by Merry Farmer
He arched a brow, not liking where things were going. “And who were these busybodies who should be keeping their noses out of others’ business instead of having an opinion about who I date?”
Laura’s face flushed deeper, and she went back to studying his chest. “No one important.”
“Laura.” He sounded like his dad back in the days when Casey had gotten in trouble and needed prompting to confess.
Laura let out a breath. “Okay, well, one of them was Ronny Bonneville.”
Ted snorted and rolled his eyes. “Don’t listen to a word that jackass says.” Next time Ted ran into him, he’d throttle the little twerp.
“But he wasn’t the only one.” She took a short, shallow breath and summoned her courage to look up at him. “Everyone seems to think you go for more sophisticated women, and here I am, a nerdy girl who likes digging in the dirt for—”
He put a finger on her lips to silence her. Her self-esteem issues drove him nuts, but he had the feeling folks in town weren’t helping the situation. Not if they were talking about him and sophisticated women. All because he and Sandy had dated for a couple of months three years ago, he was sure.
“I don’t know who you’ve been talking to specifically, but I can guarantee you they’re basing their opinion on one woman I dated years ago. She is local and I am local, so all the old grandmas in town got it in their heads that we were perfect for each other. But we weren’t. End of story.”
“But if you—”
This time, he silenced her with a kiss. It wasn’t a cute, polite kiss either. It was a kiss designed to show her just how much he wanted her and just what he thought of other people’s opinions. It worked too, as far as he could tell. After a few initial seconds of tension, Laura sighed and sagged into him. Her arms circled around him more fully, and she voluntarily threw her leg over his.
“What’s it going to take to get you to see that you’re the only girl I want?” he asked, sliding his hands down to her backside and grinding his erection against her inner thigh. “What do I have to do to convince you that you are exactly the right woman for me in every way, and that every kiss we share wipes away the memories of those wild oats days and more?”
“Maybe intensive psychotherapy?” she giggled, reaching for his backside.
Silly as her answer was, it made him deeply happy. If she was joking about it, she was getting over it. And that was a ridiculous turn-on.
He let go of her and leaned back to reach for the box of condoms on the bedside table. “Nope,” he said, tugging the tail end of a strip out. “Not good enough.”
“Psychotherapy and an intensive program of sedatives?” she suggested, her voice rising in pitch the way it did when she was turned on.
Ted ripped open a condom and broke away from her to roll it on. “No, I think I’ll have to demonstrate my point physically.”
“Oh, my.” He’d pushed back the covers and now knelt in such a way that she got an eyeful of him. “Oh, my,” she repeated, rougher and higher, as she stared at his latex-sheathed cock. It stood up, stiff and ready, and the hungry look in her eyes, the way she licked her lips, filled him with urgency.
“I gotta tell you, Princess, I’m not interested in putting this anywhere but inside of you.” It was possibly the lamest thing he’d ever said, but Laura broke into a fit of giggles all the same.
She managed to squeak out, “Better than therapy,” before he closed in on her. He silenced her giggles with a kiss, his tongue imitating what other parts of him would like to be doing to her as soon as possible. The heat in his groin burned hotter as she responded to him, snaking her arms around his shoulders and running her fingers through his hair. She wriggled her hips against him, trying to take matters into her own hands, but he kept out of her reach.
When he’d kissed them both into a panting frenzy, he shifted back and flipped her the way he’d had her before. He raised her hips high, but this time, after rubbing along her sensitive flesh until she made the desperate sounds that indicated she was close to coming, he gripped her hips and thrust deep into her.
“Oh!” She cried out as he moved to thrust again. His own control was quickly disintegrating, so he nudged her knees farther apart with his and settled over her. Somehow he managed to balance with one hand while sliding the other between her legs to rest against her clit as he thrust.
