Midnight Thunder(INCR) (16 page)

“No, she wouldn't,” Lexi said. “This is a promising idea, but she was very clear that none of us should sacrifice what we're doing to make it happen. If we want a full-time instructor on-site, I'll find a good one and help design the program.”

Damon nodded. “Fair enough. That means three of us will be off handling our businesses and functioning as consultants mostly.” He looked over at Cade. “We can't very well hatch this plan and then dump the daily routine on Rosie and Herb, so that leaves you to stay here and supervise. Are you okay with that?”

“Well, yeah, I guess so.” He hadn't thought of his contribution in that way, but if it meant saving the ranch, he'd do whatever was necessary, especially since he'd stayed away so long. It was true that he had no business to run, while the rest of them did.

“That's good,” Finn said, “because I think one of us needs to be on-site. We're talking about a residential program for older teens. There could be drama.”

“Oh, you know there will be,” Damon said. “And we can't expect Rosie and Herb to climb out of bed in the middle of the night to deal with it. They've done their share of that already.”

The reality of the situation finally dawned on Cade. “Then you're saying I should live on the ranch.”

Damon met his gaze. “Yes.”

“Then I need a little time to think about that.”

“I thought you might. But we don't have a lot of wiggle room. We have to get everything settled before Finn and I leave.”

“Understood.” He'd have to discuss this with Lexi later tonight when they were alone. Once he agreed to live on the ranch, he'd be locked in for the foreseeable future.

He hadn't meant to bring up the subject of marriage this soon, but it looked as if he had no choice. If Lexi accepted his proposal, he didn't relish starting married life in one of Herb and Rosie's guest rooms. A cozy cabin for newlyweds wasn't in the budget, either.

Lexi was smart. Maybe she'd have a solution. Assuming she was even remotely interested in marrying him. He wished he felt more confident about that.

 

15

A
COUPLE
OF
hours later, they had a name for the project—Thunder Mountain Academy—and a tentative figure for the crowdfunding campaign, an amount that would cover the equity loan and their initial operating expenses.

Lexi found a pad of paper in a kitchen drawer and began sketching logo ideas. “Let's start with a horseshoe.”

“With the open end at the top, don't forget,” Finn said. “Otherwise the luck drains out.”

“Spoken like a true Irishman.” Damon had coaxed Ringo onto his lap, and the gray tabby purred loudly as Damon found the sweet spot behind his ears.

Lexi drew the horseshoe and arranged the initials TMA above it. “I'm no artist, but how about making the M part look like mountain peaks?”

Cade looked at her drawing. “I can see that. Good idea.” He'd been fairly quiet during the discussion, as if something might be weighing on his mind.

She figured he was mulling over the prospect of living at the ranch. He'd balked a little at that idea, and she was afraid that might have something to do with her, especially considering Damon's remark about “doing the right thing” this time around.

She hoped to hell Cade wasn't going to propose. They'd been having a great time getting reacquainted, but that didn't mean she wanted to marry him.

She filled in the letters so they looked bolder. “And I know exactly who we can ask to create this logo, too. Ben Radcliffe.”

“The saddle maker?” Finn looked surprised.

“Yep.” Lexi glanced at the kitchen clock. “If it wasn't so late, I'd call him right now. You should see the designs he creates to embellish his saddles. He'd be perfect. We could offer to pay him, but I know he won't take it.”

Damon grinned. “There's a plus. Speaking of how late it's getting, Ringo and I are about ready to call it a night.”

Finn pushed back his chair. “Good idea. Do we know when Rosie's coming home tomorrow?”

Lexi tore off the sheet of paper, folded it and tucked it in her pocket. “She said if nothing unexpected happens tonight, then she can leave after her doctor shows up to release her tomorrow morning. If the doctor gets delayed, Rosie has to sit and wait, but she doesn't want us wasting gas coming to see her.”

“So we'll make the place look nice for when she gets here,” Cade said. “And by the way, we're not inviting a bunch of former Thunder Mountain guys to a party this week, are we? I know we talked about it, but I don't think it makes sense now.”

“Nope. Not anymore.” Damon scooped up the cat and stood. “But once we get our act together on Thunder Mountain Academy, we should contact them all. They might be able to donate money or services.”

A cell phone chimed with a text message. “That's mine.” Finn pulled his phone from his pocket and looked at the screen. “It's Chelsea. She came up with some T-shirt slogans.”

“Already?” Damon walked around behind Finn and peered over his shoulder.

“She gets excited about this stuff,” Finn said.

