Catherine and Hal exchanged amused glances just as Matt walked in. It was obvious hed changed for his date, because he was wearing a dark dinner jacket with a red tie. He looked so devastating that Catherine had to drop her eyes.
Hal, Id like a word with you, he said without preamble.
Hal
looked uncomfortable and made a face, but he got up and went with his stern older brother out into the hall. The door closed and everyone exchanged puzzled glances.
He didnt move those cattle like Matt told him, Barrie volunteered with a grimace. At least four of them drowned.
So that was what Matt had been doing on the flats, Catherine thought suddenly, amazed that she hadnt connected the mired cattle with Hals disobedience. Poor old Hal, she thought. Matt would eat him alive.
Will he ever grow up? Jerry grumbled. He plays at life.
Hes very young, dear, Betty intervened.
Catherine was just about to rush to his defense, too, just as a loud voice broke the silence in the hall, followed by a thump and a hard thud. Catherine jumped to her feet and opened the door to find Hal just picking himself up from the floor. Matt was standing over him, unruffled, his face like stone, his eyes blazing with anger. He glanced at Catherine, and he was a stranger again, all authority and bristling masculinity. He laughed curtly.
Florence Nightingale to the rescue, he chided. Pick him up and pet him, if you like, but do it damned fast. Hes leaving for Houston. And if he doesnt straighten out his priorities while hes there, he added with a cold glare at Hal, who was gingerly touching his jaw, he can damned well stay in Houston.
My God, it was only four head Hal began.
One head would have been one too many, Matt replied.
Jerry and I have a stake in the corporation, too, Hal shot back. Youre not the whole show!
I am until you can carry your share of the load, Matt returned. Grow up!
Hal got to his feet and glared at the taller man. The iron man, arent you? He laughed mirthlessly. No chinks in your armor, no human weaknesses. Not even a weakness for a special woman.
Youd better phone and see if you can get a flight out of here tonight, Matt said, ignoring the little speech.
Hal inclined his head. Whatever you say, boss. He fingered his jaw and glanced ruefully at Catherine. Be sure to duck, cousin.
Catherine watched him turn toward the stairs. She started back toward the dining room, but Matt caught her arm.
The light touch was indescribable. He came up behind her and was so close that she could hear his heavy breath as it sighed out over her hair. His fingers were steely through the soft jersey of her dress sleeve, and she couldnt seem to get her breath.
Someone had closed the door to the dining room after shed gone through it. Probably Jerry, she thought dazedly; he wasnt one to eavesdrop.
Afraid of me? he asked at her back.
She turned and looked up at him with soft green eyes.
No. Not really. Its just that you seem like a stranger sometimes, Matt.
Hal has to learn responsibility, he said.
I wont argue that, she replied. But he wont ever be you.
He sighed half-angrily. His dark eyes searched hers in the sudden stillness of the hall.
Dont you have a date to rush off to? she asked pointedly.
I have a social engagement, he replied. He pulled out a gold cigarette casethe one shed given him for Christmas last yearand casually lit a cigarette, as if he had all the time in the world.
Same difference, she said.
He shook his head, then lifted the cigarette to his smiling mouth. Its a formal dinner. And women werent included, except for the wives of the organizers.
You dont owe me any explanations, Matt. She started toward the dining room, but he drew her back with the lightest pressure of his fingers.
No, I dont, he agreed. She stared at his red tie.
His fingers moved to her throat and stroked its soft elegant line, and her mouth trembled. She looked up at him with her breath sticking in her throat.
Dont, she pleaded breathlessly. It was the first time hed ever touched her like that, and it frightened her. All her wild dreams went into hiding at the reality. The uncontrolled pleasure she felt was unexpected.
Why not? he murmured. Bachelors are entitled to play a little, honey, he said with a slow smile, and his fingers stroked over a larger area, edging under the neck of her dress and onto her shoulder.
Not with me, you dont, she said. She reached up to catch his fingers. Its not fair, Matt. Shooting fish in a barrel.
Why not, when its the only way you can get the fish at all?
Matt
He looked down at her soft, full mouth, outlined carefully with a delicate lipstick. He moved closer, the hand that held the cigarette sliding around her waist to draw her body to the length of his.
She couldnt breathe at all now. She looked up into dark, secretive eyes and felt
her body begin to throb. Hed held her before, of course, to comfort her when she cried and once to carry her over a rising stream bed. Hed even carried her to bed once when she was sick. But it had never been like this before, with his dark eyes hungry as they looked into hers and a nameless awareness between them that grew by the second.