Bad In Boots: Colt's Choice (15 page)

Chapter Twelve

When her body stopped trembling Elise sagged back against Colt. With a groan, he wrapped both arms around her, pulling her close as he said in gruff voice near her ear, “Lise, the thought of you with another man—”

“There’s no one else,” she assured him with a chuckle.

His grip tightened. “Then tell me why you ditched me last night.”

Elise hesitated. She wanted to ask him why he wouldn’t spend the night with her, but she just couldn’t. Maybe she was afraid his answer would be that he never would. Hoping was better than an answer she might not like. Better to go with the other issue that had been plaguing her.

She sighed before speaking. “It’s bad enough having your ex around but to learn Bess is usually her ride…” She let her words trail off and shrugged her shoulders, looking away from him.

“Ahhh.” Colt chuckled as he lifted her leg over Scout’s body to help her face forward in the saddle again before he dismounted and retrieved their hats. Putting his hat on, he handed the other one to Elise. When he climbed up behind her once more, his shoulders continued to shake in amusement.

Upset that he took her feelings so lightly, Elise jammed the hat down on her head and stiffened when Colt tried to pull her against his chest once more. “I don’t find it amusing, Colt.”

Colt ignored her rigid stance and pulled her against him anyway as he turned Scout toward the southern pastures. While they rode in silence, Elise stewed. He shouldn’t ignore her feelings. He would be furious if the boot was on the other foot. She knew he would be.

As they approached the field holding the horses, Colt pushed her hat forward until it dropped down over her eyes.

“Hey,” she called out as she tried to lift the brim.

“Leave it down,” he ordered.

“What?” Her anger rose as she ignored his statement and tried to right the hat once more.

Colt’s hand landed on the top of the hat, applying pressure. “Leave it.”

She felt Scout slow underneath them and gave up trying to see until the horse came to a stop.

When Scout stopped and Colt lifted the hat off her head, Elise turned to him with narrowed eyes. “It’s bad enough you just laughed at me… What was that for?”

He ignored her angry look and pulled her close. Lowering his chin on her shoulder he stared in front of them saying with a nod, “Look, Lise. What do you see?”

Confused by the pleased look on his face, Elise turned to stare at the horses in the gated area. Despite her frustration, she smiled as two horses frolicked and nipped at one another, obviously playing. Then her gaze landed on a black horse eating grass.

Colt straightened and whistled. The horse looked up and faced them, its ears twitching.

When Elise saw the white patch between the horse’s eyes and nose, excitement made her stomach flutter. “What’s Lightning doing here?”

“She’s waiting for you to ride her.”

She heard the grin in his words. Elise jerked her gaze back to Colt as tears gathered in her eyes. “Really?”

He nodded, his white teeth flashing in a broad smile. “Yep, she’s yours.”

When he jumped down and held up his hands to help her dismount, she grasped his shoulders. “You mean she’s mine to ride while I’m here?”

When her feet touched the ground, Colt pulled her close and kissed her forehead. Pulling back he met her gaze. “No, sweetheart, I mean she’s yours for keeps.” He winked. “I put your name on the ownership papers.”

“Are you sure, Colt? Not that I’m not appreciative, but that’s an expensive gift. Please tell me you bartered some kind of deal to get Lightning?”

Colt grinned. “I’m a businessman, darlin’. What do you think?”

Heedless of who might see them, Elise whooped and jumped up into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist. Cupping his face in her hands, she said, “Thank you,” between each kiss she planted on his lips.

Colt’s hands slid down to her buttocks and clasped her cheeks through her jeans. “Later you can thank me in other ways,” he said in a suggestive tone before setting her on the ground. Giving her butt a firm swat, he continued, “But for now, go get Lightning saddled and let’s ride.”

Elise ran over to the fence and retrieved the bridle he’d left for her. She called to Lightning and the horse immediately trotted toward her. Pride surged through him that she was so impatient to see her gift, she didn’t even wait to open the gate, but grabbed the post, bridle in hand, and climbed over the fence. Once the bridle was secure on the horse, she returned to the fence to retrieve the new saddle he’d also left for her.

