Bravo, Tango, Cowboy
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Joanna Wayne
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14
Chapter One
The moonlit night was made for romance. Alonsa Salatoya stood alone, fighting the salty tears that wet her dark eyes and threatened to make a black sea of her mascara as the newlyweds two-stepped across the portable dance floor. Love was a beautiful thing—while it lasted.
The night’s hostess, Linney Martin, stepped to her side. “Dani and Marcus make a beautiful couple, don’t they?”
Alonsa nodded. “They do, and they seem totally in love.”
“Yep. They were meant for each other.”
“Something tells me your infamous matchmaking skills had a hand in getting them together.”
“Not this time. Their relationship sprang from a chance meeting at the Renaissance Festival. Didn’t I tell you that story?”
“Only part of it.” Alonsa had met the bride and groom on a couple of occasions but didn’t really qualify as a friend. Yet Linney had practically insisted she attend the affair to celebrate their recent wedding. Perhaps because there were so few magnificent parties such as this in the small, rural town of Dobbin, Texas.
“Their story is fascinating,” Linney said. “I’ll fill you in when we go shopping in Conroe for the fabric to recover those chairs in the guest suite. But speaking of matchmaking, there’s probably one or two nice cowboys here tonight I could introduce you to.”
That explained the invitation. “I came with a guy,” Alonsa reminded her. “A very charming man.”
“Your boss, who just happens to be gay,” Linney said.
“Gay and a magnificent dancer,” Alonsa countered. “In my book that makes him the perfect escort.”
If you wanted to be exact, she wasn’t his guest tonight. Always the businessman, Esteban had invited a new customer named Keidra Shelton in that capacity. Keidra had recently moved to the Woodlands and wanted an extreme makeover for the interior of her house, a cosmopolitan look that captured the spirit of her new state. Esteban had decided Alonsa was the perfect person to create that.
He and Keidra had picked up Alonsa and driven her to the party. The woman had talked too much and asked far too many questions about Alonsa’s personal life and how she’d come to live in a small, rural town like Dobbin. Other than that, she was nice enough and Alonsa looked forward to the challenge of creating an interior that worked for her.
Linney tossed her head, tinkling the diamond earrings that dangled from her earlobes. “Matchmaking and taking advantage of a good situation is one thing, but those women are taking it a tad too far.” She nodded toward the bar that had been set up in a corner of the sprawling white tent.
Alonsa instantly spotted the women who’d fueled Linney’s ire. The object of their lustful attentions was a man in a black tux and cowboy boots. His dark, thick hair had an unruly bent as he leaned his hard, lean body closer to the attractive redhead who was officially Esteban’s guest for the evening.
Alonsa didn’t recognize the other two ladies, but one couldn’t have been more than eighteen and the other had to be pushing sixty. Keidra was probably in her early thirties. The man had all the bases covered.
“Romeo must be new in town. I haven’t seen him around before.”
“Brand-new. Hawk is Cutter’s latest recruit for the Double M Investigation and Protection Service. He’s living in the cabin on the ranch that Marcus recently vacated.”
“Hawk? Is that a nickname or a description?”
Linney laughed. “A bit of both. He was a civilian helicopter pilot before he joined the service and became a SEAL.”
“So he’s another of Cutter’s Special Ops recruits?”
“Yes. Infamous, or so I hear. He was awarded several medals. Cutter and Marcus both swear he can not only walk on water but he can take down an enemy a half mile away while he’s doing it.”
“Yet he looks every inch the dashing cowboy.”
“There is that. Him I suggest you avoid unless you’re strictly out for a good time.”
Which was exactly what Linney had told her only days ago that she needed.
As if on cue, Hawk turned and spotted them staring at him. He smiled and tipped his glass in their direction. Alonsa’s eyes met his and her insides reacted with a surprising quiver. She looked away so fast she grew dizzy.
It was the champagne, she decided. This was only her second glass but it would be her last drink of the evening. Good time or not, a womanizer in Western boots was the last thing she needed.
“I’m really glad you came tonight,” Linney said, bringing Alonsa back into the moment. “You need to get out more.”
“So you’ve told me before, but it’s not like I’m a hermit,” Alonsa protested.
“I know. You go to work, but other than that, you pretty much stay cooped up inside that ranch house.”
