Two in the Saddle Read online

  Travis snorted. “They’re not only in love, they’re in la-la land. It got so I had to keep a close eye on ol’ Sebastian, because his mind wasn’t on his work. Twice he dumped oats in the watering trough, which made a hellacious mess.”

  “I know what you mean.” Gwen kept her attention on Elizabeth, and although the baby snuffled a little while she drank, she was drinking, which was the main thing. “When Matty and I went to Canon City to look for clothes, she was driving down the street raving about how wonderful Sebastian is and nearly stripped the gears on her truck.”

  Travis blew out a breath. “I was wondering why her truck wasn’t shifting so smooth. I ran it yesterday so it wouldn’t sit idle all week. I’ll bet she’s got some teeth missing in those gears.”

  “It’s possible.” Gwen smiled, remembering how excited and totally brainless Matty had been in those last few days before the wedding.

  “I have to say this love business is scary,” Travis said.

  Gwen glanced up. “I take it you’ve never…”

  “Not to the point where I’d start rubbing Bag Balm on the hood of my truck, thinking it was car wax. Sebastian did that, too.” He paused. “I guess you’ve been in love, seeing as how you got married.”

  Gwen thought about Derek. She’d been crazy about him once. Love had made her blind, deaf and dumb. “I have been in love.” She gazed down at Elizabeth. “If you’re lucky, you fall for someone who feels the same about you.”

  “Hey, he must have if he asked you to marry him.”

  “Maybe he did, in his own way, but he wasn’t the faithful type.” Gwen tilted the bottle a fraction to keep the apple juice flowing. “Unfortunately he didn’t realize that until after he put a ring on my finger.”

  “Do you still love him?”

  The roughened timbre of his voice made her look up. If she didn’t know better, she’d swear he was worried about her answer. Yet he shouldn’t care if she still loved Derek or not. Sex and love were two different things to Travis, and he only wanted one of them from her.

  Before she could answer, Elizabeth began to cough and gag.

  Gwen immediately handed the bottle to Travis and hoisted the baby to her shoulder again. She patted her firmly as the baby continued to cough and wheeze.

  “Is she okay?” Travis hovered near. “Want me to call the doc?”

  “I think she got some down the wrong drain.” She stood and walked back and forth with Elizabeth, jiggling and patting.

  Eventually the baby’s coughing became a burp. Then she began taking shallow, raspy breaths.

  “Do you think her fever’s worse?” Travis came close and laid his hand over Elizabeth’s forehead. “Maybe we should take her temperature again.”

  “Let’s wait a bit on that,” Gwen said. Having Travis so close made her tremble, even when he was only there to check on the baby. She put some distance between them. “I really think she just needs time to fight this. Maybe we should try changing her and putting her down again.”

  “I’ll do that. Let me take her.” He scooped her out of Gwen’s arms.

  In the process he brushed a hand across her breast. Gwen was sure it was an accident. The touch was too casual to be intentional. When Travis wanted to caress a woman, he wouldn’t be sly about it. Still, the contact made her nipple pucker in reaction.

  “I’ll come upstairs with you,” she said, following him through the kitchen and into the hallway. As long as she concentrated on the sick child, she could resist him, she told herself. “I want to try putting a rolled blanket under the crib mattress, to elevate the bed so she won’t be so horizontal. I think she might be able to breathe easier that way.”

  “Good idea.” His sock feet whispered over the carpet runner on the stairs and a loose board squeaked under his weight. “You should fix that.”

  “Actually I sort of like it. A squeaky step lets me know when my guests are coming downstairs. That way they don’t catch me by surprise.” And that would go for Travis, too, she thought. A squeak from the stairs tonight and she’d know she was in trouble.

  “Have you ever had anybody stay here that worried you?”

  “No.” Not until now. “I check on the people who make reservations. If I find anything suspicious, I call them back and tell them I’ve made a mistake and I’m full at that time.”

  “That’s good, but it might not be enough. If word gets out that you’re running the place alone….”

