Cowboys & Angels

Something had clicked for him the moment he’d rounded that corner in the gift shop and laid eyes on her. She might think coincidence had made her drive past where he’d swerved off the road, but now that they’d met, he wouldn’t call it coincidence. He’d call it destiny.

After dinner, he and Watkins checked out the wedding ceremony venue, a large space with exposed beams and warm wood paneling. In daylight, when the ceremony would take place, the curtained windows would look out on pines and ski slopes. The candlelit reception in the evening was scheduled for the adjoining ballroom. Trey and Watkins would play then, too.

“It’ll be real nice,” Watkins said, looking around the room where the wedding would take place. “The acoustics should be decent, too. I’m glad they carpeted the floor.”

“Did you want to practice tonight?”

“Nah, let’s not.” Watkins smoothed his handlebar mustache. “There’s a country-and-western band playing in the bar, and Mary Lou wants to dance. She doesn’t get to do that whenever I’m playing, so this will be a treat for both of us. She’s probably already in the bar ready to boot scoot.”

“Before you go, I wanted to tell you something.”

Watkins, who was a good six inches shorter than Trey and at least fifty pounds heavier, glanced up at him. “What’s that, son?”

Trey liked that Watkins called him “son.” Trey’s folks were both gone, his mom from cancer and his dad in an oil rig accident. Although Trey had come to grips with not having living parents, he reveled in the family atmosphere of the Last Chance and appreciated how Watkins and Mary Lou had taken him under their wing.

“I’ve found her,” he said. “My angel. She works at the resort.”

“No kidding!”

“She’s one of the ski instructors, and her name is Elle Masterson.”

“Well, I’ll be.” Watkins stroked his mustache again. “What’s she like?”

“Perfect.”

“Hold on there, cowboy. No woman’s perfect. You know how I feel about Lou-Lou, but I’d be the first to admit she’s not perfect. Don’t go setting some lady on a pedestal. You’ll regret it.”

“You’re right.” Privately, Trey didn’t think so. “But Elle is darned close. And she likes me. I can tell she does.”

“Then why didn’t she identify herself when she hauled your ass to the hospital? Something’s not adding up here.”

“I know, and I mean to get to the bottom of that. But the main issue is her principles. She doesn’t believe resort employees should get involved with resort guests.”

Watkins nodded. “She must be a sensible woman, then. You can’t have that kind of thing in a fancy establishment like this. You need to respect her wishes on that.”

“I will. And I do. But don’t you think this is a special case? She saved my life. And she likes me. I hate to waste time on rules and regulations in this situation.”

Watkins smiled. “You’re talking about four days, right?”

“Well, yeah, but—”

“It’s not a long time, son. I know at your age it seems forever, but trust me, those four days will go by fast.”

“I suppose.” Once again, Trey didn’t agree with Watkins. After eight months of searching for his mystery woman, he’d finally found her, and she was wonderful. He was eager to explore the possibilities, and they’d both be staying under the same roof, so to speak. He couldn’t imagine how time spent that way would go by fast.

“You don’t believe me.” Watkins clapped a hand on his shoulder. “That’s okay. But don’t go back to your room and stare at the ceiling all night. Get your guitar and come down for a drink. I know these guys who are playing, and they’d probably let you sit in on a set or two. It’ll be good practice.”

“Sure, why not?” Given that his hands were tied when it came to Elle, he couldn’t think of a better way to spend the evening.

* * *

AFTER A QUICK supper in the employees’ dining room, Elle climbed the stairs to her room on the second floor of the staff’s quarters. A printout of the next day’s schedule had been left on her desk, and she picked it up. No big surprise, Trey had registered for her group lesson first thing in the morning.

She was one of three ski instructors employed by Serenity, but Annalise had been given the weekend off because these guests wouldn’t need advanced lessons. Elle and her colleague Jared could handle the Last Chance group, who were mostly all beginners.

Switching Trey to Jared’s group would make an issue out of the situation, so she’d leave the schedule as it was. But she had to smile when she noticed that Jared had all women except for a guy named Watkins, and she had all men.

