The Countess and the Cowboy

by Linda Wisdom

  "Now honey, don't take it the wrong way," he said with a chuckle.

  "No," she replied keeping her voice quiet but twice as firm. "Not darlin', not honey, not sweetie and especially not little lady." She bit each word out with stark precision. "My name is Letitia, Ticia or Mrs. DeMarco. Those are the only ones I answer to. Mr. Danvers, Cal, I am sure you are a very nice and caring man, but you seem to like to take it to the extreme. Well, I'll be honest. I don't like the way you act and if these good people were honest, they would say the same thing." She swept her arm in a half circle. "You come in here and tell people how they should be running their ranches. No one wants to be told what to do. I certainly don't. Now, I suggest you think about that and consider changing parts of your personality. Along with getting rid of those obnoxious cigars!" She stabbed his chest with her forefinger. "Perhaps if you turn into a real person, people won't avoid you. Basically, it's this. Behave yourself or else." Cal looked at her with such a stunned expression that Tyler almost burst out laughing. He knew that poleaxed expression only too well.

  "Well, then, I'll say good night," Cal said stiffly before leaving.

  Letitia watched the large man walk directly toward a shiny silver Cadillac convertible.

  "Now, why doesn't that surprise me?" she murmured.

  "A lot of us have wanted to tell Cal off, but we just weren't sure what words to use," Marian told her. "You did it just right."

  "I didn't want to be rude," she explained.

  The older woman smiled. "You weren't. I just wish it had been done a lot sooner."

  Everyone pretty much said the same thing as they later left after saying it was the best party they'd attended in a long time. Letitia was also invited to a variety of functions for the next few months.

  "Have fun?" Tyler appeared beside her.

  "I've learned some interesting things." Letitia watched the last of her guests leave. She sighed and leaned against Tyler's side. "I feel as if my entire body has been run through an old-fashioned wringer. Even my face hurts," she groaned, resting her cheek against his shoulder. "And my feet are killing me! Myrna, don't bother cleaning anything up tonight. I'll help you in the morning when I've regained life."

  "I thought you were an international hostess," she teased. "This should have been a snap for you."

  "Mainly sit-down dinners and cocktail parties before the opera or theater openings. Stephano's mother thrived on party planning and I let her do most of the work. Still, tonight was fun. More fun than any party I've been to before." She flexed her toes inside the soft leather slippers.

  "Why don't you go on in?" Tyler gently pushed her down onto one of the benches while he checked the barbecue pit to make sure the coals were properly extinguished.

  "It went well, didn't it?" Letitia felt her energy level start to rise again. "People were so nice and friendly. And they seemed to really enjoy themselves, too. I couldn't believe they were so open in talking about what they've done to keep their ranches going."

  Tyler grinned. "They enjoy sharing their successes and complaining about their failures. Did you get some ideas, countess?"

  She nodded, preferring to ignore the nickname. In fact, she was finally getting used to it. She also hoped if she stopped frowning at him every time he called her that he'd get bored and stop. "Except I can't do the same thing they're doing. We need something new. Otherwise we'll just be in the same fix we are now. No, we need to find a ranching method that will turn it into a profit-making machine. I don't expect anything world shattering, just something perfect for us."

  He chuckled and shook his head in wonderment.

  "You're determined to figure something out to save the day, aren't you?"

  Her smile reached out to him with warming fingers. "You bet your boots I do. Or we can start a betting pool and see who can come up with the perfect save-the-ranch plan first." She stifled a jaw-breaking yawn. "Although I'll be honest with you. I know it's a way of life out here and you all are used to just calling up and ordering sperm, but I don't know if it's ever anything I can do with a straight face. I guess it's something I'll have to work on," she mused, looking around with slightly glassy eyes that showed just how tired she was.

  Tyler and Myrna exchanged confused frowns. Tyler thought for a moment then nodded and mouthed "the Jamisons." Myrna's mouth rounded in a large 0 and she nodded. Now it made perfect sense to her.

  Letitia made sure Myrna headed for her bungalow before she made her way into the house. Tyler followed Myrna, turning off in the direction of the bunkhouse.

