Wrangling the Redhead (9 page)

“Nope.”

“Then I’ll save it for another day when you’re feeling more reasonable.”

“Hell will freeze over first.”

He said it with a ferocity that stunned Lauren. The words sent a chill over her. In that instant, she had a terrible premonition that they were doomed before they ever really got started.

Wade sat at the table in his kitchen, sipping on his long-neck bottle of beer, and watched the mood deteriorate right before his eyes. He had no clue why Lauren seemed to take such offense at his attitude about the rich. She seemed to be taking it personally. Surely, in her experiences in California, she had butted up against plenty of wealthy people who treated lesser mortals the way his daddy had treated his mother. Heck, the way he saw it, that place must be the capital of the egomaniacal rich.

“Let’s shift gears for a minute,” he suggested even
tually, hoping to recapture the earlier mood of easy camaraderie. “Why don’t you tell me about your life in California?”

Rather than seizing on it as the neutral topic he’d hoped for, though, she tensed perceptibly.

“My life in California is over. I’m back in Wyoming to stay,” she said, sounding every bit as defensive as he had earlier.

“Why did you go there in the first place?”

“I told you before—it seemed like it would be exciting,” she said.

“And it wasn’t?”

“It was,” she said. “For a while.”

His gaze narrowed at her terse replies. “Why don’t you want to talk about it?”

“Because it doesn’t matter,” she said.

“It’s part of who you are,” he corrected.

“The same way your father and his actions are a part of who
you
are. You didn’t want to talk about that, any more than I want to discuss a period of my life I’ve put behind me.”

He studied her. There was usually only one reason a woman ran from her past, a man. “Who was he?” he asked eventually, not even sure he wanted to hear the answer.

She regarded him blankly. “Who was who?”

“The man who hurt you.”

Her mouth curved in the beginnings of a smile. “What makes you think there was a man involved?”

“When a woman’s as beautiful as you are, there usually is. Of course, usually it’s the man who winds up brokenhearted.”

“Your mother being the exception to that rule,” she said, deliberately taunting him.

Wade frowned. He was forced to admit that she had pegged that right. “Yes,” he said, his voice tight.

“Well, I hate to disappoint you, but no man chased me off. I came back here because I finally figured out that this is where I belong.”

Wade regarded her with disbelief. “Really? What led you to reach this earth-shattering conclusion?”

“Ever since our class held its reunion a little over a year ago, I’ve been coming back to visit my friends,” she explained. “I finally realized that I’m happier here than I was in Los Angeles. It’s as simple as that.”

She was holding something back. He could hear it in her cautious choice of words, see it in her eyes. “What aren’t you telling me, Lauren?”

She seemed to be waging some sort of internal debate. He waited. Finally, she met his gaze evenly.

“Okay, this has nothing to do with why I came back, but you might as well know that I’ve been married,” she said slowly. “Twice.”

The announcement shook Wade more than anything else she might have said. The thought of her with any other man was enough to make him want to break things. The idea that she’d cared enough about two men to actually marry them made him a little crazy. He didn’t know what to say. What kind of woman had been through two marriages before she turned thirty?

She feigned a halfhearted smile. “You don’t have a quick comeback for that, do you?”

He shook his head. “I guess I’m surprised. You don’t seem like the kind of woman who’d take a decision about marriage lightly.”

“I didn’t,” she said. “Both times, I thought it was true love. It didn’t take long to figure out I was wrong.”

“How long?”

“Less than a year both times,” she admitted with a rueful expression. “That’s why I intend to think long and hard before I make that kind of leap again.” She looked straight into his eyes. “I might never be ready to try it again.”

Her words left him shaken. Not that he’d intended to pop the question tonight, if ever, but it bothered him to realize that she might never be ready to hear it.

“Sounds to me like you’re blaming yourself for something that might not have been your fault,” he said. “It usually takes two people to make a bad marriage.”

“Thank you for saying that, but in both instances it was my mistake. I exercised lousy judgment. Neither man was who I thought he was.”

“Don’t you suppose they set out to make you believe they were whatever you wanted them to be? In other words, that they might have deliberately deceived you?” Pretty much the way Travis had deceived his mother.

Lauren seemed completely startled by his understanding of that. “Of course they did,” she said at once. “But I should have seen through it.”

“Are you some kind of mind reader?” he asked.

