His Hometown Cowgirl (9 page)

"Pete?" she asked, her breath sounding as
ragged as his own.

"Right here, honey." He touched his lips to
her golden hair, inhaling her sweet fragrance. She stared at him
out of trustful, passion-glazed eyes, instinctively bumping her
lower body against his hardness, lifting her chin, seeking his
mouth for another kiss.

And dear God in Heaven, he wanted to kiss her
again. He wanted to do so much more than kiss. "You're killing me,
babe."

"Am I?" Kelsey smiled a sultry smile. His
body reacted with a violence that made him tremble with need.

He wrapped her in his arms again and
plastered himself against the length of her, leaning into her
softness, taking her mouth, savagely ravishing her lips. Her honest
and eager response to his touch amazed him. His own reaction
surprised the hell out of him. He could feel the pressure in his
groin building, pulsing, throbbing. Blood pounded in his ears.

A noise sounded behind him, but he was too
absorbed in the wonder of Kelsey and the feelings she evoked to pay
much heed.

"What the hell do you think you're doing,
kissing my daughter like that?"

The loud accusation had barely registered in
Pete's overheated brain when a strong hand clamped onto his
shoulder in a vice-like grip and jerked him away from Kelsey. The
next thing he knew, Austin McCade had slammed a fist into his
nose.

Kelsey screamed as blood spewed everywhere.
"Dad! Stop!"

Pete staggered on his feet, almost going
down, but managed somehow to keep upright. One look at Austin's
face, and he knew he was in big trouble.

"You told Tyler you were going to leave
Kelsey alone," Austin said. "So why the hell are you kissing her,
you sorry bastard?"

"I can explain--"

"I'll just bet you can."

"It isn't what it looks like."
That was an
understatement.
Pete didn't exactly know what
it
was, or
what
it
meant. All he knew was he wanted to do it again. But
that wasn't likely to happen. He stood his ground, blood dripping
from his nose. He didn't resist or try to defend himself when
Austin grabbed him by the collar and pulled back his fist, ready to
deliver another punch.

Oh, fuck. He was a dead man.

Clamping his jaw tight, Pete braced himself
for the coming blow.

"No, Dad! You have to stop!"

"Stay out of this, Kels. I'll talk to you
later," Austin said. "This is between me and Pete. And I'm not
finished with the sorry son of a bitch."

"Yes, you are." Kelsey jumped into the middle
of the fray, and Pete barely had time to push her from the line of
attack before he took another hard blow to the jaw.

"
Dad, will you please stop
?" Kelsey
ran to Pete's side and faced her father. "Don't you dare hit him
again. You have no right."

"No right? I'm your father. I'm trying to
protect you."

The man looked livid, almost deranged. His
eyes blazed with ferocious fury, his mouth set in a grim line. "Get
out of the way," Austin told his daughter through gritted teeth. "I
don't want you to get hurt, Kels."

Pete cupped his hand to his nose. It hurt
like hell; it was probably broken. "I'm not going to fight you,
sir."

Austin started forward again, his hands
clenched in fists, determination etched in every line of his rugged
face. "That's your choice, but I'm going to beat the shit out of
you, right here, right now."

"Stop it this instant!" Kelsey grabbed the
tissue box from her desk, wadded up a handful and held them against
Pete's nose. "Dad . . . you're done here. I'm a big girl. I can
take care of myself."

Austin frowned. "Most of the time, yes. Right
now, you're still vulnerable. And Pete isn't exactly relationship
material. You shouldn't start anything with him. You'll only be
headed for more heartache."

That was probably true, but still. Kelsey
closed her eyes for a moment. She could
not
believe this was
happening. Here was a side of her father she'd never seen before.
"Dad, I'm a grown woman. I have grown-woman feelings--"

Austin lifted a hand as if to ward off
unwelcome news. He shook his head, a pained expression on his face.
"I don't want to hear it. I know you're grown, but you shouldn't be
kissing Pete, and he shouldn't be kissing you."

"Why not?"
The words slipped out of
her mouth before she could think.

