Satin & Saddles (3 page)

He laughed. “First of all, how about a hug for your ex-boyfriend?”

“Oh.” She smiled, feeling a little off-balance. “You just surprised me is all.” He gave her a hug and she caught the scent of his spicy cologne. When she stepped back she said, “So how did you end up here?”

With a shrug, he said, “As a coincidence, I just happened to be moving here.”

If she’d been surprised before, she was even more surprised now. “You’re moving here?” she echoed.

He gestured to the west. “Renting a house from some people named Sharpe. Are you familiar with them?”

“I might be.” Carly nodded. “The Sharpes are a big family in this area. They own a lot of businesses and property around Patagonia.” She turned the subject back to him. “So why are you moving here?”

“I’m a computer tech and I’m now working from my home four days a week and then in my office in Tucson one day,” he said. “I log into my clients’ computers remotely and handle issues that way. If I need to work onsite, it’s a relatively short trip to Tucson, and I can go to staff meetings when necessary. I start that routine this week.”

Carly was having a hard time letting everything sink in. “So you did end up in the computer business. That was your goal in college, wasn’t it?”

“Been close to ten years now,” he said.

“Wow. Ten years.” She shook her head in amazement. “I guess it’s been longer than that since we dated. Time has gone by so fast.”

“Are you up for dinner tonight?” he said. “For old time’s sake.”

“Not tonight.” She gave him an apologetic smile. “I have plans.”

“Tomorrow then?” He looked hopeful.

“That doesn’t work, either.” She wondered if it was a good idea to go out for dinner or lunch with Geoff at all. She didn’t want him to think she was interested in being anything more than friends. “Maybe another time.”

He shoved his hands into his front pockets. “I’ll talk with you later in the week and we can pick out a time then.”

“Sure.” She offered him a smile. “It was nice to see you, Geoff.”

“I’ll be seeing you around.” He reached for her, catching her off guard, and hugged her again. When she stepped back he tried to kiss her on the cheek but she managed to avoid it. He didn’t seem perturbed as she moved away from him.

He smiled but she didn’t say anything and he turned and headed down the stairs to his SUV. Seeing Geoff again gave her a bit of an uneasy feeling, but she wasn’t sure why. At one time she’d really liked him and they’d gotten along well. She hadn’t cheated on him, but she’d met Tim at church and had been drawn to him. It wasn’t until after her marriage to Tim that Geoff had stopped calling. Up until then he would call her regularly even though she’d ended it with him.

Now that she was divorced, she hoped that he wouldn’t start calling her to try to get her to date him again. She wouldn’t mind being friends with him, but that was it.

He climbed into his vehicle, rolled down the window, and waved to her. She just nodded then went back to where she’d left her laptop on the table beside her chair. She frowned, not in the mood to write anymore.

It wasn’t even noon and she was suddenly craving peanut butter M&M’s. Every time something unsettling happened in her life, she went straight for the big bag of them in her pantry. Which was probably why her body was as curvy as it was.

She checked her watch. Another half an hour and Dillon would be here. Time to change and pack a bag with her things for tonight.

In her bedroom, she walked across the carpeted floor to her dresser, opened it up and grabbed some clothes. She pulled on a pair of faded Levis over a pair of navy blue panties along with a matching bra and a navy blouse. After putting on a pair of thick socks, she slipped into comfortable western boots that she’d purchased not long after moving here, two years ago.

Her long, dark hair was thick and glossy, one of her best attributes, along with her unusual lavender eyes that were large and she had long, dark lashes. She had full curves that men seemed to love. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and added a touch of lipstick.

She packed a bag with a pair of new Wrangler jeans, sexy red panties and a red bra along with her favorite red blouse. She loved to color coordinate and had drawers full of panties and bras of every style and color. In addition, she included makeup and a few toiletries in her case, including her toothbrush.

When she finished, she glanced at her watch. It was almost ten and her heart beat a little faster. Dillon would be here soon. She went to the kitchen and put the cooled cookies into a large tin and set the container with her bag.

