A Husband Made In Texas

Flynn gave the lariat an expert twirl. ‘Come to think of it, I haven’t seen a single cowboy since I got here.’

Kaitlin looked away from him. ‘We’re a little shorthanded at the moment.’

‘That’s all it is?’

‘What else should there be?’ But there was a slight quiver in her tone.

‘That’s what I want you to tell me, Kaitlin.’

Her chin lifted. ‘There are cowboys at the ranch. Had I known how eager you were to meet them, I’d have organized a welcome committee. As it is—’ she shrugged ‘—there’s nothing to tell.’

‘I see.’

‘The calf, Flynn. If you’re not going to rope it, I will.’

His eyes went to arms that were so slender, they looked as if they might snap if a man held them too tightly.

‘You’re as fragile as a bird, Kaitlin. You don’t look as if you could wield anything bigger than an eyebrow pencil, much less a lariat.’

‘I guess looks are deceptive, because I don’t own an eyebrow pencil and I’m really quite strong. Are you going to give me the lariat, Flynn?’

‘Sure,’ he grinned, ‘when I’ve roped the calf.’

‘You’re a pilot now, not a cowboy,’ she taunted.

His grin deepened. ‘Once a cowboy, always a cowboy.’

‘How long since you did any roping?’

‘It doesn’t matter how long—there are things you never forget.’ In a new tone he added, ‘Just as there are things that you think about long after they’ve vanished from your life.’

His eyes were on her face, lingering deliberately on lips that were sweeter than any he had tasted in the last years. The Kaitlin he had known five years earlier, just eighteen at the time, had been eager, wild and passionate. Flynn felt something tighten inside him at the memory.

Beneath his gaze, Kaitlin’s expression changed: her eyes turned suddenly stormy, while at the base of her throat the pulse-beat quickened. On the reins, her hands were white-knuckled. She had the look of a woman who was struggling with some private emotion of her own, though what that was Flynn could not guess.

‘I don’t want my calf harmed,’ she said at last.

‘It won’t be.’

‘I mean it, Flynn.’

‘If I harm it, I promise to get you another.’

‘Don’t think I wouldn’t hold you to it,’ she shouted as he rode after the calf, swinging the lariat as he went.

The small animal didn’t have time to be scared as Flynn looped the lariat deftly over its head. Seconds later, he was reining in his horse beside Kaitlin’s, holding the squirming calf firmly on the saddle.

His eyes sparkled. ‘Confused, but not hurt.’

‘Thanks.’

‘No thanks necessary—I enjoyed myself.’

‘So I saw.’

‘It’s as I said, Kaitlin—once a cowboy, always a cowboy. ’

Her gaze was thoughtful. ‘I believe you’ve been more than that, Flynn.’

His eyes were on hers. ‘Meaning?’ he asked, in a tone that gave nothing away.

‘That was quite a performance. Over the years, I’ve seen hundreds of cowboys at work, and you beat them all for dexterity and speed.’

‘You don’t say,’ he said lightly.

‘I believe you’ve been on the rodeo circuit, Flynn.’ And when he didn’t answer, ‘You have, haven’t you?’

‘You could be right.’

‘A rodeo rider. Well!’

He danced her a laughing look. ‘I think this baby will be happy to get back to its mamma, Kaitlin.’

‘And I recognize a change of subject when I hear it,’ she said saucily.

They rode back, in a slightly different direction this time, for they had to deposit the calf with its herd.

Flynn grew sombre as he took in his surroundings. At his side, Kaitlin said, ‘You’re looking at the mesquite.’

‘There’s much more of it than I remember.’

Kaitlin shrugged, but her tone was unhappy. ‘You know how it is with the spiky stuff: it’s a devil to get rid of.’

‘Scourge of the Texas rancher,’ Flynn agreed. ‘But it was never as bad as this, Kaitlin. Your father used to make an effort to keep it under control, at least he did when I worked here.’

Once more Kaitlin’s hands tightened on the reins. ‘I’m doing my best.’

‘Are you?’

She looked away from him, but not before Flynn caught the glimmer of tears in the lovely green eyes. The breath caught in his throat. Flynn had good reason to be hostile towards Kaitlin Mullins. He sure as hell did not want to be affected in any way by her distress. And yet, despite everything, her distress moved him more than he cared to admit to himself.

‘Are you trying, Kaitlin?’ he asked quietly.

