Rustlers and Romance [Saddle Creek 1] (BookStrand Publishing Romance) Page 10

  Wake up, man. Why am I dreaming of her like this? Maybe the old man was right. Maybe I should offer her a ring.

  Would matrimony be a way to protect her from Clint and anyone else who might intend her harm? Would it stop other men thinking she was free? The thought of her being with another man turned his stomach. He wanted her all to himself.

  He frowned and drew his mouth in to a thin line. The best solution was to come up with a real job for her at the ranch so she’d feel she was earning her keep.

  Maybe he could teach her to do some horse training. She caught on to riding real quick and seemed to have a way with horses. He gave a mental nod. He’d talk to Amos. He trusted his opinion.

  Chase had hired his right-hand man the first week after buying the Jack. Amos had shown him everything about ranching and horse breeding and, when it came to those two things, what Amos didn’t know wasn’t worth knowing. He took the man’s advice seriously. Yeah, he’d talk to the old geezer.

  He turned off the paved highway and onto the dirt road that led to the Jack of Aces main house. In a few minutes, they’d be home, and their time alone would be over. He glanced at Lauren. She sat forward on the seat, looking out the window as if taking a mental snapshot of the view, storing every detail to look at some other time.

  Did her furtive look mean she was making plans to go back on the run? How much time did he have before she left him? He bit his lip, swallowed, and clenched the steering wheel. He rolled the thought of marrying her through his mind again. Marriage would keep her close to him all the time.

  He grinned. It wouldn’t be such a hardship to return to her arms after a hard day in the summer sun or have her calm beauty close during those long winter nights. His bed would be filled with her luscious curves, the soft fall of her enchanting hair, sweeping over him. The house would ring with her and their children’s laughter.

  He swallowed hard. Children. God, he hadn’t considered kids. A little girl would look just like her mama with brilliant green eyes, dimples, and light-brown hair. He’d teach her how to ride Lucy before she could walk. Their little boy would have his stubbornness and devilish blue eyes, just enough to keep Lauren happy laughing and on the run. The thought pleased him endlessly.

  As her husband, it would be his duty and privilege to take care of her. After he said, “I do,” he meant to keep every vow, now and forevermore. He’d love, honor, respect, and trust her, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health. She’d be the most precious part of his life, along with their children, of course. He didn’t need to consider anything else. Life with Lauren would be good. As they approached the ranch house, Amos stood on the front porch, waving his arms. “What the hell?” Chase said, skidding the truck to a stop at the steps. “Something must be wrong.” Lauren reached for the door handle.

  The old man rushed to Chase’s side of the truck. “I’m afraid more of the herd’s missing, boss. I’ve got the ranch covered from one end to the other and already called Mitch. He’ll be here directly,” Amos reported, shifting from one foot to the other.

  “How many this time?”

  “Around ten head is the best guess, from the south pasture.” His gaze darted back and forth between Chase and Lauren.

  “Same way? Cutting the fence line?”

  “Yep, far as I can tell. Thing is, we had men patrolling last night, and I thought sure that spot was secure. I know we checked out them new fellas, but I’m thinking one-a them must be a Judas.”

  “Get the men who patrolled the south pasture last night. I want to talk to them now, in the barn office.”

  “But, boss, I got them working on—”

  “I don’t care what they’re doing. Tell them to drop it and get in here. They aren’t going to like it if I have to come looking for them.” Chase fisted his hand so tight his knuckles turned white. He turned to Lauren. “Go on in the house and see what you can do about lunch, while I take care of this.” He lifted her chin and kissed her lips to reassure her he had everything under control.

  “Sure. I’ll ring the bell when lunch is ready.”

  Chase reached for the dress in the backseat at the same time as Lauren. His hand touched hers and a jolt of desire cut through his anger and robbed his common sense. He let go of the dress, but he couldn’t let go of the sight of her hips as she walked away, the dress folded over her arm, her hair moving ever so slightly in the breeze.

