Sweet and Wild (7 page)

“This place looks incredible.”

Jacob nodded. “Took a lot of time and a
couple staunch supporters but we’ve done what I wanted to do here.”

“The transformation is amazing.”

“I’m sure I’ll think of something more
it needs. The spa is my latest addition. From what I’ve heard, it’s going to be
a popular attraction, though I know nothing about running one.”

“You do know the way to a woman’s
heart,” Craig said with a laugh.

“I saw Marisol over with a group of
kids,” Jacob commented. “She seems to be making some friends.”

That relieved Craig tremendously. He’d
been so afraid the girl would be a loner here. “It’ll make starting school
easier if she does. She’s a shy kid. Except around your sister. I think there’s
some hero worship going on there.”

Jacob chuckled. “That’ll embarrass
Quinn. And make her proud. She always wanted a little sister.”

Oh great
.
I don’t
need to picture Quinn as a daughter figure.
“I’m a little too young to be
her father.”

“God no. You’d have only been eight?
Hell, that’s not the image I need. She’s riding in a few. You want to go
watch?”

As if I’d miss it.

Craig and Jacob walked over to the
arena. Down the fence, Robby and Lance flirted with three women, guests of Long
Knife Creek Ranch apparently. Craig shook his head and turned his attention to
the arena as Quinn rode in on her flashy roan mare.

For the first time Craig saw Quinn
riding Piper with a saddle, a showy number of black leather trimmed with silver
details. Dressed in the same dark blue wranglers, she now wore chaps of a deep
red, fringed with turquoise, and yellow leather. Her shirt was sky blue with
the same red and yellow and a darker blue flame design. She was stunning. A
rodeo queen if he’d ever seen one.

The brim of her hat cast her eyes in
shadows, but they were focused on the barrels. On Piper’s back, in all that
fancy gear, she looked more mature, but there were those lips, pale red, full
and sexy, even set in a frown of concentration.

God help me, he thought, throwing out a
prayer that Jacob wouldn’t notice his growing interest. He had a feeling Jacob
wouldn’t approve, not when there was a whopping eight year difference in their
ages.

Someone announced Quinn and her mount
and as soon as the prancing horse was ready at the starting line, Quinn leaned
low over the mare’s neck and with a “giddyup”, set the horse in motion.

The race was over in mere seconds but it
brought an enthusiastic round of applause, mixed with a few shrieking whistles,
from the spectators. Craig glanced at his brother. Robby paid attention now, a
wolfish smile on his face. Yet, he didn’t seem to mind the hand of some tall
brunette on the small of his back or the way the guest leaned against him.

Surely, Quinn wouldn’t fall into Robby’s
trap again.

“She’s something else,” Craig commented
to his host. “I swear the girl is half horse.”

Jacob nodded. “That would be a
compliment of the highest level to my sister. Sometimes I swear she wishes she
were a horse.”

In the arena Quinn talked to three
guests who were mounted and apparently interested in learning how to do what
she’d just done so effortlessly.

It was amazing to see Quinn, who just a
little while ago said she preferred to keep to the barn, look so vibrant and
confident with the guests now. Maybe because on the horse she was in her
element. It was a pleasure to see her work and he felt good about the fact
Marisol would be in her hands.

“Hey, why don’t you let me show you
around,” Jacob broke into Craig’s thoughts, which was a blessing. He needed the
distraction. Without giving Quinn another look, Craig followed Jacob away from
the arena.

By the time he and Jacob parted company,
Craig headed to collect Marisol so they could get some lunch. Marisol, however,
didn’t want to be collected. In fact, she had started lunch without him,
sitting with her new friends in the shade of some trees by the play area. She
waved at him but returned immediately to whatever story a dark haired girl
told.

“Looks like you’ve been stood up.”

