The Fortunes of Texas: Cowboy Country

Instead, he continued. “The gods took pity, and they immortalized him and his dogs up in the sky as constellations.”

He outlined the stars with his finger.

“They put all of the animals he hunted up there near him—like the rabbit and the bull. But they put the scorpion all the way on the opposite side of the sky so Orion would never be hurt again.”

“What about Merope? What happened to her?”

“She’s still there. She’s a star that rides the shoulders of the bull. So he can always see her.”

“You have a romantic heart,” she said.

“Funny, others have claimed I don’t have a heart.”

“Well, they were mistaken, my romantic astronomy nerd.”

She rested her head on his shoulder. Her hair smelled so good he breathed in trying to identify the fragrance...it was something floral...and sweet. The combination was intoxicating. He thought he could live happily here. Just the two of them sitting close, sipping champagne under the inky starlit sky.

He slid his arm around her shoulder, ran his hand down the length of her arm. She tilted her head up and leaned in closer, tempting him. His lips found hers, and this time the kiss wasn’t quite so gentle. She responded, her body pressing against his. The way they fit together might have brought to mind tired clichés like puzzle pieces or bugs in a rug, but he was too caught up in her to give it much thought.

All he could focus on was the feel of her...the taste of her...the all-consuming thought of what it would be like to make love to her...their bodies even closer than they were right now. Him buried deep inside her. Them moving to their own private rhythm.

He heard a sound—a low, guttural rumble—and realized he was the one making the noise. As if the force was driving him, he deepened the kiss. He couldn’t get enough of her. She tasted like the champagne they’d shared. But there was something else...something uniquely her. And it was threatening to drive him crazy.

His hands slid from her hair down her shoulders, and he closed his arms around her, pulling her closer. He memorized the feel of her as he lowered her back, onto the ground.

“Are you okay?” he asked in a brief moment of clarity. He would never force her to do anything that made her uncomfortable. “Is this...okay?”

“I’ve never been better.” She smiled up at him. “I have a feeling I’m going to be even better very soon. So please don’t stop now.”

He held her gaze for a moment, until little pinpricks of longing injected him with a need so powerful it had him seeing stars. When he reclaimed her lips, it lifted him off the ground and into the heavens of lusty bliss. When was the last time he’d wanted a woman so badly that it bordered on greed?

On need...

He unbuttoned her coat and slipped his hands inside, savoring every inch of her—her tiny waist, her sexy hips. That red dress was all that stood between him and that glorious body. He slid his hands back up her torso, around her rib cage and paused underneath her breasts, giving her one more chance to slow things down, if she wanted.

God, he hoped she wouldn’t.

When she deepened the kiss and pulled him closer, stretching one long leg out, crossing it over his, he knew she wasn’t going anywhere without him tonight.

That’s when what little control he had left shattered.

He eased her down onto his jacket, taking care that his touch wasn’t as rough and desperate as he felt. When he covered her with his body, the only thing he was aware of was how her lips and tongue were doing amazing things to his mouth. When his hand slipped under the neckline of her dress and his fingers found their way to her breast beneath her bra, she moaned, a muffled sound under his lips.

“You okay?” he said, resting his forehead on hers. “If you want, we can stop.”

* * *

She appreciated his concern. He was a gentleman, but she didn’t want to talk.

She didn’t want to stop, and she didn’t want to talk about it.

Because if they started talking, she might try to explain herself.

She was so tired of explaining herself.

It was her body. Her choice to have him... Just because she chose to make love to a virtual stranger, it didn’t make her any less of a human being. Men did it all the time...had one-night stands...even when they were engaged...with the church booked and the catering ordered...the white dress hanging in the bride-to-be’s closet and the wedding two weeks away.

But she wasn’t going to think about men like that tonight. She was going to prove to herself exactly how liberated she was. She was going to take back her power by enjoying this fine, hot guy. Her wedding favor. Actually, he was more like a gift...but not a wedding gift. She’d sent all those back after she’d thrown the ring in Eric’s face.

