Heartbreak Ranch (4 page)

***

There were six of them riding up a mountain trail in the quiet Wyoming morning. Harper rode in front of her on a sorrel with a white blaze on her face. The only riding experience Graysen could claim was on a majestic stallion on the carousel at the Iowa State Fair. The horse she rode now was a living, breathing, snorting one; a dapple gray mare named Mouse. The mare was aptly named; she was just as skittish as a mouse.

She shuddered, and her cheeks reddened with embarrassment remembering her attempts to mount the horse. Lance, the ranch hand, had helped them mount their horses this morning. He made it look easy when he showed her how to get into the saddle, but when she tried, she couldn’t lift her foot that high. She needed to write a strongly worded letter complaining to her Yoga instructor about her lack of flexibility. Lance’s hands were on her waist, and he picked her up. Her left toe went into the stirrup as her right foot dragged across the horse’s rump. Mouse had moved then. She grabbed the handle on the saddle and clung. It was a long way down to the ground. Despite the mare’s diminutive name, she was anything but. At first, because of her height and muscular shoulders and hindquarters, Graysen took her for a feisty stallion. However, at this moment Mouse was neither steed nor sassy, just frightened of her own shadow.

Graysen was grateful that everyone on the ride this morning was sticking close together. She didn’t have to do much; the horses seemed to follow one another. She was enjoying the scenery when she heard the sudden hammering of horses’ hooves up the mountain. The trail guide stopped as Colt and another ranch hand rode up to meet their group, bringing their slow pace to a halt. Both men’s faces were covered with worry. Colt’s gray Stetson hid his eyes pretty effectively, so it was hard to gauge just how concerned he was. As soon as Graysen recognized him, her heart raced, and she prayed that he wouldn’t notice her in the group. She sat unsteadily on top of a horse as it was; if he looked at her the way he had last night, she would probably fall off.

The ranch hand who rode with Colt talked animatedly with their trail guide. Graysen couldn’t make out everything they were saying, but she got the feeling they were searching for someone when the guide shouted exasperatedly, “I don’t know where he is!”

From last night’s conversation, she knew that Colt was moving cattle today. As the man with Colt talked some more to their trail guide, Graysen’s horse decided to throw a fit, yanking her quickly back into the here and now. Graysen gave a yelp in surprise as the mare rose slightly on her hind legs and furiously tossed her head. The small scream that escaped from Graysen’s mouth caught everyone’s attention.

Graysen’s panicked reaction was to drop the reins and grip the saddle horn, clinging to it for dear life, her knuckles white with terror. In a flash, Colt was beside her with Mouse’s reins in his hand. He let out what sounded like a whistle and pulled on the reins. Almost immediately, the mare stopped throwing herself around and calmly stood there, as if nothing had happened. Completely mortified, Graysen slowly turned to the left where Colt was sitting on his mount. He was holding her hat. He must have caught it as it fell off while the horse was bucking. His eyes danced with amusement.

“Don’t drop the reins next time, Iowa,” he said as he handed Graysen her hat, the corner of his mouth edging upward into a wry smile. His voice surrounded her. The brief glimpse she’d gotten of Colt last night with his shirt off had awakened her dormant libido and hurtled it into overdrive. Her cheeks caught fire. She sat there looking at him stupidly, bathed in embarrassment as she sheepishly took her hat and the reins from him.

For a brief moment, she saw that look from Colt again: the same intense gaze that held her captive last night at the lodge. It was a look that said he was envisioning her in his arms and in his bed. As quickly as the thought entered her mind, Colt was gone. He was riding back down the trail with the man who had been talking with the guide.

“You know him?” her sister asked incredulously as they watched the men ride down the mountain. Others in their group were staring at Graysen after her horse incident, but she was oblivious to them. It took her a couple of moments to register that Harper was talking because she was daydreaming about what Colt’s strong hands would feel like wrapped around her waist. Snapping back to reality, she adjusted her hat back on her head and turned to answer her sister.

“Well ... we met briefly last night. June Edmiston introduced him to Mom, Carson, and me.”
... Oh and I also hid by the barn like a stalker and watched him on a horse with his shirt off, his tanned half-naked body glistening with sweat in the moonlight, for a good half-hour.

