Sweet Talking Cowboy (15 page)

Briann felt better once she wasn’t penned against the length
of his body and stepped back.  “What if I promise to stay here?”

He shook his head no.  “I’m not ready to trust you that
far.”

Her spirit rallied and she shot back.  “Oh, you sneak into
my room, inform me that we’re getting married and you have a problem trusting
me?”

He chuckled and winked at her.  “You got it.  Until we’re
married, I’m stuck to you like Super Glue.”

She frowned.  “I don’t know what all your expectations for
us are, but there has to be some limits.  I’m not interested in having
a…husband.”

He grinned, a spark of mischief in his eyes.  “Are you
tellin’ me, you aren’t interested in makin’ love with me?”

She nodded.  “That’s exactly right, so there’s no point in
you staying in this room tonight.”

“Sex is not the motivation for my stayin’ here with you this
weekend.  I’ve already explained that and you can relax.  I don’t plan to force
myself on you.  The intimate side of our marriage is something we’ll work out
later.  However, you do need to understand that eventually, it will be a real
marriage, in every sense of the word.”  Having gotten so much from her already,
he was willing to be noble about their love life, up to a point.  He grinned at
her, wondering what she might be thinking.  Extending one hand, he said, “Give
me the room key.  I’ll leave long enough for you to have privacy to shower, and
get into bed, and when I come back, you have my word that I will not touch
you.”

Briann studied his face long and hard while he waited
patiently with his hand held out.  She didn’t trust him, mainly because she had
such disturbing memories of the things that had happened in this room the last
time they spent the night together in it.  She finally took the key out of the
back pocket of her jeans.

He couldn’t help noticing the slight trembling in her hand
as she passed it to him.  He wanted to comfort her, and assure her that
everything would work out, but wisely, he refrained.  He took the key and
walked to the door.  “How about an hour?  Do you think that’s long enough?”

She nodded and stood for a minute, frozen in time as he left
the room and closed it behind him.  She was tempted to rush over and engage the
dead bolt, but decided against it.  After the things that had transpired in
this room tonight, she could easily imagine him standing in the hallway,
pounding on the door loudly enough to disturb the occupants of every room in
this wing of the hotel.

She rummaged through her luggage and found the bottle of
Tylenol PM that she always carried with her.  This was definitely one night she
would need a little help getting to sleep and she wanted to be asleep when he
returned.

The steaming shower relaxed her tired muscles and as the pill
she’d taken took effect, she was glad to know that she would get the rest she
needed.

When Slade came back later, she was asleep.  He put his
hanging clothes in the closet next to hers and dropped his valise on the
floor.  He stood for a long time wondering how their lives had become so
complicated.  He loved her.  He had loved her for years and wished things had
worked out for them in a different way.  He silently wondered if he’d done the
right thing by coming here and forcing the issue with her.  It was easy to see
she didn’t trust him and he knew he’d made matters worse when he’d grabbed her
hair earlier, but when she’d refused to even talk about why she’d run off, he’d
simply lost it for a minute.  It was the fear he’d seen in her eyes that helped
him regain control of himself.  He hated that it had happened, but standing
there, looking down at her, he vowed that he’d regain not only her trust, but
he’d find and nurture that fragile thread of love that had begun to grow
between them before Tanya’s lie had cut its throat.

Moving quietly about the room, he pulled his shirt off and
dropped it on top of his bag on the floor.  He decided the shower wouldn’t
disturb her and when he finished it, he pulled on a fresh pair of pajama
bottoms.  He hoped he wouldn’t have to get used to sleeping in them but had
decided to bring them, just in case.  Now he was glad he had.  He’d certainly
sleep better in them than in a pair of tight jeans. Moving very carefully he
eased down on the side of the bed, stretching his big frame out on top of the
bedspread.  It would be a long night for him, but at least she was getting some
rest.

He awoke to the light streaming across his face from a tiny
crack in the drapes and was surprised to find Briann snuggled against him with
his arms wrapped around her, her breathing warming the place where his neck and
shoulder came together.  He lay still, breathing in the smell of her, enjoying
the warmth of her against him, even with the sheet and spread between them.  He
knew it wouldn’t last long once she awoke, and even as he thought it, she
jerked up, pulling out of his arms.

