Her Unbridled Cowboy (Harland County Series) (19 page)

“Hello?”

“Hi, Kerri. It’s Duke.”

She glanced at Connor. “Hi, Duke.”
She didn’t think it was possible, but the cowboy stiffened further. “What can I
do for you?”

“I’m really sorry about that mess.
All I wanted to do was ask you to have dinner with me tonight at the Gulfport.”

With her gaze glued to Connor’s
furious face, she straightened her shoulders and smiled. “I’d
love
to go
to the Gulfport tonight. I’ve wanted to try their food.” At least that last
part was true. She’d worry about the first part, later.

Kerri watched Connor’s eyes narrow
and lips thin before he spun on his boots and stalked out the door. She vaguely
heard Duke tell her he’d pick her up at six before he hung up. Her attention
had been drawn to the sound of tires kicking up gravel in Connor’s haste to
leave.

She slumped down into a chair, her
legs no longer able to support her. As if sensing her emotional state, Bullet
whimpered and set his head on her thigh. Kerri absently stroked his fur as the
reality of what just happened hit full force.

Two men had verbally fought over
her in public. She’d accepted a date with a cowboy she didn’t want to go out
with and was told by the one she did that he didn’t think she could handle a
red-blooded cowboy.

And wasn’t that just it. He’d
nailed it. Her biggest fear shouted out, made public right to her face. By the
one cowboy she’d hoped would prove her wrong.

A
s six o’clock grew
nearer, Kerri’s apprehension grew stronger. More than once, she’d picked up the
phone to bail out of her date with Duke, but each time she stopped because she
saw Connor’s face and heard his troubling words.

You wouldn’t know what to do with a
red-blooded cowboy.

Her stomach still gripped tight. The
words hurt so much because they were the truth. In fact, Kerri wasn’t sure she
had what it took to keep the sexual interest in any man any more. 

That wasn’t always the case. She’d
dated throughout high school, shared heated embraces with the quarterback and
might have even done more if he hadn’t headed to Harvard. Then there was the
cute lifeguard she’d met through Jordan when her sister had been life guarding.
Tate had been fun and sweet, and he’d taught her the merits of making out under
a blanket on a moonlit beach.

So, yeah, her young adult years had
been fine. It was since her marriage that her ‘problem’ surfaced.  Maybe if she
hadn’t toned herself down so people would pay more attention to her food. Maybe
then she would’ve been more attractive and sexy, and Lance wouldn’t have looked
elsewhere. Maybe if she’d been more responsive.

God, she didn’t know. But she couldn’t
help but feel a failure when it came to sex. Why else would her husband
have…strayed?

Jordan and Megan had insisted it
wasn’t her. God, she wanted to believe them, but they didn’t exactly know the
full story.

Sure, Connor couldn’t seem to keep
his hands off her, although, she didn’t think she’d have that problem with him
anymore. And he didn’t actually count. He was almost as bad as Kevin. Those two
cowboys weren’t picky when it came to women. They didn’t seem to care about
size, shape or color. Which was a good thing. She actually admired them for
that…it was just that it didn’t say much for her, then. If they dated anything
in a skirt, it didn’t quite prove her desirability.

No. She needed to test the waters
with someone not so…easy. Her date with Duke was a good place to start.

The doorbell rang as if to confirm
her thoughts. She glanced at her watch. Six o’clock. Prompt. Kerri put that in
Duke’s favor. Opening the door, she had to add his sense of style to the list.
He was wearing a charcoal gray suit with a black silk shirt underneath and
sported a matching gray tie. He didn’t look like a cowboy at all. He looked
like a gentleman right down to his leather shoes.

So it was odd that Bullet let out a
low
woof
. She bent to pat the dog and told him it was okay. He remained
quiet, but didn’t budge.

“These are for you, Kerri,” Duke
said, handing her a darling bouquet of tiny, red roses. “You look lovely.”

She smiled at the sincerity in his
gaze, and was glad she’d decided to wear her simple but elegant black dress
with a boat neck and small slit up the back. She’d also pulled up the sides of
her hair, and even dusted gray eyeshadow across her lids.

“Thank you for the roses and the compliment,”
she replied, feeling her face heat.

