Her Unbridled Cowboy (Harland County Series) (18 page)

Leeann nodded. “Yes. It would do us
good to remember that.” Her friend settled down next to her on the brown
leather sofa, and Alex sent his wife a strange look.

“Surely you don’t deny those two
are attracted to each other,” he said.

Nate straightened next to his
friend. “Yeah. It’s like the same kind of fireworks Cole and Jordan sparked off
each other last spring.”

“Oh, I’m not denying they’re
attracted to each other, but those two have serious issue to work through. And
the sooner they realize the answers to their issues and path to healing lie in
each other, the sooner we can get to planning another wedding,” Leeann said with
a firm nod of her head.

“Amen to that,” Emma said quietly,
and the others agreed.

“Well then, what we need is to
throw them together,” Nate stated. “I think it’s time to put ‘Plan A’ into
motion.”

“You do realize we just might have
to go all the way through to ‘Plan Z’ with these two,” she noted, linking her
fingers together on her lap.

Her husband smiled down at her.
“Whatever it takes.”

“Whatever it takes,” the others echoed
back.

I
t was an unusually
warm February day, so Kerri decided to take Bullet for a walk and enjoy the
promise of spring that was in the air. Jordan had asked her to watch the dog
until she returned from her honeymoon next week. She loved the German Shepherd
so she was thrilled, and he seemed to enjoy the plethora of scents in the field
behind her apartment and on the side of the road.

They were on their way back when
Kerri heard a truck approaching and stepped to the side to let it pass. The
road was fairly busy, which would be a plus for business.
For business
.
God, it felt great to think those words again.

Her mind wandered over the
renovations she and Jordan had discussed with Brandi, who had officially been
signed on as their designer. The woman had walked inside the building and
without one word from Kerri or Jordan, sat down and sketched furiously for ten
minutes, then showed them a design she got from the vibe of the place.

A Texas beachy design.

They hired her that night.

Lost in thought, Kerri forgot about
the truck she’d heard until a horn sounded on her left, and she nearly jumped
out of her skin.

With a hand on her chest, she
glanced into a red cab from the passenger side to find a lop-sided grin and a
dimple staring back at her.

“Hello, darlin’.”

Kerri had stern words for her heart
and the way her tempo increased at the sight of sexy cowboy under his Stetson.
“Connor.”

“You’re just the person I was
looking for. I need you,” he said.

She sent those same stern words to
her pulse as it accelerated at
his
choice of words. Clearing her throat,
she placed her hand on the truck and asked apprehensively, “What for?”

He shoved the truck in park and
leaned across the seat toward the passenger window. “Hmm… Well now, let’s see...”
Rubbing his chin, he made a pretense of contemplating while his wicked brown
eyes danced with delight. “The possibilities are endless.”

Incorrigible
.

Kerri reached in and pulled his hat
down on his face and said as sexy as she could manage, “In your dreams cowboy.”
Then called to Bullet and resumed her trek home.

Undeterred, Connor drove up and
kept pace with her.  “Come on, Kerri. Give your big brother a break.”

“Oh, big brother is it now?” Kerri
stopped and turned toward him, placing her hands on her hips. He had no clue
how her recent thoughts had put him as far away from
big brother
as
possible.

He halted the truck and sent her
his sexy smile. “Of course. What else would I be?”

“What indeed?” She raised her
eyebrows and smiled despite her attempt to remain stoic.

“Seriously though, darlin’, Cole
asked me to check on the progress of the construction on your restaurant while
he was away. Since I haven’t seen it before, I need you to accompany me to let
me know if things are on schedule.”

Narrowing her eyes, she searched
his face to see if this was just another ploy to annoy her. Satisfied all she
found was sincerity, Kerri moved closer. “All right. I’m curious myself. I’ve
heard them working like mad this past week.”

“Well, then, ma’am.” He tipped his
hat. “What are you waiting for? Hop in.”

Kerri nodded and opened the door.
Bullet eagerly jumped in first, settling between them, licking Connor’s arm as
he got a belly scratch.

