Okay, so he hadn’t really expected her to just blurt out that she’d done in Jonathan Devlin, especially after she’d so vehemently denied it that morning. But a tidy little confession would have been convenient. Though he had a tough time imagining her killing anyone, she did seem to have a quick temper. If she felt her family was threatened, who knows what she might be capable of?
They ate in silence for a while, and he could tell by the glances she kept shooting his way, the quiet would be short-lived. Finally she said, “So, tell me about yourself. Your brother says you used to be in the army.”
“Rangers.”
“Sounds exciting. Why’d you quit?”
Talk about secrets. When he’d left the military, it wasn’t exactly by choice. “Just wasn’t for me anymore,” he told her—the oversimplified version of the events that led to his leaving.
“What do you do now?” she asked, then added with a knowing smile. “Besides your Cattleman’s Club missions.”
“My father retired recently and I took his place at his engineering firm.”
“Engineering? Sounds boring.”
“Someone has to do it,” he said, even though she’d pretty much nailed it. Engineering bored him to tears. It always had, even in college, but he’d stuck it out and got his degree with the highest of honors, because it was expected. Thornes weren’t quitters, his father liked to boast.
“But why you?” Nita asked. “Can’t he sell the business?”
He sat back in his seat. “You sure do ask a lot of questions.”
“Yeah, I have a curious nature. It gets me into trouble.”
“You don’t say.” He didn’t have any difficulty imagining that. She had trouble written all over her.
“Like the time when I was six and I played I’ll-show-you-mine-if-you-show-me-yours with Bo Wilders behind the bunkhouse.”
A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Six, huh?”
“Don’t tell me you never played that game.”
“Not to my recollection.”
“Well, Bo was bragging that he could pee on a tree, and made fun of me because I couldn’t. Of course I had to prove him wrong, and you can imagine the mess that created.”
Connor broke into a grin. “I can imagine.”
“My daddy caught us and I got the whole birds-and-bees speech.”
If Connor had been caught doing that, it would have cost him a lashing from his father’s belt and a long lecture on respect and responsibility. As far as Connor could tell, his father had two expressions when it came to his sons—disinterest, and disappointment.
And maybe in Jake’s case, exasperation.
“Sounds like you had an exciting childhood,” Connor said.
“Yeah, that’s one way to look at it. I’m not sure my daddy would agree with you, though.” She polished off the last of her burger and took a long pull on her soda straw. “You about ready to go? We’ve got work to do.”
Connor nodded. He pulled out his wallet and tossed a tip down on the table. “Let’s get to it.”
“I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into,” Nita said as they stood to leave.
“Don’t worry about me. I can take whatever you can dish out.”
“That’s good,” she said with a grin that could only be described as devious. “Because by the time I’m finished with you, you’re going to be a full-fledged cowboy.”
Chapter Four
Connor limped up the stairs to his bedroom. He’d always considered himself in supreme physical condition—until Nita got her hands on him, that is. He never imagined learning the proper way to ride a horse could do so much damage to a man’s…pride. He ached something fierce in places he’d never ached before, in muscles he hadn’t known existed until today. Rangers training had been a breeze compared to what she’d put him through.
After she felt confident he knew how to ride, and despite Jimmy’s assurance that the boys had done a thorough job, she and Connor had gone out to make sure all the holes had been adequately filled and it was safe to let the horses back out to pasture. It was nearly dark before they rode back.
Since Jane wasn’t there to cook, Jimmy had made a roaring bonfire and they roasted hot dogs on sticks. Afterward, they sat around the fire under a sky blanketed with stars drinking beer and swapping stories. Socially, the hands treated Nita like one of the men. An equal. But when it came to her running the farm, it was obvious they respected her authority and had no trouble taking orders from her. She was tough, but fair.
It had been a long day and now all Connor wanted to do was collapse in bed and sleep off the pain. Instead of going home and sleeping last night after receiving his assignment, he’d spent half the night doing his laundry and preparing for another who-knows-how-many days away from home. He’d had a total of about six hours sleep in the past three days. Hopefully, after a solid eight hours, he’d feel half-human by morning.
“You’re walking a little stiff, there, Connor.”
He reached the top landing and turned to see Nita climbing the stairs behind him, a self-satisfied grin on her face. She knew damn well what she’d done to him and looked awfully proud of herself for it.
“I’ve felt worse,” he said. As a Ranger he’d been shot three times, nearly blown up and just about flattened like a pancake when his parachute opened late. Although the pain he was feeling tonight definitely ran a close second.
“The boys giving you trouble?” she asked.
“Boys?”
Her eyes traveled down to the vicinity of his crotch. “The family jewels.”
He just about laughed out loud. He couldn’t recall a woman ever coming right and asking him about his boys. “The boys are fine,” he assured her. “It’s the rest of me that aches.”
She followed him to his room. “There’s a bottle of pain reliever in the bathroom cabinet.”
“I think I just need sleep,” he said unbuttoning his shirt. He grabbed his bag from the bed and tossed it on the floor. Unpacking would have to wait until morning.
“Tough guy, huh?” She leaned in the doorway watching him. “I think I know what might make you feel better.”
“Oh yeah?” he asked. “What?”
She stepped in his room, lacing her fingers and cracking her knuckles. “Take off your shirt.”
He looked at her, eyebrow raised.
She noticed the expression on his face and laughed. “Don’t get your boxers in a twist. I’m only going to give you a back rub.”
“A back rub?” Connor wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Not that he couldn’t use a backrub right about now, but they hardly knew each other. It might be…awkward.
“What’s the matter?” she asked, walking toward him and rolling her sleeves. “Are you shy?”
He couldn’t help wondering, by her taunting tone, if that was some sort of challenge. There was something about her, something wild and sexy and a little out of control. At the same time he’d never met a woman who seemed so confidant, so sure of what she wanted. It both intrigued and disturbed him. Intrigued him because, well, hell, who wouldn’t be with a woman like Nita? She was a walking contradiction. A puzzle he was itching to solve. And that was exactly the thing that disturbed him. She had a way of making him feel.