100% Pure Cowboy

If it wasn’t enough that his daughter Mollie had cajoled him into playing guide for more than seventy giggly girls, it seemed he was now to be saddled with yet another immature mother more into competing with her daughter than providing a suitable role model for her. That red hair was something else! The woman looked more like a rock ‘n’ roll groupie who had taken a wrong turn on the way to recapturing her youth than a suitable sponsor for as wellrespected an organization as the Prairie Scouts.

Cody knew the type. He’d been hotly pursued by a good number of such attention seekers—and run away as fast as a jackrabbit facing the wrong end of a shotgun. In fact, at this very instant his highly honed bachelor instinct was shooting off warning signals advising him to stay just as far away from this particular den mother as possible. A woman with hair like that could spell nothing but trouble with a capital T.

Running a hand along the back of his bare neck, Cody hoped the transformation from his bearded, long-haired image was significant enough to keep his identity a secret for the duration of this expedition. He had promised Mollie that this was to be special time for them together, away from the publicity hounds they both despised. Equally important was the promise he had made to himself. Still bristling from his mother’s stinging accusation that somewhere along the road to fame and riches he had misplaced all that was really important in life, he was determined to prove that opinionated, old woman wrong.

But deep down he knew that it was time to reevaluate his life, to get back to his roots. The truth of the matter was that Cody was flat-out tired: tired of being on the road for months at a time, of donning fresh smiles for the press, of acquiescing to his agent’s overly dramatic sense of showmanship. He was tired of sequins and flashbulbs. Tired of being away from home.

Acting as wagon master for this crazy outing wasn’t exactly what he’d had in mind as a relaxing vacation away from it all, but once Mollie had her heart set on something, the devil himself couldn’t talk her out of it. She was just as stubborn as her mother had been. And every bit as pretty.

The thought of his wife Rachael brought with it the old, familiar ache that had become such an integral part of who he was. Cody tried to shake off the sense of guilt he felt whenever the passage of time blurred the lovely portrait of her that he carried in his mind. That the memories so dear to his heart were slowly fading was a cruel mockery of the ascetic way he had lived his life since her death. A good dose of “see me” redheaded terror was just what he needed to remind him of all that he had lost when his sweet, gentle angel had taken wing.

Acknowledging his responsibility to check all the wagons before the trip could begin, Cody decided he might as well confront this particular prairie prima donna as quickly as possible and be done with it. She probably wasn’t even aware of the fact that only drivers were allowed to ride in the wagons for most of the trip.

Just as it had been in pioneer times, concern for how much the horses had to carry took priority over human comfort. A look in any history book, pages strewn with fatal citations of poor choices along the very route they were to take, would confirm the wisdom of that decision. Not to mention the problems he’d have on his hands if he let one red-haired greenhorn ride at the head of this grand parade like some silly homecoming queen. Every pampered little miss from here to the state line would be whining to ride for the duration of this expedition.

Cody had every intention of starting this wagon train off on the right foot. Heck, if he was lucky, maybe this red-hot mommy would be so angered by his insistence that the wagon be repacked properly that she would load up her girls in a huff and relieve him of the burden of overseeing them altogether. He brightened at the thought.

There was no harm in hoping anyway.

Between the kids’ deafening rap music, her van breaking down on the desolate stretch of road from Denver to the middle of nowhere, and having to single-handedly pack a covered wagon, Danielle was completely spent. She was just positioning a pillow atop the hard wooden bench that served as the wagon’s seat and settling in for a welldeserved break when a deep voice called out behind her.

“Don’t get too comfortable, Red, unless you’re planning on driving this rig yourself.”

Danielle whipped around to find herself staring into a striking pair of eyes that exactly mirrored the color of the infinite, blue Wyoming sky. Atop a magnificent black and white Appaloosa sat a long-legged, slim-hipped cowboy regarding her with unconcealed amusement. He looked well over six feet tall in the saddle. Besides an infectious grin, he wore a plaid Western-cut shirt with pearl snap buttons and a pair of faded jeans that sinfully molded to the lower half of his body. Cupped in his stirrups was a pair of boots so scuffed and well-worn they verged on being downright tacky. Though much of his hair was hidden beneath a white straw hat, Danielle could see that it was the color of dark molasses shot through with just a hint of silver at the temples. One glance alone told her that this was not a man merely playing the part of a cowboy for the sake of a Prairie Scout Jamboree. The lines etched upon that tanned face had been put there by wind and sun and experience. Indeed, it was no dime-store cowboy who was so intent on stealing her seat out from under her. He was one hundred percent pure cowboy.

“I’m a den mother,” she explained succinctly.

Well, actually a substitute den mother, she corrected herself, recalling Hildy Fustis’s broken leg and heartfelt plea that Danielle step in for her at the last minute lest the trip have to be canceled altogether. With a suspicious little hitch in her voice, Hildy had promised she would have to do little more than ride along in relative comfort and chaperon the children.

When this elucidation failed to erase the smirk from the man’s chiseled features, Danielle hastened to add, “When I signed on as a sponsor, I was told I could ride in the wagon.”

This only served to deepen the cowboy’s grin so that a matching pair of dimples was revealed at both corners of his mouth.

“Then you’re planning on driving this team?” he asked.

Danielle emphatically shook her head no. She could no more drive a team of horses than she could direct Santa’s sleigh across the sky. The very thought was almost as unnerving as the sexual vibes exuded by this mysterious cowboy.

“Well, then, I suggest you climb right on down from there,” he said. Though cordial, his tone was nonetheless authoritative.

Why the man was being so purposely obtuse was beyond her. Danielle set her chin at a stubborn angle. After the morning she’d had, she wasn’t about to meekly give up her seat without a fight. Husky indignation tinged her protest.

