Love Unspoken (3 page)

When Mr. Somerset paused and called out to the cowboy, asking him
a question, Noelle learned two things that she would never forget. The ranch
hand’s name was Cole and he couldn’t speak a word. By the time he looked up
from his task, it was too late for her. She’d caught the briefest glimpse of
his dark eyes and in that moment, Noelle wanted nothing more than to get the
hell off the ranch and wipe the image of the cowboy from her mind. Cole
disturbed her because not once since she’d turned her life around, had a man
captured her attention or made her cunt pulse anxiously with untold desires as
this silent ranch hand she knew nothing about.

She had to stay away from him.

“So stupid,” she mumbled, stepping away from the window and
shoving aside the memory. She had failed at staying away from him as she’d
promised herself and, to make it worse, she hadn’t even tried to present
herself in a positive light. Hadn’t tried to be anything other than what he
expected from her. Then again, did she even know how to be different? She’d
invested so many years in cultivating her image. Her looks, clothes, work
ethic. Everything had to be perfect on the outside, more than enough to make up
for the embarrassment she had caused herself and her family.

Noelle blew out a shallow breath and drew open the wide closet
doors. She was doing well for herself. She was no longer the wild seventeen
year old bent on self-destruction and selfish to boot. Noelle Williams was an
adult, desperately seeking the approval and thumbs up from her parents. In
essence, she was a grown woman living at home and working for her parents as a
gofer.

Cole and everyone else had the image of her life she wanted them
to have. The truth was, without the glimmer of her parent’s money and being
blessed with a pretty face, there was nothing special about her. That is,
nothing positive which made her stand out.

“I don’t care what he thinks,” Noelle muttered. Cole McKinney was
a ranch hand and a mute at that. His opinion didn’t make an ounce of difference
in her life.

She
was in control. Complete control, she reminded
herself. Noelle dressed, slipping into one of her many business suits, a crisp
side pleated skirt that fell just above her knees. Today was like any other day
of visiting her father’s clients and explaining to them the merits of using his
supplemental feed for their herd. The fact that she was headed over to the
ranch where Cole worked made no difference at all.

Grabbing up the necessary paperwork, Noelle carefully laid them
in her briefcase, arriving at the ranch minutes later.
Please let that man
be inside.
The last thing she wanted was to go on a wild goose chase all
over the ranch searching for Mr. Somerset because he had forgotten their
appointment.

Worse, she didn’t want to run into Cole, who would look at her as
if all the misfortune in the world could be laid at her feet. Noelle pressed
the pad of her finger against the doorbell. Smoothing the hem of her skirt, she
ran a hand over her hair. The straightened strands were held together in a neat
bun at the back of her head. Excellent.

She waited another minute before ringing the bell again. No
answer. Noelle turned and looked around. It was midday on the ranch. The
workers were sure to be on every corner of the grassy land and she doubted any
of them would be of much help to her. People didn’t usually appreciate being
talked down to, definitely not the hardworking cowboys around here and
unfortunately it was a crime she was guilty of.

In her search for the owner, Noelle strode past the opened barn.
The invigorating aroma of hay, leather and horse floated through the air. To
some the scent might seem offensive to the senses, but she loved it, ever since
her visits to the riding stables as a child, despite her protests. Being here
represented all the ways she had put her old life in the city behind her.

At the same moment, a tall, dark haired man sporting a five o’clock
shadow exited the room with a saddle slung over his shoulder. Foreman. Noelle
straightened her spine and held on tighter to her small briefcase.

The cowboy stopped in front of her. “You looking for the boss,
Ms. Williams?”

She nodded.
Okay, maybe he would be of some help.
“Is he
nearby? I really don’t want to walk all the way across the ranch searching for
him.”

The man chuckled and scratched his chin while looking her up and
down. “Nah, don’t s’pose you would.” He shifted his gaze to one of the horses
grazing under a nearby tree. “Boss is over by the corral. If you want, I can
give you a ride over there. It’s quite a walk.”

“No thanks,” she replied tightly.

