The other woman leaned back in her chair as though she had all day to discuss Katherine’s date. “Does he like Mr. Hollister?”
Katherine’s smile slowly vanished. “That’s the thing that worries me the most about all this, Pru. Nick adores Blake. He sees him as some sort of hero cowboy and father figure all rolled into one.”
“That’s something to worry about? You should be thanking your lucky stars that he isn’t jealous and resentful of the man.”
Katherine groaned. “I am grateful that the two get along so well. Already Blake and Hannah have plans to teach Nick how to ride a horse and take him on spring roundup. Nick’s so over the moon with it all there’s no way I can refuse to let him.”
Prudence thoughtfully tapped her ink pen against a notepad. “I’d probably fire you if you did. Your son needs to learn and do. And the family connection he’ll get with Blake and his niece will be great for him.”
Katherine nodded. “I agree. Nick does need all that. But he’s already dropping little remarks that tells me he believes Blake will soon be his father. I’ve tried to caution him about getting his hopes up, but he’s only ten years old. He doesn’t understand that love and marriage are complex matters. Tell me, Pru, what happens when all of this ends? Nick is going to be devastated. He’ll lose all trust in his mother!”
Frowning, Prudence leaned earnestly forward. “Why are you already talking about everything ending? My Lord, Katherine, do you think everything good in your life is always going to end?”
She let out a long sigh. “It’s hard not to think in those terms,” she admitted. “Dad is gone and the rest of my family is a disjointed mess. My marriage turned out to be a failure and then my husband loses his life because of me. Aren’t those enough reasons to expect the worst?”
Without saying a word, Prudence left her chair and crossed the room. After closing the door firmly behind her, she marched over to Katherine. “Listen to me, Katherine. I don’t ever want to hear you say such a thing again. Your late husband didn’t die because of you or anything you did. He died because he was stupid enough to drink himself into a foggy stupor and get behind the wheel of a car! Once and for all, you need to put him and everything that happened behind you.”
“That’s easier said than done,” Katherine retorted. “I told Cliff I was divorcing him. That’s why he drank himself into a stupor. If not for me—”
“You didn’t put a bottle of liquor in his hand. You didn’t force him to drive. The man was emotionally weak. He had issues that you couldn’t begin to fix.”
Katherine grimaced. “Thanks for reminding me I was married to a psychologically disturbed man.”
Shaking her head, Prudence walked over and placed a comforting hand on Katherine’s shoulder. “Look, Katherine, there’s hardly a woman alive that hasn’t made some sort of mistake over a man. Yours was Cliff. Now with Blake you have a wonderful chance to change your life. A chance for you and Nick to be happy. Don’t blow it by clinging to a ghost.”
“I don’t want to blow anything.” But when Katherine tried to look into the future, she couldn’t see herself with Blake. Still, on the day of the picnic she’d indicated to him that she was ready to take their relationship to a deeper level. And no matter how many doubts she had concerning the two of them, she wasn’t going to run from that promise now. “I’m just not sure that I’m the woman Blake wants to spend the rest of his life with.”
Smiling cleverly, Prudence shrugged one shoulder. “If you two decide you’re not right for each other, then at least you can say you had a hell of a ride trying to find out.”
Katherine rolled her eyes, then in spite of herself, she began to chuckle. “Pru, you’re crazy.”
“True. But maybe no one else but you will find out about my condition. Otherwise, we’ll both lose our jobs,” she teased.
The phone on the desk began to ring again. As Prudence went to answer it, she gave Katherine a backward wave. “Don’t worry. Be happy.”
* * *
By Wednesday, Blake had worked nonstop to catch up on the tasks he’d left undone in order to take a day off for the picnic. But today, he decided he couldn’t wait any longer to see Katherine. Earlier this morning, he’d called to see if she could possibly get away from work long enough to have lunch with him. To his delight, she’d agreed.
