Daddy Wore Spurs (Mills & Boon Cherish) (Men of the West, Book 32)

by Stella Bagwell

  The voice going off in Finn’s head continued to nag at him, even after he finished his shopping and stopped at a little diner on the edge of town. After having a slice of pie and a cup of coffee, he climbed back in his truck, but made no move to start the engine. Instead, he pulled out his cell phone and punched the number to his oldest brother. According to his watch, it would be another hour and a half before his brother and family left for church.

  After the third ring, Clancy’s voice boomed in Finn’s ear.

  “Hey, Finn! How’s it going? Dad told us you’ve seen the baby. What’s he like?”

  The mention of Harry sent a spurt of joy through Finn. “He has red in his hair and dimples in his cheeks. And he’s a happy little guy. You’ll fall in love with him.”

  “Sounds like you already have.”

  “Yeah. I guess I have,” he admitted.

  Clancy said, “I might as well tell you that Dad’s concerned about you. He says when you two talked yesterday you didn’t sound like yourself.”

  “That’s because I was disagreeing with him,” Finn said. “He’s not a bit happy about me staying up here until the DNA results get back.”

  “Oh. He didn’t mention that. But I could tell he was steamed about something. So this means you’ll probably be up there two or three weeks?”

  Pushing the brim of his hat to the back of his head, Finn wiped a hand across his forehead. “Something like that. I don’t want to leave without the baby, Clancy. I’m already convinced he’s mine. But Mariah, that’s Harry’s aunt, wants proof.”

  Clancy’s reaction was a heavy sigh.

  “What’s the matter?” Finn asked. “You think I’m being selfish for taking that much time off from my job?”

  “No,” Clancy was quick to reply. “If anyone on the ranch deserves time off, it’s you, Finn. Dear Lord, you and Rafe both put in far more hours than any one man should. I just don’t want you to have any trouble with this woman. I mean, where the baby is concerned.”

  Finn could’ve told Clancy that he was already having trouble with Mariah. But the problem had nothing to do with Harry. It was all about Finn keeping his hands off the woman.

  Finn said, “Once the DNA comes back, I don’t think she’ll give me any problem.”

  “I’m glad to hear it. And Finn, don’t worry. Now that Dad is in full swing again, he can handle the horse division until you get back home.”

  For several years after their mother had lost her life to a tragic fall, their father, Orin, had retreated into a private shell. Instead of riding the ranch and overseeing the care of the livestock, he’d rarely emerged from the house. But thankfully that had changed when a daughter he hadn’t known about had suddenly walked into his life. Sassy had renewed their father’s zest for living. These days he was back to being a rough-and-ready cowboy and had acquired a girlfriend to boot.

  Finn rubbed fingers against the furrows in his brow. “There’s something else, Clancy. Mariah has ten mustangs. A stallion, four geldings and five broodmares, all of which are soon to foal. I haven’t told her yet, but I’m going to buy them.”

  He expected to hear a gasp out of Clancy. Instead, silence stretched on and on.

  “Clancy? Did you hear me?”

  “Yeah. Sorry. I don’t know what to say. Except that you’re asking for trouble. Dad and Gramps aren’t going to bend.”

  Finn muttered a curse under his breath. “Don’t worry, I’ll find a home for them—as far away from the Horn as I can find.”

  “Finn, are these horses something you want? Or are you doing this to help Harry’s aunt?”

  His jaw clamped down even harder. “I’m thirty-two years old, Clancy. Not fifteen. Since when do I have to explain my motives about horses or women or anything else to you?”

  “You don’t,” Clancy quipped. “And what the hell is the matter with you, anyway? Becoming a father normally doesn’t turn a man into a smart-ass.”

  Finn bit back the tart retort on his tongue and sucked in a deep, calming breath. “Okay, so I’m being a jerk. I’m sorry. I—thought you’d understand about the horses. Instead you sound like Dad.”

  “I just don’t want you making any impulsive decisions. The baby should be enough on your plate right now without bringing a bunch of mustangs into the picture.”

