Rocky Mountain Cowboy (40 page)

Standing at the big picture window in the living room as the sun set
later that evening, she looked toward the bunkhouse and saw Cindy Caldwell’s fancy BMW parked outside. A few moments later, the woman emerged from the bunkhouse, dressed in a short black leather skirt and a tight black turtle neck sweater under a black leather jacket. Her feathered blonde hair blew across her exquisitely flawless face. No matter how much Jenny resented the woman, she couldn’t deny the fact that the blonde was stunning. Hawk followed Cindy out to her car, wearing a leather jacket himself and a hat. Both of them got into her sleek black car and just sat in front of the bunkhouse for several minutes. Finally, the car backed up and tore down the dirt road that lead to the highway, leaving a trail of dust in its wake.

Jenny hated herself for watching and caring.

She cursed as she fought her stupid tears. It hadn’t taken either of them long to resume their long-standing relationship. Well, damn it! She’d been warned. Why should she have thought herself any different from all the other women Hawk had dated, slept with, then broken up with? Despite his reassurances, he obviously wasn’t finished with his
former
girlfriend.
So get over him
, she admonished herself. She was home finally. She didn’t need him. Thirty days, Jack had said. Could she survive thirty days of seeing him around the ranch, knowing he had resumed his relationship with Cindy? Or would her heart break every one of those thirty days a little more and a little more until it was completely irreparable?

∞∞∞

Hawk rounded up his laundry from the messy array of clothes he had only
partially put away since moving into the bunkhouse yesterday. Eli was the only ranch hand with rooms of his own. Hank had a bed, a dresser, and a closet in the rear. Of course, for most of the year, he was the only one in the large communal room. There were spaces for nine more beds, although they never employed that many cowboys anymore. As a result, the center of the long dormitory-style room was now furnished as a sitting room and eating area, complete with a couple of couches, chairs, a television set, and a long dining table with benches on either side.

Hawk had taken a vacant sleeping area in the front of the bunkhouse, although it was a sad set-down from his own room at the house. Space and distance provided the only privacy, and the single bathroom had to be shared by all three men. It took cooperation to live communally the way ranch hands often did, and Hawk hadn’t done it since he was a boy living in the Caldwell bunkhouse with the other foster kids there.

He resented the new arrangement as much as Hank and Eli seemed to, although he thought their resentment had more to do with their anger at him for not forming the partnership with Tom’s daughter. The two cowboys had barely spoken to him, and had been especially irritated when Cindy had shown up yesterday. To placate them, Hawk had ushered her out within minutes after her arrival, then left with her. It had been a better alternative than letting her make the emotional scene she had been working herself into in front of the two men.

He’d talked to her on the phone earlier in the day, so she’d known where to find him. Of course, she’d loved the news that he had been kicked out of the house in an argument with Tom’s daughter. It might have ended there between them, except that she’d then told him she had information about her brother’s latest plans to get him to sell the land he wanted. Because he was goddamned afraid for Jenny after what she’d done, he had invited Cindy over.

They’d gone for a drive, and she’d revealed that her brother was enraged at having discovered the ranch’s loans had been caught up and paid off, and that there was now a hundred thousand dollars sitting in his bank account. It was as Hawk feared. Brad had figured out that it had to have been Jenny who had bailed him out and taken the ranch out of jeopardy. Brad knew Hawk didn’t have that kind of money.

Jenny was now the target of all Brad’s fury. She’d thwarted his plans to foreclose and force a sale of the ranch, setting Brad back to square one. Added to that, his shady backers for the resort were in town, pressuring him to get something done as soon as possible. Cindy had also happily informed Hawk that Tom’s daughter had been advised to sue him for incompetence. Brad had hopes that he had convinced Jenny to follow his advice. His sister thought Hawk might want to be ready for that.

So there she’d been, ready and eager to resume their relationship. It hadn’t been a pleasant evening, sorting through all her stories and fending off her dramatic pleas for a resumption of their affair. But at least he had been forewarned. Having some advance knowledge of Brad’s state of mind might make it possible for him to protect Jenny from the man’s vindictiveness.

