The Secret Truth at Dare Ranch (17 page)

He
started out the door but Lexie laid a hand on his arm. "No, I'll go after
him. It would be best if you just left."

"Are
you sure?” 

She
nodded. "I'm sure. Thanks for stopping by."

Whatever
else he might have said was lost to Lexie's ears as she scooted around him and
ran down the steps after Mitch. Mitch had just reached his car when Lexie
rushed up beside him. "Mitch, wait," she said in a pleading voice. "That
wasn't what you think!" 

He
threw her a sharp look and gripped the handle of the car door. "Right. You
played me for a fool once. I won't let you do it again," he added with
bitter irony.

Mitch
yanked the door open but Lexie slammed it shut again. He jerked his head and
glared at her with anger and hurt shining in his eyes.

She
grasped his arm. When he tried to pull away from her, she held on. She had to
make him see the truth. "No, it wasn't," she stated firmly. "You
need to get it through that thick skull of yours that nothing happened between
Jake and me seven years ago and nothing happened today."

He
wrenched his arm from her hold. "You expect me to believe that?" he
asked in an incredulous tone.

The
wind blew a strand of hair into Lexie's face and she hastily brushed it away. "Yes.
I do. If you care about me at all."

His
mouth fell open. "If I care," he shouted as he jabbed a finger into
the center of his chest. Mitch stepped forward until the tip of his nose almost
touched hers. Green fire blazed in his eyes and the muscles in his face
appeared hard and rigid with anger. A vein pulsed in the side of his neck. "Let
me tell you something about caring," he growled between clenched teeth.

"When
a man finds the woman he's just made love with two days before in the arms of
another man, he figures she doesn't give a hoot in hell about him," he
said in a tight, clipped voice. When she started to say something he held up
his hand stopping her. "Stupidly, after seven years he still can't get her
out of his mind so he comes back," he said with sarcasm ripe in his voice.

"Just
when he thinks they can build a life together, he sees her in the same man's
arms.” Mitch raised his hands palm up. "Again," he yelled and dropped
his hands to his sides. "So don't question whether I care about you or not
when it's
you
who doesn't give a rat's ass about me."

He
dug the keys out of his pocket and turned toward the car. He couldn't leave
like this or she'd lose him for good. Lexie grabbed the keys dangling from his
fingers, drew her arm back and tossed them over the top of the car.

Mitch
looked in the direction she'd thrown the keys then back at her. "Oh,
that's mature.” He started to walk around her to retrieve the keys, but she
stepped in his path. Lexie laid her hand on his chest just above his heart and
felt the rapid thump of his life's blood against her palm. In that one, brief
moment, recognition dawned in her heart. She'd fallen in love with him or had
she been in love with him from the beginning? She jerked her hand back as if
she'd touched fire and inhaled a deep, calming breath to steady her nerves. A
voice inside her head mocked her.
What the hell are you going to do now?
"I
couldn't bear it if you thought I'd betrayed you all over again. Hear me out. Please.”

He
glanced away and squinted against the sunlight bathing his eyes. Wind blew the scent
of him past her nose and ignited a deep longing in her soul. She was scared
more scared than she'd ever been in her life. Losing the ranch would be bad
enough but losing Mitch twice...she didn't think she'd ever get over it. After
a moment, he looked back at her. "Five minutes.”

"Okay,
come in the house."

They
settled on the sofa in the den with two steaming mugs of tea. Mitch sat stiffly
with his jaw locked and his hands resting rigidly on his thighs. "Better
start talking," he said with deceptive calm.

Lexie
exhaled a deep breath. She glanced at his profile and willed him to look at her
but he stared straight ahead. "I know you remember the night dad caught us
coming out of the barn--"

"After
we made love," he finished in a taut voice.

She
fingered a side seam in her jeans. "Yes. You and dad had a terrible fight."

"I
didn't come here to reminisce," Mitch said in a cold, exacting tone.

