Can't Resist a Cowboy (2 page)

Chapter Two

“I’m a dude, and this is against every single man code ever made.”

“You owe me, little brother. It’s time to pay up.”

Levi Haywood finished off the Coke in his plastic cup and moved away from the heat of the bonfire. He couldn’t believe he was having this conversation with his middle brother, Tucker, out here in the open field behind the bar where anyone could overhear the ridiculousness of it. Fine, he owed his brother a hand to make up for all the years Levi had been away. Helping their mother set up a spa on the ranch? Damn insulting.

Ignoring a twinge of pain in his leg, he leaned closer to Tucker and kept his voice low. “Fine. But let it be noted that as a marine
and
a man, I’m not happy about it.” Facials, creams, scented oils, and all that waxing was a woman’s forte—though he did love the feel of a smooth, bare, freshly waxed pu…
No
. No way. Levi crossed his arms. He had limits, even where the holy grail of waxed lady bits was concerned.

Tucker flicked the toothpick in his mouth with a cocky smile. “Yeah, well let it be noted that I don’t give a shit how you feel about it.”

Levi crumpled the cup in his palm. The past three months or so, he’d been healed up and strong enough to work hard. After nearly having his legs blown off in Afghanistan, he’d gone through months in bed and endless hours of physical therapy to get this far. He even shocked himself sometimes with how well he’d bounced back.

Good old Haywood spirit, his brothers said. Levi figured that might be part of it, but mostly, no good man could handle lying around on his ass that long. Not when each sunrise offered him the opportunity to get his feet back on Paint River soil. Problem was, the ranch’s tourist and cattle operations had grown considerably while he’d been in the marines. They had a full staff now, and not a lot for Levi but odds and ends. His oldest brother, Cole, was in charge of almost everything, with the overflow falling to Tucker and their lead ranch hand, Jaxon. That left little for Levi to do—and even if there had been, there was no way in hell the mess of them could try to work at anything together. Not without a lot of cussing and spilled blood.

So he’d found something for himself to do, something that was going to keep him very busy.

“Just think,” Tucker went on when Levi didn’t respond, “a spa attracts women. Consider it a mission to help the single men of Paint River Ranch get laid. Which includes you. All you have to do is sit in on the business interviews with Ma and help her figure out how much space a spa is going to take up. Easy.”

Yeah, easy. He looked to the horizon and made a disgruntled sound. Fading daylight punched the sky with orange and red. The mountain range took his angst away—just brushed it right out of him. Cool May air filled his lungs, and he savored it. Clean, crisp, not a hint of dust or sand to burn his throat and chest.

He hadn’t found a good time to tell his family about his project. It was a big one that didn’t involve playing metrosexual. The opportunity had been too personal to pass up. Considering his constant boredom, it couldn’t have come at a better time.

“Yeah, all right.” The tension in his shoulders faded. He’d help his family out with the spa. Didn’t mean he had to like it. Seemed he’d be going from zero to sixty here real soon. Good. Bring it. He was ready.

A voice he recognized cut through the crowd. He looked as Darren Waite, the owner of Agate Falls ranch, and their neighbor, socialized his way around. He paused as the older man caught his gaze. They exchanged a nod, and for a second, Levi thought he might come over, but the rancher continued on. Levi had the sudden memory of warm brown eyes and lush pink lips smiling up at him. At one time, where Darren went, so did his sweet blond-haired daughter, Carrie Lynn.

Seemed like a lifetime ago that they’d grown up side by side, always together. It had been effortless, natural, the way they’d grown to love each other… and crushing the way he had ended it. Levi winced internally. The last time he’d seen Carrie, he’d been a boy in a man’s body—directionless and full of wanderlust. He’d wanted off the ranch to experience life outside Montana’s borders, and he’d made the choice knowing that he’d lose her. He hoped someday he’d forgive himself for ripping them apart—that maybe one day he’d be able to explain to her why he’d done it—but neither had come to pass.

He’d held the gift of their shared time close to his heart all these years, letting the memories sustain him through two tours in Afghanistan and all the days and nights in between. Though he hadn’t seen her in years, he had heard from his brothers that she lived in Wyoming with her aunts and was still single—a tidbit they liked to toss in whenever her name came up.

The memory seemed to drive his pain, giving him a sharp pinch and dull ache in one punch. Levi let out a hard breath. Residual discomfort was a byproduct of leg muscles that didn’t work the same anymore. Sometimes, it escalated and ripped through him, refusing to die until he downed a couple pain pills. He never knew when it might get that bad.

“I’m ready to get out of here.” Levi turned toward the bar and walked inside, the touch of his dog tags hard and cool against his chest beneath his T-shirt.

