Chapter Five

 

"So are you gonna invite me to meet your grandmother?" Letty asked one afternoon as she sauntered out to the corral where Hank was making a rope. Letty watched with fascination as he twined the rope and cinched it at the end. She'd never seen a cowboy make a rope before and it fascinated her. She figured they bought most of the ropes, but watching him rewind it and knot it she realized it was just another way of economizing at the ranch. He added it to the supplies bucket with a heavy thud, as though he were indulging her, and then he turned his attention back to the horse he was working with.

This horse was named Bandit, and for a reason, he was the hardest horse to work with in the remuda. Even Thunder didn't buck like this one. Bandit had barely been ridden, and Wade left orders that no one was allowed on him but Hank and himself. Letty watched the cowboy and horse come together; a beautiful thing, she mused silently. She doubted anyone else on the ranch could ride this one, but she itched to try herself.

I'm not a fool, this one is way too wild for me!

Letty had often admired the horse, but today she was admiring more than that. Today, she felt like a flirt. She'd purposely worn her new jeans, and tank top with a shirt over it. She knew it looked good on her and gave her a boost of confidence, especially when some of the other hands did everything but whistle. She could have any cowboy on the ranch but the one she wanted had little to do with her.

"I hadn't given it a second thought. I imagined you were just being nice when you asked the first time," Hank said as he reined the horse in and began a training routine.

Letty watched him closely. Hank was at home with horses, she liked that. He skillfully trained many of the horses on the ranch and Cade and Wade considered him valuable to the ranch's efforts. His movements with the horse seemed to be tuned to the horse and Letty knew he considered the horse's feelings. He had patience and quite an understanding of their capabilities.

But Letty saw more, much more in Hank. He was a man's man. He knew his work and he took pride in it. Even though he was her age, he wasn't as cocky as most of the younger cowboys on the ranch, she liked that. There was an air of responsibility to Hank.

Half an hour later, Letty tried to continue her conversation with him. "You still haven't answered my question," Letty said as he dismounted and began brushing down the horse.

"You're persistent, I'll say that," Hank remarked, not giving her the benefit of a glance.

She wished he would look at her like he looked at the horse, but he didn't.

"I'm not asking for a date, just an introduction to your grandmother." She laughed sarcastically.

He looked at her now, a frown spreading quickly over his handsome face. "Most girls don't want to meet the family 'til they are pretty sure they like the cowboy."

"Actually, I am a bit curious. I mean, most men your age are so absorbed in their careers that family doesn't mean anything unless it's their own. But your story sorta fascinates me." Letty smiled up at him as he came closer.

"Fascinates you, huh?"

He moved away, purposely.

Then he suddenly stopped what he was doing and looked into her dark-eyed stare. "In the first place, there is nothing special about me or my family. Look Miss Letty, you are a McKay. And there's an unwritten rule around here: the boys don't get mixed up with the McKays. I respect that rule," Hank said and abruptly turned away. "And that's not gonna change."

Letty felt his words like a slap. He was turning her down, rejecting her. It hurt.

"My father is dead!" She came back at him with a vengeance. "The rules no longer apply."

"Doesn't matter," he replied over his shoulder. "Rules are rules."

"Cade married my sister; it doesn't look as though he paid any attention to the rules." Letty seethed, coming closer.

"That was different. He was the father of her child." Hank eyed her with determination.

"Well, it sounds like the ranch is well informed about my sister and Cade." Letty huffed.

"Unfortunately, word does get around."

"He married her for love! Not just because he fathered her child," Letty protested, holding her head high. "Like a lot of other people I know, he didn't know how much he loved Julie, until she came home. Sometimes people have to wake up from themselves and see what is happening."

"That may be, I wouldn't know. But Cade and Wade Weston are not regular cowboys either. Financially, they can hold their own. That puts them in another league," Hank pointed out. "I am just a cowboy. Now why would a girl like you fool with a regular hand on this ranch? Are you too old for playing?"

"Too old!" she shrieked.

"I won't be played a fool. Anyone can see you're a beautiful woman, with lots of talent. But the one thing you're not, is cowboy material."

"Talk about pig headed, you take the cake. Why are you so stubborn? I just wanted to be your friend…" Letty's voice softened.

He stared at her a long minute, then turned away.

"I come home…and my sisters are almost like strangers. All but Julie, that is. The ranch is run so perfectly by Wade and Cade, there's little for us to do. All I have is Julie and Kellie, and now that they are married, she might not even live on the ranch."

"You telling me you are lonely?" he mocked.

"Is that so hard to believe?" Her expression changed.

He stared at her now, his eyes narrowing on her. "I don't know. Maybe it is…but maybe you should spend more time trying to get to know your sisters again. I'm sure all of you feel like a fish out of water. Your father died, things changed. Sometimes change can be hard to take. Sometimes it takes time to work out the kinks. But you are a big girl, I'm sure you can handle it."

"You don't want to be my friend, do you?" she asked, standing closer to him.

"As I see it, you are the boss, not a friend…" he remarked and turned away from her.

"The boss? How do you figure? Cade and Wade are the bosses around here." She fumed, pulling relentlessly on his arm to get his attention. "I just happen to be kin to the owner, of which is no longer around. People are…just people, Hank. Do you really believe one is actually better than another?"

"No…" Hank seemed to think about that for a moment. "But that isn't what we are debating here. Okay, so you are one of the owners. That's reason enough," Hank answered, jerking his arm free and not looking straight at her.

"Are you that old fashioned, that unreasonable?"