As she mounted the horse, a fresh jolt of lust seared though his groin. Damn, he’d never be able to see her sitting astride a horse without thinking about their first time together in her apartment. She’d more than rocked his world!

Colt leaned on the saddle horn and watched her take Lightning for a trot around the enclosed area. He had to admit, she and that horse were a perfect match from their pitch-black hair to the spirit each female radiated. And the way they rode—perfect harmony.

Ever since May showed up, Elise had acted different, skittish around him. After yesterday’s rebuff, he walked around feeling totally frustrated. It bothered him a great deal that she’d turned him down and after an hour of denial, he decided he wanted to do something for her. Plus, he thought with a smug grin, trading a stud for Lightning meant he’d eliminated the one thing Josh Kelly couldn’t hold over him—having something Elise wanted. Good thing Josh was at that conference.

Colt didn’t give a shit if his actions weren’t totally altruistic. When it came to this woman, he’d fight like a junkyard dog to keep her attention…on his terms. So far he’d managed to avoid Elise’s request that he spend the night at her apartment. His self-imposed rule was a different kind of torture, because each night he found it harder and harder to leave her warm body and her bed to go home.

Urging Scout forward, Colt opened the fence to allow Elise and Lightning to exit.

“What do you think?” he asked with a grin as she pulled her horse up beside his while he secured the gate.

“I think I’ve got a faster ride. Care for a race?” She flashed him a smile as she kicked her heels, ducked her head and urged Lightning into a full gallop.

As he nudged Scout with a squeeze of his knees, Colt laughed at her head start and the knowledge Elise wasn’t beyond a little cheating herself to get what she wanted.

* * * * *

Elise let Lightning have free rein and the horse took off, full-throttle. The animal was a pure pleasure to ride, her gait so smooth. She’d never felt so free or happy in her life. The knowledge that Colt truly cared about her that he’d paid attention to her desire to have Lightning and had even put the horse ownership in her name…his gesture melted her heart and made her spirits soar. She’d worry about him never staying a full night another day. Today…ah, today she wanted to enjoy her gift and the man whom she’d begun to think she couldn’t live without.

Gusts of wind blew around her as she started to slow Lightning down. She held onto her hat as she slowed her horse to an easy trot. Colt joined her, a grin on his face.

“How’s she runnin’?”

“Like the fine-tuned engine she is,” Elise replied, pulling on the reins until her horse stopped.

Colt pulled up beside her, his leg brushing against hers.

Elise leaned over and placed her hand on his thigh. She met his deep blue gaze, her heart beating hard at his closeness. “Thank you, Colt.”

He lifted her hand and pulled it to his mouth, kissing her palm before moving his lips to her wrist. “You’re welcome. Seeing your cheeks flushed from that run is reward enough for me.”

As he leaned over to kiss her, another gust of wind blew around them so hard his hat went flying off.

Elise glanced up, following Colt’s gaze to the darkening sky.

“Storm’s blowing in,” he commented as he jumped down to get his hat, then remounted. “We should get back.”

Nodding her agreement, Elise turned her horse in the direction of the ranch and rode alongside Colt in silence.

When they were almost to the ranch he stopped to talk to a ranch hand. “Davy, go check the southwest fence’s corner post. It’s starting to show its age. Take Jim and Matt and have them help you temporarily secure that post until this storm blows over. Once the ground is dry again, we’ll replace it.”

As they made their way between the main ranch house and the stables, Rick rode out of the stables and stopped to talk to Colt.

“After the bull incident…I’ve got this feeling. Dunno why,” he commented leaning on his saddle horn and narrowing his gaze at the swirling dark clouds above them. “Guess it’s the electricity in the air, but I wouldn’t put it past Jackson to try something today, so I want to be out on the range for this one.”

“Out in the open? In the middle of a storm?” Elise asked, surprised.

Colt cast a glance her way. “Don’t you know just how tough Texan men are, darlin’?”

When Elise tossed him an are-you-nuts expression, his shoulders shook with laughter. “We have a few small houses, shacks really, but places to wait out the worst if you’re caught out in a storm.”

