Raining In My Heart (Book One of the McKay's) (33 page)

"Letty
,
he's already decided how he feels. He wants nothing to do with me."
Julie
sighed.

"When a cowboy pushes you into a corner, what do you do?" Letty asked
,
pushing her finger into
Julie
's chest.

"I don't know…you sound like
D
ad now."

"Exactly! What do you do?" Letty frowned.

She kept jabbing her finger into
Julie
until
Julie
rebelled
.
"Now wait just a minute."

"Exactly, you fight back. Only in the case of love, fighting back is getting up close and personal. You fight back with everything you got, that's what you do. So
,
you push him. You become the aggressor. Flirt, make him want you. Make him squirm. What women were born to do!" Letty laughed.

"You're crazy
,
"
Julie
protested and started to get up from the kitchen chair.

"No
,
you are. You're crazy in love with a man that's too proud to give in.
All in the name of pride.
So
,
you are gonna have to push him into giving in to you. That's all." Letty laughed.

"It's not my nature…"
Julie
insisted.

"Do you love him?"

"Yes…but
…
"

"Then you have to do it. Seduce him." Letty winked.

"I can't!"

"Why not?"

"I have too much pride
,
too."

"
Pride
has its place, but not in love,
Julie
. He's the father of your child, the man you really always loved and didn't know it. Now you do. So you gotta do something about it
,
" Letty persisted.

"How do I even begin?"
Julie
looked hesitant.

"Seduction!"
Letty's eyes widened with wonder and her smile spread. "Oh
,
it will be so much fun. This time
,
you are seducing Cade on purpose and with a purpose. This is the man that was destined to be yours. He's kept his heart pure and clean for you, it's so-o romantic."

Julie
shook her head
.
"You're such a romantic, Letty."

Letty blinked
.
"I guess I am. Now remember, everything you wear must entice him even as you work around here. Purposely flaunt your hips, purposely lean over at the most indiscreet times. Bat those big beautiful eyes of yours. You are seducing the father of your baby, remember. You want him, need him, and whether he knows it or not, he needs you."

"Letty!"
Julie
laughed.

"Sounds like so much fun
.
" Letty laughed with her and ruffled her hair as she practically flew out of the room.

Despite her protests
,
Julie
did feel a warmth creep over her when she imagined Cade being seduced by her. She was not the vamp type, but what Letty described sent all sorts of fantasies in her head.

Being the first real time she ever let her imagination wander in Cade's direction, she sensed a power she had never even known existed, the power of love. A true love that had been smothered by time and circumstance, unleashed that power of love
and
overtook her.

The next few days proved intense. Cade's hooded glances caught her as off guard as she did him. Was he a lot more available than she thought
?
He seemed everywhere.

Yet
,
her mastery of seduction plan wasn't working like
she thought. Trying to provoke reactions
,
she intentionally moved about him with an air of conquering. At first
,
he seemed to ignore her every move, but gradually his eyes strayed longer on her and she could sense she had his full attention. It gave her courage to go on with this mating game.

The air was so thick around them that most of the hands steered clear when she was about. The mating heat they created was almost tangible. Her senses heightened. She could almost smell his scent, hay, and saddle, and all man fragrance that sent her senses into higher awareness that he was near. She found herself staring at his backside retreating from her audacious flirting more and more.

Just when she thought he might give into her deliberate flirts,
Kellie
would come around and she'd have to back off.

"I'm not good at this, Letty."
Julie
sighed heavily one rainy day.

"Who says, you've got him squirming, haven't you noticed?" Letty laughed.

"Yeah, squirming to get away,"
Julie
chided.

"Don't give up now, you are almost there."

"Am I
?
I hadn't noticed."

"Don't kid yourself, it's working big time, everyone on this ranch can see it but you and Cade. It's almost insanely funny."

Sandy
walked by them in the hallway and stopped. "What's funny?"

"
Julie
has almost got Cade roped and she's giving up." Letty chuckled.

"Well
,
don't
.
"
Sandy
smiled. "Everyone on this ranch is talking about
how
explosive it is to be around the two of you. Everyone is tip
-
to
e
ing
,
wondering how long it will be before Cade caves in."

Julie
blushed. "Oh my God. I'm that obvious?"

Wendy
joined them
.
"Honey
,
you couldn't be more obvious if you wore a neon sign."

"
Wendy
!"
Julie
scoffed. "I think I'm going to die of embarrassment."

"Look, I'm the one that's been mooning over
Wade
, for years. If there's a fool in this family, I'm it.
So don't feel like you
'
r
e
alone. This love stuff isn't easy
,
"
Wendy
confessed.

