by Diana Palmer
He touched her soft mouth and smiled. “Lariat was more farm than ranch when my great-great-grandfather settled here in southern Texas. He invested in longhorns, and that tradition carried on until my grandfather started crossbreeding longhorns with Santa Gertrudis and Aberdeen Angus. Those crossbreeds have been money in the bank, and we’re getting stronger every year. I expect to make Lariat pay, to fulfill the dreams of generations of Hollisters. To build a small empire here.” His eyes glittered. “I want a son to come after me, to carry on the tradition. Several sons and daughters would be even better. Hollisters to hold Lariat and look after it when I’m gone.”
She shivered. “And...if you don’t have children?”
“Oh, I’ll have children,” he said without a flicker of doubt. He smiled at her. He bent to her mouth. “You’ll give them to me when you’ve had your taste of freedom and you’re ready to settle down. We’ll make them in my bed, the way we started out this afternoon, with your body joining itself to mine in the heat of lovemaking. You and I are going to make a lot of babies...!” His mouth bit hungrily into hers. He put out the cigarette, and both arms went around her, lifting her against him while his hard mouth burned into hers until she moaned.
He felt her mouth open for him. His tongue went inside, gently probing and then rhythmically thrusting until she shuddered.
Then he lifted his head and held her away from him, his gaze possessive, arrogant. “If you want it again, you’re going to have to marry me for it,” he said huskily. “Think about that when you’re back in your own bed in San Antonio. Now let’s take that walk.”
He lit a cigarette coolly before he caught her fingers in his and led her along to the corrals, his deep voice intoxicating as he explained his new breeding program to her and what it would mean financially.
Beside him, Bess felt her knees wobbling. This wasn’t fair. He was using her own hunger against her to trap her into marriage. It would have been the most wonderful thing in the world, because she loved him so desperately and he did care about her somehow. But for his sake, she had to resist. Her job would keep her busy in the daytime. But how was she going to survive the nights, now that she knew how sweet Cade’s hands and mouth could be?
* * *
ALL TOO SOON she and Gussie said their goodbyes and left Lariat. Bess threw herself back into her job. The ad presentation she’d been working on was finalized, with a few minor alterations, and shown to the client. He wanted one other minor change, and Bess was finally through.
“You did a great job,” Julie Terrell said with a hug when she, Nell and Bess were back in Julie’s office after the client had left. “Imagine getting all that done while you were recuperating from an accident.”
“And they say there are no heroes left.” Nell grinned wickedly. “The Times must hear of this. I’ll phone them collect.”
“You do and I’ll give their gossip columnist the juiciest kind of tidbit about you and an unnamed but extremely sexy older man you’ve got your eye on,” Julie threatened the brunette.
Nell cleared her throat. “On second thought I do believe I have some new figures to work up. Good job, Bess. See you.” She backed herself out of the office.
“We really should doll her up for the employees’ barbecue in June and fling her at Mr. Ryker’s feet,” Bess mused.
“An excellent idea, Miss Samson,” Julie returned. “This unrequited affair can’t be allowed to go on. We have to save Nell from certain spinsterhood.”
“I’ll do my part.” Bess stretched, her muscles sore from all the sitting. “It’s so nice to be back to work. The flowers you all sent were lovely.”
“So you’ve said, several dozen times.” Julie chuckled. “They were our pleasure. We wanted to come and see you, but your Mr. Hollister wouldn’t let anybody in. From what we hear, even Mr. Ryker was denied admittance.” She grinned at Bess’s wild color. “Didn’t you know? I thought the aforesaid Mr. Hollister didn’t have any designs on you...?”
“Actually we got engaged while I was at Lariat,” Bess said, finally giving up her most precious secret.
“Congratulations! We’ll have to have a party.”
“Not yet,” Bess pleaded. “It’s still hard for me to get used to the idea, and Cade hasn’t given up trying to bulldoze me to the altar. I just want a little time.” She lowered her eyes. “There’s something he doesn’t know.”
