Two To Wrangle (Hotel Rodeo #2)(19)

“This is a pointless conversation.” She shoved her hands in her pockets. “I only came down here to ask if you knew Tom’s favorite spot on the ranch.”

“Yeah. I know it. It’s a grassy knoll that overlooks the river. You can see Tom’s entire spread stretching out for miles from there. He loved that spot. Matter-o-fact, it’s where me and Beau were headed.”

“Can I go with you?” she asked. “Delaney loaned me some jeans and boots.”

She stuck out a foot to show off a pair of dusty ropers. His gaze tracked from the boots slowly upward. He was surprised he hadn’t noticed sooner the boots and faded denim encasing her mile-long legs. Monica Brandt was hot as hell in her skirt and heels, but looking at her now, he was filled with the urge to back her up to a wall and peel those jeans slowly off her hips.

“Please, Ty,” she said.

Ty hesitated. The biggest reason for the ride was for some alone time. He had so much to figure out. Monica’s presence would only muddle his head. “It’s a long ride,” he warned her.

“How long?”

“Couple hours. Probably four to get there and back. Five if we hang around a bit. That won’t put us back ’til about supper time.”

“I don’t have anything else to do except for going through Tom’s effects, and I need you for that.”

“Fine,” he grunted. “I’ll take you. Just don’t complain to me later ’bout your sore ass. I s’pose we can find an ol’ ranch horse ’round here that’ll suit you . . . unless you jus’ wanna climb up here on ol’ Beau with me.”

She eyed the horse dubiously. “Can he carry us both?”

The horse gave a snort of protest.

Ty replied with a chuckle, “He might not like it much, but it won’t hurt him any. He’s big enough, and it’s about time he earned his groceries.”



Monica questioned her judgment the moment she mounted the horse behind Ty and wrapped her arms around his big, hard body. After last night, she’d sworn to keep her distance, but now that distance could be measured in millimeters. She shut her eyes, inhaling the tantalizing scents of mingled leather, horse, and male musk. It wasn’t just his smell, a unique blend of old-time Marlboro man with a hint of urban cowboy, that turned her on, but his easygoing nature, quick wit, and natural, unaffected swagger. Most of all was how he wore his masculinity without apology.

Ty was just as much a man’s man as Tom had been, but Ty also liked women, and as Delaney had painfully pointed out, maybe too much. Could she ever trust a man like that? Though her heart wanted to say yes, his history told her emphatically no.

“So what were you and Delaney so chummy about?” His sudden question broke the silence.

“Are you growing paranoid in your old age, Ty? I told you, she offered me some jeans and boots.”

“Her place is only fifteen minutes away. You were gone for almost two hours.”

“You timed me?”

“Course not, I simply noticed. I was talking to Bob when I saw you leave. My ears were burning the whole while you were gone.”

“That’s a tad egotistical, don’t you think?”

“Is it?” he asked. “Gotta wonder how you filled that time.”

“You really just want to know if we talked about you,” she said.

“I already know that much,” he replied. “What did she want from you?”

“Why do you think she wanted anything?”

“Because that’s Delaney. She doesn’t do anything without an ulterior motive.”

“Do you really despise her that much?” Monica asked. Although Delaney had been just as snarky toward Ty, Monica had no doubt she still had feelings for him. She wondered if Ty’s outward animosity was also just a ruse.

“No,” he confessed, “I don’t really despise her. She just annoys the hell out of me.”

“But weren’t you the one who did her wrong?” Monica shot back.

His back stiffened. “I told you it wasn’t like that. Who are you gonna believe, Monica, a bitter ex-wife or me?”

She replied slowly, “As Tom used to say, there’s two sides to every story, and then there’s the truth that lies somewhere in the middle. I think I’ll stick to that middle ground on this.”

“Fair enough,” he grunted, his body relaxing under her hands.

“I don’t know what she wanted from me, Ty, but I got a strong feeling that she wants something from you.”

He tensed again and shifted in the saddle. “Why do you say that?”

“Because she asked flat out if I was after you.”

“Did she now?” He turned his head to catch her eye. “And what did you say?”

“I told her it was none of her business. But I also told her I’m leaving, so I’m sure she’ll draw the right conclusion. Does she want you back? She swore she doesn’t, but her actions make no sense otherwise.”

Ty snorted. “Delaney may be a walking contradiction, but she knows we’re done.”

“Then what does she want?”

Ty’s chest rose and fell with a sigh. “A baby.”

“A what?” Monica repeated, dumbfounded.

“Delaney wants a kid and thinks she can persuade me to be the daddy. Course, she’s delusional on that account.”