A Rancher's Vow Page 8

  Reed digested that before asking, “You went to live with your mother’s people while you went to school, right?”

  “Right,” she said, thinking Reed was awfully curious about her past. “My aunt and her family. They were wonderful to me. And I loved interior design—an art in itself. I learned how to put things together, to create sometimes from very little, to make an interesting or beautiful space.”

  “You’re beautiful…and messy as usual.” Reed reached over to rub at her chin. “Just a little sour-cream sauce this time.”

  He sucked it off the pad of his thumb. Mesmerized by his unconscious action, Alcina couldn’t tear her eyes away from his mouth.

  “Did you get it all?” She was trying to sound natural, but she noted the hitch in her voice.

  “Let me take a closer look.”

  Alcina’s eyes widened as Reed slid his hand around the back of her neck. The calluses left behind a trail of gooseflesh and a raggedy pulse. He hesitated long enough that she had the chance to back off if she wanted.

  Pulse rushing so that she could hear it, Alcina sat frozen, waiting to see what came next.

  “Don’t think I quite got it all,” he murmured, serious brown eyes staring deep into hers.

  Alcina’s eyelashes fluttered as he moved closer. Feeling his breath on her face, she made a little sound at the back of her throat, sort of like a squeak. But when he touched the tip of his tongue to the area in question, her sigh was one of pure pleasure.

  Waves and waves of warmth swam through her, followed by a tension like none she’d ever known except in the full throes of sex.

  Then Reed’s mouth brushed hers. Alcina closed her eyes and parted her lips. And waited. Seconds seemed to pass as slowly as aeons. Like the beating of a clock, her heart ticked out several seconds before his mouth melded with hers.

  Unable to trust her own senses, feeling as if she was dreaming the kiss, Alcina waited again to see where it would lead. Reed slipped an arm down her back to pull her closer. His fingers splayed across her spine; she felt every one of them. He deepened the kiss and, still half-disbelieving, she sighed and went with the flow of lovely sensation flooding her as his tongue dipped into her mouth and found hers.

  She met him then, kiss for kiss, touch for touch.

  Upon wrapping a hand around his neck and sliding her fingers up through his thick hair, she left her side exposed. His hand drifted up from her waist and under her sweater to the edge of her breast. Her nipple tightened even before he found it through the silk and lace coverings.

  His turn to moan.

  Her turn to wonder if he planned to make love to her right here in the open…

  Her heart thundered.

  Would she dare?

  He rolled the hard nub of her breast between forefinger and thumb…all it took to ready her for anything. Tension built in her as fast as lightning could strike and liquid warmth pooled between her thighs.

  Squeezing her legs together to battle the discomfort, she tried to think. Tried to decide.

  But Reed didn’t give her that opportunity. He simply stopped.

  Stopped fondling her breast.

  Stopped kissing her.

  Stopped her from losing her head!

  He let go of her and straightened himself so fast that Alcina nearly fell back against the quilt. Stunned at the abrupt end to the hot embrace, she caught herself both figuratively and mentally. But she could do nothing about the inner physical ragings that wouldn’t subside on command.

  What now?

  “I didn’t mean for that to happen,” Reed said quietly.

  “Oh.”

  Heat crept from her middle to her extremities. Not the heat of passion this time, but one of embarrassment.

  “I mean, it’s not that I didn’t enjoy it, but that I didn’t bring you out here to…to…”

  Reed didn’t finish. He didn’t have to. Alcina got the picture.

  “No problem. I’m not insulted, if that’s what you’re worrying about.” Merely abashed at her easy abandon. She put a light sophisticated spin to something that meant more to her than she was willing to let him comprehend. “I mean, we are two adults with healthy libidos.” She forced a smile and lied, “It was only a kiss.”

  At least for him it had been, so she would let him off the hook. If only she hadn’t responded so mindlessly…so thoroughly…she wouldn’t feel this horrible sense of building humiliation now.

  Temporary had moved around to Reed’s other side and was nudging him and pretending that Alcina didn’t exist.

  Ingrate!

  “Good girl,” Reed murmured. “Now go lie down.”

  Alcina assumed he meant the dog.

  As did Temporary, who followed orders and returned to the foot of the quilt.

  What now?

  “Are you comfortable out here?” Reed suddenly asked.

  “Absolutely,” Alcina lied. She didn’t know whether or not she’d ever be comfortable around him again. “The air is starting to get crisp, but—”

  “That’s not what I meant. On the land. This land. The Curly-Q. Could you ever feel at home here?”

  “I sort of do already,” she admitted tightly.

  Alcina wanted nothing more than to get off the damn land right this moment. Or crawl into a hole where he couldn’t see her. But that wasn’t going to happen. She would have to make the best of things for a little while longer. Then she would find some excuse to get out of here and would never have to see Reed again. Well, practically never. He was the brother of her best friend’s husband.

  At least she would never have to be alone with him after this.

  What had she been thinking?

  Alcina fetched her wineglass and took a long swallow as Reed asked, “So, a ranch appeals to you?”

