Her Unbridled Cowboy (Harland County Series) (10 page)

 Still, he hoped to God his friend didn’t
re-enlist when his contract was up after this tour.

“We got your mom’s holiday care
package.” Kade’s deep tone broke through Connor’s dark thoughts. “Please thank
her for us. These cowboy boot stockings were a big hit,” his friend informed,
holding up a brown leather sample.

Connor smiled. “I’ll tell her. She
and Mrs. Masters have been working hard on them the past few weeks.”

“Everyone especially loved the
little package of dirt they had tucked into the tips,” Kade said, holding up a
tiny clear bag of Texas soil. “It’ll be nice to have a
piece
of home
with us for the holidays.”

“That was exactly their thoughts,
and exactly what they did,” Connor told him. “They went to your ranch, and your
cousin Jen and nephew Cody helped out. Every speck in those bags came from
Shadow Rock.”

Connor watched as emotions
skittered across his buddy’s normally passive face, before Kade cleared his
throat and nodded.

“That was right nice of them. It’s
much appreciated.”

“Glad you liked it. I’ll be sure to
tell them.”

“You do that,” Kade said, then
cocked his head. “We still on for the trail ride?”

“Absolutely,” Connor answered
immediately.

Every time Kade returned from
deployment, he and Connor saddled up and hit the trail hard, camping out for a
few nights on Shadow Rock land. This allowed Kade some private time to adjust
back to civilian life and let go of some of the darkness that always followed
him home. Connor could always judge the severity of the deployments by how long
his buddy wanted to ride.

“How many nights you figuring?” He
watched his buddy closely.

Kade inhaled and ran a hand through
his barely-there hair before releasing his exhale. “Five would be great, but
with the wedding so close, let’s make it three.”

Jesus. Five?
Connor knew
something had happened this tour. And he knew when, too. Mid July. Their
Skyping had become less frequent, and there’d been a haunted look behind Kade’s
eyes ever since.

“Okay, three it is,” he said,
deciding not to prod.

His buddy gave a curt nod as if in
thanks, then cocked his head. “So…Cole and Jordan, huh?”

Connor leaned back and smiled.
“Yeah. ‘Bout damn time, too.”

“You weren’t kidding about the
transformation. I barely recognized him last month when he asked me to be in
the wedding.”

“I know. It’s great to have my
little brother back.” Connor had had enough of the dark times, the dark Cole.
It was nice to finally have him excised.

“Jordan’s doing,” Kade correctly
observed. “She always did bring out the best in that guy.”

“Definitely.”

“He’s lucky. She’s a good woman.”

Kerri’s smiling face flashed
through Connor’s mind. He quickly pushed it back. She’d occupied more than
enough of his thoughts this past week. “She sure is.”

“Okay.” Kade’s tone turned curious.
“I’ll bite. Who is she?”

“Who’s who?”

“The woman you’re trying not to
think about.”

How the hell did he know that?
“You’re imagining things.”

“Right.” Kade folded his arms
across his chest and leaned back in his chair. “So just how pretty is Kerri?”

Dammit, Cole
. “My brother
needs to keep his mouth shut.”

A rare smile lifted his friend’s
lips. “He just wants to see you happy and thinks Kerri’s the right fit.”

“Well, he’s wrong. I don’t do city
girls.”

“No, you
do
city girls, you
just don’t try to marry them, anymore.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not going to do
this
city girl.”

Jesus, why the hell was he talking
to Kade about having sex with Kerri? Why were the words
Kerri
and
sex
even in the same damn sentence? He needed to have his head examined. What the
hell was he thinking?

About having sex with Kerri.

“She’s that pretty, huh?”

Pretty? God, Kerri was gorgeous.
Breathtaking. With her soft, silky hair and doe-like eyes. Damn, he could get
lost in their warmth and—

Kade’s chuckle stopped him mid
thought.

“Ah, man. You are so whipped. You
might as well hang it up now.”

“What the hell are you talking
about? Whipped, my ass.”

Kade’s damn smile widened. “Oh,
buddy, if you could’ve seen your face when I asked if Kerri was pretty. It got
all
dreamy and serene
.” His friend’s high-pitched tone echoed between
them.

“Bite me.”

