Leanna Wilson - His Tomboy Bride

Billie climbed the fence and jumped down into the corral. “He’s hard of hearing, too.”

“You sure it’s safe to ride him?” Nick asked. “He looks...fragile.”

“Don’t let him fool you. He’s stronger than he looks,” she said, giving Nick a pointed stare. He caught her meaning. Billie was stronger than she looked, too, always had been. “Besides, Diablo likes the challenge.”

Great, Nick thought. Wasn’t Billie enough of a challenge for one day? He opened the gate for her to lead the gelding out of the corral. The horse acted as docile as an old hound. “You think you can race and win, with me riding this poor, pathetic excuse for a horse, huh?”

“No such thing.” But she flashed him a devilish smile.

A few minutes later, mounted, they rode through a copse of live oaks and toward the green pastures. The horses’ hooves crunched acorns as they walked. Nick’s gaze trained on Billie, riding just ahead of him, as he rolled with Diablo’s slower gait. The saddle cupped Billie’s backside, framing her bottom, accenting the shifting motion of the horse. Nick groaned and concentrated on the thick green grass, the cornflower blue sky, the stark white fence surrounding the north stretch of the ranch.

“That a new fence?” he asked, noticing the rails where there used to be barbed wire.

She nodded. “Jake and I put that in right before...” Her voice faded, then she resumed. “It was expensive but in the long run it’ll require less maintenance. And I don’t have to worry about a cow breaking through and getting out onto the highway.”

“Unless an eighteen-wheeler plows through it.” He grinned, agreeing with her decision.

“Then I’d have more problems than an ornery cow on the loose.”

“What are you going to do with the ranch once you get married?” he asked, prodding Diablo alongside the chestnut mare. Out of the corner of his eye, he detected the abrupt stiffening of Billie’s spine.

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t see Schaeffer letting his wife herd a bunch of smelly cows,” he confessed, slanting his gaze to her face.

Her jaw squared, and her eyes flashed. “No man lets me do anything. It’s my choice...whatever I do. With the Rocking G or anything else.”

Her crisp tone signaled that the discussion was closed. He ignored the warning. “Are you selling out?”

“No.” Her answer came quick. Too fast, almost defensive, in his opinion.

His eyes narrowed, but he couldn’t read her expression. She shuttered her emotions behind a determined mask. “You’ve put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into this place. It’s your heritage.”

“I know that Better than anyone.” Her shoulders slumped as if beneath a great weight. “But...”

“What?”

She shook her head. “Nothing. We’re keeping the ranch in the family. Doug can p-p—” She clamped her mouth closed and looked out over the north range.

He studied her for a long moment. “I didn’t know you were unhappy here.”

“There’s a lot of things you don’t know about me, Nick.” She cut her eyes toward him. “How’s the construction business these days?”

“Growing,” he said, making a mental note that she hadn’t denied she was unhappy.

“Do you like living in Houston?” Reining Calamity near a patch of clover, she draped her wrist over the saddle horn.

He shrugged as Diablo stopped to graze beside the mare, and turned in his saddle to look at her. “It offers a lot of opportunities.”

“I would imagine so. For a single man.” A faint tinge of pink brightened her cheeks. Her gaze softened. “We heard about the divorce, Nick. I’m sorry.”

He tightened his grip on the reins. “So am I.”

“Is marriage as hard as everyone says?” she asked.

“For me it was.” Shifting on the hard saddle, he said, “Your mom would be a better one to ask. She made a marriage work for twenty some-odd years.”

“But you know what it’s like starting out in the nineties.”

He set his mouth in a stern frown. “Yeah, it’s hard.” He took the opportunity to drive home his point. “That’s why it shouldn’t be entered into lightly.” He leaned toward her, until he was close enough to smell the musky scent that fogged his brain. “Level with me, Billie. You don’t really love Doug Schaeffer, do you?”

She closed her fist over Calamity’s reins and heeled her mount into a faster pace. “What do you mean?”

“You don’t act like a blushing bride.”

“Well, maybe because of the way you behaved earlier, I didn’t think you wanted to hear me gush about my groom.”

“That’s probably true,” he admitted, matching her stride.

A sudden need gripped him. A need to know she really didn’t love Doug. For a split second he wondered if he was jealous, then dismissed it as concern—a feeling any big brother would have. “Tell. me you’re not going to marry him.”

Her eyes narrowed. “We’re engaged. The wedding date is set for one month from tomorrow.”

“It’s never too late. Not until you’ve said ‘I do.”’ Sadness softened his tone. He shook his head. “After all Doug’s teasing. The way he used to pick on you. Why would you marry him? He’s a jerk, Billie.”

She squared her shoulders. “We were all jerky when we were young.” She raised one brow. “Some of us outgrew junior high.” She gave him a pointed stare. “Besides, Doug wasn’t the only one who teased me.”

He chuckled. “I see you haven’t lost your backbone. That’s a good sign. I teased you like a li’l sister. I wasn’t mean. Not like Schaeffer.”

“No,” she admitted, her gaze softening. “You weren’t mean.”

“Now what can I say for you to break your engagement?” he asked, his voice low.

She jutted out her chin. “Doug and I are getting married.”

“What can I do, then?” His voice dropped to a provocative tone as he remembered the kiss they’d once shared. His gaze shifted to her sensuous mouth. He stared at her full bottom lip, which looked ripe and plump as a summer strawberry. He remembered the softness of her lips, the warmth. His body tightened with renewed awareness. He jerked his thoughts upright. What had gotten into him? Had he lost his mind?

She turned in her saddle to face him. “You can’t do a damn thing, Nick Latham. Go back to Houston... where you belong. And let me get married in peace.”

Billie heeled her mount into a cantor, anger straightening her spine like a steel rod. What was Nick trying to do? Stop her wedding? Why was it so important to him?

Of course, she wouldn’t let him. His pointed questions about the ranch stabbed at the raw guilt she already felt for failing to make it profitable. Nick was right; it was her heritage. But not her chosen path. She wanted to work with animals, but not breeding to sell them for somebody’s juicy steak or cheeseburger. Each time she sold a truckload of cattle, her heart ached. She’d had to sell more recently to make ends meet. How much longer could she hold out? Her plan would keep the land in the family, provide a place for her mother to live, and give her the freedom to move on with her life. With Doug’s money, she could hire someone to handle the ranch, and she’d oversee it as she went to school.

For some reason, though, she couldn’t explain her feelings to Nick. He wouldn’t understand. He’d made his father’s business a success. And she didn’t want his pity...or his contempt.

She wouldn’t let him affect her, either. Although he already had. Far more than she cared to acknowledge. Her senses swirling, her mind spinning, she rode hard and fast until she noticed Calamity laboring for each breath. She reined in her mount and slowed to a trot then a walk. As her heart calmed to a steadier beat, she heard the rumbling sound of a horse approaching from behind. Knowing it was Nick, she kept her gaze straight ahead. She heard Diablo wheeze as Nick pulled alongside her.