Cowboy Undone

by Mary Leo

  “Just visiting. I’m one of Chuck’s attorneys, and as such, I think it would behoove you to leave.”

  “Behoove me?”

  “Yes, benefit you. Be a prudent move,” she explained as if she thought of him as some dumb cowboy without an education.

  “I know what it means, but leaving before I talk to Chuck wouldn’t benefit me. After all, he shared some powerful information or didn’t he bother to tell you the contents of the letter you delivered?” Reese slowly walked in closer to her. She didn’t move, didn’t flinch. Tough. Resilient. Fearless. He liked those qualities in a woman.

  “He told me what I needed to know.”

  “That I’m his son?”

  She looked him squarely in the eyes. He had to hand it to her, she lawyered up perfectly when she wanted to, unlike that afternoon when she had played the rebellious Jezebel. “Yes.”

  “So, you officially delivered that letter today?” He had to know the truth. Was this woman playing him or was she simply caught up in one of Chuck Starr’s many games?

  “No. I did it as a favor.”

  She grabbed the railing and hopped up onto it, looking playful in the moonlight as she leaned forward and swung her legs between the spindles, wrapping her ankles and feet around them for balance. The woman had a visceral effect on him, a raw force that seemed to ignite his soul with passion, but now was not the time to let his imagination get the best of him. Now was the time to get at the truth of the matter.

  “A favor implies that you like that son of a bitch.”

  She bristled, standing then angling to face him straight on.

  “If you’re referring to Chuck Starr, yes. I like him a lot, and please don’t insult him like that.”

  “Oh, that’s right. You’re his lawyer. Since when do lawyers move in with their clients?”

  “Since I decided to stay for a while.”

  Reese let out a sharp breath. “I bet that’s convenient for Chuck.”

  She stepped away from the railing and moved in close to him, never backing down, and giving off an aura of complete control. “Look, cowboy, Chuck is a family friend. I’ve known him since I was a kid, so don’t go thinking you know the situation, because you don’t. And as for the letter I delivered, I had no idea of its content before I handed it to you. I was only the messenger, and you know what they say about the messenger.”

  Pure heat pulsed between them as he stared into her smoky blue eyes, eyes that told him she was telling the honest truth.

  “I’ll try to keep my guns holstered.”

  “Might be a smart move. Now, I think you should go.”

  He refused to back down. His daddy didn’t raise him to wimp out at the first barrier. He was taught to keep pushing, keep working, keep fighting until the job was done.

  “Not until I speak to Chuck. We have a few issues that need settling.”

  “I don’t think that would be wise. Neither of you are in the right frame of mind to settle anything.”

  She looked determined to get her way, but Reese refused to back down.

  “That’s not for you to decide. You said you aren’t his keeper. This is between Chuck and me.”

  They were only inches between them now. His body pulsed with an intensity he hadn’t ever felt before. He couldn’t seem to control the physical attraction he had for her. It seemed to consume him and only heightened the frustration he felt for the situation he was now in with his mom and Chuck.

  “Maybe so, but you need to cool down, take a few days to let this news take hold. I’ll set up a meeting.”

  She sounded official, as if she’d switched over to her attorney voice. He didn’t like it. Made her seem indifferent.

  “I need an appointment to meet with my new daddy?” Sarcasm dripped from his voice.

  “Yes. I think it would be wise, don’t you?”

  He thought about it for a moment as he deliberately took a step back. Of course she made sense, but he wasn’t in the mood to be logical. He wanted to punch something, mainly Chuck Starr.

  She leaned on the railing once again, as he stepped further back on the porch trying to bank down his searing emotions.

  “Fine. I can wait a few days, but that’s it. I want to know what the bast . . . what he wants out of all of this.”

  “I don’t think he wants anything other than for you to know the truth.”

  “Evidently, you haven’t been around Chuck very much in the last few years, or if you have, he’s managed to keep his real personality under wraps. Let me clue you in. He doesn’t do anything without an ulterior motive. Something stinks in all of this, and I intend to find out what it is before we all have to start wearing gas masks.”

