Wildcat Cowboy (The McCabes of Texas #2)

by Cathy Gillen Thacker

  Josie was silent.

  “That is not fair!”

  So what? Wade thought unsympathetically. “Life isn’t fair.”

  Josie stomped away from him, her temper ignited into hot flames of emotion that were glorious to behold. “No wonder you have such a hard time keeping girlfriends,” she stormed, “if this is the way you behave!”

  Wade had never minded losing any of the shallow society debs he had dated. He hadn’t even minded losing Sandra that much, once he had gotten over the shock of her betrayal. He would mind losing Josie. Despite the fact he wasn’t sure he could—or should—trust her, he liked having Josie in his life. She made everything seem new and exciting again. He hadn’t felt this energized since the first time he’d struck oil on a lease he had acquired in a poker game. Aware she was still watching him carefully, he shrugged laconically. “You want the chance to keep drilling for oil, I get the opportunity to turn you into the lady I know you can be.” She’d resist the process all the way of course, which would—in his estimation anyway—make it all the more fun.

  Josie narrowed her eyes at him and restlessly tapped one foot. “Why are you really doing this?” she demanded suspiciously.

  Wade lifted both hands uncaringly. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I do have a Pygmalion complex. You’ve already heard how I like to transform the women I date.” And maybe he just wanted her to become his woman, at least for a while. One thing was for certain, with Josie Lynn Corbett in his life, the days and nights would never be dull.

  “I’m serious, Wade McCabe,” Josie persisted in a highly aggravated tone. “Why are you really doing this?”

  Easy, Wade thought. “The same reason I do everything,” he told Josie with absolute honesty. “The challenge.” And he had one heck of a challenge on his hands right now. Their passionate kisses had rocked him as much as they had obviously rocked her. Even now, knowing she was keeping something from him had not deterred his passion for her in the least. In fact, that made him want to take her in his arms and kiss her all over again until she melted against him helplessly, until she surrendered herself to him heart and soul and confessed to him what was really going on here. Unfortunately if he did that, she might not be the only one who lost sight of their end game.

  So he was going to have to try another tack to stay close to her, and this looked like the fastest, easiest way to keep seeing her in as intimate a fashion as possible. Not only would he get to see if his vision of her all gussied up were on the mark, not only would she learn something about holding her own at society shindigs, but if he were right in his suspicions, he would catch her off her guard so he could discover the deception. At the same time he might be able to get her out of his system, figure out why she was all wrong for him, because when he was able to do that—discover her fatal flaw, as it were—that would make his desire for her fade.

  On the other hand, Wade mused, if he was wrong, if Josie wasn’t out to actively deceive him or betray him in any way, then he’d be making those Cinderella dreams he was sure all girls had come true. Either way, Wade decided, he just couldn’t lose.

  “HE’S GOING TO WHAT?” Gus demanded late that evening as he and Josie pored over the latest samples coming out of the well.

  Josie brought a steaming pot of coffee over to the table and set it down along with two mugs. She gave Gus a level look. “He’s going to teach me how to be a lady.” Or at least he was going to try, Josie thought, as she filled two mugs to the brim. There was no way she was going to let him succeed.

  Gus shook his head and stirred a generous amount of sugar into his cup. “He’s got no idea who he’s really dealing with, does he?”

  Josie shook her head. She sipped the hot, exceedingly bitter liquid. “None.” Yet, anyway, she amended silently. As long as his brother Jackson didn’t remember where he’d seen her and put two and two together, Josie’s true identity—as a former debutante and Dallas heiress—was safe from being revealed. Because if any of that got out now, before she’d proven her worth as a talented wildcatter in her own right, she’d never be taken seriously. Here or anywhere else, Josie feared. Instead she would be seen as a flighty, irresponsible dilettante who should be kept as far away from other people’s money and the wildcatting business as possible.

  “Yet you’re letting him get away with it, anyway,” Gus remarked quietly, amazed. He knew in the past Josie would’ve died rather than let anyone get the better of her!

