Cowboy's Bride (14 page)

"What are you, top dog and I'm your bone?
Fine.
Come by in the morning." Why was he so insistent about taking
care of her?
Didn't she have cowboys she could ask to help?

"Kalli, you know I still want your ranch?"
His voice was low, his tone serious.

"I thought you weren't going to bring that
up again."

"I'm not.
I'm not going to say anything
about it again.
But I want you to know that I want the land.
No
matter what happens, don't go thinking anything is going on that's
not.
Sooner or later, I'll have the Triple T."

"Give it up, Trace."

"Just so you know."

"I know.
What's the matter, are you afraid
I'll take this thing between us too seriously, that I might think
you're falling for me?
Or me for you?"

"I'm immune, but are you?"

"You think I'm some starry-eyed young girl
who's going to fall head over heels in love with the first cowboy
that comes along, don't you?" Her heart was racing now.
It had
nothing to do with him.
He was attractive.
He was appealing.
He
made her feel sensations she'd never even known existed before.
But
she would not let herself fall in love with a man who distrusted
women as much as he did.

"Yeah.
What have you done to show me any
different?
Are you going to tell me you have love affairs all the
time?"

Love affairs?
Did he see this as a love
affair?
The man who didn't believe in love?
Her heart beat so hard
he had to see it.
She could fall for this man so easily.
If she
could get past the hurt of his wanting her to leave.
If she could
only get him to see her for herself and not as a representative of
a betraying female who had left him alone with a young baby and
never looked back.

"No, I don't.
Are you kidding, with five
brothers?"

"You didn't live at home, surely you could
be discreet."

"Go away, Trace.
This conversation is
getting more personal than I want.
I may not be as accomplished in
that area as you, but I'm not a virgin, if that's what's worrying
you."

He was intrigued.
She was from Boston, a
decade out of high school.
Surely she'd had some affairs.
What had
the men been like?
Had they satisfied her?
Was she still looking
for love like in some fairy tale, or was she on the make for a
likely meal ticket?
The man with the most money wins?

"I never thought you were a virgin.
Not the
way you kiss."

She was pleased.
At least she did something
right.

"Want another one before you go?"

"Yeah, only then I wouldn't be going.
Good
night, Kalli.
Hope you sleep well."

"Thanks.
You, too."

Yeah, right.
He had as much chance of
sleeping as she did of running a marathon tomorrow.
He was tired,
but his mind was too full of her to relax, to sleep.
He'd scarcely
get home before it would be time to get up.
It was going to be a
long night.

7

It was mid morning when Trace drove into
Kalli's yard and drew to a stop beside the kitchen door.
He had
taken care of a few things at his own place, letting Kalli sleep
in.
When he opened the screen door to the kitchen, he was startled
to see her standing by the sink, washing dishes.
She was balanced
on a pair of old crutches, her long legs bare and tanned beneath an
indecently skimpy pair of white shorts.
Her yellow cotton shirt was
fitted, showing every delectable curve even more than the T- shirts
she slept in.
He stopped dead, staring at her.

She turned and smiled at him.
Her eyes were
bright and sparkling, her dark hair tied back in a thick
ponytail.

"You must have slept in," she said.

"I thought I'd leave that to you.
How long
have you been up?"

"For ages.
Charlie came by to check on me,
but I was already up and dressed, so get that scowl off your face.
He found these crutches for me.
Apparently some cowboy a few years
back broke his leg and used them.
They had to be adjusted for me,
of course."

Her sunny smile warmed him.
He stood in the
doorway and watched her talk, watched the animation in her face.
Except for the evidence of the crutches and the bandage around her
ankle, she looked as fresh and fine as anyone he'd ever seen.

Tossing his hat on the rack, he crossed the
floor to pour himself a cup of coffee.
He leaned against the
counter while he sipped.

"So you ate?"

"Yes, just finishing cleaning up.
What do
you have planned to teach me today?"

"The ranch is late in its spring roundup.
We'll discuss that." He took a sip of the hot coffee, his eyes
drawn again to her shapely legs.
He remembered how silky her skin
had felt beneath his fingers, how he'd like to feel those tanned
legs wrapped around him, holding him tightly against her.
Closing
his eyes, he forced himself to look away, think about the work yet
to be done.

