Wrangling the Redhead (12 page)

“Not that I have a lot of reason to trust my own judgment, but yes. Unless he’s the biggest con artist of all time and has known who I was from the beginning,
then Wade doesn’t want anything from me except me. He doesn’t even seem to think I have two nickels to rub together. The money, by the way, is another issue. He thinks he has very valid reasons for judging all the wealthy to be decadent and irresponsible. And when Jake very matter-of-factly spilled the beans about Cole and Cassie’s situation, the story seemed to reinforce Wade’s beliefs.”

“Oh my gosh, is that why the two of you went rushing out of there the other day? I thought you’d suddenly decided you needed to be alone.”

Lauren blushed. “Well, that was one reason, but it was Jake’s slip about his parents’ belated marriage that really got us out of there.”

“Did you explain the circumstances about why Cole didn’t marry Cassie?”

“Not in great detail. He didn’t want to hear it, anyway.”

“Then I’ll tell him,” Karen said. “He can’t go on blaming Cole for what happened, especially not if it’s going to cause a rift between him and our friends. I will not have you coming back here only to get involved with someone who refuses to socialize with the rest of us.”

Karen’s gaze suddenly narrowed. “If the issue is money, why doesn’t he resent Grady?”

“I’m not entirely sure,” Lauren admitted. “But he thinks Grady’s a decent guy and he’s crazy about you. I think he’s simply chosen to overlook the size of your bank account.”

“Well, he’d better learn to overlook money altogether. It’s not important—at least it shouldn’t be. And it certainly shouldn’t be the thing that stands between two people and their happiness.”

“Amen to that,” Lauren said. Now she just had to come up with some way to convince Wade of it.

Wade was tired and cranky and hungover when he got back to the Blackhawk ranch in the morning. He was almost relieved that Lauren wasn’t at the house to see him in this sorry state.

Only after he’d showered, shaved and forced down some food and coffee did he begin to worry about where she might be. During the hour or so of sobriety he’d had before the beers at the Heartbreak had caught up with him, he’d managed to admit to himself that he was being totally unreasonable about Cole Davis. Nobody knew better than he did that a man shouldn’t be judged on a first impression or on a past over which he’d had no control. Right before he’d gotten stinking drunk and taken a room in town for the night, he’d vowed to admit that to Lauren. He intended to keep that vow…assuming he could find her.

She wasn’t in the barn, and when Wade checked the main house, Karen regarded him with an unmistakably cool expression and said she had no idea where Lauren had gone.

“Care for a cup of coffee?” she asked. “You look as if you could use it.”

“Sure,” he said, reluctantly taking a seat at the table and watching Karen warily.

Karen handed him the coffee, then took a seat opposite him. “You’re the second person I’ve dealt with this morning who evidently had a lousy night.”

“Oh?”

“Lauren looked like she hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep.”

Before he could comment on that or apologize for
his role in it, Karen seared him with a look. “I don’t like seeing my friends upset.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m not the one who needs to hear that,” she said.

He nodded. “Which is precisely why I came looking for her.”

Her eyes softened then, and she gave him a more approving look. “Good. Then I don’t need to break your kneecaps or anything.”

“I notice you didn’t say you’d have Grady do it,” he said.

“Absolutely not. I fight my own battles…and my friends’,” she added pointedly. “If I hadn’t been satisfied with your answer, I would have taken pleasure in making you suffer.”

He knew better than to grin. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“See that you do. Now get out of here and resolve this before it gets out of hand.”

He did allow himself a chuckle at that. “Yes, ma’am.”

With his head still pounding, he walked slowly back toward the barn. Since Lauren’s car was still parked beside his place, she had to be around here somewhere. A masculine curse from the paddock behind the barn had him racing around the side of the building. He skidded to a stop, his breath lodged in his throat as he took in the scene.

Grady was halfway over the fence, his face ashen as Lauren waved him off. She had a saddle on Midnight’s back, but the huge horse wasn’t one bit happy about it. He repeatedly reared up, his hooves slicing through the air with deadly potential for disaster.

