The Rancher (2 page)

How in the world did she end up
in the same town as him? The odds were too fantastic to even
imagine.

Memories of them together
screamed through her head as she stared at him. She'd spent every
day since that night in Missoula trying to forget about him. So
far, she'd managed to only think of him once or twice a day but
seeing him again, standing right in front of her with nothing but
his trousers, hat, and a smile on, she cursed her luck.

Squaring her shoulders, Laurel
climbed from the borrowed wagon and tried to keep her focus on his
face as she crossed the space to where he stood. It wasn't easy.
Not with the way the sun glinted off the sweat on his chest, the
small beads of perspiration shimmering like small jewels and
drawing her gaze to the hard lines of his naked torso. She'd felt
those muscles against her hands, kissed them with lips that still
tingled just thinking about it and she was near dizzy by the time
she reached him.

She lifted her chin, determined
to keep her gaze on his face, and hoped he couldn't hear her
stammering heart beat. "Mr. Avery?" His gaze bore into her and
Laurel's heart screeched to a stop before it pounded so hard she
fought for breath. She cleared her throat and blinked, trying to
regain her composure.

When she knew her voice wouldn't
squeak, she said, "I'm Laurel Montgomery, the new school
teacher."

The grin on his face grew as if
he knew some wicked secret he wasn't about to share with her. But
Laurel knew his secrets. Well, the ones he'd displayed for her one
warm fall night in Missoula four weeks ago.

Laurel glanced at Alexandra, his
daughter, apparently, her little arms crossed over her chest and an
identical smirk was on her face. She stared at her, trying to come
to grips with the fact she'd more than likely slept with a married
man. The guilt that followed caused the butterflies swimming in her
stomach to die and her stomach ached to the point she felt ill.

She lifted her head, cleared her
throat and met his smiling eyes with bitter resentment growing in
her heart. "I've been meaning to meet all the parents of my
students and you were first on my list."

"I'm flattered." The look in his
eyes changed and Laurel knew he was remembering that night too.
Damn his hide. Why did he have to live here?

His voice was just as deep as
she remembered and the sound of it caressed her flesh as if he'd
physically touched her. Goose bumps prickled her arms and she
ignored the feeling, trying to remember all she planned to say to
him. "Don't be flattered, Mr. Avery. What I have to tell you is far
from becoming." Laurel turned her gaze on Alexandra, throwing her a
disapproving look before facing him again. "I'm sorry to say your
daughter is a menace and has disrupted my class on a daily
basis."

That got his attention. The
smile vanished and when he looked down at Alexandra, the girl's
puffed-up pose, deflated. "What did you do?"

Alexandra huffed out a breath,
her hands curled into fists. "Jesse started it. He said I was the
ugliest boy he'd ever seen so, I popped him one." She grinned. "He
cried like a little girl."

Laurel exhaled, exasperated. "He
most certainly did not, Alexandra. You're telling stories
again."

The girl whirled on her, her arm
flung to point at her. "And she won't stop calling me Alexandra.
I've told her a hundred times, pa, my name is Alex, but she just
won't say it."

Laying his hand on Alexandra's
shoulder, the girl quieted instantly. When he looked up, amusement
shined in his eyes. "She doesn’t like to be called Alexandra."

"I've noticed but that isn't
reason enough to disrupt my classroom everyday without fail."

"No, it's not."

Laurel glanced at Alexandra
before straightening her spine and looking back up. "Can we speak
alone, please?"

Something in his eyes said she'd
made a mistake in making that small request. The smile that
followed said as much too. He told Alex to wait on the front porch
for him and when he turned to face her again, Laurel felt instantly
exposed. His gaze never left her face but she knew he was picturing
her naked. It was in the smile he gave her, the way his eyelids
lowered just a fraction, as if he too was remembering that night. A
night, she knew now, spelled trouble. Trouble she didn't want or
need, regardless of the fact he was the most tempting thing she'd
ever clapped eyes on.

