So Tough To Tame

His legs felt weighted with lead as he trudged up the front steps of the Stud Farm. He grunted in surprise when the door opened before he could reach for it.

“Hey, Walker!” Merry Kade called as she bounced outside.

He automatically tipped his hat and grabbed the door to hold it open for her. “Evening, Merry.”

“Your friend is so much fun!”

“My friend?”

She bounced her hip against his leg as she passed. “Charlie, silly. She’s hilarious. You’re coming over, right?”

He glanced over to the saloon, feeling not the least bit tempted. “No, I’m beat. I’ll catch up another time.”

Merry spun around at the bottom of the steps. “No, you have to come, Walker! Just for a little while. Charlie said to think of it as her homecoming party. Look, she made me go put on my heels.” Merry lifted her foot and angled it so he could see the black heels she wore.

“I’d better not,” he said with a wink. “I left my last pair of heels at the ranch anyway.”

Merry snorted with laughter, but she didn’t give up. “Even Rayleen’s having fun.”

That made him pause. And then Merry pushed the button that was hardest for him to ignore.

“Come on, Walker. I can barely walk in these things. Be a gentleman and let me hold your arm.”

Well, shit. He wouldn’t say no to that, and she knew it. Her smile tipped into triumph. Walker gave in with a sigh. “Fine, I’ll walk you over to the saloon, and then I’m leaving.”

“We’ll see.”

She took his arm even though he highly suspected she didn’t need any help. Then again, he hadn’t often seen Merry in heels. She was more a jeans and Converse kind of girl. “Where’s Shane? I like it when he gets all riled up about you.”

She grinned. “Me, too. But I don’t think he’s home yet.”

“Aw, that’s too bad. I was going to dance you around the saloon porch a little, just to rub it in.”

“I don’t dance in heels. I just sit on a bar stool and look stunning.”

“Same as without heels, then?”

She elbowed him and snorted. “You’re such a dork.”

This was what he loved about Merry. No one ever called him a dork. And he was damn sure no one had ever called Shane Harcourt a dork, either, but Walker had heard Merry say the same to him. No wonder Shane was hooked. Merry was sweet and smart as hell. Unfortunately, that kind of woman didn’t go for Walker. Not for the long term anyway.

He escorted Merry up the steps to the saloon porch, then hesitated at the door. He normally loved a good night out, but he wasn’t in the mood quite as often lately.

Merry tugged him forward. “You can drop me off at the bar.”

“In case you think I don’t know I’m being played, I know I’m being played,” he muttered, but he opened the door and waved her in.

Country music thumped through the air, and his heart immediately reset itself to the rhythm. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe he could stay for a few minutes to be polite. He let Merry lead him toward the bar. She’d apparently dropped any pretense that she needed a steady arm to support her, but Walker couldn’t resent it. He’d spotted a hot female ass in tight jeans and Merry was taking him straight toward it.

“Look who I found!” she called to the crowd at the bar.

Several faces turned toward him, but Walker was busy raising his eyes up the woman’s spine and over long brown hair to see Charlie smiling over her shoulder at him. He blinked, surprised yet again that she was all grown-up and working a gorgeous ass. His eyes slipped down again, over her long, long legs to the bright red spike heels she wore. Damn.

“Hey, Walker,” she purred when he drew near.

Wait, he thought as he leaned down to return her hug. Charlie Allington purring? He must’ve heard that wrong.

“You ready for that payment I promised?” Her breath whispered over his ear, the words sneaking inside him.

He pulled back quickly. “A beer, right?”

“Sure, unless you want a pomegranate martini.” She pointed at the drink she held, which was such a bright red the reflection tinged the underside of her chin pink.

“You think I won’t drink a pomegranate martini?” He lifted his chin toward Jenny and gestured to Charlie’s drink. “I’ll take one of these,” he called.

Jenny rolled her eyes, but she grabbed the martini shaker.

Charlie looked up at his hat, then down to his boots, but she stayed silent until he reached over to the bar and snagged the drink.

“Thanks,” he said, raising the glass toward her before he took a sip. “Perfect.”

“You’re pretty damn adorable,” she said. “A big old cowboy drinking a pretty little cocktail.”

