“Oh my gosh! That’s a newborn?” she asked, seeing the small calf toddle towards his mother.
“Well, he’s pretty new. I’d say he’s about two weeks old.”
“And he can already walk?”
“Most animals start walking almost immediately after birth. It’s one of the ways they survive. Being able to get away from predators is essential.”
“I guess that makes sense,” she said, watching with fascination as Kade ran his hands over the calf’s legs and under his belly. “What are you doing?”
“I’m checking to make sure that he’s healthy.”
She stared at his hands, wondering what it would be like if…umm…no! That was the wrong way to think, she reminded herself. “What if he isn’t?”
Kade shrugged and stood up, petting the little guy’s ears. “Then his mother would most likely leave him to die and I’d have to take him back to the stables so that he could get the extra attention he’d need.”
Frankie was relieved at his assurance that he wouldn’t leave the calf out here to die. “That’s very kind of you.”
He shot her a strange look. “You do know that this is a working ranch, right?”
She nodded, but crossed her arms over her chest. “Yes. I know that. And I do love a good burger or steak.”
“And you know where that burger and steak come from, right?”
“Sure,” she replied, feeling silly now. “But…well, I prefer my meat to be more anonymous. I don’t like to think about something as cute and sweet as that little calf as my next meal.”
He laughed, shaking his head. “I guess there are a lot of people who feel that way.” He wrapped an arm around her waist. “Come on. We have several more calves to check on before we need to head back to the house. It gets dark pretty quickly around here.”
She knew that for a fact. “Yeah. And when it gets dark, it’s really dark!” she asserted. “I’ve never seen darkness like last night before. There are no street lights along the road from your place to the town.”
“Nope. No need. There aren’t many people that travel so late at night. The work on a ranch is hard and exhausting. Most people are ready to turn in when it gets dark during the summer months. And during the winter, it’s dangerous to travel at night on the country roads because of the weather.”
“But…don’t you look at the forecast?”
“Yeah, sure,” he said, lifting her back up, setting her easily onto the saddle. “But around here, the weather can change at the drop of a hat.” His hand rested against her thigh and she barely heard his warnings about the weather. She was completely focused on the warmth of his hand. On the look in his eyes. On the hope that he might do something more than just lift her up and down out of this darn saddle.
Wait. What? No way! She didn’t want Kade to do anything more! He pulled himself up onto Bart, and they walked along the fence. As she watched him check out three more calves, Frankie wondered what in the world she was thinking! Her job was to find the woman that was stalking him, find out why she was doing it, then take him back to Seattle for a meeting with Edward Meyers. The End. No more contact with the studly and oh so handsome Kade Wilson. None!
In fact, maybe there was a way she could get his DNA without having to find the mystery woman. She could just…
No, that wasn’t right. Frankie wouldn’t steal someone’s DNA. That was wrong on so many levels. Besides, she respected Kade. She wouldn’t go behind his back.
Except maybe to run away from whatever it was that was going on between them.
But would she? Really? Why run away from this? Frankie watched as Kade checked yet another calf and her momma. He was so competent. So strong, caring, and efficient. He understood that the momma cow might not want some stranger checking out her baby so he was fast and careful.
Would he be fast during sex? Would he rush through the process and leave her stunned and wondering why she’d even bothered?
When he looked up at her, Kade kneeling on the ground, her still in her saddle, Frankie was pretty sure that Kade wouldn’t be fast. No, he’d take his time. He’d treat her to a night of wonderful, exhilarating sex that would blow her mind.
Okay, so if she was so sure of that, why not stay the night?
And boy, wasn’t this a radical twist from where she’d been this morning?!
No, that wasn’t quite accurate. For the past six months, and definitely all last night, she’d been dreaming about him, wondering what it would be like to make love with Kade. Even before she’d learned his name, or even known what a good man he was, she’d fantasized about him.
Of course, those fantasies had played out in her mind and were a whole lot safer than where she was now! The reality of Kade was significantly more terrifying than the fantasy she’d created. In her dreams, she’d controlled the pace of their lovemaking. Watching him now as he tightened the wire fence, seeing the muscles strain along his back and shoulders, Frankie knew her fantasies had been completely wrong. This wasn’t a man she could control. This was a man who knew his mind, and would blow hers away!
Besides, what about her code? What about the promise she’d made to herself so long ago? The promise that kept her heart safe all this time? The promise that kept her heart safe?
“Are you okay?” he asked.
Frankie blinked, realizing he was no longer working on the fence. He was standing a few feet away, the heavy tools dangling in his fingers by his side.
“I’m fine,” she whispered, her lips feeling numb because she wanted him to kiss her again. That kiss earlier had been…terrifying. But wonderful. Oh, so very wonderful!
“You look as if you’ve just swallowed a bug.”
For a long moment, Frankie could only blink at him. But then she laughed, shaking her head. “I guarantee that wasn’t what I was thinking about,” she assured him.
His eyes narrowed slightly. “Care to share what’s on your mind?”
