“Why wouldn’t I be here, though? And how do you know about this place? I’m surprised, with as little time as you’ve been on the ranch.”
He shrugged and walked over to where she stood. Her heart pounded more heavily than when she had considered being attacked by javelinas. His presence was unnerving, electrifying. She focused on ignoring his physical closeness and waited for him to answer.
“I’ve known about this since the afternoon you hired me,” he said easily, leaning against the tree trunk beside her and looking down and out, toward the river, squinting a little. His sleeved arm brushed her bare one, and she tucked her elbow imperceptibly against her waist, resisting the urge to withdraw to a safer distance.
“That’s surprising,” she repeated, and felt his gaze return to her.
“I don’t think so.” He shifted, and his arm pressed into hers a little more closely. “I’d say it was only right that I toured the place. How can I run things if I don’t know what I have? Pete gave me a complete ride around. I’ve already told them we need to hire a crew and clean out this brush.” He looked around, and his voice took on a more solemn note. “Which brings us to why you shouldn’t be here,” he finished slowly. “At least not alone.” He waved a bronze hand in front of her, sweeping it across her line of vision. “Do you know what drug smugglers, or even coyotes, might do to a woman they found down here by the river alone? Look at all the places someone could hide — anyone who wanted could use the cabin and the area here for — for whatever. You’d never know. Neither would Pete.” He looked around again, and the heaviness in his voice was impossible to ignore. “I seriously doubt drug traffickers don’t know about places like this anywhere along the river.”
The fact he didn’t mention Danny puzzled her, but she put that aside for a moment, turning to face him. “You sure became an expert on local matters in a hurry, Jovani. You’re all but implying … ” A frown slashed her face. “You had better not be implying drug trafficking goes on here! And as for why I’m here — it’s my property, and I don’t think women should stay inside and wring their little hands in the sanctity of their own house.”
He sighed and wiped a hand over his face, then through his hair. When he looked down at her, his face was full of irritation.
“Look, Dell, I didn’t imply anything. And, just for the information, I, like most normal, fairly well-educated men in this day and age, have no caveman perceptions of what women could or should do. But there’s such a thing as stupidity” — he ruthlessly ignored her small stutter of protest — “and being down here alone with night approaching is stupid.”
They were silent for a long moment. She didn’t argue with what he’d said. Realistically, she supposed he was right, even if she had no intention of agreeing with him out loud.
“I used to come here alone a lot when I was a kid,” she said eventually. “I suppose I forgot how much things have changed.”
He sighed, looking around. “I bet you usually came on a horse, too,” he said. “Something you could have gotten away on in a hurry if you needed to. Besides, when you were a kid, before you’re parents divorced, I’m sure just being who you were was protection enough.” His face was somber. “Now no one knows, Dell, and even if they knew, it’s not enough. Now being Lionel De Cordoba’s granddaughter might be an invitation to harm instead of protection from it.”
She laughed shortly and moved away from him, then turned to face him. “No. I’m sure anyone who knows who I am knows my grandfather wouldn’t pay a penny for me. My bridges with him are well-burned, Jovi.” She shrugged. “I suppose I should head back. I don’t want anyone at the house to worry, and I’ve been gone awhile.” She took a couple of tentative steps, then remembered Maribel and turned back.
“Wait. There’s something we should talk about first,” she said. “Jovi, why — and where — were you alone with Maribel?”
“Maribel?” His surprise seemed genuine. “What are you talking about, Dell?”
“Maribel and I had an ugly scene this morning.” She flushed. “About last night. What she saw.”
“You had to have expected something of the sort,” he said reasonably. “She’s not the kind to just politely turn around and walk out of an embarrassing situation especially not one she thinks she can manipulate to her own advantage.” He reached out and brushed at something on her shoulder without asking, his fingers warm through her blouse.
“That’s not the point,” she responded coolly, ignoring the small, burning spot where his fingers had just been. “I knew she’d have something to say. What bothers me is what she said.” She took a step away from him, looking up at him. “Apparently, the two of you have been spending time together. Alone. And no matter how innocently, that’s not smart, Jovi.”