“Ah, I see.” She grinned, nodding her head.

Rick touched his hat and dipped his head in her direction in a show of respect. As he walked his horse past hers, his gaze dropped to Lightning. “Nice addition to the ranch.”

“The mare’s Elise’s,” Colt commented.

She grinned, patting her horse’s neck. “I’m sure Lightning will be just as much a fixture around the Lonestar as Scout and Bess are.”

“Take care out there, Rick,” she called after the foreman as he trotted off.

“He’ll be fine,” Nan called from the porch as she leaned on one of the columns and stared out at the range, a faraway look in her eyes. When the wind kicked up once more, she looked at Colt and rubbed her upper arms. “It’s gonna be a doozy, Colt. I feel it in my bones.”

“I know,” he sighed as he reached out and threaded his fingers with Elise’s. “I’m going back out with Rick. Why don’t you go spend some time with Nan?” He looked at Nan and grinned as he continued, “She’s never liked storms much.”

“Harumph,” Nan snorted. “Mind your manners, Colt. You’re never too old for a good tannin’.” Winking at Elise, she continued, “But I won’t turn away some good company for a spell.”

Elise returned the older woman’s friendly smile. “Let me put Lightning—”

Just as she spoke, a bolt of lightning streaked across the darkened sky, making the tiny hairs on her arms stand on end.

Rumbling thunder quickly followed at the same time Cade and Mace came trotting out of the main stable, wearing their Stetsons and orange rain slickers.

“Ready for some fun, bro?” Mace asked as he tossed a walkie-talkie and then a folded-up rain slicker to Colt, his eyes alight. Clicking his walkie-talkie, he spoke into it, saying, “Breaker, breaker, this is ‘the Studmeister’, you copy?”

Colt gave his middle brother a can-you-believe-this-wiseass look to which Cade lifted his own walkie-talkie to his lips, clicked the button, and said in a low, droll voice, “I think he’s gettin’ a little
too
into this, don’t you,” he finished with a deadpan expression, “
Little
Mustang?
”

Colt’s shoulders shook with laughter as he clipped his walkie-talkie to his hip and said, “Save me from smartass brothers.”

Elise grinned and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. She whispered in his ear, “Ah, you know you wish you could pitch a tent in the backyard and camp out in this storm like you did when you were kids.”

Before she straightened in her saddle, Colt clasped his hand around her neck and whispered back, “Yeah, but don’t ever tell these two wiseasses that or I’ll lose all the respect I’ve gained over the years.”

She winked at him and leaned back in her saddle to address his brothers. “He said you’re both grounded when you get back.”

All three brothers laughed and even Nan joined in until May rode up on Bess, wearing rain gear as well.

Thunder rumbled again and Bess tossed her head, prancing in the dirt.

“Sorry May, but you know how skittish Bess gets during storms,” Colt said. His words sent a silent sigh of relief coursing through Elise. She didn’t want to think about May out on the range with any of the Tanner brothers, but especially Colt.

Adjusting her bright yellow rain slicker, May pouted, “But Colt—”

“I mean it, May,” Colt warned before turning his horse away. Mace and Cade followed, kicking their horses into a full gallop to keep up with him.

As they watched the men disappear over the hill, fat raindrops started to fall. Elise turned Lightning toward the barn, expecting May to follow. When May kicked her heels into Bess and took off toward the pastures, Elise started to call her back, but Nan interrupted her.

“Let her go, Elise. The woman will bring her own trouble. I imagine she’s tougher than Bess any day.”

Elise pressed her lips together then nodded. “Let me put Lightning away and I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”

Once she reached the barn and put Lightning in a stall, Elise started to unbuckle her saddle then thought better of it. Re-cinching her horse, she decided to leave Lightning saddled and ready to go just in case her help was needed.

She made sure her horse had water and food and before she left, she patted her on the nose saying, “We might be needed to help out. Hope you don’t mind waiting just a bit longer, girl.”

Lightning neighed and lifted her nose up and down as if she agreed with Elise’s decision.

