Once Tempted (17 page)

“No, I can’t imagine you would,” she said quietly. Though the Knowleses appeared to own a lot of cows and sheep, obviously having one of them die wasn’t good. It would be awful if whatever had killed the cow affected the others.

“Anyway I came by to see whether you’d like to join us. Ward, Phil, and I are meeting with a marketing firm. They’re pitching ideas about expanding our reach. Ward thought it might interest you since you’re taking over Macie’s responsibilities. Ward may be a bit late, depending on when the vet shows, but after the meeting you can tell him you’ve found a dress for Carrie.”

“I’d be happy to join you, but I’m not going to add to Ward’s workload by asking him to convince Carrie this is the dress for her. I can do that on my own.”

Reid nodded. “Go for it. He was really pleased by how well you and Carrie got along. Brian and Ward are best friends, so in Ward’s world that means it’s his job to make Carrie happy.”

“He seems pretty good at it.” Then, succumbing to curiosity, she asked, “So what’s the story with Brian and Carrie anyway? I would have thought they’d realize it’s kind of awkward for Ward to host their wedding after Carrie’s stepsister called off her and Ward’s wedding.”

“So you know about that.”

“The weird way everyone acted whenever Erica’s name was mentioned was kind of a giveaway,” she said
drily. “Of course, it didn’t occur to me that she and Ward were once engaged.”

“Ward’s better off without her. Even Mom thinks so.”

Tess couldn’t hide her surprise. “If you all feel this way about her, that makes Brian and Carrie’s decision awkward not just for Ward but for your whole family.”

“We’re just pissed on Ward’s behalf. Seeing his heart get trampled by Erica wasn’t pretty. But you don’t have to worry about a thing. He won’t let what happened affect anything to do with Brian and Carrie. He’s too good and loyal a friend—to Brian especially—so if they want their wedding here with Erica as maid of honor, he’ll make it work for them.”

“Why? And what makes Brian such a special case?” She felt justified asking because she needed to understand the dynamics of a situation that involved the key players in the wedding. The fact was, however, she really wanted to know what made Ward tick.

“Ward almost got himself killed for Brian.”

She stared in shock. “What?”

“It happened the fall of Ward’s junior year of high school. Acacia’s too small to have its own high school. The town where the district school was located was having problems with gang violence. Brian had just moved to the area so he didn’t know what streets to avoid. Ward was driving home and saw the new kid—Brian and he were in the same class—surrounded by a group of toughs. They probably planned to mug Brian, which wouldn’t have been hard since he was scrawny as a scarecrow back then, mainly freckles and bones. Ward jumped out of his car and ran over to try and prevent him from being beaten to a pulp, only one of the hoods had a switchblade, was high, and stupid as dirt. He freaked when Ward called out that the cops were coming. Instead of running he decided to take out Ward with
his knife. Had it gone any deeper, Ward wouldn’t be here today.”

“My God. That’s some story.” She pictured a younger Ward lying on the sidewalk of some town and bleeding onto the pavement. With a shudder, she folded her arms tightly around her middle.

“Yeah. Ever since then, Ward’s been Brian’s protector. I guess almost dying for someone forges a damned strong bond. Then, too, Ward probably feels a little guilty because he’s got a family who loves him. Brian’s family isn’t so great. When he moved here, his parents were going through a really ugly period. They divorced soon after. Brian ended up basically living here for the remainder of high school and college. He always says the time he spent at Silver Creek represents the best memories he has of his youth. And Carrie’s family, though basically nice, has its difficult members.”

Reid didn’t need to say the name for Tess to understand he was referring to Erica.

“As I’m sure you’ve already figured out, Brian and Carrie aren’t as strong as Ward—though not many people are. They’re both incredibly kind and fun, and Carrie’s sweet as anything, but they unconsciously lean on Ward because they know he won’t let them down.”

“He sounds like an amazing friend.”

“Yeah, he is.” Reid’s voice rang with love and Tess knew a moment of envy that her own brother would never be able to speak of her like that. “So there you have it, the reason we’re willing to risk annoying a lot of guests who booked their stay at the ranch just so Brian and Carrie can get married exactly when and how they want. We love them, sure. But we love Ward a whole lot more.”

