CJ took a deep breath of New Mexico night air. The compact town was hard-pressed to be busy anywhere but in the rough-hewn ballroom of the Gasper Hotel. The dance was bustling with the reunions of neighbors separated by miles of desert, hills, and canyons. People starved for socializing, and young men and women making the most of meeting each other in hopes of forging an acquaintance that might serve them well in the long run. Alongside the ranchers and their families, it seemed the nearby fort had given their men leave to attend as well. CJ wondered how many young ladies were swooning over the US Cavalry soldiers that whisked them across the dance floor with the finesse of lame mules. The Desert Pony’s ranch hands were all in attendance—well, except for Sam, who was as lazy about dancing as he was about fixing a fence. Charlie had stayed home, his face ashen and tired. CJ wished she had stayed with him.
The truth was hard to swallow, but Charlie’s gray pallor and shortness of breath told a story none of them wanted to speak of. Her heart hurt at the thought of a future with only memories of the cowboy to ease her wound-tight spirits and encourage her to keep after her dreams. For now, CJ affirmed as she gripped the porch rail of the hotel and leaned out to breathe deep of the night air, she would revel in the time she had with Charlie. Drink in his gruff but wise teachings, learn from his faith, and allow God to give her as many precious snippets of time with him as possible.
Charlie had kissed her cheek before she left the house. Jonah’s stare burned holes in her back as she’d leaned over to receive Charlie’s fond caress. The cowboy’s whisper in her ear had made her smirk.
“You give Jonah a dance now, ya hear? An’ don’t stomp on his foot on purpose.”
She typically heeded Charlie’s advice. Tonight, she wouldn’t. If she had to dance with Jonah Sparks, he could well expect bruised toes. CJ argued with her feelings. One moment she wanted to find vindication against the ranch owner, and the next…
Her dress conjured up her childish daydreams of being a princess, and the echo of Jonah’s distinguished British accent nearly made it seem possible that image might spring into life. He had gazed at her as she went to the door, scowled as she took Kip’s arm, and looked remarkably morose for a man who had a distinct dislike for his foreman. She’d even caught him eyeing her as she danced. Once, he’d stepped forward and her heart skipped, thinking he was finally going to claim that foot-bruising dance. But Kip stepped in to dance with her for another turn, completely within his right as her escort. She’d shifted her focus to him and the coarse attractiveness of a hardworking cowboy who respected her for the very fact she wore boots more than a princess gown.
But she wasn’t surprised or hurt when Kip asked if she minded him taking a different young lady for a turn. He wasn’t versed in propriety and etiquette. CJ was actually relieved that someone had caught Kip’s eye for a moment. It would be horribly awkward to return to the mustangs in the morning, giving him direction, and feeling his mooning eyes resting on her retreating back. She had to be honest. For as much as CJ admired Kip, he didn’t rouse the butterflies in her stomach in the same way Jonah did. Which was a shame.
A man cleared his throat behind her. A cool breeze lifted a ringlet off her cheek as she turned. The light from inside the hotel spilled onto the porch. The long, paned windows allowed CJ a peek inside over the man’s shoulders. The dancing continued. She shifted her attention back to the man who had the distinct scent of cigar clinging to his suit coat.
CJ eyed the handlebar mustache that hung from a rugged face and matched the man’s graying hair. He appeared respectable. At least in a nondingy, raw cowboy, coarse, saloon-carousing sort of way.
“Lloyd. Frank Lloyd.” He extended a gloved hand. His smile reached his eyes and sparkled.
CJ liked him immediately. He reminded her just a tad of her father’s commanding presence mixed with Charlie’s aged softness. She exchanged greetings with him, wondering who he was and why he’d searched her out in her pink finery.
“Heard you’re the foreman at the Desert Pony.”
Interesting. He didn’t even slip when he said it, and his eyes were kind. What CJ wished she could garner from Jonah.
“I am.” She tugged her shawl tighter around her bare arms as the night breeze kicked up tumbleweed and a brush of cool air.
“Mighty fine.”
“Thank you.” CJ waited.
“I’ll admit to being a tad surprised Jonah Sparks hired a woman to run his ranch, but”—Mr. Lloyd gave her a respectful smile, one that earned another notch of her trust—“maybe he was smarter than the rest of us.”
It was flattering. CJ couldn’t help but smile. Mr. Lloyd appreciated her intelligence and womanhood, all in a manner that left her feeling complimented. Valued, even.
The older man held his hat in his hands. Proper. Courteous.
“You let me know if you ever have issue with Jonah. I’d be more than happy to consider you for my ranch.”
CJ brightened. Another position. Another place to work? She hadn’t considered that if things fell through with Jonah she might have options elsewhere.
“Rumor has it you just rounded up some fine horseflesh.”
Pride infused her. CJ couldn’t help the smile that touched her lips. “We did. They’re beautiful.”
Mr. Lloyd gave a short nod. “I’m lookin’ to buy good ponies. I’d be interested in making a deal for them.”
