Fugitive Fiancée (5 page)

“She seems nice,” Mimi said as Garrett pulled the pickup onto the road.

“Nice enough.”

“Pretty, too.”

He glanced at her. “Pretty enough to snag two husbands.”

She waited for him to elaborate, but he kept his gaze focused on the road. She'd heard about the strong, silent type, but this was ridiculous. At least now she understood why he was avoiding Venna. She tried to ignore the tiny glimmer of satisfaction it gave her. Garrett's love life, or lack of one, shouldn't matter to her one bit.

Leaning back against seat, she gazed at the sun
hovering on the horizon, awed by the beautiful palette of colors arcing across the sky. Was there any place more beautiful than this?

Garrett pulled the pickup truck into the driveway, then cut the engine. “We need to talk.”

Now, there was a novel idea. “What about?”

“About where you're going to sleep tonight.”

“Oh. I forgot about that.” Her cheeks warmed as she realized she'd just taken for granted that he'd invite her to stay at the house. Did a ranch hand normally sleep in the barn? She'd enjoyed her brief interlude in the hayloft yesterday, but she wasn't sure she wanted to sleep there for the next four weeks. Especially if it was occupied by mice, rats or other assorted rodents.

“I've been remodeling the second floor, so the bedrooms up there are a mess. I used to have a small cabin on my ranch that was used for a bunkhouse, but it burned down last month.”

“So that leaves?”

“My bed.”

“Your bed?” she echoed, certain she hadn't heard him right.

He gazed at her through half-lidded eyes. “I think you'll find my bed much more comfortable than my sofa.”

Maybe. But she doubted she'd get any sleep in his bed. For one brief moment, she allowed herself to imagine sleeping in Garrett Lord's bed. In his arms. Kissing that hard, sullen mouth. A bolt of white-hot desire shot through her veins.

She closed her eyes, telling herself she shouldn't be having erotic thoughts about another man already.

“I think I prefer the sofa,” she said at last.

“Sorry, that's not an option.”

At the unyielding tone of his voice, her mouth fell open. Was this how he planned to get rid of her? Then she looked into Garrett's green-gold eyes and knew she was overreacting. This wasn't a man who played games. “Why not?”

“Because I'll be sleeping on the sofa. It's roomy, but not quite big enough for two.”

She shook her head. “I can't kick you out of your own bed.”

He shrugged, then opened the door and climbed out of the pickup. “It will only be for a night or two.”

Her regret burned away at the arrogant confidence in his tone.
The big jerk.
Garrett Lord thought he'd be rid of her soon. Thought she was a spoiled city girl who would run back to Austin the first time she broke a nail.

She didn't want to admit to herself that the thought of returning to Austin had crossed her mind a time or two in the last few hours. But Garrett's doubts about her staying power strengthened her resolve.

“A night or two?” she muttered, following Garrett to the house and trying not to wince every painful step of the way. “Think again, cowboy.”

“Did you say something?” he asked as he held the door open for her.

“I said thanks for giving up your bed.” She smiled sweetly at him. “I'll take it.”

 

G
ARRETT STRETCHED
on the sofa and silently counted the chimes of the grandfather clock. Nine…ten…eleven…twelve. Midnight. He'd been lying here
wide awake for almost two hours and wondering where he'd gone wrong. He had a beautiful woman in his bed. And he was on the sofa. Somehow, some way, he'd screwed up.

He bunched the pillow under his head and turned onto his side, the lonestar quilt slipping off his shoulder. Hubert slept soundly on the rug in front of the fireplace. No doubt Mimi slept soundly, too, after the day she'd put in. Hell, she'd dozed off over supper. He smiled into the darkness, remembering how he'd moved her plate away just in time to keep her hair from falling into the ketchup.

Then his smile faded. He was thinking about her too much. Way too damn much. She'd be gone in a day or two. Besides, she had a fiancé waiting for her out there somewhere.

Just like he had a mother out there somewhere. Only she wasn't waiting for him or his brother or sisters to find her. In fact, she'd made it almost impossible. How could one woman disappear so easily?
LeeAnn Larrimore.
A name as unfamiliar to him as the woman he'd once called Mama.

The search for her had finally narrowed down to the last name on the list. A list that had started with the names of women who had given birth to fraternal triplets in Texas around the same time period and with the right sex: two girls, one boy. One by one, the other names on the list had been eliminated as possibilities. So had any other potential leads. That left only LeeAnn Larrimore.

According to his research, she'd given birth to triplets at a free clinic in a town near Austin. She'd lived in Austin for a while, working in a grocery store until
she'd been fired from her job. That's when the trail had turned ice cold.

