“That it wouldn’t work? Yes,” she said. “I could never be happy on a ranch. And you could never be happy anywhere else.”
He sat up, and wished he hadn’t. In the fires of passion, he’d managed to overlook the great throbbing misery of his injuries. Gritting his teeth, Mitch pressed on. “There could be other complications.”
“Such as getting shot?” she guessed.
“That isn’t what I meant.” He didn’t want to spoil this special moment together any more than she did. But she might have to deal with the consequences when he, willingly or not, was long gone. “Has it occurred to you that you might be pregnant?”
Her lips formed a small O. Then she said, “Mitch, I was supposed to get married on Saturday.”
“So?” he said.
“Moose and I wanted to get our marriage established before we had a family,” Kate said. “I’ve been taking birth control pills.”
It was his turn to say, “Oh.”
“So you don’t have to worry about that,” she reassured him.
He wasn’t really worried. In a way, he was sad. A pregnancy would have forged a lifelong link, although, if Chief Novo had his way, Mitch’s life might not last very long.
Because time was short, and because the opportunity might not come again, he wanted to tell Kate that he loved her. If only he could believe it wouldn’t distress her to hear it. “Kate...”
As if eager to cut short the discussion, she tossed back the covers and hopped out of bed. “You have to be hungry. We never did manage to have dinner last night. How about some corned beef hash?”
“I... Fine. Whatever you want.” Regretfully, he watched as she moved toward the bathroom, her nearly transparent nightgown teasing him with little glimpses of flesh along the way.
You’re mine. I’ve claimed you and I’ll never let you go. That was what he wanted to say. But Mitch had to let Kate go, if that was what she wanted.
He had never believed in the selfish proposition that life was meant to be easy. Sometimes joy walked hand in hand with pain. He was grateful for the joy. He just hoped he could bear the pain.
IT WAS HARD to shower in the tiny space. Kate found she had to slip her clothes and towel out the door, lock herself in and then use the entire bathroom as a shower stall.
Thank goodness she’d managed last night, with help from the campers next door, to get hooked up to the park’s electrical connections and water supply. Now a hot spray sluiced over her, luxurious and refreshing.
As she soaped up, Kate still couldn’t believe she had just made love to Mitch. Even more, she couldn’t believe she had no regrets. Surely Moose deserved better treatment than this.
Her shampoo made the whole room smell like honey and clover. As she lathered it in, Kate remembered the song from South Pacific entitled “I’m Going to Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair.”
But exactly which man was she washing out?
Mitch’s sense of honor might make him offer to marry her. Also, Kate knew that he did care for her. But she surely wasn’t the wife he dreamed of, a woman who would happily spend her life lassoing cows and repairing fences.
As for herself, she found Mitch exciting and magical and dashing, all the things a woman dreamed about. But when it came to choosing a husband, Kate needed not an adventurer but a man whose way of living was compatible with her life’s work.
She had heard of people requiring a last fling to remove their doubts. Maybe that was what this whole experience amounted to: preparation for marriage to the right man.
And no matter from which angle she examined the subject, the logical choice was Moose. She would have to confess to him. In turn, she expected him to come clean about his own premarital activities.
It would be a test for them both. But if Moose proved to be the kind of man who loved her enough to forgive, maybe...
Kate finished rinsing out the shampoo and turned off the water. Even in the steamy room, the air felt suddenly cold. But not any colder than reality.
Who was she kidding, anyway? she wondered as she cracked open the door and retrieved a towel. How could she ever be happy with Moose, after what she’d experienced with Mitch?
Still, she had to face the fact that she and Mitch could never make a life together. She was thirty-one years old and she wanted a home and children. To get them, she would have to be practical.
But first, she needed to help save the man she loved from an unjust fate. Whatever it cost, Kate would stay the course until he was proved innocent. She owed him, and her heart, that much.
After that, well, she would have to make some definite decision about Moose. She already had a notion of what that choice would be, but it wasn’t in Kate’s nature to be hasty.
