Ultimate Texas Bachelor

by Cathy Gillen Thacker

  Which meant, Brad thought later as he drove back to the Lazy M, it was either start very small and let the ranching operation grow slowly over a number of years, or go back to the fallback plan of letting Lewis pay for everything—the land, the cattle and the operating costs, even Brad’s room and board. The two were going to split the profits right down the middle, but it would be years before those amounted to much.

  Brad was still scowling as he parked his pickup next to the ranch house and walked inside.

  He followed the lilt of Lainey’s soft, feminine laughter and the eager sound of his brainiest brother to the formal dining room that was being retooled as Lewis’s home office. Brad was claiming the former formal living room as his study, since neither of them planned to give any parties that couldn’t be held out on the lawn, or, in inclement weather, in the kitchen and family room.

  “The chandelier is going to have to come down and be replaced with another light fixture,” Lainey was saying. “Otherwise you’ll be in danger of bumping your head on it every time you get up from your desk.”

  Brad stopped in the portal, shocked by what he saw.

  Lainey had only been working on this room since this morning, but already it had been transformed from a mess of boxes with a trio of bookcases and large U-shaped desk into an organized work environment. She’d taken down the dusty drapes that had come with the house, and removed the outdated drapery rod from the wall. Lewis’s three computers, fax, two printers, copier and speakerphone were all organized in a way that made sense, with the computers set up equidistant from one another in his workspace for easy access, the other equipment placed on the shelves. They had also brought in the beat-up green leather reclining chair that had been with Lewis since his college days and put it in the corner, along with a pole lamp that made a cozy reading nook.

  Lainey and Lewis both had their backs to Brad as Lainey pointed out places on the ceiling. “I think you’re going to want to add some track lighting around the perimeter,” she was saying, “to really brighten up the space. And maybe a nice rug? And those posters you bought during your travels would look nice on the walls, if you had them framed.”

  “Can you help me with that?”

  “Sure,” she replied.

  “I never know what to buy.”

  “You’ve done just fine so far.”

  Lewis beamed at her compliment.

  Brad’s scowl deepened as Lainey and Lewis belatedly seemed to realize they were no longer alone and turned to face him.

  “So, how’d it go?” Lewis asked cheerfully. “The banks give you everything you need to get the cattle operation up and running?”

  Brad shook his head. He only wished it had been that easy. But he wasn’t going to hide from the truth—at least not in this regard. “Seems like we’re back to the original plan,” he stated matter-of-factly.

  Lewis looked disappointed but not surprised.

  His brother might not know how to dress or dazzle the ladies, but he had business sense—and instincts about what would or would not fly. Which was why Lewis had tried to keep Brad from going to the banks in the first place.

  “No problem.” Lewis reached into his desk and took out a business checkbook. He tossed it to Brad. His eyes were filled with the respect that, thanks to the lies that had been spread about Brad, was in short supply nearly everywhere else. “I had your name added to the account. So you can write checks for whatever you need.”

  “Thanks,” Brad said, grateful for the trust, even as he felt like he was choking on his pride.

  An awkward silence fell. “Listen, if you two want to talk business, I can get busy elsewhere,” Lainey murmured.

  Brad had nothing further to say on the matter. Lewis knew where they stood as well as he did. Lewis was the family’s biggest success story, and Brad was the family’s biggest failure.

  BRAD SPENT WHAT WAS LEFT of the day toiling over the sprinkler system in the barn. He was still working on it as dusk approached, and Lainey appeared in the doorway. Deliciously tousled from a day of working hard, she was clad in a trim peach skirt and a sheer white short-sleeved shirt, embroidered with peach-and-green flowers, over an opaque white tank top. Her only concession to the hard physical work she was doing was the white socks and sneakers on her feet, instead of the usual sandals. As she moved toward him, a strong breeze wafted through the open barn doors on either side of the twenty-four stall facility, mussing her blond hair. Brad liked the way she looked. Womanly, purposeful, mouth-wateringly feminine, and flushed with the heat of the June day.

