Silver River Romeo (Western Cowboy Romance) (Rancher Romance Series #1) (3 page)

              “Hey!” Cole said defensively. “I am not a chauvinist! It’s not just the fact that you’re a woman, it’s the fact that you can’t have any idea what you’re doing. I never even saw your family out at the ranch.”

              “Well, luckily for me, my grandpa didn’t ask your opinion about leaving me Raven Branch,” she said hotly. “And you can’t have any idea what I know and what I don’t know. I’ve been reading up on all of this and I plan to take it slow. Maybe hire some ranch hands and...oh, why am I telling you all of this?” She stopped and sighed in frustration. “I’ve got shopping to do. It was nice to meet two of you.” She finished, nodding at Marshall and Darrell and sending a glare Cole’s way.

              “Good job,” Marshall said, smacking Cole on the back.

              “You knew she was there, didn’t you?” Cole asked, turning back to Daniel.

              The man gave him a slow, easy grin. “Maybe next time you won’t bother me about what I decide to stock.”

              “I’m going to the truck,” Cole muttered. “It’s been a long day.”

              “It’s 9:30,” Marshall pointed out. “And where are you going?” he demanded when Darrell headed out after Cole.

              “Long day,” Darrell repeated. “Call me when you’re ready to leave. I’ll help you load up.”

              Marshall threw up his hands and went back to calculating prices as Cole stomped off full of a combination of aggravation and embarrassment.

             
Cole sighed and leaned against the truck. He hadn’t made such a fool of himself in a long time. It wouldn’t have been such a big deal if it hadn’t been for his breakup. He and Trish hadn’t ended well. It wasn’t really a surprise. They’d had too fast a start, and the on-again, off-again relationship had a tendency to burn like kerosene on a bonfire. A fitting metaphor as his life had felt a little cold without her. Or maybe it wasn’t that he still missed her. Maybe it was the fact that it had been nearly six months since he’d been with her, or any woman for that matter. He really hadn’t expected it to take so long to find someone else.

              “You all right?” Darrell asked as he shouldered him out of the way and got into the truck.

              “Yeah,” Cole answered automatically.

              Darrell didn’t speak again, but Cole could feel his brother watching him. He sighed and shrugged.

              “I might feel maybe a little bit like a moron,” he finally admitted. “Or, actually, a lot like a moron. And a chauvinist.”

              Darrell gave him a quick smile.

              “It’s not that she’s a woman,” Cole went on. “It’s just that she doesn’t know what the hell she’s doing and she’s either gonna get herself hurt or she’s gonna ruin that ranch.”

              “It’s because you wanted it instead of seeing it go to waste,” Darrell said bringing the real point out in the open.

              Cole shook his head, even though Darrell hadn’t asked him a question. Darrell raised an eyebrow.

              “Okay, fine. Yeah. I mean, it’s pretty much perfect. It’s already set up for horses. It’s got that free back field...”

              “You and your soy.” Darrell said as he rummaged through the overstuffed glove compartment.

              “Nothing wrong with soy,” Cole said, as if still having to defend his opinion. “What are you looking for?”

              “Food.”

              “Oh, yeah” Cole said jokingly. “You didn’t get breakfast, did you?”

              Darrell shook his head and kept digging.

              “I’m afraid I’m fresh out, little brother,” Cole answered with a bit of humor mixed in.

              “Not even jerky?”  Darrell questioned.

              “Not even jerky. Want to go to breakfast? We haven’t been to the Feedin’ Trough in a while.”

              “I guess that sounds good,” Darrell admitted hesitantly as he opened the door and slid back out of the truck.

              “Where are you going now?” Cole asked.

              “Marshall,” Darrell reminded him with a gesture at the store.

              “Oh. Yeah, I guess we oughta get him.” Cole had been flustered enough by his encounter with the pretty blonde to forget his older brother was even there.

              As they walked back into the store, his thoughts caught up to him. Pretty? He’d been too annoyed with her and himself to focus on her looks before. Now, calling her image to mind was all too easy. She’d been nearly a foot shorter than him, so she was probably about five foot three. Her hair had been as blonde as those pretty china dolls his mama had collected and her eyes had been just about as blue too.

              She’d been too pale to pass as a rancher and she’d come to town dressed like she was going to a fancy dinner. Well, fancy in this corner of the world. She’d been wearing black slacks and dress boots with that pretty red top. There was that word again. Pretty. He’d definitely done without female companionship for too long. He couldn’t help but wonder what she looked like when she wasn’t scowling.

