In the Arms of the Rancher: In the Arms of the Rancher / His Vienna Christmas Bride. Jan ColleyЧитать онлайн книгу.
one town in the country that never slept.
His thoughts swirled continuously, every one about Kate. Hawk sighed, “Kate.” He didn’t realize he had whispered her name aloud or finished off the beer. Shaking his head at his wandering mind, he tossed the can into the wastebasket.
He wanted to be with her so badly, he ached with the wanting, the raw need. His back teeth hurt from clenching them together. There were other women in Vegas; there had been plenty of them in the casino and the restaurant yesterday morning. Several of them had cast unmistakable looks of availability at him. He had ignored them.
Just any woman wouldn’t do. Hawk was always selective when it came to the females he spent time with, despite the fact that he so seldom left the ranch.
This time around was different. Hawk was coming to the reluctant conclusion that the only woman he wanted to spend his time with was Kate.
And Kate had man problems, dammit.
She appeared to resent the oily guy more than fear him…but one could never really know what another person was thinking, feeling. Vic had said Kate had thrown the creep out of her apartment for verbally abusing her. And last night he had been far from pleasant.
Hawk frowned. Was the jerk harassing her? Had he been harassing her since she dumped him? Hell, that was months ago now.
When Kate had joined him at the blackjack table earlier that night, she had seemed different than when they had separated, he to play the tables and she to play the slots. It had been nothing overt or obvious. She had been quieter and slightly more reserved, not at all the woman who had laughed so easily earlier.
The wheels in Hawk’s mind were rolling full speed. Had that creep approached her again between the time they parted and when she joined him at the blackjack table? Had she come to him for protection? Hmm, it was possible, and now that he thought about it, probable.
Confused by her sudden change in mood, he had slightly withdrawn. He had had such high hopes for a kiss, a real kiss, with her before she went into her apartment building.
Hope in one hand and spit in the other.
The old saying of his father’s slipped through his mind. Hawk rejected the very idea that he gave up hope. Sliding beneath the covers again, he thought he had better get some sleep if he wanted to be sharp enough to catch any slight change in her attitude, because he could see her tomorrow.
This time he was unconscious within minutes.
Kate entered Mr. Bender’s office with a heavy step that morning. The lawyer was older—close to sixty she judged—and he appeared to be the classic prototype of an old-fashioned gentleman.
She told him her problem. In turn, Mr. Bender had questions.
“Did he ever hit you, even the lightest slap?”
“No.” Kate shook her head. “But…I must admit there were times when he was the most angry, swearing…I began fearing he might.”
“I see. Did he ever threaten you?”
“Not outright,” she said, “but in a vague, oblique way.” She sighed. “I don’t know how else to describe it, but he frightens me.”
“Now, don’t you worry, Miss Muldoon. The law will take care of this…” He hesitated, his lips pursed as if from a sour taste. “This lowlife.”
Sighing with resignation at her predicament, Kate pushed herself through the revolving door.
Directly into reality. Her cell phone rang. Kate hesitated, eyeing the instrument as if it might leap into the air and bite her. It wasn’t a number she recognized.
Thoughts whipped through her head, one tripping over another. Jeff…the bastard. She knew; she knew he’d track her to the lawyer’s. He must have followed her.
What to do?
The phone rang for the third time. Kate opened the phone, determining to rip a verbal strip off him.
“Hello?” Her mouth was bone-dry; her voice, sharp with impatience. She fully expected to hear Jeff’s angry voice in response.
“Kate?”
A silent sigh of relief slipped through her lips. “Hawk! I, uh, I’m glad to hear it’s you. I had a lovely time last night,” she said, trying to forget the unwanted and unwelcome appearance of Jeff, and the doubts assailing her now.
“I’m glad.” Now she could hear the relief in his voice. “I wondered whether something had upset you.”
“Well, you wondered wrong,” she said, her tone firm. “It’s been a very long time since I laughed the way I have with you these past two evenings, Hawk. It felt good.” Too good.
In all honesty, and as much as she would have liked to deny it, she felt shaky at the awareness it was him on the line. She felt as if everything was smoldering inside her—and breathless, shivery. She had felt somewhat the same at first with Jeff almost two years ago. This time the feeling was stronger, more intense. No, she didn’t like it at all.
She had believed herself immune to any other charmer. For Jeff had been charming and gallant for many months, right up until she had agreed to him moving in with her, his ring on her finger. For a while she had been content. Her contentment had lasted all of three months. A bitter taste filled her mouth. First Jeff had become possessive, questioning her every move when they weren’t together. Then he had become verbally abusive, cursing, accusing her of being with other men, even Vic.
The warm sensations that had been inside Kate faded to cold determination. She could not, would not, go through a situation like that again.
He jumped on her last remark. “In that case, lunch?”
She had no choice but to smile, and it did feel good, dammit. And she couldn’t resist, didn’t want to resist, even though she feared she’d regret it.
“I’ve got to stop by my apartment to change. Do you want to meet me there?”
“Sure. What time?”
Kate glanced at her wristwatch, noting it was not quite twelve-thirty. “Would forty-five minutes work? You realize I’m not going to even ask whether Vic gave you the number.”
He chuckled in reply. “See you then.”
Within fifteen minutes, Kate was entering her apartment. Slipping off her jacket as she went, she headed for her bedroom. She removed the rest of her suit, hung it back in the closet and made a beeline for the bathroom, wanting to wash up before applying fresh makeup.
She smoothed her hair with a brush, giving it a healthy sheen. Makeup was fast and easy. She kept it light, natural looking. Back in the bedroom she was reaching into the closet for one of the outfits she wore only to work when the buzzer sounded on the intercom.
Hawk? Kate shot a look at the bedside clock. Only thirty-five minutes had passed since she’d talked to him. Pulling on a lightweight robe, she went running to the intercom.
“Yes?” she said on a quick breath.
“Ready for lunch?”
A flutter tickled her stomach, clutched at her throat. “Err…” she said, “not quite. Sorry.”
“That’s okay, I’ll wait.”
“You don’t have to wait in the lobby,” she said, feeling uncertain that inviting him up was wise. Still, she did. “I’ll buzz the lock on the lobby door. I’m in the second-floor front apartment. Just walk in. I’ll be ready in a few minutes.”
“Gotcha.”
That was what she was afraid of, and if he did have her, what did he intend to do with her?
Thinking she must either be nuts or self-destructive, Kate unlocked the front door and, turning, dashed back into her bedroom, shutting the door behind her.
She