Her Unbridled Cowboy (Harland County Series) (36 page)

“Kerri,” a familiar voice said from
behind.

Alarm raced down her spine in a
stiffening move.  Great. Duke. She hadn’t seen him since the fair two weeks
ago. She tightened her grip on the zucchini should he even think of trying
something again, and slowly turned to face the jerk, only to be shocked
speechless by his appearance. Dark glasses did little to disguise the tape on
his nose or the bruising under his eyes.

She’d connected with his jaw, not
his nose. And, although she’d knocked him around a little and he’d even crashed
to the ground, she didn’t recall him landing awkwardly on his arm, so the sling
was as new as his broken nose.

“I just wanted to apologize for my
behavior at the fair,” he said before giving her a curt nod and walking away.

Okay weird
. She glanced
around, expecting to see Connor, or Cole, the Daltons, even Jordan putting the
realtor up to that, but a young mother and her two children were the only other
customers in the small store.
Yeah, really weird
. She shrugged, paid for
her purchases and headed back to the apartment to cook.

It wasn’t until later that night,
when Connor walked into the celebration with bruises on his knuckles that her
mind recalled her meeting with Duke. Her heart rocked into her ribs. She’d
tried hard not to think about him the past week, but seeing him again brought
all the longing and hurt to the surface again. Mostly longing. And just the
thought of him searching out Duke to punish the jerk, made her feel all warm
and fuzzy inside. It shouldn’t. She should be appalled at the Neanderthal
behavior, but she wasn’t. Nope. She really wasn’t.

Her gaze strayed to him often, and
even though she was at her normal seat, right across from the cowboy, she
couldn’t catch his eye. All evening, the bugger avoided her gaze and direct
conversation. If she hadn’t known the reasoning, she probably would’ve been
hurt or annoyed, but instead, she felt bad. Really, really bad. So much so, she
cornered him the minute he left the room.

“Connor, wait.” She rushed into the
hall after him.

He stiffened and slowly turned to
face her.
Jeez.
Her heart constricted and a small gasp escaped her
throat. His jaw was bruised, too. Without thinking, she reached up to touch it,
but he backed away.

“What do you want?” he asked, gaze
as weary as his tone.

You
, was the first thought
that came to mind, but she curbed her tongue. Slowly lowering her hand, she
hugged herself and drew in a breath. “I wanted to…I saw Duke today.”

His chin lifted and gaze hardened.
“Did he apologize?”

“So, you did have something to do
with his injuries,” she stated and opened her mouth to thank him, but he held
up his hand in a stop gesture.

“I know what you’re going to say, I
shouldn’t have. It was stupid, Neanderthal behavior, but I don’t care. The
bastard deserved it and much more.”

“I agree.”

“And if it…what?” He frowned down
at her. “You do?”

She nodded. “Yes. Thank you.”

“Christ, Kerri.” He shoved a hand
through his hair and cursed. “Don’t thank me. You shouldn’t have to
thank
me. In fact, I should’ve whipped his ass that night at the fair. You should
hate me. I wouldn’t blame you for hating me. I left you there. I failed you in
the worst possible way—”

“Whoa. Wait a minute, Connor.” She
grabbed his arm and held him in place when he made to leave. God, the reproachful
look darkening his eyes, sucking the life from his features made her physically
ache. “First of all, you did
not
fail me. You were upset. You have a
history of women disappointing you. I understand that’s where you’re mind
jumped—”

“Stop it. Just stop it, Kerri.” He
shook her off. “That’s just it. You shouldn’t have to understand. Or thank me.
I should’ve known right then, but I didn’t.” He let out a long breath, then
turned to face her fully. “Look, I appreciate what you’re saying. And I get it,
darlin’. I really do, but I don’t deserve it.”

She grabbed his hand. “Well, that’s
where you’re wrong, cowboy,” she said, lightly brushing his bruised knuckles
with her lips. “You need to stop beating yourself up. It’s over. In the past. I
forgive you, now you need to forgive yourself and move on.”

His gaze softened, and he touched
her bottom lip with his thumb. “You’re something else, Kerri Masters.”

