Archer's Angels

Clove blinked. “They practically undressed you en masse.”

He laughed. “Yeah. They’re good at that.”

And he had no shame! Clove quickly reviewed her position. Maybe mano a mano she could get his attention, but groupie corralling put the odds against her. Not to mention that those women were gorgeous.

“They mean no harm,” he said easily, “as long as they get no closer than about ten feet.”

“How do you know?”

He winked at her. “Women are not hard to figure out.”

She held back a gasp at his cockiness. “You haven’t figured out your horse.”

“And that’s why I love only her.” He gave Tonk an affectionate pat on the shoulder, and she tried to nail him with a hoof. Swiftly jumping forward, he dodged the hoof, but Tonk’s head snaked around, her teeth barely missing his shoulder.

“I guess you’d call that a love peck,” Clove said.

“Aw, Tonk wouldn’t really bite me. She just knows I like a little sauce to my women.”

“Women?”

He grinned, pushing his hat back with a finger.

He was annoying, and much sexier than he’d come across in his e-mails. She needed a shower to freshen up after her travels, and time to regroup. “I think I’ll be going now,” she said, retreating from his confident smile.

“Thanks for the dinner offer,” he said, “But Tonk and I have work to do.”

Now that she’d seen him turn down the quartet of country lovelies, her feelings weren’t quite so hurt, so she was able to flip him a shrug. “About that hotel you were going to recommend?”

“There’s no hotel in Lonely Hearts Station, but both beauty salons welcome travelers. Head over to the Lonely Hearts Salon. The owner, Delilah, has rooms for rent. You’ll be safe over there.” His gaze settled on Clove for a moment, then he put the horse’s hoof down and came over to the rail, leaning on it to stare down at her. “Do not take a room at the Never Lonely Cut-n-Gurls salon. Even though you will see a big sign out front proclaiming that theirs are the cheapest, cleanest, most comfortable rooms in town.”

She backed away from his intensity. “You are quite forceful, sir.”

“Yeah, well, someone’s gotta be around here.” He turned back to his horse. “Otherwise we’d all be love candy for women and ending up at the gooey altar of marriage.”

Whew! He was simply brewing in misery when it came to women, Clove realized. In their e-mails, he’d always made everything sound so wonderful, so carefree, so…fairy tale. But in person, the story was quite different.

“Good luck,” she said, backing away, “with your rodeo. Or whatever it is that you’re after.”

He waved a hand absently.

Clove waved a hand back, mimicking him, but he never noticed. She went out onto the pavement, crossing her arms against the chill.

It was true what Archer said. There was a large sign out in front of the Never Lonely salon. In fact, the whole building was lit up with white lights, like icing on a gingerbread house. Laughter floated from inside, and a piano gaily played ragtime.

She glanced across the street at the Lonely Hearts Salon. A lamp glowed in the window, and it was mostly dark and very quiet, as if no one ever stayed there.

She turned back to the Never Lonely salon. Four really pretty, lively women who knew how to get Archer’s attention lived inside. And hadn’t those flirty girls said something about hot cocoa?

Clove shivered. She wasn’t used to this kind of cold.

The cocoa—and the chance to get some advice on how to seduce her man—won out. She headed toward the Never Lonely Cut-n-Gurls Salon.

ARCHER WAITED until he heard Clover walking away, then he turned to stealthily watch her leave. Nice fanny, for a girl with a plain face and wacky glasses. She was packing her jeans just fine. He liked her voice, too, he had to admit. It was very sweet, with a slight accent.

“You embarrassed me, Tonk,” he said. “Could you at least go easy on me in front of girls? You make me look like I’m the hoss and you’re the rider.”

Tonk ignored him.

“Hey!” Bandera came and leaned his elbows over the rail. “Let’s eat. I’m hungry. Hey, what’s up with Dog-face? Someone feed her a sour apple?”

“Shut up.” Archer put away the hoof pick and other tack. “There was a girl here a second ago—”

“Oh, is that your problem?”

“And she went to find a room, I think.”

“Ah.” Bandera nodded knowingly. “And you want the key.”

“No! She’s not…my type.” He glanced at his brother. “I told her to go over to Delilah’s.”

“Yeah?” Bandera laughed. “If she was that girl in glasses I just saw, then she’s just like your horse.”

Archer straightened. “Meaning?”

“Meaning she doesn’t mind very well. She went straight to Marvella’s.”

“What? I specifically told her—”

Bandera grinned. “Archer, if you had a Dear Abby column, you’d go broke. No one listens to you.”

Archer ignored him. “That crazy girl has no idea what she’s getting herself into!”

“Well, don’t get too worried about it.”

Archer settled his hat on his head. “Someone has to look out for the misfits in life. And if there ever was a misfit, Clover is her.”

“Whoa. Color me impressed.”

Archer slapped his brother upside the head. “Come on. We’ve got to catch her before she gets too far into the dragon’s den!”

CLOVE COULD NOT IMAGINE why Archer had steered her away from surely the nicest girls on the planet. Taking pity on her plight—poor, tired traveler!—they’d treated her to a wonderful array of services.

They’d coaxed her glasses from her, leaving her nearly blind. They’d teased and washed her hair. Perfumed her. Stuck some heels on her feet. Given her a knockout dress to wear, the type of thing one saw on elegant ladies.

She’d been a bit embarrassed, but they’d waved aside her worries. It was all part of the service, Marvella said. Besides, Clove was renting a room, and that more than covered the expense. And gave her girls some practice with a lady’s hair, since they mostly had male clients.

“Can I have my glasses for just one sec?”