A Husband Made In Texas. Rosemary Carter
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was—and it wasn’t really that much—it all happened so long ago.’
Dam the woman. She could have shown at least a little interest in his marriage, He said as much.
Turning back to him, Kaitlin said brightly, ‘I’m sure the story of your shattered relationship is fascinating. But right now I’m a lot more concerned about a little lost calf.’
Like her mother, Kaitlin seemed to know just how to put a man in his place.
Flynn’s hand dropped. ‘Which horse shall I take?’ His voice was hard as he moved away from her.
Kaitlin suggested a tall stallion, and Flynn saddled it. It was some time since he had worked as a cowboy, but his passion for horses had never lessened. The horse, temperamental by nature, seemed to sense it was in the hands of a person who was more than its match, and stood still as Flynn got it ready for riding.
They were walking the horses side by side through the brushlands when Kaitlin turned in the saddle. ‘When did you learn to fly, Flynn?’
‘A while ago.’
‘Did your new employer teach you?’
He grinned at her. ‘I don’t have an employer, Kaitlin.’ ‘You don’t?’
Her eyes were so wide that Flynn laughed. ‘You seem to find that more amazing than the fact that my marriage didn’t last.’
‘Not really,’ Kaitlin said after a long moment. ‘You have the look of a man who stopped taking orders from other people.’
Flynn was careful not to show his surprise at her perceptiveness. ‘I found out some time ago that I needed to work for myself.’
‘What do you do, Flynn?’
‘This and that.’
‘Not much of an answer, and well you know it.’
Flynn just grinned at Kaitlin, obviously infuriating her so much that she dug her heels into the sides of her horse, spurring it into a gallop. It didn’t take Flynn long to go after her.
It was almost an hour before he saw a streak of brown in some wild grass not far from a clump of lethal-looking mesquite.
‘There’s your calf.’ He gestured.
‘I saw it, too.’ .
‘It’s quite safe right now, busy grazing and with its mind on its food. Still, it’s lucky to be on its feet. Fifty yards more to the left, all those spiky branches—and your calf could have had its neck slashed.’
‘As if I don’t know that,’ Kaitlin responded grimly. ‘Why do you think I was so desperate to find it?’
Kaitlin was uncoiling her lariat when Flynn leaned towards her and tugged it from her hands.
‘What do you think you’re doing now?’ Green eyes were outraged.
Flynn laughed. ‘Isn’t it obvious? I’m going to rope a calf.’
‘I didn’t ask you to. Give me back the rope, Flynn.’
‘I’m afraid not.’
‘Flynn!’ It was Kaitlin’s turn to lean towards him, but he held the lariat just out of her reach.
‘Think I don’t know how to rope an animal, Flynn?’
‘I’ll take your word for it, but I didn’t come along just for the ride.’
‘I keep telling you, I don’t need your help!’ She threw the words at him.
For a long moment Flynn studied the lithe figure, determination and defiance in every feminine line and angle. God, but she was an aggravating female, she’d be nothing but trouble to any man foolish enough to try and make a life with her. But, dam it, she was sexy!
She had registered the searching gaze. ‘What?’
‘Never figured you for a cowgirl, Kaitlin.’
‘Maybe you should have.’
‘Back to cowboys—why isn’t one of them out here roping?’
‘I...’ Kaitlin hesitated. ‘I wanted to do it myself.’
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,