Her Unbridled Cowboy (Harland County Series) (41 page)

He released her, and together, they
made their way back to the camp in a charged silence.

I
t was late in the day
by the time they reached the holding pen at the ranch. Kerri was hot and tired
and hungry, but felt so alive. Her heart was pounding in anticipation of their
talk.

A talk with her cowboy.

That was how she came to look at Connor.
He was indeed
her
cowboy, and she was going to do whatever it took to
convince him he didn’t want her to go.

She wanted to tell the men to take
care of the cattle because she needed to steal their boss, but instead, she
stayed out of the way and watched as the last of the calves were rounded up and
secured inside the pen.

Her father and Mr. McCall were at
the stables when they rode up. They stared at her and Connor, and she knew
without a shadow of a doubt, they were indeed the reason she’d been on the
drive.

The buggers.

Should I thank them now or
later?

“Why am I not surprised the two of
you are here?” She shook her head and smiled as she dismounted her horse.

“What? We just wanted to know how
things went.” Her dad kissed her cheek and grinned.

“Yeah. I bet.” She grinned back and
sent Connor a sly look as he joined them.

“Things are fine. All five hundred
and fourteen head are in the pen, and we even got to sample some rattle snake
for supper.” He winked at her before he began to unsaddle his horse.

Her pulse accelerated and so did
the heat low in her belly.

“Rattle snake? What are you talking
about?” Mr. McCall questioned, but Connor just smirked and continued with his
task.

Kerri shrugged. “I thought the men
should taste real Texas cuisine.” She bit back a smile as she turned to start
unloading her equipment.

“I don’t think we’re going to get
anything out of these two, Alex. We might as well go talk to Cal.” Her father
shook his head, then slapped his friend on the back, and the two of them walked
off in search of the ranch hand.

“Those two are a piece of work.”
Connor looked over their horses at her.

She nodded. “That’s for sure.”

His eyes darkened and darted to her
lips. “Kerri, I…” He stepped closer, and her heart rocked in her chest, pushing
out her hitched breath.

“C
onnor,” Hank
interrupted as he came out of the stable with a phone. “One of the buyers wants
to talk.”

So do I
, Kerri wanted to
scream, but she didn’t.

“Sorry, darlin’.” He sent her an
apologetic frown, then grabbed the phone and disappeared inside the stable.

Regaining control of her emotions,
she finished her unloading.

“We’ll take care of the mare.
You’ve done enough,” Pete said, ushering her away. “We all hope you’ll be on
the next drive. Your food tastes better than Teddy’s…and you’re better looking,
too.”

“Maybe.” She smiled.

Kerri honestly didn’t know where
she would be by then. Hopefully, right here with Connor and her heart.

T
wo days later, Kerri pulled
onto Shadow Rock Ranch for the Dalton’s annual spring barbeque. It’d been two
long days. She hadn’t had a face to face with Connor since he’d disappeared
into the barn the day they’d returned from the cattle drive. He’d called her
several times, and they talked briefly, but between their busy schedules, they’d
been unable to meet, until today.

Her pulse increased.
Finally
.
God, she missed him. Had so much to tell him. So much to say.

Kerri and her sister took the day
off of work to attend. She picked up Brandi and was parking her car when she
received a call. Glancing at the caller ID, she grinned.

“Connor?” Brandi looked over at her
and smiled.

Kerri nodded. “Hello, handsome.”

“Hi, darlin’. You here yet?”

“Yep. Just getting out of the car.
Where are you?”

“By the big oak. Hurry.”

She laughed. “Okay. I’ll be right
there.” She hung up and gave her head a shake, her heartbeats kicking up a
notch in anticipation.

“Don’t worry about me,” Brandi said
as they shut the car doors. “I want to go check on my horse before I join the
party.”

Kerri nodded. She’d helped Brandi
board her mare here a few weeks back “Okay. I’ll see you later.”

She turned and headed for the big
oak and her big cowboy, hoping today, right now, was the time they staked a
claim. It was time. Past time.

