* * * * *
Colt watched Elise walk away, her slim hips swaying in her fitted jeans. His body immediately reacted to the rhythmic movement as the stirrings of desire slammed into his crotch. He clamped his jaw tighter to keep a rein on his growing attraction to the woman. Maybe she just wanted to have a look-see at her inheritance to make sure it seemed to be run properly. He shrugged. What could showing her around the Lonestar hurt? The sooner he did that, the sooner she could feel the ranch was in capable hands and then be on her way back to
By the time Colt followed her over to the stables, Elise was already mounted on Sam’s horse. She looked down at him after she’d cast a warm smile at Sam who stood there holding the horse’s reins.
“Sam said I could ride Jack, for now, and he would find a suitable horse for me later.”
Colt turned accusing eyes to his wrangler. Sam was too busy staring up into Elise’s face. His smile was so broad his black mustache was bent at a strange angle. Colt gave a loud sigh and moved to saddle his horse. Great, just what he needed, a ranch full of star-struck cowboys who wouldn’t get a lick of work done because they were too busy ogling the new half-owner of the Lonestar. Make that the soon-to-be ex-half-owner of the Lonestar, he corrected as he swung his leg up on his horse. And the sooner he got rid of her, the better.
As he pulled his horse up next to hers, Colt reached over, lifted a spare hat off of a hook on the wall and plunked it down on her head none-too-gently. “Here, it’ll help keep the heat off,” he said in gruff tone, before he kicked his heels into Scout’s sides and took off ahead of her. He didn’t want to think about the fact that it also helped hide her beautiful face and ebony hair from the curious cowboys they would meet during their tour.
Colt intentionally took off at a gallop. He needed to blow off steam. Heading in the direction of the open pastures, he figured he’d have to stop and wait for Elise to catch up. He didn’t even think to ask her if she knew how to ride a horse. It would serve the “princess” right if she fell off once or twice to show her that ranch life was not easy.
As he started to slow Scout down, Elise came flying past him in a full gallop, the cowboy hat flying off her head. Her long black hair streamed behind her along with her laughter as she left him behind in a cloud of dust kicked up by her horse’s hooves.
After stopping to pick up her hat, Colt remounted Scout and dug his heels in, taking off after her. He lowered his head and spoke to his horse, urging him on. Up ahead, Elise turned her horse to jump a fallen tree. His heart slammed in his chest at her reckless move, but relief and finally grudging respect dawned as he watched them clear the obstacle with ease.
Elise slowed her horse and waited for him to catch up. When she turned laughing eyes his way, Colt didn’t want to like her sultry gaze. He didn’t want to wonder if her silky hair felt as soft as it looked. He drew his horse up next to hers, his knee brushing against her thigh as he jammed the hat on her head. “That has got to be the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen someone do,” he ground out.
Her smile faded and she stared back at him in surprise.
Colt rambled on, letting his anger override his libido—or hell, maybe it was because of his libido. “Don’t you know better than to try to jump a horse you’ve never ridden before? How did you know Jack wouldn’t have stopped short of that tree and sent you flying?”
Elise’s cheeks flamed and her eyes narrowed at his words. “First of all, I’m very familiar with horses. Second of all, I did think to ask Sam particulars about his horse before I got on him. Third of all, you have no right to talk to me like that. None whatsoever.”
He felt his neck go red at the truth of her last comment, but already he and Elise weren’t starting off in the most normal of circumstances. He leaned closer to her.
“When you’re on my ranch, your safety is my responsibility. So yes, Princess, I do have a right to make sure you don’t break your lovely little neck.”
She gave him a knowing smile and leaned close to him, her nose almost touching his. “I guess it’s a good thing the Lonestar is half my property then, isn’t it?”
A challenge had been laid and he’d be damned if he’d pass it up. Colt ignored her cry of surprise as he cupped his hand behind her neck and pulled her mouth to his. Their horses neighed while he explored her lush mouth with his tongue. His kiss was dominant and hard, just as he meant it to be.
When her resistance melted and she started to respond, his kiss instinctively gentled. He wanted to pull her against him, feel her breasts against his chest, her arms around his neck. He pulled back, angry with himself for wanting to continue, for wanting to know what she’d feel like underneath him as he drove into her sweet flesh, his hips cradled against hers.
