Cowboy Jackpot: Valentine's Day (2 page)

Dallas kept his hand on her lower back and the contact
spread warmth through her. She liked him, and had thought of him much too often
as she'd finished her master's degree in New York, and prepared to move into a
position at her family's accounting firm. A job she'd accepted only because she
didn't know what she really wanted to do with her life.

"You are lucky." The casino host used her keycard
to unlock a discreet door that led to a bright hallway. "I've never seen
that large a win on roulette." A security guard sat on a tall stool inside
the door.

"Stupid luck." Dallas ushered Kira in ahead of
him.

Her heels clicked on the tile floor, echoing on the walls
and ceiling.

Smiling at them, the woman asked, "Why stupid?"

He looked at Kira. "What should have been the end,
wound up being just the beginning."

Kira drifted deep into the intensity of his dark eyes. His
words swirled like sweet chocolate through her brain. Just the beginning.

He took her arm. "Kira, wait."

She stopped and glanced up at him.

Dallas half-smiled at the casino host. "Could we have
just a few minutes?"

The woman looked at her for confirmation. When Kira nodded,
the host gestured down the hallway. "I'll just be at the end and to the
left. Take your time."

Watching her go, Dallas drew Kira further from the guard
before releasing her arm. "Let's settle this right now." The space
between his eyebrows wrinkled. "Are you going to take the jackpot?"

An ache formed behind her heart. "Do you really think
I'm that much of a bitch?"

He shook his head and his eyes softened. "No, you're
not a bitch. But I know you're riled at me, and have been since
Christmas." He huffed out a breath. "I looked for you after we had
that disagreement in the lobby bar, but you were already gone."

"Why were you looking for me?" The ache turned to
hope.

He looked down and scuffed one cowboy boot on the floor.
"I owe you an apology." His head came up. "I overreacted, and
I'm sorry."

A burst of delight surprised her. "I owe you an apology
right back, cowboy." She moved closer. "Not for doing a background
check, because that was something I did for Gigi. What I'm sorry for is
accusing you of looking like you wanted to…hit me." The words she'd flung
at him still burned her throat.

His lips curved into a frown. "I was angry. I'll admit
that was a rough time in my life, but that’s no excuse for me to frighten
anyone. You." He took her hand. "I didn't mean for you to feel
threatened, and I apologize for that, too."

She wanted to tell him she knew he'd been found not guilty,
but it would sound like she'd been keeping track of him, and that would fire
off another round of pissed-off.

Tipping her head, she sighed. "We didn't do too well at
Christmas. Maybe Valentine's Day will be luckier for us?"

He lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles. His eyes,
shadowed under his hat, carried heat that sizzled through her bloodstream.
"It's started out pretty damn lucky, don't you think?"

She nodded. "And speaking of luck, how about splitting
the jackpot?"

He smiled, the first real one she'd seen from him today.
"Exactly what I was thinking. I provided the stake, you provided the luck.
Fifty-fifty?"

She nodded. Was it luck, though? By moving all his chips to
double zero, she'd been trying to taunt him into revealing his true nature.
He'd been angry, but he hadn't reacted physically, besides lightly gripping her
wrist.

If it wasn't luck, was it fate giving her another chance at
Dallas?

"Fifty-fifty." She said as his phone rang.

He slid it from his pocket. "It's Jayden. Okay if I
take it?"

"Of course. I'll go find—"

Still holding her hand, he tugged her back to him and
wrapped an arm around her shoulders and started walking with her as he answered
the phone. "Hey." He grinned. "Yep, you heard right." He
raised an eyebrow at whatever Jayden said. "We're doing the paperwork now.
We just went through a hidden door near the gift shop and are heading to meet
with the money guy." He listened for a minute. "Yep, or meet us in
the Roundup in fifteen minutes or so." He disconnected.

"Thanks for doing this, Kira."

"For sharing what is rightfully yours?"

"Rightfully, not legally. Big difference."

She laughed. Maybe he was the man she'd hoped he was.

The meeting with the manager went quickly. He agreed that
they could split the jackpot, and he had them fill out some paperwork. He
explained that the Gaming Commission needed to verify the jackpot before the
money could be released. That would probably take until morning. He gave Kira
and Dallas his business card and asked them to call him any time after nine
a.m. He'd meet them in the casino and bring them to his office to finalize the
payments.