  “I know some basic self-defense techniques.” Gwen didn’t know how to take his obvious concern for her safety. On a surface level, she wanted to brush it off as being condescending and typically male. But on a deeper level she liked it. Derek had always assumed she could take care of herself, and she could, but there was something gratifying about a man who took a protective stance.

  “I think a dog would be a great idea.” He turned left into Elizabeth’s bedroom. “A big dog.”

  “I don’t have much of a yard.” Gwen followed him and went over to retrieve the blanket that lay folded across the foot of the room’s queen-size bed.

  “No problem. Take Fido for runs in the park. Or bring him out when you come to see Matty and Sebastian.” Travis put Elizabeth on her back in the crib and she began to complain. “Hey, Lizzie, what’s up, kid?” He levered the side down and started unsnapping the baby’s sleeper. “Easy does it, darlin’. Got to change your britches.”

  Travis was so casual about the future, Gwen thought. When she came out to visit Matty and Sebastian, he’d said. And when she did, Travis would be there every summer, because in addition to being one of Sebastian’s best friends, he now worked for the combined spreads. Travis would be in her future as long as she remained friends with Matty and Sebastian. If Travis became her lover, no matter how long it lasted, he would be a very complicated part of that future.

  She held the blanket to her chest as she watched him change Elizabeth’s diaper with efficient movements. He’d obviously taken the time to learn how so he’d be as proficient at this as he was at everything else he chose to do.

  With no difficulty he found what he needed in the diaper bag, and he kept the baby so constantly entertained she had little time to fuss. When her sleeper was off, he leaned down and vibrated his lips against her tummy. Sick as she was, she began to chuckle and make little crowing noises.

  Travis always seemed to know the right sensual move to make, Gwen thought. A touch, a kiss, or a teasing caress always came at the right moment. His timing was impeccable.

  He fished a bedraggled sock monkey out of the diaper bag and gave it to Elizabeth to hold. “Look who I found! Bruce!”

  The baby squealed in delight and waved the monkey around, whapping it against Travis’s cheek.

  “You missed your Bruce, didn’t you?” Travis said. “No wonder you couldn’t sleep.”

  “Shoot, I didn’t even think about looking in the bag for that monkey,” Gwen said. “He’s bound to help the situation.”

  “Gotta have Bruce,” Travis said as he took off the wet diaper.

  “I found out Sebastian used to have a sock monkey named Bruce,” Gwen said. “Now that he’s named this one Bruce, I suppose when Elizabeth has kids, she’ll give them a sock monkey named Bruce. A hundred years from now, her descendants will still be getting sock monkeys named Bruce.”

  Travis’s movements stilled and he glanced over his shoulder at Gwen. “Good Lord. If Lizzie is really my kid, then some day I could be a granddaddy.”

  Gwen couldn’t help chuckling at the astonishment in his expression. “Does that prospect horrify you?”

  “No,” he said thoughtfully. He turned back to his work. “No, it doesn’t horrify me. It probably should, but it doesn’t.”

  Gwen longed to have him explain exactly why he’d decided not to get married. From her viewpoint, he was ripe for such a commitment. But he’d be suspicious of a question like that coming from her, so she didn’t ask it.

  “Here’s a blanket to tuck under the head of the cr
ib mattress,” she said, laying it on the top of the dresser next to the crib. “I’m going to get more water for the humidifier and then I’ll see about some dinner for us.”

  “That would be great.” He glanced over at her. “I’m feeling a lot calmer about Lizzie than I was a few hours ago. Thanks for all you’ve done.”

  “I haven’t done much.”

  “You were here when I needed you.”

  The words were more potent than he probably meant them to be, she thought. “Glad I could be of help.” Then she left the room before she said or did something really dumb.

  AN HOUR LATER Travis had polished off a second helping of lasagna and wondered if he had room for a cinnamon roll or two for dessert. Gwen could cook like nobody’s business, and he’d gotten a kick out of eating off of antique china in her small formal dining room.

  He’d checked on Lizzie in between courses of lasagna, and she was sleeping pretty soundly. Gwen had put on a new pot of coffee and the atmosphere in the house was downright cozy.

