If he didn’t care, he couldn’t be hurt.
When he didn’t care, he didn’t hurt other people.
Lucy had already gotten under his skin, and he knew his willpower was no match for the way he wanted her.
“Then explain it to me.”
“If you want to help,” he said by way of an answer, “put on boots, a heavy coat and gloves. Grab a flashlight from the closet in the front hall and meet me in the barn.” Then he walked past her, shoved his feet into his boots, grabbed his jacket from the hook in the entryway and headed out into the cold before he changed his mind.
* * *
He wasn’t sure if she was going to follow him. He’d been purposely rude, striding to the barn like he was running away from the playground bully. Which was ridiculous and made him feel like a jerk.
He let the dogs out of their respective pens and opened the back door of the barn that led to an enclosed corral. The dogs barked and yipped, running around and doing their business, most of them oblivious to the cold. A few of the ones that were older or didn’t have a heavy coat of fur went back to the barn.
As the dogs played, Caden grabbed a container of vegetables from the refrigerator in the office and let himself into the bunny room. Fritzi, the Holland Lop that was a permanent fixture in the barn and a certified therapy pet, hopped to the front of the hutch for her nightly nose rub and snack. The other rabbits followed her lead, and Caden smiled as he visited with each of them.
Once or twice he glanced over his shoulder, but when Lucy didn’t appear, he figured his abrupt exit had made her want to keep her distance. He wasn’t sure if he was disappointed or relieved.
Who was he fooling? It killed him to know he’d so quickly ruined his chances with a woman who made him happier than he’d been in years.
He finished with the rabbits and went to check on the cats, but a short bark from one of the dog pens had him hurrying down the barn’s main corridor.
Turning the corner around the converted horse stall, he stopped in his tracks. “What are you doing?” he whispered frantically.
Lucy looked up, clearly surprised at his tone. “Snuggling,” she answered and dropped a kiss on the head of the dog pressed against her side.
“Cocoa’s not friendly,” he said. “She bites.”
“This dog?” Lucy asked, glancing between the brindled shepherd–pit bull mix and Caden. “Are you sure?”
“She was abused by her owner,” he explained, “and she’s pregnant.”
“Aww,” Lucy murmured, running her hand down the dog’s side and rubbing Cocoa’s enlarged belly. “I wondered about that.”
“Seriously, Lucy. I’m working with her, but she’s not safe around people yet. I think she’ll calm down once the puppies are born, but...”
He trailed off as the dog tipped up her chin and delicately licked Lucy’s cheek.
“You’re gonna be a mama,” Lucy cooed.
Caden felt his mouth drop open. Cocoa would barely let him touch her, and she’d had to be muzzled and sedated when the vet first came to examine her.
Jase Crenshaw, an attorney in town, and one of the few people Caden had befriended in high school, had called him about the dog. Jase grew up in a trailer park on the outskirts of Crimson, and while moving his dad from there a month ago, he’d found Cocoa chained to a stump in below-freezing temperatures. Part of the dog’s ear was missing and she had scars on her face and neck like she’d been used as a fighter.
Jase had called Caden along with the county humane society, and after animal enforcement had threatened the owner with charges, the owner had told Caden to go ahead and shoot the dog because she was so damn mean he’d never rehabilitate her.
The man was the only one in danger of being shot, but Jase had convinced Caden the guy wasn’t worth the trouble.
Instead, Caden had managed to get near enough to the dog to unchain her, then lure her into a crate. She’d growled low under her breath the entire time but snapped only when Jase got too close. It was as if she’d recognized in Caden another spirit that knew what it was like to be truly unwanted.
Even the animal control officer had labeled the dog a lost cause, but Caden hadn’t been willing to give up on her. He’d wanted to lash out at the world after his mom died and he was dumped in the foster-care system.
He’d given Garrett every reason to kick him out on multiple occasions, but his adoptive father had been consistent in his love, and eventually Caden had found a fragile kind of peace in his world. It never changed who he was at his core, but it made life more manageable.
He’d planned on taking as much time as needed to gain Cocoa’s trust, but Lucy had accomplished the impossible in a matter of minutes.
What was it about her that made the nearly feral dog trust her so quickly?
He laughed under his breath. Hell, wasn’t he just the same? As much as he knew she wasn’t good for him, he’d been putty in her hands from the start.
“Please come out of her pen.”
The dog turned her head as he spoke and gave him a baleful look.
“Don’t worry,” Lucy said gently as she straightened. “I’ll come back and visit with you tomorrow.”
Caden held his breath as Cocoa stood and pushed her big block head into Lucy’s leg. He half expected the dog to become aggressive. His muscles remained tense, ready to intervene if things went south, as Lucy walked forward.
Cocoa let out a high-pitched whine, then walked to the corner of the pen, turned around twice and settled on the bed of fresh hay he’d given her earlier that morning.
He grabbed Lucy’s arm and pulled her close as soon as she shut the door to the stall. “You scared the hell out of me.”
She tipped up her head to look at him. “Caden, she’s a sweetheart.”
