She dressed in fairly warm clothes and strode out to the kitchen. No surprise, no one was about. Clete and Raven could still be sleeping, but since the coffeemaker had a half-full pot, she guessed she was the last to rise. Maybe she could be of use to Raven and work on the website. She wasn’t any good sitting around doing nothing.
After she fixed breakfast, she wandered out to the shop. Raven was busy at work inside. He looked up and smiled. Instead of continuing to play with his plans, he came over to her and gave her a big hug.
“I’m sorry Hawk was such a bastard to you.”
Whoa. “What did he say?”
“He didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. He stormed out like some demon had possessed him. He took a midnight ride to clear his head. When I got to the shop this morning, he was gone again. I heard the chopper come back, so I know he’s okay.”
“Do you think it’s me?”
Raven folded her in his arms again and kissed her forehead. “Don’t worry about it. If you do, it will only drive you crazy. Hawk is an intense person. I wish he’d had my back in Iraq though. A few of my men might not have died.”
“Did Hawk serve?”
“Yes. He was a marine.”
She was surprised they didn’t want to serve together. “I can see him being fearless and taking out a lot of the enemy.”
“I’m sure he did.”
The mood dropped from upbeat to somber. “Sorry, didn’t mean to be a downer. I came to get some information about the website.” She pulled off her backpack purse and extracted her computer. “I found the site. I think I can streamline it a little better.”
He chuckled. “You are a real diplomat. Truth is, the site sucks. Half the links don’t work, and those that do are outdated.”
“Ouch.”
He shrugged. “It’s true.”
Ideas swirled in her mind at all the possibilities. “Do you take pictures of your workmanship?”
“Sure. I’m proud of my work. I got an album around here somewhere.”
That would require a scanner. “Do you have digital files?”
“Sure.”
“Can you e-mail them to me?”
“Will do.” He went over to his desk. Oh, shit. Her e-mail address had her real name, not her friend’s.
“I want to create a new e-mail address in case someone can trace me.”
“Smart.” She created a new one. “I see [email protected] is free. Is that okay to use?” The name of the ranch was the CK Ranch, which stood for Clete Knight.
He chuckled. “I like it.” He tapped a few keys. “Sent.”
When the drawings popped up on her e-mail, she opened the photos in Photoshop. “These are amazing.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“I’m serious. You should send these to the Harley-Davidson headquarters.”
“What would that do?” His voice had an edge to it as if she’d hit on his dream come true.
“Maybe they could feature some of your designs.”
He closed the lid of his computer and pulled his plans closer. “Not likely.”
“The worst they can say is no.”
When he didn’t answer, she settled herself on a folding chair and got to work on the design. She would have worked in the house, but she needed Raven’s opinion on what material was important. He’d given her the user ID and password to get into the website design program.
“Do you have a database of your customers?”
“Got an Excel spreadsheet if that helps.”
“Yes. I thought we could create a mailing list, and send them specials.”
“You know how to do all that?”
She should have been a bit insulted, but there was some awe in his tone. “You aren’t the only one who knows his way around the computer.”
That got a laugh out of him.
After working on different layouts, a few hours had passed. She was a bit surprised Hawk hadn’t shown up, but that was his problem. Maybe he was on the road again to look for more parts.
The door opened, and Clete strode in. “Got lunch ready if anyone’s hungry.”
“I’m starving.”
Clete looked at Raven. “You want something?”
Raven was working on something in the far corner. “Go ahead. I need to finish this up. I’ll be in in a bit.”
Bella closed her laptop and followed Clete outside. Compared to the workshop, the outside air was downright cold. It might be in the mid-sixties, but to her that was winter weather. Inside Clete had laid out cold cuts, bread, and fruit. Her mouth watered.
“Do you always serve lunch?”
“Only for you, Miss Miami.”
She made her sandwich and sat at the counter to eat her meal. Clete joined her a moment later.
“I thought you might like to go for a ride after lunch. I’ve got just the horse for you. I can show you around the property.”
Her heart soared. Running away had one major disadvantage. She’d never get to ride her horse again. “I’d love that.”
“Good. I’ll pack dessert while you dress in something a bit warmer.”
She finished her sandwich and hopped off the stool. With a renewed pep in her step, she went off to change. Being at this altitude, the air was thinner and seemingly colder. When she came out, Clete had finished gathering the supplies.
He smiled. “It’s not winter.”
“You said to dress warmly. I can always remove layers.”
“Come on.”
She didn’t know where he kept the horses, so she followed him. He went out the back door to an area she had yet to explore. To her surprise, there was a barn about a hundred yards behind the house. “How many horses do you have?”
“Four. The three of us have our own, and I always have one for the ladies.”
Raven was right. He was a playboy and someone definitely to watch. Once in the stable, he led her to a beautiful, dappled, gray horse.
Clete led him out. “This is Domino. He’s a gelding and very gentle. You ever ride western style?”
“A few times.”
“It won’t take you long to feel comfortable.”
