Natalie had returned to Red Rock to help care for her grandmother after her grandfather passed away a couple of years ago and to convince the older woman to return to Oregon with her. Mrs. Oliver wouldn’t hear of leaving her home and Kale had to smile. Natalie’s grandmother was an independent, don’t-take-no-shit-from-nobody type woman and she wasn’t about to leave her home. She had even encouraged him and Cade to date Natalie while she visited, but Natalie only had eyes for Cade. From the beginning, band geek turned gorgeous woman had wound his friend around her pinky finger. He only hoped someday he could find a woman like her to complete his life.
Several minutes later, he pulled up next to the porch on his house and stared at the front. The ranch meant everything to him. The land, the ranch hands, the cattle and horses—all of it completed him like nothing else could. Ranch life came naturally. He’d grown up on a cattle ranch along with his two brothers and three sisters. Up at dawn to feed, water and clean stalls, became his life from the time he could walk. His parents had instilled hard, honest work would get you ahead in this life, but it didn’t guarantee happiness.
From the time he could think for himself, he wanted out of Red Rock. A life in the big city. A life with a beautiful wife, two point five kids, white picket fence and an SUV in the driveway was his dream, so off to college he went for his degree in architecture. He found the beautiful wife and the house in the suburbs, but those things didn’t bring him peace. Life on the open plains of Montana called him home.
This house, his house and land gave him peace, but his wife had hated it from the time they had set foot in Montana. The only thing making it tolerable for her came from her friendship with Cade’s first wife. Kale had hope someday Judy would love their home like he did, but she hadn’t.
The crowning glory came when Judy and Cynthia dropped the mother of all bombshells on top of his and Cade’s head one night at dinner. The two women had taken their relationship beyond friendship into lover status. Betrayal, shock, and duplicity played over in his mind like a bad black and white movie, in the days following their declaration.
He recognized it now for what it was, God’s way of taking care of him and bringing him back to the life he should never have left.
“If I can find the right woman to share it with, this would all be worth the heartache, time, sweat and hard work,” he grumbled as he slipped out of the cab and slammed the door.
Sunlight streaked across the living room floor when he walked into the house. The huge windows overlooking the pasture out back, gave him a bird’s eye view of the cattle and horses grazing in the distance. The huge rock fireplace gracing one wall, could heat the whole house in the dead of winter, but right now it stood black and empty.
Retrieving his cell phone from his pocket, he laid it on the island in the kitchen, and grabbed a mug for some coffee from the cupboard. There would always be something needing done on the five-hundred acres he owned, but for now he wanted to relax and think. With coffee cup in hand, he walked into the living room and took a seat in one of the recliners.
At thirty-two years old, it was high time he settled down. His mom had started hounding him about finding another wife—one who would compliment him and help him run his place—a local girl. Trouble with her theory, there wasn’t a local girl he cared to look twice at after a night in his bed. Not one of them could hold his interest or his thoughts. Except Laurel.
“She doesn’t count. She’s not a local girl,” he said out loud before he took two healthy sips of the strong brew in his cup. “Cowgirl she isn’t. She said so herself.” But damn does she look good in a pair of jeans. “A pair of jeans doesn’t the cowgirl make,” he rationalized even if he could think of nothing more than peeling the denim off her hips. Thoughts of the sexy underwear she’d been wearing this morning, made his cock swell behind the fly of his pants. “Shit. I don’t need to get all horny right this minute.”
With a quiet half growl, he stood and walked into the kitchen to place his cup in the sink. A little hard, sweaty work would get his mind off the temptation of daydreaming about one red-headed siren. One little kiss and she’d turned him upside down and inside out.
Thank God for the mind numbing routine of shoveling horse shit and dirty hay into a wheelbarrow. Sweat dripped down his back, plastering the white T-shirt to his skin. The scent of horse droppings, dust and dirt filtered to his nose, but it was a gratifying smell. It meant the world to him because each horse, heifer and calf on the property belonged to him, lock, stock and barrel.
The sound of a diesel truck pulling in outside caught his attention and he wondered who it could be since he wasn’t expecting anyone. He set the shovel against the wall, grabbed his hat from the nail and walked toward the door, tugging the gloves off his hands as he moved.
“Hey, Kale.”
“Cade. What are you doing here? Nat said you were out of town.”
“You talked to my wife?” Cade asked, stopping in front of him.
Kale nodded and pulled his Stetson lower to shade his eyes from the glare of the sun. “Yeah, earlier. Went out to your place about an hour ago.”
“Oh?”
“She’s doing me a favor and watching a kid for me.” One blond eyebrow shot up to Cade’s hairline and Kale almost laughed. “She’s not mine. She belongs to a woman I know.” Both eyebrows shot up and he did laugh at Cade’s expression. “There’s nothin’ goin’ on. The lady is a cop and she had to pull an extra shift or something this afternoon and her regular sitter wasn’t available.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Knock it off. I met her in the bar about a few days ago when she decked one of my guys for beating on his wife.”
Cade folded his arms over his chest and braced his back against the fence. He obviously wasn’t going anywhere until he told him everything.
