The Maverick Cowboy

by Kate Pearce

  Jenna was sitting at the table writing something on a pad. He put the glass beside her and took a seat.

  “Thanks.” She looked up briefly and took a long drink from the glass. “That’s good. It’s getting hot out there.”

  Blue rubbed his fingers through the condensation gathering on his glass and appreciated the quiet hum of the air-conditioning Chase had recently insisted on having installed for Roy. He glanced over at Jenna, but she was still contemplating the note she was writing.

  “Hey, while you’ve got your pen out, write Nate a Dear John letter.”

  She met his gaze. “You are relentless, you know that? Like a tank.”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  “Then go away and crush something else.”

  He sipped at his lemonade. “You don’t look very crushed to me.”

  “Ha ha.” She pointed her pen at him. “You are incorrigible.”

  “There you go with the big words again.” He pretended to sigh. “I can only assume that means something bad.”

  “You scored over seven hundred on your SAT. Don’t pretend to be a hick.”

  “Who told you that?”

  “Guess.” She returned her attention to the note and signed it. “Are you ready to go now, or do you have other stuff to do here?”

  He stood up and walked around the table and held out his hand. “I’m good.”

  She looked up at him. “No, you are not good. You are a bad influence on me.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you make me want . . .” She stopped and shook her head. “That’s it, really.”

  “I make you want? What?”

  “Things I can’t have.”

  “You’re going to have to be a bit more specific here, Jenna. Like what?”

  She rose to her feet, but he didn’t step back crowding her space a little. He wrinkled his nose.

  “Damn, that’s too bad.”

  “What?”

  “I was going to kiss you, but . . .” He poked her in the sternum. “Your T-shirt stinks.”

  He’d never seen a bosom actually heave before, but Jenna’s eyes flashed and the next second she was pulling her T-shirt right over her head, balling it up, and throwing it at his face.

  “That better?”

  When the T-shirt fell off his nose to the floor, he let his gaze travel slowly down from her face to her nice blue bra and then lower to her belly. “Yeah. Much.”

  She bent to pick up the T-shirt and brushed past him, heading for Roy’s guest bathroom. “I’ve got a couple of shirts in the closet. I’ll wash up and be out in a minute.”

  Blue finished his lemonade and contemplated the splashy noises coming from the bathroom. When Jenna reappeared and went into the room next door, he set his glass back down on the table and followed her.

  “Knock, knock.”

  She gasped and crossed her hands over her chest. “What are you doing in here?”

  “I thought you might like a second opinion on the state of your bra. You wouldn’t want to put a clean shirt on over something that still stunk, would you?”

  “My bra is fine, thank you.”

  He leaned back against the door frame. “I hate to disagree with you about anything, Jenna darlin’, but how can you tell? You didn’t even notice you smelled like pig shit.”

  “I washed up.”

  He took a step toward her and then another, but she didn’t tell him to back off. He stopped an arm’s length away and slowly raised his hand until his index finger rested right on the cute little bow at the center of her bra between her rounded breasts.

  “Nice.” His appreciative gaze traveled over her now tight nipples. “Very nice.”

  “And not smelling of anything but me, okay?”

  He deliberately took a deep breath. “I like the way you smell.”

  She made a small despairing noise. “This is so unfair.”

  “You know, you’re right. It is.” Still holding her gaze he reached down, grabbed the hem of his T-shirt, and stripped it over his head. “Does this make it better?”

  “Good Lord, yes . . .” Her hand came to her mouth. “I mean no, that’s just—is that a tattoo?”

  He flexed his right bicep. “Yeah.”

  “Semper f i.”

  “Always faithful.”

  She nodded. “It kind of suits you.”

  “Thanks.” He took her hand and placed it on his arm right over the tat. “I have another one.”

  She scanned his chest and arms. “Is it on your back?”

  He turned a full circle to let her check. “Nope.”

  “Then where?”

  He raised an eyebrow. “I’m not telling. You have to write that letter to Nate first.”

