The Cowboy and the Bride

by Thomas, Marin

  “Daddy says Mommy had brown hair like me.” Annie yawned and burrowed deeper under the light blanket. “Sometimes I can’t remember Mommy.”

  She’d been so wrapped up in Jake and wondering whether they might have a future together that she’d hardly considered the possibility of instant motherhood. At twenty-five, she wondered if she was too young for the responsibility. Then she remembered how well she and Annie got along these past weeks and pushed aside her fears. “How about if you come up with a nickname for me, instead.”

  Solemn brown eyes watched her. “Like Princess?”

  Madeline smoothed the covers across Annie’s shoulders. “Princess it is. Sweet dreams, honey.” She slipped from the room, closing the door partway.

  She had at least two hours to blow before Jake came in for the night. That is, if he didn’t chicken out and sleep with the horses in the barn. Tiny tremors flickered across her skin as she envisioned how she wanted the night to end—their arms and legs entwined on the huge sleigh bed in his room. The excitement lasted no more than a moment before a voice in the back of her mind cautioned not to push too hard too soon. The blasted cowboy was just stubborn enough to dig in his heels to prove some stupid, irrelevant, chauvinistic male point.

  Well, she wasn’t taking any chances of that happening. She stopped in the kitchen and grabbed two long-necks from the fridge, then headed outside to the corral where Jake was working Quicksilver. Again. As far as competition went, she wasn’t quite sure how to compete with a horse for Jake’s attention. Good grief! She never thought she’d be jealous of the stallion.

  She descended the steps and crossed the ranch yard. Quietly, she flung a jean-clad leg over the top rail of the corral and straddled it. Jake had his back to her, speaking in low tones to the animal while scratching the stallion’s ear. The four-legged brat stared at her over his master’s shoulder with a look of Ha, ha, he likes me better in his big brown eyes.

  Jake turned toward her. She hadn’t expected a welcoming smile, but a little less hostility would have been nice. If she wasn’t so darned afraid of the horse, she’d meander over and wrap herself around Jake’s body, then use her lips to erase the scowl on his face. She might lack common sense where men were concerned, but she had enough sense to know when to steer clear of fifteen hundred pounds of possessive horseflesh. She stayed put on the rail and lifted a beer in invitation.

  He studied the bottle for what seemed like forever, then wrapped the horse reins around a post. His long-legged stride ate up the distance across the pen. The closer he came, the harder her heart pounded. He stopped next to her knee and accepted the beer.

  “Thanks.” He downed the amber liquid in four swallows. “Annie asleep?”

  “Yes.” She wanted to mention the new nickname Annie had given her but didn’t think it wise if she planned to seduce him tonight.

  He eyed her T-shirt. “So. What sights did Glenwood show you?”

  Well, that was certainly fast. She thought he’d hold out a bit longer before he caved in and grilled her about her sight-seeing venture with his neighbor. “He showed me his ranch. Then we drove down to Stephenville for ice-cream cones. Annie liked him.”

  “Annie likes frogs.” He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the fence rail. “He’s divorced.”

  “Yes, he told me that.”

  Jake’s brows rose. “Did he tell you why he’s divorced?”

  “No. And it isn’t any of my business.”

  “He cheated on his wife.”

  “Really, Jake, I don’t care about his marriage.”

  He spun toward her without warning and grabbed hold of her thigh, his fingers pressing into her flesh. “You’d better care if you’re going to get involved with him while you stay here this summer.” He loosened his hold, his fingers sliding down her muscle like a caress before he lifted his hand away.

  “I hardly consider taking a drive with the man getting involved.”

  “Honey, he didn’t ask to show you around today because he was just being neighborly. Hell, every man in that diner saw him stare at you like a rutting bull after a prize heifer.”

  “Gee, no one’s ever called me a heifer before.”

  Jake frowned. “You know what I mean.”

  “No, Jake. I don’t. Tell me.”

  Jake gazed at her for the longest time before glancing away. “He looks at you, Maddy, like I do in my dreams.”

