Rumor Has It (12 page)

“Why are you trying to dismember that poor machine?” Katie asked, more to divert her brother's attention than anything else. If she let Ry have his way, he'd give Nick the third degree. He'd have the thumbscrews out before dinnertime.

“Jeepers cripes, the stupid thing won't start for love or money, and I know damn well there's juice in the battery.” He scowled at the tractor as if he could intimidate it into behaving.

“Well, I don't think you can beat it into submission,” Katie said. “Why don't you stop being so cheap and stubborn and hire someone to fix it—someone who knows what he's doing.”

Hands on his hips Rylan stared down at his sister with a look that would have wilted most women and a lot of men. Katie didn't budge. “I'm not cheap, I'm thrifty.”

“You're so tight, you squeak,” she said with a laugh.

“Maybe the starter solenoid is bad,” Nick said, trying to get a better look at the tractor's engine. “We could pull it out and check it.”

“You know something about tractors?” Ry asked with his typical skeptical look.

Nick shook his head. “No, but I have a brother who rebuilds classic cars. I used to help him out once in a while.”

As the men became involved with the contrary machine, Katie leaned back against the sun-warmed wall of the stable and breathed a sigh of relief, murmuring a thank-you to the jewel- blue sky. Rylan was her brother and she loved him, but he was like a bomb that had to be carefully defused. The only things Rylan had patience with were animals. It was a huge relief to see him poking around the tractor with Nick in some kind of male- bonding ritual.

When the tractor had been thoroughly discussed and tinkered with, the three of them took a stroll back through the stables.

“Do you know anything about horses, Nick?” Ry asked, sliding back the heavy door to a box stall.

“I know which end runs under the finish line first,” Nick said with a grin, stepping into the stall behind Katie's brother. Katie stayed in the doorway.
“But I don't have to be an expert to know this is a beautiful animal.”

The bay mare was huge, sleek, and exquisitely made. She stretched her long slender neck, nudging Nick's arm with her velvety nose, her limpid brown eyes alight with curiosity.

“Hang on to her halter,” Ry ordered as he squatted down to take the bandage off the mare's left front leg. He shot a glance over his shoulder to see how the city boy handled the task and looked pleased when he saw Nick stroking the mare's neck with one hand as he held on to her with the other. “She decided to go through a fence instead of over it. Tore up her leg.”

“Were you riding her when it happened?” Nick asked.

“No. Our trainer was on her. I like to ride, but my size is something of a hindrance when it comes to going over big fences.”

Nick looked to Katie, who was leaning back against the door frame, staring at the big horse with a strangely wistful expression. “Did you ever ride in shows?” he asked her.

Ry's head shot up, his gaze riveting on his sister.

“I used to,” Katie replied, butterflies taking
wing in her stomach as she realized the moment of truth was drawing near. She was betting heavily on Nick's sensitivity and understanding, but there was just enough doubt in her to make her heart pound a little harder. She pushed away from the door, stepping out into the aisle.

Ry stood and patted the horse's shoulder absently as he watched Katie wander to the end of the barn to pet the dogs that had gathered there to sun themselves. He glanced at the first man his sister had brought to the farm in five years.

“Did I say the wrong thing?” Nick asked, confused by the brief flash of panic he'd seen in Katie's eyes.

“I reckon you better ask Katie that question,” Ry said quietly. “But before you do, let me tell you something. You break that little gal's heart, and you're gonna be in a world of hurt yourself, slick. Are we clear on that particular point?”

Nick stared right back into the steel- hard gaze of Rylan Quaid. “Like crystal,” he said. “You didn't have to warn me though. Hurting Katie is the last thing I want to do.”

Ry nodded slowly. “Then we'll get along just fine, you and me.”

“I think he likes you,” Katie said with a smile as they climbed the hill that overlooked the farm. She gave his hand a little squeeze to try to calm her jitters.

“How could you tell?” Nick couldn't decide if Ry had tolerated him or despised him.

“He didn't throw you out. He let you hold the mare's halter. Of course, that was a test.” They reached the top of the hill, and Katie gestured at the view of the farm. “It's beautiful, isn't it?”

Nick let his gaze settle on her, on the way the wind played with the ends of her long hair and the hem of her blue peasant skirt. The sun brought out the color in her cheeks. “Yes,” he said softly. “Beautiful is the word I would use.”

Katie turned and found herself in his arms. It was where she wanted to be. For the moment she pushed the thoughts of what she needed to tell Nick to the back of her mind. She needed to tell him, too, that she loved being in his arms, that she needed the feel of his mouth on hers. She drank in his kiss, memorizing the warm, silky texture of his
tongue stroking hers, memorizing the way her breasts tingled as they flattened against his chest.

He pulled her down to the ground with him, gently laying her back but never breaking the kiss. His fingers quickly dispensed with the buttons on her cotton blouse and found her breasts. His blood flowed like fire in his veins as he felt her nipple bud beneath his thumb. Need tore through him.

The instant Nick's mouth closed over her breast, Katie was lost. She felt as if she were a beginner in the deep end of the swimming pool— drowning in sensation but not wanting to be saved. She had ignored her own sexuality for so long, now it was overwhelming her, sweeping away caution and sanity. She arched her back and bit into her lip as Nick sucked at her breast until it felt as if every nerve in her body were centered there. Her fingers dove into the thick silk of his hair, anchoring him in place as she moved restlessly beneath him, wanting more, wanting everything he could give her, wanting to give him everything in return.

Her responsiveness was fuel to the fire raging inside Nick. He had held back, waiting until Katie
was ready to take the next step in their relationship, trying to content himself with hot kisses and cold showers. Suddenly contentment and waiting were the last things on his mind. He wanted to make love to her there, in the soft, sweet- smelling grass, with the sun burning down on his back and the breeze cooling the sweat on their skin.

