Sweet Talking Cowboy Page 3

  Shocked by his touch Briann was unable to object as his fingers found their way to the back of her head and began pulling out the pins that held her long hair confined in the severe twist she’d worn it in all day. When it was free, Slade combed his fingers through it, watching the silky brown strands fall almost to her waist, and then handed her the pins. “It looks better, now.”

  Briann allowed anger to block any other feelings his touch had awakened in her as she took the proffered pins. “So now you’re a hair stylist?”

  Slade said nothing, but slipped his arms around her and turned his head to rest against the top of hers.

  She felt him trembling slightly and as he spoke, her arms slipped around his waist, pulling him closer, her anger melting in the face of his need.

  “Bri, what am I gonna do without Mike? He was more a father to me than Hank has ever managed to be.”

  His voice broke and Briann could only hold him as he struggled to contain his grief. For a long time they just stood like that, his anguish finally surfacing and her arms providing the comfort he craved.

  “You’ll be fine, Slade,” she finally said. “We’ll all be fine, because he wanted that for us. You know how much Uncle Mike cared about you. He helped guide you into the man you’ve become, and he was always so proud of you. Your friendship and respect meant more to him than you can imagine.” Briann realized it wasn’t smart to stand here in the darkness alone, just the two of them, locked in this embrace, but Slade had been so strong through all this. She hadn’t even considered how he was hurting, and now, she couldn’t refuse to give him the comfort he needed.

  Neither of them had any sense of time, neither thinking beyond this moment, this need. In the distance, an owl hooted and mice everywhere within hearing scurried for cover. Far off a dog barked and Speck growled softly. The scent of horses mingled with the smell of the night blooming jasmine and Briann almost smiled at the feeling of homecoming that flowed over her through the nearly forgotten sounds and odors of her childhood. Even the smell of Slade was a memory of her youth.

  She was overwhelmed by the strength of his arms. They were so strong, yet so gentle. Like the scent of him. A deeply masculine aroma, tempered with a mildly sweet, spicy odor and just a hint of leather. She closed her eyes and tried not to remember, but the memories swept her back in time and she couldn’t block out the sweetness of Slade’s lips against her neck or the wish to feel them against her own again. She struggled to remember why she was standing here in the dark wrapped in his arms.

  Slade was startled by the sudden desire that seemed to push every other thought from his mind. He could feel her in his arms, smell the fragrance that belonged to Briann alone, remember the fire that flashed through his veins when their lips met. He couldn’t let that happen now. He’d wanted only comfort and she’d given it, he wouldn’t let it become passion. He knew she needed him to remember what this embrace was all about. What he was beginning to experience would just have to wait for the right time, and this was not it.

  Reluctantly he stepped back, his eyes holding hers for only a moment before he turned. “Thanks, Bri. Good night.”

  Briann watched Slade as he retraced his steps as far as his truck, got in and drove out of sight. She wasn’t aware of the battle he’d won. She was still in the grip of the one she’d lost. Just that quick, just that easy, she’d been swept back in time, wanting his touch, his kisses, his passion. No man, before or since had awakened the fire in her that the slightest touch from Slade aroused.

  Moving back home might have been the worst idea she’d ever had. Briann wasn’t sure she could handle it. Her next thought was of Aunt Poog. She wouldn’t leave Aunt Poog, no matter what happened. Aunt Poog and Uncle Mike never hesitated before moving into the big house to care for her after her parents were killed. Briann had been eleven and needed them. They’d always been there for her. She had been so selfish to be gone all these years and it was good to be home again. Her eyes looked toward the road where the brake lights of Slade’s truck brightened the darkness as he slowed before turning out onto the highway. Somehow, she’d have to learn to deal with these feelings. Slowly she walked toward the house, the speckled dog following close at her heels.

  Chapter 3

  Over the next few days life began to settle into a routine. There were times Aunt Poog would be busy and without thinking, start to bring Uncle Mike up, as if he were still alive, but then she’d catch herself and have to leave the room. Always later in that same day, she would take the truck and drive to the cemetery for a while, most of the time taking Speck with her.

