The Cattleman (5 page)

She heard her chipped nails clicking against the hard plastic of the door and immediately clasped her hands. The nervous habit irritated her when it occurred. She absolutely hated the way they looked and felt after all the barn work. “Do either of you have a favorite salon? My nails need some help.”

Andrea and Kate looked at each other and both of them said, “Okay.” Did they think she was crazy for wanting nice nails? Then they giggled like teenagers and held up their polished tips.

“Call and see if Sonya can get her in this afternoon,” Kate said. “You’ll love her. She’s the best in Alpine.” Even with the thought of her nails looking their best again, her mood turned sour. It seemed there was one thing—or man—who could dampen her beautiful day. The missing Nick Burke.

Chapter Four

Nick had successfully avoided seeing Beth for two days. After the ejection ultimatum from his mother, and confirmation of it from his father, he’d taken her suitcases into the guest room. Then he’d put his gear into saddlebags and hightailed it into the mountains to look for wayward heifers.

On horseback. A sure place Beth Conrad wouldn’t follow. It hadn’t stopped her from calling or texting, though, so he’d shut off his phone. He’d slept under the stars to clear his head. A fat lot of good that had done him. Every time he looked up at the night sky he remembered making love to Beth. At least the nightmares had been replaced with sensual dreams.

The woman had a kiss that lasted all night long. Just the memory of it got his blood pumping. He didn’t know which nightmare was worse—a faceless man with a gun or a beautiful face with a shapely body. One he’d never be able to confront and the other even living with her, he’d never confront honestly.

No matter how confusing, the open air had been good. He hadn’t seen signs of any smugglers or the heifers. He’d checked all the box canyons, the cabin and had just ridden randomly to any place smugglers could be squatting on his land.

Not again. He wouldn’t allow the Mexican cartel or anyone else to operate from his ranch.

That was a laugh. He couldn’t monitor thousands of acres on his own. Maybe not, but he could slow them down by finding the person helping them on this side of the border. And that started by cooperating with McCrea’s task force...and Beth.

He’d watched the sun rise over his land, replacing the darkness. By the time it warmed his face on the second morning, he’d come to the conclusion it was better to cooperate or capitulate. He’d thought long and hard about his parents. His dad’s cancer and remission should have been enough stress for them both. Add Nick’s recovery from getting shot. Yeah, that was a lot for his mom to take on.

Until Beth’s arrival at the house, he hadn’t thought twice about how his actions were affecting his mother. If Beth wanted to help him through a couple of nightmares, then he could talk about it for his mom’s sake. If Beth wanted to fake an engagement with him, then he’d take as much as she wanted to share.

What was he fighting? The magnetism that was full-blown between them from day one? Or that McCrea had mentioned he’d been there to track smugglers not a beautiful woman?

That’s exactly what he was fighting. He’d rescued her from a runaway horse instead of tracking the smugglers. She’d fallen into his arms and then into a cistern of water.

Stuck together, neither of them had held back. Then on their way home, McCrea’s words echoed in his head. Had it been real attraction or defiance against a man who rubbed him the wrong way. He couldn’t have a conversation with Beth without a major disagreement. They just didn’t get along...except in each other’s arms.

Whatever. He didn’t have to agree with her in order to make his mom feel better.

His quarter horse tossed his head and whinnied. Nick reined to a stop and patted the animal’s neck, keeping him quiet. He could hear movement up ahead on the trail. Which was it this time—those two-year-old heifers or drug smugglers?

He jumped to the ground, pulled his rifle and led his horse up an incline. Better to be overly cautious than dead. He’d given his word to his parents that he’d report criminal activity and not try to confront the criminals on his own.

No cell reception. Not until he reached the next ridge. He’d been out here so much he didn’t need to check. Whoever was approaching, Nick was on his own. He secured the reins to a sturdy bush, got a good handhold and pulled himself to the top of a boulder.

One man dressed in an army jacket and blue ball cap was casually riding a black horse up the trail. Nick cursed and hated the circumstances that made him assume the man worked for the cartel. But if the guy didn’t, he was trespassing.

Wait. Weapons. Lots of them.

No question. They were back. Probably using the same box canyon as always, moving in after he’d ridden past earlier. He was a good half day’s ride from the ranch and wouldn’t be able to get anyone here in time. But he’d call McCrea and keep his word to his parents.

