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A Cowboy To Kiss
Mary Leo
THIS COWBOY WON’T QUITJake Scott welcomed the invitation from Kenzie Grant’s father to visit their ranch in Idaho. It was a chance to help out an old family friend, and to see Kenzie again. But judging by her frosty reception, his old friend wasn’t informed—and isn’t amused. The stunning little spitfire that dogged him around when they were kids has grown into a fabulous force to be reckoned with. And he’s in her crosshairs.It’s tough to tell which she resents most—his advice on eco-friendly ranching methods or just his presence. Either way, he’s got her riled. Just not in the way he’d hoped. How can he convince her that working together could be the best thing for the ranch…and for them?


THIS COWBOY WON’T QUIT
Jake Scott welcomed the invitation from Kenzie Grant’s father to visit their ranch in Idaho. It was a chance to help out an old family friend, and to see Kenzie again. But judging by her frosty reception, his old friend wasn’t informed—and isn’t amused. The stunning little spitfire that dogged him around when they were kids has grown into a fabulous force to be reckoned with. And he’s in her crosshairs.
It’s tough to tell which she resents most—his advice on eco-friendly ranching methods or just his presence. Either way, he’s got her riled. Just not in the way he’d hoped. How can he convince her that working together could be the best thing for the ranch…and for them?
“I have a job to do.”
“Well, do it and leave,” she told him.
Jake shrugged. “I can’t. You refuse to cooperate.”
“Fine, be stubborn.”
“I’m not. It’s just—”
“Just what?”
Kenzie was spitting mad now, he could tell…and she looked more adorable than ever.
“Jake Scott, you drive me crazy.”
He couldn’t help the smile that came from somewhere deep within him. She sounded exactly like that feisty girl with the heart of gold he’d fallen for all those years ago. “Kenzie Grant, I sometimes believe that’s my whole purpose in life.”
She let out a throaty little groan and then abruptly disappeared inside the farmhouse. Next, the porch window they shared was slammed shut so hard the lamp beside his bed bounced off the table and landed on the floor, shattering the bulb.
“So not my finest moment,” he muttered and looked up at the starry night sky and prayed.
Dear Reader (#ubf7b268e-4bad-5bc9-9631-3df85b1d77c4),
The Grant family, comprised mostly of women, is at it again in this story of childhood rivals. Jake and Kenzie have been trying to outdo each other ever since they first met on his family ranch in Montana, when she was still carrying around a doll in her back pocket and he was dreaming of rodeos.
Now that they’re all grown up, that rivalry hasn’t stopped. Matter of fact, it gets stronger when Kenzie learns Jake has been called in to help her turn the family ranch into a more “natural” enterprise.
What?
I love writing about a character who has developed his or her own set of rules to live by, and seems to be doing quite well, until someone arrives and upsets the applecart. It always makes for a fun story with lots of soul-searching for each character. Who has to change the most or compromise the most to gain what they ultimately want…true love?
I hope you fall in love with Kenzie and Jake as much as I did while writing about them. Writing an entire story is such a personal experience, one that always amazes me. A character comes up and taps me on the shoulder and says, “It’s time you told my story, and it’s a doozy!” How can I refuse? I can’t, so I begin, and what ends up on the page is me channeling that character. It’s something I love to do, and hope you love to read.
All best,
Mary
www.maryleo.com (http://www.maryleo.com)
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A Cowboy to Kiss
Mary Leo


www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
USA TODAY bestselling author MARY LEO grew up in south Chicago in the tangle of a big Italian family. She’s worked in Hollywood, Las Vegas and Silicon Valley. Currently she lives in San Diego with her husband, author Terry Watkins, and their sweet kitty, Sophie. Visit her website at maryleo.com (http://www.maryleo.com).
For Louise (Watkins) Stover, my sister-in-law
July 1939–October 2016
Louise introduced me to high tea and taught me that three hours of shopping in one store was just the beginning. The laughter and love we shared on those fun excursions will never be replaced or forgotten. Louise accepted this city girl on her farm with no questions asked, and gave me a love of rural life that I would not have experienced if she hadn’t welcomed me into the family. Thank you for your patience and all those superb family dinners. Every time I write a story about a cowboy, I’m reminded of those inspirational days on her farm in Quakertown, PA.
Contents
Cover (#u6678946c-2ca7-503d-a761-fe7bdc8a701d)
Back Cover Text (#u752bf5f4-10d7-5e75-b8fd-537f1193ae50)
Introduction (#u1edaaa88-9e37-5143-a7af-d1abe76af697)
Dear Reader (#uc59b16c1-276a-5740-83a3-d2159bbb2103)
Title Page (#ue91aff23-0ea8-58c7-b388-23cc1880f2d9)
About the Author (#ufcd7f4eb-e862-5caf-859c-f0a7ff0a0d34)
Dedication (#u9c64551b-a6b3-5c93-9cd1-c16f595c2352)
Prologue (#u58a19255-d732-5d00-8270-aba7a862392c)
Chapter One (#u12ead794-eed4-5a0e-9449-d9eb99742c60)
Chapter Two (#u87731f46-955e-5836-93f0-e950dde98ef3)
Chapter Three (#u66cd1ab9-7eb1-5cff-91b7-7514a113f23e)
Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
Prologue (#ubf7b268e-4bad-5bc9-9631-3df85b1d77c4)
“You can’t be a cowboy. You’re a girl,” ten-year-old Jake Scott stated as if everyone on the entire planet already knew this fact. Then he rolled his eyes and climbed up the side of the wooden horse corral, his cowboy boots slapping each rung with a loud thump while his small hands expertly grabbed hold, having done this many times before.
When he arrived at the top, he perched himself on the thick rail, swung his feet over it and stared at the three horses his dad had recently purchased. They were taller than most of the other horses he’d ridden, and their height scared him as he watched them prance around the large space in a tight formation. His dad had promised that the brown-and-white paint would end up being his, once the animal was trained, of course. At the moment, Jake couldn’t even imagine getting anywhere near the young stallion without his dad close by. The horses had only recently been separated from their moms and were easily spooked in their new surroundings.
“Haven’t you ever heard of a cowgirl?” Kenzie Grant countered as she deliberately followed him up the side of the corral, shoving her dumb doll into her back pocket. She never went anywhere without it. Even took it to the roundup. Who brings a doll to a roundup?
As far as Jake could tell, this girl tried her darnedest to irritate his normally easygoing self. Ever since she’d arrived at the ranch with her family of mostly girls, Kenzie had been a constant thorn in Jake’s side. Her brother didn’t pay him much mind, and her sisters mostly stayed at the house. But Kenzie seemed to stick to him like glue.
There was no getting rid of her. She followed him around all day like a lost baby goat, mimicking his cowboy ways, trying to learn something that no girl, especially a girl who wasn’t even nine years old yet, could do as good as a boy.
“Aw, cowgirl’s not even a real word,” Jake said. “Not really. At least not from where I come from, and I come from Montana, where cowboying is a man’s world.”
“Then what are you doing playing cowboy? You’re not a man. You’re just a kid, like I am.”
“I gave up playing a long time ago, not like you, who still carries around a stupid doll.”
“This doll’s not stupid. She’s smart. And for your information, this is a cowgirl who runs her own ranch...just like I will when I grow up. Don’t you know that kids can be anything they want to be? Don’t you have any imagination at all, Jake Scott?”
Kenzie pulled herself up on the top rung, carefully swung each leg over the side, then sat down right next to Jake. Kenzie was tall for her age, and strong, stronger than Jake liked to admit. Plus, she was smart as a whip and could usually figure out even the toughest tasks Jake tried to stump her with.
Kenzie Grant was just plain annoying.
