What The Rancher Wants... (Mills & Boon Modern)

by Monroe, Lucy

  She should never have found herself in the position of having to defend her virtue from a lecher like Lonny.

  Well, Win would be much more careful when he hired a replacement hand. He wouldn’t hire another jerk looking for an easy lay, even if it meant working the busy spring season short one stable hand. He would protect Carlene, even if she didn’t think she needed it.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  “ANYBODY up for some ice cream?” Win asked after dinner.

  His question was immediately greeted with delighted shouts by his niece and nephew.

  “I wants some. I do,” shouted Jared.

  “Me too. I want bubble gum flavor. Can I have bubble gum, Uncle Win?” Shelly asked, hopping excitedly from one foot to the other in the middle of the kitchen.

  Win turned to Carlene and she felt the force of his gaze as it locked with hers over the children’s heads. “How about you, Carlene? Would you like something sweet and cool?”

  She wanted something, but ice cream didn’t come into it. Ever since she’d woken from her nap, she’d been feeling a curious tension. It felt as if something had shifted in her relationship with Win that afternoon, but she didn’t yet understand what.

  Perhaps it had something to do with his remark about putting them both out of their misery. About wanting her, not just any woman. She had the distinct impression that a showdown over their relationship was coming, one in which she might not be victorious. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to be any longer. Ice cream, however, was safe.

  So she nodded. “Sure, just let me do something to my hair and I’ll be ready to go.”

  Gazing at her reflection in the vanity mirror in the bathroom attached to her room a few minutes later, she critically surveyed the dark curls framing her makeup-free face. She hadn’t had time to apply any sort of cosmetics since the first morning after she started watching Win’s niece and nephew. Children were time-consuming. No wonder so many mothers went for the natural look.

  Grimacing at the unkempt woman in the mirror, she made a decision. Twenty minutes later, she had changed her clothes, swept her hair up in a riot of curls on top of her head and applied subtle makeup. She moved into the bedroom and took inventory of her improved appearance. She looked much more feminine in the form-fitting, coral knit top, emerald-green designer jeans and gold sandals than she had in her oversized white T-shirt, blue jeans and tennis shoes she’d been wearing earlier.

  Win called impatiently from the courtyard. She could hear the children playing in the fountain through the opening she had left cracked in her door.

  “Carlene, by the time you’re ready it’s going to be winter already and ice cream isn’t going to sound so good.”

  She smiled at the jibe, anticipating Win’s reaction to the change from frumpy housekeeper to attractive female. Taking the time to apply coral lip-gloss over the too-subtle lipstick she had originally picked out, Carlene finished getting ready. She seized her purse off the dresser and headed to the courtyard to meet Win and the children.

  The minute she stepped onto the stone pathway, she knew her time primping had been well spent.

  Win’s eyes locked on her with the precision of a homing missile. A slow, wicked grin split his face. “Honey, it’s a good thing for you that we’ve got these two around or you’d never make it to town for ice cream.”

  His hand swept out, indicating the children, who were sailing two small plastic vessels in the pool below the fountain.

  She returned his smile with one of her own and winked. “Maybe I wouldn’t want to.”

  The intensity in his look shot up another ten degrees. He took a deep breath. “You’re playing with fire, honey. Watch it or you’re going to end up singed.”

  “Uncle Win, Mama says never to play with fire. It’s dangerous.” Shelly’s sweet face was set in serious lines.

  Win laughed and the sound of masculine amusement shivered along Carlene’s nerve endings with as much force as a touch.

  He swept Shelly up in his arms and tickled her. “You’re right, sweetpea. Fire is dangerous.”

  Turning his head, he met Carlene’s gaze and she knew the words were meant for her as much as for his niece.

  Feeling too good to be cautious, Carlene just smiled and turned to collect Jared.

  That nap had done wonders.

  Several other families shared Win’s brilliant plans for after-dinner ice cream. The place was packed.