“I’ve never seen anything like that. Are you sure you don’t have experience as an animal trainer?”
Lucy grinned. “I had a goldfish I won at a carnival in third grade. But he died after a week.”
He laced his fingers with hers and headed toward the back of the barn. “How do you know it was a boy?”
“Because I named him Fernando,” she said matter-of-factly.
“Of course you did. Want to help me feed the cats?”
“As long as none of them try to escape.”
He reached up onto a high shelf and pulled down a plastic crate. “Not when it’s dinnertime.”
They walked into the room to a chorus of plaintive meows. He handed Lucy the container of food and pointed to the bowls. “You can put a scoop in each. They’ll love you forever.”
“I like the sound of that,” she said, and his heart squeezed in a way that had him pressing his fingers to his chest.
She laughed as the cats and kittens tumbled around her. Caden was secretly relieved she seemed to enjoy his crazy menagerie of pets. He’d always had a thing for stray animals but sometimes felt embarrassed sharing that part of himself with other people.
It wasn’t until Erin MacDonald had heard about the animals he used as therapy pets and asked him to bring them to visit her after-school program for at-risk kids that he went more public with his adoption efforts. Before that, it had mainly just been word of mouth leading him to match animals with good families.
“I’m glad you’re helping with the adoption event,” he told Lucy now.
She’d picked up one of the kittens and was snuggling it under her chin. “Really?”
She seemed as surprised by his words as he was saying them. “Yeah. I have a sense for where an animal belongs, but marketing isn’t my thing.”
“I never would have guessed.” She placed the tiny cat back with his brothers and sisters and took a step away from the animals. “I wasn’t sure you’d agree to my involvement, but I’ve already been working on som
e ideas. I have a Facebook page started for the event, and I’d like to take some pictures of the animals tomorrow for publicity. I read online that good photos are one of the things that can attract people to rescue animals. Erin and I have been texting. We’re going to talk to local businesses about donating items for baskets to raffle. Katie Crawford at the bakery has agreed to provide cookies during the event.”
“Is that all?” Caden asked with a stunned laugh.
Lucy frowned. “You’re joking?”
He moved closer, smoothed her dark hair away from her face and placed a kiss on her forehead. “I’m joking. Thank you for taking care of all of that, especially after I was such an ass.”
“I’m getting used to it,” she said, poking him in the chest. “Lucky for you, your skills in the kitchen make up for your surly personality.”
“It’s time to say good-night to the animals,” he said, laughing. It felt odd to have a woman teasing him. Oddly wonderful.
Lucy made a point of petting each of the dozen cats in the room before leaving. Caden checked the barn’s heater, then turned down the lights, and they walked in silence back to the house. Stars lit the night sky, and the waning moon reflected softly against the snow.
At one point, Lucy slipped on a patch of ice and he put a hand around her waist to steady her. The innocent touch made his body yearn for more. He wanted her out of her layers of clothes and in his bed.
Without the distraction of dinner or the animals, the desire that had pounded through him earlier came back in full force. He wanted Lucy in a million different ways, any way she would have him. But he had to stay strong and keep his need for her under control.
Tonight had been amazing and he didn’t want to ruin the tenuous friendship they’d established by taking advantage of her.
So when he opened the door to the house and followed her in, he had every intention of retreating up the stairs and locking himself in his bedroom if that’s what it took.
But as soon as the door shut behind him, Lucy turned and lifted up on tiptoe, pressing her mouth to his like she’d been waiting to do it all night.
How could he resist that sort of invitation?
* * *
For a moment, Lucy wasn’t sure how Caden was going to react to her kiss. He went perfectly still, his mouth not moving against hers. Maybe she’d misread the connection between them.
Maybe it was one-sided.
Then he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off her feet. His lips parted and his tongue met hers, pulling a low groan from her throat.
She held on as he moved forward, depositing her gently onto the couch. She tugged off her hat and gloves, then unzipped her heavy coat. Her mouth went dry as he shrugged out of his jacket, leaving him standing in front of her in just the white T-shirt and jeans.
Suddenly nothing in the world was more important than touching his body. She lifted to her knees and pulled the hem of his shirt up and over his head.
“Wow,” she whispered as she took in his muscled body. His shoulders looked even broader now, and there was a faint sprinkling of hair across the planes of his chest. She could clearly see the tattoo on his biceps, an eagle holding a tattered American flag.
“Good wow?” he asked. “Or ‘wow, you’re weird looking’?”
She bit down on her lower lip as she stared into his green eyes. “Good wow.”
“Right back at you.”
She laughed. “I haven’t done anything to wow you yet.”
“You don’t have to,” he murmured. “You wow me every second without even trying.”
Heat pooled low in her belly and, emboldened by his words, she lifted her palms to his bare skin. She ran them through the patch of hair on his chest, noticing that he sucked in a breath as she grazed his nipples.
