One Tough Cowboy

by Sara Orwig

  He framed her face with his hands. “I’m beginning to understand how you could have gotten yourself in trouble. You don’t mind stirring things up, do you?”

  “I think your life might need some stirring up. You’re too serious. Don’t you ever just let go?”

  “No, and I’m not going to now. You’re going to my ranch with me, but that’s the farthest you and I are going together. You’re a complication I don’t need in my life.”

  “Then don’t take me home with you.”

  “Don’t tempt me. Every lick of sense I have tells me to walk out that door and leave you here.”

  She laughed. “I’ll be good, cowboy. Let’s go before you do change your mind. I don’t want to be left in this place. And life around you is much more interesting than here with the staff. You must be used to taking risks or you wouldn’t be taking me home with you. And I feel a lot safer with you.”

  The tension was broken by her laughter, yet Josh was left with jangled nerves and a desire that smoldered. It had taken every ounce of willpower to keep from kissing her.

  She moved away to get her bag, but he took it from her. As soon as she gathered up her other things, he held the door. She sailed through, thanking him cheerfully. He looked at her tight little butt and wanted to give it a good hard swat. The lady was stubborn, feisty, flirty, and knew, even without a memory of her past, exactly what kind of effect she had on men.

  By the time she was in the pickup, he had gathered his wits, although he kept watching the rearview mirror and every car around them. He didn’t think anyone would find her this quickly, but it was easy to trace people, and San Antonio wasn’t that far from his ranch.

  As they reached the freeway and sped out of the city, she turned to him. “You’re watching to see if someone is following us, aren’t you?” she asked.

  “Yes. I don’t think anyone could pick up your trail this quickly, but nowadays it’s easy to trace people, and we’re not a long way from my ranch.”

  She rubbed her arms again and he knew she was worried.

  He squeezed her shoulder lightly. “Don’t worry. You’ll be safe on my ranch.”

  “It’s just scary to know someone wants me dead, and I won’t know the person when I see him.”

  “I’ll be around, and no one will get to you on my ranch.”

  “You can’t guarantee that.” She took a deep breath and turned to look out the window, and he hoped she was reassured.

  “It’s beautiful out here,” she said a little later.

  “Next month is when it’ll be beautiful. That’s the beginning of spring. We’ll have wildflowers blooming everywhere, including bluebonnets. Everything will green up. It’s the prettiest place on earth.”

  She turned to look at him. “So you like where you live?”

  “This is the only life I know, and it’s what I love.”

  “Did you tell your stepmother about me?”

  “I haven’t been able to get in contact with her, but I left messages. Don’t worry, Becky will love having you there. She brings guests home with her often and she thrives on people. She’s a portrait artist and a pretty good one, but she doesn’t give it a lot of her time. Even though she has showings in a gallery in San Antonio and a gallery in Austin, she likes people and parties and a social life more than art.”

  “I wouldn’t think she would like to be out in the country if she likes people and parties.”

  “She often drives into the city, and she’s just on the ranch temporarily. She and her fiancé are getting married the first weekend in March, and they’re building a new house in town, so they’ve been living with me. Latimer is a diamond broker and often he’s out of the country. Becky doesn’t like staying alone, so she comes to the ranch when Latimer is gone. She’ll move out of my house after the wedding.”

  “And you and I will be alone at your house?” Laurie asked.

  “By then, you’ll remember your past,” he said, and smiled at her.

  “Just when things might be getting interesting,” she retorted, and smiled back.

  With an effort he returned his attention to the road, exiting the freeway toward his ranch.

  Laurie watched him drive, something easy to do. The tall cowboy was easy on the eyes with thick, wavy brown hair clipped short. His prominent cheekbones, firm jaw and slightly crooked nose gave him a rugged appearance, but it was his startling green eyes and that megawatt, melt-your-bones smile that made her pulse jump. She would bet anything there were broken hearts all over this area of Texas because of this solitary, determined cowboy.

