The Cattleman's Proposal (The Men of Mulhany Crossing Book 1)

by Helen Lacey

  He held out his hands. “Do you want to lose everything?”

  “Of course not,” she snapped back.

  “Then think with your head and not your heart,” he said quietly. “I’m not your enemy. And I would like you to consider me a friend.”

  “Friend?”

  He half smiled. “For now.”

  “I don’t know what to think,” she admitted. “But you’re right about what you said earlier—I have to tell my dad the truth. I’ll do it on Wednesday night. I go to my parent’s once a week for dinner.”

  “I know. I’ve been invited.”

  She stilled immediately. “Huh?”

  “You father invited me. Think of it as moral support,” he said and looked so cocky she wanted to slap his face. “I’ll pick you up at six-thirty.”

  Then he said goodbye, smiled, and as he left the office looked as though he owned the world and everything in it. Including her.

  Chapter Five

  Dressed in a sensible printed skirt and soft, mint-green scooped neck T-shirt and soft white sweater, Joley lingered over her makeup for longer than usual. And right up until her door bell pealed she wondered why she’d agreed to go with Nate to her parents.

  For years she’d avoided chemistry, she’d avoided any man who possessed the kind of blatant masculinity that oozed from Nate and she hadn’t allowed herself to feel anything remotely resembling the raw attraction she had for him. No man made her tremble with such a heady longing since Dale. But Nate did. And he hadn’t even kissed her.

  Her mother would be all over this. When her mother got onto the subject of her love-life she usually ended up feeling like an old spinster who couldn’t catch herself a man.

  When she opened her door at six-thirty that evening, Joley greeted him with a breathless hello. He looked so good in jeans and pale gray shirt. And if he didn’t hold the future of her business in his hands she might have invited him into her bed for a night of no holds-barred sex. But it was a complication she didn’t need. And she didn’t want a casual fling. That wasn’t her style. No matter how toe-curlingly gorgeous he was.

  “A word of warning,” she said as she buckled herself in his car and tried not to think about how the woodsy scent he wore assailed her senses. “My mother will interrogate you tonight.”

  He smiled and started the engine. “Thanks for the tip. Incidentally…you look lovely.”

  Her skin warmed. “Thank you.”

  True to form, Ella was both charming and incredibly nosey. To Nate’s credit, he answered all her questions and cleverly avoided commenting on their relationship.

  “I’m impressed,” Ella said once her father had offered to show Nate the Chevrolet truck he was lovingly restoring, and both men had disappeared into the garage. “He’s certainly attractive. Not your usual type.”

  Joley knew what her mother meant. Paul had been lean and a little pale, fuelled by his allergies and reluctance to spend time outdoors. And before that, she’d dated another non-descript, inoffensive man whose face she could barely recall. Of course, her parents didn’t know about Dale. Oh, they knew him…but not that she’d fallen head over heels in love with a married man.

  “I don’t have a type,” she said in defense. “And we’re only friends.”

  Ella raised her perfectly penciled brows. “Nate wasn’t married very long. But not his fault apparently. His ex-wife just up and left him.” When Joley frowned her mother continued. “I asked Nancy.”

  Nancy Cohen. Patrick’s mother and the busiest body she knew. “Please don’t interfere.”

  Ella made an exasperated sound. “Really Jolene, sometimes I can hardly believe you’re my daughter. You spent the night in his hotel room, right? I’m not going to apologize for wanting to know something about him.”

  “How did you—”

  “You were seen leaving the hotel together,” her mother explained. “So I asked a few questions.”

  Just as she was about to respond Nate and her father returned. Their gaze connected and her anxiety immediately disappeared. Strange how he could do that. After dinner, they lingered in the kitchen over coffee and Nate got another grilling from Ella. Thankfully, her mother didn’t mention his ex-wife or anything else too personal.