“Yeah?” He leaned a little closer out of flirtatious habit.

“Yeah. Those rough fingers curved around that delicate glass? It’s...promising.”

His blood heated by a few degrees. She liked seeing his fingers on something delicate, did she? She’d moved closer, too, and he could smell her hair. He could also see straight down the front of her red shirt, and the rise of her breasts were faint curves that ended at a silky black bra. “You look awfully promising yourself, Charlie.”

The shape of her name in his mouth stopped the rush of his blood. He blinked and leaned back a little, reminding himself that this was his pal Charlie, but she just clinked her glass against his and smiled. “Thank you,” she murmured softly before turning toward the man who’d appeared at her side.

“Hey, Nate!” she gushed before hugging her cousin.

Walker took the chance to enjoy the sight of her from a new angle. The long line of her side curving out to that perfect ass, then those ridiculous legs. He’d noticed those even in high school. How could he not? She’d been one of the tallest girls in school. Still about six inches shorter than him, but tonight the heels added a few more. Hell, he could kiss her for hours without getting a crick in his neck. He could even bend her over a table and—

His eyes skittered away from her ass as if they were horrified at where his imagination had gone. This was Charlie. Way too smart to date a guy like Walker, and way too sweet to be used to scratch an itch. But damn, it’d been easier to be friends with her before she’d grown into heels. And flirting. And shiny lip gloss that made her mouth look full and plump and—

He looked up to find Nate glaring at him above Charlie’s head. Walker shrugged and gave an innocent grimace of confusion as if he had no idea what Nate could be upset about. Nate didn’t look appeased. And he looked downright dour when Charlie reached back to lean her hip against Walker and loop her arm around his waist. She craned her neck up until Walker leaned his ear closer to her.

“Why’s my cousin shooting you a death glare? Were you checking out my ass, Walker Pearce?”

“Uh.” He cleared his throat. “That may be what he thought I was doing.”

“You can look. I think it’s pretty nice myself. What do you think?”

“I, uh...” He’d never once in his life gotten tongue-tied around a woman. If there was one skill he could rely on, it was the power of flirtation. He enjoyed it. Women liked it. No one got hurt. But the invitation to make a comment about Charlie Allington’s ass had thrown him off his game.

“Aw.” Her lower lip turned down in a pretty pout. “You don’t like it? I think it’s nice and round and firm.”

Oh, fuck. What was she doing? Didn’t she know the kind of image her words would conjure? Of her stripped out of jeans and panties, her naked ass taut under his grip as he positioned himself behind her and... “Damn it, Charlie.”

“What?” she asked with a laugh that tickled his ear.

“Stop teasing me. You’re not...” He stopped himself and took a deep breath.

“I’m not what?”

“You’re not that kind of girl.”

“What kind of girl is that?”

His face felt odd and hot. He reached up to adjust his hat so he could think a little more clearly. “You know. You were a smart girl. You never got into trouble with the rest of us. You—”

“I’m still smart,” she said, talking so close now that her lips brushed his ear. “But I’m not any kind of girl at all anymore. I’m a woman, all grown-up. Can’t you tell?”

Yes, he could damn well tell. In fact, his cock was starting to swell as the tingle of her words raced down his neck and kept right on going. This definitely wasn’t Charlie from high school. “It’s gorgeous,” he murmured.

“What?”

“Your ass. It’s beautiful. But I can’t give any opinion on whether it’s firm. It might be. It might be the sweetest, tightest ass in the county, but that’s not something I can tell just by looking.”

Her face was angled slightly away from him now, but it wasn’t hard to catch the way her mouth turned up in a wide grin. “You don’t believe me?” she murmured. He watched her fingers slide over her own hip, spreading a little as if she meant to test the give of her flesh right there.

Walker didn’t dare look up. There was no way Nate could’ve missed the way Charlie had snuggled so close. And Walker knew there was no hiding the heat in his gaze. And there wouldn’t be any hiding his erection if this went on much longer. The hand at his waist had started tracing slow circles that made waves of pleasure radiate out over his body. And he was picturing that scene again. Of Charlie naked, her hand opening over her own hip as his fingers spread over her ass. She’d look back at him with that taunting little smile, just as she did now. Do you like it? she’d ask. And he’d answer by squeezing her ass hard and laying his cock against the plump mounds of her cheeks as he—

“Jesus,” he cursed with a harsh laugh as he eased his hips back and shook his head. “You turned cruel while you were gone, Charlie. Good God.”