It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t graceful, but within seconds he was swallowed up in pleasure as he thrust hard and fast. He could barely concentrate on whether his hand was doing what it should for her as his body burned and tensed. Orgasm burst over him like a volcanic eruption, sending a jolt of white-hot pleasure through every part of him. As it subsided, he could feel the squeezing tremors of Laura coming while he was still inside of her. It was so blissfully powerful that when they were both done, they collapsed onto the sheets, hot and spent.
“And there’s more where that came from,” he managed to get out through pants. “In case you didn’t get the message.”
“Yes, please,” she answered with satisfaction that was almost comical, it was so deep.
They shared a laugh as they curled up for a quick nap. Laura might have been on vacation for the day, but he still had a thousand things to do around the ranch. Roscoe would already be up looking after the urgent tasks, and since he knew Laura was there, he’d be lenient about Ted not showing up in the barn bright and early. Still, there were responsibilities that needed taking care of, and after the longest nap he felt right taking—about fifteen minutes—Ted got up to take a shower and face the day.
By the time Laura got up, showered, dressed, and came downstairs as well, Ted was sitting at the kitchen table, downing a mug of coffee with a hastily-made bacon sandwich.
“I made one for you too,” he told Laura, nodding to the place across the table from him where her sandwich sat on a plate.
“Aw, that’s so sweet.” Laura headed to the counter first to pour a mug of coffee.
Roscoe came through the kitchen door at the same time, the day’s mail in his hand. “You making breakfast for everyone now?” he asked, dropping the mail on the table.
“Only for pretty girls,” Ted said, sending Laura a wink as she joined him at the table.
Roscoe smiled and huffed a fond laugh. “Morning, Laura.” The way he smiled at her filled Ted’s heart with joy. His dad had always liked the girls he’d dated, but for whatever reason, Roscoe and Laura had hit it off like none of the others had. And as old-fashioned as his dad was, Ted had only gotten a few disapproving looks for having a girl overnight instead of a full-out lecture. That was beyond significant.
“How are the cows this morning?” Laura asked Roscoe as Ted reached for the mail to see what was there.
“Good,” Roscoe answered, typically short. What wasn’t typical was the way he came to sit at the table by Laura’s side after he’d poured himself some coffee. “A couple got too close to the fence your paleontologist friends set up around the fossil yesterday. Wire scratched the hell…’scuse me, the heck…out of their sides. Doc O’Donnell is coming out from Culpepper to take a look this afternoon.”
Ted shuffled through the mail, grinning way more than he should at the news some of the cattle were injured. Seeing his dad and his girl get along like that canceled out any concerns he might have had over the herd.
Before he could finish that thought, a letter from the bank wiped the grin off his face. Curious, he set the rest of the mail aside and tore open the letter. The mortgage had been paid off in full months ago, and regular bank statements didn’t come on parchment letterhead.
His curiosity turned to unease, and then downright shock as he read the letter.
“Dear Mr. Flint,” it began, referencing Roscoe. “It has come to the attention of The First Bank of Haskell that a fossil of considerable value has recently been located on your property. As the presence of the fossil was first discovered while the property was under the ownership of The First National Bank of Haskell, at the
time the property was mortgaged, all rights and ownership of the fossil are, therefore, the sole property of the First National Bank of Haskell. Any sale, lease, or contract concerning the fossil must therefore be executed under the auspices of The First National Bank of Haskell, and all profits will be the sole and exclusive property of The First National Bank of Haskell. Sincerely, Wainright Templeton, CEO, The First National Bank of Haskell.”
Ted stared at the letter. He’d lifted his mug to take a sip of coffee, but lowered it to the table untouched. He read the letter a second time, then a third. Roscoe and Laura had continued their conversation, but drifted into silence.
“What’s the matter?” Laura asked.
“Is that the letter from the bank?” Roscoe asked. “I figured it was something about the mortgage being done.”
“It’s about the mortgage, all right,” Ted told them, his voice strangled.
“What is it?” Laura met his eyes with growing panic.
