How to Rope a McCoy (Hell Yeah!) (10 page)

Her
mother was gone now, going on a year, and Cato had no regrets. Even though her
mother had been hard on her, Cato had done her best to be a good daughter.
She’d stuck by her, taken care of her and been there for her even at the moment
of her death. But now, she was a whole state removed from south Louisiana, nosy
neighbors and a hovering priest. She was ready to experience all that life had
to offer. With a smile, she admitted she was more than ready to lose the
virginity which was still hanging around her neck like a millstone. Since being
on her own, Cato had played catch-up, reading erotic romance novels, trying out
sex toys and learning her own body. Blushing, Cato admitted that she enjoyed
it. Just thinking about what Edith Vincent would say to Cato’s brazen behavior
made her shiver. Oh well, it was her turn to live now and she intended to grab
onto life with both hands.  

Picking
up her breasts, she thumbed her nipples and thought of Heath sucking on them.
The very idea made her wet. Yep, it was time. “Ready or not, Heath McCoy, here
I come.”

*  *  *

“So
you and Jimmy went dicking around last night?” Tennessee asked his brother, who
looked bleary eyed even after his third cup of coffee.

“I
did have a date, if you must know.” Heath rubbed his face. If he could’ve slept
till noon, he would have felt better. But he had responsibilities. The resort
had to be checked on periodically. Even though Stella and her husband were
great at their job, sometimes it was always smart to keep a hands-on approach.
He’d decided to have some vacation specials, package deals for Valentine’s Day
and one especially for honeymooners. The favorite idea of his, however, was
cementing a relationship with the Vanishing River cruises to showcase the eagle
nesting grounds, the wineries along the lake shore and a special cruise to view
fall foliage. Compared to what he was going through right now, trying to keep
his mind off Cato, business seemed like a walk in the park.

“A
date?” Tennessee was surprised. “With who? Cato?”

Heath
grimaced. “No, no.” He shook his head emphatically as if the idea was more than
he could bear. “Jimmy arranged a hookup for me last night.”

“A
hookup?” His younger brother repeated the words as if the idea was foreign to
him.

“Yes,
I had a nice dinner with a beautiful blonde and we continued the evening
upstairs at the
Driskill
Hotel.” Tennessee’s chortle
of amusement irritated Heath. “What’s so damn funny?”

“Nothing’s
funny,” Tennessee murmured as he looked through the mail. He froze, a letter in
his hand. While Heath was staring out the window, he put the document in his back
pocket to look at later. He didn’t really want an audience when he read this
particular piece of correspondence. Recovering his composure, he continued the
conversation with his brother. “I’m just surprised, that’s all.”

Not
as surprised as I was,
Heath thought. Especially after his less than
stellar performance in the bedroom. God, he didn’t know if he was out of
practice or if the woman just hadn’t turned him on. He’d never apologized to a
female so much in his life. The only thing he was grateful for was that he
hadn’t given her his last name, nor had he been honest with
Dushku
.
In fact, he’d let on to his friend that a good time was had by all. This was
one incident he didn’t want following him around for the rest of his life.
“Well, don’t be. I didn’t fall off the turnip truck yesterday.” Heath rose from
the long trestle style kitchen table to look down the road. “Somebody’s coming.
Isn’t it a little early for guests to begin arriving?”

“Not
this one, I asked her to come early.” Pepper came breezing in like a breath of
fresh air, giving both of the men a kiss on the cheek.

Heath
accepted the kiss, but he groaned at her comment. “Don’t tell me. It’s little
Miss Congeniality, the punch cup wielding trespasser.”

“Oh
hush, you’re excited, I know you are.” Pepper dismissed her irascible brother
with a smile as she hurried outside to meet her new friend.

Tennessee
leaned on the kitchen island, elbows on the granite countertop and observed
Heath as he paced in front of the window, casting doubtful but curious glances
toward the woman who was parking next to the barn.

“Don’t
you think you ought to go help with her bags?”

“I
feel like I should be packing mine and hightailing it out of Dodge.” Heath
leaned back on his heels, actually considering if he could find a good enough
excuse to vacate the premises. He let out a long breath. Missing the BBQ might
be forgivable, but the weekend was more than that. With all the extra help who
would come, they would cut the bull calves, making steers out of the males so they
would fatten up for market and be more docile in the process.

