Satin & Saddles (6 page)

“Slow down.” Sabrina’s voice had a soothing quality to it. “Take things a day at a time.”

“He’s called me in the evenings all week and we’ve emailed back and forth.” Carly gave a little sigh. “And I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. That scares me.”

“He’s not going to up and leave you like Tim or obsess over you like that guy, Geoff, did,” Sabrina said.

Carly sighed. “Speaking of Geoff. He moved to Patagonia last week.”

“What?” Sabrina said in clear disbelief. “You’re kidding me.”

“Nope.” Carly stopped pacing. “He stopped by last Saturday morning and then he was at the barn dance that I went to with Dillon. He cut in on us on a slow dance.”

“I can’t believe it,” Sabrina said. “How did he manage to end up here?”

“He says it was a coincidence, that he likes the area. He’s a computer tech guy and he’s working out of his home four days a week and in Tucson the fifth day. Said he’s renting a house from one of the Sharpes.”

“Hmmm.” Sabrina had a frown in her tone. “That’s an awful big coincidence.”

Carly pushed her free hand through her hair. “I’ve seen him twice this week.”

Sabrina said, “Did he approach you?”

“The first time I hurried off in my Jeep and waved. I just wasn’t in the mood to talk to him in case he was interested in striking up a relationship again.”

“And the second time?”

“I literally bumped into him at the grocery store.” Carly shifted her stance. “He asked me out for Saturday and I told him I have a date. When he asked me out for another day I told him no, that I just wanted to be friends with him.”

“What did he do?”

“He said he wasn’t looking for a relationship and just wanted it to be as friends,” Carly said.

“I’ll be right there,” Sabrina called out to someone but it was muffled like she’d moved the phone away from her mouth. “I’m on the phone with Carly.”

Then Sabrina spoke to Carly. “Wyatt says we’ve got to get to the airport before we miss our flight back home tonight. We need to get back in time to make it to the get-together tomorrow.”

Carly slapped her forehead with the heel of her palm. “I can’t believe I forgot you’re still on your honeymoon.”

“Hey, I called you, remember?” Sabrina had a smile in her voice. “Wyatt and I have had an incredible time and we’re looking forward to tomorrow. I hear the Camerons get a little crazy when they head out to the lake.”

Carly smiled. “I hear the same thing.” The phone beeped in her ear. “I’ve got another call coming in and you need to catch your flight.”

“See you tomorrow,” Sabrina said.

“Bye, Sabrina,” Carly said before looking at the caller ID screen. It was a phone number she didn’t recognize. She answered it, “Hello?”

Silence.

She frowned. “Hello?”

The line clicked and disconnected.

Wrong number, no doubt. She pocketed the phone, slid into her chair, and picked up her laptop from the end table where she’d left it earlier today.

She opened it and went straight for her email and found herself disappointed that there wasn’t one from Dillon. She clicked on the email he’d sent earlier in the week that had the picture of the two of them that his friend had taken at the barn dance.

Carly,

You look amazing. Had a great time with you Saturday night and I wish I was with you now. Really looking forward to Saturday at Patagonia Lake.

D

She opened the picture again and her skin warmed as she saw the two of them dancing together, looking at the camera. She looked happy in the pic as she smiled at the camera. Dillon’s gaze was on her and there was something so sexy in his gaze that heated her body even more.

The chime sounded on her email program, telling her that she had a new email. She looked at the list of emails and a burst of excitement went through her when she saw that the new one was from Dillon with an attachment. She clicked on the email and read it.

Carly,

Thought you’d like this, a photo of Whiskey with her foal. She was born today.

D

Carly clicked on the attachment and smiled. It was a picture of one of Dillon’s mares that was the warm gold color of whiskey, and a baby standing next to her on wobbly legs. The baby had a white coat with a gray nose.

Her phone rang and she looked at the caller ID and her heart beat a little faster. She pressed the answer button. “Hi, Dillon.” She thought her voice might have sounded a little too breathy or anxious.

“Did you get the email I sent?” he said in his low, sexy voice.

“Just opened it.” Carly looked at the pic again. “A girl or a boy?”

“A filly.” There was a smile in his voice.

“Since her mother’s Whiskey, you should name the filly Piña Colada.”