  Families. The word didn’t really describe himself, Carlene and the children. Technically, he, Shelly and Jared could be considered family, but it wasn’t the same. He didn’t plan on getting married again and that meant he wasn’t going to be a father. It also meant he didn’t have to worry about disappointing his children as his parents had disappointed him. It meant he wouldn’t bring another child into the world that would have to face the devastation of divorce and his family getting ripped apart.

  It also meant that Win would never have a wife or children to share the simple pleasures in life, like going out for ice cream on a warm summer evening.

  Thoughts that used to underline his hard-won independence were now just a little depressing. He gave himself a mental shake and focused on the pleasure of the moment. He was with his two favorite kids and a warm, sexy woman. What more could a man ask for?

  Answers that he didn’t want to deal with whispered at the back of his mind, but he ignored them in favor of glaring at a couple of teenage boys that were ogling Carlene. One of the boys caught his gaze and quickly turned away, nudging his friend as he did so. The friend wasn’t so quick to look away, but when Win indicated the outside with a tilt to his head and a raised eyebrow, the boy swallowed and found a renewed interest in the menu board.

  He’d never felt this possessive about anyone, not even his ex-wife. Rachel had been pretty. Men had looked and all Win had experienced had been male satisfaction in having a pretty wife. Carlene would probably call him sexist. Hell, maybe he was…a little. Anyway, things were different with Carlene and they weren’t even involved yet.

  “What are you going to have?” Her question pulled Win from his reverie.

  He shrugged. “Double scoop of Rocky Road. It’s what I always have.”

  She stared at him as if he’d just said that he ate his ice cream while riding buck naked through town.

  “What?” he demanded. “You don’t like Rocky Road?”

  “I love Rocky Road, but I can’t imagine getting the same flavor of ice cream every single time. They’ve got thirty-two flavors, Win. How can you not want to try something new? I can’t even get two scoops of the same thing,” she admitted.

  “I’m not much on change I guess.”

  “Life without change is boring. It’s too…it’s too…predictable.”

  Yeah. Like waking up next to the same husband for the rest of your life. His mom hadn’t liked that sort of predictability either. “That’s me, boring.”

  Making a grab for Jared’s shirt before he could get out the door someone had just opened, Carlene laughed. She led Jared over to the case that displayed ice-cream cones decorated like clowns and animals. “Here, sugarbear. Why don’t you pick one of these to have for your treat?”

  Shelly decided she wanted a decorated cone as well and joined Jared at the case as they discussed the merits of the ones displayed there.

  Carlene turned back to Win, lingering laughter in her eyes. “One thing you could never be, Win, is boring. Irritating. Arrogant and sometimes even predictable, but never boring.”

  “Tell me that six months from now.” That was about how long his mom’s euphoria over a new marriage would last. Then the fighting would start. The tantrums came next and then, finally, divorce.

  Carlene’s smile slipped. “I get the feeling we’re talking about more than preferences in ice cream here.”

  He shrugged. A crowded restaurant was not the place to get into such a discussion. In fact, he didn’t think he wanted to have this particular discussion at all. “What two differ
ent flavors are you going to have this time?”

  She eyed him speculatively, as if she was testing his determination to change the subject, and then she too shrugged. “I was thinking about the flavor of the month and mocha almond fudge. I’ll have it as a sundae with hot fudge, whip cream, nuts and a cherry, of course.”

  It was his turn to eye her askance. “What is the point of ordering two different flavors if you’re going to drown them with toppings?”

  The sparkle came back to her eyes. Laying her hand against his chest, she said, “You’ve definitely got to learn to live a little, Win. Your ice-cream-eating education has been severely limited. I suggest you let me order for you tonight.”

  He couldn’t resist the teasing glint in her eyes. She’d been like this ever since she came into the courtyard looking like a million bucks. He liked it when she teased him, he realized. Taking the plunge, he said, “Okay.”

  Her smile went up about one hundred watts. “Great.”

  For a minute he thought she was going to seal her approval with a kiss. She had slipped her hand up from his chest to the back of his neck and her gaze had gone soft, her lips parting. He started to lean down to make it easy for her and she blinked. Then she looked around, seeming to remember their surroundings.