After he saddled both horses, he strapped on a blanket and placed the food in the saddlebags. “Need a hand up?”
Domino wasn’t as tall has her horse at home. “I’m good.”
She grabbed hold of the horn, mounted, and moved her butt around to get the feel of the saddle. Being on this powerful animal helped calm her. She patted the horse’s flanks.
“Follow me,” he said.
Clete led, walking his horse for a good way. She trotted up alongside him. “How much do you own?”
“About five thousand acres. I raise bison.”
“Wow. I’ve never seen one up close.”
“You’re about to get a close-up look of a lot of them today. You ready for some riding?”
“You bet.”
He took it easy at first. She guessed he was trying to gauge how well she rode. That was kind of him not to push her too hard, but she’d ridden a lot and could stay in the saddle for hours. She was the one to pick up the pace. He grinned when he caught up to her.
“Wanna race?” he shouted.
She pointed to a copse of trees in the distance. “To there?”
“You’re on.”
He took off before she could convince Domino to follow. Holding herself a bit above the saddle, she leaned forward and urged the beast on. By the time she made it to the destination, Clete was circling his horse around the tree.
She laughed at the wonderful exhilaration racing through her. “You win.”
He moved alongside her. “You’re good.”
“Thanks.” Too bad she was panting, and he appeared totally in control.
“Come on. There’s a great little spot that overlooks the mountains I want to show you.”
To her, the mountains were everywhere, but she was game. This time, he took it slow and she followed alongside. After twenty minutes, h
e entered a beautiful cove surrounded by tall trees. He stopped and dismounted.
“Let’s tie the horses up here. We’ll need to hike in a few minutes.”
She got down and patted her horse. Clete took the reins and secured Domino to a tree. He unstrapped the blanket and saddlebags and tossed them over his shoulder. “Let’s go.”
The air smelled of pine, which made the forest magical. Trees in Miami were carefully planted in a neat pattern. Otherwise, they were unsightly scrub. The path was well-worn as if he came here often.
“This area is beautiful.”
He wrapped an arm around her waist. “I’m glad you like it. I chose to move back here because it’s the most beautiful place on earth. Wait until you see the view.”
They had to climb to get to their destination. Clete said the elevation difference between the forest floor and the top of the crest was only two hundred feet, but to a flatlander like herself, it was a mountain. When they threaded their way through some pines, they exited onto a large granite rock.
The view of the mountains was breathtaking. Words wouldn’t form. All she could do was feel the wind on her face and listen to the stillness.
Clete slipped behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She should have been uncomfortable, but being here with him seemed right.
“There are no words to describe the majesty.” While she loved the ocean and miles of sand, this was a completely different experience.
“I love it, too.” He stepped back and spread out a blanket. “Come sit and we can have some dessert.”
She sat and he pulled out a thermos, two mugs, a tin of cookies, and a box of chocolates.
“Wow. This is a feast. Is this how you wow all your women?”
A flash of surprise crossed his face. “What have Raven and my brother been telling you about me?”
She shrugged. The tension in his shoulders implied he liked to keep his life private. “Just that you started Java Juice in Boston and created an empire before selling most of it. They also said that you were a kind of playboy.” The more the words tumbled out, the darker his eyes grew.
“The first part is true. As for being a playboy, it’s called being picky. I want to settle down. How about you?”
Whoa. Where did that come from?
She took a breath before answering. “I do dream of having a family, but I seem to suck at picking men.”
“Care to elaborate?”
She doubted Hawk had filled him in, and now she guessed neither had Raven. She told him about finding her fiancé in the arms of another woman. “I think I might be able to forgive him for that, but I could never forgive him for using drugs when he was the biggest advocate against them.”
“I hear you.” He turned his body to face the view.
She said nothing, allowing him to go to some faraway place. As if someone had snapped his fingers, Clete slightly shook his head and turned back to her. “Sorry.”
“Bad memory?”
“Yeah.”
“Care to share?” She was sure he wouldn’t, but it didn’t hurt to ask.
“You sure you want to hear this?” His voice shook a bit.
If it meant she could learn more about the man, she was willing to give it a go. “Yes.”
“Hawk knows, so I guess it’s no secret. I was dating a woman, who I’ll call Donna. This was during the summer between my sophomore and junior year in college. She was innocent in so many ways, but she’d fooled me and my friends into thinking she partied all the time. We hadn’t slept with each other because some sixth sense told me to go slow. I’d been invited to this party in Bozeman, and she begged me to take her. So we went.” He dragged a hand down his chin, as if he needed time to figure out how to word best what came next.
“What happened?”
“I was shooting the breeze with my buddies when she went off with her girlfriends who had to ‘show her something.’ I later found out someone had brought some heroin.”
Her heart beat faster, fearing the story would end badly. “Did you do some?”