The
muscles between her shoulder blades tightened at his remark. "Dad was
determined to keep us apart. He didn't know that you already had plans to leave
Chimney Rock so he concocted that little scenario with Jake to get you out of
my life for good."

She
watched his body relax almost imperceptibly in a loosening of the shoulders and
an easing of the lines bracketing his mouth. If she didn't know him so well she
wouldn't have noticed.
Maybe he's starting to believe me.

Mitch
turned his head and looked at her. For the first time since he'd seen her in
Jake's arms there were doubts in his eyes. A little spurt of hope shot through
her. "What do you mean?" he asked.

Lexie
stared deeply into his eyes. "Dad found out we had a date that night. He
knew we were meeting outside, what time and everything. So he paid Jake to
pretend he was seducing me."

She
shook her head. "You have no idea how shocked I was when Jake made a pass
at me. One minute we were talking and the next he had his arms around me.” Lexie
laid a hand on Mitch's arm and to her relief she didn't feel the muscles
stiffen. "I ran after you to explain but you wouldn't listen, you wouldn't
even look at me. I came by your house the next day to see you, but Judson told
me you'd left town the night before."

Lexie
moved her hand to the side of his cheek and rested it there. She felt the
slight stubble on his skin tickle her palm. "The whole thing was a setup,
Mitch. I never even knew until after it was all over. Jake confessed the whole
thing. He accepted the money because at the time his little brother really
needed it for school. Dad used him too, don't you see?"

He
lifted his hand and cupped the back of her neck. His warmth infused her skin
and the tense knot in her stomach eased. "I can't believe it. All these
years I thought you didn't care about me.”

     Mitch drew her into his arms. She rested her
head on his shoulder and simply breathed him in. Lexie reveled in his warmth
and the strength of his arms. After a moment, he tilted her face to his and
kissed her gently on the lips. "I'm sorry I doubted you," he
whispered. He shifted to her cheek then the line of her jaw before planting
soft kisses on her neck. "Mitch, I--"

     "Shh, don't say anything. Just let me kiss
you," he murmured. Her brain fogged and her limbs felt heavy and weak.  Her
sensual conscience remembered the feel of him, his touch, his taste, the skill
he used to arouse and titillate. But she remembered his gentleness most of all.

     His breath blew over her neck and his lips
nibbled with just a hint of tongue. Warmth spread from foot to head and back
again as her knees turned to water.

     He shifted slightly and skimmed his hands down
to her waist. She inhaled a sharp little breath when his fingers whispered over
the edges of her breasts. She remembered the feel of his hands on her breasts,
the strength, the gentleness of his touch and the rough arousing feel of the
calluses on the tips of his fingers. From there he moved his palms to her neck
and buried his fingers in her hair. He tilted her head back so she had to look
into his eyes.

     Gradually, he lowered his head, laid his mouth
over hers fully and slid his tongue between her lips. A moan glided from her
throat. The kiss turned dark, heady. He assaulted her mouth, his hands roamed
her back. From her back his hands moved lower and cupped her fanny lifting her
closer to him. Her body touched his.

     She felt every muscle and the rough slide of
his jeans and the softness of his shirt beneath her hands. Her breasts grew
hot, needing to be touched. As if reading her mind, he pulled the shirt from
her jeans where she had tucked it in and let his hand glide from her waist to
her ribs to just beneath her breast.

     Slowly, ever so slowly he slid his hand higher
until his palm covered her breast. With ruthless efficiency he rubbed his thumb
over her nipple bringing it to peak. Then abruptly, he drew back. His eyes
shone with arousal, desire. Her breath heaved from her lungs as did his.

His
hand still held her breast beneath her shirt. With his eyes on hers he moved
his thumb over her once more arousing the nipple to an even harder peak. "I
want you, Lexie, more than I need to breathe, but now is not the time.”

Her
breath hitched as he removed his hand from her shirt and smoothed it down. "Why
did you stop?"

