A Husband Made In Texas. Rosemary Carter
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‘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