“Sure I do. Like I can imagine myself riding that palomino with the flaxen mane and tail until I’m an old man.” He nodded toward the horses, wondering if this newly declared cowgirl even knew which one was the palomino.
“Horses only have a life expectancy of twenty-five to thirty years. You’ll hardly be an old man when it dies.”
“Who said?”
“My dad, and he knows a lot about horses. He used to raise them, which is exactly what I’m going to do when I grow up. I’m going to raise horses, and run a ranch, my own ranch, with cattle and a bull. We might even grow some potatoes. Idaho is the potato capital of the world.”
She stretched out her arms to make her point. Who cared about a dumb ol’ potato anyway?
Nobody, that was who. Especially nobody who lived in Montana.
“There you go again. Making no sense. That’s not a ranch. That’s a farm. Ranchers don’t grow anything but livestock.”
“I can grow anything I want, and I can do anything I want. All you want to do is ride some ol’ horse. You’re just jealous ’cause I’m going to be a rancher...a rancher who does it all. Now who’s stupid, Jake Scott? I don’t want to talk to you anymore today.”
Then she twisted herself to get back down the side of the corral.
“So what happens tomorrow? Are you going to talk to me tomorrow?”
He suddenly didn’t want her to go. For all her orneriness, he liked having her around. His two brothers were a lot older, so they didn’t pay much attention to him, and his mom and dad were too busy with ranching to ask more than a million “did’ja” questions every day... Did’ja brush your teeth? Did’ja help clean out the stalls? Did’ja finish all your chores...
“We’re leaving tomorrow. Don’t you know anything?”
“Then I guess this means we won’t be talking at all.”
“What do you care? I’m just a dumb cowgirl.”
She climbed all the way down, then jumped off the bottom rung and ran off leaving him alone. He wanted to run after her, and turned to do it when he spotted her brother, Carson, coming up to meet her. Jake liked her brother, Carson. He could ride a horse better than any kid he’d ever seen and Jake had hoped that Carson would teach him a few tricks. That probably wouldn’t happen now that he’d told Kenzie all that silly stuff about her being a dumb cowgirl. He knew perfectly well that some girls were even better at ranch work than boys. He just didn’t want to admit it to Kenzie. She was only eight years old and he’d bet his new boots she was brave enough to ride that palomino his dad had brought home.
He was simply too shy to admit it...and much too shy to admit he liked hanging with her, even if she did carry around a stupid doll.
Chapter One (#ubf7b268e-4bad-5bc9-9631-3df85b1d77c4)
Kenzie Grant had only one thought on her mind when she walked out the front door that morning: frozen semen.
The way she had it figured, it was her best shot. She’d tried other forms of semen and they simply didn’t take or the specimen would be rendered useless before she’d even had a chance to use it.
Semen was funny that way, she thought, just as unpredictable as the stud who provided it.
“Are you confident this will work?” she asked her younger sister, the only doctor Kenzie trusted with their future. Coco wore a straw cowgirl hat over her short-cropped dark hair, a deep blue T-shirt, stretch jeans, and high work boots that laced up the front. Kenzie never could understand why anyone would prefer those to slip-on Western boots, but Coco rarely wore anything that didn’t lace up. She was the tallest of the four sisters, exactly six feet tall in her bare feet, and usually carted around a Yorkie named Punky. Today, Punky had to stay home. Apparently he was busy keeping a tiny kitten company that someone had recently left on Coco’s doorstep. Among Punky’s many virtues, he was an excellent babysitter to just about any creature in need, and that included cats of all sizes.
“At this point, it’s your safest bet,” she told Kenzie, her gaze on the Teton Mountain range off in the distance. It was a particularly beautiful morning in Idaho’s Teton Valley, the crisp blue sky dappled with billowy white clouds and the sun bursting through, sending rays of golden sunlight streaming down to the ground in columns of warmth. The temperature had finally risen and Kenzie had dressed for the part in a brown T, boot-cut jeans, her favorite tan boots and a wide belt held in place with the All-Around Cowboy buckle she’d won four years ago at the local ranch rodeo, the belt and buckle riding low on her hips.
Work gloves and her phone were stuffed in one back pocket, and a packet of spicy beef jerky in the other just in case she had to miss lunch, which had been almost every day last week. She was hoping this week would go easier.
Dora and Dolly, the family’s yellow Labs, sniffed the ground as they searched for any new scents that may have dropped from the sky overnight, happy to chase after whatever moved in the expanse of grass that surrounded the ranch house.
Never taking these perfect moments for granted, Kenzie pulled in a deep breath, drinking in the fresh, early morning scent that surrounded her. She only wished she had more time to enjoy these long lazy days like she’d had when she was a kid, when the hours seemed endless. She was hopeful that once the family ranch was lucrative again, an occasional lazy afternoon might be possible, but until then, Kenzie had no time for anything other than work and worry.
All ten of her mares were in various stages of estrus or heat, a situation she’d purposely planned for. Granted, the mares were as ornery as June bugs caught in a net, but once they were impregnated, they’d calm down. At least that was the idea. Now all she had to do was inseminate them, and with her sister’s help, next summer her mares would be part of the first annual colt auction on the Grant ranch. She hoped to double that count in twelve months’ time, and onward until she brought it up to about thirty or forty workhorses for sale each year.
She didn’t like to admit it, but full-time ranching was taking its toll. She knew it would be hard from having grown up on the family spread, but now that her dad had handed over the reins, Kenzie wasn’t so sure she wanted to handle them entirely on her own. Her parents now depended on her almost 100 percent, which was fine, but the burden of it sometimes weighed her down more than she ever dreamed that it would.
“Good, ’cause I’ve ordered the semen from a quarter horse ranch out of Canada. Their workhorses are known throughout the country as being some of the best stock,” she told Coco.
Coco gazed over at her, her eyebrows knitted together with concern. “I wish you had consulted me on this order first. I thought we decided on a distributor in Colorado. I’ve recommended them before to other local ranchers and they’ve been dependable with their deliveries. They’ve already done all the customs paperwork for you.”
“Sure, but what could be better than going directly to the source, right?”
“I’ve heard there could be problems with customs, causing major delays.”
But Kenzie wasn’t listening. She’d stopped walking, pulled her deep brown cowgirl hat down low to shield her eyes from the sun and stared at the white three-quarter-ton pickup. The truck was pulling the exact seventeen-foot horse trailer that Kenzie had lusted over just last month when she was in the market for a new one. The price tag had been a little too rich for her, so she’d had to settle for one that was used and half the price.
The thought flitted through her head that perhaps her dad had decided to splurge and had secretly bought it, but that thought was quickly dashed. She knew her dad would never undermine her financial plan for the ranch. He respected her decisions too much.
Still...
“Do you know what this is all about?” Coco asked, nodding toward the fancy rig heading for them.
“No, but maybe Mom does. Now that their anniversary is less than two weeks away we’ve been getting all sorts of weird things delivered to the ranch. Mom is getting more and more giddy over the ceremony. I’m so glad we were able to convince them to celebrate forty-five years with a real wedding celebration. Who knew they’d never had one?”
“I don’t think Dad’s excited about all the fuss, but this means so much to Mom that he’s coming around. He’ll do anything for Mom, we all know that,” Coco said. “Her whole face lights up whenever she talks about any of the details. I’ve had so much fun helping her plan.”
“We all have. Just yesterday an older man arrived with four white doves. Mom wants them released during the ceremony. Did you know, they’re actually homing pigeons? Anyway, we did a practice run, and the birds squawked the entire time. It wasn’t pretty. Or rather, it didn’t sound pretty. You can imagine her reaction.”
Coco nodded. “She must have been annoyed.”