She shrugged. “Maybe a little cruel. But I bet you can handle it. You’re a big boy.”

And getting bigger by the second, damn her. But Charlie didn’t notice. The jukebox rang with the opening notes of a song from their school days, and she danced away from him.

“Miss Rayleen, do you allow two-stepping in here?” she called.

Rayleen plucked her cigarette from her mouth and pointed it toward the tables. “If you can find room for it, knock yourself out.”

“Hmm.” Charlie turned back to look him up and down, then shook her head. “I do believe this one is too big to be nimble.”

Rayleen cackled. “You’ve got that right. That’s a tool for blunt work.”

“Hey!” he protested, but Rayleen laughed harder.

“Look at his face, poor thing!” the woman hooted.

Charlie shook her head in mock sympathy. “Too bad. I’ll have to find another partner.”

“I’m nimble as hell,” he grouched. “I’ve never had any complaints.”

He should have known by the thrilled smile on Rayleen’s face that she was about to cause trouble, but he didn’t move fast enough to stop it. “Naw,” she drawled, “he comes with good reviews. Just like a nice hotel. With pictures online and everything.”

Charlie’s eyes lit up. “What?” she gasped.

“Damn it, Rayleen, that is not true!” He took off his hat and scrubbed a hand through his hair. He couldn’t believe they were having this conversation again. And this time it was in front of Charlie.

But Rayleen was relentless. “You know when men sometimes take pictures of their—”

“That is not what happened!” He cringed at the volume of his own voice and muttered, “Pardon me, ma’am,” but Rayleen was howling and slapping the table while Charlie looked from her to Walker, her jaw dropped open in a wide smile.

“Seriously?” she gasped.

“No! Not seriously! There is no picture of my...” He glanced at Rayleen, self-conscious about his language even if she did have the mouth of an old sailor. “...manhood online. Or anywhere else. As far as I know.”

“Ah. Cell phone cameras are tricky beasts, aren’t they?” Charlie tried to make her words sound sympathetic. It didn’t work. She broke down in laughter.

No, there were no cock shots of him anywhere, but there was one small problem that—

Rayleen cupped her hand around her mouth as if she were going to whisper a secret. “Someone posted a picture of his naked ass on Facebook.”

“Rayleen,” he groaned.

“Took me a few days to find it, but it was worth the work.”

Walker closed his eyes against the sight of Charlie’s horrified delight. He shook his head. “Why do you have to tell everyone? It’s just a picture of an ass, for God’s sake.”

“Just a picture of your ass while you were sleeping naked on some girl’s bed.”

Not for the first time, he said a quick prayer of thanks that he was a stomach sleeper. He should’ve known that woman would be trouble. She’d started texting her friends five seconds after orgasm.

“Oh, Walker,” Charlie said, her voice closer than it had been. But he didn’t open his eyes, even when her hand patted his cheek. “You haven’t changed at all.”

Much as he’d like to, there was no denying the truth. When he’d woken this morning, he’d greeted the day with exactly as much to his name as he’d had when Charlie had left town for college: a big truck, a strong back, good hands and some almost-promising ranch work lined up. The only thing he’d managed to add were a few aches and pains, a small savings and a little regret.

He suddenly remembered that he’d been too tired to hang out tonight.

When he opened his eyes he found that everyone had moved on. Rayleen was reabsorbed in her game of solitaire. Nate and Merry were propped on bar stools, laughing with Jenny, and Charlie...Charlie had cleared a small space near the jukebox and pulled some cowboy into her arms to two-step.

“You were right about her,” Rayleen said without looking up. “She’s all right. Bought me a drink and everything. In my own bar. My best Scotch.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

Rayleen nodded. “Yep. You were right. I like that girl.”

Yeah. Unfortunately for his pride, so did he.

CHAPTER FOUR

CHARLIE STARED DOWN her hangover in the mirror. Unless Rayleen had installed fluorescent bulbs in the bathroom, her face was a damn unattractive color this morning. She looked closer, scowling down her own bad mood and daring her stomach to rebel.