“Lauren, get the hell out of there,” Wade ordered, his voice low.

She didn’t even spare him a glance. Instead, her entire focus was on Midnight, and even Wade had to admit that was where it belonged under the circumstances. With one hand on the horse’s reins, she kept up a nonstop barrage of soft coaxing. The wild-eyed horse was having none of it.

Wade thought for a split second that his heart was going to pound so hard it would knock right through the wall of his chest. Never in his entire life had he been so terrified. If Lauren got out of there in one piece, he was going to be sorely tempted to kill her himself.

“She’s absolutely fearless,” Grady murmured, awe in his voice.

“She’s a freaking lunatic,” Wade retorted.

“I thought so, too, at first, but watch. Midnight’s starting to listen to her. He’s settling down.”

Wade didn’t see it. He could barely even make himself look at the scene. “Five seconds,” he muttered. “Then I’m going to go in there and bodily drag her out.”

“You’ll do no such thing,” Grady ordered. “Not if you expect to keep working for me.”

“Then I’ll quit,” Wade said, hoisting himself onto the railing.

He was about to swing over and drop to the ground, when he felt Grady’s hand on his arm.

“Look,” his boss said quietly.

Midnight was perfectly still. He’d allowed Lauren close enough to drape an arm over his neck. When she held out a cube of sugar, he took it from her as calmly
as if he hadn’t been close to killing her not even seconds before.

Even so, Wade didn’t breathe again until Lauren had removed the saddle, patted the horse on his rump and sent him off to the pasture.

“Nice work,” Grady called out to her.

The praise was met with a tense smile. “It was a little dicey there for a minute,” she said, her gaze cutting to Wade.

“Dicey?” he retorted as his heartbeat finally began to slow to something approaching normal. He saw her tense and softened his expression. “You scared the daylights out of me.”

“To tell you the truth, I scared the daylights out of me, too,” she admitted.

Suddenly her knees wobbled. Wade hit the ground and caught her just before she collapsed in a heap. She gave him an uneasy look.

“I guess the adrenaline’s worn off,” she murmured.

“Guess so,” he agreed, fighting the desire to kiss her senseless.

A spark flared in her eyes, and without warning she shoved against his chest with all her might. “Put me down,” she demanded. “I’m furious with you.”

Grady grinned. “I don’t think I’m needed for this part. I think I’ll be going now.”

“Smart man,” Wade said as he struggled to keep Lauren in place. He gazed into her flashing eyes. “Okay, darlin’, let’s compare notes. You’re furious with me—rightfully so, I might add—and I am sorely aggravated with you—also entirely justified. Let’s call it even, okay?”

“Not on your life, you pigheaded coward.”

“Coward?” Wade repeated softly. If a man had
made that accusation, he’d be lying in the dust with a swollen jaw by now.

“When we have a disagreement, you don’t get to run off. Mature adults who care about each other talk things out.”

“You’re right,” he agreed, clearly taking the wind out of her sails.

“You recognize that?” she asked skeptically.

“Now I do,” he said, regarding her solemnly.

“Good.”

“Since we’re agreed on that,” he said. “Let’s calmly discuss what just happened here.”

She slid her fingers into his hair and lowered her mouth until it was almost against his. “Let’s not,” she murmured.

The kiss pretty much settled things for the time being, but Wade didn’t doubt for a second that it was not a precursor to smooth sailing from here on out. That image of Lauren within a hairsbreadth of getting herself trampled was going to stay with him for a long time to come. He didn’t intend to give the horse a second chance to complete the job.

“I
want to sell Midnight,” Wade announced as he and Grady sat at the kitchen table late that night. Lauren and Karen were having their weekly dinner with the Calamity Janes, this time at Tony’s. Gina was cooking some new pasta recipe she’d dreamed up so she could try it out on her friends before springing it on the customers.

“Because of what happened earlier,” Grady said, his expression every bit as grim as Wade’s tone.

“Of course because of that. Midnight could have trampled Lauren to death, and she’s too stubborn to admit that her life was in any danger. If it’s up to her, she’ll be right back in there tomorrow.”

