So Not a White Knight

by Starla Kaye

  She slid between them into the tiled foyer before turning back. “No car. And I didn’t drive here, at least not exactly.” Her teeth chattered.

  Calhoun closed the door against the sharp winter breeze and watched her pull off a battered pink Stetson, unveiling chin-length strawberry-blonde hair. “What does ‘not exactly’ mean?” He added, “Who are you, anyway?”

  She worried her trembling lower lip and glanced from him to Daniel and back. She pulled off a glove and stuck out her hand. “Ruby McMurtry.”

  Instead of taking her hand, he puffed up in annoyance. “You’re late! Where’s your father?”

  She started to lower her hand, glowering at him. But he noticed something besides anger in the depths of those enchanting eyes. He couldn’t get a handle on the emotion.

  While he tried to calm down, wishing he hadn’t jumped on her, Daniel reached out and shook her very red-looking hand.

  “You feel like ice,” he said in concern. He took a second to scowl at him.

  As she blinked at her hand sandwiched between Daniel’s, her already pink-chilled cheeks turned pinker. “I should’ve worn my thicker gloves,” she muttered in clear discomfort. When she managed to slip free, she glared at him.

  A twinge of guilt about his rude behavior passed through him, but his anger came out first as he repeated himself. “Where’s your father? I have a serious bone to pick with him.”

  Those eyes that still captivated him welled up with tears. His gut tightened.

  Her lower lip wobbled and she sputtered, “He…he…he’s dead.”

  The big cowboy—Calhoun Cordell, she recognized from researching the Circle C Ranch on the Internet—lost his bluster and shifted uncomfortably. Ruby didn’t doubt his upset with the situation, but he seemed at a momentary loss of what to say to her. After a second, he mumbled, “Sorry.” Something she’d heard far too many times over these last few weeks.

  She nodded, dashed at the ridiculous tears, darn tired of getting all weepy every time someone mentioned her father. Her heart pinched, too. Darn, darn, darn! She didn’t want to let these men see her cry, have them witness this weak side of her.

  In the awkward few seconds when no one spoke, she considered turning around and walking right back out the door. She didn’t need this particular job. She and her father always had a long list of ranchers wanting their services—her services since he’d departed. She’d come here because her dad had made this arrangement and she’d felt honor bound to follow through with the agreement. Plus, she’d read up about Starbright and couldn’t bear the much-praised mare suffering when she could help her.

  Before she could speak again or move, the sexy man with thinning, neatly trimmed brown hair gave her a kind smile. “How about we take this conversation into a more comfortable place? Take your coat off and you can warm up in front of the fire.”

  Cordell’s rugged face remained pinched, less hostile, but she thought he wanted to send her on her way. Without her father, he didn’t appear to think about her working with his horse.

  Maybe because of all the massive problems she’d dealt with lately, she was in the mood to push his buttons. She wasn’t ready to head back out into the cold day just yet. She gave him a dismissive glance and drew up a thankful smile for the other man. “Sounds like a good idea to me.” She trembled from head to toes that felt numb and not an act for their benefit.

  Impressive shoulders sagged beneath the cowboy’s blue chambray shirt. The tightness left his square jaw, and she noticed a sexy little cleft in his chin. He didn’t say a word, just nudged her to move.

  The enormous room, with an inviting mix of olive-green walls and lots of warm, dark-oak trim, fit the sprawling two-story log house. It was filled to capacity with oversized, deep-brown leather, Western-style furniture. Every one of the pieces had thick cushions perfect for sinking into. A massive square, wooden coffee table covered with a mix of ranching, car and truck, and business magazines sat in the middle of three sofas. But her gaze went to the stone fireplace spanning the entire wall straight ahead. Two chairs, an ottoman, and a recliner faced it. A perfect spot for warming up in front of the blazing fire.

  She didn’t have to be asked twice. The room called to her, and she slipped off her coat to hand to him. She kept her slouchy bag with her and all but ran to one of the chairs by the fireplace. Every inch of her body ached from too many hours driving and the long walk from her truck to the house. She plopped down with a sigh of pure contentment.

  In less than a second, she closed her eyes and began to nod off—the moment ruined by his heavy footsteps pounding next to her.

  “Are you ready to talk yet? Explain why the hell you didn’t tell me about your father when we spoke on the phone yesterday?” he asked in a brusque manner.

  She kept her eyes closed, wishing the vexing man would leave her alone just for a few minutes. If she didn’t respond, didn’t look at him, maybe he would.

  “Are you sleeping?” he asked in a near growl, laced with disbelief.

  Huffing, she opened her eyes to find him towering over her, still holding her coat. “If you’d give me a minute’s worth of peace and quiet, I could conk out. Not going to happen, is it?”

  He snorted.

