Best of Cowboys Bundle

by Vicki Lewis Thompson, Barbara White Daille, Judy Christenberry, Christine Wenger, Shirley Rogers, Crystal Green, Nina Bruhns, Candance Schuler, Carole Mortimer

  After that it had been quite the night. Picking out boots for Merry and then the conversation with Dan. He owed Dan about twenty grand, and he’d had every intention of paying him back a long time ago, but he hadn’t counted on the low beef prices, the barn needing repairs and trying to keep the John Deere alive in addition to all the usual expenses: fence and feed, a payroll to make, tuition due and now Karen’s operation, most of which wasn’t covered by their crummy, very expensive, insurance.

  Buck clamped his hands together when he remembered his conversation with Dan. He knew what he had to do in order to pay off his debt to the man, and he couldn’t put it off any longer.

  He had to sell the motorcycle that Gramps had given him for his high school graduation.

  And he had to make more furniture or else sell some pieces from the house that he’d made for his parents. Remembering how much they both had loved his work, he didn’t want to do that, but Karen’s surgery and Merry’s arrival didn’t allow him the time to make much progress on his inventory.

  If he believed half of what his old army pal, Jack Brooks, had to say, he’d be able to save the ranch with his work. Jack had planned a gala show and sale of Buck’s work at his Scottsdale gallery, and was a well-known and respected artist in his own right. People came from all over to visit him.

  “With the kind of furniture you make, you’ll make a killing,” Jack guaranteed. “I’m going to have a big pre-sale party for my special customers and do a lot of advertising. You’d better be prepared for extra orders, too.”

  Buck always thought that when he needed money, he’d get it rodeoing, but he couldn’t leave Cait to work the circuit. It was bad enough that her mother had left them to become a country singer. Buck didn’t want to be away from home that long.

  Scottsdale, Arizona—where the rich and famous lived and retired. He sure hoped they liked his furniture as much as Jack thought they would.

  Merry was rich and famous, too. He had never actually realized how famous she was, but until he saw the line of fans form at the Mexican restaurant it hadn’t sunk in.

  Merry had been upset when their picture was taken. Unlike his ex-wife, Debbie, who’d always loved being in front of a camera. Debbie Dalton was everywhere: magazine covers, CD covers, posters. A few weeks ago, she’d even had her own special on Country Music Television, which he’d watched in the privacy of the barn with a six-pack and a bag of tortilla chips for company.

  He didn’t feel anything for Debbie anymore. But he couldn’t regret marrying her, either. After all, she’d given him Caitlin.

  They’d rarely made love after Cait was born. Debbie was afraid of getting pregnant again and not being able to get into her size zero jeans.

  He raked his fingers through his hair. What was Cait thinking? Was she still hoping that Debbie would come back and be a mother to her? What horrible thing had he done that his little girl wouldn’t talk to anyone? Why did she recoil every time he came near her?

  He knew Cait was familiar with Merry from watching her on TV, but still there was something more about her that Cait had warmed to.

  He heard Merry’s laughter down the hall and smiled. “Meredith Something Turner,” he mumbled. Her kisses melted his hat, charred his boots and fired up everything in between.

  City gal and cowboy.

  Successful businesswoman and bankrupt rancher.

  Been there. Done that. Never again.

  How could he trust another woman with his heart? How could he even consider getting involved with another woman who had drive, ambition and goals beyond anything that he could imagine?

  Fame had already stolen one love from him and his child. There was no way he wanted to put Cait—or himself—into the same situation.

  “A penny for your thoughts,” Merry said, startling him.

  Buck jumped and looked up. “They’re not worth that much. I guess I was just daydreaming. How’s my sister?”

  He made a move to get up, but she put a hand on his arm to stop him. He felt the heat spread through him as if it were high noon in the desert. Even that little gesture had his body betraying him in spite of what he’d just been thinking—that he needed to stay clear of Meredith Turner.

  “Karen’s sleeping now. I guess we tired her out, huh, Cait?”

  Cait showed no reaction, and Buck swallowed his disappointment. He still hoped for a miracle.

