The Colton Bodyguard

by Carla Cassidy

  He shrugged. “I just felt like it. I said I’d wait for you to invite me into bed, but I didn’t promise I wouldn’t ever kiss you again. That was just a prelude to the kiss I’d like to give you when we have a little more privacy.”

  “Shut up,” she replied. She didn’t even want to think about his kisses. She pointed down to her dusty black cowboy boots. “Don’t forget the little friend that rides in my boot. I’m an armed and dangerous woman.”

  He laughed, obviously pleased that he’d got a rise out of her.

  “I’ll warn you that watching me work is going to get boring very quickly,” she said in an effort to get the conversation back on the matter at hand. She wanted to focus on Sugar, not the hot sugar he offered her with one of his kisses.

  “Trust me, I don’t find watching you do anything boring,” he replied.

  “Then you haven’t known me long enough,” she replied and opened the gate and entered the corral.

  As she expected, Sugar moved to the far side of the corral, putting as much distance as possible between herself and Greta. “Hey, girl. Hey, Sugar,” Greta called out, and with that she let all thoughts of anything else except the tormented horse fall away.

  * * *

  Tyler’s attention was torn between watching Greta with the horse and any activity by another human being near the corral.

  Once again he was struck by Greta’s gracefulness as she walked the perimeter of the corral, forcing Sugar to keep moving in order to maintain distance between them.

  Sometimes she walked slowly and then would increase her pace. At times she stopped completely and stood still in the center of the small enclosure. She spoke sweetly and softly to Sugar and then would yell unexpectedly. It was almost always the same words. “Hey, girl. Hey, Sugar. We’re going to be friends.”

  While Tyler still entertained more than a small dose of lust for her, he realized he also wanted to be her friend. She was surrounded by chaos, facing danger, and yet she seemed to be refreshingly uncomplicated. There wasn’t an ounce of drama queen in her and he’d known more than his share of drama queens.

  He felt at ease with her, as if he didn’t have to be anything but himself. He’d spent so many years forcing himself to be a CEO and boss in the boardroom and a smooth and polished partner for charity events. Away from that world he was discovering parts of himself that had lain dormant for far too long.

  He jerked his gaze to the left and his hand fell to the butt of his gun as he saw somebody approaching in his peripheral vision. He relaxed when he saw it was Jack. His shaggy dark brown hair was hidden beneath a black cowboy hat. His piercing green eyes pinned Tyler in place.

  “Tyler,” he said in greeting.

  “Good morning, Jack,” Tyler replied.

  Jack looked at Sugar. “Nice piece of horseflesh,” he said.

  “We’ll see if your sister can work her magic,” Tyler replied. He had a feeling Jack wasn’t here to talk about Sugar or Greta’s training skills.

  “Greta does have the magic touch,” Jack replied. “What are you doing with her?”

  Tyler turned and eyed the man. “Is this a ‘what are your intentions toward my sister’ conversation?”

  “Maybe.” Jack shoved his hands in his pockets. “Your brother certainly wasn’t much of a stand-up kind of guy.”

  “I’m not my brother,” Tyler replied with a hint of coolness. “And if you really want to know what my intentions are with your sister, I’m not going to blow smoke up your behind. At this point the only thing I can tell you is that I like her and I like spending time with her, but I also want to make sure she stays safe. She was attacked in my home and I feel personally responsible for that and for her.”

  Jack held his gaze for a long moment and then grunted as if in satisfaction. “I never did much like anyone blowing smoke anywhere,” he replied.

  “I know you all have jobs around here and can’t keep an eye on Greta every time she peeks her head outside the house. I also know that she’s a woman who won’t be relegated to spending days on end inside the house.” Tyler placed a hand on the butt of his gun. “I can keep my sole focus on her while I’m here.”

  Jack glanced down at Tyler’s gun. “Have you ever shot that thing?”

  Tyler sighed in frustration. “What is it about you Coltons that you think just because I wear a business suit during the day that I don’t know how to shoot a gun?”

