Peggy Moreland - Lone Star Kind Of Man

To Carolyn and Jerry Hawes. Thanks for answering

all my “dumb” questions about birthin’ calves.

Your patience is equaled only by the goodness

of your hearts!

PEGGY MORELAND

published her first romance with Silhouette in 1989. She’s a natural storyteller with a sense of humor that will tickle your fancy, and Peggy’s goal is to write a story that readers will remember long after the last page is turned. Winner of the 1992 National Reader’s Choice Award, and a 1994 RITA finalist, Peggy frequently appears on bestseller lists around the country. A native Texan, she and her family live in Round Rock, Texas.

Dear Reader,

There’s only ever been one woman for me.... Regan Giles... my Reggie. We pretty much grew up together, our homes being less than a mile apart. When we were youngsters, she was like a kid sister to me, but then, as we grew older, my feelings for her changed to less-than-brotherly ones.

Reggie had it pretty tough growing up. She lost her father, her mother, then her stepfather If that wasn’t bad enough, her stepbrother’s wife took an instant dislike to her and made Reggie’s life a living hell. Since she didn’t feel she could go to her stepbrother with her troubles, she turned to me for comfort She made me feel important, needed, loved. And for a man without a family of his own, that made me feel pretty darned good.

But then everything went to hell in a hand basket. Reggie decided she couldn’t take living at home anymore, and she asked me to run away with her and marry her. Though there was nothing that would’ve made me happier, I had to tell her no, because I had nothing to offer but a run-down cabin and the salary I earned working on her family’s ranch. And I felt Reggie deserved more. I’ve had years to regret that decision. Reggie ended up running away without me, telling no one of her plans or her destination... and I lost her—the only woman I’ve ever loved.

And now she’s back in Temptation, even prettier than I remember, and a successful businesswoman to boot She broke my heart the last time she left...and it seems she’s determined to break it again when she leaves this time. But how can I ask her to give up everything she’s worked for and stay in a two-bit town like Temptation, Texas, with a broken-down cowboy like me?

Prologue

The Kerr Ranch, Temptation, Texas 1986

Cody squinted against the darkness in the hayloft. “Regan?” he called softly.

“O-over here,” came her muffled reply.

Quickly Cody climbed the last few steps and hurried to the pile of hay where she lay sobbing and dropped down to a knee at her side. “Honey, what’s wrong?” he asked as he gathered her into his arms.

“She burned them,” she cried, curling her fingers into fists against his chest. “She burned them all.”

Cody knew without asking who “she” was. Susan Kerr, Regan’s sister-in-law, her stepbrother’s wife. He’d known as soon as he stepped into the barn and heard Regan’s sobs coming from the hayloft above him that the two had had another fight. More often than he cared to think about, Cody had found Regan just so, crying her heart out after crossing swords with Susan.

“What did she burn?” he asked gently.

“Everything in Mother’s trunk. Her pictures, her wedding gown, m-my christening dress.”

All the memories of the mother she had lost. Hugging her to him, Cody felt her pain as if it were his own. “I’m sorry, Reggie. So sorry.”

“Why does she hate me?” she cried helplessly, clinging to him.

“I don’t know,” he murmured, trying his best to soothe. When she continued to cry, he sat down on the scattered hay, pulling her to his lap.

Regan curled against the warmth of his chest, accepting his comfort as she had so many times in the past. “You’re all I have, Cody,” she said, her breath hitching.

Because he knew what it was like to be alone, Cody tightened his arms around her. “That’s not true, sweetheart. You’ve got Harley.”

She jerked free of his arms. “No, I don’t,” she cried angrily. She scrambled to her feet and crossed to stand before the hay door that opened from the loft to the outside. Moonlight limned her shape.

She stood, arms folded beneath her breasts, staring out into the darkness in silence for what seemed like an eternity to Cody. He wanted to go to her, but knew that no matter how many reassurances he offered her, she wouldn’t believe him. Not when she was this upset.

He watched a sigh shudder through her. “You’re all I have, Cody,” she said again. The anger was gone, but her voice was still thick with tears. “And all I need.” She turned then, holding out her hand to him. “Make love to me, Cody,” she whispered.

Cody rose, his gaze fixed on hers, his conscience warring with his own needs. “Reggie, we can’t. You don’t know what you’re saying. You’re only seventeen. You’re—”

“I’m a woman,” she told him, lifting her chin defiantly. With trembling fingers she reached to free the top button on her blouse. “And I know what I want. And what I want, what I’ve always wanted, is you.”

Cody took a step nearer, thinking to stop her. “Reggie, don’t,” he murmured. But she ignored him, freeing another button, then another, until her fingers all but raced down the length of her blouse. When she reached the last, she shrugged out of the shirt and tossed it to the hay.

Cody stopped, frozen by the sight of her bare breasts, full and ripe, rising and falling with each heaved breath in the shaft of moonlight coming through the hay door.

“Tell me you don’t want me,” she dared him, reaching for the snap of her jeans. Without waiting for an answer, she kicked off her shoes and peeled the jeans down her legs. She straightened, lifting her chin in challenge. “Tell me you don’t want me as badly as I want you.”

Cody swallowed hard, trying to form the words to voice the lie she demanded of him... but he couldn’t. He wanted her, had wanted her for more than a year. But he was three years older, supposedly wiser, and had kept his needs in check, knowing that he had to wait until she was of age...until he had something more to offer her than what he had now.

Sensing his hesitation, Regan took a bold step, closing the distance between them. With her gaze on his, she lifted a hand to his chest. “I love you, Cody. Tell me that you love me, too.”

Though he tried his damnedest to remain unaffected, the pressure of her fingers burned their way through to his heart, weakening his resolve. He closed his hand over hers, holding it against his heart. “I do love you, Reggie. You know I do, but we can’t do this.”

She took a step nearer, pressing her naked breasts against his chest and wrapping her arms around his neck. “Make love to me, Cody. Please,” she begged.

The wall of control Cody had managed to keep between them crumbled at the feel of her body pressed against his. “Oh, Reggie,” he moaned, gathering her tight against him. “We shouldn’t do—”

Regan silenced his arguments by crushing her mouth over his. Boldly, she kissed him, showing him in the only way she knew how that she was more than ready to take this final step into womanhood.

Though Cody tried to keep a grip on reason, on sanity, the tender bites on his lips, the stab of her tongue into his mouth, the rake of fingernails down his back, slowly robbed him of all rational thought.

“Regan—” But before he could say more, she pulled him down with her to the hay.

They rolled, both fighting at the buttons on his shirt, the snap on his jeans, until Cody was as naked as she. Bracing himself above her, he looked down at her, his heart beating violently in his chest. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes glazed with heat as she reached for him, drawing his face to hers.