Do Me Right Page 16

  KYLE CAUGHT UP WITH THERESA just outside the horse corral. He didn't blame her for bugging out like that. Kristen could be pretty hard to take when you didn't know her very well. If only the guesthouse had been empty the way he'd planned. He wouldn't have to deal with all this. As it was, Theresa was probably wondering why he'd bothered bringing her up here this weekend.

  He was wondering that himself. "I'm sorry about all that," he said, stopping outside the gate to the horse corral. "When I've been away for a while, I forget how she is."Her eyes on his were steady. "If you really want her to stop trying to run your life, you're going to have to sit her down and tell her exactly how you feel."

  "I've done that! She doesn't listen."

  "That's because you've been too nice."

  "So you're suggesting I deliberately hurt her feelings?"

  "That might be what it takes to get her to really pay attention."

  "I don't see any reason to start a family feud."

  "What you see as keeping the peace, she sees as going along with her plans."

  "I've learned to ignore her. Why can't you?"

  She looked away, arms crossed over her breasts. She was so beautiful. And so infuriating. Why did the women in his life drive him crazy? "Why do you care, anyway?" he asked. "What difference does it make to you?"

  She opened her mouth to speak and he held his breath. So he'd been right--she did care. He wasn't the only one who'd gotten into this over his head.

  But then she clamped her mouth shut again and shook her head. "You're right. It's none of my business. You do whatever you think you have to do." She turned away and stared out over the corral railing.

  It wasn't the answer he wanted, but clearly it was the only one he was going to get. Fine. He could play it cool. Ignore these crazy feelings she stirred in him until he either couldn't keep them inside anymore or they went away. Over the years he'd gotten pretty good at acting a part, whether it was all-American cowboy or good-timing playboy. People saw what they wanted to see, anyway.

  The difference with Theresa was, he'd been sure up until now that with her at least he could always show his true self.

  THERESA WAS RELIEVED WHEN Kyle didn't press her further for an answer to his question. When he suggested he show her around the ranch, she eagerly agreed. Call her a coward, but she wasn't ready to look any closer at her feelings for this man.

  And anyway, what if she gave the wrong answer, one he didn't want to hear? She still had almost two whole days stuck here with him. Better to keep things light and enjoy themselves than risk disaster by saying something she shouldn't."If you're going to ride this afternoon, you might as well meet the horses first." He opened the corral gate and ushered her in.

  She glanced at the horses that stood along the fence at the opposite end of the corral and kept close to Kyle. "I've never been around horses much," she said, determined not to let him see her nervousness.

  "Just remember you're smarter than they are." He took her arm and led her toward the trio of animals.

  "But they're bigger than I am," she muttered.

  He smiled but said nothing. Just seeing that smile made her relax a little. After all, if he wasn't afraid, why should she be?

  Up close, the horses were even bigger. One snorted, peeling back rubbery lips to show enormous teeth right at her eye level. She leaned away from it, but Kyle took her hand in his and drew her closer. "I want you to meet Rocket Man. One of the best calf-roping horses on the circuit today." He scratched behind the big animal's ear. "We've won a lot of money together, haven't we, pard?"

  The horse twitched its ears, then fixed intelligent toffee-colored eyes on Theresa. "Rocket Man?" She laughed at the name.

  "It's officially Dandy's Bottle Rocket, but he's always been the Rocket Man to me." He turned fond eyes to the horse again.

  His obvious affection for the animal touched her. "How long have you had him?" she asked.

  "About six years now." He patted the horse's neck. "We're both getting a little long in the tooth for competition, but I hate the thought of giving him up and getting a new partner."

  "Would you sell him?"

  He shook his head. "Nah. He'll retire here. Kelly exercises him for me and I pay for his feed. It's a good setup for him." He gave the horse a last pat, then led her to another horse, one with a dark brown coat and black mane and tail. "This is Sweet Pea. He's the oldest one in the bunch, real gentle. He's probably the one you'll ride."

