The Intriguing Billionaire Cowboy [Wives for the Western Billionaires 8] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic) (17 page)

“I won’t, and I’ll contact you later to let you know how things are going. Thank you, Dr. Rhodes.”

“Call me Derm. All my friend do.”

“Will do.” Sam took the address and headed out of the office. He waved down a cab. Hopefully, she’d given the doctor her real address.

Sam paid the cabbie and got out. A tall condo building faced him. Manicured lawns ran around the outside. A doorman stood at the glass door entry. One more hurdle to get through.

“I’m a friend of Sylvia Rufus’s. I’d like to surprise her.”

“I have to check with her to see if it’s all right for you to go up.”

“She’s upset. We had a lovers’ quarrel. She won’t say yes.”

“Then I don’t need to call her. Sorry, come another time.”

“I have to see her. It’s important.”

“I can lose my job if I go against the rules.”

“Here’s a little compensation for the risk.” Sam handed him two one-hundred-dollar bills.

The doorman glanced in each direction. Then Sam heard the door click. He took hold of the door handle and pulled it open.

“Thanks, you won’t regret it.”

“You know her number?”

“No.”

“I don’t want you wandering all over. Try the eleventh-floor penthouse. But I don’t know her password to get off the elevator. When you get up there, you’ll have to call her.”

“I’ll manage. Thanks.”

The personal elevator to her penthouse condo was on the ground floor. Sam got on and punched in the number eleven. He had to figure out what Sylvia would use for a password. He shot up to eleven, leaving his stomach behind. He hated these things.

Once the elevator stopped, Sam stared at the keypad. There were letters above the numbers. He’d read a book once where the guy found the password by seeing which numbers were used most often. He had to lean close. The letters and numbers were in good shape. Sam ran his finger over them. No luck there.

He called Graham. Surprisingly the service in this building was good even in the elevator.

“Graham here.”

“I’m in an elevator, and I need your help,” Sam said.

“Where the hell are you?”

“Washington, DC.”

“I’d suggest you push the emergency button.”

Sam chuckled at Graham’s sardonic answer. “I need Sylvia’s password to her condo. I can’t get in without it. She may be in trouble.”

“What you mean is she wouldn’t let you in, if you called her.”

“Maybe. Any idea what she might have used?”

“Let me ask Gina.”

While he waited, Sam tried punching in the numbers that spelled
Gina
, four, four, six, two. Nothing.

“Hi, Sam. I gather you found the mysterious condo. I’ve never even been there.”

“Then you have no idea what her password would be.”

“We had some funny names we used for her when she called from undercover. One was especially fun, it was ‘gingersnaps.’”

“You aren’t putting me on?”

“Try it.”

Sam pushed in the corresponding numbers. The elevator door slid open. “Damn, I could have spent a year here and never come up with that combination. Thanks, Gina. I’ll call back.” He clicked his phone off.

He was standing in a foyer. He tried the front door, and it was unlocked. The apartment beyond was quiet, but he saw the open glass doors and heard the sound of distant traffic.

Stepping softly, he walked in that direction. Sylvia sat on a chair with her feet against the railing around the small veranda. The bourbon bottle on the floor beside her was a third gone. She held a crystal glass in her hand and was totally unaware of his presence. She was upset, or he’d never have gotten this close without discovery. He didn’t want to startle her too much. Sam cleared his throat.

Sylvia jumped out the chair. She glared at Sam. “You’re lucky I wasn’t wearing my ankle holster. I might have shot you before I saw who you were. How the hell did you get in here?”

“With a little help from your sister and your doctor.”

“I’ll sue him for giving out my private information.”

“No, you won’t. He’s worried about you.”

“I usually lock my front door, but I wasn’t thinking clearly. And I never expected anyone to figure out the password to get the elevator to open.”

She slumped back in the chair and took another long swallow of her drink. “If you intend to sit down, you might as well fix yourself something.” She waved her hand at the bar right inside the glass doors. Then she picked up the bourbon bottle and handed it to him. “Make me a fresh one. The ice has melted in this glass.”

“You’d do better to get dressed, and let me take you to dinner. Have you eaten at all today?”

Sylvia leaned back in her seat and stretched her legs out in front of her. “I was too nervous to eat breakfast, and I think lunchtime is over, so no, I haven’t partaken of any food today.”

Her words were slurring. He was pretty sure she’d wake up tomorrow with a huge headache if she didn’t stop drinking and get some food in her stomach.

He removed her glass from her hand and put it on the bar counter. Then he picked her up in his arms.

“What are you doing? Get my drink. I’m fine, and I don’t need your company.” She glanced around. “Where’s Camille?”

“I guess she’s home with her parents. I have only one lady’s whereabouts that concerns me. I’ve been looking for you all over the place.”

“I’ve been tryy…trying to tell you I’m not good enough to be your wife.” Her words slurred out. She looked around as he walked down her hallway. “Where are we going?”

“I’d like to take you to bed, but instead”—he found her bedroom, walked through, and into the bathroom—“I’m going to put you in the shower.”

“No, you are not.” She pushed his hands away as he started unbuttoning her shirt.

“If you insist.” Reaching in, he turned the water on cold and lifted her inside. “Stay there.” Quickly, he undressed while she turned the faucet to warmer.

“You’ve ruined my outfit.”

“It was your choice.” He got in naked beside her.

“I didn’t invite you to join me.”

“True.” He cupped her face and kissed her, then asked, “Shall I leave?”

“Look at me,” she demanded.

Her hair was soaked and fell straight around her face, her clothes clung to her curves, and her green eyes looked confused and sad.

“I’m looking at the woman I love.”

