Capturing the Cowboy's Heart (20 page)

“We’d just better hope she doesn’t find out this was all a joke.  One little shake of the hot water heater would have given her what she wanted.”

“And ruined a bit of fun for us,” Burk reminded him.

Lacy
returned to the kitchen several minutes later
dressed in a pair of shorts and a breast-hugging tank top.
 
“All set
.
”

Cade’s gaze
zeroed in on hot pink bra that dangled from the end of the rolled up towel under her arm.  Then, he caught the sweet scent of sun-warmed strawberries coming from the bar of soap in her other hand.  His gaze slid lower to her bare feet.  Never had he given much thought to bare feet being sexy, but the sight of her dainty feet with their cherry red toenails had effectively shot his body temperature up several notches. 

“Okay,
so
which one of you cowboys is going to show me the way to the pond?”

“The pond?”  Burk muttered as he sat staring at her.

“The cowboy-style bath I’m going to have to take since the water heater is acting up.”

“Oh, yeah, that,” Cade muttered almost incoherently.  All he could do was stare.  How could one woman pack so much sex appeal?

“Let’s get this over with.  Maybe while I’m bathing in the pond I’ll imagine that I’m soaking in a hot tub surrounded by thick, scented bubbles.”  Lacy headed for the door.  

Cade turned to see Burk’s Adam’s apple bobbing up and down, certain his was doing the
exact
same thing.  Did she have to go into detail about her baths? 

“You sure you want to do that?” he asked as he stood up from the table
to follow her
.  “I mean, we could just squirt you off with the hose.” 
Right after I run it down my pants to cool off.

She
shook her head.  “No.  I’m here to do a story on your life.  Experiencing the way you live it falls under research.
  So if you say you bathe in the pond sometimes, I need to experience it myself to write about it.
  Besides, if you men can do it I can too.”

He
walked over to where she stood, his gaze
drawn once more to h
er dangling underthings.  “I don’t know, Dalton, th
at particular shade of
pink might just blind the
poor
ducks.”

She tugged her niceties free of the bundled towel and waved them at him in a playful manner.  “Are you referring to these?” 

“Reckon I was.”  He couldn’t help but notice there wasn’t much to them.  Surely not enough to warm her shapely little bottom on a cold winter night.  Maybe he would volunteer for the job
if he happen
ed
to find himself in Denver on a cold winter’s night
.

“You’re just jealous
,” she said.

He arched a dark brow. 
“I’m jealous?”

She leaned
closer to him
, her chin tilted stubbornly.  “That’s
what I said.”

“Of what?” he
muttered
, thoroughly distracted by the close proximity of those full, tempting lips.

“Because this is probably the only sexy lingerie you’ll ever see around these parts.  I
have a feeling most of the women around here wear grannie panties
.”  Stuffing the lacy bra back into her towel, she pushed open the screen door and walked out.

She was probably right.  He
looked to Burk.  “Katie wear
grannie panties
?”

“How the hell would I know?”

“Maybe you ought to find out.”

Burk shot up from the table, shaking his head.  “No way.  No how.  Going to bed with Katie would be like bedding a porcupine with great legs.”

Cade chuckled at his friend’s comparison.  He couldn’t argue that Katie O’Brien was a little spitfire, and maybe a little younger than Burk was used to
in a woman
, but he’d never seen any other
female
get Burk riled
up
the way
Katie
did.

“Think we oughta tell Lacy the truth now?”
his friend
asked with a glance toward the kitchen door.

“
After seeing her in
that
towel? 
Hell, it’s going to be
all I can do to
stay away from the bathroom keyhole once
we have hot water again
.”

“That’ll teach you for not getting that thing fixed
properly
sooner
.”

“I
t was the least of my worries
.” 
At least it had been.  Now he wished to hell he’d dished out the money to have it fixed. 
Slapping his hat back
onto his head
, he said,
“
Reckon we’d best
take
Dalton
to
see how a real cowboy
washes up
.”    

“Real cowboy?
” Burk snorted.  “
Hell, Cade,
have you ever
bathed in the pond
?
”

“And your point is...?”

Burk’s face split into a grin. 
“
You want her to swim naked in your pond so you can watch.”

“I’m not a peeping Tom. 
I just wan
na
see how long it takes
her
to change her mind about bathing in the pond
once
she
discovers
there
are
fish in it.”  Grinning, he followed Lacy outside.

CHAPTER
NINE

Lacy
looked up as the pair of
conniving cowboys stepped from the house. 
Snakes
was more like it
!  She had
started back to the kitchen to ask Cade how deep the pond was before she changed and had
overheard
he
and Burk discussing the
ir little prank.
 

“Bad hot water tank my behind,” she muttered
angrily
. 
Well, s
he had news for Cade Tyler.  Two could play his game.

