Home on the Ranch: Colorado Cowboy

by Patricia Potter

  He thought about another small town, one that wasn’t able to adjust. It was just an empty place in the road now. Fear had torn it apart, had torn his family apart.

  “What are you thinking?” she asked as if she was reading his mind. “You look very serious,” she observed.

  “About another town, years ago,” he said. “It didn’t fare as well.”

  She was silent for a moment, then moved closer and leaned against him. He noted how well she fit there.

  “Your home?” she asked softly.

  He nodded. “For a while.”

  “And then?”

  He usually passed off questions about his childhood by shrugging, but now he wanted her to know things he’d never told anyone else. “A lot of places. Seven of them before I graduated from high school and enlisted.”

  “Were you in a Military family?” she asked.

  “No,” he said without elaborating. He’d always been ashamed that no one had wanted him, and that he’d been tossed between relatives like an unwanted pair of shoes.

  “Is that why you’re uncomfortable with staying anywhere long? No roots.”

  “Part of it, I suppose,” he admitted. “But I also like traveling and meeting all kinds of people.”

  “You really do like it?” she asked.

  “I do,” he said with certainty, crushing the seed of doubt growing in his mind.

  As if reading his mind, she lifted herself on tiptoe and put her arms around him. “I like you,” she said, then ruined it by adding, “You’re really helping with the guys.”

  “Is that the only reason?”

  “Are you fishing for compliments, Mr. Taylor?”

  “Yeah,” he admitted.

  “Okay, you look like a bear, but you’re really a softie.”

  “My patients wouldn’t agree. I can be fierce.”

  “Only because you care,” Susan said. “I like other things, as well. I like the manly walk.”

  “Manly walk?”

  “Like James Arness in Gunsmoke.”

  He gave her a disbelieving look. “You watch Gunsmoke?”

  “Watch the reruns. I love them. And not just to learn how to mount a horse.”

  “And I look like I’m going to a gunfight?”

  “Well you look like no one should start one with you. You ride better than you should after a few days. You have all the earmarks of a real honest-to-God cowboy.”

  “And you have moonlight in your hair,” he said, focusing the conversation on her. He didn’t want to talk about himself. He wanted to talk about Susan. He leaned over and pulled the long braid over her shoulder. He wondered how it looked loose and spread over a pillow.

  Stop thinking about it.

  But he couldn’t stop himself from leaning over, lifting her chin and tracing his fingers over her face, photographing it in his mind.

  She reached up to his face in turn, studying it. It was as if she was looking into his soul, searching for something she believed was there, and his heart sped faster. He’d had relationships. Short ones based on the knowledge that it would be over in a few days or, at the longest, a few weeks. He’d made them light and fun, and the second a relationship seemed to turn serious for either partner, he left.

  But now he leaned down and touched his lips to hers, and it wasn’t fun and games. He felt, instead, as if the world turned upside down.

  His arms went around her and the kiss deepened. There was something about the moonlight on the falls—about a midnight-blue sky with a thousand stars and the music of the water tumbling over the cliff. It was an unreal world.

  He felt caught in a whirlwind he couldn’t control. There were only those blue eyes and a vulnerability mixed with uncertainty and desire. She should be untouchable for him. Still, he couldn’t make himself step back. She felt good, too damn good, and he realized how he’d been damned lonely for that kind of warmth. He reveled in the kiss, her response to it. Her body melded into his, and her lips opened to his. Passion blazed between them.

  She slipped her hands around his neck and drew him closer. His body responded accordingly. He was befuddled by its longing, his longing, and was locked someplace between disbelief and enchantment. With a groan, he released her lips and studied her face.

  Her blue eyes glistened with wonder. Her body trembled against his, telegraphing a need as strong as his own.

  Move away. His brain commanded but his body didn’t obey. She aroused every masculine instinct in him, and he wanted desperately to take her back to the inn and make love.

  Damn, it had been there since the beginning. The whiff of attraction, the passing touch, the meeting of eyes, the smiles that turned to laughter.

  He felt caught in a whirlwind he couldn’t control.

  How could his world be turned upside down so quickly?

  Physical attraction was great, but how long did it last? He couldn’t deny, though, that something powerful was drawing him to her and had since he first met her.

  Her hand reached up and touched his face in a wondering kind of way as if she too was amazed at the combustibility between the two of them.

  His breath caught and he did what he’d wanted to do since the first time she’d teased him about Hobo in the bathroom. His lips touched hers lightly at first, then with fierceness he couldn’t control.

  She leaned into the embrace and responded with a fervor of her own.

  He forced himself to stop before he did something both of them might regret. He stepped back and regarded her somberly. “You’re thinking too hard,” she said, once again reading his thoughts.

  “I do that sometimes,” he said. “It’s one of my failings.”

  “You give the appearance of the opposite. Carefree. Life is an adventure.”

  “I have a few responsible moments,” he said wryly and his fingers tightened around hers as he said the words. “And you. Have you had carefree moments?”