  “But Karen loved the napkins hats. Didn’t she, Caitie?”

  Caitie? He was the only one who called his daughter that.

  Cait looked up at Merry and nodded.

  “That’s nice, sweetheart,” Buck said. “And it’s good your aunt Karen is sleeping. She needs her rest. Did she tell you that she’s coming home on Friday?”

  He started toward the elevators, and Merry and Cait walked along with him. He could almost imagine for a second that they were a family.

  A notebook appeared in Merry’s hand as it always did, and she began writing as she walked. “Yes, she did, and I have a million things to do before she gets home.”

  Merry scribbled on the pad. “The painters have to wrap up, and her room has to be cleaned and the furniture has to be moved back in place. Curtains need to be washed and hung. I need to buy some groceries for her special diet.” She jotted something down after each sentence. “I’ll make a meal plan.”

  “You can’t do this all yourself.” Buck stopped and looked down at her.

  “I certainly can, but I won’t. Cait will help me,” Merry said, looking down at his daughter. Nonchalantly, she handed Cait her notebook. Cait took it and held it as if she had a newborn baby in her arms. Buck noted that for once, Cait had left Princess, her stuffed cat, in the truck.

  Merry gave him a wink and slipped her pen behind an ear. “Well, maybe we can’t move that heavy furniture by ourselves.”

  “Me and the boys will help. It’ll be done in no time. And you can make a list of things you need from the store. Cookie can go. He loves to go grocery shopping, and he’d do anything for you,” Buck said, hitting the down arrow by the elevator. “So add that to your list—help will be provided. You and Cait can be trail bosses, and we’ll do whatever you say.”

  He held out his hand to her. “Deal?”

  Merry’s hand glided into his, and they shook on it. He felt a tingling in his gut, and didn’t want to let go of her hand.

  She turned to Cait. “We’re going to enjoy bossing your father around, won’t we?”

  Merry looked up at him and he noticed a little glint in her eyes—she was flirting with him. He liked that. And he thought it was nice of her to always include Cait in the conversation whenever she could.

  Merry furiously wrote in her notebook on the drive back from the hospital to the ranch. Every now and then, she’d pause to ask him a question and then she’d write some more.

  He liked how she concentrated on a task. No doubt the house would be perfect after Merry was done, but at least he didn’t have to worry anymore that she was going to change things. That was a big relief.

  He parked his pickup by the side of the barn, and they got out. “I’m going to check on the horses. Would you like to join me, Merry?”

  The question seemed to take her by surprise. “I’d like that.”

  “Cait, do you want to come, too?”

  Cait was already up the steps of the porch and looking at a note taped to the door.

  Buck took the steps two at a time and read it aloud. “Cait, your room is ready. Me and the boys moved your stuff back in. Sweet dreams. And happy early birthday. Uncle Ty.”

  With that, Cait opened the door and went into the house.

  The two of them stood on the porch and he could tell by the look on Merry’s face that she was feeling sorry for him again. Damn, he didn’t want that.

  He shrugged. “So, her birthday present won out over the horses. If I were her age, I’d be curious, too.”

  “Aren’t you going to come and see?” Merry asked.

  He looked in the
direction of the barn and shook his head. “You go ahead.”

  “I’ll only be a minute, Buck,” Merry said. “If Cait doesn’t want to come to the barn, I’ll help her get ready for bed and stay in the house and watch her. Okay?”

  The disappointment settling inside of him burned like campfire coffee. He didn’t want to let her go. He could see to the horses and then join her inside, but he didn’t want that. He wanted—and needed—to work on his furniture in the barn, and wanted her company while he did it.

  He took Merry’s hands. “Thanks, but that’s not necessary. There’s a monitor on Cait’s wall. Just turn it on. We’ll be able to hear her in the barn.”

  She stared down at their connected hands, then looked up. She smiled and let out a nervous breath.

  She was nervous? Around him?

  She nodded and went into the house.

