***
In the ranch house kitchen, hearing Tess roar off in her new SUV, Rolf watched as JD registered the import of the sound.
He predictably blew up in a rage. “What the—!” You let her have a vehicle!”
Rolf shook his head. “She didn’t need my help. Your sister is quite a woman.”
“You’re soft on her,” JD accused.
“Damn right.” He eyed his old army buddy, now his boss-partner, speculatively. “That a problem for you?”
JD opened his mouth, still looking angry.
Rolf raised one hand, palm up, in a warning gesture. “Don’t say anything you’ll regret. If Tess will have me, I’m her man.”
“She’ll go back to Hollywood and leave you in the dust,” JD scoffed.
“If it comes to that, I’ll go with her.” It was the first time Rolf had said it aloud or even thought it, but he realized it was the truth. Getting to know Tess in the last few days had grown his feelings for her far beyond his original desire to possess her. He wanted her to be happy.
JD looked shocked. “I thought you liked the peace and quiet of the ranch?”
Rolf shrugged. “I do. But I’d live in the fast lane of the San Bernadino Freeway to be with her.”
JD shook his head. “I don’t get it.”
“Just telling you.” He pointed at the kitchen door. “I think I know where she’s headed right now. I’ll go after her. We have plenty of time before everyone has to be in position tonight.”
“Do it. I don’t want her messing things up.”
“Deal her in, and she won’t.”
With that parting shot, Rolf went to the office to collect his things. Maybe some of what he’d said would sink in with JD, and maybe not. It was the strongest objection Rolf had made so far to JD’s adamant insistence on keeping Tess out of the loop.
With luck, Tess wasn’t up to anything wild and crazy tonight, but there was no telling with a firebrand like Tess. JD counted on him to set the trap. His first loyalty was supposed to be to JD, his army buddy and partner.
Maybe not. A wife would expect her husband to be loyal to her first, not to her brother. Yes, wife. He wanted Tess to marry him. He needed her fire in his life, and she needed stability. As long as he’d known her, she’d been rudderless. That DUI, all the drinking, the randomness of her life in Hollywood. He’d found safety in isolation and following rules, but rules weren’t right for her, and safe didn’t seem to be what she wanted. Which meant he would have to meet her in the middle. He hoped it didn’t have to be on the San Bernadino Freeway.
Tess was up to something tonight, but what? She had too much energy. On the good side, that made Tess an enthusiastic lover. The night of the wedding, she’d been willing and eager. He’d thought their time together had meant something, but Tess steadfastly denied it.
Weddings. He’d been in the army when his sister’s wedding happened. Missed that one. He’d been a civilian again when JD and Paula went straight to the Circuit Court in Cheyenne without telling anyone. Missed that one, too. Only after they tied the knot did they announce their marriage and host a small party for family and friends. That was when JD had made him the offer to co-manage the vast Selkirk ranch.
The deal had worked well for three years, but JD’s bad attitude toward his sister made Rolf want to reconsider his role here. For now, though, he intended to follow JD’s orders.
He texted Tess, asking where she was going, but she didn’t answer. He had hours before he needed to be in position to trap the rustlers. She’d gone in the direction of Baron and Addie’s house. He’d go after her and make sure she didn’t intend any mischief that would mess up tonight’s big plan.
***
Tess rode the back tracks she knew so well, passing the site of the old line cabin on the original piece of Selkirk land before crossing over to what had been Shepherd property. Here, the trails were slightly less familiar. Daddy hadn’t bought this piece until she was a teenager. But the moon was bright, and it was easy enough to find her way from one old road to another if she took her time. She had plenty of time tonight because the rustlers weren’t coming. JD and Rolf planned to catch them tonight, but there wouldn’t be anyone to catch.
She saw and heard nothing but normal night sounds as she rode through the brush and the few undergrown trees. They had every kind of land on their property now. Some of it was out-and-out desert sand. Other parts were green valleys. This section was in between, not quite forbidding and barren, but not lush with foliage or large trees. Finally, she made out the copse where the old Shepherd cabin lay hidden.
