“I know it’s a little early for dinner, but if my guess is right, you missed lunch, right?” he asked. But before he could finish, Ellie was already shaking her head no.
“I can’t. Like I told my dad, I still have a mountain of things to do before I can call it quits.”
“Poor baby,” he replied, and her gaze flew to his, her hand stilling on her leg. Immediately she realized she’d been massaging her knee, and she pulled her hand away, tensing.
“You do have to eat, don’t you? Or do superwomen not have to?” he asked, a small smile playing around his lips.
“We do. But only on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays,” she quipped back, giving him a smug look. When he laughed lightly she laughed along with him, the tension easing between them.
“I still have a lot to do, Shilah. I don’t think—”
“Don’t think. Just come to lunch with me. What can it hurt?” he asked, and although the request seemed casual, the look in his dark eyes as they raked over her was anything but.
Ellie felt her body react as though from a cue card. Her nipples contracted, beading against her bra, and her mouth went completely dry.
“I promise…I’ll keep my hands to myself this time. You can trust me, can’t you?” he asked, holding out his hand for her to take.
Her gaze slid over his tall, hard body, the jeans that molded his long legs and muscled thighs to perfection, up to his shirt which was now slightly wrinkled due to her grabbing the man as if he’d stolen something.
She stared down at his outstretched hand.
She slowly placed hers within his, all along wondering who was the one she should worry about trusting—herself or Shilah.
Chapter 7
So beautiful…
Shilah sat across from Ellie in the small booth, the lights of the pub low, lending an intimacy to the setting. His gaze raked over her face as he listened to her explain the controversy and theories surrounding the usage of synthetic hormone implants for cattle, her beautiful face animated as she spoke.
The short ride over to the pub had been mostly silent. Shilah had chosen, wisely he believed, to allow her to stay within her own thoughts, and not engage her in too much conversation. He knew part of the reason she’d accepted the invitation was to get away from her father’s prying eyes.
He hoped like hell the other reason was because she wanted to be with him.
“The use of growth hormones is controversial, though the benefits of using them are pretty impressive,” she said, warming up to her topic. She stopped and shook her head, “Oh, God, here I go again, talking about something I’m sure doesn’t interest you at all, Shilah.”
“Ellie, there isn’t anything you could say that wouldn’t interest me,” he replied.
“Ohh…” she said, softly, her mouth forming an O.
She bit the bottom of her lip and her lone dimple creased her cheek, tugging an answering emotion from deep inside of Shilah. For a moment they simply stared at one another until it was she who broke the connection, lifting her glass to take a small sip of her tea.
He saw the ghost of a smile cross her full lips behind the rim of the glass.
God, what she did to him with just one look, he thought, as he barely held back from releasing a groan.
Everything about her appealed to him in ways no other woman had ever been able to do for him.
From the shy smile and single dimple that would appear, the way she would duck her head slightly whenever she was embarrassed or unsure…to the way her lips felt beneath his, her slender yet curvy body molded to his as though she’d been made for him and him alone.
The thought…the memory, of the intimacy they’d shared earlier brought his shaft to half-mast. He subtly adjusted himself and took a long drink of the cold tea the waitress had placed in front of him moments ago.
“In fact, my brothers and I were recently approached last spring by a company that supplies the hormones.” He said, in an attempt to get his mind…and his cock, back to safer territory.
“I’d be interested in hearing your take on it, Ellie. We’ve always avoided growth hormones in our cattle. Our main concern was the effect it has, long term, on the meat once it gets to the consumer.”
Ellie nodded her head in agreement. “Yeah, that’s the other side of the coin. While there’s no argument that there are a lot of benefits of using growth hormones—the quality of the feed is superior…the rate of muscle development is phenomenal and the meat quality as well, and the fact that it provides quality meat that can be sold at more affordable prices.” She stopped and shook her head. “All good arguments for their use. But you’re right, there’s the downside of what it can do to the consumer. Or more specifically, what we don’t know about what it could do. The research is in its infancy stages.”
“Something about using a synthetic hormones on animals that are bred for consumers…” Shilah said. “I don’t know. Just doesn’t seem right.”
“A lot of ranchers and farmers have begun using them in their feed, more and more. I guess for their bottom line, financially, it makes sense for them.”
The waitress came by to bring them their food. The minute she set the plates down in front of Ellie, the aroma hit her nostrils and her stomach growled.
Ready to continue the subject, he heard her stomach rumble, and with a shrug and a sheepish smile she took a healthy bite of her burger.
“Hmm,” she said, moaning, soon after taking the bite.
“I take it it’s good?” he asked, humor in his deep voice.
“Oh, my God, is it ever!”
As he watched her tongue come out to lick away the juice that had trickled down the corner of her mouth, he bit back a groan, thinking of cold showers, who would stand a chance of going to the Super Bowl, the upcoming castration planned for his steers…anything to stop himself from jumping across the table and licking the juice away himself.