Five minutes before ten, Dillon pulled his truck up in front of her house. Not one to play coy or hard to get, she met him on the porch steps, bag in hand.

She watched him, admiring his long legs and the way he filled out his Wrangler jeans. He wore a blue western shirt over his muscular frame with his sleeves rolled up, along with dusty boots and a straw western hat.

When he reached the top of the steps, he caught her to him and kissed her firmly. ”Been waiting to do that since I left here last night,” he said when he drew away.

“Me, too.” She had to hold back a grin. “What’s the plan for today?”

He rested one hand on her hip. “Thought I’d show you around the ranch.”

“That sounds great.” With one hand she gestured with the tin. “Cookies for tonight.” She raised her bag. “And I have everything I need in here for the dance tonight.”

“Do I get to sneak a cookie early?” He took her bag and the cookie tin.

“Nope.” She shook her head but laughed. “You’ll have to wait like everyone else.”

She turned and locked the door to her house. After it was locked, she jogged down the steps at his side. He had long strides and took the steps two at a time.

He opened the passenger door, stowed her bag in the back of the king cab and helped her climb in. When he was around the truck and in the driver’s seat, he started the vehicle, backed it up, and headed down her driveway.

They had just as much to talk about on the way to the ranch as they did on the drive from Tucson to Patagonia last night. Family, favorites, what they did for a living. Even politics and religion weren’t taboo. She liked what he had to say about ranching life and she liked the questions he asked about her own career. It was obvious that he was genuinely interested in her and what she had to say.

“I can’t believe you won me in a poker game.” She laughed and shook her head. “Never thought I’d be a wager.”

Dillon grinned. “The best bet I ever made.”

“You don’t know that,” she said in a teasing voice. “I might turn out to be a boring date.”

“Darlin’, I think that’s the last thing you would be.” He glanced from the road to her. “I don’t think there’s a boring bone in that pretty body of yours.”

Heat flooded her at the way he was looking at her before he returned his gaze to the road. It had been a look that told her he thought more of her than just a pretty face and a body he liked. It had been a look of intense satisfaction. Like he’d found exactly what he’d been looking for.

 “This is my ranch, the Rocking R.” Dillon gave a nod in the direction of grasslands to the right. “We’ll be coming up on the ranch house in a few minutes.”

It was spring and the grass was green from the rainy few months the area had seen. They drove over a hill and when they crested it Carly saw a ranch house in the distance on grasslands that spread out beyond it to the juniper and oak-dotted hills in the distance. From their view on top of the hill, she saw the house, corrals, a barn, and a couple of other buildings. Hereford cattle roamed in a field beyond the corrals and a windmill was behind the house. A work truck was parked in front of the barn and several horses were in a corral to the south of it.

As they got closer to the white house, she saw that it had a wraparound porch and tall sycamore trees to either side of it. Grassy lawns surrounded the place.

“Nice.” She smiled at him. “I like it.”

The truck’s motor rumbled as they drove down the hill and over a cattle guard as they went through a gate. To the right side of the gate was a sign that said Rocking R Ranch.

He pulled the vehicle up to the house and parked. She unfastened her seatbelt and opened the passenger door just as he made it to her side and helped her out of the truck.

The day was beautiful and pleasant, a light spring breeze caressing her skin and teasing tendrils of hair that had escaped her ponytail.

“What do you say to lunch and then a ride?” He made his stride shorter as they walked to the house so that she could keep up. “I need to check some fence line.”

“Sure.” She jogged up the steps with him. “I haven’t ridden in a while.”

They reached the top step and he looked down at her. “When was the last time?”

“A year ago.” She paused with him. “I would go riding with my friend, Maddie, on occasion, but she moved to Texas and I haven’t been since.”

He opened the door and let her into the cool interior of the home. It was decorated in southwestern style with big Saltillo tiles, and wood and cloth furniture. Native American blankets and clay pots were part of the décor.

The kitchen smelled wonderful when they walked in. He had a crockpot of pinto beans and a pan of fresh cornbread that he’d made that morning with a cloth covering the top of it.