"Because
there's still too many unresolved issues between us."

She
lowered her chin knowing he was right. "You mean the ranch."

He
reached out and grazed the tips of his fingers over her cheek. "Partly. Don't
ever doubt that I want you. But there's something else I need from you
first."

"What's
that?"

"Your
trust."

Chapter Ten

Slightly
warmer air lay over the valley causing Lexie to shed her jacket and drape it
over the fence. No clouds bunched over the mountains threatening rain or snow. The
beauty of the day filled her with optimism making her believe she really did
have a chance to save the land she loved so much.

She
urged the bay mare into a slow, easy canter and tried to keep her mind on her
work. From beneath the chin strap on the horse's bridle, a line trailed to the
saddle's girth. The owner told her that his horse kept throwing her head back
and refused to take her left lead.

Lexie
had spent a restless couple of days mulling over Mitch's plea asking for her
trust. Not to mention reliving the sensual moments she'd spent in his arms. The
deep kisses he'd given her and the incredible touch of his big, warm hand on
her bare breast. Just thinking about it sent a shiver of heat through her body.

The
mare tossed her head and stubbornly refused to take her left lead around the
corral. "Come on, girl, take that lead. You can do it," Lexie prodded.
She had been working the mare for an hour, her frustration building almost to
the breaking point, but she kept a strong hold on her patience.

Lexie
signaled the dainty, little mare into a slow trot and leaned a bit in the
saddle. Was it the mare's willfulness or her own nagging worries about Mitch
taking the ranch that caused her frustration? She nudged the mare's right side
with the stirrup and eased her back up to a canter.

Again,
she balked. Her right forefoot struck the ground first, followed by the left
and then the hind legs. Outside the fence, Toby barked with his ears pricked
and his tail wagging.

Lexie
turned her head and saw Harlen Fielding's blue Ford sedan rattle over the
cattle guard and head toward the barn. A little spurt of panic darted through
her veins at the sight of the bank president's car. Quickly, she pushed it
aside. She was almost sixty days late with her last loan payment. He was
probably here as a courtesy to tell her they needed a check as soon as possible.
After all, he'd done that before when she'd missed a payment or two.

Her
father had done all of his banking with Harlen and the First Bank of Chimney
Rock. Since Mason's death, he'd extended a helping hand to her as well. No
reason why today should be any different.

Harlen
slid his slightly over-weight body from the car and threw her a wave. A gray
pin stripe suit hung loosely on his medium-height frame with a red tie knotted
at the collar of his crisp white shirt.

He
stepped up to the corral fence, propped one foot covered in a brown snakeskin
boot on the bottom slat and tipped his black Stetson back with the tip if his index
finger against the brim. He might be a bank executive now but once a cowboy
always a cowboy. "Hi, Lexie," he said in a friendly voice. "What
are you trying to teach that little mare today?"

"Hi
Harlen. She tosses her head and won't take her left lead."

He
withdrew a pack of cigarettes from the inside pocket of his coat and tapped a
smoke from the package. He popped the cigarette between his lips, cupped his
hands around the flame of his lighter and lit it. A plume of gray smoke rose
into the air but was quickly blown away by the wind. "Mare needs a smack
on the hind quarters is all. A faster gallop will force her to take that lead."

Most
people in Chimney Rock came from farming or ranching families and Harlen was no
exception. Lexie conceded that he knew a bit about training horses but then so
did she. "I don't like using a crop on a horse. She just needs me to show
her a few more times and she'll get it."

Harlen
headed inside the barn. In a moment, he came out carrying a crop. He tossed his
cigarette on the ground and pressed it into the sand with the toe of his boot
before opening the gate. He walked over to Lexie, took off his jacket and slung
it over his shoulder. He turned his back to the horse's head so she couldn't
see the crop and handed it to Lexie. She shoved it back at him. "I won't
whip a horse."