The Bachelor’s Surrender (5 page)

“You entertained hundreds of kids during your rodeo days,” she pointed out, a sassy grin curving her mouth. “And according to Chad, you were quite amicable about it, too.”

“Yeah, well, things have changed.” A gruff note infused his voice. He took a drink of coffee to ease the roughness. “I don’t follow the circuit any longer, and I don’t make it a habit of turning my spread into a dude ranch for some kid with a hankering to play cowboy.”

“I’m not asking you to change your daily routine, just give a little time to a young boy.” A wispy strand of hair had escaped her pony tail, and she took a moment to tuck it behind her ear. “When Chad’s father was alive he took him to a working ranch a few times, so he knows what to expect. He’s taking riding lessons and is quite adept with horses. And, he’ll be chaperoned so it’s not as though he’ll be in your way while you’re working.”

“His foster parents are coming, too?”

“Well, no, not exactly.” She absently fiddled with the fork and knife on her side of the table, but her gaze remained focused on him. “Both of them work and can’t take the time off. Since I’ve accumulated vacation time at Blair, I offered to chaperone him during his stay and be his guardian for the week.”

A rumble of heat coursed through Rafe’s blood that had nothing to do with the hot coffee he’d just swallowed. He thought about seven days of this woman living in his house, sleeping in the spare bedroom next to his, leaving her scent in every room she entered, and wondered how he’d survive when she already proved to be a temptation he was hard pressed to resist.

She brought her mug to her lips and took a sip of the sweetened brew, suddenly looking uncertain. “Your, um, girlfriend won’t mind us staying at your place, will she?”

Her question caught him by surprise, and it took him a moment to figure out a response. Eyeing her cautiously, he asked, “What gives you the idea I have a girlfriend?”

She shifted against the vinyl booth, and for as uncomfortable as she appeared, that determination he was coming to admire fueled her gaze. “Yesterday, when I knocked on your door you thought I was Kristin.”

Her wrong conclusion nearly caused the corner of his mouth to tip up in a humorous smile. He caught it just in time. “Kristin is my sister, which I have no doubt you’ll meet during your stay.”

She breathed a sigh of relief, her shoulders visibly relaxing. “Oh, good. I’m glad I won’t have to worry about a girlfriend.” A startled look crossed her features, as if she realized how forward her comment sounded. “I mean, it’s not as though I don’t
want
you to have a girlfriend, I just wouldn’t want to cause any problems . . .”

He decided to save her before she completely embarrassed herself. “I understand.”

Andrea delivered their omelets and toast, then addressed Lauren with a friendly smile, blatantly ignoring Rafe. “I was just telling Fran what you’re doing for that kid, and she said to make sure you bring the boy by for breakfast one morning for her special banana pecan pancakes, on the house.”

“That’s awfully nice. Thank you.” Lauren beamed delightedly at the kind gesture Andrea had just extended. “I’ll be sure to do that.”

Andrea topped off each of their mugs with fresh, hot coffee, not in any hurry to move on to her other customers. “So, you’ll be staying out at Rafe’s?”

“Yes.” Lauren cast Rafe a casual glance as if to assess how much to reveal, but he knew his carefully blank expression offered her no answers. So, she formulated her own. “Rafe thought it would be more convenient if Chad and I stayed at his place, instead of the motel, so that way he can spend more time with Chad.”

He inwardly cringed, wishing he
had
offered a more vague explanation. Her lie gave too much credence to the hero he wasn’t. “Really?” Andrea’s brows rose in flagrant disbelief. “I didn’t know Rafe had a soft spot for kids, or anything else for that matter.”

“Oh, Rafe has been absolutely wonderful about all this,” Lauren embellished, leaving the other woman virtually speechless.

“Andrea, order up!” the cook called, saving all of them from any further lies and cutting remarks.

Andrea gave Rafe one last look, as if seeing him in a different light, then headed back behind the counter to deliver her orders.

Reaching for the bottle of ketchup, Rafe poured the sauce over his crisp hash browns. “That wasn’t necessary.”

