When she returned, she handed him the cup quite graciously, maybe a bit too graciously. “What did you do, poison me?” he asked.
Psychic? She thought. “Now, why would I do a thing like that?”
He smiled, shrugged and took a big sip. Other than being a bit warm, it was good. “Thanks.”
“We’ve been going over the details of what White-Wing has to offer,” Charlotte said, as she cast an adoring glance his way.
“Have you?” Rogue saw a folder in front of Kit labeled Proposal. “May I?” He held his hand out and saw the reticence on Kit’s face before she handed it to him. As he looked over the information, he was surprised at the detail and the variety. She was very good and White-Wing had more going for it than he’d first thought if this was any indication. After looking at it, he didn’t comment but sat back to listen.
“What’s your refund policy?” Maureen asked Kit.
“I’ll require a general deposit to hold a block of rooms and reserve the facility. Reservations need to be completed by October first so I can order food. Individuals may pay up until the day of the event, cancellations may be made up until one week in advance.”
Rogue thought the terms were generous, perhaps too generous.
“What are we going to see today?” Nina enquired.
Kit cut her eyes at Rogue before she answered. “I want to show you our surroundings, including the lake, the reserve where the men will be hunting, the trails available for riding and the gun range for skeet shooting. We try to bring the great outdoors to those who don’t often get to enjoy it.”
Charlotte ate the last bite of her bread pudding and delicately licked her fingers. “Delicious. Well, I’m ready. How about the rest of you?”
“Sure.” Kit stood and glanced at Rogue. “Coming?”
Right then, he vowed she’d say that same phrase to him again someday—except next time she’d be on her knees at his feet. “Wouldn’t miss it.”
She led them out to the parking lot and waved her hand at a double cab pickup. Rogue opened the driver’s side door for Kit, then the back door on the same side, walked around and opened the other two doors. He’d intended to get in the front next to Kit, but Charlotte popped up and announced, “Sorry, I get car sick.” Rogue graciously helped her in and joined the other two ladies in the backseat. Somehow, he ended up squished between them. Great.
Kit met his eyes in the rearview mirror. Was she laughing at him? Trying to convey his confidence, he met her gaze and fed her a devil-may-care grin. “Comfortable, Mr. Walker?”
He folded his hands in his lap and tried to make his shoulders not quite so wide. “Certainly, never better.”
With a wry smile, she turned the vehicle’s engine on and backed out. For a while they rode around and she talked about the ranch and the area. “I know you’re from Kansas but I always love to tell people that our state is named after the Kansa Native American tribe and means ‘people of the wind’.”
“Whew, that sounds about right, when the north wind starts to blow there’s nothing between us and the north pole except a strand of barbed wire,” Charlotte said dryly.
“Our weather does get cold when the chinook winds begin to blow.” She continued with her spiel. “The geodetic center of the United States is located just a few miles away on the Meades Ranch. Oil has recently been discovered in parts of the state, unfortunately not here.” All of the ladies tittered. “We used to be known as the flattest state in the union, flatter than a pancake, they said, but we’re actually number twenty-five or so. Tornado alley also begins here.”
Rogue could tell she was losing them. Who knew she was a little Miss Fact-check? So, he started to talk, as if he was helping with the tour-director job. “The biggest ball of twine in the world is north of here in Cawker City. And the graham cracker was named after local pastor Reverend Sylvester Graham who died in the mid-1850s, he was a Presbyterian who strongly believed in eating whole wheat flour products.” The way the women were staring at him with love-sick expressions, he absolutely believed he could’ve quoted the phone book to them and they would’ve sworn he was the most eloquent man in the world. “Did you know that at one time it was illegal to serve ice cream on cherry pie in Kansas?”
“No!” All the women except Kit chorused together.
Kit rolled her eyes. “How do you know all of this stuff, Mr. Texas?”
“My dad’s from here, remember? He taught me more about this place than I realized, I guess.” He was a little surprised himself.