“Arm wrestle you for it,” Tucker called out as he caught up. “I win, we stay. You win, we go.”

Levi paused for the crowd to clear so he could get through. “Dude, your biceps are illegal in ten states. Wouldn’t be fair.” Teasing his brother gave him a bit of much-needed lightness inside until a shout drew him out of his thoughts. The noise turned into a roar that rolled through the bar. People around him scattered, giving Levi a clear view.

A
very
clear view of a horse trotting through the bar. A chair skidded across the floor right at a woman who tried to avoid it. But her foot caught the chair and she stumbled straight into the path of the horse. Realizing he was close enough to reach her, Levi lurched forward and grabbed the back of her denim jacket. Pain shot through his leg as he tried to pull her back. She tumbled backward at an angle and landed in the crook of his arm as the horse raced past them and out the front door. His eyes locked with the woman’s and all the swear words in his head hit a wall and splattered into one blinding thought:
Carrie.

The rise and fall of her denim jacket stopped about the same time he forgot how to do that air-in and air-out thing. His sunshine. Here.

“Carrie Lynn.”

He blinked hard and she mirrored the action. The noise around them was real, the chatter of voices, close. Still, he wasn’t sure if he’d slipped into a dream, or if this was really happening. The last time he’d seen Carrie, he’d been looking down into her huge brown eyes just like this. Only then her expression had been filled with sated passion…not the rampant blend of confusion and shock that flickered over her face right now.

And she hadn’t been holding a chicken.

“Levi.” Her voice was a breathy whisper, filled with the same longing that had quietly pulsed in his heart every day for the past six years. Guiding her up, Levi flexed his fingers against her back, positive he was going to blink and she’d be gone. The touch grounded him, and as he slowly looked her over, it became apparent that she was very, very real.

Curly blond hair escaped her ponytail, the smell of sweet shampoo swirling in the space between them. A denim jacket covered most of the lacy green dress that she wore. Brown boots came up to her knees, allowing only a narrow strip of skin to show between the tops and the hem of her dress. Her softly rounded cheekbones and square chin with the tiny dimple in the middle were the same he’d dreamed about endlessly. Soft, warm…she smelled amazing in that beguiling, irresistible way he’d always loved about her.

Her brow furrowed as an urgent little sound escaped her full pink lips. “I have a chicken.”

He smiled, too stunned to do anything else. Carrie’s free hand came up, and she paused before tucking a stray hair behind her ear. Slowly, she brought her hand to his face, fingertips grazing his jaw, and he found himself leaning into her touch. The touch was quick and warm, robbing his breath and squeezing his heart. Goddamn, how could his brain be swimming yet calm at the same time?

He lightly gripped her wrist, wanting to cover her hand with his, but she pulled away. Afraid he’d moved too fast or something, he took a small step back to give them space
.
Not that he wanted space. In the span of a few minutes he’d gone from missing her to having her fall into his arms. Now that the shock had let go, he was perfectly aware that the woman he’d never stopped loving was
here
.

And she looked like she might be sick. Nearly getting run over by a horse had shocked the hell out of her. Or…was it him?

Needing contact, he lightly touched her arm. “Are you okay?”

She nodded quickly. “I’m fine… I have to put her outside.” She turned to leave.

No, not yet!

“Carrie, wait.” Her shoulders tensed and he thought she would turn back, but she didn’t.

She walked, the crowd swallowing her whole. Levi clenched his jaw and forced himself not to follow her. This wasn’t how he’d imagined seeing her again to go. It wasn’t enough; he needed more time. This nanosecond meeting had been just two paths crossing and damn it, he wanted a reunion.

Chapter Three

Ribbons of pink, orange, and silver rose behind grayed mountain peaks. Carrie shoved her gloved hands into the pockets of her canvas coat. Morning wind laced through her hair and chilled her face. Invigorated, her mind seemed clear, her body pumping with energy. It was so good to be out of the city and in the middle of nothing but the natural beauty that had always sustained her.

She was on Paint River Ranch land, but the view was virtually the same as from Agate Falls—scenery she soaked up and tucked away. No matter how many times she’d seen the sunrise as a kid, it never got old. It was one of those beautiful things so easy to take for granted, thinking you’ll see it again. Until the time comes when you don’t.

When you can’t.

Noise came in muted bursts behind her. Cattle bellowing. Metal gates clanking closed. Men hollering back and forth. Her dad had gotten her up at four thirty this morning and shoved a cup of coffee in her hand with the question she’d been dreading. “You coming with?”

She’d wanted to refuse. After the Levi fiasco last night, she didn’t have the heart to run into him again.
I have a chicken
. What the hell had she been thinking? After all this time,
that
was the best line she could come up with? She blushed just thinking about it. That facing him was uncomfortable and awkward was, well, expected.

