"No, you started this. You might as well finish it. What did you mean by that snide little 'did you'?"
She hadn't meant it to sound snide. Obviously his father was a sore subject and she chose her words carefully.
"Marjorie told me something of your father's personality during our coaching sessions. Not much, but enough that I know he wasn't an easy man to live with."
"That's one word for it. My father was a stone-cold bastard, there's no secret about that. He figured he owned everything and everyone on the Cold Creek. We all had to walk his line or else. I used to think he invented that old phrase about my way or the highway. He sure liked to use it enough."
He shook himself a little. "But I'm not my father. I would never be deliberately cruel to my kids."
"Not deliberately, no. But they notice your absence in their lives far more than you might think. When parents are too distant and distracted, no matter what the reason, children can't help but view it as a rejection. They begin to wonder what makes them so unlovable and find themselves doing all kinds of crazy things to find that attention they need."
Like cutting off all her hair when she was twelve or getting her nose pierced the year she'd turned fourteen, all in the hopes that Quinn might look at her once, instead of the next deal.
Somehow Wade must have picked up on her thoughts.
"That sounds like the voice of experience." He moved forward slightly, his eyes an intense blue in the low lighting.
She forced herself not to flinch. "We're not talking about me," she said coolly, wondering how this conversation had suddenly twisted around to her.
"Maybe we should be."
"My childhood isn't very interesting and has no bearing on this discussion," she said, then mentally cringed at the cool, prim note she heard in her voice.
"I think it does. What kind of a father was Quinn Montgomery? The doting kind who adored your every move and let you get away with murder? Or the stern, authoritarian type who laid down the law and insisted you follow it?"
Neither. Quinn had been just like Wade. Distracted, distant. Disinterested. Maybe that's why it was so painful for her to watch. Her father loved her, but on his own schedule, when he could fit her in between scams. Not when she needed him most.
She certainly wasn't going to share that with Wade, though.
"I'm sorry," she said, gathering up her notes and closing up her computer. "I shouldn't have said anything. It's been a long day and we're both tired. I'll see you in the morning."
"Running away?"
Her gaze flashed to his and she wasn't sure how to read the expression there.
"No. I just…"
"You should be. It would be better for both of us."
Before she could figure out that odd statement, he stepped forward, his eyes dark and stormy, and an instant later his mouth descended to hers.
For one shocked second, she froze as his powerful arms captured her and tugged her against his unyielding strength, as his mouth moved slowly over hers.
He tasted dusty and male, a combination she somehow found irresistible, and she softened in his arms, giving in to the attraction that had been buzzing through her like an insistent hummingbird from the moment she'd arrived at the Cold Creek.
She shivered as every cell surged to awareness, to a sweet and heavy arousal, and she was lost to everything but this—the taste and scent and feel of him surrounding her with heat and strength.
What had brought them to this? She wasn't quite sure. One moment they'd been arguing, the next here they were, mouths tangled together, both breathing hard as they tasted and touched and explored.
He didn't like her and thought she was a nosy busybody. So why was he holding her with a kind of desperation, one hand buried in her hair, the other at the small of her back drawing her close enough she could feel the hard jut of his arousal?
She was vaguely aware of the world outside their embrace, of the pig-shaped clock ticking above the stove and a sudden breeze rattling the glass panes and the hard countertop of the breakfast bar digging into her back as he pressed her against it.
But none of it mattered.
Her entire world had condensed to this moment, to this man with his solid strength and the sadness in his eyes.
"You smell so good." The low whisper in her ear was more arousing even than his touch. "Like homemade vanilla ice cream fresh from my grandma's old tin ice-cream maker."
She shivered as his mouth slowly slid down her jawline then found the rapid pulse in her neck.
He kissed her there, then his mouth found hers again and Caroline decided she could cheerfully die right here in the Cold Creek kitchen as long as Wade Dalton could kiss her to heaven.
One of her clients had reached a goal earlier in the year of parachuting out of an airplane for her fiftieth birthday. She'd described a freefall to Caroline as incredible, not so much a sensation of falling as flying, soaring above the earth with arms outstretched and the wind rushing to meet you.
For the first time, here in Wade's arms with his mouth hard on hers, Caroline began to understand what she'd meant by that and she never wanted this twirling, whirling freefall to stop.
One of his hands moved to her waist and slid beneath her shirt just enough to touch the bare skin above the waistband of her jeans. She moaned, her arms tight around his neck, and leaned into his slow, arousing touch, desperate for more.
She wasn't sure what sound intruded first, the scrape of a boot on the steps outside the kitchen door or the low, tuneless whistling—she only knew someone else was coming.
No. Go away, she thought, but the sounds drew nearer. She didn't know how, but at the last moment she managed to organize her scattered brain cells just enough to yank out of Wade's arms half a second before the door opened with a squeak.
Seth stood in the doorway, a basket of laundry in his arms and those heartbreakingly blue eyes wide with surprise. His gaze shifted from her to Wade and then back again, and she knew hot color was soaking her cheeks. Beside her, she could hear Wade's ragged breathing and she was mortified to see the surprise in Seth's eyes give way to speculation.