“Well he’s really,
really
hot!” Harper giggled.

“Yeah, I suppose he’s not too hard on the eyes,” Graysen answered nonchalantly, her subconscious laughing as the words escaped from her lips. To say the handsome horse trainer was just decent looking was like saying a raging inferno was just a little warm.

Graysen was thrilled at the way he called her, “Iowa.” In her mind, it signified that he had taken enough notice of her to remember where she was from. On second thought, perhaps it just meant that he didn’t remember her name. She wondered how old he was. He was no older than his late-twenties, but she knew her parents would consider him too old for her to date.

Dating the rancher? What am I thinking?
She was already dating Kevin. Well, she wasn’t sure she would consider it dating just yet. Graysen had started seeing Kevin a few weeks earlier, after her parents set them up on a blind date. Kevin Thornton was the son of one of her father’s country club buddies, so Graysen felt pressured to go out with him. Graysen found him to be a nice, good-looking man. He was a gentleman when they went out to dinner on their first date. For their second date they went golfing. She knew before he had even asked that their third date would involve a movie. He seemed safe and predictable.

Colt on the other hand … Colt seemed about as safe as that wild horse he was trying to tame. He was a sexy, dangerous cowboy who didn’t look to be the type to want a complicated commitment. She suspected that Colt McCord had left a wide swath of broken hearts across Wyoming.

It was only the start of their first full day at the ranch and already this little family vacation was proving to undo her completely. Colt intimidated her because of the way he made her feel when she was around him. She didn’t have control over herself, something she’d never experienced before. Graysen always prided herself on being a very collected, intelligent person. All of that flew out the window at the thought of that strong, sexy cowboy.

After her horse incident, the ride moved along rather quickly. She was lost in thoughts of Colt. Visions of the handsome ranch hand danced through her mind; she imagined him as he stepped out of a hot, steamy shower, his naked body still gleaming with moisture. A thin towel draped on his lean hips was the only thing separating her from a vision of total male glory. Before Graysen knew it, they were back down the mountain and moving toward the corral.

The afternoon passed in a jumble. Graysen spent much of it in the lodge trying to relax. She tried playing a few games of pool with Carson in the billiards room at the back of the lodge. She was off her game because her mind kept wandering to Colt and what had happened on the trail. She blanched at the thought of the embarrassing encounter and took it as a sign she should try to more actively avoid him. Not able to keep her mind on the game any longer, Graysen left her brother at the lodge, headed back to the cabin, and pulled out a book, hoping to lose herself in a good novel. She stretched out on her bed and fell asleep reading. Before she knew it, much of the day had slipped away and when she woke it was time to go to dinner with her family.

They dined outside at the picnic area. It was barbeque night at the ranch. Stuffed full from the melt-in-your-mouth brisket, chilled potato salad, and flaky biscuits, Graysen helped her mother clear their table.

“Are we going back to the lodge tonight for more dancing?” Graysen asked innocently. In truth, the idea of spending time in the overcrowded lodge held no appeal for her, unless a certain cowboy was there for her to feast her eyes upon.

Ellen Beaufort’s eyes grew in surprise. Graysen was the child who, just hours earlier, had been fighting them, kicking and screaming, about going to the ranch for vacation in the first place. “Absolutely! We can go in right now if you like,” she said smiling.

“C’mon, Graysen, let’s take a turn on the dance floor!” Her brother flashed one of his impish grins.

“Carson, will you just give up already? You know I’ve got two left feet.” She laughed.

“You’re no fun.” He shrugged and grabbed Harper to spin her into a two-step.

Graysen watched as couples twirled gracefully around the floor. The strains of the fiddle music in Josh Turner’s “Why Don’t We Just Dance” filled the air.

“You don’t dance, and you
definitely
do not ride horses ... what is it that you like to do, Iowa?”

As the hot whisper grazed her ear, gooseflesh bloomed across her skin. She recognized the sexy southern drawl immediately. His voice melted over her like warm, thick hot fudge. She had been on the lookout for him ever since they’d arrived at the lodge.
How hadn’t I noticed him?

