“You still taste delicious,” he breathed in her ear, just before he left.
Chapter Seven
By habit, Cruz woke early despite her disrupted night. She felt relaxed, which shouldn’t make sense, and yet in one way, it did.
“Sex,” she whispered, touching her lips, which still felt a little swollen from their intense kissing last night.
She might have tried to forget Axel, but her body sure hadn’t. Axel had always been able to burn her up and leave her limp, languid and oh-so-satisfied. And last night, they hadn’t even undressed. And she’d definitely gotten the better end of the bargain. He’d given her a fast, intense orgasm that brought her back to life. Too bad he hadn’t let her return the favor.
Didn’t seem fair, but Axel had always been unselfish in bed and out.
And perhaps wiser. She couldn’t jump into anything. It wasn’t like they’d been apart a few weeks. She hadn’t seen Axel in more than seven years and within a few hours in his presence she’d ripped off his shirt and begged him to take off his jeans.
She definitely had to get a grip on her libido. And every other part of herself. Not sure where she could go for a run, since she didn’t know the ranch, Cruz did a few yoga moves and weight-bearing exercises then jumped in the shower, hoping that would help her wash away some of last night’s indiscretion.
Dressed and hopefully ready to face the day, she left her room and checked on Diego. He wasn’t in his room—again. She bit back a rude word. At this rate, he’d need a leash.
She headed to the kitchen. The house had an unusual layout. It was like a W with two large wings with suites of rooms, two smaller wings with bedroom and bath each and then in the center, there was the massive kitchen and great room that seemed like a combination living room, games room and dining room that spilled out to the outdoor patio.
It would be a great house for a large family and for parties, but it was absurd to think of Axel and his brother August rattling around alone in it. And an ever bigger waste as Axel said no one was living here. Empty houses always made her sad.
She passed a closed door and heard a raised voice.
“You don’t get to dictate to me. It’s my land. My vineyard. My business. My future. My choice. I don’t tell you how to run the ranch.” The words rang with passion and built with each ‘my.’
“I’m not dictating.” That was Axel, much less audible through the closed door. “You can’t trust a…” She didn’t catch that last word. “The Clemmens family has been trying to get access to our water and our land for generations,” Axel said. “Bill is the most unscrupulous.”
Cruz hesitated. It was almost eight o’clock. She wanted to ask Axel if he’d seen Diego, but she didn’t want to interrupt what seemed to be family business and definitely a brewing argument. She was uncomfortably aware she was eavesdropping.
“Cat’s true blue. She’s done nothing wrong. She’s nothing like him or his sons.”
“And you’re talking about bringing her in and…” The rest of the sentence was lost.
“I don’t have a choice…”
That sounded bad.
“There’s always a workaround.” Axel. Older brother. In control. Know-it-all. No wonder August sounded furious.
Cruz hurried away, shamed she’d heard so much, but she couldn’t help turning the words over in her head. It sounded like Axel didn’t trust Cat or August’s opinion, and that the Wolf land was sacrosanct. She hadn’t really thought about that when they’d dated—how much land his family had, what would have happened if they’d married?
It hadn’t mattered because Axel hadn’t wanted that arrangement.
She paused. But what did he want now? Something casual? Sex when convenient?
She didn’t work that way.
And it wouldn’t be good for Diego.
On the other hand, if they were careful, and it was sex only, it wouldn’t have to impact Diego.
Who was she kidding? She was already afraid she was halfway in love with Axel again.
She would need Axel’s trust. And she’d have to trust him. That would be the only relationship that would ever work for her long-term. How could she be a full partner with someone—a wife, a lover, a mother—if they didn’t trust each other? Axel said to give them a chance. What did that mean? Did he trust her?
She hoped she’d find Diego in the great room watching TV or reading, but as she turned the corner, she smelled pancakes. Worried, she sped up.
“Good morning.”
“Good morning,” Cruz repeated the greeting, grateful she’d showered and dressed.