  She folded her arms across her chest, then tossed him a defiant look.

  The damn thing about this woman was that she’d managed to get under his skin, and even now when he should be hating her for even knowing Chuck Starr, all he could think of was how much he liked her boldness, her ability to match his attitude. How she got right up in his grill with her badass self.

  “Good luck with that, because before you do or say anything that might slander Mr. Starr, I’ll hit you with so much legal shit you won’t be able to see daylight for a week.”

  “More threats. You two are like peas in a pod, rotten peas that have been on the vine too long and are about ready to fall off into the dirt.”

  “Is that some kind of folksy saying that’s supposed to scare me? ‘Cause you’ll have to do better than that. I’ve dealt with much worse cowboys than you.”

  “Like the one inside that house?”

  “Yes, and if you know what’s good for you, you’ll get off his property . . . now!”

  Reese smirked, and gazed up at the full moon for a moment, then back at her. “You know what’s amazing about all of this?”

  “What?” she asked, her killer eyes sparkling, and if Reese wasn’t mistaken, there was a hint of a smile on her delectable lips.

  “That I still want to kiss you,” he said, as he pulled her in closer and slipped his hand through her silky hair.

  She didn’t resist. Instead, she seemed to melt into him.

  He kissed her hard as he cupped her cheek and felt the heat of her body next to his. For one magical moment, she kissed him back, her lips warm and luscious on his, her tongue skirting across his, driving him crazy with desire.

  Then, abruptly she moved away.

  “Of all the underhanded . . .”

  He cut her off. “Just checking to see if what we started out on that balcony today was real. And from the way you just kissed me, I’d say it’s still alive and kickin’.”

  As he descended the stairs, she said, “That doesn’t change anything, Reese Harrington Cooper Jr. And don’t you go thinking that it does.”

  “Whatever you say,” he told her as he swung open the door on his pickup, then glanced back before he got in. “But you know as well as I do, that kiss changes everything.”

  As he drove away, he knew darn well that despite all the crap that had come down today—his anger, his disappointment with his parents, and the tremendous ache in his heart from losing his dad, his one ray of sunshine in all of this was Avery Templeton, the woman from his dreams.

  Or maybe, now that he knew what was really going on, she just might be the woman in his worst nightmare. Either way, he had a feeling they were both in for one hell of a ride.

  FOUR

  There was no getting around it, that cowboy could kiss.

  As far as kisses went, he ranked right up there on the top of her list. Okay, if she was going to be one-hundred-percent honest, Reese Cooper had set fire to her list, and had taken over as possibly the best kisser . . . no, Reese Cooper was the best kisser she’d ever pressed lips within her entire life. Even better than Bennie Carlotta behind the sixth-grade washroom.

  Bennie had been her first, and that boy had held the number one slot for her entire life . . . up until now. Reese had blown young Bennie right out of the
competition.

  It amazed her that she had the presence of mind last night to push him away. After all, he’d more or less attacked her with his mouth. Problem was, she loved it.

  And she wanted more.

  “So much more,” she said out loud.

  “Sure thing,” Kaya said, then immediately stood in front of Avery pouring steaming hot coffee into Avery’s white mug that sat on the counter. The two women were in the large modern kitchen getting ready for their day.

  “Thanks, Kaya, but I didn’t mean for you to . . . Kaya, how long have you been working for Mr. Starr?” Avery asked, still curious about what Reese had said about Chuck’s character last night.

  Reese seemed to have a deep dislike for Chuck Starr that went far beyond his resentment about paternity. Chuck had touched on a few things that had happened over the years between himself and the Coopers during their talk the previous night, but he’d never gone into specifics. The biggest problem seemed to be Chuck’s continuous ability to buy up large chunks of Cooper land, and sometimes not in a very ethical way. That went for other ranches he’d acquired as well. Avery didn’t much like it, but she understood how successful businessmen worked.

