Not the Marrying Kind (15 page)

“You’re sure in a big hurry,” her father
said, watching her closely as she pushed her chair back and got to
her feet. “Something wrong, Katherine?”

When she was younger, he’d always called her
Kat, just like everyone else did. Now, he’d taken to calling her by
her given name. It took her a slight second or two to realize he
was addressing her.

“Wrong? No, not at all.” Quickly, she
clasped her hands together, hoping her ever-observant father had
not already noticed how much she was trembling. And why in the
world was she shaking? Was she frightened at the thought of coming
face-to-face with a gang of rustlers? Nervous at the idea of
spending the better part of a night alone with Joshua Barron? Or,
more likely, guilty at the lie she was about to tell?

Mama came to her rescue. “Did you say you’re
going to Lucille’s tonight, honey?”

“Yes, I’m spending the night with her.” Kat
put a wonderful, but deceitful smile on her face and turned toward
her father. “You wanted me to start acting like more of a lady, so
I’m going to the McIntyres’ tonight, and Lucille is going to give
me a few pointers on how to walk more gracefully, how to be a
little more refined.” Embarrassed by the boldness of her lies, Kat
looked away. Her cheeks were on fire.

Her father’s face showed both surprise and
pleasure. “I’m glad to hear it. It’s about time.” He gestured
toward his coffee cup, and Kat’s mother hurried to refill it. “So,
how’s work going out on the range?” He gave his daughter a
questioning look. “Is Mr. Barron proving reliable?”

“Absolutely.”

“No problems, are there?”

“Absolutely not.” Kat smiled.

“Glad to hear it, honey.” Her father’s voice
fell flat.

“Don’t sound so disappointed,” she said,
rushing to throw her arms around his neck in a big hug. “Pa, I love
the Rocking P, and I’m grateful to you for giving me this chance. I
know you think I’ll fail, but I won’t.” She thought again of her
sister’s claims. Emily Sue had exaggerated things a bit. No way
could Pa actually do anything to
sabotage
Kat’s efforts.
Planting a kiss on her father’s grizzled cheek, she smiled again.
“Fifty head of cattle will be delivered to the fort, as contracted.
I give you my word.”

* * * *

Kat awakened at shortly before midnight
after a few fitful hours of sleep. She slipped out of bed, threw
off her nightgown, and quietly changed into her work clothes. With
luck, she wouldn’t wake Lucille. As she gathered her belongings and
packed them into her overnight bag, she heard her friend
stirring.

“Is it time already?” Lucille sat up, rubbed
the sleep from her eyes, then focused in on Kat, her mouth set in a
hard line. “You’re not really going to do this, are you?”

“Yes, I am.”

Lucille glanced toward the door. “What am I
supposed to tell my folks when you don’t show up for breakfast in
the morning?”

“Tell them that I had to get an early start,
so I rode home at daybreak.” Kat shrugged and smiled. “Don’t worry
about me. I’ll be perfectly safe.” Kat sighed, regretting her
decision to tell Lucille the details of her plan. Lucille had
refused to go along until she knew exactly what Kat intended to do.
She grabbed her leather belt from the back of the chair, threaded
it through the loops, then fastened it around her tiny waist.
“Remember, I’m not doing this alone. I’ll be with Mr. Barron.”

Lucille climbed out of bed and drew on a
cotton robe. She pulled it tight across her buxom form. “Please,
don’t do this. Now that I’ve given it a little thought, I don’t
think this is a very good idea. This could be dangerous, Kat."

“Maybe so, but like I told you, I have to do
this. I don’t have a choice.”

“What if you actually find the rustlers?”
She gripped Kat’s forearm, obviously fearful for her friend’s
safety. “I hate to be so blunt about it, but is Mr. Barron
physically capable of—”

“He’s a man, Lucille. Yes, he got shot, and
yes, he walks with a limp, but that doesn’t make him less of a
man.”

“But it makes him slower. It makes him less
able to—”

“I don’t want to hear it. I haven’t got time
for argument now.”

“I’m worried for you! Don’t you understand?
You know nothing about that man.”

“I know I can trust him.”

“How would you know that?” She shuddered.
“Kat, you need to give it up. Forget this crazy scheme and marry
Reverend Kendrick. It won’t really be so bad.”

