Her Unbridled Cowboy (Harland County Series) (8 page)

“Are you sure it’s wise to anger
the big puppy dog?” Jordan asked when they were the only two left at the buffet.

Kerri frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, the whole time Kevin had
his lips on you, Connor’s big paws had clenched into fists.”

They had?
Kerri blinked, her
heart racing for some unknown reason. His reaction meant something, but she
wasn’t sure what it meant. Or if she should even care.

Realizing her sister was waiting,
watching her, she shrugged again. “It’ll be all right. Connor won’t do
anything. He’s
allergic
to me.”

Jordan’s head snapped up, eyes
sparkling. “What? Did he say that to you?”

“Not directly,” Kerri replied,
wishing they could get off the subject. “I overheard him telling Hank and his
supervisors he’s allergic to city girls.”

Jordan nodded. “Well, he hasn’t had
the best of luck with them.”

“True. But it seems his men, along
with our parents, think the two of us belong together.”

Expecting her sister to laugh
again, Kerri was surprised at Jordan’s lack of response. Then her heart froze as
she studied her silent sister. “Oh, no. Not you, too?”

Crud
. If her sister ever,
ever got it in her head to play matchmaker, Kerri was sunk. Nothing would stop Jordan. Nothing.

“Relax.” Her sister’s palm closed
over her hand. “Yes, I think you’d be good together, but now isn’t the time.
And I told both parents not to push you.”

So, everyone
had
been
discussing them.
Great
. “Well, I hope they listen because Connor and I
have already talked about this.”

“You have?”

“Yes, and we both agreed we aren’t
interested.”

“Then he lied, because, honey, the
way that man looked at you, is
still
looking at you…he’s most definitely
interested.”

The urge to turn and look at the
cowboy shook through Kerri, but she remained strong. No. Didn’t matter how or
if he was looking at her, he was off limits.

“It’s just curiosity,” she said. “Because
once he had me, he wouldn’t…” her voice trailed off.
Yikes.
She’d almost
revealed her deepest fear.

“Once he’d had you what? Kerri.
Look at me.” Jordan touched her hand again. “Surely you weren’t going to say he
wouldn’t want you, because that is untrue. So
very
untrue. Why would you
think that?”

“Because I’m not good…” She snapped
her mouth shut.
Dear Lord.
She almost said it. She almost said ‘in bed.’
Her face heated anyway. This wasn’t the time. She was not going to get into
this here. Not now. Not in the middle of her sister’s engagement party.
Good
Lord.

“Of course you’re good. You’re
great.”

Jordan squeezed her hand, and Kerri
had never been more relieved her sister hadn’t picked up her silent meaning.

“Thanks, but let’s drop this, okay?
Tonight isn’t about me. It’s about you and Cole, and I’d much rather celebrate
than debate.”

Jordan smiled. “Okay. Me, too. But
if you ever do want to talk, you find me. Promise.”

“I promise.”

“Okay. Good. Now, let’s eat. I’m
starved.”

“When aren’t you?”

“Exactly.”

Laughing, they joined Cole who was
sitting with Kevin’s sister Jen and her husband Brock. 

They spent an enjoyable half hour
eating and laughing about old times. Even the addition of Connor and Kevin
hadn’t spoiled her fun. Memories brought back their childhood camaraderie .

Kerri was still smiling when, a
little later, Jordan and Cole left to take the stage, arms around each other.

“We’d like to thank everyone for their
well wishes and for coming to help celebrate our engagement,” Cole said,
smiling adoringly at her sister.

“We’d also like to thank Kerri and
Emma for the wonderful job they did with the food,” Jordan gushed. “Everything
was absolutely delicious, especially the lasagna.”

Kerri smiled and thanked the
murmuring crowd, unable to stop the impending blush. Her gaze met and locked
with Connor’s. Brown eyes darkened, and heaven help her…heated. Okay, now she
had a problem. Her body tingled. What was up with that? And what happened to
the childhood rapport that had enveloped them? It disappeared…like her breath.
And she had the oddest urge to move to his side of the table to…

She gripped the bottom of her chair
and stayed put. No.
Bad body
. He raised his glass and nodded. Kerri had
no idea if his response was to her inner battle or Jordan’s praise. Body
humming with an unfamiliar current, she managed a small smile, and with extreme
effort, pulled her gaze away. Her breathing returned to normal.

