“Maybe you should be.” Rogue curled his fingers around her neck.
Her heart pounding, Kit knew she should push him away. But those incredible green eyes of his were delving deep into hers and if she didn’t know better, she’d say he really wanted her. Shaking her head, she tried to pull from his grasp. No, she wouldn’t put herself through that again. She wasn’t a sex-starved twenty-year-old anymore. Ha! She was a sex-starved twenty-six-year-old.
“Stay put,” he growled. “I’m not going to hurt you and you know it.”
“I don’t know any such thing,” she hissed back. “You humiliated me at that rodeo, and for what? What was my crime? Having the audacity to have a crush on you?”
Rogue said nothing for a long heartbeat, just rubbed his thumb slowly along the velvet flesh of her throat, staring down into her face. “Guess what?”
“What?” she asked automatically, magnetized, unable to look away.
“Now I have a crush on you.” With a low moan, he lowered his head and crashed his lips to hers. Not gentle. Not tender. He consumed her mouth with heat and hunger, his tongue prowling inside, claiming possession. Rogue kissed her as if had every right to do so.
And she let him. For a few crazy, precious moments, she kissed him back, dizzy with desire. Her whole body trembled, responding to the blatant male who held her tight. Passion flared and all coherent thought fled. She’d wanted this man so much and despite the pain he’d inflicted, her Rogue Angel had never left her dreams. Never.
What was he doing? Rogue wondered. If he wasn’t careful he was going to make this worse. “I’m sorry,” he said, putting an inch or two between them, just enough so he couldn’t feel her nipples poking against his chest.
Sorry? He was sorry? Suddenly, she was cold. Kit rubbed her arms, chafing her skin against the chill. “I didn’t ask for that kiss.”
“No, but I couldn’t help myself. You’re irresistible,” he whispered in her ear, his warm breath making her tingle.
Kit felt her breasts swell. He was torturing her. “Then don’t resist me, do as I ask, return the loan to Dave Parker.”
Rogue knew she’d never believe he had her best interest at heart. Well, he’d just have to convince her. “I can’t do that. But I’d appreciate if you showed me around tomorrow. I’d like to inspect the property. Maybe I could make some suggestions. We could start over.”
Despair and desperation flashed through Kit. This was a nightmare. “I don’t want your suggestions and I don’t want to start over. Just stay out of my way and out of my sight and we’ll get along just fine.”
With that, she slammed out of his room, knocking a picture of a ring-neck pheasant off the wall.
Rogue smiled. This could be fun.
CHAPTER THREE
“I will not let him get to me. I will not let him get to me.” Kit chanted as she ran. Rogue Walker was playing havoc with her life—again. After a restless night she had gotten up early and set out on a run around White-Wing. Usually the sight of her beautiful home raised her spirits. Today, all she could think about was that she might lose it. Every inch of it reminded her of her father. She turned and ran down the hill to where he was buried beneath a big elm. The horse he’d valued so much, the one he’d tied their hopes and dreams up in, lay buried a few feet away from him. She stopped, resting her hands on her knees. The stallion, Rogue Angel, had been in the trailer Will Ross was pulling behind him when his brakes had failed and he’d lost control on a curve, crashing into a tree. She’d shared her father’s love for the big quarter horse, but he’d been more than a pet or an investment, he’d been the future of White-Wing. While they’d owned him, he’d sired a whole herd of champions and would have continued for years if he’d survived.
She couldn’t help but smile. What would Rogue say if he realized he shared a name with a horse? When she’d first laid eyes on Rogue Walker, the coincidence had struck her, especially since her father always said—if he’d said it once, he’d repeated it a thousand times. “Rogue Angel will take care of you. You never have to worry.” The last present he’d given her had been a statue of the animal with a bronze plaque on the base inscribed with the name. He’d placed his hand on it and repeated that Rogue Angel would always be there for her. She didn’t know if he was talking about the live animal or the statue…later, Rogue Walker had gotten intertwined in her thoughts with her father’s promise—but that was silly. He wasn’t her protector, he had been one of the few people in the world who made her cry.
But her father had died and so had his horse and Kit learned to care for herself.
