Chapter Twelve
Grace was the oddest woman Cowboy had ever met. And Lord help him, he loved every second he spent with her. He watched as she tore the condom open, his heart beating faster than a bee-stung, galloping horse. She was sitting on his bed naked with only a pillow to hide behind. She was like one of those old-time strippers, the kind who could tease a man with feathered boas.
She inched closer, that pillow still hiding what he craved. But he kept his mouth shut, watched as she maneuvered the rubber over his dick. He held his breath, wanting to close his eyes from the pleasure but not wanting to miss seeing her sweet hands slowly—too slowly—roll out the condom. Even when she’d finished and gave him that impish grin, he couldn’t release his breath. If he did, he’d be on her so fast, he’d be sure to freak her out. He gave himself a few seconds as she admired her work. Which made his hard-on even more painful. If he wasn’t in her soon, he was going to embarrass himself.
Dragging air into his lungs, he tugged at the pillow and returned it to the headboard. He’d be using it later in one of the many ways he’d envisioned having Grace. Which had to be soon because when she reached forward and ran her index finger over the smooth latex, he nearly screamed.
“You’re…” she hesitated, her face growing that shade of pink he loved. “You’re very…proportionate.”
“To what?” he asked, knowing full well what she meant but wanting the lovely glow to stay on her cheeks.
“You know, the rest of you.” The red deepened. For someone who claimed to say it like it was, he found her reaction fascinating… and endearing as hell.
He wanted to push her down on the bed and push himself inside her. Instead, he clenched his fist to keep them off her. “Is that a problem?”
“It’s just an observation.”
Was she still drunk? Should he be stopping this? “You all right?”
“I don’t know,” she said and lay back on the pillows. “You tell me.”
The best way to answer that was to closely examine the beautiful and naked woman sprawled out on his bed. “Hmm, I might have to touch you. You know, to be able to make an informed decision.”
“I understand and wouldn’t have it any other way.”
The smile she gave made him second-guess this game they were playing. He should stop all this nonsense and just make love to her. But she seemed to be enjoying herself and no way was he going to fuck that up. He slid in beside her and, propping himself onto an elbow, stared into her green eyes. “You know, I don’t think I’ve told you how beautiful you are. Why don’t we start there?” He picked up a strand of her hair and brought it to his lips. The faint aroma of her shampoo lingered and he could just make out something floral. “Soft,” he said, then released the lock of hair to brush his knuckles across her chin. “But not like your skin. That’s pure silk.” Then he placed a kiss on both her cheeks, her lips, and the tip of her nose. She closed her eyelids in response and took in a shaky breath.
“When I was kid,” he said, liking the pulse jump in her neck, “and my daddy was none too happy with me…” Which was often. “…I had this secret spot by a creek that ran through our property.” He ran his fingertips over her mouth, wanting desperately to kiss her but holding back. She opened her eyes. “I could hide from whatever I messed up on. But even though it was shrouded by trees, when the sun reached a high point in the sky, light would manage to invade my corner of the world. Everything beneath the tree branches would take on this vibrant shade of green. “Your eyes,” he continued, brushing his thumb across her cheekbone, “remind of that forest, a secret place for me to disappear.” Then he kissed her.
Cowboy kissed Grace like she was his refuge, the one place on Earth no one could find him. Maybe because he’d been running for so long or maybe Jessie’s disappearance had uncovered old feelings of never measuring up. But right now, he wanted his haven, needed the green-eyed beauty like he’d never needed anything before. So he took her. And she took him. She fit well in his arms and beneath him and as he eased himself further inside, he didn’t want to let her go, nor did he want to hurt her. He drew himself up and onto his arms, bent his knees a little to take his weight off her. It gave him maneuverability and a great view of magnificent breasts that jiggled softly with each one of his thrusts. Damn, but she was beautiful and he told her.
“So are you, cowboy. So are you,” she said on a moan that made him push harder, deeper.
She had no idea that her little nickname turned him on more than she’d ever guess. Every time she called him cowboy, he could pretend she knew the real him. Maybe tomorrow after he’d followed through on his promise to her, he’d reveal everything. For now, he wanted to savor every second of her legs wrapped around his waist, but he’d been thinking about this since she’d licked the rim of her glass and he wasn’t sure he could hold on. Then, with the slightest flex of her hips, she undid them both. When she clenched around him, her thighs a vise grip, he followed her on the high. He forced his eyes open, watching her unravel, lose control.
