She heard Luke laugh and then he patted
Titan's neck. The urge to be on the stallion's back was a driving
need inside of her. She would definitely make Luke bring her back
out here to ride him when she got her cast off. Luke led him back
over to her and stopped at the rail. She scratched Titan's nose
then looked up at him. "That was so beautiful, Luke. You were
amazing with him."
"He's one helluva ride, honey. I can't wait
for you to be able to give him a try."
"Yeah, we'll have to come back sometime,"
she said kind of sadly. Luke swung his leg over the horse's back
then dropped to the ground. He walked over to her and stood real
close before he looked into her eyes deeply, then handed her the
reins.
"Luke, I can't ride him," she told him
wistfully.
"He's yours, cupcake...this is your new
stud. You can ride him whenever you damned well please."
Blood rushed to her head and Cassie wobbled
on the fence, and she felt like she was going to pass out. Luke
grabbed her legs to steady her then lifted her down to her
feet.
"He's your wedding present," Luke fished
around in his pocket then dropped to one knee in front of her. "If
you'll do me the honor of marrying me, darlin'. We're a package
deal," he said then flipped open a small blue box to show her a
small square cut diamond, surrounded by sapphires. His eyes held
hope and all the love she'd ever hoped for.
A hollow ringing started in her ears and she
grabbed for the fence. "Luke, I think I'm gonna pass out, sugar,"
she said weakly right before her knees gave out and she felt
herself falling.
Passing out was the last reaction Luke hoped
to get from Cassie when he acted out the on again, off again plans
he'd been making with Tommy for weeks. He'd been talking to him
since Bud had first told him what Cassie wanted to do. Well, the
proposal had been a recent decision, but he had been planning to
buy Titan for her to make sure she stayed in Bowie.
Luke grabbed her up in his arms and sat down
on the hard-packed arena floor, holding her close. He gently patted
her pale cheeks, and said, "Wake up, baby. Talk to me." His fingers
went to her throat where he felt her pulse beating much too
quickly. Her skin was hot and clammy, and he got a little concerned
her faint wasn't just from over-excitement. He fanned her face, and
then patted her cheeks a little harder, before he shook her gently.
"Wake up, Cassie Bee."
Tommy walked into the barn right then and
then ran over to them. "Oh my god, what happened?" He slid to his
knees beside them and felt her face.
"Too much excitement, I think...she's just
getting over a concussion," Luke told him and asked him to get a
cold rag.
When Tommy stood up to go get it, her
eyelids fluttered and then opened. She lifted her eyes to Luke's
and put her hand on his cheek. "Yes," she whispered.
Luke whooped then pulled her into his chest
for a tight hug. Supreme satisfaction and then love tangled up
inside of him making him feel like it was his turn to pass out. He
took a deep breath and released it slowly.
"I miss something?" Tommy asked
grinning.
"She said yes," Luke said with a relieved
sigh.
"How could she turn down Titan?" Tommy told
him and they all laughed.
Once Cassie cooled off and got her wits
about her, they took the golf cart around while Tommy proudly told
them about his operation. She saw some beautiful mares she planned
on talking to him about buying, once everything was settled.
Everything at the Rocking D was top notch, and she got some great
ideas for her own farm.
By the time they left the Rocking D, her
head was spinning and she was hot and thirsty, but so damned
excited she could barely contain it. She scooted over by Luke on
the truck seat and squeezed his arm, putting another kiss on his
cheek, probably number fifty since he'd given her Titan and
proposed.
She held out her hand and stared at the
gorgeous ring he'd given her. Then a thought occurred to her, and
not a comforting one. "Luke, how much did you pay for Titan?"
He glanced over at her then back to the
road. "That's none of your concern, darlin'."
"But as good as he is, Tommy probably wanted
a fortune for him. And you're buying the herd..."
"Cassie, I'm not a rich man, but I'm not
destitute either. I've been frugal and saved my money, invested
some of it and it paid off. I have enough for both. Don't worry,"
he told her flatly his fingers gripping the wheel a little
tighter.
"I was being rude. Thank you for my present,
darlin', but you didn't have to do all that to get me to marry you.
I'd have said yes, if you'd just asked me. I love
you
, not
things."
"Can't a man just go out his way to impress
the woman he loves, without her worrying about how much it cost?"
he asked her with irritation tingeing his tone. "I wouldn't have
done it if I couldn't afford it, darlin'." He pushed out a breath.
"I wanted to give you a grand proposal...something you can tell our
grandkids about," he said looking deeply into her eyes, his love
blatantly displayed there.
"I think you accomplished that goal, and
then some," she said with a small smile that grew quickly into a
full blown grin, then she laughed. "I don't think anyone in Bowie,
or hell--Texas--can top it. This story is going to become an urban
legend."
He snorted. "It was pretty spectacular
wasn't it?"
"My fainting didn't push that point
home?"
A chuckle rumbled in his chest then he broke
into full blown laughter and she joined in.
CHAPTER TWELVE
They chatted amiably as they drove the rest
of the way into Amarillo, then Luke told her they were going to
stop for the night. He pulled up in front of a hotel then grabbed
her suitcase and his duffle bag from the back of the truck. "You
okay walking, darlin'?" he asked when she made her way around the
front of the truck.
"Yep, steady as a stump," she told him then
laughed.
It seemed to her like all she did these days
when she was with him was laugh. She sidled up beside him and took
his arm then said, "You are gonna get so lucky tonight,
cowboy."
"I'm already, lucky darlin'." He leaned down
and kissed her upraised lips gently. "You're gonna marry me."