Reid checked his watch. “The guys from the marketing firm should be rolling up about now. Meet you in the conference room in a few?”

“Yes, sure,” she answered distractedly, her head too full of what Reid had just told her.

She almost wished she hadn’t learned about Ward’s bravery or his generosity to his friend at his own expense. There were times—more and more of them—when she forgot the traits in his personality that had previously irritated her so thoroughly. She could no longer dismiss him as overbearing and arrogant when she now possessed a fuller and more nuanced portrait of him. One that was terrifyingly attractive.

He was proud and high-handed, certainly. But he was also caring. And he was one of the sexiest men she’d ever encountered—and she’d lived in New York, for Pete’s sake. If she had even a dollop of sense she’d be even more cautious around him. A man like Ward was too dangerous.

W
ARD COULD HARDLY
walk into a business meeting with the sweaty muck of birth and death ground into his jeans and skin. In addition to avoiding the long commutes on congested highways like so many in California, being able to grab a quick shower when he needed it was another perk of living where he worked. The pelting hot water did more than wash off the dirt. It helped ease some of his black mood at having lost a cow. But it didn’t lessen his impatience to hear the lab results, and Gary Cooney, their vet, had left only a few minutes ago.

Dressed, he jogged to the barns. Quinn was in the lambing pen with Holly, both women holding the ewe that had delivered the twin lambs so that the smaller one could nurse. The stupid thing had yet to accept it. She kept running it off whenever it approached her udder.

“How’s she doing?” he asked.

Her arms locked around the ewe’s shorn and wriggling body, Quinn grimaced. “She’s still rejecting it. I vote to bring Sooner in here. He’ll teach her to care for her babies in a hurry.” Sooner was Quinn’s sheltie. Another of her rescues, the dog had come to her because its owners hadn’t quite understood that herding dogs, even the ones with the silky coats and cute ears, liked to herd
more than they liked to sit cooped up in apartments twenty-three hours out of twenty-four. The sheltie had originally been named Cookie, but Quinn had changed it to Sooner as he tended to find a herd and hold it sooner rather than later.

Ward eyed the struggling sheep. Damned if he was going to save her lambs only to have her starve one of them. “Fine by me. Frank getting the van ready?” he asked Holly.

Holly was holding the newborn lamb and had her head pressed against the sheep’s flank, the better to see that the newborn was actually latched on to its mother’s teat and suckling.

“Yeah,” she replied, her voice muffled. “He and Quinn are leaving for the rescue shelter at two.”

“So if all goes according to plan and the horse loads well, we should be back at four
P.M
. I can’t wait for him to see his new home, Ward.”

He nodded. “If I’m not around, ask Pete to make sure the corral is free so the horse can have a chance to acclimate. Okay, I’m officially late for this damned meeting, which means I have about thirty seconds before Phil starts texting. If you need me—”

“Unless you can speak sheep we don’t need you,” Quinn said with a grunt as the ewe struggled to free herself. “Go. But tell Mitchell to send Sooner in here.”

Meetings like today’s were a necessary evil. Ward far preferred executing the ideas that came out of them than sitting and listening to some PowerPoint presentation. So he wasn’t too distressed at being ten minutes late—Reid could fill him in if anything important had been addressed.

Much to his surprise, the meeting hadn’t even started
yet. He entered the conference room to find the two guys from the Porter Consulting Group, a marketing firm based in San Francisco, chatting casually with Phil while Reid stood over by the window, talking on his cell. Ward went over to shake hands with Ted Dulchek and Michael Parenti and to make it clear they could start without further delay.

“Oh, we’re waiting for Tess. I sent her to get us some coffee and biscotti. Might as well take advantage of her area of expertise,” Phil told him with a faint smirk.

Excusing himself, Ward crossed the room to where Reid stood. His conversation finished, Reid slipped his cell into his jeans pocket. Ward cocked an inquiring eyebrow at his brother.

