Cowgirl Fever (Novak Springs Book 1) (19 page)

Dallas made his way back to the ranch along with Wes and the group of females. He ached all over and wanted to take a long hot shower. It was the first thing on his agenda before he had that long-awaited talk with Ginnifer. He was willing to give her a reprieve after being terrified by the rattler. They were going to talk and soon, but a shower was required first. He wanted to be able to give her his full attention and feeling cruddy would get in the way of that. Even before he took the shower, though, he had to deal with Melody. The woman needed to realize there wasn’t a chance in hell they would ever get back together. He had no idea why she had even thought it was a possibility.

Melody was currently hanging all over him. He had tried to push her away several times, but she kept coming back and grabbing his arm. It was time to end the charade of niceness. “Melody, quit grabbing my arm. I’m tired and it’s annoying me.”

She looked up at him, her mouth forming into a pretty little pout before saying, “Why are you being so mean?”

Dallas stopped dead in his tracks, looking at her with a piercing gaze. “I don’t have the patience to be nice to you anymore. What the fuck kind of game are you playing here?”

With a small whimper, she brought her hand up to her mouth as a slight tear fell from her left eye. In between sniffles she managed to say, “Well I thought it was obvious. I want us to be together again.”

Dallas let out a breath of frustration before saying, “Not happening. So you can get that idea out of your pretty little head. Why’d you think I’d ever try anything with you again? You made it perfectly clear you didn’t want to be a rancher’s wife.”

Big crocodile tears started to stream down her face. Between sobs, Melody said, “But you loved me.”

Dallas shook his head in disbelief. His head was pounding at the frustration of having to deal with her. Trying to be as honest as he could, he expressed what he finally realized, “I thought I loved you. But even if I had, that’s all in the past. You’re not my future and never really were. You should go back to wherever you came from. You don’t belong here, Melody.”

He said all there was to say, so he turned to walk away from her. That was distasteful, but it had to be done. He thought he was done with her for good until he heard her say, “It’s because of that awful Ginnifer woman, isn’t it?”

Dallas turned back and asked her, “What does that matter?”

A sneer formed on her face. “I saw how you were with her. In the barn when she visited the newborn foal and when that snake crawled on her leg. She probably did it all on purpose to get your attention. You deserve better than her. She’ll never change her life for you.”

Dallas stared at her with scorn. “Oh, you mean like you did? Oh that’s right, you didn’t. You broke up with me because Novak Springs seemed like more work than you were willing to do. I wasn’t worth the effort of even trying. So how are you any different?”

“You’re right. I bailed. I regret that, but I’ve changed. Please give me a chance,” Melody begged him.

Dallas shook his head. “No. There’s no us anymore, Melody. I doubt there ever was. Furthermore, you haven’t changed at all. You are still the selfish, spiteful woman I knew back then, only I was too blind to see it when we were together. Pack your bags and leave Novak Springs. Don’t ever return. I never want to lay eyes on you again.”

“What’s going on?” Dallas turned to find his sister Emma walking down the steps of the ranch. He hadn’t realized they had stopped in front of the house. He was too busy trying to get Melody to leave him alone to take notice of his surroundings.

“Melody is leaving. I can’t deal with her anymore,” Dallas explained.

“But who’s going to run the yoga program, then? I can’t change things last minute. How do you expect me to run the program without the yoga instructor?” Emma asked.

Dallas shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t care. Melody leaves today. Refund everyone’s money if they complain.”

Emma’s voice was filled with fury, “You’re trying to make sure I fail at this, aren’t you? I know you’re the reason that Ginnifer left early. Admit it, you chased her away. Now you’re trying to chase my yoga instructor off of the property. Why did you even let me try if you were going to sabotage me every step of the way?”

All Dallas heard in her rant was that Ginnifer was gone. So his own voice filled with anger. “What do you mean Gin left? How long has she been gone?”

Emma placed her hands on her hips and screamed back at him, “Does it matter? Why do you keep chasing everyone away?”

