This new man drove a cherry red pickup, wore a Stetson and rode a horse. Sort of. Thinking of his baptism as a rider made him smile. It took a real greenhorn to fall off Garrett’s gentlest horse, but Morgan had claimed that honor.
Poor Garrett had been horrified and begged Morgan to give it up, but he’d been determined to get back on. Unfortunately, in the process he’d confused the horse, and the bewildered animal had accidentally stepped on his foot. Morgan was pretty sure he had a broken toe, but not much could be done besides taping it, so he was determined to forget about the pain.
Besides, he and Garrett had become friends, and that was more important than a broken toe. After discovering that Garrett wasn’t romantically interested in Mary Jane, Morgan had been more than willing to be friendly.
He’d eventually ridden the horse, although Garrett had refused to let him leave the corral. Morgan could hardly wait to try again. He could hardly wait to get a little mud and grime on his truck, too, so it looked like it belonged. The five-year-old who had ridden an imaginary horse through the back yard still existed deep within his soul, and he was having a great time getting to know that kid again.
Mary Jane appeared at his elbow. “You’ve finished your burger. You must be ready for the sundae by now.”
He wondered if she realized how out-of-breath she was. The hair at her temples was damp from sweat and curled in little ringlets around her forehead. Her lipstick was completely gone, and her cheeks were pink from exertion. She wore a combination of scents, from the sweetness of chocolate syrup to the tang of fried onions. Delicious.
If only he could haul her out of here, take her home and put her to bed. And climb in with her.
“Why don’t you wait until it slows down?” he suggested. “Then maybe you’ll have time to talk to me.”
“I do want to talk to you. That Garrett has some explaining to do.”
Morgan smiled. “Don’t jump to conclusions.”
“Mary Jane! We need our check over here!” called a guy from the far corner.
“Be right there!” She gazed at Morgan, her attention going to his bandage and the bruise on his cheek as indecision flickered in her blue eyes. “Are you sure you’ll be okay sitting here a little longer? You really look like you could use a sundae right now.”
“Do I?” He figured she was misinterpreting his lust for her as lust for an ice cream treat. That was okay.
“Yes, you look positively ready for hot fudge. Why don’t I—”
“Yo, Mary Jane!” shouted another customer.
“Why don’t you take care of everybody else first? I’m fine here.”
“Okay. If you’re sure.”
“I’m sure.” He wanted to talk to her, too. She couldn’t keep up this pace for the next four months.
The diner cleared out faster than he’d thought it would. Within a half hour only one booth was filled, and two customers besides him were sitting at the counter.
Mary Jane cruised behind the counter, dodging Shelby in the process. “Now I can make you that sundae! I assume you want everything on it?”
The old Morgan would have skipped the nuts and asked her to go easy on the whipped cream. But the new Morgan was in charge today. “Sure. Everything. By the way, have you had any lunch yet?”
“Not yet.”
Shelby turned to her. “Why don’t you let me make his sundae and you go sit down at the counter. Sara can get your plate ready.”
“That’s okay.” Mary Jane plopped a second scoop of vanilla ice cream in the tall sundae dish. “I’ll finish this.”
“If you insist.” Shelby looked amused. “Sara, can you fix Mary Jane a BLT and hold the B? And stick a banana on the plate, too.”
Mary Jane glanced at Shelby. “A BLT with no B? What the heck’s that?”
“Good for you.”
“Ugh. I thought I’d have a mushroom burger.”
Shelby shook her head. “You eat way too many of those. You need your fruits and veggies.”
Looking over her shoulder at Morgan, Mary Jane made a face. “See? I told you there was nothing to worry about. They boss me something terrible around here.”
“Good,” Morgan said. But whether Shelby looked out for Mary Jane’s diet or not, there was still the matter of being on her feet for hours at a time.
Yet he could see that she was very good at what she did. More than good. An artist. He sensed the creative energy going into her work as she made his sundae. And watching her was an erotic experience for him. As she ladled on the thick fudge sauce it slid between the plump mounds of vanilla, melting the ice cream as it went. It occurred to him that warm, sticky chocolate would make a good body paint.
