Cowboy on the Run (6 page)

“No, not moody,” Alan said with a chuckle. “But he did seem upset, and rightfully so. I can’t imagine losing my dad.”

Jessie rolled her eyes. Everyone made pardons for him. In fact, excuses and Nate went hand in hand.

“That, whatever
that
was, wasn’t about his dad,” she sputtered. “He’s just...he was...agh...”
Staking his claim?
It was insulting. He considered her of no more importance than a piece of property. Something he owned. “Just ignore him, Alan.” She stormed out, too frustrated to further her explanation of his actions.

Guests started arriving, and for the rest of the day, Jessie attempted to ignore Nate. However, her effort had been in vain as she caught dark, scornful glances throughout the day.

Of course, there had been a few melancholy stares also, which was something she couldn’t handle. It was much easier to hate him, to be angry. After all, he would be leaving soon anyway.

The afternoon was not the daunting cloud of sorrow Jessie had expected it to be. Instead, there was laughter and joy. Funny stories about J. W. were shared or exchanged amongst the many groups of people, along with a few clever songs composed of uncensored lyrics.

Well into the midnight hour, James Walker’s memory was honored until Ed decided it was time for the last call of the night. As the guests began thinning out, Jessie busied herself with the enormous task of cleaning up. Her efforts were interrupted as Nate slipped an empty beer bottle onto the tray she was filling. She glanced up, transfixed by the deep, intense blue of his gaze for several minutes.

“It was a good turn-out. Your father would have been happy,” she stated before returning to clearing the table.

“Yeah,” he muttered, a scowl lining his face. He twisted open the top off of another beer, rolling the cap between his fingers before tossing it on her tray. “The old man would have been ecstatic.”

Her head snapped up. The sarcasm in his words were razor sharp, hiding decades of pain. Anguish darkened his eyes, and she fought the urge to reach out to comfort him.

Jessie stopped herself, heeding how quick the hurt changed to another emotion, something unreadable. He continued to stare, swallowing a long draw off the bottle of Budweiser in his hand, his gaze never straying from her face.

His expression seemed predatory, almost animalistic. Taking the tray from her, he placed it and his beer on the table and stepped closer, his body sliding into place against hers. As if he had never left.

Her pulse quickened as Nate’s heat flowed deep into her bones, and his nearness threatened to steal more than her breath. Jessie’s entire body sizzled, her skin hot in response. Even her nipples betrayed her, hardening into small pebbles taut against her T-shirt as they brushed the solid hardness of his chest.

Jessie’s blood thundered through her body, and she couldn’t tear her gaze away from his hold. Soon, he would kiss her. She willed him to, unable to stop the yearning of his lips against hers. After an eternity, his mouth crashed down, devouring hers, consuming and demanding.

“You belong to me,” he said huskily, ending the kiss with brutal honesty.

His words were strained, and Jessie didn’t have to wonder, knowing he felt the same, heated intensity she did.

She pulled away, offering little resistance when he brought her back to him with the easy guidance of his hand on her lower back, scalding her flesh with his touch.

Nate’s lips returned to her mouth, kissing her with a reserved gentleness she didn’t think possible, especially after the heat of his last kiss. His control proved deadly, stirring the embers of a slow burn in her stomach. She wanted more.

He growled deep in his chest, and she pressed against him. The kiss deepened, and hot lava flooded her veins. Grabbing the back of his neck, she pulled him down closer to her.

The kiss became possessive. Jessie took what he offered as if she were famished. Damn him for the pull he had on her! She wanted him, the truth was undeniable. She wanted his hands, his lips, on every inch of her.

“You might want to give your college boy a heads up,” he taunted, pulling away. “I don’t share my toys.”

He released her, leaving her stunned for a minute as she deciphered the statement, magnifying the meaning of his words. In an instant the passion consuming her raced from desire to rage.

“I am
not
your toy, Nate Walker,” she yelled in a far from glamorous shriek. “I
am not
your possession!”

Nate held her gaze, his eyebrow cocked in a way which implied he begged to differ, and he crossed his arms over his chest.