“What the hell was that for?” Her eyes flashed, a mixture of anger and desire reflected in their green depths.
Colt sat up straight in his saddle, putting much needed distance between them.
“Just getting that out of the way, darlin’,” he said in a rough voice.
He didn’t say another word, just turned his horse and trotted off toward the east side of the property. As far as he was concerned she could follow him or trot her way straight back to
* * * * *
By the time Elise caught up with him, Colt seemed to have calmed down enough to give her a guided tour of the ranch. He acted as if he’d never clamped his mouth over hers or had his tongue down her throat. That kiss blew her away. He’d smelled unbelievably good, like leather and soap mixed with a dose of all male. Even though she knew his act was meant to put her in her place, to show her he could control her, she found the bull-headed, sexy cowboy a T-total turn-on, especially when his kiss had changed as if he couldn’t help but respond. But she couldn’t let him know that he affected her, at least not yet, she thought with a smile.
Elise pushed her musings about Colt to the back of her mind and focused on the breathtaking view.
She received more than one raised eyebrow at her half-ownership status, but the men were all very friendly and helpful in explaining their areas of expertise. Rick stayed with her while Colt went off to see to a newborn calf. She let her gaze follow Colt as he dismounted and helped the calf get moving on feeding for the first time.
“Are all chores shared equally among the cowboys?” she asked Rick, curious to see Colt so intimately involved in the workings of his ranch.
“If you’re asking can any cowboy step in and do any job on this ranch, then the answer is yes. We all have jobs we’re assigned to do, but—” He nodded his head toward Colt, his brown eyes crinkling in the corners. “Even the boss gets in there and does anything and everything to get the job done for his ranch.”
A fissure of guilt washed over Elise at his words. No wonder Colt was resentful. He’d worked hard for this ranch and here she came waltzing in and telling him she planned to keep her half, which was nothing more than a piece of paper, not the hard-earned, sweat-rolling-down-your-back, aching-muscles kind of ownership Colt experienced. Hell, she’d be pissed, too. She squared her shoulders. Well, she’d just have to show him she could be a valuable asset to the Lonestar in her own way.
Rick pulled off his hat and wiped his brow with the back of his sleeve. He turned his weathered face toward her. “Yep, there’s always a fence to be mended, vitamins to be dispensed to the livestock, or hay to be baled. The work is a joint effort of all the ranch hands.”
Before he placed his hat back on his head, he squinted against the sun, making the wrinkles embed deeper around his eyes. Elise guessed him to be in his early fifties. “What do you know about ranching, Miss Hamilton?”
Elise cut her eyes over to Colt, thankful he was out of hearing range and answered honestly. “Very little.” She smiled sheepishly. “But I’m a fast study and I’m eager to learn,” she finished with sincerity.
“Well, then, that’s half the battle, Miss Hamilton.” Rick smiled. “How about a little ranching 101?”
Elise grinned back. “I’m all ears.”
Rick’s deep voice took on a proud inflection as he began the lesson. “The spring and fall are our calving, branding and roundup seasons, and summer is the time for baling hay.”
He stopped talking and met her gaze. “Did you know a cattle rancher depends on the weather just as much as a farmer does for his crops?” When she shook her head, he continued, “The rancher needs the rain to water the land so the cattle will have good grazing grass.” Rick swept his arm out across the pastures toward the livestock. “A good portion of the Lonestar’s stock is bred right here, but Colt also attends auctions several times a year to purchase additional bucking stock for the rodeo.”
When Rick delved deeper into the ranch lifestyle, Elise was amazed at how much she didn’t know about ranching. And the information she learned from the foreman was all just normal routine ranch life. The rodeo part of the ranch added a whole new dimension.
Colt mounted his horse once more and trotted over to them. “Ready to go, Elise?”
Elise nodded and thanked Rick for his time. He winked at her conspiratorially saying, “Anytime, Miss Hamilton.”
As Colt took her around to other areas of the ranch, they slipped into a more comfortable rhythm—Colt the teacher and she, the avid learner. The one thing that became evident as they traveled every area of the ranch was the love and pride he had for the Lonestar. She could appreciate that. She also loved the outdoors, always had.
