by Lexi Post
Yes. “No, I can handle it. He’s probably already married to some sweet thing who goes to her parents’ house whenever he goes undercover.” She strode out of the room.
If he goes undercover. She almost tripped on the braided rug in the living room at her thought. He said he did work for the Oteros. Did that mean he didn’t put himself in danger anymore? The thought had her heart racing. “Rachel Henderson just stop thinking about what could have been. It’s water under the bridge.”
She shook her head and fisted her hands. He probably had a wife. She needed to focus on the ranch and keep her heart out of it.
She took a deep breath and continued through the living room, past the white leather furniture her mother said was a compromise between her father’s request for leather and her mom’s need for dainty, and on through to the front door. It was one of those beautiful spring afternoons in Texas that were so rare and so welcome. Sam had left the main door open and a light breeze came through the screen.
Vince still spoke to her ranch hand, his stance relaxed as he leaned against the corral fence. When he smiled at something her worker said, she smiled, too. He had such a young looking face, always had, but it had clean lines, his jaw strong with a slight cleft in his chin, his nose straight, his lips perfect and his brown hair cut very short. He was the epitome of the Texas cowboy in looks and heart. She sighed.
“What are you doing mooning over a man you dumped?” Shaking her head, she took another deep breath and pushed the screen door open. He was here to find her missing money and then he’d go back to wherever he’d been and whoever he was with.
The door slammed behind her and Vince’s gaze snapped to her. He nodded to her ranch hand then headed for her. His stride was purposeful, even more confident than it was years ago. His hair was shorter, but his face hadn’t aged at all.
What must he think of her? Absently, she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
Just watching him walk flooded her with memories. The first time he came to take her out, he’d given her father complete deference and charmed her mother until she blushed.
The Sundays he joined them for dinners, his quick smile even made her sulky sister participate. He’d loved them all, not just her. Her mom jokingly said he’d adopted them.
The day he’d offered to fill in for a sick ranch hand and came in from the north pasture, took his shirt off, and soaked it with the hose to wring it out over his chest was the first night they made love, under the stars. She couldn’t resist him.
“It’s good to see you again.” His low, soothing voice pulled her from her memories and caused her cheeks to heat.
“I didn’t know Hunter called you. He just said he had someone who could help.”
A flash of disappointment entered his eyes and was gone. “And I can. Why don’t you show me everything?”
Shit, she’d been a little rude. She opened the door, and he took it in one hand as he doffed his hat with the other. She headed for her office across from the living room, his long strides on the wood floors behind her resonating with his masculinity throughout the house.
They entered the hall to find Crystal standing in the door to the office. “Hey Vince, it’s been a long time.” She looked him up and down as if judging if he was man enough to be there.
Really? Rachel stepped back so Vince could see her sister.
He nodded politely. “Crystal, you’ve grown up. How are you?”
She flashed him a quick smile. “I’m great.” Then her eyebrows lowered. “But if you break my sister’s heart again, I’ll make you pay.”
“Crystal!” Rachel felt a flush rise from her chest to her face. “He’s working on a project with Hunter. He’s not here for me.”
The two of them ignored her and stared at each other.
Vince shook his head. “I never broke her heart, Crys. She broke mine. I’m just here because Hunter asked me.”
“Fair enough.” Crystal stepped away from the door toward Rachel. “See you this weekend, but if you need anything…” She paused as she looked at Vince, “just let me know.”
“I will.” Rachel embraced her sister then watched her walk into the living room, the flounce of her floral dress the last to disappear around the corner. Finally, she had to look at Vince and when she did, she wished she hadn’t. His warm brown eyes revealed pain, which had a lump forming in her throat.
What could she say? She swallowed hard. “I’m sorry about that. She’s grown up in some ways and not in others.”
“Like I told her, I’m here to help in whatever way I can.” His face revealed nothing.
She couldn’t keep looking at him without her body tingling and her heart racing. So she stepped into her office and pulled out the big leather chair that used to be her father’s.
She hadn’t changed the room much. The memory of her father helped her keep going when things turned difficult and right now they were very difficult. “Here’s the computer Crystal and I use for running the ranch. We both have our own laptops, of course, for more personal business.”
She walked over to a cabinet and opened the doors. “Bank statements are in this drawer, orders are in this binder, bills are over here, and past years’ financials are over here in this cabinet. I think that’s all you’ll need.”
She reached over and turned on the desktop computer. “All the passwords will automatically populate if you enter my name, Rae.” She flushed. He was the only one who ever called her Rae. Quickly, she turned around to point out where the backup drive was when he caught her by the shoulders.
“Rae, look at me.”
Reluctantly, she raised her gaze to meet his. The concern she found there unnerved her.
“You don’t have to be afraid of me. I’m here to help.”
“I’m not afraid of you. It’s just awkward.” She pulled away from him and leaned back against her dad’s bookcase, a good five feet away from him.
“You mean because you dumped me.” Vince’s face hardened.
