The Cowboy's E-Mail Order Bride (6 page)

“Okay.” She’d prefer to spend today with him, and shoot some pictures of him checking those fences, but she didn’t want to scare him off by being too pushy. It seemed like he hadn’t put a whole lot of thought into her arrival. If she hadn’t known better, she’d think he’d been surprised by it. What kind of guy roped a woman into marriage, then tried to feed her takeout food, didn’t give her a ring, and ditched her on her first full day in town? Maybe this was why he had to use the internet to get a wife in the first place.

She resigned herself to sticking around the house. She decided she would use the opportunity to take some photographs of it and the surrounding area, too. Lots of them, in case she decided to bail early. She could always do a fluff piece on Montana ranch life. If she got bored, she’d work in that garden.

“Is Jamie your only ranch hand?”

“No, but he’s the only one living on-site right now.” He shrugged. “I didn’t have anyone to run the place – do the cooking and all that – and as you can see, I’m living in the bunk house. I didn’t feel much like living in the Big House once my parents passed on. Most of the men live nearby. They drive in each day.”

He ate his sausages in two bites and mopped up the remainder of the egg with half a slice of toast. “Gotta run. Sorry to leave you in the lurch.” He stood up and she did, too, trailing him to the door. He hesitated, one hand on the handle. “I’m glad you came. We’ll talk more tonight, work out all the details.” He bent down and gave her another kiss that sent shivers of desire down to her toes.

“Okay,” she managed to say, and watched him disappear out the back door and around the corner of the house.

As she stepped back into the kitchen and looked around, she got the feeling leaving Ethan when the time came might end up being much more difficult than she had expected. No other man made her lose control with the slightest touch. If he’d wanted to take her right here on the kitchen table, she’d have swept the dishes onto the floor herself. What was there about him that made her want to leap into his arms and give herself up to his command? Was she losing her mind? Had worry about her career completely unhinged her?

She cleared the table, swept her leftovers into the trash and filled the sink with soapy water, exploring the kitchen as she went to figure out where everything belonged. It was spare but adequate and while her mother might look down on the plain board counter tops and linoleum floor, she had a feeling this room had seen a lot of life and had many stories to tell. As a teller of stories herself, she felt a kinship to the room she’d never felt with any of her city apartments.

It was just a month, she thought. What if she allowed herself the fantasy of being a farm wife to the sexiest cowboy alive? She could sew gingham curtains for the windows, bake comfort food every night, rub his back at bedtime, and…sleep with him?

Could she sleep with a man for a month and then walk out?

Well, why not? She’d had other short term relationships that started with a bang and then fizzled out fast. She hadn’t planned them ahead of time, but she’d lived through them and no one was worse for wear. She could do it.

She dropped a hand to her belly, then jerked it away. That was just stupid. Even if she was pregnant, she wouldn’t be able to tell for weeks, and by then she’d be well on her way back to New York. No sense getting her panties in a wad about something that wasn’t even on the radar.

She scrubbed the counters, swept the floor and admired her handiwork. She’d plan a menu for the week this afternoon and ask about curtain material when Ethan got home. For now, she was going to take advantage of this break from her normal life, grab her camera and head outside.

CHAPTER FOUR

Ethan looked up as soon as he felt the shudder of hoofbeats heading his way.

“Rob’s coming,” Jamie said. “Looks like he’s got Cab with him.”

Ethan turned his back on the approaching horsemen and returned to resetting a fallen fencepost in its hole. He welcomed the chore today as a chance to get out into open country and think about his situation. He didn’t need Rob around to taunt him, as well.

“Get any sleep?” Rob hollered as he rode up on his chestnut quarter horse, Monty.

Ethan didn’t answer. He hoped Rob would get the message and keep on riding, but Rob being Rob, it didn’t happen that way.

