Hank leaned against the barn wall and threw his head back with a thump. She was right to be scared of him. If he had his way, they’d be taking a different kind of ride all together. He hadn’t thought about anything else since he’d met her. Knowing she slept just a floor below him had him tied in so many knots he might never be able to unravel them all.
What the hell was wrong with him? She was just another woman. She had two arms, two legs, two eyes, a nose, a mouth, and various other parts that every other woman on the face of the earth had.
So what if her legs started at the ground and ascended to the clouds? So what if her waist looked small enough for his hands to fit around? So what if her lips were full and moist and surrounded a mouth made for kissing? That didn’t mean she was different from any other woman.
But gut instinct told him she was different, and he’d always listened to gut instinct. It was the same sense that told him when a horse was trainable and whether it would do better as a cutting horse or a barrel racer. It told him when a cowboy who came around looking for a job wanted real work or just wanted to be trained for the rodeo by someone with a reputation.
His gut instinct rarely missed.
Damn. He didn’t need this now. He needed to focus on selling the ranch. Spending time with Alex was just that much time away from organizing, making plans. He had a helluva lot more important things to do than chase after mouth-watering pie and incredible eyes.
Like fattening the stock so he could sell them if the buyers didn’t want them. Like deciding what he wanted to take with him. Like getting back in shape for the rodeo. He still had a few good years left, even for rough stock.
He was so close. Travis was doing well on his own, and Claire would be leaving for college come September. Neither of them gave a damn about the ranch. Travis rarely came home, and Claire complained about ranch life constantly. Taxes were rising so high in this part of Wyoming, he was barely holding his head above water. He didn’t know if he could pay Claire’s tuition if he didn’t sell it, and she was bound and determined to have a college education. He wanted to give it to her. She should have what she wanted.
But he should have what he wanted, too, shouldn’t he? He’d given up his life to raise her and Travis. He just wanted that life back.
Dragging a heavy sigh from his lungs, he pulled himself up and opened Maisy’s stall. He slipped on a halter and crosstied her in the middle of the barn where the tack was stored. He slid a blanket across the horse’s back, then topped it with an old, well-worn saddle that once belonged to his mother.
Pulling off Maisy’s halter, Hank slipped a bit between her teeth and hooked the bridle over her ears. As he threw the reins over her neck, he spied Alex and turned to watch her moving toward the barn. She walked reluctantly, with stiff legs and a white face. Even so, he felt a familiar tightening below his belt.
Damn it! She wasn’t the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, so why did he want her so badly?
He must’ve been too long without a woman. He briefly considered driving to Riverton and renewing the brief affair he’d had with a widow there. But the thought left a bitter taste in his mouth. He didn’t want Trisha. He wanted...
“What is it?” Alex demanded, coming to a stop just inside the barn. “You’ve watched every step I took across the yard without blinking, like I was—”
She blushed and turned away.
“Like you were what?” he prompted.
She gave him a narrow-eyed look, then lifted her chin. “Like I was stark naked.”
Heat flashed through him. “Now there’s a thought.”
“Hank, I can’t get involved with you. I’m headed—”
“To California. Yeah, I know.” He cussed under his breath and turned back to the mare. “Don’t worry, darlin’. I don’t want to be tied down any more than you do.”
“Good. I’m ready to ride the horse now.”
As she walked around him to pat Maisy, he quickly reviewed all the reasons he couldn’t have Alex.
It didn’t do a damn bit of good. Every reason was airtight, but they didn’t stop him from wanting her.
Hank knew Claire was coming across the yard as soon as the back door opened. Neither of them said anything as she settled beside him on the top plank of the corral fence.
Claire returned Alex’s wave, then watched her circle a few times. “Are you sure this is Alex’s first lesson?”
“That’s what she said.”
“Looks like she’s ridden all her life.”
“I wouldn’t go that far, but she’s doing all right.”
“All right? Are you kidding? How many beginners can handle a lope at their first lesson?”
He shrugged. “She’s got a natural rhythm most people forget they have. She tuned right in to the movements of the horse.”
“How was school?” Alex called as she passed in front of them.
“Okay,” Claire returned.
Alex was several lengths away before Claire bumped his arm and said, “You sound like a proud parent.”
Hank would’ve cussed under his breath if it hadn’t been so telling. He was proud of Alex, which made about as much sense as wanting her.
He settled his hat farther down his brow. “I didn’t do anything to be proud of. Just sat her in the saddle. After thirty minutes I took off the lead rope, and ten minutes ago I came sat on the fence.”
“Yep, you’ve got it bad. So—have you asked her to stay?”
“What in blue blazes are you talking about?” he asked a little sharper than he meant to.
“You know, stay with us instead of going to San Francisco.”
“Of course not. And what do you mean, I’ve got it bad?”
Claire rolled her eyes. “Give me a break, Hank. You like Alex. It’s as plain as the nose on Jed’s face.”
He turned his eyes back to Alex’s figure and tried to sound indifferent. “Of course I like her. You like her, too. Everybody likes her.”
“Not in the same way you do,” she said in a smug voice. “You like Alex. Like Ty Jordan likes me.” She stuck a finger in her mouth like a mock gag.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” he spat.
