In the Rancher's Arms

Two



When he stopped his truck at the top of the ridge overlooking his ranch, Eli glanced over at his new wife. Tori had fallen asleep almost as soon as she’d closed her eyes, but it hadn’t been a restful nap. Several times during the past hour and a half, she had whimpered and murmured something. He hadn’t been able to understand what she said, but whatever it was it must have been extremely upsetting. He had even considered waking her when a tear escaped the corner of her eye to run down her smooth cheek. But she had seemed to rest peacefully after that, so he had let her be.

As he continued to watch her sleep, he couldn’t help but marvel at how alluring she was. He hadn’t anticipated that, or the protectiveness that seemed to accompany the pronouncement by the good reverend that she was his wife. Both were feelings he had hoped to avoid.

He had thought by advertising for a bride, listing his specific requirements and making his choice from the qualified applicants, he would remove the possibility of any kind of romantic entanglement. He had learned the hard way that when an emotional attachment was involved, it clouded a man’s judgment.

And truth to tell, after talking to her the first time, he had decided that she wasn’t suitable, and moved on to interview other, more qualified women. But each time he ended a conversation with one of them, his thoughts kept straying back to his phone call to Tori. There had been something about her soft, Southern voice as she told him about her time on the family farm that compelled him to choose her, instead of using his head to select one of the more obvious candidates to be his bride.

Now he had a beautiful wife who he would bet everything he owned had no experience at all with livestock. What she did have were the softest lips he’d ever had the privilege to kiss, as well as a voice that set his pulse to racing each time he heard it.

“So much for keeping a romantic attraction out of the equation, genius,” he muttered to himself.

Not at all comfortable with the direction his thoughts were taking, he decided to analyze his reaction to his new wife a bit later. He lightly touched her shoulder. “Tori, we’re home.”

Her long dark lashes fluttered once, then opened to reveal her extraordinary violet eyes. His lower body tightened as she gazed up at him. She looked soft, feminine and so damned desirable that he barely resisted the urge to release her seat belt and pull her into his arms.

“We’re here already?” She sat up in the bucket seat. “How long was I asleep?”

“About an hour and a half.” He forced a smile. “You wanted me to wake you when we got to the ridge above the ranch.”

He heard her soft intake of breath and knew the moment she caught sight of the Rusty Spur Ranch in the valley below. He forgot all about his lapse of judgment as a sense of satisfaction filled him at the expression of awe on her pretty face. She was clearly impressed by the size of the operation.

“How big is your ranch?” she asked, her voice filled with amazement.

“You’re looking at the ranch headquarters. There’s about ten thousand acres here and another twenty thousand of pastureland outside of the valley. I also lease another fifteen thousand acres from the Bureau of Land Management.” He pointed to the big log home his great-great-grandfather had built. “That’s where we’ll live, along with Buck. He tends to the house and cooks now that he’s retired from ranch work.”

“It’s gorgeous and so big,” she said, unbuckling the shoulder harness to sit forward for a better look out of the windshield. “I can’t tell from this distance. What are all those buildings behind the house?”

Her almost childlike enthusiasm and questions caused his chest to swell with pride. The Laughlins had settled in the valley over a hundred and twenty five years ago and each generation had made the ranch bigger and better than the last.

He pointed toward the buildings directly behind the house. “Those are the barns. There’s one for the work horses, one for storing grain and hay, another one for ranch trucks, tractors and other equipment. That one we use for treating sick and injured livestock and that big one is where we keep the tractor trailers we use for transporting cattle to market and to some of the farthest pastures.” Pointing to the far side of the valley, he added, “That smaller house over there is where the foreman and his wife live and the bigger one next to it is the bunkhouse where the single men stay.”

“There’ll be a woman I can talk to from time to time?” Tori asked, brightening even more.

“When she has time, you can. Sally Ann is usually pretty busy cooking for the men and she sometimes helps Buck take care of the ranch house when his arthritis is acting up.” He grinned. “She and her husband, Jack, have lived on the ranch for as long as I can remember. I’m sure she’ll enjoy having another woman around after having to deal with men all these years.”

“So she’s a bit older?”