"I guess I am," he answered, looking down at her now. "I'm a cowboy, and not a rich one."

"Are you afraid of what people would say, or what you might feel?"

"Both, maybe…Now why don't you run along, I've got work to do."

Letty shook her head. "Men don't think like women, do they?"

"Probably not."

"I am a woman!" She barely breathed now, being affected by his nearness, their aloneness and the possibilities that presented.

"Of which I'm also well aware…" he remarked lowly, as his eyes went over her with renewed interest. She didn't miss his long bold stare.

Her mouth hung open with surprise that she had gotten this much information out of him.

But he suddenly turned on her and with a decided frown he looked down at her.

"You want it laid out for you? All right, here it is. You stand to inherit a huge sum of money. Every ranch hand on this place knows that. You will be financially secure for the rest of your life. I'm a cowboy, I make a modest living and I've learned to live on it. I can't afford fancy restaurants and high class places to dance all night. I'm not in the same category. We both know that. And yet…I am a man. I appreciate your beauty, your brains and your talents, but you are way up here, and I am way down here."

He demonstrated with his hands. "They just don't mix."

The man had no feelings, he existed by pure logic. How do I fight logic?

Yet she saw a spark of something in his eyes that mesmerized her and she couldn't stop pushing him now. She wanted to know if he was human or not. If what she felt was one sided or not. He was closing doors in her face, and she didn't like that. There was no reason to do such a thing, unless he truly didn't like her.

Did he?

"I wasn't sure you noticed," she added cattily.

"Go back to the house where you belong," he muttered, his jaw tightening, his hands fisting on the corral fence. "Before I do something we'll both be sorry for."

That did it! That changed everything. The very air seemed to stand still as though waiting. Tension was like an electrical bar standing between them, expanding like a rubber band, challenging them to move it.

He pulled the horse in front of them now as though shielding them from outside lookers.

"Like what?" she challenged.

"Like this," he barely whispered, as he faced her once more and looked into her eyes.

"I know better," he barely breathed as his head began to descend. "But just once…and to prove we are not made for each other like you seem to be imagining."

Dust, heat, and tension all mingled for a long moment, as his eyes sparkled into hers and then as though something beyond his will to use his head took hold, he pulled her unresisting body to him. He gave her time to pause, to rethink the situation, but the closer he came, the more she couldn't resist him.

She wanted this, and at this moment, she thought he did too.

She felt her body melt into his instantly, her breath hitched, her heartbeat quickened. The anticipation enveloped them. Sweat peppered her upper lip as she licked them once. Their eyes met, their bodies met, and then…their lips met.

The world disappeared beneath her feet; she gripped his arms first then slowly slid them upward.

She met him halfway for the kiss that sizzled like an overcooked egg on a hot rock in the middle of summer. Only eggs weren't this good, she thought merrily. For a moment, the tension faded as feelings took hold. He rocked her soul into submission, and then his arms came around her so protectively. She thought he might be too forceful, but he held her so gently she could easily move away if she wanted to. But moving away was the last thing on her mind now. He embraced her like a China doll as his lips assuaged the age old ache between a man and a woman. At first, he barely seemed to touch her, but as the kiss deepened, he pulled her up hard against him.

The instant spark of the kiss sent a wave of currents through her. She needed to think, but her mind wasn't working, her body was.

The curiosity of what a kiss might taste like from Hank had danced in her mind for so long, but the reality of it made her quiver with new wants and needs. She was out of her own league with this cowboy, unprepared for his masterful touch. Her lips had gone to butter folding into his, and she let him sweep her into a private void.

His gentleness surprised her, delighted her. Her hands crept around his neck and her fingers slid into the silk of his hair at his nape. So soft—she barely had the mind to make notes. She heard his harsh breathing as he tried to stop the kiss from expanding into some sort of strange foreplay, but he didn't stop kissing her and she didn't want him to.

His lips were the softest thing about him, she soon realized as they parted hers. He held her so tight she could barely breathe, but she didn't need to breathe. She existed on the depth of the kiss and the way his hands molded her to him. She heard a strangled groan, but she didn't know if it came from her or him. The mindless prodding of his tongue, as it danced with hers, first slowly, then faster, the way his hands rubbed erotically against her back creating a friction of their own; she was mindless, wordless, and all his for the moment.

Until she suddenly realized she wanted more, much more from Hank. That realization shocked her back to reality. She pulled out of his arms, and backed away, staring at him as though he'd suddenly grown two heads.

"That shouldn't have happened…" he uttered.

"No…I guess it shouldn't." She turned and ran away.

She'd never been kissed so thoroughly in her life and she wasn't sure she could walk away unscathed.

"Get in the house…now!" he shouted without looking straight at her.

"But…"

"Now, Letty!" he demanded. She obeyed. She ran, as the tears streamed down her face.

Why did he act as though he'd done something wrong, when her heart told her he'd done something very right? She felt the sting of his words. He had taken the most beautiful moment of her life and turned it into some mishap. How could that be?

What had just happened? And why did she feel as though she'd done something so wrong when what he made her feel was definitely so right?

This morning, all she wanted or expected was to meet his grandmother. The kiss was the last thing she dreamed or hoped might happen between them. If he could make her lose control so easily with a mere kiss, she was in big trouble. If that was just a sample, she wanted the whole package. Her dreams and imaginings were never as good as that kiss.

Her heart swelled with the knowledge that Hank wanted her in the most basic of ways. But did he want her heart?

There were no bones about it, she'd have to find out!