She swung around, anger chasing the pain from her eyes. ‘Yes, damn you, Flynn, I am!’

‘It isn’t good enough.’

‘Maybe it isn’t. Fact is, this is my range now, my ranch. And even if I’m overrun by mesquite, it’s none of your business!’

Once more he studied her the too thin figure; eyes which, though they were as beautiful as ever, were shadowed with fatigue; clothes which had seen better days.

Kaitlin gave her head a determined shake. ‘It isn’t your business,’ she repeated.

Flynn turned his horse away from hers. ‘I think it’s time we took the calf back where it belongs.’

‘My thought exactly.’

Another twenty minutes of fast riding brought them to the herd where mother and baby were reunited.

Back at the stables, Flynn jumped off his horse. He reached for Kaitlin, but with a quick little twist of the body she slipped out of his hands and leaped off her horse.

Flynn grinned at her. ‘Cowgirl.’

‘That’s what I am,’ she said tartly.

‘A very pretty cowgirl.’

‘You’ve learned how to flatter a woman, Flynn.’ Kaitlin made a show of looking at her watch. ‘It’s getting late. I’ll go get the Jeep and run you over to the airstrip.’

‘What’s your hurry?’

‘You won’t want to fly in the dark.’

‘Wouldn’t bother me in the least if I-did. Let’s go to the house, Kaitlin.’

‘Flynn...’

‘You know very well that I’m here to talk.’

He thought he saw an involuntary little shiver run through her before she said, ‘Another time.’

‘Today,’ he answered her firmly.

Still she tried. ‘It really isn’t convenient.’

‘You have your calf safely back. What excuse do you have now? I’m sure you must have thought of one.’

Her head jerked. ‘What are you saying, Flynn?’

‘Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten the girl who thought the eager cowboy would come running every time she beck oned. That he would disappear from the scene when it didn’t suit her to have him around.’

Kaitlin’s face whitened. ‘It was never like that.’

‘Wasn’t it, Kaitlin? Your memory is letting you down if you think otherwise.’

‘My memory is just fine, thank you very much. But you have one huge chip on your shoulder. I think you should leave now, Flynn.’

‘I’ll leave when we’ve talked. And don’t tell me again to phone you: you’ll always find some reason to put me off.’

She hesitated. ‘Flynn—’

‘We’ll talk today, Kaitlin. I have no intention of leaving till we do.’

CHAPTER TWO

‘MAKE yourself comfortable, Flynn. There’s beer in the fridge.’

‘You’re not going to join me?’

‘I’ve spent the morning in the sun. I need to shower and change into other clothes.’

‘Can I help?’

Flynn was grinning, an inexplicably wicked look in the dark eyes. Great dark eyes, just as Kaitlin remembered them, with golden glints where the light caught them, and long thick lashes that had always seemed wasted on a man. His shoulder-length hair was as dark as his eyes, thick and glossy, tempting a woman to bury her fingers in it.

Looking up at Flynn, Kaitlin tried to remember if he had always been quite so tall. His shoulders had been broad, but surely they had become even broader, emphasizing the length of his legs and the narrowness of his hips. And the look of strength and toughness, of utter self-confidence, that was new too: as was an aura of danger that was spinetinglingly sexy.

Already she was reacting to him. Just a short time in his company, and a core of femininity that had been dormant deep inside her was awakening. Be careful, Kaitlin sent herself the mental warning.

Why was he here? That was the question she had been asking herself over and over again from the moment she had laid eyes on him two hours earlier. The question that spoiled her pleasure at seeing him again.

Five years ago he had walked out of her life, Flynn Henderson, with whom she had been so deeply in love that she could not have imagined herself sharing her life with anyone else.

Even now, so many years later, she still had nightmares about that dreadful evening. There were times when she jerked upright in bed, damp with sweat, heart pounding, knowing that once again she had dreamed about Flynn. Even in the daytime, she had only to close her eyes to picture him at the Formica table of the bar, his expression arrogant and mocking: on his lap a red-haired woman, her face plastered with too much make-up, her head cradled lovingly against his chest. Flynn should have been at Kaitlin’s party—why had he been with that dreadful woman instead?

Kaitlin had managed to keep her head high as she fled from the bar. But she had wept all the way back to the ranch.

In the years since then, nobody had ever hurt her as much again as Flynn had hurt her that night. One thing was certain, she decided grimly, she must not let it happen again.

