The Reluctant Texas Rancher (Harlequin American Romance) Read online

  “I don’t see it as our problem,” Clyde argued.

  “Well, it’s not. Except…” Liz deliberately made eye contact with all three men “…if you don’t work together to find a solution, the three of you will likely be embroiled in a lengthy battle.” She paused to let her warning sink in. “’Cause I know J.T. He is not going to give up on this idea.”

  Silence fell.

  “On the other hand,” she continued, more gently now, “if the three of you put your heads together and figure out a solution that captures the essence of what J.T. is trying to do, and would be acceptable to the neighborhood, then I am sure I can convince him to scale back his expectations and accept your proposal in the spirit that it is given.”

  The men exhaled and exchanged looks.

  “It can’t hurt to try,” Clyde said finally.

  “Deep down, he is a good guy,” Tim added. “Just eccentric.”

  “And I would still like to sell a pool,” Steve admitted.

  This, they all knew, was the only way it would happen.

  “So we’re in agreement?” Liz asked, standing.

  The men nodded. Handshakes sealed the deal.

  Liz was in the process of showing them all out when the door opened and Travis walked in.

  Though she had promised herself she would be immune to him emotionally from here on out, her heart skipped a beat at the sight of him.

  He was still wearing the ranch clothes he’d had on that morning, only now the chambray shirt and denim jeans were covered with smudges of dirt and grass stains, and the stubble on his handsome jaw looked even silkier. It gave him a ruggedly sexy appeal.

  Telling herself to ignore her reaction, she said, “Everything okay?”

  He nodded, his attention on ranch matters once again. “We’ve got fifty calves that are now a month old. They need their first set of vaccinations, and your mom wants it done this evening.”

  Uh-oh. “It’s a two-person job, even after you get them separated from their mamas,” Liz said.

  He nodded. “I offered to bring in an extra hand, but Reba refused to hear of it. She said that tradition requires a Cartwright woman be part of the inoculating team.”

  Liz sensed a matchmaking scheme kicking into high gear. “Let me guess… Mom volunteered me over Faye Elizabeth’s protests.” Without bothering to check Liz’s schedule. So what was new?

  Travis gave her a look that said I wish. He shook his head. “She’s going to do it.”

  Liz groaned. “And likely reaggravate her sciatica in the process.”

  “I agree it’s a bad idea.” Travis hissed out a breath and shrugged. “But Reba’s running the ranch....”

  Liz came closer, inhaling the man-leather-and-horse scent of him. She stared at his broad shoulders. Shoulders that right now were carrying too much. “So Mom gets to make all the decisions.”

  Travis acknowledged that with a slight bow of his head. “You could change that. All you’d have to do is take over the reins, like your family wants....”

  Liz drew a shaky breath and gave up trying to explain her resistance to being put in charge. She had too much responsibility on her own shoulders right now. “It’s not that simple and you know it.”

  His eyes filled with understanding, and he touched her cheek. “I do.” Emotional connection made, he dropped his hand, stepped back. “But I’m also not in a position to tell your mother what to do. My job—at the moment, anyway—is to follow orders. And right now I’m on my way over to the vet’s office to pick up the vaccines that Reba ordered this morning.”

  Tingling from the brief, tender contact, Liz beckoned him toward her private office. “Aren’t you going to ask about your case?”

  He fell into step behind her. “I figured if there was anything to report, you’d tell me.”

  Liz sighed. “I faxed the letter threatening counterlitigation this morning, and I gave them until five o’clock to respond.”

  Travis grinned, appreciating the legal gamesmanship. “Which means they’ll send something at 4:57.”

  “Probably.” Liz answered his cryptic smile with one of her own. “In the meantime…tell Mom not to sweat it, that I’ll help you with the inoculations this evening.”

  Travis frowned, looking as reluctant to overburden her as she was to overwork him. “Sure about that?” he drawled.

