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

  “Thanks, anyway.” Mary Beth shook her head. A warm September breeze caught a strand of her hair, and she brushed it from her face. “If that’s all—”

  Her brusque tone sent Deke a distinct message—she didn’t want him hanging around. He was downright offended and actually considered leaving. But since Clyde wasn’t there, Deke had a niggling doubt about her assurance that she could get the cattle rounded up. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, she needed his help. Despite the fact that she wanted to be rid of him, he couldn’t leave her in a jam. Hell, the neighborly thing to do would be to lend her a hand.

  “Look,” he began calmly, “I can help you round up the strays. We can have it done in no time, then I’ll leave you alone.”

  Mary Beth lifted her chin. “I don’t need your help.” Feeling light-headed, she put her hand to her forehead, which was damp from sweat. Either the sun was getting to her, or her injury was worse than she’d thought. If she didn’t do something soon for the pain and swelling in her ankle, she was going to faint right in front of him!

  Deke looked skyward and frowned at the churn of black clouds. “Looks like a storm’s brewing. With both of us working, we can probably beat the rain.” His gaze turned to Mary Beth again. A familiar longing that he’d thought he’d overcome stirred in his chest. After making love with her, he’d lain there stunned…and wanting more. But what she’d made him feel, what she’d made him long for, went way past physical need. If he wasn’t careful, a relationship with a woman like her could lead to more, much more than he had to give.

  Apparently he’d been right, if she could affect him so easily after all this time.

  “I wouldn’t want to keep you from something important,” she said with as much aloofness as she could muster. “Aren’t you suppose to be at a rodeo or something?” Because she couldn’t stand on one leg much longer, she put her foot down. A stinging sensation stole her breath, but she remained still, determined not to give him a reason to stay.

  Noting a trace of disdain in her voice, Deke’s lips thinned. “I’ve been home on a short break.” Did she dislike rodeo cowboys in general or him in particular? Before she could conceal it, he caught the look of anguish that flashed through her eyes. He quickly swung his leg over his horse and dismounted, annoyed that he hadn’t realized she was injured. In an instant he was by her side. “What’d you do? Hurt yourself?” Frowning, he knelt on one knee and touched her leg.

  “Get your hands off me!” she blurted, then shoved his shoulder hard.

  Already down on his haunches, Deke braced his hand on the ground, barely stopping himself from falling on his backside. He shot her a hard look. “Calm down,” he commanded. Using his other hand, he clasped her thigh just above her knee. “I’m just gonna check your foot.”

  “My foot is fine.” She wasn’t lying. It was her ankle that was killing her. But Deke didn’t have to know that.

  He ignored her. As long as he’d known her, Mary Beth had never wanted to accept a helping hand. She was unlike her father in that way. Hank Adams, in Deke’s opinion, had always been looking for the easy way in life, while Mary Beth had diligently taken care of her sick mother, as well as the cooking, cleaning and whatever else it took to make her mother’s life easier. He couldn’t help thinking that Mary Beth was going to spend her life trying to live down her father’s irresponsible reputation.

  Turning his attention to her injury, Deke carefully lifted her leg and propped it on his thigh. To maintain her balance, Mary Beth touched the tips of her fingers to his shoulder. His gut tightened from the contact, and he tried not to notice her light scent. As he gingerly worked off her boot, Deke remembered the last time he’d undressed her.

  That evening he’d only meant to console her. It seemed as if she’d been holding herself in check all day. Finally, alone with him, everything crashed in on her. She’d crumbled against him and confided that with her father’s death, she’d felt all alone. And she’d missed her mother, who had died only a year before.

  Deke had held her and whispered words of comfort. When she’d looked at him, her eyes filled with tears, he’d kissed them away, soothing her sorrow. Mary Beth had burrowed closer, pressing herself to him, and Deke had given in to a need to taste her. Their kisses had quickly ignited a fire between them that soon raged out of control. Not wanting to take advantage of her momentary weakness, he’d tried to hold back. But she’d pulled him to her and whispered that she’d needed him.