Right after he extracted some information from the guy riding toward him.

His body tensed with anticipation, waiting. Having been shot in the back, he’d never faced his opponent. He hadn’t been needed to testify. Kate’s testimony had put Mac Caudwell in prison. The cartel had snuffed out his life after only a few days.

Mac had never said why he’d been ordered to pull the trigger. Nick hadn’t faced him, but he faced not knowing the reason every day. It drove him to the mountains too often to look for an answer that would probably never come.

This time his opponent had a face. This time the fear wore a blue ball cap and was nearly under the boulder. Nick had jumped onto the back of a horse once when he was younger. He hadn’t been able to sit comfortably for a week. It was a good twelve feet to the rocky path below.

This is gonna hurt.

He jumped, hitting the trespasser square in the shoulders and taking him to the ground. The horse bolted. The other guy took the brunt of the landing, sparing Nick’s limbs, but it didn’t slow either man down. He flipped to his back, sending Nick rolling, and was quickly on top of him cursing in Spanish.

“Who do you work for?” Nick grunted out between a punch to his side and a kick to his thigh. He managed to shove the attacker and scramble to his knees.

“No habla ingles,”
the man gritted out after Nick landed a right to his jaw.

“That’s funny.” They rolled, exchanging places again. “You sound more Texan than I do.”

The man smiled wide, swinging and missing. Now on his back, Nick bent a leg and kicked out with his boot. He tried to stand but the man jerked him back by the collar, pulling Nick hard enough to send him headfirst over the edge of the path.

The back of his skull smashed into a rock or tree root as he alternately rolled and slid. He dragged his body to a stop in time to see the man on horseback ready to bolt, no doubt back to his
compadres
. On Nick’s horse.

“See you later,
gringo
.” His yellowed teeth showed lots of ugly as he dropped Nick’s cell off the cliff and left him on foot.

Nick relaxed and took some deep breaths. Not only would he have a hell of a headache, he’d also never live it down if he walked all the way back to the ranch. He’d be teased from now till he was gray and rocking on his porch. Especially by Beth.

No phone. Alone. On foot. He could still find out where the bastards were and what they had with them this time. He was a determined tracker and wouldn’t give up until he found them.

Ironically, the man who’d shot him in the back and nearly killed him was the same man who had taught him how to track as a teenager. The same man who had betrayed them all and claimed he wasn’t the only ranch hand working for the cartel.

Could Beth’s secondhand knowledge help him learn to trust again? He doubted it. But if she could get the nightmares to stop so his mom wasn’t frightened any longer, that would be enough reason to help her learn to ride a horse.

On the plus side, if Beth wanted to pretend to be romantically involved... Holding a good-looking woman in his arms wasn’t a bad thing. Might be nice. Having one who knew and believed in the no-strings attached clause was even better. Hell, he could pretend to be working on his next broken heart just as much as she could.

His back was stiffer from sleeping on the hard ground than after the bullet last year.
Almost a full year.
He shook off the building dread.

The trail wasn’t difficult to follow. It led straight to the canyon. He shimmied on his belly until he got to the rim, keeping hidden behind scrub. He spotted his stallion off in the far corner. And there they were.

They hadn’t bothered camouflaging anything. Three men, one wearing a blue ball cap, stood around a couple of ATVs with small satchels attached.

Money this time? Had to be since there wasn’t much cargo. Money would be used to purchase guns that would be sent back to Mexico. Two men guarded an ancient-looking helicopter, rifles pointed to the edge of the cliffs, waiting and ready to open fire.

They used the helicopter to fly low through the mountains, loaded the money onto the ATVs and met up with someone else who got on the highway and away from their county as fast as possible. The rest of the distribution process wasn’t complicated. They found legit citizens who still had relatives in Mexico, threaten them with harm until they bought the guns and gave them back.

Nick had done his research. It seemed an endless cycle that no one could stop. Too big to tackle. He wanted to charge down the cliff and attack. Then what? He needed his horse and wouldn’t be in this situation if he’d kept his word to his parents.

He sat tight until both the ATVs started and took off. Minutes later, the chopper warmed up and did the same. Time for Nick to go.