“I don’t know exactly how old she is and I’m for damned sure not going to make the mistake of asking her,” he said, laughing. “But if I had to venture a guess, I’d say she’s somewhere in her early to mid-fifties.”

Tori seemed to digest that a moment before she pointed to the corral and holding pens. “Are those...” She stopped, and he could tell she was searching for the right word. “...corrals?”

“There are a couple of corrals for the horses when we let them out of their stalls for some fresh air and exercise, a round pen for breaking them to ride and about eight holding pens for the cattle,” he explained. “We use those when we bring the heifers in from the pastures at calving time and to separate the stock during roundup.”

As he watched Tori take in the vastness of his ranch, Eli couldn’t help but marvel at the difference between her reaction and the first woman that he’d brought home to see the ranch. That had been ten years ago when he brought his college girlfriend home for Thanksgiving and it had turned out to be the beginning of the end of their relationship.

The woman had taken one look at the remote location and the amount of snow that was already on the ground and hadn’t been able to get back to Los Angeles fast enough. She hadn’t liked the stark beauty of the mountains, didn’t like the smell of the pines surrounding the valley and couldn’t believe anyone would want to live in something as primitive as a log home. Never mind that the house had all the latest conveniences, as well as satellite hookup to television and the internet. She hadn’t even appreciated that at night the stars looked brighter and seemed almost close enough to touch. Or that there were so many they couldn’t be counted. All she could do was complain about how dark it was at night and question why his father didn’t consider selling off the land to a developer. He’d tried to give her the benefit of the doubt, but that was before he found out about her lies and the scheme that would have eventually parted him from a good chunk of the Laughlin fortune.

“How many people live on the Rusty Spur?” Tori asked, bringing him back to the present.

Eli started the truck and began to navigate the snow-packed road leading over the ridge to the valley floor below. “Counting me, you and Buck, there are ten of us that live on the ranch year-round. But during the summer months, I usually hire another five to ten men to help out with cutting and storing hay and mending fences, as well as working during fall roundup.”

“I would have thought you’d need more than that from the size of this place,” she said, her soft voice still filled with amazement.

“Contrary to popular belief we don’t do everything on horseback or we would need more hired hands.”

“Really?”

She sounded almost disappointed and confirmed his suspicion that she had little, if any, knowledge of how a modern ranch or farm operated. But he wasn’t going to call attention to the fact. For one thing, they were already married—he had taken the plunge and planned to give it a shot. And for another, he wanted to see just how long it was going to take before she admitted that she knew nothing about rural life and what excuse she was going to give him for misrepresenting herself.

Her false claims might have been cause for concern, were it not for the iron-clad prenup they had signed before the wedding ceremony. That was his insurance. It not only protected his assets—the one-month get-acquainted period also gave him the time to figure out why she had answered his ad when she clearly wasn’t qualified, as well as why he couldn’t seem to bring himself to confront her about it.

“We use pickup trucks and four-wheel ATVs for a lot of the things that we used to have to do on horseback,” he explained, noticing that she was paying extremely close attention to what he said. “But we do ride horses to move some of the herds to the summer pastures in the upper elevations. Most of those are areas that can’t be reached on wheels.”

“Herds?” She looked intrigued. “How many cows do you have?”

He laughed out loud. “I have four herds of cattle—two of registered Hereford and two of Black Angus. And since we raise our own working stock, I have a herd of quarter horses, as well.”

“I meant cattle.” Her cheeks colored a pretty pink and he knew she realized she had slipped up.

When he stopped the truck at the side of the house, Eli got out to open the passenger door. Placing his hands at her waist, he lifted her down from the truck. He had no idea why he kept picking her up, other than the fact that he liked the way she felt in his arms.

After he set her on her feet, she continued to hold on to his biceps as she stared up at him. It took monumental effort on his part to keep from drawing her to him for another kiss. “Why don’t you go on inside out of the cold while I get your luggage?” he finally asked.

She stared at him a moment longer before nodding and turning to walk up the steps.