  Only Poog had seen the dog’s reaction to being at Mike’s graveside. Speck seemed to sense that it was as close to his beloved human as he’d ever get. From the very first time she took him, he walked up to the grave and stretched his stout body out along the grave, in the area where Poog always imagined Mike’s chest would be. The dog would lay quietly while she talked to the love of her life, fussed with flowers or whatever she felt she needed to do at the time. When she stood to leave, she’d snap her fingers and Speck would hop up to follow her, but after walking to her side, he always turned his speckled head with the dark patches around each eye and looked back at Mike’s grave, then he’d trot along with her to the truck.

  As much as she’d hoped to avoid Slade, Briann knew it wasn’t possible. He dropped by to check on Poog almost daily and often accepted her offer to have supper. She discovered that Slade appeared to have accepted her resolve to keep him at a distance and he made a conscious effort to keep their conversations impersonal. She appreciated that, but it didn’t help that his mere presence was enough to raise her heart rate and the sound of his baritone voice etched its way into her dreams.

  Briann had been gone from Atlanta for almost two weeks, and knew she needed to go back to get the rest of her things, most notably, her five year old daughter. She’d never been separated from Tris for this long and even talking to her nightly by phone just wasn’t enough. She’d irrevocably promised to make the trip the coming week-end. Aunt Poog was planning on going with her, and they needed to make arrangements for someone to look after the stock while they were away. That still meant four more days, but it simply couldn’t be helped.

  Briann hadn’t wanted to involve Slade at all, but he was always the first person Aunt Poog thought of when she needed help and, of course, he’d never refuse her anything. When she’d told him of the impending trip, he’d assigned two of his hands to take care of the Hudson farm while they made the trip.

  Early Saturday morning, Briann and Aunt Poog left the house, starting the four hour drive to her mother-in-laws house, where Tristin and her horses were staying in her absence.

  Maggie had been very considerate to take Tris and the horses for an undetermined period of time, but Maggie and her family were never anything but kind to Briann and her daughter.

  Even knowing that Tristin was not her son’s biological child, Maggie accepted and loved the little girl as though she were. After Evan died, Briann expected his parents to tactfully back out of her life, but they had taken her into their hearts and she gradually came to see that she was still a part of their family.

  Making the decision to move back home had been difficult for Briann only because it put her in a closer proximity to Slade Butler. Her father-in-law was now in a nursing home with Alzheimer’s disease and Maggie had Shelly, her daughter. They understood why Briann needed to return home to look after her aunt.

  The drive to Atlanta gave Briann and Aunt Poog plenty of time to talk, but also provided plenty of quiet time for inner reflections. Briann was beset with memories and they were not all welcome.

  In spite of her determination not to, she remembered her first trip to Atlanta, when she was just twenty. In fact, she’d just turned twenty. That had been a birthday she’d looked forward to for a long time. To her it was a big step toward being an adult. Briann would no longer be a teenager! Uncle Mike agreed that the two years of junior college had be
en enough to consider her educated. She wasn’t interested in a career in the business world. She’d never wanted anything other than to be a horse trainer and under his guidance she’d began to turn out some horses that were doing very well on the show circuit.

  Briann had been dating Jeffery Butler, Slade’s younger half-brother, for two years and he’d recently started talking about marriage. Jeffery worked with his father in land development and wasn’t the least bit interested in horses, but he seemed to take her interest in them in stride. Briann had always been a part of that world. She’d been friends with Jeffery all her life and his assumption that they would get married at first surprised her, but it was a comfortable relationship, so she decided it would be a natural progression of their friendship.

  Growing up, her main interest had been Slade, the older of the two brothers, and although he was almost eleven years older than her, he’d allowed her to hang around and help with the training of the Butler Farm horses. Briann had learned almost as much from him as she had from Uncle Mike.

  She took a lot of teasing for tagging around after Slade, but never from him. When she was twelve, she showed up at the Butler barn one summer afternoon to find Slade in the barn with an attractive woman. The woman stood to one side watching him while he saddled a horse. When Briann entered the barn, she hung back, hesitant to disturb them. When he spotted her, he flashed that big grin she loved so much and beckoned her over to them.