While she stood, feeling lonely, two of the horses noticed her and trotted over. She pushed her hair off her forehead and smiled. As her mother would say, she was glistening. Perspiration dampened her hairline. This summer was turning out to be brutal. “Hey, boy.” She caressed Hotshot’s muzzle. He was a beautiful roan with a blaze face and white stocking feet. Not to be outdone, Diva, a gorgeous red quarter horse, pushed her way to the forefront to be petted. Both were sired by Rogue Angel and both were prize winners. “Are you two ready to be put through your paces?”
Working with her horses was how Kit wanted to make a living. She’d never had any intention of getting involved in ranch business. If her father had lived or if her mother had married someone who didn’t seem determined to drive the place into the ground, Kit would have concentrated on raising and training quality roping horses. If she hadn’t been forced to sell off most of her prime stock, she’d be sitting pretty now.
“Come on, run with me.” She invited the pair and as she took off, they galloped alongside her, tails up in the air like flags. When she topped the hill behind her house, she noticed the exterminators were gone. They’d finished. What a fiasco yesterday had been, Rogue walking in on her in her sleep. The maid who’d left the cabin door open had been soundly reprimanded, but Kit hadn’t had the heart to let her go. Sally had two small children and needed the job.
A car horn had her speeding up, a smile coming over her face. A group of ladies were coming in today to check out the place for a college sorority reunion. If she could sell White-Wing as a full service facility that catered not only to their needs of a place to sleep, meet and eat but also as a locale that could provide things to do such as a dance, a trail-ride, swimming, and hunting, she’d be well on her way to solving her mother’s financial problems. The only thing standing in her way was money and Rogue Walker.
Sure enough, when she got close, she could see it was Maureen Finch and her group. This was their ten year reunion. “Hi!” She jogged up to them, feeling decidedly underdressed. From the look of their car, a black spotless Lexus, and their designer clothing this was the cream of the society crop that Wichita had to offer. “I’m so glad you’re here. Did you have any trouble?”
“No, not a bit.” Maureen took her hand and smiled, turning to her friends. “Kit, this is Charlotte Bradshaw and Nina Grady. Girls, this is Kit Ross, our hostess.”
“I hope to impress you today. Let me walk you in, introduce you to my mother and take you to the dining room. There’s a delicious brunch waiting for you. While you eat, I’ll change clothes and meet you for mimosas.”
“Sounds wonderful.” Maureen leaned closer. “And if you’re worrying about impressing us, don’t. If that luscious man we just passed is a sample of the man-candy we can expect around this place, you’re booked.”
Man-candy? Kit turned to see where the ladies were pointing.
Dammit! Rogue Walker was strolling up like he owned the place.
“Hello, ladies. I’m Rogue Walker.” He tipped his hand and flashed one of those thousand watt smiles. Kit could have cheerfully kicked him, but the three women were tittering and blushing, clearly smitten.
“Hello, Mr. Walker.” Charlotte beamed. “You have a beautiful place here.”
Kit fumed. To correct her guests would appear petty, so she just pasted a smile on her face and kept quiet.
Rogue was amused, he could t
ell Kit was fit to be tied. “White-Wing is gorgeous. I’ve been enjoying a morning walk.”
“We’re thinking about renting the facility for our ten year reunion.” Maureen chimed in.
“Ten year reunion? From Junior High maybe, you’re certainly not old enough for anything else.” Yea, he knew how to charm women. He winked at Kit for good measure.
“Oh, you’re good,” Nina muttered. When she reached out to feel his muscular bicep, Kit almost choked.
“I think White-Wing is an excellent choice.” Rogue added with a smile as he held his arm out for the other women to test.
“Miss Ross has promised us a tour. Some of our men attendees will be interested in hunting and fishing. Will you be joining us?” Maureen batted her eyelashes at him. “I’m not married, by the way.”
“Neither am I,” the other two said at the same time.
Suddenly Rogue realized he’d stepped into a feminine trap. Exiting quickly was the only antidote. “Oh, well…”
Inspiration hit Kit with a resounding ring. This was the answer. If she could make Rogue miserable while he was here, perhaps he would relinquish claim on the note and let it go back to Dave. She was used to dealing with her stepfather—the old ‘devil you know is better than the devil you don’t’ routine. She’d talked to her stepfather late last night and he finally agreed to try and work other arrangements out with Rogue, on the condition that she cease interfering between him and her mother. She’d agreed to his terms, although Kit didn’t know what those arrangements would be and she didn’t care, just as long as it didn’t put her mother’s livelihood and her legacy in jeopardy. “Mr. Walker will definitely be joining us. He has an interest in the property and he’s been wanting to check out some of the finer points himself. Right?”