The cowboy lifted his lean shoulders. “Suit yourself, ma’am.”

Noelle shook her head and kept on walking. She stole a backward
glance at the man. He was handsome and she must have seen him a dozen times
before, probably even heard his name here and there. But for the life of her
she couldn’t remember it, didn’t feel the warm stirring that only one quiet
cowboy elicited from her even when he wasn’t around.

She reached the gated area. Noelle could see the owner of the
ranch standing beside a group of workers. Striding toward them, she felt their
gazes on her, all but for one person. Cole gave a quick glance her way, a look
of disinterest crossing his masculine face. She wasn’t surprised when he
lowered his head and returned to tagging the ear of a calf. Noelle shifted her
head, squashing the trace of anger and disappointment that she hadn’t captured
his attention.

Clearing her throat, she issued a greeting to the gray haired
man. “Good morning, Mr. Somerset.”

Instead of returning her greeting, the man’s gaze dropped to her
briefcase. “I thought your father was going to run those by me today.”

Noelle forced herself to remain calm. This was an issue she
experienced each and every time with Mr. Somerset. The sixty-four year old
rancher was among those men who refused to accept that a woman had knowledge of
the ranching industry outside of cooking for the cowboys. Perhaps it was the
same thing her father experienced in the beginning of his career, except his
gender hadn’t been the issue in question.

“My father is occupied at the moment. If you’d rather wait
another two weeks for his schedule to clear, that’s fine. I have a
demonstration to make over at the Wayland ranch sometime today.”

Mr. Somerset’s ears perked up and he quickly reached for her
hand, staying her movement. “Hey, now just hold up, little lady. How about we
go inside and you give me the run down.”

Thank God
.

She wouldn’t have to spend another minute out here where a
fucking cow ranked higher on the scale than her in Cole’s eyes.

An hour later, after she’d extolled the virtues of the latest
upgraded feed supplement her father’s company had developed, Noelle dashed into
her car. She needed to get off the damn ranch and go home. In her room,
specifically, where she could feel secure that Cole and everyone else couldn’t
see beneath the surface, wasn’t able to look at her and know the kind of person
she had been. The type that he’d probably only seen on television and felt
pity, maybe disgust for. Cole might be the biggest and hardest looking man on
the ranch, but there was an innocence and naiveté about him that unnerved and
intrigued her.

Noelle scoffed. What a joke it was spending so much time thinking
about him. For that nice body he had, Cole probably had no idea what to do with
a woman. If anything she should be the one pitying him. She just had to keep
remind herself of that.

Noelle twisted the key in the ignition, recoiling as the engine
coughed and sputtered. Could the day get any worse? Annoyed, she yanked the key
and pushed open the door.  Not even a second out of the car and she spied a
rider on horseback coming from behind the thick trunk of one of the many
Juniper trees towering along the side of the dirt road.

Noelle squeezed her eyes and took a deep breath. When her eyes
fluttered open, she shook her head at the identity of her companion. Great. The
last person she wanted to see or needed around. She gritted her teeth and
hedged toward the front of the car. She wasn’t going to give him the
satisfaction of seeing her defeated.

Popping the hood, Noelle leaned over, pretending to study the
machinery. If she ignored him, maybe he would go away and leave her in peace.
She fiddled with the nearest engine part and sneaked a glance over her shoulder
to see if he was still sitting on the horse observing her.

How embarrassing. He was no doubt having a good laugh on the
inside at her misfortune, not to mention that such an expensive car had failed
her. She noticed he was no longer on the stallion. Noelle looked sideways to
see where he had gone off to since the horse was standing in the same spot
without its rider. Every nerve in her body went on high alert the instant she
felt a hand pushing hers from the engine.

Her heart thumped. Noelle snatched away her hand. “What are you
doing?”

He gazed at her from the corner of his eyes and made a sweeping
motion with his hand over the entire engine.

Noelle frowned. “You want to look at it?” He wanted to help her?

Cole nodded and whipped out the tiny notepad from his back
pocket.

Can’t make any promises, but I’ll see if I can fix it.