  Buck almost ran to the barn. If he hurried with his chores, he could spend more time alone with Merry. But his gait slowed when he remembered a time when Cait would never leave his side, when she would join him at the stalls and talk to the horses in her sweet, singsong voice as she’d pet each one.

  Maybe someday his daughter would come back to him.

  He heard the intercom click on, and the noise of a car commercial filled the barn. Ty must have given Cait the TV set he’d bought her. He never could wait until her birthday, which wasn’t for another month.

  Buck could hear Merry talking to Cait, admiring her new present.

  Buck filled Bandit’s bucket with water, hooked it to the corner of his stall, and absentmindedly reached over to give the big black stallion a pat. He did the same to the other eight horses in the barn.

  Just as he finished, he spotted Merry. He’d never even heard her come in.

  His boots rooted to the floor as he took her hand, his heart pounding in his chest as if he’d just ridden a bucking bull for eight seconds.

  He raised her hand to his lips. He had never done that kind of thing in his life, but he couldn’t resist. It felt right. Damn right.

  As he gazed down into her emerald eyes, he saw that she was blinking back tears.

  “Merry? Did I do something wrong?”

  “No.” Her voice was a whisper. “You did everything just right, but what’s happening between us?”

  He squeezed her hand. “I think you know.”

  “What happens next?” she asked.

  “I think you know that, too.” His heart started to thump in his chest. He told himself that it’d only be sex, and soon they’d part ways. No strings attached.

  “Cait’s ready for you to tuck her in.”

  Well, damned if that didn’t throw cold water on his thoughts.

  “That was always Karen’s job.” He shook his head. “Believe me, Cait doesn’t want me around.”

  “That shouldn’t stop you.” Her green eyes were concerned, sad.

  “It has.”

  “It hurts you when she turns away from you, doesn’t it?”

  “Yeah.”

  She took his hand in hers. “Come anyway, Buck.”

  His mouth went dry. “You don’t…uh…” What kind of a father was he to avoid his own daughter? What kind of a man was he?

  She was feeling sorry for him again. That wasn’t what this was all about.

  “Merry, it’s like hitting your head against a brick wall. It feels good when you stop.”

  “Don’t give up on her. She needs you more than ever.”

  “It’s been almost two years. Two long years.”

  “But you’ve seen some reaction from her lately.” She squeezed his hand. When tears pooled in her eyes, it made him crazy.

  “Ah, don’t do that.”

  “She reminds me…of me… when I was her age,” Merry said. “She needs you. She’s lonely. If her mother isn’t around, then you need to compensate for that.”

  “I’ve tried. Dammit, I’ve tried.” His voice was hoarse and low, and he could hear his own frustration.

  “Don’t give up now, Buck. Keep trying.”

  She put a hand on his cheek, and she smiled up at him. He was falling for this woman, and falling hard. He couldn’t be that stupid.

  “You’re right. Come on,” he said. “Let’s go tuck my daughter into bed.”

  As he thought, Caitlin had her new Mickey Mouse TV set on. Cait was sitting on the edge of her bed, not moving, mesmerized by what she was watching.

  “Oh…Debbie Dalton,” Merry said. “I have her CD. She’s marvelous.”

  Then she heard the sound of Cait’s gentle sobbing.

  “She’s Cait’s mother.” Buck walked over and shut the TV off. Then he sat down next to Cait on the bed and put an arm around her.

  This time she didn’t pull away. Instead, she started to cry. Buck pulled her onto his lap and rocked her back and forth.

  The scene broke Merry’s heart.

  Debbie Dalton was Buck’s ex-wife? Karen had never told her that, for heaven’s sake.

  It was all making some kind of sense. Karen had wanted to tell her something at the hospital, but Caitlin had been there on both occasions.

  She watched as Buck hugged Cait, watched his little girl cling to him. She sobbed quietly as he smoothed her hair.

  “Let it out, honey. Let it out,” he said gently, rocking her slowly.

  Merry said a silent prayer for both of them, and left the room so father and daughter could be alone.

  Merry tried to sleep, she was exhausted, but what she’d just witnessed kept rolling around in her mind.

  She thought she’d imagined the knock on the door.

