His name
on her lips sent shivers down his spine. The soft caress of the syllables made
him wonder what it would sound like coming from her mouth in the moment of an
explosive orgasm. Shaking his head, he concentrated on the work at hand.
Exactly as he feared, the foal needed to be turned in order to come out in the
correct position. After several tense moments of sweating, pushing and pulling,
he had the baby turned. Within seconds the foal slid out of his mother in a
gush of fluid.
"He's
beautiful, Daddy," Elizabeth said, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"I'd forgotten how wonderful these moments are."
"Take
the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the
girl." Mitchell laughed. Elizabeth
beamed,
a huge
smile on her lips.
The mare
struggled to her feet, nudging the colt with her nose. The colt wobbled to a
standing position and took several unsteady steps closer to his mother.
Marcus
sighed, wiping his forehead on his shirt as he peeled off his protective gear
from his arms. In the ruckus, he'd forgotten his rubber apron. He now had fluid
from the horse all over his clothes.
"Hmm.
I guess
I won't be stayin' for dinner after all."
"Why?"
Elizabeth asked, rising to her feet too.
He
glanced down with a grimace. "I can't be good company with this all over
me."
"You
and Dad are about the same size. I think you could borrow something to wear.
Right, Dad?"
"Sure,
Marcus.
No need for you to go without dinner. We're having enchiladas. I
know how much you love those."
Damn. I thought I could get out of this meal.
"I'd appreciate it, Mitchell. I sure do love Mexican food."
"You
two follow when you're ready. Dinner is about done. I'll grab you those clothes
and leave them by the door. There's a bathroom just inside the back door you
can use to change." Mitchell disappeared out the barn doors, leaving the
two of them alone. Tension crawled down his back at being this close proximity and
not touching her.
"You
did fabulous with the mare."
"All
in a day's work."
Her lips lifted in a radiant smile. He forgot
to breathe.
"I
hope I have the same bedside manner with my patients."
He
chuckled running his hands down his wet thighs, glancing at his damp clothes.
"A little different I would think. I know I couldn't handle humans as
patients. At least animals can't complain about their treatment."
"Why
did you want to become a veterinarian?" she asked, handing him a towel.
"I've
always loved animals of any kind, but especially horses. It's one of the
reasons I settled in Red Rock. I'd love to have some land someday."
"Have
you ever been married?" She blushed, dropping her gaze to his boots.
"Never mind.
That's really none of my…"
"No,
I haven't. Not even close."
"Me
either."
"But
I thought…"
"Thought
what?"
"Never
mind.
It's nothing."
She
grabbed the spare towel from the low stall door as he stepped closer, running
the edge of the rough material across his cheek. "You've got some on your
face," she whispered. The riot of curls around her face looked so soft. Her
blue eyes burned like the center of a flame. Soft looking lashes framed the
dilated orbs. The whisper of her breath wafted over his lips. His whole body
hummed as her tongue peeked
out,
wetting the surface
in the most erotic gesture he'd ever been privy to witness. After a moment, she
cocked her head to the side and frowned. "Have we met before?"
"I…uh."
"Marcus?
Elizabeth? Dinner is ready."
She
stepped back as she turned toward the door. "Coming, Dad."
Once he
shut the stall, he sighed heavily, following behind. Her sweetly shaped ass
wiggled slightly as she walked toward the house. He had to fight with his cock
not to react to the scent of jasmine or her luscious body. When his feet hit
the porch, she held the door for him and pointed to the clothes lying on the
bench.
"There
are the clothes. The bathroom is through the door there to your left."
"Thank
you. You're a very gracious hostess."
The pink
color in her cheeks delighted him and made him edgy at the same time now that
he knew she hadn't really gotten married. Getting involved with her would be
wrong on so many levels. If she didn't get married, it meant she was probably
on the rebound from a breakup. Those types of relationships never last. Not
that he thought of her on a long-term basis. They were too different. He'd
grown up poor whereas he knew by the look of the house and the land surrounding
it, she'd grown up fairly well to do. Yes, he had a thriving practice, but at
the moment ends barely met. He hardly had time for any type of relationship
anyway.
After a
moment of uncomfortable silence, she dropped her gaze to the floor and he
headed for the bathroom to change. The sooner he could leave the better. The
more time in her presence, the more apt she would be to guess his identity.
Mitchell
kept up the conversation during dinner as Marcus listened to the two of them
tease each other and laugh. The sound of her laughter made him smile. The
throaty chuckle drew his balls up tight against his groin as his fingertips
tingled to trace her smiling lips.
"Do
you have siblings, Marcus," she
asked,
her
attention now on him as she slipped the tines of the fork between her lips.
"Yes,
two brothers and one sister."
"Oh,
I bet you all tortured her terribly while you were growing up."
"Not
so much. We protected her more than anything else. Of course, she says we never
let her have any fun."
"Where
do they live?"
"Boston."
"I
thought I heard a hint of a New England accent. What brought you to
Montana?"
He
shrugged, focusing on his plate. He hated talking about himself.
"Oh,
come on. Something drew you to our fair state," she said, wiping her mouth
with the napkin.
"It's
kind of embarrassing actually."
"It
certainly can't be any more embarrassing than my love of riding fences and
branding cattle."
