The Cowboy's Hunt

by Jamie K. Schmidt

  She was silent for such a long time, he thought she was in a food coma and then she said in a small, hurt voice, “Is it because of me?”

  “What?” He took his eyes off the road to stare at her. She was serious. “No. It’ll just be time to move on.” Maybe leave Texas for good. See how good his father’s contacts really were. Would they be able to follow him to California or Montana? Would he have to leave the country to finally get rid of him? “I don’t stay in one place for very long.” He had thought the Three Sisters Ranch would be different, but even if it was, Donovan couldn’t risk having his father show up one day. He’d claim to be all rehabilitated after fifteen years in prison.

  Donovan didn’t want the stigma of being Charlie Lincoln’s son to taint whatever legitimate business Donovan decided to get involved with. Charlie was a grifter and Donovan didn’t dare trust a word he said. It was better to pretend his father had died with his mother.

  Rehabilitated my ass.

  “Then there’s no reason to fight anymore, then. Not if you’re leaving anyway.”

  “Nope,” he agreed. “You just have to deal with me for another few years and then I’ll leave you and your family’s ranch in my rear mirror.”

  “Where will you go?”

  He shrugged. “I’ll figure something out.”

  “Do you think you’ll ever settle down?”

  “Maybe.” He didn’t like how serious this conversation was turning. “How about you? After you set up your wind turbine farm, are you heading back to Ethiopia?”

  “No. I did good work and I’m proud of what I did. But it’s nice to have all the modern conveniences that I took for granted before living in Ethiopia for three years. Running water. Clean water. The internet. Sometimes I think I’m a sellout. Other times I tell myself it’s time to grow up and start a career.”

  “Like waitressing in a vegetarian restaurant?”

  “I was thinking ranch owner.”

  Donovan loved her enthusiasm. “Good for you.”

  “Did you always want to be a hunter?”

  “Nah, I wanted to be a cowboy.”

  “Why aren’t you?”

  Good question. “My parents had other plans.” Why was he going down this road?

  “Did they want you to be a doctor or something else more white-collar?”

  That would work as an answer. “Yeah, something like that.” They were hoping for the big score, so they’d be able to move down to Fiji or Tahiti and live out the rest of their lives on the beach. Like that would have satisfied them. They’d be back to rooking the locals within a year.

  “You could still be a cowboy,” she said. “You don’t have to go. You could stay and just not shoot things.”

  “Sweetheart, are you asking me to stay?” he teased.

  “Yes.”

  That stopped him in his tracks. “Why? I thought we were adversaries.”

  “We won’t be, once you stop killing animals.”

  “Thanks, no one has ever asked me to stay before.” It gave him a warm feeling that he didn’t want to trust.

  “So are you going to stay?”

  “I’ll tell you in three years,” he said. Hopefully his father wouldn’t make it sooner.

  When they pulled into the Three Sisters Ranch, Donovan parked in Trent’s lot. “I don’t think he’s home.”

  “Maybe he took Kelly and Alissa out,” she said. “Let’s go look around.”

  The studio was locked, but they checked out the barn just to make sure. “Just horse shit and sheep shit,” Donovan said.

  “Let’s see if they’re at the new house,” she said, tangling her fingers through his as they walked back to the house that was in the final stages of development. He had work to do, but for the moment he wanted to be with Emily.

  “Hello,” she called, walking up the unfinished stairs. There wasn’t even a door.

  “Big house,” he commented, looking around at the construction that was nearing completion.

  “Alissa is so excited she gets her own room.”

  The floors were finished, but the walls were only half sheet-rocked. They looked around, but it was clear no one was around.

  “Oh well, I’ll have to catch up with him later.” Emily put her hands on her hips and let out a breath. “I guess I delayed the inevitable as long as I could. I’ve got to go home and face my failure.”

  “It’s not a failure. It’s just a bump in the road.”

  She reached for his hand again. “I don’t suppose you could come with me as a buffer.”

