Sheltered by the Cowboy Read online

  “That man is a complete disgrace to this town,” Daisy said scornfully. “He takes advantage of people in trouble with that cash and pawn shop he runs.”

  “I just can’t imagine why Dad got money from him and what happened to that money.”

  Daisy narrowed her eyes. “Do you think one of those weasels he had with him broke into your dad’s place last night?”

  Mandy thought of Sean and Donny and then shrugged her shoulders. “It could have been one of them, or it could have been somebody else. I just wish I had some answers instead of so many questions.”

  “Are you being careful?”

  She nodded. “That’s why I have Brody being my unofficial bodyguard right now. Thank goodness he wanted to help keep me safe.”

  “He’s a good one. He keeps most people away just by that dark look on his face.”

  Mandy leaned forward. “Oh, Daisy, but you should see him when he smiles,” she replied. “It’s like a pure ray of sunshine after a cold, cloudy day.”

  Daisy sat back in the chair and grinned at her. “Now, that sure doesn’t sound like just friends to me. You sound like a woman who’s gone all weak-kneed over a man.”

  “Oh no,” Mandy replied hurriedly. “I’m just saying he has a very nice smile.”

  “I wouldn’t know. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen it. And it won’t be long before the lunch crowd starts to arrive, so I’ll just get out of here and let you have the rest of your break in peace.” Daisy got up from the table and left.

  Mandy curled her fingers around her coffee cup and replayed Daisy’s words in her mind. Was she going all weak in the knees for Brody? Even if she was, it wouldn’t matter. She could go completely weak-kneed and fall on the floor but that didn’t mean he’d pick her up and proclaim his love for her.

  And why was she sitting here thinking about love with anyone?

  She had a house to clear out, her father’s debts to pay, a brother to continue to get to know and the potential of her father’s killer for some reason wanting her dead, as well. The last thing she needed on her mind was love.

  She had a feeling there was no way Brody Booth could be the prince she’d been waiting for. Her prince would want to bond with her mentally and physically. Brody was reticent to share his feelings and thoughts and definitely didn’t seem to desire her.

  A friend. That was all she needed right now. Somebody she could trust and depend on, a person she could confide in. She needed somebody who would shelter her from harm until they figured out what was going on.

  Somebody like Brody.

  She shoved thoughts of him aside as she finished her break and headed back out to take care of the lunch customers.

  * * *

  Brody sat tall in the saddle as he roamed through the herd of cattle, looking for any that might be sick or hurt. It was a daily chore on the Holiday Ranch. Coyote attacks or illness could devastate the assets that kept the ranch financially sound.

  It was another cold day, although the sun was bright overhead. Thankfully there was no more snow forecast for the next few days.

  Personally, he had no idea what to expect over the next couple of days. All he knew was staying with Mandy was going to test his self-control.

  He had awakened that morning before her and had crept into the bathroom to wash up for the day. When he’d left the bathroom she’d been up and scampering around in those snowman pajamas, the bright red color doing amazing things to her skin tone and dark hair.

  She’d made coffee and had offered to make him breakfast. He’d declined the offer, just wanting her to get dressed in real clothes. He’d finally breathed a sigh of relief when she’d taken her clothing for the day and disappeared into the bathroom. Thank God she was manning the booth tonight so they wouldn’t be in the small quarters of her apartment for too long before going to sleep.

  He glanced at his watch. It was time for him to get back to the stables and pick up Mandy from the café. He gave a sharp whistle and waved to Sawyer, who was riding on the other side of the herd.

  Sawyer returned the wave and Brody headed in. As he unsaddled and stalled his horse once again, he thought about the attack on Mandy the night before. If it had been somebody snooping around for cash or items of value, then why hadn’t he turned and run when Mandy had called out? It was the question that kept going around and around in his head.

  And how sure could they be that the intruder had been a man? He dismissed the idea that a female had wielded a knife and tried to get into the room where Mandy had run. She had been under the impression that the intruder was definitely a male.

  Still, even though he wanted to believe that they had all overreacted the night before and Mandy wasn’t in any danger, he just didn’t believe it.

  Something was going on...something that had killed George Wright and now threatened his daughter. But what? Was it a neighbor dispute or somebody George owed money to? And what could that person hope to gain by harming Mandy? Dead people couldn’t pay debts.

  It took a lot of rage to slit a man’s throat. That was an up-close-and-personal kind of anger. Brody was far too intimate with that kind of rage.

  He walked into the café fifteen minutes before Mandy’s shift was due to end. The first thing he saw was her beautiful smile as she glanced at him. What had become a flicker of familiar heat lit in the pit of his stomach. He turned and took a stool at the counter.

  Daisy sauntered over to him. “Hi, Brody. What can I get for you?”

  “Just a cup of coffee, thanks.”

  She returned a moment later with the coffee. “Rumor has it you have a nice smile. It must be like a unicorn...elusive as hell, because I’ve never seen it.”

  Brody looked at her in surprise, and then he not only grinned, but a burst of laughter escaped him.

  “Well, I’ll be damned. I do believe in unicorns,” Daisy exclaimed. She was still chuckling as she moved down the counter to fill another customer’s cup.