Dallas shook his head in denial. “I didn’t. Get her to come back. I only want Melody gone.” Had she really left? He thought she had understood they needed to talk. Apparently she had other things in mind when she agreed to talk to him the next day.

“Well it’s a little too late for that now, isn’t it? They left hours ago. I’m sure she is on a plane back to New York by now,” Emma said. “That still doesn’t explain why you want Melody to leave.”

Pacing back and forth in front of the porch, he stopped long enough to look at his sister. “Because she’s my ex-fiancée and I can’t stand her.”

Emma turned to Melody, anger spewing out of her mouth, “Is that true? You never once told me you knew my brother. I talked about him all the time. You knew everything about me. Did you help me plan my business model knowing it was a way to get close to him again?”

Melody started to stumble backward in an attempt to put distance between her and Emma. “Um, well yeah, I didn’t think you’d be my friend if you realized what my former association with Dallas was…”

Emma stared straight at her, enunciating each word clearly and firmly so there was not any misinterpretation. “Right. Because then you’d never have been able to get on this ranch and get close to Dallas again. Go pack you things and leave. Never come back. Oh, and Melody, pack fast. If you’re not gone in fifteen minutes, I’ll forcibly remove you.”

Dallas stood there watching the whole exchange, reeling from the fact that Gin was no longer on Novak Springs. At that point he didn’t care where Melody was. His heart dropped in his chest as he realized he wouldn’t be able to talk to Ginnifer like he had planned. Pissed wasn’t an accurate description of how he felt. Well, if she thought she could escape him, she was dead wrong. Dallas had some planning to do before he could leave. But Gin better be prepared for a reckoning when he finally got to her.

Emma’s voice brought him out of his thoughts. “I’m so sorry, Dallas. I didn’t know.”

Dallas was forced to admit, “It’s partially my fault. I never told you her name. It would probably have helped you to know who she was. I’m sorry. I know I can be an ass at times. I need a favor from you, though.”

Emma nodded her head at him. “Anything. Tell me what you need.”

“Give me all the information you have on Gin. I’m flying to New York as soon as I can get things arranged here on the ranch.”

With a jolt of surprise Emma asked, “Whatever for? Why would you need to go to New York to see her? I thought you two didn’t get along.”

Dallas laughed at her surprise. She had no idea what happened between the magazine writer and him. “No, Gin and I have some unfinished business. It needs to be handled in person. For the record, I didn’t set out to sabotage your business. I truly did want you to succeed. Will you get by okay without Melody to do the yoga classes?”

“Okay. I can get everything for you in a few minutes. When she said she never got her questions answered, I thought it was because you were being an ass. What really happened? And don’t worry about Cowgirl Yoga. I took enough classes to run the class for now. Melody was going to be replaced after this session, anyway.”

A small smile formed on his lips. “Good. I’m glad that it won’t hurt things too much. As far as me and Ginnifer, well we got a little distracted. Let’s just say we both forgot those questions ever existed.”

A knowing smile formed on Emma’s face. “Ah. So you know she e-mailed me her list of questions. Do you want to answer them or should I?”

An idea formed in his mind. He knew exactly what he was going to do with those questions, so he said, “How about you print those up and add them with her contact information. I think she needs those answered in person.”

Emma nodded in agreement. “Consider it done. How long before you plan on leaving?”

“Tonight, after I pack and confer with Wes. He’s going to have to take charge of the ranch while I’m gone. As soon as I’m packed, I’m leaving. I don’t know for sure how long I’ll be away. I’ll keep in touch.”

“That’s fine. Go bring her back,” Emma turned and walked back into the house.

