Trent burst out laughing. He moved toward her, dodging her arms as she spun around in circles. "Come on, chickadee. If you won't marry me, then the least I can do is give you a lift home." He moved his pack to his front and knelt on the ground. "All poultry aboard."
Gracie laughed as she crawled onto his back, hooking her legs around his waist. "As long as you don't want to pluck me, I'm all yours."
Laughter rumbled through his chest. "You'd better watch out, honey. That's the best offer I've had all week."
CHAPTER SEVEN
"What do you think about Vegas, Gracie?"
She looked up from the table, a slice of cold roast beef dangling from her fingers. "You mean as in casinos, naked ladies, and lots of glitzy shows? Can you pass another slice of bread over?"
"Here's the bread and yes to the naked ladies."
"I think I'd only want to take a few dollars into a city like that, otherwise I'd be broke within an hour. Do you have any mustard in the pantry?"
"Forget the mustard, I've got a better deal for you. How would you like to come on an all expenses paid weekend with me to Sin City?"
Her eyebrows shot in the air.
"Get your mind out of the gutter." Trent grinned. "I've got a conference there this weekend and two tickets burning a hole in my pocket." At her look of disbelief, he walked into his office and came back waving the tickets in the air. "You could shop during the day and see a couple of shows with me in the evening."
Gracie wiped her hands on her T-shirt and reached up to check the tickets. "How did you get two tickets?"
"The Cattle Raisers Association worked out a deal. If you bought one ticket, you got another one for free. They probably think the second person will spend up large at the casinos."
She leaned back, chewing on the pickle, beef, and cheese sandwich in her hand.
"You've got two minutes to make up your mind otherwise I'm phoning Jordan and taking him." Trent couldn't believe it was taking her this long to decide whether she'd go to Vegas with him. Two nights in the city that never slept sounded like a sure fire winner over a quiet evening on the Triple L. Especially with what he had planned. It was time to shake Gracie's world up and Vegas was just the place to start the earthquake.
She sipped her glass of water, staring at him like she was hunting for any ulterior motives behind his offer. He had plenty of those, but he wasn't about to let Gracie in on his plans.
"I'm coming on one condition."
"You only ever came with conditions attached," Trent sighed. "I'd die a happy man if just once you agreed to something without putting a catch at the end of it."
Gracie dabbed her mouth with a napkin. "I'm not that bad." She smiled at the frown plastered across his face. "I'll come with you if I pay for my flight and half the accommodation."
After living with her for nearly a month, Trent knew she wouldn't go anywhere with him unless it cost her a week's teaching salary. "Fine, whatever you say. I'll find out the cost of the flight, but the accommodation's on me. I'd have to pay for it anyway."
"No."
"What do you mean 'no'? It's a perfectly fair split of the expenses."
Gracie put her empty glass on top of her plate. "I want my own room. I refuse to share with a man who snores like a beached walrus."
Trent ignored the grin nearly splitting her face in two. He'd give in with dignity and then play dirty once they got to Vegas. "Okay, deal. I'll email the hotel today. We leave here at four o'clock on Friday afternoon."
Scooting around the table, Gracie gave him a happy smile. "Sounds like a good excuse for a shopping trip in town, but I've got to find Jordan. He's taking me on one of the trails with Daisy." She stacked her dirty dishes in the dishwasher and headed to the back door. "We should be back by five. Tell Adele I'll cook the vegetables and fold the washing when I get home."
Standing at the kitchen door, Trent watched her skip down the stairs. "Remind Jordan not to go too far into the mountains."
Gracie turned and gave him an exasperated stare. "Yes, daddy."
Jeez, she was a cheeky wench. Life had been a whole lot simpler before the Donnelly factor arrived on his doorstep.
He turned toward his office. There'd been another wolf attack on a neighbor's property a few days ago and everyone was on full alert. He didn't want Gracie anywhere near the mountains in case the wolves came back for more cattle.