  According to Chuck, he and Reese Sr. had been at odds for decades, and Avery had the feeling there was something more to it than just paternity. The struggle over land was tantamount to a rancher, and Chuck knew that better than anyone. To hear him talk, Reese Sr. was a horrible man, and Avery couldn’t buy it, considering how much his namesake appeared to not only love him, but truly admired his dad.

  Avery was hoping Kaya could fill her in on more of the details of the feud between these two men.

  “Going on ten years now. Mr. Starr has been good to me, and good to my family.”

  “Where are you from, Kaya?”

  “Born and raised right here in Wild Cross. Grew up on the reservation, but moved off of it when I married my husband, Pete. He wanted a more financially secure life and took a job with Mr. Starr as a ranch hand about twelve years ago. Pete more or less runs most of the ranch now, while I take care of Mr. Starr and his house. And just between you and me, your coming here really cheered him up. I think he took Reese Cooper Sr.’s death hard, but he won’t ever admit it. Them two men have been fighting ever since I’ve been working here, and from what his last housekeeper said before she left, they’d been fighting ever since Mr. Starr settled on this land.

  “’Course, he won’t admit that he’s grieving over Reese Sr., but I know he is. Don’t have nobody to push against anymore. I think they both liked the battle, even though neither one of ’em would ever acknowledge it.”

  “I suppose you know about Reese Jr.’s connection to Mr. Starr?”

  Kaya poured herself a cup of coffee, stepped up on the stool one away from Avery and looked as if she wanted to talk. “You mind if I join you for ten minutes? I could use a break, and you sound as though you need to sort a few things out.”

  Avery appreciated not only Kaya’s candor, but the fact that she was more of a family member than the hired help. Her dad had always drawn a line between anyone he’d hire and himself, but the bond between Chuck and Kaya seemed to go much deeper. As if they truly respected each other. It was something Avery delighted in and wanted to nurture. “Yes. Please, I’d love for you to join me, Kaya.”

  Kaya grinned, then began. “I knew Reese Jr. was Chuck’s boy the minute I saw him in town, but I never said anything about it. Wasn’t my place. I don’t believe in spreading gossip, even if it’s true. I figured it would come out sooner or later, and when it did, all hell would break loose. It’s bubbling just below the surface right now, like one of Mr. Starr’s wells, but it’s going to blow, and when it does, look out, ‘cause it’s gonna be epic!”

  She sipped her coffee, a look of concern on her otherwise placid face.

  “Why do you think that? Mr. Starr seems like he wants nothing but the best for Reese Jr. He wants to spend time with him. Get to know him. Be his friend.”

  A wide grin spread across Kaya’s face. “Mr. Starr wants to be his only son’s friend. Is that what you think?”

  “That’s what he told me. Why should I think otherwise?”

  “You shouldn’t,” Kaya said as she leaned an elbow on the high counter. “Reese Jr. is a good, honest man, but I know this news is killing him. He was about as loyal to his dad as any son could get. His dad hated Mr. Starr, and now Reese Jr. knows why. Not only that, Mr. Starr bought up most of the Cooper ranch. How those two could ever be friends is something that is yet to be determined. But I will talk to the peacekeepers of my tribe and hope that they can help.”

  “Good, because just between you and me, I’ve got a crush on Reese Jr. a mile wide.”

  She shrugged, then drank more of her coffee. “You belong to each other, you and Reese Jr., just like his mother belongs to Mr. Starr.”

  The statement took Avery by complete surprise. “What are you saying, Kaya?”

  “You are part of him, part of Reese Jr., just as Catherine Cooper is part of Mr. Starr, but I have to get back to my work now or I’ll get behind. We can talk about this another time.”

  She took a couple more swallows, then slipped off her stool.

  “Wait. What do you mean?”

  Avery thought that Kaya must be mistaken about Reese’s mom. Chuck hadn’t mentioned much about her the previous night when they spoke. Only that they’d had a brief affair when they were young. Nothing about his pining over her or she him for all these years. Plus, Avery had a crush on Reese, nothing more. What did Kaya know that Avery didn’t?

