He grinned, obviously pleased. And then he was touching her, his hands patient and gentle as he taught her that there was far more to intimacy than the act itself, that true love between a man and a woman was far more than the joining of passion-heated flesh. It was a uniting of hearts and souls and spirits, a coming together that was stronger than yearning, more enduring than desire.
She felt a soul-deep sense of rightness as their bodies merged and became one. She cried his name, her heart overflowing with wonder and delight as he took her to heights and depths she had never known existed. His clever hands aroused her until she writhed beneath him, yearning, reaching for something that remained just out of her reach until, at last, he carried her over the edge, and the world as she knew it shattered and became something new, something bright and more beautiful than anything she had ever imagined. She was floating on air, riding on a warm sea of sensual pleasure that crested and broke and crested again.
Breathless, unable to express what she was feeling in words, she held him close, her heart swelling with love and gratitude for this man, this moment.
She had never really believed in happy-ever-after, but now, curled in Chay’s warm embrace, the ending she had once dreamed of became a reality.
Epilogue
A shley shook her head when she entered the living room and found Dana and Chay sitting on the sofa, kissing. “Hello. Hello!”
Chay looked at her over the top of Dana’s head. “Hello yourself.”
“Do you two ever do anything but kiss?”
Chay glanced pointedly at the cradle beside the sofa where his seven-month-old daughter slept. “We make beautiful babies.”
Ashley rolled her eyes. “That’s what comes from all that kissing. Honestly, you’d think you two were still newlyweds.”
Dana smiled. Though she and Chay had been married almost two years, she still felt like a new bride. Her pulse still raced when Chay entered the room. Her heart still swelled with love whenever she saw his smile or heard his voice. Each night in his arms was as wonderful and as exciting as the first time.
She loved being Chay’s wife. She loved being a mother. She loved living on the ranch.
And she loved having Ashley and the girls underfoot for the summer. LuAnn, Megan and Brittany had arrived the week before and the house seemed to be in a constant state of activity, the air perpetually filled with the sound of feminine giggles and whispers. The girls all adored the baby and fought over whose turn it was to hold her. One good thing about a houseful of teenagers was that there was always a baby-sitter handy when she needed one. Dana had thought Ashley would want to spend her summers with her mother but Ashley didn’t want to be away from the ranch that long. Instead, she went to see Jillian during Easter vacation and for a week at Christmas.
“I hate to bother you,” Ashley said, “I just came to remind you that we’re going to town with Brandon and some friends.”
“Right,” Chay said. “Don’t be too late.”
“Have a good time,” Dana said. It was hard to believe that Ashley was almost eighteen, or that she was still seeing Brandon. Ashley dated other young men and Brandon dated other girls, but Dana had a feeling that the two of them were meant to be together. It would, she thought, be a good match.
And life was good, Dana mused as her husband kissed her again. So good, and it only promised to get better.
“Well, don’t let me disturb you,” Ashley said. “I’m sure Debra Ann would love to have a little brother.”
Chay looked down at his wife and smiled. “Sounds like a good idea to me. What do you think?”
“I like it,” she said, winking at him. “Let’s talk about it later.”
Chay nodded. “It’s a date.”
And later that night, they went upstairs to their room and locked the door.
So they could talk.
Cowboy Boss
Kathie DeNosky
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Epilogue
One
C ooper Adams had stared death square in the face and lived to tell about it. But his recovery from a run-in with the meanest, nastiest rodeo bull the good Lord ever blessed with the breath of life, couldn’t compare with the uphill battle he faced now.
He turned to glare at the old man standing next to him. “Whiskers, what on God’s green earth ever possessed you to buy this dump? And with my money.”
“Now, Coop, don’t go gettin’ your nose outta joint.” Obviously unperturbed by Cooper’s disgusted tone, Whiskers Penn flashed a toothless grin. “Like I told you on the phone, the Triple Bar might not look like much right now, but it’s got a lotta maybe in it.”
Cooper snorted. “Yeah, maybe the house and barns won’t fall down with the first stiff wind that comes along.”
He stared at the house that had been purchased with his hard-earned money. To say the place had seen better days was an understatement.
Huge strips of peeling paint flapped in the breeze. The windows—what few that weren’t broken—were so coated with dry Texas dust they were opaque. And the back porch roof sagged ominously on one end from a broken support post. But that wasn’t the worst of it. There were so many shingles missing, Cooper had no doubt the place leaked like a sieve when it rained.
He pushed his tan Resistol back off his forehead and planted his hands on his hips as he mentally calculated how much money it would take to make it livable. By the time he hit the five figure mark, he cringed. There went the second truck he’d planned to buy before winter.
Damn! He’d counted on being moved in by the time his brother-in-law, Flint McCray, got back from taking Cooper’s sister Jenna and their boys to Disneyworld. That was only a week away and Cooper still had the pastures to fence before Flint brought the cattle over from the Rocking M.
“Well, I’m gonna mosey on up to Amarillo,” Whiskers said, checking his watch. “I oughtta have just enough time to pick up them fencin’ supplies you wanted.”