Dallas pulled Gin’s phone out of his pocket and rubbed his thumb over the screen. She was going to get it hand-delivered back whether she liked it or not. There wasn’t any way he was going to allow her to walk away from him. Their relationship may have happened fast, but that didn’t make it any less real. Dallas wasn’t afraid to use any weapon in his cache to get his point across. Ginnifer was his, and it was time she accepted that. No matter what it took, he was going to make sure she would be in his life forever. He put the phone back in his pocket and sprinted into the house. He had a lot to do before he got on the road to Seattle. New York wasn’t a far enough distance to escape him. He had a plan firmly in his mind as he walked into his bedroom to pack. Dallas hoped Ginnifer realized the mistake she made in running, because she was going to get one hell of a spanking thinking she could run away.

Ginnifer had been wrong. Completely and utterly mistaken in her assumption Dallas would chase after her. She had been back in New York a week and hadn’t heard a peep from him. She had remained at home for the remaining week of her vacation and thought for sure he would seek her out there. But she had remained miserable and alone. In fact, she hadn’t heard from Emma, either. She thought for sure the e-mailed questions would have gotten answered. There was total radio silence, and to make things worse, she realized once she was on the plane that Dallas still had her phone. She didn’t have it replaced because she had hoped he would bring it with him when he came to see her. It was starting to look like she needed to go to the store and buy a new phone after work. With a sigh, she got up from her desk and walked over to the window to look out at the New York skyline. At least she had work. It was something she had always relied on and stayed true no matter what. It was the most dependable thing in her life. Today was her first day back, and it was time to get back to the grind. She had an appointment in fifteen minutes that had been scheduled while she was on vacation. Her assistant had said it was an important story opportunity she couldn’t afford to turn down.

A voice announced from behind her, “Miss. Zeiss, your appointment is here. Should I show him in?”

Ginnifer turned to find her assistant, Alison, standing in her office door. Well, no reason to put it off just because she was miserable. If work was the only thing she could depend on, it was time to give it her full attention. “Yes, but give me five minutes. Also, see if he wants anything to drink and bring it in after you show him in.”

Her assistant nodded her head. “Okay. I will.”

Ginnifer strolled over to her desk and pulled her chair out so she could sit. Once she was sitting, she scooted the chair closer to her desk and turned on her computer. When it was fully booted up, she entered her password and waited for her home screen to load. A picture of her and Tori came up on the computer’s wallpaper. They had been so happy when the picture had been taken. Now Tori was still in Seattle dealing with the Colt Lewis drama. Ginnifer was in New York wallowing in her own misery. In time surely it would be easier and the pain would lessen. She was still staring at the computer when she heard a voice say, “Well, if it’s that bad, you should probably change it.”

With a start of surprise, she looked up to find Dallas standing in her office. He was holding a manila folder in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. Ginnifer knew it was coffee because she could smell the heavenly brew from the short distance between them. Her mouth watered at the tantalizing scent. She hadn’t bothered to get any that morning and never asked Alison to get her any. She was picky, and Alison never got it right. It was easier to get it herself. What Dallas was holding in his hand was either exactly what she’d drink or damned close.

Dallas continued to look at her saying nothing, forcing her to ask, “Why are you here?”

He walked farther into the room until he reached her desk. Dallas stopped once he reached the edge. “Well, there are many reasons. First though, I owe you a cup of coffee.” He reached across her desk and handed it to her. She took it out of his hand and took a long sip. It was perfect. How could he have possibly known how she took her coffee? Ginnifer had never gotten the chance to tell him. After a long groan of pleasure, she said, “Oh God, that’s good. How did you know how I like it?”

Dallas flashed his famous devilish smile. “I have my ways. Let’s just say I made it my mission to learn everything I needed to know about you before this meeting.”

Well, that was surprising. If he kept this up, she’d beg him to stay. Hell, who was she kidding? She was going to beg him regardless. She loved the blasted man, and now that he was here in New York, she wasn’t going to let him go that easy. Deciding she needed to fight dirty, she leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs, her skirt raising a couple of inches up her thigh. “I see. Did you learn anything interesting?”

Dallas stared down at her exposed leg before he pulled a chair out. “Oh, I learned a lot of interesting things, but that isn’t why I’m here.”

“Yeah and who helped you learn all those interesting details?” Ginnifer raised her eyebrow and asked, “Why are you here?”