  “I never spent much time on the Curly-Q when Bart and I were in school together.” She was on automatic, part of her acting as natural and social as possible, the other part wondering how to get out of this situation and fast. “And I did always live in town. But the beauty of the landscape in this part of the country is what drew me back to New Mexico in the first place.”

  At least he wasn’t asking her anything personal.

  “So I assume you’re making Silver Springs your permanent home?”

  “That is the plan,” she mumbled.

  “Any other plans for your future?”

  “What do you mean?”

  She raised her glass to her lips as Reed asked, “How do you see yourself? Single? Married?”

  Alcina nearly spit the wine over them both, but miraculously swallowed fast instead. “Married would be nice, but first there would have to be a man who would interest me in that way…not to mention one who was interested in return.”

  A concept she didn’t want to examine too closely at this exact moment.

  “I’m interested,” Reed said. “What about you?”

  Certain their wires had somehow crossed, she echoed, “Interested?”

  Silent, he stared at her.

  Edgy, she squirmed inside. Her heart began to tick again, like a bomb on a timer.

  So when he said, “Would you be interested in marrying me?” the bomb went off.

  Little ripples of internal explosions leaving Alcina too light-headed to speak.

  Cruelty had never been one of Reed’s vices as far as she knew, if, indeed, he had any vices at all. So what was this? Had she misheard him?

  Unable to voice that question, Alcina merely brayed like a jackass.

  To which Reed frowned.

  Her unnatural laughter faded. “C’mon, Reed!” she gasped.

  “I’m serious.”

  He appeared to be serious.

  Suddenly, Alcina could hardly breathe. Not the kind of wonderfully passionate breathless that came with deep looks and a stirring kiss. But the kind that threatened to cut off her air supply for good.

  “I—I don’t get it.”

  “I know this is coming out of nowhere…and yet not,
” he insisted, looking out toward the horizon rather than at her. “We’ve known each other forever. Neither one of us is getting any younger and we’re both still single.”

  Alcina almost interrupted him then, almost told him about Jeffrey, but Reed didn’t give her the opportunity.

  “It’s more than time that I thought about a family. You, too. And we’re both set on staying put in a place where the pickings are slim,” he added.

  Which made Alcina wince.

  Slim pickings—how flattering, she thought—no one had ever referred to her charms in quite that way before.

  “And it makes sense,” Reed went on. “You and me, I mean. After all, our fathers were partners once upon a time, so why not us?”

  He still wasn’t looking at her.

  “Partners,” she repeated. “You make it sound like a business deal.”

  Her breath came back in a whoosh and her heart settled into a less jagged beat.

  “I guess you could think of it as a business deal of sorts,” he said, finally meeting her horrified gaze. He went on. “We’re two sensible, mature people who know what they want and can work together to make it happen.”

  Reed seemed pleased with himself. Really pleased.

  Alcina just wanted to scream.

  You could think of it as a business deal!

  This wasn’t Alcina’s first marriage proposal. Actually, it wasn’t the first time business had been involved, though she hadn’t known that about Jeffrey Van Ack when he’d set out to sweep her off her feet. No, none of that “sweeping” for down-to-earth Reed. He simply wanted a home and family. At least he was honest, she’d give him that.

  And his proposal certainly was the one she’d never be able to forget.

  No matter that she might like to…

  “So, what about it?” Reed pressed, reaching out and capturing one of her hands between his. His expression serious, he said, “Alcina Dale, will you be my partner in life?”

  Affronted, Alcina wanted to tell Reed no. She wanted to pull her hand away and smack him and inform him that, if he was the last man on earth, she wouldn’t marry him.

  The only problem was, her doing so might be the biggest mistake of her life.

  Josie’s words from the wedding came back to haunt her. Real love doesn’t come around that often. And neither does a good man, as I very well know. So if you want Reed and you get a shot at him, take it. If you don’t, you’ll always wonder what might have been.

  She did want a shot at Reed Quarrels, Alcina realized. That was what she’d always wanted, no matter that she’d gone looking for love in all the wrong places when she hadn’t so much as won Reed’s attention.

  Well, she had his attention now.

  And he certainly had hers.

  And if she didn’t act fast, she would lose it. Forever. He might be attracted to her, but he didn’t love her. She knew that. If he was so determined to marry that he would ask a woman he didn’t love to be his wife, he would merely find another if she rejected him now. And then she would never have a shot at what she used to dream about when she lay awake at night.

  Schoolgirl dreams were so innocent, Alcina remembered, and part of her wanted to recapture that innocence. Wanted to turn a youthful dream into a mature reality.

  Wanted to make Reed love her.

  As crazy as it seemed after all these years, she did still feel love for him, if not the wild and crazy passion of her youth. And he was a good man, not a cheat. One who wouldn’t lie to get what he wanted.

  They could have a partnership, but unlike that of their fathers before them, something solid on which they could build a future.

  Perhaps she could even make him fall in love with her…

  Praying that she wasn’t making the biggest mistake of her life, Alcina said, “All right, Reed, I accept. I would be honored to be your partner in life.”

  UNDER THE DARK OF NIGHT, he set out to retrieve his diamond.

  The stone could betray him, which would mean that, if its ownership came to light, he’d have to run, and after all his hard work.