  When he had ended his stint on Bachelor Bliss, Brad hadn’t thought he would want anything to do with romance ever again. Lainey made him reconsider. And it wasn’t just her looks, or the way she sassed and challenged him. Or even the way she had kissed him back, all the while swearing the lip-to-lip contact meant nothing. It was the way she listened to him. The way she knew what questions to ask, when to push, and when to back off.

  She wanted to get to know him, the real him. Not the stud on TV or on the cover of magazines. More surprising still was the fact he wanted to really get to know her, too.

  Not that it was going to be easy. She seemed a lot more comfortable asking the questions than answering them.

  She tilted her head back to regard the PVC piping that ran the length of the barn’s center, then spread out over each of the stalls. Four-foot fans were placed forty feet apart. Sprinkler heads were mounted eight feet over the floor above each stall. “Wow. This looks state-of-the-art,” she said as she walked across the scrubbed cement floor.

  “Pretty much.” Brad continued mounting the thermostat and timer control on the wall just to the left of the door.

  Lainey stood, legs braced apart, hands on her hips. “Have you ever done this before?”

  He couldn’t say why exactly—usually Brad didn’t care what people thought of him—but he wanted Lainey to be impressed with his accomplishments. “I helped put in a system on a ranch in Colorado,” he told her matter-of-factly.

  She turned around slowly to get a full 360-degree view of his handiwork, and gave him one of her in return. Brad’s mouth went dry as he noted the perfection of her curves. “Is it all for fire safety?”

  “There is an overheat- and fire-detection system in here.” Tearing his gaze from her breasts, Brad pointed out the components to her. “And the sprinkler system will be hooked up to that, as well. But what I’m installing right now is a cooling system that will protect animals against heat stress.”

  Lainey wrinkled her nose. “Is that a problem?”

  “It can be,” Brad replied soberly, “especially for newly weaned calves, or animals that have just been transported from one ranch to another.”

  “I guess you’ve had experience with that, too.”

  Brad nodded. “I worked a ranch in west Texas a couple years ago where they would have lost half their new calves if they hadn’t had a system like this.” He came down the ladder, thinking that standing there face-to-face with her would prompt him to knock off the romanticizing. It just made it worse. That close, he could see the softness of her lips, the flush of color in her cheeks, the clear interest in her forest green eyes.

  As the moment drew out, with neither one of them saying anything, the awareness between the two of them increased. Finally, Brad cleared his throat, knowing it was either get back to business or kiss her. “Did you need something?”

  Lainey blinked, clearly coming back to reality as slowly and reluctantly as he was. “Um, yes. Lewis is going into Laramie to pick up some pizza for us—apparently your supply of frozen dinners has dwindled precariously and I haven’t had time to buy any groceries, either—and he wanted to know if you had any requests.”

  Brad wasn’t sure whether to thank Lewis for the interruption sent his way—or damn him. One thing for sure, he’d be thinking about Lainey, and the way she looked right now, for days and nights to come. Pizza. What did he want on his pizza? “No anchovies on mine,” Brad said fi
nally.

  Lainey grinned. And still didn’t leave. “Okay, that covers what you don’t want,” she teased. “What do you want?”

  You, Brad thought, almost as shocked by the thought as he was aroused. Beneath me. Hair spread across my pillow. Arms and legs locked around me. And me so deep inside of you I don’t know where I end and you begin.

  Not that he had any right to be thinking that way.

  He had no intention of getting intimately involved with any woman again anytime soon. And Lainey Carrington was the kind of woman who would demand emotional involvement.

  Lainey Carrington was a forever kind of woman. And he was, as had been pointed out to him more than once today, a short-term kind of guy. At least as far as everyone else was concerned.

  But that didn’t mean he couldn’t want to make love to her. Wanting was not out of the question.

  Acting on those desires was.

  “Well?” Lainey’s impatient prodding brought him out of his reverie. “What do you want on your pizza?”

  Brad straightened. “Whatever you and Lewis want is fine with me,” Brad said, distracted at the sight of the Lexus pulling into the driveway. Instead of stopping at the house, as most visitors did, the driver appeared headed directly toward the two of them. “Friends of yours?” he said.