“I know.” Reid turned back toward the window so his voice wouldn’t carry. “Sending off the only woman in the room is a dumbshit move. Here’s my take on it. Phil’s been watching too many episodes of
Mad Men—
the early ones. It’s also possible he’s engaging in a power play. You know how touchy he can be. I’m guessing his nose is out of joint because he didn’t get to have any input in choosing Macie’s replacement. But before I could countermand him and simply call Roo to have her send some coffee and cookies in, Tess was up and out of her seat. She’s got that New York power walk down.”

Yeah, Ward had witnessed how much ground her stride covered. Those legs worked. “Phil better get over his pique. I don’t want to lose her.” Ward spoke just as quietly despite the fact that he was good and pissed. “So, do you want to have the pleasure of telling Phil to get his head out of his ass or shall I?”

“Though I know how much you would enjoy the process, it’d better be me since I was an eyewitness to his idiocy.”

“Good point. Remember to mention that there are sexual discrimination laws in the workplace.”

“No worries.”

“If only.” He massaged the back of his neck and realized he’d neglected to towel dry his hair. The top of his collar was damp. “Dad and Pete are out checking the rest of the herd for any signs of illness.”

“Yeah, Mom told me. I was just speaking to her. She hasn’t heard anything from Dad. Gotta hope no news is good news, but I’ll saddle Sirrus and ride out after I tell Phil to grow up.”

“I’d tell you to go now, but you’re the expert on equine tourism. They may have questions about our competition.”

“At least we can start now. Tess is here.” Reid nodded in the direction of the door. “Oh, while we’re on the subject, Tess, efficient as always, has found some terrific dresses for Carrie. One’s a gem. She might need help getting Carrie to recognize which one it is. I suggested she enlist your help, but she told me she wasn’t going to bother you. I figured you’d want to know.”

As soon as Reid had pronounced her name, Ward pivoted, his eyes seeking her out. She was rolling a trolley laden with a coffee carafe, cups and saucers, and a plate of Roo’s biscotti into the room.

“You thought right. I’ll drop a heavy hint in Carrie’s ear. It’ll cross one item off Tess’s lengthy to-do list. Now if we could only pin down the number of guests Carrie’s parents are adding to the list.” He could have been speaking Swahili or gibberish for all he knew or cared. Every particle of his being was focused on Tess.

Forty-eight hours had elapsed since he’d seen her, since he’d cradled her slender foot in his hands. Yet it took only one long, sweeping look; today she’d pulled her hair back in a bun and was wearing a fitted orange and purple top and a slim beige skirt with her ever-present high heels. And damned if desire didn’t slam him
with the force of a two-thousand-pound bull when he recognized them as the very same shoes he’d slipped back on her delectable foot on Valentine’s Day. He walked over to her. “Thank you for bringing the coffee.”

Her gaze met his and, to his infinite pleasure, a blush stole over her cheeks. “I, uh, figured you might need a jolt of caffeine. Reid told me about the cow. I’m sorry.”

He couldn’t help but be pleased that he’d been on her mind, especially when thoughts of her preoccupied him so often. “I appreciate it. And I’m glad you came to the meeting. I’ll be interested to hear your ideas.”

The flush on her cheeks deepened. “I doubt I’ll have any. I haven’t been here that long.”

He’d come to know one thing about her: She rose to challenges. It was discovering the bits and pieces of her character—her strength, her intelligence, her sense of humor, even her careful reserve—that attracted him even more than her temptress looks. With each discovery, Ward wanted to uncover more of her secrets.

“That’s why your ideas will be interesting. You’ve been here long enough to observe how things are done and yet you’re still new enough to detect areas for improvement.” He smiled as he threw down the gauntlet.

They settled into their seats with their coffees and stared at the projection screen. Within minutes it became clear to Ward that the central theme of the pitch, complete with the requisite slick graphics, charts, and tables, was that the key to success lay in increasing traffic to the guest ranch’s website. Phil, in addition to earning the “Dick of the Week” award, was also a numbers geek. Nothing made him happier than staring at pie charts. He listened to the presentation with a beatific expression,
nodding sagely, smiling, and then nodding some more. Tired and annoyed, Ward had a sudden vision of Phil stuck on someone’s dashboard, an executive bobblehead. Nope, it wouldn’t sell, because Christ, who would want to buy something so boring?