Choice of Love (7 page)

    Devin arrived at Mary Lou’s cabin with picnic gear in hand. he knocked lightly on the door. No answer. Knocking a little hard this time, he waited. When she didn’t answer be became a little worried. Was she alright? He twisted the door knob and to his luck the door opened. He thought a city girl like herself would be in the habit of locking her door. He pushed his head in to the room. “Mary Lou” he called. There was still no answer. With a frown he slowly entered the cabin. He put the picnic basket down on a side table and made his way to the bedroom. She was not in there, so he walked over to the bathroom, he heard o sound coming from in there. Alarmed now, he burst through the door. “Miss Carpenter!” To his relief, he spotted her in the bath tub.

    At the shout of her name, Mary Lou jumped up and let a shriek of surprise when she saw Devin standing in the door way, with a look of relief on his face, which transformed to surprise, then pure male appreciation. Water sloshed over the tub as she tried to cover her breasts simultaneously trying to emerge her body deeper in the water.

She let out another shriek, “Don’t people knock in the country?”  She bellowed.

“I knocked a couple times and you didn’t respond, I was concerned”, Devin defended.

“Well thanks for your concern, but as you can see I’m perfectly fine”, she glowered at him.

He let out a breath, “You are fine, indeed” he replied remembering the sight of her breasts floating above the water before she covered them.

Mary Lou let out groaned, wondering if anybody ever died from humiliation.”Don’t just stand there, hand me towel” she snapped.

    Devin snapped out of trance at the sharpness in her tone “Huh? Right, here you are” he grabbed a towel and bought it over to her. It was only when Mary Lou threw him a disgusted look that he realized he was still standing there staring at her like a horny teenager seeing the female body for the first time. “Sorry” he muttered, turning to exit the bathroom, wondering why the sight of a naked Mary Lou affected so much, beyond belief. It’s not like he hadn’t seen plenty of naked women. Now he had a massive erection to get rid of before she came out of the bathroom.

     Mary Lou exited the bathroom slowly, wrapped in a white fluffy towel that was too large for her body. The corners of his lips lifted slightly at the sight of her, she looked damn adorable he mused. She kept her eyes downcast, refusing to look at him.
Aw hell she’s still embarrassed.
He quickly began to tell her the reason for his visit, hoping to ease her humiliation.

“A nature walk?” she asked with a frown, looking like she was about to refuse.

“Well more like a nature ride” he added quickly. “We can take out a couple of the horses; you know just a little adventure for the rest of the afternoon. I even packed a picnic basket.”

She finally raised her eyes to look at him and smiled, to his delight. “Well, I’ve always wanted to learn how to ride a horse and a picnic sounds lovely”.

“Great”, Devin responded. I’ll wait outside while you get dressed.

    Mary Lou watched Devin leave her bedroom and let out a long breath
. Holy shit he saw me naked.
She dropped her head in her hands; he wished the ground would open up and take her in. She recalled how he had stood there, staring at her. Her below zero self-esteem kicked in and she was convinced that he stared because he was disgusted by what he saw. Why would a good looking man like him be attracted to her? She frowned staring at her naked body in the mirror. He was probably used to tall, slender, model-like women falling all over him. She was the complete opposite of his type, she was sure. Her shoulders drooped as she went to pick out something to wear.

    Damn it! I have nothing appropriate to wear!
She threw articles of clothing over her shoulders, looking for something “nature ride” worthy. She finally had to decide on a pair of too short for her comfort black shorts, a low cut, skin tight yellow tank top.
Damn you Yvonne
, Mary thought as she studied herself in the mirror. She would never be caught dead in a get-up like this back in Detroit. At least she had a on a pair of comfortable sneakers she had manage to sneak into her suitcase when Yvonne wasn’t looking. She topped the outfit off with a brown Stetson over her loose curls, she had picked it up during her and Yvonne’s shopping spree, thinking it would be appropriate for the environment and make her look “cowgirl” like. Mary located her fanny pack, threw in her insect replant spray and chap stick and went through the door.

    Devin nearly fell off the wall he was resting on, when he spotted Mary Lou. God damn she was one sexy woman. He was hypnotized by the sway of her hips and the bouncing of her breast as she made her way to him. He jumped down off his perch as she stopped in front of him. He smiled at the Stetson perched on her head “My, my you look like a real cowgirl, Miss Carpenter”, he said with his western drawl.

