Capturing the Cowboy's Heart (3 page)
Read Capturing the Cowboy's Heart Online
Authors: Lindsey Brookes
She stopped suddenly, letting out a high pitch squeal as one of her heels sank into a groove between the weathered floorboards.
He
hooked
an arm around her waist to steady her. “Why women risk breaking their necks on those things I’ll never understand
,” he muttered with a frown. That was all he needed, her breaking an ankle on his porch and adding a lawsuit to all his other financial problems.
She
jerked
free of his hold and spun around to face him.
“I could say the same thing about you and your bulls.”
H
is gaze was drawn to the h
oney blonde
strands
that had
settled over
one
shoulder
when she pulled away
. He
found himself wondering if
they were as soft and silky as they looked
.
“I don’t ride anymore
,” he muttered, irritated by the thoughts her presence evoked in him.
“Maybe not, but you still have a business connection to the rodeo. And t
he publicity
a story in
Bustin’ Loose
would give you could bring in
a good deal
more business.
And that, Mr. Tyler, would help ease things for you financially. Please
reconsider
doing the interview
.”
Maybe it would
, b
ut he sure as hell wasn’t going to swallow his pride to feed a bunch of vultures. Cade whipped off his hat and dragged a hand
back
through his
thick
hair. He wasn’t going to fire Burk, he was going to kill him
for even putting him in this position!
Dragging in a
deep breath,
he attempted
to calm himself.
Then, f
orcing a smile, he said, “Surely you’ve got better stories to cover than a has-been rodeo rider. I don’t have the fame and fortune your readers thrive on.”
“On the contrary, Mr. Tyler, you’re still news.”
The woman was just plain stubborn. “News or not, I’m not doing any interview. I’ve had my fill of publicity. Especially, the kind you reporters thrive on.”
The news media had taken his wife’s death and turned it into a media circus with all sorts of speculations as to what had caused her to go off the road that day. Rumor was that Karen had found out he was having an affair and was so distraught over the news she lost control of her car and went off the road. They were wrong. There had been no other woman.
Ever.
Lacy Dalton shifted her briefcase to her other hand. “You mentioned that you’re short-handed. How about we make a deal?”
He raised a brow. Had she made mental notes of everything that had been said? Lord, he hoped not. “What kind of deal?”
“You let me do the story with the agreement that you can approve it before I turn it in to my boss. In exchange I’ll work for you.”
“You’ll what?”
“Work for you,” she repeated with a smile. “
While
I write about your life
, of course
." She reached out to touch his arm, her beautiful whiskey colored eyes pleading as she looked up at him. "I need this assignment, Mr. Tyler.
I’m
more than
willing to work for it
and according to Mr. Lowry you’re shorthanded right now.
"
Pretty or not, she’s a reporter.
C
ade pulled away
, distancing himself from her soft touch. “Have you ever worked a ranch Ms. Dalton?”
“Well, no...”
“I didn’t think so. So let me make this clear.
I don’t
take on people who have no ranching experience. And I
don’t hire women.
”
She opened her mouth again, no doubt to lay into him for being what she saw as chauvinistic, but he held up a hand to stop her protest.
“B
efore you go getting all
wound up
, there’s a
damn good
reason
why
I don’t hire women. My bulls are mean. They’re bred to be that way. The meaner they are the harder they buck, and the more a company will pay me when they rent them for rodeos. We men have enough trouble handling them as it is.
So give up and go home.
”
She looked on the verge of tears.
Lord, he hated to see a woman
cry
. Especially
knowing he was the
one who’d caused them
to
. “
Try and understand,
I don’t want anyone writing about the Flying T
,
or me for that matter.” His gaze swept across his property, then back to her. “The Flying T has turned into a shadow of what it used to be. And so have I.”
Ho
pe flickered to life in her eyes.
“All the more reason to do this interview
.
”
“What’s in it for you?” he asked, his gaze moving over the fitted jacket and curve-hugging skirt she wore. “You don’t look like you need the money. Nice clothes. Fancy car.
”
“I have my reasons.”
“As do I. You and I both know there are
plenty of other ex-rodeo riders who would be glad to have you interview them. Just not me.
And you can tell your boss I said so.
”
All he wanted was for her to go away.
He had
more than enough
on his mind
without her adding to it
. Or at least
there were things that
should
have been on his mind,
not some troublesome female with lips that
tempted him to
kiss their pout away.
“
I hope things turn around for you, Mr. Tyler,” she said, sounding surprising
ly
sincere. Then she turned and made her way down the porch steps.
Cade
watched her go, guilt dragging his mouth into a frown
.
Suddenly, she
stopped and
spun around. “If you
happen to
change your mind,” she said, h
olding out
her business card, “here’s my cell number. I’ll be in town, having a much-needed glass of Chardonnay. This hasn’t exactly been one of my better days either.”
