Ring of Fire Book Two of the McKay's (8 page)

"
Too old!" she shrieked.

"I won't be played a fool. Anyone can see you
're a beautiful woman, with lots of talent. But the one thing you're not, is cowboy material."

"
Talk about pig headed, you take the cake. Why are you so stubborn? I just wanted to be your friend…" Letty's voice softened.

He stared at her a long minute, then turned away.

"I come home…and my sisters are almost like strangers. All but Julie, that is. The ranch is run so perfectly by Wade and Cade, there's little for us to do. All I have is Julie and Kellie, and now that they are married, she might not even live on the ranch."

"You telling me you are lonely?"
he mocked.

"Is that so hard to believe
?" Her expression changed.

He stared at her now, his eyes narrowing on her. "I don't know. Maybe it is…but maybe you should spend more time
trying to get to know your sisters again. I'm sure all of you feel like a fish out of water. Your father died, things changed. Sometimes change can be hard to take. Sometimes it takes time to work out the kinks. But you are a big girl, I'm sure you can handle it."

"You don't want to be my friend, do you?
" she asked, standing closer to him.

"As I see it, you are the boss, not a friend…" he remarked and turned away from her.

"The boss? How do you figure? Cade and Wade are the bosses around here." She fumed, pulling relentlessly on his arm to get his attention. "I just happen to be kin to the owner, of which is no longer around. People are…just people, Hank. Do you really believe one is actually better than another?"

"
No…" Hank seemed to think about that for a moment. "But that isn't what we are debating here. Okay, so you are one of the owners. That's reason enough," Hank answered, jerking his arm free and not looking straight at her.

"Are you that old fashioned, that unreasonable?"

"I guess I am," he answered, looking down at her now. "I'm a cowboy, and not a rich one."

"
Are you afraid of what people would say, or what you might feel?"

"Both, maybe…Now why don't you run along, I've got work to do."

Letty shook her head. "Men don't think like women, do they?"

"Probably not."

"I am a woman!" She barely breathed now, being affected by his nearness, their aloneness and the possibilities that presented.

"Of which I'm also well aware…" he remarked lowly, as his eyes went over her with renewed interest.
She didn't miss his long bold stare.

Her mouth hung open with surprise that she had gotten this much information out of him.

But he suddenly turned on her and with a decided frown he looked down at her.

"
You want it laid out for you? All right, here it is. You stand to inherit a huge sum of money. Every ranch hand on this place knows that. You will be financially secure for the rest of your life. I'm a cowboy, I make a modest living and I've learned to live on it. I can't afford fancy restaurants and high class places to dance all night. I'm not in the same category. We both know that. And yet…I am a man. I appreciate your beauty, your brains and your talents, but you are way up here, and I am way down here."

He demonstrated with his hands. "They just don't mix."

The man had no feelings, he existed by pure logic. How do I fight logic?

Yet s
he saw a spark of something in his eyes that mesmerized her and she couldn't stop pushing him now. She wanted to know if he was human or not. If what she felt was one sided or not. He was closing doors in her face, and she didn't like that. There was no reason to do such a thing, unless he truly didn't like her.

Did he?

"I wasn't sure you noticed," she added cattily.

"Go back to the house where you belong
," he muttered, his jaw tightening, his hands fisting on the corral fence. "Before I do something we'll both be sorry for."

That did it! That changed everything. The very air seemed to stand still
as though waiting. Tension was like an electrical bar standing between them, expanding like a rubber band, challenging them to move it.

He pulled the horse in front of them now as though shielding them from outside lookers.

"Like what?" she challenged.

"
Like this," he barely whispered, as he faced her once more and looked into her eyes.

"I know better," he barely breathed as his head began to descend. "But just once…
and to prove we are not made for each other like you seem to be imagining."

Dust, heat, and tension all mingled
for a long moment, as his eyes sparkled into hers and then as though something beyond his will to use his head took hold, he pulled her unresisting body to him. He gave her time to pause, to rethink the situation, but the closer he came, the more she couldn't resist him.

She wanted this, and at this moment, she thought he did too.

She felt her body melt into his instantly, her breath hitched, her heartbeat quickened. The anticipation enveloped them. Sweat peppered her upper lip as she licked them once. Their eyes met, their bodies met, and then…their lips met.

The world disappeared beneath her feet
; she gripped his arms first then slowly slid them upward.

S
he met him halfway for the kiss that sizzled like an overcooked egg on a hot rock in the middle of summer.
Only eggs weren't this good,
she thought merrily. For a moment, the tension faded as feelings took hold. He rocked her soul into submission, and then his arms came around her so protectively. She thought he might be too forceful, but he held her so gently she could easily move away if she wanted to. But moving away was the last thing on her mind now. He embraced her like a China doll as his lips assuaged the age old ache between a man and a woman. At first, he barely seemed to touch her, but as the kiss deepened, he pulled her up hard against him.

The instant spark of the kiss sent a wave of currents through her.
She needed to think, but her mind wasn't working, her body was.

The curiosity of what a kiss might taste like from Hank had danced in her mind for so long, but the reality of it made her quiver with new wants and needs. She was out of her own league with this cowboy, unprepared for his masterful touch. Her lips had gone to butter
folding into his, and she let him sweep her into a private void.