Mary Lou gave girly giggle, surprising herself, she never giggled. What has gotten into her? She cleared her throat, “That’s just the look I was going for.”

Devin led Mary Lou around to the back of the main Cabin where the horse stable was.  “If no one is here, who takes care of the horse?” Mary asked, curious.

“These horses were just bought in over the weekend, but someone has been coming in to feed them every day. He must have come this morning and left before we arrived.”

    Mary Lou had never been this close to a horse before, they were magnificent creature. She cautious made her way to light coated stallion with a dark brown mane. She bravely, but slowly reached her hand out to touch it, she saw them do it in the movies all the time, so she figured it was ok besides he was locked in a stall. Before she could make contact with the, it neighed loudly and kicked up on hind legs. Mary let out screamed as loud as the horse’s neigh and jumped back right in to Devin’s arms, her entire body trembling, her racing, and her knees buckling beneath her. Devil supported her with strong arms “Easy now, easy” he soothed. Mary had no idea if he was talking to her or the horse.  Devin turned her around in his arms; her heart rate just began to stabilize. He cupped her chin and lifted her face, he stared into her wide, terrified eyes “You ok?” he asked.

Mary nodded “I-I think so, I thought it was ok to touch one, but it just totally freaked out and I freaked out and-and” she tried to finish but her breaths were coming out in short puffs.

“Calm down darlin’ just breathe; you’re ok, no harm done.”

“No harm done? There’s no way I’m get on one of those things now.” Mary Lou look at him as if he had just gone insane, folding her arms under her breast.

Devin chuckled and shook his head “Come on, you’ll be fine, we’ll find you a nice mild tempered mare.” He took her hand, feeling a weird jolt of electricity; he glanced at her wondering if she felt it too. She was looking up at him in wonder but she said nothing. They stopped in front of a medium sized mare with a rich chestnut coat. “Go ahead rub and rub her coat, bond with her a bit”, Devin encouraged.

“You’ve obviously lost all sense, no way am I touching that animal.” Mary Lou folded her arms.

Devin rolled his eyes and reached out and grabbed one of her hand “Hey, what are you- before she could finish had his hand on top of hers and guided toward horse. Her palm made contact with the horse’s thick coat. Devin’s hand stilled covered hers, guiding her movements. Mary Lou’s lips broke into a smile, “Wow, her coat is so soft. This is amazing.”

“Her name is Lucy” Devin informed her.

“Hi, Lucy, you’re so gorgeous”, Mary Lou whispered. She looked up to find Devin staring down at her. “What?” she asked, feeling a bit awkward.  She always felt uncomfortable when people stared at her.

“I’m just wondering how you taste” he breathed.

    Before she could respond his lips captured hers stealing her breath. She only reached the middle of his chest so he had to bend; she rose up on the tip of her toes and bent her head back to provide him better access to her lips. She opened her mouth tentatively because she wanted to know how he tasted as well. And the man tasted
damn
good! The intensity of the kiss deepened as his tongue pushed its way into her mouth; she allowed him entry and their tongues mingled gently.  He pulled her more tightly to him crushing her breasts against his chiselled chest.  Mary couldn’t believe she was being so passionately kissed by the sexy cowboy.
Holy shit! She must be dreaming.
She was attracted to him from the moment she had laid eyes on him, but she had no idea he was even thinking about her in that way.

    Devin broke the kiss when Mary Lou’s soft moan penetrated his lust hazed mind. He broke away from her, shocked at his loss of self control. She was gazing up at him wide-eyed and dazed. “I’m so sorry, that shouldn’t have happened” he said turning abruptly away. What the hell was he doing? She was a guest at the ranch for God’s sake. Now she probably thought he was some kind of sex-crazed pervert.

    Disappointment washed over Mary Lou. Oh hell he regretted their kiss. He was probably disgusted by it, by her. Memories of her ex began to surface. “He had once told her that she was frigid and didn’t have a sexy bone in her body.” She put the memory aside before she began to weep like a fool.
I guess he isn’t really attracted to me after all
she thought sadly
.  God, can I be any bigger of an idiot?
She mentally kicked herself, straightened her tank to top, put on a brave face and said “It’s all good, let’s just pretend it never happened”.

