Burke, the Kingpin (The Shamrock Trinity)

by Fayrene Preston

  “Then you’ve got yourself a deal.”

  * * *

  A particularly blue-skied morning graced the Sulphur Springs Valley as Bridget stooped to pull a perfectly formed head of lettuce from the rich soil. She shook it at Cara in satisfaction. “You won’t find a sweeter-tasting lettuce anywhere on the face of this earth, now will you?”

  “I’m certain you’re right.” Cara looked around her with gratitude. Here in Bridget’s garden where quiet and harmony prevailed, she allowed herself to relax and offer unspoken thanks. The last few days had passed peacefully. There had been no more attempts on Burke’s life, and there had been no more notes. And even though she had to consider the possibility that Burke was holding something back from her so that she wouldn’t worry, he appeared very relaxed and happy. It seemed to her he even frowned less now.

  Her gaze followed Bridget as she walked up and down the rows, fussing over the plants as if they were her babies. Cara had to smile. She herself had experienced Bridget’s motherly care, and she had seen the way she positively doted on the Delaney brothers. Underneath Bridget’s starchy primness was a woman with a maternal streak a mile long and with a lot of devotion to give.

  “Bridget, forgive me if I’m asking a question that’s out of line, but I’m curious about something. Why have you never married?”

  Showing surprise but not resentment at Cara’s question, the housekeeper straightened. “Well, now. I’ve always had responsibilities since I was but a girl. There was just never any time. Killara is not a house that runs smoothly on its own, is it?”

  “You’re very dedicated, and I’m sure the Delaneys have appreciated it, but haven’t you ever wanted something more?”

  “Faith! What’s brought all these questions about?’’

  Cara shoved her hands into the back pockets of her jeans and looked down at the toe of one boot. She wasn’t exactly sure of the answer to Bridget’s question. The truth of the matter was she had felt unsettled ever since she read her father’s letters. The letters had made her want to question the way she had chosen to live her life up to now, but she always stopped herself because she couldn’t consider this problem without also examining her relationship with Burke and how she felt about him.

  And added to her new knowledge of her father was the threat on Burke’s life. She would have felt horror if she had heard anyone’s life was in danger. But this wasn’t anyone. This was Burke, and horror didn’t begin to describe her feelings at the thought of something happening to him.

  She had gone into an affair with him, thinking she was doing so on her terms and she would be able to handle it when it was over. Now she was very much afraid she had been fooling herself. She was no more in control of her feelings about their affair than she was in control of the sun. When she allowed herself to think about it, it scared her.

  Since she didn’t want to go into all of it with Bridget, she said, “I’ve been thinking about you and Cougar. It’s obvious there’s something between you.”

  “Ach! Isn’t that the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard? I’m a home-loving woman, but a man like Cougar would never settle down. Cougar is a fitting name for that man! Why, you only have to look at him to see the wildness in him.”—her eyes cut uncertainly to Cara—“don’t you now?”

  “I admit that on the surface he appears a little unusual, but—”

  “Unusual!” Bridget harrumphed. “I should say so! A person certainly tends to look twice at him, don’t they? Why he’s a fine figure of a man, isn’t he? And his eyes, they remind me of black velvet, they’re so soft and dark. And his hands! Have you ever noticed his hands, Cara?”

  “Uh, no. I don’t think I have.”

  “They’re a man’s hands. Strong. A woman would know she’d been held if those hands held her, yes she would.” She nodded earnestly. “But then I’ve seen him pick up a wee baby bird that had fallen from its mother’s nest, I have, and with hardly a flutter, that bird settled right into his hand. Knew it was safe, it did.” Bridget’s eyes had taken on a distant look. “He would be able to make a woman feel safe too.”

  Cara knelt and began picking at stray weeds, leaving Bridget alone with her thoughts, and she with hers. It was funny, but Bridget had just described how Cara felt about Burke. She had noticed that Bridget had become softer, younger-looking, since Cougar had been on the ranch. She wondered if becoming Burke’s lover had wrought any changes in her that she was unaware of.