  “I’m not sure what type of buffer I’d be, but I can give you a few more hours. Then I’ve got to do an equipment check.”

  “You mean clean and load the rifles.” Emily dropped his hand.

  “No, they’re bringing their own rifles. I need to make sure we have the gear to camp out in and to check that they all emailed me copies of their licenses.”

  “Don’t you think they’d rather do trail riding?” she asked hopefully, a sweet, wistful look on her face.

  “No, I do not.” He hoped she wasn’t starting this shit again. He really thought they had made some progress today.

  To his surprise, she left it at that. As they were walking out of the house, she turned back to him. “I had a really nice time today. Thanks.”

  “I wouldn’t mind doing it again,” he said.

  Standing up on her tiptoes, she gave him a real kiss. Pressing herself up against him, she slid her arms around his neck and opened her mouth under his.

  Hell. He hadn’t expected that.

  Donovan staggered back from the punch of desire that hit him low and hard. Crushing her to him, he took her sweet mouth and everything else she was offering. He was damned sure she wasn’t wearing a bra under her sundress and he was damned tempted to slide it down to find out. A part of him was dimly aware they were kissing in the middle of her sister’s house that had no freaking door, but he couldn’t stop. Not when she felt so sweet and right in his arms. It was like kissing an angel in sunshine.

  Emily made little needy noises in her throat that were driving him wild. Reaching down, he cupped her ass and held her against his cock that was pressing tight against his jeans. Her fingers tangled in his hair as she reached up to kiss him deeper. He tugged her dress down to her waist and her breasts popped free. Kissing down her neck, Donovan thumbed a taut nipple as she gasped and wiggled. The rest of her dress slid to the floor. As he sucked on one rosy tip and then the other, she spread her legs when he dipped his hand inside her tiny panties.

  She held his head to her breast, and cried out in pleasure when he rubbed his finger across her wet slit and then fingered her fast.

  “Please,” she choked out, but his mouth was too full to ask what she was begging for.

  Donovan flicked his fingers over her tight bud as he kissed back up her chest to take her hot mouth with his again. Clutching his shoulders, her moans were muffled as he brought her trembling body closer to orgasm. Emily undulated on his fingers, her willing body letting him do whatever he wanted.

  When she stiffened, he wrapped his hand around her ponytail and pulled her hair back so he could watch her come apart in his arms. Her eyes wide and her mouth open and gasping, Emily pressed her thighs together on his hand as she rode out the tremors.

  “I can’t believe that just happened,” she said shakily, as her eyes refocused.

  “You and me both, sweetheart. But I want to do it again.”

  “Donovan?” Trent called from outside.

  “Oh shit,” they both said at the same time and banged heads as they both bent down for her dress.

  “Stall him,” she hissed, pushing him toward the open doorway.

  Donovan staggered, rubbing his forehead. His body was still screaming for him to bury himself in Emily’s hot wetness. Adjusting himself the best he could, he walked out the door and blocked Trent just as he was coming up the stairs.

  “Hey, buddy.” Donovan clapped him on the arm and steered hi
m away from the door. “Looks good. You should be getting the certificate of occupancy soon, right?”

  “Yeah, what are you doing around here?”

  Emily popped out. “He drove me home. I was looking for you. I need to talk to you about something.”

  Donovan gave her a quick once-over. Aside from her nipples clearly outlined against her sundress, she didn’t look as if they’d been screwing around. He side-eyed Trent, but the guy didn’t seem to notice his soon-to-be sister-in-law was braless.

  “I’ll see you later, Donovan.” Emily smiled at him.

  Donovan wasn’t sure what that meant, but it was a damned uncomfortable walk back to his truck.

  Chapter Five

  Adrenaline was still racing through Emily. Her heart was pounding, but her legs felt like jelly. The last thing she wanted to do right now was talk business with Trent. No, she wanted to follow Donovan back to his hunting lodge and finish in his bed what they’d started. Emily was so glad she had finally kissed him properly. If she’d waited around for him to do it, it could have taken until his lease was up. Now that she knew she would only have to deal with the hunters crawling all over her family’s ranch for a few more years, it was bearable. Donovan was bearable and they could have fun.