Earlier, Lucille had chastised her for
speaking too much. A woman who fell into the habit of excessive
chatter was all but unbearable, Lucille had said. Women were
supposed to be quiet little flowers, sitting in the sunlight,
basking in the adoration of their loving husbands. She wished
Lucille would follow her own advice and shut up.

“Bullcrap,” Kat muttered aloud.

“Kat Phillips!”

“Really,” she said, her voice shaking, “if
you’re so enamored of Reverend Kendrick and think him such a fine
marital prospect, why don’t
you
wed the damned man?”

“You don’t need to curse about it. And
me…marry Reverend Kendrick? Why would I want to do that when I can
have my pick of any man in the territory? I’ll marry whomever I
please and be quite happy about it. You, on the other hand, Kat,
haven’t got quite so many choices. No other man wants you. You
should consider yourself lucky Reverend Kendrick is willing to
overlook your flaws and take you for a wife.”

“Hell will freeze over before I wed Virgil
Kendrick.” She grabbed her duster and slipped out the window.

* * * *

Moonlight streamed over the hillside,
lighting a path through the dark night. Kat and Joshua rode
silently across the range, watching for any sign of movement.

“I don’t like this,” he said, drawing back
on the reins. When Kat had come up with the idea earlier that day,
he’d been flabbergasted, but already he knew her well enough to
figure that had he refused to help, she would have ridden out on
her own. He wouldn’t allow her to endanger herself that way. Even
if there were no actual rustlers, going out on the range at
night—alone—was a risky proposition.

He hoped he might yet persuade her to give
up her foolishness. “This isn’t the time or the place for a woman
to be out, Kat. Why don’t you go on back home and let me handle
this?”

“You can’t handle it, Joshua. You don’t know
the ranchers around here, and you wouldn’t recognize any of them.
Like I told you this morning, you’re working for me. Like it or
not, what I say goes, and I say I’m staying right here.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He reached up and tipped his
hat, all the while hating to once again be reminded that she was
running this show. For some reason, the stubborn little lady seemed
to take great pleasure from telling him what to do, when to do it,
and how to do it.

Wonder if she’d be so aggressive in bed?

The thought—and the image that went with
it—came so quick, he didn’t have time to wipe the lustful grin from
his face, nor stop the sudden arousal that left him restless. He
blew out a deep breath. They’d come out here with a job to do. At
least, that’s what Kat thought.

She thought if they hid out in the
underbrush, they’d catch a couple cattle rustlers. Little did she
know the only thing they’d be apt to catch would be a lot of
hell.

He couldn’t spend the night hiding low with
her. She posed too great a temptation. Hell, he’d been without a
woman for the last three years, and no telling when he and Cody
might get around to making that promised trip to Denver. Meanwhile,
being close to Kat had reawakened every sense Joshua possessed.

She wasn’t at all like the sort of woman who
usually attracted him. In the past, he’d been drawn to buxom
beauties with plenty of curves and lots of curls. Brunettes,
usually. Dark-eyed, dark-haired, dark-skinned exotic women who knew
how to artfully apply rouge and lip stains, women who dressed in
low-cut satin gowns, showing off their cleavage, always bending low
to make sure men like Joshua were looking.

Kat was nothing like those women.

Tall, slender, and straight as a board.
Stiff as a board, too. At least, that’s how she looked in those
long, lean trousers she wore. Maybe that’s what intrigued him. Kat
Phillips was a puzzle to be solved, a riddle to be figured out.
Maybe he just liked the thought of breaking through that stiff,
coarse exterior, like biting into a sweet cream puff. Once you got
past the crusty outside, a delicious cream filling awaited.

Thoughts of tasting Kat’s sweet center drove
him mad. He had to get her away from him. Fast. For her own
good.

He reined up, then dismounted. Leading his
horse to the edge of a clearing, he glanced over his shoulder at
Kat. “Let’s talk about this.”

“Nothing to talk about.” She whistled out a
breath then nodded and pulled back on the reins. “Fine, we’ll
talk.” She got down from the saddle and came to stand beside him.
“If you’re needing a break already, all you had to do was say so.”
She glanced at his leg.

“I don’t need a break. I just think we need
to talk things through a bit. Nothing good ever comes from rushing
into a situation without first doing a little reconnoitering.”

