Suspicions of the Heart (19 page)

When she didn't answer, he pulled away
to look into her face. Candy felt beyond conversation. Never had
she allowed herself the pleasure of simply kissing a man, because
she wanted to, needed to. Not like this.

"Tell me." He looked into her eyes,
obviously recognizing the smoldering look. His head hovered over
hers, his lips tempting yet not touching.

Unable to resist her own urges, she
raised on tiptoe. Her mouth touched his deliberately, and then in a
small cry, she said the words he wanted to hear. "Yes,
yes..."

Her reward was given swiftly as he
swept her against him, pulling her so she knew just how much he
wanted her. He devoured her with one sultry kiss after another. Her
knees began to buckle and he was all that supported her limp body.
She was weak from wanting him, needing him.

Then suddenly he pushed her against the
barn wall. His breathing was as heavy and erratic as her own. In
the throws of passion he had stopped. She was shocked. Horrified of
her own wanton actions. He shook his head.

His finger trailed over her lips, as
though he needed to touch her somewhere, and she felt the slightest
tremor in his hands.

"You're not a one night stand, Candy."
He nudged her cheek with his own, his breathing labored. "And I'm
not a big enough cad to treat you like one. When the time comes,
we'll be together, but this isn't the time." He moved just a hair
away so he could look into her eyes. "Now, I want you to listen to
me, once and for all."

She locked gazes with him.

"I don't want to hurt you. I do want
your land. I can't deny that. I'm willing to offer you a fair price
for it. I'd like to run my Longhorns on it. But I want the water
more than anything. And not just for me. A lot of people want it.
It's important for the survival of this community. It is survival.
If it gets in the wrong hands, it could mean everything will go
down. It might even create a range war. That's how bad things are.
You are in a lot of danger. I want to help you. But you keep
fighting me and accusing me."

She was speechless, her face ashen
white. Not just from his words, but from the fact that he could
turn his emotions on and off so easily. One minute he was making
love to her, the next he was talking about water rights.

Didn't he have any idea what he had
just done to her? Hadn't the kisses meant anything to him? Or was
that just another ploy to get her full attention? Was she so
transparent that he thought all he had to do was seduce
her?

Her eyes fell momentarily, to muster
her own composure, and she saw what his kisses had done to him.
Blatantly he was a man aroused, yet he spoke of business.
Why?

"I'm trying to help you," he exclaimed,
whirling away from her and bending to get his hat slowly. His words
were saying one thing, his body another. "But you're so darn
stubborn you can't see it, lady." He turned and backed her against
the wall once more. "You better make up your mind, because I've
taken about all I aim to from you." As though he just needed to
taste her once more, his lips brushed hers again, then he pulled
away to stare down into her face.

She closed her eyes, blotting out his
nearness and the trembling needs surging through her.

He cleared his throat and moved away,
not looking at her. "Go to bed, Candy. I've put you there once
tonight, I won't be responsible for what might happen the next
time."

"I'm sorry," she barely uttered as she
ran past him.

She reached her room, shut the door and
leaned against it, allowing the painful tears to escape. Shutting
out all reality, she lay on the bed, weeping.

Morning brought little relief as the
knock at the door had her jumping.

Aggie opened it and smiled. "Sorry I
woke you, hon, but I just got a call from the Sheriff. He'll be out
in a couple of hours. Thought you might want to freshen up a bit.
I've washed your clothes for you."

Candy sprang from the bed. "Thanks
Aggie, you didn't have to do that. What time is it?"

"Going on ten, I reckon." Aggie
chuckled.

"Ten!" Candy grabbed her clothes and
headed toward the bathroom. What was wrong with her? She never
slept this late at home. Everyone here would think she was some
prima dona. Now, Aggie was waiting on her. "I'm sorry, Aggie. I'll
be dressed in a jiffy."

"Stop fretting, child. Come have
yourself some breakfast. Let me dote on you a bit. I like being a
mother hen. Never had any kids of my own, so I tend to spoil young
folk. Did you sleep well, hon?"

Candy nodded.

Aggie eyed her sharply. "Not too well,
I don't expect. What's bothering you? Can you tell old
Aggie?"

Candy sat down as Aggie laid the tray
of scrambled eggs and toast on the edge of the bed. "I'm ashamed,
Aggie."

"Ashamed of what?"

"The way I've treated Joe. I mean he's
done nothing but help me ever since I've met him and I've done
nothing but accuse him. I don't usually jump to conclusions about
people."

Aggie studied her a moment then burst
into a big smile. "Don't be so hard on yourself. Joe admitted to me
he was around every time somethin' happened to you. Can't blame you
for jumping to a few conclusions. Especially since you didn't know
my nephew."

"I'd like to rectify my bad behavior if
I can. I've just got to find out who's doing this, Aggie. Maybe I
should sell out and go home."

"And where is home?"

Candy suddenly stopped and looked at
Aggie. "I've never had much of a permanent home, Aggie. Dad worked
the rodeos most of the time and we traveled like a bunch of
gypsies. So, I thought when I came here I might make a home for
myself. Have a place of my own. But maybe it just wasn't meant to
be."

"Nonsense. You quit fretting.
Everything is going to work out. Maybe the Sheriff can shed some
light on the situation." Aggie sat on the edge of the bed with
her.

"I hope so. Is Uncle Roscoe still
here?"

"Oh, no, he's been up since dawn. He
unloaded a herd of white faces yesterday, and nothing would suit
him but to check on them first thing. He said he'd be back for
lunch though."

"I should be out there with him,
helping him." Candy shook her head.

"Nah, if he needed any help, I'd have
gone with him," Aggie informed her, then glanced about with a
guilty look on her face.

Candy broke into a sudden grin. "I knew
it."