  She missed having fun.

  As she sat across the desk from Trent, she tried not to blush because if Trent been five minutes earlier, he would have gotten an eyeful. It could have been much worse, though. Her father could have been with him.

  Things were still pretty tense between Trent and her dad. Trent was Alissa’s father, which had been an almost six-year mystery to everyone except Kelly. Her father, to put it mildly, lost his mind when he found out. Emily wasn’t sure what to think. At first, she blamed Trent. But then she realized he hadn’t known about Alissa. If he had, he would have moved heaven and earth to be with Kelly and his daughter.

  And now that he was going to marry her sister, her father was just going to have to make peace with him. But Frank Sullivan wasn’t known for his forgiving nature. Luckily, Trent didn’t hold a grudge. Still, it was going to be awkward to ask him to invest in her wind turbines. He had already done so much for the Three Sisters Ranch. He’d used his purse from riding a devil bull that nearly crippled him the first time, and almost killed him the second time, to buy the land that had his school and this new house on outright.

  “What can I do for you, Emily?” he asked as they walked back to his rodeo school where he, Kelly, and Alissa were living until the house was finished.

  “Where’s my sister?”

  “Alissa had a playdate with someone she met at the Y during her swimming lessons. They should be back by dinner.”

  “That’s good. I actually wanted to talk to you alone.” She didn’t want Trent to feel obligated to help her if he didn’t really want to. It was easier for him to say no if Kelly wasn’t there pressuring him to say yes. Emily followed him into the school and into his office. Trent pulled a water out of his fridge and offered her one. Crap, she left her veggie burger in Donovan’s truck. Oh well, that would just give her an excuse to go pick it up later. She accepted the water and took a deep drink. Her throat was dry from all that gasping and moaning. So much for not complicating things by having hot, sweaty sex with Donovan. Now that was going to be all she thought of. Well, that and the wind turbines.

  “What can I do for you?” Trent eased himself into his chair and propped his bad leg up on a padded stool, wincing.

  “You all right?”

  “Just a little stiff.”

  He would never admit to being in pain. “I went to the bank today. They turned me down for a loan.”

  “Why?”

  She blinked at the interruption. She was expecting him to say he was sorry or not say anything. “Well, while they thought it would be a good investment, they didn’t have a lot of confidence in me.”

  “They don’t know you well, do they?” Trent smiled at her.

  If he could only convince her parents of that.

  “They thought I was too young. I don’t have a credit history.”

  He snorted. “You’d think that was a good thing. No credit card debt or existing loans.”

  Emily felt her mood lighten a bit. “Right? Well, in addition to that, they didn’t count the Peace Corps as viable work experience. So I was shit out of luck.” She paused, gathering her nerve. “Would you be interested in being my partner for the wind turbines?” Emily blurted, leaning forward in her chair. She was eager to get her pitch out before he could say no. “Fifty-fifty split. Of course, you’d have to front all the money.” Hell, that sounded terrible even to her ears. This was a long shot. She didn’t bring anything to the table on this deal, except for the land and that wasn’t even hers.

  This was a disaster. No wonder the bank turned her down.

  “How much do you want?” he asked.

  Emily’s mouth dropped open and she sat stunned for a moment. “How much you got?” she said after she recovered. “The wind turbines are about forty thousand each. And they’ll return that investment in about five years.”

  “How much do you have?”

  She puffed out a humorless laugh. “Not enough.”

  “I’ve got an idea,” he said. “I’m not sure you’re going to like it.”

  “Hit me with it,” Emily said. “You’re my last hope.”

  “Kelly wants to take photographs. Janice is into her horse therapy business. And Frank isn’t getting any younger. I know it would ease his mind if one of the three of you were interested in ranching.”