He flipped onto his stomach and closed his eyes, willing sleep to overtake him. He didn't want to think about the woman who had abandoned her children twenty-five years ago. And he definitely didn't want to think about the woman sleeping in his bed. How her silky blond curls would spill over the pillow. Or the way her body would warm the white cotton sheets, imbuing them with her unique scent. He closed his eyes, imagining the soft, steady cadence of her breathing as she slept. Then he imagined waking her with a kiss. Sliding his hands under the sheets and touching her. Making her breathing quicken.

“Garrett?” Mimi's soft voice trickled over him in the darkness.

His eyes shot open, his heart beating wildly in his chest. He took a moment to steady his breathing, then cleared his throat. “What?”

She stepped into the living room. “Are you awake?”

“Yes.” He sat up, the quilt falling down around his hips. He shifted it slightly to hide the evidence of his desire. Then he saw her gaze drift to his bare chest and linger there.

“Did you want something?” he asked, his voice sounding rougher than he'd intended. Of course, Mimi didn't help matters by looking so damn delectable. The woman had invaded not only his barn and his house and his bed, but his closet, as well. She wore an old T-shirt of his for a nightgown, the hem barely reaching mid-thigh. It revealed her long, slender legs, and he caught the faint scent of apples as she walked
into the living room. She'd taken a bubble bath before supper and obviously found his sister's stash of scented bath products.

Garrett's breath caught as she moved closer to him, her blond hair gleaming in the soft glow of the fire. The shadows dancing in the room made it impossible to see her expression or read anything in her beautiful blue eyes. Was she purposely trying to torture him?

Or seduce him?

His fingers curled around the quilt at that thought. Part of him wanted to deny that Mimi would use her body as a ticket to stay on at his ranch. Another part of him desperately wanted it to be true. He swallowed hard. “What do you need?”

“I thought I heard something.”

He arched a brow, wondering whether to believe her. Some women played the damsel-in-distress part to the hilt, although Mimi hadn't struck him as the deceptive type. Still, look at her track record. She'd stowed away in his hayloft. Stood up her fiancé at the altar. Found a way to sweet-talk him into offering her a job as a ranch hand—even if it was just on a trial basis.

She tensed, then looked toward the large bay window. “There it is again.” She lowered her voice to almost a whisper. “Do you hear it?”

“Turn around.”

She blinked. “Why?”

He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the sofa. “You can either turn around or you can watch me put my pants on.”

She whirled. Garrett grabbed his jeans, grateful for the darkness that would cover the evidence of his
arousal. Now he just needed to cover her. He picked up the quilt and tossed it to her. “Here, you're going to need this. Come with me.”

Without a word, she wrapped the quilt around her shoulders, effectively concealing all that silky bare skin, then followed Garrett out the front door.

He stood at the railing of his front porch, feeling the grooves of the smoothly worn slat flooring under his bare feet. The air was cool and crisp, with endless stars twinkling in the night sky. The moon cast a gentle glow over the rolling hills and crags of the land he loved so much.

In the distance, the sound of high-pitched yipping carried across the peaceful night. “Is that the sound you heard?”

She moved beside him, pulling the quilt more tightly around her shoulders. “Yes.”

“It's coyotes. Haven't you ever heard them before?”

She unconsciously moved another step closer to him. “Sure. In the movies. But I thought they howled.”

He smelled apples and something else. Something uniquely Mimi. “They do sometimes. This sounds like a pack with pups. The full moon can make them crazy. Or maybe they just made a kill.”

“A kill?”

“A jackrabbit or maybe a possum.” He frowned into the darkness. “Sounds like they're in the south pasture.”

She looked at him, the moonlight illuminating the concern on her face. “Maybe they killed one of the cows.”

He shook his head. “They're smart enough not to go up against a twelve-hundred-pound cow with sharp horns. But a calf is another story.”

“Can't the mother cow protect it?”

“Not always. Coyotes work in groups. Half of them will distract a mama cow while the rest of them bring down the calf. She'll put up a hell of a fight to protect her baby, though. And she'll bawl for days afterward if she loses it.”

“That's awful. Can't you do anything to protect them?”

“A good dog will keep coyotes at bay.”

“Like Hubert?”

He laughed. “Hubert? The coyotes would think he was a tasty midnight snack, not a threat. That's why I let him sleep in the house.”

“Seems like you've made a habit of taking in strays.” Mimi rested one hand on the porch railing, gazing into the night. “You're a nice man, Garrett Lord.”

