Lone Star Bride

“Well, don’t believe everything you hear,” the big man said. “I don’t make magic with my saw and hammer. In fact, I just do what I enjoy most, and the boss thinks I’m a wonder child.”

“If the interior of this barn is a tribute to your skill, I’d have to agree with him,” Jamie said, surveying the well-built stalls. “Can you work as well with the livestock as you do with wood?”

“You better believe it,” Woody said. “I was raised on a horse by my pa. Been herding cattle for twenty years or so.”

Jamie stuck out his hand. “I think we’ll get along just fine, Woody.” In a few words, Jamie told the man what he wanted, measuring the length and width of the sign he had in mind with outstretched arms, and Woody only nodded agreeably. “Does that sound like something you can put together in a few days?” Jamie asked.

“Send Miss Alex out to print the letters you want on the sign, so I can chip them out and paint them black, and I’ll have it done by tonight.”

“Alexis?” Jamie was surprised by the request.

“Yeah, I don’t read or write real good and she’s always a good one to lend a hand.”

“I’ll ask her, then.”

“Ask me what?” From behind him, the woman’s voice spoke a challenge and Jamie turned to her.

“Will you give Woody a hand with a sign he’s about to make for the ranch?”

“He knows I will,” she said, shooting a wide smile in the ranch hand’s direction.

Woody was a bit old for her, but she obviously enjoyed practicing her feminine wiles on any handy male. “I’ll leave you to it, then,” Jamie said, leading his horse past the girl and out the door. She turned as he passed her by, and he was struck again by her eyes, which seemed as bright as the new leaves on a maple tree in the spring.

“Anybody ever tell you you’ve got eyes that could tempt a man to lose his head?” he asked her quietly, lest Woody hear him. It was bad enough he was flirting with the girl, but to let someone else be privy to his words was not quite the thing, he thought.

And as if she had heard such a flattering query on a daily basis, Alexis only nodded. “Among other things I’ve been told,” she said, “such as hair like sunshine and a face likely to draw men like flies. I’m not impressed.”

He’d never been scorned quite so readily, Jamie thought, and yet it made the pursuit all the sweeter, knowing he had to overcome the girl’s distrust of him and the male sex in general. At least that was the message he’d gotten from her remarks.

“I wasn’t trying to impress you,” he told her with a grin, “merely stating a fact.”

“It takes more than a smart remark about my green eyes to make me sit up and take notice of a man. I’m not much on men, and certainly cowhands aren’t my first choice as suitors.”

“Who said I was aiming to be a suitor? I had more in mind a few minutes in the moonlight or on the back porch, rocking the swing back and forth.”

“A few minutes in the moonlight? I don’t think so. I’m particular about who I spend my time with, and my nighttime hours are spent in the house.”

“Your pa watches over you pretty closely, I’ll bet,” Jamie said. “I could relieve him of the chore a couple of evenings a week. Maybe I’ll approach him and see what he thinks of the idea.”

“I think you’d better keep your ideas to yourself, and leave me alone. I’m not in the market for a man.”

Jamie tipped his hat and walked on, circling his horse and then springing into the saddle with an easy movement. “We’ll see,” he said, tipping his hat and offering a small salute in her direction.

Her mouth was drawn into a prim line and he was sorely tempted to pick her up and sling her across his saddle. His mouth twitched as he thought of kissing her into submission. She offered a challenge, and he was never one to turn his back on such a thing. Yet, making his way here with care was important. He couldn’t do anything to cause Brace’s temper to flare in his direction no matter how tempting the woman was.

This job was made for a man like James Webster, working with cows, horses and a handful of cowhands who were already in place and doing a good job. A woman could not be allowed to gain his attention to the extent that he neglected his duties here.

No matter that she was pretty. No, make that lovely, for her golden hair and tempting form were enough to bring James, or any man, he decided promptly, to attention. Features that might grace a statue formed her face, a trim nose, wide eyes that made his gaze veer back to her again, not to mention her lithe and lissome body that filled out the shirt and trousers she wore in an elegant fashion.

He felt an urge to lay his hands on her, and he turned aside, dousing it firmly. She was marriage material and he wasn’t ready yet. The memory of one girl in his past still haunted him. Loris, his first real love, a girl he had hurt, almost beyond repair. A woman he should have married. Now she was wed to his brother, and he could only ruefully regret his actions that had lost him her love.

He’d do well to keep his hands and his hungry eyes off Alexis. She was trouble.

