by V. A. Dold
“Oh, okay.”
The ride wasn’t long, only about five minutes. “What do you think?”
The view was breathtaking. “It’s lovely. The river seems wider here.” Kensie noticed.
Lucas grinned. “You’re right, it is wider and quite a bit deeper. I thought it would make a great swimming hole for my future children. See that tree over there? I picture a rope swing hanging from the large branch stretched over the water.”
“This is a great spot for a swimming hole. I bet there is fish in there, too.”
“Oh, yeah. Huge bass. I caught one a few weeks ago.”
Kensie sighed. “I loved living on the water when I was a child. There’s something magical about it.”
“Who knows, maybe you’ll have a waterfront place again.” Lucas mentioned without looking her way. He didn’t want to tip her off. He was showing her their future homestead and she didn’t even know it.
Halfway to the barn Lucas heard the ding of a cell phone. He hadn’t brought his along so it must be Kensie’s. He could hear his mother’s voice in his head clear as a bell, “Your lovely mate works much too hard. You need to teach her how to have fun.” He missed his mother and not for the first time wished he could talk telepathically to her like he could his father.
Sadly, the truth was, if she wasn’t texting the hospital, she was answering their emails or worse yet taking their phone calls. He worried she didn’t get nearly enough sleep. How could she, she worked twenty hours a day.
His pride in his mate for her success warred with his need to protect her and see to her health, even if it meant protecting her from herself.
Jojo pulled him aside earlier and asked him to personally keep Kensie busy so she would take a break and have a little fun. Jojo tried to take care of the issue and failed, now she’d turned to the only person she felt could meet the challenge. Him. He would have to try harder to distract her from the constant demands on her time.
She texted a reply one handed and reined with the other. Always multitasking. He stayed quiet; if he voiced his displeasure it might backfire on him. Rather, he took the chance to enjoy the scenery. Kensie was a horse length in front of him, which provided one heck of a view. Her hips rocked gently in the saddle and her hair glimmered with strands of gold in the sunlight. The red and gold flashed as the horse swayed, creating the illusion of fire.
Sliding the offending electronic into her pocket, she raised her head and let loose a deep throated laugh. A pair of jackrabbits played tag and the sight of them zigzagging this way and that, amused her. The sound of her joy shot an arrow straight into his heart. Bull’s eye, Cupid, excellent aim. Now turn that bow on Kensie, would you?
Chapter 10
Kensie couldn’t get away from Lucas fast enough. The feelings he caused and her body’s outrageous reactions to the sexy cowboy scared the living daylights out of her. She had no experience with this kind of thing and she damn sure didn’t have a textbook covering the subject or better yet provided a cure. She would be the first to admit, her seesawing behavior was her issue and not his fault in the least. She was the one who craved him like he was the last chocolate bar on earth and she hadn’t eaten one in a decade, but at the same time was scared shitless by that extreme desire. She needed to figure out what she wanted and exactly how far she was willing to take this. Her hot and cold behavior wasn’t fair to her or to Lucas.
Texting on the ride back gave her an excuse to avoid conversation. Now that they were back and he was devouring her with his eyes, she panicked. Turning on her heel, she sped from the confines of the barn and raced to her cabin. Her heart hammered so hard her ribs would surely be dust. Slamming the door shut, she turned the lock and flipped the nighttime security bolt. Lucas wasn’t getting in with his master key this time.
She desperately needed to talk with Jojo. She felt like she was being torn in two. Half of her wanted to throw Lucas to the ground and ride him until she couldn’t walk. The other half was desperate to jump in her car and drive hell bent for leather back to Minnesota. Her little sister was the one in the family with a social life. She needed to know what to do, and how to behave on a movie date. Was watching movies at home on a couch the next step to intimacy? The movies she’d seen implied this very possibly could be an intimate night.
Who was she kidding? Did she even want to behave? Was kissing a cowboy she would never see again acceptable? Based on her past attitude of casual sex with men she had no feelings for, yes, to her heart, which was in way too deep, no.
She didn’t have any experience, but she had a feeling, leaving Lucas behind was going to hurt like a mother. Was enjoying the few days they had going to be worth the pain? She sure hoped so, because from the way her body had a mind of its own, she was pretty sure she didn’t have a say in the matter.
Kensie checked her watch, where could Jojo be? She was so preoccupied with her new feelings she hadn’t responded to a single text or email for the past three hours. She was acting so out of character she scared herself. Huffing out a breath, she paced across the tiny cabin for about the thousandth time and checked her watch...again.
By the time Jojo showed up, Kensie was a hot mess. “Where the devil have you been!”
Jojo snorted out a laugh as she ran for the bathroom. “It’s nice to see you, too.”
Kensie rubbed her aching head and sighed. “I’m sorry, baby girl. I didn’t mean to snap at you as you came through the door. This raging headache has got me acting out of sorts.”
Jojo stuck her head out the door and grinned. “Are you sure it’s the headache and not the smoking hot cowboy you were tonsil tangling with?”
Kensie scowled. “You’re such a comedian. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Ah ha. And I didn’t ride up to find you straddling said smoking hot cowboy in front of God and everyone.”
