The Fortunes of Texas: Cowboy Country

She turned to Janie. “Mr. Hayes and I are going out into the park. I have my cell phone if you need to get in touch with me.”

Caitlyn kept walking toward the door without looking back to make sure Brodie was following her. He could keep up on his own. Plus, there was the problem that every time she looked at him, all she could think of was how he’d made love to her so thoroughly that night. There went the heat bomb, exploding in her lower parts and raising the temperature in her entire body.

Damn him.

Damn her for not having more self-control.

He was walking beside her now. She would not say another word about that night. Not on company time.

“Since I only have you for an afternoon, I’ll start bringing you up to speed with all that’s happening.”

She dared a glance at him, if for no other reason than to prove that she was a professional...and immune to those broad shoulders.

Stop it.

Stop thinking about shoulders.

He was looking at her as if she had two heads. It knocked any wayward thoughts of broad shoulders and meteor showers right out of her head.

“What do you mean you only have me for an afternoon? Alden Moore booked me for the entire month of May.”

* * *

Bloody hell.

How could he have been so stupid to not realize what he was walking into?

Brodie prided himself on never being surprised. How had he not known his client—the client he’d worked so hard to land—the client whose business could make or break the Tokyo deal—had a daughter.

He would’ve never slept with her if he’d known Cait from Chicago was even remotely related to Alden Moore, much less his daughter.

Way to get off to a rocking start.

He needed to get a hold of this situation and fast, before it blew up in his face.

He drew in a deep breath to steady himself. How was he to know Cait from the wedding was Caitlyn Moore?

They hadn’t exchanged last names. In the moment, it had seemed sexy and edgy. One night of bliss with no strings attached. Or so they’d agreed.

A few days ago, after he’d learned that Alden Moore had fallen ill and his daughter would be standing in, he’d done a cursory internet search of Caitlyn Moore, and all he’d turned up was a very private Facebook page with a profile picture of a very large dog—or maybe it was a pony?—and a dated photo with Alden Moore and a little girl who looked to be five or six. The photo looked like it was taken in the early 1990s. Nothing that would’ve cued him in to the fact that Cait from Chicago was not only Alden Moore’s daughter, but also the executive in charge at Cowboy Country.

Still, what was done was done. His only choice now was to regroup and move past this unexpected turn of events. After all, that was how he made his living, helping people spin bad into good.

“We seem to have a miscommunication here,” he said to Caitlyn as they left the office. “Your father had contracted me to work with Moore Entertainment until Cowboy Country opens successfully.”

She was speed walking slightly ahead of him.

“Wonderful,” she said. “Just wonderful.”

“Hey, will you please stop for a moment and talk to me?”

She stopped walking so fast, he nearly ran into her. When she turned, she looked him square in the eyes. It was almost as if she were looking through him.

“Look, I need to be on the other side of the park in about five minutes to deal with a personnel issue. I don’t have time to talk about what happened between us. Frankly, this isn’t the time or the place. If you’re going to be here for a month, I say we just move on and forget the Fortune wedding. Okay?”

The last thing he wanted to do was talk about them.

“That’s perfectly fine with me,” he said. “I give you my word of honor that I won’t speak of it. Actually, what I had in mind was your briefing me on this urgent personnel issue so that I understand the situation before we arrive.”

“Of course.” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

As they resumed walking, past various pavilions, cowboy-themed gift shops and refreshment stands, she filled him in on Clark Ball, the employee in question.

“He deliberately defied his supervisor when he asked you for the time off,” Brodie said, wanting to make sure that he understood the situation correctly.

“That’s right.”

“Since he’s made a habit of leaving work early, has he been formally counseled about the unacceptable behavior?”

“Yes, his supervisor told me he wrote him up last week. In fact, there he is.” Caitlyn nodded toward a tall, thin guy who looked to be in his early twenties. He had his keys in his hand and his cell phone pressed against his ear.

“I’ll handle this, okay?”

He nodded, hanging back to watch her take care of the situation. As he watched her walk over to Ball, he couldn’t help but notice the way her sensible navy blue suit hugged her in all the right places. Just like the red dress that she’d worn to the wedding. Of course, her business suit was much more conservative, but still no less tempting. He pressed his lips together, as if doing that might extinguish the attraction simmering inside him. It was the same magnetic pull that had drawn him to her the night of the wedding. The same force that had drawn him away from the twin blondes he’d been talking to before he’d glimpsed her across the room and excused himself to meet her.

Of course, everything was different now. For the next month she would be his boss, for all intents and purposes. He’d advise her on how to pull the park together in every department from staffing and personnel issues to community relations.