“Not me, but Donna did. I wasn’t paying attention where she was. We were watching some game on TV. One of the girls screamed. The other four guys and I rushed into the bedroom and found Donna on the bed. She was barely breathing. We called 911.” He rubbed a hand over his short hair. “They got there pretty quick, but she coded before they put her on the ambulance. I followed in my car, but when I got there, they’d pronounced her dead.” He hung his head. The pain still seemed to reside in him.
She reached out and squeezed his hand. “Did anyone get arrested?”
“No. No one admitted to bringing the drug.”
“I’m sorry.”
He blew out a breath and glanced back over the mountain. “I should have stayed by her side.”
“She wanted to be with her friends.”
“They really weren’t Donna’s friends. I think she only did it to look cool. I knew there might be stuff there. If I hadn’t brought her, she’d be alive today.”
“You don’t know that. You didn’t bring the heroin, and you didn’t force her to use it.”
“I know, but I should have checked up on her.”
Nothing she could say would heal his wound.
He leaned back on his elbows but didn’t meet her gaze. “I think that’s why I threw myself into school. By starting Java Juice, I wanted to prove to myself that I wasn’t a loser. I made a promise to myself that if I made a profit, I’d donate a portion to the local drug rehabilitation centers.”
How wonderful of him. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Tell that to her parents.”
The air stilled.
She picked up the thermos and poured the contents into the two mugs. She hadn’t expected white wine. “Here.”
He took the proffered drink and gulped part of it. He set the drink down and faced her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to lay that on you. This was supposed to be a fun picnic. I wanted you to see how spectacular Montana is.”
“It is beautiful and majestic.” She took hold of his hand. “You’ve learned from what you thought was your mistake, and because of that, the world might be in a better place. Look at all the families you’ve helped by employing all those workers.”
He finally smiled. “Miami, you do have a way of seeing the good in people. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
His gaze searched her face. “So if I ever ask you to go somewhere or try something you don’t want to, stop me, will ya?” This time he added a chuckle to the end.
“I promise.” Though she couldn’t imagine what that would be.
He swallowed. “You gonna open those cookies or what?”
Discussion finished, she dove in. “They’re homemade!”
“Mom made them.”
“Ah, the best kind.” She sounded wistful even to her ears.
“I take it your mom wasn’t the domestic type?”
“That would be a no. We had a cook and a maid.”
“Must have been nice.”
She ate another cookie. As long as they were being honest, she might as well add to the conversation. “Not really. I would have liked to have spent time in the kitchen having my mom teach me something other than how to act in company.”
“I know the type.” He scooted behind her and pulled her against his chest.
His warmth surrounded her. She set down her mug, crossed her arms, and grabbed his hands. “This is nice.”
He rested his chin on her head. “It is. I haven’t relaxed this much in probably a year. You, Ms. Miami, are good for my soul.”
His sincerity spread through her. To the onlooker, he might appear to be a player, but she’d seen deep into his essence. Clete Knight was a good man.
With his arms around her, she was content. Two hawks flew by, riding the air currents then switching positions as they floated by. Clete leaned back, stretched out his legs, and pulled her down with him. “Roll over.”
>
Still thinking about his story and not what her action might imply, she did as he asked. She wanted to be with him, to learn more about his secrets and what drove him to be the man he was today. Who were the loves of his life? Could he be the one for her?
His kiss started out slow. He lingered on her lips as if the world had stopped. The wind tickled her nose, but her body had heated. When she shifted her weight, his erection pressed against her belly. Uh-oh. There was no way she was going to get naked on top of a mountain in this weather.
He cupped her face. “Don’t worry. I just want to be with you.”
“You read my mind?”
“No. I can see the desire pool in your eyes.” He brought her face closer to his and kissed each lid. “I want to remember this moment, this place, these kisses.”
Oh, God. She could so fall in love with this man.
Chapter Nine
They finish the wine, the cookies, and most of the chocolate before he decided they needed to get back. She could have stayed for a few more hours, but she realized he must have work to do. However, she, too, was anxious to get to work on the website.
Without something tangible to do each day, she’d go crazy.
The hike down the mountain seemed a lot quicker than the hike up. The horses were waiting for them, contentedly munching on some ground cover. She leaned over and kissed him. “That was a wonderful picnic. Thank you.”
His smile came out genuine. “My pleasure.”
She stopped in her tracks. “Hawk.”
His brows furrowed. “What about him?”
“Will he be worried about us? The last time I went out of town with Raven, he got a little testy.”
He dragged an errant hair behind her ear. “That’s his way of saying he cares.”
“Then I wish he didn’t.”
“Don’t say that. Hey.” He pulled her close. “I want you to know that regardless of Hawk’s mood, you are welcome to stay at my house for as long as you wish.”
She looked up at him. “I appreciate that, but please know that I need to make my way to Seattle at some point.”
His gut seemed to cave a bit. “I wish you’d reconsider. Pleasure has everything you’d want in a town. The people are friendly.”
Monroe, Melody Snow - Bella's Bad Bikers [Pleasure, Montana 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 8