“I think you’re right about that shower,” she said at last. “I’ll be back in ten.”
As she soaped up for the second time that morning, she thought about how everything she’d done recently had been driven by fear—fear of losing the ranch, fear of letting the family down, fear of not being good enough. But with Rhett, all that fear washed away. With him, she looked forward to things, felt optimistic about how it would all play out. She truly was different when he was around, better somehow. Would allowing him in to her otherwise predictable and mostly solitary life be the ticket to really and truly having it all, even the things she’d never before admitted that she wanted? It seemed silly that doing more—having more—could actually ensure she kept the things that mattered. But the evidence up until this point seemed undeniable.
Besides, it felt good to have someone on her team. Lately, Jenny had been a constant source of opposition, an enemy rather than an ally. But despite hardly knowing her, Rhett had shown up to work beside her, to help her in achieving something that was obviously so important to her. Together perhaps they could…
No, she was getting ahead of herself. All she knew for sure was that she needed to give him a chance. What happened from there was anyone’s guess. This was Cassie’s life, and it rarely went as expected. But then again, maybe things were finally starting to look up.
She got dressed, taking a little more care than usual, even spritzing on a bit of perfume that she saved only for special occasions. By the time she returned to the barn, ready to spill her heart out to Rhett, they were no longer alone.
Judy the vet had arrived. Instead of checking on Maybel and the calf, like Cassie expected, Judy leaned back against the barn wall, tucking her hair behind her ears and blushing.
“Are you sure you wouldn’t mind? It’s just otherwise no one will believe I got to meet you!” she gushed.
When had Judy ever gushed before? Something was definitely not right.
“Sure, I’d be down with a selfie.” Rhett smiled and put his arm around Judy, who then snapped a quick picture with her cell phone.
“I don’t have a lot of Instagram followers, but I have a feeling I’ll have way more after posting this. And no one is going to believe that Rhett the Jet delivered one of my calves, oh my God.”
“Actually,” Cassie said after clearing her throat. “I delivered the calf. And what’s all this fuss about? Why are you calling him Rhett the Jet? How do you know each other?”
Now it was Rhett who wouldn’t look her in the eye. “Cassie, I should have told you…”
“Oh? She doesn’t know?” Judy’s eyes grew large as she looked from Rhett to Cassie and back again. “I’ll just go check on Maybel. Bye, it was so nice to meet you.”
Cassie raised her hands to her hips and waited until Judy was out of earshot. “Okay, what’s going on?”
“Cassie, I didn’t mean to keep anything from you. It’s just that I really wanted to get the chance to know you, and sometimes my reputation precedes me. I didn’t want you to write me off without first giving me a chance.” He tried to put his arms around her, but she pushed him away.
“So you lied instead? And I still don’t get it? Who the hell are you, Rhett?”
“I’m me only better when I’m with you. You do something crazy to me, Cass. I never knew I could fall so hard. I never—”
She stomped her foot like an angry steer. “You still haven’t answered my question. Who are you?”
“Like I said, everything I’ve told you is true. Everything I’ve been to you is true. My name is Rhett Alexander, and I play football for the San Antonio Bombers.”
“Football? Like you’re a professional athlete?”
“Yeah, I guess I am.” He grabbed the back of his neck and kicked at the hay on the barn floor. He looked even more handsome now that he’d had all the wind knocked from his sails. Damn it, she couldn’t focus on that. She was angry, livid, and she still needed answers.
“I don’t like that you kept that from me, Rhett. It feels like you were trying to trick me. It cheapens what I thought we had. You just—”
“Ex-excuse me, Cassie?” Judy reappeared, walking slowly toward them. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but can you come see Maybel with me for a second? I need to go over her care with you.”
Dutifully, she followed Judy to the other end of the barn, and squatted down beside Maybel who was still resting. She expected Judy to start ticking off a long list of instructions, but instead her friend pinched her in the arm.
“Ow, what was that for?”
“Are you crazy?” Judy whispered, but her face contorted as if she really meant to scream.
Cass sighed. “I’m starting to think this isn’t about Maybel.”
“Damn right, it’s not. Maybel’s just fine. It’s you I’m worried about. That man is obviously crazy about you, and he’s freaking Rhett ‘the Jet’ Alexander. Why are you giving him such a hard time?”
Cass turned away, her voice soft. “He lied to me.”
“So he withheld information to get sex, big deal. Men do that all the time, famous or not. He’s still here, isn’t he?”
“Actually he didn’t. I mean, we didn’t. We haven’t slept together yet.” Was she blowing this whole thing out of proportion? Or was Rhett justified in keeping the truth from her? It had only been a few days after all, and they’d mostly focused on the ranch in their time together. Football hadn’t really come up.
Judy grabbed both of Cassie’s wrists and pulled her close. “Then what the hell is the problem? He didn’t want you to write him off if you found out about his fame and fortune. That makes sense to me. Would you have knowingly dated him if you knew all that beforehand?”
Cass shook her head. “No, definitely not.”
Now the vet smiled at last. “See? Seems like he did the right thing to me. Give him a break, will you?”