  A forceful voice suddenly sliced through the peace of the afternoon. “You shouldn’t have to be doing that! Doesn’t Burke have people to take care of the weeding for you?”

  Cara’s head jerked around to see Cougar addressing Bridget, who had also taken to weeding several yards away. Both women stood up, but it was Bridget who held Cougar’s attention.

  “A little work in the good earth never hurt a soul, now did it?” Bridget asked indignantly, while her hand checked to make sure no stray curls had escaped from her French twist.

  “I suppose that’s true. But a woman like you shouldn’t have to—”

  “A woman like me, indeed! I suppose you’re referring to my age. You must think these bones of mine are too old for this sort of thing, now don’t you? Well, I’ll have you know—”

  “As a matter of fact.” Cougar cut in quietly. “I think your bones are fit for all sorts of activities. Would you like to hear about them?”

  Bridget’s color heightened. “N-no, of course, I wouldn’t. Have you lost your mind?”

  “I think I’ve just found it. The truth of the matter is, neither one of us is getting any younger, and we’ve wasted entirely too much time already.”

  “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “And another thing! Why don’t you ever wear your hair down? You’ve got glorious hair, woman!”

  Cara didn’t wait to hear Bridget’s retort. She slipped away, sure that she wouldn’t be missed.

  * * *

  That evening Cougar and Bridget were nowhere to be found. Cara and Burke had dinner alone, undisturbed. Afterward they took a walk. Hand in hand they wandered across the lushly landscaped grounds immediately surrounding the house.

  Burke felt like a man both blessed and torn. It wasn’t easy to be so in love with a woman that he couldn’t stand to be away from her for even a minute, and at the same time, being in the position of having to give her time and space to come to love him too. And what if she didn’t? He pushed the thought away; it was intolerable.

  She had kicked off her shoes and was walking beside him, barefoot, humming a little tune under her breath. He hoped she was as happy and carefree as she seemed. Since they had become lovers, long hours spent with her had taught him much about her. In some respects he had never known a woman as open and as honest as Cara. Yet she still kept portions of herself out of reach. She was too practiced at pulling away quickly.

  Quicksilver.

  And the quintessential woman.

  A combination that had succeeded in knocking him for a loop.

  At first glance the dress Cara was wearing tonight was simple—a shirtwaist with a full bodice and a circular skirt. Yet it was made of golden silk, and the wide skirt lay over champagne lace petti-coats. He could hear the two fabrics murmuring and whispering as they strolled through the night. The sound enticed him.

  “I have some good news.”

  “Oh? Tell me,” Cara urged.

  “Cougar has uncovered a lead on Davis. He thinks that it’s only a matter of time until they have him.”

  “I hope so. I can’t stand the thought that some maniac is out there trying to kill you.”

  “The thought doesn’t exactly make my day either,” Burke said lightly, “but I have to face the fact that I have enemies. As long as they don’t attack my family or the people I love, though, I can handle it.”

  “How did you ever get a reputation for being hard and ruthless?” she asked in amazement.

  “It’s deserved, believe m
e.” A harshness roughened his words. “I will protect what is mine with all the power at my command.”

  There was that possessiveness. She chose to ignore it once again. “You are one of the most decent, caring men I’ve ever met in my life.”

  He laughed, pleased with her reaction. “I’m glad you think so. Maybe I should hire you as my PR person. What do you think?”

  “That sounds like a full-time job. I’m not sure I’d be up to it.”

  Burke cursed silently. She thought he was trying to tie her down. That she was right only made him realize he should tread more carefully. He squeezed her hand. “Think about it.” He stopped and turned to her. “I have a board meeting coming up in Tucson soon. Saturday to be precise.”

  Cara’s heart sank. That meant he would be leaving her again, and she hated the idea. But then, she told herself in the next instant, she shouldn’t. After all, there were no ties between the two of them, and she was being incredibly selfish, considering the two times he had had to leave the ranch had both been emergencies involving his brothers. “How long will you be gone?”