***
At Baron and Addie’s, Rolf learned Tess had borrowed a horse. Addie looked daggers at Baron for telling him, and then Baron clammed up. Addie wouldn’t explain where Tess planned to ride. Rolf thanked them and drove out to the main highway and then to the entrance to the Green Gables complex. All was quiet at this hour in the evening, but as he passed the building, he saw a man walking the lit perimeter of the back garden. Been there. PTSD waited for them all at night. He wanted to stop and talk to the man, but finding Tess was more urgent. As his PTSD had receded and his life got more busy, he had less time to devote to the other guys. Maybe he should make the effort to go see if he could recruit that Viet vet Nellie told him about.
Discerning the track was difficult without Tess to guide him, although the night was bright with moonlight. He must find her and get her out of harm’s way. Where was she now? She’d taken a horse because JD and he had thought they should make sure she didn’t interfere. All they’d done was leave her more vulnerable. A lone woman on a horse was a lot easier to corner than a woman in a sport utility vehicle or on an ATV. Why hadn’t he thought of Tess’s safety first, instead of being so fast to agree with JD that she should butt out?
He cautiously edged his vehicle along the track, keeping the windows open and listening intently for any sounds of an approaching motor.
He located the old line cabin and carefully stopped his four by four behind the small grouping of trees. Was she here? No sign of Tess or a horse. Could he be wrong about her intentions tonight? Had she already returned her borrowed horse to Addie? Was she back at Baron’s house, playing cards with Addie after taking a ride? Nah. Not Tess.
An owl hooted. Or was it an owl? He cautiously answered with a hoot. The owl hooted again, this time very clearly from the cabin. He made the signal again, but drew his pistol as he approached.
“Hey, there, cowboy.” Her voice came from the steps of the cabin. “I can see you, can you see me?”
“What are you doing here alone, and at night?” he asked, holstering his weapon.
“Checking out whether the rustlers are paying off someone who works for us, or the reverse.”
“Where’d you get that crazy idea?”
“Come inside. I’ll show you.” She led him into the rickety structure, lighting their way with her cell phone. First she aimed the light in a corner, where fast food wrappers and a few French fries indicated a recent visit. “Evidence. Nobody who works on the ranch drives thirty miles for a cheap meal to eat in a dump like this.”
“So?”
Kneeling on the floor, she easily wedged a key between two of the widely spaced, weathered boards and popped one up. A neat little hidey hole was revealed. “Look.”
With her phone lighting the interior, he saw a couple of cattle ear tags and an envelope. He picked it up. Empty.
“You were expecting the envelope to be full of bills?” He dropped the envelope back into the hidey hole and sat back on his heels. “Why leave money here?”
“To pay someone involved in the rustling. That’s a fresh envelope, not some old abandoned piece of paper from decades ago.”
“It’s empty.”
She said, “Two simple theories: The rustlers are paying someone local, or someone local is paying the rustlers.”
He nodded. “Either one is possible, but why are you here at night? They could show up at any mom
ent.”
She shook her head. “Nope. This is the wrong night.”
“What do you mean?”
“The rustlers won’t come tonight,” she said, putting the floorboard in place again. She rose and led the way out of the cabin, into the bright moonlight. She said, “Everybody I’ve talked to says the cattle is being rustled every other night. Like the rustlers have a set schedule.”
As she explained further, citing specific ranch hands, including Davis, Rolf asked himself why he hadn’t noticed the timing, and why JD hadn’t, either. Tanisha Robinson had specifically told him about hearing trucks on Tuesday and Thursday, but not on Wednesday.
Tess said, “Anyway, the secret compartment was empty this afternoon when I first checked. I intended to come back during daylight hours, to test how to get here without taking a noisy vehicle or using any of the roads the criminals might use.” Her annoyed expression was clear in the moonlight. “Your stupid transportation ban delayed me, so I had to wait until moonrise.”
