To Tame a Wilde (Wilde in Wyoming) (8 page)

Chapter 11

S
he was a powder keg of sensuality, waiting to be lit.

He ran a hand across his face.

Nick couldn’t take it anymore. The entire week he’d been on edge, his cock so hard he could use it to slice the Wagyu beef his family prided themselves on producing.

And the longer he watched her prance around his ranch, the randier he got. He didn’t know how much longer he could take it before he would detonate.

And day by day it was getting worse.

It had been just a week, and he had it so bad for her, he was beginning to question his own sanity.

That morning he’d had a run-in with his brother. He’d known that his brother was aware that everything wasn’t going exactly the way he’d planned with Sinclair the minute Key had opened his mouth.

* * *

“Everything cool, Nick?”

Without asking, he was asking.... It wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Key knew things weren’t going that great.

Nick snorted. “That’s got to be the understatement of the year.”

He’d gotten up early this morning, earlier than the normal—5:00 a.m.—just to get out to the south pasture to look upon his land before it got busy and the ranch “came alive.”

He often did that whenever something was heavy on his mind.

He glanced over at his brother. “How did
you
know?”

“That Sinclair is on your mind 24/7?”

Nick slowly nodded his head. There was no sense in trying to convince his brother that there wasn’t something going on in his psyche regarding Sinclair.

His brother barked out a laugh.

“I remember the symptoms.”

Nick didn’t respond. He couldn’t. He knew his brother was referring to how he had fallen for his wife. It wasn’t like that for him. He wasn’t falling in
love
with Sinclair...she just plagued his mind nonstop, he thought irritably.

At most, he was falling in lust with her.

The thought of how she’d feel beneath him had been his constant companion for the past week. In fact, it had been growing for six months, from their first communication.

“She’s under my skin, man.” Nick grumbled as the admission was torn from him. He knew that if he didn’t just admit it, voice it, it would only get worse. Who better than his brother to admit it to? “Just not sure how in hell to get her out,” he finished. He lifted the coffee mug to his mouth and took a swallow of the now-cooling brew.

“Who says she has to
come out,
so to speak?”

The two men stared out at the pasture, not looking at the other, both in their own thoughts.

Casually, as though it was no big deal, Key removed the large coffee mug from Nick’s hand and took a deep swallow. Then promptly grimaced.

Before he could say a word and without even glancing his brother’s way, Nick spoke into the silence. “You don’t get to complain when you don’t make it. That goes for when you steal it, as well.”

Nick didn’t
have
to look at his brother to know the look on his face after taking a drink of his coffee.

“Serves you right for taking such a big-ass gulp, anyway,” Nick continued, snickering.

His lack of coffee-making skills was one of many reasons why Mahi forbade him from being in the kitchen when he was preparing any given meal.

“It’s something about her...” Nick began, only to stop, shake his head. He paused for a long moment before continuing. “Something about how damn protective she is of her ‘Wilde Boys.’” Nick picked the topic back up, unaware that one side of his lip had curled slightly downward when he mentioned the Wildes.

“Nick...brother, look,” Key began with a sigh. He took a careful drink of the coffee before he placed a booted foot on the lower log of the fence and propped his large elbows on the top rail. Although he’d complained, Nick noticed he didn’t give him back his coffee.

“There are a few things you need to figure out, and one of them most definitely isn’t how to ‘get’ Sinclair out of your head. One of them is how you feel about the Wildes,” Key stated.

“Aw, hell, I don’t need to hear—”

“And all this crap about being ‘over’ the fact that Clint either didn’t know about us, or care enough to find out, is the major bee in your bonnet,” Key said, talking over his brother’s protest.

“It’s not that, Key. I couldn’t give a damn... Wait. ‘Bee in my bonnet’? Really, bro, that’s the best you have? You’ve been hanging around your wife too long. You’re getting soft,” he said, unable to let that one go.

When his brother gave him the middle-finger salute to his observation, he continued. “Look, if the man knew, cared, or otherwise, I don’t care. That’s all in the past.” He stopped, his brow knitting in a frown. “A past I have...or had...no intention of dredging up. I’d decided to let it all go, anyway, to move on. Before...”

His brother turned to face him, an equal frown on his face. “Okay...this is new. ‘Before’? Before what? What are you talking about?”

Nick ran a frustrated hand through his hair, feeling conflicting emotions as his brother stared at him, his eyes boring a hole through Nick.

“Damn. Look... Before Sinclair came around, before she informed me she wanted to come out to the ranch to settle this, I was ready to let it drop.”