Those two men he’d seen outside Brad’s office yesterday had trouble written all over them. Cindy had repeatedly told him Brad was involved with some disreputable businessmen. He had no doubts that those were the men he’d seen. And what had given him a knot in his gut was that both of them had looked way too interested in Jenny. Their speculative assessment of her had sent off all his alarm signals. The younger one, in particular, had seemed especially interested in her in a way that had sent chills up and down his spine. The damn woman had put herself
in a world of personal danger!

He was nearly as furious with her today as he’d been two days ago. The question was, though, what was he going to do about their personal and business relationship now? She was as angry with him as he was with her. She’d gone back on her word to stay out of the problems with Brad. She’d stung his pride, and made herself the target of men who would want to make her pay for what she’d done. And damn it, he could completely understand and even empathize with her desire to save her home. He wished that he could have resolved their problems sooner, so she wouldn’t have had to, but he admired how selflessly she had put her
own money into the ranch. Except, he couldn’t tell her any of that because he was also still furious with her, and scared to death he wouldn’t be able to protect her.

Once
all his dirty laundry was gathered and sorted, he headed across the yard with a basket of it to the back porch of the house where the washer and dryer were located. Everyone had a different laundry day, and his was Sunday. Dressed in a pair of faded navy blue sweat pants and an old sweatshirt that he had cut the sleeves out of, he felt the approach of winter on his bare arms as he crossed the yard. It was definitely getting colder in the evening. He should have dressed warmer. Even the ground felt cold beneath his moccasins. It wouldn’t be long until the first snowfall, he speculated as he opened the porch door and stepped inside.

Through the connecting door to the kitchen, he saw Jenny at the stove waiting for the water in the tea kettle to boil. What caught his attention, though, was the way she was dressed. She was still in her bedclothes. She had that long sexy see-through robe on, the one with all the dragons slithering around it. Underneath it, she was wearing a short black slip or nightie of some sort. And her hair was loose and tousled, like she’d just gotten out of bed. He wondered if she wasn’t feeling well.

He lifted the lid to the washing machine and swore. The machine was full of very feminine under things. He started to scoop out all the tiny scraps of multi-colored silk. There was so little material to them, the whole load of panties and bras fit into his two hands.

“What the hell are you doing?”

He was reaching for the dryer door when she came in and grabbed her things away from him. The damp lingerie fell to the floor. She bent down to pick it up at the same time Hawk did, and they bumped heads. Both of them swore and straightened up.

“My laundry
!” he snapped, taking a step back so she could squeeze in front of him. “Sunday’s supposed to be my day to have the washer and dryer, remember?”

Her round little bottom bumped his groin as she bent over to throw her underclothes into the dryer. He got hard fast. It felt like forever since he had made love to her, even though it had only been three days. His traitorous body ached for her even through all his anger.

“Well, the bunkhouse needs a washer and dryer!” she complained as she spun around to face him.

For
Hawk, that didn’t help much, either. With her backed up against the dryer, less than two feet before him, he had a close-up view of her breasts. Beneath the robe that hung open, her thin silk slip revealed their delectable, round, unrestrained shape to perfection. Even as he stared, her nipples tightened into taut little buds peaking against the black silk. For the life of him, Hawk couldn’t stop staring.

Jenny saw where his eyes lingered and shoved at him disgustedly. “Oh, for crying out loud, get out of my way, will you?”

As she squeezed past him, it took all his will power to keep his hands off her. He took a deep calming breath, then finished loading his clothes into the washer. He saw she hadn’t turned on the dryer. “What do you want your underwear set on?” he called out to her.

Back at the stove, in the kitchen, Jenny poured boiling water into her cup, over her tea ball. “Delicate, fifteen minutes.” While she stirred honey into her tea, she peeked over her shoulder at him. “I see your
ex
-girlfriend didn’t waste any time reclaiming you.”