As he watched her cross the back porch to open the door, Eli exhaled, then took in a deep breath of sharp winter air. Why was he so damned turned on by Tori? She had clearly lied to him about her qualifications when she applied to be his wife. But the strangest part was that he didn’t mind. Somehow it didn’t seem nearly as important to him that the woman he chose be able to help around the ranch as it had been when he’d posted the ad online.

Reaching into the bed of the truck, he pulled out the two suitcases he had placed there when he’d picked her up at the airport, and started toward the house. There was something about Tori—a vulnerability, and quite possibly even a desperation—that had him overlooking her deception and making him want to shelter her from whatever she was running from. And he had no doubt there was something that compelled her to dive headfirst into the uncertainty of being an email-order bride.

Why else would a beautiful woman, who was obviously born and bred to a more genteel life—a woman who could easily have just about any man she set her sights on—answer an online ad to marry a stranger and live on a remote ranch in the mountains of Wyoming?

He had a basic background check run on all of the applicants before starting the interview process and nothing had turned up in Tori’s that had raised a red flag. But that didn’t mean there wasn’t something there and luckily he knew exactly whom to contact if he decided he needed to know more. Blake’s older brother, Sean, had been an FBI agent for years before retiring to open his own private-investigation agency. One phone call was all it would take and within a week or so, he would know all about Tori.

Then, with whatever information Sean Hartwell was able to gather on her, he could decide if he wanted to try to make the marriage work or have it annulled and resume his search for a suitable wife.

* * *

As Tori walked toward the house, she chastised herself for her slipups. Since the FBI had confiscated her laptop, she’d had to make a special trip to the library to do extensive research on the Western way of life and the terminology used on a ranch. Calling a herd of cattle “cows” was the kind of mistake she couldn’t afford to make again. Otherwise, Eli would realize she was a fraud and send her back to Charlotte faster than she could blink.

Glancing up at the Welcome to Our Home sign beside the back door, she sighed. It reminded her that she no longer had a home to go back to. Her father was dead, his business no longer existed and her so-called friends had abandoned her at the first sign of the scandal. If that hadn’t been enough to convince her to change her name and relocate, the death threats from some of her father’s former clients had. Even though she hadn’t been involved in any of his illegal practices, her last name alone had been enough to incite hatred in people who didn’t know her.

Then there was the matter of supporting herself. Her name was a huge strike against her, of course. But the fact that she had worked at her father’s agency kept anyone in the banking-and-investments industry from considering her for a job, even though she had actually been instrumental in bringing down his house of cards.

With exactly four hundred and seventy-two dollars between herself and living in a cardboard box beneath a bridge, not to mention the chilling threats to her life, she’d had no other choice. She hadn’t wanted to tell Eli so many fibs, but when she stumbled across his online ad while searching for an area of the country that might be safe, she had not only been intrigued, she had been desperate. Even her condo and car, which had been owned by the Bardwell Investments Agency, were about to be confiscated by the authorities to be sold in order to help with the reimbursement of her father’s clients. Within a few weeks, she would have been homeless and with no means of transportation to go elsewhere.

Opening the door, she walked into a small mudroom and looked around. A built-in log bench had been constructed along one wall with cubbyholes beneath for boots and shoes. When she glanced at the opposite wall, she had to smile at the use of horseshoes turned sideways and attached to the wall to create hooks for coats and jackets. It was unlike anything she had seen in Charlotte and was perfect for a rustic Western ranch house.

Slipping off her coat, she hung it on one of the horseshoe hooks and opened the door leading into the kitchen. It amazed her how vastly different decorating preferences were in different areas of the country. Having been raised in a world of elegant antebellum mansions, elaborate cotillions and formal garden parties, she was fascinated by the rustic, down-to-earth preferences of residents of the western states. Nothing seemed to go to waste and, considering how frugal she’d had to become in the past few months, that appealed to her.

“You must be Eli’s new bride.”

Lost in thought, the sound of the man’s voice caused her to jump. She looked over to find an older gentleman standing at the stove, stirring a huge pot of something that smelled absolutely wonderful. “Yes, I’m Tori, and you must be Buck.”

“Guilty as charged,” he said, nodding. “Eli gettin’ your things?”

“Yes.” She smiled. “Is there anything I can do to help you finish up dinner?”

