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Flynn just grinned at Kaitlin, obviously infuriating her so much that she dug her heels into the sides of her horse, spurring it into a gallop. It didn’t take Flynn long to go after her.
It was almost an hour before he saw a streak of brown in some wild grass not far from a clump of lethal-looking mesquite.
‘There’s your calf.’ He gestured.
‘I saw it, too.’ .
‘It’s quite safe right now, busy grazing and with its mind on its food. Still, it’s lucky to be on its feet. Fifty yards more to the left, all those spiky branches—and your calf could have had its neck slashed.’
‘As if I don’t know that,’ Kaitlin responded grimly. ‘Why do you think I was so desperate to find it?’
Kaitlin was uncoiling her lariat when Flynn leaned towards her and tugged it from her hands.
‘What do you think you’re doing now?’ Green eyes were outraged.
Flynn laughed. ‘Isn’t it obvious? I’m going to rope a calf.’
‘I didn’t ask you to. Give me back the rope, Flynn.’
‘I’m afraid not.’
‘Flynn!’ It was Kaitlin’s turn to lean towards him, but he held the lariat just out of her reach.
‘Think I don’t know how to rope an animal, Flynn?’
‘I’ll take your word for it, but I didn’t come along just for the ride.’
‘I keep telling you, I don’t need your help!’ She threw the words at him.
For a long moment Flynn studied the lithe figure, determination and defiance in every feminine line and angle. God, but she was an aggravating female, she’d be nothing but trouble to any man foolish enough to try and make a life with her. But, dam it, she was sexy!
She had registered the searching gaze. ‘What?’
‘Never figured you for a cowgirl, Kaitlin.’
‘Maybe you should have.’
‘Back to cowboys—why isn’t one of them out here roping?’
‘I...’ Kaitlin hesitated. ‘I wanted to do it myself.’
Flynn gave the lariat an expert twirl. ‘Come to think of it, I haven’t seen a single cowboy since I got here.’
Kaitlin looked away from him. ‘We’re a little shorthanded at the moment.’
‘That’s all it is?’
‘What else should there be?’ But there was a slight quiver in her tone.
‘That’s what I want you to tell me, Kaitlin.’
Her chin lifted. ‘There are cowboys at the ranch. Had I known how eager you were to meet them, I’d have organized a welcome committee. As it is—’ she shrugged ‘—there’s nothing to tell.’
‘I see.’
‘The calf, Flynn. If you’re not going to rope it, I will.’
His eyes went to arms that were so slender, they looked as if they might snap if a man held them too tightly.
‘You’re as fragile as a bird, Kaitlin. You don’t look as if you could wield anything bigger than an eyebrow pencil, much less a lariat.’
‘I guess looks are deceptive, because I don’t own an eyebrow pencil and I’m really quite strong. Are you going to give me the lariat, Flynn?’
‘Sure,’ he grinned, ‘when I’ve roped the calf.’
‘You’re a pilot now, not a cowboy,’ she taunted.
His grin deepened. ‘Once a cowboy, always a cowboy.’
‘How long since you did any roping?’
‘It doesn’t matter how long—there are things you never forget.’ In a new tone he added, ‘Just as there are things that you think about long after they’ve vanished from your life.’
His eyes were on her face, lingering deliberately on lips that were sweeter than any he had tasted in the last years. The Kaitlin he had known five years earlier, just eighteen at the time, had been eager, wild and passionate. Flynn felt something tighten inside him at the memory.
Beneath his gaze, Kaitlin’s expression changed: her eyes turned suddenly stormy, while at the base of her throat the pulse-beat quickened. On the reins, her hands were white-knuckled. She had the look of a woman who was struggling with some private emotion of her own, though what that was Flynn could not guess.
‘I don’t want my calf harmed,’ she said at last.
‘It won’t be.’
‘I mean it, Flynn.’
‘If I harm it, I promise to get you another.’
‘Don’t think I wouldn’t hold you to it,’ she shouted as he rode after the calf, swinging the lariat as he went.
The small animal didn’t have time to be scared as Flynn looped the lariat deftly over its head. Seconds later, he was reining in his horse beside Kaitlin’s, holding the squirming calf firmly on the saddle.
His eyes sparkled. ‘Confused, but not hurt.’
‘Thanks.’
‘No thanks necessary—I enjoyed myself.’
