Protecting The Colton Bride

by Elle James

  “Good, then.” Daniel straightened, determined not to let any of his chaotic thoughts show in his expression. “I just didn’t want things to change between us. You’re the best assistant I’ve ever had.”

  Megan rolled her eyes. “Daniel, I’m the only assistant you’ve ever had. But if you want to pretend nothing happened and everything between is just like it was this morning, I can play that game, too.” She stopped in front of him and poked a finger into his chest. “But it would be a lie. You might wish you could, but you can’t take back that kiss or the way it made you feel. Because I sure can’t. It wasn’t entirely one-sided, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

  * * *

  Megan left the office and ran out of the barn. She hopped into her Jeep Wrangler and sped down the road leading to the gate to the Lucky C Ranch. Soon she was on the highway into Tulsa, where she had a depressingly small apartment in an inexpensive but not too sketchy neighborhood.

  Determined to make it on her own without her parents’ vast wealth, she’d managed to put down a deposit on the apartment and pay rent and her utilities with the money she made working for the Lucky C Ranch.

  The drive into Tulsa didn’t take long, and soon she was on the bypass circling the city to get to the veterinary laboratory before it closed. She hadn’t factored in the evening rush-hour congestion. Swerving in and out of traffic, she finally pulled into the parking lot with two minutes to spare.

  She ran the blood sample inside, wrote out her request and left the package with the receptionist.

  Then she drove to her apartment complex and parked, her hands shaking as she sat behind the steering wheel, letting the events of the afternoon wash over her in a tidal wave of emotions. One thought stood out over all others.

  Daniel Colton had kissed her.

  The incessant buzzing of her cell phone pierced her hazy cloud of schoolgirl giddiness, and she dug in her purse.

  Perhaps it was Daniel calling to tell her that the kiss hadn’t been a mistake and he was deeply, madly, completely in love with her. Megan found the phone, stared at the caller ID and groaned before punching the talk button.

  “Hi, Mother. What do you want?” she asked, the irritation in her voice more pronounced than usual.

  “Ferrence Small is back home from New York City.”

  “That’s nice.”

  “I understand he’s a lawyer now, working with a large pipeline company out in Wyoming. If you can tell me the next time you’ll be home, I’m sure I can set up a chance for you two to meet.”

  “Mother, I’m not interested.”

  “Sweetheart, your father’s health isn’t what it used to be. He’s a very sick man.”

  “I know. I was out there last month. We had a lovely visit.”

  “Honey, you can’t keep slaving away in the tornado-infested center of the country. I can’t stop worrying. And you can imagine all the stress your father is under.”

  “I’m sorry, Mother. But you and Daddy can manage your ranch in California. You don’t really need me there. However, the Lucky C needs me here. I have important work to do, and I don’t need care packages, cards and letters begging me to come home. I’ll be home for visits. That will have to be enough.”

  Her mother clucked. “Oh, darling, I didn’t want to have to tell you...”

  A sense of dread slipped over her. Her mother only used that I-hate-to-stick-it-to-you-but-I-will-if-I-have-to voice when she was about to drop a bomb on some poor unsuspecting sales clerk who displeased her while shopping. Only this time, the bomb would fall on Megan.

  “Your father is on the line, and he has something to say to you.”

  Her hand tightening on the cell phone until her knuckles turned white, Megan sucked in a deep breath and said, “Hi, Dad. What is it you wanted to say?”

  “I have an auctioneer coming out tomorrow to look at your horses.”

  Megan’s heart plummeted to her knees. “Daddy,” she said. “I’ve only just started putting money away for the horses. It will take me years to have what I need to pay you for them.”

  “I’m sorry, sweetheart, but if I can’t go out to Oklahoma to talk some sense into my daughter’s head, I can damn sure get her to come to me. The Triple Diamond Ranch is your legacy.”

