His Cowgirl Bride (12 page)

 

Brent was a fool. He knew it, but that wasn't stopping him from pushing Tacy. He was losing it because if she was smart—and she was—then she'd take his obvious attraction to her and use it against him to get what she wanted. It was a very slippery slope he was treading on.

Yanking his head out of the clouds, he bent and shone the light under the dark house. “She's not on this side,” he said, feeling Tacy's shoulder against his as she leaned forward to look. He kept his gaze straight ahead
and told himself to stop pushing the issue of their attraction. “Let's go around to the other side.” He hopped up and headed that way without waiting for her to respond. Putting distance between them was a smart move.

“Do you think there's another place she would have gone?” Tacy asked at his elbow.

“Did you check that shed in the woods between your place and mine?”

There was a trail that ran through the woods between the two spreads but Tacy always drove to the cabin and never walked through the woods. The old shed hadn't crossed her mind. “No, I didn't think about it. Let's look on this side and then head out there.”

He nodded, hiding a smile. She'd just taken charge. Gone was the vulnerable woman he'd glimpsed a minute before when she was clearly torn over her attraction to him. This Tacy was the one who would do whatever she needed to get him to let her break a horse. The thought gnawed at him as he led the way to the other side of the house: could he keep standing up to her when he was also falling so hard for her?

He figured he would owe Birdy dog treats from here 'til her pups were grown and gone for giving him this excuse to spend time with her without fighting. But he was under no illusion that things between him and Tacy would ever run smoothly.

“T
here you are,” Tacy said, staring into the dark corner under the shed where Birdy had chosen to hide. It was too dark to count all the pups, but from what she could tell by the beam of the flashlight it looked like about five.

“She definitely chose to have her babies in seclusion,” Brent said.

He was leaning down beside Tacy, and they were sharing space gazing beneath the shed. Tacy pulled back and sank to the ground next to him. “What next? Should I crawl under there and pull them out?” She hated tight spaces, but if she had to do it she would.

He rose to one knee and crossed his wrist on top of it, letting the flashlight dangle. “No, if there is any crawling to be done, I'll do it. I'm just thinking it might be easier if I go grab a shovel and dig in from the side. If I don't, this old building is so close to the
ground I might get stuck and you'd leave me there.” He grinned at her and lifted his brows.

Tacy bit back a smile. “Now, why would you think I'd do something like that? Payback, maybe?”

“I've been on the receiving end of your meat-loaf offer, that's why.”

She laughed at that. “You were
so
easy.”

“You looked too innocent. I never suspected you'd do something so devious.”

“Hey, a girl's got to have some fun sometimes.” She matched his smile with one of her own and for a moment the tension between them dissipated. They were like an on/off switch, Tacy thought. It felt nice, though. More than nice—it felt hopeful.
Hopeful of what?
The question brought her up short. “You need to grab that shovel,” she said, drawing back from the brink of letting her guard down with him. She'd done that too many times, only to have him be more than uncooperative. It wasn't happening again. The man would be bossing her around and telling her no within the hour, no doubt. There were only two things she and Brent Stockwell could do well—argue…and tease. Okay, three. But she definitely wasn't going there…

“You sure are lost in thought,” Brent drawled, giving her a half grin that made him look as dashing as George Clooney in a cowboy hat.

Tacy reeled in her runaway thoughts, giving him a stern stare. “The shovel,” she said, pointing in the direction of the barn.

His half grin bloomed into a full-blown, knee-
knocker of a smile. “You were thinking about me, weren't you?”

“Don't get your hopes up. Now are you going to grab that shovel or am I?”

He laughed, and then, to her total and astounded amazement, reached out and tapped her on the nose.

“I'll be back. Don't go anywhere.”

She watched him jog away through the woods and sighed long and slow. What was it between them? They'd been so ticked at each other yesterday that she shouldn't have given him the time of day today. What was she doing? Why she was flirting with him like a great second date?

She was still wondering a few minutes later when Brent came back with a shovel and a box lined with a towel.

“I thought we might need this,” he said, handing the box to her. “Miss me?”

“Like a migraine.”

He grinned and strode past her. “Yep, you missed me,” he said, then rounded the corner out of sight.