Barely a minute later, Connor
pulled into the parking lot of her soon-to-be restaurant. A thrill still ran
through her at the thought. The excitement and challenge of establishing a
clientele got her adrenaline pumping. She couldn’t wait to serve her Texas public.  Unfortunately, there were still at least two months before they would be
anywhere near opening, but she was excited nonetheless.

Stepping out of the cab, she could
hear the evidence of work being done inside. “Let me just run Bullet up to the
apartment, then I’ll be right back,” she said, and didn’t wait for a reply,
mostly because she didn’t want the sexy guy to invite himself along.

The last thing she needed was to be
alone with Connor in her apartment. A tremor raced down her torso at the
thought. Yeah, alone with that cowboy was a very bad idea. Another tremor shook
through her. And apparently her body had a thing for very bad ideas. So it was
a good thing he was outside, and she was opening her apartment for Bullet. Alone.

She patted the dog’s head. “I’ll be
back in a bit.” Another pat, then she shut him in and rushed to join the
cowboy.

Kerri couldn’t wait to get a
glimpse inside her restaurant. She’d deliberately stayed out so as not to get
in the workers’ way, and hadn’t stepped foot inside all week. Excitement flowed
through her veins.

“You ready?” Connor pushed off the
truck where he’d been leaning when she rounded the building.

 “Yep.”

“Then let’s go check out your
restaurant.” He opened the front door for her, then followed her in. 

To the untrained eye, it looked
like a multitude of chaos with wires hanging and wood and sawdust everywhere,
but Kerri saw several aspects of the restaurant coming together.

Excitement increased and her face
heated from the rush. She grabbed Connor’s arm and began to show him around. “The
stage is going to go here. And a fish tank behind the bar there, with
freshwater fish.” She leaned in close, and bless him, he bent down to hear the
details of her vision for the restaurant. A funny feeling fluttered through her
chest. It warmed her that he seemed genuinely interested.

After Connor talked to the foreman,
and she was satisfied that everything was on schedule, they walked outside.

“Thanks, Connor,” she said, heart
suddenly clogging her throat. Now what? Normally, out of politeness, she’d
offer a cup of coffee. But that would mean taking him up to her apartment.

No. She needed to steer clear of
the apartment. In fact, now was a real good time to head to the store.

Kerri turned to him and smiled.
“Thanks, Connor…for checking on the progress.”

“My pleasure, darlin’.” He tipped
his hat, but made no move to get in his truck.

Darn it. Now what?

She cleared her throat. “Well, if
you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to run to the store. I want to try a new recipe and
need a few things”

“Let me drive you,” he said,
rushing to open his passenger door.

Okay, see, she knew what he’d
meant. Really, she did, but dang, his offer put all kinds of images in her
head. And they had nothing to do with a vehicle.

He smiled expectantly at her,
waiting for her to climb in. Shoot. She couldn’t very well refuse now.

“Thanks,” she mumbled, cursing
herself for not coming up with a viable reason to refuse.

Connor was unusually quiet, but she
didn’t pry. It was a short drive, and although she glanced at him a few times,
Kerri remained silent, enjoying the peace.

Once inside the store, he
disappeared, but Kerri shrugged figuring she’d meet up with him eventually; the
place was tiny. Grabbing a cart, she wheeled through the aisles, picking up the
things on the list she’d had in her pocket. She was examining the green peppers
when a shadow fell across the vegetables.

“Hello, Kerri,” a deep voice said
from behind. “I’ve been trying to reach you.”

Surprised, she nearly dropped the pepper,
but recovered before it tumbled to the floor. Meeting Duke’s blue gaze, she
smiled weakly. “Hello. I didn’t see you there.”

He was so big and male, and she
felt shabby despite the approval in his eyes and soft smile on his lips.

“I didn’t mean to startle you, but
I couldn’t believe my luck in running into you here. I just left a message with
your mother.” He grinned.

“Oh. Is there something wrong?”
Kerri asked, concern washed away some of her nerves.

He shook his head. “No, there isn’t
anything wrong. I just wanted to ask…”

He didn’t get a chance to finish
because another shadow crossed over her, and the voice belonging to it rudely
cut into their conversation.