While her fingers were still slick from the shower, she slipped off her engagement ring and tucked it into her cosmetics bag. She could always put it on again later.
THEY TRAVELED EAST to Albuquerque and then northeast, reaching Santa Fe before nightfall. Mitch insisted on driving most of the time, although Kate relieved him occasionally.
They found a spot at a well-appointed RV park in the northern part of town. The desk clerk told them that in another two weeks when the tourist season reached full swing, they’d never have gotten in without a reservation.
Kate ran laundry while Mitch stocked up on groceries and called Information. He returned disgruntled. “I found the number for Pocket Opera but their answering machine says no one will be there until Monday. There wasn’t even an address listed.”
“There must be stores in town that carry musical instruments.” Standing in the middle of the laundry room that adjoined the park office, Kate transferred a load into a dryer. “They should have information about a new opera company.”
“Good idea,” he said, pacing. “I’ll get the yellow pages, and let’s check them out.”
Kate squinted at her watch. The dryness and the seven-thousand-foot altitude, combined with her contact lenses, were making her eyes tear. “At six o’clock on a Saturday night? You really think anybody’d be open?”
“We have to find her!” Red marks stood out where he’d removed his bandages.
“We’re both falling apart,” she stated firmly. “I vote we have dinner.”
Reluctantly, he conceded the point. They soaked in the hot tub while the laundry dried, then grilled fish and vegetables on an outdoor barbecue.
The air filled with aromas from neighboring cookouts as well as their own. As they ate at their picnic table, Kate could hear snatches of conversation in English, German, Spanish and an Asian language she guessed might be Japanese. Soft laughter drifted through the twilight.
For this moment, the residents of this camp formed an informal community. She wished she could meet some of the others and hear their stories.
Mostly, she wished this time could last forever, sitting across from Mitch, watching his enjoyment of their meal, feeling a tingle run through her when their gazes met.
After a while, they carried their dishes inside, then went to collect the laundry. While folding it inside the camper, they kept bumping into each other until finally they gave up, tossed the clothes in the basket and made love.
They never even noticed that they’d forgotten to eat dessert.
ON SUNDAY MORNING, while waiting for the stores to open, Kate and Mitch walked through the town’s scenic central plaza, the heart of the original settlement that dated back to the early 1600s.
It was lined with shops selling artwork and Indian crafts, but Kate was most interested in the Spanish architecture. They strolled by the old cathedral and, a few blocks away, the mission of San Miguel.
Reluctantly, she let Mitch escort her back to the truck. They headed for their first destination, a store selling instruments and sheet music.
The shop was airy, with handmade drums and flutes for sale along with conventional instruments. A bulletin board announced concerts, performances and the upcoming season of the well-established Santa Fe Opera.<
br />
Finally Mitch spotted a small, handwritten notice about auditions for the new company, with an address on Paseo Peralta. He copied the number and they hurried out.
It was easy to locate Paseo Peraha on the map. However, after driving along it for several blocks, they began to find the street numbers confusing.
Kate checked the map again and discovered that the road looped around town. Finding the audition site would be a long, slow process in this heavy traffic.
And so it was. They passed the state capitol, innumerable shops and the post office before they finally discovered the building on the opposite side of town from where they’d started.
The small adobe structure was locked tight, and the parking lot empty. A sheet posted on the door listed the audition schedule for the following day.
L. Blaine would be making her appearance at 2:00 p.m.
AS HE PULLED the pickup into their camping slot and killed the engine, Mitch felt frustration roar inside him.
His cousin was here in this city. At this very moment, she might be window-shopping in the plaza or hanging out at a coffeehouse.
If he drove for just a little longer and looked a little harder, maybe he’d find her. After all, how many people could there be in Santa Fe?
