Cowboy 12 Pack Page 13

  “You look quite lovely,” he said.

  “Thank you.” She knew she should compliment him in return, especially since he’d cleaned up nicely—very nicely, actually—but she couldn’t bring herself to say the words. “Shall we go?”

  He held the door open for her. “After you.”

  Ned was outside to see them off, along with a few ranch hands. Sadie was surprised to see some of the Arapaho men were there, too.

  Tears shimmered in Ned’s eyes as he gazed at her. “You’re the image of your mother.”

  She smiled. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  “It is, my dear. It definitely is.” He took her hands in his. “Have a good time tonight, but be careful, too.”

  “We will,” Jake said. “Give us a few minutes headstart before you and the men leave.”

  Sadie frowned as Jake helped her into the wagon. “What was that about?”

  “I asked Ned to have some of the men shadow us in case there’s any trouble.” Jake glanced at her as he took the reins. “The Arapaho will take turns patrolling the ranch tonight, too.”

  Sadie was impressed. Jake had thought this out.

  “What do you know about Boone?” her foreman asked as the wagon rolled forward.

  “Other than the fact that he’s a no-good varmint?” Her mouth tightened. “I know he’s from back East. I know he made his money the old fashioned way—stealing it. And I know he’s used that money to expand his ranch from the moment he got here.

  “At first, Boone was discreet about it. He only bought out the landowners who were interested in selling. He gave them a good price, too. But after a few years, he got tired of nibbling on crumbs and started going after bigger and better pieces of land, including my ranch. And he wasn’t as nice about it, either.”

  Jake’s brows drew together. “Did you tell the sheriff?”

  She shook her head. “Not right away. Boone hadn’t broken the law, and unfortunately annoying people isn’t a crime. But that changed when my father refused to sell. It wasn’t anything we could prove, though. Even if we could, Sheriff Ennis was in Boone’s pocket by then anyway. When our fences got cut and our longhorns turned up dead, he claimed the same things were happening on his ranch.”

  Her father—God love him—had wanted to give Boone the benefit of the doubt. He’d been an honest man, and tended to see that honesty in others, but when the acts of violence continued, even her father had had his doubts.

  “Someone in town mentioned Boone has two sons,” Jake said. “What can you tell me about them?”

  “The older one—Charles—always seems to be compensating for something, like he feels he doesn’t quite measure up to daddy. He strikes me as a coward, too.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  She shrugged. “He never goes anywhere without his posse of men to back him up.”

  “What about the younger son?”

  “Nathan is actually rather nice. He’s more quiet and polite than Charles. He actually does some work around the ranch, too, which is something I’m not sure his brother is familiar with.”

  Up ahead, she saw the lights from Boone’s sprawling ranch. Even though it bordered her property, she’d never seen it before, and she was surprised by how large it was.

  Jake gave her a sidelong glance. “You’re going to need to look confident in there, like you’re the one with the upper hand. Boone has to think what he’s doing isn’t working. Can you do that?”

  Sadie lifted her chin. “Watch me.”

  *

  ONE OF BOONE’S men was waiting outside house to take the wagon. Turning the reins over to the man, Jake climbed out, then offered Sadie his hand. Hers trembled a little, and he gave it a reassuring squeeze. She might look confident on the outside, but she was about as far from comfortable with going inside as a person could get. He only hoped she could pull this off. If she came across as weak, her problems were only beginning.

  A gray-haired housekeeper let them in. Boone’s house was bigger than Sadie’s, and Jake did a quick survey as the woman led them into the parlor. He wasn’t an expert on the finer things in life by any means, but some of the stuff in here was damn nice. Clearly, the land baron didn’t spend all his money on real estate.

  The several other ranchers already there looked surprised to see Sadie, but the men and their wives welcomed her with warm smiles.

  “It’s so good to see you out, dear,” one of the women said. “I hope everything is going well.”

  Sadie smiled. “Things couldn’t be better.” She glanced at Jake. “This is my new foreman, Jake Wagner.”