    Devin stared down at her wanting to respond, to say anything that would remove the hurt he detected in her tone; the hurt that she had tried to hide, with her suddenly developed nonchalant attitude. She couldn’t fool him that easy, he knew she was as affected by the kiss as he had been, or she wouldn’t have responded so passionately.  What was her problem any? She had gone from hot to cold so swiftly, leaving him in a whirl of confusion? He only pulled away because things were getting out of control too rapidly, and she wasn’t one of his usual hit and leave it flings. He sighed inwardly and decided to let the issue rest, for now.

“Have you ever ridden a horse before?” He quickly changed the subject.

“Never” she relied.

“Ok then let me show you how.” He reached out to assist her onto her mare.

She stumbled back, “I can manage on my own, just tell me what to do.”

    Great, now she doesn’t even want me to touch her
he thought, annoyed with himself for initiating that kiss. “Ok just hook your left foot in the stirrup there, jump and swing your right leg over the horse’s back.” He held the on to the reigns to keep the horse steady as she followed his instruction and mounted the animal.  “Good girl. Always remember to stay calm, horses are sensitive creatures, they can detect anxiety or fear.” He swiftly mounted his horse, placing the picnic basket in front of him. As they slowly took off, he continued to give her instructions until she caught on and was managing just fine.

Chapter Four

    Mary Lou lost track of time as they rode. They rode for in silence, except for Devin giving brief instructions every now and again. She had gotten the hang of horse riding and was manoeuvring Lucy like a pro. Mary Lou gazed out at the miles and mile of grass terrain surrounding them. It looked like a something out of a painting, paintings that she always spent time admiring and wishing she was a part of the work of art. But she didn’t have to wish right now, she was here and she was grateful to Yvonne for practically forcing her to accept the raffle ticket prize.

    She never experienced this kind of calm in Detroit. It was all big city hustle and bustle, people rushing from one destination to the next, not even slowing down for a minute to appreciate their surroundings, to appreciate life. For her it was an everyday routine of waking up, going to a job that she really didn’t enjoy, going home to a lonely apartment, and doing it all over the next day.  But in this moment, on top of this horse, taking in the beauty and quiet around her, she let go of the city and her boring, lonely life. As a sense of peace washed over her, a broad smile broke on her face. Daringly, Mary let go of the horse’s reigns, opened her arms wide, tilted her head skyward and soaked in the late afternoon sun, as a light breeze caressed her face. She sighed in momentary contentment. 

    But the thought that this peace was only temporary crept into her mind, jolting her back to reality. Though the beautiful surroundings remained intact, far gone from her mind was the calm and content that she had too briefly experienced. Now all she could think about was returning to her life in Detroit in just a matter of days, a life that in a moment of illumination, she just realized that she hated. Despair abruptly assailed her entire being, but she dismissed it as fast as it had appeared.

    Devin was paying no attention to the world around him. He was wholly focused on the interesting woman riding beside him. It was like she forgot that he was there and was engulfed her own private world. When she opened her arms wide and looked skyward, he saw her as a goddess beckoning to the sun. She remained completely silent, but he noticed the series expressions that flitted across her pretty face. Wonder, happiness, longing, peace, and then sadness. He felt his hear squeeze in his chest at her forlorn expression, whishing he could take her into his arms and kiss her worries away.

    He frowned inwardly, taken aback by his own thoughts. Since when did he care about taking a woman’s worries away? Since Mary Lou Carpenter had landed and disrupted his life, that’s when, he answered his own question. This was not something that he was use to feeling at all. The women he usually encountered were money hungry barracudas who mostly just slept with him in hopes of getting one foot closer in to the marriage bed, and closer to his fortune. But Mary Lou was different, she was aware that he was a wealthy man, but she didn’t seem to give a damn. She was just absorbed in admiring the beauty around her. She was a strange, yet refreshing entity to him.

    Devin glanced at his watch. Wow it was half past four already. It was full time for them to stop and eat and allow the horses to rest. He decide that they could ride a little bit further, he knew the perfect the perfect spot under a huge willow tree a little further up. Before he had purchased the land to build the guest ranch, he drove out here to examine the land many times, so knew the vast area like the back of his hand.

“We can stop a little further up ahead to grab a bite and allow the horses to rest a bit”, Devon shouted to Mary Lou whose horse he realized had gotten quite ahead of his while he had been lost in contemplation.

