Capturing the Cowboy's Heart (7 page)

He turned, enjoying
the view.  “Can I give you a hand?”

Lacy glanced back at him with a scowl. 

“I’ll take that as a no,” he said with a chuckle. 
It had been a long time since he’d had any real fun.  Not since...
The laughter died in his throat and his smile faded away
. 
How the hell could he be
enjoying himself
when his wife never would again
.

“Cade?”

He looked up to find Lacy watching him. 
Clearing his throat, h
e stepped forward to lift her suitcase onto the bed for her. 
“I’m sorry
about the mix up
.  I should have shown you to your room before I went o
ff
to
find Burk
.”

“
No harm done,” she replied, her expression less harsh.  “
Did you get the fence fixed?”

He nodded.  “Took a little longer than expected. 
Danners
never showed up.”

“
Danners
?”
she repeated as she walked over to get the rest of her clothes.

“
My other ranch hand.  He’s new and
not
the most
dependable
I’m discovering
.”

“
Well
that explains why you took me up on my offer to work the ranch
,” she said with a smile.  “
I’m dependable.  So when do I get to meet
your other
hands
?
”

“You’ve already met Burk.  And
I want you to stay away from
Danners
.”

She snapped the suitcase shut
. 
“
Is that an order
?”

He nodded. 
“There’s something about
Danners
I don’t trust. 
I want you to do your best to s
teer clear of him while you’re here.”

“
If you don’t trust
Danners
, w
hy don’t you just fire him?”

“Because most of the time he gets his work done and he’s willing to work for what I can afford to pay.”  Without giving her a chance to reply, he
grabbed her larger suitcase and started for
the
bedroom
door.  “Come on,
Dalton
.  I’ll show you to
the guest
room before I jump in the shower.” 

Lacy fought the image her thoughts were conjuring up of Cade Tyler standing in all his glory beneath the shower’s warming spray. 
Unfortunately for her, she was losing the battle
.  Warmth curled in the pit of her stomach and began a rapid descent downward. 

“
You coming
?”

Her head snapped up, meeting
Cade’s
questioning gaze as he
stood waiting
for her in the doorway. 
O
ther than I’m standing in your bedroom, picturing you naked in the shower
?
 

Lacy grabbed her other bag and followed him out of the room.  That broad, muscular and very bare back.  That
sexy cowboy swagger
.  Those tight jeans. 
 

“
This assignment is going to be p
ure torture,”
she
muttered under her breath
as he disappeared into the room across the hall
.

“You say something, Dalton?”

She followed him into the guestroom. 
“I was talking to myself.”

“You do that often?”

O
nly when I’m following a shirtless man whose body could qualify for the Boots and Spurs studly cowboy calendar.
 
She
sighed.  “Not often.”

He looked around the room. 
“It’s not much, but it’s got a
decent
view and a comfy bed.”

There was something about that deep, slow drawl combined with the word bed that made her legs weak. 
Cade’s
effect on her was
unsettling. 
Not only was he the subject of her story which meant he was off limits, but cowboys
had never been
her type.
And Cade Tyler was all cowboy.

“It’ll be fine,”
she assured him
as she walked over to the window to look out. 
Pushing the curtains aside, she decided that
Cade was right.  The view was
quite
spectacular.  The distant mountain peaks were dotted in vibrant shades of green and gold and capped by swirls of white as a spattering of wispy clouds settled over them.  It was like looking out over a canvas that had been lovingly stroked into a colorful array of perfection.

“Glad you like it.”

She turned to smile at him.  “You know, I’ve traveled a lot
over the years, at least earlier in my career, and
I’ve never seen anything as
breathtaking
as what you have here.  No wonder you don’t want anyone knowing about this place.”

“That’s not why...”  He fell silent for a long moment, then said brusquely, “
Get settled.  I’ve got a shower to get
.”

She wondered
what she had said this time to cause
his
frown
.

He paused in the doorway.  “One more thing. 
Steer clear of th
e
room
next to this one
. 
It’s
nothing but
a catchall for
junk,
old
furniture
, you name it.
  Got
tha
t, Dalton?
”

T
here was something in the way
Cade
eyed
th
at
closed door that stirred her curiosity.
  “Got it.”
 

“
Then
I
’ll see you at dinner.”

H
is husky voice drew her gaze back to that bare chest
just a few feet away.  She imagined running her fingers over
that
washboard abs and h
er pulse quickened.  

She
looked up to find Cade watching her, amusement now lighting those drop dead, gorgeous, blue eyes of his. 
Nothing like being obvious, Lacy.  Why don’t you just let your tongue hang out?  Maybe he’ll trip on it on his way to the shower and you can jump his bones.

Was this what happened to women who lacked any real social life?  They were ready to jump the first half naked guy to come along?  And Cade was just that. 

