Memories for Eternity: Taming Clint Westmoreland

“You’re a triplet, right?”

He glanced at her over the rim of his glass. “Yes. How do you know that?”

She shrugged. “It was common knowledge among the Rangers. I met your brother, Cole, once. He was nice. I also heard you have a sister.”

“I do,” he said, thinking about Casey, who had gotten married a few months ago. “If you go by order of birth, then I’m the oldest, then Cole and last Casey.”

“Is Cole still a Texas Ranger?”

He figured she must feel a little more relaxed to be asking so many questions. “Yes, he is.”

He didn’t know her well enough to reveal that Cole’s days with the Rangers were numbered. Like him, Cole planned to go out on early retirement; however, Cole hadn’t decided what he’d do after leaving the force. Clint wasn’t even sure if Cole planned to stay in Texas. His brother might take a notion to move to Montana like Casey had done to be near their father. The father the three of them thought was dead until a few years ago.

He took a sip of his coffee. In a way he knew what Alyssa was doing. She was trying to get his mind off the gigantic problem that was looming over their heads. But the bottom line was that they needed to talk about it and make some decisions. “Okay, Alyssa, getting back to our dilemma. What about you? Do you have any suggestions?”

She took a sip of her coffee and smiled before saying, “I guess I could go back to Waco and you remain here and forget we ever found out we were married and leave things as they are. As I said earlier, marriage isn’t in my future anytime soon. What about yours?”

“Not in mine, either, but still, having a wife isn’t something I can forget about,” he said. Several things could happen later to make him remember he was a married man.

For example, what would happen if she decided, as his wife, that she was entitled to half of everything he owned? His partnership with his cousin and brother-in-law was going extremely well. Not saying that she would, but he couldn’t take any chances. He had bought out Casey’s and Cole’s shares of the ranch and now it was totally his. The last thing he would tolerate was a “wife” staking a claim on anything that had his name on it.

And then there was the other reason he wouldn’t be able to forget he had a wife. She was too damn pretty. Her features were too striking and her body was too well-stacked. Even now sitting across from her at the table he could feel his temperature rise. Since he figured she hadn’t gotten that way overnight, he wondered how he had missed noticing how good she looked five years ago. The only excuse he could come up with was that at the time he’d been too heavily involved with Chantelle and only had eyes for one woman. Too bad Chantelle hadn’t had eyes for just one man.

“There has to be a way out of this,” she said, interrupting his thoughts with a disgusted look on her face. Disgusted or otherwise, her frustration didn’t downplay how full and firm her lips were, or how her eyes were so dark they reminded him of a raven’s wing. He wondered if her copper-brown hair was her natural color and he felt a tug in his gut when he thought of the one way he could easily find out. He shifted in his seat. His jeans suddenly felt a little too tight, especially in the area of his zipper.

Evidently she was waiting for him to respond, because her dark eyes were staring at him. He leaned back in his chair. “There is a way. We just have to think of it.”

* * *

Alyssa could feel Clint checking her out the same way she was checking him out, which only solidified her belief that living under the same roof with him wouldn’t work. There was a strong sexual attraction between them, she could feel it. The thought that she drew his interest was something she couldn’t ignore. Nor was it something for her to lose any sleep over. Plenty of women probably drew his attention. He was a man wasn’t he? Hadn’t Uncle Jessie explained after finding out what Kim and Kevin had done that when it came to women all men were weak? They often made decisions with the “wrong head.” Of course, he couldn’t come up with an excuse for Kim’s behavior because she was his daughter.

“What sort of business do you own?”

She glanced up from studying the contents in her coffee cup to stare into Clint’s cool, dark eyes. “I design websites.”

“Oh.”

She frowned. He’d said it as though he considered her profession of no importance. Granted it wasn’t

a mega-million-dollar operation like she’d heard he owned but it was hers; one she’d started a few years ago with all the money she had. She enjoyed her work and was proud of the way she’d built up her company. She had a very nice clientele who depended on her to keep their businesses in the forefront of the cyberspace market. Over the years she had won numerous awards for her website designs.