As she exited the stables, rain began to pour down. Elise picked up her pace across the yard to the front porch of the main house. Closing the screen door behind her, she entered the kitchen and accepted the warm mug Nan handed her with a smile.

Inhaling the rich smell of the dark coffee, she took a sip and yummed her approval as the warm liquid slid down her throat, chasing away the chills the rain had caused.

Elise sat down at the table and asked as Nan sat down across from her, “Tell me about Jackson Riley. I noticed tension between him and Colt when I met him. Why do Rick and Colt think he’d try something on the Lonestar property during a storm or at all for that matter?”

Nan took a sip of her own coffee, set it down and nodded, her deep brown eyes taking on a knowing look. “Jackson Riley’s dad owned the Lonestar land a few decades ago but lost it in a high stakes poker game. The man who won the property sold it to Colt’s daddy and uncle. After losing his property, Jackson’s dad drank himself into an early grave. Jackson has always claimed the poker game was fixed.”

Nan paused and shrugged. “Fixed or not, Colt’s daddy and uncle bought the land fair and square and have raised their own cattle and horses on it ever since.”

“Aaaaah, now it’s all starting to make sense.”

Nan’s brow crinkled, her expression confused. “What’s starting to make sense?”

“I never told Colt about this, but Jackson contacted me and tried to get me to sell him my half of the Lonestar. I told Jackson that if James Tanner had wanted him to have it, he would have put him in his will. Jackson wasn’t too thrilled with my rejection of his offer.”

“That Jackson’s a wily one.” She snorted.

Concern for Colt laced through Elise. “Do you think Jackson would sabotage the ranch?”

Nan nodded. “I know so, girl. We’ve had cattle rustled quite a few times, a prize bull inexplicably maimed to where he had to be put down, another bull recently go bonkers from a weed that only grows in the springtime, and a bout of bad water for some of the horses; there’s no doubt in my mind.”

That’s what the whole bull thing had been about
, Elise thought, angry for Colt’s sake.

A couple of ranch hands opened the back door, their bodies drenched from the rain. “Hey, Nan, got any more slickers in the closet. There aren’t any left in the usual place out in the stables.”

Nan was already walking out of the kitchen. “I’ll be right back.”

Elise looked at the men. They seemed agitated, in a real hurry.

“What’s wrong?” she asked out of intuition more than anything else.

The blond named Frank pulled on his hat to acknowledge her. “The southwest fence is down and the cattle are roaming, ma’am.”

Elise’s heart raced at the news. She jumped up from the chair right as Nan returned with jackets for the men.

“Got any more, Nan?”

“Nope, just a thin overcoat,” she replied, then stopped. “You’re not going out in that storm, young lady.”

Elise gave her an oh-yes-I-am look as the men went outside. “The southwest fence is down. They need all the help they can get.”

Nan nodded solemnly as she turned and walked out of the room.

Her adrenaline pumping, Elise gripped the back of the chair while she waited for Nan.

Elise breathed a sigh of relief when she returned with a short jacket. As she slipped into the expensive, albeit less serviceable coat, and pulled the cord tight around her waist, Nan said, “Sorry, it’s the best I’ve got. It was Colt’s mama’s.”

Elise jerked her gaze to meet Nan’s serious brown eyes, but she didn’t have time to fathom the reason why the woman’s lips were compressed in anger. One thing she knew…Colt may have mentioned his dad, but he’d never talked about his mother.

Nodding her understanding, she pulled the hood over her head and left the kitchen. Dashing across the yard toward the barn, she ran as fast as her legs would carry her.

As she entered the stall, the smell of rain, wet hay and earth tickled her nose. Her sudden heightened sense of smell made the shiver of unease that rippled up her spine intensify. She shuddered despite the coat. When she leaned over and grasped Lightning’s reins, the horse neighed and pawed at the ground, nodding her head up and down.

“C’mon, girl. We might not have taken the round-up-the-freaked-out-cattle-class yet, but we know a thing or two about mending a fence.”

Once she slid a pair of work gloves in her coat pocket, Elise put her foot in the stirrup, mounted Lightning and nudged the horse into a gallop as she exited the stables.