“I was going to let you name her, but now I’m not so sure.” Dillon had a teasing note to his voice.

“Oooh, really?” Carly grinned. “Piña is a good nickname, don’t you think?”

Dillon laughed. “Do you have any idea the hell I’ll get from my brothers for naming a horse Piña Colada? With a mother named Whiskey, she should at least be the name of a hard liquor or beer. How about Tequila? Brandy and Bourbon are out since she’s white.”

“I’ll think about it.” Carly couldn’t help smiling. “I’ll let you know after I see her,” she said without thinking, then hit her forehead with the heel of her palm. Damn. Here she was, making future plans with him.

Gotta stop that, Carly.

“Are you ready for tomorrow?” Dillon asked. “I’m planning to pick you up at seven in the morning so that we can get to the lake early.”

“Sure,” she said. “Seven is good.”

She wasn’t sure she was ready for a day with his family but Sabrina would be there and it would be great to see her friend. Once Sabrina had moved in with Wyatt, Carly hadn’t seen her a whole lot.

It wasn’t that Carly was nervous about being around people because she never had a problem making new friends and having fun in a crowd. It was more that this was too close to “girlfriend meeting the boyfriend’s family,” and she didn’t want to be considered the girlfriend. She was Dillon’s date for the day and that was all.

“Anything I should bring?” she asked.

“Bathing suit and a change of clothing,” he said with a smile. “Things get a little wild with our bunch.”

“Noted.” She wondered exactly how wild. “Any food or drinks?”

“If you want to make some of those chocolate chip cookies of yours, I wouldn’t say no.”

“Done.” She put her laptop aside, stood, and headed for the kitchen, phone still pressed to her ear. “They will be chewy and gooey when you arrive.”

“Damn, woman. You do know the way to this man’s heart.”

“Slowdown, cowboy.” She reached into her cabinet for the bag of chocolate chips. “This will be for the whole family, not just you.”

“Not if I hide them.”

She laughed. “Not if I hide them first.”

“I give,” he said.

“Good.” She pulled out the flour, salt, butter, and other ingredients for the cookies. “I’m going to have to go. I need both hands to make these things.”

“All right,” he said. “See you in the morning, darlin’.”

Don’t call me darlin’
, she thought to herself. It was too intimate of a term of affection as far as she was concerned.

“Good night,” she said softly and disconnected the call.

She set the phone aside and grabbed the mixing bowls and measuring cups that she would need, and started putting everything together.

As she made the cookies she thought about how silly she was being. It was one more day with Dillon and she’d have held up her end of the wager.

The fact that he’d won her in a poker game made her smile and she shook her head. That was the last time she’d allow someone to bid on her. It was getting her into all kinds of trouble.

The day dawned mild and pleasant and Carly woke with a tickle of nervousness and excitement in her belly.

Today she’d dress extra casual. She picked out jean shorts that showed off her tanned legs and a purple tank top. Beneath that was a purple two-piece bathing suit.

She thought about letting her long hair down, because Dillon liked it that way, but changed her mind. It was a day at the lake. She was going to want her hair up and out of her face, so she pulled it back in a ponytail. She didn’t bother with make-up—she was going to be in the water anyway. Lastly she put on a baseball cap and pulled the ponytail out through the gap in the back.

After she packed a duffel bag with a change of clothes, towel, and sunscreen, she put a plastic container of cookies in with everything else. An excited, happy feeling bubbled up inside of her and she couldn’t wait for Dillon to pick her up. She didn’t feel the same hesitancy that she’d been experiencing all week. She wasn’t sure why, but right then she wasn’t going to question it. She was just going to enjoy herself for the day.

Dillon showed up on time. She liked that about him—he didn’t run late and he didn’t come too early. When she opened the front door she wanted to melt at the sexy smile he greeted her with.

He looked so damned good in a blue T-shirt and jeans, and athletic shoes. He hadn’t shaved and there was a light growth of stubble on his jaws and somehow his eyes seemed even more intensely blue. His physique looked even more muscular beneath the T-shirt down to his taut abs and lean hips.

His smile curved even more and she realized she was staring. He leaned down and brushed his lips over hers. “Good morning,” he said as he drew away.

It certainly is, she thought to herself. Nothing like a good morning kiss from a sexy cowboy.

