Wrangling the Redhead (13 page)

“If I do that, I can’t promise I’ll be able to do a thing for you,” he said. “It’s a fast-paced business, Lauren. People forget.”

“Not if I’m half as good as you’re always telling me I am,” she retorted.

“Then your decision is final?”

“Isn’t that what I’ve been telling you for weeks now?”

Jason sighed. “Okay, then, I’ll take you at your word. If you change your mind, call me.”

“I won’t change my mind,” she said with conviction. Whatever happened with Wade, she was more certain than ever that her home was right here in Wyoming. Hollywood seemed a million miles away and a lifetime ago.

Slowly she hung up and went back inside, a smile plastered on her face. Wade didn’t return it as she sat back down beside him.

“Lauren, you were just about to tell us—Ouch,” Grady said, scowling at his wife. “Well, she was.”

“I think the moment’s lost for right now,” Karen said. “But I definitely want that toast you promised, Lauren.”

Lauren dutifully lifted her glass of tea and tried to recapture at least a little of the celebratory mood from earlier. “To the new little Blackhawk. He or she is coming into a terrific home. Congratulations, you two.”

“Congratulations,” Wade echoed, though his tone was flat. He sipped his tea, then stood up. Without so much as looking at Lauren, he said, “I’ve got to be getting back down to my place.”

“I’ll go with you,” Lauren said.

He seemed about to protest, but the words died on his lips. Relieved by that, she followed him to the door.

“Good night, you two. I really am happy for you,”
she said to Grady and Karen, who were watching her and Wade uneasily.

“Thanks,” Karen said, then added pointedly, “See you in the morning.”

There was no mistaking that it was anything other than a command.

“First thing,” Lauren agreed.

Wade was silent as they walked toward his place. More important, he was also very careful to avoid so much as brushing up against her. She could feel the anger or tension or whatever it was practically radiating off him.

“Okay, just go ahead and say it,” she said finally.

“Say what?”

“Whatever’s on your mind.”

He whirled on her. “Okay, fine. I want to know why that man is still calling you.”

“I can’t control what Jason does,” she replied reasonably. “I’m not calling him. And you’ve heard me tell him that I’m not interested in anything he has to tell me.”

“You insist there’s nothing between you, but how am I supposed to buy that when he hasn’t given up?”

“Because I’m telling you the truth,” she said flatly. “Are you saying you don’t trust me?”

He frowned at the challenge. “No,” he said eventually. “But if he continues to harass you, I think you should tell the sheriff. There are laws about that kind of thing.”

She almost chuckled, but then she realized he was dead serious. “Wade, I can’t do that.”

“Why not? Unless he means more to you than you’re admitting.”

“I don’t know how else to say this, not when you’re
being as pigheaded as he is. Jason doesn’t mean anything to me, not personally anyway. He’s a former business associate for whom I still have a great deal of respect. That’s it.”

“What kind of business associate keeps on calling after he’s been told to give up?”

“The kind who’s persistent,” she said, aware that Wade couldn’t understand any man pestering a woman unless it was because he wanted her. He had no frame of reference for a man in a business where persistence was not only a virtue but a necessity.

He scowled down at her. “You claim he’s not after you. Then what the hell does he want?”

Lauren weighed her reply carefully. This was a chance to tell Wade everything, but if she did it now when he was already irritated, he was likely to blow it all out of proportion. No, she decided, it would be better to wait until he was in the right frame of mind—whatever that was. At least, she could tell him a part of the truth.

“Jason wants me to come back to work. That’s it.”

Wade seemed to chew over that explanation for a bit, then finally nodded. “And you’re sure that’s all it is? He’s not harassing you or stalking you or something?”

“Absolutely not.”

“And you can handle it?”

She grinned at him. “I can handle the likes of Jason any day of the week. You’re the one who’s giving me fits.”

His lips twitched then. “Oh, I am, am I?” He seemed very pleased with himself. “In what way?”

“You’ve kept me out here wasting time talking about a man who means absolutely nothing to me,
when I could be inside making love with a man who does matter.”

He slid his hand into her hair and tilted her head up. “And that annoys you?”

“Frustrates me,” she corrected.

“Would a kiss help?”

“It would definitely be a start in the right direction,” she confirmed.

With tantalizing restraint, he slowly lowered his head until his lips were just above hers. She could already feel the promised heat, but he refused the contact she was craving.

“Has anybody ever told you that you’re a tease?” she murmured.

“Not nearly often enough,” he whispered just as his mouth settled on hers.

