Capturing the Cowboy's Heart (4 page)
Read Capturing the Cowboy's Heart Online
Authors: Lindsey Brookes
His gaze traveled up the tanned leg until it disappeared beneath the short, clingy black skirt. Cade shook his head and dragged his gaze back up to her face. Business.
Keep your mind on business.
Yeah, right.
He fingered the brim of the hat clutched in his hands. “I came to apologize. I’m up to my eyeballs in problems, and short-handed on top of that. And contrary to popular belief, I can’t do it all by myself.”
She leaned forward with a sigh, running a finger around the rim of her glass. “Is there a point to this conversation?”
She certainly wasn’t making this any easier for him. “Yes, there is. I’ve come to tell you that I’ve changed my mind.”
Her
gaze snapped up
to meet his
. “You have?”
He nodded.
“I’ll do the interview.”
“You will?”
she said, her face lighting up.
Her smile had a powerful effect on him, warming him from the inside out. Not that he was even cold. At least, she wasn’t mad at him anymore. He’d best savor the moment, because he wasn’t done talking yet.
Cade returned her smile. “
I
n return I expect you to keep your part of the bargain.”
“My part?”
“
You agreed to work for me in exchange for that interview.”
“I did,” she replied. “And I’m willing to uphold my end of that bargain.”
“
I’
m warning you now,
it’s not going to be like any job you’ve ever had.
Working on a ranch is hot and
dirty
. Y
ou’ll be counting down the hours until you can crawl into
your
bed each night.”
It wasn’t her bed Lacy imagined herself crawling into. She quickly lowered her gaze
, fearing
Cade would
be able to read her thoughts. Thoughts she shouldn’t be having. She supposed most women reacted in some way to a man like him. Not having dated since she’d started caring for her ailing grandmother two years before, she found herself all the more susceptible to his charm.
Charm?
Now
t
hat was stretching things. He hadn’t exactly been charming to her. If anything,
she’d been on the receiving end of his
rotten
disposition
. Y
et she
there was something about the man...
Maybe it was the wine cooler.
No,
she thought, immediately discounting the possibility. One drink
couldn’t be blamed for the
physical attraction
she felt toward
to the hardened cowboy across from her.
She was overly tired from the long drive. That might be contributing to her inability to push aside her attraction to the irritatingly handsome cowboy.
Whatever the reason, it had to stop.
Her association with
Cade Tyler was
business
, which made him absolutely off limits
to her in any other way
except
professionally
.
“Having second thoughts, Miss Dalton?”
Her
eyes met his questioning gaze
. “No, not at all.”
“You sure?” The question was followed by a
grin
that displayed surprisingly perfect teeth, considering his rodeo past.
One
that set her pulse to racing.
She
reached for her glass, needing to wet her suddenly dry mouth. “
You’re serious? You really are going to do this?”
H
is blue eyes studied her with a hint of amusement. Then, he
shook his head. “
The more I think about it, the more I think I’m going to enjoy watching you
try to
learn the ropes of ranching.”
He was serious.
Even worse, he was already expecting her to fail.
Why had she ever made such a
ridiculous
offer?
She was a journalist, not a rancher.
But she knew why. And it was the same reason she was going to see this job through even if it killed her. Her grandmother.
He stood and leaned over the table, lowering his face to hers
, his sexy mouth quirking even more
.
His very male scent drifted past her. A mix of rain, leather and musk.
How could a man who worked with livestock
for a living
smell so good?
“There’s still time for you to change your mind. Want to back
out of our deal, Ms. Dalton?”
The heat that washed over her had Lacy wondering if the air conditioning in the bar
had suddenly stopped working. She sat
back in her chair,
desperate
to put some space between herself and the mesmerizing blue eyes of this swaggering cowboy.
“Lacy,” she corrected.
“What?”
“You can call me Lacy. And since I never
go back on my word
it appears you’ve
got yourself a
nother
head.”
Cade’s husky chuckle filled the room.
“The
only
trouble with that is
that
I
’m in need of
hands. Cows are
referred to as
heads. People are hands.”
“Oh.” She knew that. Warmth flooded her cheeks. What was it about this man that seemed to turn her brain to mush?
“Where are you staying?”
“I hadn’t gotten that far yet,” she admitted.
“We’ve got a spare room you can use while you’re here and dinner is served promptly at six. You’re not there, you don’t eat. Same with breakfast. Breakfast is at five-thirty.”
“Five-thirty as in a.m.?”
“Morning is when most folks normally choose to eat breakfast.”
Lacy groaned. “Trust me, you really don’t want to see me at five-thirty in the morning. I’m not what you’d call a morning person.”
Ignoring her protest, he said, “Hope you brought something other than heels and miniskirts to work in.”
