How To Lasso A Cowboy

“Si.”

Tess’s jaw tightened. “We’ll see about that!”

As Tess got ready to mount again, her grinning adversary spit out a mouthful of dirt and taunted, “I tired him out for you, sweetheart.”

Tess was too busy to retort.

And so the morning went. None of the three parties involved-the man, the woman, or the horse-came close to giving in. Foam ?ecked Nitro’s damp hide. Tess wore dirt and sweat head to toe. Her stubborn husband looked little better. Finally, when Tess went ?ying for the ?fth time, her adversary looked at her, looked at Nitro, and shook his head.

“The horse has had enough,” he said.

Instantly, Tess’s back-what small part of it wasn’t bruised, battered, and scraped-went up, but before she could reply, Miguel butted in.

“He’s right. Nitro will keep going until he falls over.”

Sitting in the dirt, every inch of her aching, Tess still wanted to object. She hadn’t yet won. But she looked at Nitro and knew that Miguel was right. Nitro was blowing hard, too tired even to come after her for a few good stomps.

And oh, all right, her uppity husband was right, too. She sighed.

“Okay. Luis, walk him out, would you? And make sure he’s good and cool before you put him away.”

“It’s a draw,” Miguel announced, looking relieved.

Tess had to admire a man who could stick a horse like this fellow could. He hadn’t learned to ride like that with his head stuck in a whiskey bottle. Josh Ransom. This time she would remember his name.

“If I had a week,” Josh boasted, “I could be up on that horse without him batting an eyelash.”

“You have a week,” Tess growled.

“I don’t think so.”

“You do if you want your money.” She ?xed him with a challenging glare. “Another hundred dollars if you can break Nitro to saddle and rider.”

He looked thoughtful.

She hated to part with any more money, but Nitro was worth it. So was convincing Sean that she was good and married. “That’s a lot of money, Ransom.”

She could see the calculation in his eyes. “I’ll think about it.”

He limped over and offered her a hand up. She thought about slapping his hand away, but then her real problem rode around the corner of the barn, and she grabbed Josh’s hand and forced a smile. “Thank you.”

“Well, now,” Sean said as Josh pulled her to her feet. “Isn’t that sweet. What’ve you two been doing? Wrestling in the mud?”

Josh turned to give Sean a dark look, and at the same time he slipped his arm around Tess’s shoulders.

“They were working,” Miguel told him. “Work. Ever heard of it?”

“Excuse us,” Josh said. “Rosie’s got a good dinner on the stove, and we need to get cleaned up. Join us if you want, Sean.”

Tess tried to object, but acquiesced to Josh’s subtle pressure on her shoulder as he guided her toward the house. Then, on the porch, he did the unthinkable. In full view of everyone, he kissed her. Not a civilized peck, but a cheeksucking, airstealing lip lock that sent a bolt of surprise from her nose to her toes. Surprise, and a shivery, strengthstealing strangeness that threatened to turn her knees to water. Dadgummed but she got so ?ustered that she almost forgot that Sean stood there staring at them. Sean and everyone else.

Of course that was the reason behind the kiss. Josh staged the passion, the enveloping arms, the warm, delicious closeness all for the bene?t of her weaselly brother. He put on a show, and what a show it was. She’d have to thank him later, Tess mused dizzily, when she got her brain back in order.

A perverse part of her almost hoped that Sean stayed awhile.

UNFORTUNATELY,Sean did stay awhile. He moved into the bunkhouse with the declaration that he missed the “old days” and wanted to get reacquainted with the ranch-a load of horseshit as far as Tess was concerned.

Josh Ransom also stayed. Leaving would have been hard, Tess ?gured, after he’d boasted that he could gentle Nitro in a week. When the man said he would do something, Tess discovered, he followed through on his word, something she admired in a man. He wasn’t quite the bum she had ?rst thought.

She and her new roommate reached a compromise in sleeping arrangements. For newlyweds to sleep anywhere but in the same room would make Sean’s ears prick up for sure, but Tess didn’t intend to spend more than one night in that chair. She settled for guarding her virtue with a rolledup quilt placed between them on the bed. The arrangement didn’t leave either of them much room, but then, how much room did a body need just for sleeping? Tess wasn’t about to crawl unguarded into a bed with any man, especially a man she had dragged out of a saloon.

Not that she had much worry that Ransom would get fresh. He looked like a man who could have a host of females fawning over him if he wanted-all of them with silky hair, rosy lips, plump breasts, and soft skin. What would he want with a whipcordlean, sunbrowned female who wore trail dust instead of perfume? Not that Tess cared. Why would she?

Yet a strange, tingly feeling crept through her at night as she lay tense and sleepless on her half of the mattress, listening to her husband’s breathing, feeling the male body heat that somehow managed to seep through the barrier between them. She would certainly be glad when she was rid of the man. Glad, glad, glad. No more worrying about keeping him out of her business. No more sharing a room and a bed. No more looking at his face over the table at meals, hearing him swap tales with the men, worrying about the hands starting to like him too much. No more getting distracted by the way he sat a horse, the way his hair turned to spun silver in the sunlight, or the way his eyes crinkled when he smiled. No more worrying about when and if he might try to kiss her again.

Ah yes. There had been that kiss…

During the waking hours, Sean watched them like an eagle, forcing Tess to play the role of a lovesick bride, or at least a halfway interested bride. Her groom took delight in making her uncomfortable. Tess just knew the man enjoyed himself hugely whenever he put an arm around her shoulders or gave her a peck on the cheek, just because the skunk liked to see her squirm-his bit of revenge for her making him stick around.

By the time Saturday rolled around, Tess’s nerves were wearing thin, and so was Josh’s patience. Tess sat in the barn tack room cleaning her saddle when Josh walked in, his boots thudding heavily on the packed dirt ?oor, his face looking like he had just eaten nails.

“Do you know what day it is?” he demanded.

“Yup.” Here it came again. Every day he strained harder at the leash. Soon that tether was plumb going to break.

“Just how long until-”

“Well, howdy, you two.” Sean strolled up with his gotcha smile. “Nice day, isn’t it?”

Josh regarded him narrowly, then his face brightened. “Tess and I were just about to ride out and look for that buckskin mustang who tried to run off some of the mares. Weren’t we, sweetheart?”

“Uh… sure.” Sweetheart. Sheesh! “We were.” They hadn’t planned any such thing, but Josh was matching Sean gotcha grin for gotcha grin, so she played along to see what he was up to.

“Want to come?” Josh asked Sean.

“Well, I-”

“You did say you were lonesome for the old days,” Josh said amiably.

“Yes, Sean. You did.” Tess tried to ignore Josh’s hand, which rested with apparent affection on the back of her neck. Queer how a warm hand could send such tingly shivers down a person’s spine.

“It would help,” Josh said innocently, “to have an extra man along.”

The hand kneaded gently. Tess didn’t know whether to grit her teeth or melt into a little puddle.

Sean gave them a sour look, then surrendered sullenly. “I guess I could use the exercise.”

When Josh led out Amigo for Sean to ride, Tess began to understand. Amigo, a rangy gray with huge hooves, had the most bonejarring gait of any horse that lived at the Diamond T. Josh knew it well, because just two days before, Tess had put him on Amigo when he insisted she give him a tour of the ranch. After two hours in the saddle, he had sat gingerly the rest of the day.