Rogue’s little tirade got Kit back on track. “White-Wing used to be just a cattle ranch, now it’s much more. I raise horses and train them for team roping in the pro-rodeo circuit. We also keep horses for the guests to take for trail rides on the property. At one time we owned one of the premier stud horses in the country.” She looked directly at the man in the backseat. “His name was Rogue Angel.”
Rogue almost swallowed his tongue. “Was he named after me?”
Kit smirked. “No. My father named him and that was years before I met you.”
“Stud.” Nina giggled the word and Rogue tried to make himself smaller. “Does Mr. Walker give riding lessons?” She reached over and laid her hand on his knee and Rogue’s eyes widened.
“No, Mr. Walker doesn’t give riding lessons.” Kit never missed a beat. “One of the main things White-Wing offers is spectacular hunting. This part of Kansas has always been known for its game, especially deer, pheasant, turkey and quail. We’ve gone a step farther and provided a perfect habitat for them, as well as offering guided hunts and game processing.” She turned off the dirt road and drove slowly down a grassy lane, gradually coming to a stop. “Let’s get out and I’ll show you a place that’s usually ripe with birds. Perhaps we’ll see a few.” Opening the trunk, she removed a small picnic basket filled with cool drinks for her clients.
Rogue was glad to get out of the car. His two traveling companions were getting a bit handsy for his tastes. Following Kit, they stepped out into tall grass and headed to a band of trees bordering a small creek. As they drew closer, they heard the sound of bushes rustling and then the flapping of wings as a covey of quail took flight. “Look! There they go! Bob-white quail are plentiful here.”
The women began taking photos with their phones. Charlotte grabbed onto Rogue’s arm. “Sorry, I wore the wrong shoes.” She pointed down to her heels. Rogue wondered why a woman would make such a poor wardrobe decision, probably for this very reason, so she’d have an excuse to grab onto a man.
“Let’s walk this way. Maybe we’ll see some pheasant.” Kit pointed ahead, but she let her gaze linger on Rogue. He gave her a smile and a slight rolling of his eyes as he glanced sideways at his recently acquired female appendage.
They strolled slowly through the underbrush. Kit was taking her time, the last thing she needed to do was stir up a snake and scare her guests. Furtively she kept glancing at Rogue, wondering how long it took that little blue pill to do its magic. Holding up a hand, she told them to stop, whispering, “I think I saw a pheasant, a ring-necked pheasant. They are majestically beautiful, watch.” Sure enough, in a few moments a pair of large birds took flight and everyone watched in wonder.
“I don’t think I could shoot one,” Nina mused.
“I could,” Rogue drawled. So far, he liked what he saw. This place had an immense amount of potential.
“Why don’t we rest, enjoy the view down by the creek and have a drink.” She raised the basket. They found a sloping area of grass and Kit spread a thin blanket for the ladies to sit down on. Rogue eased down also and found himself surrounded by females, just not the one he preferred to have close.
As soon as they were all settled and sipping on something cool, Kit asked, “Well, how do you like White-Wing so far? We still have to see the lake and check out the cabins.” Trying not to be noticed, she kept taking surreptitious glances at Rouge. Surely, he was feeling something…
“Tell us about yourself, Mr. Walker.”<
br />
Maureen leaned close, her perfume assailing his sense of smell. “Not much to tell. I work in the petroleum industry.” Short and sweet. Rogue shifted, wishing he could escape.
Kit had taken Charlotte and walked down to the creek, which fed into the lake to show her some bass that had been stocked for game fishing. The shade was nice, but there wasn’t any breeze. In fact, he was damn hot—and getting hotter. Stretching his leg out, he tried to make room in his pants for his growing…ERECTION! WTF? Where in the hell had that come from? Beyond admiring Kit from a distance, he wasn’t even thinking a sexy thought. In an attempt to hide the growing bulge in his jeans, he sat straighter and jerked his leg upright. “Hell,” he whispered, that was painful.
