The Coltons of Oklahoma

Daniel groaned.

“Got a bellyache?” Brett asked, leading his bay gelding out of the barn, followed by Jack.

“No, just thinking.”

Jack swung up on his horse, carrying a lasso in his right hand and reining with the left. “Thinking these designer horses aren’t the way to go after all?”

“No, not at all.” Daniel had put a lot of thought, planning, research and sweat into the horse-breeding program, and it was just beginning to pay off. He wasn’t giving up now.

“I told you, Jack,” Brett said. “With Daniel’s eye for excellent breeding stock and Megan’s record-keeping capabilities, we’re finally starting to take off. It won’t be long before the Lucky C becomes a household name in progressive horse-breeding programs.”

Daniel’s chest swelled. “I’m determined to continue that progressive trend. Has Big J considered my proposal to purchase semen from the Kennedy Farms?”

“He’s thinking about it. You already know how I feel,” Jack said. “The Lucky C is a cattle ranch. We’ve always run cattle. The horses should be secondary, for running the cattle, not breeding.”

Daniel respected his older brother’s ability to manage a ranch the size of the Lucky C and his love and determination to protect his family. But the man was pragmatic and often slow to change. In order to let loose of the funding to purchase the semen needed to move their program forward, Daniel would have to convince both his father and his older brother it would be worth the investment.

“Come on, Jack,” Brett said, nudging his horse to catch up with Jack’s. “Daniel’s already got other breeders looking at the Lucky C lines. He knows what he’s doing, and it doesn’t hurt to diversify our holdings.”

“Yeah, well, we don’t even know if the Kennedys will sell to us.” Jack shot a glance at Daniel. “What’s the latest?”

“They are all about the pedigree,” Daniel said. “They hand-select the programs they want to contribute to.”

“You have some of the best horses in the country,” Brett noted. “Why wouldn’t they want to add to your lines?”

Daniel snorted. “Their pedigree requirement extends to family and heritage.”

“So? The Coltons are full of family and heritage. You think they might not sell to us because of family?” Jack’s brows dipped. “I’ll bet the Lucky C Ranch has been in the Colton family as long if not longer than the Kennedys have owned their ranch.”

“Yeah, but I’m the one running the horse-breeding program here. I’m the main contact,” Daniel reminded him.

“And?”

“Well, I’m not exactly a blue blood or a purebred.”

Jack reined his horse to a stop. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Yeah, what are you saying?” Brett reiterated. “You’re just as much a Colton as the rest of us.”

“I’m the bastard,” Daniel said, his tone flat.

“That’s not how we see it,” Brett said.

Jack, Brett, Ryan and Greta had always treated him as one of the family, even though Daniel’s stepmother had resented the fact that Big J brought him to live with them when his own mother had died.

Abra hated Daniel. She hated that Big J had an affair with the nanny when Abra had been halfway around the world on another one of her trips. The woman couldn’t stand to be around her own kids. They made her nervous.

Daniel’s mother, full-blood Cherokee, had left the Lucky C when she discovered she was pregnant with Big J’s child. She’d returned to the reservation, where she’d instilled in Daniel pride in his Cherokee heritage and the love of horses.

“You’re as much a Colton as the rest of us,” Jack said.

Brett snarled. “If anyone says differently, they can take it up with all of us.”

“Not everyone sees things the way you, Ryan and Greta do,” Daniel assured them. But his heart warmed at the conviction in his brothers’ tones.

When he’d come to live with them at only ten years old, he’d thought he’d be miserable, losing the mother he loved and moving in with a father he barely knew. He figured on staying until he was old enough to leave home.

And here he was twenty years later. He no longer lived at the big house, having moved out when he finished college. Now he lived in the cozy two-bedroom cabin close to the breeding barn. It was small but enough for a bachelor and away from his stepmother.

“There she is,” Jack called out, pulling Daniel back to the task at hand.

Halo stood in the middle of the pasture, pawing at the ground.

As they neared, she reared and whinnied.

Rider answered, sidestepping nervously.

“She’s all wound up,” Brett muttered. “Did she get hold of some bad feed?”

“No telling. But whatever is bothering her isn’t normal.” Daniel nudged Rider forward.

