Rancher's Choice

by Kylie Brant

  Kaly jumped up and stormed at him, “Just what do you think you’re doing?”

  Jackson got up and brushed the grass from his muscular, jean-clad thighs. “Waking you up, and quite pleasurably, I thought.” He cocked a well-formed eyebrow at her. “Until you changed from a purring kitten to a spitting mountain cat.” He leaned down to pick up the two combs he had dropped on her chest a moment ago, which were now lying in the grass at his feet.

  Kaly scrubbed her mouth with the back of her hand. “You have some nerve, sneaking up on me when I was asleep,” she fumed, still shaken by how easily he’d crept into her dreams. “You’re lucky I didn’t shove you into that stream.”

  Jackson leaned against the tree. “You’re the lucky one. I wouldn’t be as civil about a total dunking as I was about a little wine in my face.”

  She flushed at his reference to her loss of control the previous evening but pointed out, “You would have deserved it. You don’t have a gentlemanly bone in your body.” She snatched the combs from his hand and tucked them into her pocket.

  He crossed his booted feet and surveyed her. “I thought we covered that ground last night.”

  Kaly raised her hands to her face, sweeping aside the wispy curls that had floated away from her braid. She stopped, struck by a sudden thought. “Did you follow me here?”

  “No, I did not follow you here. You happen to have selected the prettiest hiding place on the ranch.”

  She ignored this veiled reference to the reasons for her own presence here. “Who are you hiding from?”

  “I’m not hiding, exactly. Just laying low for a while.” At Kaly’s quizzical expression, he expanded, “Just long enough for the red-haired terror of the Circle R to cool down that redheaded temper of hers.”

  Kaly’s curiosity was piqued at the thought of Jackson’s being afraid to face his petite sister-in-law. “What did you do to set Carrie off?”

  “It’s more what I didn’t do. I may as well tell you—Carrie will fill you in, anyway. We’ve been hit by rustlers a couple times lately.”

  “Rustlers?” Kaly knew her mouth was agape, but couldn’t prevent her surprise. “You mean like in the Westerns on TV?”

  “I mean like in this century,” he replied grimly. “Trucks and thieves stealing my beef. Some neighbors have been hit, too.”

  Kaly knew next to nothing about ranching, but she never would have guessed that rustling was a problem in this day and age. “Are there any clues?”

  “A few,” he answered obliquely. “Anyway, Carrie found out about it last night, and all hell broke loose because we hadn’t told her. We were just trying to spare her the stress, but try telling her that.”

  Kaly rolled her eyes upward. “Is that line part of the male formula, or what? I used to hear the same thing from my dad whenever he made a decision for me that he knew I wasn’t going to like.”

  Jackson eyed her with lazy interest. “Yeah? Like what?”

  “Like the time he got me dropped from the Youth Football League, like when he called my date’s father to warn him of my curfew, and like when he signed me up at the college of his choice.”

  His’s mouth quirked. “You played football?”

  Kaly gave him an exasperated look. “Yes, I did, and I was an excellent quarterback, too. Lots of the guys were upset when my dad made me quit.”

  “I’ll bet. You must have done wonders for the team uniform.”

  “Deviate,” she said loftily. “I was nine.” She grinned mischievously at the memory. “But I paid my dad back by making him coach a girls’ soccer team. He claims it was the worst summer of his life. He’s never forgiven me for it.”

  His amusement lingered. The mental image of Kaly as a pigtailed nine-year-old riding herd on her father was highly entertaining.

  “You do owe Carrie an apology, and I suggest you get to it before she gets any madder.”

  “We’ll see. If I wait long enough, she and Jeff will be leaving to go to the city to attend a concert. They plan to spend the night, so I figure by tomorrow she’ll have cooled down some.” He didn’t move, continuing to study her intently. “I think you and I have more important things to talk about.”

  Kaly occupied herself by brushing at the grass stains on her jeans. “I don’t think so,” she answered softly.