* * *
Grace took a long leisurely stretch before remembering whose bed she was in. Slowly she inched her leg to the other side, feeling nothing but rumpled sheets. She opened one eye. Yup, alone. Relief washed over her as image after image of how they’d rumpled those sheets and the words that had come out of her mouth cleared her foggy brain. Had she really told him to… ? Oh dear God.
She tugged off the sheet to wrap around herself and spotted Daniel through a crack in the door. He wore a pair of jeans and nothing else and appeared to be deep in conversation on his phone. Giving him his privacy, she headed for the bathroom. Tooth brushing first, morning walk of shame hello’s later. After she’d washed her face she took a hard look at the women in the mirror. Trust is earned. Words her father had pounded into her head. And even then…
Daniel had done nothing, been nothing but nice to her. She wasn’t going to start regretting last night simply because her father wouldn’t approve. She used Daniel’s toothpaste, then twisted her hair into a knot and left the bathroom.
Daniel had put on his shirt and now sat on the bed, concern creasing the corners of his eyes. “You should get dressed.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Get dressed first.” Then he left, shutting the door behind him.
Was this about last night? Did he have a wife and forget to mention her? Could she have been that stupid and read him that wrong?
She quickly dressed and found him standing by the window, staring down at the view of the River Walk, the tension on his face alarming. She cleared her throat.
He didn’t turn around. “Grace, honey, I need you to sit down.”
When he faced her, his expression said it all. This wasn’t about last night. This was about Jessie. She held up a hand. “No.” She shook her head, not wanting to think the worst had happened. “No.” She took a deep breath. This wasn’t helping Jessie. “Tell me.”
“They found her rental car—”
“Where?”
“Not far past that gas station near the ranch. There’s a nasty turn on one of the side roads. No one uses it much because of that and it’s the long way back to town. And…it and has a thirty-foot drop into the river. They’re pulling it out as we speak.”
“Jessie?” The question stuck in her throat. Had they found her too? In her car?
“I don’t know.”
“Let’s go.” She searched the room for her purse just as a loud pounding on the door made her jump.
Daniel moved quickly. He held a finger to his lips and pointed toward the en suite bathroom. “Please,” he mouthed. Then closed her in. She reached for the handle but stopped. Maybe he was married and that was his angry wife. If so, she wasn’t getting between any of that bullshit. She could tear him a new one later. But her gut told her Daniel wasn’t married. And what if this was something personal, between him and whoever? She did as he asked… but tried to listen. He might need her help.
“What the hell is going on?” an angry man shouted.
She strained to hear, unable to make out Daniel’s response, only the other man’s irate question.
“What the fuck am I paying you for?”
Stanton? She needed fewer walls between them. She tiptoed out of the bathroom and stood outside the door.
Daniel’s voice was surprisingly calm. “Keep it down,” he said.
Did he not want her to hear?
“I hired you to do a job.”
Grace’s jaw dropped as she recognized the voice. The question was, did she stay hidden and get as much information as she could or did she lambast her father face to face? What was he doing here?
“Where the hell is my daughter?”
“Safe,” Daniel said.
Why was he asking Daniel where she was?
‘I hired you to do a job.’ Holy shit. Daniel was ICU. Daniel was the man her father had hired to find Jessie. He hadn’t helped her out of the goodness of his heart. He’d been paid. And why the hell was she hiding in Daniel’s bedroom? She burst through the doors, ready to give Cowboy a piece of her mind and then some.
“Grace, baby girl, are you all right? I was worried sick.” He shot Daniel a malevolent stare. “Why is she here?”
“Yeah, later, Dad,” she said, pushing past him and looking at Daniel. “He paid you? I have so much to say about that, but right now I want to know about Jessie. She’s my number one priority. I’ll hurt you later.” Really who would believe she hadn’t acted in self-defense with her father as her witness? Mad didn’t describe the rage building up inside her. Nails? Hell, she was ready to spit atomic bombs.
“Grace, let me explain,” Daniel said, sounding and looking like she wasn’t going to like whatever bullshit he fed her.
“I tried calling you this morning,” her father said, “but your phone kept going to voice mail.”