“Alone? With Maribel? How you can possibly believe … ” He was furious, anger in his voice and in his eyes. He stepped toward her, and she could almost feel the rage coiling through him. She didn’t back away, although she tried to visualize what the footing right behind her was like, in case she was forced to flee. Then she tilted her head imperceptibly, and confronted him with her own quiet anger.
“Maribel made it a point to tell Michelle my mother abandoned me,” she told him matter-of-factly. “That Erika De Cordova abandoned me. You, Pete, and Rosa are the only three people on this ranch who know whose daughter I am, or that we don’t have anything to do with each other.”
His fierce scowl eased into an expression of puzzlement, and again he wiped a hand over his face, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Then he sighed heavily and shook his head.
“Look, Dell, I can see why you’d assume, but I haven’t said anything to Maribel. Why would I? And when would I? You can’t honestly believe I’d be stupid enough to put myself in a compromising situation with her, can you? I’d like to think I’d made a better impression on you than that — that you were a better judge of people than that.”
Unconsciously, Dell worried her lip as she went over what he’d said. How he’d said it. Finally, she nodded reluctantly. “Okay. Let’s give you the benefit of the doubt — you weren’t alone with Maribel.” Her hand moved to her throat, and she tugged at the collar of her blouse, rearranging it absently. “Then how did she find out who I am?” She frowned. “It isn’t that it really matters — there are people who know, and anyone could find out if they had some reason. I suppose Pete might even have told Danny, just shooting bull to pass the time. But they’ve worked together for years. Why her? And how?” She shook her head, agitated. “She’s a sixteen-year-old with serious problems. She’s not allowed online without supervision, and even if she were, the last thing she’d be interested in would be me.”
Jovi shrugged. “Dell, I have no idea what the deal is.” He tilted his head to glance up at the sky then at his watch. “Are you sure no one else could have told her?”
“I don’t see who.” She, too, checked the time. “I don’t see why, either. I have to get back, though. I’ve been away from Becky too long already.”
“I’ll give you a lift — the pickup’s just back up at the head of the path down here.”
“I’d walk, but I guess for the sake of time … ” She turned toward the path leading back and was startled when he laid a hand on her arm, stopping her.
“We didn’t talk about this morning,” he said huskily, his eyes dark and unreadable.
“There’s nothing to say, is there?” She gently drew her arm from his grasp. “We made an error in judgment. One that neither one of us is likely to repeat.” Her eyes met his challengingly. “I’m not likely to find you in the kitchen in the middle of the night again, am I?”
“No.” His lips quirked, and the tiny chispitas danced in his eyes. “Unfortunately. But I can tell you where else to look, if you want.”
Chapter Nine
Jovani gritted his teeth and dodged as Snow Mist made another
pass at his arm. The mare was lightning fast with those teeth, and she wasn’t being very ladylike about walking up the ramp into the trailer. The couple who had purchased her wanted to use her both for breeding purposes and as a riding horse. Right now, she wasn’t giving any indication she’d fulfill either role willingly. He’d warned them about her temperament, but they insisted they were both experienced and could handle her. Still, he wasn’t too sure they knew what they were letting themselves in for.
Snow put her front hooves experimentally on the wooden planking, then snorted and threw her head up, trying to bolt. Only the rope run through the front bars of the trailer kept her from escaping. And she’d already snapped one lead. Jovi smiled grimly. He’d hooked marlins down in the keys that hadn’t fought like this girl. Loaded million-dollar stallions with killer reputations. Yet this one stubborn mare had him praying, cursing, begging, and sweating — to no avail.
At least Dell had walked over to the house with the couple, insisting they have a cup of coffee and some tacos after their early-morning arrival from Dallas. He had an idea she wouldn’t hold up well to seeing the battle of wills that had been going on for more than an hour now. The mare’s dapple-gray coat was lathered with sweat, and her breathing was becoming loud and labored. She snorted again wildly and drummed her hooves on the wood.