Her expression was hard as she looked at him. Five years without an explanation or a word of apology. And now here he was, on her ranch, expecting her to welcome him. The utter nerve of the man!

‘Thanks,’ she said, ‘but I’ll get myself something to drink when I’m ready for it. I’m not much of a beer-drinker anyway.’

‘I wasn’t thinking of beer. Thought you might like me to wash your back for you.’

In a second, a flood of heat cascaded through Kaitlin’s body. Keeping her eyes averted from Flynn’s, she said, ‘You don’t really expect an answer.’

‘Don’t I?’ His tone was so seductive that Kaitlin had to suppress an involuntary shiver.

‘I’m sure you don’t,’ she said shortly.

‘Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve washed your back, Kaitlin.’

Glad that her face was turned from his, she closed her eyes for a brief moment. It horrified her to realize that despite her resolve not to let him get to her, his sexual attraction was as powerful as ever. More powerful even.

‘Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten, Kaitlin.’

‘That was different,’ she muttered unsteadily.

Then you do remember.’

Kaitlin swallowed hard. ‘You know what happened, Flynn. I’d fallen, my back was all scratched up. It... It was important to get the grit out of the scratches. It could have gotten infected...’

‘Your parents were out and you sneaked me into the house.’

‘Yes...’

‘You got into the bath.’

‘The way you make it sound! I had my clothes on, Flynn.’ Tersely she added, ‘To begin with, anyway. And when I did get undressed, it was only because my blouse was getting so wet.’

Flynn laughed, a low husky sound that made her shiver. ‘I’ll never forget the moment when you stripped.’ His voice deepened. ‘I can still feel your soapy skin beneath my fingers.’

As she could still feel his fingers sliding over her wet skin: sexy, and so exciting that her body had burned with desire for him.

Involuntarily, Kaitlin’s eyes went to Flynn’s hands. When she lifted her head a moment later, she found him watching her, his expression enigmatic. Did he know what she was thinking?

‘That’s enough!’ Kaitlin ground out hoarsely.

But Flynn ignored the protest. Closing the distance between them, he cupped her face in his hands. ‘I was washing your back, and it didn’t take long before I was wet, too. And then I was in the bath with you, and—’

‘There wasn’t much water in the bath,’ she reminded him hoarsely. ‘And whatever you may be trying to insinuate now, you were only trying to help me.’

The pressure of the fingers on her face increased, sending shock waves of excitement cascading through her. Flynn said, ‘It might have been that way at the start. But you wanted more than my help, even if you were playing for time. We both did.’

Restlessly Kaitlin shifted her feet, only to regret the movement when she found that it brought her closer to Flynn. Though he was only holding her face, she was aware of every inch of the long body, from the rock-hard chest to the corded muscles of his legs. She felt his breath stir her hair.

A sudden fire burned deep in her loins. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been so aware of the demands of her own body. Aware of a man... For the last year she had barely thought of men: there were so many other, more serious matters on her mind.

‘If I’d had my way, Kaitlin, we’d have filled the bath to the top and lain together in the water. And then we’d have made love.’

‘Don’t you know that you can’t rewrite history?’ It took all her strength to keep her voice from shaking.

‘Maybe not, but it’s always possible to create new history. ’

Flynn’s voice was almost unbearably seductive. Inside Kaitlin the fire was turning into a conflagration. But she didn’t want to be aroused Not when the man was Flynn.

‘New history? Oh no, I don’t think so,’ she said, as firmly as she could.

‘Do you remember how we used to kiss, Kaitlin? Don’t shake your head at me, because I know you remember.’

For some reason she seemed unable to move away from him: it was as if her brain refused to send the right messages to her legs. ‘Flynn—’

‘But kissing was never enough. We both wanted so much more.’

She couldn’t deny it, because they had talked about it so often. God, how she had wanted to make love with him! Two young people, madly attracted to each other. Kaitlin, just turned eighteen, Flynn going on twenty-four. Hormones crying out to each other. Standing so close to him, listening to the things he said, the desire she had experienced then gripped her again now. The intensity of her feelings shocked her.

‘It all happened so long ago,’ she said over a dry throat. ‘I don’t see any point in rehashing it.’

But Flynn persisted. ‘You said we had to wait another week, I thought we’d already waited as long as we had to.’