“For your information I own a very successful business,” she said, glaring at him.

He glared back. “I don’t recall saying you didn’t.”

No, he hadn’t. But still, she really didn’t care much for his attitude. “Look, Clint. You’re agitated about this whole thing and so am I. I think the best thing for us to do is sleep on it. Maybe we’ll have answers in the morning.”

“Fine. I noticed you only brought an overnight bag,” he said, leaning back in his chair.

“Yes. I thought that ending our marriage wouldn’t take more than a day at the most. I planned to fly home in the morning.”

“You’re welcome to stay at my place tonight. I have plenty of room.”

She appreciated the invitation but didn’t think it was a good idea. “Thanks, but I prefer staying at a hotel.”

“Suit yourself,” he said, easing back up to the table when their waitress placed a plate full of food in front of him. Alyssa watched him dig in. He’d said he could think better on a full stomach, but was he really going to eat all that? She couldn’t imagine him eating such hefty meals as the norm, especially since he had such a well-built body that was all muscle and no fat.

“Why are you staring at my plate?”

She shrugged. “That’s a lot of food,” she said when the waitress placed a sandwich and bowl of soup in front of her.

He laughed. “I’m still growing. Besides, I need all this to keep my strength up. What I do around the ranch is hard work.”

“And what exactly do you do?”

He smiled over at her. “I’m a horse tamer. I have some of my men stationed out in Nevada. They capture wild horses then ship them to my ranch for me to tame. Once that’s done, I ship them to Montana. My cousin and brother-in-law own a horse-breeding company. My sister works for them as a trainer.”

“Sounds like a family affair.”

“It is.”

Alyssa intentionally kept her head lowered as she ate her sandwich and soup. She didn’t want to risk looking head-on into Clint’s eyes again. Each time she did so made every cell in her body vibrate.

“I’m thinking of getting one of those.”

She raised her head and gazed at him, trying not to zero in on his handsome features, while at the same time ignoring the sensations that flowed through her. “Getting one of what?”

“A website.”

She lifted a brow. “You don’t have one already?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Why would I?”

“Mainly to promote your business.”

“Don’t have to. Durango and McKinnon are in charge of bringing in the customers. We have a private clientele.”

“Oh. Who are Durango and McKinnon?”

He wiped his mouth with a napkin before answering. “Durango is my cousin and McKinnon is married to my sister, Casey. They are my partners and the ones who started the horse-breeding company. Now it has grown to include horse training and horse taming,” he said.

She nodded. “If you did just fine without a website before, then why are you thinking about getting one now?”

He actually looked like he was tired of answering her questions. His tone indicated that he was only answering her in an attempt to be polite. “Because of the foundation I recently started.”

“What foundation?”

“The Sid Roberts Foundation.” And as if he was preparing for her next question, he said, “He was my uncle.”

Her eyes widened. “Sid Roberts? The Sid Roberts? Was your uncle?” she asked incredulously.

“Yes,” he responded, seemingly again with barely tolerant patience. And then as if he’d had enough of her questions he said, “Why don’t you finish eating. Your soup is getting cold.”

* * *

At least he had gotten her to stop talking, Clint thought, taking a sip of his coffee. Although he noticed what she was eating wasn’t much. He’d thought Casey was the only person who considered soup and a sandwich a full-course meal.

Clint leaned back in his chair. The food was great and he was full, so now he could think. Yet he was far from having an answer to their problem. Part of him wanted to start the appeal process and see what would happen. But if the appeal failed, they would have to do the thirty days anyway.

“You didn’t say why you are establishing a foundation for your uncle.”

He glanced over at her. “Didn’t I?” he asked tersely. He couldn’t recall her being this chatty before. In fact, he remembered her as a mousy young woman who didn’t seem to have the fortitude for her job as a Ranger. Although truth be told, he would be the first to give her an A for her acting abilities during their assignment together.

He couldn’t help noticing how the sunlight shining through the window hit her hair at an angle that gave the copper strands a golden tint. He felt a sudden tingling sensation right smack in his gut. He didn’t like the feeling. Since becoming partners with Durango and McKinnon nine months ago, he had placed his social life—and women—on hold.