  She left her clothing where she dropped it and crawled into bed. She was asleep the moment her head met the pillow. Except there was a broad smile on her face as Tyler dominated her dreams.

  "You NEED TO USE your wrist more," Tyler advised, standing behind Letitia.

  She held the coiled rope between her hands. "Why am I doing this?"

  "Because you wanted to learn everything you could about ranching. Roping is part of ranching," he reminded her, standing until he was directly behind her. He put his arms in front of her and covered her hands with his. He drew the rope out into a good-sized loop and demonstrated throwing the loop over a fence post.

  It settled neatly around it and dropped to the ground. He stepped back and held up his hands. "See, it's easy."

  Letitia daintily clapped, her gloved hands muffling the sound. "That's one fence post that isn't going to leave the herd again."

  He flicked the tip of her nose. "It's easier to practice on something that won't run away from you, smart ass. Now you try it."

  Letitia held the rope, slowly opened a sizable loop, stared at the post and swung her arm. At what she hoped was the right time, she flung her arm out. The loop fen woefully short of the post.

  "Give me something live to practice on and I'd have a better chance." she argued.

  "You drop that loop over the post and I will," he readily promised. "I doubt you'd like to be dragged across the yard by the dog."

  Letitia looked over at Duffy who lay snoozing by the barn door while Le Chat sat behind him, batting at his tail with his paw. Luckily, the cat kept his claws sheathed. "Yes, I can see he'd knock me right off my feet," she said dryly. "Why don't I just drop this loop over him?"

  He pointed the other way then crossed his arms in front of his chest.

  "Slave driver," she muttered. She tried again, throwing the rope the short distance to the post. She missed.

  "You keep working on flicking your wrist the right way and you'll get the hang of it in no time," Tyler advised as he walked off. "I'll be back to check on your progress later."

  "Where do you think you're going'?" She watched him go into the barn and later walk back outside leading his horse.

  "I've got work to do, boss lady." He grinned as he swung into the saddle. He straightened up, gathering the reins between his gloved hands. "You know what, I just bet by the time I get back you'll have the wrist action down pat and be good enough to throw a perfect loop over that post. Have fun," he called over his shoulder as he clicked to his horse and rode out.

  "I'll show him," she gritted, spinning back around. Her fury gave her strength she didn't know she had. "I'll show that cowboy I can rope this stupid post. Then I'm going to rope his dog." Two hours later, her hands were sore, her arm muscles aching and she hadn't come close to the fence post once. Bored with the show, Duffy had already roused himself from his nap and wandered off in search of more invigorating entertainment. Le Chat followed with a gleam in his eye that meant the dog was going to suffer for some unknown infraction. Jokes circulated around the ranch that the arrogant cat seemed to live for the times he could torment the large dog who, for some obscure reason, didn't fight back.

  "That's right, abandon me too," she accused the dog. "You're as bad as your owner. If I didn't love him so much, I'd shoot him." She thought about her words and quickly revised them. "I may shoot him anyway."

  Chapter Fourteen

  "Repairing fences isn't as easy
as it looks," Letitia commented, rubbing her itchy nose with her sleeve. She'd already sneezed a couple of times. "Do you think I'm allergic to the grass?" She didn't bother to wait for an answer. "Wouldn't that be something? A rancher allergic to grass. I'd probably be laughed out of the county."

  "You wouldn't be the first one with the problem.

  Knew a guy who was allergic to hay. He took shots three times a week just so he could walk inside his barn. Hold this tighter," Tyler said absently.

  She thought a change of conversation was in order. "You promised to give me another roping lesson. Don't forget."

  "I won't." Using his teeth, Tyler tugged off his glove, so he could get a better grip with his bare hands.

  To be honest, Letitia had woken up that morning feeling incredibly lazy and thought of doing nothing all that important.

  "Leonard the attorney, called last night. He told me a few more pieces of my jewelry have been sold and the money was deposited in my bank account."