He couldn’t believe he was having thoughts like that. Kinky had never been a part of his repertoire, but spending time with Mary Jane was bringing out all sorts of hidden facets in his personality. He had a feeling she would be willing to get messy in order to have some fun.
Then she picked up the can of whipping cream. As she squirted it in an artful pyramid, he had no trouble picturing her putting that can to great use on a certain part of his anatomy. And then she’d have to lick it off….
Depraved. That’s exactly what he was becoming, and he needed to get control of himself. Mary Jane needed someone to watch out for her welfare, not someone to dream up exotic love scenes with her in them.
“There you go.” She set the sundae on the counter in front of him and gave him a long-handled spoon.
He admired the symmetry of the whipped cream, the blend of brown fudge and vanilla ice cream showing through the clear sides of the glass, the even sprinkling of nuts on top of the clouds of cream and the bright cherry sitting perfectly balanced on top. “It’s so beautiful I hate to eat it,” he said, glancing at her.
She looked incredibly proud of herself. “You have to eat it. It tastes even better than it looks.”
“I’ll bet.” But he was thinking about her, not the ice cream treat. Her expression was so adorable he wished he could snap a picture to keep with him.
“Here’s your lunch, Mary Jane,” Sara called, putting a plate on the pass-through. “Heavy on the lettuce.”
“Thanks, I think.” Mary Jane took the plate and put it on the counter next to where Morgan was sitting. Then she came around the counter and slid onto the stool beside him. “You haven’t taken a single bite!”
“I was waiting for you.”
“Well, I’m here. Dig in!”
He was aware of her gaze on him as he pushed the spoon into the sundae, getting it far enough in to reach some of the fudge. Bringing up a dripping spoonful, he put it in his mouth. Then he closed his eyes with pleasure. It tasted like Mary Jane’s kiss.
“Good, huh?” she asked eagerly.
He opened his eyes. She sat there anticipating his certain praise, and her face looked as if it were lit from within. He’d never had anyone look so happy about creating something special just for him, and his throat closed at the sweetness of it.
As he looked into her sparkling eyes, the truth came over him. He wasn’t going to get over Mary Jane. Not in a few weeks, not in a few months, not ever. She’d taken up residence in his heart.
“I’ll bet it’s so wonderful you’re having trouble finding the words to describe it,” she said. “Sometimes my customers are speechless with delight over my hot fudge sundaes.”
He cleared the hoarseness from his throat and smiled at her. “That’s exactly my problem,” he said. “I’m speechless.”
“I knew it. Eat up. It’ll fix whatever ails you.”
Somehow Morgan didn’t think so.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
MARY JANE bit into her sandwich. She was hungrier than she’d wanted to let on. And a minor but annoying ache had developed in the small of her back. Worst of all, her feet hurt, which meant that, doggone it, they were probably starting to swell. Served her right for boasting to Morgan about keeping her ankles slim and trim throughout this pregnancy.
But she had more important things to think about. After chewing and swallowing her first bite, she turned to him. “I get the impression you’re trying to protect Garrett, which is noble of you, but I’ll hear the story sooner or later, so you might as well tell me now. He put you up on Tigger, didn’t he?”
He licked a glob of fudge from the back of his spoon. “Nope. He put me up on Pooh.”
“Pooh? Pooh bucked you off?”
“I wish I could say that. I fell off all on my own. Too macho to hold on to the saddle horn, and I didn’t have my feet firmly in the stirrups. When Pooh went right, I went left. Hit the fence on the way down.”
“Ouch,” Shelby said as she put the coffee carafe back and came over to where they sat. “Do you think you should see a doctor?”
“Yeah,” Mary Jane said. “Did you have X rays? You could have a concussion. You really should see a doctor.”
He smiled. “I am a doctor,” he reminded them, “and I know the signs of concussion. I don’t have one.”
