The Cattleman's Proposal (The Men of Mulhany Crossing Book 1)

by Helen Lacey

  He liked her spirit and laughed softly. “You look good on a horse.”

  “Thank you. But Red does most of the work.”

  Nate looked the animal over. At well over seventeen hands, the gelding had good bones. “Nice looking Thoroughbred.”

  She laughed. “You breed Quarterhorses, right? Did you imagine he’d be all looks and no substance?”

  “Maybe no stamina,” Nate said and tried to stop looking at her mouth. “Although his conformation suggests he’s sprint bred.”

  “You’re right,” Joley replied, took off her helmet and looped the strap around her elbow. “And he had a successful career on the track. I got him five years ago as a seven-year-old.”

  “And you’ve trained him yourself?”

  “Mostly,” she said and rubbed a hand along the animals wide white blaze. “He’s a special boy. I feel fortunate that he came to me. We understand one another and we’re a good team.”

  “That’s important,” Nate said and raised the back of his hand to the horse’s soft muzzle. “In all relationships, don’t you think?”

  She nodded and walked the horse forward. “Which probably explains why I’m not married.”

  Nate followed and walked in step with her as they headed towards the huge stable complex. “It does?”

  She shrugged and they pulled up in front of a stall. Once she’d tethered the gelding to a hook by the door, she spoke again. “Sure. Horses like Red don’t disappoint. I can come here and spend a few hours with him and I know he always gives me his best. And I give him mine.”

  Nate didn’t mistake the hollowness in her voice. “But people disappoint…is that what you’re saying?”

  “Sometimes,” she replied and unclipped the girth strap. “Maybe it’s my own fault. I guess I’ve simply never felt as though anyone has ever really got me, if that makes sense.”

  It made perfect sense. “Except Patrick?”

  She didn’t flare up as he’d expected she might. “No, not even Patrick, and he’s been my closest friend since we were kids. I think its real intimacy that creates trust, both physical and emotional. And you only get that in a sexual relationship—not a best friend relationship.” She looked up and shrugged again. “You know, I can’t believe I’m talking to you about this stuff.”

  He did his best to look casual. But inside he was jumping all over the place. “I think you’re right though,” he said quietly. “Being friends, being lovers…it’s often difficult being one or the other. And sometimes impossible to be both.”

  She looked up and met his gaze. “Yes, exactly. At least you tried though,” she said and slipped the saddle into her arms. “I mean, you got married. You must have believed it would work out?”

  “At the time. But love, as they say, is blind.”

  Joley’s mouth twisted. “Do you think?” she asked and passed him the saddle.

  Nate took it into the crook of one arm. “If you let it be. I prefer to be more practical about things these days.”

  “About love?” she asked and let the gelding into the stall. “In my meager experience love is about the least practical emotion in the book.”

  “Precisely,” Nate said, hooking the saddle onto a nearby hitching rail. He moved to the doorway and braced an arm on each side. “So, take the emotion out of the equation.”

  “And?”

  Nate moved into the stall. “And you’ll find you’ll be left with an honest and realistic relationship.”

  Her brows shot up. “I will?”

  “Absolutely.”

  She half smiled and her lips twisted in such a way it made his insides crunch. Nate could have kissed her then. He wanted to. Everything about her caused his blood to simmer—the way she moved, the way her blue eyes illuminated her face and made her seem even more beautiful. The scent of fresh straw and horse sweat was familiar and not unpleasant. Memories of her in his bed on the night of the wedding bombarded his thoughts. It had taken most of his will power to refuse her appeal to join her there. The fact she looked as though she knew exactly what he was thinking suddenly created a seductive mood between them. There was no denying the heat circling around the small stall. He knew sex alone wasn’t enough to hold a relationship together. But, Nate thought as he watched her tempting mouth, it might be a good place to start.