Rogue narrowed his eyes at Kit. What was she up to? No good, he was sure of it. If she wasn’t so damn sexy, he could tell her no. “Of course. Wouldn’t miss it. I have some things to discuss with Miss Ross and this outing can lead right into lunch.”
“That’s right,” Kit answered smoothly. “I’m sure we’ll have plenty to discuss.” She had an idea. While Rogue had begun the flirtatious exchange, it had apparently heated up past the point he was comfortable. He was handsome enough to have any woman he wanted. He’d said once that she wasn’t his type. She doubted very seriously if any of these three were his cup of tea either. But when she got through with him, they’d be convinced he was more than interested in them. He’d be running out of White-Wing like a scared rabbit and she’d close the gate behind him. “If you’ll excuse us, we’ll be on our way.”
“Won’t Mr. Walker be joining us?” Charlotte asked, obviously dismayed at the thought of losing the view she was so admiring.
“I’ve already eaten, thank you.” He smiled again and this time his dimples came into play. “I have a couple of phone calls to make.”
“Perhaps Rogue will join us for drinks before we set off.”
Rogue was pleasantly surprised at Kit’s invitation. “I like the sound of that. I’ll be there.”
“Oh, good.” The women clapped effusively and Kit’s stomach turned over.
“Shall we?” She motioned for them to follow her into the lodge. Rogue hurried and opened the door for them. When she walked past him, Kit gave him the evil eye, but all he did was chuckle.
As soon as she had the women settled and the cook personally seeing to their needs, she ran to take a shower—with only one detour. With an evil smirk, she headed to the main house to raid her parents’ medicine cabinet. Dave was out of pocket, attending a Rotary Club luncheon and her mother was busy at the front desk. In a classic e-w-w-w moment when hunting something for a headache, she’d stumbled upon Dave’s supply of Viagra. All she’d need was one and the women would be under the impression that Rogue was more than glad to be spending time with them.
In cabin #9, Rogue sat on the bed, waiting for Elijah to pick up the phone. He’d called the limo driver and told him he wouldn’t be making his flight. Next, he’d called his mother and explained to her why he’d be missing their normal mid-week meal together. As her only child, he tried to see about her as often as possible. His impromptu trip to White-Wing had changed his plans in several areas.
“Where the hell are you?”
Rogue laughed. “Not in the land of Oz, I’m still in Kansas.”
“Why? Why didn’t you collect your pittance from Dusty and hightail it home? You know we have that meeting with Simmons Oil in a few days. If you can partner with them on this next well, you’ll be sitting in high cotton.”
“Oh, you could handle it, but I’ll be there. As far as what’s going on here - where do I start?” Rogue laughed. “First, it wasn’t exactly a pittance. Dusty bequeathed me one quarter of a business valued at half a billion.”
“Did you say billion?” Elijah repeated with disbelief.
“I did.”
“Holy shit. Who got the rest, his wife?”
“No, my three half-brothers.”
“What the hell?”
“Exactly. And the will requires that we each spend a week here learning the business. I don’t know about the others, but I do this stuff for a living. It won’t take long for me to get up to speed. Dusty, in his own way, was preparing me for this all of my life.”
“Wait. Did you say three brothers?”
“Yea, I’ll explain it to you when I see you. It’s like something out of a damn soap opera…and get this—we look like four damn peas in a pod. No one could deny we’re related. He even gave us all the same belt buckle, you know the longhorn one.”
“Wow, just wow. Well, are you still dealing with the will or did you find a card game?” Eli knew him well.
“A card game.” Rogue let out a long breath. “But it got complicated.”
“How?” Eli snickered. “Don’t tell me you lost your shirt.”
“No, I was trying to corner Barnaby Miller. I wanted to challenge him to a showdown, but he ran out of steam. Instead, I got tangled up with a local rancher who didn’t know if he was playing Texas Hold ‘em or monopoly.”
