“I … I didn’t mean it as an insult.”
“You are makin’ fun a me.” The man’s face flushed red, only increasing his resemblance to the cartoon hunter.
“No! I … I … I …”
And there it was. She, who almost always knew exactly what to say and who could talk herself into and out of almost any situation, for better or for worse, was speechless. Horribly so.
She’d unintentionally insulted and offended a man who was probably armed right now. This was it. She was going to die. Alone. Miserable. In Texas. Murdered in a fit of rage. By a man who looked like Elmer Fudd.
Ford Langley could see trouble coming the second he stepped into The Dry Well, his favorite bar in Midland.
The Well was the kind of seedy dive that rednecks and oil rig workers had been coming to, through boom and bust, for sixty years or so. Since the Green Energy branch of FMJ, Ford’s company, leased land for their wind turbines from a lot of the people in here, he figured they all knew who he was and how much he was worth. They just didn’t care. Frankly, it was a relief places like this still existed in the world.
It was not, however, the kind of place women wore couture suits and designer shoes. Ford had three sisters with expensive taste. He knew a five-hundred-dollar pair of shoes when he saw them.
The woman sitting at the bar looked startlingly out of place. He’d never seen her there before. He came to The Well almost every time he visited Midland, and he definitely would have remembered this broad.
The word broad filtered through and stuck in his mind, because that’s exactly what she looked like. The sexy broad who ambles into the PI’s office in an old film noir movie. Lustrous flowing hair, long silk-clad legs, bright red lipstick, gut-wrenching sex appeal. With just enough wide-eyed innocence thrown in to make a man want to be the one to save her. Even though he knew instinctively that he would get kicked in the teeth for his trouble.
To make matters worse, she was talking to Dale Martin, who, Ford knew, had been going through a rough divorce. Dale had undoubtedly come in looking for what The Well provided best: booze, brawls and one-night stands. Given how completely out of his league the woman was, Ford could already guess which Dale was going to get.
When Ford heard Dale’s distinctive drawl rising above the blare of the jukebox, Ford moved through the crowd, closing in on the brewing conflict, hoping he could cut trouble off at the pass.
He approached just in time to hear Dale accuse her of making fun of him. Hiding his cringe, Ford slung an arm around the woman’s shoulders.
The stubborn woman tried to pull out of his grasp, but he held her firm. “I will—”
“Dale, buddy,” he continued before she could ruin his efforts. “I see you met my date.” He sent the woman a pointed look, hoping she’d take the hint and stop trying to squirm away. “Sugar, did you introduce yourself to my buddy, Dale?”
“It’s Kitty,” she snapped.
Dale was looking from him to her with a baffled expression. Which was fine, because Ford figured confused was better than furious.
“Right, sugar.” Ford gave her shoulder an obvious squeeze. Winking at Dale, he added, “Kitty here’s one of those feminist types.”
She blinked, as if having trouble keeping up with the conversation. “Insisting that I be called by my given name and not some generic endearment does not make me—”
“She’s a bit prickly, too.” Based on her accent, he made a guess. “You know how Yankees are, Dale.”
“I am not prickly,” she protested.
But with Ford’s last comment, a smile spread across Dale’s face and at her protest, he burst out laughing, having forgotten or excused whatever she’d said to offend him. After all, she was a Yankee and obviously couldn’t be expected to know better.
With Dale sufficiently distracted, Ford tugged the delectable Kitty off her stool and nudged her toward The Well’s crowded dance floor. “Come on. Why don’t you show me what you can do in those fancy shoes of yours, sugar?”
At “sugar” he gave Dale another exaggerated wink. She, of course, squeaked an indignant protest, which only made Dale laugh harder.
When they were out of Dale’s hearing range, she once again tried to pull away from him. “Thank you, I’m sure. But I could have handled him myself. So you can’t seriously expect me to dance with you.”
“‘Course I do. Dale’s watching.”
Before she could voice any more protests, or worse, undermine all his hard work, he stepped onto the dance floor, spun her to face him and pulled her close. The second he felt her body pressed to his, he had to ask himself, had he really orchestrated all of that to avoid a fight or had he been angling for this all along?
She was taller than she’d looked sitting on the stool. With her heels on, her head came up past his chin, which was rare, since he dwarfed most women. As he’d suspected, her boxy suit hid a figure that was nicely rounded without being plump. She was delectably, voluptuously curved.
He felt the sharp bite of lust deep in his gut. Maybe he shouldn’t have been surprised. He lived a fairly high-profile life back in San Francisco. As a result, he picked his lovers carefully for their discretion, sophistication and lack of expectations. He had enough responsibility without saddling himself with a spouse. Unfortunately, it had been nearly six months since his previous girlfriend, Rochelle, had gone out for lunch one day with a friend who had kids and came home dreaming of designer diaper bags. He’d been happy to dodge that bullet and hadn’t been in a hurry to find someone to replace her. Which probably explained his strong reaction to this woman. Kitty, she’d said her name was.
As he moved her into a shuffle of a Texas two-step, he felt her body relax against his. If his instincts were right, Kitty was smart, beautiful and used to taking care of herself. In short, she was exactly his sort of woman. She just may be the most interesting thing that had happened to him in a long time.
Kitty had never before found herself in this situation. Naturally she often danced with men she’d only just met. But she kept very careful tabs on the social scene in Manhattan. As a result, she usually knew the net worth, family history and sexual inclinations of every male in the room.
What some might consider mere gossip, she considered her professional obligation. She was in no position to date, marry or even notice a man who couldn’t bring his own personal fortune to her family coffers. Unfortunately, ever since Suzy Snark had caught Kitty in her sights, the business of finding a rich husband had become increasingly difficult. Derek—damn him—had been the perfect choice. Until he’d gone and fallen in love.
But the truth was, she was tired of planning every move she made. This stranger with whom she was dancing, this cowboy, this man she’d never see again after tonight, made her pulse quicken.
From the moment she’d seen him sauntering through the door to the instant he’d pulled her body against his, she’d felt more alive than she had in months. Years, maybe. Somehow the scent of him, masculine and spicy, rose up from his chest and cut through the stench of stale smoke and cheap beer. His shoulders and arms were firm and muscular without being bulky. He had the physique of a man who worked for a living. Who lifted heavy things and shouldered massive burdens. The hand that cradled hers was slightly rough. This was a man who’d never had a manicure, never taken a Pilates class and probably didn’t own a suit.
In short, he was a real man. Unlike the pampered men of her acquaintance. Most of whom, she was sorry to say, were likable, but were just a little bit … well, that is to say … well, they were sissies. And until this moment, she’d never realized that bothered her. She’d never known she wanted anything else.
Her face was only inches from his shirt and she had to fight