The Cowboy and the Princess (11 page)

Owen smiled a sad smile, raised one finger and brushed her nose lightly with his fingertip. He bent and kissed her so softly, she barely felt it. “You’re right. I like you too much, Delfyne, but there’s nothing about you that’s easy,” he agreed. Then he went to the door. “But if anyone—and I mean
anyone
—gives you any trouble or scares you in any way, ever again, I want you to scream at the top of your lungs. Call my name. Say anything, and I’m there, Princess. No one is going to take you lightly or misread you while you’re here with me.”

O
WEN
spent the next few days trying both to stay away from Delfyne and to stay near enough to be there if she needed him. He thought he’d succeeded until Delfyne came marching out to where he was changing the oil on one of the trucks.

“
Don’t
do what you’re doing,” she said, bending over sideways trying to see him beneath the truck.

Owen, doing a task he had done hundreds of times, had been trying his hardest not to let his thoughts dwell on Delfyne, so when she suddenly appeared out of nowhere, he half thought he’d conjured her up. Rising up too suddenly, he rammed his forehead into the underbelly of the truck and let forth a streak of words he never would have ordinarily uttered in the presence of a princess.

“Oh, Owen,” she said in some distress. “I’m so sorry. I guess I should have whispered.”

Despite his pain, he couldn’t help laughing as he got to his feet. “I don’t think a breathy whisper from an intriguing woman would have made a difference, Delfyne. It probably would have played right into my fantasy.”

“Oh.” She looked taken aback. “A fantasy. I see. With me.”

“Don’t worry. I don’t intend to act on it.”

“Of course not. You made that very clear the other day.” For
some reason she seemed a bit miffed. Owen didn’t even want to think about that. “That’s very good of you.”

Good had nothing to do with it. He couldn’t keep his mind off her. If he even allowed himself to indulge his wayward thoughts, nothing positive would come of that.

“What was it you wanted me to stop doing?” he asked. “You said—”

For a moment she looked flustered. Then she crossed her arms again in that cute regal way she had. “Yes, I meant Theron and Nicholas. Stop siccing them on me. They’re unhappy having their regular work taken away from them.”

“I was under the impression that they had been hired to watch over you.”

“Yes, but they’re under my orders and I really don’t need them. I’m perfectly safe. No more opening door to strangers. I completely understand that now. So, you can let the men get back to their tasks. There’s no need to worry.”

Of course, that only made him worry more. It was when Delfyne was at her least concerned that she failed to be on her guard.

He hesitated.

“I know what you’re thinking,” she said, “but I’m not without tools. When Lydia heard what happened she gave me a whistle and some pepper spray and she made me watch her self-defense tapes. I practiced on Theron and now I can take a man down if I have to. Lydia has quizzed me.”

“Take a man down in hand-to-hand combat? Hmm, remind me to give Lydia a raise. She’s a saint.” For some reason his voice came out a bit raspy.

“She thinks of you as a son. She told me that I had to be smart not only so I wouldn’t get hurt, but so you wouldn’t worry. And because ranch women are strong and tough and independent.”

“And a bonus. I’m giving her a bonus.”

“She raised you, didn’t she?”

“Like a mother. Better than a mother.”

Delfyne’s smile was brilliant. “I’m glad. And I’m happy that you have someone here who cares about you that much. Well, I’d better get back to my cake. And…Lydia is teaching me to use the other stove. I’ve graduated.” She looked so thrilled and her smile was so bright that Owen’s heart hurt.

“If Lydia thinks you’re ready, then you are.”

She nodded. “I know. It’s silly to get excited over something so trivial, but I am. And, Owen?”

He waited.

“I’m ready for something else, too.”

For a second, desire engulfed him and the blood pounded in his ears. Then he shook his head. Of course, she wasn’t talking about that.

“My time here is moving along. Most of the people around here have met me, and they’ve accepted me, even welcomed me. I don’t want to hide away anymore. I want to know more about the ranch. The things outside the house. It’s time. I won’t have this kind of opportunity again in my lifetime.”

“You could always visit the ranch again. Would anyone really say no to a princess?”

“No, it wouldn’t be the same at all. Once I leave here, my life will be very public again. My privacy will be gone, and every event in my life will
be
an event, not a simple everyday occurrence. If I’m to experience your world in any real sense, it has to be now.”