She put her arms around his waist and hugged
him tight. "I'm the lucky one, sugar. So damned lucky."
Cassie just wondered how long her luck would
hold out though. With all the crap that had landed on her and
Luke's doorstep lately, how could she not? But until this thin
bubble of euphoria burst, she was going to enjoy the hell out of
it.
The next day when they were on the outskirts
of Phoenix, she got her answer. The other shoe dropped squarely on
her head with a call from her assistant. "What do you mean the
account is overdrawn? We had over ten thousand in there!" she
shouted into the phone incredulously.
"The escrow account too?" she groaned when
her assistant told her it too was empty according to the
representative from the bank who called this morning. "I'll be
there shortly," she told her then disconnected the call.
"Problems?" Luke glanced over at her with a
worried expression.
"I think James emptied our business
accounts. Messing with escrow funds is a fiduciary breach, and
criminal."
"So, call the police and file charges."
"The real estate board will file the
charges, and they could charge me too, since I'm listed as the
principal broker for the firm. At the very least, I'll lose my
license," her voice wobbled over the words as tension from the
severity of this situation settled over her.
"Calm down, honey. We'll figure things out,
and make sure that sack of shit gets what he deserves," Cassie
looked over at him and his jaw was clenched, his eyes sparkled
dangerously.
"Hell no, Luke. This isn't your battle, you
calm down and let me take care of it." She was very afraid her
words were falling on deaf ears. Luke was blind when he thought she
needed protecting, and she had to stop him before he got wound up
and did something stupid. "Promise me, Luke."
He looked over at her and then back to the
road without saying anything.
"I mean it, Luke--you're staying out of this
one. I can handle it, I don't need or want you getting involved.
Promise me, dammit!" she demanded.
It was minutes, not seconds, before he
finally hissed out between his teeth. "I promise."
"If you can't trust me to take care of
things, to be your equal partner in this relationship, it's not
going to work, Luke," she warned him and saw him swallow hard.
"Trust me on this one, darlin'."
He nodded, but she saw how much it cost him
to agree. His muscles were so clenched under his t-shirt, she
thought the soft well-worn cotton might burst at the seams.
"Thank you," she said then lifted her cell
phone to make the calls she needed to make.
First she called the police, then her
banker, and finally the real estate commission. She tried to get
James on his cell phone and he didn't answer, of course. Luke sat
silently beside her as she did this, just following her directions
to take them to the office mutely.
His quietness worried her, Luke always had
something to say. She wondered what he was thinking. Leaning back
against the door of the truck she said, "Luke, I don't want to cut
you out of this completely. I want your advice, I'll take it into
consideration. I just don't want you directly involved. Talk to
me..."
His eyes dropped to her feet then moved up
her legs quickly over her chest then to her eyes. "Don't you think
you need to change before you go to the office?"
Cassie hadn't even thought about the shorts
and cherry print sleeveless shirt she'd put on at the hotel this
morning, and how it would make her look to the people she had to
meet with. She groaned and knew she couldn't go there looking like
she did. What she needed was the armor of her power suits and heels
to fight this battle, but her cast meant she'd be wearing flats
instead...and she didn't have any suits with her.
"I wasn't planning on going to the office
today. I only packed jeans and shorts when I came to Texas."
"You packed that hot little black dress you
wore to the restaurant..." he suggested and wiggled his eyebrows
making her laugh.
"Yeah, I forgot...that'll work. I packed
some flat black shoes that will work with it too. Can you stop at a
gas station so I can change?"
"Yeah," he said and wheeled off the
interstate exit and found a station right off the exit. He hopped
out and opened the tailgate then dragged her suitcase to the end
and unzipped it then stepped aside so she could dig through it.
She kissed his cheek and hugged his waist.
"Thanks for understanding, Luke."
"I get it, we're partners darlin'," he told
her then finished gruffly, "I'm not used to operating that way, so
you'll have to remind me."
"Oh, you can bet I will..." she laughed
shortly and then rifled through her suitcase to pull out the
slightly wrinkled black dress and shoes. "I'll be right back," she
told him then walked in her uneven gait to the bathroom in the
convenience store.
Luke watched her hips sashay and his mouth
went dry. Frustration ran through his body like a runaway wagon
headed for a cliff. He gritted his teeth and tried to get a grip on
his out of control emotions. Being in this state had gotten him
nowhere but in trouble lately. Cassie expected him to take a
backseat and let her deal with her asshole ex, and he was going to
try, for her, because he promised, but he didn't hold out much hope
for success. He had a score to settle with that prick.
He climbed up on the tailgate and folded his
arms over his chest to wait for her to come back. You never knew
what kind of riffraff hung out at places like this right off the
interstate, he thought. There was no way he was going to let
anything else happen to the woman he loved. That asshole ex of hers
better believe Luke would kick his ass if he tried to hurt her,
whether she liked it or not...and he was well on his way to
deserving it.
The tall blonde woman who exited the store
wearing the black dress with her wavy curls pinned up loosely on
top of her head, didn't look anything like the country cowgirl
who'd gone in a few minutes ago. Gone was the one cowboy boot she'd
had on her uninjured foot, replaced by a shiny black flat. Even
with the cherry print shirt and shorts swinging in her hand, she
looked competent and professional.
He didn't know this Cassie, he realized as
she lengthened her stride with determination, her one shoe tapping
an interesting tune on the concrete in concert with her bright
green cast that reached halfway up her left calf. But he was sure
going to enjoy getting to know her.
Smug satisfaction gripped him when the sun
glinted off of his ring on her left hand. That was a sight that
would always bring him pleasure, knowing it meant this bright,
beautiful woman was his to love.