Never, in his entire life, including when they dated, had such a powerful urge to hold on and let things go where they may come over him. When her tongue met his, he fought the urge to toss her on the floor and finish what they’d started that Thanksgiving. All thought and function went out the window and filled only with Eve. His Eve, the woman he’d given his heart to so many years ago.
He wanted more, and his arms tightened around her, her breasts warm against his chest, even through their clothes. She edged back. He held her closer, chest to chest, hip to hip, his erection bouncing against her stomach.
“Denton, stop.”
“Huh? This is so good,” he groaned. “Why?”
“Please, Denton. I’m not ready. Please.”
Not ready? She wasn’t ready? He opened his eyes. “Are you kidding? We can both barely breathe.” The robe slid open revealing puckered nipples. Her eyes glistened.
He stopped, released her then tipped his head back to look at the ceiling. Her eyes had shown passion . . . passion and pain.
“I’m sorry, Eve.” He turned away and stalked to the desk, putting distance between them so he wouldn’t haul her back into his arms. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I got carried away.”
Eve moved toward him. He stepped behind the desk, using it as a barrier. Luckily for both of them, she stopped.
“Oh, Denton. You didn’t hurt me, not physically anyway.” Thankfully, she wrapped the sides of her robe together and tightened the tie. Denton dragged his eyes away from the top of breast playing peek-a-boo, and faced her.
“Could have fooled me.”
“I’m not ready for this yet, Dent. I’m still trying to come to grips with the idea you’re back in town, and you’re ready to climb into bed with me. I can’t just pick up where we left off.”
She circled to the other end of the desk. Although Denton heard her words, they failed to register. The bottom half of the robe opened, exposing bare legs. Geez, didn’t she have anything on under that thing? He’d been with her for half an hour and she’d been naked the whole time? He didn’t think he could get any harder, but he was wrong as his erection pressed against his zipper, begging to be let free.
“Denton, are you listening to me?” she asked, tugging the bottom half of her robe closed.
Standing across from him, holding the top part of her robe closed with one hand and the bottom with the other, she resembled a little girl protecting herself from the ravages of the Big Bad Wolf. His foggy brain finally cleared. He didn’t ravage little girls, and he didn’t take unwilling women. He needed to slow things down and let her get used to him being back here.
He turned around, trying to think of something, anything, to bring his erection under control. A vision of his ex and Jackie together trying to seduce him did the trick. His erection retreated and before turning around, he adjusted his pants.
“I’m sorry. You’re right. We need to start fresh.” Her obvious relief sent waves of disappointment through him. “Tell you what. I’ll take things slow and easy if you’ll do something for me.”
Denton hid his smile when a wary frown replaced the relief on her face. She wasn’t yet ready to trust him completely.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Let me help you find out who’s been working to damage your ranch.” He picked up a handful of bills. “And let me help you take care of your business. I am an accountant. Remember?”
The last request surprised him, but in retrospect it was a genius move. What an excellent excuse to be in her house. Who knew where it might lead.
“I don’t know, Dent,” she answered, finally releasing the grip on her robe. “You’d better leave.”
Much to his chagrin, the robe didn’t reopen. Another shot of skin would get him through the long, lonely evening ahead of him. Sleep would not come easy, if at all.
“That’s all right. Let me know if there’s anything I can do.” She didn’t say anything, but continued to stare at him, her expression unreadable. Denton ran a hand over his face and sighed. “Well, I guess I’d better go. It’s late and tomorrow will be a busy day with the picnic and all.”
He headed toward the office door. “What about the tour?”
“Another time.”
Glad to know there might be another time, he slapped his hands on the doorframe, but before he left the room, she called to him.
“Denton?”
He stopped, hoping she’d changed her mind. He and his libido anticipated what she was going to say.
“Thank you.”
“For what?” he asked, his libido dying a quick death. Obviously she wasn’t going to ask him to stay.
“For giving me time. For understanding.”
“Uh, sure. No problem.” He made a hasty retreat, and as he strode across the yard, he wondered what good it did him to be a paragon of virtue. Hell, he had no idea what he understood. Certainly not women, and certainly not the woman he’d left. He was positive, though, that he and his hard-on were going to have a long night.
As Denton entered his cabin, a figure emerged from the shadows of the barn. Hands clenched, cussing about interfering assholes, he lowered his cap and headed down a trail into the woods.
Chapter 10
Always an early riser, Tom loved the start of a day with only the birds, fresh air, and horses to greet him. Customers still burrowed beneath covers and mosquitoes hid in bushes. In an hour or so, employees would start rustling about the ranch, their slow, subdued chores creating a backdrop to the chickadees, swallows, and wrens chirping their early morning calls. Before then, he had the barn to himself.
A mixture of horse and hay hit his senses when he stopped inside the door. He tipped his hat back on his head and took in the scene before him. Denton sat on a hay bale, his head in his hands, saddle soap and rags sitting at his feet. Tom couldn’t decide whether to ignore the man, find out if his stay was going as planned, or if he changed his mind about learning to ride after yesterday’s fiasco.