Holy smokes, that man was dangerous
to her sanity. But, she had to admit, she kind of liked the off-kilter affect
he brought to her world. Maybe it was something she should explore. Just a
little. She’d certainly never encountered it before.

Maybe because she’d always been
with safe men. Never with such a virile, dangerous one.
What am I thinking?
Like she’d even know what to do with one.

Kerri gave herself a mental shake
and forced her attention back to the loving couple on stage.

“Finally, I’d like to thank my
beautiful fiancée, Jordan.” Cole turned her sister to face him and grasped both
her hands.  “Honey, thank you for being patient and not knocking my head off
even though I deserved it more than once this past year.”

The crowd laughed.

“And thank you for bringing me back
to life,” he continued. “I love you. You’ve made me a better man. A happy man.
The luckiest damn man in the world.”

Kerri watched with a tear in her
eye as Jordan lovingly touched Cole’s face. “I love you, too, sweetheart. And I
brought you back for purely selfish reasons. I told you more than a decade ago,
you were going to marry me, and I intend to make that happen.” 

“So do I, Jordan. So do I,” Cole stated softly just before he gave his bride-to-be a thorough kiss in front of
everyone.

When the clapping and whistling
stopped, Cole announced he had a song he wanted to sing to Jordan. Kerri
laughed at her wide-eyed, open-mouthed sister.

“Jordan speechless. That’s not
something you see very often,” Connor commented, dropping down next to her.

Dang. Why’d he move?
Her
heart was now residing in her throat so all she could do was nod. But soon she
forgot about her discomfort as Cole began to sing a beautiful Garth Brooks
ballad about coming back to each other and finally closing a circle.

Kerri was never more thankful she
didn’t use mascara, because she’d certainly resemble a raccoon. What an
incredibly, fitting song. She swallowed past her tight throat, then started
when a warm hand covered her own. Her gaze swiveled to Connor’s and she was
surprised to note the same emotions stinging her eyes shined in his gaze. She
squeezed back.

No reason they couldn’t share a
kindred, happy moment for their siblings. And their siblings
were
happy.
It beamed from their faces. Jordan and Cole were so much in love nobody danced.
Nobody moved. They sat in their seats and took delight in the happy couple’s
joy.

When the song ended, Jordan kissed Cole, then clung to him, and the two just stood there, holding each other
tight. That’s when the biggest pang of envy stabbed at Kerri, mutilating her
with invisible slash after slash.

If it was in the cards for her to
find a love even half as strong, she’d be eternally grateful.

Everyone stood and cheered, and
when the clapping subsided, the happy couple stayed to sing a livelier tune
that had everyone dancing. That’s when Kerri escaped to the dessert table. She
was too emotional, too vulnerable, too unsettled to be anywhere near Connor
McCall.

Besides, it was time for
death-by-chocolate and a few other goodies. Telling herself she’d start
worrying about the tightness of her jeans tomorrow, Kerri loaded her plate.

She was just finishing her stuffed
strawberry when Kevin approached.

“What do you say, pretty lady? Want
to go a few turns around the floor?”

“I’d love to.”

He was a good dancer, light and
sure on his feet. His arms didn’t feel as secure around her as Connor’s, but he
held her tight, and she enjoyed the dance. So much so, she agreed to another.

They were making their third pass
around the floor when she suddenly realized Kevin no longer wore his headband.

“Where’s your mistletoe?” she asked
breathlessly as he spun her around.

“I took it off when I sat down to
eat. Why? Did you want to kiss me again?” he teased before spinning her away
from him only to twirl her back into his arms and dip her as the song ended.

She laughed, but had no time to
answer as another cowboy asked her to dance. Recognizing him as one of the
ranch supervisor’s named Pete, she accepted. The friendly Texan was one of
Connor’s men, and she found his shyness rather cute.

Relaxing, Kerri was just starting
to enjoy herself when she caught Connor staring at them.  No dimples. No
twinkle in his brown gaze. Great. Why was he so annoyed? Kerri watched as Ashley,
in her red mini skirt, sauntered up to him, grabbed his hand and pulled him out
onto the dance floor. 