“She was. The man apologized and assured her it had never happened before and would never happen again, but Mom thought it was a bad omen. It took all day for Dad and me to convince her that their wedding ceremony isn’t doomed. You know how she’s always felt about elaborate weddings. Nervous that something major will go wrong. Where she got that idea she won’t say other than it’s just a feeling. Of course, it didn’t help that Kayla’s first and second weddings were disasters. And Carson’s wedding was strange, at best.”
Their mom and dad had gotten married at the courthouse in a simple ceremony with no guests. She had insisted it be held that way and had always associated a big wedding with a catastrophe.
“Exactly, and with the Grant track record, who can blame her?”
Their sister Kayla had left not one but two separate grooms standing at the altar, and their brother, Carson, had planned a fancy church wedding with a woman who had already dumped him.
“Callie and Joel’s wedding turned out okay,” Coco reminded her.
“Except for Great-Uncle Peter streaking through the back of the church in his birthday suit during the vows, everything else went off beautifully.”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot about Great-Uncle Peter. Will he be coming?”
“Yes, and Great-Aunt Beverly promised to keep a tight rein on him this time.”
“Isn’t she the one who tried to do a pole dance during the reception, and I had to treat her when she slid too fast, fell over and bonked her head?”
“Yes,” Kenzie answered, remembering Great-Aunt Beverly circling the pole with her undies showing, singing “I’m an Old Cowhand.” “Mom might be right.”
“So, I wonder what this is? Maybe Mom and Dad want to ride in on special horses? White Arabian horses to go with the white doves, maybe?”
Kenzie snickered and shrugged. “Who knows? She’s been springing these changes on us for the last couple of weeks. She’s also thinking of handing out white helium balloons to everyone to be set free once Mom and Dad say ‘I do.’ For someone who doesn’t believe in elaborate weddings, she’s really all in for this one. I’ve stopped trying to second-guess what she’s thinking up next. I just go along with everything. It’s simpler.”
As the rig came closer, Kenzie’s stomach began to feel queasy, like the bacon and eggs she’d downed in a hurry that morning weren’t sitting well. Or perhaps it was the instant coffee she’d made in the microwave before her mom put on a pot?
It didn’t help that the dogs seemed skeptical of the intruder as well, their tails still as they sniffed the air for any strange scents.
“That’s a Montana plate on the front of the truck. I can’t believe she had to go all the way to Montana to find a horse. Something else must be going on,” Kenzie offered.
“I know the Scotts are driving in for the wedding. Maybe Jan and Fred decided to show up early?”
Henry Grant, their dad, and Fred Scott had served in Vietnam together, and had a long-standing friendship. The two men would do anything for each other, and over the years, the Grant family and the Scott family had spent time on each other’s ranches. For the most part, those visits had been fun, but there was one member of the Scott family Kenzie never wanted to see again. One cowboy she hoped would stay home on the family ranch where he belonged.
The screen door behind them squeaked open, then banged shut. “Right on time,” Kenzie’s father, Henry, said.
“Dad knew about their early arrival and didn’t tell us?” Coco asked her sister. “I would have changed some of my commitments around. As it is, I can’t stay. I’m already late for my next appointment.”
“I think there’s something more to this than just an extended visit from Jan and Fred. When have they ever stayed longer than a few days? And why would they bring along some horses? No. Something’s up, and I’m getting a bad feeling about it.”
Kenzie glanced back at her mom who’d stepped out on the porch to join their dad. “I better make up another batch of bacon, and throw on some more flapjacks. Prob’ly drove all night and they’ll all be as hungry as a bear.”
“Why are the Scotts here so early, Dad?” Kenzie shouted back to her dad.
She couldn’t imagine why he hadn’t told her, especially since it now appeared as if they’d be staying on the ranch. The guesthouse hadn’t even been cleaned out yet. Kenzie had planned to have it done by the end of the week. It was on the top of her priority list, along with several other critical items. She’d been storing some combustible supplies in the guesthouse to keep them away from the livestock. She intended to move them to one of the sheds. Plus Carson had been promising to move all his equipment to his own shed at his rented house for weeks now. The timing of their arrival couldn’t be worse.
“Ain’t the Scotts, at least not all of them. Just one,” her dad finally said in that raspy morning voice of his.
Coco raised an eyebrow and caught the look of concern on Kenzie’s face. “What’s wrong? You look sick.”
Kenzie pressed a hand to her stomach and ignored her sister’s question.
Instead, she asked her dad, “Which one? I mean, which Scott?”
The words jumped from her mouth in a rush of adrenalin. There was only one member of the Scott family who got under her skin, one Scott who annoyed her to distraction and caused her blood to boil. Over the years, their rivalry had grown into a full-blown war. The last time they met up Kenzie was sixteen, and somehow that conniving, underhanded Jake Scott had managed to get her to kiss him. She hadn’t kissed a boy before that, and Jake knew it as soon as their lips met.
He’d laughed.
Right there in the middle of the kiss, he’d up and laughed.
It was possibly the most embarrassing moment of her life, and because of it, she’d stopped visiting the Scotts. And Jake, thank you very much, never showed up on the Grant Ranch after that. So it couldn’t be Jake Scott inside that pickup. It just couldn’t. She’d made it as clear as sunshine that she never, ever wanted to see or talk to him again as long as she lived.
“I’m not exactly sure,” he told her with that fatherly tone he took on whenever he didn’t want to be questioned further.
“I’ve got to run,” Coco said after she glanced at her watch. “Call me with the details. Sounds like our dad has something up his sleeve... Who knows? Maybe it’s a surprise for Mom for their anniversary. Think positive.”
Then she dashed off to her red SUV parked near the horse barn, started it up and drove past the Scott rig on her way off the property, sticking an arm out and waving at the driver.
Kenzie watched as the Scott truck and trailer came to a stop a few feet away from her. She waited, telling herself that Jake wouldn’t dare show up on the Grant ranch with so much time before her parents’ anniversary wedding, not after he hadn’t shown up for her sister Kayla’s three weddings or Carson or Callie’s weddings. He could have at least shown up for one of them. His parents and his brothers, Curt and Lucas, had been there for all of them.
Though Kenzie had never married, she’d heard that Jake was married in a private civil ceremony, but no sooner had that news come through that it was known he’d gotten a divorce. It seemed only fitting. No woman in her right mind could live with the likes of Jake Scott, who was no doubt a scoundrel.
She took a deep breath, and headed for the rig, just as the driver’s door swung wide open, and a pair of muddy Western boots hit the gravel. The man who wore those boots also wore an open crumpled long-sleeved black-checked shirt, with the sleeves rolled up; a tight black T-shirt that caressed a chiseled chest and a flat stomach; faded jeans, and a cream-colored Western hat that he slipped on his head. A big grin spread across a scruffy chin, and eyes the color of emeralds peeked out from under the wide brim of his low-slung hat.
Dora and Dolly ran to greet him, now excited about this new visitor. The cowboy bent over and gave them both a warm welcome.
Her darn knees went weak just looking at him, and for a brief moment, she felt swept up in the vision of pure cowboy walking toward her.
“Is that little Kenzie Grant?” the man asked, his deep voice searing her senses.
All she could do was nod.
“Darn, girl!” he said, “C’mon, bring it in closer.”
Then he held open his arms and waited for her to step in next to him.
But she didn’t.
They stood there for an awkward moment, neither of them really moving.
Everything was happening so fast, it made her dizzy with confusion. She could barely speak, much less allow him to take her in his arms.
“Don’t tell me you don’t recognize this ol’ cowboy? It’s me, Jake Scott, the kid you used to follow around like a motherless calf. Look at you.” His gaze quickly swept over her body, not in a lascivious way, but in a genuinely friendly way. But she still didn’t like it. “All grown up into one fine woman. Still playing cowboy with your fancy hat and your rodeo buckle. And will you get a load of those boots.” He whistled while gazing down at her feet. “Must be handmade with all that fancy work going on. Good gracious, you look like that doll you used to carry around in your back pocket.”
