Chapter Seven
Colt held the truck door open for Elise, but didn’t say a word to her. His face was an impassive mask as he shut her door behind her and walked around to his side of the truck. He started the engine and pulled onto the road. Elise couldn’t stand the tense silence anymore. She turned to look at Colt’s profile as he stared at the road.
“Colt…” she began. But that was all she got out before Colt reached over and laid his hand on her thigh. The gesture was heart-stopping.
Elise dropped her gaze to his hand. The warmth of it penetrated her jeans, soaking into her skin, radiating throughout her body. She let her eyes shift from Colt’s hand back up to his face. He didn’t say anything, just let his gaze drift slowly over her. It wasn’t so much an apology he held in his eyes but something…deeper. His intimate, visual caress coupled with his heated touch conveyed his feelings more than any words ever could have. Elise locked eyes with him as she laid her smaller hand on top of his.
Colt finally broke their gaze to return his to the road, but his hand stayed where it was, branded on her thigh. They rode the rest of the way to the ranch in silence.
When they reached the ranch, he removed his hand from her leg to turn off the engine. Turning to her, his eyes reflected his pent up desire. A tight smile formed on his lips before he spoke, “It’s a good thing I have a lot of errands to do on the ranch today. I don’t think I would be able to spend today in the office with you without yanking you into my office and having my way with you.”
Desire shot through her body at his words, spreading from her hard nipples and below. Elise gave him a pouty smile. “Well then, Cowboy, what kind of thoughts are you leaving me with today?”
Colt’s tight smile changed and broadened a full-fledged grin. “Hopefully, the same kind of torturous thoughts I’ve been having ever since you turned those sultry green eyes my way and said, ‘Nice to meet you, Colt.’”
Elise laughed as she opened the door and slid out of the truck. She turned and looked at him with his arm slung over the steering wheel. “You have a good day bouncing around out there on Scout, ya hear?” Shutting the door, she swayed her hips a little more than normal just for his benefit before she disappeared inside the office.
Once inside, she settled in her chair, booted up her computer and opened the file to the website. The ticket sales seemed to be working just fine. Colt made sure to keep in touch with his manager of The Lonestar Rodeo, Tom Hoffman, to let him know about the significant changes in the ticket selling process. Yes, tickets could still be bought at the rodeo, but the website should help smooth the process.
Clicking around the website some more, she thrummed her fingers on the desk. Lately something had been bothering her about the website. She clicked on the pictures she’d loaded on it the other day for Mace. These were the pictures Jim Peterson supplied of various rodeo shots. While they were action shots, showing what happens at their rodeo, Elise thought it would also be nice for people to know what goes on behind the scenes of a rodeo. To kind of give the website more depth for folks visiting it—make it more personalized. People could always relate to the behind-the-scenes people doing their jobs to bring them entertainment.
She reached over and pulled her camera bag from her backpack. Unzipping the case, she slid her Pentax 35MM camera out. The camera was one of the items she’d left behind in Virginia. As she searched through the camera bag, she realized she was out of film. Before she ran out to the store, she decided to give her friend Alex a call.
“G’day.” Alex’s breathless voice, her Australian accent in full swing, came across the phone line.
“Hi, Alex. Got a minute?” Elise asked. She hadn’t spoken to Alex since a couple weeks before she inherited her half of the Lonestar.
Alex laughed. “Elise, you rat! You haven’t called me in a month. Now, right when I’m on my way out of town to another photo shoot, you decide to call me? You’re not playing fair. I want to talk, but my plane leaves in an hour.”
Elise’s grin rode up her face upon hearing her girlfriend’s good-natured ribbing. “Sorry, Alex. I’ve been a little busy. Call me once you get a free minute or two and I’ll fill you in on the details. You can either call my cell phone or my work number.” She gave Alex her number at the office.
“That’s no Virginia area code,” Alex said, suspicion in her voice.
Elise laughed. “I’m glad to see all that world traveling hasn’t dulled your mind.”
“Ooh, Elise, I want you to spill, but I don’t have time right now. I’ll call you as soon as I get a free minute. I want all the juicy details.” Alex’s excited voice floated through the phone.