Now, after making the trip from Three Rivers into Wickenburg in record time, Blake wheeled his truck into the school parking lot. At the same time, Katherine was emerging from the back entrance of the building.
Not bothering to cut the motor, he climbed from the cab and hurried over to greet her.
“Hello,” he said, then bent and pressed a swift kiss on her cheek.
A soft smile curved the corners of her lips. “Mmm. That was a nice hello.”
The welcoming light in her gray eyes made Blake feel warm and wanted. “I hope I’m not late. I was detained at the last minute by a cattle buyer wanting to purchase a pair of bulls. Thankfully, Matt took over the job of showing him the animals.”
“Oh, I hope you don’t lose a sale because of me.”
Loving the feel of her walking at his side, he slipped an arm around the back of her waist. “Don’t worry. Matt would tell you he’s a much better salesman than me and he’d be right. I don’t have the patience for it.”
At the truck, he helped her into the cab, then quickly took his place behind the wheel. As he began to back the vehicle from the parking spot, he glanced over to see she was snapping the seat belt across her lap.
“Wow. You look gorgeous today. That dress is something else.” Buttoned from the tight-fitting bodice all the way down to the flared skirt at her knees, the garment showed off her tiny waist and fluttered around her bare, slender legs.
Smiling modestly, she looked over at him. “Do you like it? I wasn’t so sure about the bright green and yellow flowers, but it makes me feel good whenever I wear it.”
The dress made Blake feel more than good. It was making him ache to hold her in his arms and run his hands over her womanly curves. “Well, I’m glad you wore it today. So where would you like to eat? Or maybe I should be asking how long your lunch break is? We might not have time for much more than fast food.”
After checking for traffic, he steered the truck onto the street, toward the business section of town.
“I normally have an hour for lunch. But today my boss knew you were coming, so she gave me an extra fifteen minutes.”
“That was very nice of her.”
“Where I’m concerned, Pru is a hopeless romantic. As for herself, I’ve never known her to date anyone.”
“What is she? One of those old-maid schoolmarms?”
Katherine laughed. “Not hardly. She’s in her thirties and very attractive. She’s also divorced. I’ve never asked why her marriage ended and she keeps that part of her life private.”
Blake figured most everyone in Yavapai County had heard about his broken engagement to Lenore. But whether anyone knew the reason for it, he couldn’t say. How could he? He hardly knew the answer to that himself. Lenore had blamed her change of heart on the long hours he’d devoted to the ranch, rather than her. But after thinking about it for three long years, he wondered if that had only been a partial excuse for not wanting to marry him. Hardly six weeks after the woman had handed him back his ring, she’d hooked up with a wealthy car dealer up in Prescott.
“Hmm. Maybe this pretty superintendent could make my brother Holt walk the straight path.”
“From what you’ve told me about your rowdy brother, Pru wouldn’t put up with him for five minutes.”
“Neither will any other woman,” he said drily, then gestured toward a fast-food joint in the distance. “There’s a burger place. Is that all right with you?”
When she didn’t answer immediately, he glanced over to see she was staring out the passenger window,
while her fingers fidgeted with the hem of her dress resting across her knee.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. “You want to eat something different?”
She looked at him and the raw longing on her face was unlike anything he’d seen on her before. Like a lightning bolt, it struck him hard, leaving his whole body sizzling in its wake.
“I thought—if it’s all the same to you—we could go to my place. It’s only three blocks from here. And I have plenty of leftovers from last night’s meal.”
She was doing more than inviting him to her home for lunch. She was finally telling him she wanted to be close to him. Really close. Like a kid just handed a prize gift, he wanted to shout with joy. Instead, he tried to act like a mature man and hold his elation down to a grin.
“With the kids around all day at the lake, I didn’t have a chance to even kiss you. How did you know I’ve been aching to be alone with you?”
Reaching across the console, she rested her hand on his forearm. The simple touch had the power to send sparks flying all the way to his shoulder.