  Nor could he let go of the idea that he was a fool. A goddamned fool for not being able to let her walk away.

  Chapter 15

  Lauren’s knees trembled as she walked into the house. Just the smallest touch from him set her on fire. She went to the kitchen sink and fixed a cool drink of water to put out the flames. What was wrong with her? Her heart raced with an exquisite excitement that made her want to touch him again. She couldn’t stop thinking about him. How his scent wafted through the air, mingling with other smells that titillated her senses. His kisses on her neck that were soft, simple caresses. His voice and how it vibrated throughout the room and sent chills down her spine.

  Her ex-boyfriend never excited her like that, but Chase was different in so many ways from Clint. Chase treated Amos with respect and doled out thank-yous and sincerely cared about his ranch hands. He was patient and gentle with his horses.

  If anyone stole something from Clint, he’d go ballistic. He’d take the law in to his own hands and beat the person to a pulp, not call the authorities to handle the problem legally like Chase.

  What if Clint is behind the horse rustling somehow, just trying to cause trouble for Chase because he’s helping me out? Maybe he followed the truck from the diner and knows I’m here. Maybe he’s been spying on me, waiting for his moment to strike.

  She stared at the barn from the open window above the sink. What was happening out there? Chase’s face had turned red with anger when Amos told him about another theft, but Lauren didn’t hear any yelling from the barn office. No one came flying through the door, landing on his backside. Chase was probably handling things in his usual calm and composed way.

  Just like he’d curbed his temper, turned to her with kindness in his eyes, and told her to go into the house.

  Would he always be tender to her if she lived with him day and night, during their lovemaking, when she had his babies? Oh my god! A thought struck her between the shoulder blades and knocked the breath from her lungs.

  She’d never really thought about their sex together resulting in a baby. What if she was pregnant already? She touched her abdomen with her hands, almost hoping there was a baby already growing inside her.

  What will he or she look like? Will they have his gorgeous blue eyes and blond hair or my bright eyes and dark hair, or will they be a combination of both? Our kids would be beautiful either way, that’s for sure.

  A bouncing little boy with his twinkling, devilish eyes, the joy on his face as he drives the tractor for the first time or slams a baseball over his dad’s head. Or his sweet baby girl, who he’d teach to ride before she could walk, have tea parties, and watch her barrel race when she’s older. She knew Chase would protect all of them with his life.

  She ran up the stairs and hung her dress in the closet, then raced back down to make lunch. While she put together some hearty soup and a large plate of grilled cheese sandwiches, she tried to compose herself before she saw Chase again. When she crossed the wide porch to ring the supper bell, Sheriff Mitch’s cruiser pulled up the drive. He rushed into the barn, and a minute later, led a man she didn’t recognize out of the building. The sheriff pushed the handcuffed man inside the backseat of the police car while the other cowhands filed out the door and headed toward the bunkhouse. She rang the bell. Chase and Amos started up the slight incline between the barn and the house with sober looks on their faces.

  “What happened? Who was that man? Is he the horse thief?” she asked as soon as they sat at the table.

  Chase swallowed his bite of sandwich. “He’s one of the new hires and we
suspect he’s connected to the thefts, just don’t know how yet. That’s why the sheriff is taking him in for questioning.” He shrugged. “We’ll have to wait for Mitch to run his investigation before we learn more.”

  After they devoured multiple sandwiches, Amos stood and pushed in his chair. “Thank ya, missy, for another great lunch.” He nodded to her and walked out the door.

  “Is there anything in particular you’d like me to do today?” Lauren asked when Chase remained seated and walked the few short steps to the sink for a coffee refill. He cleared his throat and she looked over her shoulder at him.

  He motioned to her to come back to the table and pulled her chair up next to his. “We need to talk.”

  “What about?” She flipped her hair away from her face and then sat on the chair that was too close to him for her comfort, folded her hands in front of her on the table, and waited for him to speak.

