Sweet Montana Boxed Set 1-5 Page 7

  “I knew you were an overachiever.”

  “Now you’re complaining?”

  “Never. I expect great things from you, Tabby Swanson.”

  After a few minutes of silent skating, they fell into rhythm. The sun felt warm on her face despite the cold wind blowing across the pond. She was further warmed by the company of the man she was with.

  She understood how he’d talked her into going skating with only one good foot to do it. It was him. She enjoyed being in his company. She realized now that she’d been waiting for Kas to come by the ranch, even though there was no reason for him to see her. Whatever business they could have had was now over.

  Tabby was by no means a quitter. She’d picked herself up off the ground hundreds of times since her parents’ deaths. She’d been lost and she found herself again. She always found her way.

  But since Levon’s accident, and then Tenterhook’s accident, she was having a hard time getting her footing again. She couldn’t get the significance of the horseshoe out of her mind and the idea that bad luck was following her. Levon was struck in the head with a thrown horseshoe that hit him in just the right spot to cause death. And then Tenterhook’s thrown shoe during competition couldn’t just be coincidence, right? She’d probably think so if not for the horseshoe over the crossbuck door being turned upside down, and all the problems Trip was having this season trying to breed the horses.

  “You’re thinking too much,” Kas said, peering down at her with an intense stare. “That’s not allowed. Not here.”

  “Since when are you in charge of the rules?”

  “Since I said so.” His smile widened making his blue eyes even brighter beneath the blue Montana sky.

  “I can see why you’re not a lawyer,” she said with a chuckle.

  “You’d be a good one. A litigator. You love to argue.”

  She shrugged. “I didn’t go to college. My parents had only been gone a few months. My refuge was Tenterhook. It helped being with him, working with him and learning to ride.”

  “Good medicine?”

  “Yeah. You must have gone to college, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What did you go for? Business?”

  “Law.”

  She laughed. “You did not.”

  He chuckled with her as they made a turn. She was surprised how well she was keeping herself upright.

  “Actually, I did think about law school. For about ten minutes. I went into engineering. But that didn’t work out so I ended up graduating with a sports management degree. I knew almost immediately I’d made a mistake. I didn’t want to want to be coach or a scout for the next rising star in sports. So I went into business. It’s not my favorite thing, but I’m good at it.”

  “What’s your favorite thing?”

  “Do you really want to know?”

  She nodded.

  In an instant, he let go of her arms and began to skate away toward the far edge of the pond. She glanced around and realized he left her somewhere in the middle of the frozen pond by herself with no one to hold onto and nothing to keep her secure. Panic filled her, and yet when she looked at Kas skating as fast as the wind, with his face lifted just so to the sky, it was enough to make her forget how vulnerable she was.

  “You wanted to be a figure skater?” she asked, holding her arms out on both sides of her to help keep her balance on one foot.

  “Don’t be ridiculous. I wanted to be a professional hockey player. If I couldn’t be a bull rider that was the next best thing.”

  “Why…why didn’t you?”

  As if just noticing her difficulty, Kas sped toward her. Tabby stood as still as she could for fear that he would collide with her and they both tumble to the ice. But then he skated to a stop a few feet from her leaving the spray of shaved ice over her cast boot and skate. He wrapped her in his arms and held her tight.

  “Because I couldn’t do what I loved, this time because the NHL wouldn’t take an athlete who couldn’t get a doctor to sign off on a sports injury. No team would take me after having suffered a broken neck. Strike two.”

  “You’re mixing sports.”

  “Yes, I am. Come on.”

  “Do I have a choice?”

  Kas just chuckled and looked over his shoulder. He began skating backwards again. This time faster than before, making her nerves shoot like fire through her body. Everything on alert.

  “This is too fast,” she protested. “Please slow down.”

  “Don’t think. Just feel.”

  “I feel like I’m going to fall.”

  “Close your eyes.”

  “Kas!”

  “Just close your eyes. Humor me.”

  She did as she was told. She had no idea why. But she trusted him. He’d catch her if she fell.

  “Just feel,” Kas said again, this time softer.

  Tabby held on to Kas and let him move her around the iced pond. She kept her booted cast pressed against her skate to keep it from swaying back and forth with the movement so as not to trip Kas and have both of them tumble to the ground.

  “Do you feel it?

  She held her breath and kept her eyes clamped shut. “Yes.”

  “Good. I’m going to go faster.”

  “No!”

  “Just let go and feel it.”

  She shut her mind down and when she did, she stopped protesting. The wind whipped past her as they moved. Kas’s gentle maneuvers had them skating together. How she didn’t know.

  “You can have this again, Tabby. This feeling. I know you don’t think so, but you can. Open your eyes. Look, you’re skating with one leg.”

  As soon as she opened her eyes and could see how fast they were going, she panicked. Her grip on Kas’s arms grew tighter and she leaned forward to compensate for what she lacked in balance.

  “Trust me.”

  “I do,” she said, breathlessly. “I don’t trust me.”

  “Whoa, easy.”

  Kas skated them both in a circle to slow down their speed. It was scary and thrilling, but when they finally stopped in the center of the pond, Tabby breathed a sigh of relief.

