Love Unspoken

by Delilah Hunt

  His brows furrowed. It reminded him of the way he had touched Noelle hours before in the parking lot.

  Cole glanced to the side and swallowed hard. Why was he always so happy to see her when judging by the fire in those deep brown eyes, she looked none to pleased by his presence?

  “I don’t have to tell you that you’re trespassing, do I?”

  He blinked in response. Was she serious?

  She stared back at him with something akin to superiority in her eyes. Cole shrugged and kept on walking. For some dumbass reason, he hadn’t expected that from her.

  Behind him, footsteps quickened, followed by her insistent voice. “Just because you have free reign over at the ranch doesn’t mean you can have the same liberty here. I don’t know if it’s because I was decent enough to give you a —”

  Talk about misjudging a book by the cover. Cole stopped in his tracks, spun around and issued her a deadly look. He needed her to shut up so he could detect if one of the animals was in the nearby bushes and go on about his business.

  She opened her mouth to utter something else but he drew a finger to his lips hoping she would take the hint.

  Come on beauty, I know you can shut up for one minute.

  Her perfectly arched brows narrowed as she mouthed the words. “What is it?”

  Luckier than he thought. She was actually listening to him. Cole relaxed his posture. He didn’t want to frighten Noelle by having her believe a wild animal was on the cusp of attacking them. Or rather him, because as dubious as he felt about her in this moment, one thing was certain– he wouldn’t let anything hurt her.

  He crooked his finger, gesturing to her. Come with me.

  Arms folded, she shook her head fervently. “You go,” she mouthed, jabbing a finger toward the bushes.

  At least there’d be no mistaking her lack of concern for his wellbeing, Cole thought lifting the rope from his shoulder. He pushed away the shrubs. Sure enough the little guy was lying on its side, the Somerset brand visible on its hip. The cow appeared to be suffering, one of the hind legs red and swollen.

  Shit. It had to be a snakebite. His next thought centered on Noelle. Cole glanced backward, swinging his gaze to her long legs. Good. She had replaced the stylish black pumps from earlier today with a pair of tan suede boots that reached just above her calves.

  “What’s wrong with it?” She inched closer to him as if she was unsure her legs were doing as she commanded.

  Cole pointed to the snakebite and she immediately clamped a hand over her mouth and sprang backward.

  “What are you going to do?”

  He lifted a brow. Was she concerned about the animal or herself?

  She tucked a strand of shiny dark hair behind her ear and let out a small breath. “I’m asking because I hope you don’t plan on leaving it here to die. Your boss will be getting a bill if my father has to dispose of it.”

  Disappointment rose within him. After the ride she had given him, he’d thought maybe there was more to her than what he heard from the other hands. He was wrong. And despite the fact that he had no reason to be disappointed in her, they were nothing, not even friends, he couldn’t help it. The loss of not getting to know the person he thought he’d caught a glimpse of left him hollow.

  Ignoring her, Cole hoisted the half limp yearling into his arms and turned in the opposite direction. He couldn’t believe he’d felt excitement at seeing her again.

  He kept on moving throughout the thicket, hurrying with the heavy weight in his arms. Still, he heard her quiet footsteps behind him. If she disliked him so much, why was she following him, when all he wanted was to get the fuck off her precious daddy’s property and return where he belonged?

  He paused and waited for whatever it was she had to say again.

  Noelle cleared her throat. “So um… Cole. Aren’t you worried your boss is going to fire you? You’re the one who usually rides point, correct? Shouldn’t it have been your duty to make sure the animals stay on course to wherever you guys take them?”

  His eyebrows shot up and his movement halted. It had nothing to do with being worried about his job. Somerset wasn’t going to fire him. No. What surprised him was Noelle’s reference to his work. Earlier he hadn’t expected her to know his name. That shock was lesser compared to her knowledge of his duties on the cattle drives.

  He wanted to say something, anything to know what was going through her mind when it came to him. But he couldn’t. She wouldn’t understand him and he had no wish to have her eye him and his attempts to communicate with scorn. He’d have to keep ignoring her. There was too much at stake for him and his family to get caught up in the world of Noelle Williams.