“But, Judy…”
“But nothing. He hasn’t really done anything wrong, but still here he is trying to make it right. And I know you, you would have lost your head if he hadn’t been here to help with the delivery. He very well saved Maybel’s life. From what I can tell, he’s a good man, one who’s smitten with you.”
“Maybe. I just don't know. I have so much on my plate already. I need to look after Maybel, to work on making the ranch profitable again so that we don’t need to sell it.”
“You also can’t keep running on empty. You give so much to the animals, to this place, and you’re amazing for it. Have you ever heard the expression you can’t serve from an empty vessel?”
“What are you doing to fill yourself up these days, Cass? Seems to me your well’s been empty for a long time. And take it from someone who’s known you for a long time, who wants what’s best for you. You deserve happiness, but to find it you need to first step out of your own way. Give him a chance. If it doesn’t work out, you can blame me later, all right?”
Chapter 8
Damn it, he’d done the wrong thing with Cassie… again. This love stuff was a whole lot harder than he’d always assumed—especially when convincing a woman to join him in his bed had always been so simple. Now that it actually mattered to him, he was one giant walking mistake.
He needed to win Cassie back over, to prove to her she could trust him, but how?
He heard her and Judy speaking in hushed whispers and realized that if Cassie did decide to give him another chance he owed a certain Bombers fan season tickets. As the women chatted, he returned to mucking out the stalls. After several more minutes, Cassie returned and gave him a funny look. It seemed she had been watching him for a while without him knowing.
“So you’re kind of a big deal?” she said at last, her arms crossed over her chest.
He decided it was best not to say anything, and she laughed nervously.
“I don’t get it, Rhett. You could get any woman you want. Why me?”
He dropped the shovel and focused his full attention on her. “Because you call me on m
y crap, you show me that a woman can be so much more than a pretty thing on my arm. You challenge me, you teach me, you’re the only person I’ve ever met who works harder toward her dream than I do, and you fill out those jeans pretty nice too.”
Taking a chance, he drew near to her, looping his arms loosely around her waist. He could tell she wanted him to bend down and kiss her, but, much as he wanted that too, he didn’t.
“We’ve already lost half the morning, but I reckon if we both give it our best, we can be through with the day’s chores in time for dinner.”
“You reckon? Since when do you talk like that?”
Now they both laughed. “Since trying to prove to you that I can keep up. If we can get everything done by tonight, will you let me stay and cook dinner for you?”
“I reckon I might.” She kissed him on the cheek, allowing her lips to linger a fraction of a second longer than they might otherwise. She smelled of body scrub and a citrusy perfume he quite liked. “Thank you, Rhett. Really.”
“Hey, no big deal, but you better stop distracting me. I’ve got a lot of mucking to do, and I’m kind of working on a deadline here.”
Cass grabbed her straw hat from a nearby hook and tipped it his way. “You’ve got it, cowboy.”
Cowboy. He liked the sound of that. Although he’d never in a million years want to play football for Dallas, he’d love the chance to woo this special cowgirl who had moseyed on into his life and taken it firmly by the reins.
Feeling energized now, Rhett mucked like his life depended on it, and it kind of did. When he’d finished that chore, Cassie had him stack hay bales, and when he finished that he had fence sections to repair. By five o’clock, she’d run out of chores to assign him, so he finished up the last one and then headed to his car to retrieve the shopping bags he’d packed with dried goods and spices earlier that morning with hopes that they’d get to this point—along with hopes that Cass would have the remaining ingredients he needed to make his famous chicken carbonara.
So he had to make it without the bacon, but it still turned out pretty danged good. Cassie made all kinds of mms and aahs as they ate together on her large wraparound porch, watching as the stars began to climb out of the darkness and light up the night sky.
“Since when can you cook?” she asked in disbelief.
“Since always. My mom got home late most nights from working second shift, and I liked to make sure she came home to a warm meal every now and then.”
“So you’re a mama’s boy?”
“No, I’m a boy who appreciates strong, hard-working women—women like you, Cass. You looked so damn sexy today as you tended to the cattle and wielded that pitchfork like it wasn’t nobody’s business.”
Cassie laughed. “Stop trying to talk Texan, it isn’t working. Besides I like the real you just as you are.”
“Really? Just as I am?”
“Yup.” She took another bite of pasta, and a tiny bit of the cream sauce stuck to her lower lip.
Rhett swooped in to kiss it off.
“Don’t you think you might like me better if I say…took off my shirt?” He slowly unbuttoned his flannel and dropped it to the porch below them.
A wicked smile played at her lips. “You’re right, I do like that better.”
At that moment Rhett knew they were both thinking the same thing and he wanted so desperately to turn those thoughts into actions, to rip off every single article of her clothing and his own. But even more than that, he needed her to understand that he wanted all of her, not just her gorgeous body.
He leaned forward to kiss her, placing a hand on each of the arms of Cassie’s wooden rocking chair so they wouldn’t roam away and get him into trouble. A ripple of pleasure ran through him, making him hot despite the night breeze.
“Aren’t you a bit chilly?”
“Inside I’m a million degrees. You’re so hot, Cass. I don’t want to rush things with you, but I’m also having a hard time holding back.”
