by Cindy Kirk
“Brad.”
The fear in Margot’s voice broke through his thoughts like a well-thrown knife. With several long strides he was at the door, shoving it open. He rushed into the hall.
She stood, wide-eyed and trembling, just outside the open bathroom door. Like him, she was still fully dressed.
He immediately moved to her side. His worry skyrocketed when he felt her trembling. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s Vivi.”
Brad suddenly realized that despite the earlier bark-fest at the window when they’d first driven up, the animal hadn’t been there snarling a greeting when he’d walked through the door. He’d been so lost in being an idiot he hadn’t noticed. “She’s around here somewhere.”
“She’s in the bathtub.”
He exhaled a frustrated breath, thinking of the cold shower he needed if he was going to have any chance of falling asleep. “Tell her to get out.”
“I can’t.” Margot clasped her hands together. “She’s having her puppies.”
“You said she wasn’t due for a couple of weeks.”
“That’s what I thought, but I wasn’t sure exactly when she got pregnant.”
Margot looked so distressed he wanted to pull her into his arms, but restrained himself.
“Dogs have puppies every day.”
She worried her lower lip. “I don’t want anything to go wrong.”
“Would you like me to take a look?” Over the years Brad had delivered his share of calves and foals so this certainly wasn’t new territory.
“I’d appreciate it. My father never let us have a dog, so I don’t have much experience in the puppy arena.” Her eyes remained filled with worry. “I can’t lose her.”
Brad stepped into the bathroom. It was immediately apparent he’d be showering in the downstairs facilities tonight. Viper was on her side, stretched out in the tub. Margot must have placed a towel nearby and one puppy had already been born.
Thankfully Viper seemed to have some motherly instincts as she’d done a good job of cleaning the pup that was making squeaking noises.
“So far, so good.” Brad offered Margot a reassuring smile.
“There’s more.” Margot’s fingers clamped his arm with the force of a vise. “But they’re not coming.”
True statement, Brad knew, from the way Viper was breathing. But she didn’t appear to be in any distress...unless you counted her obvious displeasure at having him in the room. The instant she saw him she curled her lip and growled. He had no doubt if he decided to do something crazy like reach inside the tub, he’d lose a hand.
“This could take all night.” Brad spoke in a reassuring tone. “Heelers can have ten or twelve pups.”
He closed his eyes and nearly shuddered, imagining a dozen little Vipers roaming the house.
“You think she’ll be okay?”
“She seems to have it under control but I believe me being in here is stressful.”
Margot glanced at the tub. There was no way she could miss the way Viper reacted to him.
“You’re right.” She shot him an apologetic smile. “Go to bed. We’ll be fine.”
“You’re going to stay up.”
“I can’t leave Vivi. I want to be here in...in case she needs me. You understand.”
Just like that she’d slid under his defenses...again.
“How about I make coffee?” he asked. “It may be a long night.”
“Thank you.” She lifted a hand, cupped his cheek. “You’re really a sweet guy.”
“No, I’m not. I’m doing this in the hopes of getting to second base once this is over.”
She rolled her eyes heavenward and chuckled as if he’d made a joke.
Brad took his time with the coffee, knowing Margot would call out if she needed him. And knowing, just as surely as he knew his own name, that he’d come running the second she called.
By the time he returned to the Viper’s nest with a couple of to-go cups filled with steaming brew, there were three more pups in the tub.
Margot smiled when she saw him. “Vivi is on a roll.”
The heeler glanced up and growled low in her throat.
“Good to see you, too, Viper,” he said.
Margot took the cup from his hands and sipped. “Thank you.”
Because Viper was now more focused on spitting out another pup than snarling at him, Brad remained in the room, leaning against the sink. “What a way to end a date.”
“We didn’t have a date,” Margot clarified. “You played poker with your friends. I went to dinner with Leila.”
“Apologies. It must have been the make-out session in the truck that conjured up the word date.”
Her eyes softened. “You can go to bed now. I’m confident Vivi and I will do just fine.”
Wishing the night could have ended differently, Brad went downstairs, took a cold shower and went to bed. Alone.
Chapter Nine
By the time the tenth, and last, puppy was born, it was close to 3:00 a.m. Margot almost knocked on Brad’s door to tell him mother and puppies were fine, then decided the good news could wait until morning.
She’d had to troop downstairs for her shower and afterward considered stopping by Brad’s room on the way to hers. But sleep beckoned and she heeded the call. The clock read nearly ten by the time she pried her eyes open.
Jumping out of bed, she pulled the chenille robe from the hook on the door and raced out to check on Vivi and the puppies.
Her heart dropped. The tub was empty. Then her ears registered sounds coming from the first level. With her heart in her throat, Margot bounded down the steps in her bare feet.
She found Vivi in the parlor with two bowls, one of kibble and the other filled with water, near a box that Margot had never seen before. Made of plywood, it wasn’t anything fancy, but it kept the puppies contained while giving Vivian easy access in and out.