He looked at her, wondering what she'd say if she knew he was thinking some not-so-nice thoughts right now. About her. About how he'd like to strip off that quilt and that old shirt and make love to her under the stars.

Mimi made the mistake of turning to him at that moment, her face tilted to ask him another question. He didn't give her a chance. He captured her mouth with his, savoring her sweet soft lips as his hands rested lightly on her shoulders.

He closed his eyes as he breathed in her scent and sought refuge in the warm sanctuary of her mouth. She didn't move at first, then her hands slid slowly
up his bare chest. He deepened the kiss, her touch drawing a low moan from within his chest.

A shrill bark brought him to his senses. He abruptly stepped away from her, then looked at the porch floor to see Hubert sitting between their feet, wagging his tail.

Garrett took another step away from Mimi, letting the night breeze cool his overheated body. She was an engaged woman—reason enough to keep his distance—and vulnerable. He knew how badly she wanted to stay here. It would be unfair to take advantage of that fact. “Looks like the moon is making everybody crazy tonight. Sorry.”

“Garrett, I…”

“Forget it,” he said, not giving her a chance to comment on that kiss. He didn't want to talk about it. He didn't even want to think about it. When she didn't move, he met her gaze and saw his hunger reflected in her eyes. Or was that wishful thinking on his part? “You should go back to bed.”

She hesitated, then without another word, she walked into the house and closed the door behind her. If he was lucky, that kiss would scare her off, and he'd wake up to find her gone in the morning.

But Garrett was never lucky. He'd always had to work for whatever he wanted. Now he just had to decide if he wanted Mimi to go.

Or stay.

A
LOUD POUNDING
woke Mimi from a sound sleep, then the bedroom door opened a crack. “Time to get up. We're wasting daylight.”

She rubbed her eyes, then looked toward the window into the pitch-black darkness beyond. Even the sun knew it was too early to be up yet.

“Five more minutes,” she said groggily, flopping onto the pillow.

Garrett called through the open door. “You can sleep until noon if you want, Mimi. Then I'll take you back to Austin after lunch.”

His words were more effective than a bucket of ice-cold spring water. “All right, all right,” she said with a groan. “I'm up.”

She rose to her feet, every aching joint screaming in protest. Wincing, she moved to the dresser and stared into the mirror. Unfortunately, she looked even worse than she felt. Her face was red with sunburn, her nose was peeling and her hair stuck out at odd angles.

She'd seen Garrett's reflection in the mirror when he woke her. He'd looked as handsome as ever in his old jeans and worn chambray shirt. He'd tasted wonderful, too. She closed her eyes for a moment, reliving that kiss.

With a sigh, she reached for the hairbrush on top of the dresser. Still only half-awake, she knocked her hand against the small, tattered teddy bear perched on the corner of the dresser, sending it to the floor. She bent to pick it up, aware of the ominous creaking in her sore knees.

It was old. Very old. With black button eyes and an odd stitching pattern on the mouth that gave it a whimsical smile. The excelsior stuffing had shifted inside it, making it too thin in some places and too thick in others.

Mimi carefully replaced the teddy bear on the dresser, letting her fingers caress the worn brown fur on its belly. She'd been too exhausted last night to notice the bear, but now she realized how incongruously it stood out in the utilitarian bedroom. Garrett didn't have any pictures on the walls or other knickknacks. Just a bed, a dresser, a desk and a teddy bear.

Mimi smiled as she ran the brush through her tangled tresses. Garrett Lord didn't seem like the teddy bear type. But then, what did she really know about the man, other than that he was a hell of a good kisser. She worked her hair into a neat braid, then secured the ends with a ponytail holder. She shouldn't have let him kiss her last night.

She shouldn't have
wanted
him to kiss her.

Her life was already complicated enough without adding romance into the mix. Besides, she wanted to prove to Garrett that she could work as well as any ranch hand. And somehow she doubted kissing was included in the job description. She wanted him to let her stay because she deserved it, not because he was attracted to her.

But despite her logical thinking, a tingle of excitement rippled through her. Not only had Garrett kissed her, he'd kissed her not knowing she was heir to the Casville fortune. He'd wanted Mimi for herself, not for her money or the power the Casville name could yield.

But the heady feeling faded when she sat down to put on Shelby's cowboy boots. Her feet were swollen and still very sore from her barefoot trek down the gravel road, making the boots almost impossible to pull on.

“Mimi?” Garrett's shout carried down the hallway. “Let's go!”

Gritting her teeth, she tugged hard, finally pulling on the right boot. Swallowing a sob of pain, she reached for the left boot. She could do this. She
had
to do this—to prove to Garrett she wasn't some spoiled city girl. And to prove it to herself.