Besides Trey, Elle would be working with Alex Keller, Nash Bledsoe, Jeb Branford and two of the Chance brothers, Gabe and Nick. Elle hadn’t met any of them, although she certainly recognized the names of the Chance boys. There was a third brother, Jack, but apparently he wasn’t into skiing lessons.

All the men except Alex Keller had checked the beginner box on the sign-up sheet. Alex had checked the box indicating he had some experience, which meant he might be willing to help the others. All in all, it should be a fun morning. She loved taking nonskiers and turning them into enthusiastic fans of the sport.

As she considered whether to hit the sack early to be ready for tomorrow’s activities, her cell phone chimed. For some reason, Amy, the bartender on duty tonight, was calling her. Elle picked up her phone. “Hey, Amy.”

“Unless you’re in your jammies already, you should get yourself down here.”

“I was almost in my jammies. What’s happening?”

“One of the guys from the Last Chance is performing with the band and he is hot. I know you’re a country fan. Come down and I’ll put you to work behind the bar so you’ll have an excuse to hang around.”

Elle had become enamored of country music in the past year, and hearing it live was always a treat. Besides, she didn’t feel tired enough to go to bed yet. “Thanks, I’ll be right there.” Disconnecting the phone, she ran a comb through her hair, reapplied her lipstick, popped a mint and grabbed her room key. She’d helped Amy behind the bar a few times before, and she liked the job.

On her way downstairs, she breathed in the scent of Christmas. Serenity went all-out this time of year, and she liked spending the holidays here. Each guest room door had its own fresh wreath, complete with a couple of cinnamon sticks tucked into a big red bow.

Staff members didn’t get wreaths, but they were all given small trees to decorate. Hers was sitting in a corner of her room, waiting for her to get busy with lights and ornaments. Until she did, she could enjoy the fifteen-foot blue spruce in the lobby, which sparkled with lights and elegant glass balls. Pine boughs, pinecones and festive ribbons decorated the check-in desk.

The bar opened off the lobby, so the music drifted toward her as she walked past the Christmas tree toward the heavy double doors inset with stained glass. Someone was singing in a husky baritone that tickled her nerve endings.

“Going in to hear our new star?” called Ralph from the front desk.

“Yeah, I’m told he’s pretty good. Amy is letting me help behind the bar.”

Ralph laughed. “Have fun. The women tell me he looks pretty good, too.”

“I’m just here for the music, Ralph.”

“That’s what they all say.”

As Elle grasped the brass handle and opened the door, she had a premonition about who this sexy country singer might be, but she discounted it. The universe wouldn’t be so generous as to give the bodacious Trey Wheeler a great singing voice, too.

Obviously the universe was exactly that generous. Sitting on a stool in front of the mike, strumming his guitar and crooning a solo love song, was the man she was determined to avoid, the man every woman in the room was fixated on. The rest of the band was silent, not that they would have been noticed if they had decided to play backup.

Trey’s face was shielded by the lowered brim of his hat, and he seemed completely absorbed in his music. He cradled the guitar in his lap. One booted foot rested on the floor and the other was propped on a rung of the stool. His supple fingers moved up and down the guitar’s polished neck in a sensuous dance as his voice flowed over her, intimate as a caress.

Lost in a daze of feminine appreciation, she stood motionless in the doorway. The atmosphere in the room was electric. Nobody laughed. No glasses clinked. Trey had them all in the palm of his hand.

Then he looked up, as if he’d sensed her come in, and he gazed straight into her eyes.

Her breath caught. He was no longer singing to some unidentified lover. He was singing to her. The passionate lyrics spilled from his lips with such longing that she took a step closer. His slow smile told her he’d noticed, and she halted, embarrassed by how he’d hypnotized her.

Mercifully, the song ended before Elle lost all sense of propriety. After the raucous applause died down, Trey stepped back and the band launched into a lively swing tune. Another guitarist moved up to the mike to belt out the lyrics, and Elle hurried over to the bar.

Amy, who wore her dark hair piled on top of her head, grinned at her. “Told you.”

“Yes, ma’am, you did.” Elle lifted the hinged part of the bar and scooted inside. “The thing is, I kind of know him already.”