He
took the card and stood watching as
she
walked back to the
sleek, red Corvette
. She settled herself behind the wheel and, w
ithout another glance his way, started the engine and drove off in a spiraling trail of dust.
Cade cursed
the mess his life had become
and headed for the barn. This day had to get better. It certainly couldn’t get any worse.
Or c
ould it?
As if in answer to his question, thunder cracked overhead and the skies let loose.
CHAPTER TWO
“Ah, hell,” Cade grumbled as he reached for his keys. He couldn’t take any more of Burk’s disapproving looks. Even
Domino
was looking at him like he was the Grinch who stole Christmas.
“Keep looking at me that way,” he warned the mangy mutt, “and you and your idiot owner are both gone!” If he didn’t know better, he would have sworn the dog smiled at him before backing further under the
kitchen
table.
He glanced up to find Burk standing in the doorway, watching him with a wide grin. He had that ‘I won’ written all over his smug face.
“Not one word.” Slapping his well-worn Stetson onto his head, Cade headed for the door.
“Not one word,” Burk repeated as he dragged a chair out from under the kitchen table and sat down. “Nice work,
Domino
.”
“Some friends you two turned out to be.” Cade slammed the door shut behind him and made his way across the wet yard to his truck.
“Chardonnay.” He chuckled. This was
Deep Creek
,
Colorado
. A wine cooler was about as fancy as it got there. Turning up the wipers on his truck, he headed into town.
A few minutes later, he pulled up in front of what used to be The Watering Hole, Deep Creek’s only bar, now renamed The Blarney Stone by its new owner, Katie O’Brien. Sure enough, there sat Lacy Dalton’s cherry-red Corvette, sticking out like a sore thumb in a parking lot full of old ‘beater’
pickup
trucks.
The image of tawny eyes surrounded by thick, black lashes flashed through his mind. So she was pretty. She was also a reporter. He couldn’t let himself forget that even
for
a moment.
He slowed and turned into the parking lot, nosing into the empty space beside the little red sports car and a Dodge Ram. He cut the engine and sat there. The sight of his old Ford
pickup
next to the vintage Corvette only served as a painful reminder of what he might have had if only...
He muttered a curse as he was once again dragged back into his past. Back to all the what
-
ifs and what
-
might
-
have
-
beens. He shoulder the door open and stepped out of his truck.
The storm had blown through, leaving behind a puddle-strewn parking lot.
Avoiding the ruts where water collected, h
e
made his way toward the
bright green door of The Blarney Stone.
He reached for the door handle, hesitating. Maybe he should have called Lacy Dalton instead of tracking her down. Truth was, he was
in no hurry whatsoever to swallow his pride and tell her he had changed his mind.
Damn it all, but the Flying T did need the publicity. Burk was right. Their business was hurting. Mostly because he’d just plain stopped caring about everything after his wife died.
He
pulled open the door and
stepped into the smoky bar
, looking around
.
“Hey, Cade,” Katie O’Brien
greeted
from behind the bar where she stood wiping up the counter.
“
Afternoon
, Katie.”
Looking past him almost
expectantly
, she asked,
“Where’s your partner in crime?”
“In hiding.”
She
laughed. “What’s Burk done now?”
“A good deed.”
“Enough said.”
Katie, as well as every other person in Deep Creek, knew how much trouble Burk’s good deeds always got him into. The man’s heart was always in the right place. He just had a bad habit of doing before thinking.
“What’ll you have?” she asked as she reached below the bar for a clean mug.
“
Nothing right now, thanks. I’m looking for someone.”
“She wouldn’t happen to be a pretty little blonde with a hankering for fancy wine, would she?”
“That
would be
her.”
With a smile that reached her bright green eyes, Katie pointed to a table on the far side of the dance floor. “She’s right over there, enjoying a wild berry cooler.”
Cade grinned. “Thanks, Katie.”
He crossed the empty dance floor, his gaze centered on the only woman he’d ever met who gave him a run for his money in the stubbornness department.
“Miss Dalton,” he mumbled, removing his hat.
She peered up at him over the rim of her glass for a long moment before setting it down on the table in front of her. Then, she sat back and crossed her arms. “I certainly didn’t expect to see you again.”
This was worse than begging for an extension on his loans.
Cade forced his smile wider. “Well, here I am. I’d like to have a word with you?”
She didn’t look too thrilled to see him there, but motioned for him to join her anyway. “What? You run out of puppies to kick?”
Cade gritted his teeth as he settled into the offered chair. “I suppose I deserve that.” It wasn’t her fault Burk had gone behind his back and agreed to let that magazine she worked for do a story.
She reached for her cooler and refilled her wine glass, then swiveled in her seat to face him. Crossing one long leg over the other, Lacy
Dalton
dangled a heeled sandal from the tips of her toes.