“A huge ranch house, and I have a three-year-old son to keep me busy. But you’re right. I should get out more. Thanks for inviting me.”
“So here you are. I’ve been looking all over for you,” Cutter said, joining them and slipping an arm around Linney.
“Alonsa and I were just watching your friend Hawk in action,” Linney said. “He’s already collected a harem of admirers and this is only his second week in town.”
“As long as you’re not one of them,” Cutter said, leaning over to kiss his wife on the back of the neck.
“Not a chance. I’ve got my cowboy.”
“Good. Hold that thought. Not that I’m not grateful to have Hawk join up with me.”
“Do you need a pilot?” Alonsa asked.
“I need another good man. Hawk Taylor’s the best and the reason I, and more than a few others, are back on U.S. soil and breathing instead of being feasted on by worms on the other side of the world.”
Linney slipped her arm around her husband’s waist. “You never told me Hawk saved your life.”
“You never asked. Now, if I’m not mistaken, the band is playing our song. Will you excuse us, Alonsa, while I dance with my gorgeous wife?”
“Absolutely.”
Alonsa watched the two of them walk away, so in love that they glowed brighter than the tiny white lights that twinkled above them. For now, they had it all. Alonsa had been there once. It seemed eons ago.
IT WAS A HELL OF A post-wedding celebration. A great band, free-flowing alcohol, beautiful women and all out in the wide-open spaces of the Double M Ranch. But the best part of it all was that Hawk was not the sucker who’d just bought in to the fantasy of marital bliss.
Been there, done that, had the scars and the holes in his bank account to prove it. Give him a reconnaissance mission over a heavily armed enemy anytime. At least then you knew they’d be gunning for you. Not that the divorce hadn’t been mainly his fault. He’d only been half there and only half the time. The only people he’d ever truly committed to was his team of rowdy frogmen.
“Care to dance?”
The woman asking and looking up at him with a pair of gorgeous blue eyes was a hottie who’d been semi-stalking him all night. He’d met her at the champagne fountain earlier. She was a secretary to one of the local congressmen—or was she his daughter? Anyway there was a correlation.
The band broke into a new number, but this time instead of a nice boot-scooting beat, the tune had a Latin rhythm. “I’d love to dance with you, but I’m afraid that’s not in my repertoire,” he said. “But look me up for a two-step, and I’m all yours.”
“Promise?”
“On a stack of James Bond novels.”
Another guy came along and tugged her onto the floor with a few other brave couples. They weren’t bad. One couple were obvious graduates of a course in ballroom dancing, probably recently. The man’s mouth moved as he counted the tango beats. The woman was as stiff as MRE rations.
A debonair, slightly past middle-age man with thinning salt-and-pepper hair stepped onto the dance floor. Accompanying him was the gorgeous dark-haired woman Hawk had spotted earlier standing with Linney.
The sapphire-blue dress she was wearing curved about her like silken skin, not so tight she looked trampy, but fitted enough that there was no denying she had a dynamite body. A tempting amount of cleavage showed. Not nearly enough, in Hawk’s opinion.
The hemline cleared her thighs, but there was plenty of bare leg left to appreciate. Great calves, superb ankles and a pair of silver stiletto heels that did their best to show off the sexy features.
None of that compared to how she looked when she started to dance. Hawk had been near explosions that weren’t half as hot.
Linney stepped up beside him and linked her arm with his. “Need a napkin to wipe that drool from your lips, cowboy?”
“I might. Who’s the temptress?”
“My interior decorator.”
“Yeah, well, I’m feeling in need of a major overhaul. Is that her husband she’s dancing with?”
“No. She’s a widow with a young son.”
She looked as if she were about to say more, but didn’t.
“So is the dude she’s dancing with her lover?”
“He’s her boss. Esteban of Esteban’s Western Interiors.”
“And does the temptress have a name?”
“Alonsa Salatoya, but she’s had a really rough life the last few years, Hawk. I don’t want to see her hurt again, so let’s just say she’s off-limits to you.”
“You don’t really believe all those wild heartbreaker tales Cutter and Marcus spread about me, do you?”
“Shouldn’t I?”
“Strictly jealousy on their part,” he teased.
“What about the women swooning in your wake all night?”
“It’s the boots. Women love ’em.”
