“The Rusty Nail?” she repeated, dumbfounded. “Was he hurt?”
“Just his pride, he said this morning when he came out for coffee, but he was limping a little,” Janet added. “Our phone was busy this morning with everyone calling about him.”
“He rode his bike?”
Janet nodded. “Can’t miss that noise.” She paused, then added, “I thought for sure you would be at New Beginnings, what with the ceremony and all.”
“What ceremony?” Susan asked.
“You didn’t know?” Janet said. “The vets all went to the General Store last evening and bought him a cowboy hat. Said he was the only one who didn’t have one when they ran. Heather said they really like him. I do, too.” She leaned over the desk. “She also said he ordered running shorts for all the vets. She said he’s done wonders for sales at the store and hopes he stays a long time. Anyway, the shorts should be here tomorrow and I wasn’t to tell anyone, but...oops,” she added as she realized she was doing exactly that.
“When did he do that? Buy the shorts?”
“Day before yesterday I think.”
Susan was flabbergasted. Just when she wanted to kick him where the sun didn’t shine, he was out doing something nice for her vets. They had looked like a raggedy bunch while running.
Were the running shorts a going-away present? He had more than a week left with them. Or was he going to just disappear after they’d invested their trust in him? No emotional investment on his part. Can’t hurt if you don’t care, and he really worked at that.
She decided to go to the ranch after all. Would he leave after they gave him the hat? Perhaps, if he felt he was getting too close to them, or they to him?
She drove to New Beginnings and looked for Danny. He was in the stables with Hobo.
“You missed the run,” Danny said as Hobo limped over to her. “They’ll be back soon. Ross added another half mile to the run.”
“I heard he was hurt,” she said.
“He was limping a little but then he took off with the others. Did you hear we got him a hat?”
“I did,” she said. “That was great of you.”
“We don’t want him to leave,”
“A little bribery, huh?”
Not that it would work. He was determined to be the Lone Ranger. She suddenly wanted to get away. “I’m going to take Brandy for a ride. I know Lisa’s at the clinic today and Brandy needs some exercise.”
Danny looked a little surprised but nodded.
She saddled Brandy and mounted her. As she rode away from the barn, she saw the runners returning. It was a strange-looking sight as they jogged down a country road wearing cowboy hats and clothes ranging from running shorts to jeans. They were bunched closer than before. No stragglers today.
She pressed Brandy into a trot as she puzzled why she’d even come here this morning. Maybe her pride didn’t want him to know how he’d crushed her last night. She’d trusted too easily, too fast. Again.
She sent Brandy into a gallop. She needed to feel the wind in her hair, the sun on her face. These were her mountains, her town, her friends.
Forget Ross Taylor.
She headed toward the lake where she used to go to parties long before Josh purchased the land. The former owners had built a log cabin there for visiting relatives and for community get-togethers.
Susan reached the lake and dismounted. It was a fine morning. The sun was reflected in the water. A cool breeze drifted through the pines, filling the air with their scent.
How could she have been so foolish to fall so quickly for a man she knew so little about? Apparently, she was a slow learner.
She found a stone and started skimming it along the surface of the lake and watching the ripples.
Brandy neighed. Susan looked up and saw a rider approach. From his height and the large horse he was riding, she knew exactly who it was. She stood, ready to mount Brandy again. But she didn’t want him to think she was running from him.
Susan just didn’t want to be in the same space with him. She was too darn attracted to him, even now, more fool her.
He dismounted and limped slightly as he neared her.
“What happened?” she asked.
“You haven’t heard?”
“Bits and pieces.” She shook her head. “You chose the police chief to run into? And at the Rusty Nail?”
“Rather embarrassing... No, it was definitely humiliating.”
“You don’t look too damaged.”
“A few cuts. I was lucky.” He paused, then added, “I was kicking myself for being an idiot and had a beer. Clint was turning into the parking lot, and I was leaving. I swerved to miss him and fell.”
He had her attention. “And...”
“We agreed both of us were somewhat at fault.”
He looked fairly undamaged. “You were running this morning,” she accused him in her coolest voice.
“I did. I didn’t want my leg to stiffen up. It’s no big deal.”
She changed the subject. “How did you know I was here?” she demanded.
“I didn’t,” Ross replied. “Josh brought me here a few days ago and it seemed a quiet place to flay myself. It wasn’t you last night that made me back off. It was me. I have my demons, and I was afraid they would affect you. It turns out they couldn’t do any worse than I did.
“The simplest explanation,” he said slowly, “is I didn’t trust myself. I’ve never known permanence except the army and that’s a damn poor example of permanence.”
He led his horse to the porch of the cabin and sat on its edge. She hesitated, then followed. She sensed she was not going to like what he was trying to say.
“My father hung himself when I was ten,” he said finally. “I found him in the barn. It was a stormy night before the bank was to take over our ranch. My mother had spent the day packing. I’d spent it saying goodbye to my horse and dog. We couldn’t take them with us and I loved them as only a small, lonely boy can.