Ted turned the letter over to his dad and said, “The bank is claiming that they own the fossil.”
“What?” Laura blinked rapidly and shook her head. “Why? That’s ridiculous?”
“They’re claiming that because the fossil was originally discovered when the ranch was mortgaged, it belongs to them.”
“But it wasn’t discovered during the mortgage,” Laura argued as Roscoe read over the letter with a frown. “You paid off the mortgage months before we started digging.”
An uneasy prickle broke out down Ted’s back. “But we knew something was out there for a while,” he answered, hating the conclusions his brain was coming to. “Everyone knew about that first bone. They’ve known about it for years.”
“But that doesn’t mean the fossil was discovered when the bank held the mortgage.” Laura was growing angrier by the second. On any other day, Ted would have found it cute. “As far as the bank was concerned, that was some old cow bone, like you said.”
“Apparently, they think that stumbling across that bone years ago constitutes finding the fossil,” Roscoe grumbled, still staring at the letter.
“But the fossil itself has been there for years, millions of years before any stupid mortgage,” Laura argued on.
“Yeah, but if you use that logic, anyone who has ever owned a property could claim that any fossil dug up belongs to them.” Ted sighed and rubbed a hand over his face.
“That’s ridiculous.” Laura slumped back in her chair, a worried look coming over her face. “Did you first notice that bone when the ranch was mortgaged?”
Ted didn’t answer. The truth of it made him sick. It baffled him. There was no way a bank could claim ownership of something that they didn’t own anymore...or could they?
He slapped his hands on the table and stood. “I’m going into town to talk to Wainright Templesmith,” he said.
“I’m coming with you.” Laura hopped up from the table too. “Who is Wainright Templesmith?”
“The owner of the bank,” Ted explained. “He’s also Sandy and Rita’s dad.”
A strange, panicked look washed over Laura, making her face and neck red. “Oh,” she said, more than a little weak. A second later, she pulled herself together and stood taller. “I’m still coming with you.”
“Thanks.” Ted stepped away from the table, heading toward the hooks that held the keys to the family trucks. “Dad, you coming too?”
Roscoe still sat at the table, reading over the letter. The paper shook a little, but Roscoe’s expression was carefully blank. “No,” he said, looking up at Ted at last. “I need to be here when Doc gets here, and there’s chores that need doing.”
Ted nodded in understanding. “All right. We’ll get to the bottom of this and let you know what’s going on.”
He just hoped that whatever it was, it could be stopped.
Chapter Fourteen
The bank could own the fossil. Laura didn’t know what to think about it as she sat in the passenger’s side of Ted’s truck, her shoulders hunched and her hands folded in her lap. Ted drove with a deep scowl creasing his forehead, tense and silent. She would have tried to say something to comfort him, but she wasn’t sure she could.
She knew of a case in Montana where a valuable fossil had been found and all sorts of glorious promises had been made. Until it turned out that the supposed owners of the land where the fossil was found were just leasing. The actual owner of the property ended up suing the dinosaur hunter who had sold the fossil for theft, and there was nothing the man could do but plead guilty.
She didn’t think that was the kind of story Ted wanted to hear right then.
The First Bank of Haskell was located right in the middle of town, on Main Street, where it had been for a hundred and fifty years, since the town’s founding. Ted parked as close as he could on a side street and cut his truck’s engine.
“We’ll get to the bottom of this,” Laura said, reaching for her door.
Ted sent her a long, anxious look. He attempted a smile, mostly failing, and reached out to cover her other hand with his. “We will.”
They paused for the briefest moment, then hopped out of the truck and started down the street with a purposeful march. If she had felt more confident about their chances in the situation, she would have made a joke about how, if they put on sunglasses, they’d look like a pair of gangsters about to take care of business. But losing ownership of a fossil they’d worked so hard for was no laughing matter.