“No, but—”

He leaned forward and regarded her intently. “Look, everybody sees what they want to see when they look at another person, especially once their hormones have kicked in. And some people happen to be masters at knowing just which buttons to push. You got taken in. It’s not a character flaw. You were just too trusting.”

A nasty thought occurred to him. “You’re not still pining away for either of those guys, are you?”

She laughed at that, and his mood brightened considerably.

“No way,” she said fervently. “That part of my life was over long before I made the decision to come back here.”

Satisfaction washed over him. “Good. Then we’re both agreed, the past is over with, right? We’re looking forward from here on.”

Lauren lifted her glass, then tapped it against his bottle of beer. “To the future,” she said.

Wade took a long swallow of beer, then echoed, “To the future.”

It was suddenly looking brighter than it had in a very long time.

W
ade stood on the back steps to the main house, frozen in place as Lauren’s heated words carried outside. All of his complacency about the future was being destroyed by the half of the argument he could hear.

“Jason, you can forget about it,” Lauren snapped in a furious tone Wade had never heard her use. “I’ve told you at least a hundred times that I am not coming back. Why can’t you get it through your head that that part of my life is over?”

Those were the same words she’d spoken to him the night before, but they sounded very different now. Wade’s gut churned as he waited to see what would come next.

“No,” she said flatly. “No, absolutely not. Look, it was a great run while it lasted, but that’s it. No more.”

So, he thought, listening to her, despite her claims the night before, she had left someone behind, someone
who hadn’t liked being dumped, someone who was still pestering her. She had lied to him about the men she’d married. They weren’t out of her life, the way she’d insisted. Was it possible that one of them was stalking her? That he hadn’t gotten over the divorce? Or could this be someone entirely different, not an ex-husband but a third man who had a hold on her heart—or thought he did?

Just let him show up in Winding River, Wade thought, filled with rage. He’d put an end to any lingering possessiveness this Jason felt toward Lauren. The thought of another man putting his hands on her—having the
right
to put his hands on her—made Wade crazy. And the fact that it did made him crazier yet.

He sucked in a deep breath and tried to calm down. He had no right to let it make him nuts. He knew that. But that didn’t seem to ease the tightening in his belly or the raw fury that bubbled up inside. He spun away from the door and headed for the barn. Halfway there, he muttered an oath and turned back.

They had business to discuss. They had made a vow in his kitchen the night before to leave the past alone. He wasn’t going to start the day by letting whatever had gone on in Lauren’s past get in the way of the here and now, at least not when it came to the horses. When it concerned the two of them…well, that was a whole other issue. One of these days, he’d ask all the questions that were suddenly nagging at him about whether she’d been totally honest about being rid of emotional ties to her ex-husbands or any other man.

By the time he got back to the house, it was quiet. Apparently the call had ended. He rapped on the door and stepped inside, forcing what he hoped was a completely neutral mask onto his face.

He spotted Lauren at once, sitting at the table, her shoulders hunched, her head resting on her arms. Everything about her looked dejected. Wade had never seen her like that before. She reminded him of Miss Molly. Who the hell was this guy who was capable of sapping the fire right out of her?

“Problems?” he asked cautiously, not sure he wanted to provide a sounding board for whatever personal issues she might have that involved another man. It was one thing to hear about past loves in the abstract, but to hear all the telling details might be more than he could stomach.

Her head snapped up at once. “No,” she said flatly. “Nothing I can’t handle anyway. Did you need me?”

“Grady wanted the two of us to ride over to the Grigsby place today. Grigsby’s got a couple of horses for sale. Word is that he might be planning to sell out.”

A hint of sadness passed across her face. “I remember Otis Grigsby. Gosh, he must be ninety by now. I’m amazed he’s kept that place going as long as he has.”

“Grady seems to think it’s gone downhill a lot the last couple of years, but he says the one thing the old man would never slack off on was caring for his stock.” He studied Lauren’s lackluster expression. “Do you feel like coming, or should I head on over alone?”

“Of course I’ll come,” she said, though without much enthusiasm. “Let me splash some water on my face first. I’ll meet you at the truck. Are you taking a trailer along just in case?”

Wade nodded. “Might as well be prepared. The way I hear it, now that Grigsby has made up his mind to go, he’s in a hurry.”

“Or maybe his son is,” Lauren said. “Otis Junior
never did have much patience where his daddy was concerned. I heard he moved to Phoenix years ago. Maybe he’s intent on getting his father down there, so caring for him will be less inconvenient.”

