Dear Cupid (14 page)

“Mm-hmm.” He grinned. “I especially liked the advice to men on how to talk sexy rather than dirty in bed.”

The warmth shot right to her cheeks. “I happen to have a lot of men visit my site.”

“I believe it. I’m just wondering where you were back when I was in high school. I could have used some of your dating pointers.”

“Somehow I doubt that,” she said. Although maybe she was wrong. Maybe Mike did need her help. Otherwise, how had such a charming and attractive man stayed single so long?

Sipping her wine, she let her gaze wander about the room. Several people in the crowd looked vaguely familiar, and she wondered if she’d seen them as minor characters in films. Then her gaze landed on a figure that seemed completely out of place: a cowboy who stood alone on the far side of the room, his shoulder propped against the wall. With his arms crossed over his chest, he watched the crowd from the shadow of his black Stetson. Being female, and still among the living, she couldn’t help but notice how the white western shirt and black jeans hugged his tall, muscular body. He wore his long black hair in a ponytail that gave him an extra ounce of sex appeal.

Not until he turned his head, though, did recognition strike. “Holy cow!” She gripped Mike’s arm in reflex. “That’s Trey Evans.”

“What?” Mike turned to look.

“Over there.” Kate turned toward Mike so she wouldn’t be caught staring. “See the man leaning against the wall? I think that’s Trey Evans, the world-champion bull rider.”

“So it is.” Mike nodded.

“But what’s he doing here?” Kate asked in disbelief. When she’d been in college, Trey Evans had been the heartthrob of her entire dorm. Not that any of them cared about the rodeo. They’d known him more from the TV commercials and magazine ads he’d been in. She vividly remembered the life-sized poster of him wearing Wrangler jeans, a black Stetson, and nothing else, that had hung in her suitemate’s room.

“Actually, I’m surprised to see him here,” Mike said. “He doesn’t usually come to these things. You want to meet him?”

Her eyes widened at the thought. An offer to meet any other celebrity in the room would have pleased her rather than intimidated her. But this was Trey Evans, a walking female fantasy. “I—I—”

“Come on.” Mike took her by the elbow and led her across the room. “Hey, Trey!” he called over the music as they drew close.

Kate scrambled for something remotely intelligent to say—anything that wouldn’t make her sound like an idiot. Then the man turned to fully face her and she froze. A jagged scar slashed down one cheek from temple to jaw, pulling the corner of his eye down and his mouth up in a permanent snarl. He nodded in greeting as he shook hands with Mike.

“Trey, I want you to meet Kate, a friend of mine who lives out here at the lake.” To Kate he added, “Trey is playing Kevin Wells’s stunt double.”

“I’m, um, pleased to meet you,” Kate stammered, trying not to stare as empathy squeezed her chest.
His face
, she thought,
his beautiful face
. She couldn’t even imagine the physical and emotional pain he must have suffered from whatever accident had left his face so ravaged.

“So, where’s Jesse?” Mike asked. “Since I know coming to something like this wasn’t your idea.”

Trey grimaced in agreement and nodded toward a cluster of women by the dance floor.

“Jesse!” Mike called.

A young woman lifted her head and smiled. At Mike’s wave, she headed toward them with a coltish kind of energy to her gait. She wore a broomstick skirt, western-yoked shirt, and cowboy boots. Her dark hair swung in a thick braid down her back.

“Hey, Magic Man, good to see ya.” Jesse thrust out her hand with the straightforwardness of a man. “I heard you were working on this dog-’n’-pony show.” When Mike introduced Kate, Jesse turned to her with the same down-home friendly smile.

“So,” Mike said to Trey, “I hear you actually agreed to leap from a train into a river—on horseback?”

Trey made a series of motions with his hands. Watching him, Jesse said, “If the ASPCA says I can.”

“And what does your horse have to say about it?” Mike asked.

Again Trey moved his hands in sign language and Jesse spoke. “For enough carrots, that crazy horse’ll do anything.”