  Chapter Two

  Noelle stared out of her bedroom window. She was looking over at that damn ranch again. Disgusted with her lack of self-control, she snatched the satin drapes together and pressed her head to the fabric.

  She hadn’t made a good impression on Cole last week after they’d found the injured animal. She should have just stayed hidden and continued on with her walk instead of approaching him. If only her stupid feet had listened to her brain instead of leading her to the last person she needed to be around.

  She’d done so well for the past year, keeping her distance from Cole, since she’d first caught sight of him shoeing horses as she spoke with Mr. Somerset. Noelle curled the edges of the drapes in her fist, unsure if her first memory of Cole was a cherished one or part nightmare.

  That day, over a year ago, she’d visited the ranch for the sake of her father’s business, but had been caught off guard by the sight of a man, kneeling on the ground. There hadn’t been anything special about him, except his massive frame, but her heart started to beat a mile a minute, waiting for him to lift his head. She was glad he hadn’t noticed her while performing his duty, because as Mr. Somerset spoke and Noelle felt her lips moving, her heart continued to beat fast, palms misting with nervousness she had never felt before.

  When Mr. Somerset paused and called out to the cowboy, asking him a question, Noelle learned two things that she would never forget. The ranch hand’s name was Cole and he couldn’t speak a word. By the time he looked up from his task, it was too late for her. She’d caught the briefest glimpse of his dark eyes and in that moment, Noelle wanted nothing more than to get the hell off the ranch and wipe the image of the cowboy from her mind. Cole disturbed her because not once since she’d turned her life around, had a man captured her attention or made her cunt pulse anxiously with untold desires as this silent ranch hand she knew nothing about.

  She had to stay away from him.

  “So stupid,” she mumbled, stepping away from the window and shoving aside the memory. She had failed at staying away from him as she’d promised herself and, to make it worse, she hadn’t even tried to present herself in a positive light. Hadn’t tried to be anything other than what he expected from her. Then again, did she even know how to be different? She’d invested so many years in cultivating her image. Her looks, clothes, work ethic. Everything had to be perfect on the outside, more than enough to make up for the embarrassment she had caused herself and her family.

  Noelle blew out a shallow breath and drew open the wide closet doors. She was doing well for herself. She was no longer the wild seventeen year old bent on self-destruction and selfish to boot. Noelle Williams was an adult, desperately seeking the approval and thumbs up from her parents. In essence, she was a grown woman living at home and working for her parents as a gofer.

  Cole and everyone else had the image of her life she wanted them to have. The truth was, without the glimmer of her parent’s money and being blessed with a pretty face, there was nothing special about her. That is, nothing positive which made her stand out.

  “I don’t care what he thinks,” Noelle muttered. Cole McKinney was a ranch hand and a mute at that. His opinion didn’t make an ounce of difference in her life.

  She was in control. Complete control, she reminded herself. Noelle dressed,
slipping into one of her many business suits, a crisp side pleated skirt that fell just above her knees. Today was like any other day of visiting her father’s clients and explaining to them the merits of using his supplemental feed for their herd. The fact that she was headed over to the ranch where Cole worked made no difference at all.

  Grabbing up the necessary paperwork, Noelle carefully laid them in her briefcase, arriving at the ranch minutes later. Please let that man be inside. The last thing she wanted was to go on a wild goose chase all over the ranch searching for Mr. Somerset because he had forgotten their appointment.

  Worse, she didn’t want to run into Cole, who would look at her as if all the misfortune in the world could be laid at her feet. Noelle pressed the pad of her finger against the doorbell. Smoothing the hem of her skirt, she ran a hand over her hair. The straightened strands were held together in a neat bun at the back of her head. Excellent.

  She waited another minute before ringing the bell again. No answer. Noelle turned and looked around. It was midday on the ranch. The workers were sure to be on every corner of the grassy land and she doubted any of them would be of much help to her. People didn’t usually appreciate being talked down to, definitely not the hardworking cowboys around here and unfortunately it was a crime she was guilty of.