“Around here we call it supper,” Buck corrected. “But if you’re of a mind to, you could set the table.”

“I’d be happy to do that.” When he pointed to the cabinet where the plates were kept, she asked, “How many places should I set? Three?”

Buck nodded. “Sally Ann feeds the hired hands down at the bunkhouse.”

While Tori set the table, she admired the rustic beauty of the kitchen. The wagon-wheel chandelier hanging over the big round oak table and the plank floor worn smooth over the years made her feel as if she had been transported back to the Old West. As she continued to look around, she marveled at how the river-rock wall behind the stainless-steel stove and the gray-marble countertops complemented the oak cabinets and natural log walls. She wouldn’t have thought the use of nature’s elements would create such a warm and cozy atmosphere, but that was the only way she could think to describe the welcome feeling of the spacious room.

“I’ll take these upstairs and put them with the rest of your things,” Eli said when he brought her luggage in from the truck.

“I meant to ask if my other things had arrived,” she said, smiling. “But the day has been such a blur of activity, I didn’t even think of it.”

He nodded. “I picked up the boxes at the freight company last week when I went down to Eagle Fork to talk to the attorney about our agreement and make arrangements for your arrival.”

A couple of weeks ago, she had shipped most of her clothes and the few mementos the authorities allowed her to keep when her father’s mansion and possessions were auctioned off. It was disheartening to think that her entire life could be reduced to a few shipping crates and a couple of suitcases. But that was the sad truth of the matter.

“Thank you, Eli,” she said, admiring the ease with which he managed the heavy luggage holding the remainder of her clothes. Turning back to Buck, she asked, “Is there anything else I can do to help?”

The old man smiled as he nodded toward the table. “Just have a seat and I’ll dish you up some of the best beef stew you’ve ever had. I’m bettin’ you’re pretty tired and hungry from all that travelin’ you did to get here.”

“It smells wonderful, but I’ll wait for you and Eli to sit down with me,” she said, smiling back.

Buck stared at her for several long seconds. “You’re nothin’ like I pictured you to be,” he finally said, shaking his head.

She wasn’t quite sure how to respond. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” she asked cautiously.

“It had better be good,” Eli said, walking back into the room. There was a warning tone in his voice and the air suddenly seemed filled with tension as the two men glared at each other.

“Might as well sit down and eat before it gets cold,” Buck finally said, turning to remove some biscuits from the oven.

The hostility between the two men was undeniable, and Tori had a feeling she might be a big part of their problem. Buck probably hadn’t approved of Eli’s method of obtaining a wife.

“Do you want me to give you a few moments?” she asked uncertainly. “I can go upstairs and start unpacking.”

Eli shook his head. “That won’t be necessary.” He held a chair for her, then sat down at the head of the table. “Buck gets this way in the wintertime. He hates being cooped up in the house and figures that if he’s miserable, everyone else should be, too.”

“You don’t have to talk about me like I’m not here,” Buck snapped as he plunked down a plate of fluffy biscuits on the table, then brought the pot of stew over to start filling their plates. He scowled at Eli a moment before turning to smile at her. “We don’t eat real fancy, but I can guarantee it’s good and there’s plenty of it.”

“It smells wonderful, Buck.” She returned his smile. “I’m sure it’s delicious.”

She wasn’t certain why, but she liked Buck. He might be gruff and extremely blunt, but she could tell by the kindness in his eyes that he was a good person.

“How did things go around here today, Buck?” Eli asked as he passed Tori the plate of biscuits. “Anything I need to take care of?”

“Jack called earlier this afternoon and it looks like that pregnant mare you’ve been watchin’ is gonna foal sometime tonight.” Buck ladled stew onto her plate. “Most of the boys over at the bunkhouse are down with the flu and Jack didn’t sound all that healthy when I talked to him.”

Eli frowned. “Is he with the mare now?”

“Yup. He said he’d stay with her until you got back and could take over,” Buck said, ladling another heaping scoop of stew onto her plate.

Her eyes widened as she stared down at it. Although the stew looked and smelled delicious, she couldn’t possibly eat all of it.