  Brody turned slightly on the stool so that he could see Mandy. She was serving Abe Breckenridge and his wife, Donna. She said something and the older couple laughed.

  Did she know how wonderful her smile was? Did she realize how her caramel eyes snapped with a liveliness and warmth that were so inviting? Her black slacks fit like a second skin and the yellow T-shirt that advertised the café was pulled taut across her full breasts.

  He’d always found Mandy physically attractive from a distance, and getting to know her had only increased his attraction to her.

  Damn. He jerked his gaze to his coffee cup. He had to snap out of it. Part of the problem was that it had been several years since Brody had been with a woman. For a while he’d driven into Oklahoma City to see a woman he’d originally met in a hotel bar there while on a cattle buying trip.

  Monica Blake had a ranch on the outskirts of the city. She was a widow, highly sexual and not interested in any emotional connection. It had been the perfect arrangement for Brody for about six months and then he’d stopped seeing her. The sex had become mechanical and empty and he’d decided he’d rather do without it.

  Since then he’d worked hard and slept well and sex hadn’t even entered his mind.

  Until now.

  Until Mandy.

  Friends didn’t sleep with friends, he told himself firmly. And Mandy would always be just a friend because he didn’t do any other kinds of relationships. He was with her now only through a series of troubling events that had been out of his control.

  “Hey, cowboy, are you ready to blow this place?”

  Mandy’s voice came from right behind him. He turned around and fell into her welcoming smile. Her scent seemed to surround him, invading his senses. He stared at her for several long moments.

  “Brody?” Her smile turned into a quizzical frown.

  “Yeah
, I’m ready.” Thankfully she stepped back so he could slide off the stool without brushing up against her.

  As they stepped out of the café his gaze shot both ways, looking for any sign of approaching danger. He wasn’t even sure what danger might look like, but he was determined that nobody would get close enough to harm Mandy.

  He didn’t breathe easily until they were in his truck and headed to her place. While he drove, she chatted, telling him about her day and who she had seen and any gossip she had heard.

  “Are you in one of your moods?” she asked.

  “No, why?”

  “You’re very quiet.”

  He flashed her a quick glance. “Sometimes it’s hard to get a word in edgewise with you.”

  “I do like to talk,” she agreed easily. She was silent for a moment but he felt her gaze still on him. “You know, I thought it was only women who could have resting bitch face, but you have it.”

  He shot her another quick glance. “Excuse me? What is resting bitch face?” He pulled to a stop in front of the garage.

  “I’ll show you when we get inside.” Together they got out of the truck and went up the stairs. “I hope you like chicken,” she said as she unlocked the door. “I’m making chicken and rice with a wine sauce for dinner.”

  “Sounds good.”

  The first thing she did when they entered her place was kick off her shoes. “Oh, my aching feet,” she said and then smiled. “One of the health hazards of waitresses everywhere.”

  She plugged in the small Christmas tree that sat on a small table in the living area. “Do you like Christmas?” she asked as she got busy with the dinner preparations.

  “I guess it’s okay,” he replied without much enthusiasm.

  “I love it,” she said.

  Normally Brody took his meals in the ranch dining room with the other men. The meals were made by Cord Culley, or Cookie as he was known, a crusty man who rarely spoke to anyone.

  It was odd to be sitting in such an intimate space while a beautiful woman cooked for him. Thankfully it didn’t take long for the scent of the chicken to override the fragrance of Mandy.

  “I need to be at the kissing booth by seven,” she said with her back turned to him. “So, we’ll have to eat and run.” She turned to face him. “What vegetable do you like?”

  Although there was no emotion on her face, she looked slightly irritated. Had he somehow made her mad with his rather lackluster response to Christmas? “What’s wrong with you? Did I say something wrong?” he asked.

  She framed her face with her hands. “Resting bitch face.”

  “You do that pretty well,” he said.

  She laughed. “Not half as well as you do. Most of the time you look like you’re mad at the world. Now, green beans or corn?”

  “Corn,” he replied. As she turned back to the oven he frowned thoughtfully. He probably did appear as if he were mad at the world. Hell, he’d been mad at it since he’d been five years old and his father had punched him so hard in the face he’d given him his first, but certainly not last, black eye.

  Before he could go too deep into his dark memories, dinner was served. “Did you hear anything from Dillon today?” he asked after eating a few bites of the delicious, tender chicken and tasty rice.

  “No, nothing. But Jimbo and two of his goons came in to eat and to not so subtly remind me that my dad owed him money and interest is accruing daily.”

  “That’s not your problem,” Brody replied.

  “He was definitely trying to make it my problem.” She stared down at her place.

  “He didn’t do anything to hurt you, did he?” Brody sat up straighter in his chair.

  “No, he was just being his usual creepy self.”

  Brody focused back on the meal. If Jimbo King tried to hurt Mandy in any way, then Brody would unleash the deep, dark rage he believed was inside him. If that happened then God help them all.

  Two hours later Brody was parked in front of the kissing booth. He sat in the truck and watched as Mandy interacted with the people who passed by.