Cooper nodded. “While you’re at it, pick up a couple of rolls of heavy plastic.”
The old man chuckled. “You thinkin’ on coverin’ some of them places where the shingles are missin’, are ya?”
“And the windows,” Cooper said, nodding. “The weather report said it’s supposed to start raining and continue through the week. I don’t want the interior damaged any more than it already is before I can get around to making repairs.”
“I coulda told you it was gonna rain without havin’ to listen to a danged old weather report,” Whiskers said, limping toward Cooper’s pickup. “My joints are painin’ me somethin’ fierce and it’s put a real bad hitch in my get-along.”
Cooper watched the bowlegged old cowboy slowly climb into the truck and start the engine. Pulling the truck to a stop beside Cooper, Whiskers grinned. “Looks like you’re about to get some company.”
Turning, Cooper watched a red truck bounce down the narrow road leading to his new home—such as it was. The truck bottomed out in a pothole deep enough to bury a full-grown mule before coming to a stop beside some fence posts holding up some broken boards—the corral. Something else he’d have to fix.
“Probably the authorities coming to condemn this place,” he said, glancing at the old man.
Whiskers gave Cooper an ear-to-ear toothless grin that made the hair on the back of Cooper’s neck tingle. “Don’t shame me, boy. Just be sure you mind your manners, ya hear?”
“Howdy!” A burly looking man of about fifty got out of the red truck and started removing luggage from the back. “Name’s Bubba West. I’m your neighbor to the east.”
“What the hell’s going on here?” Cooper demanded.
<
br /> “Looks to me like somebody’s fixin’ to stay a spell,” Whiskers said, sounding a little too innocent. He cackled as if he found something highly amusing, gunned the engine, then pulled around the red truck before Cooper could stop him.
When the dust settled, Cooper frowned. Had Whiskers finally gone around the bend?
He dismissed that idea immediately. He’d known the old geezer for over five years and, if anything, Whiskers’s mind got sharper with age. No, he definitely had something up his sleeve and wanted to make a fast getaway. Cooper just didn’t know what that something was, or what it had to do with him. He did, however, know that as sure as the sun rose in the east, he wasn’t going to like it when he found out.
Cooper opened his mouth to stop Bubba, but the sight of a young woman exiting the passenger side struck him speechless. He’d been so preoccupied with what Whiskers was up to, Cooper hadn’t noticed there was a second person in the truck. But he sure as hell noticed now. When she turned to say something to Bubba, her long, wavy auburn hair brushed the middle of her back and drew Cooper’s attention to the best-looking backside he’d seen in years. Maybe ever.
Tall and slender, she wasn’t skinny like those pencil-thin models he’d seen in magazines and on television. No, this was a woman with enough curves to drive a man to the brink of insanity. Her hips flared just enough to draw attention to the narrowness of her waist, tight little rear and long blue-jeans clad legs. Shapely as hell legs. The wrap-around-a-man-and-take-him-to-heaven kind of legs.
Cooper gulped hard and shook his head to clear it. He couldn’t hear what she’d said to Bubba, but it was clear the suitcases were hers. Cooper started to protest, but she moved to face him and he couldn’t have formed words if his life depended on it. She wasn’t just attractive. The woman was downright gorgeous.
Her full mouth and sensuous lips curving in a slight smile, made his mouth go dry. But it was her eyes that damn near knocked his size thirteen boots right off his feet. Big, brown eyes stared at him expectantly and made him want to do something stupid like slay a dragon or move a mountain for her.
“See ya ’round, neighbor,” Bubba said with a wave. When had the man stopped pulling bags from the truck and climbed back into the cab?
Brought back to his senses by the growl of the powerful engine turning over, Cooper tried to stop him. “Hey—”
But it was too late. Bubba was already turning the truck around and heading back down the lane, leaving a cloud of Panhandle dust swirling in his wake.
Cooper and the woman stared at each other for several long seconds before he finally managed to make his feet move toward her. “I’m Cooper—”
“I’m Faith—”
They both stopped to stare at each other.
Laughing, Cooper extended his hand. “Let’s try this again. I’m Cooper Adams.”
She smiled and placed her hand in his. “And I’m Faith Broderick.”
As soon as her soft skin came into contact with his callused palm, heat streaked up his arm, then headed straight to the region south of his belt buckle. He quickly released her hand. To his satisfaction, she had trouble meeting his eyes and seemed to take a great interest in the strap of her shoulder bag. He took it as a sign she’d been as shaken by the contact as he’d been.
Feeling a little better just knowing he wasn’t the only one affected, he asked, “What can I do for you, Ms. Broderick?”
She glanced toward the lane leading to the main road. “Was that Mr. Penn I saw leaving in the black truck?”
Her voice was so soft and sexy that Cooper found himself having to swallow several times before he could force words past the cotton coating his mouth and throat. Nodding, he said, “Whiskers went up to Amarillo for fencing supplies.”
“Oh.” She suddenly looked uncertain. “Did he say when he’d return?”
Cooper smiled in an effort to reassure her. “He should be back before dark. Is there something I could help you with?”