“Excuse me, Buck,” she said, hoping he wouldn’t be offended. When both men stopped talking to turn their attention her way, she shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I won’t be able to eat all of this.”

“Aren’t you hungry?” Eli asked.

“I’m ravenous, but I never eat this much,” she explained.

“Don’t tell me you’re one of those women who doesn’t eat enough to keep a bird alive,” Buck said, his disapproval evident in the lines creasing his forehead.

She pointed to her plate. “I have a very good appetite, but honestly there’s enough here to feed a starving lumberjack.”

Eli laughed. “Eat what you want and leave the rest.”

“I can’t do that,” she said, shaking her head. “That would be wasteful.” She didn’t want to tell him, but in the four months since her father’s downfall and subsequent death, she had learned to be extremely conservative with her resources. Until then, she hadn’t given a second thought to how much food she wasted or how much it cost. Now, as far as she was concerned, throwing food in the garbage was the same as throwing money away.

Both men looked at her with amused expressions a moment before Eli reached for her plate, then handed his empty one to Buck. “I’ll eat this,” he said, grinning. “Just tell him how much you want.”

Tori wasn’t sure what Eli and Buck found so amusing. But it didn’t matter. It seemed to have lessened some of the tension between them and she was happy to have a more relaxed atmosphere while they ate.

As she dined on the most delicious stew she’d ever eaten, she listened to Eli tell Buck how he intended to handle the daily chores while the majority of his hired men were down with the flu. “I’ll take care of checking on the cattle out in the pastures. Do you think you’ll be able to feed the horses?”

Buck looked thoroughly disgusted. “I might be gettin’ older and have a touch of arthritis, but if I can’t handle feedin’ a bunch of hay burners you might as well bury me. Of course I can feed the damned horses.”

“Good. Tori, I’m going to let you take care of mixing up the milk replacer and feeding the bucket babies,” Eli said, turning to look at her.

Apprehension streaked up her spine. She didn’t even know what a “bucket baby” was. Before she could respond, the phone rang and Eli left the table to answer it.

“You don’t have the slightest notion what a ‘bucket baby’ is or what to do with one, do you, gal?” Buck asked, his voice little more than a whisper as he reached over to pat her hand.

She caught her lower lip between her teeth as she shook her head.

“Don’t worry—I’ll talk you through it,” Buck said, giving her a conspiratorial wink.

“Am I going to be taking care of calves?” she guessed.

He nodded. “I’ll show you how to mix the powdered calf’s milk and the best way to hold the bucket. The calves will do the rest.”

Relieved that she wasn’t going to have to admit that she was a complete fraud her first day on the ranch, she smiled. “I can’t thank you enough, Buck. Please don’t tell Eli that I didn’t know what he was talking about. It’s just that—”

“Your secret is safe with me,” he interrupted, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

“I’m going to have to cut supper short,” Eli said, returning to the table. “Jack is sicker than a dog and that mare is getting close to dropping her foal.” He walked over to open the door to the mudroom. “Tori, I’m going to need your help. Change into some work clothes and meet me down at the horse barn as soon as you can. Buck, you’ll need to take care of the calves after you get finished feeding the horses.”

Before she could ask which barn he was talking about, Eli put on his wide-brimmed black hat and walked into the mudroom to get his coat.

“Which barn does he want me to go to?” she asked, hoping Buck knew.

“Go upstairs and get changed, while I take care of puttin’ the rest of this stew in the refrigerator,” Buck said, getting up from the table. “I’ll walk you down there, then I’ll take care of the bucket babies and the horses.”

Hurrying upstairs, Tori wasn’t even sure which room to look in for her clothes, but opening doors along the long hallway at the top of the stairs, she finally found the room where Eli had put her things. Opening her designer luggage, she rummaged through her clothes until she found a pair of jeans. Quickly changing into them, she put on a T-shirt and a sweatshirt over it for warmth. She wasn’t entirely certain she would need the layers of clothing beneath her coat, but it was below freezing outside and she would rather be safe than sorry.

Looking around at her clothes scattered across the bed and the unopened crates, she regretted not being able to unpack and put her things away. But there wasn’t time for that now. Eli needed her to help him and she only hoped she didn’t make any major mistakes.

