Courted by a Cowboy

by Mindy Neff

  Her fingers idly stroked his chest. He put his hand over hers before his concentration went south.

  “I’d been working at a clinic in Santa Monica and had an opportunity to buy into the business. Then Michael was having lunch with some people from the UC Davis university, and one of my former professors who happened to be there mentioned that Sam Melling—he’s my boss, and most everybody in the veterinarian industry knows him—was looking to fill a top-level position and had been checking my background. Michael lives to have those kinds of opportunities dropped in his lap, and the next thing I knew I had interviews lined up and was caught up in his hype.”

  “You don’t like your job?”

  “I love my job. And I was flattered that someone like Sam Melling actually knew who I was, plus I was stunned at the deal he laid on the table. It’s just…”

  “Just what?”

  “I don’t know. It’s kind of like with Mama. She’s always giving me backhanded compliments. Like, ‘Your hair is lovely, dear’,” she mimicked, “‘but you should do something with that frizz.’ Or, ‘Red is nice on you, dear, but you should really consider green.’ I know I shouldn’t buy into it, but it gets to me. Makes me feel like I’m not good enough.”

  “That’s not so, Sun.”

  “You haven’t dealt with her for thirty years. Michael wasn’t blatant like Mama. He was more like a powerful whirlwind that I got caught up in. I found myself doing all the things he wanted me to and thinking they were my own ideas, preferences and decisions.”

  She pushed her hair off her face. “I’m realizing now that I’ve lived most of my life subconsciously trying to get Mama’s unconditional approval, and I carried that pattern over to Michael. I’ll be thirty next month, and it’s time I stop weighing every decision against what someone else might think of it. Even coming here, the initial incentive was the opportunity to show Mama how great I am at my job. I could walk in and diagnose the problem with your herd, fix it, and she’d see what she’s never acknowledged. That I’m damn good at what I do. Guess that pretty much flopped.”

  “Don’t do that, sweetheart.” He tightened his arm around her, felt her body jolt, her heart thud against his chest. He kissed her temple. “There’s not a person around who could ever doubt your skill.”

  “I know,” she said with a sigh. “I really do. Which is why I’m turning a new page in my life. I can see the flaw now, and that means I can fix it. I’m not going to let others sway my decisions and choices.” She raised up on her elbow once more and smiled down at him, her fingers dancing softly over his chest.

  “So now that I’ve told you about the old Sunny, what do you say to making love to the new one?”

  He had her on top of him, his hands on her hips, rubbing her against his erection so fast she shrieked and laughed in surprise.

  “If I’d known that was going on,” she said, undulating against him, “I wouldn’t have been boring you with my life history.”

  He pulled her laughing mouth down to his. Desperately needing to be inside her, he shifted her hips and slid into where she was wet and tight—the place he wanted to stay for the rest of his life.

  Panic was building in his chest. She was everything he’d always wanted in a woman. The only woman he’d ever wanted, in fact. He couldn’t bear to let her go.

  But he’d have to. Pleading his case, trying to change her mind, begging her to stay wouldn’t be fair. He’d lost the right to hold her ten years ago—and it had been his own fault. No, he couldn’t push, not after what she’d just told him. He wouldn’t manipulate her. Because if he won what his heart desperately wanted, he’d never know whether the decision was truly hers or whether she’d wake up someday and realize she’d been swept up in the powerful emotions of the moment.

  He didn’t want to be another one of her regrets.

  So he simply made love to her. Again and again throughout the night, storing memories, guarding his heart against the inevitable.

  THEY WERE STILL ASLEEP the next morning when her cell phone shrilled from the nightstand. Sunny shot up, groping in the direction of the noise, and landed on a warm masculine chest. The fog of sleep cleared in an instant, and with it came images of last night—this morning, too. Good grannie’s goose. She thought she’d known all Jack’s moves. He’d shown her some new ones that made her blush just thinking about them.

  He reached over to the nightstand, picked up the ringing phone and handed it to her.