  Josie shrugged and pushed the memory of Wade McCabe’s hot, potent kisses and the ardent way he had been looking at her from her mind. She couldn’t afford to get involved with anyone right now, no matter how sensually appealing or masculinely exciting they were.

  Josie frowned, very much aware of the way the hunt for oil was dictating her behavior these days. Not necessarily always in a good way. “I don’t want to do or say anything that would make Wade want to stop the drilling,” she replied tightly, knowing very well just how much was on the line, not just for her, but for Gus, Ernie, Dieter...and Wade, too. “Our situation here is precarious enough as it is. So if my going along with Wade McCabe’s ridiculous improvement scheme buys us more time to find oil here, so be it,” she declared practically.

  Gus studied her, knowing her well enough and long enough to realize that wasn’t the only reason she had given in to Wade’s demands. There had to be something more. “What’s really in it for you?” the grizzled old roughneck demanded dryly.

  The chance of a lifetime, Josie thought, a determined smile curving her lips. Wade McCabe might not know it, but he had pushed one of her own hot buttons with his scheme. She looked up at Gus and vowed in a low, determined voice, “I’m going to teach that way-too-presumptuous, know-it-all cowboy a lesson he’ll never forget.”

  Chapter Five

  “As much as I appreciate your willingness to assist us, don’t you have your own business to tend to?” Josie asked Wade McCabe politely Tuesday morning. He had been following her around the drilling rig for a good two hours now—to the point he was really underfoot. Worse, it looked as if Wade was really enjoying getting under her skin.

  Wade rolled his weight from his heels to his toes, until he was leaning over her, emanating warmth. “Nothing is more important to me right now than this,” Wade told her.

  “Still,” Josie returned smoothly as she paused to check out the vibrating mud screen and the slush pouring into the pit, “if you want to check stock or bond prices or something you can use the phones in our office.” Anything to get him out from underfoot.

  Wade lifted his Stetson and resituated it squarely on his handsome head. “That’s right generous of you to offer,” he drawled. But he had no intention of taking her up on her suggestion, Josie saw.

  Before she could say anything else, a car pulled up and parked beside the rig. A slender young woman in a tank top, formfitting jeans, straw cowboy hat and boots got out. Seeing her old friend Meg Lockhart, Josie let out a joyous shout and swept heedlessly down the steps. The two women embraced warmly as Wade and the others looked on from above, then Josie drew back. “Are you and your son here for good now?” Josie asked.

  Meg nodded. “Jeremy and I got all moved in yesterday, and I start at the hospital later today. But that’s not why I’m here.” Meg took Josie’s hand and drew her out of earshot of the others. “I’m here to deliver a message from your mother.”

  Josie groaned. “What now?”

  “Bitsy wants you to know she is about out of patience. If you aren’t back in the city by Friday, working, she’s going to take matters into her own hands.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Josie exclaimed, really irritated now. Wasn’t it enough her mother had no confidence in her? she thought, incensed. Did she have to keep meddling in her life, too?

  “It means I wouldn’t put it past her to come down here herself and try to drag you home,” Meg replied. “She really wants you back in Dallas. For good, this time. Anyway, I thought you ought to know that she hasn’t give
n up on the idea of you resuming your post at the foundation.”

  Without warning, a shadow fell over them. Wade lifted his Stetson and nodded at Meg. “It’s been a long time,” Wade drawled, smiling at Meg, before taking her in his arms for a warm, welcoming embrace.

  Meg hugged Wade back. “Several years, at least,” she agreed, looking as pleased to see Wade as he was to see her.

  “Couldn’t help overhearing,” Wade drawled, looking Josie up and down, before finally settling his gaze on her face. “Problem?”

  Meg and Josie exchanged looks, with Josie silently beseeching Meg not to say a thing. “My old boss in Dallas wants me back,” Josie told Wade, as her heart took on an accelerated beat. “I’ve already explained I’m not going back, but she won’t take no for an answer.”

  Wade regarded Josie in a lazy, all-male way that made her throat go dry. “That’s some transition, isn’t it? Going from foundation work to an independent oil company?”