  “Oh, my!” The paper in Lainey’s hand fluttered to the ground as the rear door of the SUV opened and a towheaded kid sprang out and dashed toward her.

  “Mommy!” The little boy threw himself into Lainey’s arms.

  “Petey!” She hugged him to her tightly. He hugged her back just as hard.

  Seeing the resemblance—and the affection—between the two made Brad smile. Lainey’s son had her intelligent eyes and warm smile. Even the stubborn way they held their chin was the same.

  “Who’s this?” Petey asked, looking at Brad.

  “This is Brad McCabe. He and his brother Lewis live here at the Lazy M Ranch. Brad—my son, Petey.”

  Brad shook Petey’s hand with the same courtesy and respect he’d offer a grown man. “Nice to meet you, Petey.”

  The little boy looked awestruck in the way city kids who have never been on an actual ranch usually do. He tipped his face up to Brad’s. “Are you a real cowboy?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you ride horses and everything?”

  “I will as soon as we get some, later this week. Right now, we’re still in the process of fixing up the stables and corrals to get ready for ’em.”

  Petey gazed at the barn and pastures wistfully. “I always wanted to ride a horse.”

  Brad recalled the joy he’d felt when he first sat a horse at his uncle’s ranch. It was an experience no boy should miss. “Well, maybe if your mom says it’s okay, I can teach you how.” Brad looked at Lainey for permission.

  Obviously embarrassed, she tucked Petey closer to her side and said, “We didn’t mean to put you on the spot.”

  “It’d be my pleasure,” Brad replied, meaning it. There were some things he could still do without a bank loan or a gentleman’s reputation.

  Petey beamed, thrilled.

  Brad cast a surreptitious look at the couple who had driven Petey out to the ranch. They were still in the car and appeared to be deep in some sort of serious discussion that his gut told him spelled trouble.

  “So are you surprised to see me?” Petey demanded, going back into Lainey’s arms for another exuberant hug, as the elegant-looking couple finally emerged from the front seat of the Lexus. The woman had carefully done hair and makeup. She was wearing an expensive white linen dress, and a sweater tied around her shoulders. Her companion had thinning hair and a slight paunch. He was wearing a grass-green golf shirt and plaid slacks that belonged on a country club tee-off area.

  “I sure am,” Lainey said, ruffling her son’s hair.

  Lainey paused just long enough to introduce her sister- and brother-in-law, Bart and Bunny Carrington, then asked them, “What happened? I thought you weren’t coming back until the end of the week!”

  “Petey was a little homesick,” Bunny said.

  “Actually,” Bart added, “the twins wanted to come home, too.”

  Bunny’s smile looked frozen. “Suddenly they feel they’re too old for family vacations,” she said, unable to completely disguise the hurt in her tone.

  Bart shrugged. “I think they just wanted to be with their friends. They want to spend as much time as possible with each other since they’re all going off to different colleges in the fall. And I can’t say I blame them—they have big changes ahead.”

  “For you, too,” Lainey returned perceptively. “I’m sure you’re really going to miss the girls.”

  “It’s time for them to spread their wings,” Bunny claimed with a smile. “And besides, we’ll still have Petey.”

  Except, Brad thought, Petey was not their son. He was Lainey’s. Hence, it really wasn’t the same, no matter how much they tried to tell themselves it was.

  The back door of the ranch house banged open and Lewis came bounding down the steps, car keys in hand. In his ’80s slacks and tie-dyed McCabe Game Company T-shirt, he looked more like the proverbial slacker than the wealthy CEO of his own company. A fact Brad knew Lewis used to sort out the people who would treat him well no matter who he was, from the hangers-on, who were only interested in him for his newfound wealth.

  Lewis smiled as he reached the group, and went straight for Lainey’s son. “You must be Petey.”

  Petey cocked his head. He looked at Brad, then back at Lewis. “How’d you know that?” Petey asked Lewis, perplexed.

  Lewis ran his hand through his spiked hair. “’Cause your mom talks about you constantly.”

  “Oh, yeah? What does she say?”

