Page 16 of Roughing It with the Rancher

“Maybe,” he concedes, offering no further explanation and making it very clear he won’t let me down anytime soon.

At the cashier’s booth, he sees the same blonde with a ponytail, ordering, “Darling, I’m going to need my winnings brought out to the only white, nineteen seventy-six Cadillac Eldorado convertible with a six-foot steer horn in the casino’s parking lot, along with my marriage paperwork that should be coming over from the chapel.”

“Marriage paperwork?” The middle-aged woman eyes us confusedly. “Boy, you work quick.”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed a lucky streak, so I figure I better take advantage of it while I can,” Reese answers, grinning.Those damn dimples again. They pave the road to perdition.

“Fair enough,” she replies with a nod, her face conflicted. Leaning forward and whispering, she adds, “You do realize everything you’re asking for goes against casino protocol. If my supervisor?—”

“Help yourself and your supervisor out to a little off the top. Just leave enough cream for me and my bride.”

“Thank you, sir,” she replies, a wide grin capturing her face.

I don’t know where to start. The word “cream” has my face on fire and my heart kathunking against my ribs as though I’m about to be eaten by a big, bad wolf. One look at the rancher’s face, and I’m certain of this inevitability. But then, there’s the matter of him passing out our money like it grows on trees … and his continued scarcity mindset, despite the win. It’s sure to put us both in the poor house if I don’t correct it.

“You know, you really should let me down. You’re making an unnecessary scene.” I bite my lower lip, registering the gawking faces we pass.

“It’s our wedding day, Angel. How can you expect me not to make a scene?”

“Fake wedding day,” I hiss.

“Maybe to us, but the rest of the world has to believe it. Am I right?”

“Not at all. This is an agreement between you and me,” I remind, shaking my head.

“Well, you asked me to marry you, which means you also asked me to act like we’re married. This is how I would act were I in the nuptial hot tank for real. Fair enough?”

I can’t even with him. Instead, I bury my head against his chest, savoring far too thoroughly the smell of his spicy sandalwood cologne. I feel searing eyes from passersby on my back. It’s early afternoon, and the casino is starting to hop, which makes this dramatic walk-through all the more embarrassing.

But if there’s one thing I’ve already learned about Reese Gunner, it’s that he doesn’t do half-assed, whether rolling his way to perdition at the Craps table or pretending this marriage is more than a safeguard. A shiver of desire trembles through me as I wonder what else he has in store for our fake union.

Get your head back on straight, Esmeralda! You’re here for the El Cortez stash. That’s it. And as soon as you secure it, you’ll be divorced faster than Billy the Kid could draw a pistol.

Reese observes, his chin pressing on the top of my head and his growly voice rumbling through me, “I could get used to you pressed against my chest like this, Angel.”

It melts my heart but not my mind or my tongue. “This is only temporary, Cowboy. Get that through your thick skull.”

He chuckles. “Now, is that any way to talk to your husband, Treasure?”

I am in over my head, from his flirty remarks to the way need shuttles through me, enveloped in his warmth and security.

“Thank you,” he says as someone must open the door for him, and we step out into a blazing hot mid-June afternoon. The difference between day and night temperatures in Nevada astounds me.

“Woo, Lord,” Reese says as I finally lift my head, assuming the parking lot will hold less gawkers.

“You’re going to need that jacket back off, and I’m going to need out of my overshirt. It’s boiling out here.

It’s not even half as hot as my internal workings around this rancher. He’s gorgeous as they come, and I might delight in his embrace under any other circumstances. But I can’t let anything or anyone get in the way of the El Cortez treasure.

“Your ride, milady,” the rancher says, gently lowering me back onto my cowboy boots. My eyes bug out at the sight of the old, massive, horned white vehicle. I guess a part of me didn’t fully believe Reese, but here we are … about to head out like we’re rocking an eighties western soap opera.

“You weren’t kidding, were you, Reese?”

He gets a lopsided grin as he opens the passenger door for me, his face stuck between sheepish and flirtatious. “You will soon learn, Esmeralda, that I’m a man of my word in all cases. Or at least I try to be. Otherwise, there’s no way you would’ve talked me into a wedding today.”

I slide into the seat, nervously twirling the ring on my left hand. “Who’d have thought a casino wedding chapel would have a mini-jewelry store attached to it.”

“Lucky thing, otherwise we’d have been at the pawn shop, sifting through junk. I figure we’ll leave your car parked here unless you have a problem with that. Nothing’ll happen to it. This town has at least five sheriff’s deputies for every one miscreant. But you will need to point your car out to me so we can grab your luggage and things.” Reese removes his overskirt, throwing it in the back.

---