She smiled and shrugged, warmth
finally finding her heart for the first time in weeks.

“You deserve someone as
understanding and open-minded. Someone who isn’t...
me
,” he said, sucking
that newfound warmth from her heart. “Thank you for your forgiveness. It means
a lot to me.” He dropped his hand and stepped back. “But there’s no way in hell
I’ll ever forgive myself.”

With a curt nod, he twisted and
walked away, similar to how Duke had left her in the store. Guilt ruled both of
the men’s actions.

But the two men were very
different. One was honorable and one was not. Her chest tightened. That wasn’t
the big difference. No. The big difference between the two men who had fought
because of her was the fact only one
held
her heart.

T
he novelty of the
town’s new restaurant hadn’t worn off yet, and Kerri and Jordan were kept busy.
The days had turned into weeks, and before she knew it, more than a month had
passed.

She’d simply traded one torture for
another.

She missed him, darn it.

Every night, Kerri found herself
scanning the crowd for Connor’s sexy, lop-sided
grin, and went to bed with a longing she knew only he could satisfy.

He’d surprised her with that apology
opening night, but what surprised her most was that he hadn’t asked her if they
could try again. Instead, he’d said good-bye and wished her well.

He’d ended it.

Boom.

Done.

She’d been dumbfounded, and if
truthful, a little disappointed.

Despite his lack of trust in her,
if Connor had initiated it, if he had crooked is little pinky at her, Kerri
knew she would’ve given him another chance. Of course, it inevitably would’ve
ended in disaster again—because without trust you can’t have a relationship.
Luckily, Connor had the hindsight to see that, and walked away. Which he did
again at the anniversary dinner. She as much as gave him a second chance, but
he didn’t take it. Just insisted she could do better and walked away. Again.

That was over three weeks ago, and
now as she drove to have lunch with her sister and the McCalls, Kerri couldn’t
help but wonder if she would get a glimpse of Connor today. She shouldn’t want
to see him. They’d left it in a good place. Amicable friends. A clean break.
She shouldn’t rock the boat. But…dang. She missed him. The uncontrollable urge
to see him burned through her every day. What was with that? It was because of
that urge she hadn’t been to Wild Creek in weeks. Not since the anniversary
dinner. Need would only cause her to do something stupid, and these days, it
didn’t take much.

Today, Jordan had enticed her over
with the promise of one of Emma’s famous enchiladas. She hadn’t had the
pleasure of one since childhood, and her taste buds were heightened in
anticipation.

When she pulled up at the McCall
Ranch, she noticed her sister and Mr. McCall standing by the fence of a corral
where there was a lot of commotion. As Kerri neared, the excitement of a new
horse being broken in explained the uproar.

She greeted her sister and Mr.
McCall before turning her attention to the cowboy, noting with relief it wasn’t
Connor, and ignored her increased pulse as her gaze found him on the other side
of the corral.

Dang, the man was gorgeous. Tall
and lean and perfect. He wore a denim shirt with the sleeves rolled up, tucked
into a snug pair of faded jeans. His confident, easy-going presence was
commanding, and she couldn’t tear her gaze from his face as she watched him
concentrate on the horse and rider.

Excitement and pleasure emanated
from him, announcing to others that he loved what he did. Kerri recognized that
immediately, because she held those same feelings for cooking for other people.
There was nothing better than doing what you loved for a living.

As the beautiful gray stallion
bucked the rider off, Connor quickly ushered the cowboy out of harm’s way. She
recognized the young man as the one who’d taken third place at the rodeo.

Then her
heart
bucked. Dear
God, Connor was going to try to get on the demon. Kerri watched mesmerized as
he circled the horse to try his luck.

Only a moment ago, she’d thought
the animal beautiful with its gray coloring and black flowing mane. Now, with
Connor as the rider, her outlook changed. Big time. This was a wild beast. Huge,
and snarling.

Holding her breath, she watched
Connor use his magic to get close enough to the horse to grab the horn of the
saddle and pull himself on. The massive beast wasn’t pleased, and she watched
in fear as he was tossed forward and backward while it reared and kicked. His
hat fell off and the horse stomped it mercilessly with its deadly hoofs.