  Lightning quick, she removed her hand from his neck and moved back a step. “Uh, I’ll find out which cones Shelly and Jared have decided on.”

  Stifling his disappointment, he nodded. “You do that.”

  His voice came out harsher than he intended. He knew she wanted to be discreet, but he didn’t have to like it.

  She didn’t waste any time moving further away from him toward the kids.

  “I want the puppy,” Shelly said in response to Carlene’s question.

  Jared wanted a lime-green clown.

  Win took the kids to a table to sit down while Carlene made the order. He wondered what kind of ice cream he was going to end up having. He doubted it would matter. Ten to one, she was going to have it all doctored up like hers.

  A few minutes later when she appeared at their table with two fully loaded sundaes and the kids’ cones, his guess was confirmed. Carlene laid a huge stack of napkins in the middle of the table along with a cup of water. She handed each of the kids their cones before placing what looked like a mound of whip cream in front of Win. He speculated on what the innocent-looking white fluff hid before scooping into it with his spoon.

  His trepidation must have shown on his face because she giggled. “Don’t worry, it isn’t going to bite back.”

  “That’s what they said before the giant banana split destroyed that small Midwestern town.”

  Shelly’s eyes rounded. “What giant ’nana split? Did you see it?”

  He reached out and ruffled his niece’s hair. “No, sweetpea. I was just kidding.”

  “Oh. Does that mean the giant ’nana split isn’t true, Uncle Win?”

  He nodded. “Yes, sweetpea, that’s what it means.”

  “Mama says you aren’t supposed to lie, Uncle Win.”

  He groaned and looked to Carlene for help. Her gaze was fixed on someone behind him and he got the feeling she’d missed most of the frustrating exchange he was having with Shelly.

  He wanted to turn and see who she was looking at with that expression of chagrin, but he had to answer Shelly’s question first. He didn’t want her telling Leah that he lied.

  “A joke isn’t a lie, sweetpea, because nobody is supposed to believe it. They’re supposed to think it’s funny.”

  “When somethin’s funny I laugh,” Shelly informed him.

  “It was a joke for Carlene,” he said, feeling just a little irritated at both the constant questions and Carlene’s fixation with whoever had just walked in.

  “Miss Carlene didn’t laugh.” Shelly’s observation didn’t improve Win’s mood any.

  He fixed Carlene with an irritated frown. “No, she didn’t.”

  Shelly turned her attention to Carlene as well. “Miss Carlene, why didn’t you laugh?”

  Carlene turned to Shelly, making an obvious effort to collect her thoughts. “What was I supposed to laugh at?”

  Shelly gave an exaggerated sigh. “Uncle Win’s joke, silly. He said it was funny, but you didn’t laugh.”

  Carlene shifted her gaze to Win. He stared back, letting her see his irritation. She let out her own little sigh. “I’m sorry, Win. I missed it. Do you want to repeat it?”

  He wanted to know what had her so rattled. “No. Humor lacks something when the spontaneity is missing.”

  She winced. “Sorry. Uh, what do you think of your sundae?”

  He looked down at the melting whip cream covering a mound of ice cream and toppings he had barely touched. “What is it?”

  “French vanilla with hot fudge.” She reached over and dipped one of the napkins in the cup of water. Then, using the wetted napkin, she wiped the dripping ice cream from Jared’s fingers before handing him back his cone.

  Then she turned her attention to Win. She reached across the table and picked up his spoon. After scooping a bite of the concoction in his bowl onto it, she offered it to him. “Here, scaredy-cat. Take a bite.”

  He would have told her he wasn’t afraid to try it, but when he opened his mouth she slid the spoon inside, managing to make it feel like a caress in his mouth. He licked the ice cream off the pink plastic spoon and she slowly withdrew it from his mouth. Then, spying a smidgen of fudge left on the plastic, she put it in her own mouth and licked it off.

  “It’s one of my favorites. Do you like it?”

  The sundae was delicious, but the sight of Carlene licking the spoon was sweet enough to give him a sugar rush. He took another bite of ice cream and swirled it around in his mouth pretending to think about it.