“And?” Key prompted when it looked as though Nick wasn’t going to continue.

He shrugged his wide shoulders. “And I didn’t.”

“No damn way. You can’t just say that and not explain. You need to, if for no other reason than it’s going to help
you
understand. Don’t you see that?” The look in his brother’s eyes was disconcerting. As though his brother knew something he didn’t, as though he understood something Nick didn’t.

Nick growled in frustration.

“It wasn’t Wilde’s...fault. He didn’t know about us. Mom never told him. I know that. I just—” He stopped, clenched his teeth.

Although Key had asked the question, it was less than a minute later when Nick realized his brother had realized, come up with, surprised or Jedi-mind-tricked him. Either way his brother laughed.

Shaking his head, Nick turned back to face the south pasture. The sun was beginning to rise, and the two men observed it together. The ranch was beginning to come alive.

The brothers didn’t exchange another word about the topic. Key instinctively realized his brother needed to get a handle on his feelings for not only Clint Wilde, but more importantly for the woman who was intimately involved with the family of a man he hated.

He glanced over at his brother, his twin. A small smile pulled the corners of his mouth. He clapped his brother on the back.

“Yeah, well, I’m sure you can handle one little lady, brother, can’t you?” he laughed, reminding Nick of how he’d once teased Key about Sonia. “Funny how karma and life find a way of getting us all eventually, huh?” Again his brother laughed. He laughed so hard he nearly choked.

Nick didn’t think it was so damn funny.

Chapter 12

S
inclair stood at the gate closure, watching as Nick slowly approached the stallion. The animal tossed its head back, its nostrils flaring in agitation and its eyes on Nick, carefully watching as he approached.

The stallion was one of the most magnificent horses Sinclair had ever seen, which was saying a lot as she’d grown up on a ranch known for its acquisition of quality horses.

She frowned as she stared at the golden horse, trying to recall the name of the particular breed. She was no expert, but as she’d grown up around horses, she was very familiar with many types. It was magnificent: golden in color, nearly platinum, with a metallic-like bloom to its coat. The sun’s rays bounced and played off the animal’s body, enhancing the effect.

Yet, even with the natural majesty of the beautiful animal, it was Nick and Nick alone who held Sinclair’s attention.

The man had more swagger than any man she’d ever met. Natural swagger, something that was innate to a man and couldn’t be taught, learned or imitated; either he had it or he didn’t. And Nick had
it.

His natural charm was intoxicating.

She kept her eyes trained on the action ahead, blocking out everything else even as the noise from around her grew louder.

She’d known from the chatter around the ranch that he’d bought a new horse. A gorgeous and rare stallion, but one that was near wild from what she’d heard in the cowboys’ excited comments.

When she’d heard Nick was about to “break” it, she’d carefully gathered the documents that she had been working on in the office and put them away. The fact that the documents weren’t ones pertaining to the Wildes and the Kealohas, but related to another case she was working on made her feel uncomfortable.

She and Nick hadn’t gone over the latest offer she’d put together. Each time she brought the topic up, he found something to distract her, from taking her to one of the orchards or gardens that his mother’s foundation supported, to showing her around the small community, to taking her to hideaway cafés that the tourists weren’t aware of.

All along she was getting to know him, discovering that beyond the fine exterior, the player image she’d so easily bought into, was so much more.

It was that “more” that had her worried. But she kept her perspective, and although she’d contacted the Wildes, she was told, just as Nick had been told by his brother, that she was “in charge.”

There were times, in the back of her mind, that she thought about it and wondered at both sides putting the situation solely into their hands. As well, she felt guilty for working on things for her few other clients, work that had nothing to do with the reason she was in Hawaii, but she forced the nagging feelings away.

“I think I’m going to head out and check out what’s going on,” she had said earlier as she’d stood from the leather chair and pushed away from the small desk.

She’d smiled at Ailani who had offered earlier in the week to share “office” space if she needed it, surprising Sinclair with her generosity.

“I heard the men bought a new mare. An Akhal-Teke,” she’d said, frowning, hoping she’d pronounced it correctly. “I’ve never seen that breed in real life.” She’d said that, knowing that it was best to at least tell a partial truth than a complete lie.

If Ailani decided to come out and saw Sinclair watching the excitement, maybe she wouldn’t know that it was Nick who’d attracted her and not the animal. At least, that was her hope.