She had wanted be quite certain of his commitment before letting him make love to her. A lifetime commitment. What better time to announce their engagement than on the night of her party? They hadn’t exactly decided on an engagement—at least not in so many words—but they had spoken so often of marriage. Kaitlin had been as sure of Flynn’s feelings for her as she was of hers for him.

‘I remember...’ she said.

‘And then your parents drove up when we weren’t expecting them.’

He came closer still. His lips were temptingly near hers: another half inch and their mouths would be touching. It would be so easy to kiss him. Just in time, she remembered what had happened on her horse an hour earlier, and how humiliated she had been by Flynn’s reaction. She was in no mood for another rejection.

She threw back her head. ‘You made a quick exit that afternoon,’ she taunted.

‘Your father would have gone for his gun if I hadn’t.’

Her father had been possessed of a hot temper. ‘He’d have done just that,’ she agreed.

Flynn’s hand dropped from her chin, leaving a warm spot where it had been. He took a step backwards.

‘The hired help having the gall to make love to the boss’s daughter.’ His lips tightened, and for a moment there was an expression of intense anger in his eyes. ‘What you should know, Kaitlin, is that I’m not the naive young cowboy I was then. It’s been a long time since I’ve been intimidated by anyone. I don’t run any longer.’

The sureness in his tone caught her: it was as unfamiliar to her as the suggestion of arrogance and the striking look of success. This older, tougher, devastatingly attractive Flynn was not the handsome young cowboy who had left the ranch five years earlier, taking her heart with him.

Flynn had always been attractive, but now his sexuality was as much a part of him as a second skin: coupled with that aura of danger which never seemed to leave him, it made for a potent combination.

Kaitlin. lifted her chin in a challenge of her own. ‘You never run, Flynn? Not even when a man comes after you with a gun?’

‘Not even then.’

‘Sounds as if you’ve had your share of adventure. You must have quite a love-life.’ A deliberately bright smile hid Kaitlin’s pain.

He grinned. ‘Put it this way, I’ve learned to handle myself. Men like your father don’t frighten me.’

Looking at the rugged face of her first love—her only love, if she was honest with herself—it was easy to believe that there wasn’t a person alive who could frighten him.

‘I won’t run away next time I want you, Kaitlin.’

Kaitlin—and how many other women? For Flynn had not denied having an active love-life. ‘There won’t be a next time,’ she warned.

‘There could be.’

She increased the distance between them. ‘No.’

‘Why not?’

‘No reason why there should be. We live in different worlds, Flynn.’

‘That again—Kaitlin Mullins and the hired man,’ he mocked.

She threw him a fierce look. ‘You’re not a hired man, you’ve made that quite clear. And whatever you choose to believe about me, Flynn, I’m not a snob. I never was. I’d have thought that was one thing you remembered about me. If I wanted you, your status wouldn’t matter.’

‘Isn’t that a relief,’ he said drily. ‘In the circumstances, you might even think again about letting me wash your back. Who knows what it could lead to?’

God, but she was tempted! She took a step towards him—then stepped quickly backwards. ‘What does it take to get through to you, Flynn Henderson?’ Furiously, she threw the words at him. ‘You don’t seem to have heard a word I said!’

‘Think what fun we’d have, Kaitlin.’

‘I don’t have to think about it,’ she informed him loftily, glad that her hands were in the pockets of her jeans, where he could not see their trembling.

‘Why not?’

She gave it to him straight. ‘I’m choosy about the men I associate with.’

But Flynn was not so easily deterred. Once more he reached for her, his fingers going to her throat this time, moving up and down in slow brushstrokes. Kaitlin thought the sensuousness of it would drive her out of her mind.

‘You chose me once, Kaitlin.’

‘I know that, Flynn.’ It was getting more and more difficult to speak normally. ‘But whatever there might have been between us once, it’s all in the past now. We’re no longer even the same people we were then. One brief meeting doesn’t change the fact that we’ve become strangers.’

There was a glimmer in the dark eyes looking down at Kaitlin: eyes that seemed to penetrate the superficialities of hair and skin to the very core of her being. At the same time, the sensuous finger was still continuing its nerveinflaming path.

‘Have your shower then. Alone if you must,’ he said at last. ‘When you’ve finished, we’ll talk.’