“No, you didn’t,” she said, breaking into his thoughts and seemingly not the least put off by his cool tone.

He didn’t say anything for a while and then asked, “What do you know about Sid Roberts?”

She smiled. “Only what’s in the history books, as well as what my grandfather shared with me.”

He lifted a brow. “Your grandfather?”

“Yes, he was a huge Sid Roberts fan and even claimed to being a part of the rodeo circuit with him at one time. I know Mr. Roberts was a legend in his day. First as a rodeo star then as a renowned horse trainer.”

“Uncle Sid loved horses and passed that love on to me, my brother and sister. In my uncle’s memory, we have dedicated over three thousand acres of land on the south ridge of my property as a reserve. A great number of the wild horses that are being shipped to me are being turned loose to roam free here.”

“Why go to the trouble of relocating them here? Why not leave them in Nevada and let them run free there?”

He frowned. “Mainly because wild horses are taking up land that’s now needed for public use. Legislation is being considered that will allow for so many of them to be destroyed each year. Many of these wild horses are getting slaughtered for pet food.”

“That’s awful,” she murmured and he knew she was deliberately lowering her voice to keep out the anger she felt. It was the same with him every time he thought about it.

“Yes, it is. So I’ve established the foundation as a way to save as many of the wild horses as I can by bringing them here.”

He felt they had gotten off track, and had put on the back burner the subject they really needed to be discussing. “So what are we going to do, Alyssa, about our marriage?”

She frowned. “You make it sound like a real one when it’s not.”

“Then tell that to Toner. And maybe it’s time to accept that regardless of where we want to place the blame, legally we are man and wife.”

Alyssa opened her mouth to deny what he said, but couldn’t. He was right. They could sit and blame others but that wouldn’t solve their problem. “Okay, you have a full stomach, what do you suggest?”

“You’re not going to like it.”

“Probably not if it’s what I’m thinking.”

He sighed deeply. “Do we have a choice?”

She knew they didn’t but still... “There has to be another way.”

“According to Hightower, there isn’t. You heard him for yourself.”

“I say let’s fight it.”

“And I say let’s just do what we have to do and get it over with.”

She nibbled on her bottom lip. “Fine, but there’s still the issue of where we’ll stay. Here or Waco.” Each knew how the other felt on the subject. Alyssa knew she was being hard-nosed. To handle his business properly, he would have to be on his ranch, whereas she could operate just about anywhere, as long as she had her computer and server.

“Alyssa?”

She glanced up at him. “Yes?”

“I’m sure you prefer handling your business from Waco, but is there any reason you can’t do it here if I help get things set up for you?” he asked, evidently thinking along the same lines as she had earlier.

She decided to be honest with him. “No.”

“All right. Then will you?” he asked. “My ranch isn’t all that bad. It’s pretty nice actually. And with the hours I work, I’d barely be home most of the time so it will be as if you have the place to yourself. I won’t be underfoot.”

She tilted her head to study him. In other words they really wouldn’t be under the same roof for thirty days—at least not all the time. In a way, she would prefer it that way. Being around Clint 24/7 would be too hard to handle. But she knew he was right. They had to do something and since it was easier for her to make the change why sweat it. That didn’t mean she had to like it. At least the two of them were working together and doing what needed to be done to get their lives back on track and end what had been the agency’s screwup and not theirs. But still...

“What about a steady girlfriend?” she decided to ask.

“Don’t have one, steady or otherwise. Don’t have the time.”

She lifted a brow. When did men stop making the time for women? She thought they lived for intimacy.

“What about you?” he asked her. “Is there a steady man in your life?”

She thought about the occasional calls she got from Kevin as he tried to make a comeback, as if she didn’t know that he and Kim were still messing around with each other. Kim took pleasure in making comments every once in a while to let her know she and Kevin were still seeing each other now and then. “No, like you, I don’t have the time.”

He nodded. “So, there’s really nothing holding us back to do what we need to do to get the matter resolved,” he said.