“There’s plenty of room for two on this seat. I see absolutely no reason why I can’t share it with the driver.”

Tipping up the brim of his hat with two fingers, the man tossed her a wry smile. “On my wagon train, horses don’t pull any more than they absolutely have to. So unless you’re in some way incapacitated, you’ll be walking along with the rest of your troop. That is, unless you’re ready to call it quits before we get started.”

Just what did he mean by saying it was his wagon train? Behind a fading smile, Danielle persisted. “I’m sure you’re mistaken. Like I said before, I was promised I could ride.”

“I’m afraid you were misinformed.”

Cody was as taken aback by the fire glittering in those extraordinary aquamarine eyes as he had initially been by the color of her hair. All of a sudden that hair didn’t look quite so ridiculous framing a heart-shaped face and the most heavenly pair of eyes he’d ever encountered. The woman was closer to his thirty-four years than he had expected—and far prettier. And her trim figure did all sorts of wonderful things to that old scrap of gingham she was wearing.

Danielle felt scorched by the blue fire of the wrangler’s eyes as they traversed her body from head to toe. The heat radiating from his appraisal was as disquieting as the hammering of her heart echoing off historic Split Rock Mountain looming like a broken anvil in the distant background.

He extended her a hand. “Are you going to step down on your own, or am I going to have to climb up there and haul you down myself?”

Sensing that he was on the verge of bursting out laughing, Danielle felt a fierce surge of resentment well up inside her. Oh, how she would love to knock him right off that high horse of his!

Their eyes locked in a tempestuous clash of wills. Defiantly she jutted out her chin and wrapped her fingers around the edge of her seat.

“You wouldn’t dare,” she countered in a regal, howdare-you-address-me-in-that-manner tone of voice. “And stop calling me ‘ma’am.’ It makes me feel like your mother.”

“Well,” the man drawled, grabbing hold of the wagon with one hand and lifting himself out of the saddle in one, fluid motion to position himself into the seat beside her. “You sure as hell don’t look like her.”

A ripple of heat washed over her. Feeling suddenly lightheaded, Danielle suspected that it had less to do with the sun beating down overhead than it did with the virile man whose leg had just inadvertently brushed against hers.

Cheeks flaming, eyes flashing, she demanded to know, “Just who do you think you are, ordering me around?”

He leaned so near that she could feel his warm breath upon her face. Assailed by the very scent of him—a tantalizing mixture of sagebrush, horse sweat, and pure bottled masculinity—she was totally unprepared for the sudden onslaught of sexual awareness that swept over her with the force of a flash flood. This man was far too sexy for his own good—and far too close for comfort.

Sweeping the cowboy hat off his head, he formally introduced himself. “Cody Walker, ma’am, your wagon master.”

Wagon master!

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Danielle guffawed, so startled by the announcement that she neglected to complete introductions by providing him with her own name. Suspicion swirled in the aquamarine depths of her eyes. He certainly didn’t fit the image she’d been carrying around of the sort of man who would be in charge of leading this wagon train. She had pictured someone older, more genteel, certainly less overtly virile. Someone weathered and grandfatherly. In her opinion, this man with his rugged, all-American good looks was too self-assured to be trusted with a wagonload of young girls.

Danielle gave him an intentionally condescending once-over. “Are you aware, Mr. Walker—” her icy tone indicating she found him to be a living relic of the past “—that the term master hasn’t been politically acceptable since well before the turn of the century?”

“That may be, but remember, Re-ed...” Cody informed her, drawing the one syllable word into two. “For the next two weeks we’re living in the 1800s, and, like it or not, I am your wagon master. Now enough of this foolishness. I’ve got other business to attend to so let’s just cut to the chase. Are you getting down off of this rig peaceably or am I going to be forced to make an unpleasant and surely politically incorrect scene?”

The softness of his voice was misleading for it was also tinged with determination. There was also something about the arrogant tilt of his firm, square jaw that suggested this wasn’t a man who would stand for having his orders disregarded.

Danielle worried her lower lip between her teeth. Gentle by nature, she usually tried to avoid confrontation. But since her divorce she had been working on becoming more assertive. Just thinking of the way Scott had walked all over her for years brought a blush of shame to her cheeks. To meekly acquiesce to this stranger’s oh-so-virile domination was paramount to undoing all the progress she had made.

Besides, she was dog tired, and the thought of having to walk beneath the heat of the summer sun in such outlandish garb galvanized her sense of defiance.

Tightening her grip on her seat, Danielle insisted, “One rider more or less won’t make any difference.”

Cody was tempted to let this airhead go right ahead and bruise that lovely bottom of hers till it was black and blue bouncing up and down on that hard buckboard seat, but ultimately he decided not to bother with a rebuttal.

“Have it your way, then,” he said, searching the depths of her eyes as if combing the ocean floor for lost treasure. Gently he brushed a wayward curl back from her forehead.

Sucker-punched by the heat that settled in her stomach, Danielle released her grip on her seat to swat at his hand. He took the opportunity to grab her around the middle and sling her over his shoulder like a sack of feed. His touch burned right through the thin material of her dress. Feeling her breasts pressed against his well-muscled back, Danielle pushed herself away and pummeled him with her fists.

Impervious to the fury raining upon his back, Cody hopped down off the wagon and set her roughly on her feet. Though her full height just grazed his chin, Danielle was nonetheless formidable with her eyes blazing and arms akimbo.

Taking a wide-legged stance, he announced breezily, “Now that the front of this rig is in order, let’s have a look at the back.”

“I intend to make a formal complaint to your superiors when this trip is over!” A fulminating glare accompanied Danielle’s announcement.