“Care to tell a new friend who’s first cousin to several clams?” Julie asked. “I know something’s been on your mind since you’ve been back. But you’re like me—a very private person. I hesitated to ask if you wanted to talk.”
“I need to talk to somebody.” Bess sighed. “I can’t tell my mother. Even though we’re better friends now than we were, she tells everything she knows. And there isn’t anybody else.” She sat down heavily. “I’m barren,” she blurted out. “The accident did some internal damage, and now I can’t have a child.”
“Oh, Bess.” Julie sat down in the chair next to her, holding her hand tightly. “I’m so sorry. But if your Mr. Hollister still wants to marry you...”
“He doesn’t know.” She lifted tormented eyes. “I’m afraid to tell him. I don’t know how to tell him. He’s one of those old-line dynasty founders. He wants to leave Lariat to his sons to build on. How can I tell him that there won’t ever be sons, or daughters for that matter?”
“Does he love you?” the older woman asked.
Bess shrugged. “He wants me,” she said. “And in his way he cares about me. I’m not sure he knows what love is. If he loves me, he’s never told me.” Not even, she thought, at that moment of supreme intimacy. She colored, remembering.
“Some men have a hard time saying the words,” Julie said. “That doesn’t mean he doesn’t feel them. You might give him the chance to decide for himself.”
“If I do that, I’ve lost him forever.” Her eyes closed. “I’m trying to work up the courage, but every time I think I’ve got it, I draw back. He’s going to hate me.”
“Worrying about it is going to make it worse,” she pointed out. “He might surprise you and not react at all.”
“That would be a surprise, all right. You don’t know Cade. I do.” She stared down at her lap. “I’m such a coward.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” Julie replied. “Is there any way I can help?”
Bess shook her head. “But thank you for listening. It helped just to get it out in the open. I’d better get back to work.”
Julie walked with her to the door. “I’m always here if you need someone to listen,” she said, smiling. “But whatever you decide to do, don’t wait too long.”
“No. I won’t. If I...marry Cade, can I go on working here?” she asked.
“You idiot,” Julie’s mouth pulled down at one corner. “Do I look like the kind of boss who discriminates? I mean, look around, I’ve actually hired men to work here!”
Bess burst out laughing and walked off down the hall, shaking her head.
Three weeks had gone by, and there hadn’t been a word from Cade. Gussie heard from Elise, who said that the boys were busy with moving the cattle to summer pasture and finishing the roundup, but there wasn’t much news otherwise. Nothing specific about Cade, except that he was going to be competing in the San Antonio rodeo. Bess was sure that he’d come to see her while he was in town. It was still a couple of weeks away. She started planning what she was going to wear, and every night she dreamed about how it would be to see him again, to hear his voice, to touch him.
Only the ring on her finger was left to remind her of what had happened between them. She kissed it hungrily, drowning in her love for him. At least she had that one, sweet memory of him. Now, if she just had the courage not to give in to the aching desire to marry him. If she could just convince him that she didn’t want to give up her job. She sighed. If only she coul
d fly.
The long nights at her apartment were full of erotic dreams of Cade and nightmares about losing him forever. She didn’t sleep well at all. Her most vivid memory was of Cade’s careless kiss and confident, mocking smile just before she and Gussie had driven back to San Antonio from Lariat. Cade seemed to be sure that she wouldn’t be able to stand it for long without him. He was right. By the end of the fourth week she was in agony with frustration and loneliness.
Gussie had been at work, too. She stopped by the apartment to see Bess, aglow with her success and enthusiastic about her widowed business partner.
“It’s very exciting, working for a living,” Gussie said enthusiastically as they sat in the small kitchen in Bess’s apartment and drank coffee.
Her mother even looked different, she thought, from the smart tailored suits to the very elegant short hairdo. Her mother had become a real dish. No more flamboyant clothes, no more ultra-young hair styles. Gussie was acting her age, and doing it with chic sophistication. She seemed to have grown up, like her daughter.
