by Sable Hunter
Hmmm, well darn. “Maybe he just hasn’t met the right girl.”
“That’s what we’re thinking.” Pepper had the good grace to look a bit guilty.
Cato shook her head. “Goodness, don’t pin your hopes on me. Compared to the guests gathered here today, I’m an unsophisticated country bumpkin.”
“Don’t sell yourself short. I know you’re attracted to him and it’s obvious he’s attracted to you.”
Cato blushed. “I’m not sure about that.”
“Forgive me.” Pepper backed off a bit. “I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
“That’s okay, but I have to ask you something.” She pinned Pepper with a stare. “Why did you tell me about the other men you’ve invited?”
“I mentioned it to you because Ryder and I made a point to tell Heath about them.” At Cato’s perplexed expression, Pepper smiled. “Jealousy is a very powerful motivator.”
“Oh, I see. You are bad.” Cato imagined that Pepper and Ryder kept Heath and the other brothers on their toes.
“No, I’ve been around those hard-headed men all my life. If they won’t listen, sometimes you just have to show them what they need. Philip would never eat asparagus until we roasted it in thin strips of bacon.”
“Ha!” Cato laughed hard. “Okay, so you think I’m what Heath needs even though I may not be what he wants.”
Pepper raised an eyebrow and looked wise beyond her years. “I’m sure you can show him that you’re exactly what he needs.”
“Oh, you’re crafty.” She took a drink from a passing waiter. “So tell me about you and Judah.”
“What do you mean?” Pepper turned several shades of pink. “He’s a friend of Jimmy’s and I’m a fan. Is that what you mean?”
“No, not exactly. So, he isn’t one of the eligible men you invited for yourself?”
Something told Cato he was the only one that mattered. “No…” Pepper crumbled. “Oh, all right. I think he’s wonderful and we’ve talked a few times. I wish there was more to it than that, but it’s not.”
“Well, don’t give up. He’s cute.”
“I think the food is ready. Let’s go eat.” Pepper appeared shy about it, so Cato dropped the subject.
The girls stood and began to walk toward the tables. Pepper touched her shoulder. She looked up and saw a swarthy, handsome man had fallen in beside them. “Caesar, this is Cato Vincent.” Noticing that she had missed something he said, Pepper volunteered. “Cato is hearing impaired, Caesar.”
“Hello, Miss Vincent.” Caesar signed to her.
“Hello,” she greeted him, signing back.
Pepper got in on the act, she wasn’t perfect, but Cato thought she did a pretty good job. “Caesar Arness owns a spread not too far from here. He, like my brothers, is into cattle and oil.”
Cattlemen and oilmen, Cato felt like she had stepped onto the set of Dallas. The man was attractive in anyone’s estimation with a heavy gold chain around his neck and a gold nugget ring as big as a walnut on his finger. But so not her type. She signed back, enjoying that someone took the time to carefully speak to her. “Hello, Caesar. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
“Cato works for the Texas Cultural Society.” Pepper offered, then promptly left them when it appeared there was a crisis at one of the serving tables.
“How interesting.” He sidled up next to her and Cato swore her skin crawled a little. “Tell me more.” Now, he was speaking out loud as well as signing.
“I recently did some research on the preservation of the Dorbandt house up near Marble Falls. It’s one of the most photographed homes ever because in the spring it sits in the middle of acres and acres of bluebonnets. I also investigated Dead Man’s Hole.” He smiled politely, but she saw his eyes glaze over. Okay, she’d finish quickly. “And I’m also accumulating information on lost silver and gold mines.” To say his whole demeanor changed would be putting it mildly.
“You are fascinating.” Caesar put his arm around Cato and led her to one side, then continued signing. “Why don’t we leave and go someplace where we can be alone and talk more in depth?”
Heath didn’t hear anything but the last sentence out of Arness’s mouth, but that was all he needed to hear. Walking up beside Cato, he made sure they both understood what he said. “No, I don’t think so. Cato has other plans tonight. Sorry, pardner.”
“Oh really?” He looked at Cato. “Is that right, Miss Vincent?”