  “Harry and the mustangs go together.”

  “What does that mean?”

  Finn turned the key in the ignition and the truck’s engine sprang to life. “I can’t explain it now, Clancy. I gotta go.”

  “Okay. And Finn, I honestly want everything to work out for you. Call me if you need me.”

  “All I need is for you to trust me, Clancy.”

  *

  More than a half hour later, back on Stallion Canyon, Mariah stood on the front porch with Harry propped on her hip. After ten minutes, the baby’s weight was getting heavy and she desperately wanted to take a seat in one of the wicker armchairs positioned behind her. But she was afraid the man standing on the steps would take it as a sign to join her and she’d already had more of his company than she could stand.

  Presently, the stocky, dark-haired man somewhere in his midthirties was gazing out at the western range. Without much spring rain, the grass was sparse, but a bevy of tiny wildflowers had bloomed across the meadow. For some reason she didn’t like this man eyeing the ranch as though it was already his. Yet if he was a potential buyer, she needed to remain cordial.

  “This is a mighty pretty place, Miss Montgomery,” he said. “A man could do a lot with this property.”

  “A woman could do a lot with it, too,” she replied. “If she had enough financial backing to do it with.”

  He looked back at her. “Does that mean you’d like to keep the place?” A knowing grin narrowed the corners of his eyes. “You know, with the right man and woman working together—”

  The sound of an approaching vehicle halted his words and Mariah looked around to see Finn’s truck rolling to a stop in the driveway. Thank God he was finally home, she thought with a rush of relief. But what was he doing with hay stacked higher than the cab?

  “Is that someone you know?”

  “Pardon me,” she told him, then shifting Harry to a comfortable position against her shoulder, she walked past the man and out to the front yard gate.

  As Finn joined her, he darted a suspicious glance at the man standing on the steps. “Is anything wrong?” he asked.

  “Not exactly.”

  “Then he’s company?”

  Leaning her head closer to Finn’s, she lowered her voice. “I’ve never met him before. He says he drove out here to talk to me about buying the ranch.”

  His blue gaze connected with hers, and in that moment Mariah was shocked at how familiar it felt to be near him like this and how dear his features had already become to her.

  “You told me you’ve listed the property with a real estate agent,” he said with a frown. “If that’s the case, he should be dealing with that person. Not you.”

  With a hand at her back, he urged her toward the house. “Come on. I’ll deal with this.”

  When they reached the steps, Mariah remained close by Finn’s side as she quickly introduced the two men. “Mr. Oakley says he lives down in Likely,” she informed Finn. “That’s a little town south of here.”

  The stranger directed an appreciative grin at Mariah and she instinctively cuddled closer to Finn’s side. From the moment the strange man had arrived, he’d been leering at her to the point where she’d begun to doubt whether he was actually here about seeing the ranch. Yet if he was truly a potential buyer, she was hardly in a financial position to send him packing just because he was giving off creepy vibes.

  “That’s right,” the man said. “I work on a little spread down there. But I heard this place was on the market. And from what I can see it’s a dandy. A man could do well for himself here.”

  Finn’s lips tightened to a thin line. “Mr. Oakley, I assume you know how to use a telep
hone?”

  The man looked at Finn with comical confusion. “Yeah.” He patted a leather pouch attached to his belt. “I’ve got a cell phone right here.”

  “Then why didn’t you use it before you drove up here?”

  Oakley looked as if he’d just been boxed on both jaws. “I—beg your pardon?”

  Finn said, “If your interest is in buying this ranch, then you need to be talking with the real estate agent. Not bothering Miss Montgomery by showing up here out of the blue on a Sunday morning.”

  Stunned that Finn was giving the man such a stinging lecture, Mariah’s gaze swapped back and forth between the two men. Oakley’s face was beet red, while Finn’s features appeared to be chiseled from concrete. What had come over Finn? She’d wanted him to deal with the pushy stranger, but she’d expected him to do it in a polite manner.