  He wouldn’t let anyone ruin this for him—anyone meaning a Quarrels.

  His plans had been too well laid; he was so close to success that he could almost taste it. Therefore, he meant to retrieve the stone and have it remounted before its absence could be noted.

  The bigmouthed bitch had already spread the word about where she’d found the diamond. At least she hadn’t gone around advertising the unusual cut or the size. To claim it, the person would have to know that it was a two-and-a-half-carat trillion. If anyone put things together, that the stone belonged to him but that he’d been nowhere near the entrance of the barn fighting the fire with the other guests, he’d be exposed.

  Luckily for him, Reba Gantry worked nights and her house stood alone at the end of a mostly deserted lane several blocks from Main Street and her café. Even so, he took no chances, used no vehicle that could alert watchful eyes.

  One with the night, he sneaked toward her house like the thief he had become.

  Getting inside was easy, the back door was unlocked. In these parts, hardly anyone worried about intruders. What fools they were.

  A single lamp lit the living room. He stood there for a moment, letting his eyes adjust to the light, trying to imagine where Reba might have hidden the diamond for safekeeping. Not here on the first floor. For some reason, he was certain of that.

  Upstairs, then, in her bedroom.

  A moment later he was outside the door. It stood open, and a soft golden light on a bedside stand guided him inside.

  He began with the chest, but he’d barely pawed through the lacy garments in the top drawer when he heard a noise behind him. He whipped around, shocked to see Reba herself standing in the doorway, barefoot and clad only in a low-cut nightgown. From the faint sound behind her, he suspected she’d just come from the bathroom.

  “What are you doing here, honey?” she asked, her voice low and slightly slurred. “No one invited you tonight.”

  “Aren’t you glad to see me, anyway?” he asked, swiftly moving toward her before she could scream.

  But if Reba had any thoughts of screaming, she wasn’t acting on them. She swayed in the doorway, and shook her head as if to clear it. He smelled the booze on her; she’d been drinking. Reba had always liked her nightcaps.

  “Still mad at you,” she said. “Shouldn’t be here.”

  “Neither should you. What are you doing home from the café so early?” he asked, worried that she might not be alone for long.

  “Didn’t work tonight. Not feeling good.” She squinched her eyes and held the side of her face. “Ooh, my tooth…”

  “You’re in pain?” he asked sympathetically. “Is there anything I can do?”

  “The pills they gave me,” she mumbled. “Couldn’t find them. And the whiskey isn’t making the pain go away.”

  He looked around, caught sight of a bottle and highball glass on one nightstand. And there, on the floor nestled half under the bed, looked to be a pharmaceutical bottle.

  Perfect.

  “There it is,” he murmured as she swayed and clung to the doorway to hold herself upright. “I’ll get it for you.”

  He retrieved the narcotic and shook several pills into his hand. Then he fetched the highball glass and added a bit more booze before asking, “Say, did you ever find the owner of that diamond?”

  “No, but it’s not my problem anymore. Gave it to a friend for safekeeping.” She frowned when he held out the glass in one hand, pills in the other. “Maybe I should wait…the whiskey…”

  He knew only a moment’s regret as he said, “Don’t worry, it’ll be okay. I’ll take good care of you, Reba. You won’t have to be in pain much longer.”

  And the combination of pain medication and alcohol would loosen her tongue.

  Too easily reassured, Reba gave him a grateful smile as she accepted the means of her own destruction.

  Chapter Six

 
; On Thursday morning, Pru’s father returned to Silver Springs to preside over Reba Gantry’s funeral. The Reverend Brewster Prescott normally only drove the hour back to his old hometown two Sundays a month to hold a service in the small church that had once been the center of his life. The funeral was his second visit this week, his daughter’s wedding having been the first and far happier occasion.

  Alcina knew Reverend Prescott didn’t mind the inconvenience because he had been fond of Reba, just as had they all. Everyone from town and from the surrounding ranches had turned out to bid her farewell.

  Well, almost everyone, Alcina amended, still not seeing the one man who should be there.

  “I don’t see Cesar Cardona anywhere,” she whispered to Pru as they assembled around the grave site directly behind the church. “I know they had a fight and he stomped off the other night, but you would think that Reba’s death would erase any hard feelings.”

  “I still can’t believe she’s dead,” Pru said, tears filling her eyes as fast as she could wipe them away.

  Pru had worked as a waitress for Reba for the last two years, ever since she’d quit nursing school when she’d found herself alone and pregnant with Chance’s child. She’d been in charge of the café the night that Reba had overdosed.

  The café was closed now and would remain that way until the dead woman’s niece and only heir arrived and decided what she wanted to do with the place. The young woman had made some innocuous excuse about why she couldn’t get away to attend her aunt’s funeral. For that, Alcina knew the niece would receive a cold reception from the good citizens of Silver Springs, her included.

  “I must have been the last one around here to see Reba alive,” Alcina said, even more deeply saddened that the woman had died the very same night that Reed had proposed. “I wish…”

  “You couldn’t have known. There was nothing you could do.”

  “No.”

  Somehow, though, Alcina thought the two events would stick in her mind forever, morbidly intertwined.