Capturing the Cowboy's Heart

by Lindsey Brookes

  Cade Tyler stopped dead in his tracks and then turned to face her. Fury lit his eyes as he moved toward her in long, angry strides.

  Lacy took a step back only to find herself up against the screen door.

  “It’s not her fault,” a voice said behind her, making her jump.

  “What do you mean?” Cade asked, his steps halting.

  Lacy moved aside, grateful Burk Lowry had chosen that moment to return. It took a moment longer for his words to sink in. But the moment they did she repeated Cade’s question. “What do you mean?”

  The screen door swung open as he stepped out onto the porch, guilt written all over his face. “I did it. I was the one who talked to Ms. Dalton on the phone.”

  She gasped. “That was you? You said you were him,” she added, pointing at Cade.

  The lanky cowboy shrugged. “A little white lie.”

  “Little hell,” Cade growled as he moved up onto the porch to join them.

  “Look, Cade,” his ranch hand said, “the business needs the publicity this story would bring us. We haven’t been able to afford the advertising we used to and Bustin’ Loose has a huge circulation. This interview could turn things around for the Flying T.”

  Cade’s expression darkened. “I have no intention of standing here discussing my financial situation in front of this...” He turned to Lacy, his discerning gaze moving over her, “rag writer.”

  “Rag writer!” she exclaimed, but the two men continued on as if she weren’t even there.

  “I know how you feel about reporters,” Burk replied. “But your stubbornness is going to cost us the opportunity to keep this place from running into the ground.”

  “No more,” Cade said through tightly clenched teeth. “We’ll finish this discussion later."

  Lacy sensed a storm brewing and it wasn’t the one that had followed her into town.

  “Damn it, Cade—”

  “Not here,” came the final warning. “And not now.”

  Burk turned to her. “I’m real sorry to have wasted your time, Ms. Dalton.” That said the ranch hand stalked off toward the barn.

  “This can’t be happening,” she muttered.

  Cade muttered a curse as he turned back to the angry young woman who stood on his porch, clutching her briefcase so hard her knuckles had turned white.

  “It seems we owe you an apology,” he said with a glance in his friend’s direction. “I’m sure Burk meant well, but he was out of line. The decision wasn’t his to make. And I’m not interested.”

  Her mouth moved as if she wanted to argue the point, but snapped shut just as quickly. Her cheeks were flushed with anger, her amber eyes flashing. She looked like a volcano ready to erupt and he and Burk were right in line of the lava’s flow.

  Even that didn’t keep the words from leaving his mouth. “I don’t like reporters.”

  “You don’t have to like me,” she said stiffly.

  “I’m real sorry he wasted your time coming here.” And mine. “Burk should have known better.”

  “That’s it?” she replied with another gasp, making no move to leave.

  She was a stubborn, little thing. He’d give her that much. “There’s nothing else to say. I have a fence to repair, hopefully before the rain lets loose. And a ranch hand to fire apparently.” Not that Burk would pay that much mind. The man was a permanent fixture in Cade’s life.

  “Busy man,” she said, her tone as bristly as a porcupine. But damn if the little blonde wasn’t sexy when she was all fired up. A thought he quickly pushed from his mind.

  “I’ll see you to your car.” He pressed a hand to the small of her back and ushered her toward the steps, trying to redeem himself for his earlier lack of manners.

  She stopped suddenly, letting out a high pitch squeal as one of her heels sank into a groove between the weathered floorboards.

  He hooked an arm around her waist to steady her. “Why women risk breaking their necks on those things I’ll never understand,” he muttered with a frown. That was all he needed, her breaking an ankle on his porch and adding a lawsuit to all his other financial problems.

  She jerked free of his hold and spun around to face him. “I could say the same thing about you and your bulls.”

  His gaze was drawn to the honey blonde strands that had settled over one shoulder when she pulled away. He found himself wondering if they were as soft and silky as they looked.

  “I don’t ride anymore,” he muttered, irritated by the thoughts her presence evoked in him.

