“Actually,” he murmured silkily, “I do.”
“I have to...have to—” She readied to flee.
He took hold of her arm, firmly yet coaxingly. His grip was that of a man who would protect her and keep her safe. A man comfortable with intimate contact.
Heaven help her, she was in much deeper trouble than she’d thought.
“It makes good business sense,” he said, his tone coaxing. He might have been talking to Wind Walker.
“I haven’t checked him out. There’s an adoption process.” She eased away from him.
“He’s a good guy, Cara. Treats his horses well.”
“He rents them to anyone off the street. How can I be sure my horses won’t be mistreated?”
“I’ll take you to see his setup. It’s just outside Cave Creek. You can inspect his operation and the condition of his rental horses for yourself.”
She supposed there was no harm in looking.
Josh smiled. “You don’t want any of the mustangs to come up lame because their hooves went unattended after you had the chance to use a perfectly competent farrier.”
“We’ll see.” She wasn’t ready to concede.
“He’ll give them a good home, Cara, and isn’t that what you want? The more mustangs you place, the more room you’ll have to take in others that might be suffering or worse.”
Like headed to the slaughterhouse. “What’s this farrier’s name?”
“You going to research him on the internet?”
“Yes.” If he thought she was joking, he had another think coming.
“Rusty Collins. His business is Big Sky Horse Rentals.”
Simple enough. She could remember that.
“What about Saturday afternoon?” Josh asked. “If you’re free. We could stop for lunch at Harold’s Cave Creek Corral on the way back.”
She pursed her lips. “I thought we were just checking out your friend’s place.”
“It’s a long drive.”
“Not that long. An hour max.”
“Each way. We might get hungry.”
Wind Walker—funny how easily Cara thought of the black by his new name—was getting restless again. She and Josh started forward as naturally as if they were a couple—which they definitely weren’t.
“I’m not going on a date with you,” she stated.
“No date. We’re stopping for food.”
Two people lunching together at a nice restaurant struck Cara as a date. Or... Wait a minute!
“Are you bribing me?”
He laughed. Wind Walker must have liked the sound, for he swung his big head to the side and nudged Josh’s hat, almost knocking it off.
Cara liked the sound, too.
People didn’t laugh around her much, not since Javier died. Perhaps they thought it was disrespectful or inappropriate. Perhaps she didn’t inspire laughter in others. Except, apparently, in Josh.
They arrived at Wind Walker’s stall. The horse obediently entered when Josh opened the door and headed straight to his feed bin. Discovering it was empty, he faced the corner in disgust.
“Here, boy.” Josh produced a pair of carrots from his duster pocket, and Wind Walker chomped them down. “If I was going to bribe you,” he said to Cara, latching the stall door, “it wouldn’t be with an invitation to lunch.”
Against her better judgment, she asked, “What would it be with?”
He propped an elbow on the closed stall door and contemplated her for a long moment with his compelling blue eyes. Suddenly self-conscious, Cara wanted to look away. Wanted to, but didn’t.
“Something more personal.” He removed his cowboy hat and hung it on the stall latch. During the process, he’d somehow managed to move closer.
“Personal.” She squared her shoulders, as if that would give her strength in the face of his overwhelming allure.
“I think you find me intriguing. Even, dare I say it, attractive.”
“My, my,” she scoffed. “You have an incredible ego.”
“That may be true, but it doesn’t change the facts.”
“I assure you, I don’t find you the least bit intriguing or attractive. Annoying, yes. Frustrating, absolutely.”
“Well, in that case.” He lowered his head until their mouths were within kissing range. “You won’t mind if I test that theory.”
Every one of her senses went on high alert. Breathing became difficult. Speaking impossible.
Run! her brain hollered. Her feet didn’t listen and remained rooted in place.
“Don’t—” She couldn’t finish.
“I won’t.”
His assurance gave her no comfort. Yet she continued to stand there, staring at him as if cast under a spell. “Josh.”
“I like how you say my name.”
Hadn’t she just been thinking how much she liked his laugh?
“We can’t do this.” She shook her head numbly.
“What are we doing?”
“You’re...you’re...going to...”
“Tell me.” He smiled, fully aware of the torture he was putting her through.
Dammit, she had to resist him. Needed to prove her previous claims about not being attracted to him.
Mustering her slim reserve of courage, she admitted, “You’re going to kiss me.”
“Am I?”
“You’re not?”
Sparks lit his eyes. That she could handle. It was the decidedly male hunger beneath the sparks that terrified her.
“Not unless that’s what you want, too.”
Josh’s breath caressed her cheek. The sensation unnerved her, enough that she almost missed the last part of what he’d said.
“Too?”
A low, sexy rumble emanated from deep in his chest. “Yes, I want to kiss you. Haven’t you figured that out yet?”
“I’m, um, kind of rusty at this stuff.”
“Like riding a bike, Cara. A few seconds, and it’ll all come back to you.”
Would it? She and Manuel had met their first year at community college. They’d dated four years before marrying and were together almost that long before having Javier.