Kelsey felt Pete's eyes zero in on her, like
he couldn't believe she'd asked such a question. Well, she couldn't
believe it either. But with her dad coming in and acting all
primitive and protective, she'd felt her hackles rise exactly as
they'd done when she'd been a little girl, and he'd denied her
something she truly wanted. Which wasn't often, if she were honest
with herself.

"Never mind," she said. "I think I'd better
take Pete into town to see Uncle Cam at the clinic. Looks like you
might have broken his nose."

Austin shook his head as if coming out of a
trance. "I'll take him. It's getting late. You ought to go on
home."

Late? It wasn't late.
Kelsey wanted to
scream again, but controlled herself. "Thanks, Dad. Really, but
I've got this."

"You sure?" Austin looked at Pete. "Listen,
if I misjudged you, then I'm sorry. It's just that I don't want
Kelsey to get hurt again. She may be grown, but she's still my
little girl. And you have to admit, you're
not
relationship
material."

"No, sir. I know I'm not," Pete said. "And if
I had a daughter as beautiful as Kelsey, I'd guard her from men
like me, too."

"You would?" Austin narrowed his eyes. "What
kind of game are you playing, son?"

Pete shook his head, winced and pressed the
tissue harder against his nose. "I don't play games. Never have,
never will."

The two men stared at each other, exchanging
a silent masculine message.

Kelsey looked from one to the other and
rolled her eyes. "All right, then. Okay. I'm going to look for an
icepack; I think we have one in our first-aid kit. Dad, I'm sure
you have somewhere else you need to be, don't you?"

"I still want to talk to you, young lady,"
Austin said in his sternest fatherly voice.

"Right. But first, I have to get Pete to the
clinic. Love you, Dad." She held the door for him, kissing his
cheek as he passed her on his way out.

She closed the door behind him with a deep
breath of relief and looked at Pete. "Let me find that icepack,
then I'll drive you to Salt Fork. I'm so sorry about all of this.
You do seem to end up with the short end of the stick whenever
you're pitted against one of us McCades. I really apologize for my
dad's behavior."

"He was just trying to protect you." Pete
held the wad of tissue to his nose, still trying to staunch the
bleeding. His smile warmed her heart. "Don't worry," he said. "I'm
tough. I can take whatever you McCades dish out."

Kelsey returned the smile and handed him the
box of tissue. "Sure, Pete. Sure."

Later that evening, Kelsey stood in Pete's
apartment at the Lone Star Wings airfield, helping him get settled
after his visit to her Uncle Cameron, the resident physician at the
Salt Fork Medical Center. Pete's nose wasn't broken, just badly
bruised.

Thank goodness
.

Uncle Cam had taped up Pete's injury, before
sending them on their way, all the while shooting sidelong glances
at his niece with eyes filled with amusement.

Kelsey could see no reason for his amusement.
It wasn't funny. None of this was funny.

Now that they were back at Pete's place,
Kelsey felt all the awkwardness of being alone with him after
sharing that intimate and mind-boggling kiss in her office. She'd
been too busy to evaluate her feelings what with the commotion of
her father finding her and Pete kissing, the fight and ensuing
bloodbath, rushing to the clinic and getting Pete patched up. And
then on the drive home, she was so worried about Pete's injury that
she hadn't had time to be self-conscious or embarrassed.

She had time now.

Standing alone in the small kitchen, she
looked around. In all these years, she'd never set foot inside the
apartment since Pete had moved in. Why would she? There'd been no
reason. But she was here today, and boy, what a mess it was.

Dirty dishes were scattered on top of the
counters, and the sink was full, too. Several bags of chips lay on
the table, opened and half full. Kelsey shook her head. The living
room wasn't in much better shape; clothes and shoes were tossed on
the floor, draped over chair backs, and hung on the doorknobs.

She'd never have figured Pete to keep such a
messy apartment when he was so meticulous when it came to the
planes and their maintenance. He kept the tools and equipment more
organized than Uncle Tyler had ever thought of doing.

But Pete's apartment was a disaster.

