He was even more impressed by the way she pitched in and did chores in the barn without being asked. Did them like a woman who was familiar with them, too. She didn’t seem to care how messy the chore was. She never complained about the heat, or the broken fingernails, or the straw that tangled in her hair.
At the end of the first week they’d spent working together, she stood before him, hands on hips, jeans filthy, her blouse damp, her cheeks flushed. “Anything else?” she asked.
Because he couldn’t resist, because he was a fool, he murmured, “Only this,” and claimed her mouth in a kiss that raised the temperature in the barn to a dangerous level. With all that flammable material around, it was a wonder the whole place didn’t go up in flames.
Big mistake, he told himself the minute he managed to force himself to release her. Once a man had crossed that kind of line and discovered that the temptation was every bit as spectacular as it had promised to be, he was pretty much doomed to repeat it.
“What was that for?” Lauren asked eventually.
She was regarding him with a dazed expression that made him want to kiss her all over again. “I wish I knew,” he muttered and walked off before she could start analyzing the kiss to death.
He worked himself to the point of exhaustion for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, nothing he did drove out the memory of his lips on hers, of the softness of her curves pressed against him.
“Fool,” he muttered to himself a thousand times. It wasn’t bad enough that she’d annoyed the daylights out of him—now he’d arranged it that she was going to plague him all the livelong night. A man who’d been celibate for as long as he had had no business kissing any female he didn’t intend to take straight to bed.
As the night wore on, Wade’s regrets grew. The taste of her was still with him. So was the heat, the restless yearning. He paced from one end of his three-room house to the other, then moved to the porch. When rocking proved no more relaxing, he headed for the main house, determined to catch a glimpse of her. Maybe a five-minute confrontation, the exchange of a few heated words would remind him of just why he’d had no business kissing Lauren in the first place. Since they rarely exchanged more than five civil words in a row, he figured the odds of a good verbal tussle were in his favor.
He found Lauren sitting on the front steps, wearing jeans and a tank top which should have been outlawed for a body like hers. How was a man supposed to think around a woman dressed like that? How was he supposed to start a halfway decent fight, when the urge to drag her right back into his arms was so powerful it took everything in him to resist it?
“Grady’s inside,” she said when she saw him.
“I didn’t come to see Grady.”
“Oh?”
Wade shoved his hands in his pockets and stood a careful distance away. “About this morning…”
The moonlight caught her face just right, and he was pretty sure he saw the beginning of a smile tugging at her lips. “Yes?”
“I had no right to do what I did.”
“You mean kissing me?”
“Of course I mean kissing you,” he snapped. Did he have to spell everything out for her? “What else would I be apologizing for?”
There was no mistaking her grin now. “Is that what you were doing? Apologizing?”
“Yes, dammit.”
“Must be a new experience,” she said, laughter threading through her voice.
“Why is that?”
“Because you’re not very good at it.”
When he would have whirled around and stalked away, she added, “That’s okay. No apology necessary. Just don’t make a habit of it.”
“Believe me, I won’t,” he said fervently. If today was any example of the aftermath, he was going to give her such a wide berth that they’d never even cross paths again. He’d leave notes telling her what he expected of her as far as the horses were concerned, then hightail it to some other part of the ranch. He could carve out some decent distance to keep between them if he put his mind to it.
“Want some iced tea?” she asked, cutting into his thoughts.
He stared at her. “What?”
This time she did laugh out loud. “It wasn’t a trick question. It’s a hot night. I asked if you wanted some iced tea—I brought a pitcher out with me. I can run in and get an extra glass.”
Wade considered the friendly gesture. What could be the harm, especially now that he’d laid all his cards on the table? She knew there weren’t going to be any more kisses. They both knew it. And he had a plan to stay out of her path from here on out. In the meantime, there was no reason not to stay for a few minutes of polite sociability.
“Sure,” he said finally. “But I’ll get the glass. I know where they are.” Besides, the walk inside would give him a few minutes to cool off and shake the temptation to kiss her again. He figured it would set a very bad precedent if he kissed her not five minutes after swearing that he would never do it again.
She shrugged. “Whatever.” She turned her gaze to the night sky as if what he did were of no consequence at all.
For some reason that annoyed Wade just as much as everything else Lauren did. He stalked past her, went into the kitchen and retrieved a glass. He was on his way back to the porch when Grady caught him in the front hall.
“You need something, Wade?”
“Just getting a glass,” he said, relieved that the overhead light was off so his boss wouldn’t see the color that was no doubt flaming in his cheeks.
“None down at your place?” Grady inquired, laughter threading through his voice.
Wade found himself clenching his teeth. “Actually, Lauren asked me to join her for a glass of iced tea.”
“You two getting along better, then?”
“It’s a constant test of our natural instinct to butt heads, but we’re trying.”
Grady nodded. “That’s good. Well, you two enjoy yourselves.”
He sounded too much like a father anxious to see his daughter settled down. Hearing that tone in his voice made Wade’s skin crawl. “You could come on out and join us,” he said, suddenly desperate for a buffer.
“Not me. I have plans, and they don’t include the likes of you. Karen’s upstairs.”
