Free Charlene Sands by Taming the Texan Page B

her face, his mouth hovering so close to hers. She couldn’t trust him. She knew of his plans so she’d prevented the kiss from happening once common sense had taken hold. And now he stood in the study like a bull ready to charge, nostrils flaring, and expecting her to cow to his will.
    “Take?”
    “I want outta here—the sooner, the better. But you damn well know I can’t leave here until you sell me your half of the ranch.”
    Tess rose from her seat and faced him, the desk between them. “You can leave here anytime you’d like.”
    He scoffed and drew a deep breath. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
    She cast him a polite smile. “You don’t know how much.”
    His brows furrowed together and he took on a look of great annoyance. “You want it all, don’t you? But why be saddled with the problems the ranch is having? You’re a beautiful woman. You can make a good life for yourself without all these worries. How much is it going to take, Tess? I can offer you—”
    “I don’t want your offers, Clint. I’ve already told you that. You’re not getting my half of the ranch. This is my home now. I made a pledge to your father and I’ll never give in to your demands.”
    Clint leaned in, bracing both hands on the desk, and met her gaze squarely. “You’re a fool, Tess.”
    “I’ve been called much worse names. Some of them by you.” She arched one brow, daring him to deny it.
    He studied her with dark, piercing eyes. “I don’t get it. Is it the power? Do you like being Hoyt Hayworth’s widow?”
    “No! I wish your father hadn’t died. He was a good man.”
    “Obviously you didn’t know him well.”
    “I knew him very well.”
    Clint straightened, his form rigid, and he surveyed her up and down, his gaze traveling over her body with slow deliberation, a hot, steamy gleam in his eyes. “You knew a sickly old man, Tess. No doubt my father enjoyed you, but it couldn’t have been all that thrilling for you, bedding a man with half his body in the grave.”
    Tess abhorred violence of any kind. She wouldn’t slap him again—once had been quite enough and a mistake, though he had no right speaking those cruel, filthy words. She closed her eyes briefly, then with new resolve tidied up the desk before addressing him directly. “I think we’re through here. There’s nothing more to say. Excuse me, I have a meeting in town this morning.”
    She strode out the door and decided right then and there she’d not engage in battle with Clint ever again. His accusations and demands would go on deaf ears. It’d do her good to have a day away from the ranch and the insufferable man who managed to insult and irritate her every time they spoke.
     
    When the weather was bad, the meetings were held in a small private room in the Hayworth Herald office. But on days such as today, when only slight breezes blew by and sunshine was in abundance, Tess preferred to have these meetings outside, by the stream half a mile away from the church grounds. Bluebonnets bloomed along the quiet waters and made a comfortable cushion for the blankets Tess laid down. She’d brought a basket of muffins and sweet breads from home and sat down, handing Pearl Cowper a sugary apple muffin. “Please have one, Pearl.”
    “Oh, no, thanks, ma’am,” Pearl said. “I can hardly eat when I come to these meetin’s. My stomach’s in knots this mornin’.”
    Tess calmed her with a gentle hand on her arm. “You’re brave for coming, Pearl. And you’re not doing anything wrong by meeting me here.” Then Tess looked at eighteen-year-old Marla McKee. “Both of you ladies are brave and strong.”
    She offered Marla a muffin, and the girl took one, holding it in the palm of her hand, her eyes downcast. “It’s just that I’d be in a pack of trouble if my father knew that I was talking about him in such a way.”
    Tess looked Marla over carefully. There were no new bruises on her face, but that didn’t mean that her father