many women take a man’s breath away like that one.”
“Yeah.” But Archer was still worrying about Clover. “That crazy Clover girl doesn’t belong here. She should be at Delilah’s.”
“You may have figured her wrong,” Bandera said. “She might be the kind of lady who can take care of herself.”
“Yeah. I guess. Okay, I should git then.”
Clover’s exit to Marvella’s still didn’t seem right.
“Well, come on, then,” Bandera said impatiently. “We don’t need to hold down the porch all night.”
“I know.” Archer frowned.
“Look, if she puts the sizzle on your griddle, then go inside and talk to her. But if you’re just being misguided and friendly, forget about it and let’s get some shut-eye. She’s fine.”
“I think she wanted to sleep with me,” Archer said.
Bandera laughed. “That shy, quiet girl? Nah. Besides, she’s not your type.”
“I changed my mind. I don’t have a type,” Archer said. “I have many types, as long as they don’t come looking for a ring.”
“You misread her,” Bandera said. “Remember how we used to say that there were girls for fun, and girls for nun? That one would give you none, bro.”
“I don’t want anything from her,” Archer said, turning to walk toward the Lonely Hearts Salon. “She has an attitude reminiscent of Tonk.”
“And we call Tonk dog-faced. Think it over, bro.”
“Clover’s not unattractive,” Archer said. He realized what Bandera had said. “And neither is Tonk!”
His brother laughed. “I pick the girl on the bar stool,” he said. “I like a lady who’s easy on the eyes.”
“Looks aren’t everything,” Archer said stubbornly.
“But they are the first ticket to my heart, followed by my stomach being fed, my muscles being admired, my laundry being done, and my sex—”
“That’s enough,” Archer interrupted, getting crosser by the moment. “Glandular responses will remain undiscussed.”
A window opened above them. “Archer!”
“What?” He wondered what his glasses-wearing newcomer wanted now.
“Where’s the best place in town for drinks and dancing?”
Archer blinked. “Two-Bits.”
“Thanks.” She shut the window.
Bandera slapped him heartily on the back. “And you were worried about her being lonely. Sad. Homesick. A tragic heroine in a black governess dress right out of Jane Eyre.”
Archer turned toward Delilah’s. “I can’t picture Clover dancing.” He didn’t want to, either.
“It’s the quiet ones who’ll surprise you.”
Archer shook his head. “I reckon.”
“Night’s still young,” Bandera said. “If the wild girls are going dancing, maybe we should provide some partners.”
“Now, that idea has some merit,” Archer said cheerfully. He’d be willing to bet Clover’s idea of dancing was standing by a plastic banana tree, watching everybody else shake a leg.
Finding out that she was an unwatered wallflower would make him feel a whole lot better.
Chapter Four
Clove realized there was a problem with The Plan after spending the early part of the evening getting to know Archer better. Though his e-mail conversations had been Texas tall tale, in person he was Texas short story, she thought, annoyed. All bark, definitely no bite. Not even a nibble.
Apparently, the hook was not properly baited. Bandera had really gone for her as the bar-stool babe. If Archer had, he’d tried to conceal it.
He concealed a lot, this cowboy she’d come to romance. Somewhat rude at times, and definitely in need of a manners injection. Not as kind and poetic as he’d been in cyberspace.
She felt a bit betrayed. He was not going to ravish her; in fact, she doubted he’d ravish any woman. He was more a chauvinistic protector. How dare he tell her she couldn’t stay at Marvella’s! Breathing deeply to get past the memory of his pigheadedness, Clove told herself to remember the bundles of babies his family had produced. Twelve brothers, for starters, and miscellaneous progeny.
“I just want one,” she said longingly. “One.”
John Wayne had had his good side, mixed in with his arrogance, she remembered. Still, Archer seemed to be more arrogant than cowboy gentleman.
“Well, at least my heart won’t be in jeopardy where he’s concerned,” she told herself. A good stuntwoman always saw to her safety first, and after getting to know Archer better, she knew her heart was totally, completely safe.
“Maybe safer than I want it to be.” She gazed in the mirror. When she’d yelled down to ask him about a place to go dancing, she had hoped he would offer to escort her.
He hadn’t—and she had to admit that this cowboy was going to be tough to catch. The most bothersome part was that Archer wasn’t remotely attracted to her.
Picking up a curling iron, she absently pressed a curl into her hair. It bounced when she released it—and The Plan took on a modification. She began to do her hair the way Marvella’s girls had styled it earlier, Texas big and poufy. Tousled. Sexy. She applied the makeup the way they’d had it earlier, and then she shimmied into a tube-top dress she found in the closet. High heels completed her outfit.
“The revenge of the nerdy girl,” she told herself, laying her glasses on the cosmetics tray. “Revenge is supposed to be so sweet.”
The girls knocked on her door. “Ready?” they called. “Going out with us, Clover?”
“I’m ready!” Fluffing her hair one last time, she saw the woman Bandera had admired gazing back at her. “I’m definitely going to Marvella’s school to learn Hot-Babe Style 101. Then I’m going to get my cowboy,” she said with satisfaction to her reflection. “Archer Jefferson, you’re not going to know what hit you!”
“THERE SHE IS!” Bandera said as they walked inside Two-Bits bar. “The bar-stool babe!”
Archer peered through the smoky atmosphere and clinging partners. In the light from a neon beer sign, he saw her moving, laughing and snapping her fingers. Dressed in a dress practically painted on her lush body, she danced in a circle with a group of men and Marvella’s stylists. “They’re having fun,” Archer observed.
“They sure are, and I’m on my way to do the same.” Bandera took off to include himself in the circle, perilously close to the woman he fancied.
She was hot, Archer conceded. He liked a full-figured lady, and especially one with such nice skin. The breasts were nothing to ignore as they lightly jiggled under the tight material. Idly, he wondered if she was wearing a bra. Strapless dresses just begged to be tugged right off a woman, in his opinion. She had nice legs, and to be honest, he was a madman for high heels.
Checking the door, he wondered when Clover would arrive. He intended to keep an eye on her, because heaven only knew she could get in trouble in a place like this.
“You should dance with me,” Bandera’s beauty said.
He stared at her, then glanced at his brother. Bandera was surrounded by three Never Lonely Cut-n-Gurls, and the evening looked to be going strong from his perspective. Bandera wasn’t even glancing their way.
“I’m waiting on someone,” he said.
She