  She accepted it, pulling the sheet up to her armpits. “Um, good morning.”

  His slow, sexy smile had her body throbbing with arousal. Lord, they were going to be the death of each other.

  The caller ID showed Marty’s private number. Sunny’s mind snapped to attention.

  “I’m here, Marty.”

  “Where’s ‘here,’ babe? You sound half-asleep. Forget to set your alarm?”

  Actually, yes. She peered at the clock, then jolted. It was already nine. Jack was usually up and out of the house before 6:00 a.m. Then again, it was doubtful they’d gotten even three hours of sleep.

  “My alarm’s working just fine, Marty. Do you have something for me on the test?”

  “Not yet. I’m getting a reaction that suggests a toxin, but damned if I can identify it. I gotta tell you, babe, it’s making me crazy.”

  Join the club. She wished her brain wasn’t so fuzzy from lack of sleep—and marathon sex. She needed one of Beau’s energy muffins…. Energy. Herbs. Toxins.

  “Marty, what do you know about herbs? The kind that could kill a six-hundred-pound Angus?”

  “I’ve already ruled out the toxic flora that grow in that region.”

  “What if the toxin wasn’t ingested accidentally?” She glanced at Jack. He was sitting up with his back against the headboard. She noted the muscle working in his jaw. This couldn’t be easy for him, she knew.

  “What happened to that book you used to have?” she asked Marty. “The one on how to commit the perfect crime. Wasn’t there something about poison herbs that don’t leave incriminating traces in the blood?”

  “I never got around to reading the book. I can do some research, though. It’s a long shot, babe, and it’ll take more time because I’ll have to change the whole angle of my approach.”

  Her instincts told her to have him go for it. But she was gambling with Jack’s livelihood. He’d already lost too much time. “Hang on a sec.”

  She covered the phone with her palm and turned to Jack, repeating what Marty had told her and her own theory.

  “It’s your decision, Jack.”

  “You’re saying he sees something in the test but can’t link it to any cattle diseases, right?”

  “Yes. We’re ruling out contagious disease. But there’s an organism in the specimen that reacts like a toxin. It could be genetic, in which case it’d be passed on through breeding. But my gut tells me Marty would have identified that.”

  “I trust your judgment, Sunny. Tell him to go ahead and do the research.”

  Tears stung the back of her eyes for no apparent reason. She laid her hand on his chest. “We’ll give it a week. If we don’t have anything by then, you can go ahead and sell your beef. But I’ll find you an answer, Jack. When I get back to California, I’ll keep working on it.”

  He picked up her hand, laced his fingers through hers. In a week she’d be gone. The bittersweet sadness in his eyes matched her own. But he understood, would let her go without a fuss. That, too, she saw in his eyes.

  Lifting the phone back to her ear, she said, “Do the research, Marty,” and disconnected before he could respond.

  Why had she ever thought she was sophisticated enough to have vacation sex and be strong enough to walk away? Jack wouldn’t stop her when the time came. It was Sunny who’d be in danger of clinging.

  JACK WAS CATCHING UP on paperwork, and Sunny was at loose ends. Three days had passed since she’d made love with him. They’d mutually agreed they couldn’t create an atmosphere that would s
end mixed signals to Tori, give her false hopes. But the look-but-don’t-touch status quo was about to frazzle her nerves.

  She wasn’t even sure why she was still at Jack’s ranch. The situation here was in limbo. But he hadn’t asked her to leave, and she couldn’t bring herself to make the first move. So she concentrated on keeping busy.

  She’d gone to town to visit with her friends and shop at Becca’s boutique. A cute little freckle-faced boy with crocodile tears in his blue eyes had stopped her on the street, Millicent Lloyd standing right behind him, and begged her to help his sick rabbit. So she’d opened the clinic and, as word spread that the vet was in town, had ended up spending six hours tending well-loved pets.

  Right now she was headed toward the horse barn on the Forked S to see what Tori was up to. Sunny smiled when she saw the girl sitting in the stall, stroking the little foal, who was lying down, fast asleep, looking cute as could be.