  Sweet Pea watched her with calm, intelligent eyes as she smoothed her hand down his velvety nose. She smiled. "He is sweet."

  He laughed and slipped his arm around her waist. "So are you." He rested his chin on her shoulder as he hugged her from behind. "Hey, I'm sorry if I put you on the spot back there. I invited you up here this weekend to have fun, not to get involved in my family soap opera."

  "It's okay." She snuggled closer, a familiar warmth spreading through her. He must have felt it, too, since the ridge in the front of his jeans grew more pronounced against her backside.

  "Mmm." He kissed her neck above her shirt collar, his warm lips teasing a spark of arousal into a slow burn. "Are you still wondering what it would be like to have a real roll in the hay?"

  "Before breakfast?" she teased.

  "It's a great way to work up an appetite." He slid his hands up to cover her breasts, his mouth still sending delicious sensations all along her neck.

  "I thought you said hay was scratchy." Not that she wasn't warming up to the idea, but it never hurt to play a little hard to get.

  "I know where they keep the blankets." He pinched her nipples lightly, and she was afraid her knees might buckle at any moment.

  "A-all right," she gasped.

  He grabbed her hand and tugged her into the barn and over to a ladder. "You climb on up and I'll get the blanket." He patted her backside, then ducked into an empty stall.

  Keeping her eye out for spiders, mice or other wildlife, she slowly climbed the ladder into the loft. The area was surprisingly clean, smelling of sweet hay and oats. In less than a minute, Kyle joined her, a gray-and-black blanket draped over his shoulder.

  "Hope you're not allergic to wool," he said, tossing the blanket to her.

  "Not that I know of." She spread the coverlet out on a pile of loose hay and settled back on it. "It's pretty comfortable."

  "I promise to make it feel even better." He crawled toward her on his hands and knees, both the posture and the naked lust in his eyes speaking to some primitive emotion within her. She felt wild and wanton and free of both inhibitions and expectations.

  "Come here." She beckoned with one finger as she began to unfasten her blouse with her other hand. "I've got something for you."

  "Mmm, very nice." He reached her and lowered his head to kiss her exposed cleavage, following the path of her hand with his mouth. He unsnapped her bra and smiled down at her naked breasts. "Very nice indeed."

  She arched up off the blanket when his mouth closed around her nipple, desire jolting through her. All the doubts and confused feelings that had plagued her, all the edginess she'd been feeling these past few days, coalesced into a fierce need. This was what she wanted, what she needed--this reminder that whatever old fears her brain put in her way, her heart and body seemed to know that whenever she was with this man, things would be all right. She didn't have to be afraid of anything or hide anything from him. That knowledge was a powerful aphrodisiac, sharpening her desire to an exquisite edge.

  He transferred his attention to her other breast, and she reached for the zipper of his jeans, anxious to feel him in her hand. She hoped he'd had the foresight to slip a condom into his pants before they'd left the house. But even if he hadn't, they could still enjoy themselves....

  "Kyle? Theresa? Breakfast is ready!"

  13

  THEY BOTH FROZE, HIS LIPS pressed against her breast, her fingers gripping his zipper. "She'll go away in a minute when we don't answer," he whispered.

  She nodded and he
ld her breath, listening."Kyle! Breakfast is waiting." Instead of moving away, the voice moved closer. The door of the barn creaked as it opened.

  Kyle stifled a groan. Theresa pushed him off her and struggled to do up her blouse. The last thing she wanted was for Kristen to find them like this. "Kyle? Are you in here?"

  Their eyes met, the frustration she felt clearly telegraphed in his expression. They could hear Kristen moving around below them. "Kyle, I don't have time to play games," Kristen said. "Kelly said he thought he saw you come in here. Breakfast is waiting."

  It sounded as if she was almost at the bottom of the ladder now. He scowled, then put a finger to his lips.

  Theresa nodded, and he eased away from her toward the ladder. At the last minute, he reached out and tugged the blanket from beneath her. She raised her hips and let him take it, curious what part the prop would play.