“Because it’s what she does,” Grady reminded him. “She’s good at it. She won’t appreciate you taking this chance away from her. Her work with Midnight could
go a long way toward giving her a reputation for being able to work with troubled animals.”

“At least she’ll be alive.” Wade retorted.

“If I agree to this—and I’m not saying I do—will you tell her before you sell him? You owe her that,” Grady said.

Wade sighed. “I suppose,” he conceded, dreading the conversation. He knew, just as Grady obviously did, that Lauren wasn’t going to thank him for trying to protect her. “I’ll have to find some way to make her understand.”

Grady gave him a commiserating look. “I don’t envy you that conversation. Midnight is a great horse, one of the best I’ve ever seen. He has a lot of heart. It’ll be a shame to lose him, but if it’s what you have to do for your own peace of mind, then put Midnight in the next horse auction over in Cheyenne.” He grinned. “And let me know how your conversation with Lauren turns out. I’d like to be a fly on the wall for that one.”

Wade wasn’t nearly as relieved by Grady’s acquiescence as he had expected to be. After all, the man was letting him get rid of a magnificent, promising stallion on what amounted to a whim. If Lauren’s safety hadn’t been involved, Wade would never have considered selling the horse. And if he’d been the one in the paddock taking the risks himself, he would have considered it part of the job.

Clearly some of his lack of enthusiasm could be attributed to losing a potentially great stud. The rest, no doubt, could be blamed on the certain knowledge that Lauren was likely to take a verbal strip out of his hide when she found out. He wasn’t looking forward to that nearly as eagerly as Grady seemed to be.

“Thanks,” he said sincerely. “I owe you, Grady.”

“You do, indeed,” the other man said.

“If you don’t mind, I think I’ll wait for Lauren on the porch. I might as well get this conversation over with tonight.”

“Good idea. Besides, I’m pretty sure there’s nothing out there she can throw at you the way there would be in here.”

Wade winced. “You think it’s going to be that bad?”

“Oh, yeah,” Grady confirmed. “In fact, I’m betting it’ll be worse.”

Wade regarded him wryly. “Thanks for the encouragement.”

“Anytime, pal. If you need somebody to patch you up later, give a holler. I’ll make sure the first-aid kit is fully stocked.”

“Very funny,” Wade muttered as he went on out to the porch to wait.

When Karen and Lauren drove up a half hour later, he could hear the two of them giggling as they emerged from the car. It made him wonder what went on at these gabfests of theirs. He sighed. That hardly mattered now.

The pair of them stopped in their tracks when they hit the bottom step and spotted him.

“Hey, Wade, how are you doing?” Karen asked politely.

Lauren said nothing, but her gaze never left him. It was as if she sensed right off that she wasn’t going to like his reason for being there.

“I’m fine,” he told Karen. “Did you all have a good night?”

“We always do,” Lauren retorted with a hint of defiance. It was not a good sign.

“How was Gina’s pasta?” he asked, hoping that neutral turf would ease the tension.

Lauren wasn’t buying it for a second. “Gina’s food was fabulous, as always, but somehow I don’t think that’s what’s on your mind.”

“No,” he agreed.

“Well, I assume you’re not waiting out here for me,” Karen said cheerfully. “I’ll leave you two and go see what my man is up to. Come on in when you’re through, though. I have some news I’d like to share.”

“Fine,” Lauren said distractedly, her gaze still locked on Wade.

When they were alone, Wade said to Lauren, “Well, are you just going to stand there all night?”

“That depends,” she said.

“On?”

“What you’re doing here.”

“We need to talk,” he said.

“I got that much. About?”

“Midnight.”

“There’s nothing to discuss. I’m just doing my job.”

“Not anymore,” he said curtly, annoyed that she had voiced what his own sentiments would have been had the shoe been on the other foot.

Her furious gaze cut straight through him. “I beg your pardon. Are you firing me?”

“Nope,” he said quietly. “I’m selling Midnight.”

“Over my dead body,” she snapped right back.

“It’s a done deal. Grady has agreed.”

