License to Love (2 page)

Her and horses? Could today go any worse?

“I’m sorry, Brent, but you own the back forty acres. Miss
Nelson now owns the front forty, along with Ben’s six horses.” Nick weaved his
plump fingers together. She guessed he might be considering the options for
them, but she didn't plan to sit back and let them decide.

“I can take over Ben’s work here.” Now where did that
wonderful idea come from? Just because Brent didn’t want her here didn’t mean
she had to stay and spite him. Did it?

Both men looked at her with blank faces. Okay, so maybe she
should have dressed in something besides her silk suit. And stilettos.

Nick coughed, but it sounded suspiciously more like a laugh
to Missy. “I don’t think you understand what’s involved in caring for horses.
And what about your job back home?”

She wouldn’t tell them, but that was the problem. She didn’t
have a job. “Do you think I’m not capable?”

She’d directed the challenge at Nick, but he looked down and
shuffled his papers. Brent sat down on the couch and answered as he linked his
fingers behind his head, “You’re not needed.”

“Oh, so you’ll hire someone to take on Ben’s share of the
work?” The property seemed to be a good size, but she hadn’t seen any other men
who worked it.

He let out a pent-up breath.

Ha, got you, don’t I?

“Miss Nelson, could you sign these papers now?” Nick stood
and took them to the counter. Brent’s insistent gaze kept her in her seat for a
second. Thoughts of fighting with him every day unnerved her . . . and made her
feel restless.

She broke their staring contest when she stood and left
Brent to stomp around and swear in his living room.

When she joined Nick at the counter, she asked in a whisper,
“How did Ben die?”

After glancing toward the other room, he whispered, “A wreck
on the freeway. He was pulling an empty horse trailer.”

“How awful.” She shivered and wished she could push the
feelings away.

“Please don’t ask Brent about it,” he said, sparking her
interest. She gave him a look she hoped would prompt him to explain, but Nick
didn’t elaborate. Instead he explained the papers and took her through page by
page. He pointed and she signed.

“Thank you, Miss Nelson, I’ll be in touch.” Nick nodded to
her and met Brent by the door. They spoke for a few minutes before Nick left.

That left Missy and Brent standing by the door, two
strangers facing off.

“You obviously don’t want me here. That’s okay, I’m used to
that.” She folded her arms, and kept a calm demeanor despite the fear that he
could tell her to leave at any moment. Part of her even questioned if it was
right to come here. She could see he had put everything into this place. The
problem was, she didn’t have other options. This had to work for now.

He rubbed his chin, maybe thinking, and she noticed the way
his shirt pulled over his muscles. He had a presence about him, like a graceful
oak that presided over an otherwise treeless field.

But his good looks didn’t mean a thing. So, what if one more
man thought he could brush her aside? She had a legal right to stay as Ben’s
only relative. Ben had bought all this with the inheritance money from their
father too. Her father raised her, but he left everything to the son he never
told his family about.

“What do you know about horses?” Brent asked, and it threw
her out of her thoughts. She pictured the horses she’d seen in parades. Maybe
she shouldn’t show off her expertise.

Brent sighed. “I see. So you’ve never ridden, but you want
to come out here and play cowgirl.”

This wasn’t a game to her. “This is the only way I have to
know Ben now.”

He must have heard something in her voice, because he
studied her again, this time with kinder eyes. “We have a lot of work to do
around here.”

“So I’ll learn.” She’d end up with every dirty job he didn’t
want, but she’d settle for that. “What else can we do?”

He didn’t have a choice, and they both knew it.

“We take boarder horses, mostly in the winter.” He surprised
her when he switched into instructor mode. “We give lessons and take groups on
rides over the hills and down to the beach. You’ll have to learn how to ride
and care for the animals.”

“Okay.” She’d adapted many times in her life and she could
do it now. “I just have one stipulation.”

He looked at her with raised brows. “Go on.”

“You can't stare at me like that,” she said.  His lips
twitched and his cool eyes lightened for a second before his hard look
returned.

He pulled her coat from the closet and handed it to her. “So
if I stare at you all day, you’ll leave?”