“Let’s go get her.” Jack lifted his lasso and urged his mount forward.

Daniel rode up to the mare. With only twenty yards between them, the mare bolted and ran. Rider quickly caught up to her on one side. Jack’s horse swung to the opposite side as he tossed the lasso, his aim true. The rope circled the mare’s neck.

Jack tied off on the saddle horn and slowed his horse by pulling on the reins.

Halo pulled against the rope around her neck, tossing her head, dancing sideways to avoid Jack. Daniel was on the other side. He reached over and grabbed her reins.

Between Jack and Daniel, they slowed the mare to a halt. Her chest heaved, her sleek cream-colored coat was slick with sweat and her eyes rolled, showing the crazed whites.

“Need a hand there?” Brett called out, riding nearby in case the horse broke free.

“We have her.”

The two Coltons led the horse back toward the barn, Daniel speaking to her softly, trying to soothe her.

Brett was first off his horse. He took over for the other two and held the horse’s reins.

When Jack loosened his hold on the lasso, Halo tried to rear, but Brett held tight, pulling her head down.

“You’re right,” Brett said, straining to hold on to the horse. “Something isn’t right with her.”

“Let’s get her into the squeeze chute. I want to take a blood sample.” Daniel dismounted and led Rider into the barn, tying him off to a post before helping Brett get Halo into the chute.

Jack backed away. “If you two can handle this, I’ll take care of the other horses.”

“We have it,” Daniel assured him. “All I need is a syringe—”

Megan appeared, carrying a syringe and a couple of cotton balls soaked in rubbing alcohol.

Daniel breathed a sigh, happy that she hadn’t decided to quit because of his indiscretion.

“Daniel keeps telling us how efficient you are,” Brett teased. “Now you’re a mind reader?”

Megan shook her head. “It’s logic. Halo wasn’t acting herself. There has to be a reason.”

Brett and Daniel held Halo’s head while Megan swabbed the horse’s neck, felt for the jugular and slid in the needle.

Halo jerked, but the men held her steady while Megan pulled the plunger, filling the syringe. She removed the needle, swabbed the injection site and massaged it for a moment. “I’ll put this in a tube and drop it off at the vet pathology lab in Tulsa on my way home.”

“Better leave now if you want to catch them before they close for the day.”

“Will do.” Megan hurried back into the barn with the syringe without making eye contact with Daniel. She’d always been open and smiling around him.

Daniel could have kicked himself for ruining everything. He wouldn’t have been surprised in the least if she came in the next day with her resignation. “Can you take over with Halo?”

“Sure.” Brett gripped the mare’s bridle and backed her out of the chute.

Daniel ran into the barn, where Jack had tied off his and Brett’s mounts beside Rider. He was in the process of removing the last saddle.

Megan was nowhere in sight.

Jack shook his head. “She’s in the office.”

Without a word, Daniel entered the office.

Megan was at the desk they shared in the cramped space, transferring the blood from the syringe into a tube. “Is there anything else you need dropped at the lab?” Megan reached for a padded envelope and dropped the tube inside.

“No. Just that.” Daniel rubbed his sweaty palms down the front of his jeans. “Megan, I want to apologize.”

Megan’s cheeks reddened. “Don’t.”

“I’m afraid my actions might have given you the wrong idea.”

Her head jerked up and she stared straight into his eyes. “Are you going to tell me that you kissed me by accident? Or that it was a huge mistake?”

“No. I mean, yes.” He bit down on his tongue to keep from saying something stupid.

“Save your breath, Daniel.” She crossed the room with the package in her hand. Her jaw was set, lips pressed into a thin line. “I agree. The kiss was a big mistake.”

He let go of the breath he’d been holding, but the tightness in his chest didn’t loosen. Though he thought the kiss was a mistake, he hadn’t known how he’d feel to hear her echo his thoughts. Had the kiss meant nothing to her?

“Good, then.” Daniel straightened, determined not to let any of his chaotic thoughts show in his expression. “I just didn’t want things to change between us. You’re the best assistant I’ve ever had.”

