Cade’s expression darkened. “I have no intention of standing here discussing my financial situation in front of this…” He turned to Lacy, his discerning gaze moving over her, “rag writer.”
“Rag writer!” she exclaimed, but the two men continued on as if she weren’t even there.
“I know how you feel about reporters,” Burk replied. “But your stubbornness is going to cost us the opportunity to keep this place from running into the ground.”
“No more,” Cade said through tightly clenched teeth. “We’ll finish this discussion later.”
Lacy sensed a storm brewing and it wasn’t the one that had followed her into town.
“Damn it, Cade—”
“Not here,” came the final warning. “And not now.”
Burk turned to her. “I’m real sorry to have wasted your time, Ms. Dalton.” That said the ranch hand stalked off toward the barn.
“This can’t be happening,” she muttered.
Cade muttered a curse as he turned back to the angry young woman who stood on his porch, clutching her briefcase so hard her knuckles had turned white.
“It seems we owe you an apology,” he said with a glance in his friend’s direction. “I’m sure Burk meant well, but he was out of line. The decision wasn’t his to make. And I’m not interested.”
Her mouth moved as if she wanted to argue the point, but snapped shut just as quickly. Her cheeks were flushed with anger, her amber eyes flashing. She looked like a volcano ready to erupt and he and Burk were right in line of the lava’s flow.
Even that didn’t keep the words from leaving his mouth. “I don’t like reporters.”
“You don’t have to like me,” she said stiffly.
“I’m real sorry he wasted your time coming here.” And mine. “Burk should have known better.”
“That’s it?” she replied with another gasp, making no move to leave.
She was a stubborn, little thing. He’d give her that much. “There’s nothing else to say. I have a fence to repair, hopefully before the rain lets loose. And a ranch hand to fire apparently.” Not that Burk would pay that much mind. The man was a permanent fixture in Cade’s life.
“Busy man,” she said, her tone as bristly as a porcupine. But damn if the little blonde wasn’t sexy when she was all fired up. A thought he quickly pushed from his mind.
“I’ll see you to your car.” He pressed a hand to the small of her back and ushered her toward the steps, trying to redeem himself for his earlier lack of manners.
She stopped suddenly, letting out a high pitch squeal as one of her heels sank into a groove between the weathered floorboards.
He hooked an arm around her waist to steady her. “Why women risk breaking their necks on those things I’ll never understand,” he muttered with a frown. That was all he needed, her breaking an ankle on his porch and adding a lawsuit to all his other financial problems.
She jerked free of his hold and spun around to face him. “I could say the same thing about you and your bulls.”
His gaze was drawn to the honey blonde strands that had settled over one shoulder when she pulled away. He found himself wondering if they were as soft and silky as they looked.
“I don’t ride anymore,” he muttered, irritated by the thoughts her presence evoked in him.
“Maybe not, but you still have a business connection to the rodeo. And the publicity a story in Bustin’ Loose would give you could bring in a good deal more business. And that, Mr. Tyler, would help ease things for you financially. Please reconsider doing the interview.”
Maybe it would, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to swallow his pride to feed a bunch of vultures. Cade whipped off his hat and dragged a hand back through his thick hair. He wasn’t going to fire Burk, he was going to kill him for even putting him in this position!
Dragging in a deep breath, he attempted to calm himself. Then, forcing a smile, he said, “Surely you’ve got better stories to cover than a has-been rodeo rider. I don’t have the fame and fortune your readers thrive on.”
“On the contrary, Mr. Tyler, you’re still news.”
The woman was just plain stubborn. “News or not, I’m not doing any interview. I’ve had my fill of publicity. Especially, the kind you reporters thrive on.”
The news media had taken his wife’s death and turned it into a media circus with all sorts of speculations as to what had caused her to go off the road that day. Rumor was that Karen had found out he was having an affair and was so distraught over the news she lost control of her car and went off the road. They were wrong. There had been no other woman. Ever.
Lacy Dalton shifted her briefcase to her other hand. “You mentioned that you’re shorthanded. How about we make a deal?”