  Jack pulled his hands from his pockets. “Just asking, that’s all.”

  “Trust me, I know how to shoot and I wouldn’t hesitate using my gun to protect Greta from anyone who might want to harm her.”

  Once again Jack eyed Tyler. “Then it’s good to have you here. I’ll see you at dinner tonight. My wife, Tracy, and our son, Seth, plan to eat at the big house this evening.”

  “Then I look forward to meeting the rest of your family,” Tyler replied.

  With a nod of his head, Jack turned on the heels of his boots and headed away from the corral. Tyler watched him go and felt as if he’d just passed the big-brother-Colton test.

  He turned his attention back to the tall, slender woman who now stood in the center of the corral, one hand outstretched with big, thick carrots on her palm.

  Sugar stood some distance from her, as still as Greta as they eyed each other. Tyler could swear that they were communicating with each other through eye contact or some sort of psychic connection.

  They remained in those positions for at least twenty minutes and finally Greta dropped her hand to her side and came back to the gate.

  “She didn’t go for the carrots,” he said as Greta left the corral.

  “I didn’t expect her to,” Greta replied. “Probably not today and possibly not tomorrow, but eventually, her curiosity will overcome her fear and she’ll take the carrots from me. I saw you talking to Jack. Did he give you a hard time?”

  “It was a big-brother moment,” Tyler replied. “He wanted to know my intentions toward you.”

  She winced. “Sorry about that.”

  “Don’t be. I’d be concerned if I were in his position. It appears I’m living under Mark’s shadow.”

  “Mark didn’t cast a shadow big enough for you to live under,” she scoffed as they headed back to the house. “None of my brothers know how often I thought about calling off the wedding plans over the last couple of months.”

  “Then why didn’t you?”

  She stopped walking and frowned. “For the first time in as long as I can remember, my mother was happy. She and I were sharing a new kind of relationship...closer...warmer, as we planned the wedding. I didn’t want to ruin things for her.”

  “So you were willing to sacrifice yourself for your mother’s happiness?” he asked.

  “I guess the way things turned out, I’ll never know.” She continued walking. “After lunch I’ll work again with Sugar.”

  “And what do you plan to do between now and lunchtime?” he asked.

  “Do you play chess?” she asked.

  He grinned. “There’s nothing I like better than capturing a queen.”

  Minutes later they were in the basement seated at a table with a chessboard between them. “My dad taught me how to play chess when I was twelve,” he said, a bit of nostalgia filling his heart as he remembered those special times with his father.

  She looked at him intently. “You miss him.”

  “I do,” he replied. “There was so much more he could have taught me about being a boss, about being a man and what it takes to be a father.”

  “You want children?” she asked.

  “Definitely. Ideally, I’d like at least a son and a daughter. What about you?”

  “I want children. The more, the merrier,” she replied and made her first move on the chessboard.

  He made a return move, imagining what their children might look like. He’d want them to have her dark hair and maybe his blue eyes. He’d want them to possess his business sense and her inner strength, his sense of responsibi
lity and her love of the outdoors and soft heart. They’d be terrific kids.

  “Tyler? It’s your move,” she said, interrupting the crazy thoughts that had momentarily danced through his head. At the moment he had no plans to marry Greta, let alone have children with her.

  “By the way, what are we playing for?” he asked as he made his next move.

  “For fun,” she replied.

  “Oh no, there has to be a prize,” he protested. She eyed him warily. “A kiss. If I win, then I get a kiss. If you win, then you get a kiss.”

  She laughed and shook her head. “Then it’s a win-win situation for you.”

  “And for you,” he returned, making her laugh once again.

  “Okay,” she agreed with the light of challenge in her eyes. “A kiss it is, then, but the most important thing is who wins the game,” she replied, displaying a competitive nature that he found totally hot.