  “Daddy, it’s your legacy. You and Mother never wanted me to help with it. Now I want to make it on my own.” She’d left the rich debutante lifestyle behind after she’d lost her fiancé and nearly lost her life. Megan had no intention of going back.

  Her father snorted. “You do not have to work for others when you have servants who can do all that for you.”

  “But, Daddy, you don’t understand. I love working with the horses. And I’m good at it.”

  “You’re a woman. You shouldn’t be working around animals big enough to crush you.”

  “Those horses are big enough to crush the men I work with as well as me. The thing is, Daddy, I know when to get out of the way.”

  “Damn it, Megan, you are our only child. I want to know when I die...” He coughed. “I want to know you will be here to take over the reins. You need to come home, settle down, get married and have children to shoulder your obligation to your heritage.”

  “I’m sorry, Daddy, but I have to live my life the way I want to, not the way you dictate.”

  Her mother’s gasp echoed over the line.

  “Very well,” her father said in a steely voice. “If you’re not home in one week and actively looking for a suitable spouse, I will sell all of your beloved horses to a glue factory.”

  Blood drained from Megan’s head, and her stomach flipped. “You can’t do that. Those horses are beautiful animals, and they should be with us. The horse-breeding program at Triple Diamond Ranch is one of the best. You can’t condemn them to a glue factory or even sell them just because you want me to come home.”

  “I can and I will. If you care about the horses, show you care about your legacy and the future of Triple Diamond Ranch. One week, Megan.”

  Chapter 3

  Daniel tossed all night. When he actually fell asleep he dreamed of Megan, her hair flying out behind her on a runaway horse. He chased her. For a long time she was just out of reach. When he finally caught up with her, he snatched her off her horse and into his arms. Then they kissed. The kiss turned into more and suddenly they were in his bed, making love.

  Daniel jerked awake, hot, sweaty and more aroused than he’d ever been in his life. All stemming from a kiss that shouldn’t have happened.

  Before dawn, he rose from his solitary bed in the cabin close to the breeding barn and pulled on a pair of jeans, a shirt and his boots. He couldn’t go back to sleep knowing Megan would be in his dreams, lying naked in his sheets. Everything about that image was wrong.

  He’d be lucky if she even showed up for work today. And if she did, she’d probably come only to turn in her resignation.

  By the time the sun came up over the horizon, Daniel had fed the horses, checked on his studs and prize mares and stacked twenty bags of feed in a corner of the barn. With his pulse still pounding and blood burning through his veins, he snapped a lunging rope on Rider’s halter and walked him out to the arena.

  Daniel twirled the end of the rope and clucked his tongue. Rider started at a walk, more interested in an easy pace than actual exercise.

  “Come on, boy. You need this as much as I do.” Daniel continued twirling the loose end of the rope. He clucked his tongue again and tapped the horse’s hindquarters with the rope.

  Rider stepped up the pace and trotted around the circle, tossing his black mane in protest.

  The monotonous circling calmed Daniel and the horse, and they settled into a rhythm of walking and trotting. Fifteen minutes passed before a voice called out.

  “Daniel!”

  Daniel’s hand
tightened on the rope. Rider immediately came to a halt.

  Heat rose up his neck and into his face as Daniel turned toward the voice.

  Megan leaned over the arena’s metal fence, her arms folded over the top rail, lines etched across her smooth forehead.

  Though he was happy Megan had returned, Daniel couldn’t erase his concern over the content of his dreams, and he worried his thoughts would be easily discernible in his eyes. Without meeting her gaze, Daniel nodded. “Good morning, Megan,” he acknowledged, gathering the rope until he held the horse on a short lead.

  The normally reserved and always confident young woman chewed on her lower lip, and her brows puckered. “We need to talk,” she blurted.

  His stomach knotting, Daniel braced himself. “Yes, we do. Let me take care of Rider first. Then we can talk uninterrupted.”