  The other man of nearly the same height moved beside him and touched his shoulder. “Cal, she’s dead on her feet.” He winced. “Sorry. That was thoughtless of me.”

  She understood his regret about using the “dead” word. It hadn’t bothered her. She liked this striking, polished man who seemed quite opposite the rougher-edged cowboy. “It’s all right.” A stupid lump of emotion clogged her throat, and she swallowed hard. “I’m still having trouble accepting Dad’s gone,” she said in a near whisper.

  “I can imagine.” He sat on the matching leather ottoman in front of her. “By the way, I’m Daniel Patterson. His…friend.”

  She wondered at his hesitation and the way he glanced up at Cordell. The cowboy tensed a second and nodded as if they’d made some kind of silent agreement. Whatever was going on between them didn’t matter two cents to her. She kept out of other people’s personal business, but she sensed they were more than friends.

  Having Mr. Rough Tough Cowboy standing there, tapping his boot, annoyed her. The walk here had done her in; sitting down made her realize that even more. But he wouldn’t be satisfied to give her any kind of peace. He wanted to go nose-to-nose about her lateness and the situation with her father.

  “Would you sit down,” she grumbled, looking right at him. “If you just stop glowering at me, I’ll talk.”

  To her surprise, a faint hint of red spread beneath his sexy-as-heck day-or-so’s worth of beard stubble. He tossed her coat on the nearby recliner and sat in the other chair.

  “I apologize for acting like a….” He seemed at a loss for a description of his rather rude behavior.

  Helpful, she supplied one. “An ass.”

  He blinked. The action smoothed the crow’s feet at the corners of his brown eyes. She noted a hint of amusement before it disappeared.

  Daniel guffawed, capturing her attention.

  She thought about how much she liked this man, even with only limited impressions so far. Generally, she wasn’t drawn to a man like him, GQ perfect, cultured, and mannered. He could teach the cowboy a lot, if given the chance. As a down-to-earth woman, earthy men were her weakness. Yet, something about him appealed to her.

  Not wanting to think along those lines, she glanced back at the rancher with his tousled, dark hair and her foolish heart skipped a beat. Oh great! He’d been pretty surly so far, but that was largely her fault. Besides, she’d always been attracted to a cowboy in faded, worn jeans that hugged long, muscled legs and showed off his taut ass, like his boot-cut jeans.

  She didn’t want to be thinking about him either. She was exhausted, that was all. Well, and she’d become too focused on the fact she was still a v-i-r-g-i-n, in big capital letters. Until losing her father, they’d stayed so busy she’d never take
n time for more than some innocent kissing and minor petting. Her father had done his best to keep the flirtatious cowboys they ran into away from her. But her life had changed, her hormones were going crazy. She lusted, yearned, and was half-blinded with curiosity about the whole male/female relationship thing. Dangerous business.

  Heaving a disgusted sigh, she shoved the irrational notions away to deal with at a better time. You’re here on business. You’d best remember that, Ruby Tuesday McMurtry.

  “Are you all right?” Daniel asked when she’d been quiet too long.

  Her face heated. “Yes, sorry, zoned out there for a second.”

  She looked straight at Cordell and decided to cut him some slack. “Think we could start over? I won’t act testy and you won’t act all gruff.” She pulled out the warmest smile she could muster. “I apologize for showing up late today. My truck ran out of gas down on your ranch road. So I hotfooted it here.”

  “You could have called me.” He studied her with a creased brow and narrowed eyes. “I would have gone to get you.”

  Avoiding his annoyed gaze, she glanced at the bag she’d set down next to her chair. “If I’d remembered to charge my cell phone last night, I would have.” She looked up and added, “And, no, I don’t have a car charger. Lost it somewhere, and I haven’t gotten around to getting another one.”

  Calhoun sat down and listened instead of acting like a jerk. His anger faded. When she had been irritated with him, he bristled in reaction. With her calmer, he found her soft, rusty voice soothing. For the moment at least, he would hear her out about why she’d kept a secret from him. But he knew he would have to find the other man’s name the vet gave him to contact about Starbright. He would deal with the problem tomorrow. At this point, one more day didn’t matter.

  “What happened to your father? If you don’t mind me asking,” Daniel spoke gently, moving to stand next to his chair.

  “He….” She closed her eyes and drew in what appeared to be a steadying breath before opening them again. “He had a heart attack.” She swallowed hard, blinked. “Dad hadn’t been sick much in his whole life. Strong, fit.” Once more she blinked at tears ready to spill out. “We were packing the trailers, getting ready to head here. He just…he just collapsed.”

  He sensed Daniel fighting the urge to go to her, probably to pull her into his arms for a reassuring hug. The man might be a hard ass in the boardroom, but he had an enormous heart. Few knew he soothed people when they needed comforting. He’d had done that with him numerous times since they’d gotten together—going on two years ago. He remained in place, silent.