Megan rolled her eyes. “Daniel, I’m the only assistant you’ve ever had. But if you want to pretend nothing happened and everything between is just like it was this morning, I can play that game, too.” She stopped in front of him and poked a finger into his chest. “But it would be a lie. You might wish you could, but you can’t take back that kiss or the way it made you feel. Because I sure can’t. It wasn’t entirely one-sided, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

* * *

Megan left the office and ran out of the barn. She hopped into her Jeep Wrangler and sped down the road leading to the gate to the Lucky C Ranch. Soon she was on the highway into Tulsa, where she had a depressingly small apartment in an inexpensive but not too sketchy neighborhood.

Determined to make it on her own without her parents’ vast wealth, she’d managed to put down a deposit on the apartment and pay rent and her utilities with the money she made working for the Lucky C Ranch.

The drive into Tulsa didn’t take long, and soon she was on the bypass circling the city to get to the veterinary laboratory before it closed. She hadn’t factored in the evening rush-hour congestion. Swerving in and out of traffic, she finally pulled into the parking lot with two minutes to spare.

She ran the blood sample inside, wrote out her request and left the package with the receptionist.

Then she drove to her apartment complex and parked, her hands shaking as she sat behind the steering wheel, letting the events of the afternoon wash over her in a tidal wave of emotions. One thought stood out over all others.

Daniel Colton had kissed her.

The incessant buzzing of her cell phone pierced her hazy cloud of schoolgirl giddiness, and she dug in her purse.

Perhaps it was Daniel calling to tell her that the kiss hadn’t been a mistake and he was deeply, madly, completely in love with her. Megan found the phone, stared at the caller ID and groaned before punching the talk button.

“Hi, Mother. What do you want?” she asked, the irritation in her voice more pronounced than usual.

“Ferrence Small is back home from New York City.”

“That’s nice.”

“I understand he’s a lawyer now, working with a large pipeline company out in Wyoming. If you can tell me the next time you’ll be home, I’m sure I can set up a chance for you two to meet.”

“Mother, I’m not interested.”

“Sweetheart, your father’s health isn’t what it used to be. He’s a very sick man.”

“I know. I was out there last month. We had a lovely visit.”

“Honey, you can’t keep slaving away in the tornado-infested center of the country. I can’t stop worrying. And you can imagine all the stress your father is under.”

“I’m sorry, Mother. But you and Daddy can manage your ranch in California. You don’t really need me there. However, the Lucky C needs me here. I have important work to do, and I don’t need care packages, cards and letters begging me to come home. I’ll be home for visits. That will have to be enough.”

Her mother clucked. “Oh, darling, I didn’t want to have to tell you...”

A sense of dread slipped over her. Her mother only used that I-hate-to-stick-it-to-you-but-I-will-if-I-have-to voice when she was about to drop a bomb on some poor unsuspecting sales clerk who displeased her while shopping. Only this time, the bomb would fall on Megan.

“Your father is on the line, and he has something to say to you.”

Her hand tightening on the cell phone until her knuckles turned white, Megan sucked in a deep breath and said, “Hi, Dad. What is it you wanted to say?”

“I have an auctioneer coming out tomorrow to look at your horses.”

Megan’s heart plummeted to her knees. “Daddy,” she said. “I’ve only just started putting money away for the horses. It will take me years to have what I need to pay you for them.”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart, but if I can’t go out to Oklahoma to talk some sense into my daughter’s head, I can damn sure get her to come to me. The Triple Diamond Ranch is your legacy.”

“Daddy, it’s your legacy. You and Mother never wanted me to help with it. Now I want to make it on my own.” She’d left the rich debutante lifestyle behind after she’d lost her fiancé and nearly lost her life. Megan had no intention of going back.

Her father snorted. “You do not have to work for others when you have servants who can do all that for you.”

“But, Daddy, you don’t understand. I love working with the horses. And I’m good at it.”

“You’re a woman. You shouldn’t be working around animals big enough to crush you.”

“Those horses are big enough to crush the men I work with as well as me. The thing is, Daddy, I know when to get out of the way.”

“Damn it, Megan, you are our only child. I want to know when I die...” He coughed. “I want to know you will be here to take over the reins. You need to come home, settle down, get married and have children to shoulder your obligation to your heritage.”

“I’m sorry, Daddy, but I have to live my life the way I want to, not the way you dictate.”

Her mother’s gasp echoed over the line.