“I hadn’t been able to sleep. I had to go see Bandit, my horse, one last time. When I opened the door, the gusts of wind sent his body swinging on a rope tied to a support beam. My mother was none too stable before that night and after his suicide, she drank heavily and then just disappeared.”
His voice had turned robotic, as though telling it that way would keep emotion at bay. But she felt it. Felt the pain of that young boy. Her hand crept over and took his, her fingers entwining with his. She had questions but she wasn’t going to interrupt him. She’d sensed something behind his restlessness, but this was far worse than she’d imagined. She knew now why he’d hesitated at the door of the barn on his first day at the ranch.
His hand tightened around hers. “I was passed around by her relatives,” he continued. “None of them had much money and I was just an added financial burden. I got to where I never unpacked my suitcase because I didn’t know where I would be the next night.
“I joined the army the day I graduated from high school, which led to my current career. To me it meant independence. I would never have to rely on any individual or organization again.”
Ross continued, “That defensive instinct struck last night. If you don’t care, you don’t get hurt. If you don’t depend on anyone, they can never disappoint you. I...care about you too much,” he added after a short silence. “My defensive instincts sprung up.”
“But you do care. I’ve seen it with the vets.”
“That’s temporary. Same with other patients I have. I help them temporarily. I don’t invest myself in them.”
“Yes, you do,” she said. “I’ve seen you invest yourself in every veteran here. It’s part of you, even if you don’t want to admit it.”
“But then I can leave. There’s no long-term responsibility. I can’t hurt anyone. They can’t hurt me.” He paused, then added, �
�Until now.”
He reached over and kissed her. It was slow and steaming and thick with emotion. “I don’t want to lose you. I didn’t last night, either, which is why I unwisely went running to a bar and ran into a police car,” he added ruefully. “Not a great example for our vets.”
She had to smile then. He looked chagrined, like a boy caught smoking behind a garage. She leaned against his body and kissed him lightly. No demands. “And you. How much damage did you do to yourself?”
“Not as much as I deserved, but it hurt like hell,” he added. “It improved when I saw you.”
“I was trying to avoid you,” she admitted.
He leaned over and his fingers stroked the side of her neck in gentle movements. “I was an ass.”
“You were,” she agreed, but the hurt and anger drained from her as he traced patterns on her face and then reached over and kissed her as if she would break.
Sensation—wonderful, betraying waves of sensation—swept over her as the kiss deepened. All she wanted was to continue, to see where it would carry her. She closed her eyes to better lose herself in the feelings created by his touch. His lips were gentle, unexpectedly gentle, then she felt them tighten against hers with a desperate need she now understood and reciprocated. Both of them had been hiding from their pasts.
She opened her eyes, feeling pleasure in seeing his face so close, so intent, so strong in its rugged, uncompromising planes.
A sense of well-being washed over her as his arms tightened around her and held her close. His lips brushed hers lightly as if asking permission to proceed. As his hands ran over her, she felt her soul singing and her body was the chorus.
It was insane. They were in the open and nearly tearing clothes off one another. “Here?” she asked.
He looked dazed but didn’t let go. “Probably not,” he said, “but I wanted to do that since I first met you.”
“I couldn’t tell,” she said.
“I’ve always been able to stonewall my feelings,” he replied. “Until now.” His steel-gray gaze appeared to soften as he studied her. “You’re so damned irresistible,” he said.
She didn’t know what to stay to that. She just leaned against him, feeling his strength, yet now sensing a vulnerability that made her heart ache. Her arms went around his neck and she stretched upward until their bodies fit together. She wanted more of the sensations rocking her body and the emotions shimmering between them. Desire spread throughout her like a summer’s sun pooling...
He groaned. “Not here,” he said. “I don’t have...any protection.”
“And I’m not on the pill,” she replied. “We should go back. We...you...will be missed.”
“Later then?” he asked.
“You won’t drive into a police car again?”
He looked chastened. “No.”
“Okay. What time?”
“Around five? I’m meeting with Sam Martin at four. Where?”
“The inn. I’m usually there anyway.”
“Won’t people talk?”
“After last night at the falls, I think they probably already are.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“I’m a grown woman,” she said. “And Mark is very discreet.”
* * *
They met again that night at the inn.
They’d gone through the rest of the morning trying not to look at each other. It didn’t work. Vets and instructors were watching, smiling, snickering at their pathetic attempts to look in any direction other than each other.
Susan gave up at noon and drove to her cottage, where she fed Vagabond and sat down to have a discussion with the cat. Could she really trust Ross? Would he just pick up and leave next week? Could you really fall in love so quickly?
Unfortunately, Vagabond had no answers although she seemed to sympathize. She rubbed against Susan’s legs and meowed softly with rare affection.
At fifteen to five, she walked to the inn as she often did. Ross’s bike was parked near the side door. She went inside and knocked softly at his door.
