Her Heart for the Asking (Book 1 - TEXAS HEARTS) (2 page)

Three days ago Mandy had sat in her downtown
Philadelphia office on the phone with her mother, impatiently
drumming her foot on the lift on her chair.  "I am knee deep
in this project for Dad, Mom.  There's just no way I'm going
to be able to get away.  I can't make both of you happy at the
same time."

"You'll just have to find a way." 
Leandra's voice came like static over the phone.  "Your
uncle...isn't himself.  It's been a long time since you've
visited him in Texas.  I think it would do him some good to
see you again.  I think it's time you go."

A tug of emotion had squeezed her
chest.  It had been years since she'd visited Uncle Hank and
Aunt Corrine at the Double T.  She'd never told her mother why
she'd stopped her summer visits, and thankfully, her mother had
never pushed for a reason.  Mandy suspected her mother had
just accepted her decision to not make her summer vacation as Mandy
asserting adolescent independence, wanting to remain in
Philadelphia to enjoy some summer freedom with her friends. 
She'd never spoken about what happened that last summer. 
Never confided of her first love.  And that was just fine with
Mandy.  She didn't need to be reminded.

"I'll call Uncle Hank and explain.  I
can't get away now.  He'll understand," she'd said.

"You make it happen, young lady."  I'm
not asking.

A voice boomed over the outdoor loudspeaker
announcing the arrival of another flight.  Mandy was
immediately pulled back to the present, back to Texas, and the hot
tarmac she now stood on, heels sinking into the sun-softened
tar. 

"We've got a couple of hours ahead of
us.  I'm going to get something cold to drink for the ride,"
Beau said, ambling toward the building.  Turning back, he
asked, "You want something?"

Yeah, I want you to go away.  I want to
forget the way you broke my heart all those years ago.  But
she knew that was futile.  She'd been a fool to think she'd
gotten over him.  If eight years and countless dates with very
eligible men hadn't exorcised the memory of Beau Gentry from her
heart and soul, nothing would.

Mandy glanced at him, defeat sitting just
beneath the surface of her composure, and shook her head.

How could he act so normal?  How could
he be asking her something as simple as whether she wanted a soda
when the last time they'd seen each other had been such a sham?

And how dare he be so handsome after a two
hour ride in a hot pickup truck?  His white tee-shirt
stretched taut across his muscled shoulders.  She knew first
hand just how strong those arms were when they were wrapped around
her in a warm embrace.  After years of breaking every wild
bronc on the circuit, they were sure to be even stronger. 

There wasn't an ounce of body fat on the
man.  His jeans weren't a tight fit, even baggy in a few
places where she longed to lazily roam her hand over and on a few
occasions long ago had.  But on Beau, there was nothing sloppy
about it.  Just high voltage sex appeal that had her rampant
heart doing an acrobatic dance right there on the blazing
tarmac.

And he was nonchalantly asking if she wanted
a soda.

The door closed behind him as he stepped
into the building and Mandy watched through the tinted window while
he wandered over to the soda machine in the corner and made his
selection.  He stood there, his weight shifted lazily to one
hip in a never-do-care way.

She tore her gaze away from her
torture.  Beau Gentry might look like a dream come true from
the cover of Modern Cowboy, but she was an utter disaster after her
long flight.  Suddenly aware she was still wearing yesterday's
silk suit, she ran her hands down her skirt in a futile attempt to
smooth out the wrinkles.  Giving up, she rummaged through her
purse for a barrette and a comb.  Anything to pull together
hair that had become unruly from neglect, heat and the wind. 
Settling on a hairband and her fingers as a comb, she wrestled her
normally-wavy-gone-curly-in-the-heat dusty blonde hair into a pony
tail.  She hated that it made her look sixteen again. 
But there wasn't much she could do until she could get back to the
ranch and unpack her things.

As Mandy watched Beau walk out into the
sunshine with two Root Beers and a bag of chips in his hand, she
reasoned she wasn't as vulnerable as she had been then. 
Letting the likes of Beau Gentry stomp on her heart was something
she wouldn't do ever again.  She was a woman now.  She
could do this.  She led corporate business meetings.  She
used her innovative ideas to dazzle prospective clients into
spending millions of advertising dollars with her father's
firm.  She'd just purchased an elegant townhouse in one of the
trendiest sections of Philadelphia.  All she had to do was
pull herself together and she could handle this situation like the
professional she was.

