That Night With the Rich Rancher (8 page)

So why couldn’t she wait for tomorrow night?

* * *

Lindsay studied herself in the mirror while her two Australian shepherd dogs lay nearby on the floor. It was ten to six; Tony would be here any minute. Time for a last check in the mirror. She’d brushed her hair, curled it slightly in long, spiral curls and finally tied it behind her head with a blue silk scarf. She wore a black Resistol, a denim blouse with bling, washed jeans with bling on the hip pockets and her fancy black hand-tooled boots.

She turned to her dogs and each raised his head.

“I promise you, Tony Milan will not be invited inside tonight. When he comes to the door, don’t bark at him and don’t bite him.”

Both animals thumped their tails as she patted their heads and left the room. The dogs followed her to the front room, where she could watch the drive.

In minutes she heard Tony’s pickup approach the house. Hurrying to the door, she turned to tell the dogs to sit. As soon as they did, she opened the door. The sight of Tony took her breath away, just as it had when she had seen him yesterday. His black hat, long-sleeved black Western shirt, tight jeans and black boots made him look 100 percent gorgeous cowboy.

She kept a smile on her face as he approached, even as she silently reassured herself there was no way an attraction between them could possibly develop into anything meaningful. With Tony that was impossible and she was certain he felt the same way. As the dogs barked, she gave them commands that caused them to stop, and they came forward quietly to meet Tony, who patted their heads.

“Hi, cowboy,” she said.

“Oh, yeah, you don’t go out with cowboys. Well, consider this a business dinner,” he said, his eyes twinkling.

“Of course. And business kisses.”

“Who said one word about kisses?” he asked, his voice lowering a notch as he placed his hand on the jamb over her head. While she looked up at him, her pulse raced.

“I thought there might be a few kisses as well as dinner.”

“We could just skip dinner and go inside and you can show me your bedroom.”

She smiled and tapped his chest. “What finesse. I think not. You promised dancing and barbecue.”

“Whatever the beautiful lady wants,” he said, sounding serious, as if he had stopped joking and flirting. She wanted to step into his arms and kiss him. Then she remembered Tony had broken more than a couple of hearts with his “love ’em and leave ’em” ways.

“Let me turn on the alarm, lock up and we can go,” she said in a breathless voice that she hoped he wouldn’t notice.

“Sure thing.” As she moved back, his eyes raked her body. “Each time I see you, you look fantastic.”

“Thank you.” She said goodbye to the dogs, who now sat near his feet. “You must have a way with dogs. They don’t usually take to strangers.”

“Women, children and dogs,” Tony said.

“I suppose I have to agree on the women and dogs because that’s definitely proven. I don’t know about children.”

“They love me, too,” he said with humor in his voice. “Ask your nephew, Scotty.”

Smiling, she switched on the alarm and stepped out with him, hearing the lock click.

He linked her arm in his and they walked to his red pickup.

“Allow me,” he said as he held the door for her. She climbed in, aware of his constant scrutiny.

“I do love tight jeans,” he said, closing the door behind her.

Laughing, she watched him walk around the pickup, feeling excitement mount as she looked forward to being with him again.

“Some of my family has called me to ask about our evening. My guess is that yours has called you,” she said, turning toward him as much as her seat belt allowed. She could hardly believe she was sitting here next to him. Her anticipation of this night with him had built all day.

There still was no danger of it becoming a habit for either of them, just one more night—only a few hours of dancing and talking and, maybe, kisses at her door. As they turned on the road toward the county highway, she gripped his arm. “Tony, look over there in the trees. That’s a wolf.”

Tony followed the direction of her hand and looked toward a stand of scrub oaks. He didn’t see any animal. “I don’t see anything and there are no wolves in Texas.”

“There’s one on my ranch. Look.”

She was insistent, so he slowed and backed up, stretching his arm over the back of the seat as he reversed the car around the curve. He saw a furry gray animal at the edge of the trees.

“That has to be a coyote,” he said. “It looks like a wolf, but it’s not. There aren’t any in Texas.”

“It’s too big and furry to be a coyote,” she said. As they watched, the animal turned and disappeared into the darkness of the trees.