“I don’t think so.” She shook her head and gave him a smile that damned near knocked the breath out of him. She nervously fingered the strap on her shoulder bag. “I really should talk to Mr. Penn. Did he give you any instructions before he left?”
Cooper laughed. “He’s never been at a loss for telling me what to do or how to do it. And out of respect for his age, I listen, then do what I think is best.”
Her smile faded. “He lets you get away with that?” she asked, clearly incredulous.
“Oh, he can get kind of mouthy about it sometimes.” Cooper shrugged. “I just let him spout off and ignore most of it.”
“I’ve never had a boss that lenient,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s going to take some getting used to.”
He suddenly felt like they were carrying on two completely different conversations. “You think I work for Whiskers?”
“Don’t you?”
Cooper frowned. “No. When he’s not trying to run my life, he works for my brother-in-law, Flint McCray.”
She shook her head as if she didn’t believe him. “When he hired me, Mr. Penn said he needed someone to keep his house and do the cooking for the Triple Bar Ranch.”
“He did what?!” Cooper felt like the ground had dropped from beneath his boots. He glanced at the suitcases. He’d forgotten all about them once she’d treated him to her sexy smile.
She placed her hand to her chest and started backing away from him. Well, hell. The last thing he’d meant to do was scare her.
“Look, Ms. Broderick, I’m sorry if I frightened you. I certainly didn’t mean to. But I’m the owner of the Triple Bar Ranch.” He glanced over his shoulder at the house. “And as you can see, I won’t be needing a housekeeper for quite some time.”
The ringing of his cell phone stopped Cooper from saying anything further. Releasing the clip on the side of his belt, he snapped it open and punched the talk button.
Before he had the chance to say a word, Whiskers’s voice crackled across the line and into his ear. “Coop, I’m bettin’ your purty sore at me and Bubba ’bout now.”
Cooper glanced at Faith. She looked like a skittish colt—ready to bolt at the slightest provocation. And if she didn’t stop fiddling with the strap on her shoulder bag, she’d twist the damned thing clean in two.
Instead of the tongue-lashing he wanted to give Whiskers, Cooper said tightly, “You could say that.”
Whiskers chuckled. “I figured you would be. That’s why I’m gonna mosey on back to the Rocking M and wait for Flint and Jenna to get back from vacation. It’ll give you time to cool off and get to know that little gal. I’ll come back down to the Triple Bar when Flint brings the cattle next week.”
Cooper glanced at Faith and tried to give her a reassuring smile, but he was pretty sure it looked more like he was about to lose his dinner. He turned his back to her and lowered his voice to a whisper. “And just what am I supposed to do with Faith Broderick in the meantime?”
The old man laughed. “Now, boy, if you don’t know what to do with a purty woman on a deserted ranch, there ain’t no hope for you.”
The cell phone began to beep, signaling the battery was about to go dead. “Whiskers, you’ve got my truck and we’re twenty miles from the Rocking M,” Cooper said, starting to realize the gravity of what the old geezer had done. Careful to keep his voice low, he asked, “What the hell are we supposed to do for food?”
“I’ve already seen to that.” Whiskers sounded so damned proud of himself that Cooper wanted to reach through the phone and shake him. “Everything you two are gonna need is already inside the house or the barn. I even seen to puttin’ your clothes in there ’fore I left.”
“But there’s no electricity.” Cooper hated sounding desperate, but the battery on the cell phone wouldn’t last for more than a few seconds longer and Whiskers knew damned good and well there was no way to charge it.
“You don’t need ’lectricity, boy,” Whiskers said, laughing. “Now, treat that little gal like the lady s
he is and I’ll see you in a week.”
Before Cooper had a chance to say anything more, the cell phone went completely silent. He looked at the display screen. Nothing. He slowly snapped the useless apparatus shut and barely resisted the urge to throw it as far as he possibly could.
Instead he clipped it to his belt and reviewed the facts. He was stuck on a deserted ranch with a woman he didn’t know, had no transportation and no means of communication. He turned to face her. And worst of all, he had to break the news of their situation to her.
If Cooper could have gotten his hands on Whiskers at that very moment, he’d have cheerfully choked the stuffing out of the meddling old goat.
Faith watched Cooper Adams turn to face her. He didn’t look at all happy. “Is something wrong?” she asked, apprehension forming a tight knot in her stomach.
He shifted from one foot to the other, then removed his cowboy hat to run a hand through his thick, dark blond hair. He stared off into the distance as if he couldn’t quite meet her questioning gaze. Placing his hat back on his head, he finally faced her. “Uh…it seems that we might have a slight problem.”
The knot in Faith’s stomach clenched even tighter and her knees began to tremble. Cooper clearly had something he didn’t want to tell her and, if the expression on his handsome face was any indication of what was running through his mind, she wasn’t going to like hearing what he had to say.
She walked over to the pile of luggage and sat down on one of the larger suitcases before her trembling legs failed her completely. “What is it?”
His broad chest expanded as he took a deep breath. “It seems Whiskers has decided to stay up at my sister and brother-in-law’s ranch. He won’t be returning until Flint gets back from vacation and brings my cattle over from the Rocking M.”
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