“Horse still won’t go in?” Pete asked, reappearing from the barn with a wide canvas lead. He held it up for inspection. “Maybe we could winch her in,” he suggested. A slight hint of a grin creased his leathered face. “Dell wouldn’t much let us beat her in,” he observed.
Jovi laughed. “No, that she wouldn’t. I sure wouldn’t want to be caught trying to do it, either.” He took one end of the long lead, and Pete held on to the other. They looped it around the mare’s hindquarters, ignoring the flurry of hooves aimed at them. Moving toward the front of the trailer, they pulled the lead taut against the mare’s rear, but she dug her hooves in and didn’t budge. Her large, gray body shook, and she flung her head as wildly as the taut rope attached to her halter would allow.
“Something’s gotta give,” Jovi muttered to Pete, then groaned as he heard the sounds of approaching voices. Dell was bringing Snow’s new owners back down to the corral.
“I’d love any ideas you might have,” he whispered to Pete, who was clinging tenaciously to his lead, and just shook his head.
“Oh, dear,” the woman said, coming over to them. “I thought sure she’d have given up by now.”
“Perseverance is a trait,” Jovi pointed out, although he wasn’t sure he meant it at all.
“Stubbornness, though, is a fault.” The man was frowning a little at the mare. “Honey, are you sure about — ”
“Well, of course I am.” The woman nodded vigorously. “This is just the most beautiful mare we’ve ever had. Can’t beat her bloodlines.” She brushed past Jovi to pat the mare’s lathered neck, ignoring the threat of injury. “She’s upset, that’s all. We’ll work with her. She’ll be fine.” She stepped back again.
Jovi kept most of his attention focused on the mare, but when the mare snorted pitifully again and tried unsuccessfully to throw herself backward, he saw tears glisten in Dell’s eyes before she bent and brushed at some invisible substance on her jeans. When she straightened, her face was grim. If the couple didn’t back out, Jovi guessed, Dell would. He nodded across at Pete.
“Let’s put her in,” he said quietly, as if they were in charge. The older man nodded, and together, muscles straining, they pulled on the ends of the lead. Snow Mist snorted one final protest, then clattered up the ramp into the trailer.
Fighting the urge to shout, “Yes,” and do a childish fist pump, Jovi helped Pete raise the ramp and lock the mare in, while the new owners retied the head rope to take out some of the slack. Then he stepped aside, brushing his hands together, pretending to be completely unruffled by the frustrating battle of wills he had barely won.
Minutes later, the couple drove off, with a weary Snow munching hay from a net inside the trailer. Pete returned to his duties, and Dell stood silently by, watching the car and trailer disappear. The sadness on her face hurt. Without thinking, he draped an arm across her shoulders and hugged her gently.
“She’ll be fine,” he said gently. “They really wanted her.”
Dell sighed. He was right, and she understood that. But the sadness lingered. Piece by piece, her past was disappearing. The De Cordova past had gone long ago; now she was losing the part of her life that had mattered most. The horses had been freedom, triumph — her mother had watched her win her earliest ribbons. When her mother’s interest faded, then vanished, the wind in her face dried the tears when loneliness taunted her. On a horse, she had outrun everything. For just a moment, she sagged against Jovi’s arm, still wrapped protectively around her. The strength and warmth isolated her momentarily from the sense of loss.
So she let him hold her. But only for a moment. Then she straightened within the warm grasp and stepped away. “She will be fine,” she said, reassuring herself as she agreed with him. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see some of her babies in the show ring.” She managed a slight smile that almost wasn’t grim. “So … Mist is gone now. And most of the others you thought we should sell, too. What now?”
Jovi regarded her thoughtfully even as he wiped the back of his hand across his sweaty forehead. “Well, the next logical step would be … ” He paused, wondering how she would react to what he’d decided to say. “Going to South Padre Island.”
