Authors: Elle Saint James
Tessa’s phone vibrated, signaling a new call. A glance to the screen told her it was someone she didn’t want to talk to right now.
Her father.
Mickey Calloway could bluster all he wanted about the way she lived her life. He would try to run roughshod over her personal desires until the day he was put in the ground. Her father had very restrictive and conservative ideas concerning his only child. But if she didn’t pick up the phone now, he’d just keep calling and calling until one of his police friends issued an All-Points-Bulletin under the pretense of fatherly concern.
Actions spoke louder than words, however, and in her mind, her father didn’t care one whit about her. Not really. His ultimate agenda had to do with an eventual inheritance that she didn’t want. He held his wealth over her head and dangled it in front of her face like a carrot in front of a horse. But his offering also included interest in a specific man she would never want.
Tessa put her cell phone to her ear. “What?” Not the most civil greeting she could offer, but it reflected her sour mood at being kicked out of the bar. She kept her gaze across the street.
“Where are you?” her father demanded. He didn’t seem to have a civil attitude, either.
Tessa pushed out a long sigh before answering, “I’m out driving around. Why do you need to know?”
“Because you’re supposed to be dressed up, smiling, and stepping inside my house for dinner. You were supposed to be here an hour ago.”
“I already told you I wasn’t going to make it to dinner tonight.”
“But you failed to tell me why.”
“You don’t need to know everything about my life.”
“As long as I’m paying your bills, I deserve to have a little less attitude from you.”
“I wouldn’t get my hopes up on that account.” She pictured his face taking on a ruddy, angry hue. It was so easy to bait him on the phone, but not as much in person. “Besides, you don’t pay my bills. Not anymore. That’s why I have two jobs.”
“Tessa, get your ass over to the house. Now!”
“Why is tonight so important?” She sensed the answer before he spoke. Another matrimonial prospect likely waited for her along with the stuffy dinner invitation.
“Arthur is seated in the dining room right now, eating a fine meal and telling me how much he cares for you. I want you in attendance to hear it. I believe he wants to marry you. And I would certainly approve of him as—”
“I’ve told you again and again that I’m not interested in Arthur. I won’t marry him. I don’t care how many times you shove him in my face. It’s not going to happen.” So not a new man, just the same old ass wipe dragged back to the formal dining room and presented over and over.
She would never consider Arthur as husband material. Not even if he was the last man on earth, and maybe not even then. Her father didn’t know how cruel Arthur could be. There was probably a psychological term for him. Maybe psychopath was accurate.
Arthur only wanted her father’s money. The end. He loathed her as much as she hated him. Unfortunately, her father couldn’t see their mutual dislike because Arthur
pretended
to adore her. He pretended a lot of things.
The sociopathic shark, who had ingratiated himself into their lives fawning over and flattering her father at every turn, intended to eat anyone standing in his way to the fortune he felt he deserved. She wasn’t interested in sharks.
Cowboys, on the other hand, intrigued her to no end.
The outside door to the bar swung open, and the two fascinating men she’d seen earlier strolled out and headed toward the valet.
Tessa lifted the pair of binoculars to her eyes and zeroed in on them. They were normally for bird watching, which she did on occasion as a function of her part-time job as a naturalist at the zoo. She felt a little like a stalker using them to spy on these men, but the binoculars certainly came in handy for this purpose.
Her father was droning on and on in her ear about all of Arthur’s virtues, but she wasn’t listening anymore. His tone of voice suggested he was gearing up to issue an ultimatum if she didn’t show up to the house for dessert and coffee. She hated to disappoint him, but she wasn’t going anywhere except to wherever the two luscious cowboys were headed.
Actually,
that
wasn’t the truth. She didn’t care if she disappointed her father anymore. She hadn’t for years. He’d made it loud and clear since the day of her birth that her gender had been a huge disappointment to his life plans. So be it.
A rental Mercedes pulled up outside the valet stand, and her two cowboys got inside and drove to the exit of the parking lot. She noted the license plate number and memorized it. She put the binoculars on the passenger seat and started her car.
“I’ve got to go, Dad. Sorry I missed dinner.”
Lie.
“I’ll try and call you tomorrow.”
Another lie.
Tessa watched the Mercedes turn left out of the parking lot and head north. She hung up the phone just as her father’s anger had begun to spew. No need to listen to him recount all of her unacceptable attributes now. She turned her phone off so as not to have to listen to it ring. Her father likely wouldn’t stop calling just because she didn’t wish to speak to him anymore.
Tessa pulled her car forward out her alley hiding place and followed the Mercedes at a discrete distance. She suspected they were headed to the hotel where the rancher’s conference was being held or possibly an adjacent overflow hotel but kept them in view just in case. She didn’t want to lose them.
The more she thought about what they had said, the more she wanted to discover what they meant. Sharing two men would certainly be an experience she’d never forget.
Tessa hoped they would still be interested once she caught up with them. Her heart thudded in excitement at all the possibilities for the night to come.
* * * *
Dell eased back on the rental car’s accelerator. He didn’t need to hurry back to the hotel.
“You know we’re being followed, right?” Zachary asked quietly. He hadn’t moved a muscle to look behind them even once. Having spent a few years in a special ops branch of the military earlier in his life, Zachary had a few interesting skills.
Dell glanced in the rearview mirror in time to see the red Mustang make the same right turn he just had. “Of course.”
He didn’t have the same skills as his friend but had simply noticed the car parked across the street in an alley as they exited the bar parking lot. He liked Mustangs. Besides, he had a similar car back home. When the vehicle started to follow, he noticed it immediately.