He hid a smile when Denton grabbed the saddle and rags and started rubbing the leather furiously, flinching with each movement. Tom knew the opportunity was too good to pass.
“Don’cha know you’re supposed to stand when an elder comes in the room, boy?”
Denton scowled at him from under the brim of his baseball cap. “What century you living in old man?”
“Umph.”
“Besides, if I tried to get up right now, I’d probably fall flat on my face.”
“Umph.”
Denton rubbed the saddle harder. “I don’t ever remember being this damned sore, even during the first football practices of the season in high school. In my opinion, men’s legs were not meant to be wrapped around a horse’s backside.”
“Umph.”
“Dammit, man,” Denton yelled, throwing the rag on the floor. “Can’t you say anything besides ‘umph.’”
Tom grinned at Denton for a moment. “Umph.”
“Man, if you hate my guts so much, why the hell did you manage to squeeze me in for two weeks?”
Tom took off his battered hat and slapped it against his leg. “It’s not you I necessarily hate, although you do rank up there, but what you did to Eve.”
“Ya, well, Mom used to say the same thing when I did something wrong as a kid. Doesn’t make me feel any better today than it did then.” Denton glared at him. “You didn’t answer my question.”
Tom sighed, sat on a bale next to Denton, slapped his hat against his thigh a few more times before plopping it on his balding pate. “I think you have a pretty good idea of what kind of family life Eve had.”
Denton snorted. “Yeah, I remember. She didn’t share much of her home life with me, I figured out from what others said about her father. Even though I don’t like to listen to gos
sip, I gathered most was true.”
“I believe you didn’t gather how much your dating Eve helped her.”
“How’s that?” Denton asked, carefully getting up to place the saddle on a Della’s stable door.
He restrained himself from helping Denton. His obviously slow and painful movements made Tom cringe. “How the hell did you get out of bed this morning? Fall?”
“Close.” He shrugged and moaned. “Tell me about Eve before I die here.”
Tom hesitated, then decided to tell Denton everything. “When you started dating Eve, I watched a shy, nervous teenage girl with no self-esteem blossom before my eyes. Her self-confidence grew to the point where she finally stood up to her father. And, of course, he didn’t like that.”
“Shit. He didn’t beat her, did he?”
“What do you think?” Tom couldn’t sit through his anger at the memories. He paced from stall to stall. “He made damn sure no bruises would show.”
“Bastard!”
“My thoughts exactly. At times I wanted to kill the son-of-a-bitch for the way he treated Eve and her mother.”
Denton picked up the rag from the floor and grimaced.
“Now don’t go feeling guilty. I carry enough guilt for both of us for not stepping in. Just because you helped her confidence, doesn’t mean her beatings were your fault. Her father hated he was losing control over her. The longer you two dated, the more she stood up to him, and the beatings came fewer and farther between. I think he realized they didn’t do any good, and, except for an occasional drunken fit, he finally ignored Eve.”
Denton hung his head and dropped his hands between his knees. “Man, I never realized. I mean I knew things were bad, but I never guessed how much. Sometimes I would touch her arm and she’d flinch, but she never said anything.”
“She was just plain happy in love, boy,” Tom said softly, sitting back down. “Doesn’t surprise me she didn’t talk about her life. Once she left the house, she wanted to forget and simply be a teenager in love. So I guess in the long run you did her a favor.”
“I hear a ‘but’ in there.”
Tom took a red handkerchief from his back pocket and wiped perspiration from his face. It was going to be a warm one today. “Yeah, well, when you left for college, I thought maybe she’d fall apart, but, man, she has gumption. When you came back for Thanksgiving, well, from the way she glowed, I figured something important had happened between the two of you.” He gave Denton a sideways glance. “Well, she didn’t tell me, but I can guess.”
“We didn’t do anything wrong, old man. Sure, I guess we messed around a little.”
“Hey, way too much information, Dent.”
“Sorry. I did tell her how much I loved and missed her.”
Tom snorted.
“Think what you want, old man, but it’s true. We talked about what we’d do over Christmas and summer and how she would come to Madison the next year for school.”
“Well, whatever you did and said, she walked around with clouds under her feet. And then . . .”
Denton jumped to his feet and cringed. “Don’t even start. Eve and I already went over this.”
“Want to share with me why you broke her heart worse than if one of the stallions had trampled over her”
After receiving a shortened version of the story he told Eve, Tom shook his head in disbelief. “Man, I’ve done some dumb things in my life, but you were dumber than a squirrel sitting in the middle of the road during rush hour.”
“Dumb and drunk,” Denton added. “And no excuse for what happened. Too many people were, and still are, hurt by the consequences.”
“Well, what are you going to do now?” Tom said, hoping he hadn’t made a mistake helping him. Time would tell.
“First of all, I’m going to figure out how I can possibly get back on a horse today and continue my lessons with Eve. In the process, hopefully win her back.”
Tom stood up and slapped Denton on the shoulder, making the younger man wince. “I have to admit, you’ve got balls. I do like you, son, and I think the two of you belong together.”
