Kent didn’t like the smug way she thought she had his number. If he chose to go after the calves alone, or almost alone, that was his business, not hers. “Oh, you do, do you?”
“Yes.” She urged her horse on a little faster so she could get a better look at Kent’s face. “I’m on to you, Kent Cutler. You’re not as tough as you’d like me to believe.”
He purposely moved ahead to put an end to her scrutiny. “What you believe or don’t believe really doesn’t interest me.”
“I don’t believe that, either.”
Her laughter enveloped him. How could one sound be sexy and irritating as hell at the same time? “Why?”
“Because your brother told me that you’re an allor-nothing kind of man. Men like that don’t just kiss and walk away.” She raised her voice as he moved further ahead of her. “That means if they kiss a woman, they invest a little of themselves.”
What was that supposed to mean? And where did she get off discussing him with anyone? He slowed his horse, waiting for her to catch up. When she did, he demanded, “Which brother?”
From this vantage point, colored by the haze of a punch that lived up to its name, Sunday night had begun to run together. She wasn’t sure if it was Hank or Will who had told her. “Does it matter?”
“It will to them, if I have to beat the living daylights out of all of them to get at the right guy,” he answered matter-of-factly.
She couldn’t visualize the Cutler brothers going at it like some homeless street fighters, battling it out for a place to rest out of the rain.
“For telling the truth?” she challenged.
He wasn’t about to debate with her whether or not it was the truth. She wouldn’t be satisfied until she drew blood and obviously would rather die than surrender. Since Quint was the sheriff in Serendipity, a homicide in the family might prove to be embarrassing.
So he growled, “Woman, would it be too much to ask for you to stop exercising that mouth of yours for a while so I could get my mind back on finding those calves before nightfall?”
As if anything could deter him from his goal, Brianne thought. He was the most single-minded person she’d ever met. “Oh, that’s right, I interfere with your thinking.”
He shot her an accusing look. “You’re smirking again.”
“Smiling, Kent, smiling,” she corrected for the umpteenth time. “Someday, maybe you’ll learn the difference.”
He banked down the emotions the comment raised. There wasn’t going to be a someday. “You won’t be around for ‘someday,’ remember?”
“Right.” The lack of emotion in his voice stung, Brianne realized. It meant nothing to him that she was leaving. He didn’t care if they never saw one another again. She was accustomed to harmless flirtations, truly enjoyed flirting with men and being flirted with. But what might have started out that way had somehow gotten completely misdirected and sidetracked.
She wanted him to feel something for her, the way she felt for him. That he didn’t seem to bothered her more than she could possibly put into words.
Better to get her mind back on the reason they were out here. Sparring with Kent had lost its appeal.
Brianne looked around slowly. Scores of men could get lost here, never mind a handful of calves. It was like looking for a needle in the proverbial haystack. The countryside stretched out endlessly before her, lush and beautiful. And lonely.
She looked at Kent. “Got any ideas where they might be?”
“Wouldn’t be out here if I didn’t.”
“Yeah, you would.” He shot her a look, not knowing if she was going to follow her words with another sarcastic gibe or not. “Like the stubborn man you are, you’d look everywhere just to bring those calves back.”
Well, at least she had that right, Kent thought. “Because they belong to the Shady Lady.”
Brianne was beginning to believe that there was more to it than that. It wasn’t just about property. He cared. At least about lost cattle. “Because they’re lost.”
She couldn’t put a label on the look he gave her. The best way to describe it was to say that there was surprise in it, as if she’d managed to unlock a door he didn’t want tampered with.
Kent attempted to shrug off the meaning behind her comment. He didn’t want her making a big deal out of this. Or out of anything he was doing. He was just doing his job.
“Cattle are precious. You don’t want any dying if you can help it.”
It wasn’t as simple as that, Brianne thought. He had that extra something when it came to running the ranch that put him above the others. “You’re a good man, Kent, even if you don’t want anyone knowing it.”
There she went again, acting as if she knew him inside and out. She had no business trying to fit him in a niche. He was just Kent Cutler, nothing more, nothing less.
“Are you going to stop waving those lips of yours anytime soon?”
“No, not anytime soon,” she repeated. Brianne caught her tongue between her teeth, grinned, then added, “I know all the words to maybe some two hundred songs and some of the words to several hundred more. When I run out of things to talk about, I sing.”
The groan was heartfelt. “I should have hog-tied you to that saddle myself.”
She laughed at the threat. “You and what army?”
The woman was not to be believed. He stared at her. “Now you’re telling me that you think you’re stronger than I am?”
She wasn’t being stupid, or irrational. “Not stronger, just more agile. You don’t have to be strong to beat someone at their own game, you just have to be alert and watch for an opening.”
Kent hadn’t a clue how to respond to that, so he said nothing. A man knew his limitations, and though it rankled him, he knew that he absolutely was no match for that mouth of hers.
No, no match at all, he thought looking at it, no matter how she used it.
“Shouldn’t we be getting back?” They’d been at this for over two hours and it was getting dark. There was still no trace of the missing calves.