There was something greedy and raw and needy about the kiss. The sensations exploded through her. Suddenly Lauren felt as if she were falling…falling from the topmost peak of a mountain…falling in love.

She rocked back on her heels and captured Wade’s face in her hands. She gazed deep into his eyes.

“We have some unfinished business,” she told him.

“You bet we do,” he said.

“Not that,” she said with a quick smile. “From earlier. I love you, Wade Owens.” She saw his eyes go dark, saw the quick flash of heat. “Just so you know.”

“It’s a darn good thing,” he murmured. “I’d hate to be in water this deep all by myself.”

She searched his face. “Then you meant what you said up at the house? You do love me?”

He grinned at her. “It scares the hell out of me, but yes, darlin’, I do.”

Lauren’s heart soared. And as long as she didn’t let herself think about the secret that could destroy them, it would keep right on soaring.

“S
o, did you and Lauren patch things up last night?” Grady inquired when Wade rode out with him the next morning to check fence lines.

Wade thought of the raw passion that had kept them both awake for half the night. “You could say that.”

“After you agreed not to sell Midnight, I assume.”

Wade realized that they’d never gotten to that topic the night before, but he could read the gloating expression on Grady’s face. “Yeah, she convinced me it was a bad idea.”

Grady chuckled. “I’ll just bet she did.”

“Hey, I won a couple of concessions from her,” Wade protested. “She’ll only work with him when I’m around, and if something looks too risky, she’ll stop when I say so.”

“She actually agreed to that?”

“You bet,” Wade said, then shrugged. “I imagine
it won’t take her more than a couple of days to forget all about it, though.”

“Yep, you know Lauren, all right.” Grady turned a penetrating look on Wade. “Were you serious about being in love with her? Karen’s going to take you apart bit by bit if you were just playing games.”

“No games,” Wade assured him. “No woman has ever twisted me into knots the way Lauren does.”

“You thinking marriage?”

Wade froze, drawing his horse to a dead stop. “Marriage?” He echoed the word as if he’d never heard it before. It hadn’t come up the night before. He was certain of that. If it had, he would have blasted the idea right out of the water. He was equally sure of that.

“That’s usually the next step,” Grady said. His gaze narrowed. “Unless you were playing games, after all.”

“It’s just that I never thought that far ahead,” Wade said defensively. “What the heck do I have to offer a woman?”

“You have a good job, a place to live,” Grady reminded him. “You have plans for the future. And the way I hear it, you have the most important thing of all—you love her.”

“Is that enough?” Wade said. He thought about his plans for the future. Only with Grady’s encouragement had he actually begun to dream of owning his own horse-breeding operation a few years down the road. He still couldn’t quite believe that it was within his reach. Until he’d come to the Blackhawk ranch, he’d always assumed he would spend his life drifting from one job to another.

“I suppose the only one who can answer whether it’s enough is Lauren,” Grady said. “A few months ago, I might not have thought so, but I’ve seen a lot
of changes in her. Being here—being with you—has grounded her. Something tells me she’ll think it’s plenty.”

Marriage to Lauren. An image of her all dressed up in yards and yards of white satin with a gossamer-sheer veil trailing down her back from a tiara of pearls made his heart hammer inside his chest. To know that she was his forever? He wanted that. Wanted it more than anything he’d ever longed for.

Was it really within his reach? he wondered. A few weeks ago he’d never even imagined telling a woman he loved her and hearing the same words spoken back to him. Yet last night he’d told Lauren just that. She’d admitted she loved him, too. And she’d shown him just how much all night long.

But marriage was permanent. It was forever, and he rarely thought too far beyond tomorrow. Besides, he’d never even seen a good example of it. His own mother had never married, preferring the kind of casual relationships that wouldn’t put her heart at risk again after what had happened with Wade’s father. His daddy had been married for years, just not to Wade’s mother, and it hadn’t stopped him from chasing anything in skirts. With those two as his role models, was it any wonder he was skeptical that he could make it work?

One thing he knew for sure, he’d better be a lot more certain than he was right now before he risked making that kind of commitment. If he ever did get married, he wanted the kind of marriage Karen and Grady had. Even a drifting wrangler with a background like his could see that what they had would endure.

“Do you have any idea how lucky you are?” he asked Grady. “You and Karen, clearly you were destined to be together.”

Grady regarded him with surprise. “That’s how it seems to you?”

“Sure,” Wade said, startled by Grady’s response. “Am I wrong?”