  “Oh, I don’t know.” Josie swept off her hard hat. Using the back of her bare wrist, she wiped the perspiration from her brow. “If you’ve worked in one office you’ve worked in them all,” Josie muttered cantankerously beneath her breath. It was office work, per se, that she hated. She wanted to be in the outdoors. Climbing around on drilling rigs, or canvasing the land looking for likely drilling spots.

  “So, Wade—” Meg changed the subject brightly, coming to Josie’s rescue once again “—how are the plans coming for the surprise party in your parents’ honor?”

  THEY WEREN’T, WADE THOUGHT, but he would get to it shortly, as soon as he took care of this. “Expecting a lot of people to show up on Friday evening?” Meg persisted.

  Wade nodded. “The entire hospital staff—past and present—and their spouses. Plus family and friends and various high rollers who have agreed to underwrite the cost of putting beds and equipment in the wing I’m going to build in their honor.”

  “That’s a lot.”

  Wade nodded, trying not to think about the fact his events planner had quit on him and he had no idea who was going to replace Andrea and make it as glitzy and exciting as he had promised himself the fete for his parents would be. “About five hundred so far, but I’m having to add a few more each day.”

  Meg crossed her arms in front of her and leaned against the side of her car. “And you’ve been able to keep it top secret so far?”

  Wade shrugged. “They think a society wedding of one of the babies they delivered in the early days is gonna happen there this weekend. And it’s black tie. Although it can be hard getting my dad into a tux, it was no problem getting them to agree to attend the nuptials and reception—they love seeing the kids they delivered here when they’re all grown-up.”

  Meg smiled while Josie did her best to fade into the background. Which was unusual behavior on her part, to say the least. “That’s great,” Meg said.

  “You’re coming, too, aren’t you?” Wade asked Meg, knowing it wouldn’t be a party unless all four Lockhart sisters showed up.

  Meg slanted Josie another sidelong glance and nodded. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Meg told Wade warmly.

  “So how is it you two know each other?” Wade asked, looking first at Josie, who seemed increasingly uneasy having Meg and Wade anywhere near each other, then at Meg. “Did you go to college together?” Wade asked Meg bluntly.

  Meg tensed. Abruptly she seemed at a complete loss for words. Color flooded her cheeks. “No, um—”

  “Actually,” Josie interrupted swiftly, sending Meg another follow-my-lead look.

  Meg got Josie’s silent message and backed up. “I’d love to stay and chat but I’ve got my five-year-old son, Jeremy, waiting for me at Jenna’s dress shop. We’re having lunch together before I head to work.” With a merry little wave, she got in her car, slammed the door, and drove off.

  “Funny, she didn’t answer my question,” Wade said, when the dust had cleared. More sure than ever that Josie—and everyone close to her—was hiding something from him, Wade regarded Josie steadily. “So, how did the two of you meet?”

  “A MUTUAL FRIEND introduced us years ago,” Josie said truthfully, though that friend had been her mother.

  Wade’s eyes took on a cynical glint. “Where?”

  In the Corbett Foundation offices, when Meg had come to interview for a nursing school scholarship and Bitsy had asked Josie to sit in. Not only had Meg won it over all the candidates, hands down, Meg and Josie had become fast friends. But Josie didn’t want to tell Wade that, because if she did he’d quickly realize not only that she was one of the Dallas Corbetts and an heiress to boot in her own right, but he might very well remember the old scandal and figure out who her father was, too.

  Josie frowned, making no effort at all to mask her annoyance with his persistent questioning. “What is this?” she said with a levity she couldn’t begin to feel as the two of them squared off under the increasingly hot Texas sun. “The third degree?”

  He shrugged, his powerful shoulders straining against the damp cotton fabric of his shirt. “Just curious. I’ve known Meg a long time. We grew up together. And prior to this the only issue I’ve ever known her to dodge is—”

  “Her son, Jeremy, and who his father is,” Josie supplied quickly.

  “You do know her,” Wade said, impressed, while Josie headed for the nearest spot of shade on the side of one of the trailers.