“I had a lil chat with your bestie, Tori. I ran into her while waiting for my plane in Seattle. She was a font of information.” Dallas set the manila folder on her desk. “As to why I’m here—a number of reasons really. First, you needed these. Emma asked me to give them to you…”

Why hadn’t Tori told her she spoke with Dallas? The next time she spoke to her, she’d have a lot of explaining to do. Ginnifer picked up the manila folder and started to flip through it. It held the answers to her e-mailed questions. Well that explained why she hadn’t received them yet; Dallas decided to deliver them personally. She turned to look at Dallas. He had made himself comfortable and leaned his elbows on her desk, watching her intently. His stare was unnerving, and she didn’t know how to take it. So she looked into his eyes and asked, “What?”

Dallas kept looking at her with his face so serious it almost scared her. What could possibly be going through his mind? He had better start talking soon. The more he stared at her, the more nervous he made her.

After several minutes, he finally spoke, “There was another reason I came in to see you today. I have something that belongs to you.”

She expected him to say her phone, but she still asked, “What’s that?”

He surprised her by saying, “Me.”

She sat forward with surprise. “Excuse me?”

He got up and started walking around the office. When he got to her window, he stopped and looked outside at the same view that Ginnifer had been admiring earlier. His arms twisted behind his back, he stared out the window for a long time not saying anything. It was starting to torture her. Here he was in her office and nothing was happening. Nothing was going the way she had imagined it. Dallas was making things more difficult and painful by not speaking to her. He said he belonged to her. She needed him to tell her why he believed that. She didn’t understand any of this.

Dallas turned around and looked at her. A look of determination on his face, he gave her his full attention. “You heard me. I told you that we had unfinished business. You said you understood and you’d talk to me later. This is a hell of a lot later than I had planned, Gin. When I got back, I found you gone. Why’d you run away?”

She should have known he would want answers. Ginnifer had run away. There were so many ways she could have answered that question, but she chose the cowardly answer. “How’s Melody?”

With a cocky smile, Dallas tilted his head. “I wouldn’t know. I’m not her keeper.”

Ginnifer looked up at him and raised one eyebrow. “Oh, it didn’t look that way. Melody looked ready to dig her claws into you and never let you go.”

Dallas looked pissed. “What Melody wanted is irrelevant. I wasn’t going to fall in line with her plans. You should’ve talked to me before leaving.”

Ginnifer shrugged her shoulders. “I didn’t see the point. We made no promises to each other. Tori had to leave, so I decided to go with her.”

Dallas clenched his mouth together and glared at her. “Fuck if we didn’t. They may not have been spoken out loud, but plenty of promises were made.”

Ginnifer stood up and walked over to him. She looked him straight in the eye. “I’m sorry you feel that way, but I need words. I can’t read your mind any more than you can read mine. If you wanted more from me, you should have asked.”

“You never gave me a chance to. Before I had the opportunity, you were long gone.”

“Well, you’re here now. What do you want from me?” Ginnifer asked.

He stared deep into her eyes. “I want forever. Come home with me, Gin.”

Ginnifer thought he might want her, but she didn’t know exactly what he was asking of her, so she said, “You expect me to quit my job and move to Washington? Why should I do that?”

With a smile, Dallas grabbed her and pulled her into his arms. He leaned down and whispered in her ear, “Because it’s where you belong.”

Ginnifer shook her head and stated her concerns. “I don’t know for sure if that’s true. I need more, Dallas. I can’t leave everything because you want me to.”

“Please, Gin. Don’t fight me. I need you with me. I haven’t felt like this in a long time. There’s no way I could handle it if you said no.”

Ginnifer was confused again. Did he mean it would devastate him if she refused to move in with him? She tilted her head at him and asked, “What exactly are you asking me, Dallas? I need more in my life than a part-time lover. I already told you I can’t read minds.”

Dallas pulled her closer, hugging her tightly. “I don’t want a part-time lover. I want a forever wife. Marry me, Gin. I love you.”