  “I guess it’s best if I just come right out and say it.” He looked around the room as if gathering his thoughts and then turned his eyes to hers. “What do you think about marriage?”

  She blinked at his odd question. “Well, I think when it’s the right people, marriage can be wonderful. Why?”

  “That’s not what I meant. I want to know what you think about getting married…to me.” He raised his hand to stop her when she started to interrupt him. “Hear me out…hear me out. There’re many reasons why this could be a good thing. We obviously have an attraction to each other, and in time I feel it’ll turn into something more. You’d change your name to mine and that would take care of anyone trying to find you. I can provide just about anything you’d ever want. You wouldn’t need to leave the ranch unless you wanted to, and there’d be no need for you to go to work. We could start out slow and see what happens. I want what’s best for both of us, and I think this just might be it. So does Amos. What do you think?”

  Lauren stared at him with her mouth open. She didn’t know what to think or say. She hadn’t quite gotten past his “you getting married…to me” part. She shook her head, stood, and began pacing.

  “Maybe you think this ought to be flattering to me, but I already committed to a man without truly loving him and all he did was use me as a punching bag!” She stormed back to face him and stood with her hands fisted on her hips. “I won’t go through that again. I’ve had enough abuse to last me a lifetime. And what about love? When does that enter the picture? Huh?”

  “You know I’d never hurt you, Lauren. Besides, I know how it feels to be abused. I would never raise my hand or my voice to a lady, especially you, or anyone else for that matter. I don’t know about love, maybe this is it. It’s been hard this past week staying clear of you. I want you all the time, every part of you, and not having you is hell.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m not the kind to usually admit this sort of thing, but you do something to me. My body does strange things whenever I even think of you, which is most of the time. If I can help you and get you out of my system at the same time, why not give it a try?”

  Lauren rolled her eyes. “Get me out of your system? What am I, some kind of virus you have to let run its course?” She stared at him. When he didn’t break away from her gaze, she saw just how earnest he was. “You’re really serious about this marrying thing, aren’t you? Don’t you worry what your neighbors will think about marrying someone you know nothing about, just throwing a ring on my finger right out of the blue?” She started pacing again. “Not to mention I could be bringing more trouble to your front door if Clint comes after me. I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to your ranch or to you because of that asshole. I’m afraid to even think he might be behind the horse thieving. I don’t need love or a commitment. What I need is to keep running and hiding, because he’ll never stop coming after me.”

  “So you’re gonna do that for the rest of your life? Just keep running and hiding?” Chase stood and reached for her wrists to stop her pacing. With a knuckle under her chin, he forced her to look at him. “Look in my eyes and tell me you don’t have feelings for me, that your heart doesn’t jump into your throat every time you think about me, every time you look at me, every time you remember that wonderful afternoon we spent together.”

  Her heart stalled, her knees wobbled, and she gasped for air. She couldn’t. She simply could not look him in the eye and say those words…because they would be a lie.

  Chapter 16

  Lauren ran to her bedroom and closed the door. Mrs. Lauren Montgomery. She wouldn’t mind if she were his to take care of for the rest of their lives. Alone in her room, his words somersaulted around in her head so fast she wondered which were hers and which were his. “Look in my eyes and tell me you don’t have feelings for me, that your heart doesn’t jump into your throat every time you think about me, every time you look at me.” She lay on the bed, her overloaded head full of thoughts she desperately wanted to clear. She couldn’t shake Chase from her mind. She tried to think of nothing, but that didn’t work, because his words just kept coming back, echoing with every passing second.

  How could she figure out how she felt about him, and figure it out fast? Could marrying him really be the answer to all her problems, or would it cause more? How would marrying him keep Clint from invading her future? Surely Clint will give up trying to find me by then.

  She didn’t want to be responsible for hurting Chase or bringing trouble to his ranch, especially not after he had been so gracious with his hospitality.