“My phone? No, it only goes to voice mail when…” Shit. She went to retrieve her phone off the coffee table. Sure enough, it was still dead. The cord Daniel had lent her lay on the carpeted floor surrounded by M&M’s. She must have disconnected it when she’d dropped the bag. “It’s dead. I thought I’d left it charging last night.”
“Last night?” her father repeated, again raising his voice. He pointed a finger at Daniel. “I paid you to watch my daughter. Not sleep with her.”
Grace swiveled her head toward her father, then back at Daniel and back to her father. “You did what?” she asked, far more calmly than she’d imagined possible.
“We’ll talk about this later. I have a car downstairs. Go down and wait for me. Cowboy and I have some things to discuss.”
Hearing her dad call him that made her sick to her stomach. “Cowboy?”
“Yes, Cowboy. That’s his name.”
She turned her attention to Daniel. “Cowboy?”
“It’s a long story,” Daniel said.
“Let me get this straight,” she said, scrubbing her hands over her face. “He didn’t hire you to find Jessie but to watch me. You work for ICU and your name isn’t Daniel. Have I got it straight?”
“Grace, my car,” her father repeated.
Now it was daddy’s turn. “You don’t really think I’m going to take orders from you, do you? I mean, are you that clueless to think you’ve done nothing wrong? You hired someone to follow me?”
“No, I hired a bodyguard.”
Those atomic bombs were on the launch pad. “Bodyguard?” she said, surprised she was able to unclench her jaw enough to ask.
“But he wasn’t hired to sleep with you. Your boss and I are going to have a long talk,” he said to Daniel, completely unapologetic for his part in all of this.
For a second—only a second—she felt sorry for Daniel or whatever his name was. Her dad was going to get him fired. But none of that mattered now. “All of this bullshit can wait. What about Jessie?”
Daniel and her father shared a look.
“Grace—” Daniel started, but her father cut him off.
“Grace, honey, we only found a woman’s shoe in the car and Jessie’s purse. I’m sorry, baby girl, but it looks like she drove off the road and plunged into the river. We’ll know more when forensics goes through the car.”
A loud ringing filled the room and she was about to yell at Daniel—Cowboy—to answer the phone when she realized it was coming from inside her head. Cold, she rubbed her arms and made herself breathe. Her father’s face, the face of a man she’d always known was overprotective, creased with worry. But she wasn’t a kid who needed to be babysat…by Daniel. She had to leave. She couldn’t do this. She’d been a fool and no way would she let her father see that. She grabbed her dead phone and purse and as calmly as her emotions would allow said, “I’m going to my room. Nobody follow.”
“Grace—” they said in unison.
“I’m serious.” She couldn’t look at either of them. Thankfully, they didn’t follow her.
Cowboy stared at the door, willing himself not to go after her. She hadn’t grabbed her shoes, so in all likelihood she wasn’t leaving the hotel. But he made the call just in case.
“I’m going to talk to your boss,” Irvine said, as if it were a threat.
Ryan might do a little pandering because Irvine was a friend of his father’s, but he knew Cowboy well enough to know he’d never do anything a woman didn’t want him to do. Maybe he shouldn’t have slept with her, but contrary to what her father thought, Grace was a big girl. “Hold that thought,” he said, not quite ready to battle it out.
Deroy answered on the first ring.
“Cowboy, what’s up?”
“I need you to watch the hotel exit. If she leaves, follow her and call me.”
“Not a problem.”
“Thanks.” He hung up, confident the man would do his job. After being shot in the line of duty as a cop, Deroy had lost the use of his left hand and retired. He wasn’t up to the demands Ryan put on his men, but they used him for ground work when the occasion called for it.
Cowboy called Monty next. “Hey. Grace is in her room. Let me know if she leaves.”
“You got it.”
Satisfied Grace was safe, he readied himself for whatever Irvine was going to throw at him.
“You have a man watching the hotel?”
“Contrary to what you might think, I know how to do my job. We’re monitoring the hotel cameras when she’s not with me and I dropped a GPS unit into her purse. You were saying?”
“I would tone down the attitude, son. Sheppard isn’t going to like what I have to say.”
He wasn’t his son and would have said so if he hadn’t been Grace’s father. As such, it earned him some respect. But he wouldn’t take being reprimanded. What had happened was between him and Grace. No one else. “You’re free to call my boss. He’ll most likely tell you what I’m about to. Grace is a grown woman. A smart, level-headed, and, let’s not forget, determined woman. I didn’t put the moves on her, if that’s what you’re thinking. It just happened. But I would think twice about having me reassigned. Your daughter is on to you and she isn’t going to allow a new bodyguard anywhere near her. If you insist, all Ryan can do is put a tail on her.”