“Her name is Laurel and he moved her not long ago at the urging of her sister. You know Jeff Cox?”
“Yeah, isn’t he one of your guys?”
“Used to be. I fired him.”
“Go on,” Cade said, pushing his hat back on his head.
Kale knew he should leave out certain parts of what had happened between him and Laurel, but he and Cade had known each other since high school. They slept in the same bed as young boys, made love to several women together when they got older, got drunk together, puke together—hell they had done everything together.
“Let’s get something to drink. It’s hotter than hell out here and I’m sweatin’ like a pig,” he said, walking toward the house.
Once they were settled inside, a beer clutched in their fists and a ball game on television for background noise, he told Cade everything from seeing Laurel come into the bar, punching out her brother-in-law to making love to her right there in his living room this morning.
The silly grin on Cade’s face had him scowling. “What?”
“You got it bad, man.”
“Got what bad?”
“You’re halfway in love with this woman already, brother.”
“Hell no. I don’t need a woman who can’t ride, clean stalls or thinks the only thing a heifer is good for is on a plate.”
Cade tipped the bottle to his lips and took a long drink before he leveled his penetrating blue gaze on him. “Trust me. Your heart doesn’t always listen to the practical side of things. How do you think I fell in love with Natalie so fast, huh?”
“Well, I—”
Cade held up one hand. “All it took was one kiss and one look from those big green eyes and she had my heart in her palm to do whatever she wanted.”
“Laurel’s got blue eyes and a body wet dreams are made of,” he murmured in reply.
“See what I mean? You’re in deep my man.”
“You aren’t helping matters, Cade. You are supposed to be talking me out of this, not encouraging it.”
“I would love to see you happy like me and Nat.” After another sip of his beer, Cade said, “So, when do we get to meet this mystery woman?”
/>
“This afternoon or evening actually. I told her to come by here when she’s done and we would drive out to your place to pick up Kimmy together.” The bottle clanked on the coffee table when he set it down. “You should see her little girl. Blonde bouncing curls, her momma’s blue eyes and dimples in both cheeks when she smiles.”
“You are so done, buddy,” Cade said with a deep chuckle. “Listen to yourself.”
He wasn’t sure he liked the look on his friends face. It had matchmaker written all over it. Cade thought since he and Natalie were happily married, everyone should be.
“It doesn’t matter. Laurel doesn’t want to stay here. She’s a cop. Red Rock is like the last frontier especially for a big city homicide detective. Right now, she’s doing street duty and I’m sure it’s driving her nuts.”
“Homicide, huh?”
“Yeah, in Los Angeles no less.”
“She moved here from L.A.?”
“Yep,” he replied, picking up his bottle again and picking at the label.
“Wow. That’s a huge change.”
His cell phone jingled in his pocket and he set the beer on the table again to retrieve it. The screen read Laurel. A quick glance at Cade and he knew he didn’t want to answer it in front of his friend. “I’ll be right back,” he said as he stood and walked into the kitchen. “Hey.”
“Hi. How’s Kimmy doing?”
“She’s fine, Laurel. When I left her at Natalie’s, she had corralled the dog and he was kissing all over her face as she squealed in delight.”
“You left her there?”
The concern in her voice made him panic a little. “Natalie knows kids, honey, I don’t. I didn’t think I needed to stick around, but if you want me to go back out there, I will.”
The sigh coming through the phone told him of her frustration. “No, it’s fine. I would have rather met them before she went out there, but this whole thing wasn’t planned.”
“Exactly what’s going on? Did someone call in sick or something?”
“I can’t really say, Kale. It’s confidential right now, but let’s just say I’m doing an investigation.”
“All right. Any idea when you’ll be done?” he asked, pacing the kitchen and running his fingers through his hair.
“It’ll be a few hours yet. Hopefully we can wrap up most of this before it gets dark.”
“Drive on out here to my place when you’re done and we’ll go get Kimmy together.”
“Sounds like a plan. I’ll call you when I’m driving in your direction.”
“Good. Be careful, Red, and I’ll see you after while.”
“I will and Kale?”
“Yeah, darlin’.”
“Thanks.”
The phone clicked in his ear. He stared at the screen on his phone for a minute before he shut it. He shook his head and walked back into the living room only to find Cade with a shit-eatin’ grin on his face. “Knock it the hell off, Cade.”
“I didn’t say a word, bro.”
“You didn’t have to. The look on your face says it all.”
“I better get home.” Cade stood and set his beer bottle on the coffee table. “I wanted to stop for a bit on my way in since I came from this side of town, to see what you were up to. You need to come out for dinner.”
“Nat already invited me for next week.”
“Bring Laurel.”
He started to shake his head, but Cade just smiled, grabbed his hat from where he dropped it when they came inside and walked toward the door. “See you in a little while.”
“Yeah,” he replied taking another sip of his own beer while he contemplated Cade’s words a little more than he should.
* * * *
Sunlight began to fade behind the mountains in the distance as Laurel pulled up to Kale’s house. The two-story brick home with its huge wraparound porch and big windows spoke of attention to detail. The care he paid to his home spoke volumes about the man. Everything was freshly painted. The house, the fence and the barn showed no signs of peeling paint or neglect of any sort.
