The sound of her singing to herself made him smile when he walked into the barn, her off tune voice heavy with the Australian twang he was getting to love. The door was open on the horse stalls and both of them were outside in the paddock, snuffling around in the snow to find a blade of green grass. Chance stood at the door and watched her pitch forking the dirty shavings into a wheel barrow. When she noticed him, she grinned and his heart soared. Who would have thought choosing a bride over the internet would work out so well for him. Mail order brides had been something he associated with strange people who liked to hide away and not be social. Older men who tended to choose brides from impoverished countries who were willing to overlook their new husband’s weird behavior.
Once his brothers found out the truth, he would take flak from them. He would gladly take any amount of ribbing so long as they didn’t get offended with his reasons for staying away.
“Hey, cowboy. You’re looking mighty fine and rested this morning.” She leaned on the pitch fork and watched him move closer. Just her gaze alone had his cock twitching in his jeans. He’d never met anyone that had that kind of control over him. The sexy cowgirl from the strange land down under was going to find herself on her back in a clean stall if she wasn’t careful. The thought warmed his blood.
“Uh, Chance, hold on. You have that look in your eye and you’re not using your cane. What’s going on?” She backed away, laughing as he held his hands out to grab her.
With a squeal, Callie ran over to the stall with the calf in it, opening the door and slipping in before closing it behind her. “Wait, just wait. I have work to do here.”
“Really? Well so do I.” He looked over the door at the calf nudging at her legs searching for a feed. “Hey, good job. He’s looking wonderful.” Suddenly Chance was sidetracked. The little bull was the image of his father, Terror. Seemed the old guy was good for something other than inflicting pain after all. “Well, I’ll be. I never noticed it last night but he’s a little beauty.”
“Yeah, he is. It’s a shame about his mama though, but it would seem he’s going to pull through. I’ll give him another bottle since it’s only about half an hour before he’s due anyway. Don’t think he’s going to let me get away from him without it.” She ran her hand over his silken ears. “I did a quick ride around the paddock. Another couple of calves born overnight but they’re up and suckling fine. We’ll have to go out and bury the cow before the wild animals come in and cause any grief. Don’t want them taking calves as an easy feed.”
“No, we don’t need that. I can bring out the tractor and dig a hole.”
“So long as you’re up to it. Don’t want you overdoing things and getting a strip torn off you from the doctor.” She opened the door and slid out, avoiding the calf.
Chance watched her make up the bottle. When she returned to the stall, the calf had her pinned against the wall for the short amount of time it took it to empty the formula. His libido was working overtime and it was all Callie’s fault for looking so damned sexy and getting his imagination running wild. When she stepped out, he took her arm and guided her into the next empty stall.
“What do you think you’re doing? I have jobs to do and a boss that will whip my butt if they don’t get done.” She tried to act offended when he pinned her to the wall but he knew she was loving it as much as he was. Chance undid the buckle on her belt, popped the button on her jeans and pulled them down around her knees. “Turn around baby, this is going to be hard and fast.”
The look in her eyes gave away just how hot and horny she was. With a whimper, Callie turned and faced the wall, her butt poking out and exposed in his direction. He undid his belt and dropped his pants, pushing himself against her, his cock hard and ready. Callie pushed herself up on her heels and leaned forward more, bending at the waist so her bottom was raised. When she spread her legs and exposed herself to Chance, he positioned his cock at her moist entrance and pushed himself all the way home.
Her sigh of pleasure broke the silence of the barn and the groans coming from her lips were the only noise he could hear as he slammed into her, crying out with his own release when he came. She peaked just after him, stifling a squeal that somehow turned to a grunt that went on for a long shuddering breath. Chance rested with his arms around her belly while they both got their breath back.
“You sure know how to please a girl, cowboy.”
“I aim to please, ma’am.” Chance pulled out of her and reached for his pants, pulling them up.
***
Callie turned around, still breathing heavily. “You know, I have this fantasy you might be able to help me out with. There’s this cowboy who drives me wild.” She picked a piece of hay from the rack and poked it between her teeth, glancing at him as she stood there with her lower body still exposed. “I want him to drag me up the hay loft and have his wicked way with me, but I’m afraid we’ll be caught.”
“And that’s putting you off?” He did up his belt buckle, his gaze on her body.
“No, not at all. It adds to the pleasure and excitement of it all.”
“Well, tell you what, little lady. Let’s go and do some of your jobs while I think about letting that cowboy loose to pleasure you and then if you’re really good, I’ll organize it for another day when said cowboy is feeling up to climbing that ladder. Does that meet with your approval?”
“I guess if that’s the way it has to be.” She pouted and pulled up her jeans, then leaned in for a kiss. “Let’s get going so we can enjoy the view from up top.” Callie slid out of the stall and called to Sherbet who was sleeping over near the door. “Lead me to the machinery shed and let’s get this poor old cow buried.”
The ground was hard where the cow had died but with the tractor, Chance managed to dig a fairly decent hole and push the cow in. Once she was covered with dirt, Callie breathed a sigh of relief. She had no urge to see a cougar any time soon.
