Rich, Rugged Ranchers

“Yeah, you can’t live without it,” Ward offered needlessly.

Logan chuckled, and sipped his beer, watching her as if she were a spectacle. “Your stomach’s gonna rebel in a few minutes.”

This time Luke wasn’t disagreeing. “You’re in for it, Sophia. But you always were a daredevil. That much I do know.”

“Me? What about wrestling bucking broncos for five years of your life?”

“Six,” Ward and Luke said in unison.

“And I wasn’t wrestling with them, darlin’. I rode them for nine seconds at a time.”

“Most times, it was five seconds in the saddle, and the rest of the time on the ground, eating the horse’s dust,” Logan offered, happy to give Luke a bad time.

“Eating dust may be easier than eating Number Threes.”

Sophia gave the men an eye-roll and shook her head. “I will consider myself properly warned by all three of you. I promise you I’ll hold my own.”

She moved her long hair to one shoulder and shuffled in her seat, adjusting to the booth’s cushion to get more comfortable. Logan watched her movements, his gaze flicking over her body until their eyes finally met in a daring stare. A hot sprinkle of desire spread through her belly like warm sugar. For the slightest pinch of time, Sophia spotted a glimmer of admiration in his eyes for what she was about to do. Which, in her estimation, wasn’t all that admirable. She would eat a bowl of Kickin’ chili. How hard would that be?

And in that moment, no matter how much she hated to admit it, she saw Logan in a different light. She saw him as someone who could match her spirit, someone she might enjoy being around and someone who could fill the gaping void threatening to swallow her up. A shell that no one, not even a wonderful man like Luke, could ever fill.

“What the hell?” Ward jerked in his seat and all heads turned his way. “Pardon me, miss.” Apology touched his eyes as he briefly glanced at her, before pulling his cell phone out of his pocket. “Darn vibrating thing. Always shocks the vinegar outta me.”

Logan’s short laugh flashed a smile that cut deep ridges into each side of his mouth. Sophia took a quick breath and focused on Ward rather than allow that warm-sugar sensation to spread any further. She reminded herself that Logan hated her.

Ward glanced at the phone’s screen. “It’s a call from Hunter. He wouldn’t be calling if it weren’t important.”

Logan said, “Go ahead and answer it, Ward.”

Ward spoke to his son, nodding his head and saying “uh-huh, uh-huh,” about half a dozen times. He finished his conversation with, “Okay, I’ll be right there.”

Ward set the phone back into his pocket as he spoke. “My boy needs help at the ranch. Skylar is foaling early. He’s thinking it’s gonna be a difficult delivery. Luke, she’s your favorite mare. You coming with me?”

Ward rose from his seat. Luke did, too, blinking away the fear on his face. “Yeah, I’d better see to her.”

From what Sophia gathered, no one on the ranch knew more about horses than Luke. He had a natural way with them. Even Ward, Sunset Ranch’s head wrangler, seemed to look to Luke for help.

“Sorry, Soph. I’ve got to go. We almost lost her last time she foaled.”

“Okay, I understand,” Sophia said, grabbing her clutch purse, “I’ll go with you.”

“No,” Luke said. “You stay and eat your dinner. I know you’re hungry. Your meal is coming.”

“But I, uh—” Sophia looked from Logan’s unreadable expression to Luke. “I don’t have to—”

“For Pete’s sake, woman,” Logan said with a shake of the head. “I won’t bite. Ward can drive to the ranch with Luke. I’ll take you home later. After you eat your Number Three.”

“But—”

“Are you chickening out again?”

“No!”

“Okay, then.” Logan slid his brother a reassuring look. “You go on. Don’t worry about anything but saving Skylar and her foal.”

“Play nice,” Luke said, pointing his finger at Logan.

“Get outta here,” Logan said, grabbing for his beer with a casual shrug, as if to say he didn’t have anything to worry about.

Luke didn’t budge. “Logan.”

“Damn it, you have my word.”

Finally satisfied, Luke nodded. “Fair enough. I’m sorry, Sophia,” Luke said. “But Logan will get you home safely. I’ve really gotta run.”

Ward had already excused himself and was waiting for Luke by the entranceway. “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me. I only hope it goes well for the mare.” Luke met up with Ward and the two men exited the café in a hurry. And just like that, Sophia found herself alone with Logan Slade.