  “That’s so not happening.” Her gaze dropped to his lower half. “Which is good, because I don’t think I can take much more of you.”

  “See, I don’t have that problem at all. You can shimmy out of those jeans and come and sit in my lap for as long as you want. You’re beautiful.” He glanced down at his groin. “Actually I wouldn’t mind getting out of these jeans myself. Things are getting crowded down there.”

  “This is Roy’s house!”

  “It’s better than your suggestion of the barn.”

  “I didn’t—” She made another of those breathy frustrated sounds he was beginning to love and backed up until she was next to the closet. “Let me get a shirt.”

  “You quite sure you don’t want to get naked? We’re halfway there.”

  She flapped a hand at him. “Stop talking right now.” Turning her back on him she rummaged in the closet, bringing out a red and white checked shirt on a hanger. “I left this here last time.”

  The hanger clattered to the floor when she turned and found him right up close to her again.

  “Rats.” She bent to pick it up almost bumping heads with him. “Double rats.”

  He placed the shirt on top of the dresser and put his hands on her shoulders.

  “It’s okay.”

  “No, it’s not.”

  “Really?” He considered her for a long moment until she started to blush. “This is really not okay? Because if you don’t want me to kiss you right now, you just have to say so.”

  “We agreed not to kiss.”

  “That’s right.”

  “So this shouldn’t even be an issue.”

  “Agreed.”

  “Then what are you trying to accomplish?”

  He grinned at her. “Just testing your resolve.”

  Her brown eyes narrowed. “You conceited ass.”

  “Guilty.” He stepped back and picked up his T-shirt. “You write that note to Nate and we’ll talk again, okay?”

  “Just so I can see your other tattoo? I don’t think so.”

  He winked. “Honey, you know I’ll show you a lot more than that.”

  He’d almost made it to the door before she seemed to recover the power of speech.

  “Hold it right there. Have you changed your mind? Are you saying that if I wasn’t going out with Nate, you’d ask me out instead?”

  He looked back over his shoulder. “How about you ditch Nate and come and ask me again? I’ll check the horses and wait for you outside.”

  Grinning to himself, Blue went out the door pulling on his T-shirt. So sue him, he had changed his mind, but he sure wasn’t going to quite admit it. She’d laugh like a hyena, and he had some pride. He found his hat, made sure to clean up Roy’s kitchen, and went out to see to the horses. God, had he ever had so much fun in a relationship before? Most of them had been just about sex, and he and Jenna still hadn’t even done that.

  Maybe that was the secret. Liking someone first and then realizing you wanted to make love to them made a lot more sense. Blue put on his hat. And he would be making love with Jenna, he was damned sure about that. Sometimes even a Marine had to reassess his priorities.

  * * *

  It took Jenna way too long to manage the buttons on he
r shirt because her fingers were trembling so much. Every time Blue showed some skin, she lost about a million brain cells and reverted back to basic “hit this man over the head with a club and drag him back to her cave” level of operating.

  She found her cell in the back pocket of her jeans and texted Nate, asking to see him. His reply flashed up almost immediately, saying he was heading up to the ranch to see Maria and Blue and would probably be there around dinnertime. It meant she’d have to stick around and put up with Blue Morgan, but there were plenty of things she could do to keep out of his way.

  She texted Nate back that she’d be there, and put her cell away. She wasn’t prepared to drag him further into her web of lies. He really did deserve better, and seeing as Blue had worked out what was going on from the start, it was unfair to keep pretending. Now came the difficult part. Walking out and pretending that nothing was wrong when all she wanted to do was drag Blue down to the nearest horizontal surface and climb on board.

  But she had standards.

  Didn’t she?

  She took her cell phone out again and checked the time before texting.

  Yvonne, can I call u?

  Her cell rang almost immediately. “What’s up?”

  “Blue Morgan.”

  “Ooh, what’s happening?” Yvonne said. “Did you sleep with him?”