Once the animals were all fed and her jobs done for the day, they headed for the house where the fire was still glowing in the hearth. Now was a good time to learn more about each other. Callie stood in the kitchen making a big pot of vegetable soup while she grilled Chance about his past exploits in the rodeo circuit.
“You know, I never knew it was such a lucrative sport. We have them at home, but I’m not sure it pays the same kind of money.”
“It’s almost a national sport in America. I was thinking of running small classes for kids that want to learn the ropes. Just one of the things I’ve been tossing over in my mind to make this place pay for itself.”
“Sounds like a good idea. I’m sure there would be plenty of people interested. Although I reckon with the breeding you plan on doing, there’ll be enough to keep both of us busy.” Callie tossed in a large tub of chicken stock and stirred the pot, smelling the aromas filling the kitchen.
“When this hip comes good and I get the pins out, how about a trip to buy more cattle? If I’m going to do this properly we need a heap more cows. What we’re running now we can more than triple. We have the land for it so we may as well.”
“Sure and I agree, but won’t you then have to take on more hands? I doubt between us we will be able to keep up with everything.”
“I was rather hoping to talk Luke into coming home and working here. He’s always loved the cattle and I think it’s time he came home too.”
“Where is he?”
“Not too sure. Last I heard he was traveling around South America. I’ll have to get Tyson to find out and we can make contact with him.”
“Did all of your brothers leave home as soon as they were able to?” Callie stirred the pot, watching the soup come to a soft simmer.
“Yeah. Guess they got sick of the old man too. Can’t blame them. Not like I hung around so they didn’t have a good example to follow.”
Callie kept her opinion to herself. It would be good for Chance to have his brothers at home, but she wondered if there was any way she could encourage him to mend the rift
between himself and his father.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Chance woke up to Sherbet barking at the door of the kitchen. Callie was in the shower, singing away loudly and wouldn’t hear anyway being under the water. He pulled on a pair of jeans and did them up as he hurried down the stairs to the kitchen.
“Shush, Sherbet.” There was a woman standing on the porch looking out over the ranch and his stomach tied up in knots. No fucking way, this wasn’t happening.
He unlocked the door and opened it wide. A pair of stunning green eyes locked onto him and with a squeal, she threw herself into his arms. “Chance, I was so worried when you didn’t call me. Seriously, terrified doesn’t even begin to say what went through my head when I heard you’d been hurt.” She clung to him, her head resting on his shoulder as the small sobs reached his ears.
He pushed her away and looked into her eyes. “Libby, who told you where I lived?”
“What? Oh, um I really don’t remember. But that’s not important.” She brushed past him into the kitchen and pulled up short when Sherbet bared her teeth with a low growl coming from her throat. “Shouldn’t that beast be outside, Chance. My allergies, you know how bad they are.” Libby stood with her hands up around her face, waiting for him to save her.
He spoke to the dog. “Outside girl. Go on.” When Sherbet trotted out he shut the door but not before seeing the suitcase on the porch. This was going to be harder than he thought. “Why are you here, Libby?”
“You need me, darling. I heard about your accident and caught the first plane I could find that came to this little backwards town of yours.” She looked around the house and poked her head into the lounge. “Your brother told me you lived up here, he gave me a lift up the driveway.”
“Great. But you can’t stay. I don’t need or want you here.” He was determined to get rid of her. Tyson dropped her off, he could come back and get her.
She pouted at him, her eyes going wide with wonder. “But that’s not possible, darling. I need to look after you. We mean so much to each other after all. How would it look if word got out your girlfriend left you in your time of need?”
“You’re not my girlfriend. We had a good few dates and got on fine, but that was all there was to it.” He hoped Callie wouldn’t come down the stairs just yet.
“Don’t be so mean, darling. You know you don’t mean it. I get you like your independence but really, it is time we got married, don’t you think?” She ran a scarlet fingernail over the island counter, pulling a face. “This place could do with a serious revamp though. Not that I want to be caught living in the sticks but, Chance, for a holiday home it will do I suppose.”
“Stop. Get it through your head, Libby. You are not my girlfriend, you are leaving and we are never ever getting married. I don’t need you to look after me.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I have someone here, someone who—”
“Oh I know. Your brother told me. She almost got you killed out in a snow drift.” She tsked and shook her head. “Fancy hiring a manager from Australia. I don’t know what you were thinking about, darling. It’s obvious to me that you’ve missed me. You wouldn’t act like this if you didn’t.” She looked up the staircase. “If you could get your manager to bring my bag up, I’d appreciate it. The flight was exhausting and so early in the morning too. I hope you appreciate the sacrifice I made to get here.”
“Stop right there. Don’t move.” Chance reached for the phone and dialed his brother’s number. When the house phone went to message bank he dialed the mobile.
“Chance, nice surprise?” Tyson’s voice grated on his nerves.
“No, it wasn’t and if you’d bothered to let me know, I’d have told you to put her back on the damned plane. She’s the last person I want here right now.”
“That’s no way to talk about your fiancé.”