Oh, thank God. She was beginning to think he didn’t really love her. Ginnifer never doubted for a minute he wanted her. The sex had been really good between them, but that wasn’t enough to build a relationship on. She smiled up at him and teased, “That’s all? Here I thought you needed me there only to help birth all of the baby horses.”

Dallas groaned. “You’re slowly killing me, Gin. Are you going to come back with me?”

She stepped back and put a little distance between them. “No.”

“Good…wait. What did you say?” Dallas said shock filling his voice.

“I can’t leave yet, Dallas. I have responsibilities here. Don’t look so upset.”

With hope in his voice, he ventured, “You said yet, not never.”

Ginnifer laughed and gave him a quick kiss. “Exactly, I love you too. I want to marry you and spend the rest of my life with you. Give me a little time to settle things here. Hopefully it won’t take too long. I don’t want to be separated from you for any longer than I have to be.”

Relief filled Dallas’s voice. “Oh, thank God. You scared me. I can’t wait to have you in my bed every night. By the way, please tell me you still have that outfit you wore on the camping trip. I think I need you to put it on so I can slowly strip it off of you.”

Ginnifer laughed with delight. “Of course I do. So you know, I learned some interesting things during Cowgirl Yoga that I’m dying to try.”

Dallas raised his eyebrow inquisitively. “I hope it’s not some new yoga moves. I’m not into that new-age stuff.”

“Please. Give me a little credit here. This is something much more enjoyable,” she mused. “Although it might be highly entertaining to see you do a few of those poses. It gives me something to think about.”

“That’s a bit scary. Let’s work on one idea at a time. We have plenty of time to try out everything your imagination can think of.”

“I’m glad you said that. I happen to have one of those items you mentioned earlier, right here in the office.”

“Oh yeah? Which one? I’d ask you if you have that outfit, but I’d rather you be naked.”

A wicked smile began to grow on Ginnifer’s face. She walked over to her desk drawer and pulled out the lasso Tori had given her. The black silkiness rolled through her fingers. Her hips swayed with seductiveness as she sashayed over to his side again.

“Do you want to play a little game?” she asked.

“Does it involve you losing your clothes?”

“Maybe.” Coyness wrapped around every nuance of the word.

“Then I’m all in, baby.”

Ginnfer’s smile took on a sinful gleam. She surveyed the room for the best spot to enact her pleasurable torture. She located the right area to tie him up and have her way with him. She crooked her finger at him to come forward. He took a moment to let his gaze trail from her from top to bottom. Heat filled his gaze as he stared into her eyes. A flutter of anticipation filled her deep inside as she waited for him to join her. Dallas sauntered over to her side and waited for her next instructions.

“Stand right there and put your hands over your head.”

Ginnifer stood on the chair next to him and began to tie the lasso around his hands with the secure knot she learned at one of the lessons. With care she twisted and turned it around his wrists and secured him in front of her office window. The low ceiling hosted an overhanging hook screwed firmly near the side, and she trussed him there. Ginnifer didn’t do voyeurism, but she thought the idea of pleasuring him next to the window was incredibly hot. Of course she was pretty high up in her building, and the chances of anyone actually seeing them through the window wasn’t likely. The idea of it, though, turned her on.

“Now what are you going to do with me?” he asked.

“Oh I don’t know. Maybe I’ll leave you there for a while and enjoy the view.”

“You wouldn’t dare.” Dallas glared.

Ginnifer’s laughter floated around the room in response. She rolled her teeth over her bottom lip as her desire burned through her. Of course she dared. With Dallas she would do just about anything, but he was right in one respect. She had plans, and they didn’t involve staring at him all day. Reaching down she began to undo his pants, and with a flick of her wrist, pushed them down. They fell down and rested at his ankles. Looking down at his hard shaft she began to lick her lips in anticipation. Ginnifer placed her hand on it and began to stroke him up and down in languid movements.

“Please” Dallas begged.