“I meant to call you last week, but they’ve given me a new assignment and I’m going crazy,” Bess confessed. “What can you say about ballpoint pens that hasn’t been said twenty thousand times?”
“You’ll think of something,” Gussie said confidently. “If I could find a job for a former marine gunnery officer with a yen to be a singer, believe me, you can advertise something to write with.”
Bess’s eyebrows lifted. “What did you find him a job doing?”
Gussie grinned. “Working for one of those singing telegram companies.”
Bess threw up her hands. “Well, if I ever need a job, you’re going to be the first person I go to see,” she returned. She sipped her coffee, eyeing her mother. “Isn’t it wild?” she asked softly. “Here we are, rich women with cultured lifestyles, out on our own for the first time. And we’re making it, by the sweat of our own brows.”
“Thanks to you,” Gussie acknowledged. “If you hadn’t made me open my eyes, I’d still be out there sponging on my old friends.” She hid her face in her beautifully manicured hands. “My gosh, I can’t believe I imposed like that on them. I never thought I was such a selfish woman until Frank died and I saw myself the way others were seeing me.”
“You were just lonely and afraid,” Bess said, touching the older woman’s arm gently. “So was I. We had to find our feet, but we did.”
“Indeed we did.” Gussie’s eyes warmly approved her daughter’s neat pantsuit and elegant coiffure. “If Cade could see you like this,” she mused.
Bess flushed and lowered her eyes. “I’m trying not to think about Cade.”
“Why? Darling, he cares about you so much. If you could have seen him when you were in the hospital,” she added urgently, “you’d know how much he cares. It was what really changed my mind about him. I knew then that he’d never use you to try to get back at me, or for any other reason. I felt as sorry for him as I did for myself.”
“He felt responsible,” Bess replied. “Maybe he still does. He isn’t a loving man. He’s self-sufficient and very independent. He wants me, Mama, but that isn’t love.”
“For men it sometimes suffices,” Gussie said gently. “Anyway, it will work out all by itself eventually. Meanwhile you just have a good time being your own boss for a while. Without any well-meaning help from me and Cade,” she said, grinning.
Bess got up and hugged her warmly. “I love you, warts and all,” she said, kissing the blond hair. “Now let’s go and watch that new entertainment program and you can tell me about your partner.”
The new partner was Jess Davis, and to hear Gussie talk, he was Superman on the side. It was pleasant to know that the older woman had found someone she could enjoy spending time with, enjoy working with. So far it was only a business relationship—Gussie made that very clear. But Bess had her suspicions, even though she was pretty sure that Gussie would take her time before she made any commitments. She’d loved Frank Samson, despite her faults. She still hadn’t quite gotten over his death, at least not enough to be considering marriage so soon afterward.
Bess had hoped that Gussie knew something about Cade and how he was doing, but she didn’t. It bothered Bess that Cade hadn’t called or written. She’d expected that he would. Perhaps he’d expected her to make the first move. But it seemed as if she always made the first move these days, and now her hands were tied. It would be better for both of them if he let the engagement slide and didn’t try to step it up. But it hurt Bess that he’d seemed not to care anymore. Unless it had been guilt on his part all along, and now that Bess was back at work and out of sight, perhaps he didn’t feel guilty anymore.
She was sitting in her office late on a Friday afternoon, over six weeks after she’d left Lariat, when the door opened and she looked up from a mechanical she was finalizing, straight into Cade Hollister’s dark eyes.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
IT WAS LIKE holding a bare electric wire, Bess thought, meeting that level stare. Like being caught in an electrical field. Jolts ran through her body, stiffened her, pushed her pulse rate up, quickened her breathing. Her body reacted to him immediately, her lips parting, her breasts swelling, her stomach tightening at just the sight of him. He was wearing gray slacks with a muted gray-and-beige-plaid jacket, matching gray boots and Stetson, and he looked like an ad for a Western cologne. Her heart fed on him, dark-faced, somber, his powerful body unconsciously sensuous as he moved toward her, closing the door quietly behind him.