A lump rose to her throat. Though she wasn’t sure how Brad managed to move the puppies and Vivi, he had to be the one responsible. With the box’s close proximity to heater vents, the puppies would remain warm even when the nights turned cold.
She took a couple of steps closer then stopped at the warning glint in Vivian’s amber eyes. From where she stood, Margot counted all ten puppies.
Realizing the new mother had what she needed, Margot headed to the kitchen. She found a note on the counter from Brad. He’d gone out and would be back this afternoon.
Which meant she was on her own.
Margot fought a surge of disappointment. While Brad was an interloper, he kept her from feeling alone in the big house.
For the first time she truly comprehended her father’s repeated assertions that she didn’t understand how hard it was for him to be in the house without her mother. When Margot had returned to the rodeo circuit after her mother’s funeral, he’d been utterly alone.
Boyd had never been very social. Her mother had loved card parties, church events and socializing with friends. Boyd always grumbled that Giselle was always dragging him one place or another.
But it was his wife’s outgoing personality that had kept Boyd connected to the community and filled his life with meaning. Once Giselle was gone, the connection vanished. Not long after she was laid to rest, he’d returned to his first love, the bottle.
A heavy weight settled over Margot’s heart. She’d failed her dad. In the process, she’d failed her mother, who counted on Margot to take care of the man she loved.
Well, Margot would do whatever it took to find Boyd and bring him home. Then they’d go from there. There was no point in worrying if he’d stop drinking or if he’d order her away. Finding him, making sure he was safe and bringing him back to Rust Creek Falls where he belonged were good first steps.
Margot dressed quickly, pulling on a favorite pair of jeans and a lightweight gray sweater with colorful threads running through it. She thought about skipping makeup entirely but took a few minutes to dab on some mascara and lip gloss.
As she smoothed the color onto her lips, she thought about what had almost happened last night. If Brad had been willing, she’d have made love with him.
The fact that she had so easily considered having sex with a man she barely knew should have shocked Margot. But it didn’t. Not that she was promiscuous.
In fact her first two sexual encounters had been boys/men she’d had feelings for and who she thought had feelings for her. She’d been wrong both times.
By the third, she decided if she had an itch that needed scratching, trusting someone enough to get naked with them was good enough.
But number three had been well over a year ago and in the end they’d only been intimate a couple of times. Still, going without sex for this past year had hardly been a burden.
She worked and trained hard, which left little time for anything else. Margot meant what she said to Brad. It wasn’t wise to become involved with guys you saw every day. And she’d been okay with celibacy...until she’d caught sight of Brad with all those rippling muscles and that ultra-sexy “don’t mess with me” scowl.
One look and all her pent-up sexual energy had exploded. He was just the type of guy her mother—and father—had warned her against, a good-looking cowboy who thought he owned the world.
Even though Brad was older and Margot had only been home for brief snatches of time in recent years, she’d heard the talk. Brad had married only to split with his wife several years later.
Though Margot hadn’t known Janie Delane personally, she remembered the woman’s vindictive behavior. Before Janie left town, the woman had trash-talked her ex, painting Brad in vivid brush strokes as an egotistical, self-absorbed jerk.
As if determined not to be drawn back into the drama, Brad had said nothing.
It was the jerk part that didn’t ring true for Margot. Not when she recalled Brad’s kindness to an animal that distrusted him.
Egotistical and self-absorbed...probably. But not a jerk.
Besides, everyone had flaws. And it wasn’t as if she was looking at the guy as a potential boyfriend or husband.
The thought made her smile as she ate a quick breakfast then refreshed Vivi’s food and water dishes before heading out to the garage.
Margot gazed at piles of empty cardboard boxes, multipacks of paper towels tossed on top of stacks of newspapers interspersed with garden hoses and books. Coating it all was a thick layer of dirt.
The gray sweater she currently wore was a favorite and hardly suitable for the cleaning and clearing out she had planned.
After changing into a tan sweatshirt she’d picked up in Cheyenne with the words “Ride it like you stole it” emblazoned across the front, Margot traded her good Levis for a pair so worn it was a wonder the threads still held. Pulling her hair back with a covered band, she grabbed a pair of brown gloves and went to work.
By the time Brad pulled up to the house early that afternoon, most of the boxes and newspapers had been reduced to ashes. He hopped out of the truck looking incredibly handsome in dark brown pants, a cream-colored shirt and a leather jacket the color of dark chocolate.
“What are you doing?” Without waiting for an answer he hurried over and helped her maneuver several long strips of cardboard into the burn barrel.
“Be careful,” Margot warned. “Don’t touch the sides. You don’t want to get soot on your clothes.”
“Don’t worry about me. This is a big project. You need help.”
Margot shook her head. “Not until you change.”
Surprise flickered in his eyes at her determined tone. Then, unexpectedly, he grinned and gave her a mock salute. “Aye, aye, sir.”
He returned in a matter of minutes, dressed casually in jeans and a chambray shirt. He lugged several large trash cans out from behind the stable.
