To Tame a Wilde (Wilde in Wyoming)

by Terry, Kimberly Kaye

  After waking up the next day, refreshed, she’d called the ranch. When Ellie Wilde had answered, she’d smiled. Sinclair loved all of the Wilde women. Each woman was unique, with her own very distinct personality, and they were all very loving women.

  Yet, of all the Wilde women, she identified with Ellie the most.

  Studious and serious, Ellie, too, had grown up around the ranch. Although she hadn’t actually lived on the ranch, as she and Yasmine Wilde had, Ellie knew ranch life just as well, if not more. Her father had been the veterinarian for the Wilde Ranch and Ellie had followed in his footsteps.

  The reason Sinclair identified with Ellie just a little more than Yasmine was that in addition to being an academic, as Sinclair had been, Ellie tended to be quiet, and had also grown up with only her father as a parent.

  She smiled, now, as she took out a mug from the small overhead cabinet and poured herself a cup of the coffee she’d brewed. Taking it, she sat at the small table in the kitchenette of her suite and recalled their earlier phone conversation.

  “Hi, ladybug, how’s it going?” Ellie had asked in her low-toned, melodic voice.

  “It’s going!” she’d said, grimacing.

  She’d laughed when Ellie replied, “Oh, Lord...what’s happened so far? That didn’t sound so good!”

  She’d briefly retold what had happened to her during her trip so far, making light of the entire thing. As well as glossing over the effect Nick Kealoha seemed to have on her. She was close to the Wilde women, but not ready to disclose how she felt about Nickolas Kealoha.

  She herself wasn’t even sure how she felt.

  “And how’s it going with Nick Kealoha?”

  The direct question had made her tense. Had Ellie somehow known about her odd relationship with the Kealoha?

  “Nate mentioned that he was your point of contact? Or are you dealing with the other brother...Keanu?”

  She’d felt her body relax. Ellie hadn’t known. Sinclair had briefed her on what had occurred, and asked Ellie to relay the message to the Wilde men that she’d met with the Kealohas and everything was on task.

  After that, she’d caught up on ranch life with Ellie. She’d smiled and given her loving congratulations when Ellie told her that she and Shilah recently found out they were pregnant.

  “How is he taking it?” Sinclair had asked, a grin on her face as she’d pictured Ellie’s husband watching her every move. Just as his brothers were when it came to their women, Shilah Wilde was fiercely protective of Ellie. Although she had a practice in the city, seeing domesticated animals of the town near their ranch, Ellie was not only the vet for the Wilde Ranch but would also lend a hand when needed on the smaller ranches nearby. The work could be hard and grueling, particularly when it was a difficult birth for one of the larger animals.

  Because of this, Shilah tended to...worry about her. And that was putting it mildly. The man was crazy about his wife, she knew, which seemed to be a running theme with the Wildes.

  Even before learning of the pregnancy, he would go with her when he could to help her in her practice, particularly when her father or one of her assistants was unable.

  “Oh, my goodness...don’t get me started,” she had said with a wry laugh. “Now what do you think, Sinclair?” Ellie’d then asked, sounding exasperated. But Sinclair knew that the woman loved every minute of her husband’s overprotective ways. The Wilde men were alpha men; no two ways about it, they protected what they considered theirs.

  “I can only imagine.” She’d laughed along with Ellie and listened as she’d filled her in on the other happenings on the ranch.

  Sinclair sat back in the chair and finished her coffee, the smile on her face slowly dropping as she thought back over the dinner she’d had with the Kealohas and what she hadn’t told Ellie.

  * * *

  Not knowing what to expect, Sinclair dressed carefully for her meeting with the Kealohas. Although he’d made it seem as though it were just a friendly meet-and-greet dinner at the ranch, in her mind, Sinclair firmly placed it in the business-only category.

  It was bad enough she was having a difficult time separating business from pleasure with Nick, thinking not only of their six-month-long...foreplay, she thought, blushing, but of their over-the-top explosive first meeting, as well.