  “Merry? Can I come in?”

  The thick door creaked open, and Buck stood silhouetted in the hallway light.

  She could hear the need in his voice, the pain, the hope. She knew that if she let him in they’d make love. She should tell him to leave, but she couldn’t form the words.

  “Come in.”

  “You know what I want, Merry. You should probably tell me to leave. Just say the words.”

  “I—I can’t.”

  The door clicked behind him. “I need you, Merry. I want you.”

  She threw back the bed linens, got out and walked toward him. She put her hands in his. “What about Cait?”

  “She’s sleeping.”

  She placed a hand on his cheek, and her fingertips felt some wetness at the corner of his eye.

  “Cait always freezes when she sees her mother on TV or hears her on the radio, but this time was different.” He squeezed Merry’s hands. “She cried and she let me hold her. Cait finally cried.” His voice was shaky and low. “Her psychiatrists said that might happen. It means that she’s had a breakthrough.”

  Merry nodded. “That’s fabulous, Buck. Fabulous.”

  He pulled her into a tight embrace. “I can’t help thinking you had something to do with that.”

  Her heart did a little flip. She’d like to believe that she had something to do with Cait’s breakthrough, but she didn’t see how. She ran her palms along his strong biceps, wanting to touch him. “I didn’t do anything, Buck.”

  “Sure you did. Cait knows you care for her—maybe even love her. Right from the beginning she connected with you. I could see it.”

  “I do love her. She’s a wonderful little girl.” Merry could smell the sweet scent of hay on him. “Like I said, she’s a lot like me when I was her age.”

  Buck pulled back and looked at Merry, his finger tracing her lips. Slowly he lowered his head, giving her time to back out. But this was what she’d wanted—what she’d been dreaming of.

  His kiss was tentative at first, and then deepened. His tongue traced her lips and she sighed, wanting more.

  She could feel every nerve of his body pulsing with desire. He moved his fingertips over her breasts, and then cupped them in his hands.

  She didn’t protest. Instead her head leaned back, giving him access to her neck. That was all the invitation he needed.

  As he noticed her s
uitcases in the corner, a million things bounced around his brain. The suitcases reminded him that she’d be leaving soon.

  The warning signal in his head told him that she was a bigger celebrity than Debbie ever dreamed of being. They had no future together. She wouldn’t stay.

  Right now, he didn’t care. He wanted her.

  She looked at the tree bed, then back at him. “I’ve dreamed of making love with you in this bed.”

  Music to his ears. “I was dreaming the same dream.”

  She played with the top button of her nightshirt. “Oh?”

  “Since the first day you arrived.”

  “I don’t think so.” She chuckled. “You just about told me to go home.”

  “Maybe…but I still wanted to kiss you.” He kissed her forehead.

  He made short work of the three buttons. Then he took the hem of her nightgown and pulled it over her head, letting it drop to the floor.

  His fingers circled her nipples, and they puckered in response. Soon, his mouth took over where his fingers had been, his tongue making circles, his teeth tugging until her knees had trouble locking in place.

  He lifted her off her feet and moved them both to the bed. As he lay down beside her, he continued his delicious assault on her breasts, down her stomach.

  “Buck…that feels so good…so very good. But I want to see you, feel you.”

  The words were just a whisper. Urgently, her hands pulled at the snaps of his shirt.

  With one yank, she got rid of the blasted snaps. He chuckled, reveling in the fact that she wanted him as much as he wanted her. He shrugged out of the damn shirt and pulled her toward him, skin to skin, heat to heat.

  He couldn’t get enough of her lips, her mouth. He loved the feel of her breasts against his chest. He wanted to touch every inch of her with his mouth, to trail kisses on her perfumed skin. Wanted to find out what would make her cry out in pleasure, wanted to feel her touching him…everywhere.

  He lifted her up without breaking the kiss, and her legs locked around him. He felt himself getting harder yet as he pressed against her core.

  “Take off your underwear,” he whispered in her ear.

  “You first, cowboy.”

  He got up from the bed and yanked off his boots. The rest of his clothes soon followed.