His Cowboy

Billie Bob Jones

Benedito spoke on the phone as he drove us through the busy streets of Houston in his black Bentley Continental GT. In front of us were three black large SUV's and behind us as well that served to be his security.

I wondered why he just never drove with his security but he seemed to be the type to enjoy controlling his own environment. He had been speaking in what sounded like French ever since we climbed into the car.

Being in his car and his world for the past hour just proved how different he and I were. I thought I was good at helping Clyde run the ranch but seeing Benedito switch from language to language, being in his office and seeing all he has achieved was mind-blowing.

I did not desire to have cars worth millions or anything close to that, but I did wish I had his mind. He was able to break anything down that even a baby understood it and that amazed me.

"Sorry," he sighed as he ended the call and slipped his phone back inside his suit jacket pocket, "It's a very busy day for me."

"I understand," I nodded and looked out the window as we approached one of the fanciest restaurants in the city. Instead of parking by the normal entrance Benedito went behind the restaurant where there was a private entrance.

His security was the first to climb out as they scanned the place before giving him a nod of approval. He was the first to climb out because I was a bit confused on what was going on. He walked over to my side and opened the door for me again.

"You know I'm perfectly capable of opening a car door myself," I deadpanned as I climbed out the car and stood beside him.

"I enjoy the little things," he smirked.

What?

"Follow me," he led me through a serious of corridors with security flooding each one until we reached an elevator that led to the restaurant. When we entered the restaurant I realized it was much more different than all the diners and bars I had been too.

Expensive cutlery decorated the tables with fresh flowers and luxurious materials. The space was completely empty besides the few waiters who were walking around.

Within seconds a tall bald man dressed in a black suit as well stood in front of us with a smile, "Mister Pereira how lovely to see you again," the man bowed making me scrunch my face in confusion.

"Same to you," Benedito answered with his robotic self, "the space is booked?"

"Of course, a soul will not enter this restaurant without your permission," the man bowed again making me even more confused.

"Excellent," he nodded before looking back to me, "pick where you'd like to sit." Everyone's attention turned to me making me frown. It was like no one had acknowledged my existence until Benedito did which slightly ticked me off.

With a grunt, I walked towards the table right in front of the large window that had a view of the city. At least I would have something to stare at whilst we waited for the manager who would be working with me to arrive.

"What would you like to drink Barbie?" Benedito asked after he had sat down in front of me.

"A cherry cola will be fine," I sighed, a beer would have been great but I still had to drive myself home after all. When the waiter came he ordered for the both us; white wine for himself.

"Barbie?"

"Dito?" I looked to the man in front of me as he stared at me intensely. I was grateful my sunglasses still covered my eyes so he could not see I was staring right back.

"Are you ready for the Rodeo?"

"I have to be," I chuckled, "I've been training with Leroy and JD so much that if I don't win they'd probably kill me."

That made him chuckle, "I must admit I have never attended one of these events before. I am quite excited to see how everything plays out."

"Thank you for the added pressure," I grinned.

Just as our conversation started to flow the ding from the elevator made both our heads turn in its direction as the doors opened.

What I had imagined when Benedito said the word 'manager' was nothing compared to what I was actually seeing. Everyone in the restaurant just seemed to stare at the woman who walked in.

She was super model tall with the perfect definition of an hourglass body. She was dressed in a white blouse, with black high wasted black pants and red Louis Vuitton heels. In her hand was a matching LV bag that drew attention to her black long nails.

Her skin was pale contrasting her rich red hair that cascaded down her shoulders all the way down her waist. Her eyes were a rich brown, her eyebrows thick and perfectly arched. I swore not a drop of makeup graced her skin as she had a natural glow to her I had never seen before.

She was probably the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.

My attention was shattered when Benedito's tall body approached hers. His darkness contrasted her brightness. He towered over her as well but next to each other they looked intimidating.

He smiled as he approached immediately signaling red flags for me. Besides myself it was the first time I had ever seen him smile at anyone. His hand gently held her waist as he leaned down to kiss her cheek as she did the same.

He whispered something in her ear which made her giggle as she placed her hand on his shoulder and slightly nudged him making him laugh. I was sure all of us stared in shock as the interaction before us. I never thought I would see the billionaire genuinely laugh and smile with someone like how he did with her.

Something she said made him look back at me before he looked back at her and shook his head in disagreement. She shrugged and finally after blinding everyone with their obvious affection to one another walked back to the table.

I stood up and took off my hat as she shook my hand. "It's so lovely to meet you Mister Jones, My names Dita Almeida, Mister Pereira's manager for investment projects," her voice was raspy yet light, her strong Brazilian accent came through just like Benedito's.

"Please call me Bobby," I smiled, her hand was unnaturally soft and warm compared to my rough and cold ones.

"Very well Bobby," she grinned, she had a sense of mischievousness about her that I could not shake off. The way she spoke alone was sensual and luring. She could bring any man to her knees if she wanted to.

Benedito pulled back a chair for her as she sat down next to him. I had no idea what these two were to each other but the chemistry they had could be felt by anyone.

"Clyde and I had discussed that due to both our busy schedules that getting both our managers to work together would be favorable-"

"As we would both represent our boss's well-"

"And report back to Clyde and I about the progress that has been made," Benedito continued after Dita had finished off his sentence and he had finished hers.

I looked at them in shock, there was not a moment of hesitation on what the other would say. It just flowed naturally. I had never seen anything like it before.

"In a sense we are each other's personal assistants in this project. I handle things from Benny's side and you'll handle things from Clyde's," she casually spoke. It took everything in me not to gape at the fact she had just called Benedito 'Benny' and he barely seemed to care.

It was obvious he was very strict with his employees. I doubted any were allowed to call him Benny!

"Well that's excellent," I said after I had cleared my throat, "It's nice to know I will not be handling this alone."

"I'm glad, we will schedule to have meetings at least twice a week, one here in Houston and I will travel to Bloom for the second one to view progress."

"You and Clyde will still have individual meetings with me but once we have all gotten a hang of everything, Dita will represent me," Benedito continued.

"Okay," I nodded. I was not sure if I was slightly disappointed my meetings with Benedito would lessened over the course of the next few months or extremely excited.

If I thought I was confused before I most definitely was now. He had chosen not to talk about Wednesday night and that made me wonder if it was all truly just a prank. Was he purposefully distancing himself from me because I had not reacted the way he had hoped?

Yet as I looked at him and Dita next to each other, with the way they interacted I knew he must have been playing around with me in the first place. I knew a man like him would not even look twice at a man like me and seeing his interaction with her confirmed that.

It was evident they were together and that helped calm my soul. It was all just a silly joke.