by Amelia Rose
“Well, that’s what I was doing, Miss Emma,” he said with a smile, seemingly aware of exactly where her gaze was locked. “Like what you see?”
He held up the saddle just as she started to stammer out a reply.
“The saddle!” she said in relief. “Yes, yes, that looks...amazing.”
Emma’s face flushed now as she recalled the dream, even though there was no one in the kitchen but her. Damn Cole for walking around with his shirt off! She reasoned that it was only anger at him that dragged her mind back to the dream. It couldn’t be because she was desperate for the details.
“You look pretty good yourself,” he said, putting the saddle down and giving her a thorough once over. It should have made her angry with him, but it didn’t. It sent her blood pounding through her veins and an echoing rush of sensation seemed to pulse briefly but powerfully between her thighs.
“These aren’t the most fashionable clothes,” she said, tugging at the white cotton tee shirt she was wearing underneath her denim overshirt.
“Well, maybe not where you’re from,” he answered easily as he leaned against the door of the empty stall. “But around here, you’re just about the most stylish cowgirl I’ve ever seen.”
Emma gave him a half smile and as if pulled by a magnet, stepped closer to him. He didn’t move, but his dark brown eyes seemed to draw her in closer and closer. She only stopped just shy of her breasts grazing his firm chest and when she did, he reached out and gripped her upper arms with his strong hands.
“I can’t stop thinking about you, Emma,” he admitted roughly. “I want to be here more than I want to be at Silver River.”
“Really?” she gasped out, trying desperately to keep track of the conversation and not focus on his sun warmed skin against her. He was pouring his heart out and she was thinking about his body. And she had accused him of being a chauvinist! “I want you to be here too, Cole,” she answered softly.
His eyes seemed to swallow her up with the intensity of his gaze. No one had ever looked at her that way before. There was pride in that look. More than that though, there was hope and love there as well and Emma just couldn’t stand it anymore. She launched herself at him, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his warm, broad shoulders and settling around his neck before she kissed him. His hands slid slowly down her back, leaving tingles of electric arousal all the way, until he could cup her pretty little ass and rock her forward against him.
Emma moaned against his lips as her own hands explored his upper body. His back, his chest, his flat and muscular stomach, she was hungry for all of him, and if he hadn’t pulled her closer, she would have worked her hips against him just as roughly anyway.
“I need you,” she whispered. “God, Cole, I need you so much!”
“And you’re gonna have me,” he promised as he scraped his teeth over her full lower lip. “There’s nothing in this world I’d rather give you, sweetheart.”
The next thing she knew, she had been dropped into a haystack and Cole was undressing her. She was wearing a lot more clothes than he was, but she didn’t want to wait. She yanked down his jeans and gasped out loud as his big—
“That’s how you know it’s a dream, Emma,” she muttered to herself. “And that your imagination is in serious overdrive.” She forced her mind away from the dream, even though memories of making love with Cole in that haystack tried their best to come back to the surface. She seemed to remember that he’d been inventive in her dream.
She shook her head hard and stood up, pouring what was left of her, now tepid, coffee down the sink. It didn’t matter how attractive she found him, and she certainly did find him attractive. The six pack that flexed when he had to stop and catch his breath. The smooth way his back muscles slid under his golden tanned skin. His grin as he joked with his brothers. He was good enough to eat. That was why she couldn’t talk to him. Her mind tended to go blank when she was faced with all of that right off the pages of a dirty calendar cowboy.
It didn’t matter how fulfilling dream sex with him was, and oh...it had been good in her dreams. What mattered was Cole hadn’t been exactly nice to her. His brothers kept telling her he was a good guy, but so far she’d seen only condescension and a desire to give orders. He could hardly be called a willing helper and that was what she wanted in a relationship this time around. She wanted a partnership.
The fact was, being attracted to him was classic, textbook Emma Carson. She was irresistibly drawn to the bad boy. To the overconfident jerk. To the guy who paid for the first date and then asked her to get the second “to keep things even”. Guys who kept score. She was tired of hurting and wondering and wishing to be loved for who she was!
“So,” she said firmly. “No more Cole McKenna. No matter how sexy he is when he’s half dressed.” It was about time she grew up and started looking after her own heart. No one had done it in the past and look where that had gotten her. A broken heart, an empty wallet, and several nights she really didn’t want to remember. Her grandpa had trusted her with this ranch and that was what she was going to worry about. At least things would be straightened out soon and she would have to worry about Cole hanging around the ranch.
One more day of haying. Surely she could get through one more little day of haying and then let Cole McKenna go about taking care of his own ranch. Maybe she could get him to oil up some of her tack. She grinned before she even fully realized it and then forced the grin away with a heavy sigh as she headed into her bedroom to get dressed for the long day ahead.
She was just buttoning her red plaid over shirt when she heard a knock at the back door.