A small woman, with a wealth of dirty-blonde curly hair piled on top of her head in a messy bun and wearing what looked like a lurid and rumpled pink prom or bridesmaid dress, was making pancakes. Diego sat at the counter next to her, dropping blueberries onto the cooking pancakes while eating just as many in the meantime.
“I’m Lina. Catalina Clemmens,” she said.
“August calls her Cat,” Diego added.
Catalina scowled. “Because he never grew up.” She shook her head. “I heard you met my father yesterday. I’m sorry about that and about the ruined rental.”
“Oh. Ahhhh.” She remembered pieces of the brothers’ argument.
“Broken pipe? A flood of Biblical proportions?”
“Yes,” Cruz said. “That’s why I’m here. Axel was kind enough to…” She broke off, seeing Catalina’s epic eye-roll.
“Men aren’t nice. Axel’s not nice. He wants something. Pretty easy to imagine what,” Catalina said.
“Excuse me?” Cruz might have spent half the night pondering that same thing, but Catalina or Lina or Cat didn’t have the right to doubt Axel.
Catalina smirked. “Got your panties in a wad with that one.”
“I’m nice,” Diego said. “And my mom’s underwear fell all over the flooded floor of the rental. I’ve been helping with laundry.”
“Good to know.” Catalina handed Diego the spatula. “So present male company is excluded from the not nice quip. Ready to flip?”
Diego scooped the pancakes and flipped them with a bit too much relish. One totally missed the griddle and landed on the floor.
“Axel needs a dog,” Lina murmured.
She poured more batter. “Watch those,” she told Diego. “I’m going to go get the Wolfs before they start circling and snarling.”
“Little late for that,” Cruz said, stepping up to the griddle to supervise while Diego added the plump blueberries.
Moments later, Axel strode in radiating moderately leashed energy. He looked so good, so vital, that Cruz stared. August limped in behind him, battered, bruised and looking thoroughly pissed. Catalina followed and glared at both men. Cruz felt uneasy, and a little defensive of Axel although he most definitely could look after himself. And since he’d told her part of his ranch bordered the Clemmens’s much smaller spread, he must have grown up with Lina. Cruz remembered Axel saying that his property bordered theirs on one side and that fences had been cut and cattle had gone missing on a regular basis.
No wonder there was tension.
That was the downside to having roots, she thought, picking up the pancake and washing down the floor.
“Catalina thinks you need a dog,” she said cheerfully, trying to break the tension.
“That’s not all Catalina thinks I need,” Axel replied.
She blew him a kiss. “Good to see you again too, Axel.”
She plated the pancakes and put them in the warming oven.
“Ready to make more?” she asked Diego.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said and did a pretend hat tip.
Cruz was charmed and Catalina grinned.
“Cowboy 101 is the hat tip. Then you gotta learn to rope and ride. Axel kills it at roping. He’s got the best arm in the county,” Lina said.
“He’s going to teach me,” Diego told her, although Axel had said no such thing. And by Axel’s stillness, Cruz could tell that Catalina wa
s able to read their dynamic like a book.
She handed him the cup of batter and helped him pour six more pancakes on the large griddle.
“Now add the berries. Be gentle. You don’t want splatter,” Catalina said softly.
Catalina stared Axel down, her gaze direct and assessing.
“I’ll stay and help August until he’s back on his feet, unless you’re planning to play nurse,” she said, her voice edged with challenge. “And then I’ll shove off back to Oregon if you’d like. I don’t stay where I’m not welcome.”
“Axel doesn’t get to make that call,” August argued.
“It’s not that,” Axel said.
“Then what is it?” One eyebrow arched so perfectly, Cruz was fascinated and envious. She’d wanted to do the ironic one-eyebrow raise for years. She thought it would be an excellent non-verbal rebuttal to all the ruthless rodeo queens and other barrel racers she’d shared dressing rooms with over the years.