  “Ann, I want you to meet my right hand, Briann. Briann, this is Ann.” He made the introductions casually.

  Briann looked the young woman over with a critical eye. “Is she your main squeeze?” She enquired with childlike innocence.

  Ann’s pretty face turned pink, but mostly from pleasure at being referred to as Slade’s object of affection.

  He grinned and playfully swatted Briann on the shoulder. “None yer business, brat.”

  Briann quickly wondered on into the barn to tack up the colt she was there to ride, ignoring the older twosome as they departed from the barn for a trail ride. Ann was mounted on old, gentle Promise while Slade put trail time on one of the colts.

  Briann rode her mount in the training ring, just adding miles to his credit. She was washing him down when Slade and Ann returned from their ride. The couple dismounted near the wash rack and Briann overheard Ann suggest that they should just let the little girl put their horses away. She was tired and ready to get back to town.

  Slade shot a hooded look at the young woman. “Briann helps me train the colts. She’s not a barn hand. I’ll take care of our horses. If you’re tired, why don’t you wait in my truck?” Ann never came back to the barn.

  Briann had always thought of him as an older brother, but as she grew older, she felt a change in her feelings. Slade had never treated her like a pesky sibling. He treated her with respect and affection, teasing her and directing her horsemanship, helping Uncle Mike guide her into becoming an extraordinary young horsewoman.

  Then when she turned fifteen, things changed completely. Briann discovered it was hard to hide her displeasure when Slade brought one of his girlfriends to the barn to ride. She didn’t understand the sullenness she felt when he introduced her to yet another girlfriend.

  Disturbing dreams often troubled her sleep during which in some way Briann would end up in Slade’s arms and he’d kiss her. It was shocking and she was shamed by the thoughts she still experienced even after she was awake, especially when she found herself alone with him. She was uncomfortable, as if he could somehow know that she’d dreamed about him. She was sure he’d have been embarrassed to think she could even have dreams like that, much less, about him.

  Gradually it began to affect her relationship with Slade. He appeared to sense the changes in her and after that, the easy camaraderie between them became stiff and sometimes even awkward. Slade made it obvious he still wanted her riding the horses he had in for training and he continued to offer advice and instructions, but there was no more of the easy teasing or scuffling that had always been part of their mutual affection. Sometimes when he didn’t think she knew it, she could feel him watching her. Everything between them changed. If she caught him looking at her, he’d look away quickly, almost regretfully. She couldn’t imagine why he’d feel guilty. She was the one having the insane dreams. Within a couple of months, Slade announced he was leaving. He wanted to go to Texas and visit his mother’s family.

  He left within a few days of making that decision and once he was gone, he stayed.

  He called Aunt Poog and Uncle Mike often enough to keep in touch and his father flew out to see him often enough. Through them, Briann learned the Slade was working under the supervision of one of the most well-known trainers in the country. He stayed for five years and by then she and Jeffery were talking marriage. She’d dismissed the disturbing dreams as a part of a childish crush, but couldn’t believe how much she still missed Slade.

  Eventually she put her crush on Slade behind her, but thought of him with affection, remembering how much he’d taught her about horses and riding and the respect they’d shared. Briann was sure he’d known of her crush, but never teased her or misused her trust. She treasured her memories of the laughter they’d shared and the trust, the patient guidance he’d given her and the uncountable ways he’d helped her become a better horsewoman.

  Then right after her twentieth birthday Hank told Uncle Mike that he was retiring. Tanya wanted the extended European vacation he’d always promised her and Slade was coming home to run the farm. Jeffery had one more year of college and he was already a partner in the Land Development business. When he graduated the next year it would be his business entirely and Hank had already signed the farm over to Slade. Briann was excited to know that the friend of her youth was finally coming home.

  Briann had been in the barn, grooming Flash, the aging stallion that had been her father’s favorite horse, when she felt someone looking at her. Looking back over her shoulder, she saw Slade standing there.

