“What in the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Well, it didn’t take you long to forget that we’d been making out in the changing room right before Hawk walked into the place.” Again, he wished he could take the words back, but his brain seemed to be sending him messages just a few seconds too late.
“You know what, Colt?”
He waited but she didn’t say anything. “What?” he finally asked.
“You’re a complete jerk! I don’t know why I thought it would be good to have you show me the grounds. If you think I’m such a slut, then why in the hell did you kiss me at all?” she snapped. “Oh, I get it! It was because you think I’m a slut that you were enjoying the make-out session. Do you think I should just climb off this horse right now and climb on top of you? After all, that’s what whores do, right? They can go to town with one guy and then climb aboard the next one as soon as they’re finished.”
Her fury had the odd effect of calming him. Granted, he’d just made a fool of himself. But if she’d been attracted to Hawk, why would she be so outraged now? She wouldn’t. She’d blush, or turn her head, or giggle or something, wouldn’t she?
Hell, Colt didn’t know. It wasn’t as if he had a lot of experience with this sort of thing. Normally, if a girl liked one of his friends more than she liked him, he was fine to see her go off into the night with the guy.
This was the first time in his life that he wanted to fight for the girl, and that made zero sense to him. Brielle was just a city girl, a girl who wouldn’t be here very long, a girl who was forgettable. Wasn’t she?
Somehow, he knew that wasn’t the case. Though she was all wrong for him, he had a feeling he wouldn’t be able to wash this girl right out of his hair so easily. He had a feeling that if he didn’t move fast, he’d lose her before he ever had the chance to have her.
That thought filled him with dread, which meant that he should be running as fast as he could in the opposite direction. Instead, he found himself trying to make up with her.
“I’m sorry. That was rude. It’s just that I felt…” He didn’t know how to end that sentence, and found himself falling silent.
“You felt like an ass? Like a tyrant? Like a slimeball?”
“Yeah, a little bit like all of those things,” he said, and then his lips turned up and soon he was hitting her with his best smile. The widening of her eyes told him that she wasn’t unaffected by him.
“Good,” she said, then jerked her head away and concentrated on her riding.
“How about we call a truce? You forget that I’ve been an ass, and I’ll…” She hadn’t done anything wrong, so how could he complete that sentence?
“And I’ll…?” she asked.
“Just sit there, beautiful, and let me tell you about the land.” When her cheeks filled with color, he figured he’d finally done something right. Though she must have been told she was beautiful all the time, maybe it was by people who wanted something from her, so it didn’t mean as much.
That thought sent a bolt to his stomach. He also wanted something from her — her land. She just didn’t realize that yet. He was such a freaking fool to think he could begin something with this woman. There was no possible way it could ever lead to anything but disaster, because when she found out that he didn’t really work for her — that, in fact, he was deceiving her with a rather crass ulterior motive — she’d never speak to him again.
Wasn’t that ideal, though? He could have fun with her now, give them both a lot of pleasure, and then walk away guilt free. Of course, how was he going to walk away without guilt when he already felt terrible about what he was doing?
Thrusting that thought away, he decided just to enjoy the moment.
“You know already that you have ten thousand acres. There are usually a couple of hundred head of cattle on the south side of the property, but not this year, because of finances. And the north side is where your fields are. You grow soft white wheat, which will be ready to harvest about the end of July or beginning of August. The ranches around here have seen some hard times lately and a lot of them are losing money, but your father is convinced this land is rich and you can turn it around.”
Colt paused. He was sure the land could be turned around, too, but did he really want to tell her that? If he was supposed to be trying to persuade her to leave, he didn’t want to tell her how valuable her land was, did he?
Of course, he wouldn’t be playing fair then, and he didn’t believe in lies, didn’t believe in beating an opponent without giving him — okay, her — all the facts. It made victory less satisfying.
“Do you think it can be saved?”
She was looking at him trustingly, and Colt knew he couldn’t lie to her. No way.
“Yes. I think this ranch can do a lot better than it has. Tony is an excellent foreman and he does the best job he can with the budget he’s been given, but the previous owners were swimming in debt, and they had too much pride to ask for help. By the time I knew what was going on, Donald had passed away and his wife was in mourning.”
“What could you have done?”
Colt winced when she asked that question. This was the reason lying was never good — you always had to be so careful with what you said. There had been plenty he could have done, and first and foremost was to buy the property. He’d never know why they hadn’t just sold it to him. He would have let them stay in the house until they were gone and he would have taken care of their land. Foolish pride was all he could think.
The couple hadn’t had children to pass the land down to, and it would have worked out so much better for all of them. But why waste time wondering? He would never have the answer. And he was dealing with Brielle now. That’s what he needed to remember.
“We all help each other out here,” he said, hoping that would be good enough for her.
When she didn’t question him further, he breathed out a sigh of relief. Brielle was apparently a lot more trusting than he was.
“You have really rich soils, superb pastureland, and a year-round supply of fresh water running through your land from a mountain spring.” Water from that same spring also ran through his land, but he left that part out.
When the two of them approached some low tree limbs over the trail, Colt ducked easily and didn’t think anything of it until he heard Brielle cry out. After turning in his saddle to look, he whipped his horse around, then jumped off.