by Susan Fox
And what about Doris’s reaction to her five years ago when she’d shown up in that restaurant? He’d been guilty of adding to Lorna’s hurt when he’d gone after her to warn her away from further contact with Doris. He regretted even more the bribe and the empty threat about an extortion charge. And now there was the dating scheme Doris wanted.
He’d known from the start that if everything went the way Doris hoped, Lorna would come out the loser. He’d been uneasy about that initially, but he wasn’t certain anymore that the scheme would turn out exactly the way his stepmother hoped. Particularly after last night.
Lorna glanced toward the sliding doors and shaded her eyes with both hands to look in at him. He couldn’t count the number of times he’d seen Kendra shade her eyes that same way, and he felt a new tenderness. If he wasn’t staring at the biological daughter of Doris Jackson Ellery, then Kendra wasn’t hers, either.
The pups yipped protests to reclaim Lorna’s attention but she gave them all a round of pats as she got to her feet and reached over to get her glass of tea. She made her way carefully to the slider and he walked over to open it for her.
His gentle order to the puppies to stay back distracted them for the brief second it took Lorna to squeeze through the opening into the den. Mitch had to block the slim passage with his boot so he could ease the door shut after her.
“I need to wash up before we go riding,” she said to him, her face still glowing from her play with the pups. She glanced through the glass at the wiggly animals as a couple of them whined pitifully at her.
As if she couldn’t resist, she reached toward them and they scrambled to throw themselves against the glass to get to her. One puppy hit the door hard and gave a piping yelp.
“Oh, no!” Lorna drew back abruptly, then reached for the door as if to intervene.
Mitch chuckled. “He’s fine, Lorna. They’re just in love. I’ll have someone corral them so they aren’t tempted to follow us.”
“I started something, didn’t I?” she remarked as she straightened.
“More than you know.”
Her blue, blue gaze shot up to his and he felt the connection like a touch. But then he saw the reserve she’d lost so briefly with the pups snap fully into place.
“I’ll just go get cleaned up.”
“We’ll head for the stables when you’re done,” he said, still watching her wariness and reserve shutter everything lighthearted he’d just seen.
Lorna left the den in search of a bathroom and he followed her to the hall to walk to the kitchen to wait.
Lorna loved the ride, despite the growing heat of late morning. The bay mare Mitch had selected for her was well trained, and in no time at all the big horse felt natural beneath her. Though she’d lived on a ranch until she was eight then later during a foster placement, she was still pretty much a novice rider when it came to full-size horses. The pony her daddy had given her and the ponies on the acreage she’d lived on during another placement were vastly different in temperament and size from Mitch’s quarter horses. Nevertheless, Mitch did no more than give her a couple of reminders about safety and posture, and she was glad of his lack of criticism.
He was the perfect host and it felt good to be with him. He was obviously proud of his ranch, and she deeply envied the fact that generations of Ellerys had lived on this land and would continue to live on it. His family history was proof that most people had grown up his way rather than hers, and she got a fresh sense that someday she’d find a place to belong and a family of her own to be part of.
But in spite of her effort to ignore it, a subtle sensuality flowed naturally between them like an ever-deepening current. She saw it in every look Mitch gave her and felt it in every word they spoke to each other. And whenever they shared the slightest casual touch, the longing inside her surged.
The fact that they still had most of the day left kept her in a state of constant vigilance because she couldn’t allow those warm looks and wonderful touches to become anything more, however much she wanted them to.
The quiet heat in Mitch’s gaze and the tension that was building steadily higher between them made it difficult to remain aloof. She had to keep reminding herself that if she could keep Mitch at arm’s length, perhaps she wouldn’t add to the personal devastation she was sure to have later once the dating sham had run its course.
The tree-lined creek they finally stopped at was low enough to wade in, and the shallow banks were sandy. There was a picnic table in the shade and a bright red cooler sat on top of it.
Mitch dismounted easily, but Lorna’s legs were so stiff that it was almost impossible to get her leg over the back of the saddle. Mitch stopped her before she’d got too far into the process.
“Whoa there,” he said gruffly as he stepped over to her, “try it the other way.”
Lorna settled back into the saddle to look down at him. “What other way?”
“Swing your leg forward over the saddle horn.”
She managed to lift her right leg to awkwardly guide it over the front of the saddle and her horse’s neck, but once both legs were on the same side of the horse, her left boot had twisted the stirrup so she was stuck. Mitch easily freed her, but without the stirrup to stand in she started an abrupt slide to the ground.
Mitch caught her waist to both slow her and guide a safe descent. And of course her hands landed on his hard shoulders while the front of her body lightly skimmed the length of his.
The sensual friction of the contact scorched her insides like lava. She let go of his shoulders the moment her boots touched the ground, but her legs refused to take her weight. Startled, she grabbed for Mitch’s forearms but it was his firm grip on her waist that kept her from landing in a heap at his feet.
Mitch chuckled. “Thought you were going to keep your hands to yourself today.”