  “For your information, I did call the agency,” Oakley said. “I didn’t get an answer.”

  “Then you should’ve kept calling until you did get an answer,” Finn retorted.

  The stranger’s eyes narrowed as he stared at Finn. “Who are you, anyway?” he asked curtly. “I thought Miss Montgomery owned this ranch.”

  Next to her, Mariah could feel Finn go tense and then suddenly his arm was wrapping possessively around her shoulders.

  “I am this baby’s father. That’s who I am,” Finn said tersely. “And if I were you, I’d get out of here right now. I don’t want to see you around here again. Ever.”

  Without a word, Oakley stomped off the steps and skirted his way past Finn and Mariah.

  Leaving her side, Finn followed a few steps behind the man, then waited at the yard gate until he’d climbed into his truck and driven away. Before the dust from the tires drifted off to the southeast, Mariah carried Harry into the house and placed him in a small playpen she’d erected in the kitchen. Once the baby was settled, she walked back out to the porch to find Finn climbing the steps.

  “What was that about?” she asked.

  He stepped onto the porch. “Just giving the man the send-off he deserved. He was up to no good and I didn’t see any point in playing nice.”

  “Up to no good?” She shook her head. “Maybe he was a little flirtatious, but that had nothing to do with him being a potential buyer for this ranch. Now you’ve scared him off!”

  He shot her a disgusted look. “Are you kidding me? Would you honestly want a creep like him to own this place? A home you’ve lived in for twenty years?”

  “That’s not the point!”

  With little more than an inch standing between them, he stared down at her, and Mariah felt her insides begin to tremble. Not with anger, but with raw desire. And the uncontrollable attraction she had toward the cowboy aggravated her as much as his authoritative attitude.

  “You’re telling me it doesn’t matter who winds up here?” he demanded. “Just as long as you have the money?”

  “You make it all sound nasty!” she shot back at him. “And you’re doing that to make me forget about your—rude behavior!”

  “Maybe you’d better explain that,” he said tightly.

  “Yes, Oakley was a creep. But you could’ve gotten rid of him in a nicer way.”

  “Nice, hell! If you think a man like him understands nice, then you’re too damned naive to be living out here alone!”

  Furious now, she said, “You don’t own this ranch. And you certainly don’t own me. From now on I’ll handle my personal business.”

  His nostrils flared and though the sparks in his eyes were fueled by anger, the sight of them made her wonder if he made love with the same sort of unleashed passion. The notion sent a shiver of excitement slithering down her spine.

  “You think— Oh, to hell with it,” he muttered.

  He turned to leave the porch and Mariah instantly snatched hold of his forearm.

  “Finn, I’m trying to understand your behavior,” she said, her voice growing softer with each word. “But you’re not making it easy.”

  He turned back to her and Mariah’s heart lurched into a wild gallop as his hands closed over her shoulders.

  “Then I need to make things plainer, Mariah. Maybe I ran that creep off because I don’t want him, or any man, thinking they have a snowball’s chance in hell of doing this.”

  This? The question had barely had time to zing through her thoughts when she saw his head lowering to hers. Yet the realization that he was about to kiss her wasn’t enough to make her step back. If anything, she wanted to step into him. She wanted to feel his arms around her once again, to experience the taste of his hard, searching lips.

  In a feeble attempt at resistance, she planted her palms against his chest, but before she could push a measurable distance between them, the warmth of his muscles seeped into her hands and raced up her arms. The sensation was so pleasurable, she couldn’t move, much less make her lungs work in a normal fashion.

  “This shouldn’t be happening again.”

  The breathless words rushed past her parted lips but did little to slow the downward descent of his head.

  “Probably not,” he whispered, his mouth touching hers ever so softly. “But I don’t think either of us is going to stop it.”

  Chapter Six

  Mariah had never been kissed outside in broad daylight, not like this. It made her feel exposed and naked and even a bit wicked. Finn’s lips were making a hungry foray over hers, turning her into a melted mess, making it impossible for her to think.

