Rawhide and Roses

by Maddie James

  But it had turned into more than that. They had been turning quite a profit. In turn, Thad was becoming quite the businessman. And after three years, he took that business quite seriously.

  That’s why he hated to see inexperienced riders on his horses. And why in the hell they decided to lie, make it appear they had more experience in the saddle than they had, he’d never know. Didn’t they realize that they were only making things difficult for themselves?

  And everyone else.

  Like the blonde. He’d heard her tell Mack that she used to ride when she was younger. Having your daddy lead you around on a pony twice a year does not constitute having ridden horses. And Mack, he was going to have to have another talk with him. He was so damned gullible when it came to a pretty face. He took their every word to heart.

  So he’d put the cute blonde on Rosie. Rosie was a big horse, too big for the barely five foot and two-by-nothin’ woman, and used to someone who at least knew how to handle the reins.

  He’d known there would be trouble from the git-go. And now, here he was, staring down at trouble like she owned the place.

  Chapter Two

  “Kim! Wake up!”

  Someone shook her shoulder. Jillie? Oh, why didn’t she just leave her the heck alone and let her sleep until this nightmare was over?

  She raised a hand to her face and tried to rub away the cobwebs. Had she passed out there for a moment? The last thing she remembered was arcing over Rosie’s head like Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson vaulting over a pommel horse.

  No, that wasn’t the last thing she remembered.

  Her eyes fluttered open. A jet black, hooded gaze stared back. Simultaneously, her brain and body jerked into alert mode.

  Kim jumped to her feet again, angry that she’d let herself in for this kind of humiliation.

  “Sit down.” Large hands forced her back to the ground. Before she knew it, those hands were expertly groping over each of her legs, sliding up and down as if in search of something.

  Jerking back, she kicked away from him. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” He caught one tennis-shoed foot in his hand to halt her kicking. “Get away from me.”

  He crouched beside her. “No broken bones there, that’s for sure, what about your arms?” he asked gruffly, then released her foot. Kim drew her legs beneath her.

  “My arms are fine. Stop!” She wasn’t hurt and she wanted him gone. Someone in the crowd snickered as the last shred of her dignity was stripped away at his manhandling.

  “Let me see.”

  Roughly, he grasped one upper arm and pulled it out straight. His callused hands ran up and down her smooth skin to the point where her t-shirt sleeve began. Then he inspected the other. “I think you’re okay. What about your head?”

  “I’m fine.” she rubbed her forehead. “Just a little bump.” Kim figured she’d passed out more from hyperventilating while speeding down the mountain than anything. She hadn’t hit her head that hard, if at all. She did remember huffing out huge breaths on her quick descent. “It’s this damn thin air up here.”

  “Then what about your backside?”

  Heat hit her face. Kim stood and brushed the dust from her aforementioned backside. “I’m fine. My backside is fine. Thank you very much. Now, let’s get this show on the road.”

  For the first time, she connected with his eyes. Dark, almost black eyes, narrowed by the sun, glinted back at her like impenetrable steel. Thick dark eyebrows covered those eyes, only adding to the brooding quality he emitted. A thick swipe of whiskers hung over his upper lip. Under his hat, his short black hair was laced with a few silver streaks at the temples and over his ears. His tanned face held a fine, weathered look.

  She swallowed. This indeed, was a cowboy.

  “Then get back up on your horse and ride.” He took a brusque step away.

  “No thanks. I’ll lead her.”

  Thad jerked back and glared. “Don’t think so.”

  Garnering strength, and realizing she was probably pretty stupid to challenge the man, she grasped Rosie’s reins and took a step forward. “You’re crazy if you think I’m getting back on that horse.”

  His gaze narrowed more. He snorted then grabbed the reins out of her hands. “Like hell! Get back on that mare and ride. Give me your foot.”

  Kim narrowed her own eyes. “I will not.”

  His boots toed her tennis shoes. “Let me put it this way, Missy. Picture yourself on the gravity side of a thousand pounds of horseflesh and you’ll change your mind soon enough. Now get on that horse. I’ve got a schedule to keep.”

  Missy? Why, of all the….