“You’re staying,” August said and glared at his brother. “Axel’s going to be busy with the ranch like always, and then I heard a rumor he’s going to teach Diego to ride and rope.” He stared hard at Axel. Two alphas in a standoff.
Cruz looked from one brother to the other. Goodness, what exactly had she walked into? She’d always longed for a family, but she’d imagined it being fun and supportive, not snarly.
“Why not?” Axel stuck his Stetson on Diego’s head. “I’m good at catching things that run away.” He looked at her, and to her astonishment, Axel Wolf—in full view of his brother, Catalina and Diego—smiled and winked at her.
*
After a breakfast of pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon and fruit, Cruz helped Catalina clean the kitchen and take stock of the food inventory. She and August had stopped off at the grocery store, but she thought they should call in a larger order since five of them were going to be living in the main house now.
Cruz told Catalina that she was only going to be there temporarily. Catalina had done the superb eyebrow arch again, which Cruz had openly admired. Catalina had laughed, and said it was her one claim to fame. Cruz doubted that. Over breakfast, she’d learned that Catalina had experience managing vineyards, making wine, working the cellar crew during harvest and pretty much everything else in the wine business. She’d worked all over the world—New Zealand, Spain, France and Oregon.
“I just drink it,” Cruz had confessed.
“Living here, you’re going to learn a lot more. During harvest, it’s all hands on deck.”
That sounded fun. And the hope of having a sense of belonging poked up its whiney head, wanting more. Cruz shoved it down again. She was temporary. She had to remember that. As much as she was still attracted to Axel, he didn’t have a magic wand to change their past. Nor could he define their future. Cruz had to be independent, to know she could take care of herself and Diego on her own. She wouldn’t consider staying in Last Stand without a full-time job where she could support herself and her son, as well as pay off her looming student debt.
She didn’t want to be that helpless girl again, missing her mother and being dragged around from ranch to ranch, from apartment to trailer as her father chased work, heedless of her needs or wants.
The morning was beautiful and warming up nicely and Cruz decided to head down to the stables. She didn’t feel ready to get involved with horses again, but she didn’t want to foist Diego off on Axel or the ranch hands on what might be their one day off. Catalina stood at the edge of a sprawl of a mostly dead garden, hands on hips, lips pursed.
“Elizabeta would be so sad,” Catalina whispered as Cruz approached her. “She loved her garden. She taught me so much about plants. Her rabbiteye blueberry bushes are still flourishing but so much else is choked out or dead or… Not that I have time for this project, but I can’t leave it like this. It should be kept up in honor of the woman who was more of a mother to me than my own.”
“I didn’t realize you were that close to the family,” Cruz said, feeling like she was walking through a minefield.
Catalina shrugged. “Axel can tell you about it if he feels the need.”
“Did you date?” Cruz couldn’t help the question.
“Look at you.” Catalina looked her up and down. “All possessive. No, at best I don’t hurl stones at Axel. He thinks I’m bad news. I probably am.” Her mouth turned down, but even though her tone was mocking, hurt flashed in her eyes. Then her eyes sparked with fire. “I’m going to restore the garden. You can help if you want.”
“I can,” Cruz said cautiously. She’d never had the time to garden. “I don’t know much, but I would like to learn. I’m not really here long, though. My job is temporary, and I don’t yet have a place to live. The place I rented from your father was flooded. And all the hotels are booked because it was a big wine weekend and then next weekend is the Bluebonnet Festival. After that, I should be able to find a room.”
“There’s plenty of room here,” Catalina said, stating the obvious. “But suit yourself. Maybe Axel will let me borrow one of the hands, but then again, I could just make it a labor of love and all that jazz.”
Catalina’s confidence was inspiring. “I always wanted to grow fig trees and olive trees,” Cruz confessed, a little embarrassed at the fantasy, since she knew nothing about growing anything except cultures in petri dishes.