  In her search for the owner, Noelle strode past the opened barn. The invigorating aroma of hay, leather and horse floated through the air. To some the scent might seem offensive to the senses, but she loved it, ever since her visits to the riding stables as a child, despite her protests. Being here represented all the ways she had put her old life in the city behind her.

  At the same moment, a tall, dark haired man sporting a five o’clock shadow exited the room with a saddle slung over his shoulder. Foreman. Noelle straightened her spine and held on tighter to her small briefcase.

  The cowboy stopped in front of her. “You looking for the boss, Ms. Williams?”

  She nodded. Okay, maybe he would be of some help. “Is he nearby? I really don’t want to walk all the way across the ranch searching for him.”

  The man chuckled and scratched his chin while looking her up and down. “Nah, don’t s’pose you would.” He shifted his gaze to one of the horses grazing under a nearby tree. “Boss is over by the corral. If you want, I can give you a ride over there. It’s quite a walk.”

  “No thanks,” she replied tightly.

  The cowboy lifted his lean shoulders. “Suit yourself, ma’am.”

  Noelle shook her head and kept on walking. She stole a backward glance at the man. He was handsome and she must have seen him a dozen times before, probably even heard his name here and there. But for the life of her she couldn’t remember it, didn’t feel the warm stirring that only one quiet cowboy elicited from her even when he wasn’t around.

  She reached the gated area. Noelle could see the owner of the ranch standing beside a group of workers. Striding toward them, she felt their gazes on her, all but for one person. Cole gave a quick glance her way, a look of disinterest crossing his masculine face. She wasn’t surprised when he lowered his head and returned to tagging the ear of a calf. Noelle shifted her head, squashing the trace of anger and disappointment that she hadn’t captured his attention.

  Clearing her throat, she issued a greeting to the gray haired man. “Good morning, Mr. Somerset.”

  Instead of returning her greeting, the man’s gaze dropped to her briefcase. “I thought your father was going to run those by me today.”

  Noelle forced herself to remain calm. This was an issue she experienced each and every time with Mr. Somerset. The sixty-four year old rancher was among those men who refused to accept that a woman had knowledge of the ranching industry outside of cooking for the cowboys. Perhaps it was the same thing her father experienced in the beginning of his career, except his gender hadn’t been the issue in question.

  “My father is occupied at the moment. If you’d rather wait another two weeks for his schedule to clear, that’s fine. I have a demonstration to make over at the Wayland ranch sometime today.”

  Mr. Somerset’s ears perked up and he quickly reached for her hand, staying her movement. “Hey, now just hold up, little lady. How about we go inside and you give me the run down.”

  Thank God.

  She wouldn’t have to spend another minute out here where a fucking cow ranked higher on the scale than her in Cole’s eyes.

  An hour later, after she’d extolled the virtues of the latest upgraded feed supplement her father’s company had developed, Noelle dashed into her car. She needed to get off the damn ranch and go home. In her room, specifically, where she could feel secure that Cole and everyone else couldn’t see beneath the surface, wasn’t able to look at her and know the kind of person she had been. The type that he’d probably only seen on television and felt pity, maybe disgust for. Cole might be the biggest and hardest looking man on the ranch, but there was an innocence and naiveté about him that unnerved and intrigued her.

  Noelle scoffed. What a joke it was spending so much time thinking about him. For that nice body he had, Cole probably had no idea what to do with a woman. If anything she should be the one pitying him. She just had to keep remind herself of that.

  Noelle twisted the key in the ignition, recoiling as the engine coughed and sputtered. Could the day get any worse? Annoyed, she yanked the key and pushed open the door. Not even a second out of the car and she spied a rider on horseback coming from behind the thick trunk of one of the many Juniper trees towering along the side of the dirt road.

  Noelle squeezed her eyes and took a deep breath. When her eyes fluttered open, she shook her head at the identity of her companion. Great. The last person she wanted to see or needed around. She gritted her teeth and hedged toward the front of the car. She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing her defeated.