  Caught in a delicate moment between compassion and desire, he’d made love to her.

  A mistake.

  No.

  A big mistake.

  He’d made a quick retreat, leaving before she could get under his skin. Or so he’d thought. Later, alone in his room, he’d discovered he hadn’t left quick enough. Being with Mary Beth that night had touched something deep inside him. Shamefully, he hadn’t called her because she’d have wanted promises—promises he wouldn’t have been able to give.

  Then or now.

  “Stay still,” he ordered brusquely, annoyed that he’d let his thoughts drift into forbidden territory. Again. He had to get out of there before he went crazy with wanting her. But he couldn’t leave her injured. He’d hang around long enough to see that she was okay. Then he’d be out like a shot—away from her. Because with her this close, she was a threat to him, to everything he’d been working for on the rodeo circuit.

  He couldn’t stay. And he sure as hell didn’t want to hurt her again.

  “I can’t, with you holding on to my leg.” She tried not to fall on her butt. She didn’t like being this close to him, didn’t want to feel his heat. Touching him provoked memories she’d tried to forget. However, she was no longer the innocent girl she’d been two years ago. Back then she’d been so unbelievably needy, wanting him to see her as a woman. Of course, he probably hadn’t even thought about her since that night.

  Sensitive to his touch, she felt as if the warmth of his hands scored her skin as he pulled off her sock and exposed her swollen ankle. Mary Beth’s breath caught, but it wasn’t from pain. She remembered how it had felt when he’d used those same hands to intimately caress her body.

  Don’t do this! Don’t let him near your heart again!

  When she looked at him, she wondered if she’d spoken aloud. Deke’s blue eyes were studying her in a way that made her feel naked. The fist in her chest squeezed a little tighter, making it difficult to breathe. Then she realized that he was speaking to her.

  “Sweetheart, how bad does it hurt?” he asked again, looking away to examine the injury more closely.

  “Only a little,” she answered, but her teeth clenched as he gently rotated her ankle, checking to see if she’d broken a bone.

  His gaze sliced back to her, and he arched a brow. “Liar.”

  Damn. Mary Beth felt her cheeks burn. Lord, she hated the way she turned all red when embarrassed or angry. “If you’ll just let me go, I’ll be fine. All I have to do is put my boot back on, and I’ll—”

  “The only thing you’re gonna do is put some ice on this,” Deke told her firmly.

  Mary Beth bristled. His advice sounded more like an order. She jerked her foot from his hold on it, cursing in agony under her breath. The last thing she wanted was advice from the man who had trampled her heart. “Look, I don’t need you to tell me what to do.”

  Deke stood and planted his hands on his hips. “Obviously, you need someone to, if you think you’re gonna be able to put your boot back on.”

  At six foot, he was only about four inches taller than her, but the determination on his face and his effect on her senses made his presence seem overwhelming. Mary Beth braced herself as best she could and took a cautious step away, then clamped her lips together to bear a sharp, stabbing sensation in her leg. “I have things to do. I can’t sit around and nurse a little bruise.” Even as she said the words, her face contorted.

  He gave her a dark glare. “Let Clyde do them when he gets back.” Deke reached down
and retrieved her sock and boot, but instead of handing them back to her, he held on to them.

  Mary Beth’s heartbeat quickened. She didn’t want to admit that Clyde had left for good. Why couldn’t Deke have gone when she’d first asked him? Until now, she’d been able to handle things at the ranch—barely. Now he’d walked in to mess with her heart. Well, she wasn’t going to take it. As far as she was concerned, he could just mount up and ride off.

  Except, as much as she wanted to tell him to get lost, she really had little choice but to admit that Clyde had quit. The whole town of Crockett would soon find out that the no-account jerk had left. When Deke heard about it, he’d come back madder than a raging bull because she hadn’t told him.

  Taking a deep breath, she admitted, “I can’t.”

  “Why not?” Deke glanced up the road as if he would see a cloud of dust from Clyde’s car, then he looked back at her. “How long will he be gone?”

  “Forever,” she grated. “He quit.”