Elise chuckled at her longtime friend’s exuberance. “I know you have to go, so I’ll ask my question. I want to take some outdoor action shots. Which film is best for me to use under those circumstances?”
Alex drilled off the best types of film saying it depended a lot on lighting. “I’ll call you as soon as I can,” she promised before she hung up.
Elise looked up to see Mace leaning in her doorway, one boot crossed over the other, his eyebrow raised as a curious expression filtered across his face. “Mornin’ Elise. Who’s Alex?”
Elise realized by Mace’s tone, he thought Alex was a guy. She let a devilish smile spread across her face. Why dispel the theory?
“Alex is a friend of mine. I needed some advice and Alex has always been there with the answer.”
“Be careful of the guys with all the answers,” he warned.
Elise laughed outright at his ironic words. “Like you have room to talk, Mr. King-of-the-Smooth-Talkers.”
He gave her a cheeky grin, not at all apologetic. “It takes one to know one, darlin’.”
Elise decided she might as well ask Mace about her idea while she had his attention. “While you’re here, I wanted to run something past you.” She outlined her idea to add personalized shots of the people who work the ranch, the people behind the scenes of The Lonestar Rodeo. “I could write up what each person does to contribute to The Lonestar.” She winked at Mace. “Even your good-for-nothing mug will be on the website.”
Mace nodded his head as she talked. “I like it, Elise. Great idea!” He rubbed his jaw as he thought through it. “Tell you what, I’ll write the introduction to the new section and you can do the individual write-ups, okay?”
Elise gave him a broad smile. “Sounds like a plan.”
He grinned back at her. “Guess I’d better get started on that intro.” He headed off to his office.
* * * * *
As lunchtime neared, Elise decided to run out and get the film Alex recommended. On the way to her car, Colt caught up with her. “Now where are you going?” He had that frustrated look on his face again.
Elise raised her eyebrow at his demanding manner. “Remember the pager, Colt,” she reminded him in a cool tone.
Before he could respond, a red truck pulled down the drive. A man who looked to be in his early fifties got out and shut the door.
“Howdy, neighbor,” the man with the salt and pepper hair said as he plunked his gray Stetson on his head.
“What are you doing here?” Colt said in a rough tone.
Elise turned and looked at him in surprise at his abrupt manner.
“I came to meet your new partner,” the man said in a jovial tone as he stuck out his hand to her.
Elise laughed and shook his hand saying, “I’m Elise Hamilton and I must say, news travels fast around here.”
“Jackson Riley,” the older man said.
“Oh, you’re—” she started to say when Colt cut her off. “Elise was just on her way out to run an errand.”
“Colt!” she said, shocked by his rudeness.
“Par for the course,” the man said, seeming unruffled by Colt’s attitude toward him. “How’s that bull of yours, Colt. Heard he wasn’t doing too good this weekend. Seems a shame since I heard you’d given your other top bull to Earl.”
Colt crossed his arms, rocked back on his heels and replied, “He’s doing just fine.” His gaze narrowed on Jackson. “How do you know about my bull?”
The old man shrugged. “I saw Evan’s truck leave your ranch, and well, it is a small town.”
Colt started to speak when Mabel poked her head out of the office door, “Colt, Tom’s on the line for you.”
“Tell him I’ll call him back.”
“He said he needed to speak with you now.”
“Uh-oh. Don’t have trouble with the rodeo now too, do ya?” Jackson said.
The lack of sympathy in his voice made Elise look at him. Good Lord, what was going on with these men?
Colt’s jaw muscle jumped before he turned and headed to the office.
“I would think you’d want to unload this troublesome place,” Jackson said to her as soon as Colt walked inside.
Elise met his gaze. “On the contrary. That’s what makes it so wonderful. There’s so many ways we can improve it.”
“I’ll raise the offer another eight grand,” he said, his voice hopeful.
She sighed. “I told you when I received your offer a few weeks ago that I wasn’t interested in selling, and I haven’t changed my mind,” she responded in a firm tone.