  She had half a notion to stomp down the mountain all by herself, to hell with the horses and the riders and the cowboys and even Jillie...then she thought about what he’d said. She glanced at Rosie, then down the mountain. They had a ways to go and it was pretty steep drop. Slowly, she turned to Thad Winchester.

  She so didn’t want to do this.

  “All. Right. Just keep everyone out of my way. If Rosie starts going like that again, I’m taking her straight to the corral.”

  Thad brought his right hand to his chin to cover his mouth. Was that a smirk? Then he rubbed it across his mouth as if in contemplation—which only flustered her more. All of a sudden, the temperature spiked. Was he laughing at her?

  Jillie, having dismounted her horse, elbowed Kim. “C’mon, follow me. Get on the horse, okay?” She watched her gaze pass from Thad to Mack and then back to her.

  “Fine. Just keep your horse in front of me,” she snapped, not too happy with Jillie, either, at this moment.

  “All right. Come on.”

  Kim jerked the reins out of Thad’s hands and turned toward her horse. She stretched to put her left foot in the stirrup. As soon as she made contact, she jumped, then once again felt a heavy hand to her rear. It was almost a slap! This time she whirled her body expertly into the saddle, turned, and riveted her gaze at the man standing beside her. Some chuckles went up from the crowd. She felt the tiny pulsing vein in her neck begin to throb, and the flush of her skin start there and travel upward to her cheeks.

  She met his gaze and held. “I don’t think I’d try that again, Buster. Understand?”

  Thad braced his stance and stared back. Not a muscle in his face flinched. “Perfectly.”

  Horse’s ass.

  Kim watched him stride to the front of the line, mount a beautiful buckskin, and without a backward glance, start the procession. Gritting her teeth, she clutched the reins, and kept her gaze glued to the back of Thad Winchester’s body all the way. She couldn’t help it.

  She hadn’t paid one bit of attention to where Rosie had her nose.

  ****

  Kim threw her leg over Rosie’s back, then slid off the horse. Every muscle in her backside was tight, and her inner thighs screamed at each attempt to put her body back into a normal standing position. She stepped closer to Jillie, watching as she smoothed her hand over Muffin’s neck and down the coarse hairs around her bridle. She nickered and turned to lead her away, placing a quick kiss on the horse’s jowl.

  Kim grimaced.

  “Guess we need to take Muffin and Rosie to the barn.” Jillie turned and looked at Kim.

  “I’ll take them.” Mack stepped up beside her, another broad smile across his face. Kim rolled her eyes as Jillie smiled back.

  I so need to get out of here. Please, Jillie, let him take the horse.

  “All right,” Jillie said, her gaze on Mack.

  She didn’t follow as Jillie and Mack walked the horses toward the barn.

  At least Jillie found her cowboy.

  The two disappeared into the depths of the barn and Kim just stood watching, waiting and ready to get the hell out of Dodge. Thad Winchester strode out of the barn then, stopping abruptly when he saw her.

  She nearly whirled in the opposite direction, but their gazes met and held. Something popped between them. Anger? Probably. She guessed he didn’t like
to be crossed. Well, the feeling was mutual. But it was more than the precise, narrow-eyed look he’d thrown at her—it was almost like a sensation of crackling tension that filled the air between them. And suddenly, she wasn’t quite sure if it was dislike, or anger. It was as though the tension was...almost....

  Sensual.

  Glancing away, Kim stepped backward several quick steps, then bumped into a gate. Turning, she kept her gaze straight ahead as she made her way to the parking lot, wondering why her stomach was trembling.

  “No,” she whispered. “No. He’s a dirty old cowboy. He can’t make me feel like that.”

  Shaking away the feeling, she headed for their rental car, trying to rid her head of how he’d looked a moment earlier. She had to forget it. Now. Think about something else. Forget about how his hands felt as they rubbed up and down her arms, her legs. Ignore it. Think about something else. Forget this disaster of an afternoon. It couldn’t be over soon enough.

  She quickly made her way to the car and grumbled as she jerked open the car door. Trail-riding was the last thing she ever, ever, wanted to do again in this lifetime.

