Sun Kissed (34 page)

“The Kendricks would find that assessment very amusing,” he told her. “They’re ranchers, just like you, very down-to-earth and unassuming, despite their wealth. You’d like them.”

“I’ve heard that about them,” she said as she pushed open the door and led the way into her kitchen. Tucker immediately noticed the roses on the table. He drew out a chair and straddled it, hoping the flowers had served their purpose and at least partially assuaged her hurt feelings.

She went to stand across the room with her hips braced against the counter. “I’m not sure how to say this, Tucker, except straight out. I’m sacking you.”

The words exploded like a small bomb in the otherwise quiet room. She met his incredulous gaze with big brown eyes that glittered with stubborn resolve.

“Pardon me?”

“You heard me. On Monday, please figure up my bill and get it in the mail. I’ll settle up with you by the end of the week.”

Dimly, Tucker was aware of the wall clock ticking somewhere behind him, and of the refrigerator humming. “But Tabasco is still—”

“Tabasco is far enough along in his recovery to survive a change of vets. I am no longer in need of your services.”

Stunned, Tucker couldn’t immediately think of anything to say. Finally he asked, “Do you blame me because Cilantro and Hickory died? Is that it?”

“Of course not. You’re a fabulous vet. No one could have saved them. They were beyond help before I even found them. We both know that.”

“Then
why
? Because of last night?”

He saw her jaw muscles tighten. “I don’t want to get into all my reasons. Suffice it to say it’s nothing personal and is completely unrelated to your performance as a vet. I just don’t want you as
my
vet anymore.”

Tucker pushed to his feet. “Just like that. I worked around the clock for days, trying to save Tabasco. Now”—he snapped his fingers—“with no explanation, you’re giving me the boot?”

“You’ll be well compensated for your time. Pad my bill as much as you deem suitable, and I’ll cut you a check.” She shoved away from the counter and walked to the door. After opening it, she said, “Thank you for all you’ve done. I’ll always be grateful. But now I want you out of it.”

Tucker was already out on the porch, and she’d closed the door firmly behind him when his stunned mind finally grasped what she’d said at the very last.
I want you out of it.
Not
I want you gone.
Not
It’s been nice knowing you.
” Not
We’re finished.
She just wanted him out of it. And suddenly he knew why.

He promptly turned around and went back inside. She was sitting at the table with her head cradled on her folded arms. When she realized he’d reentered the room, she snapped erect, her eyes glistening with tears he hadn’t given her time to shed. Tucker closed the door behind him and leaned his back against it.

“Why do you want me out of it?” he asked, already
knowing the answer to his question and loving her all the more because he did.

“I don’t owe you any explanation,” she retorted tremulously. “Just go, Tucker. It’s a business decision, and I have every right to make it. Just go.”

He leaned more of his weight against the door, folded his arms over his chest, and hooked the heel of one boot over the ankle of the other. “I’m not going anywhere. The last time I allowed a woman to protect me, I was a snot-nosed brat who couldn’t cross the street without holding someone’s hand. I’m a big boy now. I don’t need you or anyone else to watch out for me.”

“You
have
to dissociate yourself from me,” she cried, standing up so fast her chair almost toppled. “Do you have any idea what they’re
implying
? It’s bad enough that my good name is being ripped to shreds. I won’t allow yours to be destroyed, too!”

“It’s not your choice to make.”

“It most certainly
is
!” she cried shrilly. “You’re a
vet
, Tucker, a rising star in specialized equine care. If people get it into their heads that you’re personally involved with a woman who poisoned her own horses for financial gain—or worse, that you turned a blind eye and allowed it to happen—your career will be ruined. Even if it all comes right in the end, the accusations will remain in people’s memories. Do you honestly believe they’ll call you when one of their horses gets sick?”

She had a point, and Tucker knew it. If he stood by her through this, he might be flushing his career and all his dreams straight down the toilet. Only in the end, what was it all about if he had no one to share his life with?

“I love you,” he said thickly. “If it comes to a choice between you or my career, the career will come in second every time.”

She locked her arms around her waist. “You don’t love me. You barely know me.”

“That’s not true. If you only look at the actual time I’ve known you, I suppose it’s fair to say it’s happened really fast. But we haven’t been together under ordinary circumstances. I’ve watched you go through one catastrophe after another ever since we met. No romantic candlelight dinners, no walks in the moonlight, no meaningless small talk, trying to get to know you. I’ve
seen
who you are, sweetheart. It’s apparent in the way you care for your horses, in the way you keep putting one foot in front of the other when most people would have already dropped in their tracks from sheer exhaustion. You’re a loving, loyal, and caring person. Your employees adore you, your horses adore you, your father and brothers adore you, and now so do I.”

Her chin started to quiver. “I love you, too. That’s why I have to get you out of this. Do you think they’ll care if they wrongly destroy your reputation? Think again. All they care about is the story and how well it sells papers or draws viewers. What of Isaiah? What of your practice? This could bleed over onto your brother and hurt his career as well.”

“Isaiah is a damned good vet, and his practice isn’t going to go under because of a little mudslinging in the local news. Things may get rough for a while, but he’ll survive, and gladly. We Coulters stick together. If someone
takes a shot at one of us, he takes a shot at all of us. That’s just how it is.”

“I’m not a Coulter.”

“No,” he said softly, “but you’re soon going to be, if I have anything to say about it.” When her chin came up in stubborn defiance, he added, “I don’t expect you to take my name. You’ve built your business as Samantha Harrigan, and it probably wouldn’t be wise to change that now. But you will have to marry me.”