She swallowed the sudden lump
forming in her throat and pulled at the high collar of her dress.
The sun was unbearably hot today for early fall. Much too hot.

Turning her head to avoid
looking at him, she watched Alexandra run to the house, her boy
trousers and chambray shirt causing a sigh to escape her. "She
looks nothing like a girl."

"No, and she prefers it that
way."

Realizing she'd spoken out loud,
Laurel's face heated. "I meant no offense. It's just… well, I've
never seen a girl act so boyish in all my life."

He laughed and leaned against
the fence rail, the whiteness of those boards making the tanned hue
of his skin even darker. His arm, propped on the top rail, was well
muscled and Laurel's stomach clenched tight at the sight of it.
She'd held on to those arms, felt them around her body and a tremor
rushed through her limbs at the remembrance.

Laurel blinked and tried to
remember why she'd made the trip out to his home. She had to clear
her throat and swallow twice just to moisten her mouth enough to
speak. "She's started three fights this week." Her voice cracked
but she found it easier to talk keeping her focus on his chin
instead of his eyes. "She also spits, has nothing to do with the
other girls in class and her attire is inappropriate for her
gender." She paused, bitterness closing her throat as her next
words ate at her conscience. "I can't believe
your
wife
would allow her daughter to grow up to be so…
boyish."

He smiled again. "You're going
to act as if we don't know each other, aren't you?"

Her heart skipped another beat.
"I think, under the circumstances, that would be wise."

"Why?"

She laughed and looked up to
meet his gaze. "Because I'm the new school teacher here, that's
why. I have a certain reputation to uphold and if the town council
knew…"

"That you frequented saloon's
and invited strange men into your bed, they'd put you on the first
stagecoach out of town?"

Her face blazed hot. "Don't you
dare judge me."

"I'm not." His gaze lowered to
her breasts for a second before lifting again. "I just don't expect
you to treat me as if we're strangers."

"As far as the people who live
in this town are concerned,
Mr. Avery
, we are
strangers."

He laughed that wonderful laugh
again and Laurel had to look away. She gazed into the pasture,
noticed a few horses grazing beyond the fence and tried to will her
pulse to calm. Why did this have to happen? Why now?

"I've been thinking about
you."

"Don't." She looked back at him
and for the first time since meeting him, wished she never had. "I
don't want to be reminded of it."

He lifted an eyebrow at her. "I
was under the impression you enjoyed it as much as I did."

She bit her tongue to keep from
blurting out she had. That she couldn’t stop thinking about him,
too, and as much as she'd enjoyed their one night together, it was
a mistake. She glanced back at the house, saw Alexandra on the
porch steps and tried to steer the conversation back to the girl.
"Where is your wife?"

"She died after giving birth to
Alex."

Remorse washed through her
system, a knot of sorrow filling her stomach. "I'm sorry."

He nodded his head at her. "It
was a long time ago." He sighed and lifted his hat, running his
fingers through his hair before resettling it again. "We've not had
a woman's influence at home until two years ago and honestly, I
don't know a thing about girls." His gaze lowered from her face,
sweeping down across her breasts and lower. "Well, I know nothing
about little girls."

Her face heated again. The sun
was indeed unbearable. Laurel pulled at her high collar and tried
to convince herself it wasn't him causing her blood to heat and her
skin to blaze as if she was cooking under the Montana sun.

A simple glance at his face
caused her thoughts to run rampant. How she ended up in the town he
lived in the most prevalent. She knew nothing about him other than
he had a daughter and his wife had passed. Before today, she hadn't
even known that much and she preferred it that way. Seeing him now
though, his skin glistening with moisture, her fingers itched to
touch him one last time. Her lips tingled with remembrance of his
kisses and a tiny voice in the back of her head whispered she could
have it all again.

She blinked, tried to quiet her
body's demands and remembered why she was here. "Be that as it may,
your daughter is a hellion. I'd think a man would want his daughter
to be taught manners. She'll not catch a husband acting the way she
does."