Lexi thought Chelsea was also excited about working with Finn again, but she decided against saying anything.

Damon grinned. “These are good slogans. ‘Equinimity—Definition: Good old-fashioned horse sense.' ‘Raise Your EQ—Equine Quotient.' ‘Never mind, it's an equine thing.' Now all we need is to get somebody to turn them into a graphic.”

Lexi fished her drawing out of her pocket. “Want to text a picture of this and see what she thinks? And ask about Thunder Mountain Academy, if that name sounds good to her.”

“Sure.” Finn took a shot of the drawing and started typing.

“And tell her we like the slogans,” Damon said. “I figured she'd be a huge asset to this campaign, but I didn't expect she'd jump right in.”

“That's Chels, a bundle of energy.” Finn sent off the message. “She was like that with O'Roarke's, too. Ideas flying, texting back and forth at all hours of the night.” His phone chimed again. “She loves the logo concept and wants to know if we have somebody to design it.”

“Tell her yes.” Lexi could already picture the beautiful job Ben would do. “A talented saddle maker.”

“T-shirt slogans and a logo.” Cade nudged his hat back with his thumb. “It's starting to seem real.”

“It is real.” Lexi put her drawing back in her pocket. “We're going to make this happen.”

Finn chuckled. “Chels wants to know why the hell we didn't mention the saddle maker. He should give classes.”

“That's a terrific idea. Now I really wish I could call him. He's talked about wanting to pass on what he learned from his mentor, who's now retired. I love this. Chelsea's brilliant.”

“I'll tell her you said so.” Finn typed quickly and smiled at the response. “She wants to meet you.”

“Tell her she's invited here anytime.”

“Okay.” Finn sent the message.

“In fact, she should come if she can get away, so she can see what she's helping promote.”

“That's true.” Finn looked at the screen. “She's pretty busy for the next couple of months, but she'll keep the possibility in mind. I can tell she's excited about this project.”

“I'm glad,” Damon said. “But I really am done for the night. See you all in the morning.”

“I'll go with you. I need to charge my phone. It's almost dead.” Finn stood and glanced at Cade. “You coming down to the cabin?”

“Well, I—”

“No, he's not, genius. He and Lexi have some things to discuss.” Damon started out of the kitchen.

“Oh, right. I forgot. See you two in the morning, then.” He followed Damon out the door.

Damon glanced over his shoulder. “I don't suppose I could talk you into silencing your phone for the rest of the night.”

“Uh, okay. I guess I could.”

“Nah, don't.” Damon continued on toward the front door, but his voice carried easily to the kitchen. “I hate it when you sound like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like you just dropped your ice cream on the sidewalk.”

“Oh, for God's sake. I don't sound like that.”

They were still bickering as they went out the door.

Lexi grinned at Cade. “I'd forgotten how funny they could be.”

“Yeah.” He smiled briefly, but then his expression grew thoughtful again.

“Chelsea's certainly enthusiastic.”

“Yep.”

“I don't know if it's the project or Finn that's motivating her, but either way, Thunder Mountain Academy will benefit.”

“That'll be good.” He pushed back his chair and held out his hand. “Ready to take a drive, pretty lady?”

The minute she put her hand in his and let him pull her up, she felt the tension humming through him. One look into his eyes told her he had more than sex on his mind. “I should have asked you instead, since I'll be driving.”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot.” He gave her a sheepish grin. “Sorry. Old habits die hard.”

“No worries.” But that confirmed that he was distracted. They'd had a long and somewhat significant discussion about letting her drive tonight. Obviously something more important was occupying his thoughts.

She squeezed his hand and released it. “My purse is in the bedroom. I'll be right back.” When she returned to the kitchen, he was standing right where she'd left him, his hands in his pockets and his head down. Yeah, he was wrestling with something, all right. His concentration was so intense he hadn't heard her come back.

“Ready?”

His head came up, and he blinked. “Yep.”

They drove to their make-out spot in silence, and the longer it stretched out, the more nervous she became. Any minute she expected him to blurt out whatever was bothering him, but instead he got out the minute they stopped and came around to open her door.

“At least let me help you down.”

“I'd love that.” Placing both hands on his shoulders, she shivered as he gripped her around the waist with hands strong enough to support her and gentle enough to give her exquisite pleasure.

They'd perfected this routine, too. She slid down his muscular body and savored the leisurely trip. By the time her feet touched the ground, she was heated clear through by the lazy friction and the press of his hard penis against her belly.

She lifted her face for his kiss. “That was nice.”

