Authors: Marin Thomas
“I'm afraid that's not going to be good enough in an environment like yours. After our trip to Norway, I shouldn't have allowed Kathryn to take him.”
Allowed?
He held the phone tighter. “Why not?”
“Let's just say she shouldn't be there on her own and needs watching. I told her I want my grandson home by midweek and I expect you to make it happen. Do I make myself clear? Otherwise I'll hold you personally responsible.”
For what?
Ross could feel hackles rising on the back of his neck. Nothing caused his blood to boil faster than a bullying tactic. Ross's father had tried that once too often until he'd gone into the military out of his parent's reach. As far as he was concerned, Charles Wentworth was of the same ilk as his father and could go to hell.
“Surely that will be up to your daughter-in-law to decide.”
“Do you know who you're talking to?”
Ross had had enough. “You'll have to take this up with her. Now I'm afraid duty calls. Goodbye.”
He was full of adrenaline after getting off the phone.
She needs watching.
What in the hell did that mean? Was there something wrong with her? With Andy? The man had sounded positively feudal. As he thought about their conversation, Ross grimaced, not liking some of the thoughts he was having.
By the time he got ready and went down to the pool, his good mood had been altered. He was riddled with questions that needed answering, but that couldn't happen until tonight after Andy went to bed.
The patio was filled with guests taking advantage of the late afternoon sun. The weather was perfect for the barbecue they held every weekend for all their dude ranch guests. He didn't see Andy or Kit. Maybe they hadn't arrived yet or were still in the cabana.
A few guests were swimming in the pool. His gaze traveled the length of it until he spotted a dark-haired woman with a heavenly body treading water in the deep end. The top half of the light blue bikini she filled out was barely visible.
Kit.
Two males, probably in their twenties, had closed in to talk to her. Whether they were there on their own or with girlfriends, Ross had no idea. All he could see was that they were enjoying themselves and eating her alive with their eyes.
No sin had been committed, but an unfamiliar sensation attacked Ross in the gut. Driven by another gush of pure adrenaline, he dropped his towel on a chair and dived deep to reach those beautiful legs keeping her afloat.
“Ross!” She half laughed in surprise when he rose out of the water next to her. In that first instant, he saw pleasure flash in those deep green orbs. Enough to satisfy him she wasn't indifferent to him.
“How are you this evening, Mrs. Wentworth?” He'd stressed the “Mrs.” so the two guys surrounding her would get the point. That brought another laugh from her.
“I'm fine, Mr. Livingston.” She gave as good as she got. He liked that.
“Where's Andy?”
“He went with Buck to find Jenny.”
Good ol' Buck. “So, who are your friends?” he asked without taking his eyes off her. Wet and
sans
makeup, she was a lovely sight.
“I don't know who you mean.” But a slow smile spread over the classic features of her face. “I guess you frightened off some of your guests when you surfaced like a submarine in enemy waters.”
“They shouldn't have let their guard down.” His pulse had taken off with dizzying speed. “Did I ruin anything important?”
“Well...if they had any plans, you successfully sabotaged them. Something you learned in the marines?”
It was his turn to laugh, which provoked a cough.
Her smile was replaced by a look of anxiety. “Does the water make your condition worse?”
“That depends on who's in it with me.”
She was quiet for a minute before she said, “Aren't you ever serious?”
Where she was concerned, he was becoming serious way too fast. Now this phone call from her father-in-law was raising questions that wouldn't leave him alone.
“How about a race to the other end of the pool?”
Fire lit her eyes. “You're on!”
The battle had begun. They had to swim out and around a couple of guests to reach the shallow end. She was an excellent swimmer, a skill no doubt developed by spending many hours at the Wentworth mansion swimming pool. He had to pour it on to save face and came up coughing.
“Way to go, Mom! You beat Ross!” Andy had reappeared with Jenny.
“That's because he let me.” Out of breath, she hugged the edge of the pool. Kit's gaze switched to her son. “You know what? The sun has gone down, and they're setting up for the barbecue. Let's change back into our clothes.”
“Can't Andy swim with us a little longer?” Jenny stared at her expectantly.
“Sure. Do you want to, honey?”
He nodded. “Let's do dives off the board.”
Johnny jumped up and down. “We'll play follow the leader.”
The children took off for the deep end, leaving Ross alone with Kit. Everyone else was getting out of the pool. “You're a great swimmer.”
A tantalizing half smile broke the corner of her mouth. “You want to know what's really great? The way you handled Andy today
without
handling him, if you know what I mean.”
He cocked his head. “I'm afraid he's like me. I don't respond well to authority.” The phone call with Charles Wentworth was a case in point.
“That's because you're your own person with the strength of your convictions. I'd like to see my son grow up like that. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get changed.”
* * *
T
HE
AIR
HAD
grown a little cooler, but that wasn't the reason Kit had the shivers as she showered and washed her hair. What she'd just said to Ross had sounded too personal, but she couldn't seem to control her thoughts or feelings. There'd been times in the pool when the way Ross had looked at her had sent a weakness through her limbs.
During their swim their bodies had brushed against each other. Every time there'd been contact, it had felt as if she'd been branded with liquid fire. If she wasn't mistaken, she noticed Andy starting to form an attachment to him. But Kit had a different problem because attached wasn't a strong enough word for what was happening inside of her whenever he came near.
She wanted him to kiss her, hold her.
You want him, Kit.
It was true, and there was no point in denying it. But she was mortified. These retired marines had honored Winn's memory by inviting her and Andy to the ranch for a week of fun-filled activities. Yet here she was, behaving as anything but her husband's grieving widow.
When she'd first met Winn, there'd been a strong physical attraction, but within a few years of their marriage it had died. To experience desire this powerful after years of feeling dead inside was so painful in its intensity, she was alarmed by it.