Mike snorted. “I still say they should use CGi to animate the whole thing.”

“Not a chance,” Jesse interpreted as Trey signed. “You computer nerds can’t have all the fun.”

“Maybe not,” Mike said. “But at least we don’t risk our fool necks every time we create a special effect.”

Trey started to sign again, but Jesse put her hand over his. “Enough shoptalk,” she growled playfully at the former bull rider. “I came here to dance. And you owe me one, remember?”

Trey rolled his eyes toward Mike as if to say,
Women!

Jesse just laughed. “He lost me a game of dominoes, so now he has to pay up.”

“Well, that explains it.” Mike laughed as Jesse grabbed Trey’s arm and dragged him toward the dance floor.

Kate stood numbly watching them go. An odd blend of emotions swirled inside her. In spite of Trey’s slight limp, he glided over the floor as only a born and bred cowboy could, with knees slightly bent and hips perfectly still. Jesse smiled up at him, adoration in her eyes, blind to his scar and so proud to be his partner she beamed. A lump formed in Kate’s throat.

“He was trampled by a bull,” Mike explained, in answer to her unspoken question. “Apparently he suffered some brain damage, which is why he uses sign language.”

She thought of the commercials he’d made, and how the girls in her dorm used to sigh dramatically just at the sound of his deep, husky voice. “Will he ever be able to talk again?”

“Actually, his speech loss was only temporary,” Mike said. “I’ve heard him talk a few times and he sounds fine to me, but apparently the stutter embarrasses him.”

“Well, at least he has Jesse to interpret for him. Have they been together long?”

“They’ve worked together as long as I’ve known them.”

“No, I meant
together
,” she clarified.

“Together? As in
together
? Trey and Jesse?” He laughed. “Trust me, Kate, those two are more like brother and sister. Trey’s known her since she was just a kid.”

Kate looked back at the dance floor and noticed for the first time how Trey held Jesse slightly away from him, the way a man danced with a female relative. Her heart went out to Jesse. On a personal level, she knew too well the pain of not having one’s love returned with the intensity it was given. Professionally, though, she wished she could pull the girl aside for ten minutes of advice on how to get the man to do the chasing.

“Perhaps someone should point out to Trey that Jesse isn’t exactly a kid anymore,” she said.

“Hmm?” Mike glanced at the dance floor as well. An appreciative look came over his face as if he were seeing Jesse for the first time. “You know, you’re right.”

Kate frowned at the admiring gleam that entered Mike’s eyes. She felt illogically irked that Mike had noticed what Trey had not. “She’s too young,” she said.

“For Trey?”

“No, for you.”

He looked at her, surprised, and then his expression turned mischievous. “Darn, are you sure? And here I was about ready to drag her off and marry her the minute she came off the dance floor.”

“I’m afraid courting a wife isn’t quite that easy.”

“No kidding,” he mumbled, then slipped his arm around her waist. “So, how about I dance with you instead?”

“Absolutely not.” She leapt away, hating the way her heart fluttered every time he touched her. “You’re here to look for a wife, not dance with me.”

“Who says I can’t do both?”

“I do.” She scowled at him, wishing he didn’t look so tempting in the soft, colored lights. “And since you hired me as your dating coach, the least you can do is follow my advice.”

“All right,” he sighed. “Coach me.”

She looked around, searching for a course of action. Her gaze landed on a table where Traci and Frank had joined several others. “You should start by asking Traci to dance with you.”

“Traci?” Mike looked dumbfounded at the suggestion.

“Sure,” Kate shrugged. “She seemed impressed enough by you to be interested in a personal overture. Just remember to keep it light at first.”

“You want me to come on to a woman who makes a living mutilating bodies?”

“Not ‘come on’ to her. Just test the waters to see how well you mix. Besides”—Kate patted his arm—“I don’t think she meant any of that mutilation stuff literally.”

“Yeah, well, if I start bleeding all over the dance floor, I expect you to come rescue me.”

