Vicki Thompson - In The Cowboy's Arms

“That’s brilliant.” Geena smiled. “Too bad we can’t get it organized this week because a picture of you with a recipient would be—”

“Not happening.” Matt gazed at her and wished they didn’t always have to be on opposite sides of this particular fence. But she didn’t seem to get his need for privacy. Maybe he’d have to fire her, after all. “The scholarships would be anonymous.”

She frowned. “You’d be throwing away a great PR opportunity if you do that.”

“And keeping my personal life separate from my public one. That’s always been important to me, but after what happened two days ago, it’s critical.”

Her shoulders slumped. “That makes it tough to do my job.”

“I know. But that’s the way it has to be.”

“It’s okay. I’ll think of something else. I—” She stifled a yawn. “Sorry. It’s been a long day. I guess the beer and food made me sleepy.”

“I’m sure you’re exhausted.” Rosie switched into mothering mode. “You should get some rest. I know what I said about getting up at dawn, but you don’t have to.”

“Oh, no, I want to.” She glanced at the grandfather clock in the corner. “When is dawn, anyway?”

That got a laugh. Even Matt couldn’t help grinning. She was such a city girl. But she was also game for anything, which meant she’d get along fine in this new setting. Resilience was a valued commodity around here.

“It’s around five fifteen,” his dad said.

Her eyes widened. “That early?”

“But you don’t have to get up then,” Herb continued. “We do because the horses need to be fed and turned out to pasture. Rosie likes to organize the food for breakfast, but we don’t eat until after six, so you’ll have some extra time to ease into the day.”

“Well, um, I never eat breakfast.”

“You’ll want to eat this one.” Lexi glanced over at Cade. “Nobody fixes a better breakfast than Rosie. Am I right?”

“Except for you, sweetheart.”

“Nice try, Gallagher.” Lexi gave him an affectionate nudge. “Flattery will get you nowhere. You’re still responsible for fifty percent of the cooking at our house.”

Cade sighed. “But I’m still no good at it.”

“You’re improving. That’s what’s important.”

“You’re both invited down here in the morning, though,” Rosie said. “It’s not every day we see Matt at the breakfast table. But Geena, you’re excused. I’ll have the coffeepot on until at least eight, so if that’s all you need, come in and help yourself. We don’t force food on anyone.”

“I’ll be there at six and I’d love to have your breakfast. I’ll also get up at dawn to watch Herb feed the horses. I’ve never seen anybody do that except in the movies.”

Herb smiled. “It’s not all that exciting.”

“Maybe not to you, because you do it every day. Me, I get up, get dressed, hit the drive-through at Starbucks and head to my office. Feeding horses at five thirty in the morning is exotic.”

“Then you’re welcome to show up at dawn.”

“Great. Thank you.” She turned to Matt. “Listen, before I toddle off to bed, can I have a word with you?”

His mom stood. “We can leave you two alone so you can talk.”

“Heavens, no! You’re all settled in. Matt and I will step out onto the porch.” She glanced at him. “Okay with you?”

“Sure.” He shouldn’t have had that last beer. He was feeling way too mellow and he had to stay sharp. But refusing to have a chat on the porch would seem rude and his mom would call him on it.

Geena walked out there barefoot and that charmed him. He didn’t want to be charmed any more than he wanted to have sexy thoughts about her. He needed to be tough and uncompromising as he sought to protect his family from...he was no longer clear what that was. He hadn’t wanted any part of his life in LA to intrude on his life here, and yet Geena had inserted herself into his inner circle and the sky hadn’t fallen.

After he closed the door, she turned and leaned her slim hips against the porch railing. She looked tired, which was understandable. The trip from California was taxing, especially for someone who wasn’t used to long layovers, little planes and country roads. She’d probably fare better traveling to New York or London than making her way to Sheridan, Wyoming, home to folks who climbed out of bed at the crack of dawn.

He found a spot to lean against the front wall of the house so they’d both be standing. He suspected she hadn’t taken one of the Adirondack chairs because she doubted she’d have the energy to pull herself back out of it. A cricket chirped nearby and a breeze stirred the tall pines not far from the house.

Geena sighed. “This is nice.”

“Yeah.” A little too nice. Even though his family was just beyond that door, he knew they wouldn’t come out. They understood this was private

That left him with a feeling of intimacy he’d never experienced with Geena. They were truly alone for the first time since she’d arrived. He began thinking about how she’d feel in his arms and how her lips would taste. Did she have a lover? After watching her dance, he could easily imagine that she did.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Apparently she was in no rush to begin the conversation, but unless they started talking he would continue with his inappropriate thoughts. If he walked over and kissed her, would she resist? Or would she part her lips and invite him in?

Finally he had to say something, anything, to keep him from acting on his fantasy. “You picked up that dance step pretty fast.”

She opened her eyes and smiled. “Thanks. I should be able to, after fifteen years of ballet and tap.”

He liked having another key to her personality. “When was this?”

“My mother enrolled me when I was three. Voice and acting lessons, too, so I’d be a triple threat. She named me after Geena Davis. I was supposed to be a star.”

“I didn’t know that.” Not surprising. What he didn’t know about Geena was seriously out of proportion to what he did know. “What happened?”

“A common story.” She gave a little shrug. “I can dance and sing okay but I have no talent for acting. If I’d been movie-star beautiful that might have made up for my bad acting, but I’m not.”

“I think you look nice.” That just popped out. Hadn’t meant to say it at all.

“Thanks.” She smiled and took off her glasses to polish them. “But I would have had to be a real knockout to succeed. Luckily, along the way I discovered that supporting the careers of other actors makes me happy. I’ve hung out with them all my life, so opening a PR business was a no-brainer. Mom wasn’t too pleased with my decision, but she eventually came to grips with it.”

“That’s good.” He sometimes wondered if the woman who’d given birth to him would come out of the woodwork and claim his success was all because of her. “I’ll have to admit that I’ve never seen one of your mother’s movies.”

“Sad to say, they were forgettable. She blames the scripts and the directing. Personally, I think she’s better at creating drama offscreen than on. I was afraid she’d end up with her own reality TV show, but fortunately we were all spared that. She finally gave up trying to draw attention to herself and moved to Italy.”

He couldn’t get a bead on whether she loved her mother or tolerated her. “Is that a good thing?”

“To be honest, it’s a relief. She’s exhausting to be around.”

“Almost as bad as a day spent trying to get to Sheridan, huh?”

“In retrospect, it wasn’t so terrible.” She put her glasses back on and pushed away from the railing. “Anyway, I didn’t want to go to bed without talking to you about something.”