“Very well,” her father said in a steely voice. “If you’re not home in one week and actively looking for a suitable spouse, I will sell all of your beloved horses to a glue factory.”

Blood drained from Megan’s head, and her stomach flipped. “You can’t do that. Those horses are beautiful animals, and they should be with us. The horse-breeding program at Triple Diamond Ranch is one of the best. You can’t condemn them to a glue factory or even sell them just because you want me to come home.”

“I can and I will. If you care about the horses, show you care about your legacy and the future of Triple Diamond Ranch. One week, Megan.”

Chapter 3

Daniel tossed all night. When he actually fell asleep he dreamed of Megan, her hair flying out behind her on a runaway horse. He chased her. For a long time she was just out of reach. When he finally caught up with her, he snatched her off her horse and into his arms. Then they kissed. The kiss turned into more and suddenly they were in his bed, making love.

Daniel jerked awake, hot, sweaty and more aroused than he’d ever been in his life. All stemming from a kiss that shouldn’t have happened.

Before dawn, he rose from his solitary bed in the cabin close to the breeding barn and pulled on a pair of jeans, a shirt and his boots. He couldn’t go back to sleep knowing Megan would be in his dreams, lying naked in his sheets. Everything about that image was wrong.

He’d be lucky if she even showed up for work today. And if she did, she’d probably come only to turn in her resignation.

By the time the sun came up over the horizon, Daniel had fed the horses, checked on his studs and prize mares and stacked twenty bags of feed in a corner of the barn. With his pulse still pounding and blood burning through his veins, he snapped a lunging rope on Rider’s halter and walked him out to the arena.

Daniel twirled the end of the rope and clucked his tongue. Rider started at a walk, more interested in an easy pace than actual exercise.

“Come on, boy. You need this as much as I do.” Daniel continued twirling the loose end of the rope. He clucked his tongue again and tapped the horse’s hindquarters with the rope.

Rider stepped up the pace and trotted around the circle, tossing his black mane in protest.

The monotonous circling calmed Daniel and the horse, and they settled into a rhythm of walking and trotting. Fifteen minutes passed before a voice called out.

“Daniel!”

Daniel’s hand tightened on the rope. Rider immediately came to a halt.

Heat rose up his neck and into his face as Daniel turned toward the voice.

Megan leaned over the arena’s metal fence, her arms folded over the top rail, lines etched across her smooth forehead.

Though he was happy Megan had returned, Daniel couldn’t erase his concern over the content of his dreams, and he worried his thoughts would be easily discernible in his eyes. Without meeting her gaze, Daniel nodded. “Good morning, Megan,” he acknowledged, gathering the rope until he held the horse on a short lead.

The normally reserved and always confident young woman chewed on her lower lip, and her brows puckered. “We need to talk,” she blurted.

His stomach knotting, Daniel braced himself. “Yes, we do. Let me take care of Rider first. Then we can talk uninterrupted.”

“Okay,” she said, biting on her lower lip again, driving Daniel nuts with the nervous movement that only drew his attention to the mouth he’d kissed so hard the day before.

He opened the gate to the arena and led Rider through.

Megan closed the gate and trailed behind Daniel and Rider, following them into the barn.

Not certain what he was going to say, Daniel chose to concentrate on the horse, putting off the talk as long as he could, hoping he could say something that would make sense and put things back on an even keel. He liked Megan. A lot. And he didn’t want to lose her over something as stupid, and inconsiderate, and completely unforgettable as a kiss.

Holy hell, he couldn’t even come up with an apology when he wasn’t at all sorry he’d kissed her. He’d be sorry only if she left because of it.

After grabbing a brush, Daniel stalled by running the brush over Rider’s back.

Megan fetched another brush and took the other side, working quickly, her strong hands smoothing over the horse’s sides, meeting Daniel over the horse’s hindquarters. She stared across the animal’s rump and said, “Daniel, I have to quit.” Then she spun and paced away from him.

“Won’t you at least give me the chance to apologize properly?”

Her head down, her boot heels pounding the dirt, she marched to the end of the barn and back. “Normally I’d give two weeks’ notice. But that’s impossible.”

His chest tightening with each of her words, Daniel stood with a brush in his hands. How could he salvage this situation and keep her on the Lucky C? “Under the circumstances, I don’t blame you, but I wish you’d reconsider.”

