Where Have All the Cowboys Gone? (3 page)

And he wanted her badly. His emails made that clear. So clear that Lauren stopped reading them at work and kept them to drool over in the quiet of her big lonely bed.

A cabin assistant knocked on the door and reminded Lauren they were about to land. She made her way back to her seat and gathered her belongings. She hadn’t brought much with her, only an overnight bag.

Her throat tightened and she fingered the long strand of pearls around her neck. Her pale-pink blouse and short black A-line skirt had withstood the journey well. Both came from a garage sale and had been made fifty years ago. Would she stand out as a city girl amongst the more rural citizens of Oregon or would her retro-look make her the height of fashion? Lauren suppressed a choke of laughter. Would Grayson even recognise her after six months apart?

She fastened her seat belt and tried to relax as the plane bumped down onto the runway. Still unable to stop thinking of the man who’d made her break all her rules, she lingered until the other passengers disembarked. Momentarily blinded by the bright glare of the Friday afternoon sunlight, she stepped onto the busy concourse.

At the rear of the arrival hall, Grayson Turner leant against a wall, his brown Stetson tipped slightly forwards, concealing his expression and his vivid eyes. He wore blue jeans and a rust-coloured shirt, his jacket hung over his shoulder. After a deep breath, Lauren took a firm grip on her bag and walked across to him. In his tan cowboy boots he seemed at least seven-foot tall. She had to crane her neck to see him properly.

He straightened up. ‘You came then.’ To her dismay, he sounded almost disappointed.

‘I said I would.’ Lauren kept her answer short. She’d learnt the benefits of brevity at her father’s knee in a male-orientated business world, which expected females to gush. At 29 she considered herself a fitting adversary for most men.

He smiled and picked up her carpet bag. ‘I was getting worried. I thought you’d run out on me.’ He held out his hand and she took it, relishing his firm grasp, aware of how insubstantial her fingers looked wrapped in his. The remembered scent of his aftershave wound around her.

‘I wouldn’t do that to you.’

He glanced down, his eyes considering. ‘No, I didn’t think you were the type to turn tail.’ He steered her away from the exit doors and towards a small coffee shop. Before she could protest, he said, ‘I thought we should straighten a few things out before we go. If things don’t work out, it’s a hell of a long drive back from the ranch.’

Lauren allowed herself to be ushered into the shop. She sat down at a vacant table and waited until Grayson returned with two plastic cups. He held one out to her. ‘I got you green tea. I seem to remember you said that was all you ever normally drank.’

Lauren smiled her thanks, surprised he’d remembered. If only she’d kept to tea in Las Vegas, she thought glumly, and not started on champagne, she wouldn’t be in this embarrassing situation now.

‘What exactly do you want to discuss, Grayson?’

He angled his hat back so that she could see his face. His skin was tanned, faint laughter lines around his eyes and mouth only added to his allure. ‘I want to make sure that we agree on what’s going to happen over the next two weekends.’

Lauren sighed. ‘We’ve been over this a thousand times. I’ve agreed to stay with you for a weekend on your ranch and in return, next weekend, you get to stay with me at my apartment in San Francisco. During this time we will try and see if we can make our so-called marriage work. Do I have this right?’

Grayson smiled into her eyes and she tensed. ‘Not bad, darlin’ but you’ve forgotten one thing.’

Lauren concentrated on his long fingers, which were wrapped around his coffee cup. His calloused hands were large, yet capable of being so gentle, especially when he touched a woman’s body – her body. ‘Are you talking about sex?’

Grayson grinned. ‘Yes, ma’am. You agreed to allow me to use all my powers of persuasion on you this weekend.’

Lauren lifted her chin and stared right back at him. ‘And you agreed to allow me to persuade you to get a divorce when you come to San Francisco. You don’t really know me at all and I just don’t want to be married, Grayson, not to you or to anyone.’

He reached out and took her hand. ‘I know how I feel. But are you still willing to try?’

Lauren shrugged. ‘If it’s the only way to get rid of you.’

His fingers tightened over hers. ‘I’ve already told you. I believe in marriage and I want to see if we can make this one work.’