Those men had rifles and could pick him off if they caught him in the open. He scrambled under the brush, praying his luck would improve and the chopper would head the opposite direction. When he couldn’t hear the echoes any longer, he zigzagged down the path and retrieved his horse.

“At least I’m not walking, but we still have a long way to go, pal.”

He didn’t know how the law would get rid of any part of this operation. But he did know he had to try harder to help. There were two things he could do. The first was to get home and teach Beth to ride. The second was to have Beth teach him to fight more effectively. He’d seen her hold her own.

He might even enjoy the close contact lessons. Who was he kidding? He’d make certain they both enjoyed those lessons. How had she put it?
We don’t have to like each other to have fun with this situation.

Exactly. It was about time he had some fun.

Chapter Five

Finally time to swallow his medicine or, in this case, face Beth. Nick knew his mom and dad were anxious and angry. They hadn’t known where he’d been. He’d heard his mother’s message that morning, praying that he was alive. He’d climbed to a ridge to get some cell reception, packed up, headed home and encountered the cartel.

McCrea would want to check everything in the canyon as soon as he got the news. Sad to say, but heading up there would get them nowhere. How many times had they followed that routine before? Everything would be long gone. It might be because of his run-in or maybe that had been their plan from the beginning. But they didn’t know he’d seen them in the canyon.

He crossed the last fence and saw the dust trail headed for him. Two heads in the Wrangler. When they got closer he could tell Beth was driving, with one of the ranch hands holding on for dear life. She skidded to a stop, causing his horse to jerk sideways, trying to bolt.

The ranch hand jumped out, crossed himself and ran to Nick. Looked like his
medicine
would be coming a bit earlier than he’d anticipated. Off his horse, he grabbed his gear, slung his saddle bags over his shoulder and kept his rifle in his hand. A year ago that much riding would have made him too sore to move.

“Straight back to the barn with this guy, then a rub and extra oats. Thanks, Paul.”

Before the shooting, Nick always sent the hands out to look for strays and broken fences. He’d stayed in the comfort of his office or had worked the horses in the corral.

“
Si, senor
. I’ll take good care of him. You be careful with the she-devil. She’s one crazy driver.”

So, they’d given her a nickname. He had one or two himself.

“Any day now, Mr. Burke,” she said, tapping the wheel.

He tossed his things into the open backseat and stood by the driver’s-side door.

“Aren’t you getting in?” she asked.

“Not if you’re driving. My Wrangler. My keys. My turn.”

“Oh, good grief.” She stood, popped over to the passenger side and buckled up while he got in and did the same. “We were about to come looking for you.”

“I see you bought yourself some boots.”

“Yes?”

“They’re purple.” And had shiny rhinestones. He stifled a laugh.

“I was assured they’re very popular.”

He reached for the key and paused. He’d avoided this area for a while now. One of the last times he’d driven down this road had been about a year ago with Kate next to him. A different time, different thoughts, different plans for his future that hadn’t been set in reality. Beth was the complete opposite, no comparison.

“You coming after me would have been fun to watch. Again. I’ve been wishing I had a video from the last time.”

“You’re hilarious.”

“I needed time to get used to things.” He started the engine and didn’t gun it until they were well away from his horse. If he kept Beth clinging to the roll bars, she might keep quiet long enough for him to reach the hill. Or perhaps having the stuffing knocked out of her on the well-rutted, washed-out road would.

“Juliet and Alan were worried.”

He knew they were and wouldn’t argue. Admitting he was wrong would be hard enough to accomplish. “I’ll take it up with them. You’ve got my curiosity up. How did you know I was headed home and why the rush to get me there?” He shouted enough to be heard over the engine and the wind rushing by their ears.

“So you didn’t think we’d be coming to look for you?” she asked, looking ahead with only one hand holding to the door frame.

He skidded the Wrangler to a stop as he crested the last hill to the house. “What do you need to say to me that can’t be said where I might raise my voice and blow your cover?”

Eyes as big as a baby doe’s, she stared at him several seconds. “How did you figure that out?”

“I took more classes in college than just animal husbandry. But it really didn’t take much to get four from that two-plus-two equation.” He pushed his hands through his hair instead of reaching out for her as he wanted. They might as well get the apologies out of the way. “So what did you want to see me about?”