‘So I saw.’
‘It’s as I said, Kaitlin—once a cowboy, always a cowboy. ’
Her gaze was thoughtful. ‘I believe you’ve been more than that, Flynn.’
His eyes were on hers. ‘Meaning?’ he asked, in a tone that gave nothing away.
‘That was quite a performance. Over the years, I’ve seen hundreds of cowboys at work, and you beat them all for dexterity and speed.’
‘You don’t say,’ he said lightly.
‘I believe you’ve been on the rodeo circuit, Flynn.’ And when he didn’t answer, ‘You have, haven’t you?’
‘You could be right.’
‘A rodeo rider. Well!’
He danced her a laughing look. ‘I think this baby will be happy to get back to its mamma, Kaitlin.’
‘And I recognize a change of subject when I hear it,’ she said saucily.
They rode back, in a slightly different direction this time, for they had to deposit the calf with its herd.
Flynn grew sombre as he took in his surroundings. At his side, Kaitlin said, ‘You’re looking at the mesquite.’
‘There’s much more of it than I remember.’
Kaitlin shrugged, but her tone was unhappy. ‘You know how it is with the spiky stuff: it’s a devil to get rid of.’
‘Scourge of the Texas rancher,’ Flynn agreed. ‘But it was never as bad as this, Kaitlin. Your father used to make an effort to keep it under control, at least he did when I worked here.’
Once more Kaitlin’s hands tightened on the reins. ‘I’m doing my best.’
‘Are you?’
She looked away from him, but not before Flynn caught the glimmer of tears in the lovely green eyes. The breath caught in his throat. Flynn had good reason to be hostile towards Kaitlin Mullins. He sure as hell did not want to be affected in any way by her distress. And yet, despite everything, her distress moved him more than he cared to admit to himself.
‘Are you trying, Kaitlin?’ he asked quietly.
She swung around, anger chasing the pain from her eyes. ‘Yes, damn you, Flynn, I am!’
‘It isn’t good enough.’
‘Maybe it isn’t. Fact is, this is my range now, my ranch. And even if I’m overrun by mesquite, it’s none of your business!’
Once more he studied her the too thin figure; eyes which, though they were as beautiful as ever, were shadowed with fatigue; clothes which had seen better days.
Kaitlin gave her head a determined shake. ‘It isn’t your business,’ she repeated.
Flynn turned his horse away from hers. ‘I think it’s time we took the calf back where it belongs.’
‘My thought exactly.’
Another twenty minutes of fast riding brought them to the herd where mother and baby were reunited.
Back at the stables, Flynn jumped off his horse. He reached for Kaitlin, but with a quick little twist of the body she slipped out of his hands and leaped off her horse.
Flynn grinned at her. ‘Cowgirl.’
‘That’s what I am,’ she said tartly.
‘A very pretty cowgirl.’
‘You’ve learned how to flatter a woman, Flynn.’ Kaitlin made a show of looking at her watch. ‘It’s getting late. I’ll go get the Jeep and run you over to the airstrip.’
‘What’s your hurry?’
‘You won’t want to fly in the dark.’
‘Wouldn’t bother me in the least if I-did. Let’s go to the house, Kaitlin.’
‘Flynn...’
‘You know very well that I’m here to talk.’
He thought he saw an involuntary little shiver run through her before she said, ‘Another time.’
‘Today,’ he answered her firmly.
Still she tried. ‘It really isn’t convenient.’
‘You have your calf safely back. What excuse do you have now? I’m sure you must have thought of one.’
Her head jerked. ‘What are you saying, Flynn?’
‘Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten the girl who thought the eager cowboy would come running every time she beck oned. That he would disappear from the scene when it didn’t suit her to have him around.’
Kaitlin’s face whitened. ‘It was never like that.’
‘Wasn’t it, Kaitlin? Your memory is letting you down if you think otherwise.’
‘My memory is just fine, thank you very much. But you have one huge chip on your shoulder. I think you should leave now, Flynn.’
‘I’ll leave when we’ve talked. And don’t tell me again to phone you: you’ll always find some reason to put me off.’
She hesitated. ‘Flynn—’
‘We’ll talk today, Kaitlin. I have no intention of leaving till we do.’
CHAPTER TWO
‘MAKE yourself comfortable, Flynn. There’s beer in the fridge.’