  With the dishes done, her mother in the kitchen making coffee, Joley had the perfect opportunity to tell her father about the business. But she froze. He seemed so happy and proud talking to Nate about the flight school and how he’d built the business from nothing all those years ago. She didn’t have the heart to dampen his enthusiasm and pride. And she knew he didn’t need the stress. Before she made any decision, Joley needed to speak with Patrick, work out a way to raise the finance herself and work out a way to get Nate to absolve his interest. In her business and in her!

  By ten o’clock they were on their way back to her house. Nate walked her to the front door and Joley halted when the sensor light flicked on. She could easily have invited him inside. The mood between them suggested it, almost beckoned it. She gripped the keys burning a hole in her palm. “Well, goodnight, Nate. Thank you for coming with me tonight.”

  “My pleasure,” he replied. “Your parents seem like good people.”

  Joley smiled. “You’re a hit with my father.”

  “And your mother?”

  “Thinks we’re sleeping together,” she said quickly. “Or hoping. She thinks you’re quite the catch.”

  Nate stepped closer and beneath the dim lux of light consumed the tiny porch with his height and broad shoulders. “And what do you think?”

  “I think…I think I’d better go inside before I lose what’s left of my wits and forget all the reasons why I shouldn’t ask you inside.”

  He grabbed her hand. “And they are?”

  Heat swirled, filling the space between them, making the warm, late summer evening seem even hotter. “My business and you’re…you’re leaving tomorrow.”

  “Forget about the business for a moment. And the fact I have to go home. What else?”

  “I don’t do one night stands.”

  Her fingers curled beneath his and he urged her closer. “Neither do I. You know,” he said, and kept pulling her until she met his chest and had to tilt her neck back to maintain eye contact. “I can’t remember the last time I kissed a woman at her doorstep.”

  Once his mouth touched hers, Joley was all out, undeniably lost. Her lips moved with his, almost clinging, completely mastered by his seductive caress. So, the man knows how to kiss. No big surprise there. What surprised her, in a major, ‘I-should-be-running-like-a-rabbit-here’ way, was that she had absolutely no intention of ending the kiss until she was good and ready.

  Which may be never.

  Well, until sanity prevailed. But sanity had disappeared into the ‘Good Girls Aren’t Easy’ basket for just a few more seconds. I want this. Which quickly morphed into I need this. He slanted his mouth over hers and Joley responded immediately. She pushed against him and curled her free hand around his bicep. He cupped her nape and deepened the kiss, drawing every ounce of response from her.

  When he lifted his head, the world stopped spinning and Joley shuddered…from the loss of his lips against hers, from the desire she wasn’t quite prepared for, and from the sense she was somehow forever changed.

  “I…I have to go inside—” She stopped, took a breath and waited for him to put space between them. “Goodbye, Nate.”

  “Goodnight,” he said with a kind of slow, deliberate emphasis that made her shudder. “I’ll be seeing you.”

  But you won’t, Joley thought as she watched him walk back to his car and drive off down the street. Because she had to work out a way to get her business back. And knowing he was leaving…strangely, made her feel more alone than she could remember.

  The following morning after breakfast, Joley changed into cut-off jeans and her oldest T-shirt. She deliberately ignored the two calls from her mother. She didn’t have any students that morning so decided to stay home until
lunchtime. She could think much clearer when alone. And plan. She’d go to the bank. Or talk with her dad. Or whack Patrick over the head for putting her in such a position. She’d do something. And once Nate had well and truly left town, she could stop thinking about him.

  By ten o’clock she’d rearranged the kitchen cupboards and was about to start on the refrigerator when the doorbell rang. Company…great. I hope it’s not Ella. Joley wasn’t in any mood for her mother’s questions or interference. Not when her head was a jumble of thoughts. About Nate. About how Patrick had left her to pick up the pieces of the business and was now happily on his honeymoon. About the mostly solitary life she led. She had a few friends, but none who she really trusted other than Patrick. She knew however, that her friendship with him was forever changed. And she still kept thinking about Nate.