Craig swung around toward the voice.
Quinn stood behind him, her hat in hand and dust across her cheek. The urge to
kiss her burned through him like a flash fire. He sucked in his breath and
mentally steadied himself. How easily it would’ve been to throw caution to the
wind and pull her into his arms.
Shake it off, Lynch.
Kissing Quinn
would be opening a door he had a feeling he wouldn’t be able to close again.

“I’m glad she’s found some friends.
Thank you for inviting us today.”

Quinn grinned and slapped him lightly on
the arm in a kind of buddy type gesture. “Well, you and Jacob were like
brothers so you’re practically family.”

The arm slap deflated Craig’s mood a bit,
but he put the angle on it that this was precisely what he needed to get his
mind on the right track. Family. Kid sister. Much better.

“I’ve got to go change out of this
costume. I’m too warm. See you later.”

Craig didn’t want to watch her walk away
but the view was too appealing.
Kid sister.
It didn’t hold water at the
moment.

Quinn couldn’t get out of Craig’s
company quick enough. When she reached the privacy of her room, she called herself
all sorts of nasty names for throwing herself in his path every chance she
could today. It was cute—for a kid, but she wasn’t a little girl anymore and
pretty soon it would become obvious she had a thing for him.

Then what? It would get all awkward
between them and he probably wouldn’t want her anywhere near the Shady H to
teach Marisol how to ride, and she truly wanted to do that.

Quinn discarded the rodeo garb and
changed into a pair of denim capris a white short-sleeved baby doll shirt, and
a pair of old sneakers. After washing her face, she stared into the mirror.
Admiring her face wasn’t something she did, and this certainly wasn’t an
exception to the rule. Instead she studied her features. Steady, pale blue eyes
regarded herself in the mirror. Too tan despite her near religious use of
sunblock and her hat, with a smattering of freckles across her imperfect nose.
A nose broken so many times coming off a horse, that she finally refused to
have it fixed. Most of the time it didn’t bother her, she wore it like a badge
of honor for all the hard work she did, but now she heard Charlene Tatreau’s
voice in her head, telling her she should get it fixed.

Was it that bad? Quinn turned her head
and examined it from each side. No, it wasn’t hideous. But it sure wasn’t cute
and petite. It looked broken. God, Craig probably thought it looked horrible.

“Oh, good lord,” she muttered and pulled
her gaze away from the offending feature. She was damned if she was going to
dwell on it. It never bothered her before. Craig hadn’t stared at it in horror.

Still, when she went back out, Quinn was
determined not to go anywhere near Craig.

The problem was when she finally made it
outside it seemed all the ladies had disappeared. Apparently, they’d all headed
to the spa to pamper themselves while the men enjoyed a highly competitive game
of horseshoes. Some people lingered over lunch, but not anyone she’d typically
join. Quinn had the choice of either going to the spa, hanging around with the
kids in the play area, or joining the game of horseshoes. None of those options
appealed to her, so she headed to the barbeque pit to find some lunch.

Halfway there, she stopped dead in her
tracks. Craig stood at the edge of the picnic area with Ted and Dina Penney.
Quinn had no desire to deal with Ted. From a distance, Craig didn’t seem to be
too pleased about chatting with them either. Not that Quinn blamed him. She had
nothing against Dina, except the woman barely said three words in her husband’s
presence, but she didn’t trust or like Ted in any way, shape or form. He was
worse than a used car salesman, except he tried to deal in horses and cattle,
neither of which he did with an ounce of success. He came around to the
barbeque every year, with that greasy smile on his face and his timid wife
behind him.

Every year he tried to schmooze with
Jacob, trying to get her brother to buy horses for Long Knife Creek. Jacob
always turned him down. Now, it looked like he was working on Craig.

Instinct told her to walk away, it
wasn’t her business, and surely Craig could hold his own against Ted, but she’d
never forgive herself for not even trying to rescue him. She approached the
threesome, plastering a cold smile on her face.

“Hello Mr. and Mrs. Penney,” she said,
interrupting the conversation. She didn’t look at Craig, but instead
concentrated on the couple. “So glad you could make it over.”