  Every time they were together, electricity zinged between them. She knew she teased and flirted with him and sent out challenges that she shouldn’t. She didn’t know one thing about her past except that someone wanted her dead and, from all indications, she was on the run. She might have a husband and she could be in deep trouble with the law.

  She shouldn’t be flirting, and she should have stayed at the hospital, but that place had scared her. Even with a guard, she felt vulnerable and alone. She was totally dependant on strangers, and how could she really know the good guys from the bad—until it was too late? However, leaving the hospital had been even more unnerving. Out in the open, she was aware of everyone, every movement.

  Laurie found her rescuer, Josh Kellogg, irresistible. Which was all the more reason to put distance between them. She considered that moment in her hospital room when they had stood so close they were nearly touching. She’d thought he was going to kiss her and she had wanted him to. Laurie drew a deep breath, her pulse speeding up just thinking about it. There was something so controlled about Josh, yet she had a feeling that, if he ever let go, it would be awesome. He was fearless, sure of himself, a strong, sexy male who made her heart flutter.

  She hoped her memory returned soon. She might be bringing danger down on Josh, and she didn’t want to do that. Who was she? What was she involved in? Why was her mind so blank? There ought to be bits and pieces of memory, but nothing surfaced. According to the doctor, a person’s mind could shut down after something terribly unpleasant, but memory would return. She had seen several doctors. Her doctor had been puzzled by her lack of memory due to the accident, especially since the injury hadn’t seemed that serious.

  She slanted another look at Josh Kellogg and then shifted in the seat to openly study him. A tall, tough Texas cowboy who had rescued her…. She could remember him racing after her attacker. The first few moments when he had carried her from her smashed car, Josh had looked so fierce he had frightened her. Which seemed ridiculous now. He had a smile that would melt stone.

  From what he’d told her, in spite of the stepmothers who must drift in and out of his life on a regular basis, he had a lonely life. And yet he seemed to be quite friendly. Within hours, the nurses on her floor were calling him by his first name. So did the guards that took shifts in front of her door. Josh had a quiet way of reaching people—and a sexy way with women, but that probably just came naturally to him. With his rugged good looks and that gorgeous smile that put creases in his cheeks and a sparkle in those bedroom eyes, it was surprising he was single, and that he didn’t seem to date much. It seemed he kept barriers up around himself to keep people from getting too close.

  She disturbed him. Laurie knew that instinctively, and it was fun to know she unnerved the fearless cowboy. In the hospital she had wanted him to kiss her. She had been tempted to slip her arm around his neck and kiss him, and see what reaction she got, but she knew she better let well enough alone. It might be the same as disturbing a sleeping tiger.

  She frowned and looked away from Josh. With what was in her past, she had better keep a wall around herself, too. She couldn’t afford to fall in love, nor did she want anyone to think he was in love with her. She had no idea what her past held, but there had to be something bad in it if it included murder threats.

  Thoughts about the attempted murder sobered her, and she rode in silence, looking out the window at the spra
wling countryside, dotted with groves of blooming fruit trees. In spite of the sunny day and the tough cowboy beside her, she was still scared.

  Someone wanted to kill her, and the killer couldn’t be far away. She shivered and rubbed her arms, looking at the dark shadows in a thick stand of oaks. Anyone could hide in the woods. Was she being watched or hunted right now?

  She turned to look at the empty road behind them, too aware that she wouldn’t know the person after her if she saw him.

  “Worried?” Josh asked.

  “I can’t keep from being concerned. I feel safe with you, but I still worry. Thanks for all you’ve done.”

  “Sure,” he answered.

  Minutes later, they came to a pair of prominent stone pillars supporting a wide wooden plank with KL Ranch burned into it. Josh turned there and drove along a rough, hard-packed dirt road. As they topped a rise, Laurie looked out at the rolling countryside, still brown from winter, yet holding a promise of spring beauty. Tall, live oaks were majestic sentinels on gentle slopes, and in the distance, Herefords grazed.