“My goodness.” Nothing lost on her, Nina purred as she used one well-manicured hand to push her pale blonde hair over her shoulder. “You are quite a man.” She ran a hand down his arm. “I do appreciate the…gesture.”
“Sorry, I gotta walk around…I have a cramp.” Shit. He stood up awkwardly, hampered by the hard-on that had risen up out of nowhere. He looked at Nina and then at Maureen, both of their eyes were glued on his crotch. Stepping backward, he hung his boot on the handle of the picnic basket and he would’ve landed flat of his ass if Kit hadn’t placed a steadying hand on his back.
“Problems?” Kit asked, unable to ignore what the other women were finding so fascinating. Pressing her lips together tightly, she met his eyes. His expression was one of panic, totally unlike the cocky attitude he’d displayed in the park the night she had let him think she was going to go down on him.
“Nope! I can walk it off.”
She couldn’t help it, Kit had to hold herself tight around the middle to keep from laughing. The three stylish sorority women were staring at Rogue like he was a jar of honey and they were hungry baby bears. It was the funniest thing she’d ever seen. He kept backing up and they were stalking him like mindless zombies focused on their prey. If he didn’t…”Rogue!”…stop…”You’re going to back into the—”
SPLASH!
“Creek!”
By the time Rogue pulled his wet ass out of the water, he was royally pissed. The triple threat to his virtue were all trying to give him more assistance than he needed. And all the time his errant pecker had a seeming will of its own. Each woman thought his burgeoning, throbbing package, straining at the zipper was meant just for her.
Wrong.
“Excuse me, please.” He stalked up the bank, dripping water.
“I guess you needed to cool off,” Charlotte said, fanning herself with delight.
Kit handed him the blanket. “Here, use this as a towel.”
“Thanks,” he growled at her.
As he strode to the truck, his trio of admirers followed him. Kit tried to see if their tongues were actually hanging out but she couldn’t tell from this distance.
“Kit!”
She pulled herself together and walked over. He had let down the tailgate and was sitting on it.
“You bellowed?” she asked.
“I’m riding back here. Do you think you could take me to the lodge to change clothes?” He emptied water out of first one boot and then the other.
“Sure.” She hid a smirk and asked the ladies to load up. “We need to get Mr. Walker some dry clothes.”
Something wasn’t right, he had seen how women acted when they were pulling a fast one and Kit was showing all the signs—a half grin, too cooperative, a sexy twinkle in those amazing blue eyes. “Thanks,” he murmured, whipping off his hat when he felt something brushing the hair on his head. “What the…? Hell!” He picked a little sun perch off the truck bed and carried it back to the water, its mouth gaping open and closed.
Loud laughter coming from the interior of the pick-up caused him to look at Kit Ross. She was having entirely too much fun. “Doesn’t look like your dip did any good.” She cast an eye down at his manhood. “If your problem persists for more than four hours you might need to consult your doctor.”
At that moment he realized what she’d done. “Why, you little…” He narrowed his eyes and glared at her. “What did you give me? A damn Viagra pill?”
“Shush.” She held her finger up to her lips. “Your fan club is going to offer assistance in dealing with your condition if you don’t keep your voice down.”
Rogue stomped to the back and he discovered Miss Smarty Pants had been right. Maureen met him. “Here’s my room key, big boy.” She winked at him, glancing at his ample assets, slipping the piece of hard plastic into his front jeans pocket. “Come up to see me later. I’ll make it worth your while.” Flabbergasted, he tried to give it back to her but she was gone, sneaking a peek at him through the back glass once she was settled in her seat.
Closing his eyes, Rogue settled back down on the tailgate, willing his dick to go down. Why had Kit done this? He winced. As a man he loved a hard cock, but a chemically induced one against his will sorta made him feel violated. Despite his irritation, he grinned. She had moxie, he had to give her that.