He hated to admit it, but maybe she was right. Grudgingly, Kent turned his horse around when something caught his attention. He remained ramrod still, listening intently.
Brianne had seen the same look on her father’s dog when the animal detected a sound far away that the rest of them couldn’t begin to hear. She strained her ears but couldn’t pick up a thing.
“What is it?”
He didn’t answer. Instead, Kent kicked his heels into Whiskey’s flanks and urged the quarter horse on at a fast clip.
“All right, don’t tell me,” she muttered gamely.
Turning, Brianne followed Kent and caught up within a few lengths. It didn’t take long before she heard it too. The plaintive lowing of cattle. It was a mournful, pathetic sound.
“You found them.”
The look he spared her indicated that he’d never doubted he would. Had he been alone, the idea of going back without them wouldn’t have entered his mind. It was only her presence that had made him waver.
“It’s what I set out to do.”
The man had been raised on too many Gary Cooper movies, she thought. “Is it normal for cattle to stray this far from the herd?”
Kent didn’t allow Whiskey to break stride until they’d reached the prodigal calves. The animals, five in number, had come perilously close to drifting over a ravine. He’d found them just in time.
“The wind shifts, they can’t smell the herd, so they just keep wandering and looking.” Getting Whiskey in front of the animals, he turned the calves in a southeasterly direction. Toward home. From what he could see, they were none the worse for their adventure.
The pace slackened. Kent obviously didn’t want to take a chance on the calves spooking and running off. Brianne smiled. No people skills to speak of, but the man was kind to animals. It was something.
So was accomplishing what he’d set out to do. He’d found his five needles in the haystack. “Well, I have to
say that I’m impressed.”
The compliment nudged at something warm within him. He tried vainly to ignore it. He didn’t need her stamp of approval to know he’d accomplished something. “Didn’t do it to impress you.”
“Nothing is clearer to me than that, believe me. But I can still be impressed.”
Brianne looked up. There was a silvery cloud stretched across the bottom half of the moon like a worn feathered boa. Darkness was quickly enshrouding them. She didn’t doubt that Kent had eyes like a cat, but traveling at night still made her a little uneasy.
There were coyotes and mountain lions in these parts, not to mention rattlers. The darkness made them more formidable.
“Are we going to herd them back in the dark?”
Was it his imagination, or did she sound nervous? “Don’t you think I can?”
He’d said. “I,” not “we,” Brianne realized. As far as he was concerned, she hadn’t proven herself at all. He saw her strictly as an observer, not an asset. It was more than just her competitive nature that was bothered by that.
“I think you could probably shoe horses with your bare hands if you put your mind to it, but under normal circumstances, wouldn’t you bed the herdlet down for the night?”
“Herdlet?” he echoed incredulously. “What the hell kind of word is that?”
She grinned, knowing it was useless to tell him that she liked coining words to fit the occasion. “Five calves don’t make a herd.”
He was glad to prove her wrong. “They did for my great-great-grandfather. That’s how the Shady Lady Ranch got started. With five calves, a scrap of land and a dream.”
Color, legend, all coming out of Kent She could hardly believe it. “Tell me about it.”
Even in the faded moonlight, she could see that Kent was looking at her as if she were simpleminded. “I just did.”
“The long version,” she insisted.
He sighed. Why was she always trying to drag things out of him that weren’t there? Like feelings, feelings that he didn’t have anymore. Feelings that he refused to have anymore.
“My father’s better at it than I am.”
She wasn’t going to let him evade her. They were out here together and all they had was time. “I’m not asking your father, I’m asking you.”
“Well, you should be asking my father. I’m no good at embellishing stories, or saying things women want to hear.” He looked at her to make sure she understood his meaning. He couldn’t tell her what she needed to hear. What she deserved to hear. It wasn’t in him. “I do what I do well and I know my limits. You want stories, you talk to someone else.”
“I don’t want to talk to someone else.” She looked at him significantly. “I want to talk to you.”
He looked away, weighing his options. They could be back at the main house in a couple of hours, provided they didn’t run into any coyotes or unaccommodating mountain lions. It was the thought of the latter that made up his mind for him. He didn’t want to take a chance on losing the calves after finding them. Or her.
“We’ll stay here until morning.” He reined in, then looked at her. “Any objections?”
He was actually asking her? Brianne wondered if she’d fallen asleep in the saddle and was dreaming. “I don’t mind sleeping out beneath the stars.” She was no stranger to camping out. “It’s my last night here, it’d be nice to do something a little different.”
“Your last night?” A distant emptiness nudged him. Ignoring it wasn’t as easy as he would have liked. Dismounting, he looked at her incredulously. “I thought you weren’t leaving until sometime Saturday.”
Brianne began to loosen the cinch to her saddle. Was that surprise or happiness she heard in his voice? “I’m not. But I’m spending the last twenty-four hours in Serendipity to get some background information and photographs for the article.” Quint had offered to put her up for the night and she had accepted. She dragged the saddle off and placed it on the ground. “See, I’m going to be out of your hair sooner than you thought.” She glanced toward him. “That should make you very happy.”