He was stuck with Sophia for the rest of the night. Hell, a man could do much worse than entertaining a gorgeous woman with a killer body for the evening. She was a damn sight better to look at than the antique cast-iron pots and pans hanging on the wall. A damn sight more appealing than rusted tricycles and red wagons that littered the shelves circling the perimeter of the café. She sure had every man in the joint giving her the eye and giving him a solid way-to-go look as they scanned the booth. Logan would be on his best behavior tonight. Not because he’d eased up on his thinking about Sophia, but because he’d given his brother his word. For Luke’s sake, Logan would treat Sophia kindly.

After a long minute of silence, she asked, “Do you think the mare will be okay?”

He blew out a breath. “Don’t know. Birthing can be tricky at times. Skylar is a trouper though. She’s strong and if anyone can help her, it’d be Luke.”

“That’s what I’ve heard. Luke knows a lot about horses.”

“He does,” Logan said, keeping his tone light. If the woman wanted to praise his brother to high heaven tonight, he wouldn’t stop her. He wouldn’t like it much, but he wouldn’t stop her. The two of them were already thick as thieves again.

His brother’s relationship with Sophia had always irked him. Logan was the oldest of the three boys—Justin being the youngest. Logan had been very close to Luke until Sophia had gotten in the way. Ever since their friendship had developed, Logan felt like he’d been left out in the cold. Montrose women had managed to shred Slade family loyalty. It shouldn’t be so, but Luke couldn’t see it any more than his father had. Their blindness left a bitter taste in Logan’s mouth, sharper than the chili he’d just polished off. His only consolation was that Shelby was heading toward the table with Sophia’s burn-as-it-goes-down chili on her tray. “Your chili’s coming up.”

The waitress set the bowl in front of Sophia. Spicy aromatic scents of peppers, onions and cilantro drifted to his side of the table. “Thanks, Shelby.”

“You got it.” She shot him another sweet smile before walking away.

Sophia took her time, opening her cloth napkin and placing it on her lap. Then she lifted her lashes and those brilliant amber eyes surrounded with flecks of gold fell on him. “Smells delicious,” she said.

“That’s why we’re here.”

The second he said “we,” his pulse pounded in his ears and images popped into his head of the two of them, really playing nice. For anyone in the café watching, it might appear that they were on a date.

It’d be a cold day in hell, he thought, yet he couldn’t take his eyes off her.

Sophia dipped into the chili and came up with a rounded spoonful with cheese dripping off the sides. Steam shot straight up for half a yard then disappeared into the air. Sophia pursed her lips and blew gently, her mouth forming a small O to whisper away the heat.

Logan’s Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat. His damn body pinched tight, and he sat mesmerized as Sophia prepared to take her first bite of ass-kicking chili. Logan had never thought of chili and sex together, but now, that’s all he could think about. Watching her take her first bite, swallow, then gaze up at him, looking satisfied and accomplished, gave him a sexual thrill that he’d never experienced before. It was beyond crazy and like a fool, he grinned.

So did she.

The light in her eyes matched the way he was feeling inside, most likely for entirely different reasons. “Piece of cake,” she said.

Piece of something, he thought, grateful the lower half of him was covered by the table. It hadn’t escaped him that he was the one suffering as Sophia ate from her bowl of all-you-can-suffer Kickin’ chili.

He watched her eat three more spoonfuls without even a slight flinch. The woman was good at spicy.

“You know,” she began, stirring the chili with the stainless-steel spoon, “it was nice of you to ask Hunter to help me move in yesterday.”

“Who said I asked him?” he shot back.

“So you didn’t?” Her almond-shaped eyes rounded in surprise.

He shrugged. “Maybe I did.”

“I didn’t think you’d given it a thought. You didn’t personally offer to help.”

“Did you expect me to?”

“I had hoped you’d be a gentleman. I didn’t want to start off at Sunset Ranch with bad feelings.”

Logan ignored that last part of her statement. He wasn’t in the mood to get into it with her tonight. “I’m not the welcoming committee. I have a ranch to run. Hunter helped you. Isn’t that good enough?”