He carried the duffel out to his truck while she locked the door behind her. After he helped her into his truck they headed off on the seven-mile drive to Patagonia Lake. Carly had been there a few times with friends and liked the area.

“We get the same campsite every year.” He guided his truck down a graded dirt road beneath a canopy of mesquites, cottonwoods, and sycamores. From the way they drove in she only got scraps of a view of the two and a half-mile long, two hundred and fifty acre picturesque lake.

Her stomach flipped a little as he pulled the truck up to a group of other trucks along with a boat and a pair of Jet Skis. From the wedding, Carly recognized the other Cameron brothers, their sister, Danica, along with sisters-in-law, Kaitlyn, Jessie, and of course Sabrina.

When Carly climbed out of the truck, Sabrina went straight for Carly and gave her a big hug.

“You look like a radiant bride,” Carly said as she took Sabrina by the shoulders and studied her.

Sabrina smiled and it lit up her beautiful face. “And a very happy bride.” She glanced at her husband, Wyatt, and her smile broadened. “Come on and say hi to everyone.”

Carly greeted Zane, Wyatt, and Wayne who’d all goaded her into letting their brother, Dillon, bid on her. Dillon was as tall as his dark-haired brothers, but Dillon’s hair was a little lighter. Danica had dark hair like her oldest brothers and the same Cameron blue eyes that every one of them had.

Danica had returned for a two-week vacation from her job in San Diego to be in Arizona for Sabrina and Wyatt’s wedding as well as the annual family get-together. A man named Barry Hobbes had shown up for the day to be with Danica. Apparently he was her boyfriend from San Diego.

Jessie and Zane had left their eight-week old daughter with a friend in Patagonia, only a few miles away.

“I don’t know how long I can be away from her.” Jessie looked just like a fretful new mother, obviously having a hard time being away from her baby. “It’ll be a short day for us.”

Zane put his arm around her shoulders. “Chelsea will be fine, honey.”

Jessie sighed. “I know… But it’s still not easy.”

He kissed the top of her head and squeezed her to him.

Carly swallowed past a lump in her throat. Just seeing the pair together made her heart squeeze.

She soon realized she’d worried about coming here for no reason at all. She’d met everyone already and they were a fun-loving group out for a day at the lake. Soon they were split up with part of the group grabbing a space on the shore while the other part headed to the small marina with the boat and Jet Skis.

Out and about on the lake a few people were fishing while others were in paddleboats or canoes. Further out a group was water skiing in a small speedboat, and there were others on Jet Skis.

“I’ve never been on a Jet Ski,” Carly told Dillon as they rode in the back seat of Wyatt’s king cab truck. “I can’t wait to drive one of them.”

“That’s one thing I like about you,” Dillon said with a smile. “You’re not afraid to just jump in on anything.”

“Not me,” Sabrina said from the front seat with a shake of her head. “I’ll ride on the back of one with Wyatt but I’m not driving one of those things by myself.”

Wyatt looked at his new wife and smiled. “You can hold on to me anyplace, anytime, sweetheart.”

She gave an emphatic nod. “You bet I will.”

When they reached the marina, they unloaded the small speedboat from the trailer and then the pair of Jet Skis. The boat would fit five at a time and the Jet Skis were two-seaters.

They were a group of ten—including Danica’s boyfriend, Barry. Carly noticed that Danica’s four brothers were a little reserved with the guy, all of them looking like they were evaluating him, making sure he was the right man for their sister. Carly felt a little sorry for Danica having so many overprotective brothers who could likely scare off any man they didn’t think was worthy of their little sister.

Carly was trying to refrain from judging the young man. At about five-nine, Barry was a good looking man, around seven inches shorter than the brothers, had light brown hair and light brown eyes. He had a cocky look about him and by the designer clothing and expensive watch that he wore, it looked like he had some money.

Wyatt and Sabrina drove the trucks back while Wayne straddled one Jet Ski and started it. Danica got onto the other, her boyfriend holding on to her from behind. Dillon and Carly climbed into the boat.

As Dillon pulled the boat away from the marina, Danica with Barry, and Wayne took off on the Jet Skis. Once he was far enough away from the marina, Dillon opened up the engine and sped up the boat. Carly’s ponytail bobbed in the air that rushed over her face and cooled her skin.