Ah, opportunity and a way out. She signed to Caesar. “He’s right, Mr. Arness. I apologize.”
Heath couldn’t resist, he turned so Cato couldn’t see them speaking. “Besides, what would the Hollings heir have to say about you keeping company with another woman?”
“I keep company with many beautiful women, Mr. McCoy. Some of us…have the touch.” With that parting barb and a nod, he left them.
Turning to face Cato, Heath gripped his hands into fists. “What did you say to him?”
Was he jealous? Cato wondered. Probably not. “I was agreeing with you, grouch.” He had the good grace to look sheepish, so she asked what she was dying to know. “Care to share what my plans are?” God, Cato loved looking at him and what she saw on his face gave her hope. He was so intense, his eyes were hooded and staring straight at her. If he didn’t want her, then she had no idea how to tell when a man did.
“Arness is bad news. You need to steer clear of him.” Heath studied her face. She was gazing up at him with trust and a hopeful look in her eyes. The way she chewed on her bottom lip made his cock sit up and take notice. It was time to level with her. “Look, I just said that to get rid of him.”
“Oh, okay.” She couldn’t hide her disappointment from him.
Heath hated to hurt her, but this needed to be said. “I guess I should be completely honest with you. I think you’re great. You’re beautiful and everything a man would want. But I can’t get involved with you. I don’t date women who expect more than I can give.”
Cato stiffened her back. This was it. “You have no idea what I expect, Heath. What can you give me?”
Her words surprised Heath. “Not what you need. You deserve romance and moonlight walks and everything that comes after.”
“I don’t remember asking you for any of those things.” She took one finger and touched his chest, tracing a pattern over his hard pecs. “I bet we want the same thing, Heath.”
“I doubt it.” He tried to swallow, but she aroused the hell out of him. Just looking at her made him feel alive again and it would be so easy to get used to that feeling, in spite of the possibility that it could end up leaving him wide open to being hurt again.
“If you’ll give me a chance to explain, I bet I can change your mind.” To say Cato was winging it was putting it mildly. This was what women said who were on the make, wasn’t it?
What was she talking about? Heath wondered. All he could think of was how good she might be with that full, pouty mouth of hers. “You can try, I guess.” Almost instantly he was consumed by a fantasy—Cato naked, kneeling in front of him, his fingers tangled in all that hair as his rock hard cock slid in and out of her sweet lips.
For a few moments, he looked lost in thought, a dreamy expression on his face. She used the time wisely. Cato weighed her options—take a risk or play it safe, take a risk or play it safe. Her inner bad girl said…go for it! “Okay, let’s take a walk so we can be completely alone.” She put her arm through his. “I have a proposition for you.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Heath never knew he was a weak man. He’d always prided himself on his strength of body and strength of character. Yet six words from one small woman almost brought him to his knees. “What kind of proposition?”
Just like a lamb led to slaughter, he’d followed her down to the stream below the house.
“Dang, it’s hot. Isn’t it?”
Mesmerized, he watched her pull her shirt out of her pants and unbutton the bottom three or so buttons, then tie it int
o a knot under her lush breasts. The action exposed the soft curve of her belly. In the moonlight that sliver of pale exposed skin looked like velvet. It was all he could do to keep his hands to himself.
“What kind of proposition?” he repeated himself. Licking his own lips, he acknowledged the need to kneel in front of her and rub his face against her warm, exposed skin, memorize the scent of her very essence.
“I can’t tell what you’re saying. Come closer.” She pulled him to a stone bench at the water’s edge underneath a gas lamp. A tingle of awareness rippled across her body, caressing like an ocean breeze, making her nipples pebble. Cato felt the weight and heat of his gaze. She returned it, getting near enough to see his lips. To think some woman had broken his heart made her ache for him. She wanted to rain soft kisses on his face to make up for the pain he hid behind a rough façade. Cato reached up and placed her hand on his cheek. “Tell me. I can see you now.”
“Sorry,” was all he could think to say at first. Her nearness was playing havoc with his heart rate. Her lips looked so soft and kissable, he really couldn’t resist. “I need to kiss you, Cato.”
