Oh… my… God, if he rewards the cook with a kiss I am definitely helping out more around here. Keelee’s eyes widened and she felt the flush of blood hit her face. Did she really just think that? Oh God, she needed to get off the ranch more often. You need a date. But with who? Clint? Yes, Clint. He’d been hinting at wanting more.
Her mind snapped back to the happenings in the kitchen and the gorgeous man who laughed and grabbed the bucket of ice cream and the scoop. He pushed the door open, waited for Keelee to pass, and followed her into the dining room.
She kept her eyes downcast and chewed her bottom lip instead of the dessert that was passed to her. She glanced down the table at Adam. His laughter at a comment Dixon made showed those dimples again. Lord, that man was trouble. Who in their right mind would choose to date a mere cowboy like Clint Koehler after meeting someone like him?
The dessert lasted as long as it took the men to scoop the cobbler out of the pan. Keelee wished it took them longer to finish. The obvious lies her sister had let her believe hurt and confused her. Why would Tori make up such a story? That her father knew or had guessed the truth made her feel like she’d been played. Her dad cleared his throat and brought her out of her attempt to process the anger and hurt.
“We have cattle to push and since you’ve all offered to help, we’ll split into two groups.” He motioned to Dixon, Drake, and Chief. “I’ll take you three to the northwest and head the cattle down. Keelee and Tori, you take these two.” Her father pointed to Jacob and Adam. “Head to the northeast corner and bring the rest of the herd south. We’ll meet at the canyon. Take enough supplies for four days, although it should only take two. Betty will have the chuck packed and ready to load in the morning.”
Tori’s man had been injured. A sling cradled his arm. That was the reason they were at the ranch—for him to recover. Her dad held Jacob’s eye. “I’m assuming you can set a horse without too much problem?”
Jacob nodded. “Yes sir, I won’t hold them back.”
Frank nodded and walked out of the room.
Keelee stood. She’d had enough of tonight’s bullshit, but she tried to school her voice so her feelings didn’t show. “We need to be at the barn saddled, loaded and cinched up by four thirty a.m. Good night, gentlemen.”
Tori stood and started gathering empty plates along with Keelee. The men drifted up the stairs or into the den. She didn’t know where they went and at the moment she didn’t care. Keelee wiped the table as Tori returned from the kitchen for another armful of dirty dishes. The longer she wiped the more resentment seethed in her. She couldn’t act like nothing had happened.
“So, obviously you are more than a computer programmer.”
Tori stopped and straightened with a nod. “I’ve had some adventures.”
Keelee snorted. Yep, she’d been lied to. Well, didn’t she feel like an idiot. “Of course. Naturally, you have.”
“Do you have a problem, Keelee?”
Keelee flipped her ponytail off her shoulder and walked into the kitchen. Tori followed her waiting for an answer.
“No, Tori, I have absolutely no problems. Glad you’re out having adventures… sounds better than a boring ole traffic accident. We have cattle to move. I suggest you get some sleep.” Keelee swept by Tori, grabbed a jacket off the hook by the door and went out into the cool evening air. As wound up as she was right now, sleep wasn’t an option, so she headed to the barn. At least she understood the animals. Animals were easy. People? Not so much.
Chapter Two
Stars twinkled in the early morning sky, sharing the vista with the first rays of the dawning sun. The men’s energy and conversation filled the barn. Eager hands completed the task of loading packs and saddling mounts in a matter of minutes. Keelee swung up on Comanche and braced for his inevitable foul-tempered hop. She’d had him for six years and the gelding still let her know he didn’t approve of anyone, even her, riding him. Frank slid his Winchester into the rifle boot of his line-backed dun and mounted. He surveyed the people in the barn and growled, “You ready yet?”
Keelee watched as Chief swung up and Dixon and Drake quickly mounted. They weren’t your typical cowboys, but the men seemed more than competent. All three appeared comfortable in the saddle. Her dad nodded to himself before he watched everyone else mount.
Jacob turned and examined the open area of the barn. “Where the hell is Doc?”