His gentleness surprised her, delighted her.
Her hands crept around his neck and her fingers slid into the silk of his hair at his nape. So soft—she barely had the mind to make notes. She heard his harsh breathing as he tried to stop the kiss from expanding into some sort of strange foreplay, but he didn't stop kissing her and she didn't want him to.

His lips were the softest thing about him, she soon realized as they parted hers. He held her so tight she could barely breathe
, but she didn't need to breathe. She existed on the depth of the kiss and the way his hands molded her to him. She heard a strangled groan, but she didn't know if it came from her or him. The mindless prodding of his tongue, as it danced with hers, first slowly, then faster, the way his hands rubbed erotically against her back creating a friction of their own; she was mindless, wordless, and all his for the moment.

Until she suddenly realized she wanted more, much more from Hank. That realization shocked her back to reality. She pulled out of his arms, and backed away, staring at him as though he'd suddenly grown two heads.

"That shouldn't have happened…" he uttered.

"No…I guess it shouldn't."
She turned and ran away.

She'd never been kissed so thoroughly in her life and she
wasn't sure she could walk away unscathed.

"Get in the house…
now
!" he shouted without looking straight at her.

"But…"

"Now, Letty!" he demanded. She obeyed. She ran, as the tears streamed down her face.

Why did he act as though he'd done something wrong, when her heart told her he'd done something very right
? She felt the sting of his words. He had taken the most beautiful moment of her life and turned it into some mishap. How could that be?

What had just happened?
And why did she feel as though she'd done something so wrong when what he made her feel was definitely so right?

This morning, a
ll she wanted or expected was to meet his grandmother. The kiss was the last thing she dreamed or hoped might happen between them. If he could make her lose control so easily with a mere kiss, she was in big trouble. If that was just a sample, she wanted the whole package. Her dreams and imaginings were never as good as that kiss.

H
er heart swelled with the knowledge that Hank wanted her in the most basic of ways. But did he want her heart?

There
were no bones about it, she'd have to find out!

Chapter Six

Going to sleep wasn't an option
that night, after Hank's kiss. Even after a warm bath where all her fantasies' came to life, the stark truth still stared her in the face. Hank wanted nothing to do with her. And changing his mind was no option according to him.

Why did men have such poured in concrete ideas?

Eric had wanted her body, but Hank seemed to seek out her very soul. There was such a difference, and yet both scared her.

Destined
to inherit the McKay fortune, Letty felt hopeless. Was it a blessing or a curse? How could the one thing everyone wanted, money, be such an obstruction in her life? Now she knew, she was judged by who she was, what she was. Money spoke volumes. Money truly was the root of all evil.

Hank was a man, a man's man and he would have to be the bread winner in the family. He would never stand for a woman paying his way. She saw that now. It was a social status that stood in their way. One she wasn't sure of how to get rid of.

Pride stood in their way like a barrier between them.

What did
she need to reassure him that it could work between them? Did she need to give up the money she might soon inherit? How did one go about giving it up? And would that be enough? Or would that very action make him turn away from her forever? God, she was thinking forever! How did that happen? They only shared one kiss, a kiss that forever burned inside Letty.

For Hank had proven to Letty that a man could be gentle and loving, something she hadn't been sure of before.

He hadn't declared his love for her. He hadn't mentioned anything permanent. No, that was all in Letty's mind.

Strange
, just a few short months ago her mind ruled her thinking.

Until she could change his mind
and attitude, their romance was going nowhere.

A tear escaped on her pillow that night, and then many more followed as she realized that no matter what she did, she was still a McKay, and that would never change.

Dammit Dad, you've cursed me!

In her sleep she made passionate love to Hank Silver, told him how much she loved him and lay in his arms all night. But at sunrise, reality kicked in and the hopelessness of the situation homed in on her.

Hank Silver would never be hers. Even if she did give away all the money, there was something even worse. She could never tell him about Eric.

Concentrating on Hank was useless. He wanted no part of her. And those kisses were so lethal she needed to stay away from him. Far away.
Hank Silver could break her heart! If he hadn't already!
I'm destined to be alone for the rest of my life!

With a sigh of longing she never thought she'd feel, she resigned herself to the fact that she and Hank were not meant for each other. He was a hired hand and she needed to keep away from him. Her mind told her this
; her heart screamed the pain of it.

***

Julie was due home today and Letty needed to make the day as wonderful as she could. Kellie was excited about having her parents together at last, and being a real family. Letty wanted to make this a day they would all remember. So she enlisted her sisters' help in planning a "welcome home party".

Wendy and Sandy agreed about the party and they all pitched in and helped. The entire morning the kitchen was abuzz with preparations. Kellie bounced around the kitchen doing one thing
or another for her aunts.

By two that afternoon, Julie and Cade had arrived home and as Kellie led them into the house, everyone jumped up and shouted at them throwing graffiti in the air.

Julie looked so lovely, marriage agreed with her. Happiness radiated from her. Letty watched from the other side of the living room as they sat down to share their honeymoon with everyone. Cade sat beside her, smiling at all the pictures they shared.

Letty couldn't help but notice how flushed Julie looked, lovely and very much in love. She envied her.