“That animal didn’t really look like a dog,” Tony said, putting the car in gear and continuing to drive. “Well, we’ve always got wild animals around here. My money’s on a coyote.”

“It’s a gray wolf. They have them now in New Mexico, and a wolf doesn’t know state boundaries. They could easily roam into Texas and probably already have. That was only a matter of time. Remember, there’s an old legend around these parts about a gray wolf roaming West Texas and anyone who tames him will have one wish granted.”

Tony glanced at her with an exaggerated leer. “I know what my wish would be,” he said, his gaze sweeping over her.

She laughed. “You lusty man. You’ve got no chance of taming it. You’d have to catch the wolf first.” She returned to her earlier topic. “About our families...”

“Yeah,” Tony said. “Wyatt called me Tuesday morning and said we’re the hot topic in Verity.”

“Imagine that. Me—the hot topic in Verity. Well, let them talk. It’ll die down soon because there won’t be enough to talk about.”

He cast a glance at her. “I’ll bet some new guys have asked you out since last Saturday night.”

“They have,” she said, “but I turned each one down. A couple were at the auction and a couple heard about the auction,” she said, having no intention of telling him six guys who saw her Saturday night had asked her out and three who had simply heard about the auction had called and one more had dropped by the ranch.

“All ranchers, I suppose.”

“Ranchers, cowboys and an auctioneer from Fort Worth. No way will I get involved with any of them.”

“I can understand that, except you’re with me tonight.”

She smiled. “Maybe you’ve moved into the classification of an old friend. Besides, there’s no danger of involvement for either one of us. I figure this for our last time together.”

“You’re probably right,” he said.

“You can dance, you’re fun, and after last weekend, we’re civil to each other. I’m sure we’ll have a good time.”

“I agree about the good time. I can’t wait to get you on the dance floor.”

“Also, I want something from you.”

He shot her a quick glance and then his attention went back to the road. “What can I do for you?” he asked evenly, but his voice had changed, taken on the all-business tone that she was more familiar with.

“I’m trying to see if I can finagle an invitation to your ranch.”

He smiled. “Darlin’, I thought you’d never ask! I’ll take you home with me tonight.”

“Cool it, cowboy. I just want to take you up on your earlier offers to look at one of your water pumps.”

His smile disappeared and she wondered if he wanted to turn around now and take her home. “Sure, Lindsay. Tell me when you want to come.”

His voice had turned solemn and a muscle now worked in his jaw. She knew she was annoying him, but she wanted to see for herself if he still had his old water pumps.

“Thanks, Tony. I appreciate your offer. You told me to come look.”

“So I did,” he answered, and then he became silent as they drove on the empty road.

After they reached the county road, he glanced at her once again. “Lindsay, if that’s what you wanted tonight, and why you accepted, do you still want to go?”

“But, Tony,” she said in a sultry voice, “that wasn’t the sole purpose of accepting your offer to go dancing tonight.” She ran her fingers lightly along his thigh. “I also remember how much fun and sexy you can be.”

She received another one of his glances and saw him inhale deeply. “Then I’m glad you’re here, darlin’. That makes the evening much better. ‘Fun and sexy,’ huh? I’ll try to live up to that description.”

She laughed. “I’m sure you will,” she said.

Flirting with him made the drive seem shorter, and he flirted in return, causing her to forget about water pumps.

When they reached the roadside honky-tonk, loud music greeted them outside the log building. Inside, they found a booth in the dark, crowded room that held a few local people she knew but more that she didn’t.

As soon as they had two beers on the table, Tony asked her to dance. The band, made up of a fiddler, drummer and piano player, had couples doing a lively two-step. As they stepped into the group, Tony held her hands, staying close beside her as they circled the room, and then he turned her, so she danced backward as he led. His gaze locked with hers. Desire was evident in the depths of his eyes as he watched her while they danced. She had his full attention and she tingled beneath his gaze and forgot about her problems.

They danced past midnight and after they returned to their table, he leaned closer. “Ready to leave? We can’t talk in here anyway.”

When she nodded, he stood, waiting as she slid out of the booth to walk out with him. The air was warm outside, the music fading as they climbed into his pickup.