After she put her hair into a ponytail to keep it out of the way and pulled her boots back on, she ran down the stairs to find Buck waiting for her by the kitchen door. “Do you have a pair of gloves?” he asked.

“Yes.” When she pulled them from the pocket of her ski jacket, he shook his head.

“Those are too dressy and won’t protect your hands.” He handed her a pair of leather work gloves. “These are more suitable for chores.” He reached up to pull a sock cap on her head to cover her ears. “I’d ask if you have any experience helping a mare give birth, but I already know the answer.”

“No...no, I don’t.” She followed him out of the house into the frigid night air. “I should tell you—”

“Don’t worry about it tonight,” he said as they walked across the yard toward a row of buildings. “You can tell me all about yourself when we have more time.”

When Buck led her through a small door built into one of the much larger ones at the front of the horse barn, she looked around. Stalls lined both sides of the center aisle. The dim light in one of the enclosures at the far end was probably where Eli and the mare were.

“Thanks, Buck,” she said, turning to give him a quick hug.

He patted her shoulder. “Just do everything Eli tells you to do and you’ll do just fine, gal.”

When Tori reached the stall, she found Eli, kneeling beside a mare lying on her side in the straw. The poor animal appeared agitated and in pain.

“What do you want me to do?” she asked.

“Move slowly and keep your voice low and even,” he said, removing his coat to lay it aside. He knelt by the mare’s hindquarters and started wrapping the tail with a narrow roll of gauzy-looking fabric. “Sit down by her head and try to calm her while I take care of things at this end.”

“It’s all right, sweetheart,” she said, sitting beside the mare to rub her broad forehead. She wasn’t sure of what she was doing or if it was right, but she was determined to do all she could to help the poor animal.

“I don’t think this will take too long,” he said, sitting back on his heels. “She’s had a couple of foals before this one, but I want to make sure everything goes okay.”

“I can understand why. She’s beautiful.” Tori crooned as she continued to pet the horse. “This is a big moment in your life, isn’t it, girl?”

“I see the front hooves emerging,” he said quietly.

She noticed that he didn’t move to help the mare. “You don’t have to do anything for her?”

“No, she’s doing fine on her own and it’s best to let nature take its course,” he said, sounding distracted. “We’re just here in case she has a problem.”

It was probably something she would have known if she had as much experience at farming as she’d claimed. But thankfully, Eli was focused on making sure the mare wasn’t having problems during the birth and had answered automatically without paying much attention to her question.

Once the colt slid out onto the soft bed of straw and Eli cleared the membrane away from its tiny muzzle, he unwrapped the horse’s tail, then motioned for her to leave the mare to walk out into the barn aisle. “We’ll keep an eye on them from here,” he said quietly as he picked up his jacket and followed her. Closing the stall’s half door, he smiled. “You did a great job. Thanks.”

“I didn’t do all that much,” she said, smiling back at him.

She was relieved that she had passed her first trial of dealing with livestock and hadn’t embarrassed herself by showing how little she knew. But it was Eli’s unexpected praise that caused a pleasant warmth to spread through her.

A bit flustered by the feeling, Tori turned to peer over the top of the stall door. As she watched, the mare got up, then turned around to nudge her copper-colored colt with her muzzle.

“What’s she doing?” Tori asked, hoping the animal wasn’t trying to hurt her baby.

“She’s trying to get the foal to stand up,” Eli said, from just behind her.

The heat from his body and the intimate sound of his voice close to her ear sent a tingling sensation straight to the pit of her belly. How could she possibly feel such awareness this fast? Even if they were married, she hadn’t much more than just met him.

“Is the foal a boy or girl?” she asked in an attempt to regain her equilibrium.

“A little filly,” Eli said, draping his arm over her shoulders as they watched the tiny animal try several times to get up before it was successful. “Would you like to name her?”

“Really? You’ll let me do that?”

He nodded. “Do you have an idea of what you want to call her?”

“Can I think about it for a little while?” she asked, watching the filly wobble her way over to the mare to begin nursing. It was a sight she knew for certain she would never forget and helped take her mind off the churning feelings Eli had aroused within her.