“I’m not.” She raised her voice as Alex passed them again. “The pot roast sure smelled good, Alex.”
“Did you check it?”
“Yeah, it looked fine.”
“Thanks.”
Then Alex was past them.
“Of course, I don’t know what a fine pot roast looks like,” Claire muttered.
“Why not?” he asked. “You’ve eaten them.”
“Yeah, but they were on platters, not in a pan. So, why haven’t you asked Alex to stay?”
Hank did cuss under his breath this time. Claire was like a dog with a fresh bone. “She’s got a much better job in California.”
“But she wouldn’t have us,” Claire pointed out. Then she leaned closer. “She wouldn’t have you.”
“Claire...”
“She likes you, too, you know.”
Hank knew he should cut the conversation off right there, but he didn’t. “How do you know that?”
“Same way I know you like her. You look at one another like a calf looks at its momma. Like there’s nobody else who’ll do.”
Hank shook his head. And he thought he’d been so good at hiding his feelings. If a teenager could pick up on it, everybody probably knew. “Don’t be ridiculous. She’s only been here a week.”
“So?”
“She’s leaving in three weeks.”
“Well, that’s my point. I think if you asked her to stay, she would.”
Hank’s eyes narrowed. “You want her to stay for your own sake.”
“So? I’ve never had a sister. I’ve always been bossed around by you or Travis.” Claire leaned against him. “But I’m not thinking only of me. You deserve somebody, Hank. You’re getting too old and crotchety. Alex would be good for you. After all, a man has needs.”
Hank stared
at his sister in horror. “What the hell do you know about a man’s needs?”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m not a kid, you know.”
“You haven’t—”
She hit his chest. “Don’t be stupid. I’m not going to tie myself down to one of these dumb old cowboys. You, on the other hand, like it here on the ranch. So does Alex.”
“She’s leaving,” he growled. “End of discussion.”
I’m leaving, too, he wanted to add, just like you’re planning to leave, little sister. Just like Travis left.
But he wasn’t about to get into selling the ranch now.
His sister sighed. “Well, even if she does leave, you could enjoy her company while she’s here, couldn’t you? Aren’t a few weeks of something better than nothing at all?”
Surprised at the tidbit of wisdom coming from his little sister, Hank turned his eyes back to Alex, who passed in front of them with a smile, but no comment.
Enjoy Alex while she’s here. What a seductive possibility. It might even help get her out of his system, so when she did leave he could say goodbye with a fond smile. On the other hand, it might make it ten times harder to let her leave. There was just no way to know.
“So?” Claire prodded. “Why don’t you ask her out?”
“You didn’t see how she clammed up when I referred to this lesson as a date.”
“So ease into it. You probably just surprised her. I know you, big brother. You’re not exactly Mr. Subtlety.”
For several long moments, Hank stared at the woman loping around the arena. “I’ll think about it.”
“You could start by taking a shower before supper. You and the hands smell like barn animals every night.”
He shrugged. That’s one thing he could do without making a commitment.
“And Hank?”
“Yep?”
“Don’t think too long or she’ll be gone.”
That might be the best thing—for both of them.
Hank was waiting at the barn when the hands rode in from the north range. He lounged against the wide-open door while they unsaddled their horses and released them into the back pasture. When the three single hands walked out, he blocked their path.
“New rule, boys,” he announced.
They stopped dead.
“Another one?” Derek quipped, earning an elbow in his ribs from Jed.
Hank gave Derek a quelling glance. “Showers before supper.”
“What?” Buck cried.
“Shower before supper?” Jed bellowed at the same time.
“Are you plumb out of your mind?” Derek added.
“‘Hat-head’ and stocking feet aside, the ladies are offended by our odor,” Hank explained. “You’re not going to starve if you wait another fifteen minutes for chow.”
“But we get just as nasty after supper as we do before,” Buck pointed out. “When I jump to the ground with a piggin’ string in my teeth, trying to wrestle a calf onto the ground, the dirt ain’t gonna slide off just ’cause I done had my shower.”
“That’s right,” Jed threw in. “Why, we’d have to take another one when we was done with practice.”
“Then take another one,” Hank said with no sympathy. “Getting wet twice in one day isn’t going to hurt your thick hides.”
“But boss—”
“We start tonight.” Hank stared them all into submission, then turned on his heel. As he strode to the house, he heard muttered comments from behind.
“If that don’t beat all. Two showers in one night!”
“First the hats and boots, now showers. There’s a woman behind this.”
“And we know who she is, don’t we, boys? The boss put his brand on Alex the day she drove onto the ranch.”
“Yep. He’s been after her like a bull after a heifer in season.”
“Poor boss. He’s got it bad.”
“Hell, it’s about time. Maybe he won’t be so mean.”
“What kinda weed you been smokin’, Jed?”
Alex had just flipped the first batch of corn bread from the iron pan onto the plate when the back door creaked open. Had she been so engrossed in supper that she hadn’t heard the hands clomping across the yard? Usually she could hear them talking halfway from the barn.