  “Pretending it didn’t happen won’t make it go away.” His voice was unrelenting. “We want each other, that’s obvious.” He stopped, but Kaly was pretending extreme interest in her shoes. When it was apparent she was not going to respond, he added, “I think what happened between us last night scared you. Maybe you scared yourself. I’ll agree that we need to back off a little, slow down. Get to know each other better.”

  And then what? Kaly asked herself bitterly. But she knew the answer to that, without even voicing the question. And then Jackson Roberts expected her to join that long line of women in his past who, in the end, gave him exactly what he wanted. Not that the pleasure in such an encounter would be all one-sided. Her body still reacted with excited shivers at the memories his low voice evoked. But whether it was pleasurable or not, she would still be just one of a throng to him, to be used and discarded. She had no illusions about herself; she didn’t have the experience to handle a man like him or to hold him once his attention wandered. That knowledge brought an ache to her heart, and when she spoke her voice was haughty.

  “I don’t want to get any better acquainted with you, thanks anyway.”

  Jackson pushed away from the tree and approached with a threatening look on his hard features. He caught her by the shoulders when she would have turned away and forced her to look up at him. His face close to hers, he reminded her silkily, “I think we’re a little past the getting-acquainted stage, Kaly, don’t you?” His gaze swept her body, lingering on her breasts.

  She stiffened in embarrassment. “I knew you couldn’t resist gloating about last night. I just want to forget it ever happened.”

  He caught her chin in one big rough hand, turning her face up to his and running a thumb over her lips. “Forget what, Kaly? This?”

  Too late she tried to draw back, but he still held her chin, and his warm mouth covered hers before she could pull free. She tried to ignore the rush of warm pleasure that surged through her at his kiss. It was even more difficult than it had been before. Now he kissed her with a slow, confident self-assurance, certain not only of himself, but of her response.

  Kaly tried to twist her head away from those mind-drugging lips. But he forestalled the movement, using the opportunity to cradle her nape with his hand. Her palms pressed against his chest, but as one covered his heart, she could feel its accelerated beat, and this evidence of her effect on him was seductive. Slowly she began to give in to his will, accepting the slow thrust of his tongue as he filled her with his taste.

  He kissed her with mind-shattering intensity, until he forced a response from her. Then, when she was leaning bonelessly into him, her arms clinging to his shoulders, he slowly lifted his head.

  Pure satisfaction was etched on his features as he noted her heavy eyelids and swollen lips. “You can’t forget this and neither can I. No use trying. Ignoring it won’t change anything.”

  She pulled away from him, and this time he let her go. In that moment she hated him. Hated him for the ease with which he seemed able to recover from a kiss that still had her reeling. And for the way he had just used her response to him against her. It was pitifully obvious how she reacted each time he touched her, and she wouldn’t waste any more time trying to deny it. But she wasn’t about to let things go any further, either.

  “I’m not going to sleep with you,” she said bluntly, forcing herself to look him in the eye. “You may have thought otherwise after last night, but it’s not going to happen. Did you really think that all you had to do was come out here and after a few more kisses we’d take up where we left off?”

  He couldn’t remember wanting so badly to shake a woman whose lips were still wet from his own. �
��No, that’s not what I thought,” he said, even as his body assured his mind that it, at least, was willing to do just that. “That subject’s closed—for now.” He forced down the frustration that welled up inside him. With her it always seemed like one step forward, two steps back. But he had assured himself— last night and again just now—that she was just as attracted to him as he was to her. She needed time, he could understand that, and knowing she responded to him would give him the patience he needed to let her get used to the idea.

  But on his terms.

  “We need to spend some time together. I’m going to make reservations for us for tonight, and you’re going out with me if I have to carry you kicking and screaming.”

  This stiffened Kaly’s spine. She regretted forgetting for a moment, even an instant, how controlling Jackson Roberts could be. So it was with quiet satisfaction that she told him, “I can’t go anywhere with you tonight. I have another date.”