How could he have forgotten that? It seemed as if sex was in the air tonight and there was no escaping it. “Yeah, right,” Wade mumbled. “Well, see you tomorrow.”
“Crack of dawn,” Grady said. “We’ve got to move the herd to the west pasture.”
Wade had completely forgotten that he’d offered to help out with that. “What about Lauren?”
“What about her?” Grady asked.
“Maybe I’d better tell her to spend the day shopping or something,” Wade suggested.
What might have started out as a laugh suddenly turned into a cough. “Why don’t you do that?” Grady said. “I think I’ll come out after all and watch.”
Wade sighed. “You don’t think she’ll go for it, do you?”
“I think she’ll cut you up in little pieces and spit you out if you even suggest such a thing,” Grady said cheerfully.
“It was just an idea. I don’t want her around Midnight without someone to keep an eye on things.”
“Then tell her what your concerns are and let her decide.”
“Her?” Wade asked. “Lauren’s impulsive and stubborn. She’ll spend the whole blasted day with the horse just to spite me.”
“Then it’ll be her choice,” Grady said.
Wade felt his stomach turn over. “And if we come back and find her lying in the dirt with a couple of cracked ribs or worse, will that be her choice, too?”
Grady’s expression sobered. “You’re really worried, aren’t you? Aren’t things going as well as I’d hoped they would?”
“Up to a point,” Wade said cautiously. “But she’s the kind of woman who’ll push the limits, and you know it.”
“Talk to her,” Grady said again. “Lauren’s a lot smarter than you�
��re giving her credit for being. She’s not going to do anything foolish unless you goad her into it.”
Wade scowled at having the responsibility for Lauren’s actions placed squarely on his shoulders once again. “I’ll talk to her,” he said grimly. “Not that I think it’ll do any good.”
He walked outside and let the screen door slam behind him, so he couldn’t be accused of sneaking up on her again.
“Nice to know you have such a favorable impression of my common sense,” Lauren said mildly.
Wade groaned. After her protests about how he was always sneaking around, it had never occurred to him that she could hear every word he and Grady had exchanged inside the house.
“Sorry,” he mumbled.
“Are you really?” she asked. “Or are you just sorry you got caught?”
“Mostly the latter,” he said with candor. “I try never to insult a woman to her face.”
“Just behind her back?”
“If we’re going to get into a sparring match over this, can I have some of that tea?” he asked.
Lauren nodded toward the table. “There’s the pitcher. Help yourself.”
Despite himself, he bit back a grin. He should have known she wasn’t going to demean herself by waiting on him. He poured the tea, took a long swallow and tried to find some way to get his foot out of his mouth.
“Since you heard everything we said, I don’t suppose there’s any chance at all that you’ll consider going over to Winding River tomorrow and spending the day shopping?” he asked hopefully.
She beamed at him. “Nope. Consistency is important when you’re working with a horse. I need to stay right here.”
Because she was right, he didn’t have a good argument for that. “Will you at least promise to stay out of the corral, to keep the fence between you and Midnight?”
“Midnight is not going to hurt me.”
Wade’s frustration mounted. “Dammit, you don’t know that. He was as good as wild a few weeks ago.”
“And he’s trusting me more and more every day. You’ve seen it yourself.”
“I just don’t want you getting overconfident and taking risks, especially with nobody else around,” Wade insisted.
Her gaze met his and lingered. He saw the precise moment when curiosity was replaced by surprise. Her expression softened.
“This isn’t some macho edict, is it?” she asked, studying him. “You’re really worried about me.”
“I’m just not sure Grady and Karen have enough insurance to pay for patching your head back together,” he insisted, refusing to admit that he cared the least little bit on his own behalf.
She reached for his hand. “No, you’re worried about me, aren’t you, Wade? Admit it.”
He frowned at her persistence, but he wasn’t going to lie. “Okay, fine. Yes, I’m worried about you.”
“Why?”
Now that, he thought, was the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question. “Because anything that has to do with the horses around here is my responsibility,” he said finally.
“So, this is purely a selfish concern on your part,” she said, her gaze still clashing with his, daring him to deny it.
“Yes,” he insisted.
“Bull,” she said softly. “But I’ll let it pass this time.”
She stood up, and the movement was enough to send the scent of her perfume wafting toward him. She put her hand on his cheek, then slowly withdrew it. “Thanks for caring.”
She was gone before he could think of a satisfactory comeback.
“How did you and Wade make out last night?” Grady inquired as he bolted down his breakfast at dawn the next morning.
Karen’s gaze shot toward Lauren. “You were with Wade last night?”
“He stopped by,” Lauren said tightly. “We talked for a while, though he and Grady actually had a much more fascinating conversation in the foyer.”
Dull red climbed into Grady’s cheeks. “Damn!”
Lauren grinned at him. “It’s nice that you took my side. And actually it’s rather sweet that Wade’s so worried about me, even if it is annoying that he doesn’t trust me to have a grain of sense in my head.”
Karen listened, looking spellbound by the entire exchange. “My, my. Wade’s sweet and annoying, all in one breath. Where was I when all this was going on?”