Ted’s mouth transformed from a pinched
line to a broad smile. His “used car salesman face”, Quinn liked to call it.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Quinn nodded. “Where’s Scott?” She
looked around for their son but already knew what Ted would say.

He chuckled. “You know that boy. He’s
got a project going at the ranch he didn’t want to stop.”

Translation—Ted had him working hard.
No breaks for
him. Ted didn’t have any hired hands to run the ranch and it showed. Scott
pretty much took care of everything on his own. Ted worked his son and wife to
the bone. And for what? For the horses he bred, mainly in hopes of keeping the
surrounding ranches in stock? How she longed to put him out of business, but
while there had been complaints lodged against him for neglect, he kept his
animals in just good enough shape to escape having them removed. Barely.

“It’s too bad he couldn’t have made it
at least for a little while,” Quinn said then turned her attention to Dina, her
heart thawing a little.

Though a mouse of a woman, Quinn would
have bet at some point Dina had been pretty. What she had seen in Ted Penny,
Quinn couldn’t fathom. Too many hard years as his wife had washed her right
out.

“You know, Miz Penney, the spa opens
today. If you’d like some pampering, I’ll take you there.”

Quinn hadn’t planned on going, but if
she could draw the woman away from her husband for a few hours it would be
worth a little mud on her face or a cucumber slapped over her eyes.

Dina glanced at Ted, a weak smile on her
face. “I don’t know, it sounds expensive.”

Quinn waved her hand. “Everything is on
the house. For today only.”

She shot a quick look at Craig who’d
been studying her. The warmth in his blue eyes recharged her heart.

Dina looked back at her husband, her
eyes wide and full of hope. Quinn could tell by the way his lips disappeared
into a thin, hard line that he wanted to say no.

“I’ll have her back in no more than two
hours,” Quinn promised. That at least was true. She didn’t think she could
stand more than two hours of primping. “We’ll be back in time for the band.”

Dina clutched her purse, her brown eyes
pleading.

Ted smiled. “Of course, you go on ahead.
You deserve a little spoiling.”

Quinn tried not to retch.
What a
fake.
He didn’t fool anyone.

“And you can join the guys playing
horseshoes,” Quinn suggested, hoping to free Craig of the man’s company.

Craig nixed that idea.

“Ted and I have some business to tend to
first.”

The warmth left Craig’s eyes as he
stared hard at Ted. Maybe Craig did know about the condition of his childhood
home.

Ted shifted under the weight of Craig’s
attention so Quinn took hold of Dina’s arm and pulled her away from her
husband. “I’ll take your wife and get something to eat first. We’ll see you in
a few hours.”

Forty-five minutes later, she and Dina,
now chattering and happy, walked into the brand new spa. Women’s voices filled
the place. Soft music filtered unobtrusively through the conversation, mingling
with the scent of coffee and incense. Jacob had managed to maintain the
hominess that their ranch was famous for, but add in pure luxury. Quinn relaxed
just being there.

Alexis Roundtree, the manager of the
spa, came out from the office to greet the newcomers. “Has Hell frozen over or
did pigs start to fly?”

“Dina is here to be pampered. I want her
to get the works,” Quinn told the woman. She’d known Alexis forever. In fact
Jacob and Alexis had dated briefly in high school before she left the state to
get a degree in business management. Now she was a married mother of three,
living over in Salem.

Alexis nodded and called for Bridget,
one of the employees who came and led Dina away. Once alone, Quinn leaned
against the counter. “I want it on me.”

“Not a problem. And what are you going
to have done? Massage? Facial? Manicure? Maybe a pedicure?”

“I think I’ll settle for a magazine in
the waiting room.”

Alexis chuckled. “I think not. No, we
have an opening in about five minutes. I think I have just the thing to make
you stunning, not that it’s a long way to go. But you get too much sun.”