Barbara Dunlop - The Last Cowboy Standing

“What are you doing here?” Danielle asked without preamble.

“I was getting a coffee, but then Melanie and I started chatting.”

Danielle cast a reflexive glance to the woman who wasn’t even hiding her interest. “I meant, what are you doing at this hotel? You said you were at the Blonde Desert.”

“When the Emperor Plaza found out I was a bull riding champion, they comped a suite.”

“Did you flash your belt buckle?”

He grinned. “Never thought of that.”

“How did they know?”

Travis nodded toward the closed door of the meeting room. “He in there with you?”

“You mean Randal?”

“You still think it’s just business?”

“Absolutely.” More than ever. In fact, she was embarrassed now that she’d ever thought it might be something else.

Travis cracked a mocking half smile.

“What?”

“For such a smart woman, you’re really not a very smart woman.”

“Yeah? Well, for such a dumb cowboy, you really are a dumb cowboy.”

If she’d hoped to get a rise out of him, it didn’t work. His expression never faltered.

“You’re reading way too much into this,” she told him, glancing guiltily toward the meeting room, thinking she needed to get back there and catch the end of the session.

“No, I’m not,” said Travis.

She decided to put a stop to the debate. “He’s got a girlfriend back in D.C.”

“Not a very good one.”

Danielle folded her arms across her chest. “Now, that’s just absurd. You don’t know a single thing about her.” Danielle didn’t even know her name.

“I know he’s thinking about cheating on her.”

“You’re clairvoyant as well as a bull rider?”

“You don’t need to be clairvoyant to read lust in somebody’s expression.”

Danielle’s thoughts faltered, taking her down a worrisome pathway. “Was it me?”

“That he’s lusting after?”

“No. I mean, did I say something, or do something to make it look like I was interested in him?”

Travis rocked back ever so slightly. “Are you interested in him?”

“No. I mean, I don’t think so. But I could be one of those women.”

“One of what women?”

“The ones who don’t want a guy, but don’t want any other woman to have him, either. I mean, maybe when I heard he had a girlfriend, I subconsciously started getting jealous.”

“You’re not one of those women.”

“How do you know for sure? I might be.” What an incredibly distasteful character trait.

“It’s not you. It’s him. He sends out possessive vibes for about a hundred yards.”

“We haven’t seen each other in four years.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Travis confidently drawled.

The sound of applause drifted through the walls. Seconds later, four sets of double doors opened across the lobby, people spilling out in a steady stream. She guessed that answered whether or not she was going to catch the end of the session.

“Here he comes,” said Travis.

Danielle followed the trajectory of his gaze.

“Straight for you.”

“He’s got my bag.”

“A convenient excuse.”

“A gentlemanly act.”

Travis coughed out a laugh.

“You just can’t believe you might have it wrong,” she challenged.

“He’ll ask you to lunch,” Travis predicted. “And when you tell him you’re having lunch with me, it’ll kill him. He’ll say or do something to put me in my place. He’ll be absolutely compelled to point out the cultural differences between you and me, and how he’s the better man.”

“I’m not going for lunch with you.”

“Mark my words,” said Travis as Randal arrived.

“You left your bag behind,” said Randal, sparing a fleeting glance in Travis’s direction.

“Thank you,” Danielle offered, feeling a smug sense of satisfaction.

“Travis Jacobs,” Travis introduced himself, holding out his hand.

Randal seemed to hesitate for a split second. “Randal Kleinfeld.” He shook hands. “I went to Harvard with Danielle.”

“So, I hear,” said Travis.

Randal turned his attention back to Danielle. “So, what would you like to do for lunch?”

She could all but hear Travis’s mocking thoughts, feel him daring her to test his theory. If she did, she’d be stuck going to lunch with him. If she didn’t, he’d probably never let her live it down. But when Randal didn’t try to put Travis in his place the way Travis had predicted, Danielle would feel as if she’d won something, too.

It was worth a lunch with Travis, she decided.

“I’m so sorry,” she told Randal. “But Travis and I have just made lunch plans.”

Randal’s attention darted briefly to Travis. His eyes narrowed as if he was none too happy. But when he spoke to Danielle, his expression smoothed out again.

“I thought you might like to hear about the rest of the tariff Q and A.” Randal smiled, and his gaze slid to Travis again. “We could contrast tripartite arrangements pertaining to intra-regional trade distortions versus the harmonization of partner states.”

“We’re going to contrast the black bulls with the white ones,” Travis said with a straight face.

Danielle thought it was a stretch for Travis to take Randal’s words as a slight, but she nearly laughed at the comeback.

“I can make some introductions to people at the firm,” Randal pushed on. “You should use the break time to your advantage.”

“Sorry,” said Danielle. “But I already have plans.”

Randal hit Travis with a disparaging look. “You’re going to take advantage of her good manners?”

“I was going to pay for the lunch,” said Travis.

“That’s not the point.”

Danielle reached out to where Randal held her bag. “Thanks for bringing this. I’ll probably see you later on in the day?”

Before Randal could react, Travis removed the bag from his grasp.

“Jacque Alanis Signature Room?” Travis asked her in a clear voice, naming the most exclusive and expensive restaurant on the Strip. Then he took her arm and deftly turned her for the main entrance.

“You’re the one who’s throwing down the gauntlet,” she accused as they moved out of earshot.

“If his motives are pure, he’ll have no interest in which restaurant we choose.”

“We’re going to contrast the black and white bulls?”

“He tossed out all that technical language for my benefit.”

“Lawyers always talk that way.”

“You don’t.”

Danielle tried to decide if he was right. “I do when I’m with other lawyers.”

“You don’t do it to belittle other people in a conversation.”

She thought about that. “Sometimes I do it to you.”

He seemed to ponder the comment as they walked out the doors of the main entrance. “Sometimes I deserve it.”

Danielle gaped at him in astonishment, as he gave a hand signal to a doorman.

Within moments, a long, white limousine was pulling to the curb, and the porter held open the back door.

“You have got to be kidding,” she told Travis.

“He’s still watching. I want to make this good.”

Danielle didn’t believe that for one minute. “By now, Randal’s gone to lunch with someone else.”

“No, he hasn’t.” Travis guided her forward with a hand on the small of her back. “And the more I look like a rival, the faster he’ll tip his hand, and prove me right. He’s still after you.”

She put her hand on the open car door. “This is going to cost you a fortune.”

“You’re talking to a man with bull riding prize money in his jeans.”

“You’re going to spend it all just to make a point?”

“Might as well spend it on you.” His blue eyes were fixed and determined.