Mary Jane shook her head. “Not good enough. You should go next door and get an X ray. Wouldn’t they give you one free out of professional courtesy or something like that?”
“I don’t need an X ray,” he said.
“Yes, you do. My friend Ellie’s the hospital administrator over there. Ask for her and tell her I sent you. Even though it’s a maternity clinic, Ellie will slip you in.”
“Mary Jane, I really don’t want to get an—”
“And what about your foot?” she added. “You were limping when you came in.”
“Pooh accidentally stepped on it.”
“Double ouch,” Shelby said. “Pooh’s not a small horse.”
“So I suppose you have a broken toe or two, besides a concussion,” Mary Jane said. The thought of Morgan being hurt made her tummy ache. The only way she knew how to handle it was to lecture him. “You need to get that checked out, too.”
“I agree,” Shelby said. “And if they won’t do it for free out of professional courtesy, like Mary Jane said, then I’m sure Garrett’s insurance will pay for it. He must have been fit to be tied, having you get hurt like that. I’m surprised he didn’t drive you to the emergency room himself.”
“He did want to do that,” Morgan admitted. “I talked him out of it. For one thing, I wanted to ride that darned horse at least once around the corral.”
Mary Jane groaned. “So after you fell off, conked your head and broke some toes, you got back on?” If this was the way he planned to behave, she’d have to keep a closer eye on him. She hadn’t thought of him as reckless, but maybe she’d been wrong.
“I did.” He gave her a triumphant look. “And I rode that horse. Even at a trot.”
“With a concussion.”
“I don’t have a concussion.”
“We don’t know that, do we?”
He rolled his eyes. “Okay, if you’re going to keep after me, I’ll go next door and get an X ray.”
“I’m going to keep after you, so you might as well.”
“Me, too,” Shelby said. “We’d all feel better if we knew you were okay. Garrett would, too, I’m sure. He’d hate to think he’d caused serious injury to his new neighbor.”
“I’ll go. I’ve been curious about the place, anyway. It has a fantastic reputation in its field.”
“I thought you were going to say you’re curious about the baby left on the back steps,” Shelby said. “I’m sure that made the news, even in New York.”
“Yes, but I’d forgotten about it until Mary Jane mentioned it yesterday.” Morgan shrugged. “I figure that’s a private matter for the Maitlands to work out. I’m interested in the clinic.”
“I’m sure Ellie would love to show you around,” Mary Jane said. “After you get some X rays.”
“I’m really not going to get out of this, am I?” he asked with a good-natured grin.
Mary Jane shook her head. “I know Ellie. She’ll take one look at you and escort you straight to the lab to get those X rays.”
Morgan glanced thoughtfully from Shelby to Mary Jane. “You know, I’ve seen the statistics, and Austin’s technically a large city, but ever since I arrived I’ve felt as if I’m in a small town, the way everyone is so concerned about each other.”
“That’s Texas for you,” Mary Jane said.
“Well, whatever it is, I like it.”
She told herself not to put too much store by his statement. Right now he’d probably like anything that wasn’t connected to New York, which was linked in his mind with tragedy. Still, having him praise her hometown felt good. Arielle had made her think she was a hick for preferring Austin to New York, but Morgan seemed to think Austin had a lot to recommend it.
Morgan finished his sundae, and she was gratified to see him scraping the last of the hot fudge and melted ice cream from the bottom of the dish. But with his sundae finished, he had no more reason to hang around, and with his injury he might not feel like looking at baby furniture after work.
She might as well prepare herself not to see him again today after he left the diner. Gradually they’d wean themselves from each other. Then when he left for New York, she wouldn’t miss him much. Right. That was as likely as snow on the Fourth of July.
Still, she needed to pretend that she wasn’t sitting here basking in the joy of having Morgan around. “Guess I’ll get back to work or I’m liable to get canned.”
“Yeah, that’ll happen,” Shelby said. “You sit a little longer, Mary Jane. I’ll finish up with booth two.”