"I didn't think anybody else would be up. Sorry to interrupt."
"You didn't," Caroline said quickly, compelled for some insane reason to protect Wade from his brother's knowing look. "We were, um, talking about the children."
Not exactly a lie, she told herself. They had been talking about the children right before that earthshaking kiss.
"Right. Must have been a pretty heated conversation. You're both looking a little flush. What were you doing, comparing your philosophies about corporal punishment? That's bound to get anybody a little hot. Personally—and I hope this doesn't make me sound like a cretin—I come down on the side that sometimes a little swat on the behind is the only thing you can do to get the little buggers' attention. You can give all the timeouts in the world but they won't be as effective as one well-timed hand to the tush. Don't you agree, Wade?"
"Whatever," Wade snapped, looking so completely stunned by what had just happened that Caroline wanted to die of mortification.
"Well, I was only going to throw in a load of laundry," Seth said. "But I can certainly come back later if you're not done, uh, talking."
"Leave it alone," Wade growled to his brother.
To her immense gratification, Seth held his tongue, though he did nothing to hide his amusement.
Caroline decided she had no option left but to flee. "Do your laundry," she said to Seth. "I was just heading to bed. Good night."
The last was directed to both of them but she hurried from the kitchen without daring to look at Wade.
She might never be able to look at him again, not after the way she had responded instantly in his arms as if he'd set spark to dry tinder.
Chapter Nine
Wade watched Caroline rush from the kitchen and wondered if he would ever be able to taste vanilla ice cream again without remembering those incredible few moments she had burn
ed in his arms.
"You're an idiot," he growled, though he wasn't completely sure whether his words were aimed at his brother or himself.
"That's the rumor." Seth grinned, unoffended, and headed for the laundry room just off the kitchen.
"I am sorry I interrupted," he called over his shoulder. "I should have knocked first. I just never expected to find my cold and passionless older brother locking lips with our beautiful new stepsister."
"She's not our stepsister, damn it!"
This seemed to amuse Seth even more. Grinning like a fool, he started the wash cycle.
Wade thought about going upstairs for that shower he so desperately needed—the one that would now by necessity have to be frigid—then decided he might as well settle at least one of his hungers.
He was cutting a slice of leftover birthday cake when Seth wandered back in.
"Oooh, cake. Mind sharing a piece of that?"
He would have preferred for Seth to take that amused, knowing look and cram it. But it was hard to smirk and eat at the same time, so he gestured to the cake server with his fork. "Help yourself."
"Thanks. I worked up one hell of an appetite down at the Bandito tonight. Bunch of women from New York are staying out at the Swan Valley Dude Ranch, sort of a girls' week out, I guess. They were in the mood for a little cowboy boogie, if you know what I mean. I couldn't let them go home disappointed."
Sometimes he wondered if Seth had been born knowing how to irritate him or if he'd honed the skill through years of study and practice. His brother knew how much he disliked hearing about his exploits so, of course, he delighted in sharing at every opportunity.
He was damn sure not in the mood tonight to hear them, so he decided to change the subject.
"Do you think I'm a poor father?"
Seth froze, the fork halfway to his mouth, then he set it down like it was handblown china. "Is that what Caroline says?"
"Not in so many words."
Seth cocked his head, his eyes baffled but moderately impressed. "Okay so explain to me how a woman goes from questioning your parenting skills to swapping saliva with you?"
To his dismay, Wade could feel his ears turn red. "We were just talking," he mumbled.
"Right. That's why when I came in, her sweet little mouth was all swollen and her cheeks matched the pink of Mom's climbing roses. All that talking, huh?"
Served him right for thinking he could ever have a serious conversation with Seth. "Just drop it. Forget I said anything."
"No, you want to know if I think you're a poor father." To Wade's surprise, his brother didn't offer any more wisecracks and he even appeared to give the matter some thought. "I don't think I've ever heard you say a harsh word to Nat and the boys, unlike our own dear old dad."
"That has to count for something."
"Something," Seth agreed, taking another bite of cake. "You're not half the bastard he was."
"Gee, thanks."
"On the other hand, you do tend to leave a lot of the work to Mom, when it comes to the kids."
First Caroline now Seth. He sighed. "What else am I supposed to do? Can somebody just tell me that? I don't have much choice. The ranch won't run itself."
Seth's too-handsome features seemed to harden a little and for a moment Wade almost thought he saw bitterness flicker in his eyes. "No, it won't. But your kids won't raise themselves, either. What if Mom decides not to come back?"
"Don't think that hasn't been keeping me up at night." And now he would have memories of kissing Caroline to help do the job. "I don't know. I guess I'll have to figure something out. Hire a housekeeper or something."
"Or a ranch manager."
"Can't say I'm crazy about either one of those ideas." He sighed again and took a sip of water. "This wasn't the way things were supposed to turn out. This whole single-father thing sucks."
"Imagine your life without the kids, though," Seth pointed out.