He got out a couple of plates, bowls, and silverware from a cabinet, which she set on a small kitchenette table. From out of the fridge he grabbed a bowl of grated cheese, and containers containing chopped white onion and diced tomato. He poured two glasses of iced tea and they sat at the table.

“Love cornbread,” she said after a bit. “And the pinto beans are awesome.” She pointed her fork at him. “A guy who likes to cook. How perfect is that?”

He laughed. “I can make some mean cornbread, beans, and rice, and I can throw together sandwiches and barbeque. But outside of that I’m not much of a cook.”

“My mom is a gourmet chef.” Carly shook her head. “I didn’t take after her, so between you and me, our meals would get pretty boring in a hurry.”

With a grin, he said, “I can’t see anything being boring with you.”

“I write all day,” she said. “Exciting for me, boring for you.”

“I work out on the ranch all day, so I don’t think that would be a problem.” He eyed her with an amused expression. “Are you trying to find excuses not to date me? Are men who can cook high on your must-have list?”

She grinned. “That list is constantly evolving. I can think of a few things to add to that list.” He raised an eyebrow and she continued, “‘Must cook terrific cornbread and beans’ is up there now.”

“Then I have a chance?” He still looked amused.

“Maybe.” She pushed aside her plate as she teased him. “Still working my way down the list.”

After they finished eating and cleaned up, he took her on a tour of the house, which was even larger inside than it looked from the outside. He found a western hat for her to wear when they rode to keep the sun off her face and he grabbed his own hat. They headed to the barn where he saddled two horses that he had taken from the horse corral.

Bridget was Dillon’s Appaloosa mare and Peaches was the name of the roan mare that Carly was going to ride. The barn smelled of horse, dust, and alfalfa.

When they were ready, Dillon boosted Carly up onto Peaches. “Like riding a bicycle,” he said to Carly and patted her leg.

“Feels good to be on a horse again.” Everything was coming back to her as if it had been no time at all since she’d last ridden.

As they moved out of the barn on horseback, Dillon appraised her. “You’re pretty good for not having a lot of experience.”

“Thanks.” She smiled. “I found I had an aptitude for it from the first time I rode.”

They headed out into the range, following a fence line. Dillon was checking to make sure the barbed wire strands were still tight and intact, the stays doing their job and the fence posts secure.

She took every opportunity she could to study the cowboy. There was definitely something sexy about a man wearing a cowboy hat and sitting on horseback. She loved watching the way he handled his horse and his posture as he rode. The hair on his tanned arms was golden, his hands big and strong as he handled the reins. The way he filled out his western shirt made her want to run her hands over every one of his muscles.

There was nothing like looking at a tough cowboy who had a light sheen of sweat on his skin as the sun heated him. It made her imagine tangled sheets and sweaty, naked bodies… Hers and his.

When she asked, he told her about his family. The Camerons owned several thousand acres in the San Rafael Valley and the properties had been divided up among the four sons and one daughter when their parents died in a car accident.

Danica, the youngest and only girl, was the only one in the family who didn’t ranch. She had just moved to California to work as a research associate at the University of California at San Diego. She worked in a department that did breeding maintenance, genotyping, cloning, and similar projects.

“We miss the hell out of that girl,” Dillon said with obvious fondness. “All of us kept an eye on her and it’s been different not having her around.”

“Four big brothers to watch over her.” Carly smiled. “I bet you guys scared off all her boyfriends.”

“Yeah, I’m sure we put the fear of God into anyone she dated.” Dillon laughed and shook his head. “Probably not a wonder why she took off like she did.”

“I bet she misses it.” Carly tilted her head to the side. “I bet she misses everything around here.”

He nodded. “As much as she enjoys her job, the girl’s homesick.”

Dillon asked Carly about her two brothers and sister. Her younger brother was a mechanic at a dealership and her older brother worked for a shipping company delivering packages. Her older sister was a jeweler.

By the time they finished and rode back to the house, the sun was hanging low in the sky.

“Time to get ready for the barn dance,” Carly said as they unsaddled the horses. “I could use a shower. I smell like horse and I’m sweaty and dusty.”