Chapter Eighteen
Cordell grinned when he looked out to see Josie standing on the sidewalk in front of his hotel.
She walked by every day, trying to peer into the soaped-over windows, as if wanting to see how the remodel was progressing.
Or just maybe, wanting to see him. He could only hope, he told himself, as he went to the front door and threw it open.
Startled, she jumped back and tried to pretend she hadn’t been snooping.
He laughed at her embarrassment at being caught. He’d purposely left her alone the past few weeks. He wasn’t exactly playing hard to get. More like hoping she’d come to him when she was ready.
Eyeing her now, he couldn’t imagine her looking any more beautiful.
She’d always taken his breath away. Nor had he ever met a stronger, more determined woman.
Her long dark hair was pulled back with a clip that he yearned to open to release her mass of curls.
Her lips were freshly glossed, just begging to be kissed.
“Hello, Counselor,” he said, trying to rein his bad-boy thoughts in. “Nice of you to stop by.”
“I was just on my way to my office,” she said. “I didn’t mean to distract you from your work.”
“Darn, I thought maybe you were wondering when I was finally going to ask you to dinner.” He saw her flush.
She almost looked nervous, but that was so not like her.
“How about this weekend? If you’re free.
” Before she could answer, he rushed on.
“I could use a woman’s input on the furnishings in the hotel. If you’re interested.”
* * *
Josie knew he was toying with her and probably had been for a few weeks now.
She eyed him, unable not to notice how good he looked in an old T-shirt under a pair of faded denim bibs.
A tool belt hung from his slim hips and he smelled of sawdust and paint.
He was tanned from outside work she heard he’d been doing on local ranches to help pay for his endeavor.
His arms were more muscled from all that labor plus the work he was putting into the hotel.
She often would see lights on at the hotel and knew he’d be working late.
His hair was longer again, blonder from the sun.
A lock fell over one blue eye as he grinned.
She breathed him in, liking the smell of the sawdust, the paint and the sweat. The man had never looked more male or sexier and he knew it. She swallowed, feeling heat race across her cheeks. “Yes.”
His grin broadened. “Yes?”
“Yes, to all of it,” she said, meeting his gaze and holding it.
He looked surprised, but equally delighted. “Great. Why don’t you come to the hotel Saturday night. Say seven o’clock. I’ll be ready for you.”
Her heart was already thumping wildly in her ears.
“I certainly hope so,” she thought but didn’t dare say as she nodded, turned on her heel and walked toward her office.
She could feel his gaze hot on her backside and felt the exquisite heat shoot straight to her center.
No man had ever fired her up like Cordell, but six years ago he’d been more like a teenage boy than the man who’d just asked her out to dinner.
She found herself smiling, anxious for her dinner date with the new owner of the Lander Hotel and Resort.
Dear Angel,
It’s a miracle. I got that new lawyer I told you about. Thanks again for sending the money. That really helped. He got me a hearing. I might be getting out of here. I don’t understand all the legal stuff. But it seems my public defender really messed up.
I’ve dreamed of you every night. I just never thought I’d ever get to actually meet you in person. If all goes well, I might be making a trip to Montana. I hope I’m not being too forward since you never thought I’d ever be getting out of here. I never thought so, either.
Write me. Let me know how you feel about this. I’ll understand if you don’t want to see me. Just know, I’m going to pay you back every dime I owe you. I loved finally hearing your voice when I called you a few weeks ago. Mind if I do it again? Sorry it has to be collect.
Your very happy pen pal,
Shane
“Wow, you look nice,” Amy Sue said as Josie came down the stairs at the farmhouse. “I can’t remember the last time I saw you in a dress. That’s quite the dress. Is that new?”
Josie smoothed the silken fabric down over her hips. “Is it too much?”
“Depends on where you’re going and who you’re meeting,” her sister said.
She knew Amy Sue wasn’t going to approve. “I’m having dinner with Cordell at the hotel.”
“Is the hotel restaurant even finished?”
“I don’t know. He keeps the window covered so it’s hard to see inside. Yes, I’m curious. You might as well say it.”
Her sister shook her head. “Would it do any good to warn you that he’s going to break your heart again?”
“No, it wouldn’t,” she said, “but thank you for worrying about me. We should talk about your love life instead.” Now that Josie thought about it, her sister had been wearing makeup lately and seemed more cheerful. “Is there a man in your life?”