  “I won’t let you fall, Tabby,” he said, peering down into her eyes. “Not while I’m around at least.”

  Her heart pounded in her chest. “I think I know that.”

  His eyes darkened and his expression turned to a frown. “You mean you don’t know for sure?”

  She took in each cool breath slowly and then expelled the air from her lungs turning words over in her mind as she looked up at him.

  “These days I’m not too sure of anything.”

  He reached up and brushed his gloved hand across her cheek, making it cold as the wind hit it. But she didn’t care. Everything about him made her warm inside and that was enough. She had so many questions turning over in her mind. But this was enough for now.

  “That’s too bad. Really too bad. I’d hate anything to shatter your spirit.”

  “Is that why you’re doing this?”

  He frowned again. “Doing what?”

  “This. Everything.”

  “You have to spell it out for me, Tabby.”

  She hesitated. Tabby hated the feeling of being so unsure. “It’s just…I’ve been on the ranch for over seven years. And I’ve been alone. Don’t get me wrong, Trip has been wonderful to me. He and my dad were friends a long time. I think he felt like he owed it to my father to look after me. I didn’t know him much before my dad died because, well, we lived far away and ranching is tough work. Trip was always so busy with the ranch and the rodeo. But they saw each other when they could. And I’d see Trip at the rodeos when Dad used to bring me. Still, I’ve been used to doing things by myself for long time. Relying on myself. I’m not used having someone so…interested in what I was doing or how I was.”

  Embarrassed, she laughed and looked away.

  Kas pulled off his glove and placed his hand on her chin, forcing her to look at him again.

  “D
on’t do that,” he said quietly. “I don’t want it to be like that with me.”

  “Is that another order?”

  A flash of hurt made his expression hard for just a fraction of a second. But he quickly recovered.

  “Have you ever kissed by a man before?”

  Her pulse thrummed. “What?”

  His lips tilted to grin, slow and sexy. “You heard me. Don’t tell me you didn’t.”

  “Oh, yeah, I heard you all right. I just can’t believe you asked me that.”

  “Why not?”

  She looked around and saw the beauty that surrounded them and that big blanket of blue Montana sky above them. It enveloped her like a caress, like the warm hug that she’d been missing for a long time and didn’t ever think should get again. And it pained her inside to admit it even to herself. She’d closed herself off for so long. It had been necessary. But despite all of the warm clothes she wore to keep protected from the elements, she may as well have been standing there naked in front of Kas.

  He tipped her chin up with his fingers. “You know, for all your sass, you don’t know very much.”

  “How do we go from my being kissed to not knowing very much in practically the same breath?”

  Kas bent his head and leaned closely into her until he was just a few inches away from her face. “If you stopped to think about it for second, then you’d know that I want to kiss you.”

  Her mouth dropped open just a fraction as the weight of his words reached her mind.

  “On second thought, I don’t want you to think at all right now. I just want you feel.”

  His lips came down over hers, covering her cool lips with his warm mouth. She could’ve pretended she was surprised, but that would’ve been a lie. She’d wanted him to kiss her. She thought about it all the way back to that first day in the barn when he’d walked in wearing a million dollar suit and expensive shoes no one would ever be caught dead wearing in a horse barn.

  Reaching up she wrapped her hand behind his neck and held on to him, allowing him to kiss her and for her to feel things she hadn’t felt in the very long time.

  His assumption had been right. She’d never been kissed like this before. The boys she had known in high school were just that. Boys. Right now, she was in the arms of a man who was quickly becoming a drug to her.

  That’s why she had come with him so willingly. Tabby was strong. She knew that. There was a vulnerable side of her that only Kas had managed to bring out. What surprised her the most was that it didn’t make her feel fragile like she’d been after her parents’ death. In his arms, she felt strong. With his kiss, she felt alive and hungry with a passion she’d searched for and had only previously found while riding.

  As his lips left hers, she fought to get her bearings. His arm was still wrapped around her waist holding her tight. All those fears of falling had been forgotten while Kas had been kissing her.

  She drew in a slow breath and looked at the desire still filling his eyes. Yet, she wasn’t afraid. It only made her own desire more potent. Kas was intoxicating. The drug she never knew she needed and now feared she couldn’t live without.

  “Are you ready to answer my question?” he asked.

  “Your what?”

  His smile widened with amusement. “Have you ever been kissed by a man?”

  “You must be awfully sure of yourself to ask me that now, Kasper Dobbs.” He waited as if he needed to hear her say it. “I’ve never been kissed. Not before you.”

  She could tell he didn’t believe her. But he didn’t know what she meant. She’d had boyfriends before in high school. But she hadn’t dated anyone seriously since her parents had died. Somehow it seemed strange to her now. But looking back, she’d thrown all of her passion into riding. None of it was left for anyone else.

  “No one has ever kissed me like this,” she whispered as she stretched up to be closer to him again. “And just so you know, I wouldn’t mind it if you did it again.”

  There were so many reasons why she shouldn’t let this go any further. There was a strong possibility she’d come back and be able to ride again. She couldn’t imagine not riding Tenterhook, but she could. Someone like Kas could help make things easier if he sponsored her. He’d shown enough interest in Tenterhook and her riding ability to consider it.

