The Second Chance Rancher

by Kate Pearce

Adam sat down, but Jackson saw the frustration on his face. Beside him, Daisy stirred.

  “Don’t even think about it,” Jackson muttered as Chase wrapped up the meeting and everyone got up to mingle and have more coffee.

  “What?” She jumped guiltily.

  “You know what.” He looked down at her. “Adam’s a big boy. Let him deal with his own problems.”

  “Like you let Cauy solve yours?” Daisy asked.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” he countered.

  “Cauy just bought you a ranch.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Where did you get that harebrained idea from?”

  “It’s the truth!”

  “No, it isn’t.”

  Daisy took a deep breath and stood up. “Let’s not do this, shall we? It’s great that Cauy has enough money to throw around on buying extra ranches. I’m very happy for you.”

  “You don’t sound happy,” Jackson commented. “And he didn’t buy me the ranch, we—”

  “I don’t care!” Daisy’s voice was rising, and several people in their vicinity were turning their heads to listen in. “I just want you to be happy!” She stamped her foot.

  “I am happy, and if you’d just give me the chance to explain, I’d—”

  “You don’t need to explain anything to me.” Daisy sniffed, her nose in the air. “We’re friends, that’s it! Because I was too stupid to realize I’d fallen in love with you until it was too late and I pushed you away!”

  Jackson blinked at her. “Come again?”

  “I love you!” She flung her arms wide in a very un-Daisy-like way. “I didn’t mean to love you, I tried not to, but it was useless. I was hoping once the tech company launched, I could buy us a ranch here and you could live on it with me.”

  “What tech company?”

  Jackson winced as Jeff Miller called out to Daisy. Way to blow her cover wide open in public.

  “The one I’ve been working with for the past few years and not telling you about!” Daisy said, her gaze now on her father. “The one I sunk seed money into so I couldn’t help my own brother and father!”

  “Daisy—” Adam stepped forward, but his sister kept talking.

  “I’m sorry, Dad. I know I promised you all I wouldn’t go back, but this project was very special to me.”

  Jackson put a hand on her shoulder. Apparently, when Daisy wanted to let everything out, she was something of an unstoppable force.

  “How about you talk that through with your family at home later and concentrate on me right now?” Jackson suggested.

  Adam cleared his throat. “Great idea. In fact, why don’t we go home, Dad, and Jackson can bring Daisy back when she’s ready?”

  For a moment, Jeff looked like he was going to balk at being told what to do. With one last ferocious glare at Jackson—for no reason whatsoever, because for once he was blameless—Jeff turned and went out, taking his sons and sister with him.

  Chase Morgan sauntered over to grin at Daisy. “I know I told you to tell Jackson how you felt, but I didn’t figure on you telling the whole town.”

  Daisy winced, as if suddenly aware of her surroundings. A wave of love swept over Jackson as he hugged Daisy to his side.

  “She can shout it from the rooftops for all I care.”

  “She might as well have.” Chase looked around. “At least she got it over in one shot. The whole town knows where she stands right now, so I suggest you make sure her bravery is reciprocated.”

  “I will if she’ll let me get a word in edgeways.” He looked down at Daisy. It was a novel experience for him to be the trouble-free one in a relationship. “Can we go somewhere quiet and talk?”

  “Let’s go to the shop.” Her head was down and her long hair covered her face. “I’m so embarrassed.”

  “There’s no need to be.” Jackson took her hand and led her past the remaining townsfolk and Cauy and Rachel, who were giving him a thumbs-up. “As someone who regularly embarrasses himself in public, I can tell you, no one will remember anything about it in a day or so.”

  “Or until I do something else stupid,” Daisy muttered as they walked down the quiet street toward her shop.

  “What could be more stupid than telling the entire town you love me?” Jackson asked.

  Daisy groaned while in Jackson’s heart birds and huge choirs were singing hallelujahs.

  “Hey.” He drew her to a stop in front of the door. “I kind of liked it.”

