River Song (14 page)

"I hope it suits you. This is the best hotel Phoenix has to offer."

Trying to conceal the wonder she felt from her lack of exposure to the world outside her home, Sunny stepped into the room and indulged her gaze with the sheer luxury of her accommodations. A large inviting bed dominated the room, its spread made of the same colorful chintz as the curtains hanging over a double window. Trellises of amber roses seemed to leap out of the beige paper covering all four walls, and a milk-white wash basin and pitcher awaited her on the dressing table.

"This is very nice, Cole," she managed to say as her gaze brushed over the crystal chandelier and came to rest on the steam rising from the claw-foot bathtub in the center of the room.

"Good. I'm glad you like it." He began backing out of the door, adding, "I'll let you take advantage of your bath while it's still hot. Bang on the wall if you need anything. My room is right next door." Cole pointed to the left,
then
pulled the door closed behind him.

Once inside his own room, Cole breathed a long sigh and stripped off his clothes. He sank into the warmth of the burnished copper bathtub and lay there, mindless, for several minutes. And then his thoughts returned, centered as they seemed to be of late, on Sunflower.

Had he been mad for bringing her to his town, his home? The reception she got from the desk clerk was a simple prelude to what might await once Nathan laid eyes on her. Maybe, he groused to himself, he'd made a mistake. Perhaps even though his plans had been to help her, he'd only added to her problems.

Just how honorable
were
his intentions, he suddenly wondered? If he'd had to spend another night on the trail with her cuddled up next to him, odds are he would have snapped
,
taken her like one of the wild animals their campfire sought to drive away. He might have behaved no better than the disgusting outlaw.

Scrubbing his scalp with a vengeance, Cole submerged his head in the tub and hoped somehow the act might cleanse away his lustful thoughts. But when he came up for air, he had a vision of Sunflower in her own bath. She would be soaped, her slippery body reclining, and her glorious hair would be floating beneath her like a cushion of ebony satin.

Cole leapt from the tub, frustrated, confused, and aroused. He needed a drink. He needed to put more distance between himself and the beautiful Indian maiden who called herself Sunflower Callahan. And, damn his wayward body, he needed her.

Back in room seven, Sunny had already washed from head to toe in fragrant lilac-scented soap, but she couldn't seem to pry herself from the luxury of the hot bath. Never had she felt so pampered, so spoiled. And it was all because of Cole. She rolled his name off her tongue, savoring the sound of it,
then
remembered Mrs. Brown's defensive remarks. How long before Cole would go to this Elizabeth? Was he on his way now, while she lay in the water like a stunned squawfish? The thought startled and troubled her. A special seed was growing between her and the rancher, something so wonderfully delicate that Sunny sensed the bud might easily wither before it had the chance to bloom. If only there
were a way
to detain him for a few more hours, a few more days, or weeks.

Several sharp raps against the door jolted her to a sitting position. She tried to calm the suddenly turbulent water, working unsuccessfully to dam a large wave as it spilled over the side of the tub and doused the floor. "Yes?" she called out, distracted.

"It's me, Cole." His voice filtering through the thin wood, he announced, "I'm going on downstairs to arrange a good hot meal for us. Take your time joining me and don't worry about a repeat of what happened the first time you were in the lobby. I'll be looking for you."

"All right," she sputtered, chuckling at her vain attempts to keep the water inside, rather than outside, the tub. "I will be down in a few minutes."

After Cole's footsteps faded down the hallway, Sunny reluctantly emerged from the comforting bath, and quickly dried her hair and tingling skin. Dressing carefully but quickly, Sunny slipped on her new undergarments, buttoned the sleeves of her new dress at the wrists,
then
fastened the bodice up to the lacy opening at her throat.

Thrilled with her image in the dresser mirror, she twirled and contemplated a new way to fix her loose hair. How did fine ladies convince their tresses to curl so uniformly? Surely they couldn't all have been born that way. With only a single yellow ribbon to aid her, Sunny didn't have many options. She chose to catch the length of her hair with the ribbon, then swooped the strands back' into a thick cascade and tied a bow at the top of her head.

Satisfied she'd done her best to look presentable in Phoenix society, Sunny glided out of the room and made her way towards the steep staircase.

Downstairs, a frustrated rancher complained, "I'm a tellin'
ya
, Fremont, Swain's herd is
growin
' mighty quick. I swear his cows have a calf every washday."

Cole laughed as he polished off the rest of his drink. He took another glance at the empty stairway,
then
answered his neighbor.
"Like I told you, Tom.
It's way past time for you to invest in fencing like the rest of us.
That,
and a damn good brand are the best ways to guard against these settlers and their 'borrowing' ways."

"Ah, hell, Fremont
. '
Twixt the drought and all those damn squatters and their
stinkin
' sheep
grazin
' up the good grass, we didn't get
diddly
-squat for our herd. Where's the money supposed to come from for all that wire?"

There wasn't much Cole could say to assure the rancher. The past two years had been tough on everyone. Even the big ranches like the Triple F felt the blade of a depressed economy cut into their profits. "Have you checked with Harvey over at the bank? Maybe he could help."