"I'm not going," she said, cursing inwardly
for sounding like a spoiled child.  So much for the corporate
executive touch.

Beau's lips curled into a slight grin. 
He wouldn't win any points if he ticked Mandy off by laughing at
the way her chin tilted up in defiance.  That hadn't changed
much.  Or the flash of fire in her deep brown eyes.  They
still looked as black and contrasted wildly with the natural
streaks of blond in her hair.  He'd always found that
appealing, adorable as all get-out.  Already his fingers
itched to dig in and let the soft curls of her hair tumble in his
hand.

But she had changed.  Any fool could
see that Mandy Morgan had blossomed into a five star beauty while
he'd been out roaming the country these last eight years.

She was still slim as she was at sixteen,
but her figure had filled out in all the right places that made a
man take notice.  The light rock in her hips that had taunted
him when she was sixteen had matured into a graceful sway he found
hypnotizing.  Although she'd chewed off most of her lipstick,
he noticed she now wore a slight hint of makeup on her cheeks and
eyes, giving her the more exotic look of a woman.

And she still had the power to make his head
spin like a lasso chasing a calf.  He longed to see her smile
again, hear her laugh bubble up from her soul.  But given the
way things ended between them, and the way she stood before him now
with her arms knotted tightly in front of her chest, her jaw set,
he knew she wouldn't crack a smile just to spite him.

Lord only knew why Hank insisted he be the
one to pick her up at the airport.

"Did you hear me?" she finally said when he
didn't answer her.

"Yeah, I did."

Her dark eyes widened slightly. 
"Oh.  Good."

Beau reached down and picked up her leather
garment bag, watching as her bewildered eyes followed his
movement.

"It doesn't change anything though. 
Hank asked me to pick you up at the airport and bring you home, and
that's what I'm doing if I have to toss you over my shoulder and
drop you in the pickup."

Mandy gasped.  "You wouldn't dare!"

"Wanna try me?"  He couldn't help but
smile.  She just looked too darlin' getting all hot and
flustered.  She had to know he wouldn't give up.  Not
just because she was virtually stuck, and knew it, but because she
knew he would never refuse Hank's request.

She sighed and closed her eyes.  "You
touch me and I'll..."

"What?"

"I'll..."

"Afraid of what you'll do?"  His smile
widened just thinking.  "Or are you afraid of how you'll feel
in my arms again?"

A veil of pain hooded her delicate
features.  She wasn't just defeated, he realized.  She
still hurt after all these years.  Guilt stabbed at his gut
just thinking of how she was going to feel when she finally reached
the Double T and she learned the real reason she was called back to
Texas.

Somehow, on those long drives from rodeo to
rodeo these past eight years Beau had fantasized about Mandy
forgiving him one day for what he'd done.  Maybe even
understanding why he'd had to do it.  As the years went on, he
figured she'd have forgotten all about what the two of them had
shared that summer, and moved on with her life.  He didn't
want to think of her finding comfort with another man, forgetting
the way she used to melt like butter in his arms, the way they
breathlessly clung to each other to steal just one more kiss before
turning in each night.  But it would have been easier for her
if she had.

Looking in her haunted eyes now, Beau
realized that was truly a fantasy.  Her pain was still as raw
as the day he'd left her eight years ago. 

He gripped the bag of chips he'd just bought
from the vending machine so hard it popped. 

"Look, we have a long ride ahead of
us.  If you want, you can blast the radio with any station you
want and pretend someone else is driving."

"You'll just start whistling to remind me
you're there," she said, staring at the ground. 

She remembered.  Every trip to the
local rodeos he'd been pent up with anticipation.  She liked
to listen to the radio in the truck and when he was nervous, he'd
whistle and it annoyed the tar out of her.  But she teased him
anyway, telling him if he was going to whistle, he could at least
do it in key. 