“We can plant those,” Catalina said thoughtfully, her eyes on the decayed browned tangle.
But Cruz wasn’t staying.
But what if I do?
The question taunted her. Restless, she headed down to the stables to see how Diego was enjoying his first up-close meet and greet with the horses. That way, she’d be better able to gauge if Diego was interrupting Axel’s routine too much. She knew she should be focused on preparing him for the new school—buying school supplies and some new clothes, since not everything had survived the great flood. But she relished this opportunity for him to have some fun, be a little boy, get some attention from an adult who wasn’t her or Shell. For so much of his young life, she’d been pushing both of them because there’d been so much to do. She was done with school now. She wanted to spend more time with Diego, doing things together that weren’t work or study.
She could drive down like Axel had, but the late morning was so lovely that she decided to walk. Hopefully the extra time and pastoral beauty would help to settle her thoughts and thumping heart. The barn was beautiful, state of the art. Cruz had been on many ranches in her life. Riverbend was clearly cared for and well run.
She was a little surprised to see Diego already in the arena with a horse. He was grooming it with a currycomb, Axel instructing him verbally and stepping in when necessary. So much of the conversation centered around keeping Diego focused on the horse and how it was feeling, how Diego’s actions were impacting the animal.
Diego was solemn, listening more than chatting. Cruz stared a little in amazement. She’d never seen Axel so relaxed. Again, she wondered why he hadn’t wanted children. His kids would be so blessed. And his wife… She shut down that thought. It made her blush. She was so far away from that. They were miles and miles away from that. She was fantasizing like the teen she’d once been.
Axel paused and looked at her. Just a look and she found herself a little breathless.
“Just getting introduced,” Axel said.
She nodded, and stepped up one rung of the corral so she could reach over and scratch the quarter horse behind its ears. It leaned in to her and side shuffled closer to the fence.
“Rascal’s found a friend,” Axel said.
“Why are you having Diego start with a horse called Rascal?”
“Seemed appropriate,” he said. “One rascal for another. I’ve taken him on a few cattle drives. He always finds some mischief. Wonder what that’s like.”
Cruz smiled back before she realized what she was doing. Falling under his cowboy spell again.
“I thought about going for a short ride.”
�
�Diego would love it,” she said quickly. “With you, right, not on his own?”
“With me. Was hoping I could entice his mother to join us.”
Her relaxed mood fled. She hadn’t been on a horse for years. Not since Misty River.
She shook her head. “Too much to do.”
She waited for Axel to push, the way he always did. He didn’t. She forced herself to meet his searching gaze. His eyes were so blue. Somehow she’d forgotten that. So blue she felt like she was diving into a beautiful alpine lake. There were questions there, and she braced herself to refuse to answer them. And yet of all the people she could talk to, Axel would be the one most likely to understand and sympathize.
Who was she kidding? He’d likely throw her ass up on the first available horse.
Instead his gloved finger brushed across her hand. She was surprised how much longing swept through her. She hadn’t been touched as a woman in so long. Last night had been the first time in years, and now she felt keyed up, fully alive.
“Another time then,” he said, his gaze holding hers.
She wanted to agree. She should, just to break the tension, but lying had never been her way.
“Axel,” she whispered, her voice aching. “I’m not sure if I can.”
“You can,” he said, total confidence. “You will.”
He was so certain. She’d had that once. What had happened to that girl?
“I was thinking about heading into Austin tonight,” he said, his eyes on Diego. He gave Diego a brief instruction and watched him carry it out. “My brother’s in the final round of an exhibition AEBR event. I was hoping we could all go.”
Alarm skittered through her. A date.
“It would do Anders some good to have family there. And it would get August’s mind off his injured friends and damaged tasting room. I thought Diego would get a kick out of it, too.”
All good reasons. And her protest would sound selfish.
“You used to love watching.”
“Are you kidding? I was terrified the whole time!”
A Son for the Texas Cowboy Page 10