  Tyler's smile was the kind she lived for. "That's great, hon, Here, hold these for me." He handed her a pair of wire cutters. ,

  Letitia watched him wrap the top fence wire around the post and attach it with a heavy-duty staple gun.

  "I guess I should thank Stephano for always salving his conscience with custom made jewelry fashioned by an internationally known jewelry designer," she mused out loud. "I can't believe how much the designer's name alone has sent the value of those pieces upward." She slapped the cutters against Tyler's palm with the aplomb of an operating-room nurse. "It's just too bad he hadn't felt guilty more often. I might have come up with enough to pay off all the ranch's debts."

  "Hold this one tighter," he ordered in a sharp voice, crouching down.

  Letitia complied, looking down at the top of his head shielded by his hat. She wiggled her nose as a drop of perspiration trickled down until it reached the tip. She started staring at her nose, fascinated by the drop.

  "Stop it."

  "Stop what?"

  "Stop staring at that drop of sweat. You're cross eyed. I need those pliers over there." Tyler pointed to the small cache of tools he'd earlier lined up on the blanket they'd used to sit on while they ate lunch.

  She picked up the pliers he pointed to and handed them over to him.

  "You enjoy doing this, don't you?"

  He looked up. "Repairing fence?"

  She nodded. "Not just repairing the fence, but everything you do. You don't seem to care that you're the boss and the boss is supposed to delegate. You enjoy working out here with the men, whether it's vaccinating the cattle, which I noticed was a very dirty and smelly job, or staying up all night with a sick horse."

  "A boss can't do his job right unless he can do what he wants his men to do. He has to be willing to shoulder his share of the work load." He swore under his breath when a wire pricked his thumb.

  Letitia stood back and admired the play of Tyler's back muscles as he made sure the fence post was still securely set in the ground. She resisted the urge to pick his shirt up and tie it into knots. There was something about the man's bare chest and back that had her thinking about destroying all his shirts.

  "When do I get to ride herd?" She'd been after him on the subject for the past month.

  He pulled his bandanna out of his back pocket and wiped the sweat from his face before rolling it and tying it around his forehead. "Which one did you watch last night after I left?

  "I don't know what you mean." She was all wide eyed innocence.

  He slowly advanced on her. "Tell."

  Letitia grinned. "City Slickers. I couldn't go back to sleep and thought I'd watch something funny. Otherwise. I probably would have watched Red River again,'

  He shook his head. "You are certifiable."

  "But cute," she pointed out.

  He checked the rest of the fencing to make sure it was secure. "Well, yeah, that too."

  Preferring to ignore his teasing, Letitia picked up the canteen. She took a sip of water and walked forward to offer him some. He stole a kiss before he took the canteen from her.

  She kept her eyes closed in order to better savor his kiss. "Why don't we break for lunch?" she crooned.

  Tyler smothered his grin. "We already did, remember? That's why I'm behind in fixing this fence. Of course, I'm just the hired help and you are the real boss ... "His voice wandered off on a terse note.

  "Is that how you really feel? That I consider you nothing more than an employee?" She looked stricken at the idea. "Tyler, I never-"

  He quickly shucked his gloves and placed his fingers over her lips to shush her. "Hey, I know that," he said quietly, although there was a decided bite to his tone and she noticed the expression in his eyes said another story. It still bothered him. A lot. "Ticia it's something that's always going to be there between us."

  "Only if you put it there!"

  Tyler dropped his arms and walked away. He kept his back to her as his shouting seemed angry at both her and himself. "What should I say? That I love you? That I want to make sure you love it here so much you'll never even think of leaving? That I don't have much, but I do have my skills as a rancher?" he shouted. "That I can't let you go because you mean so much to me?" He spun around and found her standing next to him. He slowly ran his thumb over her lower lip. His eyes darkened to a stormy gray. "You're playing with fire, sweetheart," he warned in a raw voice.

  Her eyes shimmered with tears she couldn't hold back and her smile wobbled dangerously. "Yes, I know. What're you going to do about it? I mean, you just made a very important declaration. The least you can do is act on it," she murmured.