“Yes, I suppose. I was beginning to feel good about that, and you, until you set me up with Ruth Polanski. It was a low blow, even coming from you, Logan. You led me to believe I had to fire the woman.”

Logan scrubbed his jaw. It wasn’t his proudest moment, but he’d been angry and wanted to lash out at her when she’d first arrived. She’d called it correctly. It had been a low blow. Logan didn’t play dirty. Not usually. Yet he wasn’t ready to apologize. “You must have been pleasantly surprised when you learned you didn’t have to let her go.”

“I worried about it all night.”

He put himself in a no-guilt zone and hung tight. “I’m sure you slept well enough.”

Sophia shook her head and her long wavy hair, caressing one side of her shoulder, flowed over her breast. “You need to let go of the past, Logan. You’d be a happier man.”

A lecture, coming from her? “What makes you think I’m not happy? I’m sitting here, watching you pretend to stomach that chili. Tell the truth, Sophia. It’s burning like hell now.”

To his surprise, she put her hand just under her breasts, spread her fingers out over her stomach and delivered a low rumble of laughter. “You’d love to believe that.”

“You won’t admit it?”

“Maybe it’s more fun to keep you guessing. When’s the last time you’ve had fun, Logan?”

“What do you care?”

“That long?” Sophia asked, shaking her head as she lifted another spoonful to her mouth.

The woman was getting to him and damn if he wasn’t enjoying himself. Not because he thought Sophia was suffering with the chili, but because she was a woman who stood up to a challenge and managed to keep him guessing.

“You’re forgetting who’s driving you home.”

“Oh, no. I am very well aware,” she said, her amber eyes blazing with warmth enough to make heat crawl up his belly and put a lump in his throat.

He swigged the last ounce of his beer with a quick gulp.

Sophia, on the other hand, had yet to reach for her glass of water.

Sophia sank into the comfy, forgiving seat cushion of Logan’s black pickup truck. The luxury four-wheel drive sported a polished wood and beige leather interior with a dashboard full of digital controls an airline pilot would envy. She fastened her seat belt and watched the scenery go by as they exited the café’s parking lot and took to the open road. An hour ago, the golden sunset had faded and now lights from the town they left behind sparkled like tiny diamonds in her side rearview mirror.

Sophia eyed Logan as he drove with one hand on top of the steering wheel. Country music played softly. The lack of conversation was actually comforting. They’d extinguished their small talk while in the café. She couldn’t think of anything else she wanted to say to him that didn’t involve business, and Sophia wasn’t in the mood to spar with him about that right now.

Logan was used to comfort, style and the finer things in life. Even though he lived on a ranch, everything he owned, from his classic felt Stetson hat and expensive tooled-leather boots to the exquisite sprawling ranch home, was top-notch. She hadn’t missed the one-hundred-dollar tip he’d laid on the table for the waitress just minutes ago. She had gushed and tried to give it back, but Logan had insisted on her keeping it. Apparently, he had money to burn. Sophia would bet her last dollar that the designer watch he wore on his wrist cost more than her mother’s yearly salary when she’d worked at the Desert Breeze Motor Inn.

They’d spent three years working in that dive, before Louisa had finally landed a job more suitable for her managerial skills. In many respects though, the life Sophia had with her mother was richer and worth more than any of the material possessions she could ever hope to own.

Sophia had gotten a small taste of the good life when she’d married. Though many believed she’d married the older man for his money, Sophia had convinced her mother that she’d married for the promise of love. When in truth, neither had been true exactly.

A sharp jolting pain twitched in her stomach. She gasped silently, holding her hands firmly in place when her initial reaction was to rub her belly. The pain was fleeting, and then it was gone. Sophia released the breath caught in her throat. She’d be okay. The chili had gone down smoothly earlier and at the time, she hadn’t had any doubts about it.

Another jolt hit her. This time, the pain spiraled up, burning toward her rib cage. “Oh,” she breathed out as slowly and as quietly as she could, slanting a look at Logan, who was listening to the country music playing on the radio, his focus on the dark road ahead.

The next pang hit and her body tightened up. She grabbed her clutch purse and set it onto her stomach, then slid her hand underneath it. Her fingers dug in and she tried to smooth away the rebellion going on inside.

“Ohh.” The pain gripped her hard this time and she leaned forward and hugged her stomach with both arms. Beads of sweat moistened her forehead.