She resented his disparaging attitude.
“And you look like you slept in your truck.”
He tugged at his wrinkled shirt, smiling. “As a matter of fact, I did. But hey, I hear you’re runnin’ this ranch just like you told me you would. Always did admire that about you.”
Kenzie let out the breath she’d been holding as the fuzzy lens slipped from her brain and she could think clearly again. “Admire what?”
“Your spunk. You got it goin’ on in spades.”
“Thanks, but coming from you, I can’t tell if that’s a compliment or a barb.”
His deep laugh rumbled through her, as his eyes sparkled with the same amount of tease he had when they were kids. “Then nothing’s changed between us.”
“Should it have?”
“Absolutely straight it should. Come on over here and give this ol’ cowboy a big kiss.” He stepped in closer, and whispered, “I’m hoping you’re a little better at it than you were when you were sixteen.”
Kenzie could feel the blood rushing through her veins, could feel the anger exploding in her gut. She wanted to push him away, lash out, tell him what she thought of him, maybe even say something to wipe that grin right off his downright adorable face. Instead, she narrowed her eyes, and said, “I wouldn’t kiss you, Jake Scott, if my very next breath depended on it.”
“Glad we got that settled right up front, ’cause I was worried you’ve been pining over me all these years, seeing as how you’re still single and all.”
Kenzie heard her dad step off the porch. She glanced back at him as he headed toward them. Unlike Kenzie, he looked genuinely happy to see Jake.
“Why don’t you keep on going where you’re going? We already have a pugnacious bull on this ranch. There’s no room for another one,” Kenzie told Jake, a hand resting on one of her hips.
“Can’t. First you and me have a little business we need to take care of.”
She had no idea what he was talking about, and from the look on his face, he seemed adamant about staying. She folded her arms across her chest.
“You must be mistaken. I don’t have any business with you, now or ever.”
“Sure you do, and from what I hear, it might take some considerable time to accomplish.”
She moved in closer to this misinformed cowboy, so much so that she could smell his musky skin, and feel his breath on her face. Jake Scott had always been taller than she was by at least six or seven inches, but now as she stood not two inches from him, she realized that gap had shrunk to a more perfect fit. Being this close to someone she’d sometimes fantasized about caused a momentary hesitation in her resolve.
Despite her burning rage, she couldn’t help the desire that raced through her. She’d always had a thing for Jake, ever since that first summer when they met on his family ranch. That “thing” was more that she’d wanted to be like him: confident, surefooted, smart and perfectly adorable. He even had a small dimple in the center of his chin, from what she could see under all that sexy scruff.
She didn’t know why she’d been so attracted to him, or why in some secret way that “thing” still burned bright. Maybe it had something to do with those emerald green eyes of his or that perfect nose, and those tempting lips. Whatever it was, she had no intention of ever giving in to her emotions again...like she had when she was sixteen and she kissed him.
Mistake.
Big mistake.
He smirked and murmured, “Can’t keep away from this cowboy, can you? Maybe we should try that kiss again. Might be better now that you’re all grown up.”
Then he leaned in and she instantly turned away, pressing her lips right up against his ear. “Listen up, you egoist in a cowboy hat. Not only can I kiss you and make your toes curl, but I make love like an alley cat, then purr like a kitten when it’s over. I’ve got a body that’s sinfully fabulous, and a mouth that will set your world on fire. Too bad you will never, ever get to even touch my soft, silky, naked skin, much less taste it, you sad excuse for a real cowboy.”
Then Kenzie turned on the heels of her very expensive handmade cowgirl boots and strutted away, with an emphasis on some tantalizing hip action. The dogs followed her excitedly.
Eat your heart out, Jake Scott.
* * *
JAKE HAD WANTED to make a good impression, especially on Kenzie, and from the look on her face, and from what she’d said, it wasn’t exactly what he’d been hoping to make.
From the moment he first saw her as he drove up the ranch road to the main house, he knew he was going to be in big trouble. Not only had she grown into a stunning beauty, but from how her dad had carried on about her, he knew she was an accomplished rancher—albeit a commercial rancher. Which took a lot of hard work, research and knowledge. Not that organic ranching was any easier. It wasn’t. But with his hands-on upbringing, and having always lived on an organic ranch, he hadn’t had to sit through countless ranching classes in college to learn about what came naturally to him. It was just part of who he’d always been, who he always wanted to be, a rancher.
And now he’d been asked to share that innate knowledge with a woman who’d just told him she made love like an “alley cat.”
Why did she have to go and say that?
He couldn’t help himself, he felt about as fired up as grease in a hot pan.
He knew he’d have to pull up that little jerk kid she’d known or there’d be no chance of her ever taking his suggestions for the Grant ranch seriously . . . and he prided himself on keeping a level playing field when he had to work closely with someone. It was a rule he’d learned from his dad, and he never let anything get in the way of that, even if he had to go out of his way to be cordial until the job or the partnership was over.
Working with Kenzie Grant couldn’t be any different.
What a woman, he thought as he watched her walk away. Too bad he’d been called in to give her suggestions for more natural ranching operations or things might be a lot different. Ever since his divorce over ten months ago, he’d been charging in at full throttle, wanting to assure himself that it wasn’t his fault his wife left him before their first anniversary. Now he wasn’t so sure. With no one to really confide in, he’d been obsessing over the breakup ever since she’d moved out. He’d never been close enough to his brothers to talk to them about relationships, at least not his own relationships. Being the youngest, advice had never been something he would seek out from his brothers, at least not verbally. He’d learned a lot from them by just observing, but talking over matters of the heart had never been in the cards. He’d always been looked at as the baby of the family. His brothers, Curt and Lucas, were quite a bit older than him, and that gap may as well have been a deep gorge.
Ranching was something else entirely. Both brothers had more or less given that responsibility over to him. He had taken it on because he loved it so much, and it had always come naturally to him, unlike his brothers, who could think of a hundred things they’d rather be doing, especially Curt, who couldn’t seem to settle into anything, much less ranching.
Now that his divorce was final, all he wanted to do for the foreseeable future was slow down to the speed of life. Take a break from his everyday routine. Get a new perspective. Take a couple weeks to reflect and come to terms with his current situation.
Single.
I make love like an alley cat.
Oh, yeah, that would slow him down all right...real slow.
“Somehow, I thought my Kenzie would be happy to see you,” Henry Grant said, as he shook Jake’s hand then gave him a quick hug.
“We never were kissing cousins,” Jake replied.
“More like kissing rivals,” Henry said. “Hope that doesn’t cause you any problems.”
“Nothing I can’t handle,” he told Henry as he watched Kenzie disappear into one of the longest horse barns he’d seen in a while.
Chapter Two (#ubf7b268e-4bad-5bc9-9631-3df85b1d77c4)
“What do you mean he’ll be staying for a while? Staying where? And for how long?” Kenzie and her father stood in the center of the long horse barn. She had just walked most of the mares out to the corrals and was getting ready to release the last two.
“Here,” her dad said, looking a bit sheepish.
“Here, as in on this ranch?”
“Where else? You know the Scotts are always welcome.”
“Well, I hope that horse trailer is equipped with a sleeper compartment, because there’s no room inside the house, what with my siblings still claiming their bedrooms as their own. You can’t just drop somebody in one of their rooms without them knowing about it.”
Not exactly the truth. Her sisters Coco and Callie had long since moved their important things out of their shared room to their own homes, and only used that room on the rare occasion when all the sisters wanted to be together. Kayla would typically just share Kenzie’s bed. And she couldn’t even remember the last time Carson spent the night.