“You don’t have to—” She nipped at his neck playfully, and he almost gave up on his plan then and there. He briefly let himself picture whisking her up out of that chair, carrying her up the stairs, and making love to her until the sun came up. He needed…a distraction.
“Hey, that night we met, there was a song. You said I didn’t belong in Texas since I didn’t know it.” He sank back into his chair and took another big bite of the chicken carbonara. Not even his specialty dish tasted anywhere near as Cassie’s sweet, sweet lips—but at least it helped keep his hands and mouth busy. For now anyway.
“I didn’t say you don’t belong, only that you’re obviously not from here.”
“Teach me the song? It had something to do with the stars, right?”
She laughed and he took the opportunity to pull her up onto his lap. As much as he wanted to be naked with her, he now also felt naked without her.
“The stars at night,” she sang softly. “Shine big and bright…Deep in the heart of Texas.”
“That’s it?”
“Well, that’s all you really need to know. Easy isn’t it?”
Rhett repeated the lyric, bringing his mouth close to her ear so she’d feel his breath with each word. “So now do I belong?”
“In Texas?” she said with a look of ecstasy on her face.
“In Texas. With you. Wherever.”
Cassie laced her fingers through his and rested her cheek on the top of his head. “Yes, it seems you do.”
“Cass, I…”
“What?”
“I don’t want to run away.”
“Then don’t.”
“I mean it. You may end up stuck with me.”
“I don’t see that as a problem.”
She smiled, and his whole world felt as if it were snapping into place. Perhaps he didn’t have to run in order to feel safe or even to feel the thrill of living. Sometimes slow was good. Slow was perfect. Slow was a freaking miracle. They sat together for a long time watching the stars and enjoying the remnants of his home-cooked meal.
“You’re cold. Let’s go inside.”
“I’m not cold, but we can go inside. There’s another part of my surprise for you that I almost forgot.”
“What?”
“Go up to your room and get comfortable. I’ll join you once I have everything ready.”
Her eyes flashed with desire and she jogged up the stairs to wait for him and his surprise. When he joined her in the bedroom a few minutes later, he found her lying on the bed in a skimpy silk nighty that was so drastically different from her normal clothing he felt as if he’d peeled through another layer of her and found a side she rarely showed to others.
He stood for a moment to admire her, then placed his body over hers, enjoying the feel of their bodies fitted together, the comfort of lying in bed with her, the excitement of what he knew would come one day soon—though not today.
Gently, Rhett turned Cassie over onto her stomach, and, with a delicate string of kisses, lifted the silk negligee up and over her head. Now she only wore a pear of simple, cotton panties, and it was the best outfit Rhett could imagine. Turned out he liked his angel even better without the blue jeans.
As he admired her gorgeous curves up close for the very first time, it took everything he had not to plunge deep into her softness and finally make himself one with the most intriguing, strong, beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes on. Oh, he wanted to lay so much more than eyes on her.
But for now, his eyes and hands would have to be enough. Slow could be good, right? He wasn’t actually sure because this was all so new for him. But he firmly believed that, with Cassie, everything could be good if he just took the time to enjoy the moment rather than worrying about what would come next. They would get there, he knew that.
Might as well enjoy the journey—and the view.
Cassie squirmed eagerly as he warmed the massage oil between his palms. He covered her body with his again, working the fragrant oil into her tired muscles,
rubbing out all the kinks in her body and enjoying the different kind of kinkiness that ran through his mind as he did it. As he traced sweet, breathy kisses up and down her spine, he knew that he wasn’t falling in love with Cass. Not anymore.
He’d already fallen, hard—and he didn’t want to get up.
Last night had been one of the most erotic nights of Cassie’s life, which was really saying something since she and Rhett hadn’t even made love. But what they had done, wow. She felt amazing waking up that morning and not just because of the deep tissue massage. She looked over at Rhett who had spent the night wrapped around her in a glorious tangle of limbs, and she wondered if she might finally be falling in love.
Sure, she’d had boyfriends before, but none had made her feel the things Rhett could. He was a constant mystery to her. Just when she thought she had him figured out, he’d flip the script and reveal a whole new side of himself. Despite the whole not-telling-her-he-was-a-pro-athlete thing, he’d been perfectly upfront with her about everything else and she’d enjoyed each surprise as it was revealed.
Especially the surprises he’d revealed the night before.
Her body tingled with the memory of his fingers working firm circles into her flesh. If just touching felt that good, she could hardly imagine the pleasure of him actually making love to her. Last night he’d explored all of her body—save for the tiny portion that had been covered by her underwear—yet she’d scarcely had a chance to discover his.
She rolled over to face a still sleeping Rhett and decided that now was as good a time as any to begin her expedition. Eagerly, she lowered the sheet and swept her eyes across his muscular expanse. So much of him to love… Where should she begin?
She placed a kiss on his neck and felt him begin to stir.
Then she kissed his shoulder.
“Mmm, a guy could get used to waking up like this.” Rhett moaned, his eyes still shut, which she hoped heightened his other senses. She wanted to give him as much pleasure as he’d shown her.
A Cowboy Kind of Love Page 6