“I hope not,” Grady said. “But it wasn’t always that way and not a day goes by that I don’t thank the Lord for what we’ve found.” At Wade’s puzzled look, Grady added, “You know Karen was a widow when we met?”

“No,” Wade admitted, stunned by the news. He’d assumed they were childhood sweethearts, because they seemed so attuned to each other.

“Well, she was. And I had been her husband’s worst enemy,” Grady revealed. “There were a whole lot of issues we had to work through before she could begin to trust me. I’m here to tell you that anything that comes up between you and Lauren would be a piece of cake by comparison.” He grinned. “But you’re right about one thing—it was worth every bit of the struggle, and I don’t intend to let Karen regret the decision she made. Not ever.”

When the time came, Wade wanted to be able to make the same kind of vow where Lauren was concerned. It would kill him if he ever gave her any cause to regret getting mixed up with him.

Despite Grady’s protests, Karen had insisted on doing her chores around the ranch.

“I told him if he tried to turn me into an invalid for the next seven months, I’d have to strangle him,” she had explained to Lauren as they’d shared a cup of coffee earlier.

“Well, you’d better get out there and slave away,” Lauren had told her, eager to get her out of the house
so she could start making calls to the other Calamity Janes. She needed time alone if she was going to pull off a surprise lunch to celebrate the news about the baby.

“But I have questions for you,” Karen protested, refusing to budge from the table. “I want to know what happened between you and Wade after you left here.”

“Quite a lot, as a matter of fact, but you can wait to hear all the details,” she said. When Karen still showed no evidence of leaving, Lauren added bluntly, “Will you please just go away?”

“Ah,” Karen said, clearly amused by the less-than-diplomatic dismissal. “Then you
are
trying to get rid of me?”

“Yes,” Lauren said emphatically.

Karen had laughed. “Okay, then. I’m out of here.” When she reached the door, she turned back for one last parting shot. “Just make sure somebody brings chocolate. I have a craving.”

So much for any surprise, Lauren thought. “I guarantee there will be lots and lots of chocolate.”

She made all the calls within a half hour, giving away as little as possible as she cajoled Gina into making lasagna and Cassie into picking up a chocolate cake with double-fudge frosting from Stella’s.

“Be here in one hour,” she ordered Emma when she caught up with her at the office. “Not a minute longer.”

“I’m supposed to meet with a client in an hour.”

Only Emma would risk protesting Lauren’s command.

“Is he dying?” Lauren asked.

“No.”

“About to be charged with murder?”

“No, but—”

“Then he can wait. Be here. And pick up some balloons on the way. And some chocolate ice cream, a gallon of it. The good kind with lots of fat and calories.” She hung up before Emma could argue with her.

Satisfied that she was going to pull off the impromptu celebration, Lauren set the dining-room table with the fancy china and silver, then went onto the porch to wait for the party to come to her.

It didn’t surprise her in the slightest that despite her protests Emma was the first to arrive. She exited the car with a handful of bobbing, multicolored balloons, a grocery bag filled with gourmet ice cream and a determined expression.

“What is this all about?” she demanded as Lauren led the way inside and put the ice cream into the freezer.

“You’ll see.”

“Tell me now or die,” Emma ordered.

Lauren regarded her with an exaggerated frown. “Is that any way for an attorney to talk?”

“It is when one of her best friends is keeping secrets,” Emma declared.

“Oh, hush, and help me spread these balloons around so it will look festive.”

“Who’s coming?” Emma asked.

“I’ve rounded up the usual suspects.”

“You got Cassie and Gina to take off in the middle of the day? I’m impressed. How did you accomplish it? Blackmail?”

“Like I’d tell you if that’s what I’d done. Besides, have you ever known one of us to be able to resist a party?” Lauren asked.

“Now that you mention it, no. Is the party for Karen?”

“Maybe.”

“What are we celebrating?” Suddenly her eyes widened. “A baby? That’s it, isn’t it? Karen’s going to have a baby?”

“My lips are sealed,” Lauren insisted.

Emma’s gaze turned diabolical. “Will they still be sealed if I start to tickle you?” she asked, advancing on Lauren. “It used to work like a charm at our slumber parties back in high school.”

“I am no longer ticklish,” Lauren insisted, hoping to discourage her, but backing away in case it didn’t work.

“Then you won’t mind if I try,” Emma said.

Lauren yelped as Emma reached for her. She darted out of the dining room and was racing through the house when Gina came in and skidded to a stop just in time to prevent having her lasagna upended on the living-room rug.

