Wrangling the Redhead (7 page)

He stared at her. “What?”

This time she did laugh out loud. “It wasn’t a trick question. It’s a hot night. I asked if you wanted some iced tea—I brought a pitcher out with me. I can run in and get an extra glass.”

Wade considered the friendly gesture. What could be the harm, especially now that he’d laid all his cards on the table? She knew there weren’t going to be any more kisses. They both knew it. And he had a plan to stay out of her path from here on out. In the meantime, there was no reason not to stay for a few minutes of polite sociability.

“Sure,” he said finally. “But I’ll get the glass. I know where they are.” Besides, the walk inside would give him a few minutes to cool off and shake the temptation to kiss her again. He figured it would set a very bad precedent if he kissed her not five minutes after swearing that he would never do it again.

She shrugged. “Whatever.” She turned her gaze to the night sky as if what he did were of no consequence at all.

For some reason that annoyed Wade just as much as everything else Lauren did. He stalked past her, went into the kitchen and retrieved a glass. He was on his way back to the porch when Grady caught him in the front hall.

“You need something, Wade?”

“Just getting a glass,” he said, relieved that the overhead light was off so his boss wouldn’t see the color that was no doubt flaming in his cheeks.

“None down at your place?” Grady inquired, laughter threading through his voice.

Wade found himself clenching his teeth. “Actually, Lauren asked me to join her for a glass of iced tea.”

“You two getting along better, then?”

“It’s a constant test of our natural instinct to butt heads, but we’re trying.”

Grady nodded. “That’s good. Well, you two enjoy yourselves.”

He sounded too much like a father anxious to see his daughter settled down. Hearing that tone in his voice made Wade’s skin crawl. “You could come on out and join us,” he said, suddenly desperate for a buffer.

“Not me. I have plans, and they don’t include the likes of you. Karen’s upstairs.”

How could he have forgotten that? It seemed as if sex was in the air tonight and there was no escaping it. “Yeah, right,” Wade mumbled. “Well, see you tomorrow.”

“Crack of dawn,” Grady said. “We’ve got to move the herd to the west pasture.”

Wade had completely forgotten that he’d offered to help out with that. “What about Lauren?”

“What about her?” Grady asked.

“Maybe I’d better tell her to spend the day shopping or something,” Wade suggested.

What might have started out as a laugh suddenly turned into a cough. “Why don’t you do that?” Grady said. “I think I’ll come out after all and watch.”

Wade sighed. “You don’t think she’ll go for it, do you?”

“I think she’ll cut you up in little pieces and spit you out if you even suggest such a thing,” Grady said cheerfully.

“It was just an idea. I don’t want her around Midnight without someone to keep an eye on things.”

“Then tell her what your concerns are and let her decide.”

“Her?” Wade asked. “Lauren’s impulsive and stubborn. She’ll spend the whole blasted day with the horse just to spite me.”

“Then it’ll be her choice,” Grady said.

Wade felt his stomach turn over. “And if we come back and find her lying in the dirt with a couple of cracked ribs or worse, will that be her choice, too?”

Grady’s expression sobered. “You’re really worried, aren’t you? Aren’t things going as well as I’d hoped they would?”

“Up to a point,” Wade said cautiously. “But she’s
the kind of woman who’ll push the limits, and you know it.”

“Talk to her,” Grady said again. “Lauren’s a lot smarter than you’re giving her credit for being. She’s not going to do anything foolish unless you goad her into it.”

Wade scowled at having the responsibility for Lauren’s actions placed squarely on his shoulders once again. “I’ll talk to her,” he said grimly. “Not that I think it’ll do any good.”

He walked outside and let the screen door slam behind him, so he couldn’t be accused of sneaking up on her again.

“Nice to know you have such a favorable impression of my common sense,” Lauren said mildly.

Wade groaned. After her protests about how he was always sneaking around, it had never occurred to him that she could hear every word he and Grady had exchanged inside the house.

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

“Are you really?” she asked. “Or are you just sorry you got caught?”

“Mostly the latter,” he said with candor. “I try never to insult a woman to her face.”

“Just behind her back?”

“If we’re going to get into a sparring match over this, can I have some of that tea?” he asked.