Flynn was at the window, beer-mug in hand, when Kaitlin came back into the room. For a long moment she stood quite still, her gaze-riveted on the tall, loose-limbed figure, tough as a mountain lion, sleek as a panther.

There was something disturbingly ominous about Flynn’s unexpected arrival at the ranch. Kaitlin straightened her shoulders as she reminded herself to be on her guard with him. At the same time, she knew already that this wasn’t going to be easy.

‘Flynn...’ she said.

He turned, lips pursed, as if to whistle. But the whistle died as he came towards her.

Not for the first time that day Kaitlin saw his eyes go over her. She made herself stand very still as he studied her. Fair hair, almost gold, had been released from its pony-tail: slightly damp still from the shower, it framed an oval-shaped face and hung in shining waves to Kaitlin’s shoulders. Green eyes shimmered beneath a dusting of eyeshadow, and her lips had been touched with a coral gloss. Kaitlin had discarded her jeans in favour of a white sun-dress with narrow shoulder straps and a skirt that swirled from a tiny belted waist, and on her feet were a pair of open-toed sandals.

The silent examination seemed to go on forever, but apart from a slight flicker of the eyes, Flynn’s expression remained impersonal. She had been a fool to go to so much trouble, Kaitlin thought grimly. How could she have been so foolish when she sensed he was dangerous? Had her brain temporarily stopped its proper functioning?

Briskly, she said, ‘I’m glad to see you got yourself a beer. I’m thirsty, too, so I’ll just—’

Flynn interrupted the flow of words. ‘What happened to the cowgirl?’ he asked softly.

The look in his eyes was all at once far from impersonal. Kaitlin found she could not hold it for more than a few seconds.

‘A cowgirl is still a woman.’ She hoped he did not notice that her voice shook.

Taking a strand of blond hair, he wound it around one of his fingers. ‘A very beautiful woman,’ he murmured.

Something unnerving, purely sexual in nature, crackled in the air between them. Kaitlin had a sense that things were moving a little too quickly. More than ever, she wished she had changed into more unfeminine attire.

She stepped away from Flynn, feeling the slight tug on her hair as it pulled away from his fingers. ‘You haven’t told me why you’re here,’ she said.

It seemed to her that a new expression came into his eyes. ‘I guess I haven’t,’ he drawled.

That expression, as much as his tone, made the hair prickle on Kaitlin’s neck. She could not have explained her uneasiness, the feeling that she was not, after all, ready to hear what he had to say. She decided to play for time. ‘It’ll be dark soon.’

‘So you’ve said already.’ His tone was sardonic. ‘Are you really so concerned with my safety?’

His arrogance was infuriating. ‘Lord, no, Flynn, why on earth would I be concerned about you? You seem perfectly well able to take care of yourself. I’m not equipped for overnight guests, that’s all.’

‘Why don’t you sit down, Kaitlin?’

Kaitlin did not like the sound of the words or the tone: they sounded a little too serious, somehow threatening. Still playing for time, she poured herself a glass of cool fruit juice before sitting down on a chair by the window. Flynn seated himself near her, long legs stretched out in front of him.

Steady eyes met Kaitlin’s. ‘Any idea why I’m here?’ he asked.

She shook her head. ‘Should I have?’

‘I’m wondering whether Bill Seally has been in touch with you.’

‘Bill?’ At sound of the name, Kaitlin jerked in her seat.

That morning, as on so many other mornings, she had woken and thought about Bill. Bill Seally. The ranch. The mortgage. Bill, friend of the family for as long as Kaitlin could remember, and holder of the ranch mortgage, had not pressed her hard for payment.

Kaitlin had often been grateful for the fact that Bill had been able to finance her father personally when money was short, that Dad had not had to go to a bank for a loan. Bill seemed to understand the gravity of her situation, he knew how hard it had been for her to take over the running of the ranch. Scrupulous about her obligations, Kaitlin made a point of paying Bill whenever there was money left over after the running expenses of the ranch had been met. Still, there had been times, especially lately, when it had been impossible for her to come up with the money.

‘What on earth does Bill have to do with your visit?’ she asked tensely.

‘We’ve done some business together.’

The eyes that held hers were cool as steel. The uneasy sensation was even stronger now. ‘What sort of business, Flynn?’

‘Can you guess, Kaitlin?’

An idea came to mind, but it was so horrific that Kaitlin could not bear to give it credence. She made an effort to suppress a great inner trembling.