Montana Sky

“We’d break our necks when he caught the scent of sex and bucked us off.”
    “I’m ready to risk it. I really want you, Nate.”
    He stopped, steadied the horse, then turning, hauled her in front of him with a great deal of gasping and groping. “No.” He could barely get the word out of his busy mouth as her fingers zoomed in on his belt buckle. “This’ll have to hold us for now. Just hold on to me, Tess. Just hold on and let me kiss you awhile.”
    She would have been reckless, but he held her close, pinning her arms to her sides as he assaulted her mouth. Her hat fell off, landed in the dirt, and her heart went wild, the echoes of it pounding everywhere at once. Then it changed, everything changed and became gentle, sweet, pure as the air in high country.
    From desperation to tenderness he eased her until her pulse slowed and went thick, until her throat ached from it and her eyes stung.
    “I love you.” He hadn’t meant to say it, but it was too much, too huge to keep trapped inside. His lips formed the words against hers, slowly.
    “What?” Dazed, dreaming, she stared into his eyes. “What did you say?”
    “I’m in love with you.”
    She dropped out of her floaty state and hit reality with a thud. She’d heard the words before. They were easy for some to toss off, just another line. But not from him, she realized. Not from a man like Nate.
    “That’s getting a little carried away.” She wanted to smile, keep it light. Couldn’t. “Nate, we’re just . . .”
    “Lovers?” he added, and didn’t bother to curse himself for finishing her sentence. “Convenient bed partners? No, we’re not, Tess.”
    She took a steadying breath and spoke firmly. “I think we’d better get down.”
    Instead he took her chin in his hand so that her eyes stayed level with his. “I’m in love with you, have been for a while now. I’ll make what adjustments I have to to make it work for you, but it comes down to this: I want you to stay with me, marry me, raise a family with me here.”
    The first shock paled beside the rest of it. “You know I can’t possibly—”
    “You got a while to get used to the idea.” With this, he dismounted. “There’s not much I’ve wanted in life,” he said, studying her stunned face. “My law degree, this place, a good string of horses. I got them. Now I want you.”
    It helped, she thought, the unmitigated insult and arrogance of that helped shift shock into temper. “You may want to take notes, Lawyer Torrence. I’m not a law degree, a ranch, or a brood mare.”
    “No, you’re not.” A smile flirted around his mouth as he plucked her off the horse. “You’re a woman, a tough-minded, ambitious, and frustrating woman. And you’re going to be mine.”
    “Would you care to hear what I think of this sudden cowboy mentality of yours?”
    “I’ve got a pretty good picture.” He slid the bridle off the yearling, slapped its flank to send it trotting away. “You’d better get home, take some time to think it through.”
    “I don’t need time to think it through.”
    “I’ll give it to you anyway.” He looked up at the sky. The sun was just beginning to drop toward the western peaks, blushing red against blue. “Going to rain tonight.” He said it casually as he leaped over the fence and left Tess gaping after him.
    • • •
    “I DON ’ T KNOW WHAT BUR ’ S UP YOUR BUTT ,” WILLA mutered, “but yank it out. Lily’s going to be back here with her folks any minute.”
    “You’re not the only one who’s allowed to have things on her mind.” Tess crammed a petit four in her mouth.
    The house was full of chattering women, gaily wrapped gifts, and white streamers. It had been Tess’s idea to serve champagne punch for the wedding shower, and though Bess had clucked her tongue over it for the sake of form, she was enjoying a cup herself while she gossiped with neighbors.
    Everybody’s happy as clowns, Tess thought, and snagged another petit four. Celebrating the ridiculous idea of two people chaining themselves together for the rest of their lives. She pouted, debated another cake, then went for a cigarette instead.
    No way was Nate Torrence going to make her split another pair of jeans. She grabbed a cup of punch and decided to get drunk instead.
    By the time the bride-to-be came in, Tess had gulped down three cups and was feeling more celebratory. She got a kick out of the way Lily feigned surprise. The shower hadn’t been a secret