  Tyler quickly learned that Greta had a teasing, sexy side to her that she pulled out as he tried to focus on the game. She flipped her hair and ran a finger over her lower lip, a wicked glint in her eyes that told him she knew she was being a flirty distraction.

  Tyler was competitive, but it quickly became obvious that she was an intelligent player, and he found that as sexy as anything else she was doing.

  “Checkmate,” she said in triumph.

  Tyler stared at the board in disbelief. “You cheated,” he exclaimed.

  “You know I didn’t,” she replied vigorously.

  “Yes, you did,” he protested. “You cheated by distracting me with your beautiful face and with the way your sweater makes your eyes so green. You distracted me by subtly flirting with me.”

  She laughed. “Now you’re just making excuses for losing. I beat you fair and square.”

  “Okay, I concede,” he relented. “You won fair and square and now it’s time for me to take my punishment.” He stood and walked around the table to where she sat.

  She raised her face as if in anticipation of another peck on the cheek. There was no way he would be satisfied with a mere peck. He’d had that earlier in the day and it had only made him hungry for a different kind of kiss.

  He took her hand and pulled her to a standing position and then wrapped her in his arms. Her eyes darkened in hue just before he took her lips with his.

  She stood perfectly still for a moment, but when he deepened the kiss by pulling her more firmly against him and swirling his tongue with hers, she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into him.

  Kissing Greta was like nothing he’d ever experienced before. Her mouth was sweet and hot and stoked a hunger inside him for more. He had a feeling if he kissed Greta a thousand times, it wouldn’t be enough... It would never be enough.

  She broke the kiss, dropping her arms from around his neck and wiggling out of his embrace. She took two steps back from him as if afraid he might grab her up in his arms again.

  “Another game?” he asked, eager to repeat what they’d just shared.

  “Definitely not,” she replied, her gaze not meeting his. “I think I’ll go up and check in with my mother before lunch. Feel free to turn on the television and make yourself comfortable.”

  Tyler watched her go, his blood heated as he wondered if she’d ever come to him for lovemaking again. He’d told her he wouldn’t invite her to share his bed again, that the next time they made love, it would be because she initiated it.

  He almost wished he were the kind of man who broke promises, who went back on his words. He realized that as much as he desired her, he needed even more badly for her to want him.

  Chapter 9

  Greta stood in the center of the small corral, her hand outstretched with carrots on her palm. Although she kept her gaze focused on Sugar, her head was filled with Tyler and that kiss.

  That kiss had shaken her to her very core, had reminded her of how wonderful it was to be in Tyler’s arms, how magical it had been making love with him.

  It was her own fault. She had agreed to the silly terms of the chess game. She’d known it would end in a kiss, but she hadn’t expected the fire of desire to roar through her so viscerally.

  Last night at dinner he’d continued to charm the family, including Jack’s pregnant wife, Tracy, and their five-year-old son, Seth. Seth always lightened any meal with his easy laughter, and Tyler had told several fun stories of his youth in an effort to bond with the little boy.

  Tyler was in her head, but he was also making headway into her heart, and that scared her. She definitely had some trust issues where Tyler was concerned, issues she knew came from her relationship with Mark and her uncertainty as to what exactly Tyler wanted from her.

  The warm, charming man who so far fit so seamlessly into her family and whom she’d always viewed as a businessman with ice in his veins. She knew Mark and Tyler shared a contentious relationship. Was it any wonder that she had trust issues where Tyler was concerned?

  The one thing she was certain of was that he had her back. She had no doubt that he’d do whatever he could to keep her safe from harm. Each time she glanced at him, his hand was on the butt of his gun and his gaze scanned the surroundings. She definitely felt as if he had become her personal bodyguard.

  All thoughts of Tyler shot out of her head as Sugar took two tentative steps closer to her. The horse was still a good fifteen feet away, but those two steps were progress.

  “Come on, girl. Come and see what I have for you. Drop those defenses and trust me,” she said aloud.