“Marshall?” she called.
“Sorry,” Cole’s deep voice called back. “Go younger.”
“Come in,” she said. “I left some coffee on, you guys can all get a cup.”
She hoped he wouldn't answer her. His voice had sent shivers of remembrance down her spine. How could a dream be so damn realistic?
“Sorry,” he called again as he poured a cup of coffee and leaned against the counter. “It’s just us today. You and me, that is.”
The response was so much like something that would have happened in her dream last night, Emma was forced to pinch herself. It hurt enough to convince her she was awake. Fully awake. Her body was betraying her, her skin heating up and her heart rate increasing. She took a deep breath and walked out of the bedroom. She was not going to make a fool of herself today!
“Hey there,” Cole said when she stepped into the large kitchen. “Are you having some coffee too?”
“I already did,” she said, aware that her voice sounded stiff and unnatural. “I think I’m going to go on out.”
“Where do you want to start today?” he asked.
“Um.” Emma realized that she didn’t know. Marshall usually decided what was best to start with and she followed his lead, learning his routine. “I guess feeding the horses.”
Cole nodded.
“There,” she said triumphantly. “I knew something after all”
He raised an eyebrow at her and said, “I knew it. I just wanted to make sure you did.”
The slamming of the screen door was his only answer and he sighed. Why did everything he said to her make her mad? He hadn’t meant for her to think that he thought she didn’t know what she was doing. He’d just wanted her to make the decision herself. It was one thing to be able to ranch the way Marshall did, but it wouldn’t help her make her own decisions about her own ranch if she wanted to change things down the road. He quickly drank the rest of his coffee and then followed her out.
They worked in silence for most of the day and it got under his skin more than it probably should have. Over the past two weeks, he’d seen her talk with his brothers as they had worked together. She always had a million questions for Marshall, but she didn’t even bother to ask him anything. He’d even seen her joking around with Darrell, but she didn’t send so much as a smirk his way the whole time.
&nbs
p; When it became clear she wasn’t going to invite him in for lunch, Cole decided to go home to do his own share of the work at Silver River. It turned out to be a bad idea, and it only made his mood worse. The cows were resistant when he tried to move them and Pete, the cattle dog, wasn’t much help. It was only his quick reflexes that stopped him from getting his foot crushed by one of the dumber cows when he dismounted to pick up his wallet. He wasn’t even sure how it had worked its way free of his pocket, but that was just how his day seemed to be going. He didn’t even have time to eat before he had to head back to Raven Branch.
He managed to work hard enough to keep his mind off of his hunger and it was late in the day when Cole wiped the sweat off of his forehead and stepped into the barn to get out of the sun. Emma must have had the same idea because she was leaning tiredly against one of the empty stalls.
“I see you didn’t take my advice about the tack,” he said as he sat down and rubbed a new scuff out of his boot as best he could.
“What?” she asked, blushing suddenly. “The tack? No, I’m not really worried about it right now.”
“Yeah, I guess it’s because it was me who said it. I’m pretty sure if Marshall had mentioned it you would have made time.”
“What? What does Marshall have to do with any of this?” Emma asked in confusion. She’d never heard Cole’s voice sound that way. It was heated and abrupt. She’d always assumed that he was mad at her when he was ordering her around, but now she wasn’t so sure. If this was mad, then he couldn’t have been mad before. She kind of wished for the old, superior tone.
“Nothing. It’s just that you only seem to take advice from my brothers so maybe I’ll send one of them over with the memo that if you don’t take care of your tack, you’re throwing money down the drain.” Cole stood up. “Or are you too busy with unpacking and decorating?” He’d noticed more than a few pretty, feminine touches in the old Carson place. He’d actually liked them but this wasn’t the time to admit it. If she thought he was a jerk, then he’d really show her what it looked like.
“I haven’t just been sitting around decorating,” Emma said, stung by the accusation. “I’ve been out here working with all of you this whole time!”
“Yeah, and you think this is hard?” He gestured to the mostly empty barn. “What are you going to do when this ranch is at full capacity? How are you going to handle it when we aren’t here to hold your hand?”
“You don’t have any idea how hard this is!” Emma shouted. It didn’t exactly answer his accusation, but it was all she had. The truth was, she had no clue how she was going to handle it when they weren’t there to help her every day.
“I don’t have any idea how hard this is?” Cole repeated sarcastically. “I don’t know how you figure that, sweetheart. I’ve been running a ranch all my life and now I’m running two!”
“What?” she demanded, turning toward him with her dark blue eyes blazing even in the fading light of the barn. “Just what exactly are you talking about? Marshall helped with the horses! Darrell helped with the stable! Everyone helped with the hay! All you’ve done is stand around and insult me! I don’t know how exactly you think that’s helpful, but here’s a newsflash Cole McKenna! It’s not!”
