“They say pets and their owners start to look alike. Jeffery has your long face.”
One corner of her mouth tilted up before she bit her lip. He saw her white teeth nibble on her lower lip and thought of doing the same. Whoa!
“So does Dancer remind you of Ben?” he asked, tilting his head to the black stallion that watched her.
Missy looked back at the wild-looking thing. “I don’t know.”
Yeah, he had her there. Funny thing was, he felt bad that he'd made her face go all sad. “So, you ready?”
She nodded, though she couldn’t know what she agreed to.
“Great, truck’s outside,” he said and noticed how quiet she was. He waited until she slid in and buckled up to start the engine. Her lavender scent smelled strange mixed with the truck’s normal leather smell. “Not a morning person?”
She shrugged.
“Missy?” That made her turn her face his way.
“Sorry, I’ve got so many things on my mind,” she said, still not focused on him.
“Second thoughts about being here, or worries about the life waiting for you?”
“I’ll pull my weight, don’t worry. And I’m sticking around, so get used to me.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He turned the truck off his gravel road, onto the highway, and sped up.
“It’s just being in Ben’s house . . .” She looked down at her lap.
He felt guilty. Maybe he shouldn’t have left her there alone. Too late now.
Or could he fix it? “I wasn’t thinking. You can move over to my place if you need to.” What in hell was he thinking now? Her in his house?
“It's all right. Being there just made me think about him more, wonder about him.” She turned to her window, and a minute later, added, “The sky there looks like the inside of a seashell.”
At her soft comment, he glanced over. She was too pretty to be sitting in his dusty truck. Something stirred in him at the sight of her hair, her hands resting one on top of the other in her lap. Casual beauty, he thought.
Darn it, her looks weren’t his business.
A few days of hard ranch work, and she’d hit the road for home. Just like Amanda had two years before.
“We need more hay for the horses,” he said. Since she still gazed out the side window, he let himself stare for a quick minute. Nice profile. Nice mouth, too. A man could go crazy thinking about kissing her. But back to ranch business . . . “There’s two guys working out here, Dale and Ivan. You’ll run across them.”
“They live on the property?” she asked, and the hint of panic in her voice surprised him. So far, she acted as if nothing could run her off.
He shouldn’t ask about it. Besides, she seemed to be trying to cover for it now. “Dale does, in a small house closer to the main road. You probably didn’t see it through the forest over there.”
In his side vision, he saw her flick a look over at him. She’d trailed her gaze over him a few times the day before, but he couldn’t tell if she liked what she saw or not. It didn’t matter, but he liked to think she did.
“Have you always been around horses?”
“My dad made his living from horses, and I always have, too.” He felt his shoulders relax, though he hadn’t realized before how stiff he’d been. Maybe they could manage this. “When we finish today, you might want to go check out some books on horses. I’ll go over everything with you, but it’d help if you can tell a bridle from a stirrup.”
“I’m not that slow.”
“I’m just saying, I’d like you to know what everything is. Horse breeds, grasses, a little about horse care. Check into trail horses, since that’s what we have here.” He glanced over. “That is, if you’re serious about this.”
“I am.” Her voice wasn’t haughty like before, but heavy. Maybe she did see what she was getting into.
“This is Jack’s farm coming up.” He pulled down a long gravel drive. Ready for them, Jack waved and swung open the barn door, but he scratched his thick, gray beard as he looked at Missy. Hopping out, Brent told him, “Jack Wilson, this is Ben’s sister, Missy Nelson.”
“Ben had a sister?” At Jack’s words, Brent gave her a look.
She narrowed her eyes as she stepped back. He knew that she wouldn’t be much help. Her petite frame couldn’t be more than five feet five, and the bales were stinking heavy. Still, she needed to see what they did.
Jack jumped up into the truck bed and stacked the bales as Brent loaded them. He paused after a minute to toss her a pair of gloves.
“I noticed you don’t have a pair.” He waited while she slipped them on. “Want to help out?”
He threw another bale into the bed to demonstrate and stepped back to let her try.
Bending, she grabbed the strings and pulled. “Holy crap!”
He couldn’t stop the laugh, but he managed to keep it silent. Too bad she caught him shaking when she stood up.
“Would you like to keep the steering wheel warm?” He grinned with the comment so she’d know it was in fun.
“You jerk!” She glared. “There are other ways I can help out on the ranch.”
He sobered because her eyes grew smoldering with anger. They looked amber, and entrancing. He felt his breathing quicken.
Turning, she walked to the front of the truck and got back in the passenger seat. He went back to work, shrugging at Jack’s puzzled look. They both looked in the back window at her stiff shoulders and knew to keep silent as they worked.
“That about does it,” Jack said when he stacked the last one.
“See you, Jack,” Brent waved and joined Missy in the cab to head back. With her arms folded, she turned her body away and didn’t speak the entire trip home.
This wasn’t so bad, he thought with a glance her way. If they could stay angry at each other, he wouldn’t have to wonder about her.
When they reached the stables, he backed his truck up to unload the hay, but he didn’t get out when he turned off the engine. “Listen, I’ll find you something else to do.”
She nodded.