  Oh, my. Madeline’s heart fluttered inside her chest. “You can put your mind at ease, big guy. He didn’t make any moves on me.”

  “Yet,” Jake grumbled, stabbing the toe of his boot into the ground, stirring up dust.

  His little-boy pout went straight to her heart and she was glad she’d lied. No sense riling Jake by confessing that Mac had tried to make a move on her. When Annie had been preoccupied with her ice-cream cone, Mac had squeezed her derriere and whispered that he’d like to show her other things besides his ranch. After giving him an elbow in the gut, she didn’t think Mac would be calling on her again any time soon.

  Madeline feathered her fingers through the damp hair along the back of Jake’s neck. Startled, he lifted his head. “I don’t intend to get involved with anyone but you,” she whispered.

  His throat muscles rippled before he spoke. “Then why did you go with him?”

  “Because I wanted to make you jealous.”

  He stared at her with his soul in his eyes. “Maddy, all I have to do is picture you and another man and I’m jealous as hell.”

  “Jake—”

  He held up a hand. “I have no right to be jealous. But you’re the first woman—the only woman—who’s ever tied me up in knots like this. And I’m not too good at dealing with it.”

  Hoping to ease the tension some, she asked, “Are you finished for the night?”

  Something dark and dangerous flashed in his eyes. “Yeah.” He motioned with the empty beer bottle toward the horse. “That stubborn cuss is finally making some progress.”

  “How did your meeting go with the owner of the Bar S today?”

  “Sam seems happy with the progress I’ve made. I’ll start working the horses with cattle soon.”

  “You have cattle on your ranch.”

  “Nope. I borrow a few head from the Winstons.” He took off his hat and wiped his forehead. “I train their new horses and they loan me their cows.”

  She nodded, thinking that Jake’s damp, sweat-glistening face was far more fascinating than talk of cattle. “Can I help you in the barn?”

  His eyebrow lifted in surprise.

  “I’m not afraid of getting dirty.” She hated when he did that. Stared at her as if a strong wind would blow her over or getting her nails dirty would reduce her to a bawling baby. Then his eyes darkened. Heat poured from his expression as he made no attempt to conceal his interest in her mouth. “How dirty are you willing to get?”

  Hallelujah! The gods were smiling down on her tonight.

  She swung her leg over the rail and landed with a plop on the ground outside the pen. Then she held out her hand for his empty beer bottle, took it and headed for the barn. As she disappeared inside, she peeked over her shoulder, and caught his gaze glued to her backside.

  And he thought the horse was stubborn!

  THE LITTLE TEASE.

  Jake flung another pitchforkful of horse crap into the wheelbarrow outside the stall while watching Maddy’s fanny poke up in the air as she bent over the feed barrel.

  They’d been working side by side for an hour, cleaning stalls and bedding the horses down for the night. She finished filling the bucket, then sashayed down the center of the barn, toward the last stall on the left. After setting it inside, she wiped her hands on the front of her jeans, pivoted on her foot and sashayed back his way.

  He had to be imagining it. They were both sweaty and hot, yet he swore he could smell her sweet feminine scent as she drew near. Something musky mixed with that expensive perfume she wore. He felt himself harden. A condition t
hat had plagued him for weeks.

  “I’ll go check on Annie and bring something cold back to drink,” she offered.

  Like another beer would quench the kind of thirst he had right now? To keep from grabbing her as she brushed by, he gripped the rake handle so tightly he felt a wood splinter jab into his palm.

  After she left the barn, he wheeled the last load of dung out to the compost pile, then killed time doing chores that didn’t need doing. When a half hour passed, he figured she’d chickened out.

  He shoved aside his disappointment. What had he expected? From the moment she’d landed in his backyard twenty-four days ago she’d fired off more signals than a referee from a Monday-night football game, and he’d ignored most of them. He’d been pretty damn proud of his effort to hold her at bay…until now…when he stood aching for her touch, her smile, the feel of her hands on his skin. He would have made love to her tonight. Because he was too tired. Tired of fighting this…this…whatever it was between them.