  He glanced across the table at Gwen. During the meal he’d managed to find out a little about her folks and gathered that they’d pressured her to do something more high-toned than run a bed and breakfast in a small town like Huerfano. He thought Gwen and this place were a perfect fit, and she seemed to love the role of hostess. He hoped she wouldn’t let her folks talk her into selling the house and becoming scholarly like them, or a big-city hotshot like her brother. She seemed cut out for this life.

  Besides, Huerfano would be a sadder place if Gwen ever left it, he thought. He didn’t like the idea at all.

  He laid his cloth napkin beside his plate. “You’re something, you know that?”

  “I’m really not going to bed with you,” she said quietly. “So you can just stop giving me that look.”

  He laughed in surprise. “What look?”

  “Don’t you suppose I can see what’s going on in that fertile mind of yours? You were smiling that smile. Tell me you weren’t sitting over there thinking of how to maneuver us into bed, now that Elizabeth’s asleep and dinner’s over.”

  Never mind that for most of the meal he’d been contemplating exactly what she’d just accused him of. At this very minute he’d been thinking very pure thoughts, and he reacted with the outrage of the innocent. “I was thinking how well you run this bed and breakfast!”

  “Oh, right. I believe the word bed figured into your scheme, but the rest of it is horse manure.”

  He’d never been a fan of defensive tactics. In any tussle, he preferred going on the offense as quickly as possible. He leaned forward. “Since you’ve brought up the subject, let’s talk about your outfit.”

  Wariness lit her dark eyes. “It’s nothing special.”

  “Oh, really? When I first arrived this afternoon you were in a baggy old sweat suit.”

  “You caught me by surprise.”

  “I realize that.” And her clothes wouldn’t have made any difference to him. He would have been turned on by seeing her in sweats, once the immediate danger had passed with Lizzie, but he decided not to say that and prejudice his case. “Anyway, I come back later to find you in a silky blouse and snug-fitting pants. Your hair is down and you have on lipstick. What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Her cheeks grew very pink. “Probably a knee-jerk reaction to having guests. I’m in the habit of getting fixed up when someone’s going to be here overnight.”

  “I’m not a guest,” he said softly. “Or would you like me to pay for tonight? If so, name your price. I’d be happy to empty my bank account for what you’ve done for Lizzie.”

  “Of course I don’t want you to pay! Don’t be ridiculous. I’m doing this to help out with Elizabeth while Matty and Sebastian are gone. You know that.”

  “I thought I did. You’ve turned me down flat twice now, so I figured in return for your cooperation with Lizzie, you’d expect me to keep my hands off you. And that’s what I promised. Then I saw how you were dressed when I came back from the ranch, and I took another look at the whole program.”

  She was blushing furiously by this point. “All right! So I didn’t want to spend the evening with you looking like a scrub woman. Is that such a crime? I have some pride in my personal appearance, and I—”

  “Stop playing games. It doesn’t suit you. You want me to want you, Gwen.”

  She stared at him and her throat moved in a nervous swallow.

  That nervous movement caused a wave of tenderness to sweep over him. “It’s okay,” he murmured. “I’m flattered that you do. And no question about it, I want you. But fair is fair. You can’t wave a red cape in front of a bull and not expect him to charge.”

  She threw down her napkin and pushed back her chair. “And you love to get women to wave that red cape, don’t you? You present a challenge they can’t resist, and it’s not fair to do that, either, considering your agenda!”

  “I don’t know what you mean. I’m always up-front about—”

  “Oh, yes, you certainly are!” She stood, and her voice quivered. “And you think that makes it all right, don’t you? You issue your famous disclaimer. You make sure that a woman knows she might satisfy you for a while, but eventually you’ll leave her, because nobody is woman enough for you.”

  “That’s not true. I—”

  “It’s absolutely true.” Her dark eyes flashed. “To even be considered for the short-term with you is supposed to be an honor, isn’t it? And I fell for that kind of thinking, which is why I changed clothes! God help me, I wanted to join the Travis Evans fan club!”