He stared out of the office window, catching sight of her as she walked across the yard. Gracie managed to frustrate the heck out of him, but he enjoyed having her around, enjoyed the chaos she created. She had a way of filling up a space so that all the energy in the room was sucked dry when she wasn't in it. He'd never felt this much attraction for anyone in a long time. Whenever he saw Gracie working outside in her tight jeans, or heaven forbid, the skimpy little blue shorts she favored on hot afternoons, he felt like a drooling fool.
The weekend in Las Vegas had come at the right time. He hadn't planned on attending the conference this year, but if a desperate man ever needed a bit of divine intervention, then it was him. He wasn't sure Hooty and Charles would see themselves as divinities, but as Association President and Treasurer they'd provided him with the perfect excuse to get Gracie alone and naked.
Not that the naked bit was compulsory, of course.
***
Gracie slid into a white painted chair in Angel Wings Caf?. She smiled at two women sitting at a table pressed against the front glass window. Gracie had met Jessie and Doris the other day when she'd been out shopping for barn dance decorations with Karen. Doris and her husband Jake owned the biggest hardware store in town. Between the two seventy-if-I'm-a-day women, there wasn't much news that didn't float their way.
"You're a bad influence on me, Karen." Gracie pulled another chair out, dropping some of her shopping on the seat and leaving the rest on the floor.
"I'd say we're just about as bad as each other. Remind me never to wear high heels when I go out shopping with you again. You'd walk the hind legs off a horse the way you gallop around the stores."
Gracie laughed as Karen slowly lowered herself into a chair. For the last three hours they'd been looking for a dress that Gracie could wear to the conference dinner in Las Vegas. And for shoes, makeup and another couple of other items that had snuck their way onto her credit card. More than a couple if Gracie counted all of the bags under the table, which she wasn't terribly inclined to do.
Tess grinned as she made her way across to their table. "Someone's been having too much fun."
"Don't look at me," Karen said. "Gracie's the one that made Sandra Lee's day."
"I think I helped Sandra exceed her monthly sales figures. But if I don't have a hot chocolate in the next five minutes I'm going to fall down from exhaustion."
Karen smiled at Tess. "Gracie's main problem is that she doesn't know how to pace herself. I tried to talk her into having a break earlier, but no, she had to keep pounding the sidewalk looking for the perfect dress."
"Does the perfect dress have enough room for a slice of hot apple pie with whipped cream?" Tess asked.
"That's not fair," Gracie groaned. "You shouldn't tempt me like that. Especially when the dress in question has lots of shimmery sequins that show every little ripple on my hips."
"There are no ripples anywhere," Karen laughed. "Except where it counts. Apple pie and cream sounds divine. I'll have mine with a low-fat cappuccino."
Gracie glanced up at Tess. "You'd better make that two apple pies and cream. I still have to find gifts for my class in New Zealand."
"I'll be back in a couple of minutes. I'll even throw an extra sprinkle of chocolate on your drink if I can peek at the dress."
"It's a deal." Gracie watched Tess walk across the caf? and disappear around the far side of the counter. She flicked switches on the coffee machine and dished up two plates of apple pie. The caf? smelled like cinnamon and chocolate, with the tiniest whiff of freshly baked bread thrown into the mix. "I'm going to put t
en pounds on just inhaling the smell of all the food in here."
"We'll just have to walk a bit faster around the stores to burn off the extra calories. Talking about calories?" Karen's eyes practically watered at the decadent dessert Tess put in front of her. A three-inch high slice of double-crust apple pie, golden and hot, sat on the table. A ball of half-melted cream rested against the pastry shell, curling around the dessert like a sweet river of indulgence.
"And one low-fat cappuccino." Tess laughed at the look on Karen's face. "Yours is coming right up, Gracie."
Karen dipped a fork into the center of her pie. "I've died and gone to heaven."
The doorbell jingled and Gracie glanced across the room. Kristina Green walked in. She blinked when she saw Gracie, and stopped in the middle of the room. Her gaze darted between Gracie and Karen, a frown settling on her face.
"Don't stand there looking like a fish out of water." Doris' voice cut through most of the conversation spinning around the room. "Grab yourself a chair and come and say hello."