"Shall we use the office?" she asked
brightly, a flood of sensations shimmering at his look.
She licked
her lips, wishing he'd kissed her good morning.
Wishing for a lot
of things that had nothing to do with learning to run a ranch.

"Yeah, the office is fine." Without waiting
for her, he pushed away from the counter and headed down the
hall.

By the time Kalli reached the room her uncle
had used as the ranch office, Trace was sitting behind the desk,
looking at her stacks of bills and reports on the desk.

"How far along are you?"

"I'm up to April," she replied, sinking into
one of the comfortable chairs across from the desk.
Pushing the
other one around, she rested her injured ankle on it.

"How's the ankle?" he asked, still studying
the piles she'd made when organizing all the material for inputting
into the computer, afraid if he looked at those silky legs again
he'd forget why he'd come.

"Better.
With the crutches I'm more mobile
and yet can keep off my ankle."

He swiveled around in the chair, leaned back
and studied her, careful to keep his gaze on her face.

"So tell me all I need to know about spring
roundup," she said as the silence stretched out.

"It's hot, dirty, hard work.
You have two
choices, take it easy and have it last for several days, or go full
out and get it over with as quickly as possible."

"Which do you recommend?" she asked.

"On my place I do it as quickly as possible.
But it means getting up before dawn and usually not stopping until
it's too dark to see."

"Doing it that way, how long does it
take?"

"At Flying Cloud?
A week or longer.
It's a
bigger spread than yours.
Here, it would only take a few days.
But
you need a bigger crew."

"You mean hire some more cowboys?"

"Yeah.
Or get neighbors to help.
Usually the
ranches around here stagger their roundups so they can help each
other out.
Then there are always drifters looking for a short job
before moving on to the next place."

"I don't know any neighbors, except
you."

"But they all know the Triple T, and most of
them have probably heard all about you by now.
You want to ask for
their help?"

"And I help in return when they need
it?"

He nodded.
"You and your men when they
ask."

"Okay, if you think that'll work.
I can
start calling today.
Who should I call?"

He started to say he'd take care of it.
That
he'd take care of everything for her, but hesitated.
She wanted to
run this place by herself, now was as good a time as any for her to
start.
To learn all that was entailed, and how complex and
difficult it really was.

"I'll make you a list of the men you should
talk to.
Tell them I said to call." He drew out a tablet and began
writing names.

"If I didn't mention you, would I get the
same response?" she asked suspiciously.

"Probably not." He looked up, back to the
writing.
"There isn't another female rancher in these parts.
Most
of the men are a little chauvinistic in their outlook."

"No, really?" She grinned.
She had been
around the most chauvinistic man she'd ever seen for days.
How
could she not suspect everyone around here was like that?

"You have a problem with that?" His eyes
narrowed as he looked up.

"I'm not used to it." Actually the thought
of Trace taking care of her was appealing—to a degree.
But she was
an independent woman.
She might like to rely on someone, but only
to the extent they also relied on her.

"Here's the list.
Pick a date, start
calling.
Get as many men lined up as you can.
When you know how
many are coming, you have to plan the logistics of the roundup.
Where are you going to hold it, how are you going to get food and
drinks to the men, what about feed for the horses?
Will you provide
a place for them to sleep, or expect them to return to their
ranches each night?
Depending on the distance, that will cut into
the workday."

"Wait a minute, I need to get all this down
on paper." She drew the tablet across and began to make notes.

Trace spent the remainder of the morning
going over every aspect with her, explaining when she had
questions, making suggestions when she seemed totally lost.
A
couple of times he gave an order and then quickly took it back when
she glared at him.
By the time he rose to leave, she had a million
things to do to plan her first roundup.
The tasks seemed
insurmountable, and this was only one aspect of a busy ranch.
She
took a deep breath.
She would take it one step at a time.

"Want to stay for lunch?" she offered as he
reached the door.

"No, got to get back to my own place before
it falls into rack and ruin."

She doubted it had suffered at all in the
time he'd been here.
She bet every one of the men on his place knew
his own job and did it well without supervision.
Trace wouldn't put
up with any slackers.

