Capturing the Cowboy's Heart (14 page)

“Why?”

“B
ecause if
you put more than one b
ull in with a herd of cows the bulls will
go at each other
.
If there are no cows in the pasture,
the bulls can stay together.”

“I see.”

He walked her outside and pointed toward a group of animals gathered beneath a large cottonwood
in a separate fenced off area
.  “Those are cows.”

“I think I know what a cow looks like,” she said, laughing.

He grinned.  “Well, for future reference, they’re a lot friendlier than bulls.”  He took her hand, much to Lacy’s surprise, and led her further down the fence line.  “This time of year nearly all of them have cal
ves
. 
Can you s
ee the
m over there?
”
he asked, still holding her hand.

She
had the urge to look down at their twined fingers, but forced herself not to. 
I
f she did
,
Cade
might
realize that he was touching her and
pull away. 
“They’re adorable.”

“For a cow.”  Cade smiled. 
Releasing
her hand
, he
stepped up to the fence
and propped
a booted foot atop the bottom rung.

Her
cheeks warmed and it had nothing to do with what Cade had said.  And everything to do with the sight of him standing there, tight jeans encasing long, muscular legs and a backside that would tempt even the stoutest of virgins. 

She considered telling Cade he had no right to criticize her choice of clothes. 
Did he have any idea wh
at seeing a man like him in tight fitting jeans did to a woman?  And if they were snug on the backside, she could only imagine... 

Cade chose that moment to turn around and she gasped, guiltily lowering her gaze to the ground at her feet.

“Something wrong?”

“No,” she blurted out a bit too quickly,
forcing
her gaze back up to his face.  “I, uh...was just wondering if I could
pet
your calves.”

Cade raised a questioning brow, a grin splitting his face.  “You want
to pet my
calves?”

“
I’d like to.”
  Then it dawned on her wh
y he was looking at her that way. 
“Those calves
,” she clarified.  “
The ones out there with their mothers.” 
She pointe
d toward the field.

He chuckled.  “I knew what you meant
, Dalton
. 
Just having a little fun with you.  And
I think it would be best
for us
to stay away
from
them
.  Their mommas can be sort of funny about that.  Reckon y
ou’ll have to settle for paying attention to
Domino
instead.”

“
Domino
?”
             
             
             
             
             
             

“Burk’s mutt,” he replied with a grin.  “Homeliest thing I ever saw, but he grows on you.”

She smiled.  “I think we’ve already met.”

“You can
see to
feeding him every
day along with taking care of the horses.”

“I don’t think he likes me
,” she said, recalling how the dog had nearly gone through
the screen door to get to her when she first arrived.   

He waved his hand.  “
He only acts tough to impress the ladies.” 

“So he takes after you?”  She couldn’t resist.

“
Hardly. 
I’m not looking to impress any woman.”

Though his reply shouldn’t bother her, it did.  “So where is
he
?  I haven’t seen him since he tried to eat me alive yesterday.”  

“P
robably out
hunting rabbits.
”

“
I think it would be best if you ga
ve me something else to do.  I’m not exactly comfortable around big dogs.  Especially ones with teeth as large as
Domino
’s.”

He waved her concern off. 
“
Stop worrying.  That big, old, dumb dog like everyone,
so he’s even bound to like you.”

“Gee, thanks
.
In other words, just because
you
don’t like me doesn’t mean the dog won’t.” 

“Hell, Dalton, that’s not what I meant.”

“Save it,” she replied, unable to keep the hurt from her voice.  “I’m here to write your story.  That doesn’t mean we have to like each other.  It’s a simple business arrangement.”  Only problem was, things weren’t so simple anymore.

Cade dropped his boot to the ground and stepped away from the fence.  “I have work to do.  Burk can take you out riding later if you want.  You can ride
Ace
.  Just stay away from
Loco
.  And unless you’ve got money to bribe Burk with, don’t ask to ride
Sunny
.  He doesn’t let anyone ride his horse.”  He turned away.

“What about
Dakota
?”

He
stopped, his stance instantly rigid.  Slowly, he pivoted on booted heel to face her, his expression hard.  “
He’s
off-limits.  Don’t even think about riding him.”  That said, he turned and strode away.

*
             
*
             
*

“Howdy, boys,” Katie O’Brien chirped from the far end of the smoky bar the second Cade and Burk walked in. 

Burk broke into an all
-
out ear to ear grin as he swept the hat from his head.  “Katie.”

Cade chuckled at Burk’s near sprint to the bar Katie O’Brien
stood behind
.  “Evening, Katie.”

She served them both their usual frosted mugs of beer straight from the tap.  “So what’s the occasion?”

Cade settled onto an empty bar stool.  “Occasion?”

“Your being here.”  She smiled as she pushed several strands of fiery red hair from her face.  “Not that I’m complaining, but you boys usually only stop in on the weekends.  With the exception of the other day.”  Her gaze shifted to Cade.  “This have something to do with that reporter lady.”

“Her name’s Lacy,” Cade
muttered
.  “And no, it doesn’t.”

Burk lowered himself onto the stool next to Cade’s and helped himself to a handful of popcorn from the napkin-lined basket in front of him.  “He’s lying.  He’s avoiding her.”

Cade slapped his hat down onto the polished wood surface of the bar top.  “Like hell I am.  Can’t a man just go out for a drink when he feels like it?”