In a last ditch effort to uphold her dignity, she stomped away, his stare heating her back all the way to the bar. Satisfied, she gloated, certain she had won the battle, ending their conversation with the last word.

Even if those words rang untrue.

Chapter 6

“
I belong to no man,
” Jessie shouted into the open fields.

A brindle-colored long horn steer stopped eating and eyed her with a wary stare before he returned to his midday meal of green grass. After a minute, the steer sauntered off into the field, leaving her alone.

Why hadn’t she said that to Nate last night? Why could she come up with quick-witted responses only after the fact? Wouldn’t it have been nice, just once in her lifetime, to snap out a sassy retort at the right time, not hours or even days later?

She could scream her thoughts until her face turned blue, but it wouldn’t change anything. Besides, saying she belonged to no man didn’t sound quick-witted or sassy. No, it sounded more like a confession. And where Nate was concerned...a lie.

Toy? Had he really compared her to a toy? As if she were a plaything he and Alan could fight over?

A ball of unsettled energy, she jumped off her John Deere in complete frustration. Not sure what to do with herself, she kicked at the tractor’s tires. She’d thought being out in the fields would help her clear her mind. Instead, here she was obsessing about her problem...Nate.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a small dot moving along the horizon. A few minutes later, she could make out the shape of a person riding a horse. Someone on her property?

Had something happened to the kids or her father? Or had the person responsible for killing her steers returned? She fought the panic rising in her chest.

Determined to head the rider off at the pass, Jessie climbed back on the tractor, but hesitated when she noticed no sense of urgency in the horseman’s pace. Forcing herself to calm down, she chose to wait it out, sinking into the seat. Several minutes later, the intruder came into view, slowing down to a cantor a couple of yards away.

Though she wasn’t able to make out the horseman’s features hidden by the worn cowboy hat, she knew it was Nate. No other man guided a horse so smoothly. There was something about the way he controlled the animal, using the right pressure of his thighs rather than lifting the reins. Sexy. Confident. Hell, even his horse had swagger.

Jessie made herself look away, her perseverance already compromised by the mere sight of him riding a horse. She shook her head in disbelief. What on earth was wrong with her?

“Do you like him?” Nate asked, trotting to the side of the tractor.

He tipped his hat back. His face, lit up by a genuine smile, simply took her breath away.

She’d forgotten this side of him...the happy side. He’d always been at his most content when riding a horse. Long gone was the possessive, demanding man she had encountered a night ago.

Nate patted the side of the horse’s neck and whispered something into the animal’s ear. The horse responded with a loud neigh and a light-natured two-step. Jessie’s gaze strayed to the gorgeous animal prancing in circles before her.

The horse was a beast, magnificent in its size. The midnight-shaded gelding was tall, at least sixteen maybe seventeen hands and appeared to be just as proud as the man who rode it.

Jessie caught sight of his silky mane, noting it shone more blue than black in the sunlight. She climbed off the tractor and approached the animal with a slow, cautious step. She reached out to touch his nose, giving the horse a moment to adjust to her scent.

“I named him J.W. in memory of my dad,” Nate informed her, patting the horse’s flanks again. “J.W. and I have plans, don’t we, boy?”

Her head snapped up, surprised he still wore a lighthearted smile after mentioning his father. She didn’t have the heart to ask if the initials represented his dad, or his father’s favorite whiskey.

“You...ah...you bought a horse,” she stuttered, wishing the trembling of her voice wasn’t such an apparent reflection of the way she felt inside. “So, you’re sticking around for a while?” Unsure if she wanted to know the answer, she combed J.W.’s mane with her fingers.

“I thought I made that crystal clear last night.”

Nate slid off the horse with a graceful, careless ease and positioned himself in front of her. The meaning of his words from last night repeated themselves in Jessie’s head, and her body vibrated from his nearness. He didn’t even have to touch her.

He reached out, tilting her chin so she faced him. Flushed by memories of the previous night’s kiss, she attempted to pull away, but he held firm, his hands cradling her face. She stared at his lips. Hers still tingled, mourning the loss of his mouth on hers. Damn him, how could a mere kiss have such an effect on her? Not to mention the sleepless night.