It’d been years since she had a hangover. A few unwise nights during her first year in Las Vegas had taught her about pacing.

But the hangover hardly mattered. She dreaded going to work anyway. No point wasting good health on it. It would be a bad day with or without a shifty stomach and a headache. At least she’d had fun flirting with Walker last night.

Resigned to her miserable day, she forced herself to drink a full glass of water, then showered and shaved her legs and put on enough makeup to hide the green before slouching to her car. She already had antacids in the glove compartment. This wasn’t the first stomachache the Meridian Resort had given her. She was prepared.

She’d thought this job was her saving grace. She’d thought Dawn was swooping in to save her like an old friend riding in on a white horse. Now Charlie was tied to the railroad tracks and trying to figure out what the hell had happened.

Then again, it wasn’t really something that had happened. She’d done it to herself. Not deliberately, just...stupidly. And she’d always thought she was so smart. She’d spent a blissful twenty-nine years believing she wasn’t an idiot, and then she’d been arrested for criminal conspiracy. Lesson learned.

The drive to Teton Village was over in a flash, fifteen minutes accelerated to mere seconds by her dread. The scattered resorts and gigantic lodges were beautiful. There were miles of exquisite architecture and landscaping designed to look perfect amid the snowdrifts and icicles. But to her, the whole village looked like so much trash washed up on the shore of these mountains. She wove her way through the maze and headed toward the Meridian Resort halfway up the hill.

Three weeks ago, she’d been grinning through this whole drive, so thrilled and excited to have an opportunity. Any opportunity.

Clenching her jaw, she waited for the gate to the employee parking garage to open, staring straight ahead so she wouldn’t glare at the tiny camera lens to her left. Her stomach turned. She ignored it and pulled into her numbered spot. Another little camera lens watched as she got out of her car and headed toward the utilitarian steel door set in the cement wall. On the guest level, the cement walls were painted a homey beige, and the fire doors were paneled with wood. But the employee floor had all the appeal of a prison. Appropriate.

She took the stairs up one level and headed for the basement offices of the security department.

Dawn’s office was two floors up, with a lovely view and high ceilings, but Charlie wasn’t the least bit surprised to see Dawn sitting on one of the metal chairs outside Charlie’s door.

Dawn leaned back in her chair with a smile. “This is quite the walk of shame, Charlotte.”

“What are you talking about?” Charlie asked with a sigh. She unlocked her door, aware that she was an idiot to bother with locking it in the first place. Dawn had keys to everything, after all, and she used them.

“You haven’t been in your apartment since yesterday. Already out making new friends, I guess.”

Charlie hid her grimace of frustration before rounding her small desk. “What I do when I’m off the clock is none of your business.”

“As long as you’re not sleeping with other employees of the resort, you mean. Or anyone in management.” Her tone was always sweet, always helpful, which only made her words so much creepier.

“I’m not.”

“With your history, we can never be too careful, can we?”

Charlie squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, just so she wouldn’t have to look at that cute cherubic face. “I already explained about the facilities manager. Twice. And your husband—”

“Oh, I’m not worried about my husband, Charlotte. He likes nice girls. Like me. He wouldn’t risk everything he’s built just for a few moments of sordid...What’s the word I’m looking for?”

“Pleasure?” Charlie muttered, thinking Dawn must be a real treat in bed, with her stiff neck and her inability to even say something dirty, much less do it.

“No,” she snapped. “Depravity. Or plain old sluttiness.”

“You should try it sometime. You might like it.”

Her face wasn’t looking so cherubic anymore. Her perfectly rouged cheeks went red. “I pushed for you for this job in spite of your reputation. Nobody else wanted you. You should remember that.”

As if she could forget. As if she’d still be sitting here for any other reason. “Why?” she asked.

“Because if you don’t remind yourself of that, you’re going to—”

“No, I mean, why did you want to hire me?”

Dawn drew in a breath and smoothed down her blond bob. Her smile reappeared. “Because we’re friends. And I’m not the kind of person who’d turn her back on a friend in need.”