  “Okay,” she said, biting on her lower lip again, driving Daniel nuts with the nervous movement that only drew his attention to the mouth he’d kissed so hard the day before.

  He opened the gate to the arena and led Rider through.

  Megan closed the gate and trailed behind Daniel and Rider, following them into the barn.

  Not certain what he was going to say, Daniel chose to concentrate on the horse, putting off the talk as long as he could, hoping he could say something that would make sense and put things back on an even keel. He liked Megan. A lot. And he didn’t want to lose her over something as stupid, and inconsiderate, and completely unforgettable as a kiss.

  Holy hell, he couldn’t even come up with an apology when he wasn’t at all sorry he’d kissed her. He’d be sorry only if she left because of it.

  After grabbing a brush, Daniel stalled by running the brush over Rider’s back.

  Megan fetched another brush and took the other side, working quickly, her strong hands smoothing over the horse’s sides, meeting Daniel over the horse’s hindquarters. She stared across the animal’s rump and said, “Daniel, I have to quit.” Then she spun and paced away from him.

  “Won’t you at least give me the chance to apologize properly?”

  Her head down, her boot heels pounding the dirt, she marched to the end of the barn and back. “Normally I’d give two weeks’ notice. But that’s impossible.”

  His chest tightening with each of her words, Daniel stood with a brush in his hands. How could he salvage this situation and keep her on the Lucky C? “Under the circumstances, I don’t blame you, but I wish you’d reconsider.”

  She paced, shaking her head, her long French braid whipping side to side. “If there was any other way, I wouldn’t go, but I don’t see another option.”

  “Again, I don’t blame you. I blame myself.” He set the brush on a workbench and gathered Megan’s hands in his. “I wish there was something I could say or do to make it better. Please don’t go. I need you here.”

  She stared up into his eyes. “I don’t have a choice. If I don’t leave, he’ll sell them all.” Her eyes swam with tears.

  Daniel stared down at her. “What are you talking about?”

  “My horses.” She frowned. “What did you think I was talking about?”

  A wave of relief nearly made Daniel weak. “I thought you were mad about yesterday.”

  Her frown deepening, she stared into his eyes. “Yesterday?” Then her eyes widened and her mouth formed a kissable O. “Yesterday.” Twin flags of color flew high on her cheekbones. “The kiss.”

  “The kiss.” His hands slid up her arms and stopped before he pulled her close and kissed her again. “I thought you were going to leave because I crossed the line.”

  “You think I’d leave because of a kiss? I thought you knew me better than that.”

  “You had every right to quit. As your boss, I shouldn’t have kissed you.”

  “For your information, there were two people involved in that kiss. It was not one-sided. And that’s not the reason I’m leaving.”

  “Then what is?”

  “My father.” She pulled in a long breath and let it out. “He gave me an ultimatum. He’s going to sell my horses if I don’t come home to live.”

  Daniel’s fingers tightened on her arms. “I thought the horses at the Triple Diamond were quality stock. They are ranked right up there in standing with the Kennedys’ breeding program.”

  “Yeah, well my father doesn’t really give a damn about the horses. It was just a project he took on at my suggestion until I left.”

  “Can’t you buy them from him?” Daniel couldn’t wrap his mind around throwing away some of the best horseflesh in the nation.

  “If I had the money my grandmother left to me.” She shook her head. “But I won’t get that until I’m married. It’s a stipulation of her will. Even then, I’d have to purchase them through a third party. My father would never sell them to me. He wants me home, and this is his leverage.”

  “Didn’t you say he was sick?”

  “Yes, but I can never tell how sick he is. He always tries to manipulate me and make me live according to his standards. I don’t want to go back, but I don’t have another choice. I have to go home. I can’t let him sell those horses. They’re top breeders...and...my friends.”

  Daniel gathered her in his arms and stroked her head. “It’s okay. We’ll think of something.”

  She rested her cheek against his chest, her fingers curling into his shirt. “There’s nothing to think about. I have to go. The sooner the better.”