She was betting her dad hadn’t really noticed.
“What about the guesthouse?” he asked after a short pause.
She’d known her dad would think of that dang guesthouse. He’d built it special for relatives and the Scotts to use whenever they came to visit.
She shook her head. “It’s still loaded down with boxes of Carson’s rodeo memorabilia.”
That was the truth. She’d been after him for the last two months to get it cleaned out in anticipation of their parents’ anniversary party, but he’d always been too busy, or so he said. Her brother had mixed feelings about his Cowboy Days, especially after a near-fatal accident on a dismount following a solid bronc ride. Got his foot caught-up in a stirrup. Had to be saved by a rodeo clown who nearly died when the bronc Carson had been riding kicked him straight in the chest.
Carson didn’t like to be reminded of that time, despite his having moved on. Kenzie feared he’d never get around to moving those boxes to his own shed in town where he lived with his wife, Zoe. But at the moment, Carson’s procrastination was proving to be a good thing.
“Jake can sleep out on the bed on the enclosed porch. Your mom can fix it up nice for him.”
No way did she want Jake Scott bedding down anywhere on their property, and she especially didn’t want him only steps away from her own bedroom.
She didn’t understand any of this, and had a hard time believing Jake would want to hang around the Grant ranch for “a while.” And what the heck defined “a while,” anyway?
“Why would he want to spend more than one night? Isn’t he just passing through? Doesn’t he have his own ranch to tend to? And why would he bring his horses with him? What’s going on, Dad?”
“I can’t answer all them questions at once. Maybe you should come on inside where we can talk, where we can sit a spell. Your mom can brew up a fresh pot of coffee or maybe a nice hot cup of tea might be better.”
This mystery was now getting out of hand. She wondered if her dad and Jake’s dad hadn’t struck some kind of agreement, some kind of bargain that might turn everything she was doing for the ranch into something she wasn’t prepared to handle, like maybe a sale. Maybe her dad was thinking of selling the ranch to the Scott family? Was that it?
“I don’t want to sit ‘a spell.’ Tell me here. Now. What’s this all about? You wouldn’t make some sort of financial deal with the Scotts and not tell me, would you?”
“Never. You’re runnin’ the show now, not me. But there’s one thing I’d like to, well, make a couple changes to. That’s why we should go inside where we’ll be more comfortable. Your mom can put the tea kettle on.”
“I don’t want any tea. I have a lot of work to do today, beginning with cleaning out these stalls.”
She tossed the clean straw against the walls with her pitchfork, and moved everything soiled to the center. Then she used a shovel to pick up what had been piled in the center and dumped it into the small manure spreader she’d moved to the front of the stall.
“I called him in to help you,” her dad said, picking up a broom and sweeping up anything that had fallen from her shovel.
She quickly swept out the center of the stall once all the soiled straw was gone, sprayed an absorbent deodorizer on any wet spots on the rubber mats, and went on to the next stall, allowing the previous one to dry while her mares were outside.
“You asked Jake to leave his own family ranch to come and help me? I thought you liked how I’m handling things. For the first time in years we’re making a profit again. I don’t understand. Isn’t that what you wanted?”
Kenzie had worked out a plan for the ranch down to the smallest detail, which included how to care for each stall. She’d learned from experience that right before she’d bring her mares in for the night, she’d move the good straw back into the center, and add whatever straw was needed to make a soft bed. It took a little longer to care for each stall this way, but she was proud of the fact that her animals had never had any hoof problems since she’d been in charge.
“Of course it is. I just thought—”
She stopped cleaning and stared at her dad, a tall, slim man with kind eyes and graying hair: the textbook cowboy who couldn’t be away from his ranch for more than a few days at a time. When Kenzie thought back, she couldn’t remember her parents ever taking a vacation. The only place they would visit was the Scott Ranch a few miles outside of Starlight Bend, Montana, and even that had stopped in the last few years.
“I don’t need his help, Dad. I already hired two ranch hands to come in three days a week. They’ve taken over some of the major work, repairing our vehicles, feeding and checking on the livestock, especially our new calves, and mending the holes in our fences. So far they’ve done a great job. The high school kids who normally help out took the day off to practice for the Cowboy Days next week. Besides, doesn’t Jake have his own work to do back in Montana? How can he possibly take off any time to come and help me...do what? Mend a fence? Clean out stalls? Unload hay?”
“It’s not that kind of help he’s offering.”
She punched the pitchfork into the ground and held it taut in her right hand. She didn’t know what the heck her dad was getting at, but the knot in her stomach seemed to be getting worse.
“Then what can he possibly be offering?”
Her mind spun to the bedroom, but she instantly tamped that thought down.
“I asked him to give you a few pointers.”
“Dad...please spit it out. What kind of pointers?”
He sucked in a deep breath, then let it out. She could tell he was nervous about what he was about to say, but she didn’t understand why. She and her dad had an open, honest relationship. At least that was what she thought they had. At the moment she wasn’t so sure.
“Pointers on a more organic, more natural method of ranching.”
Goose bumps appeared up and down her arms as her stomach tightened. “What? Dad? You can’t be serious. I’ve...”
He held up his hands. “Now, wait. Before you go gettin’ all riled up, just listen to me for a minute.”
“I’ve brought this ranch back from the brink. We’re doing really well. You know how hard I work.”
“And I appreciate that. I’m mighty proud of you and all that you’ve done. I’m just sayin’ that maybe we can go back to a few of the more natural ranchin’ ways, some of the old Western ways of doin’ things. I’m not too happy about spreading all them chemicals on our crops or using artificial means to impregnate some of our livestock. I’d like the simpler way, the cowboy way.”
She took this as a real insult to all that she’d learned, and all that she’d done so far to keep the ranch out of bankruptcy. Didn’t her dad understand that?
“Those natural ways weren’t working for us, Dad. You know that. We were in debt, a lot of debt, and we came close to losing this ranch. I’m trying to get us some purebred quarter horses. And I don’t want any inbreeding with our studs. I want to do this right this time.”
“I’m convinced now that a lot of this ranch’s decline was because your mom and me just got too old and couldn’t take care of everything like we once did. And some of it might have been because we weren’t doing things right. Maybe Jake can show us a better process, tell us what we can change or add to what you’re already doing. I’d like to start with the stud quarter horses he’s brought.”
“And who told him to bring those darn studs?”
“Nobody. I offered, and your dad agreed.” Jake’s booming voice echoed behind her.
“Dad—” She stared at her father for a moment, shaking her head. He simply didn’t understand what she was trying to do, and now he was telling her she should listen to a man who probably knew more about wooing a woman than he knew about actual organic ranching...which had to be more expensive and time-consuming than her dad could ever imagine.
“And I’m not charging stud fees,” Jake added. She could hear the condescending innuendo in his voice. As if this was all some sort of joke...at least that was how it sounded to her.
“That’s not the point,” Kenzie argued, unable to fully understand why her dad had gone behind her back. She felt completely betrayed. What could he possibly have been thinking by not discussing trucking in Jake Scott and his stud horses?
“The point is,” Jake countered, “my boys are ready, willing and better still, they’re already here. And from the looks of some of your twitchy mares out there, they’re interested in these guys...so to speak.”
A shiver went up Kenzie’s spine as she watched Jake walking up to her, guiding what had to be the most beautiful palomino she’d ever seen. Her mind raced back to the palomino she’d seen on Jake’s ranch when they were kids. Could this be the same horse?
“Is this Running Star?” Kenzie asked, momentarily forgetting about the span of time that had gone by since she’d last seen the horse.
Just the sight of such a beautiful cream-colored creature caused her to also forget about the ongoing argument. All she wanted to do was run a hand over what had to be the smoothest coat she’d seen in a long time. The horse was positively magnificent, and if she hadn’t already paid for frozen sperm, she’d match up this stallion with her mare Sweet Girl in a heartbeat.