“Maybe so. Grady didn’t say.” Wade’s gaze narrowed when she showed no sign of moving. Finally, because he couldn’t bear to see her looking like this, he dragged out a chair and sat down opposite her. “Okay, what’s going on? And don’t tell me it’s nothing. You look as if you lost your best friend.”

She met his gaze. “Sorry. I’m just having a bad morning.” She shoved her chair back and started to stand.

“Sit,” Wade ordered. “Talk to me.”

A flash of fire lit her eyes for an instant, and he thought he might have stirred her temper back to life, but then she sighed and sat back down.

Though he’d vowed to say nothing about what he’d overheard, he couldn’t help himself. “Lauren, dammit, what does this mood of yours have to do with that phone call you were on a few minutes ago?” he demanded. “Did you have a little lovers’ tiff?”

Bright patches of color darkened her cheeks at that. “You were listening?” she asked, practically quivering with indignation.

“It was hard not to. I came to the door and you were shouting at the top of your lungs.”

“So you just stood there and eavesdropped?”

“No, dammit, I walked away.”

Her gaze narrowed. “You did?”

“What the hell difference does it make whether I did or I didn’t? Unless, of course, this lover is still very much in the picture after all. Was it one of your ex-husbands?”

She started to respond, then snapped her mouth shut, her expression vaguely guilty.

“What?” he prodded. “Who is Jason?”

She hesitated for a full minute before responding. “Someone I knew in California,” she said eventually, then added pointedly, “Not one of the men I married.”

“A lover?” Wade demanded again.

She looked as if she might take offense, but eventually she shook her head. “No. He was a business associate. Nothing more.”

Wade wasn’t buying it. Nobody had that kind of passionate exchange with a business associate, especially a
former
business associate.

“And that’s all you intend to tell me?”

She nodded. “Believe me, Jason doesn’t matter. Not anymore.”

Wade should have been relieved, but instead he was irritated by her refusal to open up any further. He also found her easy dismissal of the man annoying. Would she dismiss him that cavalierly when their relationship ended? Come to think of it, was her relationship with this Jason even ended? Despite what she claimed, it certainly had sounded as if the two of them had unfinished business. He lost patience with trying to figure it out when it was evident she wasn’t going to give him anything further to go on.

“Fine, whatever,” he snapped, and stood up. “I’ll be waiting in the truck. Don’t take too long. We’ve already wasted enough time this morning.”

He turned his back and stalked outside, barely resisting the urge to grab the nearest object and hurl it across the yard. Why did he let her get to him? Why the hell did it matter to him who she’d been with or what secrets she was still keeping from him? She was
with him now. Well, at least he had reason to believe they would be together one of these days…unless, of course, she drove him completely nuts in the meantime.

Where the heck did Wade get off cross-examining her like a jealous lover? Lauren was still muttering under her breath as she took her own sweet time about getting ready to ride with him to the Grigsby ranch.

Of course, she might not have been half as upset if she hadn’t panicked that he might have overheard something that would give away the secret of her identity. Nothing he’d said, however, suggested that had happened. He was only irritated because she wouldn’t tell him what Jason really meant to her. As if that persistent little weasel could mean anything at all.

Her hotshot agent still hadn’t given up on that big movie deal. He refused to believe that she had no intention of returning to Hollywood. He couldn’t imagine anyone giving up the life she’d had out there to stick around a small town in Wyoming and work with horses. Sometimes Lauren didn’t believe it herself. But the bottom line was that she was happier than she had been in years, and Wade Owens was a big part of that…even if in his own way he was almost as infuriating as Jason.

Maybe she should just tell Wade everything and get it over with, she thought as she splashed water on her overheated face. She wasn’t that great at being secretive. It was taking a toll on her.

But glancing in the mirror at her reflection, Lauren could see on her own features the fear that the prospect stirred in her. Not only was she not ready to give up her prized anonymity, but given all of Wade’s issues with the wealthy, he might walk away the minute he
discovered she had oodles and oodles of money in the bank. She needed more time to convince him that none of that mattered, that she was simply a woman who loved horses and ranching as much as he did.

When she finally joined him in the truck, she turned to face him. “I want to make a pact.”

He studied her with a guarded expression. “Oh?”

“No more talk about Jason or my ex-husbands or your father. Agreed?”

