Rocky Mountain Cowboy (14 page)

Once
he finished cleaning and drying all the cuts and scrapes, he gently rubbed an antibiotic cream into each one.

“I wanted so badly to do well today. I haven’t been any help at all to you. Every time I go out, I get hurt. Damn it, all you’ve done is babysit me! I might as well go home and let you get some real work done.” With every self-incriminating complaint, she grew pathetically closer to tears.

Hawk turned her toward him gently, forcing her to look at him. “Ah, Jenny, that’s not true,” he argued as he stared into her eyes and fingered an escaping tear. “You’ve helped me a lot.”

Anger
turned her cheeks red. “Oh, that is so not true!”

He smiled at her. “Accidents happen when you’re doing hard physical labor. Ranch work can be dangerous, remember?”

“I fell off my horse, for God’s sake,” she insisted. “A good rider doesn’t lose control like that.”

“Aspen was spooked by a snake. You don’t know each other well enough yet. It could’ve happened to anyone.” His fingers gently brushed away another tear that escaped down her cheek.

“Bullshit! And look at me— I’m always crying!”

“Your emotions are close to the surface right now.”

She looked up at him through a blur of tears. He was so sensitive and understanding, it unleashed more tears.

Hawk pulled her into his arms and held her
, and her head instantly fell onto his shoulder. “You’re doing fine, honey,” he reassured her, stroking her long hair from scalp to ends.

Memories of his last kiss returned to flood her senses with sweet anticipation. He lifted her head off his shoulder and stared at her, focusing on her wet mouth. His deep blue eyes reflected hesitation, but she could see that h
e wanted very much to kiss her.

The hunger won out over the hesitation. A tremor went through her the moment he lowered his lips to hers. Within a heartbeat, the kiss turned from tentative and gentle to wildly passionate and ravenous, so much so that it made her dizzy. The
n the blunt edge of hunger faded and his mouth began to gently caress her lips again, coaxing them open so his tongue could sweep inside to savor her taste.

When h
e fell backwards onto the thickly padded arm of the sofa. She followed without thought, still clutching her unfastened bra.

She couldn’t
seem to catch a deep breath. She felt lightheaded and weak all over, but she didn’t care. She was melting against him as his lips slanted against hers in another surge of passion that was pure delight. The alternations from fierce to tender made the kiss incredibly seductive. The spark that had been struck between them ignited into a full blaze.

Pulling his hands out of her hair, he moved them to her lower back and hips. With a throaty masculine groan, he gripped her closer still, his long fingers digging into her bottom until she was pressed tightly up against his groin.

Jenny settled further between his splayed legs. She was notched snuggly against his taut arousal, stretched over him intimately. He shifted his mouth to the ultra-sensitive spot between her neck and shoulder. How did he know she loved to be kissed there? Shivers raced up and down her spine, making her quiver in his arms.

He lingered a long time at her neck, then he was lowering his head to the valley between her breasts. He wedged one hand between hers and pried her fingers loose of her bra. It got stuck somewhere around her waist. His hand inched back up to cup her.

The feel of his rough fingers on her ultra-sensitive flesh was mind-blowing. His thumb stroked her nipple. She whimpered with pleasure. Ah, magic fingers, indeed.

He lifted her a little and his mouth found the naked slope of her breasts. His tongue licked down between them, then climbed
one swell slowly, very slowly to the peak.

Oh god, his mouth was at her nipple, his teeth gently nipping, his tongue swirling! Magic mouth. Magic tongue! Another little whimper escaped her throat. It evolved into an involuntary, very needy moan. She arched into him helplessly. He squeezed her buttocks
through the heavy denim of her jeans and lifted her higher. She felt a long tremor go through him. She responded with one of her own.

He ground his hips against hers, slowly, deeply, insidiously, moving in a circular motion that left no doubt he wanted to make love to her. The long rigid length of his erection restrained beneath his jeans shattered all her reservations. Desperate to feel his bare skin, she tugged at the back of his shirt, trying to pull it out of his belted jeans. She couldn’t remember ever wanting a man as acutely as she wanted this one. And while she wasn’t a woman of vast experience, she could tell he wanted her just as intensely.