Her reaction didn’t disappoint. Shock widened her eyes, and her mouth opened. Then a frown drew her brows together before she regained her usual pleasant but unreadable expression. When she spoke, her voice was tinged with puzzlement, but not with alarm. Or angry denial.
“Excuse me?”
He shrugged, then fished his handkerchief from a pocket and wiped his face. “You need to get away,” he said sincerely. “I always find the beach soothing. You’d enjoy being there. We could fish … or swim.” His lips twitched slightly as he visualized her in a bikini, wading into the warm gulf waters. Or just lying on the warm, white sand. Of course, she’d undoubtedly turn him down flat. Still, the idea was tantalizing.
To his absolute amazement, a slow smile spread across her face, turning her lips up at the corners. The dark brown eyes danced with sudden excitement. “South Padre,” she repeated softly. “How long has it been since I’ve even considered … ” Just for a second, the smile faded. “But I don’t know … ”
The unspoken worries came and went, and he was surprised how easily he could read them — Becky, the ranch, and the girls. Guilty because he had ulterior motives for luring her away from the ranch, he ticked off reassurances.
“The girls and Becky will be fine. Pete and Danny have taken care of the horses for years. We could drive down just for the day — ”
“We?” She frowned at him. “You’re including yourself?”
Her tone was teasing, though, and he lifted a shoulder. “Well, why wouldn’t I? It was my idea.”
Dell pursed her lips and brought a hand up to cup her chin as she studied him. The idea of walking barefoot in the sand was appealing, and she hadn’t been to the popular beach in years. She loved swimming in the warm gulf waters, and getting away from the sadness of parting with Mist and the others would be good for her. But putting on a bathing suit and lying on the heated summer sand next to Jovi Treviño … The thought of him in swimwear made her mouth dry, and the fingers she still held pressed to her face shivered against her skin.
South Padre, she thought again. He was watching, sure now she would accept his invitation. He must somehow have known the idea would be too enticing to discard. But had he invited her out of concern for her bruised feelings over Snow’s ordeal, or simply because he thought she’d be vulnerable and willing to fall into bed with him after an enjoyable day away from the ranc
h?
She arched a brow at him. “I don’t know about the day part. Couldn’t we get a room and stay overnight?” she asked mildly, and almost laughed at his astonishment.
“Well, of course, if there are rooms.” Jovi couldn’t quite quit staring at her. He hadn’t expected her to agree to going. And here she was, asking to spend the night with him? Heat swept through his body, and his heart pounded. Caray. His idea to get her away from the ranch was working better than he could have hoped.
Dell smiled. “Good,” she said, almost purring. “I’ll go tell the girls to get ready.”
“The girls?” he asked blankly.
“Of course, the girls,” she replied easily. “They’ve probably never been. I think it was wonderful of you to suggest it. I’m sure they’ll all appreciate it.” Stifling laughter at his stricken demeanor, she turned and headed back toward the house.
“Damn,” he said, with feeling, and kicked the graveled drive in disgust.
Chapter Ten
Damn delays, anyway. Jovi glanced at Dell, twisted in the passenger seat to point out a glimpse of bay water and long-legged herons to the chattering girls. He’d expected to woo her from the ranch yesterday, not be chauffeuring a noisy horde of kids on a pleasure trip. Dell’s laugh at something one of the girls said gave him a twinge of guilt. The girls obviously needed a jaunt like this as much as Dell.
Still, a weekend alone with Dell, even if it was just a fantasy weekend — giving that up was hard. In spite of her sudden animation as they neared South Padre, she had seemed distant and lost in thought for most of the trip. Again he wondered if anyone or anything could ever really touch the woman inside those carefully constructed walls. If only he’d been able to spirit her away. Alone. He shifted in his seat as he thought of how deliberately he’d planned to seduce her … or try. Whether or not he would have succeeded was anyone’s guess now. She turned, sensing his discomfort but mistaking it for weariness.
Unattainable Page 8