“I didn’t dump you. I ended our relationship. And I’m glad I did. I was a mess and things got worse. After mom died, Crystal went into a tailspin and we had that drought putting us in the red. It was all I could do to hold this place together.”
He stepped toward her but stopped when she put her hand out. “I could have helped you.”
She shook her head. “No, you couldn’t. You had to work. And you were good at what you did. Being around then disappearing for months wouldn’t have helped. I had to do it on my own.”
He opened his mouth then snapped it shut. The silence was deafening.
Finally, she pulled away from the bookcase. “Hunter tells me you’re still good.” She opened her arm toward the computer. “This is everything I have to do with the financials of the operation. I’ll let you do what you do best. Solve problems.” She strode past him to the door, thankful he didn’t try to stop her. “I have to make cookies now.”
Chapter Three
Vince remained where he was, still reeling from Rachel’s words. She’d killed their relationship because of his job? She’d never told him that. She said she was too busy to focus on them, and when he offered to help, she shrugged him off.
He’d put it up to her independent nature. He called once in a while to see if she was finally ready, letting her know he was there if she needed him, but she never returned his calls. When she changed her number, he finally backed off.
She dumped him because of his job? He looked around the room, as if the books and computer and knick-knacks could answer his question. It was hard being the wife of an officer. He’d known that. Hell, Rachel and he had talked about the danger he was in. She was always concerned, but appeared confident in his abilities.
He moved to the large leather chair and sat down at the computer. He didn’t turn it on. She was right, he was good at it. That’s why they’d sent him in deep undercover to rat out a huge drug-money laundering operation. He was supposed to just be the boss’s numbers man, bu
t he’d witnessed too much.
People were shot, execution style, right in front of him, and he couldn’t blink. They would kneel on the floor and beg for their lives, citing their child or wife or mother, just before the bullet drove through their skull. Young teenage girls had been rounded up and stuffed in vans destined for prostitution, a “side business” of the operation. He’d memorized the license plate of every van and sent word back to the station as soon as he could, but many still got away. The books he kept and protected showed the income from those very girls.
There were other undercover assignments, but that was the one he’d come out of anxious to see Rachel again. To know that goodness and beauty still existed in the world, only to be shut out because she was too busy.
They’d had something special.
Now he discovered it was his job that ended it? It didn’t make sense.
He stared at the computer screen blindly for a few moments before finally focusing on it. A new determination grew. He and Rachel were going to have an honest talk before he was done finding out where the missing money went.
Ready to get his job done, he switched on the computer and dove into his work.
It didn’t take long to come to two conclusions. First, Rachel was an excellent business woman. Second, everything did balance perfectly and looked right. No adjustments had been needed going back three years. That was hard to believe, but she did say that Crystal was a whiz with numbers. And Sunnyview Ranch wasn’t a huge operation. In fact, he was surprised the Oteros even bothered to buy from her, but the Oteros were good folk and if any of them had known David Henderson, Rachel’s dad, they would definitely help her out.
He could go back more years, but his gut told him the answer would be found in what he’d already pulled. Next, he’d spot check the checking account balances on various days and see if they matched. Plus, he wanted more information on the CR Seed and Grain Company. They seemed to be the biggest supplier to the Sunnyview.
He’d just clicked onto the bank website when the smell of freshly baked cookies wafted into the office. Hell, they smelled better than the buttermilk biscuits they served at the diner next to his apartment outside Austin. He forced himself to log in and pull up the checking account, the one with insufficient funds. He could see the deposit Rachel made to cover the bills that hadn’t been paid due to the low balance. He tried to focus on the last couple transactions before that, but the cookie smell had his stomach rumbling. Crap, he should have eaten lunch.
Unable to resist, he logged off and headed out of the office. As he followed the scent of cookies, his stomach rumbled louder. He stepped into the kitchen and one word flashed through his mind. Home.
Sunlight streamed in through the row of windows parallel to the kitchen table as well as in the window above the sink. It lit up the counter where a bowl full of cookie dough sat, a large spoon inside leaning against the edge. To the left was the stove with cookie racks on its smooth surface filled with warm cookies and below that was Rachel’s ass as she bent over to check on the batch inside the oven.
He clamped down his teeth to keep the low whistle inside. She thought that part of her anatomy was too big, but he found it perfect. With her busy below, he quietly moved forward and plucked a cookie from the racks. As he bit in, he moaned, unable to keep the sound of his enjoyment from escaping.
Rachel straightened and spun around. “Vince Gallagher, what are you doing?”
He finished chewing and swallowed, savoring every flavor before giving her a grin. “Eating one of your heart-melting cookies. These are your Mom’s monster cookies, aren’t they?”
Her brows lifted in surprise. “You remember what type of cookie that is?”
He nodded, having filled his mouth with the rest of the treat, enjoying the full flavor of oatmeal, chocolate, cinnamon, and walnuts. He remembered everything about them…and her.
Her face softened, but her hand went to her hip. “I’m making those for the men.”
He lifted his hands to the sides. “I’m a man.” He expected a sarcastic retort, but instead her gaze swept from his face down his body and back up to his crotch, and hell if his cock didn’t start to harden. “If you’re in doubt, I’d be happy to prove it to you.”