If only it were that simple, she wanted to say. Instead she said, “I need to sleep on it.” She preferred not to make a decision right then.

“Okay. In that case would you mind doing your sleeping at the ranch?” Clint asked. “That way, you can check out the place to see if it will work for you.”

She’d rather not stay at his ranch tonight but what he’d said made sense. She was used to living in the city. She wasn’t sure how she would handle being out in such a rural setting. “Okay, Clint. I’ll spend the night at your ranch and will give you my decision about things in the morning.”

He tilted his head and looked at her. “I can’t ask for any more than that.”

Chapter 3

“Can you ride a horse?”

Alyssa glanced over at Clint. Sunlight streaming in through the windshield seemed to highlight his features. It had been bad enough sitting across from him at the diner trying to eat. Now they were back in the close quarters of his truck and everything male about him was out in the forefront again. She moved her gaze from his face to the strong, sturdy hands that were gripping the steering wheel, and then lower to his lap where the denim of his jeans stretched tight across muscular thighs.

“Alyssa?”

She nearly jumped when he said her name again, reminding her that she hadn’t answered his question. “Yes and no.”

He glanced over at her and frowned. “You either can or you can’t.”

“Not necessarily. There’s another option—can and don’t. Yes, I can ride a horse, but I choose not to.”

He gave her a strange look. “Is there a reason why?”

“Yes. What if I say that horses don’t like me?”

He gave a half laugh. “Then I’d say that if you feel that way it means you haven’t developed your own personal technique of dealing with them. A horse can detect a lot from people. Whether you’re too aggressive, too nice, sometimes both. A horse is the most easy-going animal that I know of.”

“Yeah, you would say that since you tame them,” she said, glancing out the truck window and thinking how beautiful the land was getting the farther they got away from the city.

“I’d say it even if I didn’t tame them. If you stay at the ranch I guarantee you will develop a liking for horses.”

“I never said I didn’t like them, Clint. It’s just I’ve been thrown off one too many times to suit my fancy. I know when to give in and quit.”

He chuckled. “I don’t. And if I stopped riding based on the number of times I’ve been thrown, I would have given up riding years ago. That’s part of it. Learning to ride with the intent of staying on.”

Alyssa heard what he was saying but it wouldn’t change her mind. The truck had come to a stop and she glanced over at Clint. He was staring at her in a way that had her pulse racing, was making her feel breathless. A brazen image formed in her mind. “What?” she asked in a low voice.

It was as if that one single word made him realize that he’d been staring and when the truck began moving again, he muttered, “Nothing.”

It was there on the tip of Alyssa’s tongue to say yes, it had been something and she had felt it, too, in the cozy space surrounding them. As she glanced back out the window, she thought that living on a ranch with him wouldn’t be easy. The only good thing was that he’d said he would be gone most of the time. That was good to know for her peace of mind.

“Will your family have a problem with it?”

She glanced back over at him. He was staring straight ahead and she thought that was good. Every time he looked at her, sensations she hadn’t felt in a long time, or ever, seemed to unleash inside of her. “A problem with what?” she asked, thinking she liked the sound of his voice a little too much.

“Living with me for a while at the ranch. That is if you decide to do it.”

Alyssa sighed. There was no need to go into any details that certain members of her family wouldn’t care if she left Waco for good. It was all too complicated to get into and too personal to explain. That was the only good thing about the thirty days. Time away from Waco was probably what she needed. Ruining her wedding day hadn’t been enough for Kim. She was determined to sabotage any decent thing that came into Alyssa’s life. “No, they wouldn’t have a problem with it,” she finally answered. “What about your folks?”

He glanced over at her and smiled and that single smile ignited a torch within her. She actually felt heat flowing through her body. “My family is fine with whatever I do. My brother, sister and I are extremely close but we know when to give each other space and when to mind our own business.” He then chuckled and the sound raked across her skin in a sensuous sort of way.

“Okay, I admit when it came to Casey, Cole and I never did mind our own business. We felt she was our responsibility, especially during her dating years. But now that she’s married to McKinnon all is well,” he added.

“Have they been married long?”