Funny, Kent didn’t exactly feel happy. He wasn’t sure what he was feeling, other than being taken by surprise. “It’ll make things easier.”
Brianne should have known better. She’d given him so many openings, so many opportunities to say something, anything, that would give her the slightest indication he wanted her to return when she was finished putting her article to bed. There was even a reason to return—Hank and Fiona’s wedding. But Kent hadn’t taken a single hint.
No man was that obtuse. The plain and simple fact was that he didn’t want her to come back. There was no use beating her head against a stone wall.
Kent collected enough rocks to encircle a small fire. Just enough to keep any nocturnal creatures in the vicinity at bay. Striking a match, he squatted down and carefully coaxed the flame until it nestled. within the kindling. “Are you hungry?”
Feeling oddly hollow, Brianne ran her hands along her arms. The temperature was dropping now that the sun had set. “What?”
“Food.” He dusted his hands off on his jeans. “Do you want any?”
She stared at him uncomprehendingly. “You brought food with you?”
What did she expect? “This isn’t New York, with a deli on every other corner. Out here, you have to be prepared for anything.” He nodded toward his saddlebags. “I’ve got some beef jerky and a can of beans.”
The selection didn’t surprise her. “A meal fit for a king.”
Was she looking down her nose at him? “Hey, when you’re hungry—”
God, he was so quick to take offense. “It’ll do fine.” Brianne eyed the saddlebag as he took the provisions out. “I don’t suppose you have something in there that passes for a mattress.”
He untied his bedroll. “I’ve got a blanket.”
“Just the one?” It was a rhetorical question.
He tossed it on the ground beside her saddle. The saddle could serve as a pillow. “That’s all it takes. I wasn’t expecting you to come along,” he reminded her. “You can have it.”
Just when she’d stuck an unflattering label on him, he turned noble on her. “But it’s yours.”
Why was everything an argument with this woman? “And I can give it away if I want to.” He pulled out the small pan from the saddlebag. He’d warm the beans in that. It wouldn’t be much of a dinner, but it would have to do.
She wasn’t about to have him remember that he’d gotten sick because of her.
“We can share it.” She saw the wary look that came into his eyes. “Don’t worry, I can be respectable when I have to be.” Turning from him, she began to spread out the bedroll.
Damn it, didn’t she understand yet that she was a weakness he was trying to conquer? “Wasn’t you I was worrying about.”
Brianne raised her eyes from the blanket. “Oh?”
“Wipe that grin off your face, Gainsborough. After all, I’m only made out of flesh and blood.”
She rose to stand before him. “Since this is the last night you’ll have to put up with me, do you think you could find it in your heart to call me by my first name?”
All things considered, he’d rather not bring his heart into this. “Why?”
“Because I’d like to hear you say it, just once.”
Feeling like a trick pony at the fair, he sighed, then mumbled, “Brianne.”
He would have said the name of bathroom cleanser with more affection. “Again.”
It came out softer this time. “Brianne.”
She let it waft along her consciousness. “Now I know why you never said it before.”
Maybe he wasn’t thinking quite clearly, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to step away. “Why?”
“Because it makes you smile when you do.” She laced her arms around his neck. “You have a very nice smile, you know.”
He didn’t know anything of the kind. And he certainly didn’t know what he was doing he
re, like this with her. All he knew was that given a choice, there was no other place he would want to be but here, with her.
Kent glanced over her shoulder at the provisions he’d unpacked. “Are you very hungry?”
She was, but not for food. “No.”
This time, there was no one to come up behind them and interrupt. This time, they were all alone.
The food could wait, Kent thought. “Neither am I.”
Everything within her body became alert. And melted the next moment when he took her into his arms. She watched his eyes for as long as she could, until her own eyes closed. But Brianne didn’t believe in kissing with her eyes open. It took some of the magic away.
And she didn’t want to take a chance on losing even a single ray.
10
All the doubts she’d had about his feelings vanished into the darkness of the night. A man without feelings couldn’t make love like this: Couldn’t bring her so swiftly, so skillfully to the center of a tempest of emotions.
As his mouth moved over her body, as she arched and ached for more, Brianne felt as if she’d never made love before. In her heart, she knew that nothing she’d ever experienced had ever come close and nothing would ever be as wondrous as this again.
Unless it was with him.
Though he would never have said it out loud, and certainly not to her, Kent felt as if he’d been touched by magic. Magic that unlocked something within him he had no power of unlocking himself. He’d felt dead all this time, dead and barren of feelings, and certain that there was nothing left within him that was capable of responding to a woman to this degree.
He’d been wrong.
The moment he touched his mouth to hers, the moment they came together on that sorry, threadbare blanket of his, feelings rushed out, bathing him in their intensity. Drenching him as wave after wave overcame any remnant of resistance he might have had to offer.
Making love with Brianne had turned out to be even more of a volatile, explosive experience than he had thought it would be.
For the span of one endless night, he shed the shackles that had been holding him prisoner and lost himself in freedom. Freedom to feel without the threat of pain finding him.
Cowboys Are For Loving Page 12