  Trying not to get too excited about the evening—it would be hard work, after all, and lots of it—Liz nodded. “Absolutely. By then, the initial response of opposing counsel should be in.” For a moment, she indulged in a romantic whim and let her gaze linger on the rugged contours of his face. “We can talk about what our next step should be while we work.”

  LIZ PHONED HER MOTHER as soon as Travis left, and told her she’d be coming back to the ranch shortly. “But there is something I want from you in return....”

  “You’re sure J.T. wants company tonight?” Reba asked.

  “It doesn’t matter, Mom. He needs it. And if you want me at the ranch, you’re going to have to help me keep him out of trouble.”

  Her mother chuckled. “Doesn’t sound like I have any choice. I’ll get right on it.”

  An hour and a half later, Liz drove up to the ranch house.

  Her grandmother’s sedan was parked in front of the house, its trunk open. Tillie was loading cleaning supplies, a vacuum cleaner and a mop. Faye Elizabeth was putting in a cooler and two insulated food carriers for hot dishes.

  Liz moved quickly to lend a hand. “What’s going on?”

  Tillie frowned. “Have you been in J. T. Haskell’s home recently?”

  “No.” Liz tensed, leery of receiving any more bad news. “Why?”

  Faye Elizabeth leaned close. “Reba called from town. Apparently, it’s a complete disaster. The fridge is empty except for cookies and beer. No wonder the man’s a mess. Apparently, he hasn’t had a decent meal since he can’t remember when.”

  Tillie got in the passenger seat. “The man needs help and we’re going to give it to him. And we’d do it even if we didn’t owe him.”

  Liz knew that was true. Life in Laramie County was all about neighbor helping neighbor. Still… “Did J.T. agree to that?”

  Tillie grinned. “From what I heard, your mother didn’t give him much choice. Besides, what man in his right mind turns down Faye Elizabeth’s home cooking?”

  Good point, Liz thought. “How long are you going to be gone?” And how long will Travis and I be alone out here?

  “Don’t know.” Her grandmother shrugged. “We’ll call.”

  Liz could see Travis working in the pasture closest to the barn. As always, he was a sight to behold—the picture of raw capability and masculine efficiency. And it looked as if he had his hands full at the moment.

  The cows were on one side of the fence, their calves already in the corral. Moos of displeasure echoed across the countryside.

  While the ladies drove off, Liz hurried inside the ranch house to change.

  By the time she got out to the corral where the chute was located, the frantic mooing and calling of cows and calves had escalated.

  Travis glanced up at her. “Ready to get started?”

  Trying not to think what it would be like to have him here on a permanent basis, Liz nodded.

  If she was going to keep from falling into bed with him again, she was definitely going to have to burn off some emotional energy.

  She pulled on her leather work gloves. “Let’s get to it.”

  Together, they headed toward the pasture.

  Around sixty-five pounds at birth, the calves now weighed about a hundred and ten. They were used to being handled gently, as all the Four Winds cattle were, so showed little fear as Travis approached them one by one and maneuvered them onto their side. He held them firmly while Liz administered the five inoculations, starting with IBR/P13 into each nostril. The vaccinations for haemophilus, pasteurella, leptospirosis and clostridial disease were given intramuscularly.

  When she’d
finished, they let the calf up and turned it into another corral, with troughs of water and creep feed.

  Then on to the next.

  Forty-nine more times, they administered protection and turned the baby calves out to feed. All the while, their mothers mooed and paced and watched protectively from the other side of the fence.

  Finally, it was all done.

  Liz opened the corral gates, and Travis shooed the calves through. Mamas and babies were reunited in the adjacent pasture, and suddenly the ranch was serenely quiet once again.

  Liz turned to him. Though filthy, sweaty and smelling of cows, she had never been happier.

  He looked pretty satisfied, too, and gazed at her in gratitude. “How about we both get cleaned up and meet at the ranch house?”

  He hadn’t so much as touched her, yet his glance warmed her through and through.

  Liz smiled. “Sounds good to me,” she said.