Julie
flopped on the edge of the bed and glanced at all her sisters gathered to rally her. "But shouldn't love come naturally, without all this flirting and caring on?
Shouldn't a man be able to just speak up?"

Letty shook her head
.
"Think about it. We are intimidating with owning this ranch and having what we do. Men are ski
tt
ish about that. The men around here especially. They've been told enough to keep their hands off. We just have to let them know that we want a hands
-
on treatment, that's all."

Julie
chuckled
.
"You make it sound so easy."

Letty shrugged
.
"We are
McKay
's and as
D
ad used to say,
'
We get what we're after
'
."

"I wish
D
ad was here, to guide us. The only one on this ranch that we can talk to like that is that old horse wrangler who doesn't want to be talked to, Caleb."
Julie
sighed.

"He's a strange one, but I like him. He's a lot like
D
ad, says what he thinks, whether we like it or not."
Wendy
shrugged.

"What if I lose her?"
Julie
cried out suddenly.

"Who?"
Sandy
asked.

"
Kellie
. He said he'd sue for part custody. What if I screw things up so bad and he sues and she wants to live with him?" Tears gushed from nowhere.

"It won't come to that.
Cade
loves you
;
everyone on this ranch knows it. You are marked territory, don't you know that?" Letty laughed.

"I hope you're right…"

***

The rain dripped off the eaves in a resounding rhythm.
Julie
stared out the kitchen doorway. She wondered where
Cade
might be and what he was doing. On a day like this, she felt the world closing in on her.

She was lounging about, in a pair of soft old jeans and a pink cashmere sweater when she heard a noise. It was a crashing sound that startled her and had her scrambling for her raincoat to find the source.

She put her raincoat on, and headed down the hill. The barn seemed stable and no problems. The bungalow was quiet
. But she paused at the corral as she spotted Cade coming in on his horse. He either didn't see her or was ignoring her as he tied his horse to the rail and went inside the shed.

The rain battered the old tin roof making almost a strange music.
Julie
wandered to the door to watch
Cade
.

He was making coffee and leaning against the wall. His hip was at an angle and something went totally through
Julie
. Looking at Cade lately had been nothing but pure torture, for she found her body reacting whether she wanted to or not.

The crackling fire of the old wood stove made it even cozier and
Julie
found herself opening the door and going in.

Cade
stared at her, with a raw hot desire she'd seldom seen in his eyes. Yet
,
that desire was the same thing she felt when she stared longingly at his torso from the doorway.

"What are you doing out in this weather?" he grumbled. Although his voice was harsh, his eyes were warmly taking her all in.

"I heard a noise, but I couldn't find the source. Then I saw you
,
"
h
er voice softened.

"It's not a day to be gadding about,"
Cade
informed her and turned his back to her.

She felt the snub, but instead of leaving she reached for the coffee pot. "Want a cup of coffee?"

"That'd be good," he muttered.

She poured both of them a cup and handed one to Cade. Their fingers touched, electricity shot through
Julie
like a bolt of lightning. She almost jumped. But the one thing she wasn't, she wasn't scared of Cade, nothing about the man induced fear. However, the emotions swirling in her gut, scared her witless.

"You look tired," she cajoled softly.

"A little," he murmured.

"I never realized how much of the workload you carried on this ranch
,
"
s
he said
,
not bothering to hide her admiration.

"It's my job."

"I-I didn't take
Jim
's ring,"
Julie
blurted
,
wondering why she even bothered trying to reason with him.

"I know,
Kellie
told me." He rubbed the back of his neck.

He sat down in the
only
chair and put his coffee on the table.
His finger grazed the top of the cup several times.

Julie
came up behind him, and closing her eyes she slowly reached to touch his neck.

He jerked away, but she didn't. Instead
,
she began to knead his tired muscles in his neck.
The tension was unbelievable, but her hands were warm and gentle.

"This any better?" she finally asked when he began to relax.

"Yeah," he barely uttered. "It's…just what I needed, your hands on me." Then he turned his head to look at her and without a word, his lips were on hers and he was pulling her to his lap.

Julie
was lost in his mastery of the kiss. No one could make her lips melt into putty with a kiss. No one but Cade.

"Do you know how hard it's been to keep my hands off you?" he whispered as his lips sought the softness of her cheek, the sweep of her brow, the curve of her jaw and back to the lips that invited another kiss.

"Our daughter wanted us to keep our hands off each other. Wanted us to date like reasonable people
,
"
Julie
managed between hot steamy kisses that were quickly melting all her resistance to this big strong man.