“You do? Then you get dibs. But if you don’t want him, then— Oh, crap. I see orders coming in. We’ll talk later.”

The next twenty minutes were a flurry of drink orders and washing glasses. But at the first lull, Amy brought up the subject immediately. “So how do you know him? Please tell me he’s an old family friend and you think of him like a brother.”

“I wish.” Elle told her about last spring’s incident involving Trey, and their chance meeting in the gift shop today.

“My God, that means he wrote that song about you! He introduced it by saying he’d been rescued by an angel. That totally explains why he focused on you for the last part of the song.”

“He wrote it about me?” Elle’s cheeks warmed. “That’s sort of...”

“Romantic. It’s romantic, Elle. Seems like you hooked him good by going all mystery woman on him for eight months. I envy the hell out of you. He’s mighty fine.”

“I wasn’t trying to hook him.”

“You did, anyway. Don’t look now, but he’s coming over here and he looks determined.”

Elle turned, and sure enough, Trey was striding toward the bar carrying his guitar case. Her breath hitched. “Maybe he wants a drink.”

“I think he wants you, chica.”

Elle had to admit Amy was probably right. The heat in Trey’s eyes was unmistakable.

He set down his guitar case and leaned on the bar. “I didn’t know you’d be here, Elle.”

“Amy needed some help.”

Amy glanced away, but was unsuccessful at muffling a snort of laughter.

“Hmm.” He didn’t appear to be buying that. “I’m glad you did, especially because I happened to be singing your song.”

“I...I didn’t realize you were a musician.” Her resistance to this gorgeous man was fading fast. No one had ever written a song about her. She liked to think she wasn’t susceptible to such romantic gestures, but the butterflies in her stomach signaled otherwise.

“Could we go somewhere and talk?”

“You’re not going to play anymore?”

He shook his head. “That’s enough for tonight.”

“Amy might need me to stay.”

“Nope,” Amy said. “Thanks for the help, but I can handle it.”

Elle took a deep breath. “Okay, then. We can go out in the lobby. There are some comfy chairs in front of the fire.”

He seemed about to comment on that suggestion, but then he didn’t. “All right. Lead the way.” But the minute they were out the door, he put a hand on her arm. “I’d rather go somewhere more private than the lobby.”

She turned and looked into his eyes. That was a big mistake. The intensity reflected there, combined with the lingering effects of his song, tempted her beyond reason. She shouldn’t surrender to his magnetism, but resisting it was proving difficult.

He lowered his voice. “My room?”

She shook her head. “Sorry.”

His gaze sharpened. “Then tell me where I can find you.”

Dear God, she was considering the possibility of inviting him to her room. She shouldn’t do that. She really shouldn’t. But if they were alone, she could explain why she didn’t want to get involved with him. She could mention his ravings about Cassie.

He was right that they needed privacy for that kind of conversation, and the options were few. They couldn’t very well take a walk in subzero temperatures. But if he came to her room, they could speak freely and clear the air once and for all.

Yeah, right. Their meeting might go that way, but if she didn’t keep a tight rein on her libido, it might go another way, too. He was one potent cowboy. The thought of being along with him made her quiver.

“Please, Elle,” he murmured. “We have a connection, you and I. We need to talk about it, figure a few things out. At least I do.”

She let out a breath. If they didn’t settle this now, it would hang over them all weekend. “Okay. My room, then. But we shouldn’t be seen going there together.” She quickly gave him directions.

“I’ll drop off my guitar and be there in a few minutes.”

She nodded. Heart racing, she hurried out of the lobby and down the hall toward the staff quarters. This was insanity, but then, Trey was making her insane—insane enough to risk being alone with him.

Nothing had to happen if she maintained control. That might be easier said than done, though. She was playing with fire when it came to an emotional man like Trey. Adrenaline fueled her steps as she ran up the stairs.

Once in her room, she straightened up the place, although judging from Trey’s intense focus, he wouldn’t care if the room was trashed. She cared, though. She’d been a military brat, and her parents’ neat-freak habits were deeply ingrained. Order and discipline had been her watchwords since childhood.