She needed to stop thinking about Eric. He’d already ruined her life once.

There was no room for him—especially not tonight.

To drown out the incessant chatter in her head, Caitlyn deepened their kiss. Brodie groaned and nudged her thighs apart with his knee, nesting his lower body into hers. When she felt his arousal, thick and hard against her, she grabbed his backside and pulled him even closer, just to make sure there was no doubt about exactly how okay she was with their closeness.

His murmured answer was muddled and unintelligible against her lips; he seemed to understand. His intention was clear in the way he smoothed his hand up her bare leg. When his fingers reached her upper thigh and he deftly eased her out of her panties, his actions told her everything she needed to know.

When they were naked and ready, she held on tight as he unleashed himself up on her body.

Later, when they lay spent and sated in each other’s arms, she wasn’t sure if hours or days had passed. It was as if they’d been lifted out of space and time into a world where only the two of them existed.

But no... It couldn’t have been days because it was still dark outside, and she had to go home before the sun came up. She was staying with her parents while she was here. They’d send out the National Guard if she didn’t come home. She snuggled into the warmth of him for one more luxurious moment, breathing in the scent of him...of them...before she gently wriggled out from under his protective arm.

He stirred. “Where are you going?”

“I have to go home.”

“Chicago? Tonight? Don’t do that. Stay with me. Some of the best meteors happen just before dawn.”

It was already late, but she could see her mother’s face if she came in doing the walk of shame, with the sun on her back. Caitlyn may have been twenty-nine years old and living on her own since she’d gone off to college, but when she came home to visit the folks, she was twelve years old again.

“No, I’m sorry. I really do have to go.”

As she straightened her clothes and smoothed her hair into place, she watched Brodie lying there, propped up on one elbow, watching her. He really was a beautiful man. That face...and that body. Oh, what he could do with that body. It was one of the best experiences she’d ever had. Not that she’d had that many. She’d certainly never done this before. Brodie the Brit had been nothing short of amazing. It was a shame that she’d never see him again. What had started out to be an evening of obligation had turned into a night she would never forget.

Never forget and definitely not regret.

“Will you walk me to my car?” she asked.

“Of course.” Once he’d righted himself and brushed off the dirt from his jacket, they were walking arm in arm back to the parking lot.

“I’m sorry about your coat,” she said.

“Don’t give it a second thought. In fact, I might just have it framed and hang it on my wall to remember tonight.”

The temperature had dropped a good ten degrees, and by the time they made it back around to the lot, most of the cars were gone. The courtesy golf carts and their drivers were nowhere to be found. It was that late.

As she fumbled in her purse for her keys, she checked her phone for the time.

Three forty-five in the morning.

Irrational panic ceased her. She should’ve been home hours ago.

She didn’t want to ruin everything with awkward goodbyes, but she had to get out of there.

“Brodie the Brit,” she said. They were standing maybe five inches apart. “This has been such a wonderful evening. Look, if you’re ever in Chicago...”

She realized how that sounded, a shot of needy with a chaser of desperate.

“Goodbye, Brodie.”

She kissed him one last time before she drove off.

When she did, she forced herself to not watch his fading image in her rearview mirror. Or to think about how tonight was not only her first one-night stand, it was also probably the best sex she’d ever had in her life.

The faster she drove, the louder doubt rattled behind her like a string of tin cans tied to a wedding car.

She was never going to see him again. She didn’t even know his last name.

It was best that way.

Wasn’t it?

Chapter Two

May

Couldn’t anything be simple? Caitlyn Moore silently lamented.

Just once?

Apparently not, she affirmed as she listened to Jason Hallowell, head electrical engineer for Moore Entertainment, drone on about the problem.

“If Clark Ball leaves early, we will not get the work done in time to pass the electrical inspection. I’m sure I don’t need to remind you, ma’am, that this will be the second time we’ve failed it.”

