“Rick, what can I do for you?” McKinnon asked, annoyed when the man reached the car.
Rick gave him a smooth smile. “I was on my way to visit a friend and thought I recognized you coming out of the house that’s for sale. Thinking about moving into town, McKinnon?”
“No.”
The man then peered through the open window to where Casey was sitting and all but licked his lips. “I also saw your lady friend. Aren’t you going to introduce us?”
McKinnon stopped short of saying “no” but knew he really had no choice. “Casey, I’d like you to meet Rick Summers, and Rick, this is Casey Westmoreland.”
A surprised look appeared on Rick’s face. “Westmoreland?”
“Yes. She’s Durango’s cousin and Corey Westmoreland’s daughter.”
A smile touched Rick’s lips and McKinnon knew the man was giving Casey what he thought was his most flirtatious smile. “Nice meeting you, Casey,” he said, opening the car door to shake her hand.
Casey returned the man’s smile. “Nice meeting you, too, Rick.”
“Are you just visiting a spell?” Rick asked curiously.
“No, I’m moving to Bozeman.”
McKinnon knew by the darkening of Rick’s eyes he had definitely latched on to that response. “To live with your father up on his mountain?”
Casey chuckled. “No, somewhere here in town.”
McKinnon watched as Rick’s smiled widened into a look McKinnon compared to a wolf on a hunt. “In that case, I hope we run into each other again…real soon.” He tipped his hat and walked off smiling.
McKinnon shook his head, and when he slid into the driver’s seat, he slammed the door shut as his protective instincts kicked in. If Rick Summers thought for one minute he would be adding Casey’s name to his little black book, he could think again. Although who she dated was none of his business, the thought of her getting mixed up with the likes of Summers didn’t sit well with him.
“He seems like a nice guy.”
McKinnon glanced over at Casey. “In this case looks are deceiving because Rick’s not a nice guy. He’s an ass and I suggest you stay away from him.” He could tell by her expression that she didn’t appreciate his suggestion.
And as he drove toward the highway that would take them back to the ranch, he decided that whether she liked it or not, he intended to keep Summers away from her.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“What are you doing for dinner?”
Casey stiffened as she got out of the car. Now that they were back at the ranch, surely he wasn’t going to invite her to eat with him. “The usual,” she heard herself say. “Henrietta usually fixes me something, and I eat it at the guest-house while doing journal entries of Prince Charming’s daily progress on the computer. Why?”
“Just asking. Thanks again for the ride into town.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Common sense told McKinnon that this is where they would part ways. She would go to the guest house and he would go to the ranch house, and if he was real smart he would avoid her again this week. He’d spent some time with her today. He’d heard her voice and inhaled her scent and now he had gotten her out of his system for a while. Hell, not by a long shot. But as he forced himself to keep walking toward his front door, something made him turn around.
“Casey, how about if—”
Whatever words he was about to say died on his lips. She was gone, having made a swift exit to the guest house. His disappointment quickly turned into annoyance. Evidently she’d taken as much as she could of him for one day. He wished he could say the same but couldn’t. He could have taken more of her…a lot more. He had been constantly aware of her as a woman—a woman who probably didn’t know the extent of her own sensuality or sexuality. And he was a man who would love tapping into what she didn’t know; expose her to a few things. Hell, more than a few.
Thirty minutes later, after taking a shower and being careful to keep his stitches dry, he made his way to the kitchen to warm up his food. He’d been following this same routine for years, ever since Lynette had left. He was used to it and preferred things this way. He was about to stick his plate into the microwave when the phone rang.
He reached over and picked it up. “Yes?”
“How are you, McKinnon?”
He smiled upon hearing his mother’s voice. “I’m fine. How are you and Dad?”
“We’re both doing well. We just got back today. We’ve been up on Corey’s Mountain visiting, which is why I’m calling. Abby and I decided it would be nice to give a party for Casey.”
He tensed. “A party? Why?”
“To welcome her to the area. A lot of our neighbors know about Corey’s triplets and some have even met Clint and Cole. But very few have had a chance to meet Casey, and we think a party will be a wonderful way to arrange that, to welcome her to the community.”
Sounded like his mother and Abby had their minds made up. “So what do you need me to do?” Nothing he hoped.
“In addition to not working her too hard where she’s too tired to attend her own party and enjoy herself, how about making sure she gets here.”
McKinnon stiffened. He had endured one car ride with Casey and wasn’t sure he would be able to do another anytime soon. It seemed the scent of her was still all over him. “When is this party?”
“Next Friday night, here at our ranch at eight. Can I depend on you to help?”
He sighed. There wasn’t too much Morning Star Quinn couldn’t get out of him and she knew it very well. “Yes, I won’t over work her that day and I’ll make sure she gets there.”
“Thanks, McKinnon. I appreciate it. By the way, it’s not a surprise or anything like that. I just finished telling Casey about it and she’s fine with it.”
“That’s good,” he said with grim resolve before hanging up the phone.
* * *
Another night and Casey couldn’t sleep. Nor could she get McKinnon off her mind. He had invaded her dreams and she didn’t like it.