Logan shot a glance at her. “It finally hit you?”

She bit her lip and nodded helplessly.

“Is it bad?”

Again, she nodded. Perspiration trickled down the back of her neck, sticking to her hair.

“Hang on. I’ll get you home fast.”

Logan revved the engine and the truck roared down the highway. Minutes later they reached the gates of Sunset Ranch and Logan slowed the truck. “My house or the cottage?”

“Take me home,” she said, wanting the comfort of her own surroundings, new as they were, but also familiar.

The truck roared to life again and after a short time, the dimmed lamppost lights in front of the stone house came into view. Sophia thanked all things holy that she was finally home.

Logan brought the truck to an abrupt halt. He got out, and she heard his boots on the gravel path as he approached the passenger’s side. Doubled over now, she pressed both arms against her belly, attempting to make the aching go away. Logan opened her door and when their eyes met, the stern set of his jaw softened and he cursed. “I’ll get you out.”

Before she could protest, he bent down to unfasten her seat belt, removing her arms from around her belly first to get them out of his way.

“It’s not necessary to carry me,” she whispered.

Her statement fell on deaf ears. He scooped her from the seat, one hand lifting under her knees, the other at her shoulders. As if this weren’t humiliating enough, her dress slid to her upper thighs. Logan’s gaze locked onto her legs shamelessly as he brought her out of the truck. His hip shoved the door closed.

As he strode purposefully toward her front door, Sophia clung to his neck, giving in to the power and strength of his arms. Cradled this way, she felt safe and protected, though she knew in her head she should be wary of him. She shouldn’t let down her guard. Once they reached the porch, he set her legs down, reached into his pocket and came out with a set of keys. He inserted one into the lock and kicked open the front door. Then he picked her back up.

Moonlight streamed inside, illuminating the front room just enough to guide the way. Logan moved with the grace of a cat into the house, finding the parlor sofa easily. He lowered her gently onto her backside. With her arms still locked around his neck, Logan’s face came within inches of hers and their gazes met through the darkness. A brief moment passed between them. The dark coolness in his eyes blazed now with heat so strong, memories flooded Sophia’s mind of the one blissful, wonderful, sizzling kiss they’d shared so long ago. Her stomach stopped aching for a short time and she became mesmerized by the possibility that was Logan Slade. But just as her mind wrapped around the idea, the heat in Logan’s eyes offering that possibility died away, replaced again by a cold, unreadable stare. Sophia swallowed hard, relinquishing the moment to foolishness.

Logan unlocked her arms from around his neck and rose to full height. “I’ll be right back.”

She lay her head down on the arm of the sofa and listened as he went to his truck. When he returned, he flipped on a lamp on the end table. Soft light flowed into the room. Standing over her, he lifted her hand in his and plopped two round pink tablets down in her palm. “Take these first,” he said.

She stared at them.

“They will help,” he offered, his voice gruff.

They might be poison for all she knew, but she was pretty sure they were antacids, and though she was certain they wouldn’t help, she lifted them to her lips, opened her mouth and chewed. They went down like chalk and made her mouth dry.

“Now,” Logan said, “Take a swig of this.”

He bent onto his knees by the sofa. With a gentle hand, he lifted her head and guided a pink bottle to her lips.

She shook her head. Mixing medications wasn’t wise. “I don’t think so.”

He leaned back a little, holding the bottle away from her. “Trust me on this, it works. I’ve been where you are now. Why do you suppose I carry this stuff in my truck on Kickin’ days?”

Sophia closed her eyes to the look of concern on Logan’s face. It didn’t make sense that he would try to help her. He detested her and wanted her gone yesterday. How could she trust him?

Another cutting pain seized her stomach. “Oh.”

His hand, still nestled in her hair, lifted her head up a little more. “C’mon, Sophia. Just drink it.”

She bit the bullet and gave him her trust, craning her neck forward. He tipped the bottle, and she sipped from it a few times.

“That’s good,” he said. “Give it a few minutes.”

She lay her head down after swallowing the awful liquid. “You don’t have to stay.”

Once again, he ignored her comment. He rose and walked off. She listened for the front door to close, hoping that he’d leave, but instead she heard him fidgeting around in the kitchen. He turned on the microwave. The thought of food of any sort made her queasy.