Skipping branding today was her ticket out of seeing him again so soon, but she’d missed so much over the years. Time was slowly, insidiously ticking down for her, and one day she wouldn’t experience this place and all its activity in the same way. She needed to see it all, to soak it up and hang on to it.

She’d never been the sentimental type, but figured going blind did that to a person.

“Carrie!” She turned to see her father waving her over. With a last look to the sky, she strolled down to the cattle pens. Her dad walked off before she reached him, but she didn’t mind. Most of her night had been spent pulled to pieces over how to break the news to him that she was losing her eyesight. He’d be devastated, probably more than she’d been at hearing the news for the first time. Though she’d known for a while, Carrie had tucked it away, waiting for the right time. When he’d called and asked her to come home for a visit, she figured it was now or never. Never was still more appealing.

Stopping to lean against the tailgate of a truck by the pen, she glanced around. There were many faces she didn’t know—Paint River Ranch had grown over the years by expanding into a tourist and recreation location. Rows of pretty red-and-white cabins, a new store and office building, and an area for an in-ground swimming pool met her as they’d pulled in this morning. It seemed every time she visited, the ranch had sacrificed more good land to expand its guest accommodations.

Cattle ranching was a tough, uncertain business, often necessitating other ways to make money when beef prices were low. A few other area ranches had followed in the Haywoods’ footsteps by inviting in tourists. The rest, like Agate Falls, had clung tightly to their cattle-rearing roots. It was hard to see Paint River grow so commercially, but she understood why the Haywoods did it. Survival.

Pouring a cup of coffee from a thermos on the tailgate, Carrie looked into the dark brew with a nostalgic pang. Her granddaddy’s image came to mind. With a never-empty tin mug of mud-dark coffee clutched in one hand, he’d tuck an unlit cigarette behind his ear, his other arm around her shoulders as they watched the sun come up behind Agate Falls’ barn. He’d say, “This is ranching land. As far as your eye can see.” And pat her on the head, as if the simple gesture could cement that statement forever.

“Carrie Lynn!” She looked up for the source of the feminine voice, but Cole and Tucker Haywood rode past on their horses, blocking her view. She gave a short wave, both men calling out a greeting as they rode past, leaving her wondering where Levi was. She didn’t have time to worry about it when she spotted Maeve Haywood, Cole, Tucker, and Levi’s mother, waving at her. She made her way over and was immediately wrapped in Maeve’s embrace.

“It’s been a long time!” Like a surrogate mother, Maeve had always been there with a loving smile or a warm hug, enveloping Carrie into her family. There’d been a time it had seemed a given that she really would become part of this family, back when she and Levi were inseparable.

“It’s good to see you, Maeve.” More than she dared express, actually. Her emotions were getting soppy and messy, drumming up potent homesickness. Why was all this nonsense rushing her now? She’d been home for a few days five months ago and though sad to leave, she hadn’t experienced this raw, unearthed longing. She hadn’t visited Paint River then. Maybe it was a combination of both places this time.

Clearing her throat, she willed the emotional spigot to turn off. Maeve hooked her arm through Carrie’s, and turned them toward two women she hadn’t noticed before. “Let me introduce my daughters-in-law—Rylan, Cole’s wife. And Sophie, who’s stuck with Tucker.”

“You’ve got that right,” Sophie quipped with an affectionate grin. Rylan ran a hand over her very pregnant belly and gave a disgruntled groan.

“I can’t believe he got me up so early for this,” Rylan grumbled.

Sophie nudged her on the arm. “You should have the baby today,
right now
, just on principle.” She patted a red medical-looking kit with a silvery Star of Life on the top slung over her shoulder and leaned to Rylan’s belly. “I’m ready, honey. Any time now.”

With a laugh, Rylan pushed her sister-in-law away and shook her head. “Sophie’s a paramedic part time in Missoula. Thinks she’s going to deliver my baby here at the ranch.
No way
.” The two women had a good-natured stare-down before Rylan leaned on Sophie with a sigh and closed her eyes. “I’m glad you’re here, Soph. Just in case.”

Carrie smiled though something akin to jealousy went through her. She had friends in Wyoming, and her aunts, but her family was mostly reduced to her and her dad. What would it be like, to be part of a family this big and close?

Maeve waved off her daughters-in-law. “You look good, Carrie. Real good.”

“She sure does.”

A shiver went down her spine at the familiar timbre. She didn’t have to turn to know it was Levi. Her body remembered. She glanced back as he walked by leading a horse and holding leather gloves in one hand. Despite the chill, he was only clad in a black thermal top and jeans. No hat to cover the glossy mess of wavy black hair. No chaps to hide the long lines of his legs. The blue of his eyes made her breath catch as he locked onto her, gave a nod, and kept on going.