Frankie thought about it for a long moment. But instead of trying to explain, she leaned down and kissed him, which took them both by surprise. And to be honest, she felt a bit awkward as she leaned precariously over on Maple’s back. But as she stared into his eyes, understanding dawned and he groaned. A split second later, he hauled her off Maple’s back and kissed her, holding her as if she weighed nothing at all. Over and over again, he kissed her, his tongue teasing hers, inviting her to participate. When Frankie reciprocated, he growled and deepened the kiss even further. When he lifted his head, they were both panting and Frankie was shocked to find that her legs were wrapped around his waist and her fingers tangled in his hair. His hat was…gone. She must have knocked it off in the heat of the moment.
“I want you, Frankie,” he growled. “But damn, you chose the most inconvenient place possible to give me the go ahead!”
She laughed, but loosened her legs from around his waist. “I know. I’m sorry. I just…watching you with the calves this afternoon made me wonder about…”
He pulled her closer. “Made you wonder what?’
“What it would be like if you touched me like that,” she admitted, her tongue darting out to wet her suddenly dry lips.
He chuckled. “You want me to inspect your legs to make sure nothing is broken?”
Frankie laughed at his twist on her words. “Not really. You’re just…so confident. I don’t think I’ve ever dated a man as confident as you are. It’s…a huge turn on.”
“What kinds of men have you dated?” he asked, sliding his hands along her back, then lower. And lower. She stiffened in his arms, and Kade smiled as his hands moved higher, out of the “danger zone”.
“No one like you,” she told him, relaxing into his chest, letting her hands trail along his arms.
“That’s nice.” He sighed, resting his forehead against hers. “How about if we head back to the ranch and…have dinner?”
Dinner? She was standing in his arms after a kiss like that and he wanted to talk about dinner? “Dinner?”
He shifted against her, his hands moving against her back. “Well, more than dinner. But we can start with dinner.”
She smiled, feeling a bit of feminine power as she looked into his eyes that were hot. For her! “Yes. Dinner sounds nice.”
“Good,” he said, then lifted her up, back onto Maple. A moment later, he swung up on Bart’s back and they headed for his house. It was dusk by the time they reached the stables. He showed her how to brush the horses, give them food and water, and make sure that they were settled in for the night.
While Kade went over to talk with Owen before the foreman left for the night, Frankie moved over to Maple’s stall and stroked her neck. “Do you think I should go for it?” she asked the sweet mare.
The mare snorted, barely lifting her nose from the bucket of oats.
“I agree,” Frankie said, wrinkling her nose.
“What do you agree on?” Kade asked, walking up behind her.
“Oh nothing,” Frankie replied, smiling up at him nervously. “We were just having a bit of a chat between us girls.”
“Anything interesting?” he asked, toying with the belt loop of her jeans.
Frankie laughed nervously. This was Kade, the man she’d fantasized about for so long. No way was she leaving here tonight, but still, he was a big man. A confident and dynamic man. Could she handle him? And what happened when he left her?
Something occurred to her. She would be leaving. Frankie knew already that there was a time limit on this relationship. She didn’t have to worry if Kade would cheat on her because she wouldn’t be around when that happened. She wouldn’t know anything about it! Part of the problem she’d endured with her father was that Frankie had endured watching her mother’s heartache after each betrayal. Frankie also had to give the horrible news to her clients, see the devastation in their eyes when they realized that their spouse was truly cheating.
In this case, with Kade, Frankie wouldn’t be around. She wouldn’t experience the betrayal! She’d go back to Seattle and never see Kade again!
If that hurt a little…or a lot….she pushed the issue to the back of her mind. Because with that time limit, she could ignore her code. She could ignore all of those nagging issues that she knew would devastate her if she ever found out about…well, if Kade ever moved on. Because she knew that he would. Frankie was a city girl. Kade was a cowboy.
Could she spend the next couple of days, the time it would take to figure out who this mysterious woman was and what her agenda might be…and be with Kade?
She was going to find out!
Kade took Frankie’s hand, leading her into the house. Bessie, his housekeeper, had come by at some point and whipped up something for dinner that smelled amazing! He peered into the oven, nodding his approval when he saw the potatoes and stew simmering in the oven. “Shepard’s pie,” he announced and moved to the fridge. “And salad.” Damn, he loved Bessie!
“Want a beer? I have wine too, if you’d prefer?” he asked, glancing at her. Frankie was abruptly nervous, standing by the kitchen door with her hands clenched in front of her. He stopped immediately, his gut clenching. “Frankie, nothing has to happen tonight,” he told her, walking over to take her hands as he led her to one of the counter stools.
“I know. I really do,” she told him when he eyed her skeptically. “I know that you’d never push me to do anything I was uncomfortable with.”
He liked the words she was saying, but he didn’t like the nervousness in her eyes. “Tell me what I can do to make you more comfortable.”
She looked up at him again, blinking those huge green eyes. Then she said the words he’d remember for the rest of his life. “Kiss me, Kade. When you’re kissing me, everything makes sense.”
No man could resist a plea like that. So he did the only thing he could and kissed her. Gently. Softly. Coaxing a response from her tense lips as he let his hands move around her waist. Pulling her against him, he moved slowly, proving to her that she could pull away at any time. There was no pressure to make love tonight, he thought as he nipped and teased her mouth, enjoying the way she kissed him back, mimicking his movements. “We can do this tomorrow night. Or the next night. Whenever you’re comfortable.”
