Roping Your Heart (7 page)

“Do you mind talking about the horse that attacked you?” he asked.

She paused a moment and a shadow passed over her features. He almost wished he hadn’t brought it up, but they needed to talk about it and get it out into the open.

With a shake of her head, she said, “I don’t mind.”

“How did it happen?” he asked.

She pushed her hair out of her face, slid her plate to the side and relaxed in her seat. Even though she looked different, her mannerisms and the way she spoke were the same. He’d always loved the sound of her voice.

A server cleared away the fondue pot and dishes.

When the server left, Cat took a deep breath. “When I left…”

“With Toby Jennings,” Blake said evenly.

She nodded, looking a little embarrassed. “Toby and I went to Tucson. I found a job rehabilitating horses with the owner of some stables on the east side of town. The owner’s name was Woody.” She tucked hair behind her ear again in a heart-wrenchingly familiar gesture. “Woody had a new gelding come in, Firestorm, and I took him out of his stall to start working with him. My biggest mistake was not waiting for Woody.”

Blake watched Cat steadily as he waited for her to go on.

Her throat worked as she swallowed and it seemed that a shiver traveled over her skin. “The next thing I knew, Firestorm had knocked me down. He started stomping on me and shattered bones in my face and all over my body. I screamed and Woody heard and got the horse off of me before he managed to kill me.” She shook her head. “I don’t remember much after that.”

“Damn.” The horror of what Cat had been through swept over him. “I’m sorry, honey.”

“It changed my life, that’s for sure.” She sighed. “Toby couldn’t cope with it, especially the differences in my looks and the brain trauma. He couldn’t handle all of the slow progress with this therapy and that. He took off for Wyoming last I heard.”

“That sonofabitch,” Blake growled.

She shrugged. “That was a long time ago.”

“You suffered brain trauma?” he said.

She touched the side of her head and gave a crooked smile. “I can show you the scars. Brain surgery and everything.”

“Do you have any problems left over from the trauma?” he asked.

“Other than the occasional nightmare or migraine, no,” she said. “Although I do get a few aches and pains during rainy weather and my joints creak.”

“Hell, my joints creak sometimes,” he said with a grin. “Just don’t tell my brothers or they’re going to start calling me old man.”

She returned his grin. “Can’t imagine anyone calling you old man.” She looked at the power in his body, his muscular frame. “You work out a lot, don’t you?”

He nodded. “I run the hills around here and I have a weight set in a back room at the ranch. I started running and lifting when you left—it was a way to work out my frustrations. Eventually it became a way to relieve everyday stress.”

The thought that he’d started lifting and running because of her made her wonder if that had been a good thing. The results had certainly been rewarding.

Their dessert arrived—a big fondue pot of pure dark chocolate along with plates of sliced fresh fruit that included strawberries, banana, and pineapple. There were also cubed pieces of brownies and golden pound cake.

“Oh, my.” Cat closed her eyes and her chest rose as she inhaled and gave a happy sigh as she opened her eyes. “Smells heavenly and looks so good.” She stabbed a strawberry with her fondue fork and twirled it in the chocolate.

“Sure does,” Blake agreed, holding back his amusement at the enthusiastic way she greeted the dessert. He pierced a chunk of brownie with his own fork.

She drew her strawberry out of the chocolate fondue then plucked it off with her fingers. She closed her eyes again as she bit into the chocolate dipped strawberry. “Mmmmm…” She sounded and looked slightly orgasmic as she ate it.

His jaw tensed, an ache suddenly tightening his groin. Damn, that was hot.

She opened her eyes and caught him watching her. “What? Do I have chocolate on my face?”

He couldn’t help a quick grin. “You look cute eating chocolate fondue.”

She looked a little embarrassed and maybe a little shy. “Aren’t you going to have some?”

“You bet.” He dipped the brownie cube into the fondue then brought it out and popped it into his mouth. He chewed and swallowed then said, “That is good.”

With a smile, she said, “This was a great idea.”

He nodded. “We’ll have to thank Tess.”

Despite saying she was full earlier, she ate every piece of fruit, brownie, and cake on her plate and he did the same.

“That was so very good,” she said and smiled as the server took the dessert fondue away.

Moments later, cups of coffee were brought to them to finish off their evening.

Blake set aside the last bottle of beer and took a drink of his coffee then set the cup down. He looked at her a long moment before he said, “Nineteen years ago the last thing I heard was that you were leaving town with Toby.”

Cat looked down at her coffee cup and wouldn’t meet his gaze for a long moment. When she finally looked at him again, she said, “It was probably the second biggest mistake of my life.”

“What was the first?” Blake asked.

Her cheeks flushed. “The night we broke up… That was the worst night of my life and my biggest mistake.”

A feeling of surprise caught him off guard and he had to ask his next question. “Why did you leave with him?”

Her throat worked as she swallowed. “You know why, Blake. It was the reason we broke up. I had to get away from Prescott and my father. I—I just couldn’t live here anymore. You wouldn’t leave this place behind because you wanted the land and your family more than you wanted me.”

“You know that’s not fair, Cat.” He frowned. “I had a hell of a lot of responsibility here. And if you want to look at it that way, you wouldn’t stay here for me.”

She shrugged. “No one is to blame. At that time in our lives we each wanted different things.”

“Sometimes I blame myself, though.” His own admission surprised him. “If I had tried harder to keep you here, if I hadn’t let us break up the way we did—”

“You couldn’t have stopped me, Blake. I had to get away.” Cat shook her head. “My father… Things just weren’t good.”

