Cowboy Courage

“I was engaged to be married,” she began, “to a man who thought I’d make a good wife.”

Cole cocked his head to the side, not sure what she was going to say. He hated to think she’d done the same thing to her fiancé as his wife had done to him. “I take it you didn’t want to make him a good wife.”

“Oh, but I did,” she began. “I’d have done anything for him. I’ve always been compliant, easy to get along with. In fact, too compliant and easy to get along with.”

Cole wasn’t following her reasoning, but he didn’t say anything. He just sat there like a high-priced shrink.

“That’s apparently what he liked about me.” She offered a weak smile. “He’s having an affair with a married friend of mine.”

“Ouch,” Cole said.

Laurie set her fork down and placed her elbows on the table. “You know, if I’d been deeply in love with him, it would have been devastating. As it is, I just feel used, betrayed. Taken advantage of.” She searched his face as though looking for understanding, and he hoped she found it. “For fifteen years, I’ve tried hard to do everything expected of me, to show my appreciation to my aunt for adopting me.”

“What happened to your parents?”

“I never knew my dad. When Mom died, I was orphaned and alone. According to Aunt Caroline, she rescued me from foster care. And she never let me forget it.”

Cole wondered how his daughter would feel if something happened to him. He’d done everything in his power to ensure his ex-wife would never have custody of Beth. But, should something happen to Cole, his daughter would most likely end up in the system. Unless, of course, Kerri-Leigh managed to get her life in order first, but that possibility didn’t provide him with much comfort. As much as he loved his sister, she didn’t always make the right choices. Without Cole, Beth’s options were limited. “Foster care must have been tough.”

“Losing my mother was worse. And scary.”

Cole nodded, feeling sorry for another motherless child. But life wasn’t always fair. He’d learned that early.

Laurie stood. “I had hoped Aunt Caroline would be like a mother to me, but it never happened.” As though trying to change the subject, she began picking up the plates and plastic ware. “I’ll wash the dishes.”

“I’ll help.” Cole grabbed the lantern and led the way to the kitchen.

As Laurie followed him, she found it hard to believe she had revealed so much to a man who, only hours ago, had been a complete stranger. He wasn’t much less of one now, but he’d been a good listener, and there weren’t many people who had ever really cared about her feelings or desires. In fact, other than Cole tonight, Michael Harper was the only one in recent years who’d cared. Michael was one of the finest doctors around and a good friend, but she couldn’t very well go to him now. It was his wife who was having an affair with Daniel.

Laurie placed the dishes in the sink and found a bottle of soap on the counter. She turned on the water and watched the bubbles form.

“I was going to take the stove back to the garage,” the tall, lean cowboy said as he sauntered back into the kitchen. “But I had another idea. How about some hot cocoa?”

Laurie looked up, amazed at the way his presence filled the room. Cole McAdams was a striking man, with dark hair that curled at the nape of his neck. Clad in denim, he appeared strong. And heroic. Blue eyes softened his angular features, and Laurie was touched by his suggestion. “I haven’t had hot chocolate in years. It sounds great.”

“Well, it’s standard camp fare, assuming you can handle instant. All we need is hot water.”

“I don’t suppose you have the kind with little dehydrated marshmallows, do you?”

He offered a charming smile. “No, but I’ll get some for next time.”

“Thanks,” she said.

“For promising to get the kind with marshmallows?”

“No. For listening to me wallow in self-pity.”

Cole lifted her chin with the callused tip of his finger, sending a sensual shiver from her head to her toes. “You didn’t wallow. You just explained why you’re passing through.”

His eyes, dark blue pools with a depth she hadn’t expected, studied her intently. Then he slowly lowered his mouth to hers.

Chapter Three

Laurie wanted to pull away, to place her hands on his broad chest and push him back, but something deep within drew her to him, and she lifted her mouth to reach his.

The kiss began gently, sweetly, his lips tentatively brushing hers. A kiss that promised tenderness and friendship. But suddenly, Laurie wanted more. Needed more. Unable to stop herself, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him to her. Brazen, maybe, but for a single moment in time, she wanted to feel desired. Whole again.

