Cowboy Enchantment - By Pamela Browning Page 0,2

banker. And she wanted to start being someone else, someone more exciting, someone soft and sweet and sexy.

In short, strange as the fantasy might seem, she wanted to be a cowboy’s sweetheart.

Ha! Fat chance of that in New York City. Fat chance of meeting the perfect cowboy anywhere, come to think of it. She looked like exactly who she was—Erica Strong, investment banker. Straight, mud-colored hair, now drying plastered to her head. Brown eyes behind big glasses. Fingernails bitten to the quick.

“Aren’t you interested?” Charmaine asked brightly.

“Okay, what is this marvelous fix-all you’ve got for me?” She sighed and popped an aspirin out of the bottle.

Charmaine grinned. “My friend Justine Farrell—you know, the former manager of the Razzmatazz Modeling Agency who discovered me all those years ago? Well, Justine offered me a free makeover at her ranch in California. At Rancho Encantado. Their motto is Where Dreams Come True. And—”

Erica’s head shot up. “Wait a minute. Isn’t that the dude ranch-health spa that’s become so famous? Where people claim they got more than a makeover, they got a life?”

“So I’ve heard. It’s supposed to be the site of a vortex, a place where the earth’s energy can be experienced in a soul-empowering way.”

Erica groaned. “Sounds too New Age for words.”

“Well, I’m not saying I believe in it.” Charmaine sounded defensive.

“I didn’t suggest that.”

“Nor do I believe in the Rancho Encantado ghost.”

“Why would you want to go there? It’s not like you need a makeover.” Charmaine was wasting too much of her time and Erica was becoming impatient.

“I can’t go. The agency’s sending me to Aruba, and we’re going to shoot in two weeks, which is when Justine has an opening. The ranch is booked clear into next year, and…well, Erica, I want you to go in my place.”

For an instant, only an instant, Erica considered it. She’d love to get out of the city for a while. She’d like a chance to kick back and enjoy herself as she hadn’t in ages. The very words Rancho Encantado spilled across her mind like the balm of spring sunshine, magical and soothing and full of promise.

“I went to Jamaica a couple of months ago,” Erica said.

“That was no vacation. That was a working conference. You packed your laptop, you took your cell phone and you worked twelve-hour days.”

“I can’t leave here now,” Erica said abruptly. “There’s a meeting in Kansas City in a few weeks that I can’t miss.”

“Blow off the meeting.”

“Fat chance. This is the first time we’ve come up against Rowbotham-Quigley for a lucrative piece of business with Gillooley, a satellite communications company, and R-Q will be sending in their best team. Or at least their best team since their numero uno team leader went on a leave of absence.” Rowbotham-Quigley was one of the prime investment-banking firms in the city, and MacNee, Levy and Ashe was still building a reputation. If her firm could snare the Gillooley contract, it would be a major coup, not only for MacNee, Levy and Ashe but for Erica herself.

“So?”

“Plus, I’ve got a stack of work in preparation for the Kansas City presentation.” She waved her hand over the papers on her desk.

“Erica, Erica,” Charmaine chided, sitting on the edge of the desk. “There’s focused, and then there’s over-focused. You, my dear, are the latter.”

“This job requires a lot of hours.”

“Can’t you think it over? Must you turn down every opportunity to enjoy yourself? It’s almost like this job is a punishment. I can’t for the life of me understand why you think you deserve to be unhappy.”

Charmaine would never understand. There was no use trying to explain the constant day-to-day pressure, the need to keep on proving herself, the sense of failure if she fell short of expectations.

“Don’t you have to pack for Aruba?” Erica said uncharitably. “Isn’t there somewhere you’re supposed to be?” She rooted around in her briefcase for an energy bar and ripped off the wrapper.

“Yes. I’m supposed to be right here trying to talk some sense into your head. Rancho Encantado may not change your life, but it could change the next couple of weeks. Why is that bad?”

Erica sighed. “It’s not, although a change in my life wouldn’t be unwelcome.” She finished the energy bar in a couple of munches and tossed the wrapper in the trash can.

Charmaine slid off the desk and stood frowning at her with her arms folded across her chest. “What’s this all about, Erica? You’ve never said that before.”

Erica ran a hand through