“Probably because I’ve been aching, too,” she murmured.
If Blake could have safely broken the speed limit, he would have. But only seconds earlier a car had pulled onto the street in front of them and was forcing him to drive at a snail’s pace. The five minutes it took to get to Katherine’s house seemed more like twenty.
By the time they’d stepped through the door and Katherine had locked it safely behind them, Blake was reaching for her.
“This is what I’ve been hungry for.” His voice gruff with desire, he gathered her in the tight circle of his arms.
She let out a breathless laugh as her hands latched on to the slope of his shoulders. “You don’t want to eat lunch?”
“I can eat anytime,” he answered. “But I can’t do this.”
He fastened his lips over hers, and though he was promising himself to keep the kiss gentle, Katherine had other ideas. Nipping, searching, tasting. Her soft lips were making a ravenous feast upon his. At the same time, he felt her arms slip around his neck, then tighten as though she never wanted to let him go.
Her eager reaction pushed any plan for gentleness out of his mind. He opened his mouth and coaxed her to come inside. She gladly accepted his invitation, and when her tongue began to glide over the rough edges of his teeth, Blake lost all sense of thought.
The kiss turned into a fierce dance, with each of them fighting to get closer, to quench the fires they were building with each taste, each delicious sup. In a matter of moments, Blake was lost in a fog of heat with only one thing on his mind: the burning urge to make love to the warm, giving woman in his arms.
When the need for air finally forced him to lift his head, Katherine grabbed him by the hand. “Let’s get away from the door,” she whispered.
She led him out of the short entryway and into the living room. There, Blake eased her onto the couch, then stretched out next to her on the long length of cushions. Her arms promptly came around him, and as he shifted his body to a more comfortable position, he realized his arousal was perfectly aligned with the juncture of her thighs. Which only made the ache to thrust himself inside her even worse.
“I didn’t know this was going to happen,” he said against her lips. “I mean...happen today. I only knew I wanted to see you. Now I...I’m about to lose it, Kat. I don’t want to hurry, but—”
She moved her head just enough to plant a row of tempting little kisses down the side of his neck and the hot throb in his lower body grew unbearable.
“You don’t have to wait,” she whispered. “I’m ready. So ready.”
Blind with a desire that had been working on him for days, he reached up under her dress until his fingers came in contact with her panties. Curling his fingers over the waistband, he yanked the silky garment down her legs, pausing only long enough to remove her high heels.
With the shoes and undergarment out of the way, he shoved the bottom half of her dress up to her waist, then hurriedly released himself through the fly of his jeans.
“You don’t need protection,” she said in a whispered rush. “I’m on the Pill. Uh—not for this reason. But to keep my cycles regular.”
“Damn good thing. Because I don’t have any protection with me.”
Even as he said the words, he was straddling her and bracing his weight on his knees. She looked up and their gazes locked. The tender invitation in her gray eyes caused an odd sort of stinging to prick the center of his chest. The unexpected feeling rattled him, but she didn’t give him a chance to wonder what sort of upheaval was going on inside him. Not when a catlike purr was suddenly vibrating in her throat and her hands were linking at the back of his neck, drawing his mouth down to hers.
“Come here,” she whispered.
The sweet, mysterious taste of her lips wiped away the last tenuous hold on his self-control, and with a helpless groan, he thrust himself deep into the damp warmth of her body.
Her soft, needy moans managed to penetrate the roaring in his ears and he lifted his mouth just long enough to glance down at her. The passion etched upon her face was more than he deserved. More than he’d ever dreamed this woman could feel for him.
“Kat! My Kat! This—you—are all I want. All I need!”
“Love me, Blake. Don’t stop!”
She wrapped her legs around his and lifted her hips so that she could take him in fully, completely. At that moment, Blake’s senses exploded and the next thing he knew he was driving into her, his thrusting fast and deep.