  She watched him disappear down the ladder, then finished buttoning up her shirt.

  "There you are! Didn't you hear me calling you? Where's Theresa?"

  "I think she walked on down to the creek."

  "What are you doing in the hayloft then?"

  "I was looking for this blanket. I thought I might persuade Theresa to put it to good use on the creek bank."

  She covered her mouth with her hand to stifle a laugh, imagining the leer that no doubt accompanied Kyle's words.

  "Kyle!" Kristen apparently didn't find the suggestion very amusing. "It's not even eight o'clock."

  "Don't tell me you've never enjoyed a little vitamin L to start your day off right."

  She ignored his teasing. "What's that blanket doing up in the loft anyway?"

  "I don't know. I thought maybe you and Ken sneaked up here for a little nooky away from the kids."

  "I have four children and a ranch to run. I don't have time to be sneaking away for nooky."

  "You ought to try it sometime. It would improve your disposition."

  "There's nothing wrong with my disposition."

  "Except you've been fussing at me practically ever since I pulled into the driveway."

  "Only because I love you and I worry about you."

  "There's nothing to worry about. I'm doing just fine."

  "I might believe that if you showed any signs of settling down, but you don't."

  "I brought a woman home to meet you. That ought to make you happy."

  "Ha!" The disdain in that one syllable surprised Theresa. She inched closer to the edge of the loft and looked down. She couldn't see Kyle and only glimpsed Kristen's profile. She was frowning, arms crossed at her waist as she contemplated her brother. "You and I both know Theresa isn't your type. She's just another phase you're going through, like that time you started dressing all preppy. Or when you bought that land in Austin and told us you were going to build a house and live out there."

  "How do you know that?"

  "Because that's the way you are. You do this stuff to get a rise out of everyone. I know you. Now come on. I don't have time to stand here all day talking. Go get Theresa and come to breakfast."

  She walked out of sight, and Theresa scooted back away from the edge of the loft. Her heart was pounding and she felt cold and hollow inside. So Kristen thought she was just another "phase" for Kyle. Something meant to shake them up, like his previous attempts to do so. Of course! She'd known this all along, but it hadn't mattered until she'd made the mistake of falling in love with the man.

  She pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes, swallowing the knot of emotion stuck in her throat. Hadn't she known this would happen? Get attached to something you couldn't have and you'd only end up disappointed in the end. It had been true when she was ten and wanted the doll her foster sister let her play with, and when she was fourteen and had her heart set on being adopted by the Rodgers family, and when she was nineteen and gave her heart away to a married man.

  And now she'd let down her guard for a rodeo Romeo who didn't have a job or a real home or any idea of what he wanted out of life. All he'd promised her was a good time, and she'd screwed it all up by expecting more.

  "Hey, you okay?"

  She straightened and opened her eyes, blinking at him. "Okay? Yeah, sure. Just...a bit of a headache." Somehow she dredged up a weak smile. "Maybe I am allergic to wool."

  "Guess you heard all that." His earlier charm was gone, replaced by a tired expression. His shoulders slumped, and for the first time she noticed the shadows beneath his eyes.

  She nodded and scooted toward him. "Your sister is just the type who worries," she said. "Don't let it get you down."

  "I can live with the worrying," he said. "It's her being so sure she knows what I'm like--when she doesn't know anything at all--that makes me furious." He shook his head. "She keeps bringing up that preppy stuff, but I was just a kid when that happened. And the only reason I haven't built a house on my place by the lake is that I don't have the money yet."

  And what about me? she thought but didn't dare ask. The fact that he hadn't mentioned her himself said all she needed to know. Apparently Kristen had been right about that one.

  "Let's go get some breakfast," she said, and stepped on to the first rung of the ladder.

  She followed him down and across the corral to the house. So much for vitamin L. She thought she'd learned to live with that particular deficiency, but it was a lot harder to give it up when you thought you'd had it in your hands.

