.

  “Both myself and Tiffany will be right over there by the bar. If you need anything, all you have to do is whistle. You do know how to whistle, don’t you Mr. Hamilton? You just put your lips together and blow.” She couldn’t believe that those words were coming out of her mouth. It seemed like such a brazen thing to say. She felt like she was comfortable around somebody with this kind of money to throw around. “That was uncalled for and had Tony been here, he would’ve been appalled by my behavior. I don’t think that he would have been appalled. I think that what he would have been surprised that I had that kind of flirty attitude. I didn’t even know that I was capable of that, but it doesn’t look like I’ve caused any irreparable harm. I kinda wish that my secret admirer was him, but that’s wishful thinking.”

  “I don’t care about any of this, Mr. Hamilton. You’ve played this game for long enough. I’m tired of listening to you sweep it underneath the rug like it means nothing. You think just because you have money that you can have anything that you want with a snap of your fingers. I don’t care how much I love eating this food. I do have to say that you have outdone yourself by using her reputation to help you seal the deal. This merger between our two companies is very important to me. It will allow my company to flourish for years to come, but I can’t get on board with some of your conditions. I will not eliminate half of my work force.” Jeffrey Nielsen was a businessman, but also a friend to his employees. They weren’t not just a number and he wasn’t going to allow this man to treat them like they were.

  “Jeffrey, you have to stop thinking that your business is your baby. It’s an investment and eventually someone is going to snap you up into a bigger conglomerate. That’s the only reason why I’m entertaining the idea of getting into business with you. You are a bit soft for my liking and you need a hardened and razor’s edge to get anything done around here. I like you. I’ll talk to my people and see if we can’t arrange for those employees that are in need of retirement to take it early with full benefits. I’m sorry that you think that I treat this with a cavalier attitude, but that is not true. Any business that I go into is feet first. I do not just dip my toe into the shallow end. You would be wise to take a page from my book.” He didn’t want to tell Jeffrey that he was a damn fool. He was living in the past and it was time to rise up into the future.

  “You’re saying all the right things, but I still don’t think that you’re being entirely honest. Let’s go over these points one more time and I want to iron out some details that have kept me up late at nights. I may not be like you, Mr. Hamilton, but I can assure you that I do know my away around legal speak. I can see what is written between the words.” Jeffrey had a mane of white hair that gave him the look of experience, but also of antiquated thinking that didn’t have any place in the boardroom. “We have over an hour and ½ left and I plan to utilize that to the very last second. I hope that you didn’t have plans or think that you were going to get out of here without explaining some of your actions.” Jeffrey may have been from the old style of business, but he was never going to change. He was stuck in his ways.

  “I had a feeling that you would have some questions.” He tapped lightly on his breast pocket and the next gift that he had prepared for Nicole was about to drop right into her lap. He had to do it subtly and put it somewhere that only she would find it. He had noticed while talking to her a couple of months ago that she was a little OCD. She would always count every individual bottle at the bottom of the shelf. They were covered in dust. If he could put this gift right there, then he was almost assured that she would find it and nobody else.

  “I’ve only considered going into business with you, because you do have a reputation for making other businesses become a growing concern in the community. You have a humanitarian side. I think that it’s all for show, but at least you are making it appear that you are one of the good guys. That’s an achievement that others have not been able to pull off. I want a caveat in this contract to say that ten percent of the profits go to various charities to be named later.” Jeffrey knew that he was playing with fire. He wanted everything that he could get, but he was a foolish to think that Mr. Hamilton wouldn’t want to push back in some way.

  “Mr. Nielsen, I will say that it’s a bit of surprise to hear you say something like that. I guess I shouldn’t be all that surprised that you would do your due diligence on me. You’ve obviously been following me or maybe you have just done your research to make sure that all the bases were covered. If you don’t mind, I think that I’m going to need another drink. It appears that our waitresses are otherwise engaged in the kitchen.” He had used their absence to slip behind the bar and then to bend out of sight for a moment.

  He took a small box and slid it between two bottles. He wondered when Nicole would start to put the pieces together. It was this little puzzle and all she had to do was literally follow it to its final conclusion.