Light from the dash highlighted his prominent cheekbones, but his eyes were in shadow. The ambience reminded her of their night together, when the dim light of his condo bedroom had shielded his eyes from her view. The memories stirred her as she recalled making love with him. She had tried to avoid thinking about him all week, yet here she was with him. This was crazy. She had to get over Tony, forget him and go on with her life. No way did she want to think about their lovemaking or give him a hint that she would ever want to make love to him again.

As they approached her ranch house, lights blazed from it. “Looks like you have a house filled with people.”

“I leave it that way. I don’t like to come home to a dark, empty house. And I leave some lights for the dogs,” she explained. “Drive around to the back door. It’ll be easier for me.”

He drove through her wrought iron gates, which closed automatically, and did as she instructed. “I can tell you a better way to avoid a dark, empty house. Come home with me.” He unbuckled his seat belt and turned to her. “My house will be neither dark nor empty, and I promise you some fun.”

She smiled at him, able to see his eyes now; their blue depths seemed to sparkle even in the darkness. “Thanks, but I belong here. Besides, we agreed on the parameters for tonight.”

“It’s temptation. You’re temptation, Lindsay. Beyond my wildest imaginings,” he said, leaning forward to unlock her seat belt. As he did, his lips nuzzled her throat while his fingers caressed her nape. Then he turned to get out of the truck and strode around to open her door for her.

He draped his arm across her shoulders as they walked to her door. “Tonight was fun. I could dance with you for hours. There are a lot of things I could do with you for hours.”

Her insides tightened and heated, but she forced a grin. “Is playing chess one of them?” she asked, trying to lighten the moment and get his mind off making love.

“No, chess is not what I had in mind at all,” he said as he stopped and turned her to face him in the yard under the darkness of a big oak. As he slipped his arm around her waist, her heart thudded. He leaned close to trail kisses on her neck, her ear. “No, what I want to do is hold you close, kiss you until you melt,” he said in a deep, husky voice.

His words worked the same magic on her as his lips and hands. Her knees felt weak and she wanted his mouth on hers. Forgetting all her intentions to keep the evening light, she slipped her arm around his neck and raised her mouth for his kiss.

“Why do I find you so damn irresistible?” she asked.

The moment his mouth touched hers, her heart thudded out of control. More than anything she wanted a night with him, wanted to ask him in, but she intended to stick with her promise to herself to say goodbye to him at her door. He deepened the kiss, his tongue stroking hers, slowly and sensually, and she could barely remember what promise she was thinking about. He was aroused, ready to make love, and she, too, ached to take him to her bedroom and have another night like before.

She didn’t know how long they had kissed when she finally looked up at him. She had no idea where her next words came from. “I better go in now.”

He stared at her, his hot gaze filled with desire that wrapped itself around her and held her in its spell. Stepping out of its heat, she turned to walk onto her porch. Reluctantly he followed.

When they entered the house, the dogs greeted them. She turned them into the fenced yard, closed the door and faced him.

Though he didn’t ask for one, she wanted to give him an explanation.

“Tony, we both agreed last weekend was an anomaly. As special as it was, it’s over and we need to leave it over. I don’t want an affair and I don’t think you do, either. With our families intermarried, we would complicate our lives. We’re not really all that compatible anyway. I’m too serious for you and you’re too much a playboy for me. If I have an affair, I want it long-term, with commitment. You’re not the type for that.”

“Don’t second-guess me, Lindsay. You’re incredibly desirable.”

“Do you really want us to get deeply involved?”

He inhaled and gazed at her while seconds ticked past.

“I think that’s an answer,” she said, “and I agree with it.”

“There will never be a time when I can look at you and honestly say I don’t want you. I—” He stopped when she placed her fingers against his lips.

“Shh. Don’t say things that you don’t really know.”

Kissing her fingers before she took them away, he nodded as he released a breath. “Okay, so we say good-night now. But I’m not going without a goodbye kiss.”

He reached out to take off her hat and toss it onto a nearby chair along with his. “Hats get in the way sometimes,” he said as he pulled loose the silk scarf that held her hair behind her head and dropped it into her hat. She shook her head and her hair swung across her shoulders to frame her face.