To Kiss a Cowgirl

by Jeannie Watt

  “To the prodigal,” Mike said, raising his glass.

  Dylan smiled and drank, touched by his grandfather’s reaction to him coming home and more certain than ever than he’d made the right decision. He’d counted on Finn to hold down the fort and care for Mike over the past several years, but now he was starting to see that he should have come home more often.

  No longer an issue. He finished his whiskey, which was excellent, and was surprised when Mike poured another splash into both their glasses before putting the top on the bottle and setting it back on the shelf. They took their whiskeys and headed to their recliners. For once Mike left the television off.

  “I imagine since you’re here permanently now, you’ll be getting your own place, instead of staying with me.”

  “Eventually,” Dylan agreed. “But it’ll be close.”

  Mike nodded, staring off into the distance. “Not that I don’t like having you living here with me, but you need to have a place where you can entertain.”

  Entertain? Dylan gave his grandfather a slow sidelong look. Mike was still studying something on the other side of the room. He gave a slow nod. “A place where you can settle down with a family at some point.”

  Ah.

  Mike was silent for a moment then asked, “Have you told Jolie?”

  “I did.”

  After a couple of beats of silence, Mike said, “Is she happy?”

  Dylan debated but went with the truth. Mike may as well know the lay of the land. “Kind of.”

  The look on Mike’s face made Dylan wish he’d lied to him.

  “She has some issues,” he said slowly.

  “With you?”

  “More like with commitment.”

  Mike frowned deeply. “I thought she was down in the dumps because you were going back to Lanesburg.”

  The can of worms was now officially opened.

  “It’s kind of complicated.”

  His grandfather looked perplexed. “But you like her, right?”

  He was pretty damned certain he loved her, which was why the situation between them was so frustrating.

  “I like her.”

  “She likes you okay, too. I can tell.”

  A bad feeling struck Dylan. Maybe Mike was trying his hand at matchmaking. “Now that I’m home for good, I figure I’ll give her time, let her work through some stuff. I see nothing but trouble ahead if I try to push things.”

  His grandfather thought long and deep on that one. “Yeah. I guess you’re right. Not that I’m trying to butt into your life or anything,” he added quickly.

  “Of course not,” Dylan said before downing the last of his whiskey.

  Mike picked up the remote and brought the TV to life, then leaned down to scoop up Speck. “I’m glad you’re moving home for good,” he said before switching channels.

  So was Dylan. Even if he couldn’t work things out with Jolie, this was where he belonged. Pat and Lindsey might think they ran him, but screw ’em. He was through fighting battles.

  * * *

  THE NEXT DAY when Jolie got to work, she was surprised to find Mike there, busy in the office. When she poked her head in, she saw that he’d installed a small television.

  “You’re coming here to watch TV?” she asked in a gently teasing voice, wondering just how lonely he anticipated being now that Dylan would be gone for a few weeks.

  “I like the news,” he said.

  “You can read it on the computer.”

  “I like to listen,” he said.

  She was about to tell him that he could listen to it on the computer, then decided against that. If he wanted a television, then so be it. She suspected what he really wanted was company instead of sitting in his lonely house. His little dog trotted up to her and she bent to ruffle the terrier’s rough fur. “Good morning, Speck.”

  The dog smiled at her, curling her lips back over her teeth, and Jolie laughed. When she glanced up at Mike he looked away, but she caught the smile on his face. She was glad he and Speck were there. It kept the store from feeling too empty, although there was no getting around the fact that now that Dylan was gone, the store was never going to feel quite the same again.

  She didn’t like the heavy feeling of missing someone, didn’t like it one bit, but she could deal with it. She told herself she was going to ride this out instead of seizing up at the thought of having a relationship where someone depended on her to be there. She didn’t need to know why she felt that way, but instead learn to deal, because there was a very good chance she’d never know why she was afraid to have people depend on her.

  Her positive thinking worked to a degree. She chatted with customers and called out orders to Gordy. Mike spent at least an hour in the office watching his television with Speck on his lap, then came out to eat lunch with Jolie during a brief lull.

  “I’m kind of wondering about that other job of yours,” Mike said just a touch too casually.

  “McElroy’s?” Jolie asked.

  “Yeah. Do you really have to work there?”

  “I do if I want to roof the barn. You know how much that’s going to cost.”

  “Oh, yeah.”

  Jolie carefully folded the paper bag her lunch had come in. “Does it bother you that I have a second job? Because I make certain it doesn’t interfere with this one.”

  “No. But I kind of wish it wasn’t that job.”

  Jolie gave a soft, reassuring laugh, finally understanding where Mike was coming from. “Jim takes good care of us.” And then she wondered if Dylan had shared the story of Wyatt trying to “help” her with her tire.

  “But he doesn’t drive home with you. It’s not good going home to that lonely ranch alone that late at night.”

  “I take precautions,” Jolie said, hoping the old man wasn’t going to inadvertently spook her. “And I have a gigantic dog.”

  Mike gave a small nod. “I’ve met him.” He ran a hand over Speck. “He seemed...adequate.”

