Crazy For the Cowboy (16 page)

Taking several deep breaths so she wouldn't sound manic on the phone, she called Ed, who was available to go look at horses at three. Ed was their logical chaperone because he was knowledgeable about horses and tack. Anastasia could be pressed into service, too, especially if she understood why. Maybe it was time to confide in her.

Not now, though. With Ed scheduled for this afternoon, Georgie went back to searching for cheap saddle horses. She used her instincts as Vince had suggested, and soon had several more possibilities. Once she'd shortened the store hours, they could go out looking first thing in the morning, too.

Vince hadn't returned by the time Ida arrived. She sailed in with the exuberance of a hormonal teenager. If Georgie didn't know better, she'd think Ida was at least twenty years younger than she'd admitted to.

“You did it!” Ida rushed around the counter and gave Georgie an enthusiastic hug. “And my sources tell me you didn't even have to seduce him!”

“Ida! I would never—”

“Of course you wouldn't, sweetheart. I was just teasing you. But I wouldn't blame you for having a private celebration with that cowboy last night. In your boots, I would have.”

Georgie took Ida by her thin shoulders and looked into her eyes. They were magnified by the thick lenses of her tortoiseshell glasses, but they were sharp and aware. “Let's get something straight once and for all. I'm not sleeping with Vince, and I won't be sleeping with Vince.”

“Why the hell not? He's the best thing to hit this town in ages, and I know for a fact you haven't had that kind of fun in quite a while.”

“Come on, Ida. You know how dicey a situation can get when coworkers get involved with each other. This project is too important to take that chance.”

“Well, shoot. You're both mature adults. I think you can handle a little mattress bingo and still do the job.”

“And I think it's too risky.”

Ida sighed. “If you say so. I think you're passing up a golden opportunity, but it's your call.”

“And his. We talked about it and agreed this was for the best. No matter how successful this trail ride becomes, Vince will eventually move on. By his own admission, he's not in it for the long-term.”

“Oh, men love to say that because it makes them seem so romantic and mysterious, a rebel who can't stay in one place because they're so damned restless and sexy. This gun for hire and all that crap. Personally I think he's ripe for a change, but that's just me.”

Georgie smiled. “Time will tell, but I'm not getting my hopes up.” If he bought a horse, that might be a sign, but not a huge one, especially if he bought a trailer to go with it.

“I'm just glad he's here now. When I heard three of the Double J wranglers were back, I did a happy dance. I would have played Sousa, but I didn't want to startle the poor boys. I wasn't playing Sousa when they were here before.”

“That's right, you weren't! I'd forgotten that. When did you start?”

“Must've been about two years ago. Everybody was moping around, and I thought it would perk 'em up.” Her grin was mischievous. “And wake 'em up. Bet you popped right out of bed at seven this morning.”

“I'll bet everybody did, except for the ones who sleep without their hearing aids. Well, and my sister Anastasia. I've never seen a person sleep as soundly as she does.”

“That's because she puts her heart and soul into her work. Wrings herself out. Some folks get their beauty sleep, but Anastasia gets her creativity sleep.”

Georgie was startled. “I never thought of it that way! You could be onto something. When she's working, she's oblivious to the rest of the world. Her ability to concentrate is amazing. It makes sense that she rejuvenates with deep sleep. Thanks for the insight.”

“You're welcome. A person lucky enough to live as long as I have tends to pick up a few nuggets of information.”

“More than a few, I'm sure.”

“Nah, just a few. I'm not one of those wise women you read about. I'm just your garden-variety old fart. Anyway, I'm glad I didn't wake her up. She's our resident genius, you know.”

“I do know, and I want the world to know.”

“They will, honey. Your cowboy is going to be a big draw for this trail ride, and before you know it, Bickford will be back in the game. That will be a good thing for all of us, but a great thing for Anastasia.”

“And that's why I won't sleep with him.”

“Suit yourself. But you're leaving the door open for some other gal to hop in his bed. Seems a shame when you're the front-runner.”