She was insane. That was the only explanation for it. Dawn had lost her mind sometime after high school. Sure, she might have been a little uptight and judgmental, but she’d been normal. But this? This wasn’t normal.

“Nobody else would’ve hired you, Charlotte.”

“Yes, so you’ve reminded me.” It was true. She’d sent out dozens of résumés. With her education and experience, she should’ve been an automatic interview. She hadn’t received one phone call. Until Dawn.

“And nobody will ever hire you again if you leave here under bad circumstances.”

She knew that, too. She had to stick this out. Just for a little while. Just until the memory of what had happened in Tahoe began to fade from sight. If she could work here for a year or two, she could send out some quiet feelers. Maybe somewhere farther east.

“You need to make this work, Charlotte. And I’m happy to help you, but I expect a little more cooperation on your part. You’re being nasty today. I’m not sure what’s gotten into you....” She swept a hand down to indicate the sexy black pencil skirt Charlie had dared to wear. “But you need to watch your attitude.”

Charlie took a deep breath. She did need to watch it. Dawn was her boss whether Charlie liked it or not.

“And stop fraternizing with male management.”

“That drink with your husband was just a drink. He was reviewing the restaurant menu, and—”

“Of course it was just a drink,” Dawn snapped.

Charlie wanted to scream with frustration. She was at a complete loss here. What could she do but scream? She breathed deeply, trying to let the feeling go. Finally she opened the laptop on her desk. “I need to get to work.”

“You do. Is everything going to be ready?”

Charlie nodded. The resort’s grand opening was in three weeks. Charlie had been so determined to make a good impression that she was ahead of schedule, but she wouldn’t slack off now. For one thing, staying busy kept her mind off her desire to drop everything and race out the front doors.

“All right, I’ll be back to check on you later.”

“I know,” Charlie said under her breath. Dawn checked on her several times a day. And probably had several times a night, too, before Charlie had moved out of the resort apartment.

“I’ll leave your door open,” Dawn said breezily as she walked out on her five-hundred-dollar heels. Charlie couldn’t help being jealous of the gorgeous shoes. She was going to don heels as soon as she got home.

Her hangover was starting to fade, at least. Probably the rush of adrenaline from wanting to strangle Dawn. She grabbed herself a cup of coffee, poured in tons of cream and sugar and sat down with her simplest task: background checks of every employee that would be hired before opening day. She’d tweaked nearly every camera in the resort, though a few were still waiting to be installed, and there wasn’t much monitoring to be done at this point. But the background checks were piling higher every day.

The last thing any hotel manager needed was a maintenance man or bellboy with a history of theft or sexual assault. A high-end place like this was hypervigilant about reputation. Charlie was more concerned with actual safety, but luckily, those two concerns coincided.

She’d insisted on installing more cameras in the employee areas than had originally been planned. That had been commonplace at gambling resorts where management considered employee theft an important target, but Charlie had found that just as often those tapes could be used to weed out gross managers who harassed their female employees. There were few things more satisfying than showing incriminating video to some asshole who thought he could act with impunity because his employees were women who barely spoke English. The back rooms of hotels were called the heart of the place, and she liked to do her part to stick to the spirit of that term.

But for now, with the employee halls mostly empty, it was time for the mind-numbing task of background checks.

An hour later, her mind was sufficiently numbed. Her headache had vanished and the three cups of coffee had cleared the haze. Charlie set aside the two applicants whose checks had set off alarm bells. She’d press a little harder on those after lunch, but first she had a more personal investigation to pursue.

The surveillance room was a vivid cave of darkened lights and bright video feeds that would have devastated her sore head an hour before, but she was ready for it now. Eli, one of the security guards, was stationed in the room but he was working a crossword puzzle. If the resort were up and running, Charlie would’ve read him the riot act, but right now he was a bit superfluous.

“Hey, Eli. Why don’t you get out of here? Make the rounds of all the current construction areas just so they know you’re around.”

“Got it,” he said, giving her a quick nod of deference. Sometimes security guys could get shitty and macho about working for a young woman, but she’d managed to assemble a good team so far. She didn’t know how long that would last, though. Dawn’s disrespect would start filtering down. Charlie had to figure out what was going on with that woman and stop it before it spread.