She gaped at him. He was serious. And then she felt it, the rush
of shame seeping into her bones because of the insensitive way she had thought
of him and treated him. Stepping aside, she allowed him room to work. Noelle
watched as he braced forward, brows knotted in concentration. His face relaxed
somewhat as he took out an iron object resembling a large screw. He held it out
to her, waving it in the air and pointing. 

She bit back a smile at the triumph on his face, but her lips
twitched in revolt. Eventually, she lost the battle and her smile won out. A
look of surprise crossed his dark features. Noelle felt silly when his face
closed up because she’d made the mistake of smiling. He lowered his hand and
placed the engine part on the ground then scribbled again on the notepad and
showed it to her.

Do you trust me to do it?

Her smile faltered. It was such a simple question. Cole was
asking about the damn car, yet it felt like he wanted to know so much more.

Biting back a snide remark in retaliation for the way he was
affecting her, Noelle lifted a shoulder. “Do your worst, cowboy.”

He gave a curt nod, picked up the item and began whatever it was
he assumed he could do. Noelle straightened, pretending to study the
surrounding. If he had taken one look at her stranded on the roadside and
galloped away on the horse, she might have felt more comfortable than having
him here…helping her. It made no sense.

Held in the grips of curiosity, Noelle sauntered beside him and
asked, “Why are you helping me?”

He didn’t stop at his task, scraping at the side of the iron with
a silver pocketknife. His head shifted ever so slowly to the side. His eyes
made contact with hers and Noelle felt the air sizzle. A tempest of dust
whisked through the air, probably dirtying her shoes but she didn’t care.
Couldn’t.

That hardened gaze drifted downward and her heart pounded as he
surveyed her entire frame for what felt like an eternity. Her pussy throbbed.
Just when she thought she’d have to look away first, he turned his head fixing
his attention on the engine, effectively ignoring her question.

One minute passed and then another. On the brink of uttering a
final curse at the car for breaking down, she heard the hood snap close.
Cole
turned to her and pointed to the steering wheel. Grasping his meaning, Noelle
nodded and jumped into the car, turning the ignition. The engine purred to
life. She didn’t have time to calculate her next move. He had fixed it. Noelle
kicked open the door and stared at him in surprise.

“You fixed it!” 

He wiped a hand along his faded jeans and shrugged. Was it so
hard for him to sign, write something to her? Irritated and a tad bit hurt by
his attitude, Noelle planted herself in front of him with her arms folded. “You
never answered my question.”

Pausing, Noelle took a calming breath. She was coming on too
strong with what had to look like some kind of angry black chick ruse. “Why are
you helping me, Cole?” she repeated in a hushed tone.

His brows arched and once more he pulled out the notepad and
wrote.
Payback. Now we’re even.

Noelle curled her lips at the words on the paper. Payback? All
she had done was give him a ride to the ranch. It wasn’t that big of a deal.
Didn’t people do things like that for each other every day? Of course they did,
but it wasn’t expected of
her
. A knot formed in the pit of her stomach.
If it had been anyone else, Cole wouldn’t have felt beholden for something as
simple as a car ride.

Crumpling the piece of paper inside her fist, she pushed past
him. “That’s fine. I guess no thanks are needed for fixing my car since we’re
even.”

Not surprisingly she didn’t garner a reaction from him. Cole
strode away and mounted his horse. From the seat of her car, Noelle watched his
hand dip into his back pocket. His head lifted a fraction as he stared into the
car, shaking his head while removing his hand from the pocket, devoid of the
notepad she’d hoped he was going for. Once again, disappointment nipped at her
heels. He didn’t even watch her drive off before turning the horse around in
the direction of the ranch.

Chapter
Three

Noelle
.

For the past two weeks no matter how hard he tried, Cole found it
impossible to get her out of his head. It didn’t make a difference if he worked
himself to the bone, clocking in eighteen hours each day on the range. As soon
as he hit the sack instead of sleep coming to him, he’d lay awake for hours
wondering what the fuck it was about her that was causing him to make a fool of
himself.