“She doesn’t exactly appear pleased with you either,” Irvine said, happy to point out the obvious.
“She thinks I lied to her. Your daughter has trust issues.” And he had his work cut out for him.
“Oh, and you think that’s my fault? Do you know how many scumbags are out there?”
“Yes, sir, I do. I’m not one of them. In fact, I’ll call Ryan myself. He can take me off this assignment… but I’m not leaving Grace until I know she’s safe.”
“Are you expecting me to believe you’ve developed feelings for my daughter in one day? You’d better get back on whatever turnip truck you fell off,” he said, putting his hands on his hips and opening his jacket to let Cowboy know he was carrying.
Cowboy dropped his gaze, too afraid his smile would be caustic. He didn’t want to antagonize the man any further. When he’d reigned in his anger, he took a seat on the couch, wanting to appear rational and not stupid, as the man had implied. Plus, it gave Irvine the advantage of looking down at him. Something he believed Irvine needed. He wasn’t short by any means, but a father needed to have the upper hand.
“I have learned over the years that it’s best to see things through, right to the end. Plans have been set in motion. Next Friday is the senator’s granddaughter’s sweet sixteen party. Grace has been invited. The only thing that’ll stop her from going is if you figure out what happened before that.”
“I don’t want her anywhere near that ranch or that family. What the hell have you done?”
“What you asked me to do. Grace set up a meeting with his office. I stopped it, but she’s persistent.”
“I know. Makes a father cringe.”
“Is that what the shooting lessons and self-defense classes were for?”
“She told you that?”
“She told me a lot of things.” He wanted him to know last night wasn’t just sex. He was her father. And she loved him.
“There are a lot of assholes in this world,” he said. “She needed to know how to protect herself. She wanted to join the force. But the last thing a cop wants is to see his only baby girl put herself in danger day after day.”
Cowboy leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees. “You must’ve been happy when she changed her major.”
“Just exactly how much did she tell you?”
Cowboy shrugged. He’d told him enough to let him know that a lot can happen in one day. But the rest was none of his business.
“She’s better suited for journalism anyway.”
He wasn’t going to argue there. “And you hired me to watch her, not lock her up and stand guard. If you’d told her the truth, maybe it would’ve been different.”
“I couldn’t tell her. She can be stubborn.”
Cowboy suspected it was a trait she’d inherited from her father. “Right, so how did you expect me to stay close to her?”
“You thought getting in her bed was the answer?” He started to pace.
If Cowboy was fourteen, he might have been intimidated. “No, sir. Like I said, it just happened.” Maybe he could’ve handled things differently but, as he’d learned, what ifs were pointless.
“I don’t want her going to that ranch.”
“I understand that, but try to stop her. Especially now that you’ve dragged Jessie’s car out of the river. You said it yourself when you hired me—Grace will want answers. And nearest I can tell, you didn’t teach her to sit on the sidelines. It’s why she’s a good reporter. She goes after her stories with a vengeance.”
“Never thought teaching her to stand up for herself would come back and bite me in the ass.”
“Parents never do. How did you know where to look anyway?”
“A couple of bikers.” He took a seat in the only armchair. “They spotted tire tracks and the broken guardrail and called it in.”
“And is there any way Jessie made it out alive?” Until a body was found, no one could know for sure.
“If she survived, why didn’t she contact Grace? They’re like sisters. If Jessie was alive, I can’t see her not calling my daughter. And the undertow in that part of the river is impossible. If our divers weren’t tethered, they’d never have made it out. It could be a hit and run. Her front end was banged up. But that guardrail didn’t look right.”
“Someone helped the car go over?” To make it look like an accident?
“We won’t know until forensics is finished.”
Grace was going to need someone. Would she turn to her father? Not likely. The thought of Grace dealing with this on her own didn’t sit well with Cowboy. The thought of her hating him didn’t either. He’d have to make her understand that what had happened last night hadn’t been anything he’d been paid to do.
“Okay, now why don’t we talk about the real reasons you brought me in?”
Irvine finally stopped his pacing. “Didn’t we just discuss this?”
“Yes, sir.” He’d try a different approach. “I think we need to discuss the other reason.”