Oh well, since she was here, she might as
well tidy up before heading home. It was the least she could do
after what he'd suffered at her father's hands. Pete wasn't in any
condition to do much of anything until tomorrow. Uncle Cam had
ordered him to take it easy for the rest of the day and given him
something for the pain.

She would leave just as soon as she got Pete
situated. They'd stopped for dog food and a few groceries before
driving back to the ranch so he and Ranger would have something to
eat while Pete was recuperating. Kelsey tossed several frozen
dinners in the freezer, fed the dog, then turned to survey the
cluttered counters and tabletop.

Yeah, she'd just straighten up a bit. The
longer she stayed in the kitchen, the longer she could avoid facing
Pete again.

Damn. When had she turned into such a
coward?

Kelsey sighed, opened the dishwasher and
started loading dirty dishes and glasses. She hadn't always been a
coward. She used to be brave. Ready to face whatever life decided
to throw her way. But that ingrained ability had disappeared the
day Chris had died. No way had she been prepared to face that kind
of tragedy. She didn't know if anyone would ever be ready to face
something like that. And it would take most people a good while to
get over such heartache. So why did she think she was any
different?

But damn
. How long would it take for
her to get back to normal? Or even a new normal? Her dad had
mourned her mother for twelve long years. Even as a child, Kelsey
had known he'd been wasting his life by keeping himself so isolated
and withdrawn from others.

Grabbing a sponge, she wiped down the
counter, shaking her head as she scrubbed at a stubborn stain. She
didn't want to mourn Chris forever. She didn't want to spend her
life alone. Lonely. She wasn't a martyr. Only she'd felt so numb,
almost dead inside ever since that day he'd passed away. She'd
tried to shake it off, but nothing had worked.

Until today. For the first time in eighteen
months, Kelsey had felt truly alive again with Pete's strong arms
around her holding her close. His kiss had unlocked her heart and
soul, and she'd been powerless to resist the flurry of passion his
lips and touch had unleashed.

Kelsey stood up straight and gazed out the
window over the sink, a small smile playing at the corners of her
mouth. She still couldn't believe she and Pete had actually
kissed
. And what was even harder to believe was that
she'd
instigated it.

Was she bat-shit crazy or what? Had she lost
her ever-loving mind? What the hell had she been thinking? She had
no business kissing Pete.

She knew better.
Didn't she?

Kelsey rinsed the sponge and wrung it out,
then glanced toward the living room where her patient sat on the
sofa. Pete was leaning back against the cushions with his eyes
closed, his booted feet propped on the coffee table, holding the
icepack to his nose with Ranger lying next to him sleeping
soundly.

She tossed the sponge on the counter and
picked up a dishtowel, staring at the man she knew so well in many
ways, so little in others.

Did he regret the kiss? Did
she?

The question startled her. Of course, she
regretted it. She
should
regret it. Pete wasn't the kind of
man she wanted to get involved with.
He
didn't do long-term
relationships;
she
didn't do short. Therefore, they could
not get involved.

But wow
. Kelsey touched a finger to
her lips and closed her eyes on a sigh. How many times had she'd
imagined kissing him when she'd been a teenager? It was like a
dream come true.
A pipe dream
. It didn't change anything. He
still wasn't someone she should fall in love with.

Only, her feelings for Pete were . . .
complicated. And kissing him had just made everything more
complicated.

What the hell had she been thinking?

She glanced at the clock above the sink.
Yeah, she really needed to get a move on. Grams would have supper
on the table, and everyone would wonder where she was. She should
probably call to say she'd be late. Digging her phone from her
pocket, she groaned. She'd run out of battery power. Again.

"Kelsey?" Pete's voice sounded a little
groggy from the pain medication he'd taken.

"Coming!" She quickly dried her hands and
hung the towel on the hook above the sink. Unfortunately, she
couldn't hide in the kitchen forever. Taking a deep breath for
courage, she walked into the living room and over to the sofa where
Pete sat sprawled out, his long legs resting on the coffee table,
his boots hanging off the opposite edge. He was long, lanky and
powerfully built. Her heart fluttered in her chest. She might tell
herself that Pete was all wrong for her, but that didn't stop the
hot blood zipping through her veins.