  Jolie reached out to touch Mike’s arm. “I really need that job if I’m going to start putting the Lightning Creek right again. I’ve made a start with the cattle and the meadow hay. I need to press on.”

  “The Lightning Creek used to be a pretty nice ranch, back in the seventies and eighties.” He thought for a moment. “Clear into the nineties, really.”

  “It fell apart when Dad died. And then there were those years when both cattle and hay bottomed out.”

  “Yeah,” Mike said in a considering tone. “Lots of people wondered why your mother didn’t sell and move instead of hanging on by a thread.”

  “So did my older sisters.”

  “But not you?”

  “I’ve always loved the place. So does my sister Dani.”

  “The older ones probably remember...more.”

  “I think so. And they had more of a burden during the hard times. They did their best to protect us.” Jolie smiled a little. “And you’ll notice that as soon as my older sister and her husband took over the ranch, my mother married and left the area.”

  “I don’t blame her one bit. She used to come in here, counting her pennies, trying to figure feed down to the last bag.”

  “And you carried her through some of the tough times. I know that.” Jolie idly rubbed her upper arms as she stared across the store. “Maybe that’s another reason I want to make the ranch good again. To make her sacrifice mean something.”

  She glanced at Mike to see him studying her. She smiled cautiously, uncertain of what he was thinking. “Your dad always wanted one or all of his girls to run the ranch. He’d be happy to see you doing that.”

  Jolie thought about that as she went home and fed in the misting rain. Her dad would be happy to see her bringing the ranch back. She was glad she’d moved
home, even if it had introduced a bump in her smooth road. A Dylan-shaped bump.

  He’d complete his training, come home and...do his job as a deputy. That didn’t mean he was necessarily in harm’s way. But it didn’t mean he wasn’t, either.

  She couldn’t help it. She hated that he was back in law enforcement and whether Dylan liked it or not, his being in law enforcement was something she had to take time to come to terms with...or not.

  If she couldn’t, then they wouldn’t have a future. But if she could? Lots of women did it. Had husbands in law enforcement. Lived with the risk of loss. Was she as strong as them?

  Jolie shoved the thought out of her brain and settled into working on the quarterly taxes. If anything was going to put her to sleep, that was it.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  JOLIE HAD A horrible barrel run. Dylan’s fist clenched when her mare momentarily lost footing in the mud as she rounded the first barrel, recovered, then knocked over the second. Jolie and the mare charged home after the third and even at a distance he could read the frustration in her expression.

  He left the rail where he’d been standing and headed for the trailers. Having arrived only minutes before her run, he hadn’t had time to figure out where she was parked, but it didn’t take long to find her tying her mare to the side of her trailer.

  “Jolie.”

  Her head whipped around as he said her name, her mouth dropping open before she smiled. Okay. She was happy to see him. This was good, since he’d kind of ambushed her.

  “Dylan.” She finished tying the mare with a few quick movements then turned back to him, wiping her hands down the sides of her pants. There was mud splattered over her clothing, her hat and across one cheek.

  He automatically reached out to wipe the specks off her face and her breath caught as he touched her. Good sign? Bad sign?

  “You have mud on your face.”

  “Occupational hazard. Did you see my run?”

  “Pulled up just in time to catch it.”

  “Too bad you weren’t a few minutes later.” She started unsaddling the horse. Dylan stood back and watched. Her movements were practiced, but if he wasn’t mistaken, her hands were shaking a little. That didn’t usually happen when a friend stopped by to say hello.

  “I thought you were on your way to Boise.” Her voice was all-business now. She dragged the saddle off the back of the mare and Dylan knew better than to try to take it from her. She needed it as a barrier.

  “I decided to take a detour. I’m not due there until tomorrow morning.” The training had been rigorous, but thoughts of Jolie had kept edging in. He’d needed to see her. It was that simple.

  Rain started to mist down again and after Jolie had loaded the horse, she returned to the tack room.

  “How was the training?”

  “Fine.” He was tired, he still had hours to drive and he wasn’t feeling like the most patient of men at the moment. But he was careful not to let any of that show.

  Careful until she stepped out of the trailer and came to join him where he was waiting by the rear of her truck.

  “I need to get on the road,” she said. There was something in her eyes that said she needed something else. Something that made his heart rate bump up and blood start to head south.

  He cleared his throat. “Me, too. But I wanted to see you.” To reassure himself that she was all right, that she hadn’t changed her mind about holding off making big decisions. That she hadn’t let her demons take over while he’d been gone.

  “I wanted to see you, too. I’m glad you came.” She pressed her lips together. “Really glad. I missed you.”

  And that was an admission. For so long he’d thought of Jolie as being fearless—and she was, as long as her emotions weren’t involved, as long as there was no chance of being hurt. Because he was pretty darned certain that fear of loss was what kept her from commitment. It was his job to convince her that he wasn’t going to hurt her. That all he wanted was for her to be happy, with him.

  He reached out to touch her face again, his thumb brushing over her lower lip.