He watched as she stood in front of Ball, who was still talking on the phone. When Caitlyn gestured that she needed to talk to Ball, the guy turned his back on her. Something that might’ve qualified as primal stirred inside him. That was no way to treat a lady. It was definitely no way to treat his superior. But Brodie swallowed the urge to step in and tell the guy to get off his phone and show her some respect.

Caitlyn was being entirely too nice. He made a mental note that they’d need to talk about that. She was probably good at her job; otherwise, Alden Moore wouldn’t have put her in charge while he was out. Despite the way she’d laid down the law with him a few moments ago, observing her now, he got a very strong sense that Caitlyn didn’t like being the bad guy—and that her employees knew it, too.

Finally, Caitlyn tapped Ball on the shoulder. He looked a little annoyed, but he put his hand over his phone and said, “Listen, I can’t talk to you now. I need to run. Remember, you told me I could leave. I’ll stop into the office tomorrow and chat. How’s that?”

“No, Clark, it’s not all right. I said you could leave if you had your supervisor’s permission.”

Clark gave an oh-well shrug. “I have to pick up my brother over in Lubbock in twenty minutes. I’ll be lucky to get there in half an hour. I still have to clock out and get to my car.”

“You haven’t clocked out and you’re on a personal call?” she asked.

“Yeah, so I’ll come in five minutes early tomorrow.” The guy rolled his eyes as he bent to place something in his toolbox.

“Clark, when you asked for the time off, you said you needed to take your wife to an appointment. Now you’re taking your brother somewhere.”

This time he ignored her as he turned to walk away.

“You don’t have my permission to leave,” Caitlyn called out after him.

“Sorry,” he called back, not even turning around. “I’ll make up the time. We’ll talk about it tomorrow.”

Brodie had let her have a go at it; clearly it was time to step in and help her.

“Mr. Ball,” he said. “I think what Ms. Moore is trying to say is if you leave, don’t come back. Because you will no longer have a job here.”

Chapter Three

“How dare you put words in my mouth?” Caitlyn said through gritted teeth once they were out of earshot of Clark and others who might overhear.

“I’m sorry you took it that way,” Brodie said. But he didn’t look one bit sorry. “Obviously, your softer approach wasn’t getting through to him.”

“Excuse me? What exactly do you mean by softer approach?” The sun was high in the sky, and she felt heat prickle the back of her neck. “Just because I didn’t steamroll right over him doesn’t mean I wasn’t effectively handling the situation. You butted in.”

“The guy was walking out the door, and you were letting him.”

“I was handling it.” She purposely lowered her voice. “Look, we are not going to talk about this here. Meet me in my office.”

She turned and walked away without him, but he managed to catch up with her. They walked in stony silence as they made their way down Cowboy Country’s Main Street, past the Foaming Barrel Root Beer Stand and Gus’s General Store, to the rough-hewn wooden gate that separated the nineteenth-century cowboy town from the stark, modern Moore Entertainment executive offices.

Of course, after Brodie’s sudden-death ultimatum, Clark had sullenly taken himself back to the job site. Brodie should’ve stayed out of it and let her do her job, rather than jumping in with both feet and a sledgehammer. She hadn’t even had a chance to brief him on...anything. He didn’t know what was going on or that she was completely capable of turning that situation around. She would’ve helped Clark see the light. He would’ve done the right thing in the end. She had faith in him

Apparently, Hayes Consulting was good enough to inspire her father to contract them for a month...an entire month. However, the Brodie Hayes of Hayes Consulting was not Brodie the Brit.

Was this man really the same guy who’d swept her off her feet? Because aside from his good looks and that maddeningly delicious British accent, the guy who’d presented himself today didn’t resemble Brodie the Brit at all.

This guy...

Ugggh...

This guy was cocky and smug, not at all like anyone she’d allow to seduce her. She would never hire this guy, much less spend the better part of the night in a field, watching meteor showers and letting him put his hands all over her body...and putting her hands all over his.

The memory made her shudder...and, much to her dismay, not in a bad way. She needed to stop that right now.

She didn’t slant him a glance.

From a purely objective, woman’s point of view, Brodie Hayes was a handsome man, there was no debating that. But why did he have to be so disagreeable? He certainly seemed to take pleasure in pushing her buttons. Caitlyn knew his type: all flash and no substance.

A womanizer, no doubt.

But she couldn’t blame him for the Valentine’s Day love and dash. That was on her as much as it was on him.

* * *

Quickening her step as she approached the office, she reached out and opened the door herself, holding it for Brodie and gesturing for him to step inside first. She was no expert at office posturing and body language, but holding the door for him felt like she was putting herself back in the position of power.

Exactly where she needed to be now that everything had changed so drastically.

“Hello, Janie, we’re back,” she said. “Please hold calls. Oh, unless it’s about my father. We’re awaiting word on the latest round of tests.”