“You promised you wouldn’t touch me!” she accused him
angrily.  Her eyes were stretched wide, but her hair was tousled and the
oversized shirt she had slept in was askew, allowing him a tantalizing view of
soft cleavage.  She looked beautiful.

Wisely, he hadn’t tried to hold her.  “Hey,” he chuckled
dryly.  “I’m still on my side of the bed.  You’re the one who came over in the
middle of the night, snugglin’ up against me.  If anyone’s offended, it should
be me!  I think you’re tryin’ to seduce me.”

She glared at him.  “In your dreams.”

He shrugged.  “You’re right about that, and it was a real
interestin’ dream.”

Briann suddenly remembered he’d said almost the same thing to
her before when recalling the drunken stupor he’d been in when he kissed her
the first time.  She looked away quickly and Slade knew he’d sparked a memory.

She looked around the room, located the clock, and then
turned her eyes back down at him.  “Can I have some privacy again?  Halter
classes start in about three hours and with all I’ve got to do, that’s not a
lot of time.”

He stretched in a long leisurely manner his arms reaching up
over his head, causing every muscle in his bare chest and stomach to contract,
and then sat up on the bed beside her.  “I didn’t think I’d get a lot of sleep
last night, but actually I think I really rested.  I feel good.”

“Great!” Briann enthused.  “Now, leave so I can get
started.”

He swung his legs off the bed and turned to cut his eyes at
her over his shoulder.  “Now, close your eyes, Bri,” he warned with mock coyishness. 
“These pajamas might be too revealin.’’

“Grow up,” she groused, but did turn her head.  The sight of
his broad bare shoulders and chest had been unsettling enough when he’d
stretched a few minutes before and as he walked to the closet she couldn’t help
noticing in his reflection in the big mirror how the waistband of the pajama’s
barely kept them up on his narrow hips.

Briann was surprised to see he now had several shirts and
pairs of starched jeans hanging in the closet next to her clothes.  She
realized he’d brought them in after she went to sleep the night before.  He’d
come fully prepared to stay.

He took a shirt and a pair of jeans off a hanger, rummaged
in the valise on the floor for underwear and a shaving kit, then disappeared
into the bathroom for a few minutes.  When he re-emerged, pushing the tail of
his shirt down into his unfastened, unzipped jeans, he cut his eyes at her.  “Want
me to bring you a cup of coffee and a roll?”  He asked as he sat again on the
side of the bed to pull his boots on.

“I don’t think I want coffee.  I have a Coke in the fridge. 
But I might eat a roll if you bring it.”  She just wanted him gone for a little
while. 

He stood and looked down at her.  “How’re you feelin’ this
mornin’?”

She frowned.  “I’m fine, Slade, just go so I can get
dressed.  I’ll feel a lot better then.”

He didn’t say anything else as he left the room.

When he returned a little later, Briann was in the bathroom,
fastening a band around her long braid.  She was dressed and only cast a glance
at him as he walked past the door.  Then he returned to lean against the door
frame, looking at her.  “Do you need some help?”

“No,” she responded easily.  “I’m ready,” her arms dropped
to her side, “to go.  I just need my arena wear.”  She pushed past him and walked
to the closet.  She removed the hangers with her dress pants, top and matching
jacket, and then retrieved the box that held the white dress boots she would
wear with the outfit.  She unzipped her clothing bag and slipped her outfit
inside and zipped it closed again.

When she turned, Slade held out a napkin with a roll on it. 
“Sit down and eat.  I’ll put your things in the truck.”

“I’ve got a lot to do.  I’ll eat later.”  She argued,
although the delicious smell of the warmed roll radiated up into her nostrils,
causing her mouth to water.

“And I’ll be here to help you.  You won’t have to do it all
yourself,” he said, taking the boot box and the clothes from her.

She looked at him, surprise on her face.  “I’ve never had
help at a show.  I don’t know if I know how to work with another person.”