  “Were you born here?”

  “Yes. Right on this ranch. My great-great-grandfather started the business with longhorn cattle. He settled here because of Cotton Creek, which we’ll cross in a minute.”

  “Have you ever lived away from here?”

  “One year when I went to Texas A & M. Then it was back home to stay. Here’s the creek.”

  They drove across a wide stone spillway that had a narrow, silvery ribbon of water running over it.

  Laurie looked at the thin trickle of water. “Does this ever get deeper?”

  “Yep. There’s a bridge a quarter of a mile to the west, but this is the shortest route home, and most of the year, this way is fine. When the creek is up and running, though, you can’t cross here.”

  Shortly, they passed a fenced pasture where a white horse raised its head and pawed the ground. He turned and raced away across the pasture.

  “What a beautiful horse!”

  “That’s the white stallion,” Josh said. “My friend couldn’t tame him and I’m not having any success at it, either. Although I don’t have much time to work at it. I’m beginning to think that horse isn’t worth the trouble,” Josh added dryly.

  “You don’t have to tame him to find love,” she said with a smile. “According to legend, you just have to own him—right?”

  “That old legend is bunk.”

  “Scared of love, Josh?”

  “It just isn’t going to happen any time soon and it sure won’t happen because of that horse.”

  She laughed and turned to look at the ranch again.

  They followed the road south until they rounded a curve, and ahead she saw a sprawling, two-story white frame house with wings extending to the east and west. A porch wrapped around the house. The yard was fenced and a large barn sat back from the three-car garage. There were smaller houses, a bunkhouse, a toolshed and a corral.

  “This looks like your own small town,” she said, looking at all the outbuildings. A shaggy black-and-white dog bounded out of the barn toward the car. “Your dog?” she asked.

  “Yep. Toughie. He’s one of the ranch dogs. He doesn’t bite.”

  “Not even the bad guys?”

  “Nope. Toughie doesn’t bite anyone or anything except an occasional bone.”

  Josh parked at the back gate, stepped out, patted Toughie and retrieved her bags. “You might as well meet the men who work for me so you’ll recognize the good guys from the bad.”

  “You sound reluctant to introduce me to them.”

  “I am reluctant. Most of them are young and single, and they’re going to drool when they see you. Look, they’re good men. I trust them and they’re reliable.”

  “Why are you giving me a warning? What’s wrong with them? Do you hire ex-rapists or something?” she teased.

  “No, there’s no one on the place who ever served time for rape,” he said firmly, and a muscle worked in his jaw.

  “Oh, my. They have served time.”

  “These are kids, nineteen to twenty-two. They’ve gotten in trouble, come from broken homes, been on the streets. They needed someone to give them a chance.”

  “Well, my goodness, Mr. Tin Man, you do have a real heart beating somewhere behind that steely barrier you keep up.”

  “I’m not heartless.”

  “You’re only telling me this because you have to. Scared to admit you’ve got a kindhearted streak, tough cowboy?”

  “You’ve got a smart mouth, missy. Over and over again I can see how you could get yourself in a peck of trouble.”

  “You’re an irresistible target. I think there may be an unguarded spot, and I can’t resist going for it.”

  “Do so at your own risk,” he warned, and she smiled at him. “Listen, these guys look a little rough, but they are trustworthy. I just didn’t want you to be caught off guard.”

  “I won’t be. I’m with my protector.”

  She knew she was flirting and teasing, but she had been truthful when she said it was irresistible to try to get past his guard. What was it about him that made her want to do that? She couldn’t answer her own question.

  As Josh led her to a corral, he made a few calls on his cellular phone. In a few minutes men appeared from various directions.

  Josh had been right. With the exception of one who looked older than the others, they were a young, tough-looking bunch. One was tall and black-haired, with a crooked nose and a scar along his cheek. Another was thick through the shoulders and chest, with powerful muscles, a square jaw and a belligerent scowl beneath auburn hair. The blonde was rangy and tall and had scars on his face. All of them were strongly built and all looked her over without glancing at Josh. Two more dark-haired, dark-skinned men joined them.