Kensie plopped on the end of the bed looking miserable. “Jojo, what am I going to do? I want him more than anything and that scares the daylights out of me. All he has to do is touch me and I melt. But then I come to my senses and panic. I know my lack of experience with men and relationships is causing my anxiety and this has nothing to do with Lucas behaving inappropriately. I don’t have the first clue about dating and men. I’m drowning here without a life jacket.”
“Oh, sweetie, dating isn’t a life threatening situation. You’re acting like going to a movie or out to dinner is the end of the world.” Jojo put an arm around Kensie and shrugged. “You’re afraid you will get your heart broken, aren’t you? That’s why you panic.”
Kensie nodded.
“Hun, there’s no avoiding the occasional heartache; they are part of having relationships. There is always the chance one person will disappoint and hurt the other. That’s the chance people take in order to find their perfect match and live happily ever after. There’s a reason they have the saying ‘you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find your prince.’”
“So there’s no way to avoid the pain? No way to tell ahead of time if the man will break your heart?”
“None at all. But believe me, when a relationship works, it’s magic, pure and simple. Finding the right person for you is like nothing else you will ever experience. And believe me, you don’t want to miss out on having the experience.”
Kensie took a deep breath. “Okay. I’ll give this my best effort and try not to panic.”
Jojo studied Kensie. “Does this relate back to losing Mom and Dad? Are you afraid to give your heart because you might lose another person in your life?”
Kensie’s face fell and she looked miserable. “Sometimes you’re too smart for your own good.”
“You have to let yourself live life. If all you do is go through the motions, you’re wasting the wonderful opportunity you’ve been given. We choose to enter this world to learn lessons and experience life, which includes love as well as loss. You need to grab hold of every opportunity that is handed to you and experience as much as you can.”
&nbs
p; “All right. I promise I’ll try.”
“Good, now back to dating. Men want to do things for their women. The problem is most men don’t want to be told what to do. They want to think everything is their idea. The solution is really quite simple, the woman allows the man to be all strong and protective while secretly getting everything she wants.”
Kensie looked at Jojo like she was speaking a foreign language. “On what planet is that simple?”
Jojo chewed a fingernail searching her mind for an example. “Okay, let’s say you want a man to hang a painting on the wall. You don’t ask him to hang the painting, you look at it and sigh really pitifully and then say, ‘I would really love to have that on the wall where I can look at it all the time, but it’s just so heavy.’ A little while later the man will come in the room with a hammer and nails and gallantly announce he’s going to hang the picture for you. Suddenly it’s all his idea and he is the hero.”
“And that works?” Kensie asked skeptically.
“Every time,” Jojo laughed.
“So, let me see if I have this right. I should follow all your rules from the other night and basically act completely helpless. Plus, when I want the man to do something, I suggest it and again act helpless then wait until his little pea sized brain decides it was his idea all along?”
“Exactly. See, easy as pie.”
“I hate dating already,” Kensie proclaimed.
“Think of relationships as if you’re on a giant chessboard and you’re making strategic moves. To play the game successfully and get what you want requires a lot of skill and cunning.”
Kensie nodded. “Yeah, okay. I can do that.”
Jojo went back to the bathroom to fix her hair and makeup. “Give me a few minutes and I’ll keep you company at dinner. I won’t eat because Hank is taking me out later, but I’ll have a Coke. While we’re there, let’s play a game to see who can spot the most women playing their men. It’ll be both fun and educational.”
“All right, you’re on.”
Ten minutes later they walked into the huge dining room. Jojo chose a table in the corner of the room so she and Kensie would have a perfect view of everyone as they enjoyed dinner.
Within a few minutes, Kensie watched, mouth agape, as a woman got her husband to juggle four plates while she daintily filled them with food for their family. A little batting of her eyelashes and a comment that she wasn’t talented at balancing plates like he was and ‘bam’! He did exactly what she wanted.
Butterflies erupted in her stomach as excitement filled her. This could be fun. She could hardly wait to try it on Lucas.
Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him step into the room. Suppressing a grin, she pretended to be interested in the food on her plate. She had some thinking and planning to do before she took a stab at this girly thing.
The more she watched the other diners the more uneasy she became. She wasn’t comfortable with the way the women were treating the men. Then she focused on a couple who looked local. They wore solid western clothing and had deeply tanned skin contrasted by sun kissed hair. The man held the woman’s chair and offered to get her a plate and a drink without being manipulated in any way. The woman was genuinely grateful and let him know she appreciated his thoughtfulness. Later, as they were leaving, he cleared her plate without being asked. When he returned, he offered his hand as she prepared to stand and gently took her wrap from the back of her chair to drape it around her shoulders.
That was what Kensie wanted. Not a string of one con after another for the rest of her life. Maybe Jojo had the wrong idea.
*****
Lucas narrowed his eyes. Kensie was up to something. She was pretending to ignore him and doing a terrible job of it. She wants to play a game? He could play with the best of them.
Pretending he hadn’t seen her, he filled his plate from the assortment in the buffet and chose an open chair across the room.