Nick's hand stole beneath Katie's skirt. He stroked her soft inner thigh, snuck his fingers under the leg of her panties and found her warm and moist, as ready for him as he was for her. He held his breath against the surge in his loins as he eased a finger up inside her and listened to her whimper her pleasure and her need. Kissing her as deeply as he could, he stroked her and teased her until he thought he would burst from wanting her.

“Let's get this skirt off you, kitten,” he whispered in a voice rough with desire. “I want to see you when we make love.”

Instantly the spell was broken. Nick wanted to see her body beneath the brilliant blue sky. With the perfection of nature all around them, she would be naked and imperfect.

“No,” she whispered. She sat up, pulling her blouse together, tucking her legs beneath her.

The look on Nick's face mixed astonishment and pure male anger. He pushed himself to his feet and glared down at Katie. “No? It's a little late in the game to say no, Kathryn.”

“I'm sorry,” Katie whispered. She felt lost and desolate, as if Nick were suddenly miles away instead of only a few feet in front of her. She hadn't meant to tease him. For a few moments passion had persuaded her to pretend there was no reason to hold back, then reality had intruded and reminded her there was every reason to hold back. She couldn't spring her imperfections on him. It wouldn't have been fair to Nick, and she knew she couldn't have stood seeing the desire die in his eyes at the sight of her scars.

Nick paced the grass in front of her, his whole body aching with frustration. “You can't push a man that far, then pull away, Katie.”

Glancing down at her, Nick cursed himself for losing his temper. Katie was on the verge of tears. The sight tore him apart inside. No matter what she'd done, he didn't want to make her cry. He dropped to his knees in front of her and stroked her hair back from her face. His breath billowed in and out of his lungs. “I know I said I'd wait until
you were ready to make love with me, honey. I have waited. I thought now was the right time. I think, Katie, our relationship has reached the point where you can let me in the bedroom door instead of slamming it shut in my face.”

Katie stared down at her hands in her lap. She hadn't felt this miserable in a long time. All she could do was wonder who would have been slamming that imaginary door if she had let Nick undress her. How fast would his ardor have cooled if he had gotten to see her scars in the unkind light of day?

“I'm sorry I lost my temper, kitten,” he whispered, gathering her against him and kissing her hair. “I just wanted you so much. You're all I think about when I go to bed at night. I lie there awake, wanting you so much I hurt all over.”

Katie hugged him back, praying he would understand. “I want you, Nick. I do. But there's something I need to talk to you about first.”

“What, sweetheart? If it's about protection, I—”

“No,” she said, telling herself that was a logical thing for a man to consider, that she shouldn't let it hurt the way it did. She sniffed back her tears
and looked up at Nick. “Let's go down to the house. There's something I have to show you.”

A large room had been added onto the back of the old farmhouse. A stone fireplace dominated one end of the room. Thick, taffy- colored carpet stretched across the floor. The furniture looked sturdy and comfortable. The walls were lined with trophies—hundreds of them. There were gold cups, sterling platters, medals hanging on satin ribbons.

Katie led Nick by the hand to a group of photographs that hung above one of the trophy shelves and waited for him to comment. Nick studied the pictures. Each showed a horse and rider catapulting over a massive array of bars, jumps that were high and wide and decorated with potted shrubs and flowers at their bases. They were magnificent photos, capturing the power and beauty of show jumping—and the element of danger as well. It took him a moment to realize the rider in the photographs was Katie. When he did, he turned to her with a stunned expression.

“You asked me if I ever rode in shows,” she said. She turned away from him and slowly ran a finger around the edge of a silver champagne bucket that was engraved with the name of a prestigious horse show. “From the time I was five until five years ago riding was my whole life. More than half of these trophies are mine.”

“You must have been very good.”

“I was good.” It was a statement of fact, nothing more. “Riding was all I ever wanted to do. I worked my way up through the different levels of competition. I was twenty- one when I made the move to the grand prix level. That's as high as one can aspire—the best riders in the world, the best horses money can buy, the toughest courses. My goal was to make the Olympic show- jumping team.”

Nick expected her to continue the story, but she didn't. She walked to the window and stared out across the pastures toward the misty blue mountains in the distance. She looked as alone as anyone he'd ever seen, wrapped up in some part of her past—a part that somehow had an effect on their relationship.

“What happened?” he asked.

“We were at Lake Placid. It had rained off and on all week, so the footing was a little slick. It wasn't bad really, but you had to be conscious of it, you had to keep that thought in the back of your mind. You couldn't be careless, but I was— just for a second. That's all it took. I misjudged the distance to a big, wide fence, realized it too late, hesitated for a fraction of a second. I pulled back just enough to make my horse lose his footing on the takeoff. He went down in the middle of the jump and landed on top of me.”

A wave of sickening fear left Nick shaking all over. It had been difficult to imagine Katie riding the kind of horses that jumped those big fences. To think of a horse that probably weighed around fifteen hundred pounds falling on top of Katie, who didn't top a hundred pounds, made his stomach turn over.

“Oh, Katie,” he murmured, drawing her into his arms. He needed to hold her, to feel her next to him, and comfort himself with the fact that she had survived. He could have lost her, she could have been killed in the fall, and he never would have had the chance to hold her. The thought made him realize one very important
fact: He wasn't falling in love with Katie, he was in love with Katie. He stroked his hand over her hair again and again, as much to soothe himself as Katie. “Thank God you weren't killed.”

“I came close,” she said. “I fractured three vertebrae in my back, had a compound fracture of my right femur, tore up my knee, crushed my pelvis. The list of body parts I didn't ruin is shorter.”