Raleigh And The Rancher (Wranglers & Lace #3)

by Laura Anthony

  “Come on,” she barked, determined to pretend the kiss never occurred. “Let’s get this truck unloaded.” She ignored Dan, grabbed a box from the back of the van and shouldered past him.

  Her heart thundered like a prizewinning filly accelerating on the last furlong. Her lips tingled and her stomach fluttered. How could she have let that kiss happen? She should have seen it coming, moved faster, demanded he stop sooner.

  Considering the distressing effects of Daniel McClintock’s lips, she was a fool to stay here. But what choice did she have? She had no job and no place to stay. Essentially she was trapped—isolated with a man who could steal her will with a single, mind-blowing kiss.

  * * *

  Dan let out his breath through gritted teeth, hissing like a tire going flat. Remorse, sticky and cloying, wrapped around his heart. Pushing his hands through his hair, he leaned against the front porch railing and sighed.

  Why had he kissed her?

  Closing his eyes, he recalled how he’d gotten caught up in the moment. She’d looked so tempting with a fresh sheen of perspiration glazing her peaches-and-cream complexion, the gentle wisps of copper-colored hair framing her face, that jaunty green bandanna tied around her head.

  He fingered his lips and grimaced. There was no denying it, she wasn’t a woman to be trifled with. Dan had to respect her. She was no shrinking violet, that Raleigh.

  “Boss?” Pete shot him an inquiring glance.

  “It was nothing.” Dan stepped through the doorway carrying a cane-bottomed rocking chair, and looked over at his friend.

  “You sure?”

  “Don’t worry.”

  “Please, don’t hurt her,” Pete warned.

  “Me? Hurt her?” The idea was ludicrous. If anything, he would be the one to end up with a broken heart. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

  “I certainly hope not.”

  Dan couldn’t have agreed with Pete more. He’d made a big mistake. Although kissing Raleigh was the stupidest thing he’d done in recent memory, it was also the most pleasurable. And that spelled disaster with a capital D.

  Spurred into action, he removed a floor lamp from the van and took it in the house. He stopped short.

  Raleigh stood in the middle of the room looking more beautiful than he’d ever seen her look. Her tank top emphasized her modest assets, while her tight blue jeans flattered her attractive derriere.

  Aching desire drilled through his swollen groin. He had an urge to fling her over his shoulder, carry her off to a cave and make her his woman. Yet at the same time his knees threatened to buckle at her very nearness. Around Raleigh he felt part tongue-tied schoolboy, part primitive Neanderthal.

  Wrenching his eyes from her distracting figure, Dan chided himself. He had to quit thinking about her in this way if they were going to be working and living in such close quarters. The last thing he needed was another disastrous romance. Jenny had burned him badly. No—from now on, Raleigh Travers was strictly off-limits.

  “Put the lamp in the corner, Dan,” she directed. The calmness reflected in her controlled voice surprised him. Hadn’t his kiss affected her at all? “Next to the sofa.”

  The same damn sofa responsible for instigating the unfortunate kiss in the first place. If they hadn’t moved the sofa together...well...he would never have spoken those provocative words, never pulled her to his chest and clamped his lips on hers. Dan groaned inwardly and cast a sideways glance at her. He tried to decipher her innermost thoughts, but came up empty.

  “Anybody for ice tea?” Raleigh asked, leading the way into the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator and removed a pitcher brimming with freshly brewed tea. Caleb unpacked the glasses, lined them up on the counter like attentive soldiers, then filled them with crushed ice from the freezer.

  Pete pulled up a chair and sat down at the lopsided table. One of its legs was too short and Dan made a mental note to repair it for her.

  “Have a seat, McClintock,” Raleigh said, shoving a cold glass of tea in his direction.

  Dan took the glass and pressed it to his forehead to cool his lust-fevered brow. He pulled up a chair next to Pete, suddenly feeling uncomfortable and out of place. Why couldn’t he put the kiss out of his mind like Raleigh seemed to have done? She appeared totally unaffected.

  “This place is great, Mr. McClintock,” Caleb said, oblivious to the mounting tension in the room. “I always wanted to live in a log cabin.”