“Maybe, nice you noticed.”
“Who is he?” Josie asked, instantly worried. Her sister had never been any better than she herself was when it came to finding a good one. Wasn’t that why she’d waited in hopes Cordell would return?
Amy Sue chuckled. “You’ll find out soon enough. You’d better get going. You don’t want to keep Cordell waiting. You do look beautiful. I like your hair up like that.”
“Thank you.” She hugged her sister, hoping Amy Sue had found someone. She deserved the best. “I’m staying in town tonight.”
“Of course you are,” her sister said with a chuckle. “Enjoy yourself.”
Josie planned to, but she couldn’t help being anxious to see how much Cordell had accomplished at the hotel. It seemed a monumental job and she questioned if he had it in him to see it through.
Just like she questioned if he had what it took to stay in a relationship—let alone stay in Dry Gulch.
* * *
Cordell let out a wolf whistle when he opened the hotel’s front door and saw Josie standing there in that dress. For a moment, he was actually at a loss for words. “You look amazing. Come on in.”
He’d set up a table and two chairs in the center of the hotel lobby.
He saw Josie’s eyes widen at the sight of them.
“Aren’t these chairs amazing? I love all the curved wood.
I had Alice Jones recover them. Do you like the burgundy fabric?
It’s velvet.” He watched her run her hand over the chair seat and back.
“It’s beautiful, Cordell. I had no idea these were still in the hotel.” She looked around the lobby. “Were these lights here, as well?”
“They were. Just needed to be cleaned up. It was all here just waiting for me to uncover it down in the basement.” He couldn’t help sounding pleased.
Everything he’d discovered confirmed what he already knew.
He was supposed to come back here and restore the hotel, restore his life here, hopefully with Josie.
He pulled out the chair for her and she sat. He felt his body respond to the dress she had worn. Down, boy, he told himself. He couldn’t blow this even though he would have gladly skipped dinner altogether and taken her up to the finished hotel room where he’d been staying.
As he poured them each a glass of wine, he said, “I can’t take my eyes off that dress on you.”
“Wait until you see it off of me,” Josie said and chuckled.
“Don’t tease me, woman. I’m not that strong.”
At a knock at the front door, he said, “Our dinner has arrived. I hope you’re hungry.”
“You have no idea,” she said and smiled.
* * *
Josie would have gladly skipped dinner. She took a sip of her wine and looked around the lobby. Cordell had done an amazing job of bringing it back to life.
But it was the change in him that most interested her. She hadn’t been able to keep her eyes off him since he’d opened the door. He’d dressed up for their dinner in new jeans and a long-sleeved buttoned-up shirt with a leather jacket.
He came back with a tray full of covered dishes, set it down on a small table to the side and took off the jacket.
“Let’s finish our wine first, if that’s all right with you.
” He sat down, picked up his glass and held it up.
“A toast?” He met her gaze. “I can’t tell you how happy I am to be back here.
Max is recovering, the hotel is going well and…
” His eyes locked with hers. “And you’re here in a dress that between you and me, it’s enough to make a grown man cry. ”
They gently clinked glasses. “Can dinner wait? I really want to see what else you have done first.”
He cocked his head at her for a moment. “Sure.” He put down his glass and rose, helping with her chair, then he led her back to the owner’s suite.
She blinked in surprise. “Cordell, this is beautiful. It’s so…luxurious,” she said as she ran her hand along the rich wallpaper to the king bed with its velvet headboard. “It’s like from another time.”
“That’s the idea,” he said, sounding pleased. “It’s supposed to be an experience staying here.”
She tested the bed with her hand, feeling how soft it was, how inviting. “Is this where you stay?”
He shook his head. “I have one of the unfinished hotel rooms.”
“Why aren’t you staying here?” she asked, frowning in surprise.
“Come on,” he said without answering. “There’s something else I want to show you. We’re going to have a five-star restaurant. Wait until you see this chef’s kitchen.”
Josie watched him leave the room, his voice trailing behind him. She almost called him back, thinking she’d been too subtle, but he stopped part of the way and looked back at her.
“I thought maybe…” She’d never been shy or subtle, for that matter. Nor had Cordell ever been slow on the uptake. She nodded as if he’d spoken. Apparently, they weren’t taking up where they’d left off—at least not yet.