The mood inside the bank was tense from the moment they opened the door. While the exterior of the bank hadn’t changed much since it was built, the interior had been renovated in a slick, modern style. The crisp white and grey marble counters were matched by tastefully framed antique photographs of Haskell on the walls. A few customers stood in line at the main counter or sat talking to financial experts at ebony desks to one side of the room. Ted bypassed all of it, marching straight toward the largest office, off to one side near the back.
Through the glass wall lining one side of the office, Laura saw Sandy standing beside an ebony desk that was a larger version of the ones in the main section of the bank, talking to a man who must have been her father. He had the same chocolate skin and patrician features, with salt-and-pepper hair and a thick moustache. Even sitting, Laura could see he wore a fine suit that screamed “successful banker.”
Both Sandy and her father spotted them before they made it to the office door.
“We were just talking about you.” Sandy greeted them without a smile. Her father stood and came out from behind his desk.
“What’s going on?” Ted demanded, still with enough patience to prevent a scene. “What was that letter we got this morning.”
“Ted.” Mr. Templesmith came forward, offering his hand for Ted to shake.
Ted took it, but let go as quickly as he shook. “I know you’re a fair man, Mr. Templesmith, so will you please explain why you think you own our fossil?”
Mr. Templesmith turned to shake Laura’s hand, saying a quick, “Wainright Templesmith.”
“Laura Kincade.” Laura returned the greeting.
“You’d better come in,” Sandy said before the greeting was finished. She touched Ted on the arm, sending him a look of sympathy and camaraderie.
Laura froze. Mr. Templesmith moved back to his desk, but it was Ted and Sandy that grabbed her attention. There was a level of familiarity between them that she’d noticed before but hadn’t given much thought to. Sandy’s touch on Ted’s arm lingered as she ushered him into the room and gestured for him to take a seat in front of the desk. Sandy, who was so tall and elegant, with perfect, chocolate skin and a svelte figure that any man would love.
Laura blinked, and it hit her. She knew Ted and Sandy had dated years ago, but the impact of everything that meant, everything Ted had hinted about the other women he’d slept with, was suddenly clear. Sandy was the sophisticated type that everyone thought Ted should go for. She was the one who the whole town had gotten excited about when she and Ted
started dating. And Laura could see it. She could see exactly why all of Haskell would flip their lids over such an attractive couple. Heck, they’d have gorgeous babies.
Double heck, they’d had sex. Smart, confident, beautiful Sandy had done all of the hot, sexy things she’d done with Ted, and probably more. And she was probably better at it. Sandy was better at everything. Why the heck had Ted broken up with Sandy, and why on earth would he be interested in her, dino-Laura, when he could have power-chick-Sandy?
She was going to lose him. Ted was perfect. He could have anyone. So what if he woke up one day and decided he didn’t want her? Even the idea of losing him turned her stomach and paralyzed her with fear.
“Laura?”
Laura blinked out of her stunned thoughts when Sandy said her name. “Sorry.” She zipped clumsily into the room, spilling into the chair beside Ted.
“I just found out about the letter this morning,” Sandy said, moving to stand next to her father. “And let me tell you, I’m furious.”
“You’re furious?” Ted glanced from Sandy to her father, his anger barely contained.
That was enough to snap Laura and her sinking heart out of her funk. “No offence, Mr. Templesmith, but it’s your bank that’s trying to claim the fossil. You’re the one causing the problem.”
Mr. Templesmith sighed and shook his head. “It is my bank, but it’s not me personally.”
“I don’t understand,” Ted growled.
Mr. Templesmith sat forward, folding his hands on his desk with professional calm. “While the Templesmith family owns the bank, it is controlled by a board of trustees. The board is made up of several individuals with a personal and professional stake in the bank’s operations. While our family does hold the largest percentage of interest in the bank, a number of other board members formed a coalition to initiate these proceedings.”
“How does that even work?” Laura asked, shaking her head.
Ted came up with a more important question. “Who?”