“How good is it, El?” Shilah asked her, his deep sexy voice making her pause in the middle of chewing, her eyes flying to his. When she reached for the napkin he held out to her, he surprised her by moving her hand to the side and used the napkin himself to slowly wipe away the juice that had trickled down the corner of her mouth.
Her heartbeat thudded erratically, and she felt her nipples harden as though on cue, to the suggestive tone in his voice. She plastered a weak smile on her face.
“Could be that I, uh, that’s it’s been a long time, since I’ve, uh, had meat that good.” She stammered out the words and immediately blushed, seeing the wicked gleam that entered into his eyes.
“Nothing like sinking your teeth into juicy, thick Wilde meat, huh?”
His words sent an illicit shiver over her body. Ellie squirmed in her seat, clenching her legs against the ache between her thighs at the image that assaulted her with his words.
He held her gaze as he lifted his own burger to his mouth. “Would you like to taste mine?” he asked, his throaty, erotic voice sending her mind and body into a heated state of hyperawareness.
“No, I, uh, I’m fine,” she said, swallowing.
“Suit yourself.” One side of his mouth curled and with a shrug, his strong white teeth bit into the burger. Ellie had a hard time stopping herself from reaching out and licking away the juice that slipped down over his chiseled chin, returning his earlier service to her with a twist.
The ache between her legs grew, her skin grew moist, her breathing ragged as her eyes remained riveted to his sexy mouth, and the thoughtful…careful way he chewed.
As they’d made the short drive to the restaurant, Ellie hadn’t been able to think of a solid thing to say to fill in the gap of silence, her mind and body at war with her. Her mind told her going to lunch with Shilah Wilde was not only a bad choice but a stupid one at that, given her role in investigating his ranch. Her body yearned to feel him next to her again, to feel his lips against hers again, the slide of his tongue inside her mouth…
Dear God.
Ellie br
ought her glass of tea to her mouth with shaky hands, in an effort to both cool down the heat she felt racing over her body and to have something to do with her hands.
“The beef came from our ranch,” he said, once he’d swallowed.
It took Ellie more than a few moments to gather her scattered wits. She desperately tried to untangle herself from the sensual web he’d created, one that had her heart racing as though she’d just ran a marathon.
At her frown, although the wicked gleam in his eyes remained, he explained. “The restaurants around town pretty much all use our meat. We take a lot of pride in our product.” His return to casual conversation was unsettling as it was welcome.
It had been a long time, if one ever had, since a man had made Ellie feel the way Shilah had in the short time of their reunion. She wasn’t sure if she felt relief or disappointment at the easing of tension, tension that stemmed from his obvious attraction to her.
She shook it off. She had no time in her life for the complication that she knew would come with Shilah. Despite their history, he was no longer the young man she’d grown up with, the one she could go to and talk about anything, the one who’d provided a safe haven for her when she’d needed it.
And she was no longer that same girl who needed the safe haven he’d provided, she reminded herself.
“We’ve worked hard for our reputation as the best. Which is another reason my brothers and I decided against using synthetic hormones.” Both his tone and the expression on his handsome face grew somber. “At least until longer-term studies show there’s no harm to the consumer down the line. That’s more important to us, a hell of a lot more important than how much more in profits we could make, or our bottom line.”
“With the way the economy has been for the last few years, the fact that you and your brothers have chosen to put the needs and welfare of the consumer first is admirable.”
“When I was younger, it seemed as though we always got the scraps, meat that was days away from spoiling.”
“You and your brothers? At the foster home?” she hazarded a guess.
He shook his head. “No, at the home, the state took care of most of our needs.” He laughed, a humorless sound. “At least the physical ones. I meant the reservation. Even though it was a fairly large reservation, my…family, along with a few other tribe members, lived on the outskirts,” he said, and she nodded.
Ellie knew that the reservation he’d lived on was fairly large, and that it brought in a lot of money from the popular casino the consolidated tribes owned. She’d mistakenly assumed that Shilah had lived there, as well.
She stored away the knowledge to think about later.
“My family, as well as the other tribe members who lived in the small community with us, got donations, for the most part, mostly from the local markets. Meat that wasn’t really fit to eat.” He shrugged his wide shoulders. “But, hell, beggars can’t be choosy, can they?”
She reached out a hand to cover his. Shilah squeezed her hand lightly before deftly removing it, and again picked up his burger.
“Now my brothers and I supply all the beef for the subcommunity I grew up on. It was the least I…we could do,” he said simply.
Ellie wanted to push for more information, wanted to find out more about this part of Shilah’s life, the life he’d had before he’d come to the ranch.
She’d always known he’d grown up as a young boy on the reservation, yet despite the amount of time they’d spent together when they were younger, he’d rarely brought up that part of his life. It was something she never pushed for, yet had always wondered about.
“You have a lot to be proud of,” she replied softly, deciding to allow him his privacy. When his glance met hers and she saw doubt flicker in their dark depths, she reached across the table again and took his hand in hers.
His gaze snapped to her face. “And the fact that I can call you…friend—” she stopped, swallowing down an emotion she didn’t want to feel for him, much less analyze, before continuing “—means more to me than you’ll ever know.”