For one brief second, Wade considered how much less stress he would have in his life right now.
Yeah, his life might be less frenzied. But it would also be bleak and miserable.
No Natalie, with her rapid chatter and her freely offered opinions, no Tanner and all that energy, no Cody to cuddle up with him on Sunday afternoons while they napped and watched fishing shows. It didn't even bear thinking about.
He loved his children but it was still tough raising them on his own, wondering if every move he made was the wrong one.
Caroline didn't help things, coming here, stirring him up, making him question himself even more.
"So while you and Caroline were, uh, talking, did she offer any advice for you?"
Not at the time, but he was willing to bet she had a few choice suggestions for him after that kiss. A few of them might even have something to do with the kids.
"I'm sure she's working up to that," he murmured. "I imagine before she goes back to California, I'll have an earful of advice. The woman's not exactly shy about expressing her opinions."
He wanted her gone, he told himself.
So why did his chest feel hollow just at the thought of it?
* * *
How could she ever face him again?
The sun hadn't yet managed its rigorous daily climb above the Tetons but Caroline was already dressed. She wasn't quite ready for the day, though, as she curled up in the window seat of her bedroom, a blanket across her knees, gazing out at the quiet, dark ranch.
Her eyes burned, gritty and tired, and she wondered if she had managed any sleep at all. Her mind couldn't seem to stop racing around and around that stunning kiss.
It was just a kiss, she reminded herself. Nothing to get so worked up about.
But that wild conflagration certainly seemed on a completely different level from your regular, everyday kiss. One moment they had been arguing about the children, the next they'd been tangled together, wild and hungry. If Seth hadn't wandered into the kitchen, she could only imagine how far they might have taken things.
Unless Wade was a better actor than she, both of them had been lost to the world, to propriety, to the sheer insanity of the sudden shocking heat between them.
Where had it come from? What strange command did he have over her? She had scarcely recognized herself in that needy, hungry creature in his arms the night before.
She was thirty years old, far from a giddy teenager, and though her love life wasn't exactly the stuff of legend, she'd enjoyed a few relationships she considered serious.
Each of them had been pleasant in its own way. Yes, that was exactly the word. Pleasant. Calm, comfortable, easy.
The heat she and Wade generated had been something else entirely, something completely out of her experience.
It had been raw and fierce and wild, almost frightening in its intensity. She had never had any idea she could burn like that and she wasn't sure she liked it.
Perhaps because of her chaotic childhood, she preferred the comfort of order and calm in her relationships. What she'd experienced in Wade's arms the night before had been anything but ordered and calm.
She supposed her reaction disturbed her most because she didn't understand it. Wade was so different from the usual sort of man she dated. He was powerful, forceful, the kind of man who seemed to consume all the oxygen molecules in every room he entered. Despite that, there was also a deep loneliness about him that drew her like a magnet.
She was a sucker for anyone in need, always had been. She wanted to comfort and heal, to hold him close and absorb his pain.
What must he think of her for responding so passionately to him? She cringed just thinking about it.
He already seemed to think she had ulterior motives for coming to the ranch, that she and Quinn were part of some complex scheme to drain the Cold Creek coffers. What if he thought her response to him was another indication that she had somehow set her sights on him as part of their twisted plans?
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Yes, she was
attracted to him. But that heated kiss in the kitchen was the only thing they could ever share, even if Wade was interested in more. She had coached enough people struggling through bad relationships to know that one based only on attraction would never survive. And though she'd only known the man a few days, what she had seen didn't lead her to believe he was a good fit for her, relationship-wise.
She could never let herself care for a man who ranked his own children so low on his priority list. She had lived through it herself and knew the pain firsthand.
So how did she make it through the next few days? she wondered as she yawned and stood up. She couldn't avoid the man—it was his house, after all. In a few moments, she would probably see him over breakfast, when she would have to smile and be polite and pretend nonchalance about their scalding embrace.
Though she wanted just the opposite for his children, for her own sake, she had to hope he would be even more busy the next few days as the television interview approached. With any luck, he would be too distracted by that to pay much attention to her.
And while he was busy ignoring her, she would work on shaking free of her unwanted attraction toward the man.
How hard could it be?
* * *
Her resolve to keep her distance lasted all of an hour—and then she saw him again.
She had to admit, she had been relieved not to find him in the kitchen when she finally made her way there, though Seth showed up a few moments after she started frying bacon and mixing pancake batter. She assumed Wade had already left for the morning, as someone had made a fresh pot of coffee on the coffeemaker and left a dirty cup in the sink.
The most she had to contend with before the children came down was Seth's flirtation, though it seemed more mechanical than sincere. She didn't know the youngest Dalton brother well but this was the first time she'd seen him so pensive.
The compliments he gave her were almost benign, with none of his flowery prose. He also didn't make any cracks about the scene he had to know he'd interrupted the night before.
She almost asked if he was feeling well but decided that would seem presumptuous.
The children woke soon after Seth had left with a subdued thank you for breakfast. After that, she didn't have time to worry about either Dalton brother, she was too busy taking care of the next generation.
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