“She isn’t and never will be my fiancé. Come back here and pick her up.”
“No can do, brother. I’m on my way to pick up some horses. Won’t be home til tomorrow.”
Chance hung up the phone, furious at Tyson. He looked up when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Callie. Fuck it.
***
Callie skipped down the stairs but slowed as she reached the bottom. Chance’s angry voice came from the kitchen followed by a plaintive whine—a feminine whine at that. Her senses on alert, she slowed her steps, listening to the voices from the kitchen.
“Now I’m here we can finally let the press know what’s going on between us. I tell you, Chance, they’ve been hounding me day and night asking when we’re going to announce our engagement to the public.” She hurried on, ignoring the protests coming from Chance. “Of course, I had to tell my manager first. He’ll write up an official release and then we can organize a photo shoot. I’ve decided we need to go back to the city for that though. I seriously want to get as much traction from this as possible. Whip up interest in the wedding of the decade.”
Callie walked into the kitchen when her husband’s new “fiancé” paused for breath. Chance’s eyes rolled and he put his finger to his lips. “Callie, good morning. I was just about to take Libby back the airport. She’s come all this way to help out, but I’ve tried to tell her you and I have everything under control.”
Libby turned on Callie, fire in her eyes. “How dare you put my future husband in harm’s way.” She walked over and poked a well-manicured finger at Callie. “You should be ashamed of yourself. Call yourself a ranch manager, huh. I bet you’re trying to latch onto him because of who he is. I know your type, missy. It won’t work.”
The woman’s venom shocked her, taking the normally fast witted Callie by surprise. “I’m not sure that this is any of your business.”
Libby glared at her and stalked over to Chance, slipping her arm through his. “What affects my future husband affects me. If you can’t do your job without putting him in danger, you’ll have to be replaced.” She pouted up at Chance. “Won’t she, darling?”
“Look, Libby. I’ve already told you, we’re not together and never will be. You need to leave.”
“But you can’t mean that, darling. Not after what we went through the last time we were together. The plans we made and the seeds we sowed wrapped in each other’s arms.” She let tears fill her eyes and dropped her hand to cup her flat stomach. “Our new life is just beginning. You can’t throw us out now.”
“What?” Chance stared at Libby before glancing in Callie’s direction, a look of horror on his face.
Callie couldn’t stand to hear anymore. She brushed past him and opened the door, slamming it behind her. Sherbet was sitting on the porch waiting for her and together they ran down toward the barn.
The bastard. How dare he marry her when he’d been making a life with that, that fluffy airheaded damned actress. If he’d only wanted a ranch manager and not a wife, she would still have moved over for the job. There had been no reason to lie to get her here. It was all a joke on his part and Callie didn’t find any part of it funny. She swallowed a sob, her hand over her mouth trying to stifle the noise.
They had seemed so good together. Almost too good to be true how they’d hit it off in and out of bed. She felt dirty and used, someone to throw away when a better model came to town. And his brother had brought her up here. Bloody typical. He’d been against Callie from the start and made it well known too. She might have known he’d do something like this to get rid of her. And Chance appeared to be in on it no matter what he was telling her.
It would seem it was time for her to move on and find another job. Preferably one where there weren’t any lying cowboys who claimed they wanted to marry her and raise a family away from the lime light. Callie pushed open the barn door and hurried inside. She let go the sobs rising in her throat, doubling over in anguish as the tears had their way.
Fancy falling for Chance’s line. It seemed too stupid now she thought about it. Someone famous like him wanting the quiet life away from the spotlight and with a small ti
me farmer like her to make a future. Why would she even think that could be real? Things like that only ever happened in fairy tales and not to people like her. It was a shame she would have to have the wedding annulled.
The bleating of the calf snapped her out of the self-pity wave she was riding on the verge of a major dumping. Callie wiped her hand across her eyes. She had jobs to do, animals to feed and check on before she could worry about herself and how to get out of this sham of a marriage. She fed the calf first, then the horses before downing a large drink of water. There was no way she was going back to the house for breakfast until decisions had been made.
By the time Callie was ready to ride the paddock and check the cows, she had calmed down. Analyzing things made her feel more in control of the situation. More subdued than normal, she saddled Sultan and headed out, ignoring Chance who was making his way down the drive toward the barn with his girlfriend watching him from the porch.
Callie kicked her heels up and took off, determined to have more time to try and sort out her jumbled emotions before talking to him again.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Chance was waiting for Callie to come back, determined to have his say and let her know what was going on before he took Libby back to the airport for her plane. Pregnant or not, she wasn’t staying. More than prepared to support her if it was his child, he would make sure she had everything she needed but not at the ranch. Not with his wife already living there. What a monumental fuck up.
Libby had been fun to be around when he was on the circuit looking for a good time. She was flirty and not shy about wanting to drag him into her bed. They had a good time but that was all it was and he thought she knew that. Chance never said anything to her about settling down. He hadn’t mentioned it to any women he’d dated and if the marriage word ever came up, he didn’t repeat the date, preferring to move onto greener pastures.
Chance For Love (Colorado Blues) Page 10