“A little…what?”

“Reconnoitering,” he repeated. “Looking
around. Taking a bearing.”

“Yeah, right.”

“It’s always wise to consider all
possibilities.”

“What are you getting at?” she asked, her
patience obviously worn thin.

Joshua planted his hands on his hips. “I
still think maybe it’s mountain lions. Cody insists there’s cats
out here.”

Yeah, right. I’ve got one wild little Kat
right in front of me.

“He’s pulling your leg. We’ve already been
over this.”

“Damn it, Kat. Don’t make me say this.”

“Say what?”

“You’re a woman, and you’ve got no business
out here.”

“I’d almost consider that a compliment.” She
shook her head and an unmistakable look of sadness shone in her
eyes. “I’m not really much of a woman, Joshua. You only have to
take one look at me to know that.”

True, she lacked curves, maybe she even
lacked a bit of charm, but she was female, all the same.

“Why do you say that?”

“I’m what Pa calls a roughneck. A tomboy,
you know,” she replied. “I can rope, ride, and wrangle as well as
any man.” She reached down and rested her hand on the holster she
wore. “I can also handle a sidearm, so don’t you go worrying about
me. I can take care of myself.” She drew herself up. “If you’re
having second thoughts about trying to catch these confounded
cattle rustlers, maybe you’re the one who needs to head on
back.”

“Damn it, Kat,” he said, moving closer. “In
the first place, we’re not going to catch any rustlers out here.
Not with all the noise and chattering you’re doing. If there were
any rustlers around, I guarantee they’re long gone by now. In the
second place…”

“How many times do I have to remind you? I
hired you. I’m asking you to do a job.”

Joshua’s gaze went directly to Kat’s mouth.
Her rosy lips looked soft and inviting, the lower lip slightly
fuller than the upper one. She stared back at him. Was he supposed
to say something? What were they talking about? Oh, right. He was
working for her. She was the boss.

She only thought she was in charge.

Joshua chuckled and took a step closer,
licking his lips as he breathed in the sweet fragrance that rose
around Kat. Vanilla. Sugar. A touch of cinnamon.

The light from the full moon pooled over
her. She stood before him like a mystical goddess with hair of
shimmering, silvery flames. In the stillness of the night, the air
seemed suddenly charged, suddenly intimate, and suddenly
dangerous.

Kat’s delectable mouth was open a little.
Her eyes were fixed on him.

He took another step forward. She didn’t
back away as he’d expected but stood her ground. This close to her,
he saw how smooth and soft the skin of her face was. Almost like
velvet. No, smoother than velvet.

He had to touch it, to see if it felt as
soft as it looked. His fingers barely grazed her skin, moving down
her face in a feather-light touch that set off a flood of
pleasurable sensations.

Still, she didn’t move back.

As his hand moved farther down her face to
cup her chin, she trembled slightly. Her breath caught in a sudden
gasp, and she lowered her gaze, yet she didn’t draw away. Joshua’s
fingers continued their slow exploration, brushing over the soft
nape of her neck. His loins stirred.

Her body quivered and she looked up again,
lifting smoldering eyes to him. He immediately recognized the
signals those blue eyes were sending, although he doubted Kat had
any idea. She was too young, too naive, too innocent. And far too
tempting to resist.

He pulled her close, and his fingers tangled
in the wild mane of her hair. Joshua covered her lips with his. Her
mouth was hot and moist. Her lips parted in an instinctive response
to his kiss.

Years of longing surged through him. He
tightened his hold, and her body yielded naturally, molding itself
to him. Desire rippled through him, down his spine into his
buttocks, up from his toes into the rock-hard erection between his
legs. He pressed against her.

Kat stiffened. Her hands at his chest turned
rigid. Her breathing ragged, she tore herself away and staggered
back. “Stop it…please…don’t…” Her eyes were wide, filled with both
fear and desire.

He clenched his hands together and inhaled a
deep breath, fighting to steady himself. What in hell had he done
now? He’d wanted to prove something, but what? That he was still a
man? That he was in charge?

And Kat thought she wasn’t much of a woman?
Holy shit! With one single kiss she’d proved herself woman enough
to be his undoing. Raking a hand through his hair, he struggled to
regain a semblance of control. Every inch of his body still burned
as though her lips had set him aflame.