  “Maybe not, but you still have a business connection to the rodeo. And the publicity a story in Bustin’ Loose would give you could bring in a good deal more business. And that, Mr. Tyler, would help ease things for you financially. Please reconsider doing the interview.”

  Maybe it would, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to swallow his pride to feed a bunch of vultures. Cade whipped off his hat and dragged a hand back through his thick hair. He wasn’t going to fire Burk, he was going to kill him for even putting him in this position!

  Dragging in a deep breath, he attempted to calm himself. Then, forcing a smile, he said, “Surely you’ve got better stories to cover than a has-been rodeo rider. I don’t have the fame and fortune your readers thrive on.”

  “On the contrary, Mr. Tyler, you’re still news.”

  The woman was just plain stubborn. “News or not, I’m not doing any interview. I’ve had my fill of publicity. Especially, the kind you reporters thrive on.”

  The news media had taken his wife’s death and turned it into a media circus with all sorts of speculations as to what had caused her to go off the road that day. Rumor was that Karen had found out he was having an affair and was so distraught over the news she lost control of her car and went off the road. They were wrong. There had been no other woman. Ever.

  Lacy Dalton shifted her briefcase to her other hand. “You mentioned that you’re short-handed. How about we make a deal?”

  He raised a brow. Had she made mental notes of everything that had been said? Lord, he hoped not. “What kind of deal?”

  “You let me do the story with the agreement that you can approve it before I turn it in to my boss. In exchange I’ll work for you.”

  “You’ll what?”

  “Work for you,” she repeated with a smile. “While I write about your life, of course." She reached out to touch his arm, her beautiful whiskey colored eyes pleading as she looked up at him. "I need this assignment, Mr. Tyler. I’m more than willing to work for it and according to Mr. Lowry you’re shorthanded right now."

  Pretty or not, she’s a reporter. Cade pulled away, distancing himself from her soft touch. “Have you ever worked a ranch Ms. Dalton?”

  “Well, no...”

  “I didn’t think so. So let me make this clear. I don’t take on people who have no ranching experience. And I don’t hire women.”

  She opened her mouth again, no doubt to lay into him for being what she saw as chauvinistic, but he held up a hand to stop her protest.

  “Before you go getting all wound up, there’s a damn good reason why I don’t hire women. My bulls are mean. They’re bred to be that way. The meaner they are the harder they buck, and the more a company will pay me when they rent them for rodeos. We men have enough trouble handling them as it is. So give up and go home.”

  She looked on the verge of tears.

  Lord, he hated to see a woman cry. Especially knowing he was the one who’d caused them to. “Try and understand, I don’t want anyone writing about the Flying T, or me for that matter.” His gaze swept across his property, then back to her. “The Flying T has turned into a shadow of what it used to be. And so have I.”

  Hope flickered to life in her eyes. “All the more reason to do this interview.”

  “What’s in it for you?” he asked, his gaze moving over the fitted jacket and curve-hugging skirt she wore. “You don’t look like you need the money. Nice clothes. Fancy car.”

  “I have my reason
s.”

  “As do I. You and I both know there are plenty of other ex-rodeo riders who would be glad to have you interview them. Just not me. And you can tell your boss I said so.”

  All he wanted was for her to go away. He had more than enough on his mind without her adding to it. Or at least there were things that should have been on his mind, not some troublesome female with lips that tempted him to kiss their pout away.

  “I hope things turn around for you, Mr. Tyler,” she said, sounding surprisingly sincere. Then she turned and made her way down the porch steps.

  Cade watched her go, guilt dragging his mouth into a frown.

  Suddenly, she stopped and spun around. “If you happen to change your mind,” she said, holding out her business card, “here’s my cell number. I’ll be in town, having a much-needed glass of Chardonnay. This hasn’t exactly been one of my better days either.”

  He took the card and stood watching as she walked back to the sleek, red Corvette. She settled herself behind the wheel and, without another glance his way, started the engine and drove off in a spiraling trail of dust.