The man in question walked into the barn. “I went up to the house to check on Danny. I gave Betty some antibiotics to give to him and instructions for his care, along with my cell number. The kid’s got walking pneumonia, but as long as he stays inside and rests for a couple days, he should be okay.”
Keelee smiled at Adam. “Thank you, Adam. I knew he had more than just a cold. When I checked on him last night he was coughing up a lung.”
Drake hooted. “Who the hell is Adam?”
Dixon frowned at the medic. “Damn it, Doc, you actually got a name and you never shared that with us? Should we be offended? I think we should be offended. Hey! I’m offended, Drake. What’s this? Check it out! This morning we find out Doc has an actual name and last night we discovered the Skipper has sisters. Next thing you know Chief is actually going to tell us he has a name. Something like Harvey or Malcolm.”
Drake chimed in, “No, Mortimer or Horatio—something long suffering and filled with angst.”
“Mortimer? Horatio? What the hell is angst? What kind of word is that? Dude, have you been reading a thesaurus again? What did I tell you about using words you can’t understand?” The rest of Dixon’s comments faded into the morning as they rode out of the barn after Chief.
Frank shook his head and tickled his horse with his spurs. “This should be an interesting few days.”
Keelee followed her dad out of the barn. She took the point with Doc following and finally Tori and Jacob fell into line leading the pack animals. They split directions from her father and his group and headed into the hills.
Once they were in the open, Tori and Jacob walked their horses side by side as Doc and Keelee led the way. Their laughter pulled her attention back from the trail she was riding.
Doc chuckled. “They’re good together.”
Keelee’s eyebrows rose as she cast a glance at the sexy-as-sin doctor.
Leaning forward in his saddle, he gave her a sideways assessment. “What? You don’t agree?”
Keelee shrugged her shoulders. “Evidently anything dealing with Tori’s life isn’t my concern. I’m the last person you should ask.” Keelee kicked her horse into a trot putting real estate between herself and Doc. She really didn’t want to get into her issues with Tori right now.
His horse broke into a lope catching Comanche quickly. When she finally slowed her mount, he rode in front of her horse forcing her to stop. Her horse didn’t like it and took a swipe at biting Adam. He moved his mount but held position stopping her advance. “I am not spending the next three days with a statement like that hanging out there. What’s the problem with them being together?”
“Absolutely nothing. My little sister is going to swim off to live life large and leave me stuck here in the middle of nowhere, with no one. Forty years from now I will be an old maid and Victoria will be living nice and easy somewhere surrounded by ten children and her hunk of a husband.” Morbid embarrassment flooded her. Where the hell did that spew of envy come from?
Adam seemed to digest the comments. “So you resent her?”
Keelee considered that, drew a huge breath and blew it out slowly before she spoke. “No. I couldn’t do what I believe she and the rest of you do.”
“Then you’re jealous of her.” The statement hung in the air as Keelee rode around his mount. Was she really jealous of her sister’s adventurous spirit? Adam loosened the reins on his gelding and the two horses fell into step, the silence broken only by the sound of hoof strikes against the ground.
Keelee stopped her horse on the crest of a ridge, waiting for Tori and Jacob,
who had fallen way back. The pine trees were becoming dense and the scent of the forest lingered in the air.
“You know, I love this ranch, working with the animals and battling Mother Nature.” Her eyes surveyed the cold expanse of land before them. Her hand waved at the high rolling hills that broke into larger mountains covered in pine, aspen and spruce trees. “Everything as far as you can see in every direction is going to be mine and Tori’s someday. I am blessed beyond measure and I should be content. Yet, something’s missing. Hell, I’m not jealous of Tori. I’m just not satisfied with me and I get scared I’ll never find whatever it is that will make me complete.” Turning to him, she chuckled ruefully, “Does that make sense?”
Doc nodded as he surveyed the land around them. “I understand. I’ve traveled to just about every country in the world. I’ve seen humanity at its worst and at its best while I searched for that certain missing piece. Until recently, I had no idea what that might be.”