  She still blushed thinking of their first meeting earlier that week. The way he’d been instrumental in taking feelings that she’d already begun to sense—feelings she didn’t want to name—to the nth degree, turning her on, making her sweat...making her wet.

  She ran her hands over her hair.

  She’d spent the past few days learning as much about the Kealohas and their ranch as she could, all low key, not asking overt questions of anyone, just casual questions, as though she were another tourist. Her objective: knowing who she was dealing with from a different vantage point.

  Which wasn’t difficult; everyone knew the Kealohas, both the locals as well as the tourists. She’d learned more than she’d wanted to while on a tourist shuttle and listening to the two young ladies giggling in front of her. Twins, from the looks of them, they spoke loud enough for anyone to hear about how they were going to meet the “dynamic duo” and what they were going to do to them once they did.

  Sinclair prided herself on being a grown woman, confident and accomplished.

  Although somewhat inexperienced, she still thought herself to be sophisticated and aware...but after listening to the young women, she didn’t know the last time she’d blushed and been more uncomfortable...yet strangely intrigued. Were some of the things they’d said even humanly possible to perform? she wondered.

  Besides her encounter with the amorous twins, exploring the island the Kealohas’ A’kela Ranch was located on had been an eye-opener for Sinclair. She had seen for herself the amazing impact their ranch had on their community as one of the most profitable family-owned ranches in all of Hawaii.

  She’d gone into one of the local shops and listened as the owner had been on the phone with someone from the Kealoha ranch. After hanging up, there’d been a relieved smile on the woman’s aged, dusky face. “Thank God for the Kealohas,” she’d said and smiled at Sinclair.

  “Something good happen?” Sinclair had boldly asked, yet kept her voice and question light.

  “My grandson attends the University of Hawaii,” she’d said, gathering Sinclair’s small items and preparing to ring them up. “Money was getting tighter, and the Aloha Keiki Foundation is going to pick up the tab for his senior year!” she’d told her, a wide smile on her brown, leathery face.

  Sinclair had smiled and congratulated the woman, yet she’d been bothered by the idea that she had been wrong about the Kealohas. A pensive mood engulfed her for the rest of the day, as she’d toured the small town and learned of other small ways the Kealohas impacted the community they lived in.

  * * *

  She arrived at the family’s sprawling ranch home on time and ready. She’d brought everything with her, armed herself with her beloved electronic gadgets as well as the documents she’d again gone over to make sure she’d covered all of the facts Nick had made bullet points about. She was ready for the family meeting with her guard up, ready to defend her Wildes if and when the opportunity arose.

  Surprisingly, as the night wore on, the need for a swift defense would never come up.

  She was greeted at the door by the housekeeper, who she learned was known simply as Mahi. Although concise in manner and speech, she felt the warmth in his welcome of her into their home.

  She smiled at his demeanor. It reminded her keenly of Mama Lilly, the woman who had been the housekeeper for the Wildes from the time Clint Jedediah Wilde had bought the ranch. Like Lilly, Mahi’s easy manner was one that instantly put her at ease.

  And if she’d thought Mahi had been a fluke, she’d been mist
aken, quickly.

  “Come in, come in! You must be Ms. Adams. So nice to meet you. I’m Sonia Kealoha!” No sooner had she been ushered into the large, majestic-looking foyer, than a beautiful woman was headed her way, hand outstretched. Close behind her was a man Sinclair knew had to be Nick’s identical twin, Keanu Kealoha.

  Forcing a smile on her face, and telling her feet to move forward, she placed a hand within the woman’s and shook it, her grip firm.

  “Mrs. Kealoha, it’s nice to meet you,” she said, keeping a pleasant expression on her face. “I saw the new documentary on ranching and the impact on the environment from a naturalist point of view that you directed a few months ago on the network. Very impressive.”

  The woman’s eyes widened fractionally before the smile blossomed even more.