Kerri gasped, and noted her sister’s
glance, but she didn’t care. She refused to take her eyes off Connor. With
skill and determination, he stayed on the bucking horse. 

As much as she wanted to leave
because she couldn’t bear to see him get thrown or hurt—or worse—Kerri stayed
rooted to the spot. There was no way she could go until she knew the man she
loved was safe.

The man I love?

Where in the world had that come
from?

Kerri gripped the fence with white
knuckles and slumped against it as her mind raced to understand what her heart
had just revealed.

Holy smokes
. When had that happened?
And how?

Sure, she’d always loved Connor,
but more as an older brother when she’d been growing up.

Kerri realized with a start that all
that had changed last year. Her visit had opened up her mind to the fact he was
an incredibly attractive and sexy male—who was
not
her brother.

When she’d arrived here last
December and they’d kissed again, Kerri had started to see him clearly. The
more time they spent together the past few months, the more she realized her
heart had always known him, and their spirits were one in the same.

Wow…that was deep. And true.

Kerri
did
love Connor McCall,
but was darned if she knew what she was going to do about it. There were
several things she
could
do, but since he was the one who’d halted their
relationship, there wasn’t much of a point.  

Finally, after what seemed like a
millennia, Connor brought the horse under control, and Kerri breathed again. He
was safe. The stallion’s bucks had lessened in strength and height. She could
leave…provided her legs were strong enough to carry her to Emma’s kitchen.

“Well, I don’t know about you, but
I need a cool drink after all that.” She tried to make light of the situation.

Jordan nodded. “I agree. That was
some riding.”

Kerri glanced one more time in
Connor’s direction and was startled to see him grin at her, then wave as he
kept the horse moving under his commands.

With a tentative wave, she
swallowed hard as she watched him through new eyes. Her whole body was warm and
tingly and alive. She drew in a ragged breath and fought the urge to cough as
dust entered her mouth.

I’m in love with Connor McCall
.

Nope. Still sounded strange in her
mind. But not her heart. No. In her heart, it made sense. Perfect sense. And felt
good. Felt right.

Hoping Connor hadn’t read her
thoughts, Kerri turned to walk toward the ranch when her cell phone started to
ring. She fished it from her pocket and frowned at the name on the screen.
Lance.

Why was he calling?

“Hi, Lance.”

Unsure if taking the call near the
corral was smart with the unpredictable horse, Kerri decided to move toward her
car. A few minutes later, after finding a pen and paper, she wrote down the
number Lance told her then hung up, promising to let him know her decision.

Holy smokes.
Kerri walked
back to her sister in a daze.

“What’s up?” Jordan touched her arm, dark eyes full of concern.

Kerri shook her head to clear it,
then focused on her sister. “That was Lance.”

Jordan grinned. “We already knew
that. What did he want? Are you okay? You’re standing there like you’re in the
fog.”

“I guess I am.” She shook her head
again, then smiled. “He gave me Rene Bastille’s phone number.”

Jordan straightened and raised a
brow. “From
Pierre
’s
?”

“Yes.” Kerri nodded, heart beats
increasing. “It seems Rene’s head chef is leaving in a month, and he wants to
know if I want the position. I’ve got one week to decide.”

There. She said it and still
couldn’t believe it.
Top Chef at Pierre’s…

“Wow, Kerri, that’s great!” Jordan pulled her into a hug.

“What is this
Pierre
’s
?”
Alex McCall asked, still frowning.

“It’s only the most posh and
prestigious restaurant in Southern California. Kerri has always hoped to work
there,” her sister boasted.

“Oh. That’s great, Kerri, but we
would hate to see you leave. I thought you liked it here in Texas.”

Mr. McCall turned an intent gaze on
her. A gaze so strikingly similar to the one on Connor, who’d dismounted and
was leading the horse around the coral, she was at a loss for words.

“Sure she does. It’s just that this
is something she’s wanted most of her adult life.”

Once again, her sister came to her
rescue. Kerri blew out a breath. “Yes, and I do like it here, Mr. McCall, but I
can’t ignore the opportunity either.”