Of course, her mother would probably call Caitlyn’s cell with any updates, but she just wanted to be clear...just in case.

When Caitlyn turned around to head back into her office, Brodie was staring at her with that same impassive mask he’d donned the moment they’d figured out who was who and the mess they’d created thanks to that night.

Who was this icy stoic sitting across from her? If Brodie Hayes had acted like this, she would’ve left that wedding when she should’ve.

“Heavy-handed threats are no way to inspire people and build a team,” Caitlyn said. “Even if the team needs some refining, they are all Cowboy Country has right now. Electricians aren’t exactly standing around in herds. Bottom line is, that’s not how we operate here. Do you understand?”

He sat back in his chair, staring down at his hands, which were steepled at chest level. For a moment she thought he might apologize.

“It wasn’t an easy decision for your father to hire Hayes Consulting. Alden Moore is extremely good at what he does. He’s the amusement-park king. Hiring me for Cowboy Country was him admitting he may have been in a little over his head. Your dad is damn good at what he does, but this park is a departure from his wheelhouse. When your father hired me, one of the first things he asked me was, ‘Hayes, are you afraid to fire people?’ I assured him I wasn’t.”

“So what? You decided to walk in here and prove yourself first thing, even before I could bring you up to speed on how things work around here?”

“I didn’t need to be briefed to see what that guy was about,” Brodie said. “Your father has already given me my marching orders. Did he not brief you? I thought you were his second-in-command.”

No, she was not his second-in-command. That would’ve been Bob Page. Bob had left unexpectedly after suffering critical injuries in a horseback riding accident. This happened about a week before her father’s heart attack. Based on the catastrophes of Cowboy Country’s number one and number two honchos, if Caitlyn didn’t know better, she might’ve worried that this project was cursed.

She was too much of a realist for that, and she was dead set on proving to her dad that she could deliver.

“I actually work out of the research offices in Chicago.”

She paused to see if he’d make any Cait from Chicago cracks.

He didn’t.

She may or may not have been a little disappointed. Her rational side was relieved, but her traitorous heart, the place where she stored the snow globe memory of that night, still held out hope for some wayward spark to leap out, revealing the dashing romantic she’d met that night in February.

It didn’t.

“I transferred to Horseback Hollow to take the reins while my dad is recovering.”

“Yet, you don’t have a copy of the briefing your dad gave me.” He held up the papers.

He was so smug. She didn’t know what she wanted more: to smack that smirk off him or to walk up and kiss him to see if he could still turn her inside out.

“That’s easy to fix.”

Caitlyn pressed the intercom that connected her to her assistant.

“Janie, please come in here. I need you to make some copies for me.”

Five minutes later, the woman was standing in front of Caitlyn with the papers.

She scanned them quickly, reading on the first page that Alden had, in fact, instructed Brodie to “slice and dice,” as Alden had put it.

Slice and dice.

Get rid of anyone who didn’t do the job past expectations.

She looked up. “This is how my father works. However, since he’s not here, and I’m the Moore Entertainment executive in charge, you’re reporting to me now. And I’m telling you, we will be making some adjustments to this plan, because it doesn’t work for me. The first rule is, you don’t fire anyone until you talk to me. Do you understand me?”

“Every single employee on this team needs to be all in. One hundred percent. If not, we won’t meet our goal.”

“I agree,” Caitlyn said. “That also goes for the two of us working as a team and not against each other. Do you think we can do that?”

He was quiet for a moment. Their gazes were locked, but he seemed to be looking right through her.

“Of course,” he said. “What’s done is done. Let’s put everything behind us and move forward.”

For a moment she wasn’t sure if he was talking about the Clark Ball incident or their Fortune wedding after-party. She certainly wasn’t going to ask or let him think he could intimidate her with innuendo.

“Why don’t we go walk the park? It’s the best way for me to bring you up to speed. Then we can come back and figure out how we need to revise that plan, while making sure we open on time.”

* * *

Brodie considered himself a go-with-the-flow kind of guy. However, when it came to business, he had one hard, fast rule: do not sleep with the clients.

It complicated matters.

He was living the reality of that truth today, and it was throwing him off his game.

He’d been blissfully unaware the night he’d met Caitlyn and had given himself over to the lure of their attraction. How could he resist? How could he have known that their worlds would collide in the most jarring way? In the years since he’d been in business, he’d never found himself in a situation like this.

After dealing with other peoples’ complicated matters on the job all day, every day, he did his best to keep his personal life as unencumbered and hassle-free as possible. Of course, things didn’t always go smoothly. He’d faced the occasional sticky wicket of finding it necessary to extract himself from the casual fling that clung too tightly. And there were uncomfortable cases when he was out with a beauty only to run into the previous evening’s delight. But he prided himself on being up-front with the women in his life. Those who played by his rules stuck around for the fun of it. Those who fancied a different level of commitment usually ran out of patience and moved on.