Rolf grimaced. She’d taken a big risk, and he and JD had pushed her into it. Someone else would have come back the next day, but Tess wasn’t the patient type.
She shouldn’t be out here alone, tonight, with criminal activity going down. Rolf said, “Either way, someone might show up at any moment. You should leave.”
“They won’t come tonight at all,” she insisted.
He said, “You ride back the way you came and stay inside the ranch house where you’ll be safe.”
She put her hands on her hips, bristling. “Don’t order me around.”
“Tess, we’ve got a plan in place for tonight. Don’t interfere.”
“I’m going over to the chowhouse to play poker. I’ll be out of your hair. Is that good enough for you?”
“Uh, sure.” The chowhouse would be safe, and so would the road back to the ranch house from the ranch hands’ compound. “You can follow me there.”
She shook her head. “First, I’ll take the mare back to Addie. She won’t be able to sleep until she knows the animal is safe.”
He didn’t like it, a woman alone in the rough terrain at night, but he didn’t see a practical way of stopping her short of violence. “Text me once you’re at Addie’s.”
She heaved a sigh of exasperation. “I know this ranch, Rolf. I’ll be fine.”
“Text me, anyway. Set my mind at ease.”
Her pouty lips curved in a smile. “Okay, cowboy. Maybe I’ll come by your cabin later, too, to reassure you in person.” She swooped in and kissed his cheek before walking away, whistling. A minute later, she was mounted up and heading down some obscure path only she knew.
Rolf pushed back his hat on his head. What a woman.
Rolf called the sheriff to tell him about the evidence in the cabin and Tess’s theories. Logan said she could be right about tonight being an off night, but they should go ahead with tonight’s plan regardless, since everything was already arranged.
Rolf drove back to his own cabin to rest for a couple of hours before his late-night watch began. He was short on sleep from last night. He could use some down time.
He woke from a doze when someone knocked on the cabin door.
Chapter 14
Rolf opened his cabin door and found Tess. “What are you doing here?”
“Booty call.” She walked past him, and entered the main room. “I realized I shouldn’t be playing poker with the guys because they like to bet actual money and technically I’m one of their bosses. I dropped out after a couple of hands.”
She surveyed the cabin. “Company’s likely to be thin on the ground at the main house at this hour. JD and Paula will be in their suite and Miss Betty will be in hers watching television. I have nothing to do.” She smiled at him beguilingly. “Want to play strip poker again?” she asked, a hopeful look in her eyes.
Something expanded his chest, and he didn’t want to think about what another part of his body was doing. “I’m just taking a break before going out again. And don’t ask me where.”
She let the sore subject of the rustlers slide. “Were you asleep? I’m sorry. Should I go? Do you want to put on some music? We could dance.”
“I’m not much for dance music.”
“What kind do you like?” She tilted her head in inquiry.
“Reggae. It’s cheerful. Undemanding.”
“I never would have suspected that, you being from Texas and all. Thought you’d be heavy into country.”
“I hear enough of that everywhere I go. I like something different.”
The bland talk about music covered him trying to figure out where to sit. At first he sat back down in his easy chair, where he’d been asleep. But that didn’t seem friendly enough, and Tess was wandering around, not lighting anywhere. What if she sat in his lap? She looked as if she could at any moment. He’d have a hard time resisting a soft armful of womanhood. Hard time. Not funny.
He stood and walked toward the kitchenette. “Make you some coffee?”
“Got anything stronger?”
He shot her a look. “How about tea? Full of tannins, so they claim. I’m not against a drink now and then, but you like it too much.”
“Ouch. That’s laying it on the line.”
“I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but I know how amorous you get with a few drinks in you and I don’t want to fight you off.”
She pouted. “I wouldn’t get drunk. Anyway, I’d never force myself on you. Word of a Selkirk.”
“You’re really attached to being a Selkirk, aren’t you?”