  “Another time, when you are more willing to listen with your heart,” she said as she dumped her remaining coffee in the sink, filled the cup with water, then walked out of the kitchen, leaving Avery longing to know much more. What the heck did Kaya mean? Whatever she meant was way more mysterious than Avery wanted to deal with. She was there to relax, to find her center again, and in the last twenty-four hours that center had all but been blown apart.

  She decided to toss it up to Kaya’s mystical beliefs. None of which Avery believed in. She dealt in facts, not in feelings, and certainly not in Hopi mysticism.

  With that in mind, Avery walked back to her room down the long hallway, fired up her laptop that sat on the ornate mahogany desk in front of the bank of windows, and thought she’d try to set up a meeting between Reese and Chuck for the following Monday, which happened to be almost a full week away. She figured time might help Reese come to terms with his new identity: Chuck Starr’s only son.

  Not that she expected Reese to accept his new status without a major battle, but she thought she might be able to weaken his thunder if she worked on him between now and then. That kiss told her everything she needed to know about their budding personal relationship. Now all she had to do was siphon off a little of that passion for Chuck’s benefit, and leave the rest to continue to heat up their own affair.

  There was little doubt she and Reese Cooper had started a fire, but the question remained, what kind of a blaze would it be? She hoped the whole thing with Chuck wouldn’t cause it to die out before it ever got rolling.

  She called the main number for the Cooper Ranch, and spoke to Reese’s sister, Shiloh. Avery liked her from the get-go, and setting up the meeting had been a cinch. Shiloh generously offered to make sure Reese would be there. “Even if I have to knock him out to get him there,” she said.

  Avery liked her spunk, and sensed the potential of a possible friendship in the future if she stuck around for any length of time. Of course, that all depended on her brother. And at the moment, the possibility of Reese even attempting civility with Chuck seemed rather remote.

  But Avery intended to change all of that.

  AVERY HAD DONE a bit of research online, and learned of a cattle auction that afternoon on one of the local ranches. Some of the Cooper livestock would be auctioned and Avery hoped Reese would be there. She also knew he was selling feeder calves. When she mentioned it to
Chuck during breakfast, he asked her to go ahead and buy them at any cost. She knew feeder calves, young cattle that would be grown to a hefty finished weight and sold for slaughter, were the mainstay of a ranch. So, if Reese was selling so many off, his ranch was in trouble, and he had to do whatever was necessary to stay in business.

  Ranching was a tough business, too tough for her animal sensitivities.

  Still, she admired the people who did it for a living.

  Now, as she stepped down out of the ranch truck she’d borrowed from Chuck’s seemingly endless supply of ranch vehicles, she wasn’t so sure this plan of hers was a good idea. During the talk she’d had with Chuck the other night, she not only learned more of the details surrounding Chuck’s reasons for forcing Catherine to tell Reese the truth, but she also learned that the Cooper ranch had been steadily losing money and land for the past several years. Chuck had told her how he offered to help, but Reese Sr. was as stubborn as an ox. Chuck hoped that Reese Jr. and he would come to terms, and allow Chuck to step in and save the Cooper ranch. He hadn’t gotten into the details of how that might happen, but it was enough to know Chuck’s heart was in the right place.

  Of course, Reese would never see it that way, so somehow she was going to have to try to change that. No easy task.

  Once she entered the auction barn, she spotted Reese right off, and headed over to him. Fortunately, she’d gotten there early and the barn was just now filling up. Reese sat up in the last row, with another cowboy sitting next to him. The barn smelled of a mixture of farm animals and hay, and looked as if it had been around a while. The viewing area seemed smaller than she remembered it to be, but she’d been only ten years old the last time she’d seen it. The fencing in the half circle that made up the viewing area seemed relatively new, and the high podium where the auctioneer stood was now equipped with large monitors that were connected to cameras that scanned the animal pens outside.

  The blend of technology and down-home ranching had infiltrated even the local auction barn.