The next time she looked up, he followed her line of sight to a young couple a few tables over. A few minutes later she transferred her attention to an older couple by the door. What the heck was she doing?
He was never going to understand women. He had arrogantly thought being a shifter and living the equivalent of sixteen human lives, he would acquire a vast understanding of the opposite sex. Hell, no. His grandfather had taken him aside a few years before he passed on to the afterlife and informed him, he would never understand the workings of a woman’s mind. About ten years later, he had asked his father the same question and promptly received the same answer. As a man, he was screwed.
*****
After dinner, Kensie and Jojo went back to their cabin. They reviewed what Kensie had seen and what she’d learned.
“Do you get it now?” Jojo asked.
“I think I do. Basically the woman is conning the man.”
Jojo scowled at her description. “You make it sound so ugly.”
Kensie shrugged. “Well, manipulating men isn’t exactly honest, is it?”
“No, but the men want to do things for you. This way they get to be the manly man and the woman gets what she wants, too.”
Kensie shook her head. “I still think if the woman simply told the man what she wanted, the same thing would be achieved.”
Jojo chuckled. “You give that a try and tell me how it goes. Now, I have a date. You have fun watching the movie and I’ll see you later.”
Jojo left with Hank, leaving Kensie to think.
She loved her sister with all her heart and thanked the Lord constantly for giving her Jojo to spend her life with. Without her sister, she would be completely alone. Still, she wasn’t sure Jojo’s advice was the best, at least on this specific point. She just wasn’t comfortable manipulating Lucas, or any other man for that matter.
Suddenly, she couldn’t stand to look at the inside of her cabin for a moment longer. Stepping onto her porch she found Lucas coming up the steps. What the heck was with this guy and the way he seemed to appear out of nowhere?
He was wearing sinfully tight blue jeans that showed off his muscular thighs. She was sure if he turned around, his ass would be deliciously displayed as well. His clean white shirt was so tailored, the thing could have been sprayed on. Son of a b…. she didn’t stand a chance of keeping her hands to herself tonight.
When her gaze reached his face, she realized he had been watching her thorough inspection and was completely amused by it. She also realized he had his hand behind his back. What is he trying to hide?
Reaching for the railing, she clutched it for support. Her heart raced and her lungs labored and all she had done was check him out. Good Lord, what would happen if he touched her again? She had no problem admitting she wanted him. She wanted nothing more than to grab his arm and drag him into her bed like a crazed cave woman. Damn, the cowboy was going to be the death of her.
“Good evening, mon amour.” His warm dimpled grin was driving her libido into the danger zone.
Gathering the last functioning gray cells in her brain, she forced her eyes to his and straightened her shoulders. She could do this without making a fool of herself. She was Kensie Brown, Mayo Clinic’s top surgeon. Dammit, she could watch a stinking movie without stripping the man.
Finally, Lucas broke the silence by bringing his hand from behind his back. “I hope you like carnations. I considered roses, but they didn’t feel right, like they weren’t your kind of flower.”
“I love carnations. How did you know?”
Lucas shrugged, his smile lighting up his entire face. “When I was at the shop, I looked around and these were the only flowers that reminded me of you.”
Kensie accepted the bouquet he held toward her with trembling hands. “They’re beautiful,” she whispered reverently.
“Would you like to put them in water? I can wait while you take care of them.”
Kensie blinked rapidly like she was coming out of a stupor. “Oh, yes. Thank you. I’ll only be a
minute.”
When she returned, she seemed a little uncomfortable… no, not uncomfortable, unconfident. Why would she feel awkward around him and what had changed since he walked up? He silently puzzled over the transformation as they walked to the main house. The only thing he had done was give her the flowers…THE FLOWERS!
Slipping her hand from the crook of his arm, he brought them to a halt. “Kensie, have you ever been given flowers before?”
She stared at their feet for a long second before shaking her head.
“What the hell is wrong with men in Minnesota? Don’t they know it is only proper to bring a lady flowers when calling on her?”
Kensie shrugged and finally whispered so quietly he almost didn’t hear the words. “I’ve never been called on before.”
Everything inside Lucas froze. Jojo had texted him about fifteen minutes before he went to collect Kensie and briefly explained her trepidation. Now he understood her erratic reactions of the past two days and was better prepared to court his mate. But she hadn’t prepared him well enough. She had definitely left some key details out.
Lucas lifted her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye. “Are you telling me you have never been on a date?”
Blushing the color of a ripe tomato, she nodded and tried to pull her chin from his grasp. She failed.
Taking a deep breath, he held her gaze and asked, “Baby, are you a virgin?”
Fire flared in her eyes. “You don’t need to be called on to have sex.” She ripped her chin from his grasp and marched ahead of him to the main house.
Lucas quietly joined her in the great room off of the dining hall. She had already grabbed an overstuffed chair, no doubt to avoid sitting next to him on the couch. He kept his grin to himself while he started the movie and poured two glasses of wine. With the previews playing, he turned and walked to her chair. Setting the glasses on the side table, he focused on her eyes.
Holding out his hand, he asked, “Won’t you please join me on the couch? I promise not to bite.”