  Closer. That was the only thing she wanted, needed. With that one thing on her mind, her hands instinctively moved to the back of his neck, the front of her body arched into his, while their lips rocked back and forth to a rhythm only they could hear.

  Her head began to whirl until she was certain she was floating off into the blue sky. Her breathing stopped and her heart pounded. If the kiss ended, she’d surely die, she thought. But eventually it did end when Finn finally lifted his head.

  Sanity rushed into Mariah’s brain and with it came the reality of how lost she’d become in Finn’s embrace. Her fingers were tangled in the hair at the back of his neck, while his hands were splayed against her back, holding her upper body tightly against his.

  Through a foggy haze, she stared up at him. “Finn,” she whispered hoarsely, “I don’t know what’s happening to me. To us!”

  Not waiting to hear what, if anything, he had to say, she pulled away from him and hurried to the other side of the porch. With her back to him, she stared out at the distant mountains and tried to gain control of her labored breathing. She was trembling all over and her body felt as though a wildfire had ignited inside her and was now spreading from her head to her feet.

  The sound of his boots moving across the porch floor alerted her to his approach. Even so, she wasn’t ready for the contact of his hand as it rested gently against the back of her shoulder. Until she’d met Finn, she’d had no idea that the simple touch of a man’s hand could have the power to shake her like an earthquake.

  “Mariah, if it makes you feel any better I’m just as confused as you are. I didn’t come here looking to start up a relationship with you.”

  She swallowed to ease the aching tightness in her throat. “I’m sure you didn’t. So what—”

  “Am I doing?” he finished for her. “The only thing that’s clear to me is when I’m near you I lose control. And I think it happens to you, too.”

  She turned to face him and her heart was suddenly crying for her to step into his arms, to confess how much the warmth of his embrace chased away her loneliness. But that would be inviting trouble. The sort she didn’t need at this point in her life. She had very little experience with men. Especially one as rugged and sexy as Finn. Hot, brief flings were his style. Not waking up in the same bed with the same woman for the rest of his life.

  “Yes. It—” Glad he couldn’t see her face, she closed her eyes and licked her swollen lips. “I’m not going to deny that I’m attracted to you. That would be pretty path
etic, wouldn’t it? When I just kissed you like—well, like I wanted you.”

  His fingers tightened on her shoulder and for some inexplicable reason Mariah felt the urge to cry. To brace herself, she bit down hard on her lip and drew in a deep, cleansing breath.

  “I want you, too, Mariah.”

  Such sweet, simple words. But his wanting wasn’t the same as hers. She wanted him for more than just a day or night. And she wanted more than just his physical touch. She wanted even the simplest form of his company. To see his smile, hear his voice, watch the ever-changing moods in his sky-blue eyes.

  A few years ago, during her college days, she’d thought she felt these things for Kris. But now she realized how lukewarm her feelings for him had been compared to the intensity of her reactions to Finn. And what did it all mean? That she was falling in love with a man she’d met less than twenty-four hours ago? No. Dear heaven, no. His life was back in Nevada on that rich ranch. He’d never think of her in a long-term way.

  Bracing herself, she turned and faced him. “It’s nothing more than chemistry, and we need to deal with it in an adult way.”

  “Speak for yourself. I pretty much feel like an adult right now.”

  She groaned with frustration. “Yesterday we were total strangers, Finn!”

  A slow grin spread across his face and Mariah’s gaze went straight to his lips. Even now, she wanted to forget the right or wrong of it and tilt her mouth back up to his. Oh my, she had to get a grip and fast.

  “If you ask me, a kiss is a pretty good way for us to get to know each other.”

  She stepped around him before she was tempted to give in to the urge of touching him again. “You need to understand that I’m nothing like Aimee!”

  “What the hell does that mean?” he barked.

  She started toward the door. “It means I won’t go to bed with you just because it would feel good!”

  “Thanks for the warning,” he flung at her, then stomped off the porch.