  “Can I help you with something?” Tiffany had returned and saw that they had an unwanted visitor behind the bar. “I’m sure that if we don’t have something that you want, we can bring it in. Is there something specific that you’re looking for, or are you just being particularly nosy?” Tiffany loved to put men with this kind of power back on their heels. She wanted to believe that this was her way to weasel into his good graces. Bending slightly at the waist gave him a bird’s eye view of her otherwise more on display attributes. They were store bought, but they were a great investment. They had these dollars size nipples that were hard to turn away from.
She didn’t like to wear a bra and getting these new puppies a couple of years ago had been the best thing that she had ever done.

  They were constantly becoming a conversation piece. Any party, she would have a few drinks and then show off her new assets. It didn’t matter if it was a stranger or friend. If they wanted to see them, then she was more than happy to show them off in the best light possible.

  “Um… I was just looking for…I really know what I was looking for.” He had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He wasn’t used to explaining his actions and having this young redheaded vixen catch him in the act was not something that he was prepared for. “I thought that I would recognize it when I found it” He got up off of his know. He heard it crack and knew that his age of 45 was creeping up on him. Nicole had never married nor had any kids. He could only hope that she was waiting for the right one and that he could possibly be that one.

  Chapter 3

  Tiffany had flustered Mr. Hamilton. She mistakenly thought that she was the reason for that. She believed in her heart that Royce had wanted to get close to her. She tried to test her hypotheses, but it appeared to her that his interest was not exactly what she had thought it was. She bent over in front of them several times bringing them their drinks and he was the only one that didn’t salivate at the chance to wrap his lips around her nipples. There were even a couple of women at the table that couldn’t stops staring.

  They continued negotiations and Royce didn’t even notice that Tiffany was throwing herself at him. He thought that she was only after bigger tips, even though he did stray one look to see that she had the biggest tips that he had ever seen in his life. She would’ve been a passing fancy and something that would put a smile on both of their faces for one night. It would’ve been more like a weekend or a three day excursion to some tropical getaway that would leave them with a certain memory to hold onto.

  “I believe that we have finished for the day, but we are not done by a long shot, Mr. Hamilton. I still think that there is room for improvement on this contract. We will revisit this in the next couple of days and I’m sure that we will be able to compromise for the good of everyone. We both know how to conduct ourselves and you probably thought that I was going to be a pushover. I’m willing to take a step back, but only if I am reasonably sure that my business won’t go under without my continued diligence. You’re not the only game in town, but you are the one that everybody is talking about. They say that you have a clinical approach to business and that your personal opinion is not exactly the kind of bedside manner that they had been looking for. I do admit that I thought that you were going to be more pigheaded and unwilling to bend. I think that what we need to do from this moment on is to work this out between us without the lawyers and those buzzing in our ear. We are adults after all and we can do this together or not at all.”

  “I do like the way that you think, Mr. Nielsen. You have a caring disposition and a compassion for your business that outweighs my need to see you trampled underneath my foot. We are built from the same kind of cloth. I would say that you’re more like my father. He had always been my hero and he will always be my hero. He may not be with me anymore, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t talk to him.” He didn’t think that he was going to enjoy this. He thought for a moment and this was just going to be a normal exercise in bringing another business owner to his knees.

  “I’ve done business with your father in the past and I think that he would be proud of you. You do like things your own way, but you don’t allow your personal opinion to cloud your judgment.”

  The business was done and Nicole was looking at the way that Tiffany was acting. She seemed to concentrate her flirting efforts on Mr. Hamilton. Something had changed, but she was unaware of what had happened between her and Mr. Hamilton at the bar. “I really did believe that I had light in my life, but now there’s only love in the dark. I don’t like myself when I get too inebriated and find some good looking stud to take home for the evening. I think I want something with a little bit more heart than somebody that wants to see me naked. I look at Mr. Hamilton and I feel this need to get down on my knees to worship him. I want to crawl to him and to show him the kind of love and affection that he can get from a real woman.”

  Royce looked back over his shoulder for a second and caught the eye of Nicole. He smiled and could only hope that his anonymity was still very much a mystery. He walked over and handed both girls a $50.00 tip for a job well done. His hand lingered in Nicole’s palm. One finger traced in a circle. It wasn’t exactly a circle. It was more of a heart. He could only hope that she did not recognize it for what it was.