He pulled her closer, kissing her like a man who’d been thinking about doing just that for a very long time. The kiss was an exploration, deep and soulful, and she lost herself in the sensation of it. His hands skimmed under her shirt, making goose bumps rise on her skin as his calloused fingers trailed up her spine. Then he moved them around to her front, skimming his thumbs across her nipples and making desire spike through her.
She wanted him so badly, but something inside her head warned her she was moving too fast.
Then a different voice told her to go for it. It felt like an ice-cold glass of water splashed in her face because that second voice sounded like her mother telling her this was exactly where she wanted Caden—wrapped around her finger.
She wrenched away, scrambling to the far side of the couch like she was a teenager caught making out with her boyfriend after prom.
Caden stared at her, his green eyes cloudy with lust.
“We can’t,” she whispered miserably.
He blinked and seemed to come back to himself, grabbing his shirt from the floor and putting it on again. Lucy wanted to cry out in protest, but she only straightened her clothes and stood up to face him.
“It’s not that I don’t want to—”
“I get it.”
“You don’t.” How could he when she barely understood it herself? She couldn’t be with him because somehow her mother would find a way to use their relationship to her own ends. Lucy couldn’t do that to Caden.
Or herself.
“Thank you for a lovely evening,” she said, feeling like a fool for sounding so formal. “I’ll get to work on plans for the adoption event first thing tomorrow morning.”
Better to keep things businesslike between them. As if that was even a possibility given how her heart ached watching the warmth and desire disappear from his eyes.
“Sure,” he agreed, and she rushed past him and up the stairs to her bedroom. She moved to the connecting bathroom and washed her face, then brushed her teeth and put on her pajamas like this was a normal night.
Like her stomach wasn’t pitching and swirling with regret and unfulfilled need.
She climbed into bed a few minutes later and heard the creak of floorboards as Caden made his way upstairs. Longing filled her as she imagined him in his bed. Did she dare to even consider what he wore to bed? No way.
She was glad he hadn’t decided to spend another night in the barn but wondered how she’d ever fall asleep knowing he was across the hall.
Chapter Eight
Lucy stumbled down the stairs and made a beeline for the coffeepot in the kitchen, as had become her habit at the ranch. Back in Florida, she didn’t allow herself to drink a cup of coffee until ten o’clock, a little ritual she had to monitor her caffeine intake.
But sleep remained elusive in Colorado, and she had no doubt it was because she went on high alert every time Caden was nearby. Annoyingly, even when they weren’t in the same room. She could tell where he was in the house just by the humming low in her belly and the prickling of her skin. Her mind remained committed to keeping her distance, but her body definitely hadn’t gotten the memo.
She hadn’t seen much of him since the night she’d run out of the living room like a big scaredy-cat, afraid of the things he made her feel and the cost for both of them if she acted on those feelings.
As if she had a sixth sense, Maureen called to check on whether Lucy had made any progress on convincing Caden that the marriage was a good idea. Much to her mother’s irritation, Lucy hemmed and hawed when giving an answer.
“You should borrow one of my push-up bras,” Maureen told her. “That would help attract his attention.”
Lucy’s face flamed hot, both at the thought that her mother was not so subtly pimping her out and at the memory of Caden’s hands on her breasts. She was certain she didn’t need a push-up bra for him to notice her.
“That’s rude,” she whispered to her mother, but Maureen only snorted.
“You have a lot to lear
n, Lucy-Goose. Garrett and I are having the most wonderful time.” Her voice turned forlorn. “But I hate to have to worry about things back in Colorado.”
“You wouldn’t have to worry if he knew the full truth,” Lucy countered.
“Room service is at the door,” Maureen said instead of answering the accusation. “I’ll call you in a few days.”
Lucy tossed the phone to the counter, grabbed a mug from the cabinet and filled it to the brim with steaming coffee.
She was used to eating breakfast alone, with Caden out the door each morning long before sunrise. She’d gone on Pinterest the day after their meal together and filled a board with easy dinner recipes, then headed to the grocery store in Crimson with a mile-long list, resolved to finally learn to cook.
If her hot rancher could whip up a decent meal, surely she could put together some ingredients. And she was determined to spend time in the kitchen without any weird emotional trauma left over from her childhood.
She’d started with spaghetti sauce, which hadn’t turned out half-bad. In fact, Caden had said it was the best he’d ever had, but she was pretty sure he was lying. Not that she didn’t appreciate the compliment.
That was the routine they’d fallen into for the past couple of days. He was off to work on the ranch before sunrise, generously making a fresh pot of coffee and timing it to brew at seven, which was exactly when she came downstairs. She didn’t bother to ask how he knew her sleep schedule.
She worked on the adoption event in the mornings, then had lunch with Caden and Chad, who came in from whatever they were doing like clockwork every day at noon.
Chad continued to flirt, which never failed to amuse Lucy, but it was the discreet ways Caden found of nudging her or pressing a palm to the small of her back as he passed that kept her senses reeling.
She’d been embarrassed that first afternoon to invite him to have dinner with her, but he’d grinned and nodded, telling her she was the best way of motivating him to get his work done.
Sleigh Bells in Crimson Page 9