“So?” Elijah prodded Rogue to finish his story.
“I won a real estate note, amount owing on it is fifty grand.”
“Great. You did well this trip.”
“Oh yea, but that’s not the problem.” Rogue pushed his hand through his hair, wondering how best to explain his quandary.
“So, what is?”
“The ranch, White-Wing, is a former cattle ranch. Now it’s more of a hunting resort, has a lodge and a pond. Nice place.”
“So far I don’t see a downside, Walker.”
“The place belongs to Kit Ross and her mother. The man who bet the note is her stepfather.”
“What? Repeat that.”
“You heard me. Kit Ross.”
“Roping, poison ivy, blow-job Kit Ross?”
“The same.”
Eli laughed. Hard. “Oh, I bet that went over well. The woman hates your guts, or at least she used to.”
“Still does.”
“Well, unload it and come home. Get out of the line of fire.”
Rogue paused. “Well…I don’t want to, just yet.”
“Why?” Eli waited for Rogue to stay something and when he didn’t—it hit him. “Oh. Oh! She’s still hot?”
Rogue groaned. “Elijah, if there was one time in my life when I did something truly stupid, that was it. I need to make amends.”
“Love and business don’t mix, Walker, you know that.”
“Well, no one said anything about love. But I hear you.”
“Keep me informed. Do you need me to come up there and protect you?”
With a snort, Rogue put his fears to rest. “I’m sure I can handle it.”
“Considering how well you handled your last blind date with her, I’m not so sure.”
“We’re not dating—yet. Right now I’m just trying to keep her from killing me.”
“Well, good luck. And stay
close to your phone, I might need you. Between the two of us, I have the brains, but you have the charm. I might need you to help me prepare for the Simmons deal.”
“Sure, let me know and thanks for the luck, I’m going to need it.” He hung up and checked the clock on the wall. Rogue didn’t wear a watch, and he wasn’t married to his phone either. Knowing how slow women ate and how much they talked, he figured he would be early—but what the hell. He left his room, locked the door and went to put the first phase of his plan in motion. Project Learn. He was on a mission to learn as much about White-Wing and Kit as possible.
Knowledge is power.
In the dining room, Kit was torn between trying to impress the reps from the class of 2005 and watching for her arch enemy. She’d told them about the facilities and given them a list of some local bands Kit had made previous arrangements with to play for dances. Cook had prepared a luscious array of brunch food from eggs Benedict to croissant bread pudding. They’d also spread out samples of entrees that could be served at the banquet itself. The lodge or bunkhouse as she sometimes thought of it could sleep fourteen and the guest cabins could sleep another twenty, so she could handle a good-size party.
“How about swimming, do you have a pool?” Nina asked.
“Well…yes,” Kit began.
“The reunion is in November, Nina, the temperature will be in the forties.” Maureen rolled her eyes, and when she did, she saw Rogue coming across the room. “Oh, there you are, we’ve been waiting,” she squealed.
Kit frowned. Maureen’s voice was like fingernails on a chalkboard. “Sit, Rogue, let me get you a drink. Mimosa?”
She was waiting on him again? He smiled. “Ah, I’d rather not. Could I have some coffee instead?”
“Coming right up.” This was better. The pill would dissolve in the hot liquid much quicker.
“Black.” He threw over his shoulder.
“Sure thing.” Kit tried to muster up some remorse or guilt at what she was about to do. She wasn’t successful.
Rogue almost got a crick in his neck watching Kit as she moved across the room. God, he loved her hair. He knew he had a breast fetish, apparently he also had a thing for hair. Hers especially. It hung in big bouncy spiral curls to well past her waist. The night he’d fucked up, he could remember wondering how in the world she’d crammed it beneath that cowboy hat. And her eyes sparkled like diamonds, another feature she’d hidden behind those thick safety goggles. Not to mention her damn fine rack she’d covered up with a thick cowboy shirt and a blue jean jacket or her heart shaped ass…well, he had to admit, he hadn’t looked very hard. All that gear was a smart choice for a rodeo contestant to wear to keep from getting hurt, but it sure as hell had blinded him to her beauty.
Rogue: The Sons of Dusty Walker Page 6