“I'm not in the running at all.” And if the idea of some other woman in Vince's bed bothered her, then she'd just get over it. Her priorities were clear, and having sex with Vince was not one of them.

CHAPTER 16

T
he next two weeks fell into a pattern that guaranteed Vince would never be alone with Georgie. He could see how hard she was working to make sure of it and he was grateful . . . mostly. He knew about the concept of forbidden fruit and she was a perfect example. The more inaccessible she was, the more he wanted her.

Wanting a woman and not having her was an unusual circumstance for him. He hadn't encountered that problem since the last time he'd been in this town. Same town, same untouchable woman. If he'd hoped to rewrite history by coming back here, he'd been delusional.

Ed had ridden along on every horse-buying trip. They hadn't struck gold every time they'd gone out, but Vince had become a fan of the online method of tracking down good possibilities. Georgie was extremely good at that. Soon she could tell from the way a horse was described whether he'd work out for them. Once Vince left, she and Ed would make a great horse-buying team.

At this point, though, they had the animals they needed, along with some used tack. Selling a horse often meant people didn't want the extra saddle and bridle, either. They were usually in the mood to let those things go for a decent price.

Late Wednesday afternoon, Vince was at the wheel of his truck with Georgie in the passenger seat and Ed crammed in behind them in the backseat of the king cab. They'd kept that arrangement for two weeks. Georgie had tried to get Ed to switch with her countless times, but he was an old-fashioned cowboy who treated women with elaborate courtesy.

Ed would bite his tongue before he'd swear in front of a lady. Consequently, Vince had monitored his language to fit Ed's standards. That was good for him. He'd let himself get lax about that, and once he was leading trail rides, he couldn't swear at will. It wasn't classy, and this was shaping up to be a very classy enterprise.

Georgie had reined herself in, too, which was cute to watch. Not that she swore a lot, but he had to smile whenever she said
da-ang
with a little hitch in the middle. He'd bet money she'd started out to say something else before remembering they had Ed on board.

Today they were heading back to the stable with their last purchase in Ed's horse trailer. Georgie had found the big bay named Skeeter the first morning she'd started searching, but some personal business had kept Skeeter's owner from being available to close the deal until now. Counting Skeeter, they had seven mature geldings to work with. Added to the four horses Ed boarded, that was enough for the inaugural trail ride scheduled in a little over two weeks from now.

Vince remembered Skeeter. The bay gelding had been the last horse Vince had looked at before turning the online part of the operation over to Georgie. Huddled with her as they'd consulted her computer screen, he'd been on the verge of seducing her.

He was good at seducing women, and he very well might have succeeded that morning with Georgie. Somehow he'd pulled himself back from the edge. He'd learned the limits of his control that morning in her store, and he'd been humbled by that knowledge. Since then his frustration level had hovered in the red zone, but he hadn't cracked.

He blamed that nagging lack of satisfaction for his next move, though. Something had to change, and he'd finally settled on what it could be. Earlier today he'd tucked a blank check in his wallet, just in case he took a notion.

As they approached the road leading to the ranch where the four-year-old gelding named Storm Cloud had been for sale, he put on his turn signal, which got him a lift of the eyebrows from Georgie.

Someone could have bought the horse by now, and if so, then he'd look for another distraction. He'd already figured out that booze wasn't the answer. Drinking too much made him feel lousy in the morning and he needed to be sharp for the work he'd agreed to do.

He'd been using his midday hours to school the horses, and so far they'd turned out to be well-behaved animals. He could already tell that Skeeter would need very little training, which meant Vince was about to have some free time on his hands.

The website was live and a couple of reservations had come in for the first ride and a few more people had signed up for the following two weekends. Georgie had mailed out brochures to her contacts and they were responding. She'd also placed ads in the online editions of magazines that catered to travelers. Charmaine was supposedly talking up Wild Horse Canyon Adventures among her friends in Dallas, although nothing had come of that, yet.

The poker players had put together a chuck wagon with various parts they'd scrounged around town, and Henry was mulling over ideas for the cookout portion. Steve had already started interviewing for a temporary cook to take over in the hotel kitchen so that Henry could go out with the chuck wagon. The sleeping bags and tents Georgie had ordered should arrive any day.