But what if he doesn’t say it?

Her rapidly beating heart nosedived
into her ribs. Okay, that was not an option. After that night on the range,
Connor had told her in every way but words that he loved her and wanted to be
with her. And she had done the same.

This was just a formality.

And the perfect setting.

It had all started here at last
year’s party. Kerri remembered it vividly. Somehow, Jordan had gotten Cole to
attend, much to everyone’s surprise because he hadn’t gone to any function in
years. Not since the death of his first wife. Her sister had given the cowboy
his space, but had remained close enough in case he needed rescuing.

Kerri also remembered how it had
felt to be held by Connor.

It was the first time they’d ever
danced together, and it had been his arms that had woken her up. Like a fog
horn.
Holy smokes.
She’d realized with a start that night that she
wasn’t as fickle or prudish as her failed marriage had led her to believe. She’d
felt a stirring for Connor back then, but was too confused to know what to do
about it.

Not now.

Not this time.

Heck no.

This time, it would be much
different. Kerri knew exactly what to do about it. All she needed was for the
cowboy to show up.

And he had.

Her pace quickened like her pulse,
and she wiped her palms on her aqua sundress when he finally came into view. God,
he was so handsome. He took her breath away.

Dressed in a dark green, button
down shirt, Connor had his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, accentuating his
growing tan, all tucked into his snug,
wish-I-were-them
jeans. A pair of
brown cowboy boots and brown hat completed his
Marlboro Man
appearance.

Kerri’s heart skipped a beat as his
gaze found hers and his face lit up with a smile.

“You look amazing, Kerri,” he said,
rushing forward to pull her in for a long, slow, delicious kiss. When they
broke for air, he grabbed her hand and kissed it. “Let’s talk before someone
interrupts us, again.”

She laughed.

He led her to the privacy of the
trees, where he turned and leaned back against the big oak and squeezed her
hand.

Funny. Kerri had so much she wanted
to say to him, but now that the opportunity finally presented itself, she was
tongue-tied. All she could do was stare into his handsome face.

He stared back, and his eyes told
her he wasn’t sure where to start.

“Kerri, I know how much that job
offer in California means to you, and I know I don’t have the right to ask you
to stay but...” He took a deep breath. “I think you should know how I feel
about you.”

Her pulse raced, and her body began
to sweat as she smiled and waited silently for him to continue. He dropped her
hand to cup her face in both of his and tipped her head so he could stare
straight into her eyes.

“I love you, Kerri,” he said
simply. “God, more than you could ever know.”

Tears sprang to her eyes and she
was powerless to stop them, just as she powerless to stop the rush of feeling
warming her from within. She opened her mouth to tell him, but he put a finger
to her lips and smiled.

“I have more I need to say.” He
brushed the tears away with his thumbs and continued. “All I want is for you to
be happy. If it’s that job in California, so be it. Take it. I just want you to
know that we will work something out. Borrow Cole’s jet. I’ll commute. Move. Do
anything I have to, because I am
not
going to let you get away.”

The love and raw truth shining from
his eyes stole her breath. Hope and love mixed, filling her heart so full the
band restricting her chest broke and fell away.

He loves me.
And
oh, God
…he
offered to commute. Or move.
Move
. Leave his beloved ranch. His love,
commitment, feelings for her staggered her very soul.

Kerri threw her arms around his
neck and kissed him soundly. She pressed into him and held tight. Not ever
going to let him go.

And he kissed her back, taking her
breath and the strength from her legs.

Never had she realized her heart
had been off kilter. Needed to be set. Wasn’t in position. Until her cowboy,
with his big heart, big love and unbridled feelings, just clicked hers right
into place.

A minute later, they pulled away
panting and smiling.

“Connor,” she said between breaths,
unable to wait to tell him how she felt. “I love you, too. So much—”  

And would’ve said more, but he cut
her off with another kiss that curled her toes and destroyed all coherent
thought.

Thinking was way overrated anyway.