  Never, ever again.

  Plopping down in the passenger seat, she kicked off her shoes, propped her feet up on the dash, leaned against the window, and closed her eyes.

  “And now she gets a cowboy,” Kim muttered, thinking of Jillie. “Not that I want a cowboy, because I don’t. No siree. Cowboys are rude, obnoxious Neanderthals. Give me a man in a suit any day.”

  She exhaled. Slowly.

  She hated getting yelled at. Hated being embarrassed. Hated arrogance in a man. And more than any of those, she hated feeling inadequate. Why had she let Jillie talk her into this?

  Well, thank God it was all over now.

  She pinched the bridge of her nose with forefinger and thumb, trying to erase a small ache starting just behind her eyes. Tension. She needed to get out of here.

  Where is Jillie?

  She glanced out the window and saw Mack toss a good-bye wave to her best friend from across the corral. Jillie waved back then turned toward the car—smiling. Smiling! They were always smiling at each other. It was sickening. Kim clutched her stomach and closed her eyes again, pressing closer to the window.

  Asleep. She’d pretend to be asleep. She and Jillie could hash this thing out when they got back to the hotel. She was in no mood for anyone else to take pot-shots at her. Closing her eyes, she tried to relax against the window.

  The car shifted as Jillie settled in beside her. Kim didn’t acknowledge her presence. The engine roared to life and they started down the gravel drive. The only thing she could think about at this point was what she was going to do when they got back to the hotel.

  A bath. A long, hot bubble bath. Then a touch-up to her manicure, she’d chipped a nail on her fall. And after that perhaps room service and a nice long nap. And she’d dream, of course, of men in suits who smelled of spicy cologne. Men who shaved and took baths regularly. Men who brought her champagne and roses.

  Roses. Yes. She loved roses.

  She smiled.

  Not men who reeked of sweat and grime and rawhide.

  She felt the car shake as they hit a bump in the road. As they rumbled further down the rutted dirt road, Kim indeed found herself getting drowsy. The action of the car’s engine coupled with her exhaustion from the afternoon’s events, lulled her into a quick state of unconsciousness. Her last thoughts before she actually did drift off were of how she never, ever, in her life wanted to see another horse, or cowboy, again—for as long as she lived.

  Never.

  And then Thad Winchester’s handsome face slipped into her mind.

  ****

  They stopped with a jolt. Kim opened her eyes and jerked forward to a sitting position. She glanced groggily at Jillie.

  “Thank God. I need a bath.” She yawned. Dusk was settling around them and she couldn’t wait to hit those cool, clean sheets of their hotel room.

  Jillie smiled weakly.” Uh, yeah, well...”

  Kim closed her eyes again, stretched her arms up over her head and leaned first left, then right, trying to ease some of the kinks out of her back. She sat back on the seat with a whoosh then opened her eyes to look at Jillie.

  Who was still sitting, watching her.

  She laid a hand on the door latch.” Well, let’s go. The further I get away from the memories of the past two hours the better. I’ve got plans for tonight.” Kim could tell that Jillie heard her, but her gaze tilted somewhat past her out the window. A worried little grin flew over her lips and she finally looked straight at her.

  “There’s been a change in plans.”

  “Right,” she snorted.” You don’t even know my plans.”

  Jillie shook her head.” Doesn’t matter.” Her gaze slid out the window again.

  Fully awake now and realizing that something was off-kilter, Kim turned toward the view outside her window. She sucked in a huge amount of air, then coughed, her eyes watering.” Oh, my God,” she whispered, then swiped her eyes with the backs of her hands and looked again.

  There was no hotel. There was no Durango.

  There was only a large old ranch house that seemed to spread for acres, several barns, and a corral full of horses.

  Horses!

  Twisting back, she demanded, “What is this?”

  Jillie pulled in her lower lip and bit. As her eyes grew wider, Kim turned back to the window. She felt her own eyes widen and her anger shoot darn near the surface.

  Cowboys!

  Mack sauntered toward the car.

  And behind him was the cowboy of her nightmares. Thad Winchester.