  “Just now?”

  She gave a slight nod. “He took a job near Dallas.”

  “Ah, so that’s why you were throwing a tantrum,” Deke concluded, a hint of a smile playing on his lips.

  “Oh, give me my boot,” she practically snarled, trying to snatch it from him. His easy grin made her heart trip over itself. She’d known Deke for many years, had seen his effect on females of all ages. He had the power to charm a raw steak from a starving dog. She stiffened her spine, refusing to be such an easy target again.

  Deke held her boot captive, just out of her reach. “Knock it off, Red.”

  Mary Beth’s eyes blazed. “Stop calling me that!”

  “What? Red?” he asked, his tone mystified. “Hell, sweetheart, you’ve been known by that nickname for as long as I can remember.”

  “I don’t like it. I never have. I go by Mary Beth!” she snapped. Maybe she sounded petulant, but at this moment she damn well didn’t care. She’d been teased about her hair since she’d entered elementary school because it had been the color of a raging fire. Some of the kids had taunted her mercilessly when she’d revealed her dislike of that awful nickname. When she’d moved to San Antonio, she’d used Mary Beth as her name. She sure didn’t want Deke calling her Red, especially since her hair had turned to a rich shade of cinnamon.

  “Well, I’ll sure try to remember that, Mary Beth,” Deke replied, emphasizing her name. He frowned. It seemed that he couldn’t say anything right. He hadn’t seen much of her in the past two years, and the times he had, she’d avoided him. Damn, she hadn’t even spoken to him.

  But in all fairness to her, he couldn’t have stayed with her and been the man she needed. Like her he’d lost his father. Though it had been years ago, Deke still carried the weight of the last words he’d spoken to him.

  “I hate you.”

  Poorly chosen words by a boy, haunting words for the man he’d become. Words he could never take back. He’d learned his lesson the hard way, learned not to say something he didn’t mean.

  And that’s why he hadn’t called Mary Beth after they’d made love. He hadn’t wanted to give her false hope, dreams he couldn’t fulfill. And in his effort to be altruistic, he’d hurt her.

  Shaking off the bad memories, Deke turned his attention back to her ankle, now swollen even more and turning pink. “Look, you’ve got to treat that right now, or you’re not going to be walking on it for at least a week.”

  “Well, thank you, Dr. McCall, for your advice.”

  Her icy reply made Deke flinch. He stared at her, half expecting to see frostbite forming on her lips. Instead they were as full and tempting as the last time he’d kissed them. He could still remember her taste. “I’m serious,” he grated, trying to direct his mind back to her injury and away from his smoldering lust.

  “I don’t have time to argue with you. I’ve got cattle to round up,” she reminded him. Mary Beth tried to nab her boot from him, but he quickly held it out of her reach.

  A muscle worked along his jaw. “They’re not going far.”

  “That isn’t the point. They’re certainly not going to come home if I whistle for them, now are they?”

  “You’ve got a smart mouth,” Deke growled, and his gaze slid to her lips. He couldn’t stop himself from thinking of how it would feel to kiss them again.

  Whoa, don’t go there. That kind of thinking is what got you into bed with Mary Beth the last time.

  She tried to grab her boot again. “Give it here!”

  “If you keep that up, I’m gonna think you don’t want me here.”

  “Now that you mention it—”

  “Careful, sweetheart, or you’re going to hurt my feelings,” he drawled.

  “As if I could,” Mary Beth muttered. She glowered at him. “Are you through now? I’ve got work to do.”

  “It can wait. Come on, I’ll get you into the house, and we’ll put some ice on your ankle.”

  “Deke—”

  “Dammit, Mary Beth—” Deke stopped talking and swept her up in his arms, dropping her boot and sock in the process. He hadn’t remembered her being so stubborn!

  “Deke McCall, put me down this minute!” Her demand was met with a silencing stare. She kicked her legs and pushed at his chest with her hand. “I can walk!”