She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck. “How about if we have dinner, then, afterward, you can ravish me?”
Food? Kade wasn’t sure he could eat anything after hearing that offer. But he was willing to back off and give her something to eat if that would help her relax.
“That sounds like a good plan.” He stepped away and turned to the oven. “But keep in mind that you can change your mind at any time. I won’t pressure you.”
She sighed and slipped onto one of the stools. “Thank you for that.”
He pulled two plates down out of the cabinet, then grabbed the oven mitts and pulled the casserole from the heat, ladling out a portion for Frankie. “This is Bessie’s private recipe. She puts something magical into this shepherd’s pie that is just incredible.” He ladled out double what he’d put on her plate. Then set them both on the counter. “Can you grab the salad out of the fridge? There’s dressing in there too.”
Frankie jumped down, obviously eager to help out and he had to admire that about her. Gorgeous, smart, and sweet. A fatal combination.
Over dinner, he asked her about her life in Seattle, about her mother and her childhood. He enjoyed hearing her talk about how she got into the private investigation business. “You’re telling me that your degree in history pushed you towards becoming a private investigator?”
She nodded, laughing as she scooped another bite of potatoes and meat into her fork. “Yep, pretty much,” she admitted, although that was only half the reason. Her father, the cheating bastard, finished off her education. “That’s about it. I discovered while studying the mysteries of history that I really enjoyed solving puzzles. The deeper I got into it, the more I realized I love it. Research is fascinating.”
“So, what got you into history?”
“I don’t know,” Frankie replied, shrugging a shoulder. “I just like history. I’m fascinated by the Roman Empire and the American colonial time periods.” She looked at him, her head tilted at an angle. “What did you study in college?”
“Economics.”
She blinked and he might have laughed. He wasn’t sure at that point. He was so turned on, just watching her eat. Every time she brought the fork to her lips, her tongue darted out to lick the spoon. She’d eat the bite of food, then turn the spoon over to ensure that she licked off every speck. Kade was mesmerized. He barely tasted Bessie’s award winning stew, so fascinated by the play of expressions over her features.
“Why would a rancher study economics?” she asked curiously.
“Actually, I’m the owner of the ranch but it’s really Owen that runs the place. He was born on this ranch and knows everything about it. I bought the ranch after some of my investments paid off. I’ve lived in Montana for pretty much all my life, and my mother was a waitress at a diner over in Billings. She loved this state, the mountains, and the clean air too much to leave. So, when it was time for me to go to school, I naturally gravitated towards what I understood the best. Which was math and economics.”
“But…ranching? And economics?”
He shrugged again. “Most of my time is spent going over my investments. I manage investments for almost everyone on the ranch. Each year, they put away more than half of their money for me to invest and I’ve made many of them wealthy men.”
“Huh!” she blinked, stunned by that news. “That hadn’t come up in any of the articles I found. Most of them just talk about how you’re a rancher with blah blah blah acres of land. Why is land so important anyway? From what I’ve read, it sounds like every rancher competes to have more land and more cattle.” She scooped up another bite, closing her eyes briefly to savor the flavors. “You’re the winner by a large percentage, by the way.” She shrugged, shaking her head. “But I imagine you already knew that
.”
“I didn’t, actually. I don’t really keep track. Owen might, but it’s not really relevant to me. I just like investing. Which is one of the reasons I travel so much. Owen manages the ranch and I travel across the country looking into various businesses to buy, fix, and sell. But most of my money comes from working the stock market to my advantage.”
“That’s interesting,” she said, then collected their plates, carrying them to the sink to rinse them off. “I wonder how the reporters haven’t discovered that you’re rich with assets other than the ranch.”
“Because I don’t advertise that I’m the owner of my investment firm,” he explained, taking the plates from her before she started loading the dishwasher. “That can wait,” he told her, pulling her into his arms. “Tell me that you want to stay the night.”
She smiled nervously, nibbling on her lower lip. A moment later, Frankie placed a hand on the middle of his chest. “I do want to stay the night. But…”
“How about if we watch a movie and make out on the couch?” he offered with a grin.
He laughed when she breathed a sigh of relief, her eyes beaming up at him. “That would be great!”
“Come on,” he said, leading her out of the kitchen and into a small, cozy room. He flipped the blinds closed, then grabbed the remote from the coffee table and turned on the television. “What kinds of movies do you like?” he asked, pulling her down next to him.
“Oh, could we watch my favorite movie?” she pleaded prettily.
Kade knew that she was up to something when he saw her bat her long lashes at him. Frankie was tough and strong, gorgeous and willing to tackle anything thrown at her. And he hadn’t seen her use her feminine wiles before. In fact, if she hadn’t just done that lash fluttering thing, he would have wagered that she didn’t have any wiles
“What’s your favorite movie?” he asked, sensing a trap.
“Oh, please? Could we please watch ‘The Princess Bride’? It’s my absolute favorite in the whole world!”
He froze in horror. “Are you kidding me?”
After Hours Desire (Forsaken Sons Book 3) Page 8