Instead of removing her hand, he brought it to his mouth, kissing the palm. She felt the dart of his tongue against her palm for a split second, his dark glittering gaze over her face, and goose bumps spiked up her arm and through her body at the sensuality of his gesture.
She inhaled a shaky breath.
Their food forgotten for the moment, it was just the two of them in the pub, and everything and everyone around faded to background noise. Ellie licked her dry mouth, heat whirling through her.
Shilah kept her hand in his, his eyes on hers as he trailed a path from her palm to her inner wrist with his tongue. He felt the shudder that ran through her, and knew she was just as affected by him as he was by her.
He saw her swallow and felt the fine tremble that shook her hand. When she tugged at her hand, reluctantly he released it.
As much as he wanted to stake a claim, he knew he had to give her room, breathing space. If only to allow her mind to catch up with what her body was telling her was the inescapable truth.
She brought her hand up and tucked errant strands that had escaped the low ponytail she wore, something he noticed she did whenever she was nervous.
“Why don’t you ever wear your hair down anymore?” he asked, resisting the urge to replace her hands with his, to feel the soft, silky strands against his fingers.
She shrugged an elegant shoulder. “My hair is long and it’s easier if I keep it held back, particularly when I’m seeing animals.”
“I remember when we were kids, you always wore it down,” he said, and laughed in memory as the image of a younger Ellie, her long brown hair flying behind her as she raced ahead of him, came to his mind.
“I’ve never forgotten the way you looked, racing ahead of me…”
“Taunting you because you could never beat me,” she finished, joining him in the shared memory.
“Oh, I could have caught you if I’d wanted to. It was just a lot more fun letting you think you’d won.”
At that, Ellie laughed out loud, the tension between them breaking, something he’d wanted to happen. “Oh, you could have? As competitive as you and your brothers were, even then, I highly doubt that,” she scoffed. But he saw the way her eyes twinkled.
“If that helps you sleep at night, okay,” Shilah replied, hiding his grin behind the rim of the glass he brought to his lips.
Her eyes narrowed. “Just admit you got beat, fair and square.”
He shook his head. “Nope. Not happening. I let you win. Poor little El.”
He held his breath, knowing he’d taken a gamble with that one. The jab had been intentional, meant to push past an invisible barrier he’d detected, one he’d once not felt between them.
Her eyes narrowed. “If that helps you sleep at night…think what you want, Shilah Wilde,” she quipped, turning the tables on him. “I can take you, anytime, anyplace,” she finished, reminding him of the many times she’d said the exact same thing when he’d taunted her when they were younger.
Things had just gotten a hell of a lot more interesting, Shilah thought, hiding his grin of satisfaction.
Chapter 8
“We’ve got ten pens set up and the men have rounded up roughly 70 to 75 cattle to start. That sound about right? Is that the number you were thinking to start with, El?”
Ellie turned around and glanced over her shoulder at Shilah as he sat astride his large stallion, his gaze fixed on the pen holding the cattle in preparation for the first stages of Ellie’s investigation.
Ellie frowned, running a critical glance over the large pen. “Hmm,” she murmured, biting the corner of her lip, her brow furrowed in concentration. She checked the small clipboard she held, containing notes that she used religiously whenever doing fieldwork. She took pride in the detailed system she’d created on paper, hoping it would work the way she’d planned; she hoped it would create a viable way to maximize results and keep chaos minimal.
As had been the plan, Ellie had taken the time the previous week, before actually coming to the ranch to work out the system she’d designed, to not only create her methodology, but to also set up her lab at her father’s clinic.
Although the blood she’d be drawing from the cattle would be sent to the lab in Cheyenne, Ellie also planned to review it, as well.
Although she knew…prayed, that the evidence would prove the men’s animals were free of disease, she wanted the reassurance that she had done everything in her power to keep the research pure.
That was the part of the process she enjoyed the most—research. In school it was what she’d excelled at, and was one of the reasons she’d won out for the scholarship to learn abroad. It was also what had eventually led to her being asked to take on this case.
The only thing that put a damper on her enjoyment of this particular research was the reason she had to do it, and for whom. The risks and consequences for the ranch, if she were to find out there was indeed evidence of mad cow disease, would be catastrophic.
“You know, I think this is just about the right amount we need for now, Shilah,” she answered, raising her voice so he could hear her over the loud cries of the cattle.
“Great, so what’s the objective for today? I just want to make sure I’m clear so I can relay the information to the men. Don’t want to take any chances on this not being done right. A lot is riding on this,” he said in his deep voice, sending a fizzle of heat over Ellie, a reaction she ruthlessly forced to the side.
There was no room for that. She was on the ranch for one reason, and one reason only—to do the job she was paid to do. Without fail she would do that job without interference from anyone, least of all Shilah Wilde.
She glanced back over at Shilah. Despite the smile on his face, there was a hint of grimness in his tone. Ellie completely understood the reason for the strain, which mimicked the tension she herself was feeling.
To Desire a Wilde Page 5