Trying not to grin again, he asked, “It was funny, wasn’t it?”
Her head turned. When her gaze locked with his, the truck cab grew suddenly smaller. Talk about one determined lady.
He saw her Nez Pierce heritage in her high, proud cheekbones and skin the color of red baked clay. She had a face someone could stare at for hours.
But not him. Right?
Brent knew she had her own agenda, not a relationship, on her mind. Well, she wasn’t the only one.
Chapter Two
“So this is the reality behind the mystery,” she said as she threw another shovel of dirty hay, and then watched her breath puff away in the frigid evening air. Smelly cold air, since it carried the smell of the animal’s waste.
“What’s that?” Brent’s face came into view over the wall that separated the stalls they worked in. “What mystery?”
“I’ve just never seen cowboys in movies doing this stuff.” Although, she didn’t remember watching too many westerns.
“Mucking stalls is mysterious? So, what do you know about horse breeding?” He went back to work, but she saw his smile before his face disappeared.
“Stop right there. I’ll stick to this for now.” She liked his smile. That friendly smile shocked her. He had a cleft chin, something she liked in men, back when she was interested in them. The only thing she wanted with Brent was friendship, and a working partnership.
Working was the operative word. They’d been busy all day. Here it was evening already, and they were still cleaning horse stalls. He’d told her they wouldn’t normally do this so late, but he’d spent the day showing her around.
At least they’d formed an unspoken truce and found a way to work together. His remarks weren’t as cutting as when they’d first met.
She rested her shovel on the ground for a minute to rub the small of her back. All this work had almost been worth the view of him on a horse yesterday.
Tall and long and wearing his cowboy hat. She’d gawked at him from around a corner, amazed by his control and grace as he moved around the corral. She liked how he held his back straight when he rode.
“Did you read those books I suggested?” he asked while he worked. Hello reality, she chided herself.
“Yup.” All that knowledge sure did help with this particular job, too.
“Ready to try riding tomorrow?”
She popped up this time to look at him. “Riding horses?”
Straightening, he turned to look at her. “No, a four-wheeler,” he said with a forced serious face.
She huffed at him and finished her job, betting he smiled now that she wasn’t watching him. She needed a hot shower to warm her up, a good dinner, and a good book to read.
Her body wasn’t used to this kind of work, but she welcomed the experience. She also liked how busy it kept her. And boy, did he keep her busy. Not only did he work her till the daylight faded - around five o’clock thanks to old man winter - but he kept her mind busy with fantasies of what his lean body could do for her.
Not that she’d ever let that happen, but he was just too incredible. Too hot. He looked like he would know just what to do and where to do it. Missy! Cool it. She needed to get out of there before she moaned at her thoughts.
“Okay, I’m done here,” she said with finality in case he had some other chore in mind. Since he wasn’t finished, she watched him work for a minute, expecting some kind of answer.
Good thing he wasn’t interested in women, because he could seduce her if he had the right personality. Nice long legs, nice butt. She was more of a face person, and he had one great face. Long and narrow. Startling eyes in a unique blue color. She liked his sandy hair and secretive expression, too. He often got a gleam in his eyes that dared her to break him.
“Missy,” he said as he set aside his shovel. He leaned against a rail to wipe his brow with the long sleeve of his shirt. “Are you settled in?”
Thinking of the messy cabin she now called home, she said, “I thought you didn’t want me to stick around.”
“No need for you to be uncomfortable while you’re here.”
“But it won’t be long, right?” Shocked at herself, she took a step toward the door.
“Hey, just trying to be nice.” He looked perplexed, maybe even annoyed at her. He had one eyebrow lower than the other in what she already recognized as his scowl.
“You’re right. We don’t need to be so mean to each other. I’m used to competing with everyone around me.” She wanted to rub her sore shoulders, but she couldn’t let herself in front of him. “Yes, I’m settled in some. See you tomorrow, Brent.”
Touching his hat, he called, “Your first riding lesson.”
She couldn’t wait, she thought, but she stopped by the doors and turned. Maybe she could try acting human for a minute. “I’m sorry about Ben, that you lost a good friend.”
That shouldn’t have been so hard, or taken her so long, but she felt her nerves act up while he stared at her.
“Thanks, goodnight.” He turned away, moving onto another task. She felt uneasy as she left, wondering how he was dealing with the loss.
The night seemed more black than any other night of her life. The ever present clouds blocked the moon and starlight, while sending the thinnest ocean mist into the air. The place was majestic, she had to give it that. Not anything like the small, dry town where she grew up in Nevada. Wouldn’t Brent laugh if he knew she wasn’t the city girl she looked?
She’d even caught herself slipping into the easy talk she’d worked so hard to remove from her speech. After hiding her past for so long, it baffled her that she wanted Brent to know. She didn’t like him thinking she was some snob who looked down at his country lifestyle.
But why did she care?
She walked on the road back to Ben’s place, thankful for the pole lights at the edge of the corral. She quickened her pace, pushing her hands down into her coat pockets.
“Missy!” She heard his footsteps crunching on the gravel as he ran toward her. She turned and waited for him to catch up. Those long legs could move, couldn’t they? Her body tingled even while she cursed it.