Wiping her hands on her apron, she hurried to the door. “Y’all are early tonight. I’m not quite—oh. Hank.” She stopped short.
He turned after placing his hat on the shelf. His blue eyes caught hers and held until every thought evaporated from her mind.
“You seem surprised to see me.” He sat on the bench built into one wall and used the jack to pry off his boots.
“It’s just that you’re never the first one home. The hands always make it in before you.”
He dropped the boots on the shelf under his hat and stood. Two steps brought him within inches. Alex backed up, but one step brought her against the doorjamb. She had to crane her neck to meet his eyes.
“Sorry if I upset your routine,” he said in low, sultry tones.
Alex tried to swallow so the suddenly thick air could make it into her lungs. He stood so close his warmth reached out and surrounded her like a mink coat. That warmth and his musky, male scent fogged her brain, making it difficult to think.
“You didn’t. I just...I mean I don’t have a routine. I’ve only been here a week and—” She stopped as soon as she realized she was babbling. Sliding sideways, she stepped into the kitchen. “Supper won’t be ready for another fifteen minutes.”
He turned and started down the hall. “That’s okay. I need to do something upstairs, anyway. The boys should be along about then, too.”
Alex could no more stop her eyes from following him than she could stop them from following the path of a shooting star. When she heard the fourth stair creak under his weight, she snapped out of her trance and turned back to the stove, cursing herself for her foolishness. Why couldn’t she keep herself from falling into his eyes every time he looked at her? Why couldn’t she keep her breathing regulated or her pulse at its normal rate?
She didn’t know. She only knew there was nothing she could do about it. She couldn’t even work herself out of it—but she’d done her best. The downstairs rooms shone like new copper pans. She planned to start on the upstairs tomorrow if their trip into town didn’t take all day.
With a sigh, Alex checked the last batch of corn bread. Finding it done, she flipped it onto the first one.
She’d also tried to talk herself out of her foolish infatuation, but that only made her think about him constantly, which didn’t help. All she could do was ignore it and hope it would go away.
The swinging door between the kitchen and dining room flew open, and Alex’s head snapped around.
“Sorry I’m late,” Claire said breathlessly. “Want me to set the table?”
Alex looked down. She had a stack of bowls in her hands. Funny, she didn’t remember getting them out of the cabinet. Shaking her head to clear the cobwebs, she held them out to Claire. “Sure.”
Claire rattled on about something as she came in and out of the kitchen. Alex answered her absently, trying to concentrate on finishing supper. The hands wandered in a few minutes later, complaining among themselves, but she ignored them, too.
It wasn’t until she set the last plate of corn bread on the table and stood back to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything, that she noticed the new “do” sported by each of the men. Instead of having a circle creased into their hair, it was slicked back.
Alex turned her wide eyes on Hank, who moved forward to pull out her chair. His hair was wet, too. “You’re clean!”
Claire’s head came up. She glanced around the table, then leaned toward Derek and sniffed. “It’s a miracle.”
“No, it ain’t,” Buck said. “It’s—”
“It’s manners,” Hank interjected, quelling whatever Buck was going to say with a hard look. “We don’t want to offend two such beautiful ladies with our stink.”
&nb
sp; Claire grinned like she was in on an amusing secret. “He must mean you, Alex. I’ve been sitting at this table for eighteen years—”
“Seventeen,” Hank corrected as he pulled out Alex’s chair.
Still in shock, Alex sat down hard.
“Almost eighteen years,” Claire amended. “And they’ve never cared about offending me.”
Hank took his seat, then sent a penetrating gaze around the table. “Let’s just say that the lesson Alex gave us in manners the other day sank in. Now, bow your heads.”
Normal conversation resumed after grace, but Alex barely noticed. She automatically took portions of food as it passed around. While she pretended to eat, her eyes kept darting to the dark, handsome man at the other end of the table.
What he’d done—was it really for her?—blew her away. First the boots and hats. Now this. It was almost as if he were acknowledging that it was her kitchen, her dining room, where she made the rules. Waves of heat made her feel as if she were melting into the floor. Maybe it was just a tiny part of the world, maybe it was just temporary, but it felt good to have a place people thought of as hers.
Hank glanced up, then, and caught her watching him. His eyes locked with hers and wouldn’t let go. Alex didn’t know how long they stared, only that his hard, dark face somehow softened, only that her heart doubled its speed.
“I’ve got some news,” Claire announced, breaking the trance. “Travis is coming in next week.”
“He called?” Hank asked. His voice was even lower than usual.
Claire nodded. “An hour ago. He’s in California this weekend, but he’s going to enter the rodeo in Lander next weekend. He’ll be here Wednesday.”
Alex looked around at the hands’ avid faces. They seemed to think a great deal of Travis.
Hank shook his head. “Why does he insist on riding for Frank Spindel every year? It means giving up Corpus Christi, which pays a lot more.”
“You know why,” Claire said. “Mr. Spindel gave Travis his first chance to ride a bull. Travis isn’t going to forget that, even if he is the number four bull rider in the world so far this year.”
Home Is Where Hank Is (Cowboys To The Rescue 1) Page 7