  “Thank you, Caleb. I hope you and your sister will enjoy staying here.”

  Dan kept his eyes trained on Raleigh. When she was in the room, he couldn’t concentrate on anything else. She leaned casually against the kitchen counter, a glass of tea in one hand, the other hand cocked sassily at her hip. She glared at him over the rim of her tea glass.

  Their eyes met, clashed. They exchanged an unspoken challenge. She flicked her braid over her shoulder and a quicksilver lick of desire lashed through him like a whip. Dan shivered.

  “Cold, Dan?” she quizzed, never dropping her gaze.

  “No. In fact, it’s quite hot in here, wouldn’t you agree?”

  “It sure is, Mr. McClintock. I’m sweating like a horse rode hard and put up wet.” Caleb wiped moisture from his face for emphasis.

  Me, too, Caleb. Me, too, Dan thought, and the resulting spark of arousal chasing through his abdomen had nothing to do with the external temperature in the room.

  “Please, call me Dan,” he said, clasping a hand to the boy’s shoulder.

  “Okay.” Caleb grinned. “Dan.”

  “No,” Raleigh said. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea. After all, Mr. McClintock is our boss.” She set her empty glass in the sink and crossed her arms over her chest defensively.

  “But you call him Dan,” Caleb argued.

  “He’s gotcha there, Raleigh.” Pete smiled.

  “Well...well...I shouldn’t call him Dan, either,” she sputtered. Flustered, she waved her arms in a gesture of dismissal.

  “I don’t mind.” Dan grinned. He met her stare again, but this time she was the first to look away.

  “Fine. Whatever,” Raleigh muttered. “I don’t have time to sit around gabbing, I’ve got work to do. There’s a truck that needs unloading and horses that need to be fed.” With that announcement, she turned, flipped her sassy braid over her shoulder once more and stalked past Dan’s chair.

  A devilish impulse overtook him. He felt the sudden need to get a reaction out of her, to break her supreme control. Before he considered the consequences, Dan reached out and captured her elbow.

  She sucked in her breath, her muscles tensing beneath his fingers.

  “Outside, McClintock. Now,” she barked, wrenching herself from his grasp and fleeing out the open front door.

  Chapter Five

  Raleigh squinted against the brazen sunlight, wondering where she’d misplaced her sunglasses. In spite of the demanding afternoon rays, it felt good to escape the cabin’s confines and Daniel McClintock’s devastating aura.

  When Dan finally followed her outside, she was grateful to discover he’d slipped his shirt back on. His bare chest had confused her so, she’d been unable to think clearly.

  “We’ve got to talk,” she said. From the corner of her eye, she saw Pete and Caleb standing in the doorway. “Somewhere private.”

  “Let’s walk over to the stables.” Dan tilted his head.

  Raleigh didn’t wait for him. Frowning, she spun around, tucked her fingertips into her back pockets and marched toward the stables.

  She slammed into the barn, kicking the door open with her foot and startling the horses in their stalls. The animals weaved and neighed their displeasure at being disturbed. Pacing the hay-strewn aisle, Raleigh folded her arms and struggled to control her escalating temper.

  Dan entered the barn behind her, his palms raised in a defensive stance. “Before you go off like a geyser, I’ve got something to say.”

  She kept stalking back and forth, taking deep breaths and sp
earing him angry daggers with her eyes. Count to ten, Raleigh, she coached herself. She’d tried hard to ignore the kiss, to pretend it was an aberration, but when he’d grabbed her elbow in such a possessive manner, right there in front of Pete and Caleb, she’d had no choice but to set the record straight.

  “Okay.” She managed to choke out that single word.

  He arched a surprised eyebrow. “I’m glad to see you’re willing to give me a chance to explain myself.”

  “Uh.” She wasn’t giving him a chance. She was too darned mad to speak!

  “I didn’t plan what happened on the porch. It was not a calculated seduction.”

  She shot him a disbelieving look.

  “I’m just as perplexed by this thing between us as you are.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she denied, reluctant to admit even the slightest attraction to him.