Lacy forced her gaze
to remain on
his face
, but it
was a tug-a-war to keep it there. 
His bare chest was
far
too tempting.
  Taking the safer route, she turned her attention to the suitcase he’d left lying atop the bed and began to unpack
her things
once again.

“Did you need something?”
she asked when he made no move to leave.

He nodded toward
the short, white fringed skirt she’d just pulled out. 
“I hope you’re not planning to wear th
at
while you work.”

“Why not?
”

“Because it’s not practical for one thing.”  His attention strayed to the bikini
lying in the open suitcase
.  “And what’s that for?  This is a ranch, not a resort. 
There’s n
o swimming pool here.”

“Resort or not, I can still spend my free time working on my tan.  Of course, I’d prefer no tan lines, but I’ll refrain for your sake.  And while you’re so intent on being the clothes police, I also brought—”

He cut her off.  ”You won’t need any of that out here.  All you need is a pair of jeans, a couple of shirts and a good pair of boots.  You do have those, don’t you?”

“Of course, I do.”  Lacy smiled and dug around in the floral bag, pulling out
a pair
of
black
suede knee-high boots.  “Will these work?”

He eyed the last pair of boots and rolled his eyes.  “Oh yeah, those’ll work, if you’re trying to dress like a porn star.”

“I’ll have you know these boots are the very latest in fashion.”  How dare he compare the clothes she’d brought
with her
to those worn by the queens of the flesh screen!

Cade shook his head.
 
“In case you haven’t noticed, there
aren’t any places to wear fancy clothes to
in Deep Creek.  You’d have to go down to Boulder or Denver.
  And you sure as hell can’t wear those sorts of things to work in.”  ”

Lacy
spun to face him. 
“Listen here, cowboy.  I’ll do whatever work you give me to do and do it well, regardless of what I’m wearing.
  Now why don’t you go get that shower.  You stink.
”

“Get used to it,” he warned.  “You’ll be smelling every bit as good as I do now starting tomorrow.”  That said, he walked out, chuckling as he went.

She dropped back onto the bed with a groan. 
What had she gotten herself into?

*
             
*
             
*

The kitchen smelled like an Italian restaurant when Cade walked in
after his shower
.  Burk stood at the stove, stirring what smelled like his “secret” sauce. 

“Mmm...s
omething smells good.”       

“It’s called dinner.”  Burk pulled the long wooden spoon from the pan and placed it on the sauce covered spoon rest atop the stove.  “Find Lacy?” 

“Sure did.  And you’ll never guess where.”

“I give up.”  He removed the lid from the spaghetti and carried the steaming pot over to the sink where he emptied it into an awaiting colander.

“In my bed.”

Burk’s head snapped around.  “You
r
bed?”

Cade nodded.

“You lucky dog, you!”

“It’s not like that.  Dalton thought my room was the guestroom.”

His friend’s laughter echoed off the kitchen walls around them.  Burk rinsed the pasta and dumped it into a large bowl.  “Bet your bed went into shock.  That’s the first woman you’ve had in your room in a real long time.”

Cade bristled.  “Oh, yeah?  Well, you haven’t had one in your bed for a spell either.”

“I’ll have you know I spent the night with a pretty little filly last month when we went up to Cheyenne,” Burk replied with a smirk. 

Cade walked over to the stove to test the sauce.  “Okay, so you’re one up on me.  Then again, I’m not in the market.”

“Don’t know why not.”  Burk carried the colander of spaghetti over to the stove and emptied it into the sauce pan.  “All red-blooded men are in the market.  Take me for instance, I like women in all shapes and sizes, the more the merrier.”

Cade shook his head.  “Any fool can see why you’ve never been married.”

“Never will be either.”  Burk reached for the spoon and stirred the spaghetti into the sauce.  “You went nuts over Karen.  I couldn’t stand to be that way.  Rodeo is the only thing I ever loved.”

“I still don’t understand why you left.”

“I was getting too damn old to be diving into barrels and jumping over fences.  That kinda thing takes a toll on a man.  Besides, after you left it just wasn’t the same.”

“Well, I have to say, I’m glad you
did.  I couldn’t have kept this business going without you.
”

Burk
tipped back his head, dangling a cooked noodle over his mouth.  “Why’d you start up the business in the first place?  It wasn’t like you needed the money back then.”

“A man can’t ride the circuit forever.  I wanted something to fall back on.”  And it was a good thing for him he had the business.  It became his main source of income after his career-ending accident. 
Bulls, either riding them or raising them had been
as important to him as the air he breathed.  That was
until Karen came into his life
.  Th
at was when
his priorities
in life
shifted.

“
I’m ordering
cable,” Burk
grumbled
, ending the silence between them.  He nodded toward the small black and white television on the far end of the kitchen counter.  “Can’t get squat with that antenna.”