Chapter Two
Donovan Cole breathed a sigh of relief after he’d gotten off the video chat.
Goldie Shaw wasn’t at all what he’d expected.
The woman was gorgeous in a wholesome, innocent way that intrigued him.
Blond ponytail, big blue eyes, pretty and shapely, she was a stunner, from what he’d seen of her.
Her ex-boyfriend had to be a fool since she seemed far more normal than most of the women he’d known.
While he’d agreed to go to Dry Gulch, Montana, and make Goldie Shaw’s former boyfriend jealous, he was a little worried about how to get out of his present situation. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d sneaked out of a woman’s bedroom in the middle of the night.
Then again, he’d never known a woman quite like Lolly Mandeville.
In retrospect, he should never have gotten involved with the crime boss’s daughter, no matter how beautiful, sexy or rich she was.
He’d suspected she’d singled him out at the bar for more than companionship, but he’d been okay with that.
She wasn’t the kind of woman who had to go looking for it.
Which meant she had an agenda. Realizing that, he should have politely declined her offer.
But then she had sweetened the pot. He’d been running low on funds at the time.
Luckily, he’d been born with a face that had paved his way in life.
For as long as he could remember, he’d depended on his looks and his way with words.
They had served him well all through school by charming his teachers and later cops and courts to get out of trouble.
It had also kept him fed working as an actor, a model, a gigolo and now hiring himself out to make some poor sucker jealous.
Not that he wasn’t aware of the downsides—especially now. He’d often had to bail on a job in the middle of the night. It was the nature of his business, living off rich women. The moment always came when it was time to get out, and he hoped not to get shot in the back as he hoofed it away.
For the past month, he’d been living at the Mandevilles’ sprawling ranch a few miles from Laramie, Wyoming.
Lolly had moved him into her magnificent suite on the estate.
He’d thought the moment her father, Malcolm Mandeville, took one look at him, he’d run him off.
The alternative would be a shallow grave out in the high Wyoming desert.
To his surprise, the elderly crime boss had welcomed him in like a long-lost relative.
That alone should have warned him that getting out of this was going to be tricky.
Babysitting the crime boss’s wild, beautiful daughter had been one thing, but Donovan had feared he would somehow end up in the family business—something he hoped to avoid at all costs.
He also had a rule about staying too long. Once the women started talking marriage, it was time to go. With Lolly, though, that hadn’t been the case. At least at first. But now he’d discovered her not-so-little secret. It was time to get out while he could.
But under the circumstances, he knew it could be infinitely more dangerous if he got caught leaving in the middle of the night without a word of goodbye like he’d done with other women.
The other women hadn’t been a fiery, hot-tempered crime boss’s only daughter.
It was no secret that Lolly had taken after her father.
Either of them could kill him for no good reason at all.
So, this job for Goldie Shaw that he’d stumbled across on social media was exactly what he’d been looking for.
Dry Gulch, Montana, was small, isolated and far enough from Laramie he should be safe.
The money was good, and the gig was his favorite kind.
Goldie Shaw wasn’t looking for a man. She already had her eye on the one who’d gotten away. This was a job he could handle.
All he had to do was escape from the Mandeville ranch and Lolly. He couldn’t wait until tonight. He was getting out of here before the you-know-what hit the fan.
DESPERATE TIMES REQUIRED desperate measures. Those were the exact words Goldie used when, over a bottle of wine, she told her best friend what she’d done. The two women were curled up on Josie’s couch at her law office drinking wine—something they had done for years.
“I didn’t just put the café up for sale. I hired a man to come to Dry Gulch and pretend to fall in love with me to make Max jealous,” Goldie blurted out.
“You did what?” Josie coughed, spewing wine all over herself. “Who? What do you know about this man? How did you even find him?”
“You sound like a lawyer,” Goldie said.
“I am a lawyer,” Josie snapped.
She laughed. “It was easier than I thought. I found an app where you can rent a date for events. Who knew? I should have hired someone a long time ago. I want Max to realize that I’m no longer waiting around for him.”
Josie was still shaking her head. “Are you sure about this?”
She poured herself more wine. “I know it sounds a bit desperate.”
“You think?” Her friend was studying her intently. They’d known each other since they were kids. This was so not like Goldie and they both knew it. “Can you really pull this off?”
She drew out her phone, called up Donovan’s photo and handed it over. “What you think? And he’s charming.”
“Wow. But does he really look like this?”
“We video-chatted earlier,” she said. “He’s definitely handsome and did I mention charming?”
“You did mention charming.”
“He really wants the job and thinks helping me will be fun.”
“I bet he does. Tell me, how does this work?” the attorney in Josie asked.
“He’ll show up at the café tomorrow about noon, we’ll hit it off and one thing will lead to another. We’ve already agreed on his price.”
Her friend shot her a shocked look. “How far do you see this going? Did you tell him the limits you’re willing to go? There are parameters, right?”
Goldie shrugged. “Max Lander is the only man I’ve ever…” She gave a shy grin. “So why not see what I’ve missed?”
Josie shook her head but couldn’t seem to help smiling. “No reason you shouldn’t enjoy yourself then, since you are single.”
“Except that I’m in love with Max,” Goldie said soberly.
“Yeah, there’s that,” her friend agreed.
CARRYING HIS BOOTS and tiptoeing in the dark out of the Mandeville house, Donovan hoped for the best—but expected the worst. It came with the job. Except with this one, the stakes felt higher.
Once outside, he pushed his sports car down the road until he dared jump in, started the engine and turned the lights on.
As he headed for Dry Gulch, Montana, he tried to put the Mandevilles and Laramie, Wyoming, in his rearview mirror.
His thoughts turned to more pleasant things like Goldie Shaw.
He smiled to himself. He liked new beginnings.
He also liked what he’d seen on the video chat with Goldie and couldn’t help being impressed by the young woman.
On top of that, she owned a café in Dry Gulch she was selling for a pretty penny.
Money and looks! She’d already set him up for two weeks at the newly renovated hotel in town and assured him that his first week’s pay for the job would be waiting for him.
She seemed to think it wouldn’t take more than two weeks.
He’d assured her that he was at her disposal for as long as it took, thinking it might not be a bad gig for an extended amount of time.
It did make him wonder, though, what was wrong with the man she was in love with. Maybe he was married and wouldn’t leave his wife. Or maybe there was someone else he was with now. Either way, Donovan was ready to play his part for as long as the job lasted.
As the sun lolled in the cloudless blue overhead, Donovan topped a rise and got his first glimpse of Dry Gulch.
The cluster of structures on the horizon looked straight from an old Western movie set.
He slowed, hoping he wasn’t going from the frying pan into the fire, as the expression went.
He felt as if he’d been dropped into another, earlier era.
There was even a giant horse monument at the entrance into town for an equine named Big Blue, according to the sign.
He drove slowly, taking in the small quaint businesses. Everything seemed in miniature, from the drug store and bank to the hardware store and city hall. There was hardly anyone on the main street. What few people there were all turned to stare as if they seldom saw strangers roll into Dry Gulch.
Goldie’s, the café named for the pretty blonde, he saw was next to the bank on the corner. He wondered again about the man he was being hired to make jealous. A local cowboy? Rancher? Banker? Or maybe the town mayor.
Pulling in front of the café, he parked his bright red sports car to let the locals wonder who he was and what he was doing in town. He was wondering himself, although he couldn’t imagine the Mandevilles looking for him here.