Vicki Thompson - Cowboys & Angels

He might not find a stash in his duffel, but it had been his traveling companion during his relationship with Cassie. Chances were good some were still in there. Funny how the thought of Cassie didn’t bother him anymore. She’d never have been happy with a cowboy who planned to stay in Wyoming for the duration.

The aroma of fresh pine greeted him as he fit the key card into the door to his room. At some point he’d track down Pam Mulholland and thank her for treating everyone to a weekend at this plush resort. He’d fully expected to bunk with someone at the very least, but Pam had reserved separate rooms for each of them. What a luxury.

Pulling his duffel from the closet, he checked the side pocket and hit pay dirt. He took one condom and left the rest. Then he reviewed the directions she’d given him.

His hat would only be in the way, so he left it in his room. Once he was in the hallway again, he decided that maybe he should head toward the staff quarters by a roundabout route. If anyone questioned him, he’d pretend to be lost. If she’d established a policy of not dating guests, she wouldn’t want anyone to know she’d invited him to her room.

In the end, he managed to actually get lost. Feeling like an idiot, he retraced his steps and by a stroke of luck didn’t encounter anyone as he roamed the halls. Eventually he found her room and rapped softly.

She opened the door dressed in the same outfit she’d had on when they’d parted. Apparently, she hadn’t decided to slip into something more comfortable. He had no idea how this meeting would go, but at least they’d be able to talk without any danger of being overheard.

“I’d about given up on you.” She scanned the hallway before whisking him inside.

“I got lost.” He hated admitting it, but that was better than letting her think he’d dillydallied around.

“Really?” She closed the door and leaned against it. Her breathing seemed a little fast. “My directions were pretty straightforward.”

“They were, but I wanted to confuse anyone who might see me walking the halls, so I took a different route and ended up confusing myself, too.” He wasn’t breathing normally, either. Being alone with her in a room with a bed was messing with him.

She looked amazing. He hadn’t paid much attention to what she had on before, but now he was intensely interested. She wore black jeggings and cute little boots that were fashionable but useless. A light blue sweater with a V neck clung to her breasts. Gazing at her caused his groin to tighten.

“So you deliberately tried to keep your destination a secret?”

“Yeah.”

“Thank you.” Her expression softened. “I appreciate that.”

“Judging from what you said earlier, you wouldn’t want anyone to know I’m here.”

She nodded. “But I’m not as worried about that as I am about...other things.”

“Like what?” She was still leaning against the door and he was a good ten feet away, his back to her curtained window. He cut the space between them in half and would have moved even closer, but she put up her hand like a traffic cop.

“Hold it right there, cowboy. You were right when you said we need to talk.”

He couldn’t help smiling. “We do, but I’d rather not have to shout.”

She mirrored his smile. “It’s a small room. You were hardly within shouting distance. Just stay right there for now, okay?”

He did. Never let it be said that he forced his attention on a woman. Her eyes told him she was as revved up by their proximity as he was, but he’d let the situation unfold naturally.

Her chest heaved, which made her breasts quiver. “You probably can tell that I’m attracted to you.”

“God, I hope so. Otherwise I’ve lost my ability to recognize interest when I see it.” He was gratified when his comment made that flame ignite in her eyes once again. Her lips parted, and she looked so ready for a kiss that he considered ignoring her command to hold his ground.

“We need to talk about Cassie.”

That cooled his jets. “Cassie?” He couldn’t have been more shocked if she’d mentioned ties to the Mafia. “You know her?”

“Not at all, but I came to see you after you were admitted to the hospital, and you kept asking for her. You...uh...begged her not to leave you. You were quite emotional.”

Embarrassment washed through him, and he scrubbed a hand over his face as if to erase the color he knew would be there. “She’s totally out of my life. At the time when I rolled the Jeep, I was still upset about the breakup, but I’m over her.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Yes. I’m not the kind of guy who would hit on a woman if I was still in love with someone else. I don’t use one person to get over another person.” How he hated that she’d heard him moaning over Cassie. But he couldn’t change what had happened eight months ago, and he really wouldn’t want to. The accident had brought them together.

“I’m willing to accept that you’re not that kind of man. But that’s not the only thing worrying me.”

“Then what else?” If there were more obstacles, he hoped to remove them. Discovering whether he and Elle had a chance of building a relationship was his top priority.

“Judging from the way you reacted to breaking up with Cassie, you were deeply in love with her.”

“I certainly thought I was, but I’ve figured out it never would have worked. I’ve made peace with that.” He had a sudden insight. “Is that why you didn’t leave any contact information? You thought I was in love with someone else?”

“You were in love with someone else.”

“I suppose so.” He shoved his fingers through his hair. “But I’m not anymore, and I’m extremely interested in you, so I don’t understand why we’re talking about Cassie.”

“I just need to know something. Do you usually get that involved when you’re in a relationship?”

He sensed this might be a trap, so he took a moment before he responded. “Sometimes I do, yes.” That wasn’t quite accurate. He had a tendency to surrender his entire heart to the woman in his life, which left him bruised and battered when the love affair ended. But he didn’t know how else to be.

“Getting deeply involved with me wouldn’t be a good idea.”

“Are you married?” He imagined some Latin lover down in Argentina and wanted to hit something.

“No, and I don’t expect to get married for a long, long time.”

“That’s fine with me, but just for the record, why the repetition of the word long? Do you have something against marriage?”

She pointed a finger at him. “See? That’s what worries me. I’ll bet you’re looking for happily ever after.”

“Eventually, yeah. What’s the matter with that?”

“Not a thing, except...well, I’m just not into that routine.”

“Okay.”

“I’m looking for ‘happy right now.’”

He desperately wanted to touch her. If he could kiss her, this conversation would be unnecessary. She was worrying about things that wouldn’t matter for quite a while. When April arrived, they could deal with this issue. Talking about it tonight was a waste of valuable time. “I can work with happy right now.”

“You were awfully quick to say that, Trey. I’m not convinced you mean it, especially if you’ve been thinking about me for months and you even wrote a song about me.”

He gazed into her blue eyes and curbed his frustration. Maybe she had a point. Now that he’d discovered that his angel was a beautiful woman, he could be guilty of romanticizing the connection between them and falling in love with the idea of her. Yeah, that sounded like something he’d do.

Blowing out a breath, he shoved his hands in his pockets so he wouldn’t forget himself and reach for her. “It’s possible I’ve attached too much meaning to this chance encounter because of Pam and Emmett’s wedding after what happened last spring. But damn it, when a gorgeous woman appears out of nowhere and saves your life, that’s gonna make an impression.”