              A burst of laughter from the back of the store told him it might happen sooner rather than later. She was still there. In the back of the store. With his older brother. Well, this day just kept getting better and better.

              Cole stepped around the corner and the smile slid right off of Emma’s face. The split second view he’d gotten of it was nice though. He mentally smacked himself. She and Marshall seemed awfully friendly.

              “Breakfast?”  Darrell asked.

              “We already ate,” Marshall said.

              Darrell shrugged and walked away. Emma watched him go.

              “The strong and silent type, I see,” she said to Marshall.

              “Pretty much. He thinks it’ll help him get girls,” Marshall said, giving her a smile.

              Emma was returning the grin when Cole said, “So, are we eating or not?”

              “Sure, I guess we can,” Marshall said easily. “Feedin’ Trough?”

              “Is there anywhere else?” Cole asked with a half smile. He’d made it sound like a joke, but it was the truth.

              “There’s actually a place called the Feedin’ Trough?” Emma looked disbelieving.

              “Sure is,” Marshall informed her. “How about we introduce you to it?”

              “Do I have to know somebody to get in?” Emma asked curiously.  Her smile, still directed at his brother, gave Cole a tight feeling in his stomach even without looking at him.

              “It’s pretty exclusive,” Marshall agreed. “Feel up to it?”

              “Sure, why not?” Emma agreed and the two of them walked up to the counter together.

              Cole pushed away the feeling that it wasn’t right. He pushed away the thoughts of her smile and her laugh. He pushed away the memory of her small, firm breasts pushing at that red shirt. It had to be because he hadn’t had anyone in so long. He wasn’t a glutton for punishment, and he certainly wasn’t the type to go after someone his brother was interested in.

              “Breakfast is gonna be real pleasant,” Cole muttered to himself as he shouldered several bags of cattle feed and headed for the door. He missed seeing Emma’s eyes scan him quickly and he certainly didn’t see the flush that started at the neck of her shirt and went to the roots of her hair.

              Emma followed the McKenna boys out to the parking lot. Cole recognized the big black truck he’d seen headed down the driveway yesterday. It looked too big for her. He was tempted to ask if she needed a hand getting in, but Marshall beat him to it so he just walked to his own truck and cranked it up.

              After his brothers had gotten in, Cole pulled slowly out of the parking lot so Emma could follow him. They all heard her grind a few gears before she got up the small incline out of the lot.

              “Maybe I should show her how to drive that thing,” Marshall mused as he tilted the side view mirror to make sure she was keeping up.

              “Put my mirror back,” Cole snapped. “You’re in an awful damn helpful mood today, aren’t you?”

              Marshall looked at him in surprise.

              “And you’re in a foul one.  What’s your problem?” he asked as he tilted the mirror back into its original position. “Is this about the soy? Hell, I can’t buy it if they don’t have it, Cole.”

              “Would you forget about the soy?” Cole demanded. “ It’s not the soy! Even though I am right about that.”

              “Is it the fact that you made a fool of yourself in front of Emma?”  Darrell asked inquisitively.

              “Emma,” Cole repeated. “You’re already on a first name basis with her.”

              “Well, it’s not like this is the Wild West,” Marshall informed him. “What do you want me to call her? Miss Carson?”

              “I don’t give a damn what you call her,” Cole growled, pushing his foot down a little harder on the gas pedal.

              “Do you know what his problem is?” Marshall asked Darrell, who’d been sitting quietly in the backseat.

              Cole glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Darrell shrug. He also saw blue lights. The word he chose made even Darrell’s eyebrows go up, and he worked with professional cowboys, who generally cussed like professional sailors.

              “What now?” Marshall asked tiredly.

              “I’m getting pulled over, that’s what now,” Cole snarled as he pulled onto the wide shoulder.  He saw Emma also slow down as if she was undecided about what to do, and then pull over in front of him so she wasn’t in the officer’s way.

              “Hey there, Cole,” the officer called as he approached the truck. “In a hurry?”

              “Just a little bit,” Cole answered while forcing a half-smile at his friend.  “Hey, Jake. How’s the wife?”

              “Eight months along and not to be trifled with,” Jake answered seriously. “Never would have thought having a baby would make a woman lose sleep before she even had it. Anyway, you were going along at more than a little over the limit. What’s the rush?”

              “Got a little ahead of myself, is all.,” Cole admitted. “ We’re headed to the Feedin’ Trough.”

              “Who’s the girl in the truck?” Jake asked inclining his head toward the black Dodge idling on the shoulder in front of them.