  Oh, hell. He might as well admit that the whatever between them had become a lot more involved than he’d been prepared for. After watching Glenwood hit on Maddy in the café today, he admitted that he was in over his head. He was falling for the barbed-wire bride and he didn’t know what the heck to do about it. The only thing he did know for sure was that he’d go crazy if he had to fight this sexual tug-of-war between them for an entire summer.

  He stripped off his shirt and went into the tack room to wash off. After cleaning his hands first at the small stainless-steel sink against the far wall, he turned on the hose and stood over the metal drain in the middle of the concrete floor to soak his head, letting the cool water run down his back and over his chest, dampening the waistband of his jeans.

  A sound caught his attention, and he lifted his head, blinking away the rivulets of water streaming over his eyes. Poised in the doorway, a plastic tumbler of cold tea in hand, Maddy stared at his naked chest. He straightened, pointed the hose toward the ground and watched as she lifted the cup to her mouth. The thin column of her throat rippled delicately with each swallow, and he longed to move his mouth over the sensitive flesh.

  She finished half the drink, then moved closer and offered the rest to him. He rotated the rim until the reddish-pink lipstick imprint touched his mouth. He drank deeply, then licked the remainder of the lipstick off before setting the cup in the sink behind him.

  Their labored breathing set the mood better than any love song or candlelit dinner. The time had come to surrender his feelings. He was just a man. A man on the verge of falling in love for the first time in his life. A man with the woman of his dreams standing before him, offering him things he didn’t deserve but was desperate enough to accept.

  A small voice in his head demanded that he be noble and walk away. Forget nobility. He’d take what she offered regardless of the consequences. Regardless of who got hurt.

  He wanted. She wanted. To hell with the rest of it.

  He lifted the hose and she gasped with shock as the cold water soaked her clothes. A zing of pleasure shot through him when he saw that she wasn’t wearing a bra underneath the T-shirt. Fascinated, he watched the wet cotton cling to her breasts, molding their shape and size.

  He stepped closer and thumbed one of the stiff peaks. When he cupped her sensitive flesh, her moan of pleasure went straight to his heart. The urge to have all of her was too powerful for him to wait until they got back to the house. He needed her now. Here.

  He hauled her body up against his, trapping the hose between them. He doubted even the cold water could put out the fire burning them. Grasping the back of her head, he pressed his mouth to hers. Her lips were every man’s fantasy. His fantasy, and he didn’t think he’d ever get enough.

  She sighed, and Jake just about lost it. He stepped back and let the hose fall to the ground. Grabbing the hem of her T-shirt, he tugged it over her head. She was gorgeous. He caressed her fullness and gazed into her warm green eyes. “I need you, Maddy.”

  She smiled. “I want you, too, Jake.”

  Together they pulled at their wet clothes and shoes until they both stood naked under the harsh room light. He stroked her cheek. “You deserve better than this, Maddy.” He wasn’t sure if he meant their surroundings or him.

  “I deserve you, Jake.”

  He laved kisses across her shoulder as his hands roamed the soft swells of her body. Her head fell back and her hands raked through his hair, urging him closer, until he thought he’d smother in all her softness. He wasn’t aware of time passing, but eventually he noticed that their feet looked pickled from standing in water so long.

  He lifted her in his arms and moved away from the drain. “Maddy.” He waited until she looked at him. “Whatever happens between us…” He set her on the ground. “I want you to know that tonight is more than just sex.” He made himself stop before he sounded like a fool. Besides, a man had his pride to consider. And his pride might be the only thing left inside him after Maddy went away.

  She bent her head and used her mouth to drive him crazy. When she kissed his nipple, he about shot off the floor. Gritting his teeth, he struggled to hold still as her kisses went lower and lower and lower.

  A growl rumbled up his chest, vibrated in his throat and erupted into the small room when her hand wrapped around his length and stroked. His eyes slammed shut, the ecstasy more than he could bear. The intimacy of Maddy’s gesture shattered him and he fought the tightness in his throat. On the brink of losing control, he pulled her near and buried his face in her hair.