He couldn’t blame them.

In his circles, everyone knew that Brodie Fortune Hayes wasn’t interested in getting serious. Work was his mistress, his lady love. He had no reserves or residual to give of himself.

As he stepped inside the Hollows Cantina, he had to ask himself if somehow he’d been able to glimpse the future and known that Cait from Chicago would be the person to whom he’d report at Moore Entertainment, would the night of the wedding—Valentine’s Day—have taken a decidedly different turn?

His head—the place he relied on, the one voice that he always knew wouldn’t steer him wrong—trumpeted a resounding yes. But another part of him, a place that was foreign and uncomfortable, begged to differ.

Well, then, that was easy. He was going with his head. It was the only sensible thing to do. Especially since the workday wasn’t over yet.

After he and Caitlyn had wrapped the disastrous day at Cowboy Country, they’d agreed to meet for dinner at The Hollows Cantina, where they would iron out the details of their united front plan.

When he took the job, he’d known good and well that Alden Moore would be difficult to please. The man had a formidable reputation. Little did he know that working with Moore’s daughter would prove to be even more challenging!

It went deeper than the fact that they’d seen each other naked. This woman was different from anyone he’d ever worked with. She was trying to manage a group of hostile employees with warm, fuzzy Kumbaya nonsense. She didn’t seem to realize that people were walking all over her. He was willing to bet that Clark Ball wouldn’t have pulled that bit of insubordinate baloney on her father. If Caitlyn Moore would simply get down from her high horse and listen to him tonight, he just might be able to help her save Cowboy Country.

First, Caitlyn had to run an errand. For that, Brodie was grateful. Her side trip took a bit of the pressure off, since that meant they were driving separately and meeting at the restaurant. Even though their dinner most definitely was not a date, taking separate cars gave them each a little breathing room to process what had transpired...er...on the job.

As far as he was concerned, he was putting their night under the stars behind him. In his head, Cait from Chicago was a different person from Caitlyn Moore, daughter of Alden Moore, the man who could make or break his chance to land the Japanese theme park account.

Brodie was used to flying solo, especially when it came to business. The companies that hired Hayes Consulting trusted him and tended to not interfere. Most had gotten themselves into messes of one kind or another, or their public profiles needed a boost. They hired him to pull them out of the bad and into a better standing in the community.

This job wasn’t difficult.

Even if one might label the circumstances he dealt with...complicated.

He was this close to landing the Japanese account, and that would secure Hayes Consulting’s position in the Asian market. Brodie liked to joke that the Japanese account would put him one continent closer to world domination.

It was a pretty serious joke.

When he walked into the restaurant, the hostess, a woman with long, dark hair greeted him with a bright smile.

“Good evening.” Her lilting voice was bright and solicitous. “Welcome to the Hollows Cantina. How many in your party?”

“There will be two of us.” He glanced at his watch. “I’m a little early. I’ll wait in the bar until my dinner partner arrives.”

“Have you dined with us before?” she asked.

“I have, but it’s been a while. Since February.”

“I thought you looked familiar.”

Her comment gave him pause, and that’s when he realized that she was looking up at him through long, dark lashes. She was an attractive woman, no doubt, but he wasn’t even tempted to flirt with her. Flirting was one of his favorite sports. But he had enough sense to know that Horseback Hollow and London were worlds apart. The last thing he needed was to get himself into another romantic conundrum.

“I’ll just—” He pointed toward the bar area to the left of the hostess stand and started to walk away.

“There’s about a twenty-minute wait for a table,” the woman said. “What’s your name? I’ll add it to my list.”

Really? How strange, he wasn’t even tempted.

Even stranger, he was relieved when Caitlyn chose that moment to enter the restaurant.

“There you are,” Brodie said, realizing a little too late that he’d infused way more enthusiasm into his voice than he would have liked.

“Hello.” Caitlyn cocked a brow. “Did you miss me?”

And that was another thing about her. She was cheeky. She had just enough sass to keep him from labeling her a total pushover. Probably because that sass was mostly directed at him.

The woman was a delightfully aggravating dichotomy. Just when he thought he had her figured out she pulled a U-turn and took off in the opposite direction.

“There’s a bit of a wait for a table,” Brodie said. “Why don’t we have a drink in the bar in the meantime?”

As they turned to go, the hostess said, “If you want a table, I need a name.” She tapped her list with her pen.

“Fortune Hayes,” he said. “Brodie Fortune Hayes.”

Caitlyn stopped. “What? You’re a Fortune?”

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