Daddy's Girls (43)

    “How’s your romance going?” she asked, and he laughed. She could never keep track of them.

“She had a fling with the bartender at the bar where she works. That did it for me. That’s what you get with the young ones. Fickle, and no morals.”

“And you’re so moral?” she teased him. “Shit, you have a new girl every week. I can’t keep up with you.”

“I do them one at a time, though,” he said, and she grinned. “Besides, I’ve had a problem for years.” She was suddenly afraid that he was going to tell her something she didn’t want to know. They were pals, but there was a limit to everything. Most of the ranch hands thought of her as one of the guys. “I’ve been in love with the same woman for years. But I didn’t have anything to offer her. Nothing but a cabin and a horse I don’t own. It’s different now, with all this,” he said, with a wave at the land he was buying from her sister. “I’ve got some substance to offer a woman now. A real woman, not a kid.”

“And is she in love with you?” Kate asked him, relieved that he hadn’t told her about some sexual dysfunction she didn’t want to hear about. He had her worried for a minute.

“I’ve never asked her.”

“She’d be lucky to have you, Thad,” she said. “Any woman would. You’re a fine man, a great foreman. You’ll be a wonderful ranch owner one day.” And now all his dreams were coming true. She was happy for him. He had earned it, and he deserved it. She turned to smile at him, and he was looking into her eyes seriously. He had never looked at her that way before, and her heart skipped a beat.

“You’re the woman I’ve been in love with, Kate, since the first time I laid eyes on you at eighteen. There’s never been anyone else I cared about, except you. I had nothing to offer you, and I still don’t compare to what you have. But I’d like to make the ranch grow with you, and take it places your dad would never go to. We could do it together.”

    “We’re doing that anyway. We’re running it together,” she reminded him.

“I want to be partners. I want to be married to you, Kate. I’m never going to love any woman like I love you.” He said it so gently it was like a whisper in the wind. She didn’t know what to say. She had never guessed that he cared about her or was in love with her, and she had never thought of him that way.

“I’m five years older than you are,” she reminded him, and he laughed.

“Is that supposed to scare me? I don’t give a damn how old you are. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” And before she could come up with another objection, he put his arms around her, held her tight, and kissed her as she’d never been kissed before. It took her breath away and stunned her. She closed her eyes then and he kissed her again, and didn’t stop until they had to come up for air. He was even sexier than she had ever imagined.

“Wow, I wasn’t expecting that,” she said softly.

“It’s been a long time coming,” he whispered, and kissed her again and she didn’t resist him. She wondered what her father would say. If he’d have been outraged, or would have approved, and as she kissed Thad back, she suddenly didn’t care what her father would have thought. She had never been as attracted to anyone in her life. She had almost forgotten what it was like being a woman, and Thad was reminding her. He smiled at her when they stopped. “You’re even sexier than I thought you’d be. Good things are worth waiting for. You’d have slugged me if I’d kissed you when I was eighteen.”

    “Yeah, I would have.” She grinned, but she had no inclination to slug him now. “Are you serious about this, or just bored between barmaids? I don’t like being part of a crowd.”

“Neither did I,” he said. “I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life, except maybe this land. But you’re part of that. We belong here, you and I. The Valley is part of us, the ranch, everything we do here. It wouldn’t mean squat to me without you.”

“I’ve always felt like I was married to the ranch, like a sacred vow. There’s never been room for much else in my life. And I didn’t think a man would understand it.”

“I do.” And she knew he did. “We can build something beautiful together, on the foundation your father left us. What do you think, Kate?”

“I think you’re crazy.” She grinned at him again. “You should be with some sexy young thing and have ten babies with her, not be with someone like me.”

“We can have ten babies if that’s what you want. We should start soon, though,” he looked at his watch, “like tonight maybe.”

“Oh, shut up. You know what I mean.”

“No, I don’t. I’ve never loved any woman like I love you, and I never will. I had to fight myself not to tell you before this. Now you know, and I’m not going to take no for an answer, and I don’t give a damn about five years. You’re better looking and sexier than any woman in this valley, any age. Gemma’s a star, but I think you’re way more beautiful than she is. You’re real.”

“Gemma’s real too,” she defended her sister, and then she laughed, “well, parts of her are.”