She had tossed and turned the entire night, filled with such an intense yearning, an actual
need
, for his touch. And now, the minute she was able to quell her wanton lust, here he was igniting the fire all over again.

“I may have done some things I’m not proud of, Jess, but I was never a liar.”

The honesty in his eyes stabbed through to her very soul, smothering her desire with his truth. No, he wasn’t a liar. He had always been so blunt, straightforward.

She thought about her children, their children. It was the perfect opportunity to tell Nate about them. But how did you go about telling someone something like that?
By the way, you have twins, a boy and a girl.

No, he wasn’t a liar—
she
was the liar. And at the moment, Jessie couldn’t bring herself to tell him. Defending her actions, she reminded herself he wouldn’t be sticking around.

“I’ve got work to do.” She spun back, racing toward the solace of her tractor as if the machine could provide her the escape necessary. At least on her John Deere, her emotions seemed secure, her thoughts her own. Then, maybe, his touch couldn’t dissolve her will or change her mind.

It wouldn’t actually work. She wasn’t a complete idiot. There was no way on earth mere metal could stop the flow of emotions being near Nate caused, but she kept telling herself it would anyway.

He caught up to her, stopping her pace with his hand on her shoulder. His touch awakened a stirring of arousal as a flash back of memories hit her full force. Hesitant, she faced him, knowing her reaction to him might prove fatal.

“I’ve got plans, Jess, real plans. I’ll know for sure tomorrow. It’ll keep me busy for a while, but it will be good for me. I think you’ll be proud of me.”

“Oh, Nate. I’ve heard all this before. Big plans.” She scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Like when you wanted to join properties to make the largest cattle ranch in all of Randolph County? Or better yet...I love this one...your great idea to breed horses, which lasted less than a week? And then there was the chicken fiasco... Need I go on?” She shrugged his hand off her shoulder and started walking again.

The man was ridiculous. He had more schemes than common sense and not one of these fleeting concepts ever made it past the dream stage. She wasn’t the same naïve girl who jumped on the bandwagon at his every suggestion. Not anymore. Jessie refused to be his biggest cheerleader, and instead climbed onto the tractor.

And why did he insist upon calling her Jess anyway? She cursed, flustered by the way the familiarity of her nickname had rolled off his tongue. It would be so much easier if he hadn’t come back into her life, if he didn’t stare at her with his intoxicating gaze or smile in his special way, splintering her heart into a million tiny pieces, again.

She spared one last glance at him. He was still standing by his horse, his stature regal and proud. Her heart slammed hard in her chest. The vision would be impossible to erase, imprinted in her memory forever.

“I was always proud of you, Nate,” she confessed, starting the ignition. She paused, one hand on the gear shift. The memory of him holding a large blue ribbon danced before her eyes. She switched the key to off again, spinning in his direction.

“Remember that one year at the fair?” Jessie grinned, the recollection releasing a floodgate of treasured moments. “You placed first in calf roping. First! My word, you were a sight to see.”

“The credit goes to Cinnamon. She was one hell of a horse,” he returned, a large smile splitting his face, his eyes dreamy in retrospect. A second later, a scowl took its place. “That was the night I left. All because of a stupid bet...I still can’t believe the old man lost her,” he stated in a quiet, hateful tone.

There was so much pain in the dark blue depths Jessie grieved for him, wanting to shield him from the past, but knew better. The boy she had known would never accept the consolation. He would’ve considered such an act to be one of pity. And although this man standing before her was no longer the same boy, she had no idea what he would do if she reached out to him.

“Cinnamon deserved better.
You
deserved better, Jessie.” He stepped forward, close enough to touch her.

In an instant, his demeanor changed from fury to remorse. Her body stiffened in response. Although his words were sharp and poignant, she wasn’t ready for the sincerity.

“Hell, even my old man deserved better than what I did to him. I was just so hurt, so angry...you know? I loved that damn horse,” he admitted, his voice heavy with emotion.

“I loved her, too. Did you know my dad tracked down the man your dad lost her to and paid him double to get Cinnamon back for you? Yeah, we stabled her for over a year.” She smiled, picturing the affectionate horse who’d helped fill in the emptiness Nate had left behind.