“I should probably—”
“Hey.” Morgan put a detaining hand on her arm. “It’s not a good idea to question the boss, right, Shelby?”
“You should never question the boss,” Shelby said. “Give me the ticket for booth two and stay and keep Morgan company a little longer.”
Mary Jane was having so much trouble trying to ignore the warmth of Morgan’s touch that she didn’t have any energy left to protest. She took the ticket out of her apron pocket and handed it to Shelby. “Thanks, Shel.”
“Don’t mention it.” Shelby winked before she walked around the counter and toward booth two.
If Mary Jane thought Shelby hadn’t noticed her interest in Morgan, that hope was dashed with Shelby’s wink. Chances were Lana and Shelby had talked about it already and were making bets on what would happen next.
Morgan took his hand away, but he didn’t rush the process. “You work very hard,” he said.
She glanced into his eyes. “In this business that’s what you want. When it’s slow, then the job gets boring fast. Plus, the more customers I serve, the more tips I make. The time goes zipping by, and before you know it the day’s over and you have a pocketful of money.”
“And you don’t get tired?”
She had the darnedest trouble with honesty. No matter what, she couldn’t seem to tell fibs, especially to Morgan. “Sure, I do. But I’ll bet you get tired, too. I’ve heard about your fourteen-hour days.”
“But I’m not pregnant.”
Her jaw tightened. “We’ve had this discussion, and I don’t intend to quit.”
“Okay. I accept that. I can see you love your work, and another waitressing job wouldn’t take its place. But couldn’t you cut back on your hours, at least for the next few months? From what I’ve seen of Shelby, she’d go along with that.”
The prospect didn’t sound too bad to Mary Jane, except that she couldn’t afford the pay cut. “There’s the little matter of my car payment and my rent,” she said. “In fact, the landlord has warned me it’ll be going up when the lease expires.” The minute she brought up the subject of money she knew it was a mistake. Now he was going to try to give her some.
He would never understand that if she took money from him, she’d feel as if she’d sold the baby. Even she knew it wasn’t a logical position, but logic wasn’t her strong point these days.
She decided to head him off at the pass. “Look, Morgan, I can’t accept money from y
ou beyond my medical expenses. I realize that sounds ridiculous to you, but that’s the way it is. And this job will work out fine. I don’t always work as hard as I did this lunch hour. As you see, the place is quiet now.”
“I wasn’t planning to offer you money,” he said. “I know you won’t take it.”
“Good.”
“When does your lease expire?”
It wasn’t at all what she’d expected him to say. “Next month. Why?”
“Are you totally committed to that town house?”
“I haven’t found anything I like as well, if that’s what you mean. It’s convenient to everything, like this place and shopping and my friends. Besides, anything cheaper would be more cramped.” She smiled. “And wouldn’t have a place for a bird feeder.”
He nodded. “It’s a nice place. You probably wouldn’t want to consider what I was thinking about, anyway. The town house really is perfect for you. I’m just being paranoid about this job of yours.”
“Probably.” Now he’d aroused her curiosity. “What were you thinking about?”
“Nothing. It’s probably not for you. Maybe I can work something out with somebody else. Maybe even Lana would be interested.”
The jealous flash that whizzed through her was uncomfortable and unwelcome. “Interested in what?”
“House-sitting.” He glanced at her. “Bad idea, huh?”
She stared at him. “You don’t need someone to house-sit.” And if he did, it sure as hell wasn’t going to be Lana.
“I think I do. Somebody needs to monitor the automatic watering system to make sure the plants are okay. And I’m thinking of buying a horse.”
“A horse?”
“Yeah. I’m sure Garrett could help me find a good one, and I loved the riding this morning, Mary Jane. Just like you said, I’ve always wanted to be a cowboy, but I’d shoved the idea to the back of my mind. Now that I have the clothes and the truck and the house in the country, I want a horse.”
She shook her head in disbelief. “A horse.”
“You said it would be good for the baby to learn how to ride. She needs her own horse for that. In fact, I might eventually have two horses.”
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