Right Here Waiting (6 page)

“Say whatever you will.” She turned and began walking
away from him. She needed to get away and fast.

In a matter of seconds he was standing directly in front
of her, halting her in her tracks and placing a firm hand on her shoulder. She
tried to shrug away from him, but couldn’t. He was too quick for her. “You’ll
eat supper up at the ranch house tonight.” It wasn’t so much a question as it
was a command. He was beginning to irritate her.

“What do you think?” she asked, letting him know with the
tone of her voice how she felt about his actions.

“I said you’ll eat dinner up at the ranch house.” The man
never stopped for anything.

“And what if I don’t want to?” she taunted him.

“You’ll have dinner with me tonight, even if I have to
come get you and carry you there myself.” He finally released her and walked
back to where the blond woman was impatiently waiting for him. Megan stood with
her arms folded watching them walk away together.

She was furious. The nerve him. She damned well would not
be eating with him tonight. She would enjoying tonight’s meal in her own cabin
just to spite him. He needed to learn he couldn’t order her around.

* * *

S
he’d just finished making herself a
sandwich and was getting ready to sit down to eat it when she heard a knock at
the door. Knowing it was Blade, she wanted to ignore him in hopes he would go
away, but she knew him well enough to know he wouldn’t until he got his own
way.

“Damn it, Megan, open this door now,” he yelled. “I know
you’re in there, so either let me in, or I’m busting it down. She knew he
would, too.

Damn him! Who did he think he was? She let out an exasperated
sigh before walking over to the door and opening it. He walked in without
waiting to be invited inside. She glared at him. “What do you want? I was just
getting ready to eat my supper, so if you would please, tell me what it is you
want and be on your way.”

“You know damn well why I’m here. I told you I wanted you
to have dinner up at the ranch house with Martha and me.” As irritating as he
was being, she couldn’t help notice how cute he looked right now in a boyish
sort of way. She fought to resist the urge to reach up and ruffle his hair.

“You can’t order me around. I’m not a child anymore.”

“What did I tell you I would do?” She could see a fiery
spark in his eyes and she knew he wasn’t joking.

“You wouldn’t dare!” she exclaimed as she began to back
away from him.

“You wanna make a bet?” he asked, stepping forward and
closing the gap she created between them. Without another word he scooped her
up in his arms and threw her over his shoulder. “You will be eating dinner with
Martha and I, tonight and every night.” What the hell did he think he was
doing?

“Put me down this instant,” Blade Thorne, she shouted as
she began to pound into his back with both fists. Ignoring her, he turned and
carried her out, leaving the cabin door wide open. Anyone could go in and steal
her stuff.

She was still hollering and yelling when Blade entered
the ranch house with her. He turned around long enough to kick the door shut
with the toe of his boot before carrying her into the kitchen. “Put me down
now,” she hollered as loud as she could.

Martha’s mouth dropped open and she firmly placed her
hands on her hips. “What in heaven’s name is going on? You put that poor girl
down this second,” Blade Thorne.” Megan could tell the older woman wouldn’t put
up with Blade’s behavior. She was relieved. She knew she could count on Martha
to help her.

Blade did as he was told. She would have made a run for
it, but he was blocking her path. She sank down onto a kitchen chair instead. “You’ll
pay for this,” she muttered and turned away from him.

Martha looked at her sympathetically and turned her
attention back to Blade. With her hands still planted firmly on her hips she
said, “You still haven’t told me the meaning of this. “You tell me now or I
will get it from Megan. Which is it going to be?” She could sense Martha was
mad. The woman wasn’t one to cross, and there wasn’t a person alive who could
pull one over on her.

Megan glanced over at Blade. He removed his cowboy hat
and shuffled his feet nervously like a child being scolded. “I warned her,” he
said at last, glancing in Megan’s direction.

From the expression on Martha's face, Megan knew she was
far from satisfied with his answer. “Warned her about what? What are you
talking about?”

“Well, after the nature walk, I told her if she didn’t
join us for supper, I’d carry her here if I needed to. When she didn’t show up,
I went to her cabin. She refused to come here on her own, so I carried her as I
promised I would.”

Martha’s eyes were blazing with anger. “Of all the fool
headed things to do, why did you have to go and do a thing like that?”

“I wanted her to eat her meal with me. What’s so wrong
with wanting her company?” He pulled up a kitchen chair and sank down on it. He
sighed in frustration.

Martha turned to her. “Do you want to have supper with us?"
Her voice softened as she spoke. "You know you’re more than welcome to
stay, but it has to be what you want?”

How could she let Martha down? She cast a dirty look in
Blade’s direction, letting him know she was still upset with him. “I’m here, so
I might as well.”

Martha got down a plate and took some eating utensils out
of a drawer. She set an extra place at the table for her before she sat down
and scooted herself up to the table.

Blade got up and set his chair next to hers before
sitting back down. He was sitting so close to her their arms rubbed together
when they moved.

She could feel the heat stir up between them. She thought
about scooting her chair away, but thought better of it. There were enough
problems stirred up for one evening. She didn't need to be the cause of
anymore.

The back door opened. She looked up to see Rex enter the
kitchen. Rex cleared his throat and removed his cowboy hat before he spoke.
“I’m sorry to interrupt you folks while you’re eating your supper. I just wanted
to let you know, Blade the shipment of feed you ordered will be delivered
sometime tomorrow afternoon.” There was something she wanted to ask Rex, but
she debated with herself if she should speak up or not.