  Jackson’s face froze. “You what?”

  “I said, I have another date. And if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to the ranch. Jeff may be looking for me.” She tried to brush past him, but he snared her wrist with two long fingers and pulled her up short. Her eyes went from her wrist to his face pointedly.

  “Break it,” he ordered flatly.

  “Absolutely not. You do not give me commands, tough guy. I’m not one of your hired hands.”

  Jackson contemplated her silently for a moment, his fingers no longer holding her captive. He rubbed them along her delicate pulse. “I’m not going to let you conceal your feelings for me with other men. You’re interested in me. No one else. It’s time you faced that.”

  Kaly tugged free and immediately went to mount her horse. She couldn’t deny the pull she felt for him, nor the temptation he represented. Becoming further involved would be disastrous for both of them, of that she was sure. But she was not so certain about her ability to withstand him if he didn’t stop providing constant temptations.

  “Oh, and Kaly?” He waited until she turned after mounting Misty before continuing. “You will sleep with me. But it won’t be because I seduce you. When I take you to bed it will be your decision. Because you will finally admit to yourself that you want me as much as I want you. Think about that on your date tonight.”

  She could feel her skin heat from his provocative remarks. Without replying she wheeled the mare around and rode away.

  Jackson watched her departing figure. Damned if he knew how to get through to her. He’d been accused of having an indomitable spirit, but she had a strong will of her own, and she couldn’t be pushed.

  He considered what she had said to him and a slow smile crossed his face. Kaly might think she’d had the last word, but there was more than one way for this evening to end. He’d show her that.

  * * * *

  Jackson narrowed his eyes as he entered the crowded, dimly lighted interior of Los Pueblos’s one dining and dancing establishment. He scanned the restaurant quickly until he spotted Kaly and her companion, and then slipped into a booth in a corner where he could see their table.

  A waitress walked over and took his order, lingering for small talk. But when he didn’t respond to her attempts at conversation, she finally moved away. He wasn’t in the mood for chatting with a stranger, even one sending blatant invitations with her eyes. What he was most in the mood for, he thought darkly, was to haul a certain bullheaded research assistant out of here, over his shoulder, if need be.

  Earlier that day, his plan had been simple. He would just wait until Kaly left with her date and follow them. It had been easy to justify that decision to himself. After all, there wasn’t any use letting some other guy think he had a chance with Kaly. Not when Jackson knew otherwise. The way he had it figured, he was doing the poor sucker a favor.

  But he had mistakenly assumed her date would be Paul Whitfield. When he had seen Kaly get in that fancy truck of Larry Scott’s, his blood had run cold.

  Nick had nosed around and found that Larry hadn’t been home the night the rustlers had hit the Whitfield ranch. Jackson hadn’t had to consider any longer. He’d called Roy and given him all the information he’d gathered that pointed to Larry’s involvement in the rustling. They’d both decided it would be best to keep the investigation quiet. It would do no good to scare the man off before they had the proof they needed linking him to the crime. A deputy would be assigned to watch his movements when he wasn’t working, and when he made his next move, they’d nail him.

  Jackson damned that decision now. It would have been unpleasant to watch Whitfield charm Kaly all night. But to have to sit by and watch her enjoy an evening with a suspected cattle thief was going to be torture.

  The waitress brought Jackson a beer, hesitated, then scurried away at the threatening look on his dark features. He barely noticed her as he watched the table across the room. Larry was leaning toward Kaly, talking, and she was laughing.

  Jackson groaned as the blond cowboy led her to the small dance floor. She had dressed casually tonight, in a turquoise blouse and white slacks, and she still looked fantastic. Her hair was pulled back into its customary braid, of which Jackson was fiercely glad. He didn’t want to think about any fingers but his own tangled in that thick mane. His hand gripped the beer bottle tighter as she moved into Larry’s arms.