Finished in the laundry room, Hawk came through the open door into the kitchen. Under the overhead lights, he gave her another thorough assessment, from her bare feet, to her pale
make-up free face, to her disheveled hair. “You don’t look so well. Are you sick?”

“Well, I’m
sooo
sorry I don’t measure up to your sexy blonde girlfriend,” she shot back. “And, no, I’m not sick. I’m just tired.”

Hawk stopped in front of her. “Cindy
…is…
not…
my…girlfriend,” he stated slowly and precisely.

Jenny rolled her eyes. “Well, you could have fooled me. It looked like the two of you were getting reacquainted and cozy as hell
last night.” With a shrug, she sipped her tea, pretending not to care. “But, stupid me, I didn’t listen very well when everyone warned me.”

He was an arm’s length away
, and gave her a look of strained patience. “Jenny, we didn’t get back together.”

“Like I care, anyway.” With that parting shot, she took her tea cup and turned to leave.

Hawk caught her elbow and pulled her to a stop. “You told me you did three nights ago, damn it.”

Jenny gave him a cool look as she stared directly into his eyes
and shrugged nonchalantly. “I’ve had a reversal of opinion, Mr. Larson.” Pulling her elbow free, she turned once again to leave. “Just leave my underwear on top of the dryer when it’s done.”

Hawk watched her dismiss him, then walk away. Infuriated, he half-snarled, half-shouted her name. She glanced over her shoulder
on the bottom step of the stairway, her eyes widening when she saw how furious he was and how close he was. The moment he started after her, she bolted up the stairway. Once she reached her room, she slammed the door in his face, but she didn’t have time to lock it. She could hear him right behind her. Setting her teacup down on the nightstand by her bed, she dashed to the bathroom.

Hawk’s longer legs made him faster, and just as she reached the bathroom doorway, he caught her from behind
, hooking one arm around her waist. Her robe fell to her elbows. His hands got tangled in the silky belt. Immediately, he pulled his hands free, turned her to face him, and caught her around the waist again to keep her from escaping. Then he looked around the room. All the curtains were drawn, and the room was dark, except for the faint glow from her small beside lamp. There were clothes strewn all over the floor. Her bed was unmade and rumpled.

His piercing gaze came back to her pale, tired face. “Have you been in bed, in this dark room all day? What’s wrong with you?”

“As if you don’t know,” she mumbled sullenly under her breath, tugging and pulling to break free of his hold. “I didn’t sleep well.... That’s all.”

“Did you eat today?”

“What do you care? And it’s none of your business anyway!”

“The hell it isn’t!”

“Get out of here and leave me the hell alone!” Since she was getting nowhere trying to get free, she stopped struggling. When all he did was study her, she stiffened in his embrace and raised her voice to repeat herself more forcefully. “Damn it, leave me alone!”

“No.” Bowing his head, he pressed his forehead to hers. “Damn
ation, I can’t leave you alone! I need you, too much.” The admission was punctuated by a raw husky groan.

Jenny heard the anguish in it, but was having none of it. “Bullshit! You just want to get laid again. What’s the matter? Isn’t Cindy enough?”

“Goddamnit! I am not screwing Cindy, and we did not get back together,” he hissed through clenched teeth. “She came over because she said her brother found out about those loan payments you made. He’s madder than hell about it, too, just like I knew he would be. Do you know how much danger you put yourself in, woman? Now, he and his nasty friends are more than likely going to come after you for messing up their big plans.”

“I got your home and mine out of danger,” she insisted defiantly.

“But at what cost, for christsakes? Did you take a good look at those guys in the hallway outside Brad’s office the other day? Did you see how the big guy was looking at you? Like he’d really like to get up close and personal with you?” Hawk’s hands had moved from her waist to her arms. He so angry with her, he was digging his thumbs into her soft flesh. Jenny looked down at his hands and winced. Immediately, he loosened his hold. But he didn’t, couldn’t let her go. “Didn’t I tell you to stay the hell out of this mess?” Emphasizing his point, he gave her a little shake. “Didn’t I?”