He shook his head. “Since the end of November. Cole and I couldn’t ask for a better man for our sister.”

Alyssa smiled. “That’s a nice thing to say.”

“It’s the truth. Although we do sympathize with him most of the time. Casey can be pretty damn headstrong so McKinnon has his work cut out for him.”

“So your immediate family consists of your brother and your sister?”

“We used to think that. My mother was Uncle Sid’s sister and she came to live with him at the ranch when her husband was supposedly killed during a rodeo and she was left carrying triplets.”

Alyssa slanted him a confused look. “Supposedly was killed?”

“Yes, that’s the story she and Uncle Sid fabricated for everyone when in fact our father was very much alive. However, she felt she was doing him a favor by not telling him she was pregnant and disappearing. So Cole, Casey and I grew up believing our father was dead.”

“When did you find out differently?”

“On Mom’s deathbed. She wanted us to know the truth.”

Alyssa immediately recalled her grandfather’s deathbed confession. He’d revealed that he was her biological father and not her grandfather. It had been a confession that had changed her life forever, one that had caused jealousy within the family—a family that had never been close anyway. “What happened after that?”

He smiled over at her and she knew what he was thinking. She asked a lot of questions. Gramps would always tell her that, too. Thinking of the man whom for years she’d thought of as her grandfather sent a warm feeling through her.

“After that, Cole and I decided to find our father and develop a relationship with him. We knew it wouldn’t be easy, considering we would be a surprise to him and the fact that we were grown men in our late twenties.”

That hadn’t been too long ago, she mused, considering he was thirty-two now. Probably around the same time she had been learning the truth about her own parentage. “Did you find him?”

He gave another chuckle, this one just as sensitive to her flesh as the other had been. “Yes, we found him, all right. And we found something else right along with him.”

“What?”

“A slew of cousins we didn’t know we had. Westmorelands from just about everywhere. We suddenly found ourselves part of a big family and it was a family that welcomed us with open arms. They’ve made us feel as if we were a part of them so quickly it was almost overwhelming.”

Alyssa studied the sound of his voice and could tell that even now for him it was still overwhelming. He was blessed to be a part of such a loving and giving group. There, however, was one thing she’d noted. He hadn’t mentioned how his sister had taken the revelation of the missing father.

“Your sister, how did she handle meeting her father for the first time?” she asked.

A part of her needed to know. She knew how she had handled it when she’d discovered that Isaac Barkley was her father and not her grandfather. A part of her had wished he would have told her sooner. That would have explained a lot of things and then the two of them would have been able to face the jealousy and hatred together. But he had died, leaving her all alone.

“It was harder for Casey to come around and accept things. She’d believed what Mom had told us all those years. She wasn’t ready to meet a father who was very much alive. It took her a while to form a relationship with him, but that’s all in the past now. In fact she moved to Montana to be close to him. She met McKinnon there and fell in love.”

Alyssa sighed. A part of her wished she could find someone and fall in love but she knew that wouldn’t be possible as long as Kimberly Barkley still existed on this earth. Kimberly was determined to destroy whatever bit of happiness came Alyssa’s way.

“This is the entrance to the ranch, Alyssa.”

Alyssa leaned forward and glanced out the windshield and side windows and caught her breath. What she saw all around her was spellbinding. Simply breathtaking. She had lived on a small ranch in Houston for the first thirteen years of her life and had loved it. Then one day, her mother had sent her away to live with her grandfather in the city. That was probably the one most decent thing her mother had ever done in her life.

“It’s beautiful, Clint. How big is it?” Everywhere she looked she saw ranges, fields and meadows. She couldn’t imagine waking up to this view every morning, every single day.

“If you include the reserve on the south ridge it’s over fifty thousand acres. Uncle Sid was a ladies’ man who never married and so he left the ranch to me, Cole and Casey.”

Alyssa nodded. She didn’t want to consider the possibility, didn’t want to imagine how it would feel for once to not have to worry about Kim dropping in just make her life a living hell. The truck, she noticed, had stopped, and she lifted a brow as she glanced over at Clint.