“Maybe
you’re mistaken.” Tennessee slapped him on the back. “She’s probably not after
you at all. Besides, Caesar will be here and he’s a ladies’ man. If Pepper is
determined to get those two together, she will. You know how hardheaded our
sister is.”

Seeing
that Cato did have more than one bag Heath started out the door. He would have
to be hospitable at the very least. As he left, he gave Tennessee a parting
shot. “Surely Cato has better taste in men than Caesar
Arness
.”
Amy hadn’t, but not every woman was as shallow as Amy. 

Tennessee
shook his head. “Better taste, like you?” he asked, but Heath was out of
earshot. His brother wasn’t fooling him for a minute. He’d have to get a bet
going with Jaxson and Philip to see who could guess how many hours into the
weekend the big man would succumb to the Bayou girl’s smile. “Just keep
foolin
’ yourself, brother. You
ain’t
foolin
’ nobody else.”

Now
that he was alone, he took the letter out of his pocket. The paternity test.
He’d tried to think back to the last time he’d slept with Molly. Dammit, it
could be his baby. She was two months pregnant. The fact that he hadn’t seen
her in over a month didn’t matter. If the baby was a McCoy he’d have to take her
back, even though he knew it would be a mistake. Insisting that she have a
blood test had started a battle royal between them, but Zane had won that war
for him. Now for the answer…

Ripping
open the envelope, Tennessee closed his eyes and then opened them.

His
heart went up in his throat.

He
was about to become a father.

*  *  *

“I
hope I’m not early,” Cato voiced as she tried to watch Pepper to see what she
was saying and at the same time keep an eye on the object of her desire, who
was making his way—reluctantly it seemed—down to where they were standing next
to her jeep.

“No,
you’re right on time. I’m glad you’re here. You can help me take care of some
last minute things, fun stuff I assure you.” Pepper wasn’t dense, she could see
where Cato’s attention lay and she could see her brother was watching their
visitor just as close.

“I
want to help,” Cato assured her, before turning to greet Heath, who was
gathering up her suitcases. “Thank you. I always seem to pack too much.”

“Over-packing
seems to be a female malady,” he grumbled.

Cato
tried to follow him to see what he was saying, but she didn’t catch all of it.
“Thanks for having me.” She aimed her comment at the both of them.

Heath
didn’t say anything more and Pepper linked her arm with Cato’s, gave her
brother a glare and began escorting her across the lawn. Cato was surprised to
see that their home wasn’t landscaped like one would normally see in central
Texas, with drought resistant plants. Rather, the
McCoys
’
front lawn was lush and laid out like a courtyard with an ornate stone fountain
in the center. In some ways, the beautiful house and grounds reminded her of
home. Instead of a stone lodge looking structure like
Tebow
,
the Highlands was constructed more on the order of an antebellum plantation
with a wide veranda and large columns. “Am I the first to arrive?” Cato asked,
a bit embarrassed. She turned to look at Pepper to see her answer.

“Yes,
but I’m relieved. This party is considered an occasion in these parts. It isn’t
formal, most of it takes place outside and the dress is casual, but people come
from all over. Ryder and I do our best to act as hostesses, but the task is
rather daunting.”

Cato
saw Pepper look back over her shoulder and she realized Heath must be talking—obviously
not to her or he would stop her so she could understand what he was saying.

Fortunately,
Pepper enlightened her. “Heath said the BBQ was no big deal, just an excuse for
people to get together.” She winked at Cato. “He also said women tend to make a
big deal out of everything.”

Instead
of getting mad, Cato laughed. “I think he may be right. We females can get
emotional about things.”

That
was what he was afraid of, Heath thought. But he kept any other comments to
himself. When they mounted the steps, he opened the doors for the girls and he
couldn’t help notice how good Cato smelled. A memory of honeysuckle after a
rainstorm came to mind. It was like no popular scent he knew of. Heath had an
idea that the arousing fragrance he was inhaling was just Cato herself.

“Let’s
put her in the blue room,” Pepper told Heath, within sight of Cato.