  “No.” Kim shook her head wildly. “No. Tell me it isn’t true.”

  Jillie lifted the latch on her door handle. “Trust me, Kim. It was all on a whim. Well, well, that’s Mack over there, isn’t it? And isn’t that Thad Winchester behind him? I can’t believe it,” she bantered nervously. “You hush now, okay? Get out of the car, be quiet, and let me do the talking.”

  Hush now? Oh, as soon as I can wrap my fingers around your neck….

  Jillie left Kim sitting alone in the car and slammed the driver’s side door.

  “What in the...?” She yanked on her own door latch and fell out of the car toward Jillie. “What in the heck are you talking about?”

  “Shush.” Jillie threw her a look.

  Mack and Thad walked toward them, their faces pointed toward the ground, their voices blending in hushed conversation. Oh, geez! I don’t want another encounter with this man. She slipped behind Jillie’s taller frame with her face aimed downward, hoping the falling dusk would help shield her from view. Maybe she could make herself inconspicuous.

  And there was another couple to their left. With backpacks and duffle bags and was that guy carrying a saddle?

  They were lost, that was it. Jillie could get directions, or perhaps Mack could direct them back to the hotel. Hopefully she’d never be noticed by that big hunk of a man over there. Of course, Jillie would take care of her. She knew how much she’d been through today. Surely this was all some kind of a terrible, awful mistake.

  Kim risked a quick glance up. The only thing she saw was Mack’s wide grin shining back at Jillie. He chuckled and seemed proud as a peacock. Which made no sense at all. Her hopes plummeted.

  She risked another quick glance to Thad. His nose was buried in a clipboard as he wrote something on a small piece of paper clipped to the top. Suddenly, his voice boomed out across the corral and back. He never looked up and still scribbled while he spoke in quick, loud thrusts of his rich voice.

  The crowd around then seemed to lend an ear.

  “Thad Winchester, here. This is my ranch, The Flying W. Mack Montgomery here, “he gestured to his left,” is my foreman. What you’ve signed on for is a two week pack trip into Starvation Gulch. We leave early in the morning and everyone is expected to pull their own weight. We’ll all have jobs. Now, let’s see who we’ve got.”

/>   He called off a man’s name. The guy with the saddle answered. Kim looked about. What is this? Did he say pack trip? Starvation Gulch?

  He called off another. No response. And another. Couldn’t he just look up? Then he called out a woman’s name. The saddle guy’s partner said, “Here!” Next came the name of Thelma Hopkins. Silence. Then Dottie James. That’s when Jillie stepped forward. Kim, leaning into Jillie’s back, tripped a little closer to the men.

  To say she was confused was an understatement.

  Jillie’s words tumbled out. “Mr. Winchester. Thelma is my grandmother. Dottie is hers. They couldn’t make it on the trip, and since they’d already paid, they sent us instead. You should have an email to that effect sometime last week. You did, didn’t you? Well, at any rate, we’re here, and Dottie and Thelma won’t be. So I hope that will be okay, all right?”

  Kim’s mouth dropped open. Surely, she’s joking. She pinched Jillie’s back, refusing to let the word panic enter her mind.

  Peeking around Jillie’s head, she watched as for the first time, Thad Winchester’s gaze rose off his clipboard. He looked at Jillie, narrowed his gaze, then breathed deeply. Slowly, he turned to look at Mack. “What do you know about this.” It was not a question.

  Mack shoved his hands into his pockets and kicked at the ground. He nodded. “Thelma Hopkins called and canceled. Guess the email got lost in junk mail or something.” He met Thad’s gaze head on.

  Kim was shaking, but she couldn’t approach Jillie with this absurd notion of them going on some pack trip thing unless she gave herself away. If only Thad would leave, then she could talk her out of this ridiculous idea and get Mack to take her back to the hotel. Jillie could do what she wanted.

  “Where’s your gear?”

  Jillie took another half-step toward the men. Kim stumbled again. “Um, gear? Well, you see...ah, Portland, I think. Our luggage got lost on the flight. All we have is what’s on our backs. Do you think you could help us out there? We didn’t have time to buy...”