He shrugged.  “Then it’s something you’ll learn.  We’re in
the same business, it only makes sense that we work together.  Especially once
we’re married.”

“I really wish you’d stop talking about that.  You make it
sound like it’s a done deal.”  She took the roll and opened the small
refrigerator and retrieved a cold can of Coke.  She popped the top, sat down on
the side of the bed to eat, only then realizing that Slade was standing quietly
looking at her.  She had to think back to what she’d said that had caused the
smoldering anger in his eyes.

“What?”  She asked.

“I guess I underestimated your determination.  I thought I
made it very clear last night.  It
is
a done deal, Briann.  We
are
gettin’ married.”  His voice was edged with ice.

“I meant to say, that you make it sound so imminent.  A
wedding takes time to plan.”  She retorted.

“Not ours.  We’ll get a license and go to a justice of the
peace.  By next weekend, your years as a single woman will be a thing of the
past.”

Her jaw dropped, a bite of roll laying on her tongue.  Then
she gulped and swallowed it without chewing.  “That fast?  Good grief!  Can’t I
even have time to get used to the idea?”

“You’ve got about four days, maybe three.  I hope you use
the time well.”  He turned and left the room, her clothing bag and boot box in
his arms.

Briann’s stomach was suddenly full.  She tossed the roll in
the trash, but kept the can of Coke.

Her mind was churning.  He certainly wasn’t giving her any
time to think things through.  He was like a tornado, just spinning around,
uprooting everything or anyone who got in his path.  In her mind she had a
quick glimpse of Tris, herself, Aunt Poog and several horses, all swirling
helplessly in the air around a dark, angry Slade Butler.  And then, out of the
storm, she caught sight of a lonely teenaged boy, being sent out of his
father’s house by a haughty Tanya, her shrewish finger pointing to the barn,
her face, a mask of evil.  Briann could see the hurt on the boy’s dark face and
her heart began to melt.  Slade was fighting for his family as his own father
had never fought for him.

When Slade returned to the room, he was surprised to find
Briann stepping out of the bathroom.  As he turned to close the door, she was
close enough he caught a quick smell of her breath, just freshened by brushing
her teeth.

“I’m ready,” she said.

He glanced around the room.  “You’ve got everything you need?”

She nodded.  “I keep most of my stuff in the dressing room
of my trailer.”

He followed her out and watched as she turned automatically
toward her truck.  “Is there any reason to drive your truck?  Is there
something in it you might need?”  He asked.

She dropped her head and a smile touched her lips.  “No. 
Old habit.”  Then she turned and followed him to his truck.  He opened the
passenger door for her and waited while she got in, then pushed it closed.

Briann looked around.  His truck was newer and a more
luxurious model of truck than hers was.  In fact it was top of the line. 
“Nice,” she said as he got behind the wheel.

He grinned.  “I practically lived out of my truck and
trailer all summer, but the clinics I gave paid well, so I decided if I had to
spend so much time on the road, I might as well be comfortable.  Got this as it
came off the line in Detroit.”

She nodded her approval.  “Nice,” she repeated.

As the day passed, Briann discovered that having Slade there
to help her was not a bad thing.  He had shown horses himself so he was able to
anticipate her needs and often had things ready before she needed it.  He
carried a soft rag in one rear pocket of his jeans so he could make sure her
mount was shiny and dust free as she entered the ring and there was always a
cold bottle of water in his hand for her when she exited the ring.

When there was a lull, he made sure the horses were settled
and resting before joining her at the arena to watch the other classes.  She
discovered they knew many of the same people and Briann found that she resented
it less each time he mentioned their impending marriage to people they ran
into.

When she complained of being tired, Slade sent her to her
trailer to rest for a while on the bed in the dressing room.  “You have time,
so take advantage of it.  You know you’ll get more out of your horses if you
aren’t tired.”  He reasoned with her.

Her horses had done well at halter, the gelding taking first
in his class and the filly taking second in hers.  She was happy with them and
didn’t want to take anything away from the saddle classes, so she agreed.  “In
case I doze off, will you wake me up in time to eat?”

He assured her he would and watched as she walked away.