  Whatever the case, she couldn’t let his marriage proposal go unanswered. She couldn’t think of a single reason to say no, other than Chase didn’t love her, but came up with many reasons to say yes. What she didn’t know was which reasons were right.

  Hmm. Maybe I could do it for a year and see how it goes.

  The last day of spring branding quickly sped by. Chase was exhausted the last day and late to dinner, but too tired to care. He labored up the few short steps of the back porch and into the house. The scent of cooked meat and spices assailed his nostrils. He was so hungry he could taste the food melting in his mouth.

  He closed the door, pushed his boots off with his heels, and walked to the half bath in his socks to wash the dust from his face and hands. He checked the family room, but Lauren was nowhere to be seen, so he began searching for the remains of his dinner. Whatever she’d made for dinner smelled good and he hoped he’d be able to find it soon. He was starving.

  She and the old man would have eaten several hours earlier and she was probably in bed by now. He felt certain she’d saved him a bite to eat. He checked the stovetop and saw nothing, so he opened up the fridge. Nothing but day-old leftovers there. He looked in the microwave, but it was empty. He was beginning to think Lauren had forgotten about him. He reached for the oven door when he heard her behind him.

  “I thought I heard you come in. Go ahead and sit at the table, and I’ll get your dinner. I made you a plate and stuck it in the oven to keep it warm. I hope that’s okay.”

  “Definitely. I’m starving and was beginning to think you’d forgotten about me.”

  “That could never happen. As a matter of fact, you’re all I’ve been thinking about since we talked.” She set the hot plate on the table while he pulled out a chair, then she poured him a large glass of milk and took a seat across from him. “How did today go? From the looks of you, it was a long and dirty one.”

  “You got that right. I was in the saddle all day, and I can feel every minute of it. I need a hot shower to loosen up my muscles, and then I’ve got to get a good night’s sleep.”

  Lauren yawned.

  “Sorry if I woke you.” He shoveled another mouthful of meatloaf and mashed potatoes into his mouth.

  “You didn’t. I was actually having trouble falling asleep. Your proposal…well, it’s all still rumbling around in my mind. I’m trying to come to terms with what it would mean for both of us and to come up with a solid answer, but so far, I’ve had no luck.”

  “I
s it that hard to decide whether or not you want to stay with me? Gee. I had no idea I was so undesirable.” He raised his eyebrows and smiled.

  Lauren laughed halfheartedly. “It’s not the staying part that has me in a quandary. It’s the forever part. And we both know you are very desirable.”

  “Last time I checked, neither one of us had a crystal ball to look into the future. We have to take it day by day. Just like everything else, marriage is going to be one day at a time.” He stopped sopping up the gravy with a piece of bread. He searched her expression for any other concerns she might have, but her green eyes sparkled with happiness.

  Her sensuous lips curved in to a smile. “When you put it that way, I think you’re right. All right, then. I’ll marry you, but only under one condition.”

  “What? What is it?”

  “In one year, if either one of us is unhappy for any reason, if the marriage isn’t working, we can call it quits—no harm, no foul, and no hard feelings. Do you agree?”

  He quietly put down his silverware. He had one year to make her fall in love with him so she’d never want to leave. Her ultimatum didn’t give him much of a choice. He reached for her folded hands on the table and rubbed his fingers across the top of them, then looked deeply into her eyes. “I agree. So now, are you willing to be my wife?”

  Lauren hesitated for a second and then grinned. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

  He stood and she launched herself into his arms. He swirled her around, lifting her off her feet while he kissed her neck.

  “That’s the best news I’ve heard in forever!” His heart catapulted to his throat. “But when? When would be a good day for us to get married?” he asked, slowly sliding her down his body until she touched the floor.

  “Let’s get tomorrow’s dance out of the way first, and we’ll think about it next week. At least that way, you will have taken me on one official date before we tie the knot,” she said with a laugh.