Cara hardly believed it. She was almost thirty-one and hadn’t kissed a man other than Manuel since college. She hadn’t kissed Manuel, even platonically, for almost three years. No wonder she was scared.
All at once, she wanted to kiss Josh with a need bordering on desperate. Experience the touch of his lips on hers, soft and yielding at first, then firm and demanding. Discover how he tasted. What he felt like, his muscles tensing beneath her needy fingers as she pressed them into his flesh.
Oh, how she missed being with a man. More than the sex, she missed the incredible connection two people shared. Humans weren’t designed to be alone. They thrived on companionship. Love. A voice on the other end of the phone line that instantly lifted one’s spirits. A hand to hold. A cheek to cradle. A warm body to cuddle with at night.
Josh wasn’t the one to give her those things. But a kiss from him could remind her, if only for a fleeting moment, of what she’d lost and, maybe, could one day have again.
Standing on tiptoes, she caressed the line of his straight, strong jaw. The bristles of his day-old beard tickled her palm in a good way. His lower lip was warm and responsive as the pad of her thumb skimmed its surface.
“No rush, Cara. Take all the time you need.” His voice wrapped around her like a warm cloak.
She took him at his word and continued her exploration. His hair, in need of a trim, beckoned her fingertips to sift through the fine strands. The skin on the back of his neck was tanned and taut and when she touched him there, he closed his eyes and groaned with a mixture of agony and pleasure.
Heaven help her,
it was thrilling. It was also not enough. When the world didn’t end, she let go and gave in. Slowly, carefully, delicately she placed her lips on his.
The kiss was everything she imagined. Achingly tender, deliciously sweet and then, gloriously intense as Josh wrapped her in a possessive embrace.
“Cara,” he uttered and slipped his tongue between her lips, his hand pressing into the small of her back.
Shock waves immobilized her as alarm bells rang in her head.
Too much, too soon! She wasn’t ready. Not for this and not for Josh.
Cara broke off the kiss, extracting herself from Josh’s arms. Her feet suddenly working again, they carried her down the aisle and away from him. To her relief, Josh didn’t follow.
Inside the house, her luck held. No one was home. Raquel must have taken the children to the park in town.
Good. No one to witness her meltdown or hear her sobs. Just seven empty rooms and one empty heart.
Chapter Six
“Been right fine to meet you, ma’am.” Rusty Collins tugged on the brim of his tattered straw cowboy hat. His baggy denim overalls could have been a hand-me-down from his grandfather.
“Same here. And please, call me Cara.”
“We’ll be talking soon, I hope.”
“Yes, I think we will.”
She liked the owner of Big Sky Horse Rentals despite her determination not to. An hour in his company, a thorough tour of his horse rental and farrier operation and a meeting with his friendly and loyal employees had changed her mind.
Darn it, Josh was right. Any of her mustangs would have a good home here and be well cared for by the big and burly man with a heart of gold. She already had a few horses in mind that would make reliable, docile saddle mounts under Rusty’s competent tutelage.
The trade of two horses for farrier services was also more than a fair deal. He probably deserved three, once he got through inspecting her entire herd.
“How ’bout this Wednesday? Will that work for you?” Rusty asked, stroking his bushy red-gray beard. No doubt the inspiration for his name. “We like to start early. At the crack of dawn.”
“I’m an early riser, too.” Cara genuinely smiled for the first time since kissing Josh on Thursday.
Kissing Josh! She still had trouble accepting that disastrous lack of judgment.
Her smile dimmed, and she looked away, pretending an interest in the group of riders just returning from the nearby desert trails. Rusty’s guide was in the lead.
“We can come another day,” he said. “If that’s more convenient.”
He’d misunderstood her sudden mood change. “No, no,” she insisted. “Wednesday’s fine.”
The reason for Cara’s distraction ambled toward them. He was also smiling. From what she’d observed, he hadn’t stopped since their kiss. It was pretty infuriating.
“You all have fun?” Rusty greeted Josh with an amiable clap on the back.
Josh carried Kimberly in one arm. With the other, he held Nathan’s hand. “The kids would’ve stayed longer if I let them.”
He’d taken them to visit a litter of month-old puppies one of the barn dogs had given birth to in an empty horse stall. Cara suspected he’d used the excuse to allow her and Rusty some private time to reach an agreement. She should have been appreciative. Instead, she was annoyed. More at herself than Josh. She had been the one to kiss him, not the other way around.
“Like them pups, did you?” Rusty cuffed Nathan playfully on the chin.
The boy promptly burst into tears.
“Hey, there. What’s the matter?”
Was he hurt? Sick? Cara started for Nathan, only to restrain herself. He wasn’t her son, and this wasn’t her problem to handle even if Josh did rely on her advice.
“I want a puppy,” Nathan blurted between sobs. “Daddy says no.”
“Hey, pal.” Josh patted the boy’s ball-capped head. “I told you we’d come back in a few weeks. The puppies are too young to leave their mama.”
Nathan refused to be mollified, and his sobs escalated to wails.
“I think our visit here’s cutting into his nap time,” Josh offered as apology.
