“You’ll work yourself to death,” she complained, and then became solemn. “You’re only thirty-four and you look forty.”
“Times are hard, honey,” he mused, smiling at the intensity in that glowering young face. “We’ve had low prices and drought. It’s all I can do to keep my financial head above water.”
“You could take the occasional break,” she advised. “And I don’t mean a night on the town. You could get away from it all and just rest.”
“They’re full up at the Home,” he murmured, grinning at her exasperated look. “Honey, I can’t afford vacations, not with times so hard. What are you wearing for this coming-of-age party?” he asked to divert her.
“A dream of a dress. White silk, very low in front, with diamanté straps and a white gardenia in my hair.” She laughed.
He pursed his lips. He might as well humor her. “That sounds dangerous,” he said softly.
“It will be,” she promised, teasing him with her eyes. “You might even notice that I’ve grown up.”
He frowned a little. That flirting wasn’t new, but it was disturbing lately. He found himself avoiding little Miss Blair, without really understanding why. His body stirred even as he looked at her, and he moved restlessly in the saddle. She was years too young for him, and a virgin to boot, according to her doting, sheltering father. All those years of obsessive parental protection had led to a very immature and unavailable girl. It wouldn’t do to let her too close. Not that anyone ever got close to Kingman Marshall, not even his infrequent lovers. He had good reason to keep women at a distance. His upbringing had taught him too well that women were untrustworthy and treacherous.
“What time?” he asked on a resigned note.
“About seven?”
He paused thoughtfully for a minute. “Okay.” He tilted his wide-brimmed hat over his eyes. “But only for an hour or so.”
“Great!”
He didn’t say goodbye. Of course, he never did. He wheeled the stallion and rode off, man and horse so damn arrogant that she felt like flinging something at his tall head. He was delicious, she thought, and her body felt hot all over just looking at him. On the ground he towered over her, lean and hard-muscled and sexy as all hell. She loved watching him.
With a long, unsteady sigh, she finally turned away and remounted her mare. She wondered sometimes why she bothered hero-worshiping such a man. One of these days he’d get married and she’d just die. God forbid that he’d marry anybody but her!
That was when the first shock of reality hit her squarely between the eyes. Why, she had to ask herself, would a man like that, a mature man with all the worldly advantages, want a young and inexperienced woman like herself at his side? The question worried her so badly that she almost lost control of her mount.
The truth of her situation was unpalatable and a little frightening. She’d never even considered a life without King. What if she had to?
She rode home slowly, a little depressed because she’d had to work so hard just to get King to agree to come to her party. And still haunting her was that unpleasant speculation about a future without King...
But she perked up when she thought of the evening ahead. King didn’t come to the house often, only when her father wanted to talk business away from work, or occasionally for drinks with some of her father’s acquaintances. To have him come to a party was new and stimulating. Especially if it ended the way she planned. She had her sights well and truly set on the big rancher. Now all she had to do was take aim!
ISBN : 978-1-4592-6604-9
100% PURE COWBOY
Copyright © 1998 by Cathleen Galitz
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