  “Wagner,” one of the men repeated. “I’ve heard your name mentioned around town.” He eyed Jake thoughtfully. “In fact, someone said you were there this morning buying wood. Something about building another barn. Did something happen to the old one?”

  Jake felt more than saw Sadie stiffen. Hopefully no one else noticed.

  “The old one wasn’t big enough for our current needs,” he answered before she could say anything. “So we decided to tear it down and build a new one.”

  Sadie looked at him in surprise, but didn’t correct him. Good girl.

  “Miss Buchanan. Glad to see you could make it.”

  At the booming voice, Jake turned to see a heavyset man coming toward them, a cigar dangling from his mouth and a glass of whiskey in his hand. So this was the notorious Harlan Boone. Two men flanked him, one tall and rangy, the other a little shorter and slightly on the soft side. From their resemblance to Boone, it was obvious they were his sons.

  Boone turned shrewd eyes on Jake. “And you brought your new foreman. Jake Wagner, isn’t it?” He held out his free hand. “Pleasure to finally make your acquaintance. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

  Jake bet he had. From the way Boone said the words, it was obvious he’d heard the more colorful stories. “Likewise.”

  “These are my sons. Charles—” Boone gestured to the shorter, soft-in-the-middle one on his right, then the lanky one on the left. “—and Nathan.”

  Nathan gave her what looked like a genuinely warm smile. “It’s a pleasure to see you again, Miss Buchanan.”

  “Indeed,” Charles agreed. He stepped forward to capture Sadie’s hand and press a kiss to the back of it. “You look even lovelier than the last time I saw you.”

  Sadie gave him a cool smile as she extricated herself from his grasp. “And you’re exactly the same.”

  Smack, Jake thought.

  Charles looked confused, as if not knowing whether to take it as a compliment or not. His brother, on the other hand, let out a soft snort as he sipped his whiskey.

  Boone’s gaze went to the door. “Ah, Sheriff Ennis has arrived. Pardon me.” He glanced at Nathan. “Get Miss Buchanan and her foreman something to drink.”

  Jake followed the heavyset man with his gaze, watching the way he greeted the sheriff. Ennis fawned over the land baron like a puppy. The man was so far up Boone’s butt when the land baron’s horse stopped suddenly, the sheriff probably tasted the damn oats.

  “Charles, a word?”

  Jake turned to see the rancher who had questioned Sadie about the barn leading the older Boone brother away. Charles looked back longingly at Sadie, but allowed the other man to steer him toward the far side of the room.

  “What’s the story with Charles?” Jake asked Sadie quietly.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Just that he seems to be sweet on you.”

  “Oh, that.” She sighed. “He wanted to court me. I refused. Then, even though I never showed him the least bit of interest, he embarrassed himself by asking for my hand in marriage—in front of my father, Ned and several of the ranch hands. I said no, of course.”

  “Was this before or after Boone offered to buy your ranch?”

  “After.” Her lips curved. “Why do you think I said no?”

  Jake had been hoping it was because Charles Boone was a first-class dolt. He’d hate to think she m
ight have actually considered marrying a man like that if the ownership of the ranch wasn’t at stake.

  As the evening progressed, Jake realized he shouldn’t have wasted his time worrying about Sadie. She carried herself with grace and charm, chatted, laughed and showed Harlan Boone she wasn’t some shrinking violet he could railroad. Jake was just about to tell her she was doing great when Boone’s loud voice interrupted him.

  “If you ladies will excuse us, the men folk and I have some business to discuss.” He gestured toward the door. “Gentlemen if you’ll follow me into the library.”

  Jake looked around for Sadie to tell her he’d give her a full report after the meeting, but she was already following the men out of the room. He shouldn’t be surprised. She owned the ranch, so she had every right to be part of any discussion affecting it. Somehow, he didn’t think Harlan Boone would see it that way.

