by Debra Holt
She stepped into the room and then stopped. The first person she saw was Tom, seated at the table, a cup of coffee in his hand.
“Good morning, Josie. Chance invited me in for a cup of coffee this morning. Then he twisted my arm to stay for some breakfast. I just finished up.”
Josie’s eyes caught sight of the tall man standing at the stove with his back to the room. His attention was on the frying pan in front of him. She moved toward the cabinet, taking a mug off the shelf and poured herself coffee. Turning to the table, she sat down across from Tom. “Morning, Tom. You know you’re always welcome at this table.”
“Perfect timing,” Chance threw the words over his shoulder, lifting the eggs from the pan and sliding them onto a plate. “Your eggs are ready.” He stepped to the table and Josie kept her eyes on the plate he slid in front of her. The food looked as good as it smelled, and her stomach stirred.
Of course, she wasn’t certain if it was the food causing the disturbance or the fact that Chance stood so close beside her…close enough that she caught a whiff of the expensive cologne he often wore. Then she noticed that he wasn’t dressed in the normal work attire this morning but had on dark brown slacks and a cream button-down shirt. No matter what he wore, he was far too sexy for her peace of mind. She murmured a quick “thanks” and focused on Tom.
“I was just telling Chance that one of the boys came across a fresh kill late last night on his way back along the north road fence line. Looks like the coyotes are getting bolder coming in so close. Couple of men are going out tracking this morning.”
“Good. We can’t afford to lose cattle if we can help it. If we had the time and funds, I’d rather try to catch and release on park land, but we have to do what we can right now.”
“I’ll leave you to your breakfast now. You don’t pay me to sit around drinking coffee all morning,” he finished with a grin. Rising, he set his cup next to the sink and then left them alone.
Josie kept her attention on the food in front of her. It smelled good and looked appetizing, but it had no taste because her nerves were on edge. She could feel Chance’s gaze on her bent head. The silence stretched, even though she was aware he poured himself another cup of coffee and then eased into the vacated chair across from her.
“Would you like some juice with that?”
“No, thanks, this is fine.” She took another bite of egg.
“Hope I didn’t disturb you last night when I came in. It was really late.”
“You didn’t disturb me. I must have been dead to the world. I didn’t hear a thing.” She took another sip of coffee.
“I suppose we could talk about the weather next.”
“The weather?” Her head popped up from her breakfast. “Has the forecast changed? Is there a storm coming in?”
Chance’s mouth lifted at the corner in mild amusement. “A true rancher. The weather topic gets your attention when nothing else will.”
Josie knew he was aware of what she had been doing in trying to ignore him. There wasn’t much anyone could ever put over on Chance. She knew that better than most. She had certainly tried often enough growing up. With his sixth sense, eyes in the back of his head, and hearing like a bat, he was always one step ahead.
“No, there’s not a problem with the weather. I have to fly down to Austin this morning. Something’s come up with the paperwork for the wind field application, and it would be easier for me to be there in person to handle it.”
Josie experienced feelings of disappointment that darkened the start of the day. On one hand, it would certainly not be as nerve wracking for her if Chance were gone, but the fact he would be gone for longer than a few hours gave her pause. The fact that she would even miss him hit her with bald clarity.
“How long do you think you’ll be gone?” She asked the question as nonchalantly as possible while gathering dirty dishes and carrying them to the cabinet next to the sink.
“I hope to be back in two or three days’ time,” he replied, joining her at the sink, reaching for the plates as she scraped them and then he placed them in the dishwasher.
“You don’t have to help with this. I’m sure you want to get on your way.”
He didn’t step away but continued to help. “You know; you could come with me. Maybe do some shopping while I’m taking care of my business. It would do you good to get away from the ranch for a little while. Tom has everything under control. How about it?”
Chance asked her to go with him. The whole idea made her stop and think. Away from the ranch, she’d be out of her element. And she would be alone with Chance, in a hotel. A fight waged inside her. Part of her wanted to take the offer of the trip and spend time with Chance in another place, away from the ranch and Dev and everything else that colored their world almost every moment. While the other part…the sensible part…warned her it would be tempting an unknown fate. Besides, there was work to be done, and it was her ranch to run. Her lack of a reply gave Chance his answer before she could say the words.