“I’ve done more than stand around and insult you! I harvested just as much as Darrell and Marshall and they sure as hell didn’t handle all those horses alone! Also, I doubt you realize this, but someone had to take care of all those things at Silver River, too. Do you think we just told the cows to take a vacation? That we politely asked the hay not to grow?” Cole crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow in what he knew was an infuriatingly superior look.
Emma was silent for a long moment. “I don’t know!” she finally yelled. “What do you want from me? Do you want me to say I don’t know what I’m doing? Fine! Fine, I don’t! I don’t have a clue! I don’t have any real world ranching experience! All I know is Grandpa Hank wanted me to have this ranch and I’ve been doing my best!”
Cole hated himself suddenly when tears gathered in her eyes and spilled down over her flushed cheeks. She swiped them away angrily and winced when the rough cowhide of her glove scraped her sensitive skin.
“I read all I could about it and I lost everything I had to come here and do this. Grandpa’s letter said that if I needed anything, I could always call on the McKenna boys. I guess he forgot to warn me that I should only call on two out of three!”
Cole was still standing there open-mouthed when she turned and stomped away. The slamming of her screen door woke him from his daze. What did she mean she’d lost everything?
Chapter Eight
Even though he hadn’t been invited and he probably wasn’t welcome at this point by any means, Cole walked across the scrubby front yard and pushed the screen door open.
“Hey,” he called into the quiet house. “I’m sorry, all right?”
There was no answer. Where the hell could she have gone in such a short time? He hadn’t heard any other doors open or shut, so she had to be in the house somewhere.
“Emma? Where you at?” he called a little louder. “Listen, I’m saying that I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said what I said.”
Still no answer. He sighed and walked further into the house, through the kitchen and down the hall. Gradually, he began to recognize the sounds of water running. At least that would explain why she hadn’t answered him. He guessed she was one of those women that liked to cry in the shower.
He banged on the bathroom door anyway.
“Go away!” Emma yelled.
“No. I came to tell you that I’m sorry. Can you hear me?” he demanded when she didn’t answer.
“I hear you,” she said grudgingly. “Just go.”
Cole leaned his forehead on the oak door and listened to the muffled sound of the shower going full blast in the bathroom.
“I’m a jerk, okay?”
“No,” she answered back, leaning her forehead against her side of the door to hear him better. “It’s not okay to be a jerk.”
“Well, I know that,” he answered in frustration. “That’s not what I meant and you know it.”
“How would I know what you mean?” Emma snipped back. “You never talk to me.”
“How do you figure that?” He ran his hands through his hair and exhaled in frustration.
“You talk at me, not to me. You tell me things, but we never talk. I...” she sighed and finally admitted what she’d been doing her best to hide. “I like you, Cole.” Now he would do what all the men she’d loved did. He’d make some excuse and leave and this would be over.
“Hell, I like you too,” he answered. “So what are we doing on opposite sides of the door?”
“If you like me then why have you been so mean?” she asked as she rested her fingers on the doorknob, her heart pounding so loudly she could hear it in her ears. This wasn’t the way it was supposed to happen. She was almost tempted to pinch herself again just to make sure she was really still awake.
“We just talked about that. I’m a jerk.” Cole was suddenly aware of a change in his pulse rate. Was she hinting at something here? “And I was jealous. This was always my favorite ranch and I was scared you were going to let it go to hell.”
“You were jealous?” she asked in surprise.
“Green as a bullfrog,” Cole said with a half laugh. “I had no right to take it out on you though. I’m sorry. That’s all I came to say.”
When there was no response, he turned to go. When she heard the hardwood floor creak under the weight of his boots, she made her choice. It didn’t make sense and she probably shouldn’t be doing this considering what a jerk he really had been...but she knew he was a good guy underneath all of that. And she really needed to see if he was anything like he’d been in the dream.
She turned the doorknob, and in a breathless voice that had nothing to do with the fact that she’d been near tears less than five minutes ago, she called his name.
Cole
turned to see her framed by the bathroom door, wearing nothing but a slate gray towel. Steam from the hot water billowed around her. He swallowed hard.
“Emma?”
She crooked one finger and beckoned him closer. “I forgive you, Cole McKenna,” she whispered just before she stood up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his.
When his lips parted in surprise, she took full advantage and soon her eager mouth had him groaning in shocked pleasure.
“God, Emma,” he managed to say when she pulled back. “Don’t stop just when we’re finally getting along.”
She chuckled and tugged him into the small, steamy room.
“Who said anything about stopping?”
She tucked the towel tighter around her and reached up, taking Cole’s black Stetson off and setting it gently on the counter top. His sandy brown hair was unruly and sticking out in places. Emma grinned and threaded her fingers through it, her fingers combing until it lay as flat as it was going to. Cole gave her a grin.