He raised a brow. Had she made mental notes of everything that had been said? Lord, he hoped not. “What kind of deal?”
“You let me do the story with the agreement that you can approve it before I turn it in to my boss. In exchange I’ll work for you.”
“You’ll what?”
“Work for you,” she repeated with a smile. “While I write about your life, of course.” She reached out to touch his arm, her beautiful whiskey colored eyes pleading as she looked up at him. “I need this assignment, Mr. Tyler. I’m more than willing to work for it and according to Mr. Lowry you’re shorthanded right now.”
Pretty or not, she’s a reporter. Cade pulled away, distancing himself from her soft touch. “Have you ever worked a ranch Ms. Dalton?”
“Well, no…”
“I didn’t think so. So let me make this clear. I don’t take on people who have no ranching experience. And I don’t hire women.”
She opened her mouth again, no doubt to lay into him for being what she saw as chauvinistic, but he held up a hand to stop her protest.
“Before you go getting all wound up, there’s a damn good reason why I don’t hire women. My bulls are mean. They’re bred to be that way. The meaner they are the harder they buck, and the more a company will pay me when they rent them for rodeos. We men have enough trouble handling them as it is. So give up and go home.”
She looked on the verge of tears.
Lord, he hated to see a woman cry. Especially knowing he was the one who’d caused them to. “Try and understand, I don’t want anyone writing about the Flying T, or me for that matter.” His gaze swept across his property, then back to her. “The Flying T has turned into a shadow of what it used to be. And so have I.”
Hope flickered to life in her eyes. “All the more reason to do this interview.”
“What’s in it for you?” he asked, his gaze moving over the fitted jacket and curve-hugging skirt she wore. “You don’t look like you need the money. Nice clothes. Fancy car.”
“I have my reasons.”
“As do I. You and I both know there are plenty of other ex-rodeo riders who would be glad to have you interview them. Just not me. And you can tell your boss I said so.”
All he wanted was for her to go away. He had more than enough on his mind without her adding to it. Or at least there were things that should have been on his mind, not some troublesome female with lips that tempted him to kiss their pout away.
“I hope things turn around for you, Mr. Tyler,” she said, sounding surprisingly sincere. Then she turned and made her way down the porch steps.
Cade watched her go, guilt dragging his mouth into a frown.
Suddenly, she stopped and spun around. “If you happen to change your mind,” she said, holding out her business card, “here’s my cell number. I’ll be in town, having a much-needed glass of Chardonnay. This hasn’t exactly been one of my better days either.”
He took the card and stood watching as she walked back to the sleek, red Corvette. She settled herself behind the wheel and, without another glance his way, started the engine and drove off in a spiraling trail of dust.
Cade cursed the mess his life had become and headed for the barn. This day had to get better. It cer
tainly couldn’t get any worse.
Or could it?
As if in answer to his question, thunder cracked overhead and the skies let loose.
Excerpt from Capturing the Cowboy’s Heart by Lindsey Brookes © 2011
Buy Capturing the Cowboy’s Heart…
Romance author Lindsey Brookes has finalled in/or won more than 75 RWA chapter sponsored contests with over a dozen different manuscripts. She is also a four time RWA Golden Heart finalist as well as a past American Title III finalist and winner of Harlequin’s Great American Romance Novel contest. She writes for Kensington Publishing, Amazon Publishing, as well as Indie pubbed several of her contemporary romances. Ms. Brookes was recently announced a finalist in the Booksellers Best Awards with her contemporary romance – Kidnapped Cowboy. She is represented by Michelle Grajkowski with 3 Seas Literary Agency.
Check out her website: www.lindseybrookes.com
Email Lindsey at: [email protected]
Other books by Lindsey Brookes:
Kidnapped Cowboy
Jimmie Joe Johnson: Manwhore
Hero of Her Heart
Hooked on You
Capturing the Cowboy’s Heart
A Little Bit of Sugar
Operation: Date Escape
Reeling in the Redneck
Only in Vegas
Romanced by the Redneck
LOVING ELLIE Page 26