Mary Lou turned her head and smiled at him, not looking where her horse was stepping. “Sounds great”, she shouted back. “I’m so hungry I could-

Before she could finish her statement both she and Lucy went tumbling down. Mary Lou let out shrilling scream before she hit the ground. Devin watched in horror as woman and horse went down, he was too far away to do anything. “Mary Lou!” he shouted her name as he pressed stallion to gallop ahead. He prayed that she was unhurt. As he neared the scene he saw Lucy attempting get up snorting and nursing her left hind leg. He looked around frantically for Mary; he spotted her lying face down and motionless a little distance away from her horse. 

He jumped off his horse and sprinted to her.  “Talk to me Mary, please tell me you’re alright” he said anxiously.

Mary Lou groaned loudly “Ouch! Devin? What the hell just happened?” she asked softly, slightly lifting her head to look up at him. Devin seized her shoulders and helped her to turn her to sit up. He spotted a small abrasion on the left side of her forehead. He ran his fingers through her hair and down her body. “What are you doing?” she asked feeling a bit hot and bothered with his hands roaming over her body.

“Checking for any more injuries” he said gruffly. Damn it Mary, I almost had heart attack when I saw you lying on the ground, not moving.” He blew out a breath “A man’s hear can only take so much.”

Mary Lou was touched by the concern that filled his eyes. “Thanks for your concern, but I’m ok, really. I just got the wind knocked out of me that’s all” she said while examining the bruises on her hands. In the split second that her horse had gone down, she had instinctively reached out her hands to try and break her fall. She still doesn’t know what happened to cause the accident.  “Oh no, Lucy!” she cried. “Is she alright?”

She was startled when Devin suddenly scooped her up in his arms. “It looks as if she injured a leg” he answered. “I haven’t examined her yet; I had to make sure you were ok first.” He strode effortlessly with her in his arms.

Mary Lou was painfully aware of her body pressed against his larger, much harder frame.
Oh boy
she thought, she had to put some distance between them now. Her breath quickened and she could swear she felt her   panty getting a little wet. “Devin, please put me down I can walk” she half whispered breathlessly.

He looked down at her with a small frown “Are you sure?” he asked.

She nodded, struggling to get her words out “I’m sure. I can manage, I promise. Go check on Lucy.”

    He hesitated but slowly put her down. His hands remained on her shoulders, making sure she was steady as her feet were planted back on the ground. He stared at her for a few seconds as if he wanted to say something, but he remained silent, turned away from her and made his way to the injured horse. Mary Lou let out a breath and rubbed the back of her neck, wondering why Devin affected her so much. Just a simple touch and she last all senses. He returned to her a few minutes later, wearing a grim expression “Lucy has broken a leg” he told her.

“Oh no!” she cried in dismay. “It’s all my fault. Did I do something wrong? I shouldn’t have gone so far ahead of you.” She dropped her head in her hands “I’m so stupid, I should have been paying more attention. I’m so sorry Devin.”

He cupped her chin and angled her face so that she was staring in her eyes “Hey, it wasn’t your fault, her left hind leg somehow got caught in a hole , which was completely obscured by grass there’s no way you could have seen it, so stop beating yourself up.”

“What do we do now? She asked.

“I’m going see if I can get someone out here with to carry Lucy back to the ranch” he answered. Whipping out his cell he dialled but the call would go through. He glanced at his phone screen “Shit, no reception here.” We will have to walk a bit, we’ll head back in the direction of the ranch, and hopefully cell reception will improve. You can ride my horse and I’ll walk.”

Mary Lou eyed the intimidating black stallion nervously “Um, its ok I have no problem walking.”

    They set off into the direction of the ranch, Lucy hoping on three legs. Devin glanced at his watch; they had been walking for about fifteen minutes now. He hopped it wouldn’t be too long before he could get in touch with someone soon. He gazed upward, the darkening skies made him uncomfortable, he hadn’t bothered to check the forecast before they left out because he was certain they would be out for too long. He mentally kicked himself, he should have known better. He was well aware that anything could happen on the nature tours and he should have been fully prepared for any situation. There was nothing he could now, but make the best of the situation and get his guest back to the safety of the ranch. When it was evident that the clouds were going to burst open at minute, He made the quick decision to find shelter. They had passed an old ranch camp earlier on, it was still miles away from the guest ranch but it would provide them with shelter.

