The Color of Forever: Book Two: Forever Cowboys Series (2 page)

“Hey ladies,” Ben addressed them with a broad smile that brought a pair of beguiling dimples into play. “Aren’t you cold?”

“We wanted to enjoy this sunshine for a while before going back indoors,” Mari told him, returning his smile. “Besides, we’re still warm from the long walk we took.”

“How are you liking our part of the country, Samantha?” Ben asked. “It sure seems to be agreeing with you,” he went on, eyeing her rosy cheeks and lips that the cold had accentuated. “You look even prettier now than you did at the wedding.”

To her total surprise, Sam found herself blushing like a schoolgirl from his comment. Good grief, she upbraided herself silently. It wasn’t like she had never gotten a compliment before. Men frequently made positive comments about her shiny black hair and deep blue, almost violet eyes that were often compared to Elizabeth Taylor’s famous peepers.

She had her Italian mother to thank for her dark tresses and slightly olive toned skin that looked tanned to a golden glow year round. As for her eye color, she had her Irish father to thank for that. Her curvaceous, hourglass figure wasn’t as svelte as current fashion deemed the ideal female body type, but she had never had any complaints from members of the opposite sex.

“Thanks,” she replied briefly, for once in a long while struggling for words. Glancing up, she met Ben’s eyes and was immediately struck by how gorgeous they were. She had noticed his eyes to an extent during the wedding but as the reception was inside at night, she didn’t receive the full benefit of just how outstanding they really were.

Blue … no … she amended, sneaking a peek. Not blue. More of a gray. But not exactly gray, either. Well, at any rate, she decided; they were beautiful no matter what color they were! And those eyelashes! It ought to be against the law for a man to have those extravagantly long, lush lashes, the kind many women would kill for.

Samantha decided to evade Ben’s inquiry about how she liked it up here in the mountains. No need in antagonizing him by revealing her true feelings. He probably loved the place and would fail to comprehend how anyone could feel any differently.

Ben Connors might be an excellent and entertaining diversion during her stay in Wyoming, she mused inwardly. He was definitely sexy and passed the blue jeans test with flying colors that she and Mari had joked about for years. Way back in high school, the two friends had decided that if a guy’s booty looked good in jeans he might be a winner and if not, he wasn’t date worthy. Adolescent nonsense for the most part, although they both admitted to taking it a bit seriously.

She smiled up at Ben, fluttering her own lashes just a little in flirtation. No sense in letting this enforced time-out from the city be a total waste. She could work on her writing and indulge in a lighthearted, no strings attached affair with this handsome game warden/cowboy. Both would be putting her time to good use, she decided.

“So, Samantha,” Ben said, “I think I heard someone say you’re staying in Marielle’s house?”

“That’s right,” She replied. “Mari has made it so cozy and comfortable. I’m planning to settle in for the duration and enjoy my time off from work.”

“How long do you plan to stay?” Ben inquired.

Samantha hesitated. She didn’t want to outright lie, but wasn’t inclined toward telling Ben the truth: that the length of her stay depended on how fast the NYPD could make an airtight case against Tony and get him sent away for at least a few years. It occurred to her that she was faintly ashamed to admit she had been romantically involved with a man like Tony. She didn’t recall ever feeling reluctant to divulge any gory details of her numerous failed relationships or even feeling personally ashamed of them.

But something about Ben Connors with his honest, open face and forthright manner told her that here was a man who might not understand how she got involved with a sleazy, psychotic criminal and now must hide in the mountains out of harm’s way.

“Umm … I’m not really sure, Ben.” Samantha told him. “That depends on various factors. Maybe just a couple of weeks, maybe a few months. I’m playing it by ear.”

She realized her answer was vague and ambiguous, but it couldn’t be helped.

Ben flashed another wickedly attractive smile her way. “Well, I hope you’ll have time to let me show you around,” he said. “We don’t have any giant department stores or fast food joints, but you might be surprised at how Mother Nature has provided us with a lot of other attractions.”

“I’d like that, Ben,” Sam assured him, smiling back. She
would
like it. Even if she wasn’t too keen on sightseeing, she would certainly enjoy the company of this sexy cowboy!

“How about tomorrow morning?” he asked Samantha. “I have to go check on a couple of things over on Hangman’s Ridge and could stop by and pick you up to ride along with me.”

“You mean ride as in riding in a vehicle or ride along on a horse?” Samantha countered. “Because if it’s on a horse, I have to tell you that I have never been on one in my life.”

Ben chuckled. “I meant in my truck,” he replied. “But we need to do something about teaching you to ride. So many of the most beautiful places here can’t be gotten to except on foot or horseback.”

“Mari, are you still keeping your horses at your ranch?” Ben asked, turning to Marielle.

“Yes,” she replied. “We plan on moving them at some point but the truth is….” Mari grinned at Samantha and winked. “We left them at my place for now so Sam could learn to ride.”

Sam reacted in mock horror. “Perish the thought, girlfriend. This homey ain’t gonna be ridin’ no horse.”

Marielle laughed at her friend’s clowning. “Sam, she said, “I told you what a hard time I had learning to ride, but after I learned, I enjoyed it. Trey and I love to get out together and just ride. I think you’d like it too it if you gave it a chance.”

