The Cowboy Meets His Match

“I plan to,” Jake told him.

“Your uncle’s ranch is yours now?”

He nodded, thinking of all the paperwork and court motions it had taken to work out the details of his inheritance.

“What do you plan to do with it?” Dusty asked.

“Raise horses and a few cattle, train cutting and roping horses, mostly. I’ve learned a lot since those summers I spent here.” His dream hadn’t happened overnight, but he had stuck with it and now he had it all. Or did he? There was still one thing missing.

He let his gaze wander around the room. Dylan and Luke had gone, leaving Erin behind. If she needed a ride— No, he wouldn’t offer. She would only refuse that, too, and he wasn’t in the mood to be turned down again.

As the evening grew later, the crowd began to thin. Other people he’d known drifted over to the table to say hello. He enjoyed the company and the evening and looked forward to more of the same in the future.

He liked Desperation. He hadn’t spent a lot of time in town when he was young, and yet the people had always been friendly and gone out of their way to make him feel welcome. He’d made friends with several of them and valued those friendships. But the night was nearly over. Even Dusty and Morgan had started talking about going home.

“Kate needs her sleep,” Dusty said, putting his arm around her waist when they both stood. “I’m surprised she’s managed to stay awake past seven.” He placed his other hand on her belly and smiled at her. “Only six more months to go.”

Jake saw the look they shared, and then it dawned on him what Dusty had said. “You’re expecting?” he asked Kate.

She nodded. “December for this one.”

“This one?”

“We have twin boys who’ll be three next month,” Dusty said. “And we did tell Aunt Aggie that we wouldn’t be late, so we need to get going before she starts calling and begging us to come pick them up.”

Kate gave him an elbow to the midsection. “Aunt Aggie has never complained about the boys, or Krista, so don’t you have Jake thinking she has.”

“I remember your aunt well, Kate,” Jake told her. “But who’s Krista?”

“Krista is ours,” Morgan said, helping his own wife with her chair.

“And we’re not adding another one soon,” Trish said, a gleam of determination in her eyes. “I have a feeling when we do, Morgan will be getting his boy, and considering how energetic Kate and Dusty’s twins are, I want to rest up a little longer.”

“Another girl is fine with me,” Morgan said, helping her with her jacket. “Krista liked that Miami Dolphins jersey I bought her, so it’s all good.”

“She was a newborn,” Trish said, laughing. “She didn’t know the difference.”

The two couples continued their bantering as they gathered their things, and Jake was sorry to see them leave. Nearly everyone had gone, except for Erin and the man he’d seen earlier, who was probably taking her home. He decided to stay where he was. He’d noticed that she’d left her hat nearby and knew she wouldn’t leave without it.

It wasn’t long before she walked over to where he sat at the table, her hat on the chair next to him. “Calling it a night?” he asked.

She didn’t look at him directly as she held out her hand. “Morning comes early on a ranch. You should know that.”

He shoved to his feet, then picked up her hat, but didn’t immediately hand it to her. “What brought you home?”

“I decided to spend some time with my brothers.”

“So you’re staying around?”

Her gaze moved slowly over him, until she looked directly into his eyes. “Are you?”

Feeling uncomfortable in places he shouldn’t, he shifted his attention from her eyes to her mouth. Another mistake. He remembered the feel of it on his far too well. Hoping she couldn’t read his thoughts, he managed to answer. “I plan to.”

“I should have known.”

She took her hat from his hand and started to move away, but he wasn’t finished. “Don’t go away mad.”

With a smile, she looked back over her shoulder. “Not mad. It’s just nicer around here when you’re gone.”

Before she could take another step, he had a comeback. “Is that why you’ve been gone from here almost as long as I have?”

Facing him, she settled her hat on her head. “I’ve done just fine.”

“So have your brothers, but they stayed.” He knew he’d hit the mark by the way she glared at him. “They’ve done some great things with the ranch.”

“So now you and my brothers are good buddies?”

“We’ve always been friends.”

She put one hand on her hip and smiled at him again. “I’m not my brothers.”

As she’d done to him, Jake let his eyes move slowly over her. “No, ma’am, you’re definitely not.” He held her gaze another moment, then looked down to pick up his glass of beer.

When he looked up again, she was walking out the door. Walking out on him the way he’d walked out on her. He knew she hadn’t forgotten, no matter how much she might want to. He’d hated that he’d had to hurt her—still did—but he hadn’t been given a choice. He’d paid for it then, and now he was paying for it again.

* * *

AFTER A DISTURBING and restless night, Erin decided to join her brothers for breakfast. In her case, that would be coffee. She hoped it would clear her mind and sweep out the remnants of the confusing and erotic dreams that had starred none other than Jake Canfield.

“Did you have a good time at Lou’s Place last night?” Luke asked, as Erin lifted the carafe to fill her cup.

When she finished, she leaned her hip against the counter behind her and nodded. “It was nice getting together with old friends, but it would have been better if Hayley and Glory had been there and the two of you hadn’t ducked out. What was that all about?”

“We didn’t tell you we weren’t staying?”

She glared at Luke, knowing for certain what they’d been up to. “Of course you didn’t tell me, because you knew I wouldn’t go if you did. And then you left me with that...man.”

“You mean Dean Franklin?”

She opened her mouth to tell him that Dean Franklin had been kind enough to take her home, in spite of the fact that she’d only spent a few minutes with him, and that the man she’d been referring to was none other than their former—and now current—neighbor. Luckily, the words didn’t spill forth. Her brothers would immediately demand to know what Jake had ever done to her, other than be a good friend, and she wouldn’t be able to tell them. Not in this lifetime, anyway.

Instead, she said, “Maybe you’ll learn not to try to hand me off to someone I share absolutely nothing in common with.”

“Broaden your world, Erin. Learn new things,” Dylan told her.

“The man wouldn’t know a quarter horse from a thoroughbred,” she said with a sniff, “and you expect me to make some long-term commitment to him?”

Dylan put his coffee cup on the table and grunted. “Nobody said you had to marry him. Just go on a date.”