  FORTY-FIVE MINUTES LATER, Liz cradled the phone to her ear. “What do you mean, you’re not coming home ’til midnight?” she demanded of her mother, waving Travis into the Four Winds kitchen with her free hand.

  Reba shouted to be heard above the voices in the background. “The evening is young and we’ve decided to teach J.T. to play SKIP-BO.” There was a chorus of laughter. “Can you believe he’s never learned?”

  Liz knew the card game was incredibly popular with senior citizens in Laramie, far surpassing the old standbys of bridge and poker. “It sounds like fun, Mom. You all be careful driving home.”

  Reba chuckled flirtatiously and murmured something to J.T. that Liz couldn’t quite catch. “Oh, for heaven’s sake, honey. You don’t need to worry about that. Of course we will. And don’t wait up.” She ended the call.

  Travis came closer.

  Darkness had fallen outside, but the kitchen lights cast a cozy golden glow, making the room feel close and intimate.

  A sensation made more so by the tall, rugged man smelling of soap.

  He sauntered closer, his eyes filled with the easy affection he showed to all his friends. “Everything okay?”

  Telling herself that was all they would be—friends—Liz took the lid off the Crock-Pot. The mouthwatering aroma of a hearty beef stew filled the room.

  Ignoring the pebbling of her nipples against her bra, she bent to look in the silverware drawer. “Seems to be. The ladies are staying in town to play cards with J.T., so they won’t be home until later.”

  Accepting her wordless offer to help himself to the food on the counter, Travis filled his plate. “You’re surprised.”

  Liz took butter and jam out of the fridge, along with a pitcher of mint-flavored iced tea, and set them on the table next to the cloth-covered basket of sourdough biscuits. “It sounded like J.T. was actually having fun.”

  “Three Cartwright women plying him with good food and better company? What’s not to like? And yet…you don’t trust it.”

  Liz sat down opposite Travis. She spread her napkin on her lap, glad she had someone other than family to confide in. “I’m happy J.T. is getting some respite from his grief.”

  Travis forked up a tender carrot dripping in gravy. “But you don’t think it will last, do you.”

  Reluctantly, Liz admitted, “No. Unfortunately, I don’t.” She took a bite and found the stew to be as melt-in-your-mouth delicious as it smelled. “But I’ll take the reprieve.”

  “Speaking of difficult situations…”

  They had planned to talk while they worked, but it had proved impossible. At times during the inoculations the noise had been damn near deafening.

  Liz took a deep breath, sat back in her chair and forced herself into lawyer mode. “The only thing I got was an email at the end of the day, telling me that opposing counsel plan to talk with Olympia. Everything is on hold until she has a chance to weigh in, and they don’t expect that to be until late Friday, at the earliest.”

  Travis’s brows lowered angrily. “They’re stalling and strategizing. Their next move will probably be to call a face-to-face meeting.”

  “Unless they decide to sue anyway and go straight to depositions. In either case,” Liz promised, reassuring Travis with a frank look, “I plan to be ready for whatever they throw at us next.” She forked up more stew with gusto. “Which means you and I have a lot of prep work to do, too.”

  Travis drummed his fingers on the table. “Such as…?”

  Liz tried not to think about what those same hands had done to her earlier in the day. “I need background information,” she said bluntly. “Everything and anything opposing counsel might ask you about.”

  THE LAST THING TRAVIS wanted to talk to Liz about was the trouble that had ended his employment with Haverty, Brockman & Roberts.

  “We’ve already put in two very full days.” He stood and carried his plate to the sink. “Can’t this wait until tomorrow?”

  “I guess that depends.” She tilted her head, considering. “Just how badly do you want your law license reinstated?”

  Travis put his dishes in the dishwasher. “A week ago, I would have said it was the most important thing on earth to me.” He went back to finish clearing the table.

  “And now?” she asked softly.

  “I keep asking myself if it’s going to be worth it to have my dirty laundry dragged out for everyone to see.” He braced a hip against the counter. “There are other ways I can use my education.”