“Do you have a buyer?”

“Not yet.”

“Then I’ll buy him. Name your price.”

“You can’t afford it,” he retorted.

Her mouth opened, but she snapped it closed again as the apparent reality set in. She was visibly trembling with outrage as she stalked up the steps and faced him.

“Then I’ll have Grady buy out your share,” she said. “If I can’t talk him into it, I’m sure Karen can.”

Wade honestly hadn’t anticipated that response. He hadn’t discussed it with Grady, either, but his gut told him she was right. She could pull it off. Grady would go along with whatever Karen wanted. Family would rate over a mere employee or even business partner. It was hard to argue with that kind of loyalty.

“Don’t do this,” he begged. “That horse almost killed you today.”

“But he didn’t, and it wasn’t his fault. He’s getting better every day. Your instincts were exactly right when you and Grady bought him. He’s magnificent.”

“He’s dangerous,” Wade said flatly.

“Only because he was so badly mistreated in the past. He’s scared, Wade, the same way you are right now. You’re acting without thinking.”

“I’ve thought of nothing else all day long,” he countered. “You have no idea what went through my mind when I saw you within a fraction of an inch of being trampled.” Even now the memory was enough to send a shudder through him.

Lauren finally walked over to stand in front of him. “I won’t beg you not to do this, Wade,” she said quietly. “But if you do, I will never forgive you. Moreover, I don’t think you’ll ever be able to forgive yourself.”

“I will,” he said defiantly, even though her solemn expression shook him to his core. “All I’ll have to do is remember what I saw.”

“Then it doesn’t matter to you how I feel?”

“Of course, but—”

She cut him off. “Don’t do this, Wade. It’s wrong.”

“Dammit, Lauren,” he muttered, thoroughly frustrated by her refusal to listen to reason.

“You know it is,” she persisted. When he didn’t immediately argue, she came closer, though she was still careful not to touch him. “Tell me this, if you had been the one working with him today, would you want to sell him?”

There it was, he thought with a sigh. The cool logic he had feared. She had pegged it and put him squarely between a rock and a hard place. If he said yes, she would never believe him. If he said no, she would blame it on his lack of faith in her skill. Desolation washed through him.

“I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you,” he said finally, his voice raw.

“Nor I, if it happened to you, but we can’t take our fears out on Midnight. He’s so close, Wade. Please give him this chance. Give
me
this chance.”

The urgency in her voice got to him. “Why is this so important to you?”

“I need to prove to myself that this is something I can do,” she said. “I need to know I can make a career out of it. If I give up on Midnight, who would ever trust me to work with a horse again?”

It was the same argument Grady had tried to use to persuade him. Rationally, he understood their reasoning, but that couldn’t cut through the fear.

“I would trust you,” he said readily. “You know how good you are, Lauren. We both do.”

“Then let me finish this job.”

Wade struggled with himself, with his fears, but it
was the expression in her eyes that won him over. She was ready to fight for this chance, perhaps even ready to walk away from him if he didn’t give it to her. In the end, he couldn’t take the chance that she would make good on that threat.

“You’ll work with him only if I’m around,” he said slowly.

A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “Yes.”

“And if I say it’s over for the day, you won’t argue with me,” he added.

“Whatever you say,” she agreed eagerly.

Wade wondered wryly how long that would last, but for now it was a concession. “Okay, then. I’ll tell Grady we’re keeping Midnight.”

She launched herself into his arms, then smothered his face with kisses. For a moment, Wade allowed himself to bask in the pure pleasure of the sensation, but then worry crowded out pleasure. He was going to be on his knees every single night from here on out praying that he hadn’t just made the worst mistake of his life.

Lauren was triumphant, but she was careful not to gloat when she reminded Wade of their promise to Karen.

“She said she had news.”

“We could wait and hear it in the morning,” he suggested, clearly eager to get up to his place where they could finish making up in bed.

Lauren was tempted, but determined not to give in. “Oh no you don’t. We have news of our own to share. You need to let Grady know what you’ve decided about Midnight.” She wasn’t taking any chance that he’d try to wiggle out of it by morning.

