The Rancher's Unexpected Family. Myrna Mackenzie
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her arms around her abdomen as if those slender arms could protect the child inside. That single movement made him remember things, feel raw inside. He didn’t like that one bit.
But as if his swearing had unleashed something in her, she changed before his eyes. “Okay, I get it. You’re never going to help.” Her eyes flashed fire, and suddenly she didn’t look so fragile anymore. She looked a bit like a miffed tigress. “I hate to say this, Holt, but sometimes I don’t like men very much.” With an accusing look, she swung her head and turned to go, her blond hair catching on the pale pink collar of her blouse, exposing her long, slender neck. And whether it was her tigress ways or that beautiful neck, a jolt of physical awareness shot through him.
Don’t notice that, he told himself, trying to ignore the instant heat that her innocent manner and her movement had called forth in him. Don’t think of her that way. Kathryn was a woman on a mission, a woman dedicated to passionate causes, and a woman with a baby on the way. She wasn’t in the market for anything short-lived or based on physical chemistry alone, while he wasn’t open to anything more. He didn’t get involved with women who wanted too much from him. After Lilith, he especially didn’t get involved with pregnant women. The fact that Kathryn was both passionate and pregnant made her radioactive. A woman to steer around, not get close to.
And yet, here he was, thinking about the long, naked column of her neck and trying not to think about any more of her naked. Holt wanted to swear again. He held back.
At that moment, Blue, Holt’s German shepherd mix, wandered near. Blue was big and slobbery with a torn ear. He looked like a dog who could eat humans just for fun, and most people kept their distance when they first met him.
Kathryn bent over and held her hand out to him so he could sniff and make up his mind about her, then rubbed him behind his ears just as if he was a cute little puppy. Blue looked as if he was in ecstasy.
“He’s a killer,” Holt said, disgusted with Blue, but mostly with himself.
“I can see that. You trained him to go for the throat?”
Holt raised one brow. “I trained him for a lot of things. Right now he seems to have forgotten all of them. I guess you’re better at schmoozing than you thought.”
She glanced up quickly and evidently noticed him staring at her. A delicious pale pink climbed her throat, making him want to groan.
Kathryn quickly looked at Blue. “No, he just likes to be rubbed.”
“Who doesn’t?” Had he really said that? Oh, yeah, he had. The startled look in her eyes left no question. The woman was shocked. Just yesterday he would have been glad. But today she had made him think about things he couldn’t ignore. He was going to say yes. The truth was that he couldn’t have anyone else on his conscience. He already had a whole lot to answer for, things he struggled not to think about every day, and like it or not, he was going to have to get mixed up in Kathryn’s passionate project and do a bunch of things he didn’t like.
But two things he wouldn’t do. He wouldn’t expose his soul, his demons, that part of himself only he was privy to, by letting her know just how she’d talked him into this. And he wouldn’t let her be in control the way it had gone down with Lilith.
Time to do a little creative backpedaling. Somehow.
“I probably shouldn’t have made that last comment about Blue,” he began, not very smoothly.
At his name, Blue’s ears perked up a bit, but he was still looking like some lovesick fool, slobbering all over Kathryn’s hand. What was it with the woman?
“So you think I should help you get this clinic built?” he asked, stalling while he tried to think of some good idea. She was looking at him as if he’d been the one who’d slipped and maybe hit his head on a rock. And why not? The woman had been all but begging him to help her for days.
“I do. I really do.”
“How do I know you’re not just some Goody Two-shoes who gets fired up about causes and then drops them to move on to the next one? You just said that you weren’t staying.”
“I’m not. I’m an urban planner. The jobs I’m looking for will be in cities and I have a baby to support, but I assure you that I won’t run out on this project.”
“How do I know that you’re truly dedicated?”
She raised that pretty chin. “You could try taking my word on it.”
He shook his head slowly, almost sadly. “Kathryn, Kathryn, I’m a businessman. I can’t just take your word on things.” Even though he did that every day. But she couldn’t know that. And anyway, he didn’t really know her. There was a good chance she might bolt and he would be left with a mess on his hands.
“And this project will take time away from my ranching duties. I might have to set a few things aside. Like …”
He paused.
“Like …” she prompted.
“Well, like Blue here. He’s used to me having time to put him through his paces. What if I don’t have time for that stuff?”
She raised one pretty brow. “You’re telling me that the only thing holding you back is that you’re worried you won’t have time to exercise Blue?”
The dog moaned when she said his name as if he’d been waiting for her to do that all his life.
Holt gave him the evil eye. Which Blue ignored.
“A man’s dog is his best friend.”
“You have friends, then?” she asked, still in full tigress mode.
Holt looked taken aback. “That seems like a snotty thing to say to a man when you’ve asked him to do you a favor.”
She blushed that pretty pink that started somewhere beneath her clothing, and Holt swallowed hard. “You’re right. Of course,” she agreed. “What if—if you get bog down and can’t take care of Blue, I could, er, put him through his paces?”
“And you think it’s my duty to the town to take care of getting this clinic?”
“Just to help. I’ll be doing a lot of it, too.”
“Ah.”
“Are you trying to intimidate me?”
He shrugged. “Is it working?”
“No.”
“Good. Because I was really just testing you to see how dedicated you are. So you’ll do a lot of the work, you’ll walk my dog and you’ll—what?”
Kathryn raised herself up to her full height. Despite being shorter than him and very pregnant, she somehow managed to look down her nose at him. “I’ll make sure that your town has a first-rate clinic, Mr. Calhoun.”
He nodded, then turned to the dog. “What do you think, Blue?”
The dog turned sad eyes on Kathryn and nudged closer, obviously hoping for more of that rubbing. Then to Holt’s surprise, Blue gave a little woof. That wasn’t like him. He was well trained, and he didn’t bark unless there was a reason to bark.
Kathryn crossed her arms. “I suppose you’re going to tell me that Blue doesn’t think the clinic is a good idea.”
Holt wanted to smile, but he managed to refrain. Kathryn Ellis was pretty cute when she was miffed. Why had he never noticed that before?
“Not at all. Blue thinks I should sleep on what you’ve said and then I’ll give you my reply tomorrow.” If they were going to work together, he was going to call the shots. He wasn’t going to risk a repeat of Lilith.
“I see.”
She didn’t, of course, but he had to give her credit for being a good sport about the whole thing.
“This