  Kaly felt more relaxed than she had in weeks. She smiled as Larry attempted to teach her, with more enthusiasm than skill, the steps to a new dance. They were out of breath as the music came to an end, and that was when she looked across the dance floor and straight into Jackson’s eyes. She stumbled slightly as she met his burning gaze, her movements suddenly uncoordinated.

  Jackson smiled slowly, taking in her reaction at the sight of him. He saluted her with his bottle, then sipped from it without breaking eye contact.

  Kaly felt her hard-won calm flee. Just a glimpse of Jackson’s hard, still features had brought that mixture of excitement and anguish she was coming to recognize as inseparable from his presence. Excitement because, God help her, her response to him was as immediate as it was involuntary. And anguish because she was miserably certain that a relationship with him would bring her more pain than she’d ever had to bear.

  She and Larry returned to their table. Jackson immediately came over to say hello.

  Larry greeted him in surprise. “Well, hey, boss, don’t usually see you in here.”

  “I didn’t expect to see you tonight, either,” Jackson answered blandly. They talked about ranch matters for a few minutes before he asked, “Mind if I join you?”

  Larry looked dismayed. “Well, uh...” His gaze went to Kaly.

  She started firmly, “I don’t think...”

  The rest of her sentence trailed away as Jackson pulled up a chair and sat down next to her. Immediately she felt suffocated by his proximity. The tables were small, and the chairs necessarily close together. Jackson’s large build dwarfed her, the contrast of steely-muscled strength and her softer, slighter frame impossible to ignore. She felt her breathing quicken at his side and strove to keep from revealing her response.

  He moved his dark head closer to be heard over the music. “How was the meal?”

  “Real good.” Larry grinned as he looked at Kaly admiringly. “Course my appetite is always better when I’m sitting across from a beautiful woman.”

  Kaly smiled slightly at the compliment but was too discomfited by Jackson’s closeness to respond. She allowed the two men to carry on the majority of the conversation, contributing little. Jackson propped one forearm on the table and stretched the other arm behind Kaly to rest it on the back of her chair. She stiffened, not trusting his actions. She sat, rigid and silent while they discussed the day’s work. Her breath hissed and she turned her head sharply to glare at him when she felt his thumb rhythmically stroking her shoulder blade. She felt anger take precedence in the welter of her feelings. He was determined to ruin this evening for her! The gentle brushing continued, even when she pulled
forward, pretending to change position. No expression showed on Jackson’s face. He appeared totally involved in a discussion with Larry about an expectant cow they were watching. Just wait till she got him alone, Kaly vowed. She’d break every bone in his big body!

  She attempted to inch her chair away from him until she was wedged next to a table leg, yet still not far enough from that caressing thumb. Not wishing to call attention to herself, she was forced to endure it for several more minutes, her backbone getting straighter with each passing second. When his fingers skated up her vertebrae to the sensitive skin at her nape, she jumped as though she had been scalded. Her sudden movement sent the glass in front of her teetering wildly, and only Jackson’s quick reflexes saved it from upsetting completely.

  He made a show of righting the glass and turned his face inquiringly to hers. In a purposefully loud voice he asked. “Is that your charming way of letting us know you’ve been ignored long enough?”

  Mortified heat flooded Kaly’s cheeks. She couldn’t very well respond that she wanted him to keep his hands to himself without making a scene. The taunting gleam in his eyes told her he knew it, as well. Larry was eyeing the two of them quizzically, so Kaly responded weakly, “Not at all. I guess I’m just clumsy tonight.”

  A corner of his mouth lifted, and Larry immediately denounced her claim. “Don’t let her kid you. She’s already a pro on the dance floor. Even kept up with a klutzy cowboy like me.” The evening deteriorated even more from that point. The men continued talking about ranch matters, and Kaly purposefully remained silent. She didn’t trust herself to speak when she felt like ripping Jackson’s tongue out.

  “How about a dance, Kaly?” Kaly’s eyes jerked to Jackson in astonishment. He turned to Larry and asked, “Do you mind?”