“What, you’re not willing to bleed a little to get a wife?”

“Actually,” he grumbled, “you’d be shocked to learn what I’m willing to do.”

“
OOPS
, sorry,” Traci said as she stumbled over Mike’s feet.

“No problem. My fault.” Mike dredged up a smile as he held the woman a bit farther away. He’d been trying off and on throughout the evening to teach her the Texas two-step. Not that he’d perfected the dance himself, but at least he left his partner’s toes intact.

A burst of laughter drew his attention back toward the table. He narrowed his eyes at Kate and Frank, who sat with their heads together looking as chummy as old lovers.

“Sorry,” Traci said again and Mike hid a grimace as pain shot up his leg. One more dance with Traci and he really would be bleeding on the dance floor. “I just don’t get this two-step stuff, you know,” she complained, studying her feet. “Why can’t Texans dance like normal people?”

Good question
, he thought as his gaze drifted back toward Kate. He imagined holding her in his arms as their bodies swayed to some smoky, soft-rock tune. Of course, at the moment, he’d settle for just getting her to smile at him as openly as she was smiling at Frank.

“Do you think it’s working?” Traci asked.

“Hmm?” He glanced down and found his dance partner looking toward the table.

“Have you managed to make her jealous yet?”

His neck heated as he realized he’d been caught. The first time he’d asked Traci to dance had been to appease Kate, and to keep up the pretense of a wife hunt. Each time after that had been with a growing need to get Kate’s attention.

“It’s okay, I don’t mind,” Traci hastened to say. Her combat boot slammed against his foot. “Oh, sorry. I just hope it works before you lose all your toes.”

“What’s a few toes between friends?” He smiled, even though he’d never felt more miserable. When he’d invited Kate to the party, he hadn’t planned on spending the evening watching her flirt with every man in the room but him. The song came to an end, and he and Traci instantly stepped apart.

“Like, maybe you should go back to dancing with Jesse,” Traci suggested as they applauded the band. “At least when you do that, she notices a little. I think.”

“I have a better idea,” Mike said near her ear as they left the dance floor. “Why don’t you ask Frank to dance? Sort of clear the playing field for me.”

“Frank?” She blinked her owlish eyes at him. “You want me to dance with Frank Goldstein?”

He sent her a pleading look.

Traci’s cheeks puffed as she exhaled. “All right. But only if the band plays some real music. This country shit is too out there, you know?”

Kate glanced up as they took their seats. For the barest instant, her smile faltered, then brightened as if she were intentionally turning up the wattage. “Having fun?” she asked.

“The time of my life,” Mike insisted, kicking back in the chair as if he actually meant it.

“Glad to hear it.” She looked so damned sincere, his ego took another nosedive.

“Yep, Traci here’s a real natural at the two-step.” He draped his arm around the startled makeup artist, and gave her a one-arm hug. “Isn’t that right, Traci?”

Traci choked on her drink. “Yeah, a real natural.”

“In fact, she was just telling me how she could dance all night to this music. Too bad my feet are wearing out.” He nudged Traci, feeling only a twinge of guilt on behalf of Frank’s feet.

With a sigh, Traci turned to the FX supervisor. “So, Goldstein, you want to, like, give it a whirl? This two-step sh—stuff is totally radical.”

“Excuse me?” Frank frowned at her.

“Dance,” she said between clenched teeth. “Do you want to dance with me?”

“Oh, well, I ...” He looked at Kate, clearly reluctant to leave her side. Mike’s sympathy vanished in a heartbeat. He hoped Traci annihilated the man’s toes.

“Come on.” Standing, Traci grabbed Frank’s arm and all but hauled him out of his chair. As they left, silence fell at the end of the table where Mike finally sat alone with Kate.

“So,” she said after a moment. “I take it things are going well with you and Traci?”

“Couldn’t be better.” Didn’t she care at all that he’d spent most of the evening dancing with other women?