Other than continuing to work with the horses, all Vince had left to do was map the trails and pick out some prospective campsites. Georgie had to go along for that, so they'd settled on this Sunday as the logical time. Ed had agreed to go, too, although he kept saying they didn't need him. Both Georgie and Vince had hesitated to tell Ed why they desperately did.

In short, Vince was running out of things to do, which was why he'd chosen to turn onto the dirt road leading to the Silver Saddle Ranch. “I hope y'all don't mind a little detour.”

Georgie glanced at him. “Is this about what I think it is?”

“I've decided to take a look. He might not be there anymore. It's been two weeks.”

Ed's voice came from the backseat. “Who might not be there? I thought we got all the ones on the list.”

“We did.” Vince met Ed's gaze in the rearview mirror. “But Georgie saw this four-year-old black gelding online. He caught my eye, but I doubt he'd be any good for the project, at least not without a lot of seasoning.”

Ed chuckled. “Vince, are you fixin' to buy yourself a horse?”

“Probably not.” Now that he was heading toward the ranch, he wondered if he'd gone crazy, after all. There were several reasons why he'd never bought a horse of his own. He shouldn't let sexual frustration make him forget those reasons. “He might not appeal to me once I see him. He might not even be there.”

“He's still there,” Georgie said. “I checked yesterday.”

That surprised him. “You did? Why?”

“I . . . I remembered how much you'd liked the looks of him. I wondered if anybody had bought him, so I . . . I was just curious, I guess.”

“Um, thanks. Thanks for checking it out.” He didn't know what to think. She wouldn't have kept tabs on the horse unless she cared about him a little bit. It didn't matter to her whether the horse had been sold. But she'd sensed that it might matter to him.

That was touching and warmed him in a way that had nothing to do with sexual attraction. Even though she was resisting their mutual case of lust for all she was worth, she'd remembered how he'd responded to the picture of Storm Cloud. Apparently she hadn't wanted him to be disappointed if he changed his mind about buying the horse.

He'd assumed all along that although she valued him for his wrangler skills, she wasn't drawn to him as a person. He figured she'd be delighted if she could eliminate her pesky physical response to him. The thought that she might actually like him and want him to be happy was a whole new idea. It would take some getting used to.

The ranch was less than a mile down the dirt road. At the end the road forked. The left side went off toward the ranch house, while the right led to the barn, a couple of corrals, and various outbuildings.

Vince put on the brakes. “I should have taken down the phone number so somebody could meet us at the barn. Didn't think of it.”

“I can probably find it.” Georgie pulled her phone out of the little backpack she always brought along.

“Georgie to the rescue.” Ed chuckled again. “I can't get over how folks can use their phones to find out nearly anything.”

“It comes in handy.” Georgie studied the screen. “Here it is.” She handed the phone to Vince. “I'll let you do the talking.”

“Thanks.” His hand brushed hers as he took the phone. He should have been used to the sensation because they'd had to hand each other various items for a couple of weeks. But he felt a zing every time. He felt it more just now, because he was processing the information that she kind of liked him.

A man with a deep Texas drawl answered the phone and seemed delighted to know he had a prospect for Storm Cloud. “Drive on down to the barn, son. I'll have one of the hands bring that gelding right out. He's a beauty.”

“We'll meet you down there.” Vince disconnected and handed the phone back to Georgie. If a brief touch could make his pulse rate climb, he'd probably have a heart attack if he ever got her into bed.

Georgie tucked her phone away. “This is exciting.”

“He sounded way too eager to sell that horse.” Vince put the truck in gear and drove down to the barn. “So don't get your hopes up.” Then he realized that was an odd thing to say. Technically Georgie shouldn't be hoping for anything, yet he knew that wasn't true. For whatever reason, she wanted him to have this horse.

But he wasn't willing to take on someone else's problems. He'd get this guy to level with him about Storm Cloud's faults. At the price quoted, the gelding was a steal. There had to be a reason for that.