The man stiffened and all friendliness fled his expression. As he turned to get back in his truck, he looked back at her and said, “You’ll want to sell one day. My offer still stands.”
Sha
king her head and wondering at the animosity between the two men, Elise got in her car and followed his truck off the property on her way to the store for the film.
* * * * *
When she arrived back on the ranch, Colt met her at her car. As she got out, he pushed his hat back on his head and forced a smile. “I’m sorry for coming across abrupt when I spoke to you earlier. I was just hoping we could have lunch together.”
Elise gave him an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I grabbed something to eat while I was running my errand.”
He ran a finger down her cheek as he gazed into her eyes. “Maybe it was for the best anyway. I don’t think an hour would be nearly long enough.”
Elise felt her pulse quicken at his words and a bolt of desire shot from the place he touched on her cheek all the way down to pool in a pulsing ache between her legs. She involuntarily clamped her legs together at the frustrating sensation.
She stepped away at the knowing look in Colt’s eyes. He knew she was affected by his touch.
Seeking a distraction, she asked, “By the way, what’s up with you and Jackson Riley?”
Colt stiffened and his expression turned cold. “He’s just a troublemaker I could do without having around.”
She tilted her head to the side. “I wish you had told me about the sick bull. I would’ve delayed my trip to help you out.”
He slid his fingers down her neck as his expression softened. “All is well, darlin’. No worries.”
“Colt, I want to be informed—” she started to say when he interrupted.
“I didn’t think you’d be interested. I promise next time I’ll tell you.”
Elise nodded her head in agreement then said in a brisk tone, “Go back to your ranching, Cowboy. I have work to do,” before she headed toward the office.
Colt’s low chuckle followed in her wake. The sound made her square her shoulders and walk with her head held high as she opened the door and walked into the office.
As she walked down the hall, Elise was in the process of pulling the film out of the bag when she ran right into Mace.
“Whoa, there,” he said as he steadied her with his hands on her arms.
“Oh, sorry, Mace, I wasn’t looking where I was going.”
His green eyes twinkled. “Apparently not.” He looked down at the film in her hand. “Ready to take pictures?”
Elise nodded. “Have you written the intro yet?”
“Yep. I emailed it to you so you can look over it. That way, you’ll already have a copy of it when you are ready to add that page to the website.”
“Thanks, Mace.”
“Don’t mention it.” He gently chucked her on the jaw, winked, and gave her a broad grin before he walked off toward the main office door.
Elise shook her head as she watched him swagger out of the office. That man could charm the scales off a rattlesnake. One of these days Mace was going to meet his match. And watch out! A broad smile formed on her lips. She could only imagine the type of woman it would take to tame Mace Tanner. She chuckled to herself as she made her way to her desk.
Once she read the email Mace had sent her, she sat back in her chair for a minute, thoroughly impressed. Now she knew why Mace was in charge of public relations. Not only did the man have a way with women, he also had a way with words. It wasn’t just the smooth cadence of his writing that struck her, but the way in which he pulled the reader in, making one
want
to click the button to find out about the people behind The Lonestar Rodeo. More than satisfied, she saved the document on her hard drive and closed out the email.
Elise finished loading her film in her camera and was leaning over to put the camera bag back in her backpack, when she heard something land on her desk. She looked up and saw a black cowboy hat sitting next to her computer. Allowing her gaze to travel upward, her attention landed on faded blue jeans stretched across lean hips, a nice belt buckle and a chambray shirt. She sat up and looked at Colt.
“Come on, Elise. You may as well tour the ranch again while I’m out and about.”
Elise flashed him a brilliant smile. “Now, how can I resist an offer like that?”
She picked up the hat Colt brought her and put it on her head. As she stood, she swiped her camera bag back out of her backpack.
“What’s that?” Colt asked as she pulled the strap over her shoulder and walked around the desk to stand beside him.
“A camera.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Thought to do some sightseeing?”
“No, it’s a project I’m working on.” She winked at him. “You’ll see.”
“Hmmm,” was all Colt said as he put his hand on her elbow and propelled her down the hall.