  “From Killara? I don’t know. Several days. From you? I was hoping no time at all. I’d like you to go with me. Remember? I mentioned it to you a couple of weeks ago. Did you forget?”

  “I guess I did.”

  “Will you come with me? I have some work to do and I thought you might enjoy a change of scene.”

  An illogical pulse of happiness spurted through her. “Yes, I’d like that.”

  He nodded. “Good. Rafe and York will be coming in on Saturday. I know they’d enjoy seeing you again after all these years.”

  “I don’t know about that,” she said doubtfully. “Though at any rate I’d really love to see them.”

  Nervously her tongue licked her bottom lip. “How do you think they’ll feel about me and you? You know—”

  “They’ll be delighted,” he finished for her, and raised her hand to his mouth for a tender kiss. “I thought we could fly into Tucson a day or two early. That way I could get some business done while you shopped or saw a few movies or whatever.”

  “You don’t have to worry about entertaining me, you know. You make whatever plans you need to, and I’ll adapt.”

  His fingers brushed her cheek lightly. “I guess I worry that you’ll get bored.”

  “Get bored with you?” Cara asked, genuinely incredulous. “Why on earth would you think that?”

  “You’re used to a jet-set type of life.”

  That a self-assured man like Burke Delaney would feel even a particle of uncertainty because of her made her feel very humble. “You listen to me,” she said solemnly. “I’ve seen the Seven Wonders of the World, but none of them have ever taken my breath away like you can. With just a look you can make me feel an exhilaration like nothing or no one ever has. If there’s a fear of boredom between us, then it’s that you will become tired of me.”

  He had become very still, totally riveted by her words. “Then we have no problem at all, do we?” he asked softly.

  Suddenly Cara broke free of Burke. With her laughter ringing through the night she did a spectacular series of cartwheels right across the lawn, finally collapsing amid a froth of silk and lace.

  Captivated by her unpredictability and exuberance, Burke came down beside her. “I don’t believe I’ve ever had anyone do cartwheels across my lawn at midnight!”

  “How extremely dull for you!”

  His hand covered her rapidly beating heart. “Are you as happy as you seem?”

  “Oh, yes. Very.”

  He buried his face in the soft skin at her neck. “It’s going to last,” he promised.

  She shivered as she felt his breath against her skin. “Make love to me, Burke.”

  He drew back. “Here? Now?”

  “Yes.” Her arms went around his neck. “I want you now!”

  His blood began to pound. Cara was a fantasy that had come to him, making his life more real and filling it completely. Her hair spread around her head on the dark green grass, silver as spun moonlight. Her wild sweet scent whirled around him.

  He crushed his mouth to hers, and she responded with a sudden desperation. As always, the raw passion that flamed so easily between them surprised him, but it shouldn’t have. At times like this he was sure that Cara had invented lovemaking. No woman had ever been so uninhibited with him, so wild. No woman had ever been able to take him so high and satisfy him so completely.

  Urgently his fingers sought her buttons until he had laid open the golden silk material and exposed the pale gold skin of her breasts. By the light of the moon her perfectly formed breasts were a sight to be worshiped, but the fast-rising heat building inside his body wouldn’t allow it. The fire within him demanded that his fingers cup the firm mounds, that his teeth gently pull at the rigid crests. He did, and she arched to him, making demands of her own.

  His hands went to her legs and beneath her dress he found no stockings, only bare silken flesh. A moan wrenched from her throat, and her hands joined his and slowly began to strip off her panties.

  Need drove him to capture, to have, to hold. There was no time to remove all their clothes, only the necessary items. He unzipped his trousers, and she reached for him. When her hand touched him, then closed around him, a fire flashed to the center of his stomach with the impact of an exploding bullet.

  She rolled on top of him, fitting them together, and the night closed in around them. No words were needed. Their bodies were in control. Their hands touched aggressively; their mouths ravaged.