“Every guy in Texas has boots.”
“Must be my cologne, then.”
“Collect all the hearts you want, Hawk. Just not Alonsa’s. Not that I actually think you could. As far as I know she hasn’t had a date since her husband died.”
“So she’s a recent widow?”
“It’s been two years.”
The music stopped and Esteban dipped his partner so low that the two were practically parallel to the floor. Her hem inched upward. Hawk felt a tightening in his groin. Staying clear of Alonsa was probably a warning he should heed, but not for the reasons Linney had stated. He just wasn’t up to dealing with the emotional entanglements of dating a woman who’d been grieving for two years, especially a woman with a kid.
When the dancing duo righted themselves, they headed for the edge of the dance floor. Linney waved them over. “You two were magnificent,” she raved. “It was like having a filming of Dancing with the Stars right here at the Double M.”
“Alonsa makes any man look good on the dance floor,” Esteban said.
She gave a mock bow. “A woman is only as good as her partner.”
That might be true about some things, but Hawk figured Alonsa would look good dancing with a battery-operated frog. Her gaze met Hawk’s for the briefest of seconds and he was mesmerized by their dark mystic depths.
The band hit up a version of “Crazy.”
“I love this song,” Linney said, looking up at Esteban as she started to sway.
“Would you care to dance?” he asked.
“I’d love to.”
They disappeared onto the dance floor, leaving Hawk alone with Alonsa.
“I think we’ve been set up,” Alonsa said.
That wouldn’t get any complaints from him, but…“Actually, I was warned by Linney to stay clear of you.”
“I got the same warning. I suspect it was to make certain we noticed each other.”
“Ah, the old reverse psychology.”
“Afraid so. Linney’s been back in Dobbin less than a year but already her matchmaking schemes are infamous. I guess it’s understandable, though. She’s so happy with Cutter that she wants that for everyone.”
“Then I guess we should at least dance,” Hawk said. “We don’t want to disappoint our hostess.”
“I’m afraid she’s doomed to disappointment with me.”
“Why is that?”
“Nothing personal, but I’ve adjusted quite well to not having a man in my life.”
“I asked for a dance, not matching towels.”
She reddened a little. “In that case, I accept the offer.”
“Don’t expect any fancy footwork,” he cautioned. “Unlike your previous partner, I’m your basic shuffle and snuggle kind of dancer.”
“Just don’t stamp on my toes. These shoes are painful enough as it is.”
“And worth every throb.” He took her hand and led her onto the floor. Her fragrance was intoxicating, kind of like a sunny summer morning after a hard rain. He pulled her into his arms. He was tall enough that even in her nosebleed heels, she fit in his arms just right, cheek to cheek, hip to hip, thigh to thigh. Arousal coiled around his insides like a corkscrew.
She put her mouth to his ear and he felt the heat of her breath on his neck. “You are a much better dancer than you admitted,” she crooned.
“Like your boss said, you’d make any man look good.”
“I had a lot of practice,” she admitted. “I took lessons for most of my life and danced on Broadway for years.”
“From Broadway to Dobbin, Texas. That’s some detour.”
“It happens.”
She didn’t offer more and Hawk didn’t push. He didn’t intend to be manipulated into a relationship by Linney, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy having a beautiful, sensual woman in his arms.
Alonsa’s small, satin bag was buzzing against the table when they returned. She reached inside and grabbed her vibrating cell phone. He heard just enough to know that the call concerned her son.
“I have to find Esteban,” she said as soon as she broke the connection.
“What’s wrong?”
“That was my babysitter. My son fell and hit his head. She doesn’t think it’s serious, but it’s bleeding and he’s crying. He’s only three. I need to check on him.”
“No need to find Esteban. I can drive you if it’s a ride you’re looking for.”
“That’s not necessary.”
“It could be. Esteban’s car may be blocked in. My truck isn’t.” He’d made sure of that just in case he decided to sneak out early. He didn’t usually last more than an hour or so at fancy shindigs like this one.
Alonsa scanned the parking area. “Surely the parking valet could get Esteban’s car out.”
“You’d save time if I drive you, but hey, it’s your kid. Your call.”
That seemed to resonate with her. “If you’re sure you don’t mind?”
“Wouldn’t have offered if I did.”