Lauren nodded toward the table. “There’s the pitcher. Help yourself.”

Despite himself, he bit back a grin. He should have known she wasn’t going to demean herself by waiting on him. He poured the tea, took a long swallow and tried to find some way to get his foot out of his mouth.

“Since you heard everything we said, I don’t sup
pose there’s any chance at all that you’ll consider going over to Winding River tomorrow and spending the day shopping?” he asked hopefully.

She beamed at him. “Nope. Consistency is important when you’re working with a horse. I need to stay right here.”

Because she was right, he didn’t have a good argument for that. “Will you at least promise to stay out of the corral, to keep the fence between you and Midnight?”

“Midnight is not going to hurt me.”

Wade’s frustration mounted. “Dammit, you don’t know that. He was as good as wild a few weeks ago.”

“And he’s trusting me more and more every day. You’ve seen it yourself.”

“I just don’t want you getting overconfident and taking risks, especially with nobody else around,” Wade insisted.

Her gaze met his and lingered. He saw the precise moment when curiosity was replaced by surprise. Her expression softened.

“This isn’t some macho edict, is it?” she asked, studying him. “You’re really worried about me.”

“I’m just not sure Grady and Karen have enough insurance to pay for patching your head back together,” he insisted, refusing to admit that he cared the least little bit on his own behalf.

She reached for his hand. “No, you’re worried about me, aren’t you, Wade? Admit it.”

He frowned at her persistence, but he wasn’t going to lie. “Okay, fine. Yes, I’m worried about you.”

“Why?”

Now that, he thought, was the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question. “Because anything that has to do with
the horses around here is my responsibility,” he said finally.

“So, this is purely a selfish concern on your part,” she said, her gaze still clashing with his, daring him to deny it.

“Yes,” he insisted.

“Bull,” she said softly. “But I’ll let it pass this time.”

She stood up, and the movement was enough to send the scent of her perfume wafting toward him. She put her hand on his cheek, then slowly withdrew it. “Thanks for caring.”

She was gone before he could think of a satisfactory comeback.

“How did you and Wade make out last night?” Grady inquired as he bolted down his breakfast at dawn the next morning.

Karen’s gaze shot toward Lauren. “You were with Wade last night?”

“He stopped by,” Lauren said tightly. “We talked for a while, though he and Grady actually had a much more fascinating conversation in the foyer.”

Dull red climbed into Grady’s cheeks. “Damn!”

Lauren grinned at him. “It’s nice that you took my side. And actually it’s rather sweet that Wade’s so worried about me, even if it is annoying that he doesn’t trust me to have a grain of sense in my head.”

Karen listened, looking spellbound by the entire exchange. “My, my. Wade’s sweet
and
annoying, all in one breath. Where was I when all this was going on?”

“Tucked into bed waiting for your husband,” Lauren said. “See what happens when you have a one-
track mind? You miss all the fun stuff that goes on around here.”

Karen’s gaze flew to meet her husband’s, and her cheeks flushed. “Oh, I don’t know about that.”

Lauren groaned. “I’m going to the barn. If the horses have the hots for each other, at least I don’t have to hear about it.”

“But
I
want to hear every last detail about you and Wade,” Karen called after her. “I won’t forget about this.”

Lauren sighed. “Yes, I know. It’s one of those sad truths I’ve come to accept. You’re the worst meddler in our crowd, and I have the misfortune to be living right under your nose.”

“You could move in with Wade,” Grady suggested, trying to look innocent and failing miserably.

“What have I done to myself?” Lauren asked with a resigned sigh. “You’re as bad as she is.”

“Actually, we’re a helluva team,” Karen said. “Face it, sweetie, you’re doomed.”

“I refuse to accept that,” Lauren said adamantly.

Karen grinned. “I know. That’s why this is so much fun.”

L
auren was almost at the barn when she heard a car pull up, then the sharp sound of two doors slamming. She turned back just in time to spot Emma and her daughter, Caitlyn, heading her way. Emma waved at Lauren, but all of the child’s attention was focused on the horses in the corral.

“Hey, there,” Lauren called out. “What brings you two out this way?”

