The Lone Rancher - By Carol Finch Page 0,33
Leanna, Bowie and Chance.
She glanced discreetly at Quin as he led the way to the third-floor rooms that looked to be a play area for children and extra space for guests. She was sure Quin thought it was his duty and obligation to live his father’s dream. The man didn’t have a life of his own, she mused. He was the extension of his father’s desire to own half of Texas.
When they returned downstairs, Adrianna cast aside her insightful musings to stare appreciatively at the stone fireplace and mantel in the cozy den. “This is a very impressive room, Cahill.” She inclined her head toward the stuffed longhorn head hanging above the mantel. “A Hereford would look better, considering it is the breed of the future.”
Quin smirked. “You decorate your fireplace as you want and I’ll do mine as I want, Boston. I like it the way it is.”
“I’m sure you do,” she murmured as she wheeled toward the front door. “Thank you for the grand tour. I’d better be going. Tomorrow will be a long day. The shorthorn cattle I bought were delayed but they are due in tomorrow.”
She heard him mumble something about sticking to longhorns if she knew what was good for her, but she didn’t ask him to repeat it. With a wave to Elda, Adrianna stepped onto the porch to admire the view. She felt Cahill’s presence behind her, inhaled his scent and felt the stirring of undeniable desire. She wondered if she would be bold enough to carry through with her suggestion of a noncommittal tryst—to experiment with the brief moment of passion Quin had introduced her to that day in the grove of trees.
“Sure you don’t want to sneak back here after dark?” he whispered from so close behind her that his warm breath caressed her neck and made her weak in the knees.
Adrianna relied on the flippant responses she had used when aristocrats tossed propositions at her. “Not tonight, Cahill. I’ll let you know….”
He frowned down at her and she suspected he realized he had received a practiced response leftover from her days in Boston’s high society.
“I should go,” she murmured as she descended the steps.
“I’ll be here if you need me…for one reason or another,” he said softly, invitingly.
She halted to glance up at the brawny cowboy that sported a bristly beard and shaggy hair. He looked rough-edged and rugged…and those leather chaps always drew her attention to the crotch of his breeches. Adrianna inhaled a steadying breath and walked toward her horse. She wondered how much longer she would be able to control the unruly desire Cahill always managed to stir inside her.
No strings, she mused as she rode home. A simple experiment with passion. It was a man’s way so it was going to be her way, she reminded herself. After all, she had come to Texas to live without the infuriating restraints applied to women in the East. She just hadn’t expected her new philosophy to include sexual pleasure. But Quin Cahill was a hard man to resist.
She wondered if Cousin Rosa had had the same problem when it came to the brawny ex–Ranger.
Adrianna smiled to herself, wondering if that’s what Rosa had been talking about when she said that she and Lucas didn’t want to wait that long. She suspected she was beginning to understand what Rosa meant.
Chapter Six
“I hope everything will run smoothly at the wedding party tonight,” Bea fretted as she fluffed the sleeves of the new gown Rosa had created, then smoothed a wrinkle from Adrianna’s dress after fastening the back of the garment.
“With you and Elda at the helm, I’m sure this festivity will go off splendidly,” Adrianna reassured her housekeeper. “And you look lovely, I might add. That yellow gown accentuates your complexion and your dark hair.”
Bea pinched Adrianna’s cheek playfully. “You are good for me, sweetie. Make me feel half my age.”
Adrianna studied her own reflection in the cheval glass that stood in the corner of her room. She wondered if Quin would perceive her as the debutante her friends in Boston saw. Expensively dressed, privileged, blue-blooded. He claimed he wasn’t after her money, but she knew he would snatch up her ranch at the drop of a hat. And her body, if she decided to accept his offer…
The erotic thought roiled through her, triggering the same wicked pleasure she had experienced when she had been in his arms—twice—in the past two weeks. She wasn’t accustomed to being wanted for her