  As he moved his face closer to hers again, her stomach suddenly fell. What was she doing? For that matter, what was he doing? And why was he doing it?

  Just as his mouth was about to touch her lips, she pulled back. His expression was filled with confusion and pent up desire.

  “This is too…”

  “Too what?”

  “It feels…wrong somehow.”

  He took a step back but still held on to her. “What could possibly be wrong about my kissing you? Or you kissing me?” He pulled her to him gently but deliberately. “And you were. I wasn’t in this all by myself.”

  “I know. I just…things are so up in the air.”

  He looked up at the sky and then back at her. “They usually are when you’re falling for someone.”

  Her pulse quickened. “That’s not what I mean.”

  “Why don’t you enlighten me?”

  “You’re leaving Sweet. Maybe not today. But eventually. New York is a long way from Montana.”

  He nodded and then sighed slowly. “Yes, it is.”

  “Don’t you think it’s a little dangerous to get involved with me? Someone could get hurt.”

  His smile was slow. “In case you haven’t figure it out, I’m not afraid of a little danger.”

  He kissed her gently on the lips again. She didn’t stop him even though she knew somehow that she’d be hurting when he left Sweet. Instead of dwelling on it, she simple shut her mind off so she could feel his kiss and let it fill her like a thirst that needed to be quenched.

  Voices in the distance startled her enough to make her pull away and turn quickly, losing her balance. She felt her booted cast slip forward, away from her skate. She tried to gain footing but the booted cast was too high. Then she lost footing of her skate and felt her body sway backward.

  Kas tried to catch her, but in the tangle of each other’s arms, he lost his balance and they both fell to the ice. They lay there for a brief moment just laughing and looking up at the blue sky.

  The voices got louder. She turned her head and saw three men wearing hockey gear standing by the bench.

  The one in front said, “Do you two need a few minutes?”

  Embarrassed being found that way, Tabby let Kas help her up to her feet. She spent the rest of the afternoon watching Kas and his friends skate around the ice playing hockey. She even forgot for a brief moment that she was alone, and that her competition days with Tenterhook may very well be over. She didn’t think. She just felt.

  Sweet Montana Sky: Chapter Seven

  The holidays had come and gone. Ever since her parents’ deaths, Tabby always wanted to get through the holidays as quickly as possible. Having the rodeo season over for the winter, until the finals in February, gave her too much time to linger in painful memories.

  Trip never made that big a deal of the holidays, but his sister Brenda insisted they always have a big dinner at his house every year with her family and all the ranch hands who didn’t go home for the holidays with family. Brenda always called the hands Trips kids no matter how old they were. Tabby was thankful she’d always been welcome at the holiday dinner table. This year everyone was a little melancholy without Levon sitting there with them.

  She didn’t need to wait to see Dr. Prescott tomorrow to find out that her leg had healed. She could tell it had. She was getting stronger. The best Christmas gift she could have had this year was to get the news from Sean Knight that Tenterhook’s fracture was healing. It could have been a lot worse for both of them. She knew that sometimes injuries were so bad that the horse ended up being put down. Tabby didn’t know what she would have done if Tenterhook had ended that way.

  When dinn
er was over, she placed a few cookies and an extra piece of cake on a paper plate and wrapped it before she headed back to her apartment. She didn’t need anyone’s help getting up and down the stairs anymore. She’d mastered the walking cast quite well and without the pain she’d initially felt, she was able to have more mobility around the ranch.

  Still, Trip offered. “Do you need help carrying that up the stairs?”

  “I’ve got it. Besides, there is no way I’m going to let these cookies fall. They were way too good. Make sure you let Brenda know. I forgot to tell her before she and her family left.”

  “I’m glad you were able to come for dinner,” Trip said.

  She frowned. “Why wouldn’t I? I always come for Christmas dinner.”

  “I thought perhaps you had another invitation you’d want to accept.”

  “Yeah? With who?”

  Trip made a face that made Tabby chuckle. “You’ve been spending a lot of time with Kas. I think you’re the real reason he’s been staying in Sweet so long. I thought for sure you’d be spending Christmas with him.”

  Tabby and Kas had been spending time together and it had been wonderful. She’d fallen hard for him even knowing he was only staying in Sweet for another week or two.

  “Kas’s parents came home for the holidays. I told him I wanted to have dinner with you seeing how it’s the first Christmas without Levon. He’s coming over in a little while.”

  “Tell Kas I’ve got a beer in the fridge with his name on it.”

  He grabbed one of the cookies left on the plate. By nightfall, that plate would be empty.

  “Will do. Goodnight, Trip. Merry Christmas.”

  He reached out and wrapping his arms around her, he gave her a gentle squeeze. “Merry Christmas. I put some ice melt on the steps earlier but it’s been snowing. So be careful.”

  “I will.”

  She left the house through the kitchen door, as it was closer to the garage where her apartment was located. It was still snowing, and as she walked past the barn and the arena, she heard the horses in the stable. Oh, how she loved the sound of that. She’d just made it to the staircase at the garage when she saw headlights coming down the driveway.