“Take your time. There’s no hurry,” he said, giving her a smile that warmed her all the way to her toes.

As they continued to stare at each other, Tori wondered why a man like Eli would feel the need to advertise for a wife. With his rugged good looks and disarming presence, she’d have thought he would have women lined up across the state just waiting for a chance to get him to look their way. And what had compelled him to offer her the job of being his wife over the other applicants?

When they spoke on the phone the first time, she had asked him why he had advertised for a wife instead of taking a more traditional route. He had given her a vague answer about not being able to take the time to find someone, but Tori doubted that was the case. With a ranch foreman and so many hired men to do the ranch work, not having the time was more of an excuse than it was a reason.

Lost in thought, her breath caught and she abandoned all speculation when he turned her to face him. The intent in his dark brown eyes was undeniable.

“When you look at me that way, it makes me think you want me to kiss you again,” he said, his voice sounding so sexy it sent another streak of excitement coursing through her. Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her to his broad chest. “Would you like that, Tori?”

Her heart skipped several beats and if she could have found her voice she would have told him that she would like that very much. But since she seemed incapable of speech, she simply raised her arms to his shoulders and nodded.

Reaching up, he took off his hat and placed it on a stack of straw bales by the stall. Then, lowering his head, he captured her lips with his.

Tori felt the immediate stir of anticipation that she had experienced the first two times Eli had kissed her. But as he possessively moved his mouth over hers, she realized this kiss wasn’t going to be a chaste caress like the others. This was a man teasing and exploring as he learned more about the woman he held.

When he coaxed her to open for him, she parted her lips and the first touch of his tongue to hers sent a wave of heat flowing through her entire body. She had been kissed before, but not like this. Eli Laughlin’s kisses were world-class and light-years ahead of her limited experience.

As he stroked her with such tenderness it brought tears to her eyes, Tori clung to him to keep from being lost. But when he pulled her closer and she felt the evidence of his desire pressed to her soft stomach, a shiver coursed through her and she felt as if she might melt into a puddle at his big booted feet.

“I think we had better check on the mare, then get back to the house,” he said, breaking the kiss. His gaze held hers as he slowly put his hat back on. “It’s late, and we’ll have to get an early start tomorrow morning in order to get everything done.”

After he made sure that the mare and colt were doing fine, they walked back to the house, and by the time they entered the mudroom, Tori felt completely drained of energy. “I don’t think I’ll have any trouble falling asleep,” she said as she removed her coat and boots.

“I’m sorry it’s been such a long day for you,” he said, hanging up their coats. “But you know how it is when you have livestock depending on you to take care of them.”

“Of course,” she fibbed as they walked into the kitchen and started down the hall. She didn’t have a clue about taking care of animals and she suspected he knew that. But she had made a commitment and was determined to hold up her end of their bargain. “What time should I set my alarm for?”

He shook his head as they climbed the stairs. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll wake you when I get up.”

When they stopped at the door to the bedroom where her things were, Eli smiled. “Sleep well, Tori.”

“You, too, Eli.”

Her pulse sped up when he lowered his head to give her a quick kiss. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Nodding, she went into the bedroom, closed the door behind her then leaned back against it. How on earth could she possibly be so attracted to a man she barely knew?

She hadn’t counted on that. At least not so quickly.

She had hoped that by the end of their trial period there might be an indication—possibly even a spark of attraction—to help her know how to proceed. But the chemistry between them was beyond anything she could have imagined and more than a little disconcerting.

It would be wonderful if the attraction led to the lasting relationship that she had always longed for. But what if it was like a flash fire—flaring strong and bright at first, then just as quickly burning out?

Pushing away from the door, Tori shook her head as she stripped off her clothes. She took a quick shower, put on her pajamas, tucked the clothes she had unpacked earlier when she’d looked for her jeans in the dresser drawers and climbed into bed. It was too early to tell much of anything at this point. She would just have to wait and see what the next few weeks held for her with her new husband. And in the meantime, she intended to concentrate on learning all she could about taking care of animals and the ranching way of life. With nowhere else to go and no way to get there, she had to.