  The two remained in their positions for the next half an hour, and finally, Greta dropped her hand and moved to the gate, where Tyler awaited her.

  “Did you see her?” Greta asked in excitement. “She came closer.”

  “I saw. Do you have any idea how beautiful you look with your cheeks pink from the cold and happiness sparkling in your eyes?”

  She felt her cheeks warm. “You have to stop saying things like that to me.”

  “Why? I thought women liked compliments.”

  “I feel like you’re trying to seduce me.” Her cheeks grew even hotter.

  “I am. Isn’t that what men do when they desire a woman?”

  He looked so handsome in his jeans and long-sleeved black shirt. His light brown hair was slightly mussed by the breeze and his cheeks were slightly reddened by the cold.

  “You’re going to a lot of trouble for sex,” she replied and looked down at the ground.

  He placed a hand beneath her chin and gently nudged her face up so he could meet her gaze. “This isn’t all about sex, Greta. I can’t tell you what it’s all about, but I know it’s about more than just sex.”

  She searched his eyes, looking for a lie, but found none there. “You’re just so different than I always thought you were.”

  She started walking toward the house and he fell into step beside her. “Different how?”

  “Warmer, more human. You live alone in a big house and have a reputation for being a bit of a shark. You always seemed like an island, perfectly satisfied in your own company and not needing anything but your business world. Whenever I was around you with Mark, you always acted like you didn’t even like me.”

  “I liked you too much. That’s why I had to keep my distance from you. I’ll admit that when I’m at work, I have to be the man in charge. I have to be confident and strong and make tough decisions. That’s part of who I am, but it certainly isn’t all that I am.”

  He grasped her arm to halt their progress before they reached the door to go inside. “When I get home to my big house, it resounds with a silence that is unnatural and has become increasingly uncomfortable. I’m thirty-two years old. I’m at a place in my life where I want to fill that silence with a woman’s voice, with the sound of laughter and meaningful talks.” He released his hold on her arm.

  “You said you came close to getting married once. Tell me about that woman.” His words had touched Greta, but he hadn’t said that the woman he wanted to fill his silence
was her.

  He looked around where they stood. “Why don’t we go inside and we can talk more.”

  She nodded her agreement and a few minutes later they were back in the basement, Greta seated in a chair and Tyler on the sofa across from her.

  “Her name was Michelle,” he said, picking up the conversation where they’d left off. “She was beautiful and bright. She was socially polished and would have made a perfect corporate wife. We dated for several months and then I asked her to marry me and she agreed. We were engaged for a month when she broke it off.”

  “Were you heartbroken?” Greta asked, remembering that he’d asked her the same thing when he’d learned that she and Mark weren’t together.

  “Initially, I was a bit hurt, but then I realized I’d picked her with my head, not my heart. I liked her, I admired many things about her, but I wasn’t in love with her. I’ve never been in love. I don’t know what love feels like, but I realized quickly that it wasn’t what I had with Michelle.”

  “I thought I knew what love was,” Greta said, thinking of those early months with Mark. “But I was so wrong. Mark was my first real relationship, and as you know, that didn’t go so well.”

  “We both dodged a bullet,” he replied.

  “It would seem so,” she agreed. She just didn’t know if Tyler was another bullet she needed to dodge.

  The day passed much as it had the day before. Lunch was pleasant and then Greta returned to the corral to work with Sugar. She remained in the corral for two hours and several times Tyler received calls on his cell phone.

  She assumed they were business calls and guilt suffused her, as she knew that she was keeping him from his work at Stanton Oil. But when she finally left the corral and mentioned it to him, he assured her that everything was running smoothly without him and there was no reason for him to leave the Colton ranch to go back to Oklahoma City and his office.

  Dinner was also pleasant. Her mother chatted about her big plans for the Thanksgiving Day event, showing an animation that was surprising yet wonderful. Brett and Big J talked about various ranching topics and Tyler added to the conversation by asking questions about the family business that entertained Greta’s father.