Over the years of charity work she'd done, there'd been a lot of attractive men she'd worked with. She could say the same for many of the waiters and staff at the various country clubs the family frequented. Several of the golf pros who'd given her lessons were exceptionally charming. The captain and crew of Charles's favorite yacht were big flirts and a subject of conversation with the women of her in-laws' social circle invited on board.
Most of the men coming and going or passing through Kit's life under those circumstances were open to a flirtation and gave off signals. If she'd ever been inclined and hadn't clung to a strong set of morals, she could have had affairs with any number of them. That included some of Charles's own male friends who stayed over on weekends and had grown bored with their own wives.
Yet it was the tall, striking Wyoming cowboy communicating his seeming disdain of her the minute she'd met him in the terminal yesterday who'd set off hormones she didn't know she had. For an aloof stranger to have that kind of power over herâto care what he thoughtâmeant something monumental had happened to her.
She had to do something to fight these feelings for him, starting right now! He was the kind of real man a woman dreamed aboutâa man so far out of her reach it was ludicrous.
“Mom?”
She wheeled around with her hair brush in hand. “Heyâhad enough swimming?”
“Yeah. Ross sent me in here to get dressed. He wants us to hurry before all the food is gone.”
“They won't run out of food. He was just teasing.”
“I know.”
Her pulse raced at the thought of being with Ross. Unfortunately she couldn't stop her nervous system from reacting over anything to do with him. In two days of being on the Teton Valley Ranch with him, she'd run a gamut of emotions that now included her own brand of hero worship coupled with an ache for him that was building inside her.
“Why don't you take a quick shower while I finish doing my hair?”
“Okay.”
In a minute they were ready. She left the cabana with her book under her arm. Lots of suntanned, happy guests seated around enjoying the candlelit barbecue nodded at them as they made their way to the banquet table.
Kit noticed Ross over at one of the larger tables with his partners and their families. Her heart skipped a beat as he waved to her. She smiled back before remembering she wasn't going to pay him any undue attention.
The smorgasbord featured everything from barbecued ribs to steaks and all the trimmings. Kit found she was hungry. “Let's take a little of everything, Andy. What you don't want, I'll eat.”
With their plates full, they walked over to Ross's table. He introduced Kit to Alex, Buck's wife, a lovely chestnut-blonde woman, then he helped her and Andy to be seated. When she felt his hand graze her shoulders, it almost melted her on the spot.
The fun dinner conversation helped her to relax. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that her son seemed to be enjoying himself. During the delicious dessert of fresh huckleberry pie, Tracy brought up the plans for the next day.
“Alex and I thought it would be fun to take the children into Jackson for lunch and a movie. After tomorrow there won't be any more matinees. We thought we'd make an afternoon of it to celebrate the end of summer before they have to go back to school. If you and Andy would like to come, you'd be welcome.”
She waited for her son to whisper he didn't want to go, but he didn't say anything.
“Thank you, Tracy. Will it be all right if we tell you in the morning?”
“Of course. We'll be leaving around eleven-thirty in the van.”
“Sounds fun,” Carson said, kissing Tracy's cheek. Kit could tell they had that rare kind of love. Her glance fell on Buck who'd brought his wife another helping of food. The tender way they looked at each other was truly something to witness. As for Ross and everything he was doing for Kit and Andy, there were no words.
She thought back to her marriage with Winn. It had failed before it ever got off the ground, but she shouldn't be comparing him to these men. Her husband had been raised under such difficult emotional circumstances it was amazing he'd survived to adulthood.
Now had come the time for her and Andy to make their own escape to survive. That's what she wanted for her son whom she hadn't seen this animated since he was a much younger boy. Her gaze lit on Ross who was making it all possible. Right now he was using his phone so Andy could look at the list of movies playing in Jackson.
There was no finer man anywhere. It would take an exceptional woman to win his heart. Whoever she was, she'd be the luckiest person on earth. Kit knew deep down in her soul she could never be that woman. She was Winn's widow, and she already had a growing child.
Apparently the rare woman he needed to meet hadn't come along yet. He deserved one who'd never been married. Ross could start his own family with her. Someone who didn't have all Kit's baggage. Being Charles Wentworth's daughter-in-law presented problems no man would want to deal with. She lowered her eyes and drank the rest of her coffee.
Carson was the first one to get up. “It's time for a bedtime story from Kit. Let's go to the games room.”
Kit watched Andy walk with the kids instead of holding back and telling her he didn't want to do anything. The change in him was too remarkable to be an aberration. She knew the reason why....
While the others took their places on the two leather couches, Andy sat on the love seat next to Ross. That left Kit, who sat in the big leather chair. She opened the book and laid the groundwork for the story about the dog named Buck. Kit had been afraid she'd lose the kids' attention, but they sat there intrigued by the animal's thoughts of his wonderful life with Judge Miller.
Halfway through the first chapter she shut the book, knowing it was better to quit while the children were still enjoying the story. They protested of course.
Jenny was totally caught up in it. “Something bad is going to happen to him, huh, Kit?”
“We'll have to keep reading to find out.”
“Will you read to us tomorrow night?” Johnny asked.
“I'd love to. I'd rather read than just about anything.”
Everyone got up. Carson thanked her. “That'll give us something to look forward to tomorrow night. Say good-night, kids.”
Ross nodded to her. “If you're ready, let's go.”
She turned to Andy. “Would you run to the cabana and get our suits and towels, please? We'll meet you at the truck.”
“Sure.” He took off.
As Ross walked her outside and helped her into the cab, his hand gripped her upper arm. “Kit? We need to talk.” All of a sudden his voice sounded an octave lower than usual.
She turned her head to look at him. Obviously something was wrong. How could anything be wrong on this beautiful night? “What is it?”