by Susan Crosby
She closed her eyes and blew out a long, slow breath. She had a good imagination, and it was on overdrive picturing him naked. His body would be an endless delight to explore.
Karyn traced a finger over the sketch, down his face, his chest, his abdomen and beyond. She’d love to paint him in the nude, his muscles smooth and toned, especially his tight rear. If she were a sculptor, she’d want him as her subject. She’d take her time, too, lots and lots of time to get it right. He would be her muse, her manly muse. She’d have a bed handy so they could take frequent breaks and enjoy each other’s bodies.
He would caress her, kiss her everywhere....
“Wow,” she whispered. When she opened her eyes, he was there, standing in front of her. Her breath caught in her throat. She felt her face heat up. Could he read her thoughts?
“Wow, what?” he asked, but he had to know already, especially because her pad was open to the sketch of him she’d been working on.
He crouched, bringing himself eye to eye with her. “I thought you were going to bed.”
“I wanted to finish this first.”
He turned the pad around. “Is that how you see me?”
“Do you find fault with it?” Oh, he was so close. Close enough to steal a kiss before he could back away, if she dared.
“You make me look younger than I feel.”
“A little bit of gray at the temples doesn’t age you.” She brushed at the gray with her fingers then let them drift over his ears and down his jaw.
He drew a quick breath. “We can’t do this,” he said roughly, capturing her hand, holding it.
“Do what?”
“Any of this. It’s too complicated. We barely know each other.”
He was right, of course. What had gotten into her? It would be crazy—
“When we have the test results and know what we’re dealing with, then we can make conscious, thought-out decisions,” he added.
“You talk too much, cowboy lawyer.”
He laughed softly and stood. It was obvious he wasn’t wearing briefs and just as obvious that he wanted her. She hadn’t overestimated him, not in the sketch and not in her mind.
She didn’t want him to reject her, nor did she want to confuse their situation, so she got up from the chair and left, not looking back once, knowing he watched her, excited by the idea.
And hopefully leaving him wanting more.
Chapter Seven
“Are you sure you don’t mind?” Karyn asked Vaughn the next morning as they were eating breakfast. “I should be doing something. Sketching?”
He gave her a look that seemed to indicate his doubt. At least he now believed what she’d told him about not being capable of pulling off a portrait of a girl and her horse. How he would explain to the family the lack of a finished product would be interesting.
“You’ll enjoy Annie’s farm,” he said. “I don’t expect you’ll spend the whole day, so there’ll be time after you get back. Cass loves to go to the farm.”
“Yes! It’s so much fun.” Cassidy swirled her last bite of pancake in maple syrup and stuffed it in her mouth. “Belle can visit Bo. He can teach her how to get the chickens in their coop.”
“Not yet. She has one more vaccination to get before we should let her run free.” He carried his dishes to the sink. “I’ve got work to do this morning myself, so you going to the farm is fine.”
Karyn joined him at the sink. “Jenny won’t arrive for a few more minutes. I’ll do the dishes.”
“It won’t take me long. Maybe you should put something else on your feet.”
Karyn looked down. “These are my work boots.”
He laughed.
“They are. They only have a three-inch heel.” She hadn’t known what to expect after the tension of last night, but he acted as if it hadn’t happened.
“I want my hair up like yours,” Cassidy said.
Karyn looked to Vaughn for approval. He shrugged.
“Okay. Go brush your teeth, then come to my room.”
Cassidy raced up the stairs. Vaughn put a hand on Karyn’s arm, delaying her from following.
“You’re not planning on sharing why you’re really here with Jen or Annie, are you?”
“Of course not.”
He released her, but she could still feel his heat on her arm.
“Were you able to go back to sleep?” he asked.
“Surprisingly, yes.”
“Good.”
She waited a little longer because it seemed like he wanted to say something.
“Is that all?” she asked.
“Yes. No.” He cupped her face. “I thought I could hold back from you. I was wrong. I couldn’t get you out of mind all night.”
He watched her eyes as he came closer, maybe waiting for her to say no or step back. She moved toward him. He brushed her lips with his, tasting of maple syrup.
“Mmm,” she said. “Good morning.”
Instead of smiling, he looked more serious than ever. At least he didn’t say it’d been a mistake.
“I should get upstairs—”
He pulled her tight and gave her a kiss more reminiscent of bedtime than morning. She slid her arms around his neck. He wrapped his around her waist and dragged her against him.
“Karyn? Where are you?”
She pushed away from him, touching her fingers to her lips, then to his. His expression was fierce, his jaw like iron. He didn’t like that he was attracted, she realized. Not one bit.
“I’m coming, sweetie,” she called out. She made herself climb the stairs at a regular pace instead of racing up, as if running away. She wasn’t running away. She wanted to stay right where she was.
Cassidy leaned on the bathroom counter and watched Karyn brush her teeth. She hadn’t spent a lot of time around little girls, but she thought it was normal, part of the learning process, to watch what adults did.
“What do you call your hairstyle?” Cassidy asked.