“Is it our mystery girl, do you think?” Zachary asked.
When Dell glanced over, he thought Zachary’s eyes might even be closed. Military training was ingrained into every pore of Zachary’s being even ten years later.
“Damn, I sure hope so. Why do you think I’m driving so slowly?”
“Where are you going to lead her, if it is the delectable waitress from the bar?”
“Straight to our hotel suite for a bevy of carnal activities.”
“Christ, Dell, maybe she can bend over the hood of the car and flip her skirt up in the parking lot so we can do her even faster.” Zachary, being more of a slow burner, teased his woman until she screamed and begged for completion and didn’t like quick conquests. “Not that I’m opposed to that for later on in a relationship, but we should take things at a slower pace to start out.”
“For God’s sake, I’m not going to jump her the second we enter the room. I just want to be in a private place to explain our…needs. Or maybe you’d rather parade her into the center of the hotel lobby and let the aristocracy of
Zachary pushed out a long sigh. “Okay, but maybe there is a more private place to do so. The parking lot wouldn’t be my first choice. I don’t want to intimidate her before we clarify our desires. Maybe we could meet at a quiet table in the ground floor restaurant.”
“Well, the fact that she’s following us gives me lots of hope. Perhaps we won’t have to do too much explaining.”
Zachary seemed to ponder this for a long moment, then asked, “So what
is
your plan?”
“I’m going to drive to our hotel, park the car, and make our way to the bar downstairs.”
“And then?”
“See if she follows us. We’ll be walking very slowly.”
Zachary turned his head. Eyes barely slit open, he asked, “How slowly?”
“Old man slow.”
“I’m not an old man.”
“Pretend.”
“Christ,
that’s
your plan? She’ll see how slow we’re moving and change her mind. What woman wants a feeble old geezer with a weary gait, let alone two of them?”
“Do you have a better idea?”
“Yes. Park the car, get out, and sit our asses on the trunk until she walks by. Then we’ll ask her if she wants to get a drink.”
Dell considered his idea for a moment. “That could work, too. We’ll play it by ear.”
“Tell you what. You use your plan and get started on your hobbling stroll, and I’ll use my more ingenious plan and wait for her to come to me. And once I ask her out, we’ll catch up with your decrepit old man slow walk, and then the three of us can get down to business.”
Dell laughed out loud. There were lots of reasons he and Zachary got along so well. One of the most important was that they both had a similar sense of humor.
Turning into the gate of the parking structure beneath their hotel, Dell couldn’t help but slow to a snail’s pace to ensure the sexy girl in the Mustang following caught up and saw them.
“Who’s a grumpy ass now?” He watched the red car pass by behind them in the rear view mirror and hoped to hell it was their sultry waitress.
Zachary laughed and punched him in the arm. “We just drove away from several willing women ready to do all our sexual bidding with no questions asked or any hindrances to what we wanted to do, and now your big plan is to walk slow hoping a particular clumsy serving girl will catch up and eventually delight you.”
“Well, when you say it like that, it doesn’t sound as good. I do have a backup plan, though.”
“And that is?”
“We make our way to the bar, fast or slow doesn’t really matter, and wait to see if she shows up.”
Zachary rolled his eyes. “Christ, you make me tired,” he murmured under his breath. “Okay. Fine. I’ll bite. What makes you think she’ll show up in our hotel bar?”
Dell narrowed his eyes and smiled. “Did I mention she left a note in my pocket?”
“Fuck. No. You failed to tell me that crucial detail.”
Dell grinned. He loved to get Zachary wound up. “My mistake.”
“Well, what did it say?” His exasperated tone proved Dell had managed to annoy him. Which was fun.
Pulling the note from his pocket, Dell handed it to Zachary. He opened it and read, “If you’re interested in meeting me, I’ll follow you to your hotel and meet you in the hotel bar or the nearest bar to whatever hotel you’re staying at.”
“Good thing we’re staying at a hotel with a bar.”
“Good thing.” Zachary punched him in the arm as expected. However, the half-smile tugging at the corner of his mouth said he forgave him.
Dell rubbed his abused arm. “Too bad she didn’t leave her number.”
“Yeah. Too bad.”
Dell figured they’d both get her number soon enough.
Chapter Three
Tessa followed their car until they drove into the hotel’s underground parking structure. She didn’t follow them in, however. Although she got a good vibe from them initially, and she always trusted her gut, she liked her privacy.
If things didn’t work out, they didn’t know where she was parked. Instead, she put her car a few blocks away at one of the many public parking lots in this area and walked back to their hotel. Her quarry temporarily resided in one of the best hotels the city had to offer.
She headed for the pricey, exclusive hotel bar, found a table facing the entrance, and waited.
If he hadn’t found her note, this was a big, fat waste of time. If he had found the note but didn’t want to meet, she was also wasting her time. The alternative, featuring dinner at her father’s house as he tried to interest her in a man she didn’t even like as a person, was not an option. Her only other choice was going home alone. Again.
So she decided to let fate determine her evening. The only factor in question was how long she was willing to wait for the two yummy cowboys to show up.
She glanced at her watch and when her gaze lifted again, they were both on a path straight to her table. Her heart skipped a beat in anticipation of what delights fate had in store for her tonight. The closer they got, the more nervous she became. They were even more attractive in this better light.
A new fire lit in the center of her body. The adventurous spirit, so a part of her life and so often squashed, suddenly ignited. She wanted them.