“No, you can’t. I’m ugly. When your mother tells you how bad you look, it has to be the truth.” Tears spilled out of her eyes and down her cheeks.

“Darlin’, when has your mother ever told you the truth? Did she tell you and Gina when she was going to leave you as small children?”

“No.”

“Can you remember ever being able to trust what she said?”

“No.”

“Then don’t believe her now. She is jealous of your youth, and the fact that even a scar can’t take away your beauty.”

“You are a fast-talker.”

“But you can trust me. I know you’re scared to take the risk, but I won’t let you down.”

“What if I can’t stand living in Frontier City?”

“That might be an insurmountable problem. I understand because I can’t live anywhere else than Montana and be happy. If the city is really what you want, I’ll have to let you go.”

“Sheriff Grady said his wife went home for visits frequently at first until she settled in.”

“I like his wife. You have to meet her someday and talk with her. They have a strong love that saw them through the first difficult months of their marriage. Don’t tell me what you’ve decided yet. Let’s go out and enjoy dinner. Then we’ll talk again later.”

“My head’s too fussy to talk seriously now.” Her stomach growled. “I guess I am hungry.”

* * * *

Sam escorted her into a small restaurant she’d never heard of. “How did you find this place?”

“Clay’s been here. He told us about it. I thought then that when I had a special girl this was where I’d bring her.”

The lights were dim and soft music played in the background. The maître d’ took them to a table in a corner. Sylvia glanced around. The tables were arranged for maximum privacy by the use of space, curtains, and plant arrangements.

She leaned forward and whispered in Sam’s ear. “This looks like a place you’d take your lover on a rendezvous.”

He nodded. “I know. It is quite impressive, and you are my lover.”

“True, I rather like being incognito. I feel like I’m undercover on an assignment.”

“And I’m a dangerous man who has secrets you want.”

“I’ll have to get them out of you, one way or another.” She spoke in a husky, low voice.

Their waiter brought the tea they’d ordered. Obviously Sam wanted to sober her. “You order for me,” she told Sam.

When the waiter left, she slipped closer to Sam in the booth. Then she put her hand on his thigh.

“I will not reveal my secrets, my fair lady. No matter how much you torture me.”

She raised her eyes and looked into his. “I have my ways. You will be like putty in my hands.”

“I hope not. If I’m not hard as a rock, we won’t get far.”

Tea spewed out of Sylvia’s mouth from the swallow she had just taken. “No fair trying to choke me on my drink.” She wiped her mouth, and they both laughed.

“I can’t wait to get you back to your place.”

“Ditto. I will torture you until you beg for mercy.”

When their meal came, they ate quickly. “This is good food. I was starved.” Sylvia took a sip of her tea. “My head feels better. You are my hero. You arrived in time to save me from a terrible hangover in the morning.”

“I thought you didn’t drink much.”

“Not usually, but after talking with the doctor I needed something to block my thoughts.”

“Did it work?”

“No.” She told him what Dr. Rhodes had said.

“Honey, did you see the glances you got when you arrived here? The waiters and the maître d’ were staring at your beauty. That red dress clings to every curve and the color makes your skin look like rich cream. When you dropped the light wrap from around your head and face, the waiter showed no reaction other than sincere admiration. I’m so proud to be the man escorting you.”

“Where did you come from? I’ve never known a man like you. You’re full of the right words to say. You are kind and steady like a rock. I can’t believe you won’t change tomorrow or in a year.”

“Sometime in your life you have to trust a man. Or you’ll end up all alone. Is that what you want?”

The waiter arrived with her dessert before she spoke. “Madam, your chocolate blizzard.” He set the plate with a flourish in front of her. The cake was covered in pieces of hard, dark chocolate and two scoops of vanilla ice cream, plus raspberry sauce and whipped cream.

“You have to help me eat this. The plate is dinner size and full.”

“I can do that. I like chocolate, too.”

Later, standing at the curb, Sam waved down a cab. He helped Sylvia in and gave the address.

On the elevator up to her penthouse, Sam pushed Sylvia against the wall and kissed her. He pulled back. “You taste of wonderful chocolate.”

“It’s probably oozing out of my pores.”

“I’ll check.” Sam kissed her neck and nibbled at her shoulder. “You do taste wonderful.” He leaned down and raised her skirt up around her hips.

His shocked look had Sylvia laughing. “I’ve been waiting to see that expression.”

“Damn, if I’d known you didn’t have panties on, I’d have rushed you home much sooner. You’re the sexiest woman I’ve ever seen.” He unzipped his pants and freed his cock. “Are you using birth control?”

“Yes. And I trust you’re safe.”

“Good, because I can’t wait a second more.” He lifted her legs and she put her arms around his neck. Then he positioned his dick at her opening and in one long slide, he was in her pussy.

He gave her a thorough kiss while his cock throbbed inside her and stretched her pussy walls to their limit. She clenched his cock tight, and a shiver of delicious joy spread throughout her body. She’d come home and was safe in his arms.

The thought made her catch her breath. Where did that come from? But it was true. She stared into Sam’s golden-brown eyes. His pupils were dilated, and his eyes smoldered with desire. Her breath caught in her throat as he leaned forward and gently kissed her.

Then he began to go in and out, sending sizzling heat rushing through her veins. He kissed the side of her neck, and he groaned as she clenched and unclenched her pussy walls around his big cock.

He’d enclosed her body between the cool elevator wall and his muscled warmth.
It’s like
I’ve been caught between my cold, unemotional past and the warm future Sam keeps offering me. I’ve been proud of facing danger and not being afraid, and yet my fear of loving has had me pushing away the best person to come into my life.