She paced, shaking her head, her long French braid whipping side to side. “If there was any other way, I wouldn’t go, but I don’t see another option.”

“Again, I don’t blame you. I blame myself.” He set the brush on a workbench and gathered Megan’s hands in his. “I wish there was something I could say or do to make it better. Please don’t go. I need you here.”

She stared up into his eyes. “I don’t have a choice. If I don’t leave, he’ll sell them all.” Her eyes swam with tears.

Daniel stared down at her. “What are you talking about?”

“My horses.” She frowned. “What did you think I was talking about?”

A wave of relief nearly made Daniel weak. “I thought you were mad about yesterday.”

Her frown deepening, she stared into his eyes. “Yesterday?” Then her eyes widened and her mouth formed a kissable O. “Yesterday.” Twin flags of color flew high on her cheekbones. “The kiss.”

“The kiss.” His hands slid up her arms and stopped before he pulled her close and kissed her again. “I thought you were going to leave because I crossed the line.”

“You think I’d leave because of a kiss? I thought you knew me better than that.”

“You had every right to quit. As your boss, I shouldn’t have kissed you.”

“For your information, there were two people involved in that kiss. It was not one-sided. And that’s not the reason I’m leaving.”

“Then what is?”

“My father.” She pulled in a long breath and let it out. “He gave me an ultimatum. He’s going to sell my horses if I don’t come home to live.”

Daniel’s fingers tightened on her arms. “I thought the horses at the Triple Diamond were quality stock. They are ranked right up there in standing with the Kennedys’ breeding program.”

“Yeah, well my father doesn’t really give a damn about the horses. It was just a project he took on at my suggestion until I left.”

“Can’t you buy them from him?” Daniel couldn’t wrap his mind around throwing away some of the best horseflesh in the nation.

“If I had the money my grandmother left to me.” She shook her head. “But I won’t get that until I’m married. It’s a stipulation of her will. Even then, I’d have to purchase them through a third party. My father would never sell them to me. He wants me home, and this is his leverage.”

“Didn’t you say he was sick?”

“Yes, but I can never tell how sick he is. He always tries to manipulate me and make me live according to his standards. I don’t want to go back, but I don’t have another choice. I have to go home. I can’t let him sell those horses. They’re top breeders...and...my friends.”

Daniel gathered her in his arms and stroked her head. “It’s okay. We’ll think of something.”

She rested her cheek against his chest, her fingers curling into his shirt. “There’s nothing to think about. I have to go. The sooner the better.”

He tipped her face up. “When is he selling?”

“He gave me one week to get home or the horses go on the auction block.” Her eyes filled with tears.

“Well, that gives us a week.”

“One week isn’t enough.” She shook her head. “I don’t see any other way. If he sells them as breeding stock, they’ll go high. I won’t be able to buy them. I barely have enough money to pay next month’s rent. So you see, I have to go home.” She took a step back and stood in front of him, her shoulders slumped, the first tears sliding from the corners of her eyes. “I thought he was bluffing. But I can’t bet those horses on a bluff.”

The anger he could handle. But as the tears slid down Megan’s cheeks, it felt like a large fist had clenched around his heart and squeezed. He pulled her against him again and held her close, resting his cheek against the top of her head. “I have a little money saved.”

She laid her face against his chest. “I can’t take your money. This isn’t your problem. It’s mine.”

“Well, don’t do anything today. Give us some time to come up with some solutions.”

“I’m out of solutions,” she said, pressing her face into his shirt.

“Just promise me you won’t leave right away. Can you do that?”

“It’ll take time for me to organize my apartment, shut off my utilities and inform my landlord. But once I have all that done, I have to drive to California.”

“Just hold on for a day or two. We’ll think of something.”

Her arms slipped around his waist. “I don’t expect you to take on my problems. You’re my boss, not my fairy godmother.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, I’d look pretty silly in a dress, carrying a fairy wand, and I’m not such a great boss at that.”

“Why do you say that?” She looked up at him through watery green eyes. “You’re great.”

“Because a good boss doesn’t go around kissing his employees.” He stared down at her damp cheeks, his belly flipping. “Right now, I want to be a very bad boss.”