Trey’s sentimental approach to life both fascinated and frightened her. His ability to stir an emotional response in her was a warning signal that he could disrupt her carefully managed existence. But he couldn’t knock her off-kilter unless she allowed it. So she’d just have to stay in command of the situation.

3

WHEN TREY HAD packed for the weekend, he’d used his trusty duffel, as always. Maybe, just maybe, he had some condoms tucked in a side pocket of that duffel. He probably shouldn’t be thinking about that. He shouldn’t, but he was.

The whole time he’d been talking with Elle in the lobby, she’d given off sparks. If he had to guess, he’d say she was affected by his song about her. That was okay with him. He’d written it months ago as an expression of joy and gratitude, but it seemed as if everything he wrote came out sounding like a love song in the end.

He sensed that her argument against dating him wasn’t as strong as it had been this afternoon. The tide had turned in his favor, and if, in the privacy of her room, the heat started building...well, he didn’t want to be without the means to follow through. A condom didn’t take up much room in his pocket, and if he didn’t need it, no harm done.

He might not find a stash in his duffel, but it had been his traveling companion during his relationship with Cassie. Chances were good some were still in there. Funny how the thought of Cassie didn’t bother him anymore. She’d never have been happy with a cowboy who planned to stay in Wyoming for the duration.

The aroma of fresh pine greeted him as he fit the key card into the door to his room. At some point he’d track down Pam Mulholland and thank her for treating everyone to a weekend at this plush resort. He’d fully expected to bunk with someone at the very least, but Pam had reserved separate rooms for each of them. What a luxury.

Pulling his duffel from the closet, he checked the side pocket and hit pay dirt. He took one condom and left the rest. Then he reviewed the directions she’d given him.

His hat would only be in the way, so he left it in his room. Once he was in the hallway again, he decided that maybe he should head toward the staff quarters by a roundabout route. If anyone questioned him, he’d pretend to be lost. If she’d established a policy of not dating guests, she wouldn’t want anyone to know she’d invited him to her room.

In the end, he managed to actually get lost. Feeling like an idiot, he retraced his steps and by a stroke of luck didn’t encounter anyone as he roamed the halls. Eventually he found her room and rapped softly.

She opened the door dressed in the same outfit she’d had on when they’d parted. Apparently, she hadn’t decided to slip into something more comfortable. He had no idea how this meeting would go, but at least they’d be able to talk without any danger of being overheard.

“I’d about given up on you.” She scanned the hallway before whisking him inside.

“I got lost.” He hated admitting it, but that was better than letting her think he’d dillydallied around.

“Really?” She closed the door and leaned against it. Her breathing seemed a little fast. “My directions were pretty straightforward.”

“They were, but I wanted to confuse anyone who might see me walking the halls, so I took a different route and ended up confusing myself, too.” He wasn’t breathing normally, either. Being alone with her in a room with a bed was messing with him.

She looked amazing. He hadn’t paid much attention to what she had on before, but now he was intensely interested. She wore black jeggings and cute little boots that were fashionable but useless. A light blue sweater with a V neck clung to her breasts. Gazing at her caused his groin to tighten.

“So you deliberately tried to keep your destination a secret?”

“Yeah.”

“Thank you.” Her expression softened. “I appreciate that.”

“Judging from what you said earlier, you wouldn’t want anyone to know I’m here.”

She nodded. “But I’m not as worried about that as I am about...other things.”

“Like what?” She was still leaning against the door and he was a good ten feet away, his back to her curtained window. He cut the space between them in half and would have moved even closer, but she put up her hand like a traffic cop.

“Hold it right there, cowboy. You were right when you said we need to talk.”

He couldn’t help smiling. “We do, but I’d rather not have to shout.”

She mirrored his smile. “It’s a small room. You were hardly within shouting distance. Just stay right there for now, okay?”

He did. Never let it be said that he forced his attention on a woman. Her eyes told him she was as revved up by their proximity as he was, but he’d let the situation unfold naturally.

Her chest heaved, which made her breasts quiver. “You probably can tell that I’m attracted to you.”

“God, I hope so. Otherwise I’ve lost my ability to recognize interest when I see it.” He was gratified when his comment made that flame ignite in her eyes once again. Her lips parted, and she looked so ready for a kiss that he considered ignoring her command to hold his ground.