Margot’s pulse quickened with excitement. She’d already filled the garbage cans she’d been able to locate, but hadn’t realized there were more.
When he released the barrels, she grasped his hands with her gloved ones and gave them a squeeze. “Thank you.”
Brad looked down at his now-sooty hands.
“Ohmigod, I’m so sorry.” Margot glanced around for a rag. “I forgot—”
“No worries.” Brad’s eyes danced with good humor when they met hers. “You’ve been away from ranch work too long if you think a little dirt is a big deal.”
He was right, of course. Ranchers’ hands found their way into a little bit of everything.
“It’s just that I appreciate the help,” she said with a good-natured smile. “I don’t want to turn you off.”
“Darlin’, there isn’t much you could do to turn me off.”
Her sweatshirt now had streaks of dirt and soot. What was on her shirt had to be on her face as well. She couldn’t believe any man could find her attractive in her current state.
Yet the look in Brad’s eyes reminded her of a predatory cat that had just spotted something of extreme interest.
He took a step closer.
Margot didn’t move an inch, her gaze firmly fixed on those glittering green eyes. In the background, a rousing rock classic, courtesy of her iPad, followed the beat of her heart.
The sound of a car engine and a horn honking startled them both.
Brad swore. His gaze held hers for the briefest of moments before he pivoted and sauntered over to the truck. His brother Nate, as well as Anderson and Travis Dalton, emerged from the pickup.
In seconds Margot had caught up to him. These guys might be his brother and friends, but this was still her family’s ranch.
“Hi, guys.” Margot pulled off her gloves, wishing she could rid her face of grime so easily.
Brad’s stance wasn’t quite so welcoming. “What are you doing here?”
Anderson looked amused. “You asked us to come.”
“You must have forgotten.” Nate cast a pointed glance in Margot’s direction. “Understandable. You have other things on your mind. More important things.”
“Yeah.” Brad’s sarcastic drawl drew his brother’s attention back to him. “Like cleaning the garage.”
“What about the cattle?” Travis asked.
“What about them?” Margot responded.
“You mentioned culling the herd. We said we’d help.” Nate spoke to Brad as one would a dull-witted child. “Today.”
Recognition dawned on Brad’s face. He swore again.
“The garage can wait.” Margot knew separating the animals on the cull list into the corral would take all their efforts. “I’ll put everything away so we can get to work.”
The men exchanged glances.
“You stick with the garage,” Brad instructed. “The guys and I will take care of the cattle.”
While there was really nothing particularly offensive in his words or tone, Margot bristled. Doggone it, this was her ranch and if anyone should be giving orders, it should be her.
“I appreciate you coming by to help.” Margot smiled at the four men. “Why don’t we get started now, so you can get back home?”
As they headed to the stables, Margot heard one of the men—she wasn’t sure which one—tell Brad he had a spirited filly on his hands.
Margot only smiled to herself. It was obvious to anyone with half a brain they weren’t referring to one of the horses.
They were wrong. Brad hadn’t had her. Not yet.
Her heart launched into a ramshackle rhythm.
She wanted him. She’d accepted that fact. But all in good time. For now, they had a herd to cull.
* * *
By the time Brad’s brother and friends left it was past suppertime. They declined Margot’s offer to stay for a meal.
“I could use some food right now.” Brad lifted a hand, watching as the truck disappeared down the lane in a cloud of dust before following Margot inside.
“I’ll toss something together.” She rubbed her temples with two fingers. “Let me pop a couple of ibuprofens first then I’ll see what’s in the fridge.”
“Is your head bothering you?” Brad asked in a deceptively casual tone.
“A little,” she admitted. “Nothing drugs won’t fix right up.”
Margot opened a cupboard and pulled out a bottle of pills, popping four into her mouth. She chased them with a long drink of milk.
When she looked up, glass still in hand, Brad was beside her.
He wasn’t smiling.
“I want you to go upstairs and rest. I’ll pull something together for us to eat.”
Her smile vanished. “You’re not in charge of me, mister.”
“Someone needs to be.”
Margot’s head snapped back so suddenly it was a wonder she didn’t get whiplash.
Before she had a chance to speak, he rested a hand on her arm. “You’ve been in an accident. You worked as hard as the rest of us today. Rest. Please. Just for a little while.”
She hesitated.
He flashed that oh-so-charming smile. “If you feel better and want to do something, I’ll let you do the after-dinner cleanup.”
The innocent look in his eyes didn’t fool her. But it did make her laugh.
* * *
An hour later, Brad had thrown together a spaghetti dinner complete with green beans—from a can—and garlic Wonder Bread. Everything was ready when Brad headed up the stairs to get Margot.
He found her sprawled across the bed facedown. She’d clearly showered and changed out of her work clothes. The black stretchy pants she now wore hugged her derriere like a man’s hand, and the oversized tee had ridden up to give him a good view of an impressive amount of ivory skin. It took every ounce of self-control not to touch her.
All day he’d been in a state of arousal. Who knew watching a woman separate cattle could be so stimulating? He stood at the foot of her bed pondering his options.