“
Did you say something
?” Cade asked
with a smile
as he
stepped down from the porch
.

She returned his smile. 
“I asked which one of you
drew the short straw and got stuck
escorting
me to the
pond
.
”

“We’re all going,”
Cade
announced
as he walked past her toward the barn.

“All of us?”
she replied, pretending to be unnerved by his suggestion. 

“Yeah, we could use a bath, too,” Burk
joined in
as he followed behind.

Cade slowed, waiting for Lacy to catch up.  “You can ride with me.”

“I’ll see to the horses,” Burk said, lengthening his stride and passing them both.  “You kids just stay out here and enjoy the sunshine, kill some time.”

If she killed anything, it was going to be Cade.
  Lacy smiled sweetly.  “Burk is so thoughtful.” 

Cade’s smile
dropped
down a few notches.  “Yeah, that’s Burk for you.”

“I thought you were just going to take me to the pond and then leave.”

His blue eyes glittered mischievously.  “And leave you all alone out there with wild animals roaming around?”

It was all she could do not to roll her eyes. 
How long did he plan on carrying out this charade
of theirs
?  Until they had her naked in the pond
?

Lacy
feigned a gasp
.  “Wild animals?”

He nodded.  “Yeah, you know, bears, wolves,
mountain lions
.  But don’t worry,
Dalton
, you’ll be safe with us.”

The only wolves she suspected of being around were the two
c
onspiring cowboys she was going to the pond with.  “I
never gave wild animals any thought.  I’m glad you’re both going along
.”

“Hope you’re not shy,” he said.

“Not at all.”

His expression was priceless.  “Uh, well, good.”

“
Are you?”

“Am I what?”

“Uncomfortable being naked around other people?”

Before
he
could reply, Burk ca
me walking toward them with the horse.  “All set.”

“Almost,” she said.  “You forgot to bring clean clothes to change into after you bathe.”

“You mean I can’t ride naked back to the house afterwards?” Burk teased.

“No
t a chance,” she told him.  “Skinny dipping is one thing, riding horseback naked is another.”

“Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it,” Cade threw in.

She turned to look at him.  “You’ve ridden naked before?”

“Well, no.”

She reached for the reins.  “Get your clothes.  I’ll wait
here
with the horses.”

Cade returned without Burk.

“Where’s your sidekick?”

“He’s going to meet us there.”

“What about his horse?”

Cade took the reins of Burk’s horse and walked over to a nearby tree, securing the reins to one of the lower branches.  Then he returned to where she stood with his horse. 
“Mount up, Dalton.
  I’ll ride behind you.
”

She eyed the horse and then turned to Cade.  “Um, I think there’s something missing here.”

“And that would be...?”

“A ladder.”

He chuckled. 
“A ladder?”  

“How else am I suppose
d
to get up on that thing?”

“This
thing
is a horse and we cowboys don’t use ladders to mount them.  Come on,
Dalton
.  I’ll help you up.” 

Cade took the rolled up towel from her and stuffed it into his saddlebag.  Then he stepped behind her, placing his hands on either side of her waist.  He was so close she could feel the warmth of his breath on the back of her neck, the sensation making her shudder.

“You okay?”

“I’m fine,” she
replied, refusing to let him know how being so near him affected her.

He lifted her effortlessly onto the saddle.  “Now scoot forward
, so I can settle in behind you
.”

Still affected by the caress of his breath on the back of her neck, she feared how her body would react when she was seated between his
parted thighs
, her body pressed against his.  Before she could back out, Cade was seated behind her in the saddle and they were riding away from the house.

Despite her efforts,
she
kept sliding backward in the saddle.  It
became a
constant battle to keep their bodies from touching, one she was quickly losing.

“You keep wriggling about like that and I’ll be needing to bathe in ice water,” he whispered against her ear.

She went perfectly still
.  And then,
to her dismay
,
she felt herself sliding back into him again.  The evidence of his desire pressed
firmly
against her backside. 
She
squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to think about how perfectly their bodies
fit together
, or
how arousing the feeling of it was
.

“
It’s a scenic ride out to the pond
,” he drawled behind her.  “I think you’ll enjoy it.”

She nodded, squeezing her eyes shut tighter.  “If you say so.”  Unfortunately, she was already enjoying their ride together
far
too much.

His
chin settled onto her shoulder
, the warmth of his breath tickling her ear
.  “You’d probably appreciate the view more if you opened your eyes.”

“I like it better this way,” she
said stubbornly
.

“Something bothering you, Dalton?” he
whispered huskily a
gainst her ear.

She
forced her eyes open and turned to look
at him, her mouth accidentally brushing across his.  Her breath caught and she jerked her head away, looking at anything but the man behind her. 
“This isn’t going to work.”