“Caitlyn wanted to visit her aunt Karen’s horses,” Emma claimed with a perfectly straight face. “She’s been obsessed with them ever since her grandfather gave her that pony. And now that she’s seven—”

“I’m almost eight,” Caitlyn corrected.

Emma gave Lauren a rueful smile. “Excuse me. Now that she’s almost eight, she wants a grown-up horse.”

Lauren shook her head. The explanation might be
true enough as far as it went, but there was more. Workaholic Emma wouldn’t have made the drive on a weekday just to satisfy her daughter’s whim. Nope, this was all about Emma’s curiosity, which had clearly been fanned by reports of the events of two nights ago from Cassie or Stella or both.

“Nice try,” Lauren said to Emma, “but there are plenty of horses at your folks’ place. What’s the real reason you’re here? Or should I even bother to ask?”

“Okay, the truth? We wanted to check up on you,” Emma said, still feigning innocence. “How are you settling in?”

Lauren took one look at the amusement glinting in Emma’s eyes and sighed. That look went way beyond casual interest. She definitely knew something—or thought she did.

“What have you heard?” Lauren asked, resigned to a cross-examination.

“Heard?” Emma asked, though her innocent expression was wavering. “Is there something to hear?”

Lauren frowned. “To borrow an expression from an attorney who used to be among my best friends, go suck an egg.”

Emma laughed. “Then it’s true? You
were
getting all nice and cozy with Grady’s new wrangler at Stella’s the night before last? That was the first thing I heard over coffee this morning. Cassie couldn’t wait to spill the beans.”

“Define cozy,” Lauren said. “We were with Karen and Grady, after all. And is this something we should be discussing in front of your daughter?”

Actually Caitlyn was already inching toward the rail at the corral and was pretty much out of earshot.

Emma chuckled. “Speaking of nice tries,” she said.
“But you’re not getting away with it, either. Caitlyn is far more interested in the horses than she is in anything we have to say. Now talk to me. What’s the deal? Who is this guy? What do you know about him? How involved are the two of you?”

“There’s nothing to tell,” Lauren said. “That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.”

Emma’s gaze suddenly shifted away. “Hmm? Could this be the man in question coming our way? Maybe
he’ll
be more talkative.”

Lauren spun around and shot a warning look in Wade’s direction. “Stay away,” she shouted.

He regarded her with confusion. “Why?”

“Because Emma has questions, and she’s a seasoned trial attorney. She’ll grill you until you tell her what she wants to know.”

She should have guessed that that was the exact wrong thing to say. Wade hesitated, then closed the distance despite her warning. If anything, he looked intrigued.

“I have nothing to hide,” he said. “What’s the crime?”

“No crime,” Lauren said, resigned to the inevitable. “Emma has heard things about the two of us.”

Wade looked nonplussed by that, but he was too close now to turn tail and run. Not that he would have, anyway, she realized. He’d already done his part at Stella’s to keep the talk alive. He was clearly enjoying either her discomfort or being the center of attention himself.

“Fascinating,” he said now. “According to these reports, was I any good?”

Emma shifted her gaze to Lauren. “Now that
is
fas
cinating. My sources didn’t seem to know that things had gone that far.”

“
Things,
as you so eloquently put it, haven’t gone anywhere at all,” Lauren said. “Wade’s just trying to stir up the pot. He seems to find it amusing, while I, to the contrary, have had my fill of people dissecting my life. In no time at all, it gets out of hand.”

Emma’s expression sobered at once. “Sorry. I wasn’t thinking. You’re right. Of all people, I should know better. I’ve had my own share of run-ins with the media. I know how quickly things can get out of hand.”

“Media?” Wade said, picking up on the telling remark at once. “Why would they be involved? I thought this was about small-town gossip.”

Lauren shot a discouraging look at Emma, then told Wade, “Emma had a bad encounter with the Denver press.” Perhaps she could shift all of the focus to Emma and away from her own experiences.

“Aren’t you Ford Hamilton’s wife now?” Wade asked Emma. “You must have gotten over it, if you decided to marry the editor of the local paper.”

“I trust my husband,” Emma agreed. “But not the media in general.”

He nodded. “Fair enough. But what does any of that have to do with Lauren?”

“It’s not important,” Lauren said hurriedly. “Did you need me for something?”