  He tipped her face up. “When is he selling?”

  “He gave me one week to get home or the horses go on the auction block.” Her eyes filled with tears.

  “Well, that gives us a week.”

  “One week isn’t enough.” She shook her head. “I don’t see any other way. If he sells them as breeding stock, they’ll go high. I won’t be able to buy them. I barely have enough money to pay next month’s rent. So you see, I have to go home.” She took a step back and stood in front of him, her shoulders slumped, the first tears sliding from the corners of her eyes. “I thought he was bluffing. But I can’t bet those horses on a bluff.”

  The anger he could handle. But as the tears slid down Megan’s cheeks, it felt like a large fist had clenched around his heart and squeezed. He pulled her against him again and held her close, resting his cheek against the top of her head. “I have a little money saved.”

  She laid her face against his chest. “I can’t take your money. This isn’t your problem. It’s mine.”

  “Well, don’t do anything today. Give us some time to come up with some solutions.”

  “I’m out of solutions,” she said, pressing her face into his shirt.

  “Just promise me you won’t leave right away. Can you do that?”

  “It’ll take time for me to organize my apartment, shut off my utilities and inform my landlord. But once I have all that done, I have to drive to California.”

  “Just hold on for a day or two. We’ll think of something.”

  Her arms slipped around his waist. “I don’t expect you to take on my problems. You’re my boss, not my fairy godmother.”

  He chuckled. “Yeah, I’d look pretty silly in a dress, carrying a fairy wand, and I’m not such a great boss at that.”

  “Why do you say that?” She looked up at him through watery green eyes. “You’re great.”

  “Because a good boss doesn’t go around kissing his employees.” He stared down at her damp cheeks, his belly flipping. “Right now, I want to be a very bad boss.”

  Her eyes flared with desire. “How so?”

  “I want to kiss you. Again.”

  She sucked in a breath and bit down on that lip before saying, “I told you, I quit. That means you’re not my boss.”

  He leaned his forehead against hers and sighed. How he wanted to kiss her. “I
’m not accepting your resignation.”

  “You don’t have a choice,” she said, her lips so close.

  Daniel could almost feel how soft they were. He wanted to kiss her so badly his lips tingled. The warmth of her breath feathered across his mouth. His hands shook with the effort it took to resist.

  Then he pushed her to arm’s length. “I can’t screw this up. If we find a way to save your horses without you moving back to California, you’ll still be my employee. I don’t want to risk losing you as an assistant.”

  Megan sighed and dropped her arms. “Okay, boss, I’ll be here for another day, but I’ll only be able to work half a day tomorrow. I have a lot to do to get my stuff packed for the move.”

  “Don’t start packing yet. We’ll come up with a solution. In the meantime, I need you to call the vet lab and see if they came up with anything from the sample you took in yesterday.”

  “They won’t have had time to process it,” Megan argued.

  “Then research other breeding programs. The Kennedy deal might not happen.”

  “Why? You have a fine program here. You’re a rising star in quarter horse breeding.”

  Daniel snorted. “As far as the Kennedys are concerned, that isn’t enough.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t want to go into it. Just do that research for me, will you?”

  She popped a salute and gave him a crooked smile. “Yes, boss.” Then she turned and marched into the barn office.

  Daniel let go of the breath he’d been holding since the urge to kiss Megan again had nearly pushed him past reason. He had to come up with a plan to help Megan get those horses or he’d lose her. After working with her for only four months, he knew she’d be impossible to replace. In more ways than he’d ever imagined.

  * * *

  Megan entered the office, closed the door behind her and leaned against it. Her face burned and her heart hurt so much she could barely think straight. She’d wanted to kiss Daniel. She’d almost thrown herself at him. After yesterday’s kiss, she’d thought there might be something between them. But today he’d pushed her away. Apparently he wasn’t as infatuated with her as she was with him.