  Josie drew a deep breath. She knew that was a secret Meg might very well take to her grave. “The way I see it, that’s her business,” Josie retorted calmly. Hers and Jeremy’s. Aware Wade was still watching her far too closely for comfort, Josie decided this was as good a time as any to make a point. She stuck her hands in the pockets of her jeans, rocked back and dug the heels of her boots into the dirt. “I don’t ask questions when none are welcomed.”

  Wade regarded her with a smug, knowing look. “You hinting for me to back off?”

  Josie shrugged. “If the boot fits.”

  Not waiting for him to reply—or heaven forbid ask any more nosy questions—Josie marched off. Once back on the drilling rig platform, she was immediately bombarded with questions from Ernie and Dieter. Josie knew exactly what to do. She started to answer, then—catching sight of Wade—thought better of looking like a know-it-all and called Gus over to confer with them, as well.

  “Mind if I hear this, too?” Wade asked casually.

  What could Josie say to that? It was his land they were standing on, his discovery well they were drilling.

  Josie nodded, swallowing around the unaccustomed tightness in her throat. Ignoring Wade as much as possible, she continued discussing the problem they were having with the drilling mud, and how they might adjust the consistency of it for better results.

  BY THE TIME THEY HAD FINISHED their discussion, some thirty minutes later, and decided on a plan of action, it was very clear to Wade that Josie was as knowledgeable as the three men, and exceedingly practical about the overall financial considerations to boot. He noted with relief that if she had anything to say about what was going on at the site—and she apparently had a lot of input—his discovery well was in good hands.

  Gus looked at Josie as the discussion wrapped up. “Me and the boys’ll get on it right away,” he promised.

  Josie nodded, looking every bit as satisfied as Wade felt with the plan of action they had concocted. “And I’ll take this latest data back to the trailer and enter it into the computers,” she said.

  More curious than ever about the undeniably beautiful tomboy calling the shots, Wade followed her into the trailer. “What is your title again?” Wade asked as Josie sat down at the computer and switched it on. She was pretending to be an entry-level member of the team, but it was clear that her crew was looking to her for direction every bit as much as they were looking to the much more experienced Gus. Which was unusual to say the least, Wade thought.

  “Good question.” Josie shrugged as she booted up the computer. “Normally, I’d
be an administrative assistant or all-round gal Friday to Big Jim. Only he wouldn’t let me go to South America with him and his crew—”

  “That annoyed you, didn’t it?” Wade interrupted, aware from the look on her face that he’d struck a nerve. “That he wouldn’t let you go.”

  Josie scowled, her frustration with the situation apparent. “He said it was no place for a woman.”

  “But you disagreed.”

  Josie opened the file that dealt with drilling mud viscosity and began entering data with a vengeance, her fingers speeding over the keys. “I think I could have managed there just fine.” Her back went rigid and her soft lips clamped together in a stubborn line. “It might have been my first time on a site out of the country or in the jungle, but it wasn’t my first time on a site.”

  And yet, Wade knew, about that much Big Jim may have had a point. “Can’t say I blame him for wanting to protect you,” Wade offered.

  Josie shot him a withering look. Clearly, she did not appreciate him siding with Big Jim. “It was chauvinism, plain and simple,” Josie disagreed bluntly. “But I’m doing fine here, anyway.” She saved her document and switched over to the file recording drilling depths. “I’m just filling in and helping out the rest of the operation—what little of it is left here anyway—as I’m needed in Big Jim’s absence.”

  Wade glanced down at Josie’s notes. “Who’s in the office in Odessa now?”

  “No one.” Finished, Josie swiftly switched over to yet another file, typing in current weather conditions and how those related to the drilling that had been done that week. “All the calls are being automatically forwarded to the site here.”

  That sounded good, except for the fact Wade had a feeling she had totally usurped Big Jim’s authority. What puzzled him was that Gus, who’d been with Big Jim on one job or another almost since the beginning of Big Jim Wyatt’s wildcatting operation, was going along with it. And Wade had to ask himself why. Wade wondered if something had happened to Big Jim. Was it possible Big Jim had been incapacitated in some way down in South America—or even before the majority of Jim’s regular crew headed off down there to work? If so, why wouldn’t they just say so?