Kira and Dallas walked back along the bright hallway
carrying keycards to the Wrangler Suite. The cards were loaded with a total of
five hundred dollars in casino credit for the bars, restaurants, and room
service.

Kira wanted to get him alone for a while, locked in the
suite together so they could get reacquainted, rewind to that point when they
were wild about each other, and hungry for more.

An idea formed, a way to show him who she really was, how
sincere she was in her apology, and how interested she was in…a future? She stopped
and looked at him. How was she imagining a future with a bronc rider from Reno,
when her life was mapped out for her in New York?

"What's wrong?" Dallas stopped next to her.

"I forgot something. My…pen." She smiled at the
security guard. "In the office. It'll just take a second." She walked
backward a few steps.

The guard nodded.

She looked at Dallas. "I'll be right back." She
turned and quick-stepped back the way they'd come. A future? Oh God, what was
she doing?

Dallas watched Kira trot down the hallway, her heels
clomping, her hair flying. "What the fuck?"

She hadn't used her own pen. The manager had given them each
a souvenir casino pen, his with a cowgirl who stripped, hers with a cowboy who
did the same.

He'd wait for her, let her do whatever she was up to…
"Aw fuck." Was she changing her mind? Telling the casino guy she
wanted all the money, didn't want to split it with him? He shook his head. She
wouldn't do that.

He shoved his hands in his back pockets and paced. She
wouldn't, would she? After their apologies, after wanting a fresh start.
"Hell." He fought the urge to go after her, listen to what she was
telling the guy, but that wasn't the right thing to do. He pushed open the door
into the casino and stepped out, waiting for it to lock him out so he couldn't
change his mind and go confront her. Damn, that woman made him pure loco.

He spotted Jayden leaning against a slot machine chatting up
a brunette cocktail waitress. She leaned into him and touched the sleeve of his
red Western-cut shirt.

Jayden had to look up at her from under his cowboy hat. In
three-inch heels and fishnet stockings, her legs went on forever. Her costume,
fashioned after that of the saloon girls of the old West, was more like a
swimsuit with fringe sewn on.

Jayden gestured to Dallas, took a slip of paper from the
waitress, and sauntered over to him. "Hey, rich man. How'd it go?"

Dallas took a breath. "She's up to something."

His friend's dark blue gaze slid the door Dallas had come
out of. "Where is she?"

He jerked his head. "Said she forgot something and went
back in." Doubt clouded his thoughts. "You think she could be
plannin' a double-cross?"

Jayden's eyes narrowed. "She doesn't seem like the
type, but then, money can make people do strange things." His brows
lifted. "'Course, you know that."

His gut clenched at the memory of his last girlfriend, her
promises, her lies, her perjury. "I sure as fuck do."

"What are you gonna do?" Jayden pulled off his
cowboy hat and ran his fingers through his curly blond hair.

What could he do? She held all the power. She'd offered to
give him half the money, even told the casino manager that she'd just take
half. But now that she'd run back to the man's office… "Hell, I'm gonna
have to stick on her like a burr."

Jayden's mouth quirked. "Sounds like fun."

It did sound like fun. Naughty, sexy, long hours keeping an
eye on her while holding her close to him, under him, in a big, soft bed. He
pulled out the keycard. "Kira and I got a suite, so you've got the room to
yourself tonight."

"Aw gee, what'll I do all by myself?" He held up
the slip of paper the waitress had given him. "Krissie gets off at six
tonight."

"Watch out, Jay. Tomorrow's Valentine's Day." He
slid the card into his pocket. "You don't want to get tangled up in all
that mushy shit."

Jayden frowned. "I like all that mushy shit." He
pocketed the number. "You're the one who needs to get mushy if you intend
to stick to Kira until tomorrow."

He hadn't thought of that. What if she wanted to skip the
suite, skip him?

"I guess I'll have to use some cowboy charm to keep her
around." It wouldn't be a hardship. He'd wanted her the moment he'd seen
her on Christmas Eve.

Jayden snorted. "Cowboy charm? You?" He shook his
head. "You ain't got none of that."