  “I want y’all to meet my new guest, Laurie Smith. Laurie, this is Drake Browning, my foreman,” Josh said, gesturing to the older man.

  “I’m glad to meet you,” she replied. The man was only a few inches shorter than Josh, and probably ten years older. He looked tough, but not as hardened as the others, and his blue eyes were friendly.

  Next Josh told her each of the men’s names, and she smiled and nodded as they said hello to her. All of them smiled back, looking less forbidding than when she had first glimpsed them.

  “Laurie is going to be here awhile.” Josh glanced at her. “If you’ll wait near the pickup, I’d like to talk to them a few minutes.”

  “Sure.” She turned and walked back to the vehicle. Soon the men dispersed and Josh was striding toward her, his long legs covering the ground swiftly.

  “I told them your circumstances. They’ll be on the watch for anyone or anything out of the ordinary.”

  “I’m glad you explained. They’re a very rough-looking bunch, but not one of them looks like he would scare easily.”

  “They’re good men. I don’t keep them here if they aren’t. Don’t worry about them. They’ll help guard this place and you. C’mon. I’ll show you where you can stay.” Josh scanned the horizon, looking intently at the stand of oaks beyond the barn, thinking about a rifle with a scope. Standing where she was now, someone could pick her off easily. He needed to get her inside the house.

  She patted Toughie briefly and then followed Josh. They crossed the back porch and entered a small area cluttered with boots, a hat rack, stacks of magazines, baskets of laundry.

  “This way,” Josh said, leading her into a large, high-ceilinged kitchen with glass-fronted cabinets, a large double-door refrigerator, copper pots and pans hanging from hooks, a long wooden table in an alcove. A slender woman with black hair stood at the counter with a bowl of lettuce in front of her.

  “Laurie, meet Endora,” Josh said, and Laura smiled at the woman, who smiled in return.

  “Endora, this is Laurie Smith, who will be staying with us for a while. I’ll put her in the green bedroom.”

  “So you have help,” Laurie said as she walked down the hall b
eside him.

  “Two days a week. Compliments of my stepmothers. They don’t think much of my housekeeping,” he explained, grinning. He lead the way through a wide hall, pointing out rooms as they passed. “Here’s the family room,” he said, and she paused to look three steps down into a room that ran along one end of the house. It was finished in knotty pine, and had a plank floor, brown leather furniture, and an immense brick fireplace with a large picture window overlooking the ranchland.

  They passed another spacious room that held another brick fireplace, a sideboard and a large mahogany break-front, but was otherwise devoid of furniture.

  “The dining room. My dad lost the table in a poker game,” Josh said dryly.

  They passed a sunroom, a game room with a bar and poker table, a room filled with pencil sketches and oils portraits. “Here’s where Becky paints.”

  Another room held a sewing machine, chest of drawers and bolts of material, used mostly by another stepmother, he related. There were more empty rooms.

  “This used to be a downstairs bedroom, but one time the electricity was cut off and Dad and his drinking buddies burned the furniture to get heat and light,” Josh explained, stopping in a doorway.

  “You’re not kidding me, are you?”

  “Nope. My dad knew how to party. Ask around in Stallion Pass, and people can tell you.”

  They climbed a wide staircase to the next floor where he showed her several bedrooms before stopping in one that had pale green walls, a deep green spread on the four-poster bed, and elegant mahogany furniture.

  “This can be your room while you’re here,” he said, setting down her suitcase. “There’s an adjoining bath. Becky’s room is down the hall. Come here and I’ll show you my bedroom.” They passed another door and went to the end of the hall, to a large bedroom that also had an adjoining bath. “Here’s my room.”

  The large room was cluttered with tools, ropes, books and magazines. Clothing was strewn about the place, and the desk was piled high with papers. “I didn’t know I was having company,” he explained.