  “Oh yes. Once. I grew up here and on the whole it was a great life. Horseback riding, Skiing. Everyone knew everyone and it was safe. I didn’t really have a father. He left my mother when I was a kid but I was surrounded in love by my mother and her family.

  “But when it came to college, I wanted what you have. Freedom. Adventures. I thought a degree in hospitality management would give it to me. I envisioned working in hotels here and abroad. I wanted to explore the big world. After college, I accepted a job at a casino resort in Vegas. A trainee position that could lead to a permanent marketing job.”

  Her hand tightened on his. “It was like wonderland. Great food. Celebrities. A good salary and the promise of a better one. A great guy who was a manager in marketing.”

  Ross noted a change in her voice when she said the last great and pulled her closer to him.

  “I fell in love, or thought I did,” she said. “Richard was my boss. He was helpful, attentive, good-looking, great with guests. If I detected anything wrong it was his overprotectiveness. But at the time I was in a dazzling world, having dinner with the top talent who played at the casino and other celebrities. He pressed marriage way too soon, but I had stars in my eyes.” She halted.

  His hand tightened on hers. He sensed what was coming.

  “I was good at my trainee job. I had a lot of marketing ideas that I passed on to Richard. “I was pretty naive and should have suspected something when he told everyone I was his ‘country girl.’ But I thought I was in love, and stupidly married him. It was the biggest mistake in my life.”

  She took a deep breath. “He convinced me to keep it secret, that the management did not allow married couples in the same department. Eight months after our marriage, I was fired.

  “I was stunned. I didn’t understand why until I talked to a friend who was a secretary in the marketing department. She told me that our marriage had been reported, and Richard admitte
d it. He also took credit for all my work. I was fired but he was not. He thought, though, that I could still produce marketing ideas and plans for which he could take sole credit.

  “I finally figured out that was why he married me. His job was in trouble. He was a glad-hander, but not very imaginative. Marrying me was a way to keep innovative projects coming.

  When I finally put everything together, I left him, filed for divorce and looked for other jobs. But he was vindictive and tried to sabotage every prospective job. He was pretty successful at it.”

  Ross’s arms tightened around her. “One tough girl from the country,” he interjected.

  “No one else thought so. Wonderland turned into hell,” she said.

  “I divorced him and took back my maiden name. He retained his job and found a new bright assistant that created work he put forth as his own. I tried to get other jobs in the area but he always heard about it and managed to ruin my reputation. He even found me three states away in small boutique hotel. And thus my thirst for adventure ended.”

  “I would like to meet him someday,” Ross said. He hoped his tone conveyed it would not be a pleasant meeting.

  “He’s not worth a second thought,” she said. “I heard from a friend he’d been fired. I know managers are credited with work done by their subordinates, but he always claimed they were his alone, that he was the creative person behind them.”

  “Where is he now?” Ross asked.

  “At the ends of the earth, I hope. He was eventually fired. What bothers me is how I could have been so...stupid.”

  “One thing you are not is stupid,” Ross interjected. “You’re the most capable and caring woman I’ve met.”

  She smiled at that. “I think you’re prejudiced because I let you give your dog a bath in my house.”

  “Well, there is that,” he said with a grin. “For some dumb reason, I was quite besotted with that mischievous smile when you left me there and escaped.” Then the smile disappeared as he returned to the previous topic. “Did you ever see him again?”

  She shook her head. “No. I came limping back to Covenant Falls. Eve, who was city manager at the time and childhood friend, hired me to do some promotion for the city and help get state grants for the town. Covenant Falls gave me my life back, along with restoring my self-confidence. I won’t ever hide or run away again. He’s part of the reason I learned karate. So watch it, mister.”

  “Did he ever hit you?” he asked, ready to go find the bastard wherever he may be.

  “Our last encounter, he did. I hit him back. It was very satisfying.”

  Her dark blue eyes smoldered. Color rushed into her cheeks and she looked beautiful in that moment. Like a warrior.

  The electricity that had been sizzling between them ignited. Her eyes were anything but cool now.

  All the air in his lungs expelled in a gasp. He felt her edging toward him, and his arms went around her.

  His lips touched hers and explosions rocked him to the toes.

  He was stunned. He’d vowed not to get involved and now he was doing exactly that. He was stunned even more when her body melded into his, and her lips opened to him and passion blazed between them...

  * * *

  All of Susan’s good intentions evaporated as he kissed her.

  The attraction between them had built steadily since that first night. She’d tried to ignore it, but it was there, growing stronger each hour she spent with him. She’d gravitated toward him even as she vowed to stay away.

  The second his lips touched hers she knew she wanted this to happen.

  She looked at him helplessly. She was only too aware of her words spoken only minutes before.

  His lips left hers, his gaze searching her face, his fingers touching her cheek. Then he leaned down again and his lips brushed hers. This time it was a tentative touch. Tender, yet crackling. Every nerve in her seemed to come alive. The core of her warmed.