Five minutes later, Connor forced
himself to detangle the soft sweetness wrapped around him tight. Not that he
wanted to. Hell no. He wanted to go on holding and loving the woman who was
more patient and understanding than he deserved.

But someone kept calling her name,
dammit. Apparently, their private moment was over.

She pulled away and stared up at
him dazedly.

“Kerri?”
There it was again
.

She blinked, and his gaze roamed
her features hungrily. God, he could hardly believe this beautiful woman loved
him, but her eyes said it. Oh,
hell yeah
—with as much emotion and deep
love as Jordan had for Cole. It humbled him. Made him feel blessed. Strong.
Like he could take on the world.

“We need you, Kerri. Come on up.”

Connor groaned. “That would be my
brother with his impeccable timing,” he said, turning her around to face the
stage.

He was going to kill Cole later.

“Oh yeah, I forgot I promised I’d
help them out with a few songs.” Kerri twisted back around and smiled
apologetically.

His heart melted at the sight. “Go
ahead. You know I love to hear you play and sing.” He traced her lip with his
finger. “And moan.”

Color rushed into her cheeks, and
he fell even more in love with her.

“There she is.” Cole continued to
sign his death warrant. “Kerri, I know my brother is hard to resist, but I
promise, you can go right back to him when we’re done.”

Connor drew in a breath and dragged
his gaze from Kerri’s
oh so kissable mouth
to look at the stage in time
to see Jordan swipe the microphone from his grinning brother.

“Don’t listen to him, Kerri. You
take all the time you need.” Her sister winked at them and the crowd roared.

Kerri’s blush deepened, but she
smiled and held her hand up to wave at their audience. That was another thing
he loved about her. Not just her strength, but her courage. Even if something
intimidated her, she faced it head on.

She twisted back to him, her gaze
suddenly serious. “I have a few things I need to say, too. I’m—”

Ah hell
. Now the crowd
chanted her name. Connor let out a breath and dropped his forehead to hers.

“Go ahead. I’ll be right here when
you’re done,” he assured and gave her a quick kiss before turning her around
and pushing her toward the stage.

All the while she was up there
performing, her beautiful gaze had stayed on him, letting him know she was
singing the songs just for him. His chest couldn’t expand any more. He’d never
felt so happy. And so far away…

Connor moved closer, feeling warmed
from the inside out, needing to be near her. She was too far away. Much too far
away.

And his mind raced with ideas and
scenarios on how and where to get Kerry alone. They hadn’t had the chance to
discuss if she was taking the job. If she was moving. He only knew they loved
each other. Which, was actually enough. Everything would fall into place. He’d
make it work.

Finally, the third song ended, and
he watched his brother place the guitar down. Anticipation rushed through his
veins knowing he’d be holding his woman again soon.

And this time, he’d find a much
more private spot. Shadow Rock Ranch was big. There were plenty of places where
they could get lost and no one would interrupt. He’d make sure of it this time.

When his brother and Jordan hopped down,
he expected Kerri to do the same. But she didn’t. She remained. Lifting the
microphone to her lips, she looked straight at him and his heart literally dipped.

“I’d like to say something before I
get off the stage,” Kerri informed and the crowd cheered. “I don’t know if you
all heard about the job offer I got from a prestigious restaurant in California.”

Now the crowd suddenly moaned and
groaned, and he understood their sentiment.

“I just wanted to let you know that
Texas has once again captured my heart…and so has that cowboy over there.”

Hot damn.
She pointed at him
with a grin so big and her heart in her eyes, he felt like an absolute king.
Certainly the luckiest son-of-a-bitch in the whole state of Texas. Everyone
hooted and cheered, and Kevin and Kade walked over to slap him on the back.

“Way to go, Connor,” Kade said.

His cousin nodded. “Yeah, you done
good.”

“So,” Kerri continued when his gaze
met hers once more. “That is why I turned down the offer.”

He felt his mouth drop open as hope
and love hit his chest with the force of a Brahma bull.
My God…she turned
down California…