With This Ring (Denim & Spurs Book 1) (17 page)

“Some reason you can’t come back home then? Something all fired important up there in Maryland?”

“No, sir. Just my job.”

“Seems to me you’ve shown to have work here as well.” He shifted his weight. “You have a beau up there you don’t want to leave?”

“Nothing of the sort, Daddy.”

“So then it’s that Kane boy?”

She closed her eyes, grateful the pillar was between them. “Why would you say that?”

“You really think it’s not going to reach my ears when
my
daughter is staying with him down at the expo?”

“Frickin’ small town gossip,” she muttered.

Her father chuckled and yet, she wasn’t entirely sure it made her feel any better. “I’m just going to assume you went and helped him out.”

“I did, Daddy.” Helped him out in many,
many
different ways. No need to share that with dear ol’ dad, however. “I listened in on Stephen Marconni, as well. Two others but his was the best.”

“Stephen was there?”

She blew out a relieved breath. At least he changed subjects with ease. Now if only she could flip a switch and go back to living her life when Dustin Kane was an unattainable fantasy and not a flesh and blood memory. Not likely.

Chapter
Ten

“Dustin!”

Pausing midstride on the way back to his truck, Dustin peered over his shoulder for whoever called his name. He hadn’t truly needed to come into town today but had given some excuse hoping on the off chance he’d run into Samantha. So far, it hadn’t worked out in his favor.

A groan escaped as he recognized the man hollering for him. Robert Beaumonde. Charlotte’s father. Her father had been close to his old man, but personally, he had little use for him. Not that he had much use for his own father either.

“Yes, sir? What can I do for you?”

Sweat dotted the man’s head as he futilely wiped at it with linen. His face flushed red from what, Dustin wasn’t sure. Heat. Exertion. Nerves. Perhaps the combination of them all.

“I know you’re busy running the Diamond J, but I was wondering if you had time for a,” he straightened up and tugged at his suit coat, “talk. The two of us.”

He ground his jaw but pasted a cool, unaffected smile on his face. “Anytime you’d like to stop by the Diamond J, but I’d recommend calling ahead so I’m not out on the range.”

The man swallowed but nodded. Dustin understood. The relationship he had with Old Man Kane differed greatly plus it was no secret his daughter had been screwing multiple men on their wedding day.

“Good day, Mr. Beaumonde.” Pivoting, he finished the short walk back to his truck and loaded his bags into the backseat of his truck. He paused, hand upon the bedrail and tried to sort through the thoughts streaming through his mind like a thundering herd. They began and ended with Samantha Finley.

He’d never considered himself fanciful. Ever. Even during the time he’d been engaged to Charlotte and planning the wedding, he’d kept out of her way and let her pick what she wanted. His focus remained on running his ranch. But since the night Samantha tripped back into his life, his own had changed drastically.

Shaking his head, he slammed the door shut and turned to open the driver’s door. In his peripheral, he spied a sight that had his heart tripling in speed. He blinked a few times in case it was merely his imagination given how the vixen occupied so much of his mind. Still there and slipping into another store.

He shut the door of his truck and followed her into Bates’. The low lighting gave him a moment’s pause, and he scanned for her as he waited for his eyes to adjust. There weren’t many people in here, and he nodded at the few he passed.

Samantha was in the far right corner standing in front of the saddles. He paused before reaching her and took the moment to just watch. Black jeans molded with sinful perfection to her lower body. Her hunter green tee hung over the gentle swell of her derrière. A simple cutout horse head barrette held her hair to hang down the middle of her back, the dark brown and highlighted strands creating a lovely image amongst the silver.

She stood there, hands in her back pockets and rocking back on the heels of her boots.

“Something on your mind, Samantha?” he asked, moving up beside her.

A slight jump before she recovered and looked at him. With the heel of one hand, she wiped at her eye. “You startled me,” she stated the obvious.

His gaze raked her and he fought off the instantaneous urge to haul her close and kiss her. Had she been crying? She crossed her arms over her chest. A chest he’d eaten…nope, not the time to go there. With a stern reprimand to his unruly cock, he focused back on the woman before him.

“Everything okay?”

“Just here to pick up some things for daddy. What are you doing here?”

What to say?
Followed you in here
made him sound a bit more than stalkerish. “Out running some errands.”

Her smile, halfhearted, dimmed some of the light
that had exploded within him at seeing her again. He stepped closer and reveled over the flaring of her nose and the increased pulse in her neck. Her pupils dilated as well.

“Are we going to pretend the weekend didn’t happen?” he queried in a low voice, digging his nails into his palm to refrain from cupping her face. He noticed a silver chain around her neck but the pendant was below her shirt so he couldn’t be positive it was the one he gave her. He wanted it to be.

“I don’t know,” she countered. “Are we?”

“You seem like you’re avoiding me.”

“We returned from the expo last night, Dustin. It’s only afternoon of the
following
day, so how exactly have I been avoiding you?” She licked her lips, and he nearly groaned. He knew firsthand how that tongue felt on his skin.

“Oh, excuse me, am I interrupting?” Tara, Homer Bates’s wife, asked.

“No,” Samantha said.

“Yes,” he claimed at the same time.

Samantha flashed him an irritated glare. “No, you’re not, Tara. We were just talking.”

Hiding his discontent, he skimmed his teeth with his tongue as he shoved his hands in his pocket. “Right,” he groused. “Just talking. Who’d you need to talk to, Tara?”

“I needed a word with Finn.”

“Sure thing.” The women began to walk away.

“Samantha?” he called out. She turned back to him, one brow arched in question. “I’d like a word with you when you finish so we can finish this discussion.”