  AN AFTERNOON OF HORSEBACK riding proved to Theresa that she was not meant to be a cowgirl. While the others ambled up hills and raced across pastures, she lagged behind, alternately trying to coax Sweet Pea into moving faster than a slow plod, and hanging on for dear life when he settled into a bone-jarring trot. By the time they came back to the ranch house, she was hot, dusty and irritable, and her butt, thighs and knees ached.

  "I guess we might have overdid it for your first day," Kristen said as she watched Theresa make her way gingerly up the front steps. "Why don't you take a hot bath before supper? That'll make you feel a lot better, I'm sure.""Thanks. I think I will." Kristen's concern sounded genuine, but maybe that was only because she didn't consider Theresa a real threat to her plans for Kyle. After all, Theresa was just a "phase." As soon as Kristen could make him see the error of his ways, her brother would settle down with her and her family on the ranch and everything would be peachy keen.

  It was enough to make Theresa gag. "Damn right, I don't belong here," she muttered as she stripped off her clothes in the guest bath. "If Kyle does decide to one day settle down here on the lone prairie, it's a good thing I didn't start planning a future with him."

  She lowered herself into the steaming water and closed her eyes, trying to shut out memories of that interlude in the hayloft, when she'd been so sure Kyle was the man for her.

  But as soon as she'd chased away those thoughts, other images flashed in her mind--Kyle laughing with her at the tattoo shop, Kyle seated across from her on the riverboat, Kyle doing an exaggerated bump and grind, wearing only chaps and his Stetson.

  She sank lower in the water and sighed. She might not fit into his world here at the ranch, but he'd sure looked at home in her world back in Austin.

  Still, his heart was obviously here. Otherwise he would have worked harder to convince Kristen he didn't want to be a partner with her and Ken in running the place. And after all, this was his family home, a place he was linked to by all those ranching ancestors. Even someone like her, who'd never had any kind of real home, could imagine how powerful that pull was. For all her annoying bossiness, Kristen was probably right--when Kyle matured more and got over the wanderlust that plagued him, he'd come back to his roots and his upbringing.

  When she'd soaked so long the water was cool and her fingers and toes were as wrinkled as unironed cotton, she dried off and went into her bedroom and searched through her suitcase for something to wear.

  She was pawing through the folded jeans and shirts when her hand brushed the plastic covering over the white eyelet-trimmed dress
she'd packed at the bottom of the case. She'd never worn the dress. It was entirely too frilly and romantic for her wardrobe, and she'd only bought it on a dare when she and Zach's girlfriend, Jen, had been out shopping one day. She couldn't imagine what had possessed her to bring it on this trip, except that obviously silly thoughts of love and romance had clouded her thinking. She moved a pair of jeans over to hide the dress once more, and her eyes landed on the red satin bustier. She'd put that in, along with red satin tap pants and a pair of strappy red heels, with the idea of playing dress up for Kyle when they were alone one evening.

  Fat chance of that happening now. She fingered the bustier and smiled at the positively evil idea that popped into her head. Why not wear the bustier tonight--to dinner? She'd clear up any doubts anyone had about her being anything more than another one of Kyle's wild phases and she'd tease him a little with the knowledge of all he was missing as long as Kristen choreographed the weekend.

  "ARE YOU SURE SHE HASN'T fallen asleep or something?" Kristen asked Kyle as they all sat around the dinner table waiting for Theresa. "Maybe I should go up and check on her."

  "I stopped by on my way down and told her dinner was ready. She told me she was almost ready.""And was she? Almost ready I mean?"

  "I guess so." He frowned. "She wouldn't open the door, but she sounded fine." In fact she'd sounded a lot more cheerful than she had earlier. He could tell she hadn't had much fun on their ride this afternoon and he blamed himself. He'd been so intent on getting Ken alone to talk about an idea he'd had about the ranch that he hadn't really noticed Theresa falling behind until it was too late. By the time he went back for her, she would hardly speak to him. And before he could apologize, Kristen had joined them, irritatingly cheerful and looking like the former barrel racer she was; perfectly at ease on a horse, while Theresa had looked decidedly uncomfortable.