  Jolie sucked in a breath, her eyes holding his as she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him.

  Dylan felt a stab of need as he pulled her close, holding her tightly against him. Damn but he wanted her. Needed her. And she was no doubt aware of that need, which was now pressing against her.

  She leaned back and he thought she was going to kiss him, but instead she said in a low voice, “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking... I think I can do this. I’d like to try, anyway.”

  “You mean...?” He gestured back and forth between them. “Us?”

  “That’s what I mean.”

  Dylan felt himself start to smile, but Jolie wasn’t smiling back. Instead she looked down at her muddy boots then up at him and now he could clearly read the need in her eyes. “Faith won’t be back for a while. Her section runs last.”

  He frowned, stupidly wondering what she was getting at, sorting through possibilities, knowing it wasn’t what he hoped it was...was it?

  A moment later her mouth was on his, taking, giving, and he knew that she’d not only noticed how much he’d wanted her, she’d felt the same. She leaned into him as they kissed, backing him up against the damp side of the truck. He felt the cold on his back through his jacket, but it was no match for the fire that ignited inside him at the touch of her lips on his.

  His hands came up into her hair, knocking her hat off. She didn’t seem to notice as she pressed herself into him, holding his face, exploring his mouth with a hint of desperation as if the moment could be snatched away from them.

  This was a moment in time. Dylan knew it and he wasn’t asking for more. Not tonight. Not when she so obviously needed him as much as he needed her. Not when she’d promised to try a relationship.

  “I don’t suppose that door locks?” he asked, jerking his head toward the trailer.

  Jolie bit her lip, hesitated for all of a second, then took his hand and led him inside, pulling the door shut behind her and flicking a latch.

  “This will bring new meaning to the word quickie.” She turned to him, her eyes widening in the dim light as he backed her against the wall.

  “Don’t care,” Dylan muttered, pulling her shirttails out of her pants and unsnapping the shirt top to bottom with a quick flick.

  Jolie returned the favor, slowed by the fact that his shirt had buttons. He considered it a blessing that his shirt still had buttons when she finally got it parted and ran her palms over his bare chest on her way down to his belt. Moments later his erection sprung free and Jolie was kicking off her boots, pushing down her pants and stepping out of them.

  “I need you,” she said. And even though he still had about a thousand questions crowding his brain, he shoved them aside and went with seizing the moment.

  He wasn’t certain how he got out of his boots or freed himself from one pant leg, but after he did, he lifted Jolie, who automatically hooked her legs around him as she grasped his shoulders. He wanted nothing more than to thrust into her, hard and deep, but instead he slowly lowered her.

  Jolie gasped as he entered her. Her eyes closed and she sucked in air between her teeth as he slid home, inch by glorious inch. It wasn’t until she made a small whimpering noise deep in her throat that his control broke and he thrust upward as far as he could go.

  After that it was all a wild ride, Jolie clutching him with both arms and legs. Dylan made an effort to stay as quiet as possible, but the situation was getting away from him and before he finally emptied into her, he wouldn’t have been surprised to learn that the wheels of the trailer were coming off the ground, despite the weight of the horse inside it.

  Jolie shuddered and scraped her teeth over his shoulder then went limp against him.

 
His arms were shaking by the time he lowered her to the ground. “I, uh...”

  Jolie laughed breathlessly, bringing a hand up around the back of his neck to pull his forehead to hers. “I needed that.”

  Enough said.

  It took a few minutes to straighten their clothing. Jolie’s pants were inside out and now that sanity was once again the order of the day, Dylan was all about stepping out of the trailer looking as if they’d merely been escaping the rain instead of ripping each other’s clothes off.

  A good-looking woman with a reddish-brown ponytail pulled over one shoulder was leading a horse toward the trailer when Jolie opened the door and stepped to the damp ground.

  “How’d you do?” Jolie called, the picture of nonchalance as she glanced up at Dylan, who decided that this must be Jolie’s travel partner, Faith.

  “Rotten run,” Faith said. She nodded at Dylan as she walked by, then looked down quickly, a smile playing on her lips, making Dylan wonder if the trailer had indeed been rocking.

  Jolie waited until Faith was busy with her horse before turning to him and running a hand over her hair. Her hat was still lying on the ground next to the truck and she bent to pick it up.

  “Rodeo hat,” she explained. “I never wear good ones in the rain.” She bit her lip as her eyes came up to his. “Can’t say I regret that.”

  He grinned at her, feeling more hopeful about...well...everything. And he wanted to kiss her again, but refrained. “I hate to hit and run, but I need to get on the road if I’m going to make Boise by midnight.”

  “Yeah.”

  Jolie smiled at him, looking as if she really was in favor of trying a relationship with him. All he had to do was to be patient. To wait for her to come to terms with a few things. Decide that loving him was worth the risk.

  “Stop looking so damned pleased with yourself,” she muttered, but she was looking pretty pleased with herself, too.

  “Can’t help it.” He made a show of craning his neck to check Faith, whose back was to them, then leaned in to kiss her. “Gotta go.”