“I hear another ‘but’ in this.”
“But, if you do one thing, just one little teensy weensy thing to hurt her.” Tom squished his thumb and forefinger together. “You’ll wish you’d never set foot on this ranch. Understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
Tom turned to leave the barn, figuring the conversation was over.
To his surprise Denton continued. “There’s one more thing bothering me, Tom.”
“What?”
“Last night I read your note to Eve.”
Tom stopped, turned, and scowled. “Just how the hell did you manage that, may I ask?”
Denton looked Tom straight in the eye. “I went to her house last night when I saw her lights on. I needed to talk to her.”
“Just as long as you only talked, boy.” Tom clenched his fists when a flush rose to Denton’s face. Hell, he had no right to think anything about the two of them. They were both adults, and, besides, he said he would help get them back together.
“Anyway, I picked up the note from her desk when she showed me the house.” Denton grinned at Tom. “Don’t worry, we didn’t get beyond the living room, kitchen, and her office.”
“Humph.” How could he go from wanting to assist the man to wanting to punch him in the face? Is this what fathers went through with their daughters? This would certainly drive him crazy. “So did Eve share her problems with you?”
“Uh huh.” Groaning, Denton slowly eased himself back onto the bale of hay. “I think she believed at first maybe I was responsible.”
“You’re kidding.”
“I’m not sure. She didn’t say anything, but I saw it in her eyes.”
“Well, she always did have a hard time hiding her emotions.”
“Anyway, I got her to tell me everything.”
Tom took off his hat and slapped it against his leg. “I’m afraid if things keep up, something more will happen and someone will get hurt. You came close yesterday. I can’t figure out why anyone would want to hurt Eve or the ranch. She’s worked so damn hard, she can’t lose this place.”
Denton looked up in surprise. “Is that possible?”
“I know she’s worried, and I’m afraid the repairs are going to eat into her savings. And she’s been so busy she hasn’t been keeping up with bills and correspondence. I don’t know what to do.”
“Any ideas who could be trying to sabotage things?”
Tom shook his head. “I’ve been going over and over it, but nobody comes to mind.”
“What about her father?”
“The bastard should still be in prison.”
“Want me to check?”
“Can you do that?”
“I can try. Shouldn’t be hard to find out. What about that cousin of hers?”
“You mean Snook?” Tom clenched his jaw. “The guy’s a moron. He couldn’t put two matches together and start a fire.”
“Eve mentioned yesterday one of her employees is her cousin. Would he be Snook’s brother?”
“Yeah. Unlike his brother, though, the gene pool must have been in correct alignment with the stars when he was conceived. He’s a good kid, hardworking, smart, wanting to do something with his life.”
Denton wiped his hands off on the rag. “Yeah, I remember Snook as a lazy, bullheaded, real pain in the ass to Eve and anyone who didn’t match his standards. Is he around much?”
“Nah. He left town a few years back, but I guess he’s back.”
“What’s he do?”
“Damned if I know. Probably nothing. What’re you thinking?”
“Not sure. I’m going to figure out a reason to get into town
this week.”
“Break the heel on your boot.”
“What?”
“Are you deaf, boy? Break the heel on your boot as an excuse to go into town for repairs.”
“I’ll talk to Mom and get her to check into some things.”
Tom stood up. “Anything else?”
“Last night I told Eve I would do some digging. I also offered to help take care of her paperwork.”
Tom laughed. The man had all his wheels moving upstairs. “And in the process get to spend more time with her? Get in her good graces ‘cause she truly hates bookwork.”
“You’re sharp, old man. I do want to help. I’d hate her to lose all this,” he said, sweeping his arm around the barn, wincing. “If she decides to let me use my accounting skills, and allows me to spend more time with her, alone I might add, that would be an added bonus, wouldn’t it?”
Tom didn’t say anything for a bit, wondering if the man sitting before him had any deeper motive than wanting Eve. Not one to pull any punches, he asked, “You wouldn’t have any other reason to help her, would you?”
Denton glanced sharply at Tom. “You mean like trying to take over this ranch? God, man, I don’t even like horses. I’m not poor, so why would I want this place?”
“I believe you,” Tom said after a moment. “Tell you what. Let’s give Eve time to decide if she’ll accept your help. I’ll do what I can to convince her, and you and your mother can do some digging of your own.”
He sat on the bale of hay next to Denton and slapped Denton on the shoulders. If he was lucky, this man one day might end up being the closest thing to a son-in-law. Plus the fact he loved his mother. Hell, Denton might be his son-in-law and stepson. No sense in bringing it up now, though.
“You still can take a long, hot soak in your whirlpool. I’ll even bring you something to eat so you can relax longer. Afterwards, stretch your muscles.” Tom helped Denton up and guided him into his office. “Rub some of this liniment into your muscles, and by the time Eve gets here for the ride to the lake, she won’t believe you’re a decrepit old geezer trying to get on your horse.”
Riding for Love (A Western Romance) Page 12