"Knew what?"

"You like Uncle Roscoe."

"I'm that obvious?" Aggie blushed,
making her pale features come to life.

Candy giggled. "Not really, but the
first time I saw you I knew the two of you would hit it off. What
gave me my first clue was his slip in not mentioning you to me. We
always confide in each other. But then Uncle Roscoe hasn't had any
affairs since his wife died. He's long overdue. He's led a very
lonely life. He needs a good woman."

"Yes, I think you're right about that.
And what about you, honey? Why aren't you married and having
babies?"

Candy grabbed a bite of toast and
stuffed it in her mouth to elude the question, but seeing Aggie's
expression, she knew she wouldn't be getting away with anything. "I
was married, Aggie, and it didn't work out."

"Don't go judging all men by that one,"
Aggie fumed.

"I'll try not to."

"Tell me; are you still in love with
that green-eyed buck?"

Candy burst out in laughter. "Oh,
Aggie, you are so subtle." Then when the laugher died she sobered.
"No, I'm not sure I ever was, now."

"Good."

"I wish everyone would quit worrying
about Fargate. His coming here was strictly his idea, not
mine."

"I wonder why?"

"I've wondered that myself. He was very
close to my father. In fact, it was dad who got us together,
encouraged us to marry. I think Fargate's doing it out of respect
for him."

"He is a looker, ain't he?"

"I thought so once, until I looked
inside him. I didn't like what I saw. I mean, don't get me wrong,
he's highly intelligent. He's a good lawyer too; he's made a
wonderful living for himself. Although I think he indulges his own
whims a bit much. But, he has a big harem waiting for his return. I
don't understand what he's waiting for."

"I think the rascal might be up to
something."

"Oh, he'd never break the law, Aggie,
that's the one thing I know he respects."

"Men like that seldom break it. They
hire it done."

Candy looked at her and tried to
imagine Fargate as the one who was exploiting her. But the image
didn't seem to fit.

"Does he have any interest in your
land?"

"Heavens, no. He's the one who wants me
to sell out and move back to the city. Which I'm
considering."

"Maybe not the land, but the mineral
rights, the water and the gas?"

"What about them?"

"Maybe he has some big plans of getting
his hands on it to sell it himself, to the highest bidder or
something," Aggie suggested.

"Why would an educated man sink to
something like that? Fargate makes good money. I can't image him
risking his career over something like this." Candy shook her head
and shot Aggie a miserable look. "No, the only one around when
things start going wrong is Joe and Uncle Roscoe. I'm sorry, there
I go again. I'm really sorry. But stop worrying about me, Aggie. I
think it's Joe you need to worry about."

Aggie's eyes darkened. "Oh, honey, I do
worry about him. All the time, in fact. For the longest I thought
maybe he might settle down with Lisa. Oh, how he loved that girl.
But that was before she married George. The three of them grew up
together. It just wasn't meant to be. Most of us saw that from the
start. He mooned over her for years, 'til something woke him up.
But I think something has turned him round, he's accepting it
now."

Candy took this news with morbid
curiosity. It never occurred to her that Joe might actually have a
woman. Of course, she had seen him with that girl in the car and
then the day she called him, he obviously had company. "He really
loved this Lisa?"

"My yes, for years. He's pretty true
blue about women. But now that she's married and so happy and going
to have a baby, I think Joe has given up and wants to find someone
for himself."

"He must have loved her deeply," Candy
mused quietly.

"I doubt he'll fall that hard again.
Once burned is enough." Aggie shook her head, a sudden sadness in
her eyes.

Candy deliberately tried to squash all
thoughts of Joe. "Stop fretting, Aggie. Love can sneak up on a
body, don't you think?"

"Oh, I sure do."

"You're in love with Roscoe aren't
you?"

"Can't hide it, can I? It ain't exactly
the same kind of love I had for my husband. No, this is more like
finding a companion after all these years, someone to share things
with. Roscoe and I know each other. We're older, and it ain't the
kind of love that gives that silly, giddy feeling, no ma'am, its
slow warming. It grows on you from having the same likes and
dislikes."

"Another kind of love?"

"Yes, no two are ever the same. And you
wouldn't want them to be. For some, it just hits them like a bad
blow to the gut. For others, it just sort of comes from nowhere
after you've known them a while. Roscoe and I recognized it right
off. We're too old to play games. We need each other. But that Joe
ain't got the slightest notion." Aggie chuckled. "He'd probably
think I'd taken leave of my senses if I told him."

"Would you like me to tell him?" Candy
asked, watching Aggie's eyes soften on her.

"It might lighten the blow," Aggie
agreed. "I mean, a woman my age, should have better sense I guess.
But I’m not about to let Roscoe leave me behind."

"I'll find a way, then. And we'll have
to have a party to celebrate."

"Oh, I'll swan, a party. That's a
hum-dinger of an idea." Aggie hugged her, then took the tray from
her lap. "Better hurry now and get dressed, the Sheriff will be
here soon. I'd like to be done with that before lunch."

Candy nodded, going into the bathroom.
She glanced in the mirror and recognized the instant change.
Something looked different about her, she just couldn't put her
finger on it.

She ran the shower and, as the water
sliced over her, she remembered how it felt to be in Joe's arms. It
was a new feeling that unleashed something very vulnerable in her.
Realizing her emotions were no longer under control, she decided
she better get a tight grip on them. For what had Aggie said, "He'd
probably never love that hard again."

And Candy would never accept a half
measure again. She was flirting with danger to even think of
falling for a man like Joe!

Chapter
Twelve

There was something suggestive about
slipping into a man's shirt with nothing in between. As the cool,
cotton fabric breathed against her bare flesh, her breasts
tautened.