Karen smiled at her friend. "Kristina! It's good to see you. How was Idaho?"
A tight smile settled on Kristina's lips. "It was fine. Alex did well." She stared at the chair Doris had pulled out. "Umm?I really can't stay. I forgot to pick something up for Jim. Have a good day." She disappeared out of the caf? quicker than she'd arrived.
Karen watched Kristina leave. "That's not like her. I hope everything's all right."
Doris turned back from staring out the window. "From the way she marched down the street I'd say there's something going on that she doesn't want us to know about."
"Maybe Alex hurt himself again." Jessie chipped in. "The doctors over in Billings gave him merry-hell after the last fall he had. Told him he wasn't to get back on any bulls this side of Christmas."
Doris rearranged the periwinkle blue sweater around her shoulders. "When have you ever known those Green boys to do what's best for them? When God created that family, he swiped all the boys with the same brush. Just look at Jacob. He's so busy making gold out of everyone's misfortune that I wonder how he sleeps at night."
"He's not as bad as that." Karen looked across at Gracie. "Jacob owns a construction business. He buys ranches and builds large homes and apartment buildings on the subdivided land."
"And half the town don't think much of his career," Doris said. "The half that are holding onto their land by the skin of their teeth."
Karen stirred her coffee. "Maybe Kristina's a bit flustered now that Jim's on his way home."
Even to Gracie's ears, her explanation rang hollow. "When's Jim due back?"
"Either late tomorrow night or early the next day. He was still trying to book his flights when I last spoke with Kristina."
"Here you go." Tess left Gracie's apple pie and hot chocolate on the table. "Don't worry about Kristina," she whispered. "Doris and Jessie find something interesting in every little thing that happens around here."
"There's nothing wrong with our hearing either," Doris said. "And you mark my words. If more people took an interest in the workings of this town, we wouldn't be in half the trouble we're in."
Tess rolled her eyes. "I'm sure everything's all right with Kristina and her family, Doris." She turned toward Gracie and winked. "Enjoy the pie. Don't forget to show me your dress before you leave."
***
Gracie's suitcases had been sitting in her room for the last two days, waiting for her trip to Las Vegas. The new clothes she'd bought in Bozeman took pride of place in her neon pink bags.
"Are you ready to go?" Trent stood in the foyer, hollering up the stairs as if he was rounding up a herd of cattle.
Poking her head over the banister, Gracie yelled back, "I'm on my way. I've just got to check my makeup case."
Throwing a spare mascara into the bottom of her bag, she zipped it up. Even though she had serious misgivings about going anywhere with Trent, she figured it couldn't be much worse than spending the weekend with him on the ranch.
She'd tried everything she could think of to keep her distance. But her misbehaving body kept whispering sweet nothings about a lonesome cowboy that had a hunkering for marital bliss. She'd ignored every accidental touch, turned away from the liquid heat in his gaze and tried really hard to stamp down on her wayward thoughts. And so far, it seemed to be working. Almost.
Dividing the evenings between Jordan and Karen had provided the perfect cover at night and the days had looked after themselves. Keeping busy with the cowboys on the Triple L had been easy, until she'd gone fencing with Trent. There was something altogether tempting when a man took off his shirt to cool down. Way too tempting. Her sore back and legs were nothing compared to ache coming from other parts of her deprived body.
Hauling three suitcases to the top of the stairs, she put them on their sides and gave them a gentle nudge toward the bottom. "There you go. Three cases and one carry-on all accounted for. Let's go."
Trent walked up to meet the bags halfway down the staircase. "Haven't you forgotten a bag? I'm sure you came into the country with four. We'll be gone for a whole two and a half days."
Sticking her nose in the air, Gracie grabbed a case and stepped off the last tread. "Actually, I arrived with no luggage apart from my trusty carry-on. And you've got the right number of suitcases in front of you. I'm traveling light."
Trent made a scoffing noise as he lined her suitcases up beside his one overnight bag and suit hangar. "You sure know how to make a man happy."