Lacy looked down at the shoe dangling from her toes. Slipping it back onto her foot, she reached down and drew the elastic strap back up over her heel. “As a matter of fact I did. What is it, exactly, I’ll be doing?”
“Oh, the usual, gathering eggs, milking cows,
cleaning stalls
.”
“Cleaning stalls?” she inquired anxiously.
“Shoveling shit of them to be precise,” he replied.
Her
mouth
fell
open
, eliciting a husky chuckle from Cade
.
“I can see
by your horrified expression that
this agreement is going to last all of
five minutes
, if that.”
“Think again.” She rose from her chair. “I have every intention of seeing
it
through.”
“Then we have a deal.” He held out his hand.
She extended hers only to have it swallowed up in his much larger one. “I promise you won’t regret this.”
“I hope you’re right. Now, if you’ll return my hand, I’ll be going.”
Her gaze dropped to their joined hands. A soft
‘
oh
’
passed her lips as she pulled her hand from his.
She reached for her briefcase and placed it on the table. “Let’s get started.”
“Started?”
“W
ith the interview
,” she replied
as she reached into the case for her laptop.
“Can’t
,” he said, putting that thought to an immediate end. “I’ve got to fix that fence
before I can run cows out there.
”
“Alright, we can s
tart tomorrow.”
He nodded, his expression becoming more serious.
“
Just m
ake sure I get to look over whatever it is you write about me before you send it off to your editor.
I
’ve had
more than
my fill of twisted words.”
She stiffened at that remark. “I don’t twist words, Mr. Tyler
.”
“Cade,” he corrected
with a frown
. “And I didn’t mean to imply that you do, but I’ve had the truth stretched about me plenty of times before. It’s just something reporters do, I think.”
“Not all reporters.” However, t
here were plenty of journalists who wouldn’t think twice about going for a man’s throat when covering a story. And it was apparent Cade had experienced that
particular tactic
first hand.
Whether he believed her or not, she couldn’t tell. He simply dropped his hat back onto his head and said,
“See you
back at the ranch.
”
She watched him go
until he
disappear
ed
from sight
, stepping
back
out into the rain.
Sighing softly, she sat staring at the door.
Cade Tyler was a very complicated man.
I
f only she’d had time to dig deeper into his past before leaving Denver, but there hadn’t been. ‘Mac’ Cooper had called her back with
his
offer two hours after she’d gotten home from meeting with him about the opening for the
Rodeo Romance
column. Apparently, the magazine’s owner wanted the interview with Cade Tyler set up A.S.A.P. and his other writers were busy working on other stories.
Well, s
he
would get him that story
and
in return Cade
would get the publicity he needed to
up the interest in his rodeo
bulls.
More importantly,
she’d
have her column. It was a win-win situation for all involved.
She just had to get Cade to believe that as well, contrary man he was.
“He tends to have that effect on a lot of women.”
Lacy turned to find the woman from behind the bar standing there, two unopened wine coolers clutched by their bottlenecks in her hand.
“Excuse me?”
The woman inclined her head toward the door. “Cade, he leaves a lot of women staring after him that way.”
“I wasn’t staring. I was thinking.”
“
That’s o
dd
,” she replied with a grin. “Most w
omen
find
it impossible to process any
sort of
thought a
fter being around
Cade for any length of time
.”
Lacy laughed. “Are we talking about the same
man? Cade Tyler
?”
The barkeep raised a thin brow
and then her smile widened. “Finally, someone else immune to his charms.”
“
Completely
.” There was no way she was going to allow herself to get caught up in the man’s ruggedly good looks.
The young woman
dropped down onto one of the chairs across from
her
and
slid
one of the bottles she’d carried over with her to Lacy. “
Thought you could use
another.”
Not much of a drinker,
her
first inclination was to refuse it
, knowing she’d
need a clear head to deal with Cade once she got back to the ranch. But this woman seemed to know a
great deal
about Cade Tyler. Maybe she could provide her with better insight into the man himself.
“Thanks,” Lacy said
, reaching for her
purse.
The woman put a hand out to stop her. “
No charge.
It’s on the house.”
“I wouldn’t want to get you in trouble,” Lacy argued. Someone would have to pay for the drink and she didn’t want it coming out of the other woman’s paycheck.
“
It won’t be a problem,” the woman assured her with a warm smile. “I’m
Katie O’Brien. I own this place.”
Katie O’Brien was naturally pretty with her fiery red hair and vibrant green eyes. Her skin was flawlessly fair with just a light sprinkling of freckles across her nose and cheeks.
Was this the kind of woman Cade Tyler went for? Was that why Katie O’Brien had approached her? To check out the
competition
which, of course, she wasn’t.
“Thank you then,” Lacy said, accepting the offered drink. “I’m
Lacy Dalton.”
“
I take it you’re not from around here.
”
“Denver.”