  “I just lost it,” she confessed. “I’d been making up all these scenarios in my head about backing off, giving you time to recover from my awfulness, and then apparently you’re all set up by your brother with your very own ranch. I was going to lure you back.”

  “Lure me back? With a ranch?” He slid his fingers under her chin so she had to look up at him. “Daisy, if you snapped your fingers, I’d come running back to you for nothing. Don’t you know that?”

  “But I told you to stop!”

  “And I tried, but I just couldn’t stop wanting and loving you.” He smoothed her tangled hair away from her face. “I decided that if I hung out here long enough, eventually I’d break you down and you’d come back to me.”

  “No big gestures?”

  “You’re the one with all the money, remember?” He kissed her very carefully.

  “But I don’t have any money yet. Going with the Chase offer and not the Clive one means I don’t have the money to help anyone, just the possibility of it.”

  “Daisy.” Jackson kissed her nose. “Will you get it into your thick head that everyone who truly loves you doesn’t care about the money and that includes me? We’ll be okay and if, in the future, we get to roll around naked in million-dollar bills because your ship comes in, I’m all for it. But I’d rather have you.”

  She sighed and leaned against his chest. “I’m glad I remembered money doesn’t buy love.”

  “Good, because I just knew in my soul you’d give me a second chance.”

  “Second chance?” She huffed against his lips. “I think you’re on your twentieth at least.”

  “Which indicates just how much you love me and are willing to put up with from me.” He kissed her again. “I know I’ve got a big mouth and I often stick my foot in it, but you’re never going to find a man who loves you more than I do.” She gazed into his eyes and he held his breath. “Except Brody of course.” Damn, there he went again, undermining his own cause because he just couldn’t shut the hell up.

  “Brody was very special to me and he always will be, but you . . .” She smiled so sweetly, he caught his breath. “Are the right man for me right now and for the future.” She pressed a finger to his lips. “Let’s leave it at that, okay?”

  “Okay.” She kissed him, and he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her against his body, wanting simply to feel all of her.

  “Let’s go inside.” Daisy gently pushed on his chest. “I don’t need the whole town to see this!”

  He was still laughing as she deactivated the alarm, dragged him over the threshold, and threw herself back into his arms. And then the laughter ignited his pent-up desire and he was stripping her naked and feasting on the sight of her breasts.

  With Daisy’s encouragement, he raided her purse for some protection and then looked up to find her settled within a nest of their discarded clothes like a wanton summer flower. He fell to his knees in front of her and groaned her name.

  “Daisy . . . God, you’re so beautiful.”

  He leaned forward and dropped a kiss on her hipbone and then licked a trail down over her rounded stomach to the delights between her legs. She sighed as he tongued her most intimate flesh, his fingers adding to her pleasure until she was coming all around him.

  “Please . . .” She tugged on his hair. “I want you inside me.”

  He’d never been so happy to do as he was told and was soon sliding inside her, gasping as she wrapped her arms and legs around him, holding him a willing captive.

  “I love you
, Daisy Miller.” Jackson braced himself on his elbows and looked into her brown eyes.

  “Good, because I love you right back.” She slid her foot up over his hip. “I’m such a dork. I’ve missed you so much and I’ve wasted so much time pushing you away from me.”

  And now he wanted to cry, and that wasn’t acceptable, so he’d better set about making love with the most amazing woman in the world.

  * * *

  “Are you okay, Jackson?” Daisy whispered as he buried his face in the curve where her neck met her shoulder.

  “Mm-hmm.”

  He nipped her skin; the soft brush of his stubbled chin against her flesh was both subtle and so powerful, she wanted to gasp. Their bodies were joined together, he was part of her, and she never wanted to let him go.

  She slid one hand into his short hair and gently scraped her nails against his scalp, making him pulse inside her. With a muffled groan, he gathered her bottom into one of his big hands and rocked into her, the intensity of his strokes sending her to a new level of passion she’d never experienced before.

  She climaxed around him and he held still, letting her clench and release his still-hard cock until she was lost in a sea of pleasure so deep, she never wanted it to end.

  “More?” he murmured against her mouth. “Can I take more?”