He knew he was kidding himself. First of all, it would be an incredible piece of luck to find Loretta by chance. Secondly, his cousin might be naive but she wasn’t stupid. Whatever reason she’d had for running away, it would be enough to make her lie low in Santa Fe.
Mitch swung down from the cab with his usual carelessness, then fought not to groan aloud. How could his leg still hurt so much when all he’d done was dodge a motorcycle?
Angry at himself for his weakness, Mitch limped around to hold the door for Kate, but she’d already gotten out. Judging by the expression on her face, she hadn’t missed a single wince as he rounded the truck, either.
“I’m a little stiff,” he explained. “I need some exercise.”
“What you need is another soak in the park’s hot tub.” Her glare cut off his protest. “You’re not going to do yourself or Loretta any good if you let pride turn you into an invalid.”
To his surprise, Mitch didn’t want to argue. The thought of the whirlpool spa was too tempting.
And he wanted to spend time with Kate. Not just making love, much as he relished that experience, but talking and being together.
The irony, he reflected as he unlocked the camper and stood back to let her inside, was that in his rush to clear his name, he was also hastening the moment when he would lose Kate forever.
Might lose Kate forever, he amended, gritting his teeth and climbing the camper’s rear steps. He wasn’t ready to write off the possibility that when she visited the High C, when she saw its raw beauty and how much Mitch belonged there, she might decide to stay.
Grandma Luisa had given up an opera career to marry Sam Connery. Mitch knew such ideas were old-fashioned and, besides, there was some truth to the story that Grandma had been fleeing tyranny in her homeland.
But if true love had once conquered all, surely it could happen again.
In the camper, Kate pulled her suitcase from beneath the couch and rummaged through it until she found her swimsuit. Then she eyed Mitch before saying, “I don’t suppose I need to change in the bathroom any more, do I?”
“Not unless you’re hiding something I haven’t seen yet,” he drawled.
She chuckled, closed the blinds and began unbuttoning her blouse. Mitch knew he ought to get out his own swimsuit, but he was enjoying watching her. She glanced up, caught his eye and turned an intriguing shade of pink.
That was the nice thing about blondes, he reflected. They couldn’t hide their blushes. On the other hand, Kate was one of the few grown women around who still had the delicacy to blush at all.
“I think I could live without an audience,” she said.
“Do I detect a note of sarcasm?” Mitch angled himself against the counter and waited.
“Maybe I will go in the bathroom.”
“You’ll have to pass me first,” he taunted.
She tried to frown, but it didn’t take. “You planning on going in the water with your clothes on?”
“I thought, seeing as I’m so crippled, you might help me take them off,” he murmured.
She slanted him a pixyish grin. “I’m not real good with belt buckles, as you might recall.”
“I figured I could handle that part.”
“Let’s see you do it, then.” She planted her hands on her hips and tapped one foot meaningfully. Madam Principal.
Mitch shifted his hips suggestively as he pretended to fumble with the clasp. His leg was hurting again, but he ignored it.
He gave the buckle a couple of halfhearted tugs. “Oh, darn, Miss Bingham. Could you help me?”
She burst out laughing. “You’re incorrigible!”
“Is that one of them big-city words?” he teased.
“That’s one of them lawyer words!” she returned. “And I ought to sue you for fraud!”
He feigned wide-eyed innocence. “But ma’am, I really can’t seem to get it unfastened.”
“Oh?” He could have sworn he saw a twinkle in her eye as she undid the rest of her buttons. “Gee, then I guess you can’t do anything about this.”
Slowly she slipped off her blouse, revealing the round tops of her breasts above a lacy black bra. Mitch’s body got hard in what must have been record time.
Now he really wasn’t sure he could get the belt off without a struggle.
“Or this.” She unsnapped her jeans and lowered the zipper slowly, tooth by tooth. Black satin panties peeked at him.
When had his hands gotten damp? Annoyed at himself, Mitch yanked on the buckle in earnest. His action seemed to rouse its stubborn tendencies, and instead of coming loose, the metal prong burrowed tighter into the leather.