“Thank you, Rex, we’ll clear a space in the barn for it
after dinner,” Blade told him. “Is there anything else?”

“No, now I’ll let you folks get back to eating your
supper.” He turned to go. She decided now was as good a time as any.

“Rex – “ she called out before he could leave.

“Yes?” he said, coming to a stop.

He turned to her and she could see a flicker of hope in
his eyes, though she saw it quickly die out. She could only imagine the look
Blade must have given his cousin, but she wasn’t about to turn around and check
for herself, or else she might meet the same gaze. “Do you think you could
drive me into town sometime after the memorial service, if there is time, so I
can do some grocery shopping?”

“Sure – “ Rex began, but Blade cut him off.

“No, that won’t be necessary,” Blade nearly shouted. “If she
insists on making this trip to the grocery store, I’ll take her. Do I make
myself clear?”

Rex shook his head in disgust, and without a word, he
turned and walked out the door. She should have known Blade would react this
way.

She turned to Blade, her dark blue eyes blazing with
anger. She couldn’t allow him to get away with this. If she did, he would
continue to do it every time. “Who the hell do you think you are? What right do
you have to decide what I can do, where I can go, and who with?”

“I think we should have this conversation in private,”
Blade said as he pushed himself away from the table. He began walking in the
direction of the living room. She politely excused herself from the table and
followed him, tossing a deep, but brief apology to Martha on her way out.

She found Blade pacing the living room like a caged tiger
ready to pounce as soon as he someone released him. Too bad for him. She wasn't
about to let him off the hook. “Why are you behaving this way?” she demanded.
“I do not appreciate being treated as if I’m a small child. I will not tolerate
being treated this way by you or anyone else.”

“Megan, I can’t help how I get when I’m around you. I
don’t think I can control myself much longer. I need you.” She nearly gave into
him, but she knew she needed to be strong. She knew what he was after.

He only wanted her for sex. Well, he was out of luck. She
wasn’t the type of woman who would give herself to any man just for the sake of
sex. It seemed as if it was all any man wanted now days, which was why she was
still single.

“Go take a cold shower,” she snapped, insulted he would
play on her emotions to get what he wanted. She turned to walk back into the
kitchen, but he caught her hand, forcing her to turn around and face him before
pulling her into his embrace.

With a guttural groan, he lowered his lips to hers,
drawing her into a world all of their own. Heat flowed between them and drops
of moisture pooled between her legs. She was too weak to stop him. He could
take her right there on the living room floor, and she was too powerless to
stop him. She melted into him, giving him all of her. There was no denying it.
She wanted him bad and she wanted him now.

She jumped when she heard Martha clear her throat. Blade
must have heard her too because they pulled away from one another at the same
time.

“I’m sorry I interrupted you both. I’ll go back to the
kitchen and the two of you can forget I was even here.”  Martha turned to go.

Megan's cheeks burned a bright shade of crimson red.
“This isn’t what you think,” she blurted out, feeling the need to explain. She never
felt more embarrassed in her life.

“It’s alright, Megan dear. I always suspected you had a
crush on Blade when you were younger. You’re a grown woman now. If you and
Blade want to start something up now, it's none of my business.”

“I don’t want to start anything up with Blade,” she tried
to explain, but Martha already left the room. Now what?

She turned to Blade. “Are you happy now?” she snapped at
him. The last thing she needed was for anyone to get the wrong impression about
her and Blade.

He laughed. “Have I ever told you how attractive you are
when you’re angry?” She felt anger boil up within her.

* * *

M
egan groaned in frustration. Were
things never going to get better?

She threw one of her pillows across the room. It
ricocheted off the wall and hit the dresser before landing on the floor. No
matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t sleep. All she could think about was
Blade Thorne. It angered her how much she wanted to be with him.

Whenever she closed her eyes, she could see an image of
Blade. His muscular frame seemed to fill his clothes out quite nicely. She kept
imagining what it would be like to run her hands over his rock solid chest. She
loved how he looked in jeans. She could still remember the long nights as a
teenager when she laid awake in bed, daydreaming about him. Her thoughts of him
back in the days were hot and steamy, just as they were now.

She chided herself before kicking the blankets off. What
she needed was a cold shower to calm her overactive hormones. But it would mean
another trip back up to the ranch house, and a possible run in with Blade.
Would
it be so bad?
Of course it would be. It was hard enough being around him
during the day. Could she trust herself to be alone with him at night? No. It
seemed too intimate.

There was no use trying to sleep. She got out of bed and
walked into the kitchen to get a cold drink of water. It was the next best
thing to a cold shower. She drank it quickly, sat the glass down in the sink, and
walked into the living room.

She went directly to the small bookcase filled with
books. She scanned the titles until a mystery novel caught her attention. As
she pulled it out, dust filtered into the air, causing her to cough. She turned
her head until the dust settled. Apparently no one read the books since the day
they were placed in the cabin.

She brushed it off before she walked over the sofa and
sank down on it, curling her legs up under her. Soon she was lost in a world of
murder and mayhem, trying to figure out who’d done it. It was a toss-up between
the mailman and the paperboy, but she never did figure it out. Fifteen pages to
go until the murderer was revealed and she fell sound asleep.

CHAPTER FIVE

T
he next morning she met Martha and
Blade out in front of the ranch house, dressed in the only church going dress
she packed. They were quiet on the ride to the little white church several
miles up the road from the ranch house. It was the same church she attended
with her parents in her youth. Despite the somber mood she was in, she did her
best to smile. The church held some of her favorite memories of her parents.