  Simba was pretending to nap, but gave himself away when he saw Sunny. His huge head popped up, ears perked, tongue hanging out, and a doggie smile played over his face. She wanted to squeeze him. She was going to miss this ranch. And Tori.

  “Did you put your foal to sleep?” Sunny asked quietly, sitting down beside Tori.

  “No. She was being rambunctious with Simba.”

  “Rambunctious, huh?” That was one of Cora’s favorite words.

  “Yes. And Violet got mad and made her stop. I was talking to Beauty so she wouldn’t be sad because her mommy was mad at her, and she got tired and just lay down and went to sleep.”

  Sunny wondered if Tori was remembering a time when her own mother had gotten upset. “Animal mothers discipline their children just as people do. They want to make sure their little ones don’t get hurt.”

  “I know. She’s so cute, don’t you think? I wish she could stay little like this all the time.”

  “Yes, baby horses are sweet.” Sunny glanced at the parrot cage sitting in the corner of the stall. Tori had brought it in one day and they’d noticed that the wounded bird was calmer when he had company. Since the horses didn’t seem to mind, they’d left it.

  “Are you sure Beauty’s not sick, Sunny?”

  “Of course I’m sure. Why would you think she’s sick?”

  “Yesterday when she was lying down and I was petting her like this, Duane came to get saddles, and he saw Beauty and thought she was hurt or sick. I told him she was just taking a nap, but he said if anything ever happened, he’d make sure I was okay. Why did he say that if he didn’t think Beauty was sick?”

  “I don’t know, hon. Maybe he just hasn’t been around little horses that sleep so much. I promise, though. Violet and Beauty are both healthy as horses.”

  Tori looked up and grinned. “You’re so funny.”

  “Yes, well this funny person needs to get some work done.” She ruffled Tori’s hair and raised a brow at Simba. The dog looked guilty, his brown eyes shifting to Tori, then back to her. Sunny shook her head. “You stay here, boy.” He seemed happy she’d made the decision for him.

  It was just as well, because she needed to talk to Jack. She was getting that monkey-on-the-back sensation, and it usually paid to heed her intuition.

  She found him in about the same position she’d seen him last, bent over the paperwork on his desk. She knocked on the open door. “Can I come in?”

  He glanced up and set down his pen, closing the checkbook he’d been writing in. “Sure. What’s on your mind?” His tone was casual, but his eyes were hot and hungry…and filled with a sexual frustration that matched her own.

  “Same thing that’s on yours, I imagine.” She leaned a hip on the corner of his desk and licked her lips.

  His gaze snapped to her mouth. “Where’s Tori?”

  “In the barn with the horses.”

  “Why don’t you come around here and sit on my lap, then?”

  “No way. I’m not starting something you can’t finish. I’m not into torture.”

  “Damn it. We need to get a motel room.”

  “Make the reservations, and I’m there. In the meantime, Tori just said something that didn’t sit quite right with me—”

  “She was disrespectful?”

  “Oh, no. Not that kind of comment. She wanted to know if I was sure Beauty wasn’t sick. Evidently, Duane saw the foal lying down and told Tori he thought something was wrong. Then he told her that if anything ever happened, he’d make sure she was okay.”

  “Why would he think something would happen to the foal?”

  “That’s just it. I don’t think he was talking about Beauty.”

  Jack frowned, clearly puzzled. “Then what?”

  “I don’t know. But it bothers me. How well do you really know him, Jack?”

  He didn’t answer for a long moment. “Are you accusing Duane of something?”

  “He’s been here the shortest amount of time of any of your hands. And he found both the dead cows.”

  “Damn it, Sunny. That’s his job. The man’s a friend of mine. He’s not going around poisoning my cattle. That would only put him out of a job.”

  She slid off the desk, her stomach churning, his tone sending needles of hurt and disappointment from her heart to her toes. Maybe she was dead wrong about Duane, but for Jack to immediately jump to his friend’s defense and completely dismiss her concerns pushed a hot button inside. The dismissal was like the rejection of her friends in California and her mother all over again. Always choosing sides.