  “No, I’m still going out with Nate, remember?”

  “Like anyone believes that,” Yvonne scoffed. “So what’s up?”

  “I almost gave into temptation.”

  “What stopped you?”

  “Yvonne, you’re supposed to be helping me resist him. I knew I should’ve called January. She’s way more sensible than you are.”

  “Honey, Blue’s single, right? And sinfully sexy.”

  “And he has tattoos,” Jenna breathed.

  “Damn, girl, you are so screwed. Apart from the non-issue of Nate, what’s holding you back?”

  “Blue’s life is a little complicated right now.”

  “He told you that?”

  “He keeps telling me that, and then he kisses me and makes me think he’s changing his mind, and then I get all confused again. That’s why I’m calling you. I can’t let him win.”

  “So here’s what you do.”

  Jenna clutched the phone tight to her ear. “Okay, shoot.”

  “Nothing.”

  “That’s not really helping, Yvonne.”

  “Yes, it is. Sort things out with Nate so that you are both free, and then leave the rest in Blue’s hands.”

  “Like give up control?”

  “To fate, yes.”

  “I’m not sure if I can do that.” Jenna frowned at her flustered reflection in the mirror.

  “Why not? If he’s meant to be yours, he will be.”

  “Maybe that kind of thing happens to you, Yvonne, but not to me. No man has ever looked at me twice, let alone chased after me.”

  “Then if Blue doesn’t do that, you’ll know he isn’t the right man for you. Just let him have a chance to try, okay?”

  Jenna took a deep breath. Okay, she was officially terrified now. Leaving things up to fate was so not her style. “I’ll talk to Nate and leave the rest to fate. Hey, that rhymes.”

  “Great, you’re a poet. Now get out there and get your man.”

  “I thought you just said I had to wait for him to come to me?”

  “You know what I mean. I have to go, my break’s over. Come and see me soon, okay?”

  “Okay, and thanks.” Jenna ended the call and put her cell away. Time to go and get back on her horse. Blue had cleared away their glasses and left her note to Roy on the table, so she picked up her cap and sunglasses and went out into the glare of the afternoon sun.

  Blue was already mounted and walking Messi, so she was able to get on Nolly and just follow his lead. He waited at the bottom gate for her to go by and then dismounted to close it behind them.

  “Wait up.”

  She tensed as he strolled over to her.

  “What is it?”

  He pointed at her shirt. “You’ve got it buttoned up all wrong.”

  “Maybe I like it like that.”

  “It would drive me nuts.”

  “That’s because you’re an overperfectionist.”

  “Or because I’ve been in the military for too long.” He settled deeper into the saddle. “Could you fix it? It’s giving me an eye twitch.”

  She sighed elaborately, took off her gloves, and redid the buttons. “Better now?”

  “Thanks.” He patted her knee. “Have you got time to sample our hot springs before you head out?”

  “Hot springs?”

  His grin was an invitation to sin. “Yeah. They are something of a family secret, but I’m happy to share it with you.”

  “I wish I had time, but I promised Ruth I’d check in with her this afternoon.” There was no way she was stripping off a single sock near Blue Morgan again today. She smiled brightly at him. “But thanks for the invite. I might take you up on it one day. Have you taken Maria yet?”

  “That’s a good idea. I hadn’t thought of it.” His smile dimmed. “Not that she’d want to go anywhere with me.”

  “You’ve got to keep trying, Blue.”

  “Yeah, I know.” He turned away, his hat shading his face. “It’s just hard.”

  He mounted up and they were soon on their way back to the ranch. Jenna forgot all about Blue in the simple pleasure of riding through such glorious scenery. She couldn’t imagine why Chase Morgan had ever considered selling the ranch. There was so much history here and so much potential. She was suddenly glad that January had been around to remind Chase of what he was throwing away. If she had roots in one place that went back over a hundred and fifty years? She’d be staying put.