Even though the bugger no longer stared,
her dance was ruined. She watched as Connor wrapped his arms around the blonde,
and her body immediately remembered what it had felt like to be cocooned in
warm strength.

Kerri stumbled and stepped on her
partner’s toes. Darn it. Mumbling an apology, she tried not to remember what it
had felt like to be the one Connor had twirled and whirled with an easy
confidence when they’d danced a few times at one of Kevin’s barbeques, and
again at her parents’ fortieth anniversary party in September. She failed. He’d
felt strong and sure and powerful. Heaven help her, she’d liked it. Very much. But
back then, she’d been happy with the way her life was finally going in California. She’d chalked up the experience as nothing more than finding a good-looking
dance partner who didn’t have two left feet. But now? Now she didn’t know. She
was confused. Weak. Her life was upside down. She had nothing left of her old
life. And he made her feel good. Strong. He made her feel…

Too much.

Heat spread throughout her body,
and no doubt, brought color to her face. Bugger. Even from across the room, his
potency affected her. Crud. She was becoming a Connor whore.

When the song eventually ended,
Kerri thanked her partner then escaped into the kitchen, telling herself she
wanted to check on Emma and see if her mentor needed any help.

After downing a glass of water, she
placed it in the sink and turned around to find Emma leaning against the
counter with her arms folded across her chest.

“What are you doing in here?”

Kerri’s chin rose. “I just came for
a glass of water and to see if you needed anything.”

Emma’s plump brow arched. “I’m
fine, child. And I thought I made myself clear. You are to stay out there and
enjoy yourself. I can handle things in here.”

“All right, alright I’m going.”
Kerri smiled on her way out the door.

She hadn’t walked two feet when an
annoyed blonde stepped in front of her, blocking her path. “Well, well, if it
isn’t little Kerri trying to act all grown up.”

“Well, well, if it isn’t Ashley
acting like a child,” Kerri countered and made to walk around the witch.

“You think you’re so great with
your fancy clothes and your fancy food. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you
can land a man like Connor, because he likes his women more experienced and
receptive.”

“Yeah, well, you ought to know.”

Shoot. Did she really just say
that?
Kerri’s stomach clenched tight. Never in her adult life had she said
something so catty. Or acted so immature.

“That’s right.” Ashley smiled. “I
do
know,
and
I know how to satisfy him. So don’t go getting any ideas,” the
haughty blonde warned, poking Kerri with one of her red tipped fingers.

She felt her lips tug into a smirk.
“You don’t have to worry about me, honey. I like my men more civilized. He’s
all yours.” She walked away leaving a dumbfounded Ashley to stare after her.

Connor sure could pick ‘em
.
Surely he wasn’t that desperate?

Kerri walked back into the party
seething with anger. Not like her at all. She wasn’t normally an angry person.
Still, she didn’t know whom she was angrier at; Ashley, who after all these
years still made her feel inadequate despite everything Kerri had accomplished,
or at herself for stooping to Ashley’s level and acting like an immature twit.

Both. Definitely both.

Out of the corner of her eye, Kerri
caught Jordan motioning to her from across the room. Heading to her sister, she
worked on getting her emotions under control, trying desperately to apply her
motto. It didn’t work. By the time she reached her sister in the corner, she
realized, too late, Jordan wasn’t alone.

Perfect. Why should things go easy?
Cole, Kevin and Connor were also there.
Goodie.

“What’s wrong, Kerri?” Jordan touched her arm while Cole frowned.

“Yeah.” Kevin nodded. “You look
like you’re ready to spit nails.”

The image of Ashley’s red-tipped
fingers came to mind.

Connor stepped closer, concern
deepening the creases by his eyes. “Are you okay? Did someone bother you?”

“Yeah.” She snorted. “Your
girlfriend
.
You need to keep a rein on your women, mister. I don’t appreciate being blindsided
by them.”

The worry left Connor’s face, and
as his shoulders visibly relaxed, she noticed his gaze sparkled with suppressed
amusement.

“What are you talking about, kiddo?
You know I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“Tell that to Ashley,” she replied.
“You need to set her straight. She just cornered me and warned me off of you.”