Instead of following him, she dropped to her stomach and started talking to Birdy, who was a bit unnerved about the sounds the shovel made as Brent went to work.

“How's our little mama doing?” Brent called from around the corner.

“Same as me. Not too happy with you right now. I think she feels threatened. My girl is smarting up about you finally.”

“Hey, not nice. I'm almost there.”

“Uh-huh, I see daylight from this end.” As light appeared beside Birdy, Tacy tried to soothe the dog's nerves. “It's okay, sweetie. We just want to help.”

Birdy nudged and licked her babies nervously as Brent's hand appeared. She continued to speak to Birdy as he scooped dirt from the area, tunneling out enough so that he could reach for the pups. “Brent, I think you'd better start talking to Birdy before you stick your hand any closer,” she warned. “Being a protective mama, she might decide to take a bite out of you.”

His low chuckle rumbled softly through the musky darkness. “Boy, you'd love that, wouldn't you?”

She couldn't help smiling. “There have been moments,” she tossed back, “very well-deserved moments.”

Instead of a comeback, she saw the top of his head come into view behind Birdy. He began talking soothingly to her and the pups. From Tacy's position, she saw Birdy lean back and look at him, her tail thumping wildly. He'd sweet-talked the dog out of all her anxiety that fast. With a sigh, Tacy rose and walked around to find Brent on his belly, his head and one arm hidden beneath the building. It hit her then that he still had on his dress shirt and what looked like new jeans. But that didn't stop him from crawling in the dirt to help her dog.

“Heads up,” he called and stuck his hand out of the hole with one squirming, newborn pup.

“Isn't he cute?” Tacy cooed, taking the puppy and cuddling it against her.

“Another one on the way,” he called, his voice slightly muffled.

Tacy stroked the puppy's head and gently placed it in the box Brent had brought. He'd thought of everything, and she couldn't help being impressed. The man got under her skin no matter how hard she tried not to let him.

 

“Six puppies,” Brent said, dusting his shirt off and watching Tacy gaze at the squirming pups.

“They are beautiful,” she said, petting Birdy's head as she shoved her nose into the box and tried to tend to her babies. “Thanks for helping.”

He shrugged and gave her what he hoped was a casual smile. “Anytime. Let's get them home.” He held out a hand to Tacy. For a minute he didn't think she'd take it, but she did. And as his hand wrapped around hers, he knew he was going to have a hard time letting it go. And a harder time not pulling her into a hug.

She popped to her feet like a jack-in-the-box and tugged her hand free almost instantly.

He studied her, fighting the need to tease her. He was pushing his luck with her today but he was determined to spend time with her. Determined to share more with her than arguments over riding a horse. “I'll carry the box,” he said when she reached for it. “If that's okay with you,” he added, just in case she thought he was being bossy.

She just smiled and picked up the shovel. “I'll get this. I know what you're doing, you know.”

He grabbed the box and stilled his heart, ready for her to tell him he was barking up the wrong tree if he thought he could get her to fall for him…that it was a bad idea and he knew it. “You do, do you?” he asked.

“Yup. You're trying to steal my dog's affections with all this hero-to-the-rescue stuff.” She tossed a fake glare over her shoulder, sashaying away, shovel swinging.

He grinned, watching her, then picked up the box of pups and followed her.

“You know, we get along pretty well when we're not fighting over horses,” he said as they left the woods behind and started toward the barn.

“Oh, but that is such an important point. Just think how well we'd get along if you weren't so pigheaded.”

Their kiss sprang instantly to mind. “So are you telling me a horse ride might, um—” he cleared his throat “—make you like me a little more?”

They entered the barn on the back side as they were walking through toward the yard and her truck. She stopped in the center of the alley. “Is that bribery?”

He came to a dead halt and felt his neck heat up. “N-no. That wasn't what I meant.”
Sure sounded like it.
“I—” he cleared his throat, since it had suddenly turned about as dry as sawdust “—I only wondered if you would like me more if we didn't have that difference of opinion.”

“Probably not,” she quipped and strode out of the barn.

What?
He followed her to her truck. “You
would
like me,” he pushed, unable to stop seeking the truth. “In fact, you do like me, don't you, Tacy Jones?”