  As they neared the ranch, her cell buzzed, but as Nolly had decided to approach the barn at the speed of a racehorse, she had her hands too full to answer it. Cooling Nolly down and turning him out into the pasture took a while, so it wasn’t until she was heading into the house that she took out her cell to check her messages.

  “Damn.” She slowed down to adjust her eyes to the interior light, and Blue bumped into her. “That was Dave. He’s stuck with a calf delivery, and Mark Lymond called him to say his mare is in distress. I’ll have to go right now.”

  Blue touched her shoulder. “Can’t you call Big Mac?”

  “He’s out golfing. He’ll never get here in time.” She sighed. “It’s going to have to be me whether Mark likes it or not.”

  “I’ll come with you.”

  She looked up into his implacable face. “You don’t have to do that.”

  “Yeah, I do. I’m not having you dealing with Mark if things go wrong.”

  “Okay.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “You’re not going to argue with me?”

  “Not this time.”

  “Good.” He turned back to the door, suddenly all business. “We’ll take your truck. I’ll just go and tell Ruth where we’ll be.”

  Chapter Eleven

  “I’m sorry, Mr, Lymond.” Jenna pushed her hair out of her eyes and held the enraged rancher’s gaze. “There’s nothing more I can do.”

  “There must be something! You get a proper qualified vet down here right now, missy, and quit pretending you know what the hell you’re doing.”

  “Mr. Lymond. The mare was already weakened from lack of proper nutrition, which means that the foal was already compromised. We told you this earlier today when we suggested you bring the mare into our clinic where we could keep an eye on her.”

  “You said no such thing. You’re just protecting your ass.” Mark shoved a finger right in her face. “This is your fault!”

  Blue stepped up alongside her. “Mark, she’s right. Leave her alone.”

  “What the hell do you know, Morgan? Just because she’s got a pretty face doesn’t mean she’s competent at her job. She killed that mare and foal.”

  “That’s comp
lete bullshit,” Blue snapped. “Now, do you want me to help bury the horses or are you going to send for Smedleys?”

  “Get off my ranch, both of you.” Mark threw his gloves onto the ground and stalked off, muttering obscenities.

  Jenna exhaled. “The poor guy.”

  “He should’ve taken better care of his horses.” Blue gripped her shoulder hard. “You’re not the responsible one here.”

  “Thanks, Blue, but I still feel bad.” She stripped off her gloves and turned wearily back to her truck. “If the mare had been at the clinic, we might have been able to do something about that blood loss, but here? I just couldn’t stop it.”

  “Come on, grab your stuff. I’ll drive you back to the ranch and you can take a shower there.”

  She could do little but nod and follow him out. To her amazement the sun was still shining and it wasn’t that late. She’d thought she’d been in that stall for days fighting to keep the mare and foal alive, but time had passed slowly. Blue covered her passenger seat with an old rug, so she sat on that and let him drive her back to the ranch.

  She looked out of the window as the sense of failure dragged her down. She hated losing an animal, and particularly a mother and foal. That just sucked so hard. One of the reasons she’d left the high-tech world of the horse racing stables was to work with a community who loved their horses and didn’t just see them as financial assets to be destroyed on a whim. She’d forgotten that a lot of ranchers also had financial concerns, albeit different ones. Did it always come down to money? Did no one really care about their horses anymore?

  As the truck bounced down the drive, she mentally reviewed every medical decision she’d made, and couldn’t think what she would’ve changed. But that didn’t mean that Dave or her uncle wouldn’t have done a better job.

  “You okay?”

  “Not really.” She didn’t look round. “I need to write up my notes while everything is still fresh in my mind.”

  “Have your shower first.”

  She looked down at her bloodied jeans and shuddered. “Definitely.”

  There was no one in the ranch kitchen as Blue showed her the shower in the mudroom and provided her with pink shower gel, shampoo, and a towel that she was pretty sure belonged to January. She took her time under the spray, trying to ease some of the tension out of her muscles, and contemplated what she needed to do next.