The horse nodded its majestic head a few times, as if it knew what she’d been thinking.
“No. Running Star is too old to stud out, but he sired this fella. Morning Star is just about three years old and in top form.”
Jake stroked the animal’s shoulder, and the horse nuzzled him and nickered.
Kenzie leaned the pitchfork against a stall gate and ambled over to Morning Star, running her hand over his smooth muscular body when she stepped close enough. Then she pulled a small apple out of a sack that hung on a hook between two stalls and held it out to him. Morning Star gently plucked it from her hand, a true gentleman of a horse.
“He’s a sweetheart,” she told Jake. “What a beautiful animal.”
“He’d be a sweetheart to your mares as well,” he answered. “He was pasture bred, and is trained to do the same. I can introduce him and Bingo to your mares, and, well, within no time, even your lead mare will foal.”
She stepped away from the stallion. “As tempting as that sounds, that’s not the haphazard strategy I intend to use. In order to keep this ranch moving in the right direction, I’ve made other plans for my mares. And besides, there’s always a risk with pasture breeding that one of my mares might get injured, or worse. I can’t afford to take that chance. This ranch can’t afford to take that chance.
“As pretty as he is, I’m going to have to pass on your generous offer. Besides, I’ve already invested several thousand dollars in pedigreed frozen sperm that will be arriving any day now. It’s the safest way to go.”
“According to whom?”
“According to other breeders.”
“Commercial breeders. I’m talking about natural breeders, and they all agree with pasture breeding. Plus, it’s much more fun for the animals than a metal vagina and a long syringe.”
“You make it sound so crude and heartless.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Well, it sure ain’t the way nature had intended it.”
Henry cleared his throat. “I’ll be gettin’ on back to the house now.”
Kenzie turned to him. “Is there anything else you want to say before you go, Dad? Maybe ask Jake here to pack up and leave in the morning? That we won’t be needing him or his fancy studs?”
He shook his head. “Nope. Wouldn’t be hospitable of me to ask him to leave so soon. He’ll have to decide that on his own. Both of you will. I’m confident you two can work out the comings and goings of this here idea of mine. Till then, I’m hoping for the best.”
Then her dad hightailed it out of there, leaving Kenzie to deal with Jake all on her own.
“So,” Jake said as a self-satisfied smirk stretched across his fine lips, “when do we start mating?”
* * *
BY THE TIME Jake settled in his bed on the back porch that night, just on the other side of Kenzie’s open window, he was more tired than a mule after a day of pulling a plow. It had been not only a long day of driving, but a long day of trying his best to not cause a dustup between himself and the woman he was tasked with helping. Although as it stood at the moment, her accepting his help seemed about as likely as pigs flying.
The porch bedroom had all the accoutrements necessary for his comfort. The only problem was the area was designed for someone five inches shorter, and about fifty pounds lighter. He felt like the proverbial bull in a china shop. Every time he moved, he either knocked something over or bumped into a delicate piece of furniture. Everything seemed to be woven out of wicker and the chair would certainly split apart if he decided to sit on it and put his feet up on the rickety-looking stool.
The one thing he really liked, however, was sleeping essentially outdoors. There was a roof to shelter him from the rain, and the entire area was screened off in order to keep the flying bugs away. There was a wooden rocking chair in the corner that looked a bit more sturdy to sit in, a single-sized bed ran along the wall and ended under the window, an old wooden dresser stood on the other side of the window, with a hook above it to hang his hat, and a small nightstand was next to the bed for his keys and wallet. The small table also held a digital clock, a glass of water and a small frilly lamp. Everything he needed was in a space no bigger than one of those horse stalls in the barn, and even those were probably bigger.
“Are you going to keep that light on all night?” Kenzie called through the open window.
Trying to sleep on a single bed that was obviously made for a shorter person, and was about as wide as his shoulders, while Kenzie Grant lay about ten feet away from him in a comfortable-looking queen-sized bed—he’d peeked in through the curtainless window—was proving to be more uncomfortable than resting his head on his saddle while lying on the cold hard ground...in a rainstorm...without a tarp.
“I like to read before I go to sleep,” he answered. “It clears my thoughts and puts me in a sleepin’ mood.”
As if that was even possible tonight.
At the moment he was reading a thriller by Steve Berry, only for the life of him, he couldn’t remember what it was about.
Kenzie poked her head through the window. “Do you think you can do your reading somewhere else?”
He looked up from his book just as he caught her gaze slipping over his bare chest like a gentle breeze in summer. He couldn’t help the grin that captured his alley cat thoughts. “Is that an invitation into your bed? Because if it is, I’m sure we can find other things to do besides reading.”
She wore a sleeveless gray T-shirt and from the way her breasts pressed against the fabric, there was no bra restricting their movement. He mentally told himself to calm down, and was thankful for the blankets that covered the bottom half of his body. Her dark hair encircled her face and cascaded off her shoulders. The glow of his lamp highlighted the soft features of her beautiful face.
Oh, yeah, he was ready to sleep all right.
“You’re incorrigible, do you know that?”
No truer words...
She started to pull herself back inside until he said, “I’m just lying here minding my own business. You’re the one causing the fuss.”
She poked her head back out again, and this time she must have knelt on the floor of her room, as she rested her head in the crook of her arm like she was going to stay a spell. “I need it to be dark when I sleep.”
She yawned, then excused herself, her eyes filling with tears as she quickly wiped the salty liquid away with her fingers. Kenzie Grant looked like a dream framed in that window...his dream.
“It doesn’t seem like you’re doing much sleeping hanging out of your window, ordering me around in my own space.”
He couldn’t help himself. He enjoyed teasing her. She was so easily riled up.
“A space I was against my dad giving you, but you’re our guest, at least for tonight.”
She yawned again, covering her mouth with her hand. “Excuse me,” she mumbled again, looking all sleepy and content. He wondered what it would feel like to have a sleepy Kenzie Grant resting her head on his chest rather than her own arm.
He suspected it would feel pretty darn good.
“And as your guest,” he began, trying to get the imaginary sensation out of his head, “shouldn’t you treat me with a little respect?”
“I didn’t invite you here.”
He tried to get a little more comfortable in his bed, but the more he stirred the more uncomfortable he became, the headboard knocking against the wall with each of his movements.
“No, but your father did, so you’re stuck with me.”
He put his book down next to him, careful to keep it open to his page, sat up and added another pillow under his back. Then he snuggled in tight to the pillow.
“Only for tonight. You’re free to go in the morning.”
“Actually, I’m free to go right now.”
She sat up and pulled her arm inside. Apparently, she hadn’t liked what he’d said.
“Then why don’t you?”
He squirmed down farther in his tiny bed. “And leave all this country hospitality? I’m just now settling in.”
His feet popped out of the covers that had been tucked into the bottom of the bed. He felt exactly like an overturned beetle.
She sniggered at his struggle to settle, and he realized it was the first time he’d seen her laugh since he’d arrived, and he liked it...a lot. Her eyes sparkled when she laughed and her face lit up, despite any harsh words that might pour out of her mouth.
“I’m sure you would be much more comfortable in your own bed...in your own house...in Montana.”
“I’m sure I would, but first I have a job to do.”
“Well, do it and leave.”
“I can’t. You refuse to cooperate.”
“If your job has anything to do with my mares, you’re darn right I won’t cooperate.”
The laughter had disappeared from her voice.
“Then I can’t leave. Not until I’ve convinced you that pasture breeding is superior to a cold injection.”
Her face tensed. All the sleepy sweetness was gone. He wished he could get it back but he knew he’d stepped over the sweetness line.