"Fuck if I don't." True, he wasn't as cute as
Jayden, or as funny as Boone, but he had his own way with the ladies. Dark and
brooding one of them had called him.

"Yeah, if staring them down and freezing them with that
bear growl of yours is considered charming."

"Bear growl?" His voice rolled low and hard. Like
a bear. "I've got plenty of moves." He glanced at the door, but it
remained shut.

Jayden's eyes showed surprise. "Yeah?" He
resettled his hat on his head and stuck his thumbs into his front pockets.

"Yeah," Dallas growled. Aw hell, he could use all
the help he could get with Kira. Most of the women he'd been with over the last
ten years were buckle bunnies or one-nighters from bars. What did he know about
seducing a classy lady from New York?

Jayden couldn't keep girls from crawling all over him. What
did he know that Dallas didn't?

"All right, Romeo. Show me your best move." He
held up a hand. "But if you tell anyone I asked, you won't be ridin' any
rodeos for a while."

"Righteous strategy, Dallas. Ask for my help then threaten
me."

"Forget it." He turned. "Just fucking forget
it." He felt like an idiot asking a twenty-year-old for dating advice.

Jayden laughed. "Naw, c'mon. This'll be fun." He
winked. "And our secret."

Dallas rolled his eyes. "Great." This was not
going to be any variety of fun.

"Listen. For starters, smile." He curled his lips
up and showed his teeth. "This is what it looks like."

Dallas crossed his arms over his chest. "You're such a
little shit, Jayden."

"I'm serious. Smile. Chicks love it."

Kira had teased him back in December about his sober face
that never loosened up. He looked at his buddy and forced a grin.

Jayden flinched. "Oh man. You'll need to practice that
in a mirror."

Pursing his lips, he gave his friend a glare. "What
else?"

"Body language." Jayden looked down at where his
thumbs rested in his pockets and his hands bracketed his package. "Where
does this draw a woman's eye?"

Dallas snorted a laugh. "Really?" He uncrossed his
arms and mirrored Jayden's pose.

"Good." Jayden shifted and leaned against the side
of a slot. "A little hip."

"What are you, a stripper?"

"Hip. Loose. Not tight-assed."

Dallas gave it a try. "I think I dislocated
something."

"Buddy, makin' you into a chick magnet is gonna take a
whole lot more time than we have right now."

The door to the back of the casino opened and Kira walked
out. Jayden dropped his hands and moved away a step.

Kira's gaze shot to Dallas, jerked down to his fly, then
back up to meet his eyes with a sexy smile.

"Told ya," Jayden whispered.

"Damn," he breathed as he returned Kira's smile
with a real one, a result of the excited beat of his heart and the hum of
desire rolling low in his gut.

She strode up to them holding a gold pen in her hand.
"Got it." She reached for Jayden. "Hi, Jay. How are you?"

"A heck of a lot better now that you're here." He
leaned in for a half hug.

Kira squeezed him with a sigh. "I've missed you."

Dallas's jaw clenched. The kid had better watch his hands.

"Congrats." Jayden backed away. "Looks like
you two will be sharing a nice chunk of change."

Her eyes dropped for a second before she nodded. "Yes.
Hard to believe, isn't it?"

Worry tightened in Dallas's stomach. She was up to
something.

Jayden had caught her nervousness, too. After a meaningful
glance at Dallas, he hitched a thumb over his shoulder. "Boone and Gigi
said they'd meet us at the Roundup."

"Let's go." Kira started walking and the cowboys
flanked her. "I could use a drink."

"Yep. Me, too." Both Kira and Jayden looked at
him. He practiced a smile and Kira returned it. He took her hand and she
sighed. Yep, sticking close to her was going to be a pleasure.

They walked into the Roundup Bar and Stormie waved and slid
down off her barstool.

Jayden let out a slow whistle and used one finger to tip his
hat back.

Stormie walked toward them, her long, firm legs looking
smooth as her round hips swayed a fascinating rhythm. Dallas hadn't noticed her
nicely shaped breasts before, but evidently, Jayden saw them now.

"Buckle bunny dead ahead," Jayden murmured.

Kira stiffened.

"Jay, hold on." Dallas held tighter to her hand in
case she let loose on Jayden with an uppercut. "That's Kira's
cousin."