His face was in shadow and his voice was thick with emotion. “Everything with you is nice. I love you.”

She hadn't expected that. She sucked in a breath.

“I love you so much, Lexi.” He kissed her then, and it wasn't a hurried, eager-for-sex kiss. His mouth covered hers with care and reverence, touching down with the soft pressure of a man clearly cherishing the privilege.

She knew what to do with his lust and hunger. She could handle testosterone-fueled urges and desperate cravings. But this... She couldn't deal with this. His outpouring of love was stirring up all the girlish fantasies she'd had five years ago, and she was in real danger of letting those fantasies sweep her away. She couldn't allow that.

He raised his head a fraction. “Marry me. I was a fool to walk away five years ago. But if you can find it in your heart to forgive me, to give me another chance, then—”

“Oh, Cade.”

“Then you will?” He hugged her tight. “Oh, Lexi, I promise that I'll—”

“No, I won't. Not now. Maybe not ever.”

He went very still.

She ached for him, but there was no easy way to say what had to be said. “You can't come back expecting to slide right into the life we had. I don't want that life anymore.”

“But you love me! I know you do!” His voice rang with anger and hurt.

“Yes, I love you. I always will. But that doesn't mean I want to become a wife to you or anyone. I used to think that love and good sex should lead to marriage.”

“It should! I was an idiot not to see that before.”

She reached up and cupped his face in both hands. “You're where I was five years ago. I was focused on you and our life together. But you didn't go for it, and I'm so lucky that you didn't. Your refusal forced me to take a different path, and I'm doing something I might never have attempted if you'd agreed to get married.”

“What you've accomplished is terrific, and I won't get in the way of that. I swear I won't keep you from doing whatever you want.”

“I wouldn't
let
you keep me from doing what I want. The very fact that you feel the need to promise not to means you still think that you have that power as a man, and especially as my husband. You'd expect me to be grateful that you didn't interfere.”

He groaned. “I don't really understand what you just said.”

“That's okay. But let me throw this out. You decided to move back here. Why?”

“To be with you.”

“That's not enough. What do you want to do with your life, Cade? What are your goals, your dreams?”

He hesitated. “Well, I...”

She recognized that he wasn't ready to answer that question, just as she hadn't been five years ago. “It's something to think about, but there's no rush. We have plenty of time to work through all of this.”

“No, we don't. You heard what Damon said. I need to live on the ranch to keep an eye on things.”

“So do that. It might inspire you, lead you to some conclusions.”

“But what about us? I want to be with you, make love to you and wake up next to you in the morning. Do you realize we've never done that?”

“We don't have to be married for you to sleep over.” She smiled up at him. “You can do that tomorrow night if you want.”

He blew out a breath. “So you love me?”

“Yes.”

“And you're inviting me to spend an entire night in your apartment?”

“Yes.”

“Then why the hell not marry me?”

“Take my word for it. We're not ready.”

“Are you prepared to tell Damon that? Because he's determined that we're getting hitched, and the sooner the better.”

“Damon? The confirmed bachelor? Where does he get off giving you advice on the subject of marriage?”

Cade shrugged. “Go figure.”

“I would love to see a woman swoop in and lay him flat.”

“Come to think of it, so would I. He has it coming.” He was quiet for a while. “So we're not getting married.”

“No.”

“But I guess you still want to have sex with me.”

“I do, unless you decide to get all pouty because I turned down your proposal.”

“That has a certain appeal, but then I couldn't try out the bed of your truck.”

“No, you couldn't. I don't have sex with pouty men.”

“That settles that. I'm about to be the most cheerful lover you've ever had. I might even whistle while we're doing it.”

And that was the Cade she'd fallen in love with. And being Cade, he had to carry it to extremes.

“I love these blankets,” he said as he helped her spread them out. “Soft, big, colorful.”

“It's dark. You can't see the color.”

“I can sense color.” He took off his shirt and tossed it on the tailgate.

“Oh, sure you can.”

“I can.” He pulled her close and reached under her shirt to unfasten the back clasp of her bra. “Your bra is white.”

“All my bras are white. I don't buy colored bras.”

“You did one time.” He pulled her shirt over her head and threw it on top of his. “It was red.” He cupped her breasts and leaned down to begin tasting.

“For prom.” Her voice was a mere whisper as she closed her eyes and concentrated on the pleasure he gave her when he did this. He'd been the first boy to take off her bra, and it had been red to match her dress. Her panties had been red, too, and he'd been the first boy to slip his hand inside and fondle her, the first one to give her a climax.