“It’s been six weeks,” he said without giving her a chance to say anything. His eyes ran over her gray pantsuit with the tiny white camisole top under it, the upswept elegance of her honey-brown hair in its coiffure, the white flower tucked in over her ear. She looked lovely. Radiant. “Are you pregnant?” he asked bluntly.
Her breath was stuck in her throat, along with any words she might have found to answer him. She was sure that she wasn’t pregnant, although she was later than usual in her monthly rhythm. But the long weeks without Cade had melted her resolve, left her weak and wanting. She tingled all over with the need to run into his arms, to kiss him until they were both breathless, to rip open his shirt and run her hands through the thick hair on his chest. Her own hunger shocked her.
“I don’t know,” she blurted out, flushing.
He took off his Stetson and dropped it into a chair, apparently unruffled by her reply. “Good. We’ll get married and find out later,” he said, half under his breath. His eyes glittered as he stared down at her from a scant few feet. “My God, come here!” he said, holding out his arms.
She got up from her chair even as he reached for her. He pressed her hungrily against him, and his hard mouth bit into hers with exquisite ferocity. She melted into him, no protest left, praying that her deception wouldn’t be found out until he was as hopelessly in love as she was. Her mouth opened eagerly under his, bringing again the agonizing pleasure she remembered so well as his tongue thrust deep inside her mouth and her body clenched at the motion.
She moaned, and one lean hand slid down her body to arch her hips into the fierce arousal of his. She clung to him, giving him back the kiss as ardently as he offered it, drowning in him.
Neither of them heard the door open. But a soft, amused sound penetrated the fog of desire. Cade lifted his head, but he didn’t let go of Bess or relinquish his tight hold on her.
Nell stood there, grinning wickedly as she glanced from Bess to Cade. “Well, when you two say ‘Thank God, it’s Friday,’ you mean it, don’t you?” She cleared her throat. “Just thought I’d mention the company picnic Sunday afternoon, if you can manage.”
“I’ll do my best,” Bess said huskily, still trying to catch her breath. “Did Julie give you what we bought for you?”
“The dress, you mean?” Nell shifted restlessly. “Well, it won’t work.
I mean, Mr. Ryker could have anybody he wanted, and I’m just small fry...”
“You’re a knockout,” Bess returned. “And he’s human. You just wear that dress, smile at him and let nature take care of itself. By the way,” she added, “he doesn’t think women are attracted to him.”
“That’s helpful.” Nell glanced up at Cade. “Uh, I’d better get going. Have a nice weekend.” She stifled a giggle. “See you Monday if I don’t see you Sunday.”
“Yes.” Bess felt Cade’s breath on her mouth as the door closed and she looked up to see a devastating look in his dark eyes. “She’s sweet on Mr. Ryker,” she said falteringly.
“I’m sweet on you,” he murmured. His teeth nipped lovingly at her lower lip, tugging it gently. “God, six weeks is too long, Bess.”
“I know.” She stretched up against him, pulling his head down. “Kiss me,” she whispered into his mouth. “I want to suffocate under your mouth...oh!”
The words had kindled his own hunger into a wild flame. He brought her even closer, his mind wavering while he tried to decide how much trouble they could get in if he pushed her back onto the desk and let nature take its course.
“We’ve got to stop or lock the door, honey,” he said unsteadily, lifting his dark head with obvious reluctance. “There is such a thing as the point of no return, and we’re standing on it.”
Her hands slid down his hard arms with pure possession. “How soon are you going to marry me?” she asked, pushing the reasons against it to the back of her mind in the delicious joy of belonging to him and knowing he belonged to her.
“My God, how soon can I?” he asked. “According to the law, it’ll take three days, I guess.” He pressed his forehead against hers. “Monday we’ll start the ball rolling. We’ll get married on Thursday. You do get a lunch hour?” he asked huskily.
“Of course.”
“It will have to be a small wedding. No fanfare. No bridesmaids,” he warned.