“Welcome to Deep Creek
,” Katie said. “W
e don’t get many big city folk around these parts.”
“
Y
our town is very...” She searched for the right word to describe it. Deep Creek was one of those places that if you blinked while driving through it you’d miss it. No Starbucks. Not even a McDonald’s. Just some place called Granny May’s Café, a few small stores, and The Blarney Stone. “...quaint,” she finally concluded.
Katie tossed her head back in laughter. “I’m sorry,” she said, quickly regaining her composure. “It’s just that I would have expected you to say it’s about the size of a thimble or something. But quaint?”
“Okay,
I admit,
it’s a lot smaller than what I’m used to
, but there’s
something to be said about the slow pace of country life.”
Katie appeared to be surprised by
that
revelation. “There is?”
“Sure. No fighting the traffic. No swarm of people to get caught up in on the sidewalks. Everything is just so laid back.”
“Except Cade.” Grinning, Katie stood and walked over to the juke box where she fed in several quarters, looking right at home in her faded blue jeans and fitted red and black tapered western shirt.
Lacy glanced down at her own short skirt, high heeled sandals, and painted toenails. It was like wearing a Hawaiian print shirt in
Utah
. She stuck out like a sore thumb.
She watched as Katie’s fingers skimmed the buttons on the juke box, no doubt knowing the numbers of the songs she preferred to listen to by heart. Lacy wasn’t sure she could come up with one single country music song title. She’d grown up listening to big band music, her grandmother’s favorite and some classical music.
Her
attention went back to Katie and those long legs. The kind she imagined a man like Cade would go for. Not that it mattered to her. It didn’t. But part of doing a story on his life was finding out about his likes and dislikes. Katie O’Brien would probably be on the
likes
list. Lacy didn’t even have to ask Cade to know which list she fell into.
Katie spun around and returned to the table. “So,” she said as she settled back into her chair and reached for her drink, “how long are you staying for?”
Despite the warm welcome Katie O’Brien had given her, Lacy had to wonder if she was this curious with all of her new patrons or just those associated with Cade.
Fingering the foil wrapper on her wine cooler, Lacy replied, “A week, maybe two.”
The woman hesitated as if digesting the information
and
then said, “I guess
I
’ll be seeing you around. Any friend of Cade’s is more than welcome here.”
Friend?
Lacy shook her head at the misconception. “Cade and I aren’t friends.”
The look on Katie’s face bordered on confusion. “You aren’t?”
“
Not exactly.
Cade and I only met today.”
“Oh.” Katie O’Brien sat back, studying her as she sipped at her cooler.
“I’m here to do a story on him for
Bustin’ Loose Magazine
,” Lacy explained, breaking the silence.
The second the words left
her
lips, Katie O’Brien’s demeanor changed. Her shoulders stiffened. Her green eyes narrowed.
“Does Cade know why you’re here?”
“Yes.”
“And he’s still talking to you?”
Did everyone in this town think reporters were blood-sucking vultures? “I would guess he’d have to.”
Katie set her wine cooler down on the table and leaned forward, pinning Lacy with her gaze. “Why?”
“How else am I going to find out enough about him to do the story justice?”
“Let me give you one piece of advice,” Katie said, her voice low, no doubt to keep other patrons from overhearing what she was about to say. “Don’t twist things around to make Cade look bad. Because if you hurt him, you’ll have more than me to answer to for it.” That said, the bar’s proprietor stood and walked away.
So much for
her
warm welcome.
Lacy stood, slung her purse strap over her shoulder
, grabbed her briefcase and then
headed for the door. It was going to be a very long two weeks.
*
*
*
By the time Cade arrived back at the ranch, the storm had blown over and the sun was pushing out through the remaining clouds. While there were plenty of things he should have been concentrating on regarding the ranch, all he had thought about his entire drive home was that sassy little reporter who, in no time flat, had succeeded in twisting his carefully guarded emotions into knots.
“Lacy Dalton,” he sighed.
Pretty name.
Pretty reporter.
Why couldn’t they have sent a man out to do the story? He hated the flicker of desire she sparked inside him. Desire he didn’t want to feel. Hadn’t felt, in fact, since his wife
died, despite the opportunities other women had given him to let something happen.
I
f he’d had a choice in the matter Lacy would
be staying at a hotel instead of at his ranch, b
ut there were no hotels in Deep Creek.
She’d have to get up far too early to drive in to work from another town.
And seeing as how she
’d ended up there
thanks to his best friend’s meddling it was the least he could do.
After
making a pot of coffee and downing two cups of it,
Cade reached for his
hat
and headed out to
find Burk.
He needed
some sort of
distraction. Anything to take his mind off of...
The sound of gravel crunching beneath tires stopped
him dead
in his tracks. Looking
down
the
winding
drive, he watched as the sleek, red convertible
made its way up to the house
.
Lacy.