  “Why, thank you so much. That means a lot! It’s a new venture of mine, producing documentaries. It’s been quite a change from my normal undertakings. A little scary, but hey, change is good.” She stopped and smiled, her cheeks dimpling as she did. With a shrug she continued, “And not only did I direct it, I produced it,” she said, and Sinclair caught the way her husband’s hand tightened more on her waist and the pride in his blue eyes as he glanced at his wife as she spoke. “I’m very proud of the reception it has been receiving. I’m so happy you enjoyed it!”

  “I did, very much. I rarely have time for television, but when I saw the reviews of your documentary, it was something I knew I couldn’t miss. And I was right. It was brilliant!”

  Everything she said was true. The documentary had been riveting, and unlike many documentaries on the environment, it had been vibrant and at times even funny.

  Sonia Kealoha was eating up the compliments with a big smile on her face. It didn’t hurt Sinclair in her end game; keep the enemy off guard.

  “And as I’m sure you know, this is my husband, Key...Keanu, that is,” she said as the man came closer. He stuck out a hand for her to shake.

  Okay, this is it, she thought. No way is he going to be as welcoming as his wife, or even the housekeeper, for that matter.

  To say she was surprised with the honest warmth reflected in his blue eyes—eyes that were identical to the man she’d once referred to as a blue-eyed devil—was putting it past mild.

  “Honey, I told you about Ms. Adams joining us for dinner, right?” the woman asked, upping the wattage on her smile a hundredfold.

  He smiled down at his wife. The arm he had casually wrapped around her waist when he’d first come by her side tightened just a fraction, the long fingers massaging the indenture of her waist.

  Hmm. Interesting, Sinclair thought.

  She caught the passing glance between the pair. It was...a conspirator’s look they had exchanged.

  Sinclair cataloged it. And promptly pushed it to the back of her mind for later contemplation.

  “You mean the text you sent to the phone I left on our bedside table this morning? The phone that got trampled when I broke in one of the new horses? The phone I asked, since you were headed to town, if you could take with you to see about getting me a new one? That phone?” He said with a mischievous glint in his eye.

  His wife’s feigned look of surprise didn’t even look real to Sinclair, and she didn’t know the woman.

  Sonia bit her bottom lip, fighting the grin that Sinclair could see was tugging the corners of her generous mouth as she grinned unrepentantly up at her handsome husband.

  She reached a hand up to pat his lean cheek. “Oh, baby, I forgot about that!” she replied. “I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do to make up for it?” she asked, and again she had the butter-wouldn’t-melt-in-her-mouth expression on her pretty face.

  If anything, her grin deepened.

  Against her will, Sinclair found herself intrigued by the couple’s playing.

  “Hmm. Maybe,” he said, his gaze catching on her mouth before sliding up to her face. “I’m sure I can think of something. We’ll talk about your punishment later tonight.”

  “Am I in trouble?” she asked. But the way she said it... Sinclair fought against a blush. She felt like a voyeur.

  “You might be.”

  Sinclair caught the way Sonia’s eyes widened and the look her husband gave her made Sinclair’s blush break completely free.

  She’d seen that same look on his brother’s face just two days prior, when she’d been in his office.

  Directed at her.

  She felt a fine line of sweat bead on her brow and trickle down her cheek.

  If she didn’t know any better she’d swear she had bypassed her productive years and been slammed straight into menopause with the swamp of heat.

  She felt her entire body heat up, wondering if it had been a good idea to accept the invitation to dinner, after all.

  “I see you’ve met my brother and sister-in-law.... Please, don’t mind them. Come on in.”

  All three turned when Nick’s deep voice interrupted. Sinclair had never been so glad to hear his voice.

  She, along with Sonia and Key, watched him walking down a long stretch of hallway, his strides eating up the distance before he was standing in the foyer with the trio.

  “Don’t mind us? What is that supposed to mean? You weren’t even in the room, anyway,” his brother scoffed. “How do you know there is a need for you to excuse our behavior?” Key asked, staring at Nick.