“Forget I said anything. At any rate, I’ll be back to take you to the Winter Festival Dance on Friday night. So have your dancing shoes dusted off.”
Chance obviously took her lengthy time in replying to his invitation as automatically being a negative sign. She would leave it at that. Drying her hands on a dish towel, she gave a slight shake of her head. “You know I haven’t danced in ages, not since high school.” Even as she shook her head, a thrill went through her at the thought Chance would want to be there to take her to the annual dance.
Without warning, Chance’s hand secured one of hers and whirled her around, his other hand sliding smoothly around her waist, drawing her into a two-step around the kitchen. The grin on his face was reflected in the gleam of his blue eyes smiling down at the look of surprise in her eyes.
“Chance! What are you doing? I have work, and you have to leave.” She clutched his shoulder with her free hand and tried not to step on his feet. His hold on her tightened, only sending her pulse into instant overdrive.
“Just getting in a little practice. See, it’s coming back to you.”
Josie hated to admit it, but she supposed it was like riding a bicycle, as she remembered the repetitive steps. It also helped that Chance was an excellent dancer.
“If anyone comes in and sees us, they would think we’ve lost our minds. We don’t even have music.”
“Who needs music when I have you in my arms?”
That definitely made Josie trip over a step and end on top of Chance’s left foot. She looked up and saw him fight to conceal a quick wince before his gaze returned to hers.
“Sorry,” she said, as she dropped her hand from his shoulder and tried to extricate her hand from his. “I did warn you I was rusty. You should have listened.”
“It’s not that you’re rusty at dancing. You just shy away from me whenever I try to pay you a compliment,” he observed, still holding her hand.
“That makes no sense.”
“It does if it’s because you aren’t sure of your own feelings.”
His surprising words brought her to a standstill in trying to gain freedom of her hand. “I think it’s time we stop this foolishness and get…” Her words were cut off when Chance brought her up against him and captured her lips with his. It was a swift movement, but he took his sweet time after that. The kiss drew her quite naturally to fold herself against him, a place that seemed to be made just for her.
“I agree, Josie,” he whispered against her mouth, before drawing her bottom lip into his for a quick nibble. “It’s time to stop being foolish and sidestepping the fact that there is something between us besides friendship and responsibility and a business agreement. And while I thought about apologizing again for making love to you the other night, I must confess that I can’t do that. Because I plan to make love with you again. Only next time, you’ll have to be the one to want me. So think about it, Josie. I took a step. Now, it’s up to you to do the same. I’ll be home as s
oon as I can.”
He dropped another kiss on her upturned mouth before walking out of the room. She listened to his strides click down the polished hallway, and the opening and closing of the front door. Slowly, Josie moved to the window over the sink. She watched as Chance slid his arms into his suit jacket, adjusted the brown Stetson on his head, and then climbed into his truck. She still watched until the truck disappeared from sight.
Totally confused by his words, and totally blown away by his goodbye kiss, Josie knew she had a lot of thinking to do before Chance pulled back into the drive in three days’ time.
*
At first, Josie thought the three days would drag by. However, life on a ranch is always full of surprises, and each day is a new day. That was certainly the case. Not two hours after Chance left, the call came in from Tom that, evidently, a group of hot-rodding teenagers missed the last curve before the intersection on Highway 118 and flew off the road and through a good slice of pasture fencing. That had allowed a small herd of cow ponies to escape to the tall grass along the highway, and the sheriff and his deputies were none too pleased with having to herd the animals away from their accident scene.
Josie grabbed hat and coat, and she and Cookie were kept busy. She didn’t return to the house until after dark. Tom and Mary had invited her to join them for supper at their house, which sat about two miles east of the main ranch house. Not looking forward to a quiet house on her own, she accepted.
Not that she was expecting a phone call from Chance while he was gone, but the fact there was none served to nag her on the second day as she tried to concentrate on her work. She searched out more things to keep busy with so that doubts wouldn’t start playing their games with her mind. By the third day, she was both peeved and hurt that there had been no word from him. However, Tom did mention at lunch on the third day that Chance had evidently been keeping in contact with him, checking on the ranch, but Tom never mentioned if he said anything about her, and she certainly wasn’t going to ask. So she just nodded her head and moved on to other subjects. Josie could only assume Chance still planned to return in time for the dance…an event she looked forward to with both trepidation and anticipation.