Ailani had glanced up from her own computer and smiled distractedly. “Oh, yeah, sure. It’s a gorgeous animal! Nick and I bought it from auction a couple of weeks ago,” she’d said, smiling. Sinclair had nodded, returning the smile. She’d felt just the smallest nod of jealousy but put it away. After the time she’d been at the ranch, she realized that Nick and Ailani were no more than friends. In fact their relationship was close, and very similar to what Sinclair had with the Wildes.

* * *

She’d been spending more and more time with Nick this past week, getting to know him, learning his likes and dislikes as he was learning hers.

She felt that queasy-good sensation in the pit of her stomach that a woman felt when she knew a man was as into her as she was into him. She’d hurried along to check him out, in action.

She stood along with the others near the enclosure, a gated-off area that she’d learned they used for the wilder horses they often bought at auction. Horses that many of the surrounding ranchers who attended the private auction thought were too much bother to buy. No matter how good the bloodline, no one was willing to potentially lose a great deal of money on a horse they couldn’t break.

Her eyes left the beautiful animal and stayed on Nick. He was all alpha male, from the top of his dark head to the bottom of his big cowboy-boot-wearing feet.

Besides her own growing feelings, Sinclair saw what the appeal was for him, his brother and the entire Kealoha ranch for that matter, and what made their reality show the mega hit that it was.

Raw, masculine heat.

Her glance slid around the ranch. There were always female tourists around, no matter what. Although they weren’t supposed to be within certain staff-only areas, some wheedled the younger cowboys into giving them access and the young men had eagerly brought them, only to be embarrassed when Ailani read them the riot act for doing so.

Currently they were not filming the show, for which Sinclair was grateful. Yet there seemed to be an inordinate number of women on the ranch, hanging around the Visitors Only section. Although they allowed visitors on the ranch, most of the ranch was off limits to those who didn’t live on, or work at, the Kealoha ranch.

She knew that the Kealohas more recently had begun to allow a small number of tourists to come to the ranch, outside of the visitors for the show, to a designated section. They’d even decided to give a few “dude” lessons, all for donations to the Aloha Keiki foundation they’d started in honor of their mother.

For all the sheer masculinity and testosterone teeming around the ranch, there was also heart. Although the locale and people were different, there was a similar,
familiar
vibe at the Kealoha ranch, one that reminded her of the Wyoming Wilde Ranch.

Most of the hands had been at this ranch for years, like Ailani Mowry, the ranch’s foreman. Sinclair had not been sure what to expect from Ailani initially, but she had to admit she was all business when it came to the ranch. And the men she managed seemed to respect her, as well, from what Sinclair had determined so far, in the limited time she’d been at the ranch.

Sinclair still wasn’t sure how she felt about the woman on a personal level; she’d wait and hold judgment. Although she had a feeling that behind the woman’s reserved demeanor, the one she showed to Sinclair, was a more vivacious personality. One she chose only to show to those she knew and or cared about. Like Key and Nick.

Nick.

She sighed.

Piggybacking that thought was the realization that her thoughts and actions, from the moment she woke up excited to head out to see the Kealoha ranch...and Nick...had been so caught up in him, that she’d not missed home.

She experienced a pang when she thought of the Wilde Ranch. She’d expected...
wanted
...to miss it more than she did.

The truth was that since her arrival and during all the time they’d spent together, she hadn’t. She put those disconcerting thoughts away, both about the Wilde Ranch and her confusing feelings toward Nick.

Just to watch Nick break in a horse.

Yeah...that makes a heck of a lot of sense,
her inner voice mocked. She sighed again and leaned into the fence, her eyes glued on Nick as he slowly approached the stallion.

“He doesn’t even use a blind.”

Startled, Sinclair turned, surprised to see Ailani standing near her. She’d been so wrapped up in her own thoughts she hadn’t realized the other woman was in the area.

“So I see,” Sinclair replied, familiar with the term the foreman had used.

Having grown up on the Wilde Ranch, she was as comfortable with cowboy lingo as she was with legal briefs. “Is he an adept bronc buster?” she asked, thinking of Nate Wilde, who was an expert at breaking in the more unruly horses the ranch acquired.

The foreman tilted her head to the side, a small smile creasing her full lips

“Very impressive. Oh, that’s right, you grew up on a ranch. I’d forgotten that.”

Sinclair scrutinized her face, her voice, looking for any hint of sarcasm, but found none. Her expression was open, honest. Sinclair relaxed and turned back to the scene in front of her.

“Yes. Though all the men at the Wilde Ranch are adept at breaking horses, Nate is the best at it, to be honest. It was how he helped make money for the ranch when he and his brothers were young men,” she replied, hearing the pride in her own voice and not caring if the woman heard it.

“Well, I guess the...brothers have that in common, as well?”