  As the two men faced one another, Sinclair took the time to look at them both and was struck by their similarities.

  But she was even more struck by the fact that although the two men were indeed identical twins, she knew that, without a doubt, she’d be able to tell them apart.

  Both were tall, equally so. She knew that some twins, even identical twins, would sometimes have one that was either taller or heavier, or sometimes both.

  Not in the case of these two rugged Hawaiian cowboys.

  Both men wore scuffed-up cowboy boots with equally worn heels, so there was no height advantage for either twin.

  She discreetly ran a glance over them.

  Just as with their height, both had an impressive breadth of shoulders; wide shoulders that tapered down to a trim waist and thick, muscled thighs. Her gaze trailed to their faces.

  Both were drop-dead gorgeous, with startling blue eyes and light golden-tanned skin. Their eyes were made even more vivid by the darkness of thick eyebrows and ridiculously long, sooty eyelashes.

  Their aquiline noses were similar, right down to the small bump in the middle. She’d noted that both had that same bump and assumed it was from a sporting accident. It wasn’t uncommon, she knew, for twins to fall into the same type of injuries.

  Although both men wore their jet-black, shiny hair longer than tapered, Nick’s was a few inches longer, the ends curling lightly and brushing the top of his collar.

  Chiseled cheeks and a square chin completed a picture of rugged, uncommonly fine-looking men.

  But for all that...she caught the difference: the small dimple near Nick’s lower lip when he smiled. The way his lids would lower when he looked at her, as though he had something so naughty on his mind that he sought to hide it. He knew better than to let her see his eyes, knowing it would show.

  Or the way, when he smiled, just one side of his mouth would hitch upward and again, his hooded eyes would stare a hole into her, making her feel like some kind of prey caught in a fierce predator’s focused sight...

  He chose that moment to glance over at her and she felt the heat of that predator’s stare. She was helpless to look away.

  “I’m glad you could make it, Sinclair,” he said. His voice seemed deeper, richer. A low, sexy rumble.

  She grew warm and sweat pooled between her breasts.

  “I gave Mahi a list of your demands... I mean, the foods you might like,” he said, and
she caught the twinkle in his eye and fought the urge to laugh along with him.

  When he put out his hand for her to take, she hesitated before placing hers within his.

  She turned and caught Sonia watching her, an odd expression on her face. When their eyes met, the other woman smiled at her and Sinclair felt oddly embarrassed.

  The other woman had given her the type of look only a woman could give another that she knew was attracted...to a man.

  * * *

  The evening meal and accompanying conversation went quite smoothly. No great surprises, other than the fact that Sinclair was having one of the best times in the company of other adults that she’d had in longer than she wanted to think about.

  Nick mentioned that he and Key ran the A’kela Ranch, while their father Alek Kealoha was recovering from a stroke.

  She was glad to hear the patriarch was doing well in his recovery and would eventually start to take a more active role around his ranch.

  At one point, as they began eating the homemade coconut ice cream Mahi had prepared for dessert, the topic went back to the documentary that Sonia had produced.

  “I have no problem using my man for my business endeavors. In fact, he likes it, don’t you, baby?” the other woman asked, and Sinclair’s eyes widened at the obvious double entendre.

  “Yes, baby. In fact, I’m going to let you know tonight just how much, dear,” he said.

  Sinclair saw the other woman’s reddish brown face flush.

  “I told you.... Freaks,” Nick said drolly, a bored look on his face as he nodded his head toward his brother and sister-in-law. “You get used to it, though, Sinclair.”

  Although he’d made the comment, a light of humor blazed in his blue eyes and she’d seen the love he had not only for his brother, but obviously for his sister-in-law, as well.

  They had all laughed at his feigned offense, including Sinclair.

  A small smile played around her lips as she enjoyed the rest of the conversation, any tension she’d thought she’d encounter a distant thought.

  Chapter 10