What a Man Needs

Cynthia was glad that people weren’t asking for her autograph. She didn’t want to be front cover in the tabloids, whether she did anything crazy or not.

“Maybe because I’m old news and I haven’t actually been in a box-office hit in three years.” Back then Cynthia Reynolds had had to turn movie scripts away.

“And that’s going to change.”

“Please don’t tell me you set me up with a guy.”

“No, I wouldn’t do that.” Kelly brushed back her shoulder-length hair and glanced around the bar. “I’m looking for my assistant, Nora. She’s going to help us with your problem.”

“My problem? What problem?”

Kelly’s eyes narrowed in disdain. “The problem you’ve had since you were six years old. Your fear of horses.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“You’ve got to overcome that fear if you want to land the best movie role that’s come down the pike in years.”

Cynthia sighed. “You’ve been talking to Bernie.”

Bernie Schwartz, her agent for the last fifteen years—and a veritable tiger when it came to the business. For the past two months, Bernie had been bugging her about this project.

“Is this about the Western, Cheyenne?” Cynthia asked.

“Of course it is,” Kelly said as the waitress returned with their drinks. “From what I hear, you’re perfect for the female lead.”

Cynthia frowned. “They’re looking for someone under thirty.”

“So, you can pass for thirty,” Kelly said convincingly.

Plus five years, Cynthia said to herself. “Not in close-ups.” She glanced toward the bar again. The man was still watching her. He nodded to her, then took a drink from his glass. Cynthia found herself lifting her own drink and nodding back, a flush heating her cheeks. What had gotten into her? She didn’t flirt with strange men. But there was something about this cowboy that got her blood pumping. And that hadn’t happened for a long time.

“It’s so not fair,” Kelly said, “especially when you know that the male lead will probably be at least thirty-five. That’s discrimination. Just say the word and I’ll—”

“No! That won’t help my situation,” Cynthia insisted. “It’s bad enough that lately my phone hasn’t exactly been ringing off the hook for roles. I’m sure a lawyer screaming discrimination will silence it totally.”

Kelly had a successful practice as a divorce lawyer in Portland and she had always fought for the underdog. “Then how about a more subtle approach?”

Cynthia was having trouble concentrating. Her cowboy at the bar was too distracting. “And just what would that be?”

“You learn how to ride a horse and go after this role.” She raised a hand. “And before you get all worked up, just hear me out. Nora has assured me that you can overcome your fear if you have the right teacher.”

Cynthia’s attention strayed to the bar again as a tingle ran through her. She wouldn’t mind if this man taught her a few things.

“Cyndi, are you hearing anything I’m saying?”

“Sure I am. You think I should learn to ride.”

Kelly looked toward the bar, then back at Cynthia with a smile. “My sister has good taste. So what’s stopping you? Go talk to him. Just don’t forget that we’re going to be meeting with Nora in a little while.”

“I can’t promise that I’ll get on a horse, Kelly, but I’ll talk to her.”

Cynthia stood and made her way across the room. She told herself she was crazy to do this, but her heart still raced. Her attraction to this man was not to be denied. As she got closer, that thought was the only thing that kept her from running in the other direction. That and his eyes were a brilliant, mesmerizing blue. His smile, she noticed, was slightly off center, only adding to his appeal. Her knees weakened as he stood up and pulled out the stool next to his.

She sat down. “Hi,” she said breathlessly.

Patrick had been crazy to encourage this woman. Any minute his sister could walk in and he would have to end things. And he definitely wanted to spend time with this tall, gorgeous woman.

“Hi, yourself. I haven’t seen you in here before,” he said, wishing he could come up with something more clever.

She leaned in close so he could hear her, and he caught a whiff of her intoxicating perfume. “I’m from out of town,” she offered as she stuck out her slender hand. “I’m Cyndi.”

He clasped her small palm in his and immediately felt a warm, sexual charge. He nearly forgot his name. “Patrick.”

Again she leaned in and gave a smile that had him forgetting everything. “Nice to meet you, Patrick.”

He didn’t release her hand, liking how it fitted into his. She didn’t seem to object. “It’s nice to meet you, too.” Suddenly his ringing cell phone broke the spell. “Excuse me.” He pulled it from his pocket and saw that it was his sister. Great, this woman not only made him forget his name but his sister. “Where are you?”

“That’s what I’m calling about, Patrick. I had a flat tire.”

“Tell me where you are and I’ll come and fix it.”

“No, it’s already done. I did it myself. But I’m a mess so I’m on my way back to my apartment. I know you have a long drive back to the ranch, so I didn’t want to hold you up.”

“I thought you needed to talk.”

“I do, but tomorrow’s Saturday, so I’ll just come out to the ranch and we’ll talk then. Is that okay?”

Patrick looked over his shoulder at the sexy redhead beside him. “Sure. I’ll look forward to it.”

“Patrick, I’m going to be bringing along a friend and…I want you to keep an open mind.”

Suddenly Cyndi’s body brushed against him as she made room for more people at the bar. He felt a stirring in his gut and he had to work to keep focused on what Nora was saying. “So I’ll see you then. As you can tell, Morgan’s is noisy as usual.” He said good-bye and pocketed the phone.

Cyndi’s dark, questioning gaze met his. “Your wife?”

He shook his head. “My sister. I’m not married. How about you?”

Smiling, she shook her head and it nearly did him in. There was no way in hell he was going to let her slip away. He tilted his head toward hers to say something, but suddenly the jukebox came to life with another song and patrons raised their voices to be heard. “How long will you be in town?”

She shrugged. “About ten days,” she shouted. “I’m visiting my sister.” She nodded toward the woman at the table. This was perfect. Maybe they could spend some time together while Cynthia was in Portland.

“What do you say we go some place where we can hear ourselves talk?” He found he was holding his breath waiting for an answer.

“Do you know of such a place?”

Hell, he hadn’t done anything like this in years. “There’s a quiet lounge just down the street at the Grand Hotel. We could walk there from here.”

Amazing herself, Cynthia nodded in agreement. Now she just had to convince Kelly that she was perfectly sane. “Just let me tell my sister where I’ll be.”