  “I don’t know if I have more,” Daisy gasped. “This is pretty intense.”

  “Yeah?” He eased back, and she grabbed onto his broad shoulders as he eased his elbows under her knees, spreading her even wider. “You can give me more, I know it.”

  He thrust back inside in a driving rhythm that took her higher until each stroke set off a string of sensations that grew until she almost cried with the pleasure of it. She wanted to close her eyes, but he was watching her, and she wanted him to see what he was doing to her.

  “Oh . . .” Daisy’s fingernails snagged into his skin like a kitten’s claws as she climaxed so hard she screamed.

  He came, too, his big body pinning hers to the floor, his expression half ecstasy and half pain as he finally let loose.

  “Daisy . . .” He fell over her, his chest heaving, and stayed there, driving all the breath from her lungs. But she didn’t care if she ever breathed again.

  He rolled off her and lay on his back, one hand coming to rest on her stomach.

  “I thought I’d never get to do that with you again,” he murmured.

  “I thought I’d have to wait about ten years to convince you to do it again, and then maybe you wouldn’t want me anymore because I’d be so old,” Daisy confessed.

  “I’ll always want you.” He turned to kiss her cheek. “I always did from the first moment I saw you in your shop.”

  “Not quite,” she reminded him. “You were buying flowers for Nancy.”

  He came up on one elbow to look down at her. “True, but I couldn’t stop coming back to you.”

  “Nancy would’ve made mincemeat out of you anyway.” Daisy sniffed.

  “Also true.” He bent to kiss her. “She’s awesome, but not my type. When I came back into your shop and saw you up that ladder, your beautiful ass just about level with my face, I was totally sold.”

  “It took a while longer to convince me you were serious.”

  “I know.” He grinned down at her. “That’s because you’re the sensible one.”

  “The sensible one who tells the whole town she loves you?” Daisy groaned. “I’ll never live it down.”

  “You will.” Jackson got to his feet. “Let me clean up and I’ll be right back.”

  She grabbed as many pieces of her clothing as she could and waited for him to come out of the small bathroom before scurrying in to fix herself up. Her mirror showed her a very satisfied woman with eyes like stars, making her lean in and kiss her reflection.

  When she rejoined Jackson, he’d put on his T-shirt and jeans and was making them both coffee. She paused at the door to admire his tall frame and to try to accept he really, truly was totally into her.

  “You know I said I love you in public?” Daisy fingered the doorframe.

  “Yeah?” He turned toward her. “What about it?”

  She kept her gaze on the woodwork. “You don’t have to feel obliged to say it back to me just because I made a fool of myself.”

  He didn’t say anything, and after a long while, she risked a glance at him. He was leaning against the counter, arms folded over his chest, his amused gaze just waiting for hers to find him.

  “Daisy, this is me, Jackson Lymond, your very own adorable bigmouthed truth-telling fool. If I hadn’t agreed with you, don’t you think I would’ve mentioned it by now?”

  She held his gaze and saw nothing but kindness and truth in it. He wasn’t going to lie to her, or leave her. If he had something to say? She’d hear about it.

  “I love you, Daisy, so get used to it. Now, do you want your coffee, or shall I drink it for you?”

  She released her breath and walked over to him. “I’ll take the coffee and the love, please.”

  * * *

  Jackson glanced over at Daisy as he drove home. She’d spoken to Rae on the phone and agreed she’d come back the next morning and sit down with her family to tell them about her secret work project. Rae had assured her no one was mad at her, which had cheered Daisy up considerably.

  To keep his hands off her on the journey back, he’d regaled her with the story of the coins his father had collected, and what had happened on his trip to Walnut Creek. She’d been fascinated and thrilled that he finally had some capital to invest in the ranch he loved.

  When they walked into the kitchen, there was no sign of Cauy or Rachel, which was nice of them. Cauy had written him a note all in caps and left it on the table, so while Daisy used the bathroom, Jackson read it.

  “Holy cow!” he whispered, clutching the sheet of paper to his chest, and then raised his voice. “Cauy? Are you still up?”