“Sorry, dude.” Kade snorted.
“You’re not my type.”

Connor flipped him the bird. Now
Kade was laughing out right.

Shaking his head, he released a
breath and his agitation disappeared. It was great to see his friend so
relaxed. He appeared younger, the hardened soldier look disappearing as
amusement took him.

Big difference from the tired and
tight features that had pinched Kade’s face at the beginning of the call. So
what if it was at Connor’s expense. Hell, they could make fun of him all night
if it kept the spark of light in his buddy’s gray eyes.

“Seriously, Connor, why not just
ask Kerri out?”

He shook his head. “Why bother?
She’s only staying until the wedding. Hell, she’ll probably be gone the day
after.”

“So?”

Connor frowned. “What do you mean,
so?”

“Is there a law that says the two
of you have to have a relationship?”

“No.”

“Is there a law that says you can’t
have a fling?”

“Well, no, but this is little Kerri
Masters, for God’s sake. I can’t have a fling with her.”

“Why not? She’s got to be what?
Twenty-six?”

“Seven.”

“Connor, twenty-seven isn’t young,
and she’s divorced, so she’s not a virgin.”

Connor’s heart stopped and squeezed
at the same time. He knew these things. Even thought the same several times,
but to hear them spoken out loud knocked him hard.

“And from what Cole tells me,
Kerri’s attracted to you, too. Though, Lord knows’ why. She used to be so
sensible.”

Connor flipped Kade the bird a
second time, and his buddy’s laughter filled the room.

“You’re developing a twitch,” Kade
said after he sobered. “You should get that looked at.”

“Yeah, I’ll think about it if it
still happens when you’re home.”

“It had better be taken care of,
and same goes for the itch a certain city girl needs to scratch.”

Right. If only.

Connor had no idea why his men and
Kade thought Kerri would be willing to have a fling.
She’s too sweet, and,
well, uptight
. He could never see her agreeing to such a suggestion.

But he had to admit, it sure was
interesting that several people seemed to think otherwise.

K
erri was more than
happy to see the year end. It was time to put the bad things behind her and
concentrate on the good times.

Why an image of Connor jumped, no…
lumbered
into her mind, she had no idea. He wasn’t a good time. Okay, yes, yes he most
certainly would be a good time. If she was willing. More importantly, if he was
interested. But she wasn’t and neither was he.

Then why did his gaze follow her as
she mingled at the Dalton’s New Year’s Eve party? And why had she agreed to
come?

Because Jordan had insisted they
meet up there, that’s why. She glanced around the sea of happy faces. Where in
the world
was
her sister? She had yet to see Jordan.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t miss
Connor.

Mr.
Tall-Broad-and-Sexy
had
stood out amongst the crowd when she’d first arrived. Jen had taken her coat,
and he’d nodded from across the room. So far, they hadn’t spoken. Which was
fine with Kerri. The more she was around that man, the more her thought process
suffered. It would be nice to socialize with most of her brain cells intact. Of
course, thanks to his steady appraisal, she still suffered from
numb-tongue
.

Jeez, at times, his gaze appeared
to be heated. Like now. Good Lord, she could barely breathe, and if he didn’t
stop, she was going to hyperventilate. How embarrassing would that be? She
could see the news feed now:
Meek woman passes out when sexy cowboy gives
her the eye.

Wouldn’t that be swell? Not.

She watched with a mixture of
relief and disappointment as Kevin approached Connor and said something that
had the cowboy smiling as the two men left the room.

Taking advantage of the break, she
inhaled and exhaled until her pulse quieted down.

“Your steak-ka-bobs are a great
hit, Kerri,” Jen said, approaching with her three-year-old son, Cody, in her
arms. “Thank you so much for making them.”

She smiled at the little boy
clinging shyly to his mother’s neck. “It was my pleasure.”

“Speaking of pleasure, I hear your
Christmas dinner was a big hit, too. Kevin said Cole raved about your ham and
turkey all week, and now Connor’s backing him up.”

Warmth spread through Kerri at a
rapid rate and could feel it settling in her cheeks. “Having the McCalls at my
parent’s house gave me a chance to break in the new kitchen. It was great.”

