He couldn’t help but return her smile. It was infectious. “Lay them on me, cielo.”
“I want you to get your boots dirty.”
It was his turn to narrow his eyes. “What does that mean exactly?”
“Spend time with me out here. Our home is a working ranch.” She did a small twirl as her hands waved toward the expanse of fields behind the house and the large barn to one side. “I want to put you through the paces to see if you can handle what it means to be a Fortune Jones.”
The crisp, summery scent of her wafted over him as she moved. He wasn’t sure if it was her perfume or shampoo, but it made his senses reel. Cisco felt himself drifting closer to Delaney, as if pulled by an invisible thread of curiosity. She was so different from any woman he’d met before, completely authentic and pure, as if she was untainted by life. It was also obvious she loved life on the ranch. While he tried to live by his own code of right and wrong, the deals he brokered often left him walking a moral tightrope. It had been years since Cisco had felt anything close to innocent. He found that quality in Delaney intensely attractive.
But this was business, he reminded himself.
As if to drive home the point, his sister suddenly appeared at Delaney’s side.
“What are you two talking about so intently?” she asked with a bright smile for Delaney and a warning glance at Cisco.
“Delaney is going to teach me how to be a real cowboy,” Cisco told his sister.
He expected her to laugh or make a joke about how he wouldn’t be able to handle it, but she stepped forward and gave him a hug. “I think it’s a great idea.” She turned to Delaney. “It’s about time he broke a sweat in someplace other than a fancy gym.”
“You wound me,” Cisco said with a laugh. “For your information, there are plenty of times I’ve broken a sweat outside of a gym.”
Gabriella rolled her eyes when he winked. “Don’t go there, big brother.” She linked her arm in Delaney’s. “Let’s join the others. The desserts are going fast, Delaney. There’s a brownie with your name on it.”
Cisco followed the two women back toward the rest of the guests, although he realized he would have been happy to keep Delaney all to himself for a while longer. Apparently he’d have more time to spend with her as he met her criteria for taking the meeting with the executives from Cowboy Country. He just had to come up with a plan to hold them off in the meantime.
* * *
“How about this one?”
Cisco grimaced as his father held up a garish Western shirt decorated with rhinestones and leather tassels. “Now you’re just being cruel, Dad. I may not be an expert on cowboys, but I can tell you no self-respecting man would wear that in public.”
“You’d be surprised,” Orlando answered with a chuckle. “But we’ll start you out subtle. After all, Deke Jones is going to expect you to look like you can handle yourself before he lets you do anything on his ranch.”
Like Gabi, Orlando had been all for Cisco spending time with Delaney at her family’s ranch. His brother Matteo had found it hilarious to imagine Cisco doing any sort of hard physical labor. That irritated him. Sure, his experience was brokering big-time deals, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t get his hands dirty. There might not be a lot of opportunity for that in Miami, but Cisco was confident he could hold his own.
Unfortunately, his wardrobe didn’t lend itself to ranching. In Miami the style was South Beach cool, silk shirts and trousers or polo shirts for the golf course. He didn’t want to look as green as he really was in front of Delaney’s father, so he’d asked his dad where to shop for Western clothes. Orlando had insisted on accompanying him to nearby Vicker’s Corners to pick up some new, more Horseback Hollow–appropriate clothes.
In the end they kept it simple—a few button-downs, one plaid with pearl buttons and two of solid colors, a few pairs of Wrangler and Cinch jeans, and a belt with a three-piece buckle.
They walked out of the store and threw the purchases in the backseat of Cisco’s truck before grabbing sandwiches from a local street vendor. Orlando led Cisco to a bench in a nearby park. It was good to spend time with his father and great to see how healthy and happy Orlando looked. He’d been nearly killed last year when the plane he was piloting crashed but now seemed to be back to his old hale and hearty self.
“Your mother would get a kick out of us shopping together,” Orlando said as he unwrapped his sandwich.
“I’m not sure she’d believe it.” Cisco took a drink of iced tea. “I’m not sure I believe it.” He reached over and patted his father’s shoulder. “But it’s good to see you so happy, Dad. Mom would have wanted that.”
The breeze blew through his father’s thick silver hair. “I miss her every day, son, but you’re right. She wouldn’t have wanted any of us to put our lives on hold and wallow in grief. Gabriella found her happiness, and it appears Matteo has, too. Now it’s your turn. Horseback Hollow is a good place for the Mendozas.”
“Whoa,” Cisco said quickly, his head shaking. “I don’t disagree the town is great, but I’m not looking to settle down like Gabi and Matteo. My life is in Miami. There are some business opportunities in Texas, and I’m going to take advantage of them. That’s all it is.”
Orlando opened his mouth to answer just as his cell phone beeped. He checked the screen, then punched at the keys with his thumbs, a small smile playing across his lips.
“Are you texting?” Cisco smiled around a bite of sandwich. It was grilled chicken with avocado on thick buttered toast and one of the best things Cisco had tasted in months. He ate out almost every night in Miami, often at trendy restaurants with clients, but somehow the down-home food in this area was infinitely more satisfying.
“I may be old, but I’m not dead.”
Something about the look on his father’s face gave Cisco pause. “Are you texting a woman?”
Orlando kept hitting keys on his phone, but as he pressed Send and looked up, Cisco noticed color rising up his neck. “That’s none of your concern.”
“Do you have a girlfriend, Dad?”
“I loved your mother very much, Cisco. I was devoted to her for all our years together. You know that.” Orlando pocketed his phone and concentrated on his sandwich.
“I know how much you loved Mom,” Cisco agreed, choosing his words carefully. “And how difficult it was when she died. But she’d want you to keep living. If you’ve met someone who makes you happy, I support you, Dad. We all will.”
Orlando looked at him a long moment, then nodded. “You’re a good boy, son.”
“So who is she?” Cisco nudged his father’s arm. “Are you officially dating? When do I get to meet her? Do we need to have the ‘be safe and responsible’ talk?”
“You’re a good boy who needs to mind his own business.” Orlando wadded up the paper from his sandwich. “Don’t worry about me. You just straighten out your own life.”
“My life is fantastic.” Cisco realized the words sounded more defensive than he’d meant.
“There’s more to life than work.”
“I understand, but I’m also building a career,” Cisco answered, irritation flaring through him. “You took your career in the air force very seriously.”
“Of course I did,” his father agreed. “But I had your mother and you kids, as well. It was a lot to juggle, and I know it wasn’t always easy on our family.”
“I didn’t mind it.”
His father chuckled. “You had a gift, Cisco. You could go