Mary Leo – A Cowboy To Kiss (страница 8)
She loved that travel mug.
“So,” he said as he poured. “Joel, your dad and I trailed your mares out to the east pasture this morning, just in case you change your mind about my stallions.”
He added cream to the mug, closed it up tight, smiled and held it out for Kenzie, the logo prominently on display.
She wanted to lay into him for moving her mares, but that dang Keep Calm and Cowboy On logo reminded her that anger was not how she should handle this situation. Obviously, not only was her dad on Jake’s side, but so was her brother-in-law and her sister Callie. She wondered if even her own mother had fallen into the Jake-pit-of-cowboy-charm?
All she had to do at the moment was breathe...in, out...in, out.
“You might want this for later,” he told her, the smirk gone, looking more sexy than a man had a right to. His dark hair had that tousled style she loved, and his once scruffy chin appeared to have been recently shaved. His green eyes sparkled, and his black T-shirt seemed extra tight across his muscled chest. If she didn’t dislike his haughty attitude so much, she could see herself falling in step with this “natural” cowboy.
Just not today.
Not when he’d moved her mares without her consent. She vowed to never oversleep again, at least not until she could get him to leave...which she intended to do...today if possible.
This was war!
“I might,” she answered, grabbing the dang travel mug from his outstretched hand, while she abandoned her own mug of bad-tasting tepid coffee on the counter. “Thanks.”
Then she reached over and filched the raspberry scone off her sister’s plate.
“You don’t even like raspberries,” she told Callie, as she hustled out of the back door with Jake trailing close behind.
* * *
AFTER A REALLY bad night’s sleep due to a number of reasons, one of them being a complete lack of any sort of comfort, Jake thought things couldn’t get much worse. But then what did he know about a woman who seemed to be on a mission to get him to leave as soon as possible?
He’d driven down to the Grant ranch to help out his dad’s best friend, sure, but he had also hoped for some time to reflect and regroup. So far all of those desires seemed to be as elusive as a royal flush in a high-stakes poker game.
He’d gotten the okay from Henry that morning, while Kenzie slept, to move the mares out of the barn. Henry had assured him that it would be all right. The two hired hands were off that morning, so Jake had simply led the mares over. Joel helped out with the move, but he had his own ranch to run, the Double S, where Kenzie’s parents’ anniversary wedding ceremony would be held.
Jake had thought he and Joel were doing a good thing when the mares started getting restless in their stalls. They even cleaned the stalls while Kenzie slept, but none of that seemed to matter to her. Not even the fact that he’d made sure his stallions were secure in the corral before he and Joel walked the mares out to the fenced pasture.
Apparently, Kenzie didn’t appreciate anything that they’d done.
“We have to move the mares back to the corral, and get your horses out of there. I would prefer you put them in your horse trailer and drive them back to Montana, but for now the barn is fine. That pasture is for my heifers. We’re scheduled to move twenty-two heifers tomorrow morning.”
“Then what’s the harm in your mares spending today out there?”
She gazed at him while holding on to her mug, looking mighty good under the midmorning sun. He hoped she would agree because just getting the mares out into those pastures took a bit of doing. Like their owner, none of them were particularly cooperative.
“Fine,” she finally said, “but they can’t spend the night. The terrain might be too rugged for them in the dark.”
“Then we’ll bring them in before dusk.”
“There’s no we about it. You brought them out there, so you can lead them back. I’ll be too busy with...other things to help you.”
He thought by her hesitation that she was simply trying to make it more difficult on him. However, he liked that she wasn’t pushing him off the ranch, either.
“Sounds like an invitation to stay another day.”
She stared at him, took a long swallow from the travel mug and said, “I’ve got work to do. If you’re going to be here anyway, maybe you can do something other than brew coffee and move my mares around.”
“Whatever you need.”
Her eyes went wide and he wondered what went on in that head of hers as she flashed a momentary smirk.
Then as soon as his gaze rested on her lips, the smile vanished. “You can help me clean out the guesthouse, load it all into my pickup and drive it over to my brother Carson’s house in town. He’s been too busy helping plan the upcoming Cowboy Days to get to it. That’s where your parents will be staying once they arrive. I’ve been using it for storage and, I’m afraid, so have my siblings. It might be in pretty bad shape.”
“If I help clean it out, would it be okay if I move in while I’m here?” As much as Jake liked being close to Kenzie at night, just knowing she made love like an alley cat didn’t much help lull him to sleep...nor did the tiny size of the porch bed.
She squinted as they stood out in front of the horse barn, the sun blazing down on them like a spotlight in an interrogation room.
“Let me get this straight. Just how long do you intend to hang around here?”
“As long as it takes.”
“As long as it takes for what?”
“For you to smile at me.”
She flashed him a great big pearly white smile. “How’s that?”
“Pathetic. My horse has a more genuine smile.”
“Your horse doesn’t know any better. You’re the hand that feeds him.”
“Is that what you want? Food? ’Cause if you do, I’m a great cook.”
She stepped in closer to him, narrowing her eyes. “Is there anything you can’t do, Jake Scott? Or are your virtues boundless?”
Teasing Kenzie had always been fun, but now that they were both adults, he had to admit, he liked it even more. His dad liked to tease his mom the same way. He always said it acted like a barometer. If his mom interacted with him, and got all riled up, he knew she still liked being with him. The day she stopped reacting was the day he’d start worrying.
So far, his dad didn’t have a care in the world...except maybe which of his sons would take over the ranch. Jake knew it would most likely be him, but for some reason, he hadn’t really made that clear to his dad...yet. He didn’t want to step on any toes in case one of his two brothers wanted the glory for himself. But so far, neither one had stepped up to the plate.
“Pretty much boundless,” he told her, knowing it was total baloney. Lately, ever since his divorce, he couldn’t seem to do the most menial of chores. He’d burn all his food, pound and poke his fingers whenever he’d try to mend a fence or build something. Forget to order hay and have to buy it locally paying almost twice the amount. The list was endless. He’d been so distracted with his own thoughts that whatever he tried to do wouldn’t get done. Even his brothers had mentioned it to him, and Lucas had tried to pick up the slack.
And his parents...well, they just worried.
But since he’d gotten the phone call from Henry asking him to come on down for a spell, his whole attitude had begun to change.
And sparring with Kenzie seemed to pick up his spirits even more.
She threw him an eye roll. “You really are full of yourself, aren’t you?”
“Just telling the truth.”
“Oh, you always did infuriate me.”
He thought about his dad’s barometer and smirked. “And you always tempted me.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? Tempted you how?”
“To kiss you.”
He leaned in, thinking maybe all her bluster was a prelude to that alley cat lover hidden inside, but she shoved him away with both hands, and he nearly fell right on his butt in the process.
“Let’s get one thing straight. I’m only tolerating your presence here because my dad invited you. I have absolutely no desire to get intimate with you on any level. Do you understand me? Or is that pig-headed brain of yours too ripe with self-adulation that you can’t understand the truth?”
That barometer was heading up toward the bursting point, and Jake loved every minute of it.
“I hear you loud and clear,” he said, trying his best to avoid showing the smile that tugged at his lips. “Now, where’s that guest cabin?”
* * *
THE CABIN WAS in worse shape than Kenzie had envisioned it to be. Not only was it filled with Carson’s things, but some of the furniture had water damage from an apparent open window and the wooden floor in front of the window had warped.
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
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