  “Joley…”

  She stepped back and pushed against the horse’s shoulder. “I can’t—”

  “Yes, you can,” he said, and wasn’t entirely sure what he meant. He watched as she squared her shoulders, her strong resolve and character spiked his admiration.

  “Okay,” she said on a breath. “Maybe I can. But I don’t want to.” She stood taller, inhaled again and met his gaze head on. “Not until I know exactly what your intentions are.”

  “My intentions?”

  “Yes,” she shot back. “With my business. With me.”

  Joley knew she had to find out exactly what his plans were. There was something compelling about Nate, a kind of raw masculinity and Joley’s interest had developed into a blistering attraction she couldn’t deny. But she needed to know exactly what he was after and why.

  “My intentions?” he said again. He was close and the horse behind her made it impossible for Joley to move out of the way.

  “You own a part of my business—you’ve come riding in on a white horse to save the day and yet you’re leaving in a matter of days,” she said breathlessly.

  “Maybe I’m not leaving,” he said. “Maybe I’m looking for a reason to stay.”

  And maybe I’m hallucinating.

  “Tell me the truth—what do you really want, Nate?” she asked and experienced a strange dip in her belly, like she was riding a rollercoaster at a theme park way too fast.

  He didn’t move, didn’t step closer as she might have expected him to do. Obvious and predictable, he wasn’t. That made him all the more dangerous to her mind, her body, and her heart.

  Heart? Now that’s just plain stupid.

  “I’m not about to jump you, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

  It was, exactly. Joley had thought it from the moment she’d spotted him watching her in the arena. Being barely a foot away from him in the stable only amplified her feelings. There was a heady, sexual vibration between them that couldn’t be denied.

  Sex….

  If she were game. “Well, good,” she said and tried to avoid a tempting indignant sniff. “Because I think I’ve made it clear I’m not interested in anything casual. And I’m not sure, considering the circumstances, that being this close to you is good for me.”

  “Shall we find out?”

  Joley’s heart skipped. He was going to kiss her. She prepared for it, moving away from the horse, relaxing her arms. And waited. But Nate didn’t move. He watched her with such smoldering intensity her skipping heart quickly ramped into overload. The desire in his expression was unmistakable. A desire she returned and didn’t quite know how to handle. For years, Joley had hidden behind indifference and lukewarm desire. With Paul it had been easy to switch off. And her feelings for him had always been more emotional than physical. But this…this was major league physical. This was raw, sizzling and fuelled her blood with heat. She was undeniably turned on, out of her mind attracted…and he hadn’t even touched her!

  “Hey Joley, there’s a call for you in the office.” A head appeared around the door and Joley sucked in a breath. Stacey, one of the dressage instructors, gave her a broad smile. “It’s your mother.”

  Ella. Typical. “Thanks,” she said and waited until Stacey disappeared before she refocused her attention on Nate. “I’d better see what she wants. I left my phone in my car. It might be important and—”

  Nate grabbed her hand as she stepped sideways. “I’ll wait,” he said and gently brushed her knuckles with his thumb. Joley imagined herself being absorbed into his vortex and it should have scared her to pieces. Should have. But didn’t.

  “Sure,” she agreed and pulled her ha
nd free. “Give me ten minutes.” Before she ducked from the stall she grabbed a hard bristled brush from a bucket near the door and passed it to him. “Make yourself useful while I’m gone and strap Red down,” she said and scooted off through the stables.

  Once she reached the main office Joley had a few minutes to compose herself, to talk with her mother, and not think about why kissing Nate suddenly appealed to her so much. She had to keep her wits. She had to think about the flight school. That was all that mattered.

  And a mega sexy cowboy with deep gray eyes wasn’t going to derail her.

  Nate unsaddled the gelding and brushed the sweat from the animal’s coat. The burning attraction he had for Joley was certainly distracting. Getting to know her had become increasingly difficult when all he could think about was kissing her unbelievable mouth.

  He had forty-eighty hours before he headed home and he wanted Joley in his life before that time ran out. When she returned to the stables, she appeared unusually grim. “Everything alright?” he asked quietly.