  Cade cursed the mess his life had become and headed for the barn. This day had to get better. It certainly couldn’t get any worse.

  Or could it?

  As if in answer to his question, thunder cracked overhead and the skies let loose.

  CHAPTER TWO

  “Ah, hell,” Cade grumbled as he reached for his keys. He couldn’t take any more of Burk’s disapproving looks. Even Domino was looking at him like he was the Grinch who stole Christmas.

  “Keep looking at me that way,” he warned the mangy mutt, “and you and your idiot owner are both gone!” If he didn’t know better, he would have sworn the dog smiled at him before backing further under the kitchen table.

  He glanced up to find Burk standing in the doorway, watching him with a wide grin. He had that ‘I won’ written all over his smug face.

  “Not one word.” Slapping his well-worn Stetson onto his head, Cade headed for the door.

  “Not one word,” Burk repeated as he dragged a chair out from under the kitchen table and sat down. “Nice work, Domino.”

  “Some friends you two turned out to be.” Cade slammed the door shut behind him and made his way across the wet yard to his truck.

  “Chardonnay.” He chuckled. This was Deep Creek, Colorado. A wine cooler was about as fancy as it got there. Turning up the wipers on his truck, he headed into town.

  A few minutes later, he pulled up in front of what used to be The Watering Hole, Deep Creek’s only bar, now renamed The Blarney Stone by its new owner, Katie O’Brien. Sure enough, there sat Lacy Dalton’s cherry-red Corvette, sticking out like a sore thumb in a parking lot full of old ‘beater’ pickup trucks.

  The image of tawny eyes surrounded by thick, black lashes flashed through his mind. So she was pretty. She was also a reporter. He couldn’t let himself forget that even for a moment.

  He slowed and turned into the parking lot, nosing into the empty space beside the little red sports car and a Dodge Ram. He cut the engine and sat there. The sight of his old Ford pickup next to the vintage Corvette only served as a painful reminder of what he might have had if only...

  He muttered a curse as he was once again dragged back into his past. Back to all the what-ifs and what-might-have-beens. He shoulder the door open and stepped out of his truck.

  The storm had blown through, leaving behind a puddle-strewn parking lot. Avoiding the ruts where water collected, he made his way toward the bright green door of The Blarney Stone.

  He reached for the door handle, hesitating. Maybe he should have called Lacy Dalton instead of tracking her down. Truth was, he was in no hurry whatsoever to swallow his pride and tell her he had changed his mind.

  Damn it all, but the Flying T did need the publicity. Burk was right. Their business was hurting. Mostly because he’d just plain stopped caring about everything after his wife died.

  He pulled open the door and stepped into the smoky bar, looking around.

  “Hey, Cade,” Katie O’Brien greeted from behind the bar where she stood wiping up the counter.

  “Afternoon, Katie.”

  Looking past him almost expectantly, she asked, “Where’s your partner in crime?”

  “In hiding.”

  She laughed. “What’s Burk done now?”

  “A good deed.”

  “Enough said.”

  Katie, as well as every other person in Deep Creek, knew how much trouble Burk’s good deeds always got him into. The man’s heart was always in the right place. He just had a bad habit of doing before thinking.

  “What’ll you have?” she asked as she reached below the bar for a clean mug.

  “Nothing right now, thanks. I’m looking for someone.”

  “She wouldn’t happen to be a pretty little blonde with a hankering for fancy wine, would she?”

  “That would be her.”

  With a smile that reached her bright green eyes, Katie pointed to a table on the far side of the dance floor. “She’s right over there, enjoying a wild berry cooler.”

  Cade grinned. “Thanks, Katie.”

  He crossed the empty dance floor, his gaze centered on the only woman he’d ever met who gave him a run for his money in the stubbornness department.

  “Miss Dalton,” he mumbled, removing his hat.

  She peered up at him over the rim of her glass for a long moment before setting it down on the table in front of her. Then, she sat back and crossed her arms. “I certainly didn’t expect to see you again.”

  This was worse than begging for an extension on his loans. Cade forced his smile wider. “Well, here I am. I’d like to have a word with you?”