  “The usual. That you’re the smartest, cutest, nicest kid who ever lived.”

  Petey looked at Brad for confirmation. Brad nodded. “It’s true,” he said. It had been obvious from the first that Petey meant the world to Lainey. A fact that pleased her son no end.

  “And guess what else?” Lewis continued affably, while Bart and Bunny watched, their expressions wary, almost jealous. “I heard you like playing computer games.” Oblivious to the looks he was getting from Petey’s aunt and uncle, Lewis bumped fists and slapped palms with Petey in the multistep greeting currently popular with kids. “And as it happens, I’m designing some for eight- to ten-year-olds that I want you to help me test.”

  “Really?” Petey looked as if he couldn’t believe his good luck. First, horses, and now this.

  “Meantime,” Lewis said, as soon as he, too, had been formally introduced to Bart and Bunny Carrington, “I’m starving. So what do you all want on your pizza?”

  Chapter Five

  Bunny blinked. “You’re making pizza?” Obviously pizza wasn’t a staple of her high-class life.

  “Heck, no,” Lewis retorted cheerfully, before Lainey could stop him. “We don’t have the makings for that in the house. We hardly have any groceries.”

  Thanks, Lewis, for thoroughly alarming my sister-in-law. Lainey smiled at Bunny and Bart reassuringly. “I’m going to remedy that first thing tomorrow,” she said.

  “Meanwhile,” Lewis continued affably, “we’ve got to eat, so I’m driving in to Laramie to pick up a few pies at Mac Callahan’s Pizza & Subs. And, of course, you’re welcome to stay for dinner.”

  “Pizza is hardly a proper meal,” Bunny countered, her expression stiff with disapproval.

  Brad shrugged, siding with Lewis. “I don’t know why you’d say that,” Brad said lazily. “It’s got all the food groups.”

  “Yeah, and I like it a lot!” Petey piped up, eager to be one of the guys.

  Bunny looked at Lainey. “Perhaps Petey should return to Dallas with us, now that he’s seen you,” she said sweetly.

  “No!” Petey grabbed on to Lainey’s waist and held tight. “I’m staying with my mommy!”

  Bart—who looked like he didn’t want any trouble—headed back to t
he Lexus. “I’ll get his suitcase.”

  Bunny turned her withering glare on Bart.

  “Does this mean you’re not staying for dinner?” Lewis asked, still looking eager to get on the road to town.

  Bunny narrowed her eyes at him. “Obviously not,” she replied coolly.

  Lainey wrapped her arms around her son’s shoulders and tried desperately to end this encounter on a pleasant note. “Petey, did you thank your aunt and uncle for the lovely trip to Florida?”

  “Thank you. I had fun even if I did get homesick and miss my mom,” Petey said sincerely.

  Bunny’s expression gentled. She leaned down so she and Petey were face-to-face. “We had fun, too,” she told Petey warmly, giving him a hug.

  Bart returned with Petey’s suitcase. “Here you are, sport.”

  “Thanks, Uncle Bart.” Petey hugged him, too.

  “Thank you, both,” Lainey said. “I appreciate everything you’ve done for us.”

  “Yes, well, we’re going to have to sit down and talk soon,” Bunny said.

  Lainey felt a shiver of unease. Bunny’s tone could only mean trouble.

  Fortunately, not tonight.

  Bart took his wife’s hand and drew her away. He appeared as determined to end this conversation as his wife was to prolong it. “We’ll see you all later,” he said.

  “PIZZA FOR BREAKFAST, TOO!” Petey said early the next morning. “This is so great!”

  “Don’t get used to it,” Lainey warned. “Starting tomorrow, we’re back to the usual eggs, cereal, fruit and pancakes.”

  “Is that what cowboys eat?” Petey asked as Brad entered the ranch house kitchen. Lainey was already hard at work lining shelves, while her son sat on a stool at the counter, eating off a paper plate.

  Brad flashed one of the smiles that was all too rare these days. “Cowboys usually eat whatever is around.” Brad peered into the fridge, sighed, and brought out the pizza box. “Which in this case is not much.”