He laughed. "She's ten. I think
I have a while until I have to worry about marrying her off."

"Maybe so, but if you continue
to let her behave the way she does, you'll have a young lady who
prefers to spit, curse and wear men's trousers. How hard do you
think it will be to get her to change her ways then?"

The look on his face turned
thoughtful, small lines bracketing his mouth. When he turned to
look at the house, Laurel breathed a sigh of relief. It was much
easier to talk to him when she didn't have to look at him. "Baby
steps is what I suggest. One small change followed by another until
she at least resembles a girl in looks and nature."

He turned back to face her, the
lines still framing his wonderful mouth, and Laurel focused on his
eyes so she wouldn't become distracted.

"I'll have a talk with her.
She'll not cause you anymore trouble."

"I hope you're right." Laurel
knew their conversation about Alexandra was over but stood like a
deaf mute while staring at him. Something about this man was just
too mesmerizing. His eyes were so perfectly blue, his teeth white
and straight. The hard lines of muscle bisecting his abdomen, the
definition of his chest…

She blinked and took a deep
breath. "Well then, I'll just be on my way." She forced herself to
turn and all but ran back to the wagon. Lifting her skirts to climb
up, he grabbed her arm and she shrieked, jumped back and could only
stare as he stood there grinning at her.

"This conversation isn't
over."

"It is." Laurel inhaled several
deep breaths, willing her heart to stop pounding. "I didn't want to
know anything about you for a reason. I didn't want any
attachments, then, now or ever. What we had is all there will ever
be so there's no use discussing it. Now, if you'll excuse me, Mr.
Avery, I have three more family's to visit this evening."

He offered her his hand again.
Common sense told her to ignore him but something inside of her
caused butterflies to dance in erratic patterns every time she
looked at him. That part of her screamed to accept. To touch him
one last time. She lifted her hand and placed it in his while that
same voice screamed what a fool she was.

The smile he gave her when his
fingers closed around her hand all but took her breath. It hitched
in her throat when he lifted her hand, placed a small kiss on her
palm, desire shining bright in his eyes. "Since you refused to hear
it in Missoula, my name is Holden and I'll definitely be seeing you
again, Laurel."

She ignored him best she could,
climbed into the wagon seat with his help and settled her skirts,
grabbed the reins in hands much too sweaty for a proper lady to
admit and flicked a glance back at him. "Seeing as you live here
and avoiding you will be impossible, I would appreciate it if you
would keep our future meetings on a professional level. I'm your
daughter's teacher. Nothing more."

"That's not going to happen," he
said. "I cursed myself for a fool the morning I left Missoula and
was halfway home before I turned around and went back. You'd
already checked out of the hotel." He tipped his hat to her, took
two steps back and gave her a look that sent tingles racing down
her spine. "I'll remind you every chance I get of what we shared,
Laurel, and you can count on that."

Laurel clenched her teeth and
flicked the reins, willed the horses to run, and was headed back to
the road before her heart stopped racing. She was tempted to look
over her shoulder but refused to do so.

Spending the night in Missoula
instead of traveling on was a mistake. She knew that now but at the
time, she'd wanted one last night. One night to just be herself. To
walk into the saloon and not care what people thought. To order a
drink, let all her troubles wash away with strong whiskey and not
have a care in the world come morning.

That hadn't happened though. Not
exactly. She'd met him, Holden Avery, moments after walking inside
the saloon and that little voice in the back of her mind had
whispered seductively to her that it was her last chance. The last
chance to throw her inhibitions to the wind and just grab onto life
one more time. And she had. She'd invited Holden to her room and
spent hours having the most life altering sex of her life. She'd
never had a man so attentive in her bed. Her body had burned, her
lungs ached with need of air as he took her to heights she never
knew existed again and again until she lay exhausted in his arms,
his fingers and lips playing over her skin until she'd fallen
asleep.