  Boone wasn’t the only man whose eyes went a little wide when Sadie walked into the library as if she owned it. For a minute, Jake thought Boone was going to ask her to leave. He must have seen the determined tilt of her chin and changed his mind. He cleared his throat and nodded to his son Nathan, who immediately went around the room offering each man an expensive cigar from a wood box. Jake shook his head when Nathan got to him. He’d tried the things a few times and couldn’t stand them. Nathan moved past him to the next man, not bothering to offer Sadie any. That didn’t stop her from snatching one from the box. Nathan looked stunned, but cut off the tip when she held it out, then lit it for her. Jake watched as she took a deep drag, ready to slap her on the back if she started coughing. He was pretty damn sure she’d never smoked one before. Either he was wrong, or she was good at pretending. She didn’t so much as clear her throat. He stifled a laugh as the other men in the room almost swallowed their own cigars in shock.

  Across the room, Harlan Boone eyed her thoughtfully. “Rumor has it you’ve hired Injuns to work your ranch, Miss Buchanan. That right?”

  She took another puff on the cigar, a little less enthusiastically this time. “I don’t see that it’s any business of yours, but yes, I did hire Indians.”

  Boone’s mouth tightened. “I’d think you of all people would know enough to stay away from those heathens.”

  Sadie paled. “Then you don’t know me nearly as well as you obviously think you do. The Arapaho aren’t heathens, and they work hard.”

  Boone hmphed. Apparently, he didn’t share her opinion.

  “Besides,” she continued. “I had to hire someone since most of my old ranch hands quit. Cattle drive season is coming soon.”

  Charles raised a brow. “You don’t honestly intend to entrust your herd to a bunch of Injuns, do you?”

  “That’s exactly what I intend to do.” She lifted her chin. “In fact, I’m going to be moving three thousand head to Cheyenne.”

  That announcement earned her more than one gasp of surprise. Jake was pretty damn stunned himself. Three thousand head was a lot of cattle to move, especially with the limited number of experienced ranch hands Sadie had.

  Boone laughed. “Three thousand? You must be out of your pretty mind. There’s no way you can possibly move that many.”

  Sadie’s eyes narrowed. “I can, and I will.”

  “And I say you can’t.”

  Sadie was silent, but Jake could see her mind working as she puffed on the cigar again. What was she up to?

  “Shall we make a wager, Mr. Boone? Ten-thousand acres of my land against ten thousand of yours.”

  Oh, shit. That wasn’t exactly what Jake meant when he said she needed to stand up to Boone. Losing ten-thousand acres would destroy Sadie. Even though he didn’t like it, he had to admit she’d gotten under Boone’s skin. The man had gone white as a ghost. If she won win the bet—when she won, Jake corrected, because he was going to make damn sure she did—Boone’ pride would force him to retaliate.

  Of course, Jake would have to be ready when Boone did or Sadie and her ranch would be in even deeper trouble than they were now.

  That’s if Harlan Boone even agreed to her crazy wager.

  But the big man was already nodding. “You’ve got yourself a bet, Miss Buchanan.”

  She smiled. “Excellent. Now, if you gentlemen will pardon me, I must be going. It’s late and I have an early day tomorrow. Mr. Wagner?”

  Jake offered his arm to her. She wrapped her hand around it, holding on a little tighter than necessary. If she was rattled by the wager she’d made with Boone, this was the first he’d seen it.

  “Don’t you want to say goodnight to the ranchers’ wives?” he asked when she steered him toward the front door.

  She shook her head. “I need to get out of here. Immediately.”

  Something about the way she said the words made him frown, and he looked at her to see her turning green. Oh shit.

  Not caring how it looked, he slipped his arm around her waist and led her outside. The two men who’d taken their wagon earlier were waiting on the porch. One of them immediately went to fetch theirs. As soon as he brought it around, Jake quickly helped Sadie into it, then climbed up beside her. The moment they were a safe distance from the ranch, she leaned over the side of the wagon to be sick. Jake held her hair out of the way with one hand as he gently patted her back with the other. When she was done, she leaned against his chest.

  “Dear God, how can men smoke those awful cigars?” she asked. “They taste horrible, and make me feel even worse.”