Lauren cut off a piece of omelet and stabbed it with her fork. “It was if you want to do something about that nasty reputation of yours.”

Irritation touched his nerves, and he glared at her over his breakfast. “My reputation is none of your business.”

Her chin came up. “It is when I have a young client to think about,” she shot back.

“If you’ll recall,
I
didn’t ask for any of this.” His tone was low and heated. How was it that this woman had the ability to push his hottest, most temperamental buttons?

She stared at him for long seconds, the fire in her eyes gradually fading to a pale blue. “No, you didn’t,” she admitted quietly, though she didn’t call off the arrangement like he half-hoped she would. Instead, she picked up her knife and calmly slathered grape jelly on her toast. “Tell me something, Rafe. If you’re so against Chad and his request, what changed your mind?”

“My sister.”

“You’re doing this for her?”

“I’m doing it for the boy. My sister reminded me of how we felt when we lost our mother when we were kids.”

Gentle compassion reflected on her face. “I’m sorry.”

He shrugged and finished chewing his bite of omelet. “It was a long time ago, but the confusion and fears we experienced is probably the same thing Chad is going through.” Before she had a chance to ask about his father, who was also dead, he added, “Personally, I’m against this entire farce.”

She stiffened, the gesture defensive and challenging. “What do you mean ‘farce’?”

He set down his fork and looked her straight in the eye, his mouth grim. “Chad expects a rodeo cowboy, Lauren. I don’t even ride anymore, not like he remembers or expects me to. Some days I’m in agony after riding a sweet, gentle mare for an hour.” Bitterness crept into his voice, and he struggled to keep it from spoiling the entire conversation. “I’m not the champion bull rider he remembers. And the last thing I want to do is offer this kid any false hopes.”

Spontaneously, she reached across the table and laid her hand on his arm. He felt that touch all the way to his cold, empty soul and wished for a moment that this woman with the sky blue eyes and soft looking lips didn’t live in such a drastically different world than his own.

Her gaze implored him to understand, to somehow compromise. “Is it too much to ask that you just be Chad’s friend for a week? Right now, more than a champion bull rider, he needs someone to accept him unconditionally, and you’re the one he’s chosen.”

He felt himself softening. Relenting. “You don’t ask for much, do you?”

She grinned, her eyes alight with mischief. “Tell you what, Rafe, I’ll make you a deal. If you can just be Chad’s buddy for a week and make him feel a little bit special, then I promise not to tell anyone here in Cedar Creek just how nice you really are.”

She winked at him, as if that would be their private secret, and he had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from chuckling. That she had the ability to evoke amusement in him was as startling as it was invigorating.

On the heels of that revelation came a more troubling thought. He had an uneasy feeling once Lauren Richmond blew through his life the solitary world he’d created for himself the past year would never be the same again.

T
wo weeks later on a Friday afternoon, Lauren drove her rental car from Cody back to Cedar Creek, this time with Chad Evans as her companion. The windows were rolled down, allowing the clean, country air to circulate through the vehicle and whip through their hair. The blue sky stretching endlessly in front of them was a welcome change from the hot, smog-filled air they’d left behind in Los Angeles.

“Are we almost there?” an anxious voice asked.

Lauren glanced at the young boy sitting in the passenger seat. His blonde hair was rumpled around his head from the breeze, and his big brown eyes contained an infectious excitement. The huge grin on his face seemed permanent, which made Lauren extremely grateful Rafe had agreed to spend time with him. The memories Chad collected in the next week would go a long way in restoring his self-confidence, and would bring a bit of happiness to his lonely life.

“About another ten minutes and we’ll be in Cedar Creek,” she said, sending a warm smile his way. “But before we get to Rafe’s, I’d like to stop and pick up some extra groceries, so Rafe won’t have to worry about meals while we’re here.”

A flicker of disappointment crossed his features, but he didn’t verbally express it. Instead, he chewed on his bottom lip. “He knows we’re coming, right?”