  Maybe I’ll get a cat. For company. Or a dog. A puppy—even better.

  Joley caught sight of her scruffy attire in the hall mirror and made a face. When she opened the front door and saw the object of her thoughts standing on the porch her heart landed in her throat. Puppies, her untidy clothes and messed up hair were quickly forgotten.

  “Nate. What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be on your way—?”

  “I need to talk to you. Can I come in?”

  She nodded, a little dazed as he crossed the threshold and walked into the living room. Joley followed and faced him. In chinos and polo styled shirt he looked gorgeous. She didn’t miss the way he stared at her. Desire and attraction quickly filled the room. But there was tension too. An unusual tension, which wasn’t entirely sexual. This was something else.

  She swallowed hard. “I didn’t think I’d see you again.” So soon, she almost added.

  “I know,” he said and she noticed how his fists were clenched.

  “Is everything alright?”

  He shook his head. “I needed to talk to you before I left.”

  Joley sighed. “About the business? Sure. But I want you to know that I intend finding the money to—”

  “It’s not about the business,” he said quickly. “Or money. It’s about you.”

  “Me?”

  “You. Us.” He looked directly into her eyes. “I’ve tried to get this straight in my head—about what I want…about you. I packed my bags this morning with every intention of returning to Gwendonna Downs today. But…I’m not quite prepared to say goodbye to you.”

  “I don’t—”

  “Come with me.”

  Joley wondered if she’d heard right and stared at him. “What did you say?”

  “Come to Gwendonna Downs,” he said and stepped closer. “With me.”

  Her knees trembled. “I couldn’t possibly do—”

  “I want you with me.” He cut her off with five short words.

  Her sharp breath shattered the sudden silence. “That’s crazy.”

  “Crazy would be to ignore the attraction we have for one another.”

  Attraction? Lust? Sex? That’s all it was. She knew the signs. It was like Dale Parker all over again. And she wasn’t about to go down that road.

  Only, something had changed at the wedding. For three months, she’d been aware of Nate and each time they’d met she’d done her best to ignore him. But now he’d invaded her stratosphere, her business…her life.

  And she was terrified.

  I want you with me…

  “Have you lost your mind?” she asked tremulously. “I can’t do that. We hardy know one another.”

  “So, get to know me. And I’ll get to know you,” he said and grabbed her hands.

  Her head reeled. This wasn’t happening. Oh, yeah…it is. “But Nate, I—”

  “I’m serious, Joley. About this. About you.”

  She tried to remove her hands. Impossible. There was something mesmerizing about him. Something she couldn’t define. And it was confusing her big time.

  “It’s worth a shot, don’t you think?” he asked.

  “I don’t understand what you’re—”

  “A month,” he said, cutting her off. “One month at Gwendonna Downs and a chance to see if we can make a life together.”

  A life…together…

  Joley couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Talk about from left field.

  And yet…somewhere…in a far down place she rarely acknowledged…in the place that held her fears and regrets and most of her hopes…Joley knew exactly what he meant. He wasn’t trying to fool her. He was a practical man. And an honest one from all she knew. He’d told her what he wanted several times over the last couple of days. She just hadn’t mustered the courage to believe he actually wanted it with her.

  Finally she pulled her hands free and spoke. “Why me?”

  “Because I believe we’d be good together.”

  She wasn’t convinced. And good as what? Lovers? “And if we’re not?”

  “Then we’re not. One month,” Nate reminded her and shrugged. “And if you find you want to leave before that of course you would be able to.”

  “But my home, my business, I couldn’t possibly—”

  “You said you’d recently hired a contract flight instructor, right? And that he was doing a great job? Plus your father is there and Patrick will be back on deck when he returns from his honeymoon. You also said you were tired of the business being your whole life.”

  She did? Okay, maybe that’s exactly what she’d said. But that was at the wedding, she’d consumed too much champagne and had wavered between emotions because her best friend had gotten married while she was still on the shelf.