“Please do.” She waited, holding her breath. Nothing else existed in the world but this amazing anticipation. But instead of kissing her, he buried his face in her hair.
She wanted to wrap her arms around him, but she wanted to talk more. Cato needed to understand what was happening. “Heath?”
He raised up, keeping his face close to hers. “You smell so good.”
“I don’t know why, I’m not wearing any perfume.”
“I’m glad. That fake stuff covers up the true scent of a woman. I like this much better. You’re warm and sweet, like a flower kissed by the sun.”
“You have the soul of a poet.” Cato was shaking. She had daydreamed so much about this man that she feared her imagination had taken over. Most likely she was lying in her own bed alone, not really here with Heath at all.
“No, don’t build me up to something I’m not, sugar. I’m a man who wants you, but not a man worth wanting. I have nothing to offer a woman like you.”
She wanted to tell him he was wrong. Instead, she was determined to show him. “I told you I have a proposition…”
Heath didn’t let her finish. He closed the distance between them and touched his lips to hers, just a touch, like he was testing the waters. Cato didn’t want to wade, she wanted to plunge in and swim deep. Taking the initiative, she moved her mouth back and forth, rubbing her lips across his. She loved the feel of him, the smell of him like leather and fresh mown hay. Feeling brave, she licked his bottom lip with the tip of her tongue.
Heath groaned, unable to hold back any longer. He pulled her to him, one arm wrapped around her waist and the other hand holding her still, his palm cradling her head with one thumb caressing the silk of her cheek. A man’s hunger can only go unappeased for so long. He bent his head and captured her lips.
Cato was in heaven. This was no mere kiss. Heath was devouring her mouth—hot deep kisses even more wonderful than she’d dreamed. She gave herself over to him. He was addictive. intoxicating and she wanted as much of him as she could get. He was voracious, demanding, taking what he wanted without apology or permission. Heath ate at her mouth and she relished the taste of him, the feel of him. Cato would’ve crawled into his lap and ripped his clothes from his body if they’d been in private. “Heath, let’s go inside.” She didn’t want to wait anymore. She’d waited too long already.
Heath’s heart was hammering. She was delicious and he wanted to gorge himself on her. And if she were just any woman, he would have. But Patrick’s words came back to haunt him. Cato was a good girl who deserved more than just a roll in the hay. “No, wait. We have to stop.”
Cato didn’t see him speak. She was too close. Rubbing her face against his jaw, roughened by a scruff of beard, she sighed. “I want you so much.”
Heath took her by the shoulders and set her back a scant few inches. “We can’t. You deserve more than I can give you.”
Game on. Cato steeled herself to make her move. “Before you decide, let’s talk. I’m not what you think I am. I’m not looking to settle down right now. I’m not asking for a ring and a promise.” This was true, although she could picture Heath as her forever love. Cato wanted what she could have of him now, let tomorrow take care of itself. “My life has been so empty. I won’t explain because it would just bore you. But I don’t want to waste one more day not knowing what I’ve been missing. So, I’m not asking you for forever, I’m just asking you for the here and now.”
“What are you saying, exactly?” Heath made his hands into fists, anything to keep his hands off of her, where they wanted to be.
Plunging in, she just said it. “I’m talking about sex.” Cato spread her hands, appealing to him. “I just want to spend time with you. My proposition is that we have an affair, a fling, a no-strings relationship that has a set beginning and a set time to end. You can say how long it lasts and I can say when it starts – and I want to start now.”
Wrapping her arms around him, she held him close. Heath could feel her tits rubbing against his chest and he thought he would explode. Heath came nearer to shooting off in his jeans than he had since he was sixteen years old. God, she was something else—eager, hot, bold. He wanted her more than he’d ever wanted anything in his life. She was kissing his neck, licking and scraping her teeth, driving him mad.
Jesus, how could he deny himself? He wanted to take what she was offering and to hell with the consequences.