  He yearned to please her. To show her how much she meant to him. She lifted a leg and settled it over his hip. He moaned at the feel of her heat cradling him. “Slow down, Maddy. I don’t have any protection out here.”

  She nibbled his neck and smiled wickedly. “I do.” Stepping away, she rummaged through a pocket in her wet jeans, then triumphantly displayed the foil packet.

  “Beauty and brains. I’m a lucky man.” He reached for the package, but she moved her hand back. “I’ll do it.”

  Jake wasn’t sure if he could handle that. Surprisingly, he held himself together while she rolled the condom on.

  She flexed a hand against his chest, her eyes dark and sensuous, her breathing quick and erratic, her mouth swollen and open. She forced him back until his hips bumped the metal sink. Using the sink for balance, he lifted her onto him and sank into her.

  He went still. He wanted to kiss her, taste her, breathe her. Kissing Maddy while he was inside her made him feel that he was a part of her, bodily and spiritually. As crazy as it seemed, he couldn’t tell where his body stopped and hers began.

  After several long, deep kisses he started moving. Slow and easy, afraid he’d lose control if he did what his body was screaming for…to pound into her. But Maddy’s hands and mouth shattered his control and he gave up the fight.

  He wanted it to go on forever, but his legs started to shake and he wasn’t going to be able to hold out much longer.

  “Let go, Maddy. Fly with me.” He shifted his hips. Her breathing quickened, and her nails dug into his shoulders. Then he bent his head and suckled a breast. Her body tensed, and a soft keening escaped her throat as she flung her head back and shattered in his arms.

  He followed a moment later, muffling his shout of satisfaction against the soft mounds of her breasts.

  How on earth could he ever let this woman go?

  Chapter Ten

  Madeline unplugged the Crock-Pot, lifted the lid and sniffed appreciatively at the spicy aroma of simmering beans. Bless you, Betty Crocker.

  Earlier in the week, Nancy Sloan had called to remind her of the July Fourth celebration in the town square. She’d asked if Madeline would bring a pot of beans to the celebration and show up a little early to help decorate. Having never celebrated the holiday before—at least, not that she remembered—Madeline looked forward to the day’s festivities.

  Then the nightmares had started. Each nightmare had been a differ
ent town’s Independence Day celebration. But the results had been the same. She and a ghostlike Sara had stood side by side next to their own pot of beans as judges had sampled them. Each nightmare had ended the same—Sara had been awarded the blue ribbon and Jake had taken Sara’s see-through hand and left the picnic with her.

  Madeline had admitted that competing with a ghost was childish. But deep in her heart she wanted only to make Jake proud and not embarrass him in front of his neighbors and friends.

  So, she’d pulled out a stack of old cookbooks from the pantry and all week she’d pored over them at night after Annie had gone to bed and while Jake had trained the horses. For the past several nights she’d experimented with different recipes, and neither Annie nor Jake had complained about eating beans with every meal. Yesterday, she’d finally decided on a combination of two recipes. After a trip to town to replenish the ingredients, she’d put the bean concoction together and had allowed it to simmer all through the night.

  She dipped a spoon into the pot and sampled the end product. At the rich tangy-sweet flavor, her mouth watered. “Mmm.”

  “I think I’m jealous.”

  She whirled at the sound of Jake’s husky voice. Arms crossed over his chest, hat tilted low across his forehead, he lounged in the doorway, looking like a desperado. Her heart did a little flip and her face warmed under his narrowed-eyed perusal.

  Two could play this game. She moved her gaze down his body, taking in every detail. The scrape across the back of his right hand. The tear in his shirt at the elbow. The grease stain on his knee. The layer of corral dust coating his boots. He was hot, tired and so darn sexy she was tempted to put the lid back on the beans and tug him by the belt loops to the bedroom, where she could massage all those big achy muscles.

  She motioned to his disheveled appearance. “Did you fall off your horse?”