No. He didn’t need to remind her. The reality was an albatross, constantly following her. They were racing against the clock, and if they failed the inspection again, it would probably mean that they’d have to delay the Memorial Day soft opening of Moore Entertainment’s newest theme park, Cowboy Country USA.

Caitlyn would rather eat dirt than delay the opening. She had to prove to her father that she was capable. She could pull this off despite his doubts and worries.

Even more important than proving herself, this was the one thing she could do to help her father get well. He’d suffered a massive heart attack earlier in the week, and he was under strict doctors’ orders to avoid stress so that his body could heal. Caitlyn had dropped everything and flown into Lubbock from Chicago the moment she’d gotten word that he was ill. But she soon realized that sitting at his bedside wringing her hands wasn’t helping anyone. That’s when she decided the proactive approach would be to take a hold of the reins at Cowboy Country and make sure that the park opened as planned.

When her father heard of the plan, he’d balked and blustered—even through the tubes and the admonitions of nurses who sedated him when he wouldn’t calm down. So Caitlyn did what any loving daughter would do. She told her dad that she loved him, but she wasn’t coming back to see him until he promised that he could remain calm.

“Dad, I’m your best chance for making this project successful,” she’d said.

“Well, that’s not very good news,” he’d said. “You’re a beautiful girl, and I’m sure you’re good at all that animal research you do, but Caitlyn, this is the real world.”

“Dad, I’m not a girl. I’m twenty-nine years old, and I’m more than capable of handling this. I mean, everything is in place. The park is practically ready to open its doors. I can do this. You have to trust me.”

By that time the sedative was kicking in. Through heavy eyes that were threatening to close, he said, “We’ll see. Make sure you keep the appointment with Hayes Consulting. They can help you. They’re expensive and hard to land an appointment with. So whatever you do, keep that appointment. Janie will tell you when it is. And listen to this Hayes guy, Caitlyn. He knows what he’s talking about.”

With that, he drifted off to sleep. Her mother had smiled at her through watery eyes. Validation that she was doing the right thing, the only thing in her power that would allow her to take some of the pressure off her father so that he could focus on healing.

Little did she know what she was actually getting herself into. To the uninformed eye, the park may have looked like it was ready to open, but the reality was, things were a mess. As of now they hadn’t passed the necessary inspections and they didn’t have the permits needed to open their doors. If they didn’t make the grade on this latest inspection, there was no way they’d open on time.

It was little things like this episode with Clark Ball that kept threatening to set them back.

“Jason, I’m sorry. I told Clark he could leave early today. I ran into him yesterday when I was making my rounds and he asked. I believe his wife is having medical issues. He said he needed to be there for her.”

“Ms. Moore, ma’am, I’m very sorry if his wife is sick. Truly I am. But he’s been cutting out early at least once a week for the past three months. Besides, he may have asked you yesterday, but he asked me on Monday, and I told him he could not leave early today. He knows it’s all hands on deck this week if we are going to get the work done.”

“Are you sure there’s no other way?” she asked, immediately regretting the question.

Heavy silence hung on the other end of the line. “I wouldn’t be making this call if there was another way. I don’t have time for this. None of us do if we’re going to meet these deadlines. However, I have to say I’m disappointed that you seem to be missing the point that by asking you after I told him no, Clark has deliberately defied my authority. That’s insubordination.”

“I understand that, Jason, and no, it’s not right. I will speak to Clark. We will come to some kind of understanding. I’m sure he will be reasonable once he understands the situation.”

Again, her words were met with silence before Jason murmured a stiff, “Thank you, ma’am.”

Somehow, Jason always seemed a little disappointed when he talked to her. She could offer him a fifty percent raise, and she was certain he’d greet the news with the same stony stoicism followed by and unemotional, thank you, ma’am.

He wasn’t the only one. The crew leaders did their jobs well, but they all had a way of making Caitlyn feel as if they were simply tolerating her, as if they could see right through her bravado. Maybe she needed to give them more credit, because she wasn’t at all sure that Clark Ball would be reasonable and eager to work things out. Jason had been too polite to call her bluff.