  “Come on, Raleigh. You may not like it, and heaven knows I find it damned inconvenient, but there is some force drawing us together. That’s no reason for you to overreact.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she declared, petulantly flipping her braid over her shoulder with an arrogant toss of her head.

  “Liar,” he accused.

  “What did you call me?”

  “Admit it. Admit you felt those same white-hot flames of passion I felt. I could taste it on your tongue.”

  “I felt nothing.”

  “You lie, darling, you lie.”

  “I am not your darling and this has to stop.”

  “Why?”

  “Why? Why?” she sputtered.

  “Yes,” he said calmly. “Why?”

  “Because you’re my boss!” She ducked her head, willing her heart to stop beating so loudly.

  “So?” A taunting smile curled the corners of his mouth.

  “It’s unprofessional. And besides, I don’t want to be attracted to you.”

  “I think this chemistry is something neither of us can control.”

  “I am not attracted to you,” she insisted. She drove her fist into her open palm for emphasis. What was happening to her? She had to take command of this situation.

  “Are you going to tell me I don’t make your pulse hammer?” he casually leaned against one of the stalls and brushed a wisp of hair from her forehead. Involuntarily she shuddered and quickly pulled away.

  “I told you when I accepted this job that being your mistress was not part of the bargain.”

  “I’m not asking you to be my mistress.”

  She blinked. “Then what are you asking?”

  “I’m asking you to live here and run my stables.”

  “Then why did you kiss me?”

  “It was only a simple kiss, Raleigh. Don’t read any more into it than that.”

  Only a kiss? If that was only a kiss, then what would his full-fledged lovemaking feel like? An all-out invasion of the senses?

  “Are you in the habit of kissing strangers?”

  “Just the pretty ones.”

  She knew he was teasing, but she wasn’t about to be cajoled out of her anger. She must ignore these emotions he awoke in her, the feelings she’d buried along with Jack. She’d promised herself she’d never fall in love again, never expose her vulnerable inner self or place her fragile heart in such jeopardy.

  Life continually robbed her of her loved ones, so if she never loved again, she would not have to experience the repeated pain of unbearable loss. Long ago, she’d come to grips with a lonely future, in fact, had embraced it. She didn’t need Dan. Didn’t need any man.

  Raising her chin, Raleigh renewed her resolve. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can continue to work here.”

  “Please reconsider. I need you and you need a place to stay.”

  She shook her head. “I can’t allow you to kiss me whenever the mood strikes you. I have feelings, too, you know.”

  “I know,” he whispered softly. Remorse glimmered in the depths of his dark eyes. “I was wrong.”

  “Darned straight, you were wrong.”

  “I don’t want you to leave.”

  “There’s only one way I can possibly stay.”

  “Which is?”

  “You’ve got to promise to keep your distance from me.”

  “I can do that.”

  “Can you?”

  Dan nodded. “I confess, things got out of hand, but I assure you it won’t happen again. At least not until you want it.”

  “Don’t hold your breath.”

  “So you’ll stay?”

  “I do need the job.” She hesitated, her thoughts ajumble. “And I’m excited about doing farrier work again. So here’s my conditions. The cabin, barn and stables are my territory. You keep to the big house. Caleb and I will see to our duties. If that’s not good enough for you, then forget it.”

  “I can accept those terms.”

  “And you get out of line even one more time and Caleb and I are history. Got it?” She shook her index finger.

  “Loud and clear.”

  From his stall in the corner, Matt Dillon whinnied as if in agreement.

  “I mean it, McClintock.”

  “I have no doubts about that.”

  “So it’s settled.”

  “Want to shake on it?” Dan asked, grinning.

  “Don’t push me,” she warned.

  Chester trotted into the barn, sidled up to Raleigh and sniffed at her pant leg.

  “Look,” Dan said. “You can’t leave. Chester adores you.”

  “He does not. He’s just hoping I’ll shoe a horse so he can have the hoof clippings,” she scoffed, edging the dog away from her with the toe of her boot.

  “What happened to you, Raleigh? You’re so cynical you won’t even let yourself show affection for a dog.”