  “The flight school is my whole life,” she heard herself say. “And that’s how I like it.”

  “Is it?” he asked.

  He was good at calling her bluff. Good at probably everything, she figured.

  Good at stealing my business from right under my nose.

  “You want me to come and stay with you, at your home?” she asked cautiously. “And what would I do there? Look pretty and bake cookies?”

  He smiled. “If you like. I’m sure you’d do both very well.”

  “I can’t cook, remember. It’s an insane idea.”

  Nate didn’t agree. His attraction for Joley had grown steadily over the previous week. So much so that he had postponed his flight and had arrived on her doorstep with the determination to make her realize how much sense his suggestion made. Kissing her the night before had only sealed his intentions.

  “I am,” he said and sat down on the opposite sofa. “I’m not asking for a commitment…at least, not yet. But you and I are alike, Joley. And we want the same things.”

  “We do?”

  “Yes.”

  “I don’t know,” she muttered in a vague way, like she was sorting out thoughts in her head. “I don’t quite know what to think. And if you’re referring to what happened at the wedding…well, I don’t really remember what I said to you that night.”

  Make love to me. That’s what she’d said. Over and over. In between telling him how alone she was. And how lonely her life had become. She wanted children and a husband. Well, he could give her that, in time.

  “You said you wanted marriage…children…and a relationship built on trust and common goals.”

  “Marriage?” she echoed, as though she wasn’t sure she’d heard him right. “I said that?” She took a second. “And you…is that what you want?”

  Grateful he had her attention, Nate nodded. “Eventually,” he said. “Once we get to know one another better.”

  She met his eyes. “We’re not…I mean, marriage should be between two people who are in love and we hardly—”

  “There are many reasons people get married, Joley—love is just one of them. I was in love once and it ended in disaster. I don’t want that again. I’m a practical man and I’m not going to lie to you about non-existent feelings. I’ll always tell you the truth—and this truth, right now, is that I want the chance to get to know you. I want to give this a chance and couldn’t lea
ve for Gwendonna without asking you to consider my request.”

  She went quiet. Thinking. Wondering. He liked that he was getting to know her expressions. Finally she spoke. “And the business?”

  “Yours,” he said quickly, looking for some indication that she wasn’t totally outraged. She didn’t appear to be, so he continued. “If you stay for the month I’ll give it back to you.”

  Her gaze narrowed. “Just like that?”

  He nodded. “Just like that.”

  “And if I don’t stay the month? Is the deal off?”

  “Yes.”

  She raised a brow. “But if I do stay the month you’ll give me what I want, and my father need never know, does that just about cover it?”

  “Just about,” he replied and his concentration wavered. In faded cut-offs and worn T-shirt she looked so good it was difficult to stop thinking about kissing her. Everything about her affected him on some primal level. Her hair, her skin, the lovely curves which made her so womanly, so desirable—he wanted to haul her into his arms and kiss her breathless. But now wasn’t the time to lose his head.

  “Blackmail?” she said, resolute in her gaze.

  He shrugged. “Enticement.”

  She made a loud scoffing sound. “And you think telling me that will make me agree to this crazy idea?” she asked bluntly. “My business in exchange for one month of…” Her words trailed. “I don’t think so. I’m not that kind of girl.”

  Nate grinned. He liked her spirit. He liked that she said exactly what she thought. “Better to be honest, wouldn’t you agree?”

  “Blackmail?” she muttered again and scowled. “You’ve either got some nerve or the biggest ego in the state. Neither of those are qualities I want in…in…my life. I’ll find a way to get my business back without having to lie down for you or anyone else.” She stepped back around the sofa. “Now, I’d like you to leave.”

  Nate drew in a hard breath. “I’m not trying to blackmail you. I believe in honesty and do not intend to disguise my intentions with a whole lot of romantic nonsense. I want you to come to Gwendonna for one month. In return for your time I’ll give you back what’s rightfully yours.”