Keelee lost herself in his blue eyes. She could get used to this guy being around. But that wasn’t in the cards and she wasn’t the one-night-stand type. That’s what she’d been telling herself since she laid eyes on him. “Yeah, and just how in the hell did you figure it out? How did you find what you were looking for?”
He shrugged and seemed to focus back toward Jacob and Tori, who were laughing as they rode up the ridge and shrugged. “My answer showed up out of the dark one night.” He turned back and gazed intently at her. “I just knew.”
Great. Yet another person who had their shit together and couldn’t or wouldn’t tell her how it was done. “With explanations like that, no wonder I’m still searching.” She turned in the saddle and mumbled. “I think we better go.”
Doc chuckled and let her lead the way.
*
Doc shook his head. Line shack. He’d seen a lot of shacks in third world countries around the world. This building? Only in the United States would a substantial three-bedroom house be called a line shack. It had a hand pump for water, a fireplace, a small kitchen and solid walls and a roof that blocked all weather out. Shack, my rosy red ass.
He found Keelee in the shelter putting more hay into the stalls for the animals. Bent as she was, her shapely tight ass and long, long legs made for one hell of a pretty picture, six feet of blond-haired, blue-eyed sexy stuck in cowboy boots. His cock twitched at the images his mind conjured up. Yeah brother, he definitely noticed Tori’s sister. The woman had everything it took to rev his engines.
She nodded towards the hay. “It is going to get cold tonight. Forecast for the next couple of days is for below freezing temps. The wind chill is projected to be well below zero. The horses will need more food and bedding.”
Yeah, stop daydreaming about those sexy legs wrapped around you and get to work. He nodded and lifted two huge bales over the fence.
“Damn it, man, explain to me how you can be so freaking strong.”
Doc shrugged. He would never admit it, but having her notice his strength was a huge turn on. Like he needed anything else to want the woman. “Required physical training. The team depends on each other. If you can’t pull your own weight, literally, you are going to let the team down. I won’t be the weak link. Besides, Alpha Team is elite. To be on the team is an honor. We usually work out four or five hours a day when we’re not on assignment.”
She pushed a strand of hair out of her face. The cold had reddened her cheeks and nose. Damn, he’d have no problem warming the woman up. He’d thought of little else since she walked in from the dark last night. He’d focused on warming her up during his shower fantasy last night. He’d imagined her long legs wrapped around his waist; the taste of her skin as he suckled those pert breasts to a peak; the sound of her moans and the wrap of her heat as he hilted himself in her core. Fuck, now his cock was really awake.
“I know all that time in the gym has got to piss off your girlfriends.”
Doc used the time it took to finish spreading the straw in the stalls to talk his dick into semi-submission before he spoke. He nodded towards the cabin. “Your sister is the first and the only…” he made air quotes, “…girlfriend I’ve known any of the guys to have in the five years I’ve been on the team.” Besides my fucking pariah of an ex-wife, but I’ll never talk about that bitch again. The thought of his ex killed any lingering urges. With that lesson in mind, he reminded himself bedding the sexy cowgirl wasn’t a good idea.
Keelee’s mouth dropped open, her shock clearly displayed. “What? Wait. You’re telling me you and your macho men don’t have a slew of women waiting in the wings?”
Doc vaulted the low stable wall and walked up to her. He reached around her and grabbed his saddle and then lifted hers, pitching it over his shoulder. Inches separated them. Her warm breath caressed his neck. “I didn’t say that. I said there was no other girlfriend. I guess you could say we’re high maintenance. We demand certain things in a woman before she can ever be considered as something more than… hell, I don’t know. Stress relief, maybe? The way I figure it, for someone to be considered a girlfriend she would have to have great internal strength. She’d have to be fun, smart, interesting and a solid person. Our lifestyle doesn’t need any more drama in it. A girlfriend would have to understand what we do and be okay with being alone for extended periods of time. Finding that rare combination is probably why she’s the only one.”