He stared at her blankly for a minute, then nodded. “Oh, yeah, I was going to let you know that I’m leaving now. I’ll be gone most of the day. Remember what we talked about.”

“My memory’s not that short,” she said testily. “I
don’t need to be reminded that you don’t trust my judgment.”

“Lauren—”

“I know, I know. I won’t do anything stupid.”

He gave a curt nod of satisfaction. “That’s good. I’ll hear about it if you do.”

“Who’s going to tell? Midnight? Is the horse conversing with you now?”

“Dammit, Lauren, this isn’t a game,” he said with evident frustration. “He’s still dangerous.”

No sooner were the words out of his mouth than Lauren heard Caitlyn calling out to an approaching horse. She turned just in time to see Midnight dancing closer to the child, who had climbed atop the split-rail fence. Midnight was probably braving the encounter with the hope of getting one of the treats Lauren had been bringing him on a daily basis.

Wade spotted the potential for tragedy at precisely the same moment. Before Lauren could even begin to gather her wits, he was across the ground scooping Caitlyn into his arms and out of the horse’s reach. Caitlyn was scowling at her abrupt removal.

“Why’d you do that?” she demanded, regarding Wade with a disapproving pout. She was completely oblivious to the danger she’d been in.

Wade grinned at her to take the sting out of his action. “Because Midnight’s scared of pretty little girls.”

The pout faded and Caitlyn’s eyes widened with interest. “That great big horse is scared of
me?
”

“Yes, indeed,” Wade confirmed.

Caitlyn still looked doubtful. “He didn’t look scared.”

Emma turned to Lauren, a question in her eyes.

“The problem horse I’ve been working with,” Lauren mouthed quietly.

The color drained out of Emma’s face. She gathered Caitlyn out of Wade’s arms and hugged her so hard the child protested.

“Mommy, stop!”

“Sorry, baby, for a minute there you had me scared, too,” Emma said, then lifted her gaze to Wade. “Thank you.”

He shrugged. “Not a problem. It probably would have been fine, but it’s better to be safe than sorry,” he said, with a pointed look at Lauren.

“I’ll use my head,” she promised. “Now go. Grady needs your help this morning. He’s probably chomping at the bit to get started.”

Wade nodded, and after one more long look, he turned on his heel, mounted his horse and rode off.

“My, my,” Emma murmured when he’d gone. “I see what Cassie was talking about. The sparks between you two are better than the Fourth of July fireworks.”

Caitlyn picked up on her mother’s remark and regarded Lauren seriously. “Is he your boyfriend, Aunt Lauren?”

“Absolutely not,” Lauren said heatedly.

But the idea was beginning to hold more appeal than she cared to admit. And seeing Wade with Caitlyn cradled protectively against his chest had certainly helped to enhance that appeal.

Wade still got nauseous when he thought of what could have happened to Caitlyn if Midnight had gotten fractious when she was within inches of his hooves earlier. He couldn’t seem to shake that image.

Nor was he able to shake the probability that Lauren
would deliberately defy him today, despite her promise. He didn’t trust that promise any more than he’d ever trusted his mother’s promise that one day his rich daddy was going to come for them. The bad feeling in the pit of his stomach wasn’t going to go away until he got back to the ranch and found Lauren in one piece.

“What’s on your mind?” Grady asked, riding up alongside him as they slowly made their way home after the long, hard day. “Or should I ask who?”

“Look, you’re the one who made Lauren’s safety my concern,” Wade grumbled. “Is it any wonder I keep thinking about all the mischief she could have gotten into while we were gone today?”

“Didn’t she agree that she wouldn’t try anything dangerous?” Grady asked reasonably.

“Yes, but her definition of dangerous and mine would probably differ significantly.”

“She won’t go back on her word,” Grady insisted.

“If you say so,” Wade said, unable to hide his skepticism.

“You don’t trust easily, do you?”

“Never had any reason to,” Wade said. “Too damn few of the people in my life ever kept their word.”

“I’m sorry,” Grady told him with genuine sympathy. “That must have been a helluva way to grow up.”

Wade shrugged. “It’s a lesson every man needs to learn sooner or later. I just caught on sooner than most.”