Lorna’s head snapped up and she saw the gleam of orneriness in his eyes. “I think a certain rancher set me up for this one,” she said, secretly dismayed at the breathlessness in her voice.
“Only because a certain tenderfoot forgot what a horseback ride can do to a pair of city girl legs,” he drawled. The hard muscle beneath her fingers and palms only heightened her awareness of his superior strength, and the lavalike heat inside her began to simmer.
“We haven’t been riding that long.”
“Long enough. When you get your legs back, you might want to walk off the weakness.”
Lorna realized then that her legs might also have been weakened by something far more debilitating than a horseback ride. They were still lightly touching each other from chest to knee. The solid feel of Mitch’s hard forearms and the steady energy of his incredible body heat were making her go weaker by the second. With her back so close to the side of her horse there was no way for her to put distance between them. Much more of this and she’d melt into a puddle on the ground.
Lorna moved her hands to the hard wall of his chest to maintain what space she could and she glanced away with faked nonchalance. “I’m okay now,” she said softly, and waited tensely for Mitch to let her go.
Thankfully he did and he reached for the reins of her horse. She hobbled out of the way to walk around a bit and looked on as he tied the reins to the saddle horn. He led the animal a few steps and, to her astonishment, gave the mare a slap on the rump that sent her trotting off through the stand of trees to the open land beyond.
Her shocked, “Hey—” was cut off as she watched him reach for his sorrel gelding and do the same. “What are you—”
The gelding sprinted away and Mitch turned back to her. One side of his mouth quirked up.
“Your eyes are as big as dinner plates, Lorna Dean. Look into the trees, a little to your right.”
Lorna almost didn’t trust him enough to look away. Because she didn’t, she sent only a fleeting glance in that direction then did a double-take when what she’d glimpsed registered. A black pickup was parked in the shade. A couple of tree trunks had blocked part of her
view of it, and the shade was dark enough in that spot that the parked truck wasn’t obvious.
“Thought your legs would have more than enough riding for one day by now,” he said, “so we’ll take the pickup home when it’s time. We’re only about a mile and a half west of the house.”
“What about the horses?
“The horses’ll go right to the stable and one of the men’ll take care of them.”
A little ashamed of her overreaction, Lorna glanced his way to see his cocky grin.
“So you think I’m up to no good, huh?”
Lorna felt acute embarrassment and rubbed her palms nervously on her jeans. “I guess so. I apologize.”
He chuckled again and turned to walk to the picnic table. “Don’t bother with an apology,” he called back to her. “You were right.”
The full second it took his words to register gave them an added punch that startled a small “ha” of laughter out of her before she could catch it. Thank God he was too far away from her to hear the small sound.
Growing warm in the hot sun nearer the creek, she hobbled after Mitch into the line of deep shade, more on edge than ever.
CHAPTER EIGHT
LORNA’S legs had gotten stronger walking those few feet to the table, and the stiffness was easing. Now that she was in the shade, she pulled off her Stetson and set it on one of the bench seats next to where Mitch had moved the cooler. He was spreading a heavy, red-checked tablecloth on the weathered wood.
“There’s a waterless hand soap in a wad of napkins on the other side of the cooler,” he told her. “Help yourself to a soda.”
Lorna used the antibacterial soap then chose a soda and opened it to have a cold drink. Mitch waited until she’d slaked some of her thirst.
“Hungry yet?”
“Starved.”
Together they inspected the contents of the cooler, helping themselves to servings from several small containers. There was an assortment of cold salads and three different kinds of sandwich wedges with thick meat fillings. Mitch informed her that they’d have dessert at the house later, so they took what they meant to eat, then left the rest inside the cooler.
Mitch suggested they sit on top of the table as they would have if they’d spread the tablecloth on the ground, and Lorna appreciated the bit of extra height as they looked out over the creek and ate.
“You’ve enjoyed yourself so far, haven’t you?” Mitch asked after they’d eaten in silence for a while.
Lorna had been savoring the steady gurgle and rush of the stream and the sound of birds around them as much as she’d savored the food. Because Mitch had made no more sexy remarks, she’d let down her guard. The peacefulness around them had soothed her and she was relaxing more by the moment.
“Yes,” she admitted, “very much.” She debated briefly, then added, “My daddy had a ranch. I’m sure it wasn’t as massive as this one, but I thought it was the biggest in Texas. I’d forgotten all the smells and sounds, the barns, the creeks, the animals, the vastness.” She smiled, and felt a calm and contentment she hadn’t had for a long time. “It’s wonderfully quiet and soothing out here. I’d forgotten that, too.”
“So you liked living on a ranch,” he said as he finished with his food and leaned back to set his plate on the cooler on the other bench seat behind the table.
“I loved it. Of course, I wasn’t big enough to do anything very useful, but I loved being outdoors and having the run of the place.” The sweet feelings those memories caused made her forget to be more reserved with him.
“I had a black pony named Pepper and a yellow mixed breed dog named Flash. We found lots of things to do and lots of things we shouldn’t.”
Lorna glanced at Mitch, saw the curiosity in his eyes and was instantly self-conscious. She looked away. She’d just told him things about her childhood that she’d rarely spoken of to anyone, and she shouldn’t have done that. Not with him.