So many worries for someone so young. “Yeah, Rafe knows we’re coming. I left a message for him with his sister to expect us sometime this afternoon.”

Seemingly satisfied with her answer, he turned his attention back to the open window and the farms and ranches dotting the countryside.

The town of Cedar Creek was just as hospitable and receptive as Kristin had been on the phone, Lauren discovered when they stopped at the local market ten minutes later. By the time they finished picking up groceries for the week, the checker, box-boy, and manager of the store knew who they were, and why they were in Cedar Creek—by way of small town gossip.

Finally, after a stop at the gas station to fill up their empty tank, they drove another five minutes out of town to the dirt road that led to Rafe’s spread.

“Wow, look at all those horses,” Chad exclaimed, his gaze riveted to the dozen or more chestnuts grazing in the fenced-in pasture. “Do you think he’ll let me ride one?”

Lauren parked the sedan next to Rafe’s truck. “Oh, I’m sure he will.”

“Cool!” Chad unhooked his seatbelt, jammed his pint-size black Stetson on his head, and scrambled from the car. Skipping enthusiastically, he headed toward a corral confining two mares and their foals.

Lauren followed at a more leisurely pace, enjoying Chad’s excitement and burst of energy after enduring a five hour plane ride, then being cooped up for two hours in a car. At the fence, Chad stood on the second rung to gently pet the mare that ambled up to the railing for attention.

“Isn’t she just the prettiest thing you’ve ever seen?” Chad asked, rubbing the docile horse along her nose.

The mare’s chestnut coat gleamed with health, and her big, dark eyes seem to contain a smile. “She’s absolutely beautiful,” Lauren agreed, stroking a hand down the horse’s neck. “And friendly, too.”

Lauren glanced around for Rafe while Chad lavished the mare with praise, but the ranch was quiet and peaceful. Just when she thought she’d have to go searching for their host, he exited one of the stables, saw them, and headed their way in a slow, lazy stroll that belied the slight hitch in his walk.

Something deep within Lauren’s chest fluttered. Dressed in a dusty pair of jeans, a chambray shirt cuffed to his elbows, and leather boots that appeared well broken in, he looked like he’d put in a hard day’s work. Today, he wore a black Stetson identical to Chad’s.

His eyes were shaded by the brim of his hat, but she sensed the sweep of his gaze taking in her cool, summer short outfit, down her long bare legs, to the strappy sandals on her feet. The corner of his lips twitched in the barest of smiles, as if he appreciated what he saw. If she hadn’t been staring at his mouth, she would have missed that very subtle response.

Awareness swirled through her, tying her stomach in knots and making her skin tingle and tighten. She’d never been attracted to the dark, brooding type, but there was something about Rafe Dalton that made her pulse quicken, made her wonder if those chiseled lips of his ever relaxed with laughter. She wondered if he’d kiss as hard and abrupt as his manners, or if his mouth softened and gentled when it claimed a woman’s—turned slow, thorough, and sensual.

Stopping a few feet away, he tipped the brim of his hat at her. “Lauren,” he acknowledged pleasantly, a direct contrast to the man who’d greeted her the last time she’d been on his ranch. “Nice to see you again.”

His voice was a low, husky rumble of sound that stroked her senses. She didn’t know if he was just being polite for Chad’s benefit, or if he really meant it. A wry smile lifted the corner of her mouth. “It’s nice to see you, too.”

He turned his attention to Chad, who’d jumped down from the fence railing and stared up at him with huge, round eyes.

“Hello, partner,” Rafe drawled.

Chad swallowed. “Hello, Mr. Dalton.” His voice quavered with nerves, and in an attempt to make a favorable impression, he thrust his hand out for Rafe to shake. “Thank you for letting me visit, and stay on your ranch.”

Chad sounded so formal and grown up it was all Lauren could do to suppress a smile.

“You’re welcome.” Rafe clasped his hand and gave it a firm, masculine shake. “And why don’t you call me Rafe?”