Her head snapped up at that. “No, I’m well aware that you’re a man, but I was making them for my ranch hands.”
Vince took the two steps that would bring him within kissing distance. “I can be whatever kind of man you need me to be if…” He paused, noticing the sudden intake of breath through her lips. He reached around her and snagged another cookie. “I can have another.”
He popped the entire treat into his mouth, chewing and grinning. He didn’t care if he was acting the fool. He was in this cozy kitchen with a hot woman and a delicious cookie on his tongue.
He stilled, waiting for her wrath, but then she reached up and brushed the side of his lip.
“You have a crumb on your face.”
He caught her hand and kissed her finger. “Rae, we need—“
She pulled her hand out of his grasp and turned her back. “If you’re done stealing my cookies, I need to get this next batch ready.”
He watched her for a moment as she scooped the dough by spoon and dropped it onto the baking sheet. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and nuzzle her neck to hear her squeal. That was her ticklish spot.
But her stance said to back off.
So he stepped around her and filched one more cookie before returning to the den.
Rachel continued to scoop the dough onto the sheet until she heard the telltale crackle of Vince’s body settling into her dad’s leather chair. She let out her breath and her shoulders sagged. It took her a moment to focus on the batter. She’d scooped far too many spoonfuls onto the sheet. If she put it in that way, she’d have one big cookie. It would truly be a monster cookie then.
Her lips quirked at the thought even as she rolled some of the balls of dough back onto the spoon and into the bowl then wiped the spaces clean. This was exactly what she’d been afraid of the moment she saw Vince again. She couldn’t think straight when he was near.
She just hoped he and Hunter figured out her money issue fast. She had some big bills due next week. She’d remind Sam again to call the Oteros and see when they wanted their cattle delivered. It could serve as a reminder of their order and help her with her current cash flow issues.
She opened the oven, pulled out the tray of cookies and set them on the cooling racks before sliding the next dough covered cookie sheet into the oven. Glancing at the clock, she leaned her butt against one of the chairs placed at the kitchen table.
“Oh, what the heck.” She picked up one of the hot cookies and took a small bite. The melted chocolate nearly burned her tongue, but the flavor was perfect, thanks to her mom’s recipe. She missed her mom. She’d always been able to talk to her, even about Vince.
When he started to say they needed to talk, she thought she’d have her first ever panic attack. She could barely think when he was near, and he wanted to talk? She had plenty of questions for him such as, was his work for the Oteros dangerous like when he was with the department, or was he still with the department and did that on the side? And did he have a girlfriend?
Ugh, she couldn’t start thinking like that. She finished chewing the rest of her cookie and pushed away from the table. Wiping down an empty cookie sheet, she placed it on the counter and stilled.
Why not? Why not see if there was anything still between them? “That’s a dumb question.”
At the creak of a floorboard beneath the leather chair in the den, she lowered her voice. “Of course there’s something there. Shit, there was enough heat to bake the cookies with.”
She put down the spoon. She was in a different place in her life. If she could get the ranch back on stable footing, then maybe they could pursue something. That was if he no longer went undercover for months and if he didn’t hate her for breaking it off and if he didn’t have a girl
friend. That was too many “ifs.”
She picked up the spoon and started scooping. When she finished with that sheet, she piled cooled cookies into a plastic container. Her mom used to do the same thing for the hands.
She remembered the first time Vince had received cookies while out with her dad, herding the cattle. His appreciation had been so sincere it brought tears to her eyes. It reminded her he’d never had a mom to bake for him. That he’d turned out so well was more due to his own personality than his foster mothers.
Vince never complained about his foster parents, all four sets, but it was clear that while he’d been taken care of, he hadn’t been loved. Rachel had wanted to make up for that and then just like his foster parents, she’d pushed him away. “I should call myself the foster girlfriend.”
At the sound of her voice, she stilled and listened. She could just make out the sound of Vince’s large fingers tapping on the keyboard. Maybe he could find the mistake quickly. Then she wouldn’t have to worry about what he thought of her. She could bring him another cookie or two, but that was just asking for more heartache.
Instead, she closed the plastic container, grabbed a roll of paper towels and put them on top. She’d throw those in her saddle bag.
She’d just pulled the next batch of cookies out of the oven and placed them on cooling racks when her phone rang. Sam’s name was on the display. “No, the cookies aren’t ready yet.” She grinned.
“You need to come out here. We have a problem.”
Her gut tightened. “Did one of the men get hurt?” It was her biggest fear running the ranch.
“No, the men are fine, but the cattle aren’t.”
“What? What do you mean?”
There was silence on the other end of the phone, and she could hear one of her men swearing in the background. “Some are missing out of the west pasture. You'll want to see this.” Sam hung up and she stared at her phone for a second before her brain kicked in.
She shut off the oven and grabbed her hat. As she started out of the kitchen and headed toward the front of the house, she remembered Vince. “I have to meet up with Sam. I’ll be back.”