“This ranch is the place I love most in all the world.” She sighed. “You don’t have to entertain me. Haven’t you ever done a booty call? It’s all about the sex. What do you say?”
Tess was so amazing. He stood there, his hands itching to touch her, wondering how she could be so daring with him and so intimidated with JD. “You want to go to bed, just like that?”
She smiled. “First, there’d be a lot of kissing and carrying on.” She moved in close. “Like this.” She kissed his rough cheek, and when he naturally turned his mouth toward hers, she kissed his mouth.
She pulled away before he’d gotten enough. She nodded in approval. “You’ve got the right idea.” She kissed his ear, and then nipped his other ear, which made him frenzied to claim her mouth. When he did, she responded lazily, as if she had all the time in the world to kiss him thoroughly.
Time slowed. Her hands gently caressed his face while her hips rubbed against his. His chest rose and fell. One of her hands undid his shirt and touched a nipple. The stinging jolt of pleasure made him catch his breath, breath she was commanding with her lips and tongue. She knew him. She pleasured him. He was lost.
Lost. He pulled back, wrenching their bodies apart. “No, I won’t let you seduce me.”
Tess had a dreamy expression on her face. “Don’t you like being kissed?”
“Too much.” He dared to put a consoling hand on her cheek, but quickly dropped it. Touching her was addictive. He turned away, willing himself to physical composure, breathing heavily. He went and stood by the hearth, leaning on the mantel for support.
“We have to slow down,” he said. “I want your commitment. Not just one night but every night.”
“I can’t stay here unless I can have a share in running the ranch.”
Remembering JD’s smug summary of the family plan to keep ownership of the ranch away from Tess, he said nothing.
“And I don’t want to give up my acting career.” She moved around the cabin restlessly, picking up objects from tables and putting them down again. She slanted a look at him. “When I get a call from my agent that there’s a part for me, I’ll go back to Hollywood.”
“Do you have to? If everything was right on the ranch, if you and your family got it straightened out, would you stay?”
Tess appeared torn. “I’d make it my home base, but I’d still want to act, and I’d still need to spend months at a time in L.A. during the run of
a television series. It’s like having a regular day job, only for a certain number of months, not all year.”
He shook his head. “I don’t want a commuter marriage.”
“Marriage? Who said anything about marriage?”
He gave her a straight look. “I’m not angling for a girlfriend. I want a wife, someone who’ll share her life with me.”
“But I can’t. Not now. Not for the foreseeable future, either.”
Tess stomped over to the couch and flung herself down on it. She stretched out on her back with her arms above her head, which made her breasts more prominent. She must have learned that move while working as an actress. All her assets were on display. “Lover, let’s not worry about the future. How about right now?” She sent a coaxing look at him.
He knew he shouldn’t, but he followed her to the couch and sat on the edge of it. Tess lowered one arm and took his hand in hers. “We’re so good together.”
She opened a snap of her shirt and drew his fingers down to splay on one breast. “Feel how your touch moves me,” she whispered.
The feel of her soft flesh sent a pang throughout his body. He leaned down and kissed her nipple. Next thing he knew, he was lying on top of her, kissing her mouth deeply with rough passion.
Tess’s groan of pleasure as his legs sought to spread hers brought him to his senses. He leaped up from the couch.
“I’m taking a walk. You go home.” He ignored her pleas and practically raced out of his cabin.
***
Dang. She’d almost seduced him. If only he’d be willing to use some of his impressive self-control while they were having sex. The results would be fantastic.
She loved Rolf, but it would never work. Sex was all they had, because she couldn’t commit to him. Not when he sided with JD all the time. Plus, Rolf looked down on her Hollywood career. He wanted her to give it up and become a nothing. His flashes of irrational jealousy and his efforts to break her of her fun approach to life added up to a man who wanted to control his woman, not let her be who she needed and wanted to be. Trouble was, she wanted him anyway.
Cowgirl Rescue (Selkirk Family Ranch Book 3) Page 14