“Then I just need to let Esteban know so he won’t look for me later.”
“There’s Cutter,” Hawk said, nodding toward his former SEAL buddy and new boss, who was standing nearby talking to a couple of local ranchers. “We’ll tell him. He’ll see that Esteban gets the word.”
She nodded and in minutes they were on their way to her place. It hit Hawk about five miles down the road that with the help of a bleeding kid, he had played exactly into Linney’s matchmaking scheme.
BRANDON SALATOYA’S injury turned out to be no more than a bump on the head and a slight cut across the top of his right eye. The rambunctious preschooler had reportedly been running up the stairs for his bedtime story when he’d tripped over his dog, a short-tailed, mixed-breed mutt with soulful eyes and a yappy bark.
The boy had settled down quickly when his mother arrived and was now drinking chocolate milk and marching a plastic dinosaur over a mountain of sofa cushions. He’d gotten a reprieve from bedtime until Alonsa was certain there was no aftereffect from the bump to the head.
The sitter, a rawboned rancher’s wife named Ellen, who smiled often and had graying, slightly frizzed hair, had gone home, greatly relieved that she hadn’t allowed a serious injury on her watch.
Alonsa had disappeared with the promise to be right back. The dog, Carne, short for Carnivorous as the precocious youngster had explained, was lying by the fire in the massive stone fireplace, carefully keeping at least one eye on Hawk.
Had Linney been able to spy on them, she’d no doubt be pleased at the cozy, familial scene. But looks were deceiving. The coziness went no further than the visual effects. Once Alonsa was reassured her son was fine, having Hawk around had seemed to become instantly awkward for her.
He’d half expected her to push him out the door with the babysitter. Instead she’d offered to make a pot of coffee in a tone and manner that suggested she hoped he’d turn her down.
He hadn’t, of course. Nothing intrigued him more than a woman not into him, especially one as provocative as Alonsa. When she walked, he envisioned her dancing on a Broadway stage, her body twisting and swaying into erotic choreographic movements.
Yet she was here in small-town Dobbin, Texas, living on a ranch with her young son, decorating other people’s houses and playing ice princess to available suitors. He wondered what her husband had been like and how he’d died. And if his death was the explanation for the haunting shadows that lurked in the depths of Alonsa’s dark eyes.
Brandon marched his dinosaur as close as he could to Hawk’s leg without actually touching it. “How come you came to my house?”
“I gave your mother a ride home from the party.”
“How come you’re still here?”
Good question. “I’m going to have a cup of coffee with your mother.”
“Why?”
“Because she asked me to.”
“Why?”
Fortunately Alonsa picked that minute to rejoin them. “Don’t go there with him,” she cautioned Hawk. “The whys are a black hole from which there is no escape.”
Hawk stood and took the cup of coffee she offered.
“I added a touch of Kahlúa and a dollop of whipped cream. If you’d rather have it plain, I can toss this and get you another cup.”
He tasted the brew. “No, this is great.”
“I’m sorry I rushed you away from the party. It’s not that I don’t trust Ellen. I do. She’s raised five children of her own. It’s just that I worry.”
“No reason to apologize. Once you’ve toasted the newlyweds, the party’s all downhill.”
“You didn’t look as if you were suffering,” she teased.
“I’ve learned to hide it well.” A comeback that wasn’t that far from the truth.
Alonsa was still wearing the blue dress, but she’d slipped out of the metallic stiletto sandals and into a pair of cream-colored slippers. She’d also removed her necklace. The earrings still dangled seductively from her smooth lobes. Her lipstick had almost worn off completely, leaving her lips a glistening, pale pink.
She chose a seat across from him and Brandon, kicked off her slippers and curled her legs under her. “So what do you think of my designs?”
Design was probably the one thing of hers he hadn’t been thinking about, especially since he had no clue what she was talking about. “Love them,” he said, going for low-key enthusiasm.
“I first became interested in interior decorating while remodeling this house,” she said. “I didn’t get any formal training until after I’d moved to Dobbin.”
“The house looks great.” Actually it looked like he’d expect a ranch house to look, except…homier. Yep, that was the word he was looking for. The kind of house where a man could get comfortable with a good book—or a hot woman.
“I was going for rustic, but high-tech with modern comforts,” she explained.