Her eyes drifted closed and only when she felt something warm being placed on her belly, did she open them again. The warmed dishtowel acted much like a heating pad and soon, between the meds and the heat, the gripping pain in her stomach began to ease.

“You should take a warm bath later,” he said.

She lifted her gaze to Logan’s face.

“Of course, I’d offer to do that with you, too,” he said, the momentary flicker of heat once again in his eyes, “but I’ve got a feeling that wouldn’t go over too well.”

It hurt to smile, but Sophia managed to anyway. “You’ll never know.”

“The way I didn’t know you were going to be sick?”

Humiliation mixed with anger and Sophia hinged her body forward to get up from the sofa. “Is that why you’re here? To rub my nose in it?”

He laid a hand on her shoulder, easing her back down. “Lay back. Don’t get riled.”

“Don’t rile me then.” Her head plopped down on the arm of the sofa again.

“You don’t like being wrong.”

“Why are you helping me?” She turned her head to face him.

“You don’t know my compassionate side.”

“Do you have one?”

“Are you feeling better yet?”

Sophia stopped arguing with Logan long enough to realize she was feeling better. Almost as quickly as her stomach had become unsettled, it began to feel remarkably normal again. “Yes, I am.” She glanced into his eyes. They were so intense and stubborn one minute, and then so kind and caring the next. “I do feel better.”

Logan nodded. “I don’t kick a person when they’re down.”

“You mean you want a level playing field for when you destroy me?”

“I never said I wanted to destroy you, Soph.”

Soph?

And then it all became clear. Just when she’d thought Logan might have come around and wanted to be civil to her, just when she thought the past was forgiven and they could start anew, she caught on to what he was doing. She still owed him her thanks for helping her recover from her suffering tonight, but now she knew the reason why. “It’s because of Luke, isn’t it? You promised to see me home safely and you’re a man of your word. You’re doing this for Luke. Not for me.”

His eyebrows dented into his forehead. “You have a strange way of thanking a man.”

Sophia’s ire sparked. Logan ran hot and cold with her and she never knew where she stood with him. Her frustration echoed in a shrewish raised voice. “How would you like me to thank you?”

Instantly, his gaze swept over her as she lay on the couch. “Let me give you that bath and we can call it even.”

The idea of bathing with Logan brought a different kind of queasiness to her belly. Images danced in her head. But she was weak where Logan Slade was concerned. He didn’t deserve her passionate thoughts.

But then another thought entered her mind, an uncomfortable memory that had nothing to do with Logan at all. Don’t go there, Sophia, she reminded herself. You don’t have to be afraid anymore. But the image from her Las Vegas days wouldn’t leave her.

She had been sitting in front of her dressing-room mirror backstage before her performance when she discovered the first note tucked under her makeup case. Bone-chilling fear had traveled along her spine when she read the words.

You are too beautiful, Sophia. You will be mine one day.

She’d received five similar notes, all with the same strange sentiment. What had freaked her out the most was that the person sending the notes had known a lot about her. She’d found envelopes printed with her name on the front windshield of her car or left for her at the motel where her mother worked. The actual words weren’t threatening, so she’d never gone to the police, and she’d never worried her mother about them, either. But Sophia had been frightened on more than one occasion when she’d sensed that someone had been watching her.

After a while, Sophia started really looking at the faces of the men who would come to her shows. She began wondering if the note writer was among them, studying her.

“Thinking about it?” Logan asked, taunting her to answer.

Sophia returned her attention to the man who had rescued her this evening, the man who had invited himself to bathe with her. He had known what her answer would be before he suggested it. He wasn’t serious. Perhaps, if she had an inkling that he was, she might be persuaded to change her mind. Yes, join me in a bath, Logan.

But Sophia was through playing his games tonight. She had enough bad memories to battle and now a queasy stomach to deal with. He’d been kind earlier and she’d wanted to believe that they could get along. She’d relished being in his arms while he carried her inside. She’d appreciated him staying to make sure she would recover. But had she only imagined his concern?

“You should go now.”

He looked at her sprawled out on the sofa and inhaled sharply, as if the idea of bathing with her hadn’t been a joke. “Yeah, I was thinking that same thing.”