An appreciative gleam entered his
blue eyes. “You’re more than welcome.”

Nerves began to invade her body.
Calm
down, you can do this.
She smiled. “I’m just going to put these in water,
then we can go.”  

After placing the clear vase on the
credenza, she grabbed her coat off the back of the chair.

“Allow me.” He took it out of her
hands and held it open for her.

Another plus in his favor. He
looked and acted like a perfect gentleman. She only hoped he continued to do so
throughout the evening. Her mama didn’t raise an idiot. Connor had to have had
a reason to dislike Duke. And since she had foolishly stopped Connor from
explaining, she was on her own.

When they arrived at the Gulfport restaurant, Duke told the maitre d’ his name, and they were led to a corner booth with
a wonderful view of the place. 

He ordered their wine as she looked
over the posh menu. Many of the entrées were either steak or seafood, and having
received rave revues for their seafood, Kerri chose the grilled salmon. Since
that would be on her menu as well, she wanted to taste the competition.

After they placed their orders,
Duke sat back and gave her a curious look.

“What?” she asked with a shy smile.

“I was just wondering what a
cultured woman like yourself is doing opening a restaurant here in Texas instead of New York or California,” he replied, tilting his head.

 “Well, I did go to school in New York and studied techniques in Paris. And my sister and I did own a restaurant in California.” Pride sent heat to her face.

Duke stared at her, as if
mesmerized, which only caused her face to heat further.  He shook his head
slightly and his gaze cleared.

“You said ‘did own’ as in past
tense. What happened to make you want to open one here?”

“An earthquake.”

His brow furrowed in concern. “You
weren’t in there at the time, where you?”

“Yes, Jordan and I were both in
there, taking inventory and making a list of things we needed for the upcoming
Thanksgiving holiday,” she informed, before taking a sip of her wine. She really
hated to think about that day.

He leaned forward and touched her
hand. “Were you hurt?”

“Cuts and bruises mainly, but a
spark set off the gas leak and reduced the place to a pile of ashes.”

She pulled her hand away and sat
back as the memory of her sister’s body being thrown to the ground and the
deafening sound that preceded flying glass and debris flashed through her mind.

With a shudder, Kerri took another
sip of her wine and placed her glass back down when she heard a familiar
giggle.

“Look, Connor, isn’t that your
cook?”

Kerri knew whom that voice belonged
to before she lifted her eyes to see a red dressed Ashley standing by their
table with her arm possessively through Connor’s. The cowboy wore black jeans,
a solid white shirt neatly tucked in, a black leather belt and cowboy boots,
but no hat. Her pulse leapt at the sight of him.

Stupid body.

“I’m not his cook, Ashley,” she
said. “Whatever gave you that idea?”

“Didn’t you cook that meal for
Cole’s engagement party?” the blonde asked with a finely arched brow.

 She smirked. “I cooked some of it,
but not for Connor. I did it as a favor to my sister. You know, the one who
married Cole? And I seemed to recall there were other people there too, who
enjoyed the buffet. Not just Connor.”

Ashley’s eyes darkened, and two
twin spots of color marked her cheeks. The blonde looked anything but pleased
about being put in her place in front of two men.

Too bad. Kerri looked from Duke to
Connor and found both men wearing an identical look of amusement on their
handsome faces.

Shoot. Now who was involved in a
public pissing match?  With a sigh, Kerri changed the subject and directed her
question to Connor, knowing full well he’d overheard her phone conversation
with Duke. “So, what brings you to Gulfport tonight?  You get a sudden
hankering for seafood?”

“Yes, their grilled salmon is top
notch,” he answered smoothly.

“And their lobster,” Ashley added,
before tugging at Connor’s arm. “Come on, honey, our table is ready now.”

Kerri watched as they were led to a
booth across the restaurant. Great. Right in her line of sight. A second later,
the blonde’s annoying giggle reached her ears, and Kerri promptly lost her
appetite.

Turning her attention back to Duke,
she felt compelled to say something. “I’m sorry about that. If you want to
leave, I would understand.”

Duke reached across the table and
took her hand gently in his. “There is nothing to apologize for, and I don’t
want to leave. But if you are uncomfortable, we can go somewhere else.”