“Help me,” Lauren pleaded, laughing as she hid behind Gina. “There’s a maniac after me.”

Gina chuckled. “Why is Emma after you?”

“Because she won’t tell me what we’re all doing here,” Emma said.

Gina’s grin spread. “That is a good incentive. I think I’ll put this dish right over here and join the chase.”

“Hey,” Karen shouted over the commotion. “Stop it right this second before you knock over all my furniture. I’ll tell.”

“Not till Cassie gets here,” Lauren said sternly. “It’s not fair to leave her out.”

“Leave me out of what?” Cassie asked, coming in with a huge cake box.

“Can I tell?” Lauren pleaded, then stopped herself. “No, of course not. It’s your news. You should tell.”

“As if there’s likely to be any surprise left to it after all this,” Karen grumbled good-naturedly. “Okay, drumroll, please.” She paused dramatically, then announced, “I’m going to have a baby.”

Whoops of delight greeted the announcement, but even before the others could surround her, she gave Lauren a wicked look and added, “And Lauren’s in love.”

After that, there were so many questions, so many hugs, that Lauren’s head was spinning. She grabbed Karen and pulled her from the fray. “This can’t be good for the baby. Sit. I’ll get lunch on the table.” She leaned in closer to whisper, “And I’ll get even with you for this.”

Karen laughed. “Yes, I was sure you would.”

Wade spent the entire day mulling over his conversation with Grady. That night, when he and Lauren met at his place for a quiet dinner alone, it was still on his mind.

Maybe because she was evidently in such a mellow mood—slightly tipsy, in fact—he concluded it was a perfect time to broach the subject of the future, at least in abstract terms.

When the dishes were done and they’d retreated to the porch, he studied her. In the fading sunlight, her skin was radiant. Unlike a lot of redheads, her fair skin hadn’t freckled with all the exposure to the sun. It was still pale as cream, no doubt thanks to the sunscreen he saw her applying every ten seconds when she was outdoors. She’d drawn her hair up into a haphazard ponytail, from which curls escaped to tease her neck
and her cheeks. She was without a doubt the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

And her mouth, ah, that mouth was pure temptation. He grew hard just thinking about its clever, wicked ways. As he studied her, her lips curved slowly and he realized she was staring at him with amusement.

“What?”

“That’s what I should be asking you,” she said. “You were studying me as if I were some sort of exotic specimen you had to report on.”

“You are, you know. You’re the most exotic creature I’ve ever met. You’re sexy and mysterious and sometimes I have to wonder if I even know you at all.”

Something that struck him as alarm flared briefly in her eyes, but was gone in a heartbeat. He couldn’t be sure he’d even seen it at all.

“Of course you know me,” she said, then gave him a dazzling smile. “Pretty much every inch of me, in fact.”

“I’m talking about more than sex,” he said.

“Okay,” she said, her expression cautious. “What did you want to know?”

Everything, he thought with a neediness that surprised him. He wanted to know everything about her childhood, about her years in California, what kind of foods she liked, what her favorite color was. It sounded silly when he put it that way, but it was true. He wanted to know Lauren inside out, the way she seemed to know and understand him. She had gotten him to reveal secrets he’d never shared with another living soul, and she seemed able to see exactly how his past had affected the man he’d become, but he knew none of the same sort of secrets from her past. Had she deliberately kept them hidden, or had he simply never asked?

“Let’s start with something simple,” he said slowly, his gaze locked on her expressive face. “Do you realize that never once in all these weeks have you told me your last name?”

This time there was no mistaking the panic that flashed in her eyes, even though, once again, she covered it almost instantly. He watched and waited, growing increasingly flustered when she continued to hesitate. What was the big deal about a last name? Most people who dated shared that much from their first meeting.

Finally, the casual note in her voice sounding forced, she said, “It’s Winters, Lauren Winters.”

“You said that as if there was some sort of secret about it,” he said, completely baffled by her uneasy reaction.

“No, of course not,” she said hurriedly. “I guess I hadn’t realized I’d never told you or that you hadn’t heard it from Grady or Karen. Funny how you can completely forget about something like that if it’s not out there at the very beginning, isn’t it? How embarrassing to think we’ve slept together and you didn’t even know who I was.”

She was babbling. Wade had never seen her react so nervously…and to what? He’d just asked her last name. Considering the fact that they’d shared a bed, this hardly seemed important. He was missing something here, something important, but maybe it could wait for a moment when she was less edgy. Her mellow mood of a few minutes ago had certainly vanished.