  “Excuse me, Ma’am;” his Texas drawl had become stronger. “I’m lookin’ for a skinny girl with braces on her teeth, short brown hair, freckles on her nose, a flat chest and no hips. Her Uncle Mike told me she was out here.” He looked around the barn as if he was searching for someone. “Hey, Briann, you out here?” He called loudly.

  He was the ultimate cowboy in those snug, starched, creased Wrangler jeans, that Tony Lama hat and those snakeskin Justin boots. Briann had forgotten just how good looking Slade was and his time in Texas had only matured those good looks. The grooves etched into his cheeks on each side of his mouth were more pronounced, but only added to his rugged good looks and she discovered they deepened when he grinned.

  As he walked closer, he narrowed those startling blue eyes and looked Briann up and down as he slowly made a close circle around her, their shoulders almost touching. A soft wolf whistle came from his pursed lips. “This beautiful vision of appetizin’ womanhood standin’ here cannot be Briann Hudson! What happened to the freckles… and the flat chest?” His widening grin exposed his straight , white teeth.

  Briann let him carry his joke as long as she could, and she burst into laughter as she jumped into his hug. It was so good to see him again!

  Slade hugged her so tightly she thought her ribs might not survive the greeting, but then he returned her feet to the floor and stood back to study her again. “I can’t believe how you’ve grown up! You’ve become a breath takin’ woman!”

  She grinned, his intense scrutiny not bothering her in the least. Well, maybe a little, but…this was Slade.

  “You look pretty good, too,” she said. “How did you like working with Cooper Harding.”

  “You’d have loved workin’ for him. The man has forgotten more about horses than most of us will ever learn. You can’t be around him more than a few minutes and you’ll swear he can read their minds. I was lucky to get the chance to work with him for as long as I did.” Slade’s enthusiasm was evident in his voice.
r />   “I’ve been keeping up with you in the AQHA Journal, and Hank always updated us after he’d been out to see you. Aunt Poog always got so excited when you called here. She’d be on cloud nine for days afterward.”

  Briann wanted to hear all about the things he’d learned. They talked nonstop for a while, just filling in the blanks in their lives.

  “Hank thinks you and Jeffery are plannin’ on gettin’ married?” Slade leaned one broad shoulder against the side of the stall, one booted foot crossing the ankle of the other one, facing her, a warm smile still lighting his eyes, and crossed his arms over his muscular chest.

  “It’s nothing official and it won’t happen before he graduates next year. We’ve been dating a couple of years now.” Briann blushed slightly.

  Slade’s face took on a serious look. “I hope he’s grown up. He’d have to make some major changes in his life to deserve you.”

  She smiled as she shrugged her shoulders. “He has grown up some, but he’s still Tanya’s son. I don’t think anything will ever come between them.”

  Slade shook his head, his eyes staying trained on hers. “And you’re willin’ to accept him on those terms?”

  “It’s not bad, Slade. Jeffery’s good to me, and Tanya has been very good to me, too. She’s happy for us.”

  He lifted the cap off his head and raked his fingers through the thick black hair. “She’ll be happy to bring a Hudson into the family. Your family has some important connections and is well thought of in this part of the state. You’re a trophy in her eyes.”

  Briann knew the resentment of his earlier years still colored his feelings for Jeffery and Tanya and she couldn’t fault him for feeling that way. They’d never treated him right, but she’d hoped that the years apart had allowed those bad feelings to die. She knew Jeffery still harbored resentment but hoped Slade had mellowed somewhat, but apparently he hadn’t either.

  Briann had gained quiet a reputation locally as a horse trainer and had two colts that she was hauling to AQHA shows with a championship as her goal, for each of them. The owners were thrilled to have her showing their horses. Over the next few weeks, she and Slade often competed at the same shows, so they spent a good bit of time together. Briann enjoyed the time she was able to spend with Slade. For the most part the easy camaraderie of their earlier years was back and she was glad to have her best friend again. Granted there were a few awkward moments when she’d catch him looking at her and he’d look quickly away. And she simply refused to think about the way her heart beat would accelerate after he looked away.