By the time she reached the kitchen, her feet had molded themselves to the leather boots, and the pain had receded a little. She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders, ready to face another day on the range. “Sorry I took so long.”

“I made us some fried-egg sandwiches and coffee to take with us.” Garrett grabbed two paper bags off the counter, along with two small thermoses. “We can eat on the way.”

“Where are we going?”

“To the north pasture. I'd like to move the cows closer to the barn before they start calving. Oh, and grab one of those yellow slickers from the mud porch. It looks like rain.”

Mimi followed him out the back door, slipping the
slicker over her head. Hubert ran along beside her, barking shrilly and nipping at her heels. Then he spun in circles, chasing his tail, obviously excited to start the day.

She looked at the ominous black clouds filling the sky and heard a low rumble of thunder in the distance. Garrett had told her to expect to work rain or shine, so she kept her mouth shut as she followed him to the truck. Except this morning he walked right past the truck and headed for the barn. Mimi quickened her pace to catch up with his long strides.

The sweet smell of hay mingled with the earthy scent of horses when he opened the barn door. “I've saddled up Pooh for you,” he said, motioning toward a far stall. “He shouldn't give you any problems.”

Mimi smiled. “Pooh?”

“Shelby named him.” Garrett stuffed his thermos and breakfast sack into a saddlebag. “Let's go.”

Mimi led the dappled gelding out of the barn just as a light, icy drizzle began to fall. She patted Pooh's velvety nose, thankful that her father had insisted on riding lessons when she was eight. Horseback riding was the one activity on this ranch she knew she could handle.

Until it started to rain.

Mimi had done most of her riding in an enclosed arena. She wasn't used to having the wind whip rain into her face or maneuvering around mud puddles. Thankfully, the slicker kept most of her body dry, and the hot coffee kept her warm.

“How much farther?” she called to Garrett, who was one horse length ahead of her.

“Only another mile,” he yelled over the rumble of thunder above them.

She took the last bite of her cold, soggy egg sandwich, then reached down to pat the neck of her horse. Poor Pooh was trudging through mud up to his fetlocks. Mimi wished she'd thought to bring along a pocketful of sugar cubes to reward him.

At last they reached the north pasture, where twenty wet and obviously pregnant Texas longhorn cows stood unmoving as the horses approached. They didn't look happy, and Mimi didn't blame them one bit.

Garrett climbed off his horse and swung open the wide gate. Then he walked over to her, rainwater running off his cowboy hat as he looked at her on her horse. “We'll herd them along that shallow ravine until we reach the corral just east of the barn.”

Herd them? She glanced at the truculent cows, then at Garrett. “What if they don't want to go?”

“Then we'll be out here in the rain a hell of a long time,” he said, trudging to his horse. He climbed on, then trotted into the pasture.

Mimi followed, wishing he'd provided a few more details. Exactly how did one herd cattle? Was she supposed to yell at them? Wave her arms in the air? Give them a map?

She watched Garrett ride his horse along the perimeter of the herd, and she did the same on the opposite side. The cows slowly lumbered toward the gate. Garrett and Mimi gradually contracted the perimeter until the cows were in a tight group. The herd began to head through the open gate, rain still falling from the sky and soaking into their thick hides.

Mimi was just congratulating herself on how easy this herding business was when one of the cows balked and turned right in front of her, galloping back into the pasture. She looked frantically at Garrett, who was busy keeping the cattle moving through the gate and hadn't noticed the escape. She opened her mouth to call for help, then closed it again. Somehow she knew a real ranch hand wouldn't run to the boss each time something went wrong. Besides, it was just one cow. How hard could it be to bring her back to the herd?

She tugged on Pooh's reins, wheeling the horse around and galloping into the pasture after the stray cow. The animal stared at her for a long moment with soulful brown eyes. Rainwater glistened on the long, sharp horns. Then the cow turned and bolted into the ravine.

Mimi glanced over her shoulder at Garrett. He sat on his horse watching her as the rest of the cattle moved meekly through the gate. She lifted her arm and waved to him. “Go on,” she shouted. “I'll catch up with you.”

He hesitated, then waved to her before following the rest of the herd.

She turned her attention to the recalcitrant cow. “All right, I know it probably isn't any fun to have to move to a new place in the rain, but you really don't have any choice in the matter.”

The cow ignored her, lowering its head to tug on a wilted weed. Mimi edged her horse closer, hoping she didn't spook the cow. It turned and looked at her, contentedly chewing on the weed, half of it sticking out of its mouth.