  “I’d love to run this ranch, but I don’t have the experience to claim being a manager. That was part of the problem the bank had.”

  “I’ll loan you some money. I don’t want to go into business with you because I don’t want Frank to think I’m trying to take over the ranch one sister at a time. I also don’t feel right making a profit from the loan. So instead, I want you to make training to take over the ranch your job.”

  That sounded too good to be true. “What’s the catch?”

  “The catch is you have to convince your father that you’re the heir apparent. And that means you need to convince your sisters, get Nate on board, and ease any doubts in your parents’ minds that you can handle the responsibility.”

  For a minute, she had been afraid he was going to tell her the condition of the loan was that they had to keep raising beef cattle to slaughter. “I can do that,” she said quickly, before he changed his mind on the terms. “But I want to get at least ten turbines. Are you in for a half a million?”

  Trent choked on his water.

  She knew his purse from riding Corazon del Diablo was close to three million. But she also knew he’d spent a lot already, buying the land for his house and school from her father. Not to mention building his new house and putting money into his business. Plus, he was planning a wedding and there was also Alissa’s college fund to think about. Emily blew out a nervous sigh. “Of course, anything you can give me, I would be appreciative.”

  “I was thinking about half that,” Trent said.

  Emily couldn’t keep the grin off her face. “I won’t let you down.”

  “I know. Look, Kelly is really worried about your dad. If you can get him to retire by taking on his duties, it’ll be completely worth loaning you the money.”

  “You’re a good man, Trent. Especially since my dad has been a bit of a jerk to you.”

  “He’s my daughter’s grandfather. He doesn’t have to treat me like a son. As long as Alissa is the apple of his eye, he’s all right in my book.”

  “Are you kidding me?” Emily smiled. “She had him attending a tea party with her action figures the other day.”

  Nodding, Trent returned her smile. “That’s what I want for him. For both of them. With you and Nate working together, the Three Sisters Ranch will come back better than ever.”

  Except for that pesky cow-murdering thing. But one battle at a time. Still, her conscienc
e nudged her to let Trent know about her plans. She took in a deep breath. “I have some major changes I want to make to the ranch.”

  “That’s between you and your sisters. And after Frank’s retired.” Trent clamped his hands over his ears playfully. “Start off with the wind turbines and take it from there.”

  She stood up and put out her hand. “I appreciate the confidence you’re placing in me.”

  “Why wouldn’t I be confident in you? You basically ran a ranch in Ethiopia.”

  “Not even close. But I get what you’re saying. I’ve got transferable skills. I wish the bank had seen that.” She wished her family could see it.

  “More importantly, you have the drive and determination to make this work.”

  They hammered out the details for the next half hour or so and Emily left feeling confident and in control of her life for the first time in…well, ever.

  *

  Dinner that night was painful. Only her parents, Nate, and Janice were at the table. Her mom had made fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and some corn that they had canned from the summer crops. Emily substituted vegetarian chicken nuggets and tried not to feel like she was eating a kiddie meal.

  “How did everything go at the bank?” her father said as soon as her mother got done pouring them all iced tea.

  “Dad,” Janice said with a resigned sigh. “We don’t have to talk about this at the dinner table.”

  “It’s okay,” Emily said, reaching for a snowflake roll. “I got turned down for the loan.”

  Janice looked at her plate. Her parents exchanged knowing glances, but Nate said, “I’m sorry to hear that, Emily. I know you had your heart set on the wind turbines.”

  “I do, but don’t worry. They’re still going through.”

  “How?” her father asked scornfully.

  “I have some contacts from the Peace Corps who can help me out. And in the meantime, Trent loaned me some money.”

  Frank dug into his chicken angrily. He probably should be eating grilled chicken instead of chicken that had been buttermilk-dipped and fried in her mother’s special crushed corn flake and potato chip coating. And the butter and gravy drenching his mashed potatoes weren’t such a good idea either. But there was no telling him that. At least he was putting some weight on again.