Reason and good sense begged her to stop, but a bruised and battered feminine ego won out. She needed to know she could stir a man with longing. This man, and right now. In a daring move, she opened her mouth, welcoming his entrance. As their tongues began to mate with a deep, vigorous hunger, Cole pulled Laurie flush against him. She felt the hardness of his erection, sensed the depth of his need.

As the kiss intensified, he ran his hand along the side of her neck, his fingers reaching just inside the edge of the robe. His callused hand against her already tingling skin shot a jolt of heat and desire through her, weakening her knees.

This was crazy, foolish, but she’d never felt like this before. Nor had she imagined a physical reaction or yearning so strong. She leaned into Cole, her fingers splaying in his hair and pulling their lips closer yet.

A moan sounded low in his throat, and she realized they could end up on the floor in no time at all. And for some reason she couldn’t explain, she wanted just that. Hot, fast and furious. Something to keep her mind off her damaged pride and lost dreams.

But Laurie knew she needed more than a wild, passionate one-night stand. Reason finally spoke up, reminding her this man was a stranger, someone she wouldn’t see again. And as much as she would like to escape her emotional pain with physical comfort, lovemaking should be something they both chose to do, not a brash decision meant to temporarily mend a broken heart.

Laurie pulled back, breaking the mind-spinning kiss. And in a ragged, husky whisper, she told him to stop. “I’m sorry,” she said as he released her.

He raked his fingers through his thick, dark hair and stepped back. “No, I’m the one who’s sorry. I don’t want you to think I was trying to take advantage of your vulnerability.”

She shook her head, unwilling to allow him to take the blame for something she knew she had instigated. “I’m the one who took advantage of your kindness by allowing a friendly kiss to get out of hand. I don’t know what got into me. I’m usually very reserved.”

“It’s hard to predict a person’s behavior when they’ve been hurt by the one human being that should be trusted.” He smiled sagely. “After my wife left, I tried to find healing in a physical relationship.”

“Did it help?” She tugged at the gap in her robe and pulled the sash tight.

“Some, but the pain and anger doesn’t ever seem to go away for long. I’m not sure it ever will.”

Laurie knew what he meant. Her own sense of loss and betrayal went far beyond what Daniel had done to her. In a way, she had betrayed herself by not standing up for her beliefs, her own desires. So she nodded at his comment, then reached into the sink, intent on finishing the dishes.

They worked in silence for a while, but as she rinsed the soap from the pan that had warmed canned pork and beans, she decided to offer Cole the same chance to talk as he had provided her. “How long have you been alone?”

“Nearly two years, but I’m not alone.”

Laurie nearly dropped the slick pan back into the sink. Earlier, she had guessed Cole had a woman living here, someone to help keep the place so neat and clean. Men, by nature, she assumed, weren’t tidy and organized when it came to housework. “Who lives with you?”

“Beth.”

Laurie’s heart fell. She’d been so careful not to mention Daniel by name. Keeping his fame and high profile a secret, perhaps, but also trying to keep him a stranger. But the woman who lived with Cole had a name. She was real, and Laurie had kissed her man.

Shame for the intimacy they’d shared squeezed her conscience. She was no better than Denise, Daniel’s lover and Dr. Michael Harper’s wife. Feeling too much like “the other woman” for her own liking, Laurie offered an apology. “I had no idea you were involved with someone. I never would have kissed you like that.”

Cole’s deep-throated laugh eased the tension. “I’m involved all right. Beth is my five-year-old daughter.”

Relief flooded Laurie’s heart, not just because she no longer felt as though she’d been a part of something sordid, but for some reason, she was glad Cole wasn’t involved with a female older than five, even if she did plan to leave as soon as the rain stopped.

The cleanup was quick and easy, but by the time Cole had put away the last of the plates, Laurie yawned. She’d been without sleep for more hours than she could remember and she half expected to crash the moment her head hit the pillow.