“Fine, be obstinate.”
“I will if you will.”
“If I will what?”
“Be stubborn.”
She was spitting mad now, he could tell...and she looked more adorable than ever...which only caused him more discomfort.
“Jake Scott, you drive me crazy.”
He couldn’t help the smile that seemed to come from somewhere deep within him. She sounded exactly like that little girl he’d fallen for all those years ago. “Kenzie Grant, I sometimes believe that’s my whole purpose in life.”
She let out a little throaty squeak, then abruptly disappeared inside and slammed the window shut so hard the lamp popped off the table and landed on the floor, shattering the bulb.
“Damn,” he cussed as darkness encircled him.
“Thank you for putting out the light,” she cooed through the closed window.
He didn’t respond.
Chapter Three (#ubf7b268e-4bad-5bc9-9631-3df85b1d77c4)
Kenzie awoke to the smell of luscious, just-brewed coffee. It had somehow wafted into her bedroom and tickled her nose with its delightful, inviting aroma. It was the one scent she could bathe in for hours, the one taste she craved more than anything else in the morning.
Morning!
Kenzie bolted upright in her bed, realizing that the sun was already shining through her windows, which meant it had to be way past 5:00 a.m. When she glanced over at the clock and read nine thirty, she couldn’t believe her eyes.
“What? That’s impossible.”
She slipped out of bed, and made a beeline to the bathroom down the hall where the bronze clock that hung next to the mirror echoed the same time.
“Darn!” she scolded out loud.
The night had not gone easy. She couldn’t stop thinking about what she’d said to Jake about her making love like an alley cat...as if. What could have ever possessed her to say such a thing? She had no idea.
Sure, she’d slept with a few men over the years, but she could probably count them all on one hand. Okay, on three fingers. Kenzie wasn’t exactly versed in the art of seduction when it came right down to it.
Still, that didn’t seem to stop her competitive edge with respect to Jake Scott. She wanted him to see her as an all-around accomplished woman...even when it came to the bedroom. She only hoped it would never come to that, or she might possibly be in a heap of trouble.
Kenzie couldn’t remember when she’d awoken so late. It had to have been back in her college days. Hopefully one of her hired cowboys had put the mares out or they’d be even twitchier than they already were.
She quickly showered; pulled her hair up in a ponytail; decided to apply eyeliner, mascara and lip gloss; dressed in her usual work attire of jeans and a T-shirt, checked a few things on her laptop and phone and then made her way into the kitchen. All she needed was a cup of that glorious-smelling coffee her mom had brewed and to wave goodbye to Jake as he drove away, and life on the ranch would settle back down...or as much as it could with her mares being in season and her parents’ anniversary wedding moving up closer by the minute.
At this time of day, the kitchen would be virtually empty, and she looked forward to taking a moment to enjoy her first cup of coffee.
As she rounded the corner into the kitchen, not only did Dora and Dolly walk up to greet her, tails wagging, tongues flapping, but her mom sat at the table, along with her dad, her sister Callie, Callie’s hubby, Joel Darwood, and the dreaded Jake Scott. He stood at the counter pouring coffee into a mug. And not just any old mug, but her favorite mug, the one she’d used almost every morning for the past five years, give or take a few weeks here and there when someone in the family would buy her a new one.
The fact that he hadn’t left and had claimed her mug as his own when everyone around the table knew she’d brought that mug home from Paris when she’d gone there for a semester while she attended college was unbearable. His callous behavior, combined with her family’s inability to stand up for her mug rights, caused her agitation...not to mention frustration that was quickly swelling to a bursting point.
And she was just about to blow off some steam when Jake held out the coveted mug. “Coffee?” he asked, looking all doe-like as he offered the mug that now contained her favorite brown liquid.
“Thanks,” she mumbled trying her best to pull in her claws.
She smiled and swiped it from his hand. Then she padded over to the table where the pitcher of fresh milk sat and added a little to her brew.
Okay, so maybe he hadn’t taken her mug, but he was still there, in the kitchen, when he should have been loading his stud horses into his trailer. Or better still, he should have been long gone with just his tire tracks left as a reminder of his short visit.
“Jake brought his own coffee beans and ground them for us,” Callie said, then she looked over at Jake and grinned.
“They’re organic,” her mom crooned, after she took a swig from her own special mug, the one she’d bought at Holy Rollers when they’d celebrated their first year in business...a bright pink mug with a picture of a crispy donut dripping with a white glaze and a halo floating over it. A pink box of donuts, muffins and scones lay open in the center of the table. Kenzie tried to ignore the box of goodies, but right away she spotted a raspberry scone, her absolute favorite breakfast food. Her mouth watered for the scone.
“Joel drove me into town and we stopped at a great bakery,” Jake told Kenzie. “Wish we had something like that in Starlight Bend. Nothing even comes close. Amanda, the owner, told me you liked raspberry scones so I added a couple to the box.”
“I’m not hungry this morning,” Kenzie told him, even though her stomach growled for that yummy scone.
Every fiber of her being cried out, but she didn’t want to give Jake the satisfaction of knowing he’d done something she clearly liked.
She wanted him gone...until she tasted the coffee. It was pure magic. The smooth flavors danced in her mouth and suddenly she couldn’t stop lapping it up. She thought perhaps she’d let him stay long enough to brew another pot of the wondrous elixir, then he’d have to go for sure.
“I take it you like the coffee,” Jake asked Kenzie, looking all full of himself, as if I told you so would pop out of his mouth at any second.
She forced herself to put her mug down on the counter. “It’ll do.”
At this point, she had no choice but to lie through her teeth.
“It’s the fresh cream,” Jake said. “It really adds to the flavor.”
“We stopped off at Bridget’s Dairy Farm and bought a gallon of their milk from grass-fed cows,” Joel offered, his baby blues twinkling. Kenzie really liked Joel...just not at the moment.
“There’s so much cream in that there milk, it makes my coffee taste richer than one of your mom’s cream pies,” her dad added.
She felt as if everyone was ganging up on her, or at least tossing in their support of Jake Scott, the Troublemaker.
She wasn’t in the mood this morning. She’d already checked the tracking number for her shipment of frozen semen and it hadn’t even left Canada yet. It seemed to be stuck in customs for some reason. At this rate, she might miss the window of opportunity for her mares and have to wait until next month. That alone had put her in a sour mood, and now she had to deal with her family’s praise for Jake’s coffee, as if it was the end all of coffees.
And even if it was possibly the smoothest coffee she’d ever held on her tongue, did they have to fall all over him?
“It’ll probably give me a heart attack before I’m thirty.”
Kenzie said a short prayer asking for forgiveness to the coffee gods as she dumped the rest of her perfectly perfect coffee into the sink, then proceeded to make instant coffee with hot tap water. She knew everyone was watching her, thinking she was wacky, but she kept right on going. When she dumped in cold nonfat milk, she took a sip of the awful but familiar swill, made a yummy sound, and looked over at Jake. “I thought you were leaving this morning?”
He crooked an eyebrow, smirked and said, “Whatever gave you that idea?”
“You said so yourself last night.”
He tilted his head, the grin never leaving his face and stared at her. “I don’t recall ever saying I’d be leaving this morning. Not when your parents’ anniversary is a little over a week away. I wouldn’t dream of missing it.”
“There’s plenty of time for you to pack up, drive home and drive back down again, without your stud horses.”
“Not really,” Callie said as she grabbed the last raspberry scone from the box. Her dad had taken the other one. Kenzie’s heart almost stopped. She wanted that scone in the worst way. Didn’t her sister know that? Just because she was five months pregnant didn’t mean she could go around taking other people’s scones.
“Jake’s agreed to help us go over our menu for the reception,” her mom said, a wide grin on her lovely face. “He thinks we can actually save some money, and provide a healthier meal if we incorporate a few organic items.”