“Look, I know I'm new at this,” she said, gently nudging Pooh's flanks to move the horse even closer. Pooh tossed his head in the air to protest the idea, but Mimi remained firm. “But I'm trying to make a good impression on Garrett. He'll kick my butt back to Austin if I can't do a simple job like herding.”

The cow kept chewing, seemingly unmoved by Mimi's plight. Thunder rumbled in the sky, and a gust of wind blew the hood of the slicker off her head. She reached to grab it as rain plastered her hair over her eyes.

At that moment, the cow decided Pooh was too close, and she lowered her head and charged. Pooh reared on his hind legs, and Mimi, her hands on the slicker hood instead of the reins, slid backward off the saddle, over Pooh's broad rump and onto the soggy ground.

She sat there, stunned for a moment. Then she wiped the rain and splattered mud off her face just in time to see Pooh lurch forward and take off at a fast gallop toward the far end of the pasture. The cow stood her ground, eyeing Mimi distrustfully.

Mimi took one look at those sharp, lethal horns and scooted backward in the mud. “Nice cow.”

The cow took a step toward her.

“Go away, nice cow. I'm not going to hurt you.”

The cow took another step.

She glanced frantically over her shoulder, but Garrett and the rest of the herd were out of sight. Pooh was keeping his distance, too, and had turned his attention to grazing. Mimi swallowed hard as she turned to face the cow. Cold, wet mud had soaked through
her jeans, and the jarring fall had given her one hell of a headache.

So much for her expensive riding-academy lessons.

As she continued to scoot backward, her hand closed over a hard, flattened dirt clod. She picked it up and hurled it at the cow. The clod bounced off the cow's nose, making the animal snort and jump backward. Tasting success, Mimi picked up another clod and aimed for the same spot. The cow backed, turning away from Mimi. But Mimi wasn't about to give up. She got to her feet and began gathering the flattened clods that lay scattered over the pasture.

“Let's go,” she cried to the cow, hurling a clod at the hind end. The cow bolted out of the ravine and began heading in the direction of the gate.

Mimi kept up her improvisational herding technique, slipping and sliding in the mud. Her tailbone hurt almost as much as her feet, though the cold wind and icy rain were effectively numbing both. Her teeth chattered and her nose ran. She bent every few steps to pick up another clod to keep the cow moving. She kept her gaze focused on the cow's tail, barely noticing when they finally reached the open gate.

“'Bout time you got here.”

She looked up to see Garrett sitting comfortably astride his horse, seemingly oblivious to the wind and the rain and the cold.

She clenched her mouth shut to keep her lips from chattering, then pointed to the cow. “I got her.”

“So I see.” He turned to watch the cow amble peacefully along the worn grass trail they had followed to the pasture.

Mimi brushed her stringy, wet bangs out of her eyes. “Where's the rest of the herd?”

“I moved them already.”

She blinked at him. “By yourself?”

He nodded. “They've been on the trail before. Once I get them out of the pasture, they pretty much know the way. They know there will be fresh hay waiting for them, too.”

She'd just spent the past hour trying to get one cow out of the pasture, while Garrett had moved the entire rest of the herd all the way to the corral. She suddenly felt very tired.

He rode up beside her and extended his hand. “Need a lift?”

She grabbed his hand and let him pull her up behind him on the saddle. His horse shifted slightly at the extra weight, but settled quickly with a hushed word from Garrett.

Since she wasn't exactly in the mood to take another dive from a horse, she wrapped her arms firmly around Garrett's waist. His warmth quickly penetrated her slicker, and Mimi scooted even closer to him.

He turned his bay gelding and started following the cow.

“What about Pooh?” she asked, still slightly embarrassed that she'd lost her horse.

“We'll come back and get him after this last cow is safe in the corral. If a cow bolts once, they're likely to do it again, and I don't want to search all over the hill country for one stray cow.”

“Aren't you afraid Pooh might run away?”

He shook his head, inadvertently causing the rainwater collecting in the brim of his cowboy hat to
splash into her face. “Horses are loyal animals. He'll come home eventually.”

She realized this wasn't the first time he'd spoken of loyalty and wondered why it was so important to him. But she was too tired and wet to ask. Nestling against his back, she laid her head on his shoulder and let her eyelids droop for a moment. It wasn't even noon yet, and she was completely exhausted.

The next thing she knew, Garrett was gently nudging her in the ribs with his elbow. “Hey, wake up. We're home.”

She blinked and sat up straight, then let Garrett help her off the horse.
Home.
The word had never sounded so good. She hoped Garrett would build a huge, roaring fire.

“You go on in,” he said. “I've got a few chores left to do.”