“We need to talk about Cassie.”

That cooled his jets. “Cassie?” He couldn’t have been more shocked if she’d mentioned ties to the Mafia. “You know her?”

“Not at all, but I came to see you after you were admitted to the hospital, and you kept asking for her. You...uh...begged her not to leave you. You were quite emotional.”

Embarrassment washed through him, and he scrubbed a hand over his face as if to erase the color he knew would be there. “She’s totally out of my life. At the time when I rolled the Jeep, I was still upset about the breakup, but I’m over her.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Yes. I’m not the kind of guy who would hit on a woman if I was still in love with someone else. I don’t use one person to get over another person.” How he hated that she’d heard him moaning over Cassie. But he couldn’t change what had happened eight months ago, and he really wouldn’t want to. The accident had brought them together.

“I’m willing to accept that you’re not that kind of man. But that’s not the only thing worrying me.”

“Then what else?” If there were more obstacles, he hoped to remove them. Discovering whether he and Elle had a chance of building a relationship was his top priority.

“Judging from the way you reacted to breaking up with Cassie, you were deeply in love with her.”

“I certainly thought I was, but I’ve figured out it never would have worked. I’ve made peace with that.” He had a sudden insight. “Is that why you didn’t leave any contact information? You thought I was in love with someone else?”

“You were in love with someone else.”

“I suppose so.” He shoved his fingers through his hair. “But I’m not anymore, and I’m extremely interested in you, so I don’t understand why we’re talking about Cassie.”

“I just need to know something. Do you usually get that involved when you’re in a relationship?”

He sensed this might be a trap, so he took a moment before he responded. “Sometimes I do, yes.” That wasn’t quite accurate. He had a tendency to surrender his entire heart to the woman in his life, which left him bruised and battered when the love affair ended. But he didn’t know how else to be.

“Getting deeply involved with me wouldn’t be a good idea.”

“Are you married?” He imagined some Latin lover down in Argentina and wanted to hit something.

“No, and I don’t expect to get married for a long, long time.”

“That’s fine with me, but just for the record, why the repetition of the word long? Do you have something against marriage?”

She pointed a finger at him. “See? That’s what worries me. I’ll bet you’re looking for happily ever after.”

“Eventually, yeah. What’s the matter with that?”

“Not a thing, except...well, I’m just not into that routine.”

“Okay.”

“I’m looking for ‘happy right now.’”

He desperately wanted to touch her. If he could kiss her, this conversation would be unnecessary. She was worrying about things that wouldn’t matter for quite a while. When April arrived, they could deal with this issue. Talking about it tonight was a waste of valuable time. “I can work with happy right now.”

“You were awfully quick to say that, Trey. I’m not convinced you mean it, especially if you’ve been thinking about me for months and you even wrote a song about me.”

He gazed into her blue eyes and curbed his frustration. Maybe she had a point. Now that he’d discovered that his angel was a beautiful woman, he could be guilty of romanticizing the connection between them and falling in love with the idea of her. Yeah, that sounded like something he’d do.

Blowing out a breath, he shoved his hands in his pockets so he wouldn’t forget himself and reach for her. “It’s possible I’ve attached too much meaning to this chance encounter because of Pam and Emmett’s wedding after what happened last spring. But damn it, when a gorgeous woman appears out of nowhere and saves your life, that’s gonna make an impression.”

“You were delirious. I doubt you saw me all that clearly. You couldn’t have known how I looked.”

“That’s true. I’ve thought about how dazed and confused I must have been. You could have been seventy-five and missing all your teeth and I wouldn’t have known the difference.”

She smiled at that.

“But you seemed like some sort of angel with your halo of blond hair, which was lit up somehow.”

“From the headlights of my truck, no doubt.”

“Probably. I also remembered your beautiful blue eyes, which are as beautiful as I thought they were, by the way.”

“Thanks.” Her cheeks turned pink.

“But I especially remembered your voice—soft, caring, soothing. I’m a musician, so sound means a lot to me. Your voice, which is also sexy as hell, has been part of many dreams these past few months.”

The color in her cheeks darkened. “Oh.”