That was sweet. She looked down at
her hand in his, which was undemanding yet warm, and when she glanced up, his
eyes held the same signal. Until Connor and his date had arrived, she had
actually been enjoying herself. No. Kerri was not going to allow them to ruin
her evening.

Defiance tilted her chin and crept
into her voice. “I’d like to stay, too. I was looking forward to the salmon.”
She smiled, her annoyance at their intrusion easing a bit.

The rest of the meal went
surprisingly well despite the few times her gaze had met Connor’s disapproving
glare. And thanks to Ashley’s irritating laughter, occasionally Kerri’s salmon
tasted as if it had been marinated in gasoline instead of lemon juice, thyme
and oregano. Yeah, her gut burned. In those rare instances, she found her wine helped
wash the seafood down.

After strong coffee and delicious baked
Alaska for dessert, they left the restaurant and Connor and his date behind
without a backward glance. 

Duke took her to a small nightclub
where they enjoyed some dance music and a few drinks. Kerri switched to soda
and was placing her glass down when Duke pulled her back out onto the floor. It
was a long time since Kerri had this much fun. The last time had been when she
and Lance were in New York at school. Every Friday they’d go out with a bunch
of students to the local clubs and dance all night long.

Nope, Kerri hadn’t felt this
carefree in years. All the old moves were coming back, and she was loosening up,
dancing between Duke and a few other admiring males. Then she bumped into an
angry eyed cowboy.

I
nstant awareness and
anger vibrated through Kerri’s swaying body. She stopped and put her hands on
her hips. “What is wrong with you, Connor? Are you following me?”

“I’d like an answer to that as well,”
Duke demanded coldly from behind.

Connor ignored Duke and looked
directly at Kerri. “It’s a good thing I am here. You’re making a fool of
yourself, acting like a tramp.”

Tramp?

She lifted her hand, intending to
slap his insolent face, but he caught her wrist with ease, and instead of
releasing it, he yanked her off of the dance floor.

“I’m taking you home right now.”

Digging her heels in, she stopped
dead and jerk from his grasp. “You most certainly are not. I came here with
Duke, and I will be leaving with Duke,” she told him, moving closer to her
date.

Who does he think he is?
She
wasn’t doing anything wrong. Duke wasn’t doing anything wrong. Heck, she was
having a great time. No way was she leaving now, and certainly not with the
gorgeous jerk.

“Kerri.” Connor clenched his teeth,
then took a step toward her, but Duke intervened and put his body between them.

Uh oh. The last thing she wanted
was another round of public shoulder knocking.

“She said she wants to stay here
with me, Connor.” Judging by the rigid way Duke was standing, she was afraid fists
would fly if she didn’t do something.

Glancing at the red-faced woman silently
standing on the outskirts of the dance floor, Kerri frowned. “Ashley, why don’t
you take your cowboy and get out of here?”

The blonde shrugged her shoulders.
“Connor is a big boy. I learned long ago to let him do what he wants.”

That didn’t help her situation at
all. She stepped around Duke to confront Connor. “Look, I don’t know what you’re
thinking, but I am fine and having a good time. You don’t need to play the big
brother.”

Brown eyes narrowed. “You’re drunk
and don’t know what you’re saying.”

Oh, for the love of…

“I am not drunk! I’m drinking soda,
see?” Anger made her grab her glass from the bar a little too hard, and as she
thrust it at him, the force sent her cola onto his shirt.

With her hand to her mouth, Kerri
barely suppressed the snicker that threatened as she tried to apologize. “Sorry,
Connor. I didn’t mean to do that.”

“I’m sure you didn’t,” he ground
out, ignoring the napkin she grabbed off the bar and thrust in his direction.

She lifted her chin and calmed her
voice. “As you can see, Duke is not trying to get me drunk, so you can leave,
and I can go back to having a good time.”

The cowboy stared at her for a
moment, then shifted his gaze to Duke. Kerri shivered as a deep freeze took
over his features. It matched the expression on her date’s face.

“She had better be home at a
reasonable hour and unharmed or I will hold you responsible. Do I make myself
clear, Carver?”