He gave the room a quick once-over. The walls were painted to look as if they were old stucco, with dents and nicks, in shades of a deep cream and pale tan. The chandelier looked as if it had once been used with gas. The mantel over the fireplace was thick, rough-hewn cypress, as were the high beams in the ceiling.
The wide wooden planks of the floor looked to be original to the house, but they were polished and partially covered by a woven rug that picked up the brown in the leather sofa. Two cane-covered rockers sat next to the fireplace.
“Looks like an authentic ranch house to me,” he said. “And the sofa is definitely comfortable.”
“Thanks. When my husband inherited the place, it was literally crumbling. We practically had to gut it.”
“Then this is new construction?”
“All but the shell.”
“Then you are good.” The question was why would she go to all this trouble to live in Dobbin? “Do you have family in the area?”
“No.”
“So how did you wind up here?”
Wrong question. He sensed as much as saw the instant change in her. She shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself, as if the room had suddenly dropped ten degrees, and then lowered her eyes to stare into her cup.
“My husband’s uncle left him the ranch,” she finally said. “Todd loved the place and always planned to retire here.”
No mention as to how she felt about the house, yet her husband was dead and she’d stayed on. Must have been crazy about the man. Probably had him on a pedestal too high for any other man to ever climb.
“Do you want to see what I’ve done with the rest of the house?”
“Sure, as long as there won’t be a test of my knowledge of the subject matter when we finish.”
“No, but I can’t promise not to bore you with details.”
“You do and I’ll start reciting the military handbook.”
“Warning taken. Do you want to show Mr. Taylor your room, Brandon?”
The kid scrunched his nose and planted his dinosaur on top of his head, tangling the toy in the dark locks of hair. “No. Want to watch cartoons.”
“Okay, but when I say it’s bedtime, you have to turn off the TV without making a fuss.”
He grinned as he hopped off the sofa and ran to retrieve a DVD from a basket on the bottom section of the built-in shelves. He inserted it into a player set between two stacks of children’s books.
Hawk had yet to spot a TV. Alonsa picked up a remote, clicked it and then waited while the oil painting over the pine bookshelves slid away to reveal a flat-screen monitor.
“Impressive.”
She smiled. It lit her face and softened all her features. “Actually, the hidden TV is a bit of overkill, but it impresses potential clients.”
“Then you work out of your home?”
“As much as I can. I don’t like to spend any more time away from Brandon than I have to.”
She went to the front door and checked the dead bolt, though he’d seen her lock it when she came in. “This way,” she said, pausing to look out the window before she led him into the hallway.
Carne followed them. The intuitive dog definitely didn’t trust Hawk with his mistress. Smart dog.
The kitchen was obviously Alonsa’s masterpiece. She reveled in the explanation of how she’d sought to create a totally modern working arena without losing any of the ranch-house charm.
She’d done a bang-up job, right down to the red-and-white gingham curtains at the window and the appliances that were disguised as knotty pine cabinets. The awkwardness between them dropped away in layers as her enthusiasm built.
The kitchen phone rang. She grabbed the antique receiver. “It’s probably Linney or Esteban making sure Brandon is okay.” She put the receiver to her ear. Her hello was tentative.
A heartbeat later, her face turned a pasty white and her fingers trembled so badly the phone slipped from them. She swayed. Hawk caught her and the phone before either of them hit the floor.
She shook off the shock and grabbed the phone from him. “Lucy? Lucy, is that you?” Her voice bordered on hysteria.
Hawk shifted so that his ear was close enough for him to hear a reply—had there been one. There was only the clanging of a receiver and the droll signal of a disconnected call.
Tears filled Alonsa’s eyes.
His reaction system went on full alert. “Who was that?”
She looked away, avoiding eye contact. “No one.”
“Like hell.”
“It’s nothing really.”
“You’re a wreck. If you tell me what’s going on, I might be able to help.”
“No one can help. Please, just go home, Hawk. Just go.”
“Who’s Lucy?”
“This isn’t your concern.” Her voice dropped to a shaky whisper.
Right. And he didn’t need a strange woman’s problems. So why wasn’t he rushing out the door?
He took both her hands in his and waited until her gaze locked with his. “Who’s Lucy?”
“My daughter. She was abducted two years ago.”