“Don’t
you think she’d be more comfortable in the wing with you and Ryder?” Heath
asked with an odd look on his face.

“The
blue room is perfect and the other rooms have already been set up for the McCoy
cousins and their wives.”

That
was all the explanation Pepper gave and Heath didn’t bother to point out that
the blue room was virtually a part of his own. There were multiple connecting
doors between his suite and the blue room and his sister damned sure knew it.
The connecting suites had been used for his father and the staff who took care
of him before he’d left the ranch and moved into town. There were intercoms and
visual monitors hooked up so the nurse could check on his father while he
slept. No one had stayed in that room since his nurse had vacated it and Heath
hadn’t paid any attention to the equipment. Hell, he’d have to check all that
stuff out now that someone—
she
—was so close. An uneasy feeling crept across
his mind. Heath was in over his head.

“You
two don’t know how much it means to me to spend this time with you. I moved to
Texas on a whim and Avery is the only person I know here at all. My mother died
a few months ago. She had cancer. Dad has been gone since just after I was
born. So, my friends at work, Savannah being the one you know, are precious to
me.” Cato knew she was rattling, but she couldn’t seem to stop. “Being deaf has
its drawbacks, I won’t deny that, but I don’t think I’ve let it be the defining
factor in my life.” She blushed, knowing she was saying more than she needed to
say. “I guess what I’m trying to tell you is that I don’t want to be treated
any differently. Being able to read lips is a plus, so you don’t have to worry
about me. If I miss a few things people say, it will be fine. So please don’t
think you have to do anything special or even make some kind of announcement. I
just want to fit in.”   

“I’m
sure you’ll be just fine,” he said. Dammit, everything seemed to be conspiring
against him. For example, did she have to look so good? And where was the
aggressive personality? She was being sweet and he was a pushover for sweet. He
tried not to notice how beautiful she was, but that was impossible. There was
nothing about her that was unappealing. He glanced at her face, hungry to see
her big brown eyes, but she was looking down. The sweep of her long lashes cast
a delicate shadow on the exquisite curve of her cheek. Heath might be wrong,
but she didn’t seem to have a devious bone in her body—what you saw was what
you got, and he liked what he saw. Too much. Unlike other women he’d known,
like Silver from the other night, for instance, there was no put on. She didn’t
appear to wear any type of a mask. Cato was wide open, soft and without
defense, like whipped cream or the gossamer wing of a butterfly.
      

When
they reached the part of the house where his suite was located and he opened
the door to her room, he wasn’t surprised to see that Pepper had left them.
Hell, he hadn’t even seen her leave. “This way.” He opened the door for her,
gesturing with his hand because he wasn’t sure she’d seen him speak.

“Oh,
how beautiful,” Cato exclaimed as she took in the cool, soothing oasis of
solitude. Everything was light colored wood, white or blue. French doors opened
onto a patio surrounded by another tropical courtyard. “It makes me want to go
to bed now,” she said as she took in the king size bed in the center of the
room filled with fluffy pillows.

Heath
could sympathize. He would like to make use of the bed himself if he could have
her splayed naked across it. Touching her shoulder, he got her attention. “Make
yourself comfortable, I’m going to go greet our other guests. When you’re
ready, come down and meet everyone. Tonight we’re having a simple get-together
around the campfire. Some of us will be sleeping under the stars. We need to
get an early start for the cutting and the branding.”

“All
right.” She gave him a sweet smile. “I’ll freshen up and offer my services to
Pepper and Ryder. Maybe I can make myself useful.”

Heath
dry-scrubbed his face. Lord, every word she said was a turn-on. Listening to
her talk sent tingles up and down his spine. Sometimes she rolled her ‘r’s and
sometimes she dropped them. There were times her vowels wobbled a bit and
others when her voice would take on a faint sing-song quality. Heath knew that
was because she couldn’t hear or control the timbre of her voice. He liked the
way she sounded. And Lord
help
, he wished she wasn’t
so fucking beautiful. “You’re a guest. We want you to have a good time.” He
knew she needed to see his lips to speak, but every time she stared at his
mouth he wondered if she was imagining his lips on hers. Before he did anything
he’d regret, Heath hightailed it.