  She didn’t look too thrilled to see him there, but motioned for him to join her anyway. “What? You run out of puppies to kick?”

  Cade gritted his teeth as he settled into the offered chair. “I suppose I deserve that.” It wasn’t her fault Burk had gone behind his back and agreed to let that magazine she worked for do a story.

  She reached for her cooler and refilled her wine glass, then swiveled in her seat to face him. Crossing one long leg over the other, Lacy Dalton dangled a heeled sandal from the tips of her toes.

  His gaze traveled up the tanned leg until it disappeared beneath the short, clingy black skirt. Cade shook his head and dragged his gaze back up to her face. Business. Keep your mind on business.

  Yeah, right.

  He fingered the brim of the hat clutched in his hands. “I came to apologize. I’m up to my eyeballs in problems, and short-handed on top of that. And contrary to popular belief, I can’t do it all by myself.”

  She leaned forward with a sigh, running a finger around the rim of her glass. “Is there a point to this conversation?”

  She certainly wasn’t making this any easier for him. “Yes, there is. I’ve come to tell you that I’ve changed my mind.”

  Her gaze snapped up to meet his. “You have?”

  He nodded. “I’ll do the interview.”

  “You will?” she said, her face lighting up.

  Her smile had a powerful effect on him, warming him from the inside out. Not that he was even cold. At least, she wasn’t mad at him anymore. He’d best savor the moment, because he wasn’t done talking yet.

  Cade returned her smile. “In return I expect you to keep your part of the bargain.”

  “My part?”

  “You agreed to work for me in exchange for that interview.”

  “I did,” she replied. “And I’m willing to uphold my end of that bargain.”

  “I’m warning you now, it’s not going to be like any job you’ve ever had. Working on a ranch is hot and dirty. You’ll be counting down the hours until you can crawl into your bed each night.”

  It wasn’t her bed Lacy imagined herself crawling into. She quickly lowered her gaze, fearing Cade would be able to read her thoughts. Thoughts she shouldn’t be having. She supposed most women reacted
in some way to a man like him. Not having dated since she’d started caring for her ailing grandmother two years before, she found herself all the more susceptible to his charm.

  Charm? Now that was stretching things. He hadn’t exactly been charming to her. If anything, she’d been on the receiving end of his rotten disposition. Yet she there was something about the man...

  Maybe it was the wine cooler. No, she thought, immediately discounting the possibility. One drink couldn’t be blamed for the physical attraction she felt toward to the hardened cowboy across from her. She was overly tired from the long drive. That might be contributing to her inability to push aside her attraction to the irritatingly handsome cowboy. Whatever the reason, it had to stop. Her association with Cade Tyler was business, which made him absolutely off limits to her in any other way except professionally.

  “Having second thoughts, Miss Dalton?”

  Her eyes met his questioning gaze. “No, not at all.”

  “You sure?” The question was followed by a grin that displayed surprisingly perfect teeth, considering his rodeo past. One that set her pulse to racing.

  She reached for her glass, needing to wet her suddenly dry mouth. “You’re serious? You really are going to do this?”

  His blue eyes studied her with a hint of amusement. Then, he shook his head. “The more I think about it, the more I think I’m going to enjoy watching you try to learn the ropes of ranching.”

  He was serious. Even worse, he was already expecting her to fail. Why had she ever made such a ridiculous offer? She was a journalist, not a rancher. But she knew why. And it was the same reason she was going to see this job through even if it killed her. Her grandmother.

  He stood and leaned over the table, lowering his face to hers, his sexy mouth quirking even more. His very male scent drifted past her. A mix of rain, leather and musk. How could a man who worked with livestock for a living smell so good? “There’s still time for you to change your mind. Want to back out of our deal, Ms. Dalton?”

  The heat that washed over her had Lacy wondering if the air conditioning in the bar had suddenly stopped working. She sat back in her chair, desperate to put some space between herself and the mesmerizing blue eyes of this swaggering cowboy.