Jonah’s image flashed across her mind. She should probably direct Mr. Lloyd to him, but Mr. Lloyd had sought her out. Should Jonah win their sparring match and send her packing, CJ would need to have good rapport with Mr. Lloyd. Especially if he could be a potential future employer. Besides, she was more than capable of brokering a deal, if one was to be had. The idea of preparing a strong financial arrangement for the mustangs and presenting it to Jonah to shake hands on enticed CJ. Not only would she prove she was a quality foreman, but that she also knew how to do business. The running of the ranch was something the Brit should leave to a New Mexican, born and raised.
“They won’t be broke until later this summer. But I’d be pleased to talk with you about it.”
“Don’t need ’em broke.” Mr. Lloyd gave a short nod as if to affirm his statement. “Lookin’ to buy ’em green.”
CJ smiled. Well, if that didn’t beat all. An entire spring and summer’s worth of work done before it started. If she could set up a deal with Mr. Lloyd, they might even be able to scout out a new herd and double up for the year. Anticipation welled within her, along with the conjuring of Jonah Sparks’s speechless face when he found out she had single-handedly found a buyer for the unbroken mustangs for a very fair price. It would be… magnificent.
“Mr. Lloyd, let’s talk numbers.”
CJ bit back a yelp as Jonah’s warm, spicy breath tickled her hair.
“What were you speaking about with Mr. Lloyd?”
Tarnation, did his nose nuzzle her hair before he drew back? She straightened at her place at the beverage table. A glance around for Kip showed her he was engaged with his new fascination dressed in green. CJ cleared her throat and gave Jonah a coy smile.
“A gentleman doesn’t ask a lady to repeat her confidences with another gentleman.”
Jonah’s jaw dropped and then snapped shut. The dark shadow around his jaw made him intimidating, as did his warm fingers that curled around her wrist.
“Come.” His order was accompanied by a tug on her arm. CJ dug her feet into the floor. Jonah’s eyes narrowed when he saw the scuffed toes of her boots. Yes, I’m wearing boots, Mr. Sparks, with my pink silk and handwoven lace.
“Come.”
Another tug, this one more insistent.
CJ palmed her free hand over his that held her wrist. “You’re going to cause a scene.”
Jonah’s eyes darkened. “No. I do believe that is something you will cause quite well without my assistance.”
His final tug made CJ stumble forward and into him.
“My word, Miss Matheson, I do believe you might need to refrain yourself from more wine.” He said it loud enough to draw a few raised eyebrows from a grapple of ladies nearby and some chuckles from their escorts.
CJ burned a glare into Jonah’s face, but he ignored her and led her from the room.
“Let go of me.” This was ridiculous!
“I think not.” He gave her wrist another pull.
CJ tugged her arm as Jonah led her through the hotel foyer, thankfully absent of curious onlookers, and into the darkened hallway that led toward the back of the hotel.
“I owe you no explanation!” CJ spat. She wondered if she looked like the mangy barn cat that hissed at her every morning.
Jonah stopped and propped CJ against the wall. A lone lamp hung above them on a gold-gilded, cast-iron arm. It flickered, and shadows danced across Jonah’s face. He held her by her shoulders, communicating once and for all that he was in charge.
“What were you doing with Mr. Lloyd?”
CJ tilted her chin up. With Jonah’s head tipped down, there was a mere inch between their lips. The British transplant of a lord didn’t bother to draw back and give proper distance.
Was he afraid of losing his foreman to another rancher? Or was it something else? Was it something more personal that made his blue eyes burn with a fiery ice? No. Absolutely not. CJ struggled to bring her thoughts back to reason.
“I was making you a fine passel of money, that’s what I was doing.”
Jonah snorted. It surprised her. CJ had never heard him laugh with derision. It unnerved her.
“Mr. Lloyd, yes? What did he offer you? That he’d accept the mustangs wild and unbroken?”
CJ had that nagging squeeze in her stomach that prophesied she’d made a dreadful error.
“And did he offer you a position at his ranch?”
How did he know? CJ averted her gaze. He didn’t need to be so bullish about it. She brought her eyes back and looked at him square.
“I might be more appreciated there.” They might as well have it out here and now.
Jonah released a sardonic chuckle. “Oh yes. I’m sure he would appreciate you. The same way he appreciates the horses he buys. He offered you a paltry sum, I suppose?”
CJ had no intention of naming the figure she’d agreed upon now. Not with Jonah, so high and mighty, planting the first real vestiges of humbled doubt in her heart. She hadn’t made an error. She hadn’t! But presenting Jonah with the potential contract of purchase didn’t seem so enticing now. CJ replayed her conversation with Mr. Lloyd in her mind. She recalled Mr. Lloyd’s flattery. It ministered to her deepest need. The need for appreciation, respect, and value.
Jonah didn’t have to explain further. She had made a horrible blunder.
“Never. Again.” Jonah bent closer.
Their eyes were level. CJ could smell cinnamon on his breath.