  “I know,” he said in a hoarse voice. “Bad idea. Terrible idea. But, dammit, I wanted to kiss you.” His thumb went to her cheeks, stroking them lightly. Then he bent down and his lips touched her forehead before moving—very, very slowly to her mouth. Explosions rocked her to her toes.

  There was restraint in his kiss. His tongue moved slowly, seeking a response and finding it. One that was as needy as his. He pulled her against him and her body hugged his, setting every part of her ablaze.

  “This is not wise,” he said again.

  “No,” she agreed but stretched up on tiptoe and circled his neck with her arms. “But I don’t care.”

  The air was thick with emotion. His fingers curled around her neck, and her body seemed to melt into his. He kissed her again, this time more gently. Lips touched lips with featherlike gentleness, each of them prolonging the discovery as the kiss deepened, each step relished as they explored each other.

  His hands loosened the elastic on the long braid and his fingers combed through it until it tumbled free.

  He bent down to renew the kiss when the sound of approaching cars startled both of them. They looked at each other, then broke apart and tried to look proper. Like friends.

  She suspected they wouldn’t fool anyone, that they looked guilty as hell, which was stupid. They were adults but, darn it, she felt like a teenager caught doing something she shouldn’t.

  “Curses,” Ross said. “I don’t suppose we can sneak away.”

  “‘Curses?’” she asked with a sudden humor that made her smile. “A bit old-fashioned, are we?”

  Did he always have to surprise her?

  “And to answer your question,” she added, “no, we can’t sneak away and get to my Jeep unless we hide in the woods.”

  “Your face is flushed,” he said.

  “Your hair is mussed,” she replied. “I think we’re getting caught red-handed.”

  Three teenage couples were laughing as they turned into the picnic area. They stopped suddenly when they saw Susan and Ross. Apparently they’d assumed her Jeep belonged to someone in their age group.

  They appeared to be juniors or seniors. They stared at Ross and Susan with amazement, then dismay.

  “It’s okay,” Susan said to them. She recognized them as local high school students. “We’re leaving and since it doesn’t look like you have alcohol, I’m not saying anything if you don’t. Kids, this is Ross Taylor. He’s helping out at New Beginnings. I’m showing him the falls.”

  The kids snickered.

  Ross held his hand out to Susan and she took it. With as much dignity as they could muster, they took the path and walked around the stand of trees before looking at each other, nearly choking with laughter.

  “I think we had guilty faces,” he said with a grin. “We’ll probably be the topic of conversation tomorrow.”

  “You know small towns too well,” she quipped back. “But I don’t think so. The horror on their faces meant they probably weren’t supposed to be here.”

  “I think we’ll find out which of us is right very quickly,” he said. “Want to make a bet?”

  “Done,” she said.

  Chapter 13

  Hobo gave them a frantic tail-wagging welcome when they reached Susan’s Jeep, but despite the lightness of their departure from the falls, they were silent for much of the drive back to the inn.

  Susan wasn’t sure what had happened in those minutes in the moonlight except that the ground seemed to shift under her. Her solid foundation was failing her.

  Previously, her mother and Josh were the only two people who knew what happened in Vegas, but now it was important he knew she could take care of herself. She’d been shocked when Josh asked her to manage the hotel after she’d made some suggestions during construction and she felt she had to tell him.

  The inn had become her life. From the moment Josh mentioned it, she knew to her bones what she w
anted to do with it. And she had. After the first year, Josh had given her a free hand.

  She’d relished every moment. She practically lived in the inn, much to Vagabond’s displeasure. She’d ordered the furnishings, the linens, the napkins with the legend of the Covenant Falls camels, created the dinner menus with a cook she chose. She created the website and artwork for the signage.

  It was her future. After returning to Covenant Falls, she knew she wasn’t leaving again. The Camel Trail Inn was her salvation.

  “Now you know my life story, what about yours?” she asked after several pregnant moments in the car. “Fair is fair. You said you moved a lot?”

  “There’s not much to tell,” he said. “I was passed between relatives who really didn’t want another kid in the house. I didn’t help much. I was pretty angry.”

  “And now you’re one of the most laid-back people I’ve met,” she said.

  “Ah, the army did that. It didn’t tolerate bad behavior. After a brief rebellion, I was tested, and the powers that be sent me through army medic training. I had a natural bent for it, and I could do something beneficial for my fellow soldiers rather than kill the enemy. I found something I was good at, and I found a family in the army. I discovered a lot of guys who also drew a short straw growing up. How they dealt with it was the important thing.”

  “Then why did you leave?”

  “I tried to be the best medic I could be. But after three tours I knew I didn’t want to spend twenty years trying to save people too injured for me to really help. I looked at options and liked the idea of helping people surmount injuries. That’s about it.”

  “Except for the wandering,” she corrected.

  He shrugged. I like the freedom involved. I like the travel. I like choosing the type of cases I take. They range from temporary stints at VA facilities to stuntmen and everything in between.”

  “How did you come to work with actors?”