He picked out a parking spot that would allow him to turn around so he wouldn't have to back the horse trailer out of there. As he shut off the engine, Georgie sucked in a breath.

“Vince, he's stunning.”

Leaning down, he peered through the passenger window so he could see what she was seeing, and his chest tightened. Storm Cloud pranced behind the cowboy leading him over to a hitching post. Every movement allowed the late-afternoon sunlight to play over his gleaming coat.

The gelding was coal black. Not a bit of white softened the impression of restrained power radiating from him. Vince had never thought much about what sort of horse he'd want if he ever bought one. The possibility that he would buy one had been so remote he hadn't bothered to form an image in his mind.

He had an image now.

“He's a dandy, all right.” Ed scooted closer to the small backseat window. “Probably full of the devil, but that's not all bad.”

“No.” Vince watched the horse toss his head and paw the ground. It was a wonder he wasn't breathing fire, too.

“You wouldn't want a boring horse,” Georgie said.

“No.”

Finally Ed cleared his throat. “Uh, Vince? You gonna go out there or sit in here and stare at him some more?”

Vince snapped out of his daze and straightened. “Just planning my strategy.”

Georgie turned toward him with a knowing smile. She'd obviously caught on that he'd been blindsided by this horse. “What's your strategy?”

“Ask a bunch of questions. Maybe even ride him.” The thought made his gut curl with excitement. Then he remembered that he was here with two other people and Skeeter was in the trailer. “That's if y'all don't mind.” He glanced at Georgie and turned around to gauge Ed's expression. “It would be a short ride, but I know it's getting late, and—”

“Take your time.” Ed waved a hand. “It's not every day a man buys his first horse.”

“I didn't say I was buying him.”

Ed smiled. “If you don't plan on buying him, then you'd better wipe that look off your face.”

“How am I looking?”

“Like you just fell in love.”

Vince came close to muttering a swearword, but he caught himself just in time. “I'm not in love. I intend to ask the owner some tough questions and he'd better have some good answers. I think that's him driving down here, so we might as well see what he has to say for himself.”

But just for good measure as the three of them walked toward the barn, he focused on the pewter truck with the silver logo on the door instead of the gelding tethered to the hitching post. He'd been awestruck by that horse. Ed and Georgie already knew that, but the rancher didn't, and that's how he wanted to keep it.

The rancher looked to be around fifty. He had a slight paunch and an air of authority. Smiling, he walked toward his visitors. “I'm John Caruthers. You must be Vince.” He had a firm handshake, which was a good beginning.

Vince made introductions, and then John immediately herded them all over toward the horse. Vince did his best to keep his expression neutral, but it wasn't easy. That was one damned fine animal.

Storm Cloud eyed them, tossed his head, and snorted.

Vince struggled not to laugh. He had Storm Cloud's number. The gelding didn't want anybody telling him what to do or how to do it. They had a lot in common in that.

“Craig, lead him around a little for the folks,” John said. “He shows off best when he's moving.”

The ranch hand untied the lead rope and began walking the gelding in a circle, although Storm Cloud didn't seem capable of simply walking. He danced his way around, instead. Nimble-footed, just like the guy who was going to take him home.

“As you can tell, he's got some Thoroughbred in him,” John said. “Spirited, but I personally like that in a horse, don't you, Vince?”

“Depends.”

“He's a showy son-of-a-gun. He may be a gelding, but he acts more like a stallion. I tell you, he's exciting to ride.”

Vince forced his attention away from the horse. “Then why are you selling him, John?”

There was a long silence in which the rancher seemed to struggle with what he was going to say. Finally he blew out a breath. “Well, hell. I've tried gilding the lily with other folks and that hasn't worked, so I'll just level with you. Storm Cloud is a pain in the butt.”

Vince had been called that himself a time or two. Or fifty. He ducked his head so John wouldn't see him smile. The rancher probably thought he was about to get in his truck and head out. Lifting his head, he saw the resignation in the man's expression. “If we take him over to the trailer, will he load?”