“A messy bun.”
Cass flashed a grin. “My hair is always messy.”
“Mine, too. I also do the messy ponytail and the messy braid. Can’t help it. Those curls just love to do their own thing. You don’t ever brush your hair, do you?”
“Nope. It makes it fuzzy.”
“Exactly. C’mere.” She finger combed Cassidy’s hair into a bun high on the back of her head, twisted it, wrapped it with a hair band, gave it another twist, then wrapped it again. “Voila!”
Cass looked in the mirror. “I look just like you!”
Karyn’s stomach clenched. She didn’t. Not really. Just her hair looked like Karyn. Wishful thinking wouldn’t change that. Karyn didn’t see herself—or Kyle—in Cassidy’s features.
“It’ll keep your hair out of your eyes,” Karyn said. “Although it would be hard to wear a hat. Do you usually?”
“When I’m riding my pony. It’s red.”
“Jen’s here!” Vaughn called up the stairs.
Vaughn did a double take as they came downstairs, but Jenny didn’t seem to notice anything out of the ordinary.
“You look...seven or maybe even eight, missy.” Jenny turned her in a circle.
“Oh, auntie,” Cassidy said, but Karyn could tell she liked being told that.
“Could we have a one-on-one soon?” Jenny asked Vaughn. “I’ve got some business questions for you.”
“Anytime, sis. I’m not going anywhere until after New Year’s Day.”
“Thanks.”
Sis. Kyle had called Karyn that, too. The Ryder siblings were lucky to have each other.
The drive to The Barn Yard, as the sign outside Annie’s property proclaimed it, took about twenty minutes, the landscape along the way mostly open fi
elds. For grazing? Karyn wondered. Or hay?
An Australian shepherd barked a greeting as they pulled into the driveway then the yard in front of a small farmhouse. An old barn and even older shed took up space, as did three large structures that looked a little like Quonset huts.
“High tunnel greenhouses,” Jenny said, seeing where Karyn was staring. “She can grow year-round.”
“Welcome!” Annie waved as she approached. Cassidy ran up to her for a hug then joined ten-year-old Austin in the closest greenhouse. “Bo, down. Sorry. He behaves well for Mitch, but he knows I’m a softie.”
She gave Karyn’s feet a look. “I have boot envy. And the shoes you wore on Christmas Eve? The ones with the rhinestones? Only in my wildest fantasies.”
“They’d be in my wildest fantasies, too, except, as I explained to Cassidy, my clients often give me shoes and clothing when they tire of them. I’ve bought very little for myself in years.”
They moved toward the first high tunnel. Annie explained about her winter crops, the broccolini and colored cauliflower, and her year-round crops of baby lettuces, specialty potatoes and other produce.
“I got my organic certification a couple of months ago, and I’m building a steady business with restaurants and markets. I’ve had some incredible help along the way. Even if I hadn’t met Mitch, I would be on the path to sustaining myself here.”
“I know very little about farming, but it seems like it would be so hard. I know you’re dependent on the weather and the price of crops and insect invasion,” Karyn said.
“All that and then some. Why don’t we all go inside? The kids will be fine. Austin is very responsible. I gave him some cookies to share with Cass before they get dirty.”
The outside of the house was deceptive. It seemed a hundred years old, but inside it was remodeled and updated, especially the kitchen. “Ignore the mess,” Annie said. “Brody and Adam are living here for now. They’re not world-class housekeepers.”
Jenny shook her head. “Some things never change.”
They sat at the kitchen table and shared tea, cookies and conversation. Karyn enjoyed Annie, a no-nonsense woman who loved her family and her farm. From the number of times she rested her hand on her abdomen, Karyn knew how much Annie looked forward to having her baby.
“Austin seems to be happy you’re pregnant,” Karyn said.
“He is, but I know they won’t necessarily be close since there’ll be an eleven-year age difference between them.”
“They will be close until he leaves home,” Jenny said. “Then it’ll strengthen again later. At least that’s been my experience with my siblings. We’ve talked about it. I’m super close to Vaughn now, yet there’s seventeen years’ difference. He’s in touch with me a lot. We even talk on the phone, not just text or email. He makes me do that.”
She scrunched up her nose, but Karyn could tell it meant a lot to her.
“He’s my mentor,” Jenny said. “I count on him.”
“He does seem very reliable,” Karyn said.
Jenny laughed. “His middle name. Along with a slew of others, like orderly, organized, regimented. I could go on. It’s what also makes him a good lawyer. So, Annie, how about finishing the tour? I’ve only been here once before—for the wedding. You’ve made changes since then.”
“I’ve become more like Vaughn, organized and regimented,” Annie said. “But that’s what’s needed here if I want to succeed.”
The women headed to the front door. A pickup was coming up the driveway. “It’s Win Morgan,” Annie said, then looked at Karyn. “His father was trying to buy my land, and Win used to drop by to smooth talk me now and then. I preferred Mitch’s kind of talk,” she said with a wink.