She swung away. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not marrying you or anyone else. I’d rather have a tooth pulled without Novocain.”

“Poor Father Mike.”

Pacing back and forth, she threw up her hands. “What does Father Mike have to do with it?”

“Because until you change your mind, he’ll be blushing clear to the roots of his hair every Saturday when we go to confession.”

She whirled to face him and gave a startled little gasp when she found him almost on top of her.
“We?”

“Of course,
we
. Do you think I’d let you go alone when I’m as guilty as you are?”

“Don’t be absurd. You can’t go to confession.” She retreated a step to put distance between them. “You’re not Catholic.”

“I am so. I was baptized in the Church, at any rate, and I know how to say the first and last parts of a Hail Mary.”

“That doesn’t make you a Catholic.”

“Then I’ll do whatever’s necessary to become one. Your faith is a huge part of who you are. If we’re going
to get married and raise a family, I want to share that with you.”

She shook her head as if to clear her thoughts, an odd little gesture that suggested mainframe overload. Pressing her fingertips to her temples, she said, “You’re out of your mind.”

“Guilty as charged. I’m crazy in love with you, at any rate.”

She lifted a bruised, aching gaze to his, her expression almost pleading. “I’ll make a bargain with you, then.”

“What kind of bargain?”

“You leave right now. You dissociate yourself from me.” She held up a hand. “Not forever. Just until this is over. When my name has been cleared, we’ll start back up where we left off.”

Tucker grasped her by the shoulders. “No way, sweetheart. Truly loving someone means sticking tight through thick and thin, good times and bad. I love you, and I’m here to stay.”

Before she could argue, Tucker dipped his head and settled his mouth over hers. For just an instant she tried to arch away from him. But then, with a soft sob of surrender, she made fists on his shirt and kissed him back.

When he allowed her to come up for air, she gulped and said, “There are conditions.”

“What kind of conditions?” he asked as he nibbled on her ear.

“That you’ll respect me as an equal, always, no exceptions,” she said with a shiver of sensual delight.

“No problem.”

“And you have to let me make my own decisions.”

“Absolutely.” He touched the tip of his tongue to the sensitive spot just under her earlobe. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

She moaned softly. “And you have to let me take risks. I’ve been sheltered and protected all my life. I’m sick of it.”

Tucker didn’t like the idea of her taking risks. On the other hand, he’d seen her family in action and understood her need to feel independent and in charge of her life. “Will you consult with me first and at least listen to what I think before you put yourself at risk?”

She shivered again and pressed closer. “Just so long as you don’t try to call all the shots.”

“I won’t,” he promised. “Anything else?”

“Yes.” Her hot, moist breath wafted over the exposed skin at the collar of his shirt. “You have to be faithful, no ifs, ands, or buts.”

“I’ll go you one better and swear I’ll never even so much as
look
at another woman that way.”

She tipped her head back to gaze up at him with passion-glazed eyes, her soft lips parted in invitation. “Then you can stay,” she whispered.

Samantha felt like a bit of flotsam drifting aimlessly in a current of warm water as Tucker carried her upstairs. He didn’t allow her time to think about what they were doing—or about the consequences. Nor did he pause before depositing her on the bed to remove her clothing. If he’d stopped kissing her long enough to let her draw more than one breath—or if he’d hesitated for just a second to unbutton her shirt—she might have been able to
collect her thoughts and call a halt before anything more happened.

He did neither of those things. Instead he gently laid her on the mattress and followed her down, never so much as removing his mouth from hers. And his hands seemed to be everywhere—big, hard, warm, and gentle hands that knew just how and where to touch to make her lose what was left of her sanity.

“Oh, Tucker,” she whispered as he peeled her shirt away and bent to trail hot kisses along her throat as he unfastened her bra. “I love you.”

He was willing to sacrifice his career for her? Dizzily she marveled at that. During her marriage it had always been about Steve. Steve’s needs, Steve’s expectations, Steve’s desires. He’d never cared a whit about her feelings or her happiness, and he’d definitely never stood by her through anything. The knowledge that Tucker not only wanted to stand by her, but insisted on it, regardless of the cost to himself, went a long way toward convincing her that maybe, just maybe, there actually was such a thing as true love.

The loveliest rose of all.

As her bra fell away and cold air touched her nipples, his hot mouth and hand were there to cover her sensitive flesh. She gasped and arched her spine as jolt after jolt of delicious sensation streaked through her. Making fists in his hair, she clung to him, her mind spinning as liquid heat swirled deep into her belly and became molten fire. She could no longer form a complete thought and didn’t try.
Tucker.
He made her feel as if she were flying.

After attending to her breasts, he trailed his mouth in
a burning trail downward, tracing each of her ribs with his tongue, then moving lower, tugging her jeans down over her hips as he went. Dimly Samantha realized where he was headed and tried to clamp her knees together. But he was having none of that, and again, he allowed her no time to think. Before she could even formulate the word
no,
the heat of his mouth had covered her, and with the first flick of his tongue, every rational thought in her head drained out through her ears.

It was…
incredible.
She arched her hips, felt his broad shoulders move between her legs, and then she was soaring.

“Tucker!”

In some distant part of her mind, she heard herself making sounds. Little moans, guttural whimpers, and even shrill shrieks, but she couldn’t make herself stop. Higher and higher he took her, until the pressure within her was almost painful. Just when she thought she could bear it no more, he sent her over the edge into a dark, spiraling fall shot through with sparkling lights, and the most delicious sense of satisfaction she’d ever experienced moved through her, as thick and sweet as warm honey.