She squared her shoulders. She was the boss. Her number one objective was to make sure Cowboy Country passed all necessary inspections so they could open the park as scheduled on Memorial Day.

“Where can I find Clark right now?” she asked.

“He’s supposed to be working on the wiring over at the Twin Rattlers Roller Coaster. I don’t mean to tell you what to do, ma’am. But if you plan on talking to him, I wouldn’t wait much longer because he says he’s leaving at noon.”

“Thanks, Jason. I’ll head over there now. I’ll let you know once I’ve talked to him.”

“Thank you, ma’am. I’d appreciate it.”

She hung up the phone and sat back in her chair for a moment. She hated being the bad guy. She really did. That’s why she preferred working in the lab, doing research and development for Moore Entertainment. She was a zoologist by training, and she’d been perfectly prepared for the low entry-level salary that came with most R&D positions, but her father had hired her just out of college. Despite his reputation for being a hard-nosed, take-no-prisoners kind of businessman, he’d brought her on board. His version of the story was that he fully intended to make her fall in love with the family business. Despite her zoology degree, he intended to put her through the Alden Moore school of business, which included several years of courses like Hard Knocks and Trial by Fire.

Her father was doggedly determined that she would fall in love with the business and someday take over.

What her dear old dad didn’t understand was that the research and study of animals wasn’t just a passing fancy. She wanted to make it her life’s work. When she graduated, she’d been hard-pressed to find a job. So when Alden offered her the job as vice president of research and development for Moore Entertainment along with a healthy salary and benefits, she’d been tempted, sure, but it was the bonus that had sealed the deal: he offered her the chance to make her dream come true. If she stayed on and helped make Cowboy Country USA a success, then there was a chance they could develop a second phase of the park, a zoo park featuring animals indigenous to Northwest Texas.

But then her father had gotten sick, and all thoughts of zoo parks and resentment for his herding her into the family business gave way to what was really important: her dad’s health.

When he’d suffered a nearly fatal heart attack, she’d stepped in to make sure her father’s dream didn’t founder while he was fighting for his life. She’d felt so helpless when she saw him lying there in that hospital bed hooked up to all those machines. This man, who’d always been larger than life and twice as fierce, was facing a challenge that might best him. Rather than sit by his bedside wringing her hands, she vowed to step up and see Cowboy Country through the way he’d want so he could focus all his energy on getting better.

Well, in a perfect world that’s what he would do, but the other side of the coin was that he had little choice but to have faith that she could pull it off. Relinquishing control would be difficult. Believing that Caitlyn was capable to lead the park through a successful opening was another matter altogether.

This was her chance to prove her worth to her father, and she intended to succeed.

She knew the longer she put off talking to Clark, the more difficult it would be. She gathered herself mentally, sat forward in her desk chair and buzzed her assistant, who was really her father’s assistant. “Janie, I’m going into the park to take care of something.”

“Ms. Moore, before you head out, I wanted to let you know that Mr. Hayes of Hayes Consulting is here to see you.”

Oh, that’s right...Hayes Consulting.

Caitlyn glanced at her watch. He was twenty minutes early. She decided to go out and greet him and then ask Janie to show him around while she put out the most recent fire. She’d only be gone thirty minutes, tops. Then she’d come back and get Mr. Hayes whatever he needed to get started with whatever it was he did to work his magic.

If she had a dime for every time her father had reinforced how important working with Hayes Consulting was to Cowboy Country, she could retire a wealthy woman. Apparently, the firm was very good at fixing the images of businesses that had managed to do something to sully their reputation. Or, as in Cowboy Country’s case, had simply gotten off to a bad start in the community.

Her father had a lot of faith that this Hayes guy could fix things. He’d underscored how expensive and difficult it was to book time with this outfit. Keeping this meeting had been one of the few mandates her father had given her.

“Please tell Mr. Hayes I’ll be right out.”