“Don’t go getting any ideas, Carver.”

Connor’s voice was grim, and Kerri
had all she could do not to jump at the venom in his tone. Turning to face him,
she was shocked to see fury emanating from his every pore.

Holy cow
. She’d never seen
Connor so angry before. Heck, she never would’ve associated Connor with the
word
fury
. The cowboy was usually just too laid back.

“Stay out of it, McCall. This is
between Kerri and me,” Duke growled out a warning.

“She doesn’t want to go out with
you.”

“How do you know? I haven’t even
asked her yet!”

As the two cowboys squared off, gazes
locked, Kerri wondered briefly if this was what a showdown was like in the old
west.

“I know because she has better
taste than the likes of you,” Connor said, tone steely cold. “Your problem is
with me.” He pointed to himself and then nodded to her. “Leave her out of it.”

“You do
not
have dibs on
every woman, McCall.” Duke narrowed his eyes. “This isn’t college. You can’t
bully me around.”  

Kerri’s neck was getting sore
looking from one to the other. A few customers stopped shopping and were eyeing
the men with interest. Disgusted with their juvenile behavior, she set the
pepper in her cart and silently pushed her items, along with her embarrassment,
to the checkout, leaving the men to continue with their squabble.

She was putting her bags in the
truck when Connor finally came out of the store. He didn’t have any marks on
him, so it must’ve only been words the idiots exchanged.

She didn’t know whether to laugh or
be angry, so she kept her voice void of feeling. “Oh, you’re finally done.”

“Yeah. Look, Kerri—”

She cut him off with a wave of her
hand. “I don’t want to hear it. Whatever your problems are, they’re between the
two of you. Leave me out of it.”

“It’s just that—”

Again she silenced him with her
hand and shook her head.  “I mean it, Connor. I’m not interested.”

And she wasn’t. She didn’t care who
the best chest pounder was or who had the bigger penis. None of that impressed
her. She liked her men civilized. Ones who didn’t have shouting matches in the
middle of a flippin’ market.

She hadn’t had problem with Duke.
He’d been civilized and polite until Connor had barged in.

Kerri climbed into the truck and
slammed the door, putting an end to their conversation. At least, she hoped so.

The ride home was done in total
silence. She kept going over the events of the squabble in her head, and by the
time Connor stopped the truck, she was angry.

What right did he have to
interfere? She could take care of herself. Did he do it out of concern for her,
or just because he didn’t want Duke to have what he couldn’t?  The more she
contemplated, the angrier she became.

Getting out of the truck, Kerri drew
in a breath and grabbed a bag. She was so ready to put some distance between
them. Her mind knew he had only been trying to protect her, but it still
rankled that he’d treated her like a head of cattle. She reached for the second
bag, but Connor grabbed it first. Fine. No sense in arguing over groceries. She
trudged up the stairs, down the hallway and fished the key out with her free
hand. He could drop the bag off and leave; she really didn’t want his company
right now.

“Kerri, will you let me explain?”

“No.” She set her bag on the
counter, and he did the same, while she bent to pat the greeting Bullet.

“You’re being childish!”

She laughed and reeled around to
face him. “I’m being childish? I can’t believe you just said that!”

“Well you are. Miss high-and-mighty
cultured Kerri is acting like a baby.” Connor looked down his nose at her.

Her anger rose so high she couldn’t
decide what to say first. So she repeated him. “
I’m
acting like a baby?
You
were the one causing a scene near the vegetables, not me.” Her finger poked his
firm chest. “I wasn’t the one acting all territorial and making a fool out of
myself.”

“Of course not. Miss
Priss
would never stoop so low, would she?”

Miss Priss?
Her head began to
pound as they stared at each other. Is that really what he thought of her?

“She would never show any passion! Hell
no, that’s a dirty word.” Distaste covered his face as he continued, “I don’t
know what I was worried about. You wouldn’t know what to do with a red-blooded
cowboy anyway!”

The sting of his words cut so deep
she swallowed back tears. Her whole body alternated between numb and shaking. About
to retaliate, she had her mouth open when her phone rang. Happy for the
interruption, she didn’t bother to look at the caller.