  Carlene waited with anxious anticipation on her face for his verdict. He took another bite, making this one last longer than the last one. She seemed mesmerized by the way he ate his ice cream.

  “It’s fine.”

  Her eyes narrowed, but she couldn’t hide her small, shallow breaths. “Fine? I order you the classic of all classics in ice cream confectionery and you say it’s just fine?”

  He kept his expression neutral. “It’s not quite the same experience as a double-scoop cone of Rocky Road.”

  She sized him up with her gaze. “I see. I guess next time I’ll let you order your own ice cream. Some people just don’t adjust well to change.”

  He laughed. “Honey, it’s ambrosia and you know it.” Did she know how much he’d enjoyed her feeding him as well?

  She must have because every once in a while she’d offer him a bite of her ice cream, or dip her spoon in his and feed it to him. The kids wanted to get in on the act, so Carlene shared hers with them, too. How she managed to be sweet and motherly with his niece and nephew and in almost the same breath turn around and send his hormones raging, he didn’t know. But, man, he liked. He liked it a lot.

  They were finishing their ice cream when he heard his name.

  “Win Garrison. That you?”

  He turned and looked up. Grant Strickland was striding toward them. Win stood and shook hands with the other man. “Strickland. How’s married life treating you?”

  Grant’s new wife, Zoe, had been one of Leah’s friends when they were younger. Win hadn’t gone to the wedding because he actually didn’t know Grant and Zoe all that well. Leah was the one that had actually done part of her growing up and schooling here in Sunshine Springs. He and his sister had moved into Hank Garrison’s ranch home with their mother when Win was seventeen. Grant had been in his class in high school, but Win had been too busy learning the ropes of ranch life from Hank after school to make many friends.

  Besides, Win made it a policy to avoid weddings whenever possible.

  Grant’s smile was so blissful it was almost painful. “I’m a happy man.”

  Win believed him. Maybe marrying your best friend was the one way a man could figure she wasn’t going to g
row bored and leave. If she wanted to marry you after knowing you most of her life, she wasn’t likely to change her mind six months down the road.

  Grant focused his gaze over Win’s shoulder. “Hey, Carlene.”

  “Hi, Grant.” Her voice was quiet.

  “You two know each other?” Win asked.

  “I met him at the Dry Gulch.”

  Win nodded. “She’s working for me now, as my housekeeper.”

  Grant’s eyes widened in surprise, but his attention didn’t linger on Carlene. Leaning down, he ruffled Jared’s hair. “Hi, little guy. Leah’s your momma, isn’t she?”

  Jared just ducked his head, but Win nodded. “Yep, these are Leah’s little ones.”

  “I didn’t realize that Leah was in town. Zoe’ll want to see her.”

  Carlene’s smile slipped and Win wondered if she was worried about him telling Grant that she was living at Win’s ranch temporarily while Leah’s kids were staying.

  Win shrugged. “Actually, she’s not in town. Leah left the kids with me for a few days.”

  Grant didn’t ask any questions as a woman would have. He just nodded. “I don’t know if you’ve heard, but I’ve decided to shift the focus of my ranch from cattle to horses.”

  “I heard.”

  Leah had told him that Zoe, a vegetarian, got too upset when the cattle went to the stock sale. Grant was changing his ranch and the way he made his livelihood to make his wife happy. Win wondered if he’d be willing to do the same thing for Carlene. The thought was so alien it made him frown. He had no plans to marry, not Carlene. Not anyone. She affected him as no other woman had, but he was still in control of his future and that future did not include a wedding.

  “I was hoping you’d let me pick your brain on the running of a horse ranch. I’m not going to try to run a stable as well like you have, but I’m real interested in the Mustang herd. You’ve got one of the best reputations in the business.”

  Win nodded, not at all flustered by the praise. It was true and he’d worked damn hard to make it that way. No sense denying it. “Come out anytime. I’ll show you around the operation although the ranch is pretty much Joe’s baby now. I’m damn busy with the stables.”