  “Just a thought,” she said as calmly as she could manage.

  “Sunny, wait. I didn’t mean to snap.”

  “I know. And I’m probably wrong about Duane. I’m just edgy is all.” She needed to get out of there before tears betrayed her. “I told Mama I’d stop by, so I better be going. You know how she is if you’re five minutes late.” She saw Jack start to stand, knew she’d break if he touched her. There were too many emotions swirling inside her and she couldn’t seem to make sense of a single one.

  “I’ll be back in a while.” She walked calmly out of the office, then grabbed her keys and sprinted to the Suburban.

  She hadn’t actually intended to go to her mother’s but ended up heading in that direction, anyway. Might as well not make a total liar out of herself. Besides, Mama always had something baking. Chocolate would be nice.

  Getting so upset over Jack defending his friend was ridiculous. She’d have done the same if he’d accused Donetta of something. Besides, she was leaving in three days, anyway. She sniffed and wiped her face on her sleeve. But damn it, she was frustrated and confused, and her heart ached.

  She parked under the portico of her childhood home, knocked on the front door, then went in. “Mama?”

  Anna came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron. “Sunny. Are Jack and Tori with you?”

  “Nope.” The damn tears were threatening again. “Just me.”

  “Well, you’re a nice surprise.” They shared a warm embrace, then Anna held her at arm’s length, studying her face. “You know, dear, you have such lovely features. You could do with a little makeup, though, fix yourself up a bit.”

  Knots twisted in Sunny’s stomach as she watched her mother sit in the overstuffed chair in the living room, expecting Sunny to follow. Again she had delivered a criticism couched in a compliment.

  “Right. I need to look like a fashion plate while I’m administering vaccines to a bunch of cows, and stinky tails are slapping me on the butt, leaving gooey smears of manure.”

  “Now, what kind of language is that for a lady?”

  The censoring tone grated like fingernails on a chalkboard. Tears stung Sunny’s eyes. She ought to turn around and leave, she was so close to the breaking point.

  “I’m not a lady. Not in the sense you’ve always wanted me to be, Mama. I’m not married and keeping house, or hosting the garden club’s charity auction. I’ve worn white shoes in the winter and velvet in the spring.” Something a good Southern girl would never do. Now the
tears slid down her cheeks. She was clearly in a state, but couldn’t seem to rein in her emotions or her words.

  “I have a career. I’m an accredited veterinarian. The government agency I happen to work for says I’m the best. I teach other vets, some of whom have been practicing since before I was even born. Why doesn’t that make you proud?”

  Years of built-up hurt spilled out, faster than her mother could respond.

  “All my life I’ve tried to be who you wanted me to be, Mama, to live up to your expectations and make you proud. But no matter what, I don’t measure up.”

  “You do.”

  “Then why don’t you tell me? Show me?” She flicked tears from her cheek with a hand that shook. “Why do you criticize me? Why don’t you love me?”

  The words landed like a bomb in the silent room. Sunny’s throat ached and she was shaking from head to toe. She wanted to scream, but was afraid that if she started, she’d never stop.

  Her mother hadn’t spoken, and Sunny looked at her, really looked at her. Tears rolled down Anna’s face. Oh, God. Oh, my God! How could she have made her mother cry?

  She dropped to her knees beside Anna’s chair. “Oh, Mama. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t—it’s not just you. I—it’s everything. I didn’t mean to hurt you—”

  “Shh.” Anna reached out and thumbed away Sunny’s tears. “I do love you, Sunny Leigh. You’re my sunshine. I knew that the first time I held you in my arms.”

  Sunny laid her head in her mother’s lap. “I know you love me. I shouldn’t have said that.”

  “You should say what you feel. And I’m sorry if I’ve hurt you or criticized. I’ve done the best I could to be a good mother. I suppose I’m the product of how I was raised.”