Actually, that wasn’t true.
She had liked it. So much to the point where she had awoke filled with desire so intense she felt it deep in her belly. She’d heard of belly aches before but nothing like this one.
She slipped into her robe and, as was the norm whenever she found she couldn’t sleep, decided she’d take a stroll around the courtyard and enjoy the beauty of the night.
A few moments later she went out the front door and onto the brick paved walkway. A flood light off the front of the ranch house glowed, but just enough to illuminate some of the new flowers Henrietta had boasted of planting this week.
“Couldn’t sleep again tonight?”
Casey placed her hand over her chest. Just like the last time, she hadn’t heard McKinnon’s approach. She slowly turned, thinking what she really needed was to find a reason to go back inside the guesthouse. It didn’t take much to remember what had happened the last time they’d been out in the courtyard together.
However, instead of taking off, she answered, “No. I have a lot on my mind.”
The eyes staring at her were dark, intense…sexy. “You’re thinking about the party?”
She raised a brow. “The party?”
“Yes. Mom called and told me about it.”
“Oh.” It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him that the party his mother and Abby had planned for her was the last thing on her mind. She’d been thinking about a party all right, a party of two. There were no party hats—just a big bed, silken sheets, and plenty of heat between two naked bodies. “No, I wasn’t thinking about the party,” she said. And that was all she intended to tell him.
He came closer into the moonlight, into her line of vision. His hair was flowing around his shoulders and she wanted to hook her finger around a few strands and pull his mouth down to hers, to take possession of his tongue the same way he had taken hers that night. She wanted to—
“The stars are really out tonight.”
“Hey, you better not let Ian hear you say that. He’s the astronomer in the Westmoreland family.”
Casey smiled. “Oops, I forgot. And speaking of Ian, I guess everyone is getting prepared for his wedding next month. I hear it’s supposed to be one grand affair at the Rolling Cascade Casino.”
McKinnon nodded. “Yeah, and I bet Lake Tahoe won’t be the same when Brooke becomes a permanent part of his security team.” A few moments later he added, “And speaking of Lake Tahoe, you looked good that night at Delaney’s birthday party.”
A tiny tremor passed through her. She doubted he gave many compliments. “Thank you. You looked rather dashing yourself.” And he had. They hadn’t said more than a few words to each other that night, but she had noticed him and it seemed from his compliment that he had noticed her as well.
“I talked to Norris when we got back from town. He said that our fathers dropped by to check on Spitfire while we were gone.”
“Spitfire?”
“Yes, she’s the mare that Thunder impregnated. Corey’s the one who gave her to me a couple of years ago. We agreed then that he would get her first foal.”
Casey glanced up at him. “You like Corey a lot, don’t you?”
He glanced over at her wondering why she’d asked the question. “Yes. He and my dad were friends before I was born. I can’t remember a time when he wasn’t a part of my life.”
He smiled and Casey blinked thinking that was the first smile she’d ever seen on McKinnon Quinn’s lips. “Do you know what one of the things I admired most about him while growing up is?”
“What?”
“His love for his family. He was a young single man, yet every summer he would invite all of his nephews and his one lone niece to spend the summer months with him, and he would always include me.”
“Sounds like all of you had a rowdy good time every year.”
McKinnon chuckled and Casey found the sound rich and sincere. “Trust me, we did. Especially those times Delaney got left back in Atlanta and we could get into all kinds of trouble without anyone telling on us.”
Casey smiled. “Sounds like Corey would let all of you get away with murder.”
“Oh, we knew how far to take things with him. But he would make everything we did fun for us. How he kept all of us over those summers months without going insane is beyond me.”
Casey paused a moment to digest his statement. Had her father known about her and her brothers, they would have been included in those summers as well. But he hadn’t known.
When a few moments passed and she didn’t say anything, McKinnon said softly, “Sorry. Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned those summers.”
Casey glanced up at him. It was as if he’d read her thoughts. “No, it’s okay. Besides, you can’t rewrite history, McKinnon. I don’t begrudge any of you for the times you spent with my father when Clint, Cole and I didn’t. It’s not anyone’s fault.” But my mother’s, she wanted to scream.
McKinnon brushed a lock of hair back from her forehead, thinking the short, sassy style looked cute on her. The glow from the moon highlighted her features in a way he found incredibly sexy.
“McKinnon?”
“Yes?” He heard that little tremor in her voice; the same one that had been there right before he’d kissed her.
“I think I should go back inside now.”
“Why? I kind of like it out here, don’t you?”
“Yes, but…”
He heard the apprehension in her voice at the exact moment his gaze was drawn to her mouth. “But what?”
She sighed, and he watched the sound escape through her lips. In fact, he actually felt the warm breath against his own lips, which meant he had subconsciously lowered his head closer to hers.
“The last time we were out here together,” she finally said, “something happened to make you avoid me for a week.” She decided not to spell it out to him since she was sure he knew what she was talking about. “If you’re going to have any regrets about anything we do, then I’d rather we didn’t do it.”
“Anything like what?” he asked, inching his lips even closer to hers.