Horses and cattle grazed in the waning light, but she could still make out the various colors of the animals and wondered how much of the land around his home belonged to him. She’d never known anyone to own this size of a spread. Residence of Los Angeles and the outlying areas hardly had enough yard to call it a yard. The condo she rented out there barely had any grass for Kimmy to play on and she always prayed someday she would be able to move to somewhere that had room for her to run.
The moment she turned the engine off on her car, the door opened and Kale stepped out onto the porch. Tall, built, rugged and looking too damned gorgeous for her peace of mind, the man could make her almost think of staying here permanently. “Forget it, Laurel,” she told herself. “Red Rock, Montana isn’t a place for you.”
“Hey, Red,” Kale said as she stepped out of the car and walked toward the door.
“I thought I told you not to call me Red.”
“Sorry, darlin’. I can’t help it. It fits you.”
She rolled her eyes at the same time he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.
“I hope the day wasn’t too bad.”
“Not really. It was great to do some investigative work instead of patrol.”
“Come on in and sit for a bit before we go out and pick up Kimmy. I talked to Nat and Cade a few minutes ago and they had just sat down to eat dinner.”
The warmth of his hand at the small of her back sent heat straight through to her pussy. God, you would think she hadn’t had sex in ages instead of this morning, the way she reacted to his touch.
“Would you like a beer?”
“Sure,” she replied with a soft sigh when his hand disappeared.
He returned a few moments later and handed her a long-neck bottle of beer with the top already popped. The beer tasted malty and cold as it slid down her throat—two things she needed right at the moment to calm the heat racing through her blood.
She swiped the remaining liquid on her lips with her tongue and had to fight the moan lingering in her mouth at the lust-filled look on Kale’s face.
“Stop looking at me like that,” she whispered, swallowing again.
“Like what?” he growled.
Her gaze zipped from his chocolate colored eyes, down his chest and stopped on the outline of his cock behind the fly of his jeans. Damn it! This isn’t good. “Like you want to eat me alive.”
“I do. I haven’t made excuses nor have I denied being attracted to you, Laurel.”
“I know, but us getting involved is a bad idea.”
“How?” he asked, stopping next to her and tucking a curl behind her ear.
“I’m not staying here.”
“I’m aware of your temporary need to be in Red Rock.” His fingers slipped behind her neck and gently pulled her closer. “I don’t want a relationship. I have a very clear cut image of the woman I want to share my life with and—”
“And I’m not it.”
“Don’t put words in my mouth, Red. If you want to put somethin’ in there, I can think of one thing I wouldn’t mind on my tongue.”
His voice trailed off to a murmur as his mouth took possession of hers and she couldn’t think of a better word for what he did with his lips. In fact, conscious thought disappeared with the warm, soft slide of his tongue over her lower lip. Unable to stop herself, she opened for him and groaned deep in her throat when he trapped her against his chest and deepened the kiss. Her hands went up around his neck of their own accord and she pressed her breasts to the hard plains of his chest. Both of his palms gripped her ass and lifted her so her pussy lined up perfectly with his cock. The next thing she knew, he set her down on the edge of a huge bed and followed her down with his body.
“I’m gonna make you scream my name, Red.”
The rough pad of his tongue slipped down her neck and across her collarbone. Sharp nips of his teeth on her skin sent shivers down her spine and cream s
pilled from her pussy when he soothed the stings with flicks of his tongue. His palm cupped her breast, kneading it with his fingers and shaping it to fit perfectly in the hand.
Her breaths came out in jagged puffs of air and she didn’t think she’d breathe right again until he stopped the torture of her body.
“Kale,” she murmured.
Two of his fingers popped the buttons down the front of her shirt open with such deft precision, but she didn’t want to think about how many women he’d done the same thing to.
I bet he did with Natalie. The thought of him making love to the faceless woman was like a cold shower.
“Kale, stop.”
The buttons of her shirt were already parted and her bra no longer cupped her breasts. His lips closed over one pert nipple and sucked. The edges of his teeth scraped across the turgid peak and she couldn’t stop the groan in her throat.
“Stop?” he asked, raking the shadow of whiskers on his cheek over tight bud.
She licked her lips and forced the words through her suddenly dry lips and across her non-cooperative tongue. “Yes.”
His brown eyes sparkled in the last rays of sunlight filtering through the curtains when he lifted his head. “You want me to stop?”
A repeat of the words wouldn’t come this time, but she nodded instead.
He slowly moved away from her and pulled her bra back down. “I’m sorry. I won’t force you—ever.”
“I know you wouldn’t, it’s just…”
“What? Why did you ask me to stop? I thought you wanted it as bad as I do.” He grasped her hand and pressed it to his erection. “Can’t you tell how much I want you? I know you enjoyed this morning, too, even if we had a bit of a disagreement.”
She captured her bottom lip between her teeth and sighed before she dropped her hand from his cock. “I won’t deny I like it, Kale. I told you before. It’s been a long time for me.”
“How long, Laurel?”
The answer hung on the end of her tongue for a moment. “Since I got pregnant with Kimmy.”
Before The Night Is Over Page 8