Having her remember that one small detail
gave him a slice of hope.  No, they'd never be able to pick up
where they'd left off eight years ago.  That part of his life
was dead and buried.  But maybe he'd have a chance to repair
the damage he'd done.  Maybe they could be friends.

Mandy threw her purse over her shoulder and
headed toward the parking lot, leaving him to deal with her
luggage.  His eyes were drawn again to the graceful sway of
her slender hips and the memory of her silky soft lips against
his.

Being friends with Mandy as a consolation
prize to having her in his arms did nothing to dispel the
loneliness he suddenly felt in seeing her again after all these
years.  But it would have to do.

# # #

Chapter Two

Beau carefully settled Mandy's suitcase in
the back of the pickup, being mindful to cover it with a thick tarp
to protect it from the hot sun.  Mandy hadn't waited for him
to extend his Texas charm by opening the door for her. 
Instead, she climbed into the cab herself, and practically slammed
the door in his face. 

He supposed he deserved that.  She
wasn't happy having been forced into this position any more than he
was.

Hank had asked him to pick Mandy up at the
airport this morning.  These past three weeks Beau had been at
the Double T, Hank had made no mention of Mandy at all except to
say that she was doing well.  And he had only offered that
little tidbit of information when Beau's curiosity had won out and
he finally asked Hank directly about her. 

Hank had to have known Mandy was on his
mind.  It was no secret to anyone that he and Mandy were an
inseparable pair that summer they were together.  But Hank
never uttered a word, even a month ago when he called Beau asking
for help.

After all the things Hank Promise had done
for Beau, Hank had only ever asked two favors of him.  It
wasn't the most opportune time for him to drop everything.
 Lined up ahead of him were some of the best rodeos of the
year.  He'd been in top form all season and he knew this year
he had a shot at winning the World Championship.  He'd won
other championships before, competed against the world's best, but
never managed to win the title for himself.  This year was his
year.  He was sure of it.

But then Hank had tracked him down while he
was on the road.  His old friend would never had made such a
request if it wasn't exceedingly important.  Beau owed all he
knew about rodeo to Hank Promise.  In many ways, Hank had
formed him into a man far more than his old man had, much to Beau's
dismay.  Maybe if Mike Gentry's vendetta against Hank buying
the Double T hadn't been so strong, Beau wouldn't have been so
drawn to it in the first place.

But regardless, here he was eight years
after walking out of his father's home, after walking out of
Mandy's life in search of world fame and fortune on the rodeo
circuit.  It had torn him apart to leave her behind, but in an
ironic twist of fate, he'd come full circle.  He was back in
Texas, back at the Double T with Mandy Morgan by his side.

Only this time, instead of loving him with
all her heart and soul, she despised him.

Jamming the key into the ignition, Beau
gunned the engine.  Mandy was sitting so far on the other end
of the wide bench seat her hip was pressed against the door. 
He turned on the radio to hide his disappointed sigh as he pulled
out of the airport parking lot.

Was this what it was going to be like? 
With him living in the bunkhouse, working at the Double T, and
Mandy living in the house, they were going to run into each
other.  And if Hank was serious about his plans, they'd be
running into each other a great deal.

They'd only gone a few miles on the
interstate when Mandy leaned forward and switched off the
radio.  Beau took his eyes off the road only long enough to
glance at her and see that she was staring at him.  Questions
shadowed her deep brown eyes, making her appear almost lost.

"Why did you really come back, Beau?" she
asked softly.

"I told you.  Hank asked me to."

"That's it?"

He nodded, making sure his right hand was
firmly on the steering wheel while his left was lazily draped along
the open window.

"And you just said yes?  Just like
that.  You just dropped everything and decided to come running
back to Steerage Rock after years of staying away?"

Beau heard the unspoken question, even if
she didn't say it aloud.  Was the reason you hadn't come back
in eight years to avoid seeing me?  That was a little harder
to answer than the rest.  He hadn't come back to Steerage Rock
for a lot of reasons.  Partly because he didn't want to keep
hashing out why he wasn't settling down and working the Silverado
Cattle Company with his father.  Mike Gentry never understood
anyone else's goals but his own.  There wasn't a way in the
world his old man would ever understand why he couldn't work
alongside him at the ranch.