“I don’t know who ever told you that you weren’t a wise woman, but they were very wrong.”

She laughed. “No one ever said I wasn’t wise. Just headstrong. The two aren’t always mutually exclusive. But you haven’t responded to my request.”

“I’ll see what I can arrange.”

“I want it to be you who shows me. Only you.”

With difficulty he held his stance and didn’t move toward her. If ever there was a woman he shouldn’t touch or have any illusions about regarding the future, it was this one. Once she was gone, she was gone. This time, unlike his experiences with his mother and his wife, hope had never existed. There hadn’t been any possibilities.

“I wouldn’t trust you to anyone else,” he said.

“I just—I know I’ll be safe with you.” Which just about buckled his knees. She intended to trust him. He had to merit that trust.

“Let me clear my calendar and make sure that Ennis and Len and Morgan have everything under control. Then I’ll be free to be your tour guide. I’ll be at your service.”

She shook her head. “Not at my service. Just with me. My guide but my friend. The only male friend I’ve ever really known.”

The burden grew heavier. The honor grew greater. Owen felt warmth growing within him. “I haven’t had many female friends, either. Not like you mean.”

“You’ve had Nancy. You’ll still have Nancy when I’m gone. I’ll never have a man for a friend again. It’s the kind of thing that would be talked about even if it were perfectly innocent. I want and need this time with you.”

She was wrong about Nancy. That relationship was nothing like this, but he knew what she meant. “Then you’ll have this time, and I’ll try to make it as special as I can. I’ll be your friend.”

He had no idea how he was going to manage this without feeling too much or wanting too much, but…she was placing her trust in him. She was giving him a gift he’d never been given before. If it took every ounce of his self-control, he intended to manage this.

And heaven help him if he slipped up and touched her.

Okay, she had gone and done it, Delfyne thought the next day. She had used the
f
-word and not the bad one, either, but it had all been such a lie. That is, of course she valued Owen’s friendship. This was the man who had opened up his house and his life to her even though he hadn’t wanted to. He had agreed to hide her from the reporters and had danced with her to protect her. He’d hit someone for her. And he was good to his employees. He was a hands-on employer even though he had the money to hire more people to do all the work for him.

The problem was that she wasn’t sure she could think of him as just a friend. The man made her feel as if Ping-Pong balls were bouncing around inside her every time he simply looked at her.

“Oh well, I asked for this, and darn it, I want it. Wish me luck, Timbelina,” she said, picking up the taffy-colored cat that had been hanging around the house more often lately.

“Timbelina?” Owen’s voice came from behind her, and there they were again. Those darn Ping-Pong balls.

“I thought she was a boy at first and I was calling her Tim, so when I found out I was not just wrong but that she was pregnant, well, she’s small for a cat, so…Tim became Thumbelina became Timbelina. See?”

He chuckled “I see that your cat wants to roam.” He was right. Timbelina was struggling, probably because Owen’s presence was doing weird things to Delfyne’s insides, making her squeeze the cat just a bit too tightly.

“I’m very sorry,” she said to the cat, who looked at her with what could only be called pity. Whether the look was because Delfyne didn’t know how to hold a cat or because the animal sensed Delfyne’s susceptibility to Owen wasn’t clear.

“Are you…ready for a tour?” he asked.

“I think so.” She held out her arms so that he could see that she was dressed in jeans, a shirt that would protect her arms, a
pair of boots and a red baseball cap. Her hair had been pulled back in a ponytail that had been threaded through the opening at the back of the cap. “Ready to go.” She turned toward the kitchen. “And don’t worry. I’ll be back in time to take over the kitchen tonight,” she said to Lydia.

“Oh, that’s all right if you’re not here. Don’t worry, hon,” Lydia said. “Really, it would be fine.”

“No. It would not,” Delfyne said in her best regal voice. “You just make sure you’re ready. I’ll be here to take over. No one will starve or die on my watch.”

“What are you talking about?” Owen said.

“Nothing,” the women said in unison and a bit too loudly. Then Lydia added, “Not a word, Delfyne. If nothing comes of it, I don’t want to be embarrassed.”

Delfyne rushed to the plump woman and hugged her. “Never. Not till it’s a done deal.” Then she smiled up at Owen. “Let’s go.”