“How did my father get into that mix?”

“They’re all touchy subjects.”

“Okay, then. Are we talking today or forever?”

“We’ll start with today and see how it goes.”

He nodded. “Fair enough, as long as I can say one last thing.”

“Go ahead,” she said.

“Promise me that if you ever need any help, you’ll come to me.”

“Help?”

“With this Jason,” he said tightly. “If the guy doesn’t get your message, let me rephrase it for him.”

He sounded so worried, so completely sincere about his desire to protect her, that she leaned across the gearshift and planted a kiss squarely on his mouth, lingering just long enough to feel the heat flare. When she pulled away, he stared at her, bemused.

“What was that for?” he asked.

“For wanting to fight my battles for me. Not that I’d ever let you, but it’s sweet just the same.”

“I didn’t offer to be ‘sweet,”’ he grumbled.

“I know, that’s why it was so wonderful. Now let’s get over to see Mr. Grigsby. I feel like doing some high-powered horse-trading.”

Wade laughed, the last of his tension draining out of
his face. “Good. Then I’ll let you negotiate. The man will be so dazzled, he’s bound to give us rock-bottom prices.”

“Very funny. I will not use my looks to get a better deal.”

“Too bad. I’m here to tell you it’s your best weapon.”

“Then you haven’t heard me sweet-talking anyone yet,” she assured him with a grin.

His grin spread. “I can hardly wait.”

“You should have heard Lauren,” Wade boasted to Grady when they returned to the Blackhawk ranch with four magnificent horses, all bought at prices well below market value. “She was amazing.”

“I just did a little negotiating,” Lauren insisted. “Otis Junior was anxious to sell, and I took advantage of that.”

“Otis Junior was tongue-tied and all but on his knees by the time you finished with him,” Wade corrected. “I’ve never seen anything like it. I’m just glad you were on our side.”

He realized then that Karen and Grady were exchanging a thoroughly amused, knowing look. “Of course, you two know she’s good. You’ve probably seen her in action. This was a first for me. I’ve never before known anyone who could rob a man blind and make him grateful for it.”

“Thank you, I think,” Lauren said.

“Trust me, it was a compliment, darlin’. I would have kissed you on the spot, but I was afraid it might shake the delicate balance of the negotiations. I think Otis Junior will be calling before the night’s over to ask you out himself.”

“Otis Junior is a pig,” she said, dismissing the man. “He has a wife and four children down in Phoenix and everyone knows it.”

“That didn’t seem to stop him from thinking he’d made a conquest this afternoon,” Wade said. In fact, for a minute, he’d almost belted the man for daring to look at Lauren as if she were high-priced beef available for the right price. Then he’d realized that Lauren was in total control of the situation, and he’d forced himself to sit back and let her run with it.

“All part of the strategy,” she assured him now.

“I want to hear everything,” Karen said. “Dinner’s in the oven. We’re expecting you two to join us.”

“I’ve got to get the horses settled,” Wade argued.

“And I need to help him,” Lauren said.

“And dinner will wait till you’re done,” Karen said. “You’re not getting out of this, so hurry before the pot roast overcooks.”

Wade resigned himself to an evening of probing questions and pointed looks. He knew that Grady and Karen had a whole lot of ideas about him and Lauren. He shared quite a few of them, but that didn’t mean he wanted to have his every action held under a microscope.

“It’s going to be a long evening,” Lauren noted as they unloaded the horses from the trailer and led them into the barn.

“Yeah, I got that impression,” he said.

“You could get out of it,” she offered. “There’s no reason both of us need to be cross-examined.”

Wade paused in what he was doing and met her gaze. “Here’s the thing. The way I see it, we’re in this together.” He grinned. “Besides, if we’re both there
when they’re poking and prodding, there’s less likelihood we’ll get our stories mixed up.”

Lauren laughed. “I see you’ve caught on to their divide-and-conquer strategy.”

He nodded. “Not five minutes after you showed up,” he said. “There was no mistaking which way the wind was blowing with those two. They’ve been hoping something will happen between us.”

“You don’t mind?”

“Not if you don’t.”

“Oddly enough, I don’t. Normally I’d hate the meddling, but it’s Karen and Grady.” She chuckled. “Besides, I gave them fits when they were seeing each other. I guess they have a right to bug me. I’m surprised you’re not bothered by it, though. It pretty much puts you on the spot.”