Lauren laughed. ‘Really? And when did you come up with that old-fashioned notion? After you found out that my family is wealthy?’

She tried to pull away but he was too strong. He slowly relaxed his grip and shook his head, his smile lingering on his lips. ‘You city folks are all the same. Greedy, greedy, greedy. I’m not asking for much, just a chance to get to know you. The only mistake you make is in thinking the rest of us are just like you.’

He sat back and took a slug of coffee. ‘If you recall, Lauren, I was ready to jump into bed with you five seconds after you landed in my lap. Hell, what did you think you were sitting on? A baseball bat?’

Lauren knew what he’d wanted. She’d been shocked and aroused to discover she wanted the same thing. He seemed to have reached inside her and flicked on a switch of intense sexual awareness she hadn’t known she possessed.

‘I don’t want your money, Lauren. I want you,’ Grayson said. ‘And if I’m the first man who’s ever seen you that way, you should be praying I’ll hang around, not trying to kick me in the teeth. This weekend is not just about sex. It’s a chance for us to get to know each other better.’

He slipped his hand inside his denim jacket and brought out an envelope. ‘I reckoned you’d kick up a fuss so I went to see my lawyer and got him to draw up some papers.’

He spread them out on the table in front of her. ‘If things don’t work out, we take out of the marriage what we brought into it. I’ll keep my ranch and business and you’ll keep what’s yours. Unless we have a child of course.’ He forestalled her interruption with a wave of his hand. ‘Not that that’s likely, but you never know. If it does happen, all bets are off and we renegotiate, agreed?’

He pulled out a pen, signed his name and handed the pen and paper to Lauren. She read through the document with a practised eye and signed at the bottom below Grayson’s flashy signature. Her relief at his businesslike manner began to relax her. So what if she wasted two weekends of her life indulging in an orgy of sex and pretending to be married? She’d never get the opportunity again and it would be something to look back on when her world returned to its hectic pace.

‘There’s one more thing, thinking of children,’ Grayson said.

This time Lauren managed to interrupt him. ‘It’s all right. I’m on the pill.’

He picked up her hand and kissed her palm, the hard tip of his tongue made her shiver. ‘Good,’ he said, ‘because I’d like to come inside you without any barriers this time. I sent you a copy of my medical records and I’ve seen yours. Despite my behaviour with you, I don’t sleep around. I’m a prime healthy specimen.’

She nodded, her mind too caught up in his softly spoken words and the touch of his tongue to answer properly. He sucked one of her fingers into his mouth and she crossed her legs to subdue the fierce rush of warmth pooling there.

‘Are you ready to go?’

Lauren opened her eyes to find his face close to hers. She hesitated for a second and his eyes narrowed. Refusing to be flustered, she got to her feet and allowed him to pick up her bag. As they moved towards the short-term parking lot, he caught her elbow. The hint of command in his blue eyes made her nervous and excited at the same time.

‘As your body officially belongs to me now, there’s something I’d like you to do. Go into the ladies’ restroom and take off any underwear that might get in my way.’

When Lauren emerged from the restroom, after mentally cataloguing the many ways she intended to embarrass him on his return visit to San Francisco, Grayson strolled towards her. His eyes fixed on the gentle sway of her freed breasts beneath her long-sleeved blouse.

Could he see her hardened nipples through the thin fabric? She slowed her walk and let her hips swing with each step. She glanced at his jeans where a huge bulge was clearly visible. He followed her gaze and slowly ran his thumb down the straining zipper.

Grayson swore quietly and held out his hand. ‘We’ve got almost a hundred miles to drive, Lauren. I’m not sure if we’ll make it before I have to pull over and bury myself inside you, but I’ll sure as hell try.’

To Lauren’s surprise, Grayson’s black pick-up truck had big comfortable leather seats. She relaxed as he stowed her bag and walked around to the driver’s side. He was silent as he manoeuvred the big vehicle through the maze of the airport and out onto the freeway. Lauren let her head fall back and closed her eyes.

Gray let out his breath and stole a glance at the woman beside him. When he’d thought she wasn’t on the plane, he’d felt like a horse had kicked him in the gut. It had taken him six months to lure her back and he’d thought he’d blown it. She’d looked so calm and in control in her high-heeled black shoes and slicked-back hair. He’d wanted to feed her champagne until she turned into the relaxed laughing woman he’d met in Las Vegas.