“Fat chance,” she said before she slipped her coat on.

“Did you bring any bags with you?” he asked and actually
looked away from her to open the front door.

“A suitcase.”

“Well, I’ll show you to Ben’s. I guess it’s yours now.”

* * * *

Maybe today will be better.
Brent grabbed his suede
jacket and headed out into the morning mist. The fog blocked his view of Ben’s
house farther down the road, but he still looked in that direction as he pictured
Missy. Obviously Nez Perce like her brother, she had reddish-cocoa skin and
exotic brown eyes. Did she ever use them to seduce men?

More importantly, did she care about her dead brother? Care
that she came here and replaced him?

What would a sweet little city slicker do out here without
her morning espresso? She didn’t exactly talk like someone from the city, but
she dressed like one. He only knew she was from east of here.

He stalked down to the horse stables, but froze mid-step at
the entrance. His Appaloosa gelding, Jeffrey, nuzzled Missy’s hand.

Thoughts of that darn woman had kept him up half the night,
but she looked rested. What was she doing here so early?

Her face wasn’t guarded. He hadn’t realized just how snobby
she’d looked the day before in her nice clothes, but now she smiled at Jeffrey.
Her hair hung down her back like a black, shiny mane. It’d been up yesterday,
so he hadn’t guessed it was so long.

Nick was wrong. She was here to take over the stables,
starting with his own damn horse.

The traitor horse reacted to Missy just like he had to Ben,
maybe because she seemed to have the same natural ease. The two of them made a
nice picture, for sure. That long body of hers would look great riding on a
horse.

She must have listened to his suggestion that she go into
town and buy some work clothes. Now in jeans, insulated boots, and a thick,
winter coat, she looked like she could belong. On her own ranch, that was.

Wasn’t it his luck that she was so hot? He loved long hair,
and she had plenty. And huge brown eyes in an oval face. Lips that just begged
for a kiss. Darn it, he didn’t need to waste his time with fantasies.

She saw him and stepped back from the horse.

“Morning,” he said as he rested a hand on the stall. “I see
you and my horse are on good terms.”

“What’s his name?” Her gaze rested on the horse, then Brent,
and then the horse again. A teasing smile slipped onto her face.

“His name’s Jeffrey. And what’s so funny?” He caught himself
right before he returned that enticing smile.

“They say pets and their owners start to look alike. Jeffrey
has your long face.”

One corner of her mouth tilted up before she bit her lip to
stop the smile. He saw her white teeth nibble on her lower lip and thought of
doing the same.
Whoa!

“So does Dancer remind you of Ben?” he asked, tilting his
head to the black stallion that watched her.

Missy looked back at the wild-looking thing. “I don’t know.”

Yeah, he had her there. Funny thing was, he felt bad that
he'd made her face go all sad. “So, you ready?”

She nodded, though she couldn’t know what she agreed to.

“Great, truck’s outside,” he said and noticed how quiet she
was. He waited until she slid in and buckled up to start the engine. Her
lavender scent smelled strange mixed with the truck’s normal leather smell. She
watched out the window as they drove through the ranch. After several quiet
minutes, he asked, “Not a morning person?”

She shrugged. He almost missed it because he was watching
the road.

“Missy?” That made her turn her face his way.

“Sorry, I’ve got so many things on my mind,” she said, still
not focused on him.

“Second thoughts about being here or worries about the life
waiting for you?” He made sure to keep his voice neutral because he actually
wanted to hear her answer.

“I’ll pull my weight, don’t worry. And I’m sticking around,
so get used to me.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He turned the truck off his gravel road, onto
the highway, and sped up. He could handle quiet if she didn’t feel like
talking. It wasn’t like they were friends.

“It’s just being in Ben’s house...” She looked down at her
lap.

Her quiet voice made his heart sink. Maybe he shouldn’t have
left her there alone. Too late now… Or could he fix it? “I wasn’t thinking. You
can move over to my place if you need to.” What in hell was he thinking now?
Her
in
his
house?

“It's all right. Being there just made me think about him
more, wonder about him.”