Seeming not to miss an opportunity to irritate him, she hit every pothole in the road and went the long way back by the lake, slowing down to let the women enjoy the view. The sun was so bright and hot that by the time they returned to the lodge, his clothes were beginning to dry. When he stood up, Rogue dusted off a bit of the caked mud. He frowned at his boots, he damn sure hoped they weren’t damaged.
“Are you going to be okay?”
Rogue slowly raised his head and met Kit’s gaze as she came near. One corner of her mouth lifted despite her apparent attempt to keep a straight face. “No thanks to you.” He handed her Maureen’s plastic key card. “Please return this, I won’t be needing it.” To his immense relief, the triple threat had found someone else to follow around. Another lone male guest was receiving the same flirtatious onslaught he’d been so unfortunate to experience. “So, you slipped me a sexual mickey. Is that it?”
“Just trying to give you a helping hand.”
She tossed the quip at him and began walking off toward the lodge. Rogue followed, noticing for the first time all of the care that had been taken with the plantings and landscaping. “I wouldn’t have turned down a helping hand of another sort.” She snorted and his ire rose again. “So, I guess you have to keep a supply of Viagra in your purse to ensure your own conquests?” The moment he said it, he knew he’d gone too far.
Kit wheeled on him, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him down the wide verandah to a secluded spot. He went willingly, he weighted too much for her to manhandle him—unless he allowed it. “How dare you?” she hissed when they were out of sight of anyone who might happen along.
Rogue crossed his arms over his chest. Looking at her rosy cheeks, flashing eyes and heaving chest, his hard-on was finally finding a place to focus its enthusiasm. “Look, it’s you that seems to have an inordinate preoccupation with my cock. First you get me naked and make me think you can’t wait to wrap your lips around it and now you drug me just so you and some desperate little hens can ogle the size of my package.”
If he’d thought she was mad before, he learned a whole new meaning of feminine fury. Getting right in his face, she poked him in the chest—hard. “Listen to me, Rogue Walker. I know I’m not your type. You made that abundantly clear the night we were together. I’m aware a man of your age and appetite can…” she seemed to search for a word, “perform with very little outside stimulation, so I took advantage of that fact to show you how it felt to be stripped bare by someone else’s cruelty. And since you’ve been here, you’re still playing with me, pretending to be attracted to me, to have a crush. That’s hogwash and we both know it! You’re about as enamored of me as I am of you. The best gift we could give one another is to never lay eyes on the other one again! So please, let’s put an end to this charade and go back to—”
Sometimes the only way you can effectively shut a woman up is to kiss her and so that’s what he did. Rogue grasped Kit’s shoulders and
pulled her to him, crushing his mouth to hers, taking advantage of her shock to tangle their tongues together, eating at her mouth, pulling her close. For about three seconds she cooperated, but then she began to struggle, pushing against his arms, making noises of protest. “Stop!” she panted once she’d broken the kiss. “This doesn’t help.”
“I disagree, I think the only way we communicate effectively is with sex.” His breathing was hard. “I propose a round of naked negotiations.”
Kit opened her mouth to give him another piece of her mind when her mother stepped around the corner. “Mr. Walker, you have a phone call. A Mr. Elijah Bowman says it’s an emergency, he hasn’t been able to reach you on your cell.”
“Damn, I bet it’s waterlogged.” He winked at Kit. “I propose we continue these exhilarating peace talks a little later, Kit-n-Kaboodle.”
If frustration could kill, she’d already be knocking on the pearly gates. Kit threw her hands up as she watched Rogue saunter off, his ass looked amazing in his jeans – probably because they’d drawn up a bit in the water. She was at a loss. He didn’t seem to be giving a bit on his ridiculous position. And he had to. She had to convince him to relent and give the note back to Dave. There was no telling what nefarious plan Rogue had for her and her ranch. It would be her luck that he’d raze all the buildings and dig the whole place up looking for gypsum to mine.
Rogue: The Sons of Dusty Walker Page 7