He’d gone to Vegas to watch the Professional Bull Rider finals. He hadn’t expected to fall in love. Who did? Especially not with a woman who epitomised everything he’d come to despise in life, everything he’d rejected. Living in the city and climbing the slippery corporate ladder was no longer his idea of fun. But something about Lauren captured his attention from the moment she landed in his lap. When his arms tightened around her, he’d not wanted to let go.

She’d told him about her retro design company with such pride he’d been charmed. She’d even bought him a drink to make up for the one she’d spilled all over his chest. After a drink and some intense conversation, he’d invited her out to dinner and she accepted.

Gray smiled as he remembered what happened next. Lauren followed him into the bathroom and watched him strip off his beer-stained shirt. He’d hardly dared breathe as she’d taken the wet washcloth from his unresisting hand and rubbed it over his chest.

Gray licked his lips. Keeping one eye on the road, he reached across and slid his hand up over Lauren’s knee. He knew she was naked under her tight little skirt. She’d done it for him. He sighed as his fingers encountered her moist heat and she slightly opened her legs. As the tip of his finger brushed her sex, he shifted in his seat, aware of his erection pressing hard against the restraint of his jeans.

On that never-to-be-forgotten Las Vegas night, he’d barely managed to find and pull on a condom after ripping off her panties and then plunging inside her. And that hadn’t been the end of it. They’d never made it out of the hotel room for dinner, preferring to feast on each other and the odd mini-bar snack. When they finally made it down to the lobby and he suggested getting married, Lauren seemed as eager as him.

Gray still couldn’t believe how fast he’d fallen for her. She’d certainly ruined his tough-guy image. He stole a glance at her serene face and fought down a smile. He believed in marriage and intended to make his work. His father had sailed through six marriages and divorces without a thought for the devastating consequences. Gray couldn’t imagine doing the same.

If he had to play into Lauren’s cowboy fantasy to lure her back, he was quite happy to do so. She’d get to know the real him soon enough and then, hopefully, he could tone down the hokey Marlboro Man image.

When he’d woken up alone in his Las Vegas hotel room he’d realised Lauren had taken fright and left. Luckily he’d kept her business card and had bombarded her with emails ever since. He flexed his fingers against her soft skin and watched the quick rise and fall of her breasts.

She’d come back to him. Sometimes, despite what his father said, being as stubborn as a mule definitely had its advantages.

Lauren stirred as the truck slowed and turned off the freeway. When she looked out of the window she saw immeasurable fields of golden crops dotted with small buildings, framed against an endless azure sky. She felt like Alice in Wonderland waking up in a whole new world. It was liberating. For the second time in her life she intended to do as she pleased without a thought for the consequences.

She’d tried to analyse her reasons for marrying Grayson in Las Vegas when marriage just wasn’t on her agenda a thousand times. It wasn’t as if she could blame Grayson. He’d asked and she’d enthusiastically accepted. It had seemed the ultimate declaration of her independence from her father and her old life. At the time, she’d even meant the words of the ceremony. Grayson had an aura of quiet strength and sincerity, qualities she’d begun to believe didn’t exist in real men any more.

Waking up beside Grayson and realising what she’d done, sent her scurrying back home like a frightened teenager. Lauren knew she shouldn’t have been such a coward. At least she hadn’t caved in and asked her father to deal with Grayson for her. God knows what he would’ve done. Sometimes it was hard for her to remember that she’d decided to run her own life and deal with her own problems.

It took her a moment to notice that Grayson’s right hand was buried between her thighs, while he drove with his left. She turned her head and he smiled at her.

‘We’re almost there, Lauren.’

Grayson slowed even more and headed for a pair of impressive metal gates adorned with the entwined letters G and T. He opened his window, punched in a security code and the gates swung slowly open. Heat poured through the window and Lauren undid the top two buttons of her shirt.

‘You can keep going, honey. You’re on my land now,’ Grayson murmured. ‘No one will see you except me. You can pull up your skirt too.’