  Liz pressed her lips together. “That would be a terrible shame, because you are one fine lawyer.”

  The conviction in her voice surprised him. “How do you know?” he challenged.

  She looked at him in a way that made all rational thinking cease. “I looked up some of your cases last night, read some of your briefs,” she admitted. “Pretty amazing stuff for an associate.”

  You’re pretty amazing. Shrugging, he explained the reason for his expertise in a field many attorneys found daunting. “I spent time with my grandpa Anderson, both in the oil patch and at Anderson Oil refineries, when I was a kid. He made sure that I understood how important it was to know the industry if I wanted to be a successful oil and gas attorney.”

  “Is that why Olympia Herndon wanted you to represent her?” Liz asked curiously, reaching for the coffee. “Because of your background?”

  Travis fitted a paper filter into the plastic funnel and snapped it into the machine. He stepped back to give Liz room. “She knew my grandfather was Hargett Anderson.”

  Liz opened the can and spooned coffee into the filter. “And I’m guessing so did the law firm that hired you.”

  The fragrance of French roast coffee rose up between them. Travis nodded in answer to her question, adding, “HB&R wanted me to bring Anderson Oil business into the firm, but my grandfather has his own in-house legal team.”

  Liz’s lower lip twisted pensively. “Did you give them any illusions about what your family connections might yield, in terms of clients? Or in any way infer that you could convince Hargett to jettison his in-house team and go with you and HB&R?”

  “No.” Travis added the proper amount of water to the coffeemaker and stood back as Liz switched it on. “I made it clear that was not going to be the case, that even if it was offered I would not accept any nepotism.”

  Liz rummaged around in the fridge, finally emerging with the remains of a pecan pie and a can of whipped cream. She got down a couple plates. “Did they believe you?”

  Travis reached for the silverware. “In the final analysis? Probably not. Which is why I had to go all-out to land other big clients, without drawing on the accomplishments of other family members.”

  Liz cut two generous slices and put them on the plates. “And were you successful at that?”

  “I was getting there.” Travis watched as she shook the can and squirted swirls of cream onto each piece.

  He caught her hand in his, scooped off a glob of cream and lifted it to her mouth. “And I thought we weren’t going to talk business tonight.”

 
“You said that.” She caught her breath as he smeared whipped cream across her lower lip. “I never agreed.”

  Travis thought about what she would look like covered with the decadent topping. He caught her by the waist and tugged her against him. Lowered his head. “Maybe it’s time you did.”

  With a hint of mischief glimmering in her green eyes, Liz licked the cream off her lip.

  He grinned, nodding toward the aerosol can. “There’s plenty more where that came from.”

  She flushed, her nipples pressing against her shirt. “This is a bad idea,” she told him with a moan. But she didn’t move away.

  Travis took that as an invitation. He caught her chin in his hand, threaded his other through her hair. “I’ve been thinking about it all day,” he murmured. “Wishing I could turn back the clock. Wishing we had never broken up. Wishing I could kiss you, just one more time.”

  So he did.

  Chapter Eight

  Travis had often wondered, in retrospect, if the emotional punch of his teenage romance with Liz had been exaggerated.

  He found his memories did not do Liz justice. Making out with her was an amazing experience.

  Everywhere he touched her she was strong and warm and feminine. Her kisses were evocative and intimate, but there was eroticism to the passion now, a woman’s knowledge and desire that had not been there before.

  This was no wary virgin he was kissing now, but an adult who had survived life’s disappointments and triumphed over every professional challenge, with her confidence about the future intact.

  Damned if her enthusiasm wasn’t catching....

  AS RIBBONS OF DESIRE unfurled inside her, a wave of longing swept through Liz. She curled into Travis’s embrace and deepened their kiss, her limbs heavy and weak, her skin tingling.

  She’d never felt like this. Never felt as wanted as she did when she was in Travis’s arms. She’d never had the lusty, physical side of her take control, or dreamed that the two of them might actually get another chance.