  Abe Breckenridge and his wife, Donna, stopped at the booth. They all visited for several minutes and then Abe dug his wallet out of his back pocket. He handed Mandy a bill as his wife shook her head good-naturedly. Mandy grabbed the old man by his chin and then planted a kiss on his cheek.

  The memory of her soft, warm lips against his skin burned in Brody’s head. He wanted another kiss from her. He wanted it right now.

  As Abe and his wife walked on by, he got out of his truck, the night air cold, and there was only one thing that would warm him. Just a kiss on the cheek in exchange for a donation, he thought. What harm could there be in that?

  “Hey, did you get cold in the truck?” she asked, her eyes glittering in the Christmas lights that decorated the booth. “There’s a little heater in the back area if you want to come in and get warm, although I’ll warn you, the heater doesn’t do much.”

  “Nah, I’m good. I just realized I hadn’t donated to the cause.” He pulled out his wallet and withdrew a ten-dollar bill. “Keep it all.” His heart suddenly quickened as she took the money and then leaned forward.

  He tipped the brim of his cowboy hat up as a wild anticipation swept through him.

  She took him by the chin, and even as his mind told him to turn his head to receive the kiss on the cheek, he refused the mental command.

  Her eyes widened in the instant before his lips claimed hers.

  Chapter 7

  Mandy gasped softly as their lips met and he wrapped his arms around her. The wooden barrier of the booth between them was the only thing that kept her from leaning fully into him as the unexpected kiss deepened.

  She’d been cold with the night air slicing through her, but his lips were so wonderfully warm against hers and her entire body instantly heated. The sound of the distant Christmas carols and the bright colored lights faded away as she lost herself in the kiss.

  Their tongues danced together in a heated battle that threatened to weaken her knees with desire. She had wanted him to kiss her for what seemed like an eternity and the reality was so much better than what she had imagined. A moan of exquisite pleasure escaped her.

  Why was he doing this now...here where she couldn’t get as close to him as she wanted? Here where it could be only a kiss and nothing more?

  “Damn, that must have been a heck of a donation.”

  The deep, familiar voice penetrated through the haze of desire that had momentarily held her captive. She and Brody sprang apart like two guilty teenagers caught by an angry parent.

  “Dillon,” she said with a small shaky laugh. She shot a quick glance at Brody, wondering if the kiss had affected him as deeply as it had her.

  It was impossible to tell as he eyed Dillon. He reached up and straightened his cowboy hat. “I hope you’re bringing us some kind of news,” he said.

  “Not the kind you want,” Dillon replied. “I just thought I’d let you both know that Jimbo has alibis for the night of George’s murder and last night. On both nights he and his employees were playing cards in the back room at the pawn shop. We have also spoken to Aaron Blair and Lloyd Green today. Aaron was at home with his wife last night and Lloyd was in bed with the flu.”

  “None of those alibis sounds very ironclad to me,” Brody replied.

  Dillon nodded. “I realize that and we’re working to see if any of them don’t hold up under closer scrutiny.”

  “What about Nate Coleman? You mentioned my father had fought with him,” Mandy asked.

  “Nate has been a bit uncooperative. He’s a bullheaded man and is offended that we’d even consider him a suspect. Have you remembered anything else about the person who attacked you last night?”

  “No, nothing.” She didn’t want
to tell him that she’d spent the entire day and evening consciously not thinking about the attacker. Even now, remembering those moments shot an icy blast through her that had nothing to do with the weather. “Although I’m pretty certain it was a male by his height and build.”

  “I just want to assure you that I’m doing everything I can to solve not only your father’s murder but also to find the person who came after you. We’ll get to the bottom of this, Mandy.” Dillon’s eyes were lit with determination. “We need more time.”

  “I know, Dillon,” she replied.

  “We’d just like the answers sooner rather than later,” Brody added.

  “I’ll keep you informed of the investigation’s progress,” Dillon said and then, with a nod, he walked away.

  Mandy turned to gaze at Brody. She didn’t want to talk about the attack. She wanted to talk about the kiss they’d just shared. More than anything she wanted to repeat the kiss.

  “You’ve still got about an hour left. I’ll be in the truck.” Before she could say a word to Brody, he turned and hurried to his vehicle.

  She released a deep sigh and tried to tamp down the emotion his kiss had wrought inside her. There was no way it had been just an accidental meeting of lips.

  If that had been the case then he’d have immediately pulled away from her, but instead he had deepened the kiss. He’d wrapped his arms around her like he’d meant it.

  It had been more than a little bit wonderful and marked a definite change in their relationship, a change she welcomed. There was no question he was feeling some sort of desire for her. Was he the toad she’d been waiting for? She wasn’t sure, but her heart quickened at the possibility.

  She smiled as she saw her brother and Zeke Osmond approaching the booth. She was happy to see Graham even if she wasn’t thrilled about the company he kept.

  “Hey, Mandy. Don’t you look cute,” Graham said with a warm smile.

  “Sexy. She looks sexy as hell,” Zeke said.

  Graham elbowed him hard in his side and Zeke yelped. “That’s my sister you’re talking about,” Graham said. “Have some respect.”