“It looks like it’s going to rain, let’s try to make it to the old ranch camp before it starts” Devin informed Mary Lou.

“Yea” Mary Lou said looking up at the sky “the rain clouds are rolling in. Ranch camp, is that the area we passed earlier on with the bunch of old tent looking things?”

He smiled at her description of the ranch camp. “Yup, ranch camps are used for cattle drives. I’m sure we can find a decent tent for shelter there.”

    As they walked, Devin had to admit to himself that he was impressed with Mary Lou; she was being a real trouper about this entire situation. He noticed her slight limp and grimace from earlier on, it was clear that she had been injured more than she had let on; but she didn’t say a word, so neither did he; he understood the need to hang on to one’s pride sometimes. She marched on quietly like a soldier and when he had mention taking shelter at the ranch camp she didn’t she freak out like he expected a city girl would. She was taking it all in stride.

    The scattered tents came into view a few minutes later. Mary Lou was incredibly relieved. It had started to drizzle by the time they got there, she didn’t even care about getting wet, and she just wanted to sit down somewhere, anywhere. She had never walked this much in her life, and her right leg was giving her hell. She had injured it during her fall, but hadn’t mentioned it because it wasn’t a big deal plus she had wanted Devin to focus on the horse’s broken leg. But boy was she feeling it now; she needed to sit before she dropped.

    She silently watched as Devin examined an A-shaped tent made of tarpaulin, finding it in decent shape he opened the flaps at the front and covered the ground with the blanket they had bought for their picnic. He signalled her to enter and left to tend to the horses. He walked them over to a large tree he figured could provide them with some semblance of shelter and tied them there. He tried his cell again, still no reception. His mood was darkening more and more by the minute; it looked like they were going to have to spend the entire night out here. He went back to the tent as the rain started to pour down. He entered the tent in a sour mood. Mary Lou was disappointed at the sight of the scowl on his face, the scowl he had sported when they had met for the first time. She tried to cut through the mounting tension in the tent. “So, how about that picnic now? I’m starving.”

He handed her the basket. “Sure, help yourself” he said gruffly.

    Mary Lou took a sandwich out of the zip-lock bad and offered it to Devin, He reluctantly accepted. They eat for a few minutes in silence as the rain poured down outside. “You know, I have never been camping before. I can totally count this as my first camping experience, you know sleeping in a tent, on the ground, with the bugs”, she said looking at Devin with a smile hoping to lighten his mood. She continued “This isn’t half bad, hell it’s even kind of cosy in here, at least we’re staying nice and dry.” She got no response from Devin, she felt like an idiot babbling on and on. “Hello, earth to Devin.”

He sighed and threw her an annoyed glance “I’m glad one of is enjoying the experience” he snapped.

Mary inhaled sharply, holding on to her temper by a short leash. “What the hell is your problem?”

“What’s my problem?” he asked incredulously. He waved both hands in the air, “Everything! This entire day has been a,
Miss Carpenter
. First, I’m forced to pick you up at the airport. Then I had to cancel very important business meetings to spend the day entertaining you, because everyone that I have employed is completely irresponsible. Now, here we are stranded miles away from the ranch, forced to sleep on the ground in a tent. So excuse me for being a little pissed.”

Mary could no longer restrain her growing anger. “Oh, so all of this is my fault? Look,
Mr. Copper,
I didn’t ask to win a stupid contest, I didn’t ask for you to pick me up at the damn airport, I didn’t ask you take me out to the middle of nowhere; I was perfectly fine relaxing in my cabin. Ok?” She took a breath and continued her rant “I certainly didn’t ask to be thrown of a horse, almost breaking my neck and I didn’t ask to be stuck here in this crappy tent with
you.
So,
if you’re going to play the blame game, leave me out of it mister.”

She scrambled out of the tent to get away from him before she socked him the head with the damn picnic basket. Devin followed after her. “Where the hell do you think you’re going?”

“Far away, from you” she hissed vehemently. Mary Lou stomped off. Luckily the heavy rain had developed into a light drizzle.  She was still getting a little wet and her thick curls were going to rebel when dried, but she didn’t care, she just wanted to get away from the man who could so easily get her riled up. It was totally out of character for her to argue with anyone, she was always quiet and mousey, letting people walk all over her. But no way was she going to accept the blame for his shitty day.