  Royce didn’t like wasting time and waiting was not one of his strongest virtues. He did find anticipation of dancing around to be quite exhilarating. He wanted nothing more than to get her out of her clothes and to stand before her as the man of her dreams. He wanted to touch her porcelain skin and to feel her tremble underneath his touch. He wanted to wake up that secret part that only his kiss could bring about. He didn’t want just her body. He wanted her heart, soul and her hand in marriage. He didn’t like that this was taking so long. A couple of months of sending notes and then escalating to these couple of gifts were supposed to make her happy.

  “It was a pleasure, Mr. Hamilton. I don’t think that I’m saying anything that I shouldn’t be telling you. You could probably have this place any time that you wanted it. Chloe was giddy with joy at breaking out new recipes that she had never tried before. I had a brief taste of some of that beef tenderloin and I have to say that it was a lot better than sex.” That was inappropriate thing for her to say. She turned all different shades of red. “I can’t believe that I said something like that to a man like him. He has a lot of women vying for his attention. He probably doesn’t even see me. I’m deluding myself into thinking that this could be anything more than a passing glance.”

  “In don’t usually come into a place like this. I do like to frequent it on my off hours, but business is a different breed. I think the food made up for the lack of ambience. I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you that your professionalism was much appreciated. I think it goes without saying that a little eye candy makes men a little bit happier to give over their first born.” He was directing his words at Nicole. He was trying to be subtle and not exactly putting it out there for her to see. He wanted to take things slowly. He had heard through the Grapevine that her breakup with a certain chef had not gone easily. He wanted to warm her up to the idea of another relationship.

  The ghost of Stefan was very much in her mind. The lingering touch and the softness of his kiss had made her ache for someone to fill that void in the emptiness of her heart and her bed. Stefan may not be dead, but he was dead when it came to the relationship that she had with him. “I don’t know what it is about that man that I find so fascinating. There’s something in his eyes that tells me that he’s not all of about business. I think that he likes to mix a little pleasure in with his business. I don’t want to even think that I have a chance, when there are obviously models from swimsuit calendars that have been on his arm in the public eye. He does shy away from the camera and I don’t think that anybody has really gotten a clear shot of him. He tries his best to fly under the radar and maybe there’s something damaged about him that makes me think that I can help him find his way.”

  “I have to say that Tony has himself a gold mine here. I may have to talk to him about investing. I know what I like. When I see something that makes me smile, then I have to do everything I can to be a part of it.” He did not take his eyes off of her. His hand was still touching Nicole’s palm. He didn’t even recognize that Tiffany had walked away.

  Tiffany was standing over by one of the tables looking at the way that Mr. Hamilton was fawning over Nicole. She was not blind, but she had a feeling that his obvious attraction had gone unnoticed by Nicole. She couldn’t believe that as a woman that Nicole couldn’t see what was right in front of her face. The way t
hat Mr. Hamilton was looking at her and touching her was something that only a seasoned and experienced lover would even attempt to try to do. She had had her fair share of that kind of man, but nothing that even came close to the power Royce emanated from every pore of his body.

  “Mr. Hamilton…” Nicole didn’t like putting herself on display. Tiffany was the one that convinced her to wear the dress to work. Standing in front of the mirror that morning she felt like she was doing something naughty. It made her smile and was the only reason why she paraded herself around like that of a common streetwalker.

  “I would really like you to call me Royce. Only my business colleagues call me Mr. Hamilton. I would hate to think that everything that we have together is only about business. I do have to get going, but I would like you to be my guest this evening. I’m attending a grand opening of a restaurant and I would like to pick your brain for your opinion. I have some money tied up into that restaurant and I would like to be assured that I have my money working for me than against me.” He had asked her out, but not in the way that other men would classify to be a date. He made it sound casual and not that important, when it was more important than he even realized himself.

  “I don’t know what to say. I’m sure that you have somebody else that you would like to go. I don’t have anything to wear that would be considered fancy enough for that kind of evening.” She stood there and looked at him. He handed her a card from a very exclusive boutique written across the front of it. “I have walked by this place, but I never thought in a million years I would actually go inside. The owner looks a little too high class and she would probably turn her nose up at me. I don’t exactly have the kind of money that I can flash her way to make her see treat me like others.”