“I already helped you with that menu, and we came up with some tasty side dishes. You said so yourself. It’s too late to start messing with the menu now. We’ve already ordered some of the food.”
“It’s never too late to do the best thing for your guests,” Jake mumbled while he poured another mug of coffee. This time he poured it into a travel mug she’d bought several years ago at the county fair: Keep Calm and Cowboy On.
She loved that travel mug.
“So,” he said as he poured. “Joel, your dad and I trailed your mares out to the east pasture this morning, just in case you change your mind about my stallions.”
He added cream to the mug, closed it up tight, smiled and held it out for Kenzie, the logo prominently on display.
She wanted to lay into him for moving her mares, but that dang Keep Calm and Cowboy On logo reminded her that anger was not how she should handle this situation. Obviously, not only was her dad on Jake’s side, but so was her brother-in-law and her sister Callie. She wondered if even her own mother had fallen into the Jake-pit-of-cowboy-charm?
All she had to do at the moment was breathe...in, out...in, out.
“You might want this for later,” he told her, the smirk gone, looking more sexy than a man had a right to. His dark hair had that tousled style she loved, and his once scruffy chin appeared to have been recently shaved. His green eyes sparkled, and his black T-shirt seemed extra tight across his muscled chest. If she didn’t dislike his haughty attitude so much, she could see herself falling in step with this “natural” cowboy.
Just not today.
Not when he’d moved her mares without her consent. She vowed to never oversleep again, at least not until she could get him to leave...which she intended to do...today if possible.
This was war!
“I might,” she answered, grabbing the dang travel mug from his outstretched hand, while she abandoned her own mug of bad-tasting tepid coffee on the counter. “Thanks.”
Then she reached over and filched the raspberry scone off her sister’s plate.
“You don’t even like raspberries,” she told Callie, as she hustled out of the back door with Jake trailing close behind.
* * *
AFTER A REALLY bad night’s sleep due to a number of reasons, one of them being a complete lack of any sort of comfort, Jake thought things couldn’t get much worse. But then what did he know about a woman who seemed to be on a mission to get him to leave as soon as possible?
He’d driven down to the Grant ranch to help out his dad’s best friend, sure, but he had also hoped for some time to reflect and regroup. So far all of those desires seemed to be as elusive as a royal flush in a high-stakes poker game.
He’d gotten the okay from Henry that morning, while Kenzie slept, to move the mares out of the barn. Henry had assured him that it would be all right. The two hired hands were off that morning, so Jake had simply led the mares over. Joel helped out with the move, but he had his own ranch to run, the Double S, where Kenzie’s parents’ anniversary wedding ceremony would be held.
Jake had thought he and Joel were doing a good thing when the mares started getting restless in their stalls. They even cleaned the stalls while Kenzie slept, but none of that seemed to matter to her. Not even the fact that he’d made sure his stallions were secure in the corral before he and Joel walked the mares out to the fenced pasture.
Apparently, Kenzie didn’t appreciate anything that they’d done.
“We have to move the mares back to the corral, and get your horses out of there. I would prefer you put them in your horse trailer and drive them back to Montana, but for now the barn is fine. That pasture is for my heifers. We’re scheduled to move twenty-two heifers tomorrow morning.”
“Then what’s the harm in your mares spending today out there?”
She gazed at him while holding on to her mug, looking mighty good under the midmorning sun. He hoped she would agree because just getting the mares out into those pastures took a bit of doing. Like their owner, none of them were particularly cooperative.
“Fine,” she finally said, “but they can’t spend the night. The terrain might be too rugged for them in the dark.”
“Then we’ll bring them in before dusk.”
“There’s no we about it. You brought them out there, so you can lead them back. I’ll be too busy with...other things to help you.”
He thought by her hesitation that she was simply trying to make it more difficult on him. However, he liked that she wasn’t pushing him off the ranch, either.
“Sounds like an invitation to stay another day.”
She stared at him, took a long swallow from the travel mug and said, “I’ve got work to do. If you’re going to be here anyway, maybe you can do something other than brew coffee and move my mares around.”
“Whatever you need.”
Her eyes went wide and he wondered what went on in that head of hers as she flashed a momentary smirk.
Then as soon as his gaze rested on her lips, the smile vanished. “You can help me clean out the guesthouse, load it all into my pickup and drive it over to my brother Carson’s house in town. He’s been too busy helping plan the upcoming Cowboy Days to get to it. That’s where your parents will be staying once they arrive. I’ve been using it for storage and, I’m afraid, so have my siblings. It might be in pretty bad shape.”
“If I help clean it out, would it be okay if I move in while I’m here?” As much as Jake liked being close to Kenzie at night, just knowing she made love like an alley cat didn’t much help lull him to sleep...nor did the tiny size of the porch bed.
She squinted as they stood out in front of the horse barn, the sun blazing down on them like a spotlight in an interrogation room.
“Let me get this straight. Just how long do you intend to hang around here?”
“As long as it takes.”
“As long as it takes for what?”
“For you to smile at me.”
She flashed him a great big pearly white smile. “How’s that?”
“Pathetic. My horse has a more genuine smile.”
“Your horse doesn’t know any better. You’re the hand that feeds him.”
“Is that what you want? Food? ’Cause if you do, I’m a great cook.”
She stepped in closer to him, narrowing her eyes. “Is there anything you can’t do, Jake Scott? Or are your virtues boundless?”
Teasing Kenzie had always been fun, but now that they were both adults, he had to admit, he liked it even more. His dad liked to tease his mom the same way. He always said it acted like a barometer. If his mom interacted with him, and got all riled up, he knew she still liked being with him. The day she stopped reacting was the day he’d start worrying.
So far, his dad didn’t have a care in the world...except maybe which of his sons would take over the ranch. Jake knew it would most likely be him, but for some reason, he hadn’t really made that clear to his dad...yet. He didn’t want to step on any toes in case one of his two brothers wanted the glory for himself. But so far, neither one had stepped up to the plate.
“Pretty much boundless,” he told her, knowing it was total baloney. Lately, ever since his divorce, he couldn’t seem to do the most menial of chores. He’d burn all his food, pound and poke his fingers whenever he’d try to mend a fence or build something. Forget to order hay and have to buy it locally paying almost twice the amount. The list was endless. He’d been so distracted with his own thoughts that whatever he tried to do wouldn’t get done. Even his brothers had mentioned it to him, and Lucas had tried to pick up the slack.
And his parents...well, they just worried.
But since he’d gotten the phone call from Henry asking him to come on down for a spell, his whole attitude had begun to change.
And sparring with Kenzie seemed to pick up his spirits even more.
She threw him an eye roll. “You really are full of yourself, aren’t you?”
“Just telling the truth.”
“Oh, you always did infuriate me.”
He thought about his dad’s barometer and smirked. “And you always tempted me.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? Tempted you how?”
“To kiss you.”
He leaned in, thinking maybe all her bluster was a prelude to that alley cat lover hidden inside, but she shoved him away with both hands, and he nearly fell right on his butt in the process.
“Let’s get one thing straight. I’m only tolerating your presence here because my dad invited you. I have absolutely no desire to get intimate with you on any level. Do you understand me? Or is that pig-headed brain of yours too ripe with self-adulation that you can’t understand the truth?”
That barometer was heading up toward the bursting point, and Jake loved every minute of it.
“I hear you loud and clear,” he said, trying his best to avoid showing the smile that tugged at his lips. “Now, where’s that guest cabin?”
* * *
THE CABIN WAS in worse shape than Kenzie had envisioned it to be. Not only was it filled with Carson’s things, but some of the furniture had water damage from an apparent open window and the wooden floor in front of the window had warped.

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