Burk turned to Katie with a shrug.  “You’ll have to excuse him.  He’s a little cranky tonight.”

Smiling,
she
leaned over, resting her folded arms atop the bar.  “Well, we’ll just have to fix that, now won’t we?  Your drinks are on me tonight, Cade.”

“Hey,” Burk whined in what Cade considered a pathetic plea for Katie’s attention.  “I’m feeling a little cranky here, too.”

She turned to him.  “You’re always cranky.”

“Only when I’m around you.”  Burk grabbed for his beer, mumbling something about sassy mouths and downright stubborn Irish women that had Katie’s green eyes narrowing.

It was at that point Cade considered snatching up his hat and ducking under the bar’s overhang, before all hell broke loose.  The last time Katie and Burk went at it in a battle of words, every man within a three bar stool radius got doused in beer and popcorn.  All because Burk didn’t know when to shut his damn mouth.  Or at least how to use it in the way Cade suspected Katie O’Brien wanted him to.

“Is that so?” she said, planting her hands on her jean-clad hips.

Burk nodded.  “That’s so.”

“If you two don’t mind, I’d like to sit here and relax while I drink my beer.”  If he wanted arguing he could go back to the ranch with Lacy.  And he wasn’t hiding!

“Sorry, Cade.”  Her green eyes zeroed in on Burk.  “Certain people just rub me the wrong way sometimes.”

“Well, that’s gotta be the eighth wonder of the world,” Burk said as he reached for his mug of beer.  “Being able to get past all those thorns to rub you at all.”

Oh, hell.
  Reacting with lightning speed, Cade caught Katie’s hand before she could lift the mug of beer and toss its contents at the big mouth beside him.  “No sense wasting good beer, Katie.  Maybe you two should take this to the bull.”

Katie had recently purchased a top of the line, state of the art, mechanical bull for her patron
’
s entertainment.  And she knew how to ride it. 

She busied herself with wiping the counter.  “I doubt there’s room on it for both Burk and his big mouth.”

Burk arched a brow.  “That so?”

Katie nodded.  “So.”

“You’re on.  I’ll even ride no handed to make things fair.”

“I wouldn’t get too carried away,” Cade warned. “Katie’s pretty damn good on that thing.”  He pointed to the bull that sat in the center of a smaller room just off the bar area.  And he couldn’t resist adding, “And let’s face it, Burk, you’re not as young as you used to be.”

Burk glowered at his friend.  “I’m thirty-seven.  That hardly qualifies me as a candidate for the old folk’s home.”

“Seems pretty old to me,” Katie muttered as she reached for Cade’s empty mug and held it under the tap.  Cade guessed her to be somewhere close to Lacy in age, about twenty-seven, twenty-eight. 

“I’ll show you old,” his friend snapped back at her as he shot up from his bar stool.  “Let’s go.”

“Need any help getting to the bull?” she called after him.  “I think I have a spare walker in the back.”

Burk stomped off, cursing as he went.

Katie handed Cade his beer, pulled off her apron and dropped it onto the counter before hurrying off after Burk.

“Give him hell, Katie,” Cade called after them with a chuckle.

By now most everyone in the bar had gathered to watch the ‘ride off’.

Everyone but Cade.

He had seen them both ride the bull before.  And with Burk as flustered as he was, his money, what little he had of it, was on Katie O’Brien.

Grinning, Cade reached for his beer, wondering if he and Lacy sounded that ridiculous when they argued.  A thought he immediately pushed aside.  The main reason he had come into town after supper was to get his mind off of eyes the color of warm honey and lips just as sweet.

As for Burk and Katie, they didn’t always fight that way.  Most of the time Burk would just sit there all pathetically cow-eyed watching her work.  And she would flash an occasional toothy smile his way when she thought no one else was looking.  But there wasn’t a soul in Deep Creep who frequented Katie’s bar that didn’t know there was something going on between those two. 

Cade raised his beer in a mock toast.  “To best friends and sassy women.”  But it wasn’t Katie he was thinking of.  It was Lacy.  Why did it always come back to her?

She was a reporter.

He hated reporters. 

She was pushy.

He hated pushy.

She was sexy.

He...well, he just wouldn’t let himself think of her that way.  A feat seemingly easier said than done.     

C
HAPTER S
EVEN

Lacy stirred with a sleepy groan as the alarm next to the bed signaled morning’s arrival.  Not her idea of morning, but Cade’s.  But she’d committed herself to this story and doing whatever it took to get it done.  Even if that meant waking up before the sun. 

Yawning, she reached out to shut off the blaring music.  Then she stretched out across the bed.  She had spent a very long, restless night thinking about her assignment.  Cade had barely said two words to her at dinner the night before.  Then he and Burk left to go into town for the evening
and s
he wasn’t invited
to join them
. 

I
t was clear he was still avoiding her today
, seeing as how she’d had no
wake up visit. 
In fact, there wasn’t any sound com
ing from the kitchen
, meaning the men had already gone out to the barn.  She sighed,
her disappointment echoing in the darkened room.

Forcing herself to l
eave the cozy warmth of the bed
, she
dressed for another day of performing ranch duties.  Oddly enough, she found herself enjoying working with the animals.  And she was learning a great deal about what it took to run a ranch.