His hands moved to her waist, then upwards along her sides, toward her breasts. Anticipating him touching her there, Jenny wedged her hands between them to unbutton his shirt. The need to feel his bare skin against hers was all-consuming. But to her surprise and disappointment, Hawk deliberately pulled back and slid his hands down to settle at her waist. Jenny nearly groaned aloud when he shifted to sit up.

She immediately grabbed for her bra to recover herself. Her head fell as she tried to rehook it. Finally, she gave up and just held it together in front, too embarrassed to look at him.

Hawk put a finger under her chin and lifted her head.

He was breathing hard and his high cheekbones were flushed. His hat had fallen backwards onto the end table. Jenny stared at the paler skin of his well-shaped forehead. When not hidden behind the low dip of his ever-present Stetsons, his features were
even more classically handsome.

Their spontaneous intimacy had definitely disturbed him as much as it had her. This was not a one-sided attraction. She wondered why he had stopped. It was for the best, of course. It would have been too much too fast, and she really wasn’t ready for that, was she?

“I think I got a little carried away there,” he finally said, reaching for his hat, revealing a bit of nervousness and unease. “It was good, real good, in fact.” As he tugged his hat down a notch, he peeked at her beneath its dark brim. “But you know, I wanted to ask you out tonight— to dinner, maybe a movie after. Sort of give us some time away from work to get to know each other better.”

Well, hell! Jenny thought. What she had to tell him was sure to spoil what sounded like a really nice idea. He wasn’t going to be too happy with her now. First, though, she needed to get a shirt on. She reached for her torn one, turned away from him, and managed to put it on again, minus one ruined expensive bra. When she had it buttoned, she swiveled around to face him.

Her eyes held his ruefully. “I’d love to go to dinner and a movie with you, but I can’t tonight, unfortunately. Peter made plans for us to have dinner at the Caldwells.” Whatever he was thinking was hidden beneath the downward dip of his hat. She could see that his mouth, though, had tightened into a grim, straight line. “Peter has been pressuring me to go over there with him, and I’ve been putting him off,” she rushed on to explain. “It’s not something I want to do, but Peter’s leaving tomorrow, and—”

He was furious, she could tell. God, the Caldwells of all people! They were his enemies, at least the brother was. What could she say to make him understand? “It’s nothing really; no big deal. We could go out tomorrow night.”

“Forget about the date,” he told her curtly as he pushed to his booted feet. “Tomorrow night there’s a Cattlemen’s meeting in town.”

Jenny rose and reached out. “Hawk, I won’t listen to all their gossip.”

“Right,” he said, his mouth twisting with cruel sarcasm. “But, hey, Mason’s leaving tomorrow.” He gave her a long slow look. “You going with him?”

“No. I’m driving him to Denver to catch his plane, though.” After picking up her hat, she followed him to the door of the line cabin. “I’d like to go to the Cattlemen’s meeting with you, especially if you’re going to bring up the problem of your missing cows. Will they be able to help?”

“Probably not, but it’s gotta be reported. And it’s not necessary that you go. You’ll have a long round trip to Denver.”

“I
’ll be there. Leave me the address.”

“Yeah.”

It was an abrupt dismissal. Jenny felt miserable all the way back to the ranch house. The need to take it slow because they had to ride double didn’t help, nor did the fact that Hawk didn’t say another word to her. To top it off, she also had to sit close behind him and wrap her arms tightly around his waist. Talk about being punished for a bad decision!

The last she saw of him that evening was when he let her off at the
gate to the front yard. When she got to the porch, she turned to watch him ride into the barn. By the time she left with Peter, neither Hawk nor his truck were around, making her wonder if he’d gone to the movies alone.