  She shrugged and handed him a feed bucket. “Yeah. Just a minor family crisis.”

  “Nothing serious I hope?”

  Joley unclipped Red’s headstall. “To my mother my whole life is serious crisis.”

  Intrigued, Nate tipped the contents of the bucket into the feeder. “You’re an only child, right?”

  “The one and only, yes.”

  “And your mother dotes on you?”

  “Not exactly,” she replied. “My mother despairs me.”

  Nate frowned. “What does that mean?”

  She shrugged. “Oh, you know…thirty-four, single, and that’s unlikely to change any time soon kind of despair. Every mother’s worst nightmare. At least, for a mother like Ella.”

  “You’re not close?”

  “No. My Dad and I are close though, so the parent situation isn’t entirely lost.”

  “That’s something we have in common,” he said and passed her the empty bucket as Red dropped his head into the feeder. “A strong father figure.”

  “I guess we do. And don’t get me wrong, I know Ella cares about me…we’re just different. And she wants grandchildren. All her friends have them. Now that Gabby’s expecting I’ll never hear the end of it.”

  Nate heard the strain in her voice. “And do you want children?”

  “One day.” She looked up at him. “You?”

  “I told you I did,” he replied and felt a familiar pain hit squarely in the chest.

  She stepped back and crossed her arms. “But first you have to find someone to have them with, right?”

  “Right.”

  “And do you have someone in mind?”

  He half smiled. “Yes.”

  She took another step and ended up against the door. “Would that someone be me?”

  He stood rigid. There was no point in denying it. “Yes.”

  “Are you always so…candid?”

  “You mean honest? I try to be. I want what I want, Joley…and I’ll do whatever needs doing to get it.”

  She glared at him. “You don’t get to decide that and then simply make it so—you’re not the King of Siam.”

  He frowned. “Who?”

  Joley rolled her eyes. “He was another overconfident jerk who thought he could get what he wanted by just snapping his fingers,” she explained and clicked her fingers together. “People don’t work that way. I don’t work that way.”

  “Then which way do you work, Joley? With roses and candlelight?”

  She glared at him. “I can tell you what I don’t want,” she said and pulled Red’s rug from where it hung over the door. “I don’t want to be picked out like a heifer at the sales yard because you have a sudden itch to start a breeding program.”

  Joley knew he was arrogant and suspected he was ruthless too. He’d certainly swooped in and swiped her family business from under her nose—something she had to remember every time he looked at her with that hot, blistering desire. Getting swept up in any kind of silly fantasy was, well, plain old stupid. He’d made his intentions clear enough.

  “Breeding program?”

  She finishing with Red’s rug and then looked up. “What else would you call it?”

  “I was thinking more along the lines of a relationship.”

  Joley grabbed her gear, waited for him to follow her out of the stall and then bolted the lower door. “This is where I remind you that you’re leaving in a few days and I’m not in the market for a relationship with someone who lives hundreds of miles away—especially since that someone now holds the future of my family business in his hands.”

  Nate stared directly into her eyes. He looked annoyed and she felt a tiny surge of triumph that she could push his buttons. To her surprise, he didn’t respond as she’d thought he would. Which only heightened her determination to distrust him.

  “Speaking of the business,” he said quietly. “I’d like to see it.”

  Of course he would. “Sure,” she said super sweetly. “You can follow me.”

  Minutes later he was trailing her vehicle away from the equestrian center. The trip to the small airport on the outskirts of the city took thirty minutes. She pulled up outside the hanger and Nate followed suit. There was a doorway to the left and she headed directly for it once she was out of the car.

  Inside the huge building there were a few small aircraft and she circumnavigated one slowly, waiting for him to catch up before she spoke. “Here it is.”

  He looked around. “A fleet?”