When he opened it, they didn’t say anything. Just reached for each other before he pulled her inside.
Their lips met with such tender wistfulness that Ross felt a bliss that surpassed any feeling he’d known before. It filled him, cleansed him, renewed him. He’d felt pleasure before: pride at finishing his doctorate, triumph when a patient healed, satisfaction as he watched his vets ride their horses with confidence, but he’d never felt joy like this. Now he knew, and he was a glutton.
It was only a few days since they’d met but he felt he knew her better than anyone he’d met. He knew her heart, and she knew his faults and was still here. His fingers teased as he slipped off her blouse and bra. They roamed against the back of her neck, then explored the rest of her.
He didn’t question now that he was going too fast. He knew to the bottom of his soul that it was right, had been right since the moment they met. He’d always scorned love at first sight. Never again.
“We’ll take it slow,” he said.
“I don’t think so,” she replied.
He leaned over and kissed her slowly as his arms tightened around her, then his lips explored her body, teasing and loving.
He’d been waiting for this all his life, only he hadn’t known it.
“It’s so fast,” he whispered, offering her a chance to back away.
“It happens,” she replied. “Travis and Jenny...they knew in five days, and they’re as in love with each other as the day they married.” She paused, then whispered, “I’m not afraid. I was, but not now.” Her hand went up to his face, traced its outlines with tender possessiveness.
His hands moved over her body, igniting increasingly urgent sensations. Susan heard her own moan, knew the longing of her body—or was it her soul—to make love with him.
The friction of their bodies was no longer enough. She was consumed with feeling and wanting more. “Ross,” she uttered, knowing it was more a gasp than a word.
His lips left her mouth, moved to her ear, where he nibbled on it, sending shivers of pleasure through her. His feathering kisses moved to her neck, to the pulse of her throat. Her eyes misted as she felt the tenderness in each caress, the tethered need in each touch. She felt his body shudder with restraint even as its rigidity radiated his need.
She wanted to give him everything—laughter, sweetness, joy. She wanted to watch him smile.
“I did get some protection,” he whispered as he finished undressing her, then she did the same to him. He lifted her easily and gently lowered her to the bed. He leaned down and his mouth met hers. Shivers of pleasure rolled through her body even as her heart hammered against her rib cage.
“Are you sure, Susan?” he asked.
“Never more so,” she replied, surprising herself with the words, but she’d never felt as alive as she did this moment. She wanted him as much as he obviously wanted her.
Her hands touched his chest, playing with the patterns of his muscles, with the arrow of hair that ran down toward his arousal. Her heart was a bass drum now as he lowered himself over her. His hands went under her hips and she felt him tease her gently. He probed at first, then slowly, enticingly he entered her, moving sensuously. Her body moved to the rhythm of his in a dance that grew in intensity and tempo. Her legs went around his, bringing him even farther into her as her body built to a crescendo of sensations. Her body continued to feel waves of pleasure as he pulled out of her, rolled next to her and held her.
“Wow,” she said. It was all she could manage at the moment.
“Yeah,” he said, “Wow.” He paused, then asked, “How long were you engaged before you married what’s his name?”
“Four months and then married two years before I came to my senses,” she said slowly.
“I’m a bad risk too, you know,” he
said as he played with her fingers. “I have a host of ghosts running around inside my head. I’m used to doing everything my way. I like motorcycles and I run into police cars.”
“It means I have a lot of work to do.”
He nodded. “No doubt.”
She stared at him and slowly smiled.
“We should get married soon,” he continued.
“I don’t think you’ve asked me yet?” she pointed out.
“Will you consider it?” he ventured.
“You’re loco,” she observed.
“Now, that is insulting,” he said with a slight smile. “But it seems like we have two choices. We can sneak around and be the talk of the town, or we can get married.”
“Engagement is an option and I thought you were going on that road trip.”
“A very short engagement is acceptable,” he said. “Jubal offered to lease me that piece of land in the back of his property and I’m certain I can get an option to buy.”
“He did?” She couldn’t hide her surprise.
“I think he wants to make a permanent cowboy out of me, with the help of our veterans. Sort of a backup to Luke.”
“You’re still loco, particularly about marrying me. We don’t even know each other.”
“I know all the important stuff.” He shrugged. “You’re smart. You’re one of the kindest people I’ve ever met, and you’re sexy as hell. A potent combination I don’t want to get away.
“And,” he added, “you know me better than people I’ve known for decades.” He paused, looked thoughtful and added, “One of my buddies—a fighter pilot on an aircraft carrier—was on leave. He was on a bus when he saw a woman on the street. Never seen her before. He jumped off the bus, accosted her and told her he was going to marry her.”
“Did she call the police?”
“Nope. She married him before his leave was up, which was five days. He was also a brave man. Her father was a prison warden. I didn’t believe him until his wife swore it was true.”
She narrowed her eyes. “For how long? Were they married, I mean?”
“Twenty years and still going.”
Home on the Ranch: Colorado Cowboy Page 18