But he couldn’t, he wasn’t that type of man. Heath McCoy was responsible and honest and upright—or he tried to be. He was a gentleman and gentlemen didn’t take advantage of good women. Cato wasn’t the fling type. She should have a man who would cherish her and he wasn’t that man. His heart wasn’t whole. He didn’t have the capacity to love nor trust—not anymore. “Cato, no. We can’t.” Untangling himself from her sweet body, he stood up. “You’ll thank me for this after you’ve thought about it.”
Heath had rejected her.
Her heart hurt and she was embarrassed, no use to lie about it. Mortified, Cato fought the urge to take off into the darkness and hide. But she didn’t. Raising her head, she looked Heath in the eye. “I don’t think so, but I understand. I can’t really blame you, I guess.” After all, she knew her limitations.
“Fuck!” Heath spat out a curse. “Look, I’m trying to be honorable. I believe in family, I’d die for mine. You work to preserve the past and I’m trying like hell to preserve the present—not only my family but the very land we live on. I fight to preserve the climate and our water. Hell, if someone found that damn mine on my property, I’d fight anyone who wanted to tear up Highlands to get it out. So, I’m not a jerk. I just know what I can and can’t do.”
“You’re a good man, Heath. Why wouldn’t I want to be with you?” When he didn’t say anything, she continued, trying to smile. Cato didn’t want to give up—not yet. “Can I reserve the right to try and change your mind?”
He shook his head. This woman was beyond his scope of experience. “You want to play games with me?” The idea shouldn’t have excited him, but it did. God help him, it did.
The sweet siren licked her lips. “More than anything.”
His hand moved to his Stetson and he tipped it toward her, all gentlemanly like. “May the best contestant win.”
Cato didn’t miss a beat. “I intend to.”
* * *
Well, that hadn’t gone exactly to plan. Cato flopped over on her bed and sighed. Heath had turned her down! Grabbing the pillow, she buried her face in its softness. He’d kissed her like he’d wanted to make love to her. Or had that been her imagination? Maybe he just felt sorry for her.
Poor deaf girl.
Waves of remorse and regret washed over her. “Arg!” She pulled the pillow over her head and relived the moments they’d shared. Cato could still feel the power of his kiss, how he’d held her, the feel of his stron
g body as he pressed her against him. “I don’t know what to do!”
Cato’s heart and stomach ached, but everything within her said that Heath McCoy was worth fighting for. What her battle plans were, she didn’t know yet. But she wasn’t giving up. Rising from the bed, she went to the closet to strip and hang up her clothes. A shower would make her feel better. Then she’d go to bed and decide what her next move would be.
A little later…in the adjoining room, Heath pulled back the covers and lay down, stretching out on his king-size bed. Running a hand down his body, he realized how tired he was. The day had been a success and tomorrow would be full of activities. He’d intended to camp out with everyone else, but something had drawn him back to the house. Probably the woman who now lay in her own bed just next door. He massaged his poor neglected cock, cupping his balls. How had he turned her down? God, he was nuts. But the fact that she thought she could beat him made him smile.
“Heath…”
What the hell? He’d heard his name called clear as day. Heath sat up. It was almost like Cato was in the room with him.
“Oh, Heath…”
Heath jumped up. The noise was coming from the walk-in closet directly in front of his bed. This wasn’t the one he used for his clothes, he used the one connected to the bathroom. This one had been transformed into a media center, including all of the left-over equipment from when the wing was used by his father. Throwing open the doors, his eyes immediately went to a monitor that was on and displaying a scene right out of his dreams. Somehow Cato had activated the cameras and he had a complete and full view of her bed.
“You just wait, Heath McCoy. I’m gonna show you how irresistible I can be.” Unbuttoning her blouse, she threw it over a chair. Thinking back to a few hours before, she remembered how he’d walked off and left her. She’d sulked for a while but eventually she’d returned to the group, filled her plate and had supper seated between a WWF wrestler and an Oscar winning actor who owned a cattle ranch near Llano. And she’d held her own too. Not once had she gone all fan-girl. Cato had talked cattle with the rancher and the stock market with the wrestler. Now if she was so inclined, she had an open invitation to visit the set of the actor’s new movie being filmed in Austin and she had a pass to any WWF match she wanted to claim—all she had to do was call the number on the card he’d given her.