That afternoon Kalli began calling her
neighbors, introducing herself on the phone and asking for their
help.
As the day waned, she didn't know whether to be amused or
annoyed.
She was certainly exasperated with the common theme of all
the calls.
"Thought Trace was buying that place," was the most
common comment.
“Trace can handle it," was the second most common.
But once everyone heard he'd told her to call, they quickly agreed
to help.
She wondered what the outcome would have been if Trace had
not been on her side.

He was doing more for her than she'd
realized.
It would have been much easier, and more to his benefit,
to ignore her, let her flounder around on her own.
She might have
ended up eating her own cattle to survive, just as she'd
threatened.

Kalli made her way to the bunkhouse for
dinner.
Charlie had prepared a delicious stew and she enjoyed the
camaraderie of the men as they shared dinner.
She soaked up the
tales they told of past hardships and glories.
She asked questions.
She discovered Charlie had been a Marine for a while, Jose was
courting a girl in Jackson and Josh still had dreams of winning
some rodeo tide.
The men seemed equally fascinated by her stories.
The cosmopolitan city of Boston was as far removed from what they
were used to as Paris or London would have been.

And she asked copious questions about the
ranch every chance she got.
Charlie and Josh had been there the
longest, over ten years, starting shortly after her last visit.
They answered every question she asked, volunteered things she
hadn't thought about.
From their quiet, differential manner, she
knew they were a little wary of her being able to run the place,
but they were willing to go along for the time being and give her a
chance.
It made her feel welcomed for the first time since arriving
in Wyoming.

As Kalli prepared for bed, she reflected on
the day.
It had been great.
Except she missed Trace after he left.
He hadn't even touched her today.
After last night, she thought
he'd be a little more amorous.
The kisses they'd shared had almost
been X-rated.
The feelings he built in her were so erotic she could
scarcely stand to be apart from him.
He could have at least kissed
her.

The phone rang.
She sank on the bed and
picked it up.

"Kalli?"

"Trace, I was just thinking about you."

“
Yeah, me, too.
You
okay?''

"Sure.
I'm in bed now."

He was silent, picturing her in bed.
He
wanted to be there with her.

"Trace?" she said softly as the silence
dragged on.

"Yeah?"

"Did you call for a reason?"

"Just to see how you are doing.
How's your
ankle?"

"It’s feeling better.
Still sore if I put
any weight on it." Remembering what she'd been thinking about, she
decided to test the waters.
She felt safe with him several miles
away.
Worst case, she could always hang up on him.

"Actually, I have other parts that ache a
bit more." She lay back against her pillows, smiling into the
phone, her voice low and husky.

"Where, your shoulder?"

"No, my lips.
My..
.breasts.
Do you know
anyone who could kiss and make than better?" Her voice teased,
craved, tantalized.

"Oh, God," he groaned.
"Hell, Kalli, why
don't you just walk naked in front of me?"

"Would that work?" she asked, smiling in
quiet satisfaction.
Maybe he did still want her, though he had a
funny way of showing it by ignoring her today.

"I'll come over and we'll see." The hard
edge in his tone denied the romantic overtones she longed to
hear.

"Don't you dare.
I'm all ready to go to
sleep.
My whole body feels as if it lost out to a steamroller.
My
ankle really does hurt.
I need to get better before..."

"Before?"

"You know."

He chuckled.
"Maybe you better tell me."

"Trace, you're a rancher, you figure it
out."

"Meaning?"

"You've got cows and bulls and stallions and
mares."

"Honey, what's between us is more than
what's between animals in heat."

She felt warmth spread through every
cell.

"You're right," she whispered.

She didn't just want a physical relationship
with him.
She wanted more.
She liked arguing with him about the
ranch.
Liked pitting her wits against his.
Liked listening to him
talk, share the vast knowledge he had of ranching and cattle and
handling men.
She wanted to spend more time with him doing whatever
he wanted--riding, fixing fences or sitting on the porch and
enjoying the breeze from the mountains.
She wanted more than just a
roll in the hay with this cowboy.
Lots more.
And as far into the
future as she could see, she didn't have much chance.