Champagne Girl. Diana Palmer

laugh at me.”

      “It’s less dangerous than doing what I’d like,” he returned, his dark eyes sparkling.

      “Try slinging me over your knee, cattle baron, and I’ll make you a legend in your own time with that brochure you want drawn up,” she threatened.

      “No you won’t.” He threw down the cigarette and ground it out. “We’re buddies, remember?”

      “We used to be. Then you started being so horrible to me,” she reminded him. She dusted off her stained jodhpurs. “God knows what I’ll tell Mama about the way I look,” she added, giving him a mischievous glance.

      “Tell her you tried to seduce me,” he suggested with a wicked grin.

      “That’ll be the day,” she said darkly, turning back toward her horse.

      “Don’t you think you could?” he teased.

      She mounted, feeling odd at the suggestion, and glanced down at him. “Actually,” she told him, “I don’t know how.”

      “No experience?” he asked mockingly, but there was a serious note in his deep, drawling voice.

      “I’ve been saving myself for you, didn’t you know?”

      He laughed softly. “Have you?”

      It was new and heady to flirt openly with Matt. She’d never done it before. She wrapped the reins gently around one hand and stilled the nervous little mare, patting her neck as she talked softly to her. Her amused eyes met Matt’s. “Better lock your door at night.”

      His dark eyes twinkled with new lights. “I do. I’ve been terrified of you since you graduated from high school.”

      “Have you really?” She grinned. “I did notice all the women you gathered around you to protect yourself from me.”

      He didn’t smile. His eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

      “Your suitors have been conspicuous by their absence the past few months,” he remarked.

      She lifted her shoulders. “Jack gave me up in the early summer,” she said. “He was afraid you’d kill him if he tried anything with me. He even said so.”

      He looked toward the cowboys, who were starting to drive cattle through a nearby opening in the fence. “I’ve got work to do, honey.”

      “Conference over.” She sighed. “You never talk to me.”

      He looked up, and something in his black eyes made her nervous. “I may do that—sooner than you think, little Kit.” His gaze grew piercing, searching. “After all, you’re straining at the bonds for the first time. You’ll fly away if I’m not careful.”

      “I’m not a bird, you know,” she said pleasantly.

      “More of a tadpole,” he murmured.

      “You call me a frog again, and I’ll tell Hal and Jerry,” she threatened.

      “Tadpole, not frog. Go ahead and tell them,” he challenged, smiling. “Remember me, Kit? I’m the black sheep.”

      “Some black sheep. You’re the one with the brains and the strong back,” she had to admit, softening as she looked down at him. His face was creased with harsh lines that neither of his brothers had. It was always Matt who’d had the lion’s share of the responsibility. Hal did what he pleased, and Jerry did what he could, but he didn’t have Matt’s business sense and was intelligent enough to admit it.

      “Was I asking for a vote of confidence?” he asked with mock astonishment.

      “You never would. But you’ve got mine,” she said with a soft smile.

      He seemed to tauten at the softness in her voice. “Risky, Kit, looking at me that way,” he said with a faint smile. “I might go crazy right here.”

      “You, go crazy over a woman?” she asked with a laugh. “That’ll be the day. Anyway, it would take someone with experience and pizzazz. I’m just your pesky stepcousin.”

      “You’re a beauty, young Catherine,” he returned, and seemed to really mean it. She colored gently at the masculine appreciation in the look he gave her. “Quality, all the way.”

      “You’re not bad yourself, cowboy,” she murmured demurely. “I have to go home and change. I thought I’d go see a movie later.”

      “Did you? What kind of movie?”

      “There’s one of those very adult shows at the drive-in,” she confided. “I thought I’d take Hal and educate him.”

      His face went hard all at once, and the sudden eclipse of humor surprised her. “No,” he said quietly. “Not Hal. If you go to any drive-ins, I’ll take you. And not tonight. I’ve got a date already. I’ll take you Friday.”

      It was like sticking her finger in an electric socket. She simply stared at him. “What?”

      “I said I’ll take you to the movies Friday, Kit,” he replied, and grinned at her. “I’m not letting you corrupt Hal. Besides, he’s too young for you.”

      She burst out laughing. She must have imagined his sudden anger, she told herself. Matt had only been teasing all along.

      “I suppose he is,” she had to admit. “Are you?”

      His mouth curled. “What do you think, honey?” he asked in a tone he’d never used with her before. It was like velvet. Soft. Honey smooth. Seductive.

      She stared down at him curiously. “You’re too old for drive-ins,” she said slowly.

      He shook his head. “We’ll take the pickup and I’ll buy you a pizza. It will rejuvenate me,” he added with a grin.

      “I can just see you at a drive-in,” she murmured. Her green eyes flirted with his dark ones. “Okay. But I won’t kiss you if you drink beer.”

      His eyebrows lifted and something flashed in his eyes. He laughed gently. “Okay.”

      She’d shocked herself with her impulsive remark, and now she felt embarrassed. As if Matt would want to kiss her! But her eyes fell to his hard mouth as if of their own accord, and she stared at his lips with unexpected curiosity. She looked up in time to see a wildness in his eyes. A shock of electric current linked them, making her want to dive down into his arms and kiss his hard, sexy mouth until the aching of her young body stopped. And that shocked her enough that she dragged her eyes away.

      “You did mean what you said, about letting me go to New York if I do a good job on your sale?” she persisted.

      He turned back toward his men. “I meant it.”

      “Matt—”

      “Hey, Charlie, bring the truck for this one!” he called to an old cowboy and he gestured toward a downed cow farther along the trail.

      She sighed in irritation. Well, that was that, he’d just forgotten that she was alive. That was his response to discussions he didn’t want. He just walked away from them. She glared at his back for a long moment before she suddenly wheeled her mount and started toward the ranch.

      Well, at least she had a chance to escape now. Her face burned as she remembered what she’d said to him about the drive-in. She’d probably shocked him with that silly remark about kissing him.

      She shifted in the saddle, thinking about going to a drive-in with Matt. Her body tingled with delight at the prospect. He’d never taken her anywhere alone. And probably he wasn’t going to now, either. He’d invite one of the family to go with them. And why would he take the pickup?

      Matt bothered her. He puzzled her. He was a cutup, a wild man—except when he was being Mr. Kincaid. She’d seen him do that. She’d watched him put down men who thought they could walk all over him because he seemed easygoing. There was a white-hot