on an…overnight date.”
The woman who’d greeted Taylor entered the room and passed behind them on her way to an office, but Miranda lifted her chin, the silent message was instantly received, and a second later they were alone again.
“You threatened my sister.”
Miranda’s eyes went wide. “I did no such thing.”
“She told me everything. How you attempted to strong-arm her—”
Her chin went up before she interrupted him. “There is no crime in offering to buy something. Especially when Jancey can use the money.”
“There is when you tell lies about her to college admissions.”
Miranda’s hand went to her chest. “I did no such thing.”
“One of your little helpers, then. Which one is related to someone influential?”
An expression of outrage began to form. “I don’t have to stand for this…”
“I know someone in Danner College admissions,” Taylor said, which was almost but not quite true.
Miranda turned cold eyes toward her. Any hope that the woman would twitch instantly evaporated. “How lovely. It’ll make it easier to check the facts, although I believe there are federal regulations that prevent such information from being released.”
Cole glared. “If Jancey loses her slot at that school—”
Taylor took hold of Cole’s uninjured wrist and wrapped her fingers firmly around it, both as a show of moral support and just in case he felt driven to do something he’d regret later.
“We’ll open an investigation,” she said quietly. “I don’t believe anonymous tips are covered under federal regulations. There is a law against slander, however.”
“You’re both being ridiculously dramatic,” Miranda snapped. “Jancey quit because she can’t handle living here without you. She ran home to big brother and told him a tale about me threatening her.” She lifted her chin, gave a small sniff. “If there’s nothing else?”
“Threaten my sister again—do anything to my sister again—and you will regret it.”
An expression closer to a smirk than a smile formed on the woman’s face. “Jancey is my niece. I would never threaten her.”
Cole drew in a breath. “I may well start spending more time on the ranch. My ranch.”
“Be warned, then, that this summer we’ll be doing a lot more with the working part of the ranch. Those packages are becoming very popular.”
Cole simply smiled, and Taylor had to give him points for not breaking. “We’ll see.”
He took Taylor’s hand in his and started back for the door.
“It’s in the agreement, Cole. There’s nothing you can do about it,” Miranda called pleasantly after him. Cole’s grip tightened on Taylor’s hand, but other than that, he didn’t react.
* * *
THE DRIVE BACK was silent.
Taylor stared out the windshield, processing what she’d just witnessed, making Cole wonder if she’d gotten a true enough glimpse of the real Miranda to understand what he was up against. She’d jumped in a time or two, but he didn’t know if that had been because she was showing support or because she truly got what a liar Miranda was.
Whatever her take, at least her presence had kept him from blowing up—a tactic that never worked with Miranda. As people got angrier, she got icier. It was her go-to defense, and a difficult one to deal with.
Finally, as he exited the highway at the Eagle Valley, Taylor took a deep breath and turned her head to look his way, an expression of concern in her blue eyes. But she didn’t say anything. Maybe she was waiting for him to lead the charge.
He didn’t want to talk. He didn’t know what he could say. Either Taylor got it or she didn’t.
When he parked the truck and turned off the ignition, neither of them moved. Then they reached for their door handles simultaneously, exchanging a look before they got out. Cole met Taylor at the rear of the truck.
“Thanks for coming along.”
“Do you…want to talk?” Judging from her tone, she already knew his answer—if he’d wanted to talk, he would have initiated—but since she’d asked…
“Not now. Maybe later.” Maybe never, but he was glad he’d brought her along.
“All right.” She started toward the bunkhouse, but made only a couple of steps before she reversed course, came to stand directly in front of him, reached up to take his face between her hands and kissed him. Not a soft kiss like the one he’d given her in the barn, just because, but a let’s-tackle-our-frustrations kiss. An I’m-going-to-eat-you-alive kiss.
Cole put his hands on her slim waist, telling himself he was going to end the kiss, but instead he gave her a small tug and pulled her body into his. “Are you doing this because you feel sorry for me?”
She shook her head, her hands still on his face. “No.” And then her mouth was back on his, and he decided that he didn’t care if she felt sorry for him or not. He wanted her any way that he could have her. He walked her backward a few steps, then when she almost lost her balance, he lifted his head and nodded toward the bunkhouse.
“Yes.”
Cole was rapidly becoming a fan of monosyllabic responses. He kept an arm around her as they covered the short distance to the place that neither of them had wanted to move into—a place that suddenly seemed perfect.
They were barely in the door when Taylor started working on his shirt buttons. No analysis, no “Are you sure?” Now he had his answer about what she’d be like—she took charge. He was good with that.
No—he sucked air in over his teeth as she finished with his shirt and started undoing his belt—he was great with that. But he also wanted his turn.
He covered her hands with his, and her gaze came up to his. He brushed a kiss over her mouth, nipped at her lower lip, took hold of the bottom of her T-shirt and pulled it up over her head, tossing it onto the chair.
“Nice undies,” he muttered as he took in the sheer mesh bra that left nothing to the imagination. If he’d known she wore stuff like this, well, this moment might have arrived sooner.
“You should have seen the things that got stolen,” she said, gasping as he lowered his mouth to suck her warm flesh through the sheer fabric.
“Yeah?”
“I haven’t been able to replace them.” Her voice squeaked a little as he pushed the mesh aside to allow himself access to her nipples, and then her hands fisted in his hair as he gave each perfect breast the attention it deserved.
“Do you like that?” he asked, swirling her nipple with his tongue, then slowly pulling it into his mouth.
Her grip on his hair tightened. “Oh, yeah.” He went to one knee, his hands skimming over her hips as his tongue trailed a path down her tight abs toward her jeans. He undid the button, lowered the zipper, and had started to work them over her hips when she said his name. He met her questioning gaze, and reality crashed through the haze in his brain. “I have to go to my place to get condoms.”
“I have one.”
“I think I love you.”
Something flashed in her eyes before she turned and went for her purse and soon held up the packet. “This is my one and only.”
“One’s enough.” For now.
“You’re sure?” She put a hand on his chest and moved him backward until his knees hit the edge of her bed. One last push and he toppled backward, reaching