Winning The Cowboy's Heart

Her eyebrows quirked. “But I bet you’re thinking it.”

“You’re a mind reader now?”

“Nah, I’m just clever.” The smirk spread, revealing even white teeth against her freckled face, the contrast unconventionally attractive. “And I also think I’m hilarious.”

He bit back a laugh and slid by her into the house, shaking his head at her brashness.

“Oh, Heath?” she called, and he stuck his head around the doorframe. One of Jewel’s hands lifted a single finger; the other rounded into an O shape. “Cades one, Lovelands zero.”

The smile lingered on his face as hot water pounded on Heath’s sore muscles while he twisted beneath the showerhead’s spray minutes later. Jewel sure had an ego, but she had the talent to back it up, too. He snapped off the water, wrapped a towel around his waist and sauntered from the steam-filled bathroom.

“Oof!” He collided with someone—someone much too petite to be one of his brothers. Small, calloused hands landed on his bare chest. His muscles clenched as his heart stopped and then sped up.

Jewel Cade’s enormous brown eyes trailed up his contracting abdomen to his face. “Travis said I could find an extra deck of cards up here.” Air separated her halting words. She yanked her hands down. “We’re playing Texas Holdʼem. Want to play?”

He shook his head, wordless. No. He did not want to play with the aggravating redhead who nettled him like a burr. Her soft mouth parted, and the tip of her pink tongue appeared on her generous lower lip.

“Come on, Heath, don’t you want to live dangerously?”

He pictured icicles dangling from barn eaves, his breath frosting winter air, the sting of sleet hitting his cheeks...anything to stop the temptation to sample her full lips. “Kelsey wants me over for dinner.”

Jewel’s sparkling brown eyes dulled and darned if he didn’t want to make them shine again. Get out of here, he ordered himself, yet his feet had other ideas and stuck him in place.

“But what do you want?”

“Peace.” He ducked back in his room and slammed the door. Her chuckle wove through the thick pine anyway. He paced to his closet and savagely buttoned on the dress shirt and pants Kelsey bought him for his birthday. His rough fingers fumbled to knot the tie. Once, twice...five times. He yanked off the noose. Kelsey’s impending frown flashed in his mind’s eye.

Contrary to Jewel’s opinion, he already knew he wasn’t suited for this ranching life, let alone the one awaiting him once he married. Or maybe it was the other way around and his life didn’t suit him. Either way, he needed to resign himself to it...if she’d just leave him be and stop challenging him.

Was that too much to ask?

When it came to Jewel, his money was on yes.

In the hall, he’d wanted to kiss the everlasting smirk off her face. She tested the limits of his self-control, self-denial and unselfishness.

That, of course, was the problem.

Some part of him apparently liked being unrestrained and taking what he wanted. It’d be his downfall, though, if he didn’t keep his distance from bold, spirited Jewel Cade.

Hopefully, dinner with Kelsey would give him clarity. A loud, raucous laugh erupted from downstairs, Jewel’s shout mingling with his siblings’. He jammed on his hat and clomped outside. He sure wasn’t getting any peace here, not with a certain redhead underfoot and messing with his head.

CHAPTER FOUR (#u3d7b7885-4653-57cf-8b88-a23f35832bb2)

“COME IN. COME IN,” boomed a male voice behind Heath.

He jerked his hands from his pockets, dragged his eyes off the waxing moon and whirled to face the Timmonses’ open front door. Bright light, spilling down tiered brick steps, silhouetted the outline of a short and stocky man with a head as round as a cannonball.

“You haven’t changed your mind about joining us for dinner, have you?” A belly laugh accompanied the question, punctuating the apparent ridiculousness of the notion.

“Only about twenty times.” Heath doffed his hat and trudged up the stairs into the grand two-story home.

“Hah!” Sam Timmons clapped Heath on the back. “Changing your mind about joining us on steak night...good one.”

Only Heath spoke the truth. During the long drive into town, he’d battled the impulse to turn his pickup around. He glimpsed his clenched jaw in the foyer’s gold-framed mirror. Even though he found Jewel irritating, he’d rather play cards with her and his siblings than endure a night of Kelsey’s parents’ digs about his humble upbringing or their expectations for his and Kelsey’s future.

Speaking of whom...

Kelsey glided through an open pocket door, paused before him and leaned close to pat his cheek. He fought back a sneeze at her overly sweet perfume. “We’re not letting him escape that easy, are we, Daddy?” Her green eyes sparkled through a thicket of black lashes.

“No indeed, Dew Drop.” Sam’s barrel chest swelled as he gazed affectionately at his only child. “You’ve caught yourself a good one.”

Heath cleared his constricted throat, his insides wriggling like a worm on a hook. “She hasn’t reeled me in yet.”

“Famous last words,” Sam guffawed.

“Let’s say hi to Mama.” Kelsey inclined her head, the platinum strands of her upswept blond hair gleaming beneath a chandelier. “She’s been anxious to see you all day.”

Sam wagged a finger at Heath. “Anxious for you to set a wedding date.”

Pressure settled on Heath’s shoulders.

“Daddy.” Kelsey swatted her father’s coat sleeve. “You’re terrible. Stop pressuring Heath.”

Heath choked back a laugh. Now that was amusing, considering her ultimatum to agree on a date by summer’s end. “Your daughter’s doing a fine enough job on her own.”

“What’s he talking about, Dew Drop?” Sam’s snub nose wrinkled, and his amiable expression faded slightly. “You’re not chasing after Heath...making a spectacle of yourself, are you?”

“Of course not, Daddy.” Kelsey rested her head on Heath’s shoulder and her stiff hair dented slightly. “We’ve been together forever. Heath’s crazy about me.”

“Or just plain crazy,” Heath muttered beneath his breath as Sam strode across the marble floor and disappeared into the formal living room.

Kelsey gripped Heath’s arm. “What’s gotten into you?”

Good question. Usually he acted the part of attentive boyfriend, no matter what the Timmonses threw his way, but tonight he hadn’t the patience for it. “What do you mean?”

“You’re—you’re not yourself.”

“Maybe this is me and you’ve never noticed.” He’d just lost a chance at his dream, narrowly escaped a livestock disaster and spent a long day sparring with know-it-all Jewel. She’d accused him of never doing what he wanted and yes, he’d admit it, she had a point. Putting others ahead of himself was grating on him lately.

Kelsey’s fingers trailed up his dress shirt’s buttons. “I know you better than anyone.”

Heath’s heart turned over heavily as he nodded.

“We’re meant to be married,” she pressed. “Why else would we have stayed together this long if we weren’t perfect for each other?”

Heath’s lips flattened. Problem was, lately he’d sensed a change in himself, a restlessness when they were together. Instead of the old excitement he’d felt when he saw her, he had a sense of obligation and even boredom...completely unfounded since Kelsey was as kind and giving as ever.