“I guess you’re what the kids might call NATO—No Action, Talk Only,” Kate taunted as she lowered her jeans with a mocking wiggle.
“It’s stuck.” Mitch couldn’t recall when he’d been so frustrated. “I think it’s got a mind of its own.”
“Your belt?” she challenged. “Or are you referring to something else?”
He wanted to claim he would make her pay for that remark. But threats could only make him look even more ridiculous as he gave the belt another yank and his traitorous hands slipped on the tooled surface.
Reaching behind her to unhook the bra, Kate leaned forward and displayed the inviting valley between her breasts. “I guess I’ll just have to put on my swimsuit all by myself, then. You having fun over there?”
Mitch was contemplating grabbing a kitchen knife and slicing through his belt when he felt the prong slip ever so slightly. The darn thing did have a mind of its own, he decided in amazement. It must have read his thoughts and decided to yield out of pure selfpreservation.
His lips curving in anticipation, he unworked the buckle. It took about thirty milliseconds for the rest of his clothes to hit the floor before he strode across the room and caught Kate still struggling with an errant bra snap.
“Let me help you with that.” While her hands were busy behind her back, he lowered her sideways onto the couch and pulled the bra down to bare her breasts.
“Mitch! I’m not finished—”
“Don’t let me distract you.” Bending over her, he cupped her breasts in his hands and caught them with his lips. Her skin smelled like flowers.
Her breathing quickened and, finished with the bra, she reached for him. Mitch’s entire being came to a white-hot point, but he enjoyed the agonizing delay as his mouth met hers and their tongues entwined.
It struck him that Kate had discovered her sexuality with a vengeance. Heaven knew, he was certainly learning new things about his own responsiveness every time they made love.
She released him suddenly and scooted back a few inches. Mitch was about to lean over her when she sat up and, with a twist of pre
ssure on his chest, pushed him down and swung astride.
Her tongue ran down his throat and across his chest, touching each of his nipples and then straying lower. Much as he had enjoyed mastering her, he discovered now that it was even more fun to let her torment and tantalize him.
Mitch couldn’t believe a woman so inexperienced could be so daring. She caught him in her mouth and he thought for a moment he might explode.
His heart was pounding so hard Kate must surely have heard it, because she lifted her head to regard him with astonishment. “You’re almost ready?” she said.
“What do you mean, almost?” The words tore from his throat.
Delight flashed in her eyes as she mounted him. One hard push sent him soaring almost to heaven.
He had to hold on. He had to make this good for her, too, but his need was so intense it bordered on painful.
Wriggling against him so her breasts danced across his chest, Kate moved cautiously along his shaft. He couldn’t bear it, couldn’t wait, had to propel himself into her so hard that she gasped.
Mitch knew he ought to stop, but a primal force greater than his will powered him onward. Kate answered his thrusts with her own, and abruptly he realized that she was crying out with a sheer joyous ache that matched his own.
A golden light pulsed through his body and he let the groans rip from him as his need erupted. Above him, Kate’s movements speeded up, and then she shuddered for a long wonderful moment.
She slid down beside him and Mitch held her close.
After a long while, they showered together, found their swimsuits and made their way to the hot tub.
It was secluded among some bushes and, to Mitch’s relief, mercifully empty. He was in no mood to make idle conversation with strangers when all he wanted to do was look at Kate.
Across from him, she stretched her arms along the rim and leaned back, luxuriating in the heat. The onepiece suit outlined the soft mounds of her breasts and, in the steam, wisps of hair clung to her cheeks.
Yearning spread through him to see her in a thousand unstudied poses, from the moment she slid out of bed in the morning until she removed her contact lenses at night. He wanted to watch her at the ranch, enjoying a pancake breakfast, giving orders to the hired hands, perhaps nursing an orphaned calf.
The Cowboy & The Shotgun Bride (The Brides of Grazer's Corners #1) Page 15