“Is everything okay?” she asked and tried her hardest to hide her relief at seeing him. He slowed and pulled in a deep breath.
“I can’t let you walk home by yourself.”
So he wanted to walk her, big deal. They started off together, and she asked, “Are there cougars out here?”
“I haven’t seen any this close,” he said. She didn’t like the uncertainty of that answer, but he didn’t sound worried. “So what did you do before you came here?”
“I married old men for their money,” she said with a sly smile. Ducking her head didn’t hide it, even in this dim light.
“I deserved that.” His voice sounded like he grinned. “But I want to know.”
“Advertising. I spent three years with the same company, building my clientele list, and I was promoted twice.” She’d still be there if it weren’t for the lies and her ruined reputation. She thought of going back, applying at another firm in another city, but Russ, her former boss, would never give her a good reference. “My career might be over.”
That hadn’t been the best thing to say. He didn’t ask about it, so she hoped he either hadn’t heard or didn’t care. They took several steps in silence. Unbearable silence, but she couldn’t find her tongue to speak.
“Do you want to go back to that?” he asked softly, his head tilted. Apparently he had heard her loud and clear, and now his eyes were trained on her face.
She tried to laugh. “Yeah, yeah. You don’t want me here.”
“I didn’t mean that, and you know it,” he nudged her arm. Shrugging, she left the question unanswered.
They were about to her door when she said, “So you’ve been around horses all your life, but did you grow up in Oregon?”
“West Coast born and breed,” he said. “I can’t live without the ocean, the mountains, and streams all over the place.”
“You don’t mind the rain and fog?” She gestured around them.
“We do have dry summers. Nice autumns, too.” He looked amused. “But I like the rain, keeps the tall trees watered.”
“Don’t cowboys belong in Texas?”
“Lots of people ride out here. Just wait till you get a horse down on the sand. The trails are great, too, with the view of the ocean.”
Did her cold cowboy just warm up to her? Instinct almost made her jump for a smart remark, but another part of her - the bigger part - was tired of keeping up the front.
“Thanks for walking me.” She paused at the door and looked at him in the porch light. He’d pushed his hands down in his jeans pockets, but pulled one free to nudge his hat back. She didn’t want him to go just yet. “I’ve been wondering . . . What are your plans for this place?”
A sudden smile brightened his face. “I could talk on that all night. Ben and I used to talk about it while we rode over the property, about buying more horses, maybe more land later on.”
His excitement dimmed. She felt his loss then, remembered at the same minute that Ben wasn’t here for those future days. They nodded before she went in. Inside, she leaned against the closed door and heard his first steps as he left.
* * * *
The picture seemed off . . . she leaned against the corral rail, but the ground wasn’t dusty and the sun didn’t beat down on her.
Instead, tall cedars surrounded them, with graceful limbs bowing as they leaned out. Wispy clouds lay up in the sky like streaks of whipped cream while the sun warmed her skin. She smelled salt in the air, mixed with forest scents. The oddity was completed by the seagulls that called out to each other. She looked down from the birds just as Brent led Jeffery out of the stable entrance.
Brent’s jeans hugged his legs all the way up. Then his shirt molded to his trim waist before stretching across his shoulders. She looked at the ho
rse as he drew closer so he wouldn’t see the way she admired every inch of him.
“I’m going to ride your horse?” Could it be a good sign? Or did he plan a big joke on her? She hated uncertainty worse than anything, and he put her on shaky ground time and time again.
“I trust him, and believe me, you’ll want a horse we can trust.” He motioned for her to come over. That authoritative gesture sent hot licks of want up her. The sensation shocked her senseless for a minute. He motioned again.
“Okay, okay.” Keep your senses about you, girl. The speckled monster pawed the ground and looked her over. She joined Brent on the horse’s left side.
“Offer your hand, like you did before.” Brent instructed. “He senses your fear.”
Fear? She wanted to argue, but she wasn’t much of a liar. After she looked at Brent, she held out her hand and Jeffery rubbed his soft nose in it.
“All right, boy,” Brent soothed. “This lady needs to learn how to ride, and you’re just the horse to do it.”
After he reassured the horse, he turned to her. “I’m putting you on the fast track to riding. We could put you up there bareback so you could learn to lead, but you said you’re fast learner, right?”
Was that a dare? “I am.”
“We’ll get you up there, then you can get used to how it feels. Next you’ll practice leading him with the reins. Now watch.” He grabbed the saddle, put his foot in the stirrup, and swung up. After he dismounted, he nodded for her to try.
Just like that, huh?
“Hand here.” He took her hand and pulled it up. She jumped at his touch. A small jump, but she felt it all the way through her.
His hat threw shade over his eyes, but she was pretty sure he’d seen.
“Foot there,” he said. She nodded and pretended not to hear the amusement just begging to slip through his steady voice. She did as instructed and placed her foot in the stirrup.
“Up and at ‘em.” He swatted her bottom as she started up.
“Ahh!” Her foot came back down hard, and she spun around to stare at him, open-mouthed. No other man had ever made her body tingle like this. Did she feel frustration or heat for him?
A Cowboy For Christmas Page 2
