so sexy she could melt like a chocolate bar on the dashboard.
Cookie’s air-horn laugh blasted. “This one got your number in a hurry, boy. Better watch out.”
Suddenly the rotund cook froze and cast a wary eye toward the doorway. “Uh-oh.”
Following his gaze, Colt stiffened. Slowly he raised his fork and pointed. “What in blazes is that?”
Caesar, tail twitching, pranced regally into the dining room as if to say, “You started dinner without me?”
Kati grimaced. Great. Leave it to the recalcitrant cat to make a grand entrance the very first night. “Caesar. Come here, boy.” Kati patted the side of her leg, hoping against hope that for once in his life, he’d obey.
The cat ignored her, making a beeline for Colt instead. “You didn’t tell me you had a cat.” He sounded as though she had leprosy instead of a pet.
“Sorry. I never thought…”
“I’m not exactly a cat hater,” he said slowly. “But in my book cats were put on this earth for one purpose—alligator bait.”
Kati didn’t know if he was serious or kidding. “I’ll keep him in my room,” she said hurriedly. “He won’t bother you.”
Making a liar out of her, Caesar chose that moment to begin a slow, seductive weave through Colt’s legs. The cowboy glared down at him. “Cats belong in the barn.”
Caesar sat and raised a plaintive paw to Colt’s knee. Suspiciously the cowboy drew back. “What’s he doing?”
Why, oh, why had she spoiled her cat by feeding him from the table? Kati made a face and in a small voice said, “I think he wants a piece of your steak.”
“My steak! Not a chance.” After a second, more-insistent pat from Caesar’s paw, Colt ripped off a bite of the meat and jabbed it in the general direction of the cat, muttering, “Anything to make him go away. Blasted feline.”
As Cookie sounded his air-horn laugh once again, Caesar carefully, daintily took the offering between his teeth and retired to the corner to dine.
Between bites, Colt kept an anxious eye on the corner. Finally he frowned and said, “I hope that’s not a tomcat. They roam, you know, and caterwaul all hours of the night.”
“No, no. Don’t worry. He’s not a tomcat. Caesar’s been neutered.”
Cookie stopped dead in his tracks, turned and gazed at the cat. Colt swallowed hard and did the same. Then the two men looked at each other in horror.
“Poor guy,” Colt commiserated, casting a long sympathetic look toward the animal.
“Yeah,” Cookie breathed, then rushed back into the kitchen as though the same fate awaited him if he stuck around any longer.
“Well,” Colt twisted uncomfortably in his chair. “Since the poor critter doesn’t have much else to live for, I guess he can stay. But he’s confined to your room. Understand? I can’t abide a cat underfoot.”
“Absolutely. That’s fine. No problem. Thank you so much,” she gushed. Shut up, Kati. Stop gushing as though he’s handed you the winning lottery ticket. But her relief was genuine. She couldn’t let anything happen to good old Caesar. He was all the family she had.
In her rush of gratitude, Kati leaned forward and placed her hands on the tabletop. The fingertips of one hand made inadvertent contact with the hot pie plate.
“Oh!” she cried out, yanking the burned hand to her chest.
Instantly, Colt was beside her. He pulled her fingers into his and pressed them against his lips for two quick kisses.
Shocked, Kati didn’t know what to do, but her heart reacted violently. No one had ever kissed her fingers. Certainly not a gorgeous man she barely knew who made her heart flutter by just being in the same room.
As soon as Colt realized what he’d done, he froze, blinked at her fingers in confusion, then plunked them into her tea glass. The icy plunge shocked her back to her senses.
“There. That should take the edge off.” Releasing her as though he’d been the one burned, Colt backed around to his chair. After a moment’s silence he cleared his throat. “If you get blisters, Cookie has some ointment that might help.”
“I’m fine, really. More surprised than hurt.” She was surprised all right but not by the hot plate. Kati withdrew her fingers from the glass and laid them in her lap, the gentle heat of Colt’s mouth lingering much longer than the burn.
An uncomfortable silence hovered over the table until Colt ripped off a bite of hot buttered bun and leaned toward her. “Say, do you ride? I’ve got plenty of gentle horses if you’re interested.”
Clearly, Colt was eager to guide the conversation to safer ground.
“I love to ride,” she admitted, struggling to concentrate on horses when all she could think of was Colt’s mouth against her skin. “Though I’m not very good at it.”
“Wes Patterson’s wife, Becky, is an expert rider. She comes out twice a week to do my bookkeeping. I’ll bet she wouldn’t mind showing you around.”
“What about them college gals, boss?” Cookie poked his head around the corner. “They’ll be coming soon and Miss Kati could ride out with them. They ain’t much use for nothing else.”
“College students?” Kati’s curiosity piqued.
Nodding, Colt jabbed a fork into his pie and held it aloft, letting ice cream drip onto the saucer as he spoke. “Every summer we take on a few agri-business interns from the university. We get some cheap help during a busy time and they gain a summer of living and working on a real ranch. Works out pretty well for all of us.”
“Hmpf.” Cookie whipped into the room to whisk the emptied dishes from the table. “Half-baked greenhorns is more of a nuisance than a help.”
“Everybody has to start somewhere, Cookie.”
Impressed and touched that Colt generously allowed greenhorns the opportunity for hands-on ranching experience, Katie couldn’t help smiling when Cookie barked back as he retreated into the kitchen. “I never said they didn’t. As long as they stay out of my kitchen, we do fine.”
With a chuckle, Colt winked at Kati. “The students we get out here would rather muck out barns than cook a meal. I think his kitchen’s safe. But the offer still stands. Anytime you want to take a horse out, just let me know. I’ll arrange for someone to ride with you until you feel comfortable on your own.”
Fingers tingling, insides warming with each kind word, Kati said, “As much as I’d like to, I doubt I’ll have the opportunity. Evan will take up all my time.”
Colt waved off the worry. “Ah, Cookie can watch him sometime when he’s napping.”
Once again Cookie appeared. “I ain’t no baby-sitter. Don’t know a thing about young’uns.”
Carrying a cup of coffee,