Coming to the ranch had brought back so many things and they seemed clearer in her heart than she’d allowed them to be for years. And once she’d relaxed, her heart began to succumb to the sweet feelings that she associated exclusively with the happy part of her childhood, when her mother and father had still been alive.
Her life had been idyllic then. Over the years, her memories had grown hazy, but today they were surprisingly detailed and were affecting her so deeply that it felt natural to talk about them. Since her play with the puppies, the tour of the ranch headquarters and the ride to the creek, she’d been thinking of Pepper and Flash in particular.
She heard the smile in Mitch’s voice. “Pepper and Flash. Did you name them by their personalities?”
It would be awkward to evade a simple question about something she’d brought up, so she started cautiously.
“My daddy helped me name them, and yes, he believed in naming animals according to their personalities. He was very good with animals, especially small ones and any that were hurt or sick.”
“What about your mama?”
Since she’d mentioned her father, it wouldn’t feel right to neglect telling him about her mother, but she tried to keep it brief.
“Mama was very proper and quiet, a total lady. Since my daddy was big and cheerful and liked to laugh, they were almost complete opposites, but they were devoted to each other.” And to me.
Lorna went silent then, a little appalled, not only because she’d told Mitch this much but because of the swift rise of emotion that suddenly felt too powerful to conceal.
Desperate to distract herself, she got out a shaky, “What about your parents?” before she turned to set her empty plate behind them with Mitch’s on the cooler. “If you don’t mind telling a little about them.” She didn’t look at him.
“My father was a stern man who hardly ever cracked a smile. When something amused him, it was usually something ironic. He married my mama when he was almost forty. She was beautiful and fragile and she passed away about the time I started first grade. He took it hard and didn’t remarry for years after that.”
Mitch stopped and Lorna got the distinct impression that he’d done so to avoid bringing up Doris’s name, though his next question made her more uncomfortable than a mention of Doris.
“Was your daddy still ranching when he passed away?”
It was natural for him to ask that since as a rancher himself, he’d likely wonder about it. She had to be careful with this answer, too.
“Yes. But the ranch was heavily into debt, so it had to be sold.”
That should have cut off the subject, but she glanced Mitch’s way in time to catch the gleam of interest in his eyes. Her heart sank a little so she looked away and was only faintly aware that she’d started rubbing her palms on the thighs of her jeans.
She’d never believed her father had been in that much debt, but she’d been eight years old at the time so it was possible such things had been kept from her.
One of her father’s older brothers had been his executor, and he’d been in charge of everything, including her. Since he’d turned her over to foster care within weeks of her parents’ deaths and virtually abandoned her instead of offering her a home or persuading someone else in one of the two large families to take her in, she’d always suspected him of something shady in connection with the ranch. Particularly since he’d been the one to buy it later.
But it was too late to do anything about it now, even if she’d had the resources to pursue it. Unfortunately she’d had no one like Mitch Ellery around at the time to look out for her interests. She was certain that was a large part of her foolish attraction to him. A man like Mitch would never have allowed a child to suffer the incredible loss she had.
She didn’t want him to ask any more questions about the ranch because if she evaded them now as she had to, she’d stir up too much interest. And if he looked too far into her past, he’d surely stumble across the kind of information that might lead him straight to Doris’s part in that horrifying time. Though it might be a l
ong-delayed comeupance for Doris, Kendra wouldn’t deserve the fallout.
More uneasy by the moment with the tense silence between them, Lorna lifted a hand to check the large barrette she’d used to put her hair up as she casually asked, “Will Kendra be home in time to know I was here?”
Giving a verbal reminder about why she was really here was better than to allow the conversation go on as it had.
“Nice try,” Mitch said mildly. “But today stopped being about Kendra or Doris last night when I pulled you into my arms on that dance floor.”
Startled, Lorna’s gaze flew to his. Before she realized what he was doing, he’d laid down full-length on his side behind her on the long table and had propped himself up on one elbow. She twisted around to keep a wary eye on him, but eased closer to the edge of the table as if prepared to flee.
Mitch calmly watched her as he removed his hat and dropped it to the bench at her feet before he settled back with his head propped on a big fist. The thickening tension between them flowed like a river of sensual peril.
“Since last night,” he went on lazily, “all I’ve been able to think about is how to get that close to you again.”
The declaration gave her a soft jolt and she felt her heart begin to pound. His masculinity reached out for her and her blood heated and began to pool down low. There’d be no more questions about the past because Mitch had shifted his focus to something much more personally dangerous for her.
Lorna couldn’t seem to take her eyes off him. It was as if he was hypnotizing her and she was rapidly losing her will to snap out of it. It dawned on her that this was some sort of sexual showdown and he had more control over it than she did. Wary of that, she prudently started to move off the table, but he gently caught her arm to keep her close.
She had to make this stop. He had no business toying with her like this, not when the emotional stakes for her were so high. “Maybe you can separate animal urges from this situation, but I can’t.”