  He shook his head. “Not without causing more damage to your ankle. And stop fighting me, or I’m gonna drop you.” To add credibility to his warning, he allowed her to slip a little in his arms. She squealed, then her arms flew around his neck and she held on tight. Deke felt the brush of one breast against his chest, and a burning sensation ignited in his gut.

  Damn! Just how long could it take him to walk to her house?

  He covered the distance to her door in deliberate, long strides, then took the three steps to the small porch as one, tightening his arms around her to keep from dropping her as he opened the door. Despite the air-conditioning cooling his skin as he walked inside, his body felt as if it was in flames. Grimacing, he shoved the door closed with his shoulder.

  Memories assailed him as his eyes adjusted to the dim light inside the house. He looked at Mary Beth, and he knew she was thinking the same thing.

  The last time he’d been here, they’d made love.

  Hell.

  He was in trouble.

  Two

  A s Deke strode through the foyer, he tried to force thoughts of Mary Beth naked and writhing beneath him from his mind.

  It didn’t work.

  Sweat beaded his brow. Knowing he wasn’t the right man for her, that he could never be the man she needed, should have been enough to make him keep his hands off her.

  But he hadn’t. He’d made love to her, and like the bastard he was, he’d walked away.

  Hell. All he was good at was hurting people. Mary Beth didn’t need anyone to hurt her. She needed someone she could count on, not a footloose cowboy whose only goal in life was to win the National Finals Rodeo bull-riding championship.

  He could have gone to see her later, or at least called her. He could have apologized. But he hadn’t. Figuring Mary Beth was the kind of woman who was looking for marriage and happily-ever-after, he’d decided the best thing to do was to make a clean break.

  If you’d gone to see her, you might not have been able to walk away. And that’s what had scared him the most. He couldn’t have stayed and given her what she needed. He’d had his own agenda. He had to win the championship.

  For his father.

  Jacob McCall had gone to his grave thinking that his son hated him, and Deke had lived every single day knowing how much he’d let his father down, knowing it was too late to tell his father how very sorry he was. It gnawed at his gut, tearing him up inside. He’d learned his lesson the hard way, and he would never make that mistake again.

  Deke had only himself to blame. At fifteen, he’d had it all figured out. He’d had plans with Becky Parsons to go to the lake, where they were going to finally get past the heavy petting they’d been en
joying and get down to some hot-and-heavy sex. Deke was anxious to lose his virginity, and Becky had been more than willing to let him take hers.

  But earlier that day his father had grounded him because he’d been ignoring his chores, and his grades had begun to slip. Usually, Deke had been able to cajole his father into giving him another chance, but this time his dad hadn’t budged. Deke had been furious. All he could think about was meeting Becky. So he’d sneaked out. When Jacob McCall had discovered his son missing, he’d come after him and hauled him home. Angry and embarrassed, Deke had said some terrible things to his father.

  “I hate you.”

  The next day, Deke had held on to his anger when his parents were leaving on a trip. He’d hugged his mother goodbye, but had refused to speak to his father. His parents had been killed later that day when the plane his father was piloting developed engine trouble and crashed. Deke had never had the opportunity to make amends. He’d never had the chance to take those hateful words back—to tell his father that he didn’t mean them, that he loved him.

  After the funeral, standing over his father’s grave, he’d promised to make it up to him. Together they’d shared an interest in the rodeo, and his father had indulged Deke’s desire to participate. Now all Deke wanted was to win the championship bull-riding event for his father.

  Currently, he was the front-runner, and he wasn’t going to let anything or anyone, including Mary Beth, get in the way of that goal. He’d made a lot of mistakes in his life, but this time he was going to do the right thing.

  “Okay, we’re inside now so put me down!” Mary Beth demanded, interrupting his thoughts.

  “In a minute.” Deke continued down the hallway until he came to the kitchen. He used his boot to drag a wooden chair from under the table, then with great care he deposited Mary Beth on it. Her hands slid down his chest as she eased her arms from around his neck.

  Damn! It was a mistake to be here with her. He straightened and looked down at her, his heart beating hard and fast. Mary Beth started to get up, but he put his hand firmly on her shoulder, effectively keeping her in place.