He scooted her off his lap and stood up. “Let’s get this over with then.”

When they walked into the kitchen, Karen beamed at them. Grady stared at them with a dazed expression.

“Okay,” Lauren prodded. “What’s the news? Obviously it’s put Grady into shock.”

“We’re having a baby,” Karen announced without preamble.

“Oh my gosh, that’s wonderful,” Lauren said, rushing across the room to gather her friend into an embrace.

“Congratulations,” Wade said, shaking Grady’s hand.

Grady still looked as if he’d been poleaxed. Lauren chuckled and planted a kiss on his cheek. “It can’t be that much of a shock. Surely, you do know how babies get made. And it’s not like the two of you aren’t always sneaking off to be together.”

Grady stared at her, then looked back at his wife. “A baby? You’re sure?”

Karen nodded, regarding him with amusement. “The doctor confirmed it when I was in town today. And if you don’t get over here and kiss me, I’m going to get on the phone and call your grandfather. I know he’s been waiting to hear this news.”

“Waiting? He’s been pestering me ever since our wedding day,” Grady said. He scooped his wife out of her chair and twirled her around, then set her back on her feet, his expression suddenly worried. “That was probably a bad idea. Maybe you should sit back down. Do you need anything? Can I get you something to drink? Something to eat? Maybe you should rest.”

Karen regarded Lauren with a frantic expression. “If
this is what it’s going to be like around here for the next seven months, I’m moving out.”

“He’ll settle down,” Lauren soothed, then shot a warning look at Grady. “Won’t you?”

Karen shook her head. “Why do men insist on being so blasted overprotective? We’re not fragile little creatures.”

“Tell me about it,” Lauren said with a pointed look toward Wade.

“Hey, it’s not the same thing at all,” Wade protested. “Having a baby is perfectly natural. It’s not as scary as seeing a woman you love dancing around under the flying hooves of a horse.”

His comment brought all conversation to a complete halt. Lauren’s mouth gaped. When she could finally gather her wits, she said, “Did you just say you loved me?”

“He did,” Karen confirmed eagerly. “I heard him.”

“Sounded that way to me, too,” Grady added, clearly amused by the turn of events.

“I didn’t…” Wade’s protest trailed off. “Okay, fine. I admit it. I love you.”

Lauren grinned at him. “What a gracious way to put it. My heart’s all aflutter.”

He scowled at her. “I can still take it back.”

“You can try,” she teased. “But I won’t believe you. The die is cast.”

“Of course, we haven’t heard where you stand on the subject,” Grady pointed out.

Wade regarded her with evident fascination. “Yes, by all means, let’s hear how you feel about it.”

“Are we talking love in general?” she inquired, watching Wade’s increasing frustration with amusement.

“Whatever,” he said.

“Or how I feel about you specifically?” she added.

“Maybe you’d like to be alone again for this,” Grady suggested. “Karen and I have something we could be celebrating upstairs anyway.”

“All that
celebrating
is how she got pregnant,” Lauren reminded them. “Besides, I want to share a toast with the expectant couple, once Wade and I resolve this little matter of who loves whom.”

She was about to tell Wade exactly how she felt about him, when the phone rang. All four of them stared at it in dismay, but eventually Karen grabbed it.

“Yes, she’s right here,” she told the caller, then made a face as she handed the phone to Lauren. “Jason.”

Wade went perfectly still as Lauren accepted it. Because she couldn’t bring herself to face him as she talked to her agent, she stepped outside.

“Jason, how many different ways can I say no?” she asked, not even trying to hide her annoyance.

“I just hate to see you making a huge mistake like this,” he said. “I don’t want you to wake up in a few months or a year with regrets.”

She glanced through the screen door and saw Wade sitting there stiffly, his face looking as if it had been carved from granite. Karen and Grady were making a halfhearted attempt to engage him in conversation, but his gaze was riveted on Lauren.

“No regrets,” she assured Jason. “Not one. If anything changes in the future, I’ll get in touch with you. In the meantime, scratch me off your client list.”