Another ping of guilt hit him. “I meant to clean the cabin
out at some point. I had no idea you’d be moving in…” Ben had been horribly
messy so the cabin was full of not only Ben’s things, but papers and weird odds
and ends that had stacked up.

She shrugged and turned to her window, and a minute later,
added, “The cloudy sky looks pearlescent, like the inside of those seashells in
the shops here.”

“The abalone shells?” At her soft comment, he glanced over.
She was too pretty to be sitting in his dusty truck. Something stirred in him
at the sight of her hair, her hands resting one on top of the other in her lap.
Casual beauty, he thought.

Darn it, her looks weren’t his business.

After a few days of hard ranch work, she’d hit the road for
home. Just like Kathryn had two years ago.

“We need more hay for the horses,” he said. Since she still
gazed out the side window, he let himself stare for a quick minute. Nice
profile. Nice mouth, too. A man could go crazy thinking about kissing her. But
back to ranch business...  “There’s two other guys working the ranch with me,
Dale and Ivan. You’ll run across them.”

“They live on the property?” she asked, and the hint of
panic in her voice surprised him. So far, she acted as if nothing could run her
off.

He shouldn’t ask about it. Besides, she seemed to be trying
to cover for it now. “Dale does, in a small house closer to the main road. You
probably didn’t see it through the forest over there.”

In his side vision, he saw her flick a look over at him.
She’d trailed her gaze over him a few times the day before, but he couldn’t
tell if she liked what she saw or not. It didn’t matter, but he liked to think
she did.

“Have you always been around horses?”

“My dad made his living from horses, and I always have,
too.” He felt his shoulders relax, though he hadn’t realized before how stiff
he’d been. Maybe they could manage this. “When we finish today, you might want
to go check out some books on horses. I’ll go over everything with you, but
it’d help if you can tell a bridle from a stirrup.”

“I’m not that slow.”

“I’m just saying, I’d like you to know what everything is.
Horse breeds, grasses, a little about horse care. Check into trail horses,
since that’s what we have here.” He glanced over. “That is, if you’re serious
about this.”

“I am.” Her voice wasn’t haughty like before, but heavy.
Maybe she did see what she was getting into.

“This is Jack’s farm coming up.” He pulled down a long
gravel drive. Ready for them, Jack waved and swung open the barn door, but he
scratched his thick, gray beard as he looked at Missy. Hopping out, Brent told
him, “Jack Wilson, this is Ben’s sister, Missy Nelson.”

“Ben had a sister?”

At Jack’s words, Brent gave her a look. She narrowed her
eyes as she stepped back.

He knew that she wouldn’t be much help with this. Her petite
frame couldn’t be more than five feet five, and the bales were stinking heavy.
Still, she needed to see what they did.

Jack jumped up into the truck bed and stacked the bales as
Brent loaded them. He paused after a minute to toss her a pair of gloves.

“I noticed you don’t have a pair.” He waited while she
slipped them on. “Want to help out?”

He threw another bale into the bed to demonstrate and stepped
back to let her try.

Bending, she grabbed the strings and pulled. “Holy crap!”

He couldn’t stop the laugh, but he managed to keep it
silent. Too bad she caught him shaking when she stood up.

“Would you like to keep the steering wheel warm?” He grinned
with the comment so she’d know it was in fun.

“You jerk!” She glared. “There are other ways I can help out
on the ranch.”

He sobered because her eyes grew smoldering with anger. They
looked amber, and entrancing. He felt his breathing quicken.

Turning, she walked to the front of the truck and got back
in the passenger seat. He went back to work, shrugging at Jack’s puzzled look.
They both looked in the back window at her stiff shoulders and knew to keep
silent as they worked.

“That about does it,” Jack said when he stacked the last
one.

“See you, Jack,” Brent waved and joined Missy in the cab to
head back. With her arms folded, she turned her body away and didn’t speak the
entire trip home.

This wasn’t so bad, he thought with a glance her way. If
they could stay angry at each other, he wouldn’t have to wonder about her. He
wouldn’t have to care why she was so willing to pick up and move here to help
with the ranch. Now if could just push it all out of his mind…