He felt rooted to the spot where they stood, only a few feet separating them. She was wearing a dark-colored dress, which only made her lovely face stand out in higher relief, framed by her thick brown hair piled high atop her head. As the moonlight touched her creamy skin, the vision of her nearly took his breath away.
He looked toward the pasture rolling unseen down below in the darkness, feeling an uncomfortable tightness in his gut. “I’d think you’d be tired,” he said tersely.
“Not at all.”
He frowned. “We’ll have to find more for you to do tomorrow,” he said.
“Absolutely,” she agreed with gusto. “Otherwise, I’ll feel useless.”
Ty rolled his eyes. He should have known that Little Miss Busy-Busy would want more of a challenge than simple house chores. By the end of her week she would probably be ready for a cattle drive! “If I could convince Caleb to stop coddling you, that might make your days a little less useless.”
He looked over and noted with satisfaction that her chin jutted out in that stubborn way of hers. Nevertheless, she kept her tone even as she replied, “Don’t blame Cal.”
“Oh, so it’s ‘Cal’ already?”
Her fists balled at her sides, and he felt a surge of excitement upon seeing the spark in her eye. “I believe your brother was attempting to create a good impression for me, since you seemed determined not even to try.”
“Don’t see why he bothered.”
She let out a huff of frustration. “For you, you stupid lug!”
“Obviously he did wonders reversing your low opinion of me,” Ty said wryly, enjoying the passion in her eyes when she became wrapped up in an argument.
“You can’t even understand your brother’s noble intentions.”
“Oh, I can’t?” Ty asked, puffing on his cigar.
She waved a cloud of smoke away from her face. “Do you know he nearly had me convinced that deep down you’re actually a sentimental man?”
Ty barked out a laugh.
“Cal said that beneath that gruff exterior you were just a sad soul, pining for love.”
Ty leaned close, his lips turning up into a suggestive grin. “Oh, I’ll admit to pining for love as much as the next man.”
“You don’t have an honorable intention inside you,” she asserted with disgust.
He waggled his brows together. “No, but I’m full to the brim with dishonorable ones.”
“That I can believe! Never once today have you mentioned poor Sally.”
“She’s a pretty little thing,” he told her with a negligent shrug. “She’ll find someone else, maybe even someone you can approve of. I hear there are a few unmarried princes left over in Europe.”
“My sister is not a thing,” she lectured angrily. “She’s a young woman with a vulnerable heart.”
“Unfortunately, my heart is invulnerable.”
“I’ve never met anyone so callous in my life!”
“I’m callous?” Ty asked. “What about you? You’re the one who told your lovesick sister she couldn’t be seen with the likes of me.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “And apparently I was right to do so!”
Ty looked into her lively eyes and couldn’t help smiling. In spite of himself, he liked her pluck. He was even beginning to admire the way her pointy chin stuck out so stubbornly.
Caleb had done a good job of softening her today, and now Ty had performed equally well in riling her. But he was too tempted by the opportunity the moonlight and melodic night sounds presented to let Miss Livingston storm inside just yet.
Maybe he was just too tempted by Louise, period.
Either way, he knew just what to do to make her livid, and confirm her good opinion of Caleb’s character.
“You know,” he said, calculating his words to have the most infuriating effect, “I think you might be jealous of your sister.”
Her face turned the color of a Mexican pepper. “Jealous!”
“Come now,” he said, taking another step toward her. “Don’t think I’ve missed those little looks you’ve given me when I come into the store.”
Louise’s full red lips parted in horror. She took a step backward, then swallowed in a gulp of air. “Looks?”
“It’s understandable, you know,” he assured her in a low, purring voice. “An older woman like yourself…alone…around all those men.”
She let out a muffled shriek. “How dare you even suggest—and I’m not old. I’m twenty-three!”
He slipped an arm around her shoulders and hauled her against his chest. Her body was as rigid as an old creaky board, and her breathing came in shallow gulps.
“Then maybe all you lack is a little experience,” he said, tossing aside his cigar and then dipping down to taste her lips.
She gasped in surprise and pressed her palms flat against his chest to push him away. Only the push never came. Ty pulled her more tightly against him and moved his mouth against her lips teasingly, testing her response. Her body remained still, both unyielding and unprotesting, as if in anticipation of what his next move would be.
Unable to resist, he deepened the kiss, tasting her sweet mouth with his tongue. At the same time, he drank in her delicate, clean, soapy scent, and ran a hand up to feel the luxurious thickness of her hair. She moaned, and he suddenly realized what a sweet, tantalizing trap he’d fallen into. It had been too long since he’d held a woman in his arms. In fact, the last time had been when he’d held this woman in his arms. His body was as tightly wound as a steel coil. He wanted her.
And yet he had succeeded in making himself the last man on earth she would want.
With a silent groan of regret, he lifted his head, putting an abrupt end to their kiss. His hands dropped to his sides, and he took a short step back.
Her round, unblinking eyes looked dazed at first, then sparked with indignation. “How dare you!” she cried, heat visibly flooding her cheeks even in the moonlight. “Let go of me!”
“I did.”
She looked down in dismay at her freed limbs. Her embarrassment at this discovery only added fuel to her ire. “That was the most despicable thing you’ve done yet!”
He couldn’t help but smile. “Letting go of you?”
“Kissing me!” she cried.
“You seemed to enjoy it,” he told her, assuming an air of arrogance while at the same time attempting to discern whether there was any truth to his words. “Leastwise, you didn’t kick up much of a fuss.”
“I was in shock!”
“A lot of women say that,” he said, posturing proudly. “It just takes a certain prowess.”
Her eyes narrowed and her fists rested on her hips. “Tyrone Saunders, you’re lower than low. I’m leaving here tomorrow and I never want to lay eyes on your hide again.”
“We had a bargain,” he warned her. “A week, remember?”
“You can’t expect me to stay here now!”
“I would expect that you would be a little less forward during the rest of your stay, as befits a woman of your superlative breeding.”
“Less forward? Me?”
He shot her an