“Tell you what.” Rusty knelt in front of Nathan, who stopped crying and stared at the older man, visibly torn between fear and wonder. “You come back here in three weeks, and you can have whichever one of them pups you want. I’ll give you first dibs.”
Nathan probably didn’t understand everything Rusty had said, but he’d gleaned enough to realize a puppy was in his future, just not his immediate future.
“Want a puppy now.”
“Would if I could.” Rusty stood. “But them pups aren’t ready yet.”
Nathan started sniffling. Cara sensed they were in for another big cry.
Josh headed his son off with admirable skill. “Why don’t we take Cara to see the puppies, and you can show her which one you want.”
Nathan’s tears instantly dried, and he turned his beautiful blue eyes on Cara. “Come on!”
She hesitated, then followed the boy, unable to refuse. Or was it that she didn’t want to appear surly in front of Rusty?
“Take your time.” The older man hailed the trail guide. “I need to get these folks checked out.”
The puppies were an adorable cluster of black-and-white fluff balls that yipped excitedly and nipped at their ankles. Cara picked up a fat bundle that was chewing on the hem of her jeans. The puppy lavished her face with kisses before going after her hair and chewing it.
“Hey, wait a minute!” Cara averted her face, only to have the puppy attack her ear. “Ouch!” She gave a short, quick laugh.
Of course, Josh noticed. And smiled.
Cara put the puppy down. Then, mad at herself—she wasn’t about to let Josh Dempsey dictate her actions—knelt to give the mother dog a petting.
She honestly had no idea how Nathan could settle on just one. All of the puppies were sweet, cute and friendly. She and Manuel had owned a dog, a lovely spaniel mix that Javier had called Paw Paw. Cara had given Paw Paw to Summer and Teddy when she’d moved out of the apartment, unable to stop thinking of Javier each time she looked at the dog.
“This one, Daddy.” Nathan held up a squirming bundle.
“Okay.” Josh inspected the puppy closely. He’d been holding Kimberly by both her small hands, helping her “walk” through the mass of puppies. She giggled and wiggled as first one pup, then another crawled over her feet or jumped up onto her chest. “Good choice. My dad always said white on a dog’s ears was a sign of intelligence.”
Cara wasn’t sure what startled her most, the silly statement about a dog’s ears or Josh’s casual mention of his late father. Perhaps—no, obviously—not every memory was a bad one.
With the puppy chosen and Nathan satisfied, the four of them met up with Rusty to say their goodbyes. They confirmed Wednesday morning and shook hands all around before leaving. While Josh buckled Nathan into his car seat, Cara attended Kimberly. Two weeks of her agreement with Josh hadn’t made her any more at ease with Nathan.
Not his fault. The boy was adorable and usually good-natured. But every sticky finger pressed into hers, every sweet-scented skin fresh from a bath, or sleepy head resting gently on her arm was like slicing open an old wound.
Cara climbed into the front seat, and they drove the long stretch of road to Mustang Valley. The kids were sound asleep within minutes.
She didn’t blame them. If not for Josh, she’d lean her head back and close her eyes. She hadn’t been this relaxed in the company of others for a long, long time. Funny she felt this way with Josh. He usually had her walking on pins and needles. Only since their kiss...
The thought stopped there and caused her to bolt upright. Forget being relaxed.
“You hu
ngry?” he asked, sending her a look.
She considered lying despite being starving. Stopping for food would prolong the trip. And besides, she’d told him the other day they weren’t going on anything remotely resembling a date.
“The children are asleep,” she said. That much was true and not a convenient excuse. “You don’t want to wake them. They’ll be cranky.”
“We’ll go someplace with a drive-through window.”
Fast food. Her favorite guilty pleasure. “I can wait till we get home.” Her traitorous stomach grumbled loudly.
“There’s El Grande Pollo,” he said a minute later. “They have great chicken tacos.” Without waiting for her response, he swung the truck into the parking lot and maneuvered in line behind an SUV.
Cara’s resolution faded the moment she read the menu. Everything looked scrumptious. And she was thirsty, too.
“What do you want?” Josh flashed her a dazzling grin.
Her heart instantly raced, and she silently chided herself. This nonsense had to stop.
“A chicken taco.”
He raised his brows. “Just one?”
“And a diet cola.”
“Okay.” At the window, Josh placed their order. “Six chicken tacos, an extra-large root beer and a large diet cola.”
“Small cola,” she corrected him.
He didn’t change the order. When she tried to pay for her share of the food, he dismissed her. They were hardly back on the road, and he dived into the bag, handing the first taco to her.
“Eat up.”
She did. Two tacos. They went down fast. Faster than Josh ate two. She was planning on stopping there but Josh offered her a third taco. She consumed it in four bites. Losing all willpower and giving in to him at every turn apparently worked up an appetite.
This was absolutely, positively the last time she was going anywhere with Josh. Humiliating herself again wasn’t an option.
“Tasty, aren’t they?”
“Yes,” she mumbled, not liking the satisfaction in his voice, and stared out the window for the next two miles.
“You ready to talk yet?”
Come Home, Cowboy Page 8