“We didn’t really get a chance to talk much before you took off. Your mom mentioned she saw you. So I, um...I just thought it would look better if I seemed excited to greet you.”

“Right. It has nothing to do with how anxious you are to hear what I found out there? And it doesn’t have anything to do with whether I decided to walk away from all this or stay and help you with your cover?”

“Go ahead, drive. I’m not in any hurry to hear anything.” She leaned back, trying to look casual. It didn’t look good on her. He liked that she stood and sat straight. Taller than everyone in the room except for him. Casual didn’t fit. “I really didn’t care when you got back. You were gone three days. I can’t help it if people began to wonder why you left.”

“On the very day you arrived, too. Must have been hard to explain. Probably even harder to your friend McCrea. My parents get it. I leave all the time.”

“Makes no difference to me. I get paid the same, whether you help or not.”

She clenched her jaw just as she did when holding her opinion to herself with the task force. Her teeth might split in two if she bit down any harder.

“And what if I said I did see something in one of the box canyons. Is there still no rush?” He watched the raven-black braid fly from its casual spot across her breast to hit the Wrangler seat as she turned to face him. It was hard to hold back his laughter. He raised his eyebrows and clenched his jaw so he’d appear serious. “Want me to take the long way home?”

“Are you kidding? Why are we waiting here?” The smoldering look she returned spoke every ounce of the frustration she’d obviously experienced. “We need to get a team together and get there as fast as possible. You should have called.”

He scratched the three days of beard. “I’ll be glad to hit the shower and get some of this stink off me.”

“Then why don’t we go to the house?”

He flipped his seatbelt off his shoulder and stood in the worn seat, gesturing for her to follow. She did. He leaned forward on the windshield frame like he had many times in the past year, just looking. And wondering where the men were who had ordered his death.

“Have you taken a look at a map, Beth? Do you have any idea how long it takes to get anywhere in this country? Especially on horseback?”

“Believe me, I study area maps all the time. In between my daily chores, that is. We should get moving. There’s a lot to arrange.”

Agent Conrad had ranch chores? He swallowed his surprise. Who did he have to thank for that bit of pleasure? “I should have thought of assigning you duties before I left.” He waved a hand in an arch toward his land. “Tell me what you see, Beth.”

“A lot of nothing in that direction. The ranch is behind us. What’s your point?”

“That’s exactly my point.” He was disappointed, but she said what he’d expected to hear. How most people reacted. “You see nothing.”

“Can you stop speaking in riddles, Nick? So there’s a lot of nothing between us and wherever this box canyon is. How far can we take the cars?”

She was such an attractive, competent woman. It would have been nice to imagine her here because she wanted to be. Because she saw the beauty of the land just like he did. Of course, appreciating the ranch had taken quite a while for him. He couldn’t expect that reaction from anyone overnight. Or even in three weeks.

Making love to Beth had been a welcome reward for getting pulled into that cold water cistern after she’d been dumped there by her horse. He’d been looking forward to getting her onto a soft mattress once or twice before she headed back to Chicago. But that was before she’d declared herself his protector and had been assigned permanently to this idiotic task force.

She tapped the back roll bar. He remembered her long manicured nails. The vivid memory of them being dragged across his back and then barely touching the puckered bullet scar had combined both of his dreams into one.

The best and worst thing that had happened this past year.

He pointed to the highest spot in front of them. “Up there is where most of the activity’s been.”

The sun was setting. Still high enough to just catch the hilltops and make Nick shade his eyes.

“It was clear this morning. No signs they’d been there in a while. Then I had a fight with one who destroyed my cell and stole my horse. I tracked the horse, waited until they pulled out and came home. In the time it took me to ride down, I’ve seen dust clouds. Heard sounds of a second chopper.”

“Let’s go. Now.” She popped into her seat. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her head tilted up to him. “I
will
find these guys and put an end to the threat they pose.”

“No, you won’t. That’s the point. In all this vastness, you can’t do this alone. Not without a lot of help and manpower. You have neither. Just me and a lot of ground to cover. You think of me as just a rancher, someone to teach you the necessary skills to complete your mission so you can move on. But I live here. This is my land, my home.”