CHAPTER 9

There was little doubt that the Caldwell family had money, lots of it, from the look of their immense two story house and sprawling
, highly manicured ranch yard. Situated on a bluff over-looking the valley, the house could more aptly be termed a mansion. Though it was lit up by outdoor underlighting, it was hard to see clearly in the diminishing twilight of evening.

The
barns, which were also underlit, resembled wealthy Kentucky stables on horse farms, rather than the usual pole barns of the West. The other outbuildings around the yard were just as fancy and expensively built, illuminated a little more clearly by halogen pole lights. The entire property was more of an estate than a common cattle ranch.

Peter,
who had insisted on driving, pulled the Corvette into the circular driveway and under the well-lit covered archway before the front doors. Jenny had already noticed how familiar Peter was with the Caldwell ranch. It had been over three weeks since they had arrived, and she knew her assistant had spent most of that time over here. She had a feeling she was going to find out tonight just what he had been up to with his new-found friends.

Since she had let Peter pack for her, she couldn’t really complain about what he’d chosen
for her. But there had been nothing practical in the lot. Tonight was the first time since the funeral she’d had occasion to wear one of her expensive designer outfits. At his insistence, she had chosen one of her own designs. He wanted her to give Brad Caldwell an example of her work, he’d told her, so that he could be persuaded to make some kind of financial investment in their new business.

Jenny had balked at the Peter’s proposal. She’d made it clear that she wasn’t
ready to commit herself full-time to their new venture, but, as usual, Peter hadn’t agreed. He probably wasn’t going to heed her request to keep the dinner date strictly social, either. When Peter Mason made his mind up, he rolled full steam ahead. Jenny was truly dreading the evening, and wished heartily that she’d never agreed to come. Hawk’s proposal of a dinner and a movie had sounded infinitely more appealing, though she doubted it would be something he’d ask again.

Damn! She felt self-conscious, uncomfortable, and guilty standing at the man’s fancy carved double oak doors, waiting for a response to the doorbell she’d just pressed. Shifting from foot to foot in her strappy purple stiletto heels, she vowed to make the evening as short as po
litely possible.

Now, more than ever, she was wondering about the future of her relationship with Peter Mason. She hated to admit it, since they had been co-workers and friends for so long, but she didn’t see much of a future together. She was actually glad he was returning to L.A. tomorrow. He had orders to fill and ship, and she didn’t want him interfering with whatever decisions she might make concerning a po
ssible partnership with Hawk.

A
sudden cold breeze blew through the portico. Shivering, Jenny pulled the lapels of her jacket together. Her back was sore. It was a relief that her scrapes and bruises weren’t visible under her clothes. She did want them to become a topic of conversation.

T
his afternoon Eli had seen them, and he hadn’t been too happy. The old cowboy would surely give the younger one hell, even though she’d told Eli it had been entirely her fault. Unfortunately, Peter had overheard her explanations to Eli, and become irate. Immediately, he blamed Hawk, although fortunately Hawk had not been around to hear Peter’s tirade. Jenny fervently hoped Peter wouldn’t bring any of that up tonight, in front of the Caldwells.

Poor Hawk, she thought. Nothing seemed to be going right for him lately. All those problems at the ranch and her dad’s tragic death were a lot to cope with. Without a doubt, it had been as awful a period for him as it had been for her. The only thing good to have come of it so far had been their un
expected bond. Hawk had been a rock for her, although she wasn’t sure what she had done for him. Whatever happened, she was determined that this engagement with the Caldwells wasn’t going to undermine her opinion of him.

Two hours later that determination was giving Jenny a terrible migraine. The dinner, prepared by the Caldwell’s cook and housekeeper, had been very good, but Jenny hadn’t had much of an appetite. And even though Brad Caldwell made conversation at dinner pleasant, his sister had been extremely cold and barely civil. The woman obviously disliked Jenny a great deal, and her desire to express that had barely been held in check by her brother’s warning looks. The only bright spot had been that Brad had refused to let Peter discuss any business during the meal. In the living room, over after dinner drinks, though, that changed.