dammit, if he didn’t measure up, why hadn’t she just said so? Why had she slept with him in the first place? It seemed to him the woman didn’t know her own mind. He could have worked up a pretty good head of steam on the subject, but the lady in question came wandering into the barn just then. His pulse started pounding as if he’d been wrestling a bull for an hour.
“Speak of the devil,” Harlan Patrick said, sweeping Val off her feet and planting a kiss on her forehead. “Welcome home. We sure did miss you around here, didn’t we, Slade?”
Slade grunted a noncommittal response that had Harlan Patrick grinning.
“Guess I’ll go on up to the house and check on my wife, unless you two need me to stick around for some reason.” He regarded first Val and then Slade expectantly. “No? I didn’t think so. See you two. Play nice.”
After he’d gone, Slade muttered, “He is a very annoying man.”
“I think he’s wonderful,” Val said.
“Something else we can fight about, I suppose.”
Val sighed. “I didn’t come back to fight with you. How’s Annie?”
“Annie is just fine. I’m surprised you’re not up at my place checking her for bumps and bruises.”
She grinned. “I would have been, but she wasn’t around.” Her expression sobered. “How are you? You must have been terrified when the horse took off.”
“I’ve had better moments,” Slade agreed. He sat back on his haunches and surveyed her as intently as if he hadn’t seen her in months, rather than days. “I see you’re back in your fancy shoes again. Must be the big-city influence. You never did seem real comfortable as a ranch girl.”
“Are you deliberately trying to bait me?” she asked, sounding more curious than angry.
“Why would I do that?”
“I have to wonder the same thing. You didn’t, by any chance, miss me?”
“Not me. Too much work to do.”
“I missed you,” she said softly, her voice filled with what might have been regret.
Slade fixed her with a steady gaze. “Is that so? You don’t seem especially happy about it.”
“Why would I be? We’re on different wavelengths, that’s plain enough. You seem intent on keeping us that way.”
His gaze shot up at the unreasonable accusation. “Not me. I wanted to marry you, remember?”
“Oh, yeah, I remember. That proposal was one of the more memorable moments of my life,” she said with unmistakable sarcasm. She headed for the door. “I’d better go.”
Slade stood up and took a step toward her. “Val?”
She hesitated.
“Don’t go.”
She slowly turned back. “Why?”
“Because I did miss you,” he confessed, unable to hide the bemusement he felt. It was ridiculous to miss a woman he considered to be little more than a thorn in his side. “And if I wouldn’t get a slap for it, I might show you just how much.”
She seemed to be weighing that, but as his breath lodged in his throat, she took a step toward him, then halted. “Meet me halfway,” she taunted.
Slade stepped closer and took her shoulders in his hands. She was so fragile he feared she’d break, but he knew deep down that she was tougher than he was by a long shot. Gazing into her eyes, he felt his senses spinning out of control. Desire slammed through him, unbidden. Mostly unwanted.
Still, he couldn’t keep himself from lowering his head until his mouth found hers. Fire exploded through him at the first touch. To his amazement, she was trembling in his arms, and when he looked, there was a suspicious sheen to her eyes.
“You aren’t about to cry, are you?” he asked worriedly.
She blinked rapidly. Her chin jutted up. “Why would I cry over a silly kiss?”
“That’s what I’d like to know.” He dismissed the fact that she’d just referred to the kiss as silly. Otherwise, he might have been insulted.
“I’m not shedding any tears over you, Slade Sutton,” she said with a touch of defiance. “So you can keep that ego of yours in check.”
This time when she whirled around to leave, Slade didn’t try to stop her. He just stood back and enjoyed the view of her sashaying along on those ridiculously high heels. He’d been telling himself for days now that he didn’t give a damn that she’d gone. Now he was forced to admit that he was very glad that she was back. For the last half hour or so, he’d finally felt whole again.
* * *
Blasted man, Val thought to herself as she wandered off in search of Annie, after