Elise never really felt like she fit in with the rest of her family. Yeah, she could mingle with the best of them at the latest high society party or charity ball, but her heart wasn’t really in it—well, maybe the raising money for charity part, but she could do that without all the other trimmings. She didn’t want to become a society wife, even if that was what her father wanted and expected of her.
That world wasn’t for her. She wanted to do something with her life. Run a business, put her heart and soul into it. Prove to herself she could be self-sufficient and successful as well. Okay, so inheriting a ranch that was already in working order, and apparently good working order, wasn’t exactly running “her own” business. No, she didn’t have a veterinarian degree nor did she grow up on a farm. But she was smart. She did have undergraduate degrees in business and computer science. And the rodeo portion of the Lonestar
was
a business. There were ways she could help out. She just needed to figure out the best way to prove to Colt she was valuable enough for him to want to keep her around.
As they neared the stables, a little devil on Elise’s shoulder whispered,
Come on. You know you want to do it.
She slowed her horse and let Colt move ahead of her a good five feet or so as she reached for the rope on the front of Jack’s saddle.
Colt turned in surprise when the rope landed over his shoulders to drop down around his arms. “Gotcha.” Elise grinned as she pulled the trailing end of the rope taut, tightening the loop around him.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Colt glowered at her.
Elise grinned at his expression. “Just trying to show you how handy I can be.”
Just then, Mace walked by and let out a low whistle.
Colt sent him a look that would have withered a lesser man.
Mace winked at Elise and turned to his brother. “Now, why are you sitting there, glaring at me when you have a gorgeous woman who has you tied up in ropes and wants to show you how handy she can be?” He turned his suggestive gaze back to Elise. “I certainly know what my response would have been.”
“Mace!” Colt barked.
His brother continued walking, his hands raised in the air. “I’m going, I’m going.”
When Colt glanced at her, she had a hard time holding back her laughter. He pulled the rope up over his shoulders and let it drop to the ground. “Where’d you learn to do that?”
“I have a friend who grew up on a farm.” She winked. “Let’s just say, she showed me the ropes.”
Colt turned his horse and walked him back toward her. His leg brushed up against hers, his knee touching the top of her thigh as his blue eyes penetrated hers. “What do you want, Elise? Why are you here?”
Heat spread from his leg to hers, making her heart pound at his blatant male virility and serious eyes.
You
, her body wanted her to say. Instead, logic dictated she rein in her revved-up libido. “I want to help you run the Lonestar ranch and rodeo.”
Interest stirred in his eyes before it was quickly masked. “No.”
“But you said yourself that you need help,” she said, keeping her tone light.
“No, I didn’t,” he countered, his expression turning hard.
“Yes, you did. You told Mace you needed at least one brother to help you run the Lonestar.”
He narrowed his eyes on her. “You don’t know the first thing about running a ranch, Princess.”
“How would you know what I do and do not know? I’ll bet you assumed I didn’t even know how to ride a horse a couple of hours ago.”
Okay, so she was bluffing about the ranch part, but she’d learned a lot today. That counted for something
. She noted the muscle ticcing in his jaw again.
Bam!
She’d pegged him. Sure enough, she had her answer—he always clenched his jaw when he was angry.
“I don’t need your kind of help, Elise.”
“What kind of help is that?” she asked, feeling slighted.
His eyes softened. “I can’t afford you, Princess.”
Why did she get the feeling he wasn’t talking about the ranch anymore? “Listen, if you’re worried about paying me, don’t be.”
“Why?” His eyes flashed in anger. “Because you’re so pampered you can just fly on over to little ol’
Elise’s spine stiffened. “Is that what your attitude is about, Colt? You think I’m playing until I get bored?”
“If the shoe fits, darlin’,” he drawled.
She pulled on Jack’s reins, backing the horse up. Lifting her foot out of the stirrup toward him, she said, “You see this? It’s a boot, Colt, not a glass slipper. It may not be dusty and worn like yours, but I’m going to prove you wrong,” she finished in a determined voice as she slipped her foot back in the stirrup and kicked her heels into Jack’s sides, trotting him into the stables.