“You’re not going to tell me what that was about, are you?” Owen asked as he and Delfyne climbed in one of the ranch trucks and headed out.

“Absolutely not. I am a woman of my word, but I’m also a woman with plans, and I have to carry out all my plans before I leave here. Now, about
your
plans today, yours and mine…tell me all about ranching. Show me your stuff, cowboy.”

“My stuff?” Owen nearly choked. “Well…” He launched into the kind of talk he gave newspapers when they wanted to know about the man who could afford yachts but raised cattle, citing acreage, statistics about irrigation and new technologies he was putting to use. He was just launching into the part about land management when Delfyne touched his sleeve.

He turned, and she was giving him a strange look.

“I want to
see
things,” she said. “And
do
things. Helpful things.”

Owen stopped the vehicle. “Like what?”

“I don’t know. Don’t women work on ranches?”

“Some women do. Some women
own
ranches.”

Her smile was glowing. “That’s wonderful. So…what could I do that wouldn’t inconvenience the ranch?”

“I’m not worried about you inconveniencing the ranch. I’m worried about you getting hurt. This can be a dangerous place.”

She nodded. “I believe you, but…well…you’re probably right. It would take you too long to teach me what I needed to know to be truly useful. All right, just a tour then.”

But he knew that wasn’t what she really wanted.

He laughed. “That’s very good of you to give in so easily.”

“Just trying to be a good guest.”

She was, too. He could see she was determined to curb her impetuous tendencies.

“Can you ride a horse?”

“I’ve done it.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

“It won’t be a problem.”

Was she avoiding looking at him?

“Delfyne?”

“Don’t look at me that way. The day is getting away from us. I have to be back for…for things,” she said, obviously referring to the nebulous plans that she and Lydia had made. “And I intend to have my day on the ranch. My day as a cowgirl.”

He started to argue. Something wasn’t right here, but she looked at him so pleadingly that he turned the vehicle toward the barn and parked by the corrals.

After considering the available horses, he saddled up Doughnut and Kitty. “If you insist on being cowgirl of the day, I’ll take you around with me to check on the progress the men
are making, and then you can feed and brush down the horses when we get back.”

She gave a quick nod. Was her face a bit pale? No, that was just his imagination. “Agreed,” she said. “That sounds fair.”

“So, you’re okay with that? I’m assuming a princess turns her horse over to a groom most of the time.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll do it right. In fact, I intend to do such a fantastic job that the horses will cry when I’m gone.”

Owen laughed. He had no doubt that she was right even if she was teasing. He also had the feeling that something
wasn’t
right when he brought around Kitty, a pretty palomino. Delfyne looked as if she were facing a lion.

“You’re sure you’ve ridden a horse?”

“I’m a princess,” she said, which of course wasn’t an answer. Kitty, on the other hand, was fine with Delfyne. But then, she was a very docile animal. On the rare occasions when there were children at the ranch, she was the horse of choice.

Nonetheless, despite Delfyne’s assurances, Owen helped her into the saddle instead of waiting for her to mount by herself. He mounted his own horse then watched Delfyne to make sure she was all right.

It was then that he realized that he had made a tactical mistake. In the truck, she’d been lovely yet subdued, but on a horse she looked beautiful and amazingly proud and happy. Her face was glowing.

“You
do
ride,” he said.

“Today I do,” she said. “Kitty’s not nearly as big as I remember horses being. And she’s a love. In spite of having taken lessons when I was a girl, I fell off a horse twice and got roughed up quite a bit with a broken arm, broken leg, mild concussion and all that. It was the same horse, too. My father sold it. He was worried that I would break my neck, so he refused to let me on
a horse again until I was grown. Because of that, I’ve been rather skittish about riding, but Kitty’s very gentle.”

“What?” Owen practically roared. “You’re afraid of horses and you didn’t think to tell me?”

“It’s not that I’m afraid of them, exactly. I’m just not very sure of myself in the saddle. But, if I’d said that, you would have put me in the truck and given me the city-woman tour, wouldn’t you?”

He shook his head. “You absolutely do not have to do this. We could take ATVs.”

“No, I’m up here now. Besides, I know you wouldn’t put me on any animal that would hurt me intentionally. I just wasn’t sure about my own skill.”