  “That’s not true!” she exclaimed, disturbed by Dan’s accurate assessment.

  “Then why did you overreact to our kiss?”

  Had she overreacted? Raleigh didn’t think so.

  “Raleigh?”

  She heard his voice but she didn’t respond.

  “Raleigh,” he repeated firmly.

  “Go away,” she said. “I don’t have anything more to say to you.”

  “Would you look at me? Please?”

  Straightening, she turned to face him.

  “I don’t know why you’re so afraid to get close to me, but I promise to respect your wishes. You don’t have to worry. I won’t force myself on you. Will you stay? I need your expertise. You know far more about horses than either Pete or I.”

  She needed time to herself, to think, to ride. “Can I take one of the horses out?” she asked.

  “Sure. Anytime. You’re in charge of them, remember?”

  “I’ll take that chestnut,” she said, inclining her head in the direction of a sassy, bright-eyed mare. “What’s her name?”

  “Little Bit of Sunshine.”

  Raleigh nodded her approval. “I like it.”

  “Pete calls her Sunny.”

  Striding over to the stall, Raleigh picked a bridle off the wall and placed it on the frisky mare. She led her out of the barn and into the exercise yard.

  “Do you mean you’re going riding right now?” Dan asked.

  She could feel the intensity of his stare warming her back. “Yep. I think better astride a horse.”

  “Bareback?”

  “It’s the only way to fly.”

  Positioning a booted foot on the bottom rung of the gate, Raleigh boosted herself onto the horse’s back. The mare whickered and tossed her mane, obviously eager to be set free.

  “Would you mind opening the gate?” she asked Dan.

  “Certainly. You are coming back, aren’t you?”

  “Hmm,” she replied, wheeling the mare out onto the open prairie. The chestnut, happy at being given her head, kicked her hooves in the air and sprinted over the yellowed grass, dried tumbleweeds and prickly cacti.

  “Go, Sunny, go,” Raleigh
urged, leaning forward against the mare’s neck and savoring the feel of the wind rushing through her hair.

  Casting a glance backward, she saw Dan standing in the distance, still watching her. Her heart hitched in her chest at the sight of him. Reluctant to dwell on the meaning of their encounter, she pushed those thoughts from her mind. She didn’t want to think, wanted only to ride and ride and ride.

  Orange tongues of sunlight streaked the sky. A crow cawed from a mesquite. Sunny’s long, dark mane whipped at her face, but Raleigh didn’t mind the tiny stings. She pressed closer, taking comfort from the animal the way she could never take comfort from people.

  Raleigh sorely missed her own horse, a beautiful palomino named Lucky. Pa had bought the animal for her thirteenth birthday. She’d been forced to sell the old mare along with their mortgaged farm when Pa died. One more heartache in a relentless string. One more reason to keep her true feelings chained.

  Despite herself, her thoughts drifted back to Daniel McClintock. The man confused her. He shouldn’t have kissed her, but if she were honest, wouldn’t she confess she’d allowed the kiss to happen, had even enjoyed it?

  An uncertain misery simmered inside her. She believed herself to be very controlled when it came to men. After Jack, she’d had no choice. She couldn’t afford to lose herself to poor judgment and runaway lust. Raleigh Travers was much too smart to get caught in such traps. She knew her own mind and her obligations to Caleb prevented her passion from taking precedence over common sense.

  But it was true, Daniel McClintock had gotten to her. She felt ashamed. She hated her own weaknesses. Was she angry with Dan or her body’s own treacherous betrayal?

  * * *

  The incessant heat eased as August melted into September and cottonwood trees shed their golden leaves. Bales of freshly harvested hay dotted the fields. The mass of sunflowers crowding the landscape wilted and died. School started again and with it, the appearance of a rumbling orange school bus at the end of the dirt road each morning and evening.

  Dan sat at his desk, staring into space, lost in thought. It had been three weeks since Raleigh Travers and her younger brother had moved into his log cabin. Three weeks of fighting a growing, almost unquenchable fire burning inside him. Three weeks of denying his need for her.