  He couldn’t help but chuckle. “That’s why I don’t smoke them. Come on, let’s get you home.”

  Jake kept one arm around her as the wagon rolled forward. If Sadie hadn’t felt so poorly, she probably wouldn’t have wanted him this near, much less being so familiar. But she simply clutched his shirt in her hand and closed her eyes.

  Ned and the other ranch hands met them a few miles down the road. At the sight of Sadie, the older man immediately frowned in concern.

  “What—?” he demanded angrily, but Jake put his finger to his lips.

  Cigar, he mouthed, then mimicked a smoking gesture.

  Ned relaxed visibly, but still shook his head.

  By the time they got back to the house, Sadie was fast asleep. Jake didn’t have the heart to wake her, so he scooped her up in his arms and carried her inside. Isabella looked just as concerned as Ned, but after Jake quickly whispered an explanation, she made a tsking sound and led him upstairs to Sadie’s room.

  Sadie stirred, burrowing into the pillow when he set her down on the bed. “Jake…don’t go.”

  His mouth twitched. The cigar must really have gone to her head if she wanted him to stay. He reached out and gently brushed her hair back from her face. “Sleep it off, Sadie. You’ll feel better in the morning.”

  Jake turned to see Isabella regarding him thoughtfully—too thoughtfully for his liking.

  He cleared his throat. “I’ll be by to check on her tomorrow.”

  Chapter Five

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  SADIE WOKE UP feeling much better the next morning. Then again, she could probably be dragged for a day behind a mule and still feel better than she had last night. She would never touch another cigar as long as she lived. There was one thing that could make her forget about how dreadful she’d felt last night, however—being in Jake’s strong arms as he’d carried her upstairs to her bed. It had been comforting, but also oddly romantic. And so much nicer than getting spanked.

  She turned her head on the pillow to gaze out the window. The sun looked as if it was high in the sky already. She’d slept later than she meant to for the second straight day in a row, and she didn’t care. Instead, she closed her eyes and imagined what it would have been like if Jake had carried her upstairs for another reason. Sadie had no actual experience with the opposite sex, but she wasn’t totally ignorant of what passed being a man and a woman, either. She’d overheard Isabella and her helper talking about the things they liked their men to do to them—when they hadn’t known Sadie had been listening,
of course. They’d gone on and on about how amazing it felt when a man put his tongue on a woman’s nether parts, and how it felt even better when he plunged his hardness deep inside her. Sadie might not have any experience, but she instinctively knew being with a man like Jake would be gratifying to say the least. The mere thought of him putting that sensuous mouth of his on the womanly folds at the juncture of her thighs made her throb there, and she let out a little moan.

  “Hair of the dog that bit you?”

  Sadie jerked up to see Jake sitting in her reading chair, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth and an unlit cigar in his hand. The sight of the thing alone made her feel ill again. Abruptly realizing she was wearing nothing but her nightdress, she blushed and yanked the blanket up to her chest. This was way beyond improper. She couldn’t believe Isabella had let him come into her room.

  “What are you doing here?” she demanded.

  He tucked the unlit cigar in his shirt pocket. “I came to see how you were feeling?”

  She ignored the way her pulse fluttered. He’d come to check on her. So what? “Couldn’t you have simply asked Isabella? Where is she, by the way?”

  “Isabella’s in the kitchen making you something to eat. She said you weren’t up yet, but that I was welcome to check on you myself if I wanted to. So I did.”

  Her pulse fluttered again, and this time, it wasn’t so easy to ignore. “I’m much better. Thank you.”

  “I’m glad to hear it.”

  Jake got to his feet, but instead of leaving like Sadie thought he would, he came over to sit on the bed. Her breathing quickened. If coming into her room had been improper, this was downright indecent. And forward even for a man of his reputation.

  Then why didn’t she tell him to get the hell out of her room?

  “You did good last night,” he said. “Pinned Boone in the corner of the corral like a seasoned wrangler.”

  His praise makes her feel ridiculously warm inside, and she felt her face color.