"Come on, Fremont," Tom complained impatiently. "Even you couldn't get a penny out
a that
ole skinflint. He sits on his assets like a brood hen
hatchin
' her chicks."

"Well then, how about this," Cole offered without much conviction. "My brother-in-law, Buck Wheeler, is in Maricopa right now trying to secure a loan from
Darvey
Tymes
. If he's successful, maybe he could put in a word for you."

"That'd be an idea. Why don't you have him—
"

Tom left the sentence unfinished when he realized his words fell on deaf ears. His friend's mouth had dropped open and his gaze rested on something other than the frustrated rancher.

"Excuse me, Tom," Cole said with effort as he pushed his chair back from the table and rose. "I'll let you know what I find out."

Tom's reply was lost on Cole. All his attention and senses honed in on the vision descending the stairs. When Sunny gracefully swiveled as she reached the bottom step, then began to float across the room towards him, his breath caught in his throat and he froze.

Sunny noticed his peculiar expression, the strange waxy appearance of his flared nostrils. Was he angry again? What had she done wrong? She slammed her hands to her hips and came to a halt.
"Faith and
begorra
, Cole Fremont.
What does a girl have to do to be 'fixed-up' in your eyes?"

Still, he was speechless. During the past few days together on the trail, her brother's clothing had given him ample opportunity to study the outline of her long legs and curve of her well-rounded bottom. The tattered shirt encouraged glimpses of her full breasts, and the rope belt repeatedly brought his gaze to her tiny waist.

He had had no trouble imagining that beautiful body stripped of civilization's garments, but somehow the thought of her in a fine dress had escaped him. Had his father's prejudice colored his own viewpoint to the extent he could only think of her as an Indian squaw, not as a lady? If that were the case, he thought with sudden awareness, his attitude was no better than that of the desk clerk.

More crestfallen by his silence than indignant at his reaction to her, Sunny's voice became a whisper as she suggested, "Maybe it would be better if I returned to my room."

"No." Cole moved swiftly, catching her arm as she turned to walk away. "Please, listen to me. You look so beautiful, so different." He recalled the way he felt when he saw her on the stairs and softly added, "You took my breath away."

Unaccustomed to such remarks, Sunny lowered her lashes and fumbled with a length of lace and ribbon tied at the front of the dress. Her cheeks grew warm as she tried to think of the proper response to his compliment, but her mind was as empty as a roadrunner's nest in winter.

Cole's strong hands stilled her busy fingers as he brought them to his lips and brushed them with a tender kiss. "Come on, little flower. Let's have supper. I'm so
hungry,
I could eat a side of beef."

With a short nod and nervous laugh, Sunny slipped her small hand in the crook of his arm and strolled, her head held high again, into the dining room. After they were seated, Cole raised two fingers, signaling the waitress,
then
settled back in his chair.

"I hope you like steak, Sunny. If you do, you're in for a taste of Triple F's finest Hereford stock."

"Oh? Your ranch supplies this hotel?"

"This and several other establishments in town.
If all goes well, the Triple F will also be shipping to parts of California by next year." That is, he thought
,
if Maricopa County got some much needed rain and they could find a way to keep the homesteaders from crowding them out of any more precious grazing land.

Famished beyond caring about what she consumed, Sunny was equally hungry for more information on her handsome companion. She smiled across the table and said, "Did ranch business bring you to Yuma?"

"That," he nodded, "and a few other things."
But he chose not to elaborate about the other things and instead explained the ranch's plans for the future. "The Phoenix and Salt River Railroad is due to be finished next year. It'll connect in Maricopa where we can pick up the Southern Pacific and run through Yuma all the way to San Diego."

Although she listened to the words, Sunny was more intent on watching Cole as he spoke. She loved how his mustache drooped past the corners of his mouth, treasured the way it hugged the upper curves and gave her a full view of his sensual bottom lip. She could still feel the heat of that mouth pressed against hers, remembered the surprising yet electrifying sensations when he drove his tongue into her mouth.

"Sunny?"

That sensual mouth was lop-sided now, grinning at her as if it knew exactly what she was thinking. With a start, she looked up into his amused eyes. "What?"

"Aren't you hungry?"

She glanced down at the table, astonished to discover a plate filled with steak, fried potatoes, and biscuits staring up at her. When,
how,
had they arrived?

"Oh, yes. I am." And with that strange heat tickling her cheeks again, Sunny spread a napkin across her lap and focused on her supper.

Aware of her embarrassment, guessing he had something to do with
it,
Cole gave her some privacy and turned his attention to the meal. But he found he was no longer interested in eating. He cut off a few chunks of meat and chewed them absently as his gaze returned again and again to Sunflower. She was radiant, practically glowing. Was it the hot bath?
The new dress?
Or, was it possible he made her blood run hot just by being in the same room with him? She certainly affected him in that way, he acknowledged as ripples of desire rolled down his belly.

Even the way she ate was an erotic experience. Sunny didn't nibble at her food or cut tiny pieces of steak only to leave most of them on her plate in ladylike fashion. She literally dove into the meal, relishing the taste and texture of each morsel, drenched her biscuits in rich honey,
then
licked the excess from her fingers with a sensuality that nearly drove him wild.