Her gaze raked him from head to toe. “Sure thing.”

Dustin remained back by the saddles and waited. Less than five minutes passed before she returned.

“What?” she asked.

“Have dinner with me tonight.”

She trailed her hand along a turquoise and black blanket. “Busy tonight, sorry.”

“Tomorrow?”

She shoved her hands in her pockets and rocked back on her heels. “I’m busy for the week.”

He scowled and stalked closer to her. “You’re avoiding my eyes, Samantha. Look at me.” Eye contact came however, barely. She was nervous. Skittish. He blew out a breath. “You’re waiting for Homer to fix something?”

“Yes.”

“Good, then you have time. Come on.”

“What?”

“We’re going to the bakery for something to eat and drink. Since you don’t have time for me tonight, we’ll talk now.”

“I’m—”

“Waiting. We can wait at the bakery.” He gestured with his head. “After you.”

She didn’t speak until they’d taken a seat at the bakery. He picked a booth near the back and noticed how she sat so the wall was at her back instead of the door. He left her there while he ordered them each a coffee and a bear claw. Items in hand, he returned to her and set hers before her.

“What’s this about, Samantha?”

“Why don’t you call me Finn like everyone else?” She poured a liberal amount of sugar in her coffee and stirred it without looking at him.

“I told you, Finn’s a man’s name.”

“No, it’s my name.”

He didn’t speak until she looked at him. “Your name is Samantha Mallory Finley.”

“Heard you two went to the expo together,” Jerome Litsign said as he walked from the hallway where the restrooms were. “Bet that was fun.” He winked at them both and kept on.

Dustin watched her expression. One of resignation and he wasn’t quite sure he liked that. “Talk to me.”

She tore off a piece of her bear claw, ate it, and said, “About what?”

“What thoughts are whirling around in that head of yours? Christ, Samantha. He’s right, we did go together and spent our nights in the same bed. Why am I feelin’ like a leper over here?”

She drew back, surprise on her face. “A leper? That’s what you think I’m treating you like?”

He stared at her, this time a brow of his own arched.

“Really?” She shook her head. “I’m sorry you feel that way. I’ve just got a lot of things to do before I head back East. I’m leaving in seven days.”

Next Monday. He contained his scowl.

“Look,” she said, leaning forward, lean fingers curved about the coffee mug. “What we had…what we shared. I don’t know what it was, but I know you’re,” she frowned, “I mean, I’m…” She scrubbed a hand over her face. “I don’t know what the hell I’m trying to say here. I didn’t mean to make you feel that way. I’m just really focusing on getting back to my life there. I’m sure you’ve got a lot to think about as well. I know you got a lot of contacts from the expo and, well…”

“You’re ramblin’ there, darlin’.” He leaned forward as well. “Do I make you nervous?”

“Yes.”

Her candid answer surprised him, and he drew back slightly. “Why?”

“You…you’re Dustin Kane.”

He wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that statement. Her phone rang, and he sat there listening while she spoke to someone and absently ate at her treat. Her gaze miles away when she ended the call, he knew he’d lost his chance to talk to her.

“Samantha,” he said.

“Yes?”

“Friday night. My house.”

“I told you I was busy this week.”

“Don’t care. You are leaving in seven days. Unless you’re giving me the entire weekend, come by Friday night. Whatever time you’re done with your plans.”

She mulled it over but nodded. “Okay. Friday.”

“I’ll see you then, darlin’.” The plans he had for her.

She finished her coffee and pastry with swiftness. “Thanks for the snack. I’ll see you Friday. If I don’t see you before then, have a good week, Dustin Kane.”

“You as well, Samantha Mallory.”

With a hint of smile, she swept by him and vanished. After he finished staring at her through the window, he glanced to the table and spied the money she’d left under her cup. Crazy woman.

Something was off with her though. She seemed distracted, and he wasn’t sure he liked it. Definitely didn’t like the fact she was leaving in seven days. That wasn’t nearly enough time.
Time for what?
He wasn’t entirely positive of the answer for that.

* * * *

The week had been a blur of work and packing. She had plans to sleep most of Sunday so she could light out early and drive back, hopefully making it a good distance before she had to stop for some rest. Rubbing her lower back, she slammed the tailgate on her Dodge and spun to head back inside. She'd cleaned out all the sawdust and she’d just sprayed out the remaining, lingering pieces.

“You know they would have delivered it, Finn. You didn’t have to go after it.”

She gave her father a tired smile. “I know, but it would have been a while. This way, you have sawdust and don’t have to wait.” She’d not even heard him come onto the porch.

“I’ve got some food for you, come eat before you fall over.”

She was beat. There had been fencing to fix, stalls to repair, not to mention the rest of the things she’d been lingering on since arriving, which she wanted finished by the time she left. And she still had a few horses she’d been called out to. She wasn’t doing any more jobs until she returned to Maryland.

“You sure you’ll be okay, Daddy?”

He held the door for her. “I’ll be fine. I have to take it easy for another two weeks but then I can go back to it. The guys will be around to help if there’s something I need. But I can still do stalls and all that now. I’ll be fine.” He tugged the back of her shirt. “You know you’re always welcome to stay though.”

The offer tempted her extensively. “I have to get back.”

He grunted. They ate a simple lunch of sandwiches and chips accompanied by large glasses of sweet tea. She placed the dishes in the dishwasher once they’d finished and wiped off the table.

“You know, babygirl. It’s occurred to me that we’ve not talked about long-term plans for you.”

She paused with a frown on her face before wiping her hands off on the towel and turning to face her father. “My long-term plans?”

His crutch leaned against the counter he rested on. “Yes. Are you planning on staying in Maryland?”