Tacy gave him a look that said, “That's what
you
think.” Then she took the box of puppies and set them on the front seat of her truck. Birdy jumped onto the floorboard, as if she hadn't just given birth, placed her front paws in the seat and began taking care of her babies. It was easy to see that she would be a great little mother. Unable to stop himself, Brent stepped close to Tacy before she could hop in the driver's seat and leave. “You do, you know,” he said. He was near enough to catch the flash of hesitation.

She placed a hand on his chest and held him back.

“Have you called your mom yet and told her you are coming home for Thanksgiving?”

“No. Are you trying to change the subject?”

“Nope. But I have this problem. I'm just not into fear. I'm not into giving in to it. I fight it all the way. You, on the other hand, let it run your life.”

“What?”

She tapped her fingers against his chest. “I've figured you out. You were almost the world champion, so you messed your life up. Then, when your bad choices caused you to let your inexperienced sister make a very bad choice, you decided to hide behind that…and you've been doing it ever since. So the answer is no. Even if I do like you, there could never, ever be anything between you and me. Because you look at me and don't see what I'm
capable of. You see some entertaining little gal with a feisty side—someone you're drawn to—but that's it.”

He stepped back. “That's not true.”

“Yes, it is. I'm a free spirit, Brent, with a mind and a will of my own. You're drawn to that, but you'd still try to put me in a cage and clip my wings. Why, I ask you, would I let myself fall for someone who'd do that to me? Simple answer—I wouldn't.”

“I didn't sabotage my career on purpose,” he ground out in a very controlled voice. “And
I
think you need someone to help keep you out of trouble.”

Her eyes widened. “Maybe I'm wrong as far as your career is concerned. But I'm not wrong about how you would treat me. You just proved it with that statement. If every man feels that way, I might stay single forever. God didn't create me to be afraid, and I won't let someone try to change that.”

“I'm not trying to—”

“Look, I'll admit we have great—chemistry—but that's not good enough. I have to go. Thanks for your help. I'm supposed to work on the pumpkin chunker today.” She nodded toward the corral. “And
you've
got a bunch of colts to ride all by your lonesome.”

She pulled the door closed, and Brent yanked his hat off and slapped it against his thigh as he watched her leave. He wasn't that person she believed he was…
was
he?

He stomped toward the corral. He was supposed to help with App and Stanley's pumpkin contraption,
but he didn't have time. She might be completely wrong about him, but she was right about the colts. They had to be ridden, and he was the only one to do it.

 

“Tacy, where is your head?” Norma Sue asked. “You've been distracted the whole time you've been here. What's wrong?”

“Nothing,” Tacy said. The last thing she was going to do was tell the three ladies known as the matchmaking posse of Mule Hollow that, no matter how brave her words to him were, she was struggling with her feelings for Brent.

Esther Mae dropped the paintbrush into the tray of orange paint. “You're having man troubles, aren't you?”

“Esther Mae,” Adela warned softly, “don't push.”

“I'm not,” Esther Mae said, “but I'm bored and I can't help wanting to help.”

Tacy's eyes narrowed. “Ladies, I'm in no need of your services as far as a man is concerned.”

Norma Sue set down her screwdriver, her plump face glowing. “That's what everyone says, but what they really mean is, ‘Help me.'”

Tacy crossed her arms and frowned sternly at them. “Look, Brent and I are too different. The man is—well, he's handsome, and yes, it's true that I love arguing with him. He's entertaining. But he's also messed up.”
What am I doing?
She was asking the question of herself just as three sets of eyes locked on her with expectant anticipation.

“Go on,” Norma Sue demanded. “You wouldn't be the first person to notice that men and women are different. That's what makes everything work.”

Tacy couldn't believe she was doing this. But looking at them and knowing they had all this experience—it was as if she had to let out her frustrations. Maybe they could help, and suddenly she knew she wanted help. “It would never work. I want to break horses, and he's afraid I'll break my neck—but it's my neck to break! The one thing I'm not going to do is stop because I'm afraid. That, ladies, is the thing that will keep us apart no matter how attracted to each other we might be.” She was breathing hard when she finished.