“Did you sleep at all? I bet the springs in that mattress of yours got quite a workout.” He made creaking noises until Ethan stood up and fixed him with a glare. Cab kept quiet, but he could tell he was working hard to suppress a smile.

“Stow it.”

“Come on, admit it – we picked you a good wife, didn’t we? So, you gonna keep her or are you putting her back on that plane?”

“I’m putting her back on the plane.”

Rob scratched his neck and made a show of looking around. “This don’t look like no airport, buddy. She’s going to miss her flight.”

“She’s not leaving today.” Suddenly he found it hard to look Rob in the eye. Jamie stood up from where he’d been running a new wire, and came closer.

Cab cocked his head. “She’s leaving but she’s not leaving?”

“Let me get this straight,” Rob drawled. “You dumped her, and she decided to stick around for a visit?” He felt Rob’s assessing look. “Oh, I get it. You haven’t told her yet, have you? You figure you’ll keep her around for a few days, bang her a few more times, and then let her down easy. Real smooth, cowboy.”

“That’s not how it is at all.” Damn it, couldn’t a man get a moment to think things through before people came poking around and telling him what’s what? Jamie had the good sense to keep his mouth shut all morning – too bad Rob couldn’t be like him. “I’m not going to keep banging her.” Shit. That didn’t come out right.

All three men laughed. “I knew you’d had a good roll in the hay last night,” Rob said. “Hell, the two of you were practically hitting home base in the truck. So, how was it?”

“Get the hell outta here.”

“No. I’m not done with you yet. Look, you like Autumn. She’s hot, she likes you, she wants everything you have to offer. Why the hell would you send her home?”

“Seems kind of stupid to me,” Jamie put in. Even Cab was nodding.

He stifled the urge to kick the fence post. No sense having to do the job over twice. “I’m not sending her home right away.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Look, I’m going to slow this down. I’m going to try to get to know her like normal people do before I jump back into the sack with her.”

Rob cocked his head. “Get to know her? Buddy, I think you got to know her pretty good last night. Just how do you plan to get to know her better?”

Ethan turned back to his work. “I don’t know. Move her into the spare room, set some ground rules.”

More laughter all around.

Rob urged his horse forward. “You think you can put her in the spare room and pretend you two just met? Ain’t going to work. I bet you ten to one you’re back in the saddle with her tonight. Hell, probably before lunch. Don’t forget, you two are getting married in 29 days. I’ve already booked the chapel.”

“What do you mean, you booked…”

Cab leaned over his saddle. “We got lucky. Some out of town couple canceled for June 21
st
. Hell of a coincidence, eh?”

“Coincidence, my ass,” Ethan said. He couldn’t believe Rob had persuaded the normally sane sheriff to be a part of this farce. “Don’t you all think this joke has gone too far?” He looked from one to another of his friends’ much too cheerful faces.

“You saying you want us to take her to the airport today?” Jamie said slowly. “Because if you’re that sick of her I’m more than willing to take her off of your hands.”

Just like that, Ethan saw red. He took a step forward. “You stay away from her!”

They were laughing at him again before he even managed to spit the words out.

“Admit it, Ethan – you’re hooked on her,” Rob howled.

Ethan shook his head and went back to work.

* * * * *

Autumn hoped like hell she was pulling the weeds and not the vegetables. Regardless of what she’d said in her video, she’d never really gardened, unless you called repotting a begonia now and then on her apartment’s balcony gardening. Luckily, it was far enough into the growing season that the plants looked like plants. She’d already gotten through two rows of the large kitchen garden and was partway through a third when hoofbeats pounded up behind her and she scrambled to her feet.

Brushing the dirt from her knees, she shaded her eyes and was surprised at the dip of disappointment in her stomach when she realized it wasn’t Ethan, but one of his friends – Rob.

“Howdy!” he said, pulling up a few feet from the garden.

“Howdy? Do people really say that?”