“You and Trey are so happy together in your own little world you’d enjoy being staked out on a fire ant mound together,” was Sam’s rejoinder. “But if Ben here will volunteer to give me some riding lessons, I’ll try.”

Ben doffed his cowboy hat and gave an exaggerated, courtly bow in Samantha’s direction. “It would be my pleasure, ma’am,” he assured her. “Just let me know when you’re ready to start. In the meantime, I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

“Okay, sounds good,” Samantha replied, thinking that spending time with this extraordinarily attractive man sounded very good indeed.

Ben took his leave and Sam did the same shortly thereafter, heading back over to Marielle’s place once the coffee was finished.

Later that evening, as she was getting ready for bed, Samantha found herself thinking about Ben. He was one of the best looking males she had ever met face to face, but he seemed completely unaware of how devastatingly handsome he was. Most guys she knew

back in the city with looks like that would be players in a big way.

But Ben didn’t come across as a player at all. Just the opposite, in fact. He seemed so natural and down to earth. Courteous, charming, congenial … the whole package … Samantha decided that he remained unspoiled because he had led such an isolated existence up here in these mountains. Otherwise, she thought, he’d be busy using his looks and charm to his own advantage with the opposite sex.

Well, he might be a babe in the woods when it came to women but he was still hot and she intended to make the most of being thrown together with him during her purgatory in the wilds of Wyoming.

The next day dawned cold and crisp with bright sunshine, a deep azure blue sky and a brisk wind blowing. Standing on the front porch of Mari’s little house, Samantha was glad she had listened to her friend and packed appropriate clothes for the visit.

On a day like today, her flannel lined blue jeans, thick sweater and puffy down jacket helped keep the chilly temps and cold wind at bay. Together with the hand knit wool hat that had been a Christmas gift from her sister Maeve, she felt ready for her outing with Ben.

What kind of “attractions” did he have in mind to show her? If you weren’t a nature freak, or tree hugger as some of her friends called those who were passionate about ecology, preserving natural habitats and endangered species, what did some scenery have to offer?

While Sam appreciated the Great Outdoors to a limited extent, her credo was basically to leave nature alone and hope it left her alone.

The sound of an approaching vehicle caught her attention. Cupping her hand over her eyes as a sort of visor since she was looking directly into the morning sun, Samantha

squinted and was able to see the same truck Ben had been driving when he stopped by Mari’s yesterday.

The black truck was coming down the driveway, it’s wheels making crunching sounds as they rolled across the frozen gravel of the drive. It pulled up and stopped in front of the house and Ben got out.

“Good morning, Samantha,” he called to her, wearing a wide smile that lit up his fabulous eyes.

“Good morning,” Sam replied. Good grief! Was the man actually bright and cheerful this early in the morning? Although she had agreed to be ready for their outing at what she considered the uncivilized hour of 8 am, Samantha privately thought that nobody should be out and about until they had consumed at least two full cups of coffee in order to come fully awake.

She herself was not a morning person. Far from it, in fact. Her friends and sister Maeve teased her about being such a grump for a while after waking up. It was true. She wasn’t at her best early in the morning and had serious doubts as to whether or not she could suddenly morph into Little Susie Sunshine just to make a good impression on Ben. Still, she had agreed to this ungodly hour so she’d make the best of it.

Ben’s apparently unforced top o’ the morning to you mood was just another example of why they had nothing in common except perhaps a physical attraction, Sam told herself.

But hey, nothing wrong with physical attraction. Perfectly natural and normal, in her opinion. While not promiscuous or prone to jump in and out of bed with a steady succession of men, Sam had a healthy interest in sex.

Judiciously eyeing Ben Connors from his sun bleached blonde hair to his amazing eyes and on down to his well muscled torso, lean hips and long legs, she decided that he looked nothing if not healthy and incredibly sexy.

She looked up from her full body scan of Ben’s physique to see him watching her. To Samantha’s utter amazement, he had actually colored under her frank scrutiny.

Sam was flabbergasted. Was this man actually
blushing
? Seriously?

Could he be real? She knew these mountains were remote, but really, did these people still live under some archaic code of the Old West? Where women were the fair sex, innocent and pure as the driven snow, to be defended and protected?

If that was the case, Ben might feel reluctant to defile her honor by making a pass at her.

A situation, Sam resolved, that must be rectified ASAP. The thing with Tony had put her out of circulation for a while and she couldn’t think of any more enjoyable way to pass some time than having great sex with this great looking guy. Even if he was a little too old fashioned, he was very sweet and she was mightily attracted to him.

Then, collecting her errant and lascivious thoughts, she walked around the truck where Ben stood holding the door open for her and climbed in. Samantha couldn’t remember the last time a man had opened a door for her, any kind of door.

Never?

Ben really was something else, she decided, and unlike any male she had ever known.

He got in on his side of the truck and looked at Samantha. “Ready to take that ride?” he asked.

She nodded her head. Oh yeah. She was ready all right. Ready to go for a ride with him and more than ready to take him on a wild ride of her own … a journey into passion and pleasure that neither of them would ever forget.

Sam prided herself on being a modern girl who wasn’t bound by the stifling double standards females had been subject to for centuries. If she saw a man that caught her eye she had no problem with making the first move, and she’d be making a move on this sexy cowboy soon!