  “Five airplanes,” she explained and promptly placed her hands on her hips. “Not exactly an armada.” She pointed to one of the three late model touring aircraft. “Our latest investment,” she said. “One we obviously couldn’t afford.”

  He expelled a heavy breath. “Joley, relax. My investment doesn’t mean I’m about to take all this away from you.”

  Something clanged from the other end of the hanger and she jumped backwards. “I can’t relax. I just don’t know…I don’t know how to act around you.”

  “Just be yourself.”

  “Easy to say when you hold all the cards.” She placed her hands on her hips. “My dad built this company twenty-five years ago. It’s his life. I can’t bear to imagine what would happen if he found out that…that…”

  “That Cohen let it get into the hands of a stranger?”

  She stilled, took a breath, looked into his eyes. “Yes.”

  “But I’m not really a stranger,” he said as he watched her, his expression filled with enough heat to make her cheeks bloom with color. “Your best friend is married to my sister. We’re family.”

  Joley almost laughed out loud, and might have if her father hadn’t chosen that moment to approach them.

  “Dad,” she said and smiled. “You remember Nate—Gabby’s brother?”

  Her father shook Nate’s hand. “Sure I do. Good to see you again.” Her father’s eyes crinkled at the sides as he looked at them both and smiled. “So, are you the reason my daughter’s been distracted lately?”

  Nate grinned. “I’d like to think so.”

  “Don’t flatter yourself,” she said in a low voice so only he would hear and then focused her attention on her father. “Dad, I’m going to give Nate a tour of the place.”

  “I can do that,” her father said with a broad grin. “There’s a new student starting her induction and safety training in half an hour—a young girl with the passion to fly,” he explained and winked. “Naturally I thought you’d like to meet her.”

  “Of course,” she said and glanced towards Nate. “Do you mind?”

  “Not at all,” he replied. “It will give your father and I a chance to get better acquainted.”

  Joley flashed him a look that spoke volumes. The last thing she wanted was for Nate to tell her dad what had transpired with Patrick. She needed to drop that bomb herself. And then she had to figure a way out of the whole mess. She gave a wary nod. “If you’re sure, then I’ll see
you later.”

  She didn’t wait for a reply and headed from the hanger.

  By the time Joley had taken her new student through the induction program it was past eleven o’clock. She expected to find her father in the main office. Instead she found Nate sitting on the worn sofa in the corner, reading an old flight magazine.

  “You’re still here?” she said as she walked to her desk and dumped a folder onto the in tray.

  He closed the magazine. “I’m still here.”

  She perched on the edge of the desk. “Enjoy your tour?”

  “Very much. Your father certainly loves this place.”

  Joley stilled. “I know. He’s already worried that we couldn’t afford the new aircraft and he doesn’t know what’s happened yet. Once he does…” Her voice trailed off.

  “You didn’t have any idea what Cohen was up to?”

  She shrugged. “Perhaps I didn’t want to know. Oh, I knew the new planes cost a fortune and that we’d taken out a loan to pay for them—but I didn’t know the extent of that debt.” She wrapped her arms around her waist. “I should have known, I guess. I shouldn’t have allowed Patrick to handle it all himself. But, I’ve always been happier in the air than in the office. I’m like my dad in that way.” She sucked in a breath. “My father will be devastated when he finds out. He’ll never forgive me for this.”

  Nate shot up from the sofa and came towards her. “You’re not going under, Joley.”

  She pushed herself off the desk as he approached. “You can’t bail me out, Nate. I won’t allow it. This is my mess and I need to figure a way out of it on my own.”

  He stopped a few feet from her. “That’s a fairly grim view, don’t you think? And although your father does need to know the truth, nothing here has to change. I’m not about to start telling you how to run your business—other than work with you to make it viable again. Patrick can resume his position when he gets back—minus the authority to write checks, of course.”

  Her mouth twisted. “With you watching from a distance to ensure your investment is well taken care of? No thanks. My dad wouldn’t agree to that. And neither would I.”