  He held back, allowing her the freedom to move as her desires demanded. Her small palms pressed flat against his chest as her hips rotated urgently. His jaw clenched with the effort required of him, but the pain of his restraint was of the most exquisite type.

  From beneath his half-lowered lids he saw her above him. Her breasts gently swayed inside the gaped bodice of her dress, and her nipples were harder than he had ever seen them. Her head was thrown back, her lips were parted, and a deep sweet moan came from her throat.

  It was all too much. He pulled her down to him, and she poured herself over him, liquid and hot as starlight, driving him to madness... and then beyond.

  Eight

  “Now, I hate to admit it, but I wager Killara will do very well without me indeed!” Bridget nodded her head emphatically and adjusted her apron. Her red hair spilled in a series of ripples down her back, completely free of any restraining pins. “Why I’m sure Esther Copeland can do just as good as I.” She paused in midnod and her brow knitted doubtfully. “Well... perhaps not quite as good, but a reasonable enough job, I’m sure, aren’t I?”

  “Are you?” Cara’s uncertain tone revealed her difficulty in adjusting to Bridget’s sudden decision to leave Killara and make a new life with Cougar. “Bridget, I knew there were feelings between you and Cougar, but—this! You’re talking about throwing over your whole way of life.”

  Bridget refilled Cara’s coffee cup, then her own. “I suppose I am, aren’t I?”

  “It—it just seems so drastic!” Cara tried to calm herself down and to analyze as objectively as possible her shock at Bridget’s decision. After all, it was really none of her business. Still, Cougar and Bridget’s marriage plans seemed to probe at something sensitive inside her, and she couldn’t say why. “Bridget, you made your decision literally overnight. Don’t you think you should take a little more time and think about it?”

  Bridget blushed at the reference to overnight, but remained resolute. “Cara, lass, listen to me. It’s not as sudden as you think. Cougar and I have known each other for a while, but we were two people who had lived single our whole lives and were set in our ways, now weren’t we? And we were each of us afraid to be the one to speak first.”

  “So what happened? What was the one thing that made you know he was right for you?”

  Bridget shrugged her broad shoulders. “Who’s to say? You can’t analyze these things too much, lass, or you’ll g
o crazy. Maybe the sun was in the right spot yesterday afternoon when he came to the garden. Maybe the moon was the right fullness last night when—” She turned her head away to pat her French twist, but instead found her hair loose. “Well, never mind. That’s not important, is it now?”

  Cara took a sip of her coffee. “I’m sorry, Bridget. I shouldn’t be interfering. It’s just that some things have been bothering me lately, that’s all. A lot has happened to me since I’ve been on Killara.”

  Bridget cast her a shrewd glance. “And you’re trying to make some decisions of your own now aren’t you?”

  “I thought I had already made them,” Cara said dryly.

  “Ach! But then life is never tidy, is it?”

  “No. I suppose not, but”—a heavy sigh escaped from her—“it would be a lot easier if it were.”

  “Easier, yes, but perhaps not as exciting.”

  Cara’s eyebrows rose with surprise at Bridget’s statement. The older woman hadn’t made it a question.

  “I know what you’re thinking, don’t I? That Cougar and I are two very different people, and that what I’m about to do is a gamble.”

  “Well, yes. I guess that is what I’m thinking.”

  “I’ve had a good life on Killara. Up until yesterday I had fully expected—and even looked forward—to ending my days here. But I’ve gone my whole life without someone of my very own to love and to love me back, haven’t I?” She nodded her head emphatically. “Then Cougar came along. Now, he’s a man who strikes one as half wild, doesn’t he though? But you know what he told me yesterday?”

  Cara shook her head. “What?”

  “He has a small ranch, all his very own, in a beautiful little valley in the upper part of the state. Using every spare moment he’s had these past few years, he’s built it up, and now he says it’s ready to be a home and not just a ranch. Can you imagine that?”

  “That is wonderful, Bridget.”

  “This is my chance, Cara, and I’m going to take it. I don’t want to get to the end of my life and have nothing but regrets for a love I wasn’t brave enough to reach out for, now do I?”