She stood and slid on her navy jacket because it was one of the few pieces of business attire that she owned that made her feel professional and pulled together. Fake it until you make it, she told herself and strode out into the reception area. All the blood drained from her head when she saw Brodie the Brit—that guy from the quadruple Fortune wedding—standing in the middle of the room.

“What in the world are you doing here?” She immediately regretted her tone and the words. Good grief. Way to finesse it, Caitlyn. Or Cait. He’d only known her as Cait. And he’d never called. So how on earth did he find her here, two and a half months later?

For a moment, he looked as surprised to see her as she felt, but then his handsome features hardened into a mask so different from the way he’d looked that night. His eyes were cold and guarded. Wait a minute, neither one of them should be cold and guarded because they were adults and they both had known what they were getting themselves into.

“Hello, Cait,” he said, offering her a hand to shake. A hand. What was it they’d said that night at the wedding? That they were way past shaking hands. And that was before they’d left the reception.

She looked at his outstretched hand but didn’t shake it. She was tempted to tell him to put that thing away, but she should’ve thought of that two and a half months ago. Now she had more important things to worry about—like an employee who was about to cost them the inspection they desperately needed to open and a costly consultant who was... Speaking of... Where was he? She glanced around the waiting room. Restroom, perhaps?

His absence was a stroke of luck. She’d have time to get rid of Brodie before the situation became sticky.

“Walk with me,” she said to him.

“I’d love to. However, I have an appointment.”

“What a coincidence. So do I. Could you please tell me why you’re here?”

He narrowed his gaze at her. “Do you work here?”

She quirked a brow at him. “You might say that. I’m not usually in this office, but my father is ill, and I’m filling in for him. Who is your appointment with?”

She watched the color drain from Brodie’s formerly tanned face. “You wouldn’t happen to be Cait Moore? Er...Caitlyn Moore?”

“The one and only.”

“Fancy that. I’m Brodie Hayes, Hayes Consulting.”

Caitlyn opened her mouth to say something and then closed it, because what was there to say? Nothing. Or at least nothing they could say out loud or discuss out here in the open, with Janie’s eyes on them, mentally recording everything they said and did.

“Can we please go into your office?” Brodie asked.

“Not right now. I have a situation I need to take care of. You can wait for me in there, though. Make yourself comfortable, and I’ll be right back. Janie, please show Mr. Hayes into my office.”

“A situation?” Brodie asked.

Caitlyn glanced at her watch. She needed to hurry; she didn’t want to end up chasing Clark Ball down in the parking lot. “Yes, a situation. So you’ll have to excuse me.”

Brodie’s large body blocked her path, and when she looked up at him to send the you need to move message, she remembered how that body felt moving on top of her that night nearly three months ago. Heat started in her cleavage, which was modestly covered up today—as it should’ve been that night—and crept up her neck, spreading to her cheeks.

He crossed his arms. The body language was so defensive that she couldn’t help but glance up at his face, which was stone cold and lacking any hint that he might be glad to see her.

She groaned inwardly, silently admonishing herself.

Of course he wasn’t glad to see her. This wasn’t a date. This was...awkward.

For God’s sake, how was it that the one and only one-night stand she’d ever had in her life would turn up again—not because he’d been so smitten that he’d tracked her down. Oh, she could’ve handled that. But this...having him show up right now, right here. In the last place in the entire world she wanted to be reminded of her indiscretion.

“If there’s a problem, I should come with you.” His voice was all business. “You can brief me on the way.”

She bristled, but before she demanded for a second time that he go into her office and wait for her, she remembered he father saying Hayes Consulting was expensive and in demand. Even if he had arrived early, she had him for one afternoon, and she intended to get Moore Entertainment’s money’s worth.

“Okay, Brodie Hayes, if you’re willing to hit the ground running. Prepare to show me what you’ve got.”

He smirked.

Oh, God. He could take that a couple of different ways. She imagined him thinking, honey, you’ve already seen everything I’ve got. But that was inappropriate, and she wasn’t about to let him know his appearance here today was fazing her in the least.