  He pulled in a deep breath hoping it would slow down his racing heart. He should have known better. He'd just spilled his guts to the lady. Told her everything he had been thinking for quite a while but hadn't had the nerve to say. With Letitia around, it wasn't easy to keep anything to himself.

  "If we weren't out here in the open ..." His subtle threat floated between them.

  Letitia heard it more as a promise. "No convenient cabin nearby?"

  He shook his head.

  "What about a tent?" She knew he didn't have one within reach, but she figured it wouldn't hurt to ask, just in case.

  His head slowly swiveled from side to side.

  Letitia braced her hands on her hips. "Well, what kind of cowboy are you, anyway?" she demanded to know. "You're not prepared for any eventuality?"

  "It's the Boy Scouts who're always prepared," he pointed out.

  She glared at him, not happy that he seemed to find this more amusing than frustrating. And pleased the tension was gone from his eyes and stance. "You don't have to sound so damned reasonable! I swear if I didn't love you so much I'd shoot you where you stand!" she shouted.

  "You think I have anything to worry about?" he hooted. "Hell, you can't even come close to hitting the fence post with a rope."

  She saw red by now. "You hand me a gun and I'll show you what I can do!"

  "Not if I value my life!" His jaw dropped as her earlier words finally penetrated. "Did you mean it when you said you love me?"

  She raised her chin. "Mebbe." Her polished boarding school accent fractured one of J.T.'s favorite words.

  Tyler took his hat off and threw it up in the air in accompaniment to his rebel yell. He picked Letitia up in his arms and spun her around in a dizzying circle.

  "Tyler!" Stunned by his abrupt change of mood she could only grip his shoulders and hang on for dear life. "Tyler, you're acting crazy!"

  "Do you realize what you just did?" he whooped, finally slowing down.

  Still in shock over his actions, she couldn't think clearly. "Besides, threatening to shoot you?"

  "You also told me you loved me. If you knew how much that means to me." His eyes shone like silver glitter against his deeply tanned features. He couldn't stop touching her, whether it was caressing her cheek with the backs of his fingers or stroking her arms.

  "Are you sure you haven't been out i
n the sun too long?" she questioned. "Besides, I assumed you already figured it out and that's why you were willing to tell me how you felt. I don't make love just with any man who asks me."

  His grin was pure euphoria. "I had a pretty good idea. At least, I hoped so, but it's always nice to hear the words."

  "That goes both ways, cowboy."

  Tyler's mouth curved as he looked down at the woman who'd captured his heart so securely. Her nose was sunburned, her cheeks flushed with joy. She wore cotton and denim although he found an enticing amount of silk and lace underneath the durable fabrics.

  "You're hard-headed, mouthy, sometimes act like the socialite of the year and you've made me nuts since day one. I knew you were trouble for me the minute I laid eyes on you. It wasn't long before I figured it was either fall in love with you or throttle you. I figured falling in love with you would be better than spending time in a jail cell." He took a deep breath. "You're my world, Letitia Jones DeMarco. I don't want to live in it without you."

  Her heart melted. She stepped forward and slid her arms around his waist. "You are a horrible chauvinist at times. You infuriate me daily. You also excite me to no end. That was when I knew the only thing I could do was fall in love with you," she said softly. She pressed a kiss against his chest. His skin was hot against her lips and streaked with perspiration and dirt from his labors, but she didn't care.

  He savored the light fragrance of her cologne mixed with the heat of her skin. He combed his fingers through her ponytail. "Darlin', we chose a hell of a place to get into this discussion."

  "You're the one who says there isn't a cabin nearby where we can continue this." Her reply was muffled against his chest.

  Tyler's body was agreeing loud and clear with that statement. "Call it a test."

  She looked rip. "A test of what?"

  He had to think about that one. "That we're sincere with our feelings and they aren't mistaken for lust."

  "I think that was supposed to be my line," she pointed out, lacing his fingers through hers and studying his hand. There were calluses on the palm and finger pads, the backs cut and scarred. A working man's hand. She doubted she'd ever seen anything more handsome. She lifted it to her lips.