  The door to his brother’s room opened, and both he and Rachel came into the kitchen grinning like fools.

  “Is this right?” Jackson’s hand was trembling so hard, the paper was shaking. “Am I misreading the zeroes?”

  Cauy took the paper from him and checked the figures as Daisy reappeared from the bathroom.

  “What’s going on?” she inquired as Jackson drew her close. “Did someone win the lottery?”

  “Pretty damn much.” Jackson swallowed hard. “Those last two coins I told you about? The mint condition Morgan ones? Mr. Perkins reckons between the two of them, we might make half a million bucks.” He stared at his brother.

  “That’s just . . . unbelievable.”

  “Yeah, I know.” Cauy nodded. “And it gives you choices, too. You could buy me out of this place and make it your own.”

  Jackson focused on his brother’s face. It was always difficult to read Cauy, and this time it was impossible.

  “I don’t want to do that.” He hesitated. “I was thinking maybe I could work at both ranches for a while? I could help Shep Gardin, and when he wants to retire completely, we could talk about this again?”

  “Fine by me.” As usual, Cauy sounded way too calm, but Jackson knew his laconic brother well enough now to understand he was pleased by Jackson’s decision. “We can work out a financial settlement that will allow the Gardins to retire whenever they want to and take it from there.”

  Jackson grabbed hold of his brother and hugged him hard. After a second, Cauy hugged him back and murmured, “Welcome home, Jackson. Welcome home.”

  A second later, Rachel and Daisy piled onto the hug, and then there might have been crying, but Jackson wasn’t going to tell tales.

  Eventually, he was alone with Daisy in his bedroom with the door locked, and everything was right with his world.

  He climbed into bed next to her and slid an arm under her shoulders. “How would you feel about living on a ranch when we’re married?”

  “Well, firstly, I’ve lived on a ranch my whole life, so it’s not exactly a pr
oblem as long as you don’t expect me to be much help. And secondly, you haven’t asked me to marry you.”

  Jackson came up on one elbow and looked down at her. “And you say I’m the pedantic one.”

  She wrinkled her nose at him. “But you haven’t asked me.”

  “I was going to do it properly. Take you out to dinner, get down on one knee and all that romantic stuff,” Jackson objected. “I haven’t even bought you a ring yet.”

  “Oh.” Daisy considered him. “That sounds rather nice actually.”

  “Then how about you leave the details up to me?” Jackson said firmly. “Although it would be good to know what kind of ring you’d like.”

  “Ask Nancy, Lizzie, and Yvonne.” Daisy yawned and closed her eyes. “They know all about my dream boyfriend/ engagement/wedding scenarios.”

  “How come?”

  “We used to get drunk on Saturday nights, watch romantic movies, and share our dreams.”

  “That’s kind of cool.”

  “Don’t men do that?”

  “Hell no.” Jackson shuddered. “I’ll definitely talk to them. Would you like a big wedding or a small one, and what about venue? Do you have a preference on that? Because I’m sure the Morgans would give us a great rate.”

  “Jackson.” Daisy spoke without opening her eyes. “I love you, but if you keep this up, I am going to kill you.”

  “Okay. I love you, too.” He kissed her nose and lay down again, his thoughts buzzing. There was a lot of planning to do. Perhaps he’d talk to Avery Hayes, the wedding planner up at Morgan Ranch. He opened his mouth again.

  “How soon do you want to get married?”

  A gentle snore was his answer, and he turned to see that Daisy was asleep. He’d probably worn her out with his lovemaking and his worrying. The thought of her being his wife, of them sharing their lives together, was amazing. He buried his face against her shoulder and breathed her in.

  Between Cauy and Daisy, he’d learned more about family and love than he’d anticipated and found everything he ever needed right here in the valley he’d grown up in. His father’s bitter legacy would be forgotten. The ranch would flourish with new money, new ideas, and a positive attitude his father had never had. The scars from his service would fade, and he’d make sure he kept in touch with everyone who had been important to him during his military career.