“You’re wrong about that,” Grady insisted. “Most people are honest and caring and trustworthy, if you give ’em half a chance.”

“You can afford to say that with people like your grandfather and Karen in your life.” Wade knew that Grady’s grandfather, Thomas Blackhawk, was an hon
orable man. He’d heard a lot of stories about him since coming to the ranch, though he had yet to meet the sage Native American. As for Karen, she’d treated Wade with nothing but kindness and respect. He could believe she was an exception to his rule, too.

“Lauren’s one of Karen’s best friends,” Grady pointed out. “Do you honestly think they’d be close if Lauren weren’t cut from the same cloth? That whole gang of them—they call themselves the Calamity Janes—are loyal to a fault. Keep that in mind in case you’re ever tempted to do anything that might hurt Lauren.”

Wade sighed at the warning. He wasn’t going to win this argument about trustworthiness. In fact, he wasn’t even sure he wanted to. A part of him prayed that Grady was right about Lauren, but it was way too soon for him to put any faith in her yet. Her behavior while he’d been gone today might be a start toward convincing him, though.

“Keep an open mind,” Grady urged as they rode toward the house. “That’s all I’m saying.”

Wade nodded. “I’ll do my best.”

But when he walked into the barn, he found it disconcerting to see Lauren wearing dirt-streaked jeans, dusty boots and a blouse that looked as if she’d been wrestling a hog. She hadn’t gotten into that state by sitting on her pretty little derriere in the ranch office all day long or sipping lemonade on the porch. So much for honor and trust, he thought.

“Tough day?” he inquired mildly, leaning against the doorjamb and studying her intently to see if there was any evidence of scrapes or bruises to go along with the general disarray.

Her gaze shot up to clash with his, and her expression turned defiant. “Quite productive, actually.”

“Oh?”

“I had a little test of wills with a certain horse.”

Wade’s temper soared. Absolute panic lodged in his throat, even though he could see perfectly well that whatever she’d done, she was still in one piece. If she had any injuries, they weren’t obvious.

He shoved away from the door and began to pace. “Dammit, Lauren, I warned you to stay the hell away from Midnight. Whatever possessed you to defy me the second my back was turned, especially after you’d promised to do as I asked?” He glared at her. “Typical female. You just had to have your own way, didn’t you? Answer me this. Is Midnight all right?”

She returned his gaze evenly, though the color in her cheeks was high. “Midnight is just fine, you idiot. And I did not defy you. It was Miss Molly who objected to joining me for a little ride around the corral.”

Wade stopped in his tracks. “Miss Molly did this? She threw you?”

“Five times,” Lauren confirmed.

He muttered a soft curse. “You don’t catch on quick, do you?”

“I was going to give her ten chances, but she came through for me on the sixth try,” Lauren said, her expression tired but triumphant. “We reached an agreement. One trip around the corral and she got carrots for dessert tonight.”

Wade strode over so that he could examine her more closely. Except for the dishevelment, she looked just fine. “You’re really okay?”

“My butt may not be the same for a while, but other than that, I’m fine.”

He shoved a hand through his hair. “I didn’t expect you to get this far with her this fast.”

“Well, she seemed docile enough when I led her out of her stall. I thought the ride would go fine.” She shrugged. “I was wrong.”

“How is she now?”

Her expression fell then. “I wish I could tell you that this had solved everything, but it didn’t. She went straight into her stall, ignored her feed and turned her back on me. Reminds me of a kid trying to make a point after being forced to eat his spinach. At least she got some exercise today. Maybe tomorrow will be better.”

Wade was torn between his desire to check on his horse and his longing to touch the woman standing in front of him. Once all of the anger and panic had drained away, he’d been left with this insatiable need to hold her. Because that was a really bad idea, he backed away and went to see Miss Molly.

The horse was standing quietly in her stall, looking as dejected as ever. Her ears twitched when he approached, but she made no move to come to him.

“So, I hear you had yourself quite a time today, girl,” he said, reaching over the gate and rubbing a hand along her neck. She shuddered at the touch and gazed at him with those liquid brown eyes that had seemed so sad the last few weeks. “You know Lauren’s just trying to help you. It’s not very polite to toss her on her butt over and over again.”