He now lingered dangerously close behind her, so she tried to calm herself. Graysen mustered her confidence as best she could and turned to look at him. He was wearing a navy blue snap-front shirt tucked into his slim-hipped jeans. His corded arms were exposed by the carelessly rolled-up sleeves. A Stetson the same shade as his hair rested upon his head.

“You startled me ...” Graysen stumbled over her words, averting her eyes and trying not to stare, as he was doing. Perhaps she would be able to talk to him if she didn’t look directly into his eyes, although that might be rude.

“I’m sorry,” Colt whispered softly in an amused voice. She turned to look at him again, not knowing what to say. It was difficult to utter a sound. She was certain this would turn into the most awkward conversation she had ever been a part of. He stood there, looking incredibly sexy in those Wranglers.

“Will you let me buy you a beer so I can make it up to you?” Colt’s self-assured nature seemed to magnify her self-consciousness. She reminded herself that he had been the one to come over and start up a conversation with her. Maybe he was actually interested in her.

“I might have to settle for a diet soda. I’m not twenty-one yet.”
Oh God, why did I just say that?
He raised an eyebrow and smiled.

“And just how old are you, Iowa?” He took a long sip from his Budweiser.

She stifled the words that flew to her throat.
I am old enough to know that I want to be yours.
What was wrong with her? Tamping down her inner monologue that had no problem expressing itself, she answered the handsome cowboy quickly, “Twenty ... well ... I’ll be twenty-one ... next month ...”

“Twenty? Lordy, why, you’re just a baby.” His bottle-green eyes twinkled as he laughed.

Graysen blinked in shock at the sound of his low, rough laughter. Her eyes widened when she looked at his face. Her heart dipped. Colt McCord was spectacular to behold at any given moment, but when he smiled, he was nothing short of a menace to her composure. His teasing barb had evaporated any nervousness she still harbored. She was admiring Colt and picturing him with her in any myriad of fantasies, and he had the gall to call her a baby. Unleashing a bit of her temper, she shot him a glance, and scolded him.

“Twenty-one is not that young, Mr. McCord.”

Colt’s face broke into a wide grin, and he roared with laughter. “Mr. McCord? Well if that don’t beat all? I guess it fits since I am older than you.”

Graysen’s playful frustration peppered her choice of words. “What you are is someone who is getting on my last nerve.”

Grinning from ear to ear, he responded, “Well, since you put it like that, I think you should call me Colt.”

Graysen, enjoying their little back-and-forth, lobbed a more personal question in Colt’s direction. “Are you this friendly with all the guests here, or just all the young, female guests?”

“No, ma’am, just the ones who aren’t old enough to drink, can’t dance, and can’t ride a horse.”

Graysen tried to resist the urge to laugh. Before she could come up with a witty response, the man who rode with Colt earlier that day stalked towards them and interrupted their growing flirtation. He looked concerned.

“Jack needs you in the barn. He can’t get that foal to calm down.”

Reluctantly, Colt set his beer down on the bar and turned to her. “Gotta go. Sorry, Iowa.” He tipped his hat, gave a smile, and hurried out of the lodge.

Standing there by herself, Graysen took a moment to run through what had just happened in her mind. Her cheeks flushed with sudden warmth as she thought about how he looked tonight standing next to her, how the electric charge in his stare grabbed her and wouldn’t let go. She decided to call it a night and go back to the cabin to read. With Colt gone, the appeal of the lodge disappeared.

As she stepped outside, the brisk night air held a chill that should have sent her straight back to the cabin and the warmth of the stone fireplace, some hot tea, and a good book. Anticipating the early June night would hold onto the day’s heat, she had dressed in a thigh-grazing denim skirt and sleeveless cotton shirt she tied at the waist. Shivering slightly, Graysen scanned the corral, but it was completely dark and empty now. Her eyes travelled to the barn—the barn where she’d hidden out about twenty-four hours earlier. There was light coming from the inside and the barn doors were open.

With every fiber of her being, she tried to reign in her curiosity. It was a losing battle. Graysen knew Colt was in the barn and she wanted to get another glimpse of him. She wondered what made Colt seem so uneasy. She suspected it had something to do with why he was out on the trail this morning. As she approached the barn, she overheard a few voices talking quietly inside.