Blake clenched his jaw, remembering the things Cat had told him about her father. “I should have beat the shit out of him then.”

Cat leaned forward. “No. Walking away was the right thing to do. I know you wanted to protect me, but by then I was with my grandmother and he couldn’t hurt me anymore.” She closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again. “I just couldn’t stay in the same town as him. Not then.”

“He died sixteen years ago,” Blake said. “Why didn’t you come back?”

She sighed and sat back in her chair. “It wasn’t that easy. I was still suffering some trauma from the ordeal with the horse and had to continue going through physical therapy.” She smoothed her hair back from her face. “There were other changes in my life,” she said, but didn’t elaborate. “And maybe I was a little afraid,” she added.

He frowned. “Afraid of what?”

She looked away from him for a long moment before meeting his gaze again. She touched the scar along her cheek. “Afraid of what the people I knew would think when they saw me like this.”

“Like what?” He leaned forward and caught her hand on the tabletop. “What are you talking about?”

Her eyes narrowed into a confused frown. “There’s no sense in dancing around it. I may have been pretty but that was a very long time ago. All of these years have passed and I’m scarred in more than one way.”

Now, Blake was frowning. He clasped her hand in both of his and it felt small and warm in his grip. “You may look a little different, but you’re still a beautiful woman. Who you are inside radiates out of you like it always did and that makes you one of the most gorgeous women I have ever known.”

Tears glittered in her eyes. She put her free hand up to her mouth as if holding back a sob.

“You know I don’t lie and I don’t bullshit.” He studied her and she nodded, slowly. “Take what I said and accept it as fact. Got that?”

She nodded again and moved her hand away from her mouth. “Yes,” she said, her voice almost a whisper.

He took in the pain in her expression and could read everything she’d gone through over the years. It made him want to take her in his arms and protect her from anything ever happening to her again. He wanted to kiss her.

To make love to her.

Ah, hell. He dragged his hand down his face. He was in deep shit.

Again.

As they started to leave the Hummingbird, Blake put his hand at the base of her spine, escorting her out of the restaurant. He stopped to tell Tess they’d enjoyed dinner and Cat had echoed him with compliments of her own.

On the short drive back to her house, they talked about a few of the changes in the town since she’d left.

When they reached her home, Blake parked and walked her to her front door. The soft glow of the porch light illuminated her.

She unlocked the door then paused to meet his gaze. She sounded nervous again as she said, “Would you like to come in?”

He studied her for a long moment. “I’d better not.”

A look passed over her features that he couldn’t identify. Disappointment? Relief? Something else?

“Thank you for a wonderful evening out.” She gave a soft smile. “I had a great time.”

An urge came over him that he couldn’t control. Didn’t want to control. He cupped her face in his hands and lowered his mouth to hers, not giving her a chance to react.

Her lips parted in surprise beneath his and he nipped at her bottom lip. She sucked in her breath and he kissed her harder. He wanted to take control of her, to possess her. He wanted her back so damned bad. The power of the feeling set him off balance.

She kissed him back. At first her kiss was tentative but then it grew in strength and matched the power of his own. Her familiar scent filled him as he inhaled and her taste brought back memories of the many kisses they had shared in the past.

Soft moans rose up from her and she gripped his shirtfront in her fists. His groin ached and he knew he was dangerously close to sweeping her up in his arms and taking her into her house and straight to bed.

He drew away, breaking the kiss. He found his breathing was hard as desire raged through him. He studied her expression and saw her eyes still wide with shock and her wet lips glistening in the porch light.

“I’m sorry.” He swallowed. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Why not?” She looked puzzled at first then bit her lower lip and looked away from him.

He touched her chin and brought her back to look at him again. “You don’t know how badly I want you right now. But we have too many things between us. Too much to work through.”

She nodded. “We do.”

He traced her lower lip with his thumb. “You’d better get inside while my willpower is intact.”

She looked at him for one more long moment then drew back. “Good night, Blake.” She turned and walked through her door and closed it behind her. He heard the bolt lock slide into place.

He shook his head as he looked up at the moon. “Damned fool,” he muttered before heading down the stairs and back to his truck.

Chapter 6

The Saturday after her dinner with Blake, Cat found herself at the front door of his home clasping his files to her chest with one arm as she raised her opposite hand to knock. It hadn’t taken her long to drive here and she was early.

He’d called her yesterday at work to give her directions to his ranch. Their conversation had been a little awkward and they’d talked only a few minutes before he’d had to get back to work and she needed to do so as well.

She rapped on the door and waited for someone to answer.

Thoughts of their dinner together were with her constantly. But mostly she thought about the kiss. She hadn’t expected that sizzle of reaction and she had the feeling he hadn’t, either.

She looked over her shoulder at the corrals and barn. He was probably out working somewhere and would be back soon.

When no one answered, she turned and moved to the edge of the porch where she sat on the top step. She tugged down her short jean skirt with one hand and held the files tight to her chest with her other as she looked over the unfamiliar ranch. When she’d known Blake before, he’d still been on his parents’ ranch with his brothers.

She thought about what he’d said about his family… That they would welcome her back. Maybe she shouldn’t have been so surprised. They were good people and she’d known them a long time. They had been closer family to her than her own.

The morning air felt warm and still as she let her gaze drift over the empty corrals and the quiet yard. The cattle must be out to graze and the morning chores were probably finished.

The sound of horse’s hooves came from somewhere behind the house. Her heart rate picked up a bit at the prospect of seeing Blake again.