Page 61 of Christmas with the Cowgirl
She laughed, and not for the first time acknowledged that she had laughed more, and more joyously, since he had come into her life than…ever.
They sat up, tidying the clothes, with her noticing the top button was missing on her shirt.She fingered the loose thread, her first thought finding it, the second about sewing it back on, but the third was the delicious idea of leaving it as it was.It made the shirt gape lower than she ever would have worn it, before.
“If I find that button, I’m throwing it away,” Miles said, that luscious, low rumble in his voice.
She didn’t know how he did that, so often guessed what she was thinking, but it was part of him, part of them, and how right they felt together.
They sat quietly for a while, leaning back against the rock bench where she’d spent so much of her life contemplating that life.Contemplating what she wanted, what she had, what she would never have.
And up until not so long ago, what she was feeling now, with Miles, would have been on that never have list.That she never, ever would have expected to find it with a man like him, from the world he was from, didn’t matter anymore.
She smiled inwardly.She was going to have to talk to Nic, find out how she reconciled things.After all, she’d had to deal with the up-front fame of falling for the star.Miles at least was behind the scenes.There was the little detail of him living in L.A., but for the first time she thought maybe, just maybe, they could work something out.
The part of her that Derek had kicked around tried to rise up, to tell her yes, he’d be with her when he was here, but when he went back home, to the land populated with beautiful wannabes who would love nothing more than to come to his attention—
“Riley?I need to ask you something.”
She was glad he’d yanked her out of that morass.“Hmm?”
“I have a proposal for you.”
She went very still.It was a moment before she trusted herself to look at him.“A…proposal?”
He blinked, and to her surprise his ears turned a little pink.Was that his version of…blushing?“I didn’t mean…that.”He lowered his gaze.“At least, not yet.”
Not yet?So he might mean it, sometime?Before she could react, and no doubt say something stupid, he hurried on.
“I just meant…you know how that painting inspiredStonewall?And that I always wished we could have filmed it for real, in the place in that painting?As in, right here?”
Her brow furrowed.“Yes.”
“So I had this idea.”He took in a deep breath, then said, “I’d like to restartStonewall.And do it right.Where it should be.Here.”
It took her a moment to understand what he was getting at.“You want to start the show back up.And film it…here?”
He nodded, looking eager.“Where it should have been all along.I know it’ll be a big change, but I swear we’ll try and keep out of your way.”
Riley felt a chill shiver down her spine as she listened.“And just how long,” she asked carefully, “have you been thinking about this?”
“Ever since I bought that painting I’ve wanted to film in the real place,” he said.And he still sounded enthused, like a man closing in on a long-sought goal.“Although I didn’t know exactly where it was until I got here.It’ll be tough, finding other people willing to invest in a reboot, that’s always risky.But I’m good at what I do.And it’ll pay off, in the end.”
Other people…Besides her?She couldn’t think of another way to interpret that right now.
The thought vanished, swept away by a bitter, harsh memory.
I’m good at my work, Riley.You won’t lose on this investment, I swear you won’t.And you’ll love life in Dallas.It’s so much better than out here in the boonies.In the end, you’ll be glad.
Derek’s long-ago words echoed in the near-frozen space that her head had become.The chill lingered, almost numbing her.This was Derek all over again.Just in a fancier, more appealing package.
In the end.In the end, you’ll be glad.It’ll pay off, in the end.
Riley scrambled to her feet, staring down at him in pained disbelief.So this was what he really wanted, what he’d been after all along.How could she have been so stupid, to think a man like this, who moved in the world he moved in, would ever really want a simple cowgirl?Even a well-off one.
It seemed clear now, and apparently he’d gone after the goal in the same way many in his business did.Since she didn’t need the money, that left only one thing.He knew he couldn’t just buy her, so he’d…seduced her instead?Gotten her to fall for him so hard she couldn’t possibly say no to whatever he wanted?
An overwhelming sense of nausea and anger welled up inside her.Anger at him, yes, but even more at herself.She should have known.
Did he think she was so head over heels she’d blindly say yes to whatever he wanted?Okay, so she’d been close.She’d truly had herself convinced this was real.That she’d finally found what had eluded her for so long.That he was nothing like Derek.