Chapter Two

The stench of burning hair and the scorched flesh beneath it were familiar to Jamie, but still not welcome. He’d worked hard for two months, branding calves, cutting bullocks and herding cattle. But living with the odor of the branding iron doing its work was something he was not particularly fond of.

Yet, the other men were sweating as much as he, were at least as tired as his weary body proclaimed with aches and pains in every possible muscle he owned. And he would not rest while they labored. According to Hank, he had the right to oversee, observe and direct the work, but Jamie had learned from a master in Missouri, and found that the men respected a foreman more if he knew how to work alongside them, and did so without making a fuss over it.

They’d set up camp at the farthest north end of the ranch, sleeping on the ground, working long hours and striving to finish the job in record time. Jamie had gained the friendship of his men, found them to be loyal and honest, and most of all trustworthy. If one of them said he would do a chore, he did it. No dithering, no excuses, just a job well done.

“You tired, cowboy?” Alexis spoke from behind him as he sat close to the campfire. She’d shown up today, bedroll behind her saddle, and Cookie had told him that it was her usual habit to come in at the end of branding and lend a hand.

The men appreciated her slender form flitting around the camp, laughed at her remarks and seemed to perk up, their aching bodies forgotten for a while, as they worshipped at her feet. Figuratively speaking, of course, but it wasn’t too far a stretch of the imagination to visualize them surrounding her in such a manner.

Now she had approached him, and Jamie swallowed the sharp retort that hovered on his lips. If the girl thought he was the latest in her list of conquests, she was wrong. He’d managed to stay clear of her, and though she tempted him mightily, he’d forged a path that didn’t include dallying with Alexis Powers.

“We’re all tired, Alex,” he said moodily, staring into the smouldering coals before him. “Branding cattle is a hard job and these men have worked for ten days, nonstop.”

“They tell me you’re doing more than your share, Jamie.” She circled him and stood between his spot on the ground and the dying fire. “I suspect Brace Caulfield knew what he was doing when he sent you here. My father sure hasn’t found any fault with you, and that’s a rare one. He can always pick a man apart, given a while to watch him operate. You’ve passed the test, I suspect.”

Jamie nodded, looking up at the challenge that glittered in her eyes. “I’m sure I’m pleased about that, Alex. It’s always nice to gain appreciation for what you do. I’m no exception.”

“Can I sit down by you?” she asked, her voice lowering as though she didn’t want to be overheard.

“Sure. The ground’s kinda hard, but it beats standing there.” He felt a twinge of guilt at his offhanded invitation, but she seemed not to notice his words as anything but welcoming.

With a smooth, almost melting glide, she settled beside him, and he felt himself blinking at her method of movement. She’d gone from standing to sitting cross-legged next to him with one easy bend of legs and body. As if her bones were elastic, her muscles more flexible than was normal. “Graceful” was the word he chose to describe her.

Graceful and lovely. Quite a combination. Certainly enough to tempt a man almost beyond reason. And James Webster was a man. He fought the urge to wrap his arm around her waist and tug her closer. His eyes touched the bridge of her nose, the slope of her cheek and the soft pouting lines of her mouth. Unless he was mightily mistaken, the lady was trying to work her way under his skin.

“You haven’t paid much attention to me,” she said quietly, leaning forward, her elbows on her knees, her chin cupped in her hands.

“I didn’t know that was a part of my job. I’d have thought you were wearing a ‘hands off’ sign around your neck, if your father’s attitude was anything to go by. You’re a flirt, Miss Powers, and on top of that I consider you forbidden territory.”

She turned her head and her smile was feline, like a cat who spies a mouse and is contemplating its capture. “I make the rules, Mr. Webster. And in case you’ve forgotten, my name is Alexis.”

“I forget very little, ma’am. I’m well aware of your name. And I’m aware that you’re about the most tempting little piece of womanhood I’ve run across in quite some time.”

“It doesn’t show,” she said flatly. “You’ve gone out of your way to ignore me.”

“Trust me. You don’t want me to pay any mind to you. I play for keeps.”

“For keeps? And what is that supposed to mean?”

“I’m not sixteen years old, ma’am. I’m a full-grown man, with all the right equipment to enjoy myself with a woman. I don’t do things halfway. If you hang around me very long, you’re likely to find yourself in a heap of trouble.”

Alexis laughed, a buoyant sound that pleased him, and tempted him mightily.