Needing to keep busy, she had been
thrilled to handle all the holiday cooking and baking. She’d cooked and served both
a pineapple-baked ham and a twenty-pound turkey with all the trimmings to the
two families gathered in the adjoining dining room.

Connor had been his usual self. Gorgeous.
Dressed in new jeans and a chocolate brown Henley shirt, he’d lumbered into the
kitchen looking completely edible, shrinking the large space to the size of a
shoe box with his mere presence.

“May I have the salt and pepper,
darlin’?” He’d smiled his dang lop-sided grin.

A few minutes later, he came back
and asked for the butter. By this time, Kerri couldn’t help but wonder if her
mother had deliberately forgotten things so they could send Connor in.

Probably.

She’d stopped what she was doing
for the second time and handed him the butter, wanting him out of the kitchen
so she could resume breathing again. It was easier to cook if she could
concentrate, and it was easier to concentrate if she could breathe.

She should have known better. 

Just as she picked up the knife and
began chopping the last of the celery for the salad he waltzed back in and
asked if she had any mistletoe. Kerri had nearly dropped the knife.

Sexy bugger–she’d thrown a dish
towel at him and shooed him from the room.

If only she could do the same to
the memory of that mistletoe kiss.

“I bet those two McCalls didn’t
leave any leftovers, either,” Jen said, regaining Kerri’s attention.

Laughing, she shook her head. “Not
much.”

Only a small platter of each had remained,
and she’d sent it to Hank and his wife and the other ranch hands the next day,
along with some pumpkin rolls.

“Well, look at the little cutie pie,”
Jordan said, appearing out of nowhere with Cole at her side. Her sister
touched the little boy’s head and smiled. “I didn’t expect to see you still
up.”

Jen transferred her gaze to the
little fair-haired boy in her arms. “Yeah, Cody had an extra nap today, so
he’ll probably be up longer than us.”

Cole chuckled. “Takes after his
Uncle Kevin.”

“Holy crow. Don’t wish that on me,
Cole,” Jen joked before excusing herself to get her son something to drink.

Jordan turned to Kerri and whistled.
“You look great, hun. I told you the little black dress was killer.” She pulled
her into a hug. “Sorry we’re late.”

Kerri drew back, taking in Jordan’s flushed face and satisfied expression.
Yeah, you look sorry all right.
Probably
sorry they had to work in a quickie and couldn’t take their time.

And Kerri immediately stopped
thoughts of her sister’s sex life before any images had a chance to
materialize. “No problem,” she lied.

She was beginning to think maybe
she should’ve stayed home. Between Connor’s incessant staring and…and…that was
it. Connor’s staring. The darn man befuddled her. He was a befuddler.

Cole stepped close and pulled her
in for a hug. “Jordan’s right, you look terrific.”

“Thanks.”

“You really do,” Jordan said, taking her hand, looking nothing short of a bombshell in a slate gray number
hugging her curves to perfection. “Now, let’s find somewhere quieter. Cole and
I want to talk to you.”

Talk to me?

Kerri’s heart hit her ribs.
About
what? Shoot. See?
She should’ve stayed home. Was this going to be a good
talk? A bad talk?

An
Oh-my-God-I-don’t-want-to-hear-it
talk?

She didn’t think she could handle
that kind of talk right now. God, they better not be trying to fix her up with
Connor. She couldn’t handle that either.

Sneaking a peek at their faces
yielded no clues, as she was tugged through the Dalton’s crowded house. Why did
they have to rock the boat tonight?  Their secretive, yet anxious expressions
brought no relief.

Dang it. She’d almost made it. The New
Year started in less than an hour, and she’d almost made it through this year on
her feet.

Please God, let Jordan tell me something good like she’s pregnant
. Yeah, that Kerri could handle.
Actually, Kerri would
love
that. She’d make a great aunt. An awesome
aunt. What she didn’t love was the fact they’d pulled her into the Dalton’s quiet kitchen and there, by the big butcher-block center island, stood Kevin and
Connor having a beer.

Oh, goodie, more of
Mr. Hot
and his sidekick
Handsome
.

“Ah, we were wondering when the two
of you would show up,” Kevin said to the couple with a grin.

“Yeah.” Connor nodded. “We were
about to take bets on if you’d make it this year or next.”