"Don't talk too soon." Gracie slung her carry-on over her shoulder. "I've got two days of shopping ahead of me."
***
The airport shuttle drove down the Strip in Las Vegas and Gracie didn't know which way to look. Resorts loomed on each side of them, each one more spectacular than the last. "Did you see the lights on the fountains over there, Trent? Ooh, look at that one." She stared in amazement at the hotels lining the street. Disneyland rubbed shoulders with Paris and the Wild West tried to overshadow a giant Egyptian pyramid.
Trent leaned forward. "This is our stop."
Gracie turned and looked at where he was pointing. Her jaw dropped and she couldn't move an inch. "This can't be where we're staying."
"The Venetian Hotel. Over four thousand guest rooms ready and waiting for action."
Gracie ignored the mischief in his eyes. "Don't get too excited. The only action your room will be seeing, Trent McKenzie, is the sight of a shoe coming through the door if you come anywhere near me."
Hauling himself out of the shuttle, he held out his hand. "Watch your step onto the sidewalk, Gracie. I'd hate that foot to get permanently lodged in your mouth."
Mumbling under her breath, she jumped free of the door. As she turned to grab her carry-on, she nearly fell over backward. Music and light spilled from the hotel. Huge painted murals, framed with thick ropes of gold, decorated the ceiling of the covered entrance.
"Look at that."
"You're catching flies again." Trent turned to look at the entrance. "Wow."
"I saw the making of this hotel on a documentary back home." Gracie didn't know which way to look first. "This is so exciting. It's an exact replica of Venice right down to all the stonework, and gondolas, and canals, and?"
Trent laughed, grabbing her hand as he pulled her toward the entrance. "Come on, short-stuff. The man's waiting to take our bags in."
The hotel concierge navigated with practiced agility through the crowd of people standing in the hotel lobby. Camera flashes lit the foyer as people focused their lenses on the ceiling. It all seemed a little odd, until Gracie followed the direction of their cameras.
"Look up, Trent. It's the Sistine Chapel." Stretching all the way from the hotel registration desk to the casino entrance, thick gold plaster framed a replica of Michelangelo's angels and saints.
Trent left her staring at the ceiling while he went across to check them into the hotel. "Are you happy if we drop our bags off, then find somewhere for dinner?" He pas
sed her the key card to her room, laughing at the expression on her face. "Something tells me we're not going to get much sleep tonight."
"Something tells me you're oh so right," she smiled. "Who needs sleep when a girl can get lost in the streets of Venice?"
***
Gracie's suite was breathtaking. She stared at all the gadgets and furniture, not quite believing that any hotel would provide this much luxury for their guests. She had her own living room and dining area. A beautiful silk canopy fell either side of the king size bed. Carved furniture and brocade drapes added more than a touch of glamor to the room she'd call home for the next couple of days.
When she saw the huge sunken bathtub surrounded by marble tiles, she thought she'd died and gone to heaven. Lots of little bottles of complimentary lotions and potions were begging to be investigated. She nearly closed the door and ran a bath then and there. If it hadn't been for the lure of the Venetian streets waiting to be explored, she could quite easily have passed more than a few hours enjoying the luxury surrounding her.
Grabbing her key card, she closed her door and knocked on the room beside hers. "Are you decent in there?"
The door swung open to reveal a grinning cowboy. "As decent as I'm ever going to get."
Gracie stepped into an exact replica of her own room, right down to the gift basket of goodies sitting on the dining room table. "What do you think of your room?"
"Pretty fantastic to a cowboy more used to the inside of a log cabin. Have you managed to unpack all of those clothes yet?"
Gracie laughed as she watched him unzip his overnight bag. "No, not one dress has made it into the closet. There's plenty of time for that later. I just want to get down into the streets of Venice. And Trent?"
He looked up.
"I've been living in your log cabin and you've got nothing to worry about. Your home beats this glamour-puss hands down."
Throwing his bag into the bottom of the closet, he took her hand. "On that cheery note, let's go paint Venice red, my dear."