In Bed With The Wrangler

He whipped off his hat, banging it on his thigh to release the dust. “If by it, you mean lust, then you’re right.”

“I don’t mean lust.”

“People don’t fall in love in a week.”

“People can fall in love in an hour.”

“Not so it lasts.” It was his turn to lean in. “It’s lust, Amber. It’s a fling. What you have with Hargrove is real, and you need to go back to him.”

“Hargrove loves Katie.”

Royce smacked his hat back on his head. “Then why’s he here looking for you?”

“He doesn’t know it yet.” She realized that sounded lame, but it was completely true. Amber had very high hopes that Hargrove would wake up to the truth about Katie.

“Now you’re grasping at straws. Go back to reality, Amber. Get married in that big cathedral and have beautiful babies for the campaign trail.”

“Are you listening to yourself?” She gripped the rail. “You’re willing to throw away everything that’s between us?”

A part of her couldn’t believe it. A part of her expected to wake up any second. But another brusque, insidious part of her realized she’d made a horrible mistake.

She might have fallen for Royce. But Royce hadn’t fallen for her.

“You’ve spun a nice fantasy, here,” he said. Then he nodded toward Hargrove’s car. “But your reality is over there.”

Her throat closed over, and she swallowed hard. “You’re asking me to leave?”

His expression was unreadable. “I’m asking you to leave.”

She gave a stiff nod, unable to speak. Royce didn’t love her. He didn’t want her. And she’d made a complete and total fool of herself.

Two days later, Amber alternated between misery and mortification. Royce might not have loved her, but her heart had fallen hard and fast for him.

It was easy to see what made him such a great pick-up artist. He must make every woman feel loved and cherished-at least temporarily. She wondered about the string of broken hearts he’d left behind.

Then she wondered who he’d be with next. But that thought hurt so much she banished it, blinking back the familiar sting in her eyes as she focused on her mother far across her family’s great room.

The replacement-for-the-shower party was in full swing. But Amber didn’t feel remotely like celebrating.

Maybe if Royce had simply sweet-talked her into bed, if they’d had fantastic sex, if he’d put her in a cab in the morning, maybe then she could have handled it. But he hadn’t simply made love to her. He’d joked and laughed with her, shared his secrets with her, made her feel valuable, important, a part of his world.

“Amber?” Her mother, Reena, approached, concern in her expression.

Amber tried to smile at her mother. Her family had been told that she was the one to break it off with Hargrove. But nobody but Katie knew anything about Royce. Amber planned to keep it that way.

Reena’s floor-length chiffon dress rustled to a halt. “Why aren’t you visiting, sweetheart?”

“I’m a little tired.”

“Are you sure that’s all it is?”

“I’m sure.” She mustered up a smile.

“That’s the best you can do? You look like you’re headed for the gallows.”

Amber signed. “I’m really not in the mood for a party, Mom.”

Reena moved in closer. “But I thought this was what you wanted.”

“I didn’t want a party.”

“Well, you didn’t want a shower, either. And the guests were already on their way.”

Amber drew a shuddering breath, fighting the tears that were never far from the surface. Emotions alone shouldn’t hurt this much. Still, a single teardrop escaped, trailing coolly down her cheek.

“Sweetheart,” her mother entreated, drawing Amber close to her side. “Do you miss him so much?”

Amber startled in surprise. How had her mother guessed?

Reena cupped Amber’s chin with gentle fingertips, peering deeply into her eyes. “Shall I give Hargrove a call for you? We might be able to talk him into-”

“She’s not missing Hargrove,” came Katie’s voice as she swooped in to join them.

“Of course she is,” said Reena. “Just look at her.”

“I’m not missing Hargrove,” Amber confirmed.

Katie gave Amber a level, challenging look. “She’s missing Royce Ryder.”

Amber sucked in a gasp.

“Who?” asked her mother, glancing from Amber to Katie and back again.

Katie gave Amber a helpless shrug. “What’s the point in hiding it? It’s obvious to anyone that you’ve had your heart broken.”

“Who is Royce Ryder?”

“The man she met in Montana.”

“I met him at Jared Ryder’s wedding,” Amber corrected. Where he’d picked her up in the bar for a quick fling. At least that’s the way he remembered it.

Reena’s jaw dropped a notch, and her hand went to her chest. “You were unfaithful to Hargrove?”

“I wasn’t unfaithful to Hargrove.” Frustration finally gave Amber an emotion to replace despair. “In fact, Hargrove was unfaithful to me.” She returned Katie’s look. “With Katie.”

Katie’s face went pale, and Reena’s jaw dropped another notch.

“They’d already split up,” Katie hastened to assure Reena.

“That’s true,” Amber admitted. “Nobody was unfaithful to anybody.”

Katie’s voice went soft. “And she did fall in love with Royce.”

Amber was too exhausted to deny it.

“Oh, sweetheart.” Reena took Amber’s hand. Her mother was a romantic to the core. “That terrible man broke your heart?”

“I broke my own heart.” As she said the words out loud, Amber admitted to herself they were true. “We barely knew each other. And my expectations were…Well, he’s just such an incredible man. You’d love him, Mom. You really would.”

Reena’s narrow arm curled around her shoulders. “I wouldn’t like him at all. He broke my baby’s heart.”

Jared’s familiar voice barked at Royce over the phone. “What the hell did you do?”

“Jared? Finally. Where are-”

“I need an explanation,” Jared demanded.

Royce swiveled on the ranch house office chair, assuming Jared had been in contact with the Ryder office in Chicago. “I don’t even know where to start.”

“Start with how you broke Amber Hutton’s heart and infuriated one of our most important clients.”

Royce nearly dropped the phone. “Huh?”

“I’ve only been gone a week, and you screw up this badly.”

“She called you?” Royce could hardly believe it. What was Amber doing running to Jared?

“David Hutton called me. He’s threatening to cancel his lease. You are aware that he’s our second-biggest client, right?”

“Don’t patronize me.”

“Then don’t sleep with our clients’ daughters.”

What could Royce say to that? “It just…happened.”

“Right. Well, un-happen it.”

“I don’t think that’s physically possible.”

“You know what I mean. Fix it.”