Keelee grabbed the two remaining sleeping bags and followed him. “Yeah well, that’s great. What if she has all those wonderful qualities and is unattractive? Looks matter, don’t they?” She made an exasperated noise and continued in a very loud voice, “Hey, did you hear me? What about looks?” She must not have thought he heard her. Not fucking likely, he was completely focused on the woman.
Doc glanced back at her as she walked with her head down. “Looks fade, Keelee. What’s important is the person.” He stopped dead in his tracks turning to face her and she almost collided with him before she realized he’d stopped. He smiled as she reached out and grabbed him to steady herself. “But I will admit looks do help.”
Adam leaned forward and kissed her. Quick and hard.
It wasn’t planned, but it was damn satisfying. So much for lessons learned. Damn it, she was tempting. He pivoted on his heel and strode toward the line shack. When he reached the door, he glanced over his shoulder at her. She stood shell shocked at the entryway to the stock enclosure.
“You coming in?” His question startled her into action. Adam’s internal laughter got the better of him and a smile spread across his face as she straightened her shoulders and marched toward him.
*
Keelee moved closer to the fireplace and the warmth it radiated. She held out her hands trying to chase the chill from her body. She glanced sideways at Tori and Jacob as they held each other in the kitchen and whispered. She reached for another log to toss onto the fire. They seemed so damn happy. They completed each other. She stared at the flames, thinking. Where was she supposed to find a man to complete her? A number of… prospects… had accompanied Tori to the ranch, but… Doc had eloquently listed what he and his team required in a girlfriend. Fun. Smart. Interesting. So not her. She was a Midwest rancher’s daughter with a high-school education. Her idea of fun was working with a promising colt or playing a hand of poker, and at the moment, she didn’t think she had any humor in her. Her eyes misted as she poked the logs with a metal rod, exciting the fire. It hurt to want something so bad and see no way to get it. But Adam had kissed her. Oh, hell girl, you know that was a mercy kiss. He’s stuck in the middle of nowhere and he’s bored.
Enough of the woe is me crap. She moved into the kitchen and started dinner. The effort to make a meal was a routine both she and Tori knew well. It would have seemed like old times if there weren’t two gorgeous men sucking all the air out of the shack.
The food lasted literally minutes from the time it hit the table until it was gone. The men did everything but lick their plates. Keelee wasn’t complaining.
It certainly made cleanup easier. Even so, the lingering glances Doc kept throwing her way made the time at the table curious and exciting. Or maybe she was paying attention to something besides the ranch for once.
Tori and Jacob flirted, laughed and kissed as they carried dirty dishes to the sink. The sexual tension between them made their presence in the kitchen a bit uncomfortable. The air around those two held an undeniable charge.
Standing at the sink Keelee nudged her sister. “Go on. We can repack in the morning.”
Tori blushed and whispered, “Thanks, Kee.”
Jacob unfolded from the wall he had been leaning on. When Tori turned away from the sink, he bent and lifted her over his shoulder. Her sister shrieked as he turned and nodded toward Keelee and Doc. “Goodnight.” Tori’s unabashed laughter echoed through the small building as he kicked the bedroom door shut.
*
Doc watched Jacob play caveman. He turned to Keelee, her eyes opened wide with disbelief. He snickered. “Rather awkward.”
Keelee’s eyes bugged out at him and she laughed. “For us—not them.”
Doc chuckled and patted the sofa. “You haven’t taken off your jacket yet. Are you still cold?”
Keelee sat down at the far end of the sofa. “Yeah, must have been colder out there than I realized.”
Doc moved to the fireplace and threw another log on the fire before he went into her room. He returned within seconds with her sleeping bag, unzipped it and draped it over her. Keelee kicked off her boots and drew her long legs up under her. “Thank you.” She waited until Doc sat down. “You said you’ve worked with Jacob for five years?”
Doc nodded. “I was a last minute addition put on his team to replace his old medic. That first mission was a tough one. It took about a month longer than it should have. I’ve been with him ever since.”
Adam Page 2