“Yes, Ma’am, they do.” Most women would call Rob handsome, but something about him set her teeth on edge . When he and Ethan talked, tension ran between them like an electric fence. Something was wrong between them, so the fact he’d come to visit when Ethan was out put up her guard. He slid from the saddle and tossed the horse’s reins to the ground.

“Won’t he run off?”

“No, Ma’am, not Monty.” Rob smiled and came closer. “Just talked to Ethan. Sounds like you two had a hell of a night.”

She felt the heat rise in her cheeks. Ethan had been bragging to Rob? Just what had he said?

“Oh, he didn’t share the details,” Rob said as if reading her mind. “I inferred them from the glazed look in his eye and a certain hitch in his step.”

Now she was really blushing. Damn it, who was this cowboy to stand here and talk to her like this? “Is there anything I can do for you?” She hoped the chill in her voice would back him off. She was enjoying her time in the garden and didn’t really appreciate the interruption. She’d spent several hours wandering in ever-widening circles around the grounds and taken dozens of photographs with her digital camera of the landscape, the distant river and mountains, and the various buildings on the property – especially the pretty big log house that sat on a rise of land just a few hundred feet away. Ethan’s real home, she assumed. The one he’d lived in before his parents died.

“Nah, this is just a social call. We westerners are mighty social, you know. It gets lonely working on these big spreads, so we like to mix things up. Visit each other. Ask each other in for a drink of lemonade and a slice of cake.” He trailed off, obviously waiting for his invitation.

Well, he wasn’t getting one. Regardless of his over-friendly tone – actually, because of it – she had the feeling Rob was looking for trouble. Probably thought she was easy, coming out here and hooking up with a stranger her first night in town. Maybe he thought he could get lucky, too. Or maybe he somehow sensed her scam, she thought with a sudden chill. Maybe he was here to investigate.

“Look. I don’t know you from Adam and I’m not inviting you inside for a piece of…cake. Why don’t ride on into the sunset and let me get back to work.”

“Whoa, honey, I think you’ve misunderstood my intentions. I’m just trying to help things between you and Ethan along. I think the two of you are a match made in heaven. I’m not trying to rustle his cattle.”

She didn’t know what part of that declaration to take offense at first. “Okay, first of all, I’m not a cow. I’m a woman, in case you haven’t noticed. Second, what do you mean you’re trying to help things along? What exactly needs helping here? He put out a video, I answered it. Here I am. Here I’m staying. We’ll be married in a month.” She put her hands on her hips and tried to look like an aggrieved fiancée.

“Slow down. I never called you a cow. I am definitely aware you are a woman. I think every man in the county is aware of that.” He smiled in a way that made her squirm. “As for you and Ethan, you’re exactly right; he put out an ad and you answered it. Heck, we’ve even booked the chapel for the 21
st
. But whether you actually get married is up to you, isn’t it? Ethan’s got 29 days to change his mind. If I were you, I’d put some thought into how to keep him on track, and while tending the garden is all well and good, I’d spend some time tending…Ethan…if you know what I mean.”

They’d booked the chapel? She only spared a moment on that unsettling tidbit before moving on to the next thing Rob said. Tending Ethan? Ethan changing his mind? “What did he say?” The thread of fear in her voice was no act. If Ethan was losing interest, she had no story. She needed the whole shebang – the back story, the courtship, the ring, wedding preparations…

“He likes you, honey. He really does. But he thinks you want to take things slow. He said he got the impression you wanted to move into the guest room and go back to holding hands until you get to know each other better. And that’s not what he asked for in his video, is it? He asked for a wife. You don’t win a man like Ethan through conversation. You win him through his stomach and his…well, you know. Food and sex. That’s what counts.”

He climbed back into the saddle and turned Monty around. “He’s in the south pasture. Take the truck – keys are in the ignition – and follow that track.” He pointed. “Head out a couple of miles. You can’t miss it.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Food and sex!” Rob hollered back at her as he urged Monty into a gallop. “You’ll figure it out!”