All at once a shower of hot arrows pricked his skin and sent sensations up and down his body. His scalp was surely lifting from his head, while a lungful of breath hung in his throat. Beneath him, he felt her shifting and straining to match the rhythmic thrusts of his hips. At the same time, he was aware of her hands racing over him, touching every spot within her reach.
The need to feel her fingers against his bare skin had a part of him longing to stop long enough to tear off his clothes. But not even the thought of that pleasure was enough to make him draw away from her. Even if the roof was tumbling in on his head, he couldn’t stop this frantic journey to paradise.
Over and over their bodies crashed together, until the fierce movements caused them to slip off the edge of the couch and onto the floor. Still connected, Katherine’s back ended up lying flat on the braided rug, while Blake’s head was only inches away from the corner of the coffee table.
Easing his mouth from hers, he panted, “Let me lift you back onto the couch.”
“No! Don’t move! Don’t stop!” she gasped.
She wrapped her legs tightly around his and arched her hips desperately upward.
She was like a bright flame, consuming him with a wet heat that took his breath away and controlled his every thought. He couldn’t get enough of her. He’d never get enough of her.
Delving his hands into her black hair, he lowered his lips back to hers and thrust his tongue deep into the honeyed pool of her mouth. Her groans came one after the other as her fingers dug into his back and her hips ground against his.
Like the tattered edge of a tow sack, Blake’s self-control began to unravel. He fought to hang on, but it was a hopeless battle against the fiery wind that was spinning him into a vortex he couldn’t escape.
The storm lifted him up and carried him to a cloud so bright and golden that it blinded him with pleasure. From a place far away, he heard her cries of delight, felt the spasms of her body tighten around him.
Forever. Forever. Like a sweet promise, the words tumbled through his thoughts. This was the way it was meant to be. Her loving him. Him loving her.
Shuddering with his release, he crushed her tightly in the folds of his arms and whispered her name.
When Blake’s awareness fully returned, he realized the two of them were still on the floor, wedged
between the coffee table and the couch. Katherine’s face was pressed between his shoulder and the braided rug, but he could see her eyes were tightly shut, her forehead covered with beads of sweat.
Tendrils of damp hair curled at her temples and he pressed his lips to the tender spot before he pushed his weight off her and climbed to his feet.
By the time he’d fixed his clothing, he turned to see she was standing directly behind him, shoving a cloud of tangled hair away from her face.
Swallowing at the emotions suddenly burgeoning in his throat, he reached for her. With her head tucked beneath his chin, he held her tightly against him. “Oh, Kat. I didn’t mean for that to happen—not that way. I wanted it to be sweet and slow and special. Now you’re thinking I’m some sort of animal.”
Her shoulders began to shake and after a few seconds he realized she was chuckling. Surprised by the reaction, he eased her head back far enough to see her face.
“Why are you laughing? Was I that awful a lover?”
The amusement on her face was suddenly replaced with a tenderness that struck him smack in the middle of his heart.
“Oh, Blake. How could you ask that? You were incredible.” Slipping her arms around his waist, she snuggled the front of her body next to his. “In fact, I was wondering if we have enough time left for a...repeat. Or would you rather I dig the leftovers out of the refrigerator?”
He arched his eyebrows in surprise and then it was his turn to chuckle. “You little brazen hussy,” he softly accused.
Smiling wantonly, she tilted her lips up toward his. “Now that you’ve discovered the real me, what are you going to do about it?”
Bending, he slipped an arm beneath the back of her knees and lifted her into his arms.
“I’m going to carry you to the bedroom,” he told her. “And make the most of the time we have left.”
Chapter Ten
Two days later, on Friday evening, Katherine sang along to the radio as she prepared a simple evening meal of macaroni and cheese with grilled smoked sausage. Behind her at the small kitchen table, Nick placed silverware and napkins next to two plates.
Her Man on Three Rivers Ranch Page 12