“I can do my job, Jonah,” CJ argued. Maybe she had made a mistake, but she wasn’t going to admit defeat to this man. She was tired of him commandeering her into a little corner. CJ wished she were in her trousers. They made her feel more powerful, more competitive with him. In her flowing blush dress, she was anything but powerful. She was… a woman, with dreams and hopes, planted firmly in the soles of her cowboy boots. She was both a hardworking rancher and a lady. Why couldn’t someone appreciate all of her instead of only the side that reflected what they felt she should be?
“I’m not a ninny.”
Jonah’s chest rose and fell as he breathed. Silence enveloped the shaded hallway. CJ could feel the dark green wallpaper against the bare skin on the back of her arms. He seemed to contemplate her words—or maybe his. As if he weighed his response. When it came, CJ’s own breaths increased as realization curled its pride-damaging truth around her soul.
“Mr. Lloyd brokers deals for unbroken ponies with gullible ranchers who don’t understand numbers. He obviously knows I’m not of that sad little lot, so he approached you. And, outside of that, his men break the mustangs with an abusive hand and then he sells them to anyone and everyone to make what he can, regardless of the welfare of the horse. And I can only imagine what he would do with a woman foreman. Foreman? No. It would go far worse for you.” Jonah’s voice deepened to an insistent and perturbed whisper. He gave CJ’s shoulders a slight shake. “In addition, I have already signed a contract with the United States Cavalry at Fort Weatherby for the mustangs. They are already sold, and I would wager it’s for triple whatever Mr. Lloyd offered you.”
CJ blinked. Speechless. There was no recovering from this now. Jonah would never respect her, never trust her word or her worth.
He leaned even closer. There was something in his eyes, in his expression, that told CJ he wanted to say so much more. Things she ached for him to say and words she would hate him for later.
“I didn’t know.” She needed him to believe her. She was ruining all chances of future trust in her abilities… and maybe more.
“Exactly.” Jonah gave his head a slight jerk of affirmation. “You didn’t know. Did you shake hands with the man?”
“Of course not.” CJ was glad she had spared herself that humiliation. “I know enough to know that it would take you to make the buy final.” It pained her to admit that, but he was the owner. Did Mr. Lloyd think she would use her womanly wiles and seduction to win Jonah’s favor in agreeing to the price? That had to be it. Mr. Lloyd had no more respect for her than a gambler had for church.
“Not that your word would stand.” Jonah’s mutter interrupted her humiliation. His hands still palmed her shoulders and held her against the wall.
“Because I’m a woman?” CJ couldn’t help herself. The angst, the frustration rose in her. Maybe she’d been wrong, maybe she had almost made a horrendous error, maybe—she was loathe to admit—maybe she had underestimated Jonah’s exceptional business sense. But she was tired of not being taken seriously.
Jonah released one shoulder, and to CJ’s surprise, he toyed with a curl that whisper-kissed her cheek. “No. Because you’re my employee and I protect my own as much as I protect my horses.”
CJ held her breath as Jonah pushed the curl away.
He leaned forward until his lips were against her ear, and his whisper teased her senses. “Because, Roadrunner, you’re an exceptional woman with a horrible sense of business.”
CJ swallowed and tried to ignore his breath that tickled her cheek. “You’ve given me no recourse but self-preservation.” It was true, but hard to argue when his eyes suddenly went tender. It was an expression she’d never seen before in the ranch owner.
“Perhaps I was merely attempting to protect you from devious minds like Mr. Lloyd who have intentions only to manipulate and abuse. Horses and women.”
CJ mentally berated herself. She’d been duped. She was so much smarter and wiser than that. Her father had taught her to be savvy; Charlie had trained her to be tough. Instead, tonight, in her effort to prove herself to Jonah, she had turned into a simpering woman who wilted beneath some well-placed words of a master rogue.
“I—can do my job.” Was her argument so paltry now that Jonah wouldn’t believe her?
CJ was silenced as Jonah’s lips traveled from her ear and rested on her forehead.
He drew back. “Your job isn’t to broker contracts for the Desert Pony’s horses.”
Jonah was right. “I know,” CJ admitted, though it pained her.
She caught her breath as Jonah leaned in again, his eyes locked with hers. “I suggest three things from here on in. One…” He kissed her right cheek. “Leave all bargaining and business to me.” He kissed her other cheek. “Two, stop attempting to prove yourself.”
CJ couldn’t let him have the last word. She reached up and pulled his head down until his lips were a breath away. “And three, you stop sabotaging my work.” She pressed her lips against his, satisfied by his surprised intake of breath and then a tad frightened as he took control of the caress she’d brazenly initiated.
Her hands curled around the lapels of his jacket, and she held on even when he broke the kiss.
“I was going to say,” he whispered, dipping his head and stealing another kiss, “that three, we let each other do what we do best and see if we can’t come to a more amiable working relationship.”
Jonah’s lips were warm and soothing. The arguments, the angst, were forgotten in the kiss until he pulled away as if torn. They stared at each other. His mouth quirked in a teasing, satisfied smile. “It appears you already had ‘amiable’ in mind as well.”
His head bent for one last, heart-stopping kiss. In this moment, and in the blurred hopes of potential more moments such as this, CJ was a lady. And she liked it.