  When a tear managed to escape and slide down her cheek, he experienced the same distress as earlier, when she’d admitted her father died. Something about a woman crying always got to him.

  He got up and went to her. She looked so small, so defenseless, kind of lost. He didn’t mean to touch her. Yet, he reached down and wiped away the tear with a thumb. His gut tightened at her velvety-soft skin. He hadn’t been this close to a woman in a while, caressed one…or had sex with one. He almost backed away.

  But she held him in place by looking up at him with her sad eyes. Misery lurked in the depths. As their gazes remained locked, the heat of awareness fired in them. She drew in a shaky breath. Her pretty brow furrowed as if in confusion. His reactions to this stranger, this young woman whose emotions were all over the place, puzzled him. One moment she bristled, another she challenged him, and in another she pulled on his heartstrings with her pain.

  Before he could move, the furnace kicked on, blowing warm air around them, mixing in her light floral scent as it surrounded him. He also caught the essence of her. His body tensed; his cock hardened.

  Shocked, he pulled his hand back and stepped away. This was wrong. He felt as if he were betraying Daniel. He would never betray him.

  Guilt weighing on him, he turned to the windows, unable to face either of them. “We should go get your car,” he blurted out.

  “Truck,” she corrected, sounding bewildered by his abrupt change in mood.

  His cock hadn’t softened when he put distance between them. He could still smell her, hear her sensual voice. No way could he take her to her truck. He needed time to get his body back to normal and get his head straight.

  “I’ll get a ranch hand to go with you. You can stay in one of the guest rooms tonight.” He hesitated. “Before you leave, I’ll pay you for making the effort to come here.”

  Without looking at either of them, he strode across the room toward the doorway. “I need to find that phone number for the other horse whisperer.”

  In the next instant, she moved right behind him. She grabbed a belt loop. “Whoa, Cordell! We need to talk.”

  He brushed her hand away and turned around. Her vivid green eyes no longer looked sad; they flashed with anger. The plump breasts he’d been trying not to notice strained the fabric of her pink plaid Western shirt. Otherwise, she stood stiff, her temper appearing to sizzle. Damn if he didn’t find her cute as hell.

  And that notion frightened the bejesus out of him. He needed to get as far away from her as possible. “We’ll talk tomorrow. You need to get your truck and get some rest.” He shifted back. “I have business to tend to.”

  The tenacious woman stepped right up to him. “This business being to call another horse whisperer.” She tilted her chin up and met him eye-to-eye. “Well, cowboy, I’m the second best one in the country.” Sadness slipped back into her eyes, but determination remained as well. “The best now with my father dead.”

  God, those expressive eyes were killing him. He fought the urge to tug her into his arms and hold her until she’d shed every tear, until the grief left. Doing that would be a huge mistake for so many reasons. He mentally shielded himself against her.

  “Forget it. I’m not letting a puny little thing like you anywhere near Starbright.” If she’d worked alongside her father, Calhoun would no doubt have been okay. Maybe. But the idea of her being alone anywhere near the powerful, troubled, and crazed mare scared the devil out of him. His heart raced.

  The woman had no back down in her. She thrust her chin higher. “I’m not puny! I’m not big and muscled like you, but I can take care of myself with any animal.”

  He snorted at the foolish declaration and shook his head. “Not with my horse. Starbright can’t be trusted with most work-hardened men, including me at times. There is no way I could trust her not to do you serious harm.”

  Once more he turned to walk away.

  This time Daniel stopped him. “Give her a chance to at least tell you about her credentials. Let her explain her abilities to work with a traumatized animal.”

  He spun to glower at his friend, who looked every bit as resolute as he felt. “No.”

  The man gave him a censuring look and ground his jaw. They would have words later. But he wasn’t going to change his mind.

  When he glanced at Ruby, her shoulders were tense, her body rigid. But instead of arguing with him, she stormed back to the recliner and grabbed her coat, jerking it on. Grumbling to herself, she snagged her oversized bag and marched past them both and toward the foyer.

  Daniel’s expression grew stonier, pissed at him.

  “What are you doing?” he asked gruffly.

  “Leaving,” she snapped over her shoulder. “I don’t need this job. I came here out of respect for my father’s agreement with you. And out of concern for Starbright.” She picked up her pace, not bothering to glance at him.

  “You can’t just leave. I have to get one of the hands first,” he blustered, unable to believe her boldness.

  “I don’t need help—yours or anyone else’s.” She stiffened. “I’m going back to my rig, grabbing a gas can, and walking to the nearest town. Not any of your concern.”

  “The hell you are!” He strode after her. Lord a’mighty, what an obstinate female.

  She stopped long enough to look in his direction and hiss, “The hell I’m not!”

 
Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  For Ruby’s Love by Starla Kaye