It was surreal, seeing him walk past like so many memories of him had sauntered through her mind. He stopped at the corral gate and glanced back at her with a cocky, half-tilted smile. Six years flew away like chaff on the wind, leaving behind the rightness of him and her in this moment, the way they had been so many times before. He’d rope the cattle. She’d keep the branding irons hot in the fire. They’d share smiles and secret grins, and rib each other the entire day. Until night came and they could slip away…

“Carrie? Help me get more coffee and breakfast set out?”

“Yes.” She jerked back to Maeve, her mind pulled between the past and the present. If the soft smile on the older woman’s face was any indication, she knew what Carrie had been thinking. But this wasn’t the past. It was now, and her future wasn’t bright. Levi might be healed up and finding his rhythm back home on the ranch, but she was off balance and nowhere near ready to deal with a cowboy who’d broken her heart.

She had two weeks here to spend with her dad and enjoy being home. The less she saw of Levi to mess with that, the better.

The morning passed in a blur of bellowing cattle and the scent of flesh heated under molten steel. In between light tasks and helping Maeve set out lunch, Carrie found herself peeking at Levi here and there. It wasn’t long before she was totally engrossed in watching as he guided his horse to cut cattle from the herd and sent them toward Cole and Tucker to be roped and lowered to the ground. After a while, he and Cole switched duties and Levi handled the roped cattle with an admirable stride.

In between being serious and focused, he would joke with his brothers and flash that wicked smile. Each time she tried to pull herself away, he’d look her way and she’d be inclined to watch just a little longer. The lines of his body, his face, were so familiar but different. He’d aged, of course, but with a subtle hardness that most twenty-six-year-old men didn’t have. Who could blame him for having a rough edge after what he’d gone through?

Going to war and being injured would break a lot of men. Maybe it had broken him, at least a little. Every now and then, his jaw would clench, his brow furrowing as if he were in pain. It came and went, making her wonder if it was discomfort or something else. Whatever it was, he pushed it behind a smile or his serious face and got back to work.

The men finally came over for lunch, mainlining coffee like it was lifesaving elixir and shoveling chili down their throats. Feeling to make sure the packet containing her insulin was in her pocket, Carrie ate some crackers as she wandered to her father by the fence. He was talking to a man whose name she couldn’t recall. Their backs were to her, their voices low but solid enough that she could hear.

“…real happy you were able to stop the auction, Darren. You know Susie and I were prepared to help however we could.”

“Thanks, Bill. Appreciate that.”

“It’d have been a shame to see your place pieced apart.” With that, he slapped Darren on the arm, looking up and giving her a nod.

Carrie froze. Auction…pieced apart? Her dad spun, his face falling as he spotted her. The other man walked off and a couple seconds passed before her lips stopped tingling enough to speak. “What was that about?”

He shrugged her off and dug into his chili. “Thought we could talk about it later, Carrie.”

“Auction?” She crossed her arms, her own lunch forgotten. “What auction?” Her mind began to run through the possibilities.
Please don’t say Agate Falls… Please don’t…

“Agate Falls.”

Her chin snapped up. Things had been going to shit around the ranch. That wasn’t a secret. But he’d always promised to fix it—forever had an excuse and a way of putting it off. He was normally slow about getting to things, so she hadn’t overly worried.

“God, Dad. Why…what happened?”

He set his bowl on the ground and tipped back his hat. “Beef prices fell and our hay’s been bad the past couple of years. I couldn’t catch up. For the first time, I couldn’t float by until it got better.” He looked past her, up to the sky. “I didn’t want to tell you over the phone. Didn’t want you to worry.”

She gripped the fence rail, the metal cool under her hand. For years, the focus had been on her health and moving her to the city. Once she’d gone, she’d become oblivious to the day-to-day at the ranch. God, she should have visited more, paid more attention and realized that things really
were
falling apart and not just in the queue to be attended to.

Throat tight, Carrie embraced him, hoping her arms would tell him what her voice couldn’t. He patted her back, the stubble on his jaw rough against her cheek.

“It’s okay, Carrie. I, uh, took on an investor. He has good plans to pull us through.”

She pulled back. He’d had the opportunity to partner with investors before and would never consider it. Holding on to his land was like gripping his pride. They’d all heard stories of slimy investors waiting like vultures to swoop down and feed on vulnerable ranches, or golden-tongued developers throwing money and sweet talk around. She gripped his wrist, hoping like hell he hadn’t taken up with either type.

“Who?”

Footsteps crunched in the dirt behind her. Her dad looked over her shoulder, and curious, she turned to look. Levi stopped and pulled his gloves off, finger by finger, his lips a serious line.

“Me.”