  He couldn’t believe she so completely misunderstood him. “You’ve got it backward. The women in my life have been too good for me.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Oh, I’m sure.”

  “I swear, I leave for their benefit, not mine! Some guys are thoroughbreds, good for the long race, a lifetime together. When it comes to relationships, I’m a quarterhorse!”

  “Try telling that to Donna. Do you think she’s convinced that she’s too good for you, and that’s why you dropped her?”

  He stood and braced both hands on the table. “I did not drop her. I never drop a lady. Never. When I think she’s getting too serious, I ease back a little. If she still comes on strong and starts dragging me past the jewelry store window, I have a talk with her.”

  “How considerate.”

  “I think it is!” His blood was pumping now. Too bad he was also getting aroused. That was inconvenient. “I try to keep things like they were. If she can’t do that, I send her a dozen roses and let her know that we can’t go on like we have been, but she’ll always be in my heart.”

  “Your heart must look like a Denver freeway at rush hour!”

  He shoved away from the table, more wound than he wanted her to know. She made him out to be some arrogant bastard, when all he’d ever wanted was to bring women pleasure. “I cherish every woman I’ve ever made love to.”

  “A friend of mine cherishes her Beanie Babies, too.” Gwen crossed her arms. “At last count, she had two hundred and sixteen of those suckers.”

  “I have not made love to two hundred and sixteen women, damn it!”

  “Yet! Give you time. You’re a collector, as much as my friend is, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to be part of that collection.”

  “Fine with me.” But it wasn’t. The fire in her made him want to grab her and kiss her senseless. Normally, when a woman got this uppity, especially before they’d even made love, he gave it up as not worth the hassle. He couldn’t seem to walk away from Gwen, though. He wanted to convince her that he was a good guy. And that was a bad sign.

  She tossed her head, and her glossy dark hair shone in the light from the crystal chandelier. “I’ll admit that you tempt me, both because you’re sexy as hell and because you present a challenge.”

  Maybe that’s all she was to him, too, he thought. A challenge. Until now he’d batted a thousand. Whenever he’d put as much effort into a woman as he had with
Gwen, he’d ended up in bed with her. There had been no exceptions. But he’d been good to those ladies, damn it. He’d treated them right, and he’d let them down easy. Lots of guys, including her ex, hadn’t been so careful.

  She wasn’t finished ripping him a new one, though. “Around these parts,” she said, “if you’re an eligible female it’s bad enough to be loved and left by the great Travis Evans, but at least you know you made the grade. It’s a real blow to be passed over completely. So, at least I have it on record that you want me.”

  And he did. Still. Even after she’d drawn and quartered him.

  She fixed him with a bold stare. “I think I’ll just quit while I’m ahead.”

  Rejected. Again. Hell. He worked hard to look nonchalant about it. “Does that mean you do or do not want help with the dishes?”

  8

  IF THE DOORBELL hadn’t chimed at that moment, Gwen was afraid she would have started throwing dishes at Travis instead of asking him to help wash them. And her dishes were carefully gathered antiques, mismatched on purpose and irreplaceable. Her urge to throw them showed just how out of control she’d become when it came to this man.

  “Excuse me.” As she left the dining room and walked down the hallway to the front door she took a deep breath. Too bad she hadn’t been able to just say no instead of delivering a dissertation on the subject of Travis’s life-style. A simple rejection would have left her with more dignity.

  She reached for the doorknob.

  “Wait!” Travis called from the dining room door. “Don’t open it.”

  She turned. “Why not?”

  He strode down the hall toward her. “Sebastian and I figure whoever’s after Jessica might somehow find out about Lizzie and come after her, too.”

  “Oh.” What a ghastly thought. No wonder his mind had been on security measures for her bed and breakfast. “I didn’t realize.”

  “We haven’t made a point of saying so, but we’re careful. Security is second nature to me at the ranch, but the change of scene made me forget for a minute. Don’t you have one of those peephole things so you can check who’s outside?”