“Um, I’m going to use your bathroom,” Jenny said. “I’ll catch up with you.”
Karyn decided that if Win Morgan wanted to head to Hollywood, he would be named Sexiest Man Alive every year. He was probably twenty-five or so, with brown hair, brown eyes and a killer smile. She bet he would photograph so gorgeous and sexy that—
“Win,” Annie said, not quite cool but not completely welcoming either.
He touched his hat. “Annie.”
“This is Karyn Lambert. She’s visiting.”
Again he touched his hat. “Ms. Lambert.”
“What can I do for you, Win?” Annie asked.
“We’re fixin’ to throw a New Year’s Eve party at the ranch.”
“And you’re inviting the Ryders?” Annie asked sweetly.
The tension between them was fascinating to Karyn. A family feud or a personal one?
“Would you all come if we asked?” Win asked.
“I’m a Ryder by marriage, so I can’t answer that, but I’d guess it’d be no.”
He nodded. “My sister, Rose, wanted to know if you could sell us some lettuce and potatoes, whatever you’ve got ready. I know you supply businesses these days more than anything else, but Rose likes to use organically grown when she can.”
“How many people are you feeding?”
“About twenty.”
“I can do that. Have Rose email me through my website or give me a call. We can come up with numbers. You can pick it all up the day you need it.”
“Thank you much.” He took a few steps toward his truck then turned around. “You have a good Christmas?”
“We did, thanks. Did you?”
“It was okay. Hasn’t been the same since Mom passed. I suppose your whole family gathered?”
“Yes, everyone.”
“Jenny home from college?” His voice rose a little in the asking.
“For a couple of weeks, yes. Do you want me to say hi?”
“Nope, thanks. Just curious.” He turned on his heel.
“Like heck you’re just curious,” Annie said as his truck disappeared. “It’s not the first time he’s asked about her, and since she made a beeline for the back of the house when she saw it was him, I’m betting there’s something going on there.”
“Is that why you didn’t tell him she was here?”
“I believe in the sanctity of the sisterhood.” She gestured toward the road. “There’s something about him. He seems easygoing, but there’s something deeper going on, a tension I can’t figure out.”
Jenny joined them.
“Win asked about you,” Annie said, then headed toward one of the high tunnel greenhouses they hadn’t toured yet, the kids and dogs joining them. “Come see what we’re doing.”
“I need to come back with my sketch pad,” Karyn said as they were getting ready to leave a while later.
“Anytime,” Annie said, giving her a hug. “Forget the sketches. I’ll put you to work, boots and all.”
The drive back to Ryder Ranch was too short. Karyn wanted to think about all she’d learned since she arrived, how differently the Ryders lived. She’d never given much thought to where her food came from. She tended to eat on the go or at restaurants. Ryder Ranch operated as an organic, humane business, a term she’d never heard of in reference to raising beef cattle.
Her eyes were being opened to a different world.
Jenny didn’t just drop them off at Vaughn’s house. She came in and met with him in his office while Cassidy played with the puppy and Karyn moved the kitchen table so that Cass could be by the window to sit for sketches.
“Remember, I want to wear sparkly shoes for the painting,” Cass said, then took a bite of cookie.
“Shouldn’t you have your riding clothes and boots on? That’s what your dad, aunts and uncles are wearing in their portraits.”
“But it’s my picture.”
There would be an interesting discussion between father and daughter about that, Karyn thought.
“I have a loose tooth.” She wiggled a bottom fro
nt tooth. “Granddad says he’s going to tie a string to it and have my pony pull it out.” Her eyes went big and round at the idea.
“Do you think he means it?”
Cassidy frowned. “He wouldn’t ever hurt me.”
“So, he’s just teasing you.”
“Whew!”
Karyn smiled. She was a lively child, talkative and sweet and strong-minded. “How do you think you should wear your hair for the portrait?”
Cass squinted thoughtfully. “I think I should wear it down, like I usually do, because then it will look like me.”
“Good thinking.” Karyn penciled in a few lines on her sketch pad.
“Wait! My hair is up.”
“I’m just doing what’s called preliminary work. I’ll do quite a few sketches before we start on the real thing.” Like maybe a hundred so I don’t have to actually try to paint you. “So, tell me about your pony.”
“My daddy says she’s a horse not a pony, but I don’t think he knows.”
“What’s her name?”
“My Little.”
Karyn grinned.
“Daddy calls her an old lady ’cause she doesn’t move very fast. Pretty soon I’ll get a new horse that’ll run and run and run.”
“How old will you be when that happens?”
“Maybe seven. We’ll give My Little to Uncle Mitch and Auntie Annie’s new baby.”
“Can you sit up a little straighter, please? Thanks. I’d never been to a cattle ranch until this trip. What do you like about growing up here?”
“I like being with my daddy and my grammie and granddad. And everyone!”
“What do you think of the cattle?” Karyn started working on her eyes. She had the longest lashes.
“I dunno. They’re pretty quiet most of the time.”
“Do you play any sports?”