Surprise
whipped down his spine. "You brand cattle?" The sexy laugh made him
hold his breath waiting for her answer.
"I
can brand 'em with the best, huh Dad?"
"You
bet, honey. She's one of the best wranglers and ropers I had until she went off
to Los Angeles for school." Mitchell patted her on the hand as he took
another bite.
"Remind
me not to give her any rope."
"You
would be in so much trouble."
His cock
pulsed behind the fly of his jeans, riding the zipper so hard he imagined the
teeth of the fly gouging his engorged flesh.
Fuck. This is getting out of control.
Easy man.
She's off limits.
With
their plates clean, they all pushed back from the table and moved toward the
kitchen.
"Why
don't you two grab a beer and head out back? I think you two probably have a
lot in common. I've got some work to do on the books, but it's a beautiful
night.
Might as well enjoy it."
"I
would love to be able to talk to someone about doctor stuff. There aren't too
many people I can talk to who understand at least a little of what I'm saying. What
do you say, Marcus?"
"I
really should be getting home. It's been a long day and I—"
"Just
for a few minutes?"
He
sighed, mentally kicking himself as the words spilled from his lips.
"All right."
The
moment they stepped outside, she moved toward the swing to sit down.
"Dad's right. The night is gorgeous. I'd forgotten how pretty the night
sky is here. In L.A., you can't see the stars very well."
"Do
you miss California?" he asked, taking a seat next to her even though he
knew it was a bad idea.
"No.
Things got bad right at the end of my schooling. I'm glad to be out of
there."
"Do
you want to talk about your situation?"
Stupid Marcus, really stupid.
"I mean you don't have to if you’d rather not…"
She
inhaled a sharp breath before saying, "I found out my boyfriend was using
me while he fucked around with everything in a skirt between home and
Singapore." A quick brush of her fingers across her cheek revealed the
wetness that tore at his heartstrings. Her rueful laugh sounded hollow and
forlorn. "Sorry. I guess I'm still a little bitter. I found a receipt from
one of the jewelry stores on his desk. I thought he was about to ask me to
marry him. When I went to meet him at the airport on his return trip from New
York, I got a really rude surprise."
Unable
to stop himself, he reached over to grab her hand, squeezing it in comfort.
"Any man would be a fool to do something so stupid to you."
"Thank
you," she replied, turning to look at him full on.
Moonlight
spilled across her face as she frowned, pulling her hand from his grasp.
Crap.
"Are
you sure we've never met?"
"I—"
After a
sharp inhalation, she said, "You're him.
My masked
stranger."
Chapter Three
"I'm
not sure what you mean, Elizabeth."
The
perplexed look on his face almost made her think she might be wrong, but no.
She knew those eyes, the striking blue color had mesmerized her from the moment
she'd stared into them.
"The guy from the ball last
year.
In the tux.
We danced.
You kissed me!
"
"Elizabeth,
I…"
She
followed him to the rail, forcing him back around with a hand on his arm.
Tingles raced down her spine as her breathing sped up, pushing her straining
nipples against the rough fabric of her shirt.
What the hell?
Indignation rushed through her. He'd deliberately kept
something from her. The lack of a relationship between them didn't matter. He
knew all along who she was and he didn't say a word. "What kind of game
are you playing?"
"I'm
not."
The
sincerity and hurt in his eyes made her flinch. "Then why not tell me who
you were?"
"The
man from the ball isn't me. The whole thing was a masquerade—a fantasy."
He rubbed his hands up and down his arms and then across his chest. "This
is me.
The simple country veterinarian.
My days are
filled with caring for animals, having my hands inside of a horse to my elbows,
neutering cats and dogs so they don't breed out of control. I don't wear
tuxedos on a regular basis. I'm usually in a T-shirt and jeans, not the
debonair man you saw at the ball."
The
question she wondered about for the last eight months, bounced around in her
brain until it finally spilled from her lips. Is what he said true? Is it all a
lie? "Why did you kiss me?"
He
closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Hell if I know."
"That
doesn't help the self-confidence, Marcus."
"I
wanted to.
All right?
Simply the
magic of the evening.
You looked stunning. I lost my head."
Obviously, the kiss didn't affect him like it
did me.
"I'm sorry the whole situation was such a letdown for
you," she snapped, spinning around to head back into the house.
"Elizabeth,
wait. I didn't mean…"
"Never
mind, Marcus."
She flipped her hair over her shoulder. "You're
like the rest of the male population. If a woman shows some interest, he wants
to throw her on the bed like a caveman and fuck her brains out without regards
to her heart or mind. It doesn't matter to you whether the woman is already in
a relationship or not. At the time, I was in a relationship yet you had no
regard to the fact. You didn't care."
His gaze
held anger. The thought of what made him angry made trepidation roll down her
back. "Yes, I did. I didn't know you were seeing someone."
"You
didn't bother to ask either. You just swept me up in your arms and kissed the
hell out of me whether I wanted you to or not."
"You
sure as hell didn't fight me." Fury grew in him until his whole body
trembled before her eyes. "Or do you go around kissing strange men all the
time."
Crack.
His head
snapped with the force of her hand to his cheek. "How dare you. You don't
know me so don't assume to judge me by your own behavior." She spun around
and slammed through the front door, letting the screen bang behind her.
"The audacity of that man!"