“Whatever,” she said, nervously chewing her bottom lip.
As quick as she’d ever encountered, he darted his tongue out and slowly began licking around her lips, trailing a path from corner to corner. “By anything, do you mean something like this?” he asked as his tongue continued to toy with her lips.
“Yes,” she whispered, barely able to get the word out. “Something like that.”
“And what about this?” he asked, reaching up, drawing her face closer with his hands, so close she could see the dark intensity in his eyes. He began nibbling on her lips, gently, thoroughly, seemingly partial to the plumpness of her bottom lip. After hovering there for a few seconds, he then moved to her top lip, giving it equal play.
She felt her stomach clench, felt the heat forming between her legs and wished he would stop torturing her and just go in for the kill—she was dying a slow, sensuous death with every teasing stroke of his tongue.
“I like kissing you,” he whispered against her moist lips.
She could tell and wondered if he realized he wasn’t exactly kissing her, just tormenting her. Then, without warning, she had a fantasy flashback of him doing this very thing in her dream, almost making her beg before finally giving her what she wanted. She had never experience lust before now. Didn’t have an inkling of how profound and potent it was. Had never known how it felt to want a person to an extent that was mind blowing.
But what was making her feel heady was the fact that she knew he wanted her, too. The tightness in his jeans, the large bulge she felt pressed against her was evidence of that fact. And the more he tortured her mouth, the more he was working the both of them into a state of extreme arousal.
Deciding she’d had enough, she gripped a section of his hair. He stopped, looked at her, their eyes just as close as their lips. She saw the desire, the need, the outright hunger in his gaze, and then none too gently tugged on his hair and pulled his mouth down to hers.
She opened hers over his, not knowing exactly what she was doing but having a good idea of what it was she wanted. And when he parted his lips, she inserted her tongue, determined to find that pleasure she’d found before.
She didn’t have long to wait.
He launched into the kiss full speed, demonstrating his ability and flexibility; an impact she felt all the way to her toes. The fact that all the blood in her body had rushed south would explain her recklessness, her desire, this ingrained need to have her way with him she decided. Sensations ratcheted through her and she was driven to satisfy this hunger she had never felt before, this need to—
“Sorry to interrupt.”
Casey and McKinnon quickly ended their kiss but he held onto her tight, refusing to allow her to put distance between them. “What is it, Norris?” he asked in an irritated tone, ignoring the curious look on his foreman’s face. It wasn’t the first time he’d been caught kissing a woman and it probably wouldn’t be the last.
“Spitfire’s in trouble.”
“Damn.” McKinnon muttered under his breath, easing Casey out of his arms. “What’s wrong with her,” he asked in a rough but worried voice.
“She’s in labor and having problems. I called Paul but Beth said he’s over at the Monroe’s spread taking care of their sick cattle. She’s not sure when he’ll be able to get here.”
Casey had regained her senses enough to absorb most of the conversation between McKinnon and Norris. She knew that Beth Manning was a park ranger who worked with Durango and that her husband Paul was the vet in the area. Before she could think of anything else
beyond that, McKinnon, ignoring Norris’ presence, brushed his lips with hers and then whispered against her moist lips, “I have to go.” And then he was gone, rushing beside Norris to the stables.
* * *
“Is she all right, McKinnon?”
McKinnon glanced up as Casey walked into the barn. She had changed from her night gown and robe into a pair of jeans and a top. The outfit was more practical and, in his book, just as sexy.
He swallowed deeply and glanced back at the mare in the birthing stall. “I hope so, but it seems her first foal is giving her one hell of a time.”
“Oh, poor baby.”
“Yeah, and the daddy over there isn’t handling things too much better,” McKinnon said as he glanced over at Thunder who was anxiously prancing back and forth in his stall. “If you’ll take care of Spitfire and try keeping her calm, I’m going to move Thunder to one of those empty stalls in the back. The less he knows about what’s going on, the better.”
“Sure,” Casey said, moving closer to the mare. McKinnon had talked like Thunder was a person rather than a horse, and she knew her brothers felt the same way about their horses.
Alone with Spitfire, she spoke gently to the mare, trying to keep her calm. She had been around pregnant horses enough to know when the time came for them to deliver, they had a tendency to increase their anxiety levels, just like humans. Having a baby, no matter who was doing the having, was no picnic.
“She’s okay?” McKinnon asked, stepping back into the stall sometime later.
Casey glanced up at him. “Yes, she’s doing fine. Have you heard anything from Paul?”
“He called my cell phone while I was moving Thunder. He’s left the Monroe’s and is on his way, so hopefully he’ll have something to calm Spitfire down.”
McKinnon came to stand closer to Casey. “You’re probably tired after all you’ve done today. I have a feeling it’s going to be a long night. Why don’t you go back up to the guest house and go on to bed.”
Casey stared up at him. He was trying to get rid of her, to put back into prospective what he thought their relationship should be yet again. “I’m fine, McKinnon and since tomorrow is Saturday, I can sleep late if I want.”
Ian's Ultimate Gamble ; Seduction, Westmoreland Style Page 21