  Popping the hood, Noelle leaned over, pretending to study the machinery. If she ignored him, maybe he would go away and leave her in peace. She fiddled with the nearest engine part and sneaked a glance over her shoulder to see if he was still sitting on the horse observing her.

  How embarrassing. He was no doubt having a good laugh on the inside at her misfortune, not to mention that such an expensive car had failed her. She noticed he was no longer on the stallion. Noelle looked sideways to see where he had gone off to since the horse was standing in the same spot without its rider. Every nerve in her body went on high alert the instant she felt a hand pushing hers from the engine.

  Her heart thumped. Noelle snatched away her hand. “What are you doing?”

  He gazed at her from the corner of his eyes and made a sweeping motion with his hand over the entire engine.

  Noelle frowned. “You want to look at it?” He wanted to help her?

  Cole nodded and whipped out the tiny notepad from his back pocket.

  Can’t make any promises, but I’ll see if I can fix it.

  She gaped at him. He was serious. And then she felt it, the rush of shame seeping into her bones because of the insensitive way she had thought of him and treated him. Stepping aside, she allowed him room to work. Noelle watched as he braced forward, brows knotted in concentration. His face relaxed somewhat as he took out an iron object resembling a large screw. He held it out to her, waving it in the air and pointing.

  She bit back a smile at the triumph on his face, but her lips twitched in revolt. Eventually, she lost the battle and her smile won out. A look of surprise crossed his dark features. Noelle felt silly when his face closed up because she’d made the mistake of smiling. He lowered his hand and placed the engine part on the ground then scribbled again on the notepad and showed it to her.

  Do you trust me to do it?

  Her smile faltered. It was such a simple question. Cole was asking about the damn car, yet it felt like he wanted to know so much more.

  Biting back a snide remark in retaliation for the way he was affecting her, Noelle lifted a shoulder. “Do your worst, cowboy.”


  He gave a curt nod, picked up the item and began whatever it was he assumed he could do. Noelle straightened, pretending to study the surrounding. If he had taken one look at her stranded on the roadside and galloped away on the horse, she might have felt more comfortable than having him here…helping her. It made no sense.

  Held in the grips of curiosity, Noelle sauntered beside him and asked, “Why are you helping me?”

  He didn’t stop at his task, scraping at the side of the iron with a silver pocketknife. His head shifted ever so slowly to the side. His eyes made contact with hers and Noelle felt the air sizzle. A tempest of dust whisked through the air, probably dirtying her shoes but she didn’t care. Couldn’t.

  That hardened gaze drifted downward and her heart pounded as he surveyed her entire frame for what felt like an eternity. Her pussy throbbed. Just when she thought she’d have to look away first, he turned his head fixing his attention on the engine, effectively ignoring her question.

  One minute passed and then another. On the brink of uttering a final curse at the car for breaking down, she heard the hood snap close. Cole turned to her and pointed to the steering wheel. Grasping his meaning, Noelle nodded and jumped into the car, turning the ignition. The engine purred to life. She didn’t have time to calculate her next move. He had fixed it. Noelle kicked open the door and stared at him in surprise.

  “You fixed it!”

  He wiped a hand along his faded jeans and shrugged. Was it so hard for him to sign, write something to her? Irritated and a tad bit hurt by his attitude, Noelle planted herself in front of him with her arms folded. “You never answered my question.”

  Pausing, Noelle took a calming breath. She was coming on too strong with what had to look like some kind of angry black chick ruse. “Why are you helping me, Cole?” she repeated in a hushed tone.

  His brows arched and once more he pulled out the notepad and wrote. Payback. Now we’re even.

  Noelle curled her lips at the words on the paper. Payback? All she had done was give him a ride to the ranch. It wasn’t that big of a deal. Didn’t people do things like that for each other every day? Of course they did, but it wasn’t expected of her. A knot formed in the pit of her stomach. If it had been anyone else, Cole wouldn’t have felt beholden for something as simple as a car ride.