“Tucked into bed waiting for your husband,” Lauren said. “See what happens when you have a one-track mind? You miss all the fun stuff that goes on around here.”
Karen’s gaze flew to meet her husband’s, and her cheeks flushed. “Oh, I don’t know about that.”
Lauren groaned. “I’m going to the barn. If the horses have the hots for each other, at least I don’t have to hear about it.”
“But I want to hear every last detail about you and Wade,” Karen called after her. “I won’t forget about this.”
Lauren sighed. “Yes, I know. It’s one of those sad truths I’ve come to accept. You’re the worst meddler in our crowd, and I have the misfortune to be living right under your nose.”
“You could move in with Wade,” Grady suggested, trying to look innocent and failing miserably.
“What have I done to myself?” Lauren asked with a resigned sigh. “You’re as bad as she is.”
“Actually, we’re a helluva team,” Karen said. “Face it, sweetie, you’re doomed.”
“I refuse to accept that,” Lauren said adamantly.
Karen grinned. “I know. That’s why this is so much fun.”
Chapter Six
Lauren was almost at the barn when she heard a car pull up, then the sharp sound of two doors slamming. She turned back just in time to spot Emma and her daughter, Caitlyn, heading her way. Emma waved at Lauren, but all of the child’s attention was focused on the horses in the corral.
“Hey, there,” Lauren called out. “What brings you two out this way?”
“Caitlyn wanted to visit her aunt Karen’s horses,” Emma claimed with a perfectly straight face. “She’s been obsessed with them ever since her grandfather gave her that pony. And now that she’s seven—”
“I’m almost eight,” Caitlyn corrected.
Emma gave Lauren a rueful smile. “Excuse me. Now that she’s almost eight, she wants a grown-up horse.”
Lauren shook her head. The explanation might be true enough as far as it went, but there was more. Workaholic Emma wouldn’t have made the drive on a weekday just to satisfy her daughter’s whim. Nope, this was all about Emma’s curiosity, which had clearly been fanned by reports of the events of two nights ago from Cassie or Stella or both.
“Nice try,” Lauren said to Emma, “but there are plenty of horses at your folks’ place. What’s the real reason you’re here? Or should I even bother to ask?”
“Okay, the truth? We wanted to check up on you,” Emma said, still feigning innocence. “How are you settling in?”
Lauren took one look at the amusement glinting in Emma’s eyes and sighed. That look went way beyond casual interest. She definitely knew something—or thought she did.
“What have you heard?” Lauren asked, resigned to a cross-examination.
“Heard?” Emma asked, though her innocent expression was wavering. “Is there something to hear?”
Lauren frowned. “To borrow an expression from an attorney who used to be among my best friends, go suck an egg.”
Emma laughed. “Then it’s true? You were getting all nice and cozy with Grady’s new wrangler at Stella’s the night before last? That was the first thing I heard over coffee this morning. Cassie couldn’t wait to spill the beans.”
“Define cozy,” Lauren said. “We were with Karen and Grady, after all. And is this something we should be discussing in front of your daughter?”
Actually Caitlyn was already inching toward the rail at the corral and was pretty much out of earshot.
Emma chuckled. “Speaking of nice tries,” she said. “But you’re not getting away with it, either. Caitlyn is far more inter
ested in the horses than she is in anything we have to say. Now talk to me. What’s the deal? Who is this guy? What do you know about him? How involved are the two of you?”
“There’s nothing to tell,” Lauren said. “That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.”
Emma’s gaze suddenly shifted away. “Hmm? Could this be the man in question coming our way? Maybe he’ll be more talkative.”
Lauren spun around and shot a warning look in Wade’s direction. “Stay away,” she shouted.
He regarded her with confusion. “Why?”
“Because Emma has questions, and she’s a seasoned trial attorney. She’ll grill you until you tell her what she wants to know.”
She should have guessed that that was the exact wrong thing to say. Wade hesitated, then closed the distance despite her warning. If anything, he looked intrigued.
“I have nothing to hide,” he said. “What’s the crime?”
“No crime,” Lauren said, resigned to the inevitable. “Emma has heard things about the two of us.”
Wade looked nonplussed by that, but he was too close now to turn tail and run. Not that he would have, anyway, she realized. He’d already done his part at Stella’s to keep the talk alive. He was clearly enjoying either her discomfort or being the center of attention himself.
“Fascinating,” he said now. “According to these reports, was I any good?”
Emma shifted her gaze to Lauren. “Now that is fascinating. My sources didn’t seem to know that things had gone that far.”
“Things, as you so eloquently put it, haven’t gone anywhere at all,” Lauren said. “Wade’s just trying to stir up the pot. He seems to find it amusing, while I, to the contrary, have had my fill of people dissecting my life. In no time at all, it gets out of hand.”
Emma’s expression sobered at once. “Sorry. I wasn’t thinking. You’re right. Of all people, I should know better. I’ve had my own share of run-ins with the media. I know how quickly things can get out of hand.”
“Media?” Wade said, picking up on the telling remark at once. “Why would they be involved? I thought this was about small-town gossip.”
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