“Look, I realize they twisted your arm to help me and that you might be—”

“No one can force me to do this, Beth,” he interrupted before she could make him angry. Hell, she’d already made him angry. “Here’s a secret, I don’t live here because I have no choice. I’m not afraid. You need to stop thinking that I am or we’ll never leave the paddock.”

“I don’t think of you that way, Nick.” Shoulders back, shades on the top of her head, she implored him with her eyes alone. “I never could. If I didn’t respect your skills, I wouldn’t have asked for your help.”

“You’re asking this time instead of the DEA?”

She laughed, tossing her braid over her shoulder, making him wish those gorgeous black locks were flying free in the wind. “The DEA doesn’t need to learn to ride one of those monsters you call a horse.”

The sun disappeared. Staying up here would give credence to their engagement story.
If
he was going through with this charade. “I had another reason for stopping.”

“It can’t wait?”

“Man alive, you’re just flat impatient.”

“I’m efficient.” The little remaining light was behind her and he couldn’t see her expression. But the agent had returned, standing straight and resting her hand on her hip.

“I stopped to give you a chance to say something without my mom and dad in the room. Don’t you have something to ask me?”

She jumped from the Wrangler and walked around to the hood, lightly hitting it with the palm of her hand.

“I don’t think I should. You’ve obviously made up your mind that this is a hopeless situation and you’re unwilling to help. I’ll just go back to the B and B tonight.”

“There you go jumping to conclusions again.” He’d decided to go through with this earlier and he didn’t know why he wanted to tease her so much with
what ifs
now. But it felt right. “You mentioned something about a fake engagement so everyone thinks your staying here is legit.”

“Yes. Does that mean you’re agreeing to teach me how to operate in this territory?”

“I wouldn’t go that far. But I’ll teach you what you need to get by.”

“Yes.” She did a classic double fist pump gesture for emphasis.

“That is if you ask me. And if I were you...” He ducked under the roll bar to the ground. “I’d ask me real nice-like. Bended knee, the whole shebang.”

“Oh, my gosh. You can’t be serious. It’s a
fake
engagement.”

He gestured to the rocky ground again. “Not to everyone out there.”

“You’re for real? You want me to kneel? No one can see us. Oh, all right. Whatever.” She shoved his chest, causing him to retreat a step and giving her room to bend on one knee. “Okay. So. Um, Nick Burke, will you?”

“Wait. I think you’re supposed to hold my hand or something.”

She rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand, sighing as if touching him was going to absolutely kill her. “Will you marry me?”

“Marry you? I don’t even know you.” For some unexplained reason he couldn’t help teasing her.

“Okay, that’s it. I’m out of here.”

He squeezed her hand, keeping her where she was while he knelt in front of her. Their thighs touched. It was clear that two layers of jeans weren’t enough to stop the sparks he remembered.

“Go ahead. I’m ready and will behave.”

“Again?” Beth cracked her neck exactly like she did before taking aim. “Fine. Will you marry me?” she asked in one long monotone breath.

“Sure. But I want to be up-front with you. I believe in long engagements.” He helped her to her feet.

“Thank heaven.” She started to slip away.

Someone probably watched them through the telescope they had on the patio. That’s how his mom would have known he was close. He knew it, but Beth didn’t. The entire gesture thing was to make her cover story believable. He should tell her. But not telling her for a minute was much more fun.

As many times as they’d kissed, even the first night they’d kissed, they’d never been standing. Now he held her close to his chest and slid his arms around her back.

“What the heck do you think you’re do—”

He kissed her. And kissed her again before her hands went from trying to push him away to sliding around his neck. Her lips were as soft as he remembered. She tasted like fruit. Strawberry or maybe cherry.

It was hard to remember that someone, most likely both his parents, were taking turns watching. His fingers itched to drop a few inches and curve around her shapely bottom. Instead he wrapped them around her waist and explored her cool mouth.

When they came up for air, Beth’s dimple was prominent in her cheek.

“Worth going down on one knee?”

“Don’t get so full of yourself.” She pointed a finger in his chest. “It doesn’t take a genius to figure out this was for your mother’s benefit. I finally remembered the telescope.”

There wasn’t a sharp jab from the tip of her finger. He grabbed her hand and took a closer look. “You cut your nails?”

“I realized it would be better if they were short. Easier to do ranch work. I took care of it in Alpine with Kate. I don’t mind.”