Sinclair gave the woman a glance, again wondering at her motive.

“Nate is the expert, but his other two brothers, Shilah and Holt, are no strangers to breaking in a horse. They’ve all worked hard to see the ranch a success.” Purposely, Sinclair included the three Wildes, although she knew the woman was linking Nick as a Wilde, alluding to the fact that he was the son of Clint Jedediah Wilde.

“They’re like family to you, the Wildes, aren’t they?” Ailani asked after a slightly awkward pause.

“Look, I’m not sure what is going on here. I don’t know your connection with Nick, or how involved you are in this matter between the Wildes and the Kealohas, but for the record I am here in the best interest of the Wildes and their holdings. And that is it,” she said, feeling on the defensive even as she was embarrassed, knowing good and well the foreman hadn’t made the comment with the intent of being nasty.

“For the record, Ms. Adams... I have no pony in that race, as the saying goes,” Ailani said.

Had it not been for the slightly reddish tinge to her café-au-lait skin, Sinclair wouldn’t have known she’d upset the woman. She felt immediately chagrined at her own behavior and just a little bit ridiculous.

She’d been less than her normal cordial self with the foreman and she knew the reason for that was not because the woman had said or done anything besides be close to Nick.

Sinclair was woman enough to admit when she was wrong. “I’m sorry. I have a lot on my mind lately and...well...” She shook her head. “I didn’t mean anything.”

Ailani shrugged her narrow shoulders. “Hey...no problem. I get like that with my ‘boys,’ too,” she said, laughing softly as she gazed over at Nick.

Sinclair refused to allow the kernel of jealousy to rear its ugly head again. Enough was enough. Besides, she had no claim on Nick Kealoha.

He was just a job.

She paid no heed to the uproarious mocking laughter in her head that came with the thought.

Hush,
she quieted the voice.

“I don’t know anything about the Wildes except what’s common knowledge. Just like my boys...the Wildes are just an internet search away. Information just a keystroke away. And as I’m sure you know, not everything you read is true,” Ailani replied, her voice lowering, her gaze unflinching as she looked at Sinclair.

Sinclair kept her gaze just as steady on the foreman, reading the underlying message she was delivering easily. Then the other woman surprised her, her gaze softening.

“Your Wildes...they seem like good men. Just as the Kealohas are. And just as you are protective of them, I feel the same sense of loyalty for the Kealohas,” she said. She pushed away from the fence post after glancing over at the scene in front of her, of Nick and the animal, surrounded by ranch hands as they cheered him on.

She surprised Sinclair when she finished with, “And just like you and the Wildes, they are the only living family that I have.”

The two women held glances for long moments, neither one moving away, neither one dropping the other’s gaze.

How the foreman knew that she was alone in the world, except for the Wildes, Sinclair had no clue.

She mentally shrugged. But, as the woman said...the internet was just a keystroke away.

Sinclair was adept at reading people. What she was now reading from the woman was...love. Love for the Kealohas’ A’kela Ranch. The same love she herself had for the Wilde Ranch.

If for no other reason, this made her relax.

“I have a good feeling about you. I’m sure all of this will be resolved in a fair manner and...swiftly, Ms. Adams. Good day, ma’am,” Ailani said. And with that, she jammed the beat-up, wide-brimmed, faded-pink cowboy hat onto her head, pulled the long braid from beneath and allowed it to flop in front of her shoulder—a style Sinclair had seen the woman wear each time she’d spied her on the ranch.

She stared after the woman, a contemplative look on her face.

Had she just been warned off and welcomed both at the same time? she wondered.

Sinclair felt an unreasonable smile threaten to break free. The longer she was on the ranch, the more she was strangely feeling like she was...home. The people reminded her so much of those at the Wilde Ranch.

“You got him, boss! You did it!”

Sinclair’s attention was diverted from the woman and back to what was going on inside the small corral

In the short time she’d been in conversation with Ailani, Nick had been successful in breaking the horse. While she knew that it would take another session before the horse was ready to interact with the others, as well as be used by the other cowboys, she was impressed.

He was good. Damn good.

Her gaze ran over him. He was more than good...

His Levi’s were dirty and had seen more wear than any pair of jeans should. Although he wore a belt, complete with a buckle that bore the Kealoha crest—she knew, as she’d noticed it when he’d worn it before—they rode low on his hips, his shirt bearing evidence of a long day’s work.

Helpless to look away, Sinclair watched as he laughed at something one of the other men said to him, his strong white teeth gleaming in the sunlight. It was then he turned and their glances caught.