Disappointed, she took a long breath and let it out, then she followed him into the chef’s kitchen, wondering how he was able to afford all of this. It would be months before the hotel was up and running and he couldn’t be sure that he could even keep it occupied.
But she knew that wasn’t what worried her most. He wanted her as much as she wanted him. What was he waiting on?
* * *
“How was your dinner?” Amy Sue asked as Josie came into the farmhouse and dropped her purse unceremoniously onto the table.
“Delicious,” she said, feeling guilty because she had barely been able to taste it. “Goldie made us a special meal at Cordell’s request.”
“Really?” her sister said, studying her. “I thought you were staying in town.”
“I changed my mind.”
“Hmm.”
“What does that hmm mean?” Josie demanded, making her sister laugh.
“The dress apparently didn’t have the effect you thought it would,” Amy Sue said.
“Oh, the dress and me in it had his mouth watering,” she snapped as she stormed into the kitchen. “It wasn’t that.”
Her sister cocked her head at her. “Cordell was the one who said whoa, ponies when it came time for dessert?” She laughed. “Your bad boy isn’t bad anymore?”
“Apparently we are taking it slow,” Josie said, grabbed a beer from the refrigerator and headed for the porch.
“Want to talk about it?” Amy Sue said after joining her. They both took a drink of their beer and looked out into the night. The velvet sky was alive with stars and just a fingernail slice of moon. A breeze stirred the dried leaves on the aspens. Somewhere in the distance, an owl hooted.
But that darkness was out there, as well. It had been there long enough that she thought maybe it wouldn’t come to Dry Gulch. Maybe there would soon be good things on the horizon instead.
“I want Cordell,” Josie said after a moment. “I always have.”
“You’ve always taken him anyway you could get him knowing it probably wouldn’t last,” her sister said without looking at her. “You know what Gram used to say.”
“If you say anything about giving away milk—that’s so old-fashioned. Times have changed.”
“Have they?” Amy Sue said. “Maybe Cordell wants more this time.”
She stared at her sister. “What more could he want? I gave him my heart. I would have left here with him, traveled the country with him, gone anywhere he wanted if he had asked me.”
“But you never would have married him because you’re too sensible,” Amy Sue said as Josie started to object. “Have you ever seen yourself married to Cordell Lander, having his children, depending on him instead of yourself?”
She felt tears burn her eyes. She had taken care of not just herself but her grandmother before she died and now her sister.
She’d paid off the farm, leased the land to pay for everything else, buried her grandmother and made everyone proud of her.
Marrying Cordell had never been in the plan because she’d thought she would just be taking on more than she could handle.
“Can you believe he wouldn’t sleep with me after I wore this dress?” Josie asked and laughed. “That’s all I wanted.”
Her sister laughed. “Sounds like he knew what you were up to, and he wanted more.”
She shook her head and took a drink of her beer. In town, she drank wine. Out here, she loved nothing better than a cold beer.
“You know, I’m not always going to be around,” Amy Sue said.
She shot her sister a concerned look. “I’m not dying or anything.
I might want to make a life of my own one of these days.
This farm…” she said, looking around. “Grandmother left it to you. But she was wrong about me. I want to farm the land with my husband.”
“Husband? This man in your life that you’re keeping under your hat, it’s that serious?”
“We’re just talking, maybe about the future,” Amy Sue said and took a sip of beer.
“Sis, you know this farm is as much yours as it is mine.”
“Just not legally.”
Josie sighed. “That’s because of the trust. Nana set it up so it couldn’t be changed. But it doesn’t matter, does it?”
Amy Sue shook her head. “We’re just talking.” She quickly changed the subject. “Did he even kiss you?”
Josie shook her head. “I know what Cordell’s up to, and it isn’t going to work.” She swore and her sister laughed.
My Angel,
I can’t wait to see Dry Gulch—and you. Thank you for inviting me to come visit. Especially for saying I can stay with you until I get my feet under me again. It won’t take me long and I will be forever indebted to you. You’ve been so generous and sweet.
One of my cellies sold me his motorcycle so I’ll have wheels. I just need to pick it up at his sister’s house. Thanks, too, for the traveling money.
I still can’t believe this is happening. All because of you. You gave me hope when I had none. You definitely are my angel.
Until I see you,
Shane