She knew that the anticipation part had a lot to do with seeing the man again and nothing to do with dancing. The feelings she had for Chance were so new and so jumbled up inside her, at times in a mass like Christmas lights tangled into one of those huge balls after being stored for a year. Sorting it all out was almost impossible.
The doorbell chimed just as the hall clock struck the last beat of six on Friday evening. Josie almost didn’t recognize the sound. Very few people actually used the doorbell to announce their arrival. It was either a few brief knocks or someone just sticking their head in the door and calling out to see if anyone was home. She exited the living room and approached the door. Through the cut glass work of the door’s oval center, she could make out the familiar form and her pulse quickened. He was home!
“Chance, why are you ringing the doorbell?” she asked as she opened the door wide, and then found her heartbeat pounding in her ears. Chance had evidently showered and changed clothes at his ranch before coming to pick her up. He was the epitome of tall, dark, and definitely dangerous to her self-control.
The black western-cut jacket fit his broad shoulders perfectly, while the crimson shirt set off his dark blue eyes and hair. She tried not to venture much below his waist, as his long legs were encased in a pair of black jeans that only caused stirrings in the lower regions of her body that were best ignored at the present time. His cologne stirred her pulse rate, and the look in his eyes caused her stomach to somersault against her ribs. The man was much too sexy for her peace of mind.
“That’s what people normally do on dates, Josie. The man arrives, flowers in hand, and rings the doorbell.” His words brought her eyes to rest on the beautiful roses he held, their crimson and deep pink petals lush in a full bouquet.
Her eyes went back to his, and she was speechless for a few moments. When she did speak, her words only managed to state the obvious. “You live here. You don’t need to ring the bell.”
“Josie, just take the flowers. Then get your coat and let’s be on our way. I don’t want to waste a moment of dancing with you.” Was there a hint of exasperation in his voice? Or was he just teasing her as usual? She was having trouble reading this new and strange-acting Chance. Had something happened on his trip? Whatever it was, she wasn’t exactly unhappy with the turn of events.
Quickly, she took the flowers and went in search of a vase in the kitchen cabinets. Finding one, she filled it, and quickly placed the flowers inside, drawing a quick breath of their scent before grabbing her coat off the back of the couch. Chance stood in much the same place she had left him, in front of the door, his hands resting in the pockets of his jeans, thumbs hooked at the corners. His expression looked thoughtful, until he sensed her presence, and then it was gone, replaced by a smile that caused her pulse rate to soar again.
He took the coat from her fingers and held it while she slipped her arms into it. “You look very beautiful this evening, Josie. Every man will want to dance with you tonight. Just remember who brought you to the dance.”
She felt the flush creep over her cheeks at his compliment. If only he knew that she had tried on at least a dozen outfits at the boutique in town two days before. She had settled on the poinsettia red-colored sweater with squared neck and long sleeves worn over a black full suede skirt with a slit cut up the side to show more than a fair amount of leg. The leather boots, with their slim, high heels, made her feel taller and sexy…which was definitely a new feeling for her.
Josie wanted to look her best for her first dance with Chance…in their new grown-up versions. Josie knew she was probably being silly. It wouldn’t mean the same thing to him as it did to her. Because she was in love with him.
His feelings were nowhere close to that. She pushed the sad realization from her mind as she was determined to enjoy the evening. His hands rested a trifle longer than necessary on her shoulders. Her back was to him, so she couldn’t see his expression. “Thank you, Chance. I doubt that though. Once they see my dancing, they’ll likely run the other direction.” She pulled the coat around her and turned to face him. She shouldn’t have, because the look in those cobalt eyes told her he was dead serious in his compliment.
“Just say, Thank you, Chance.”
“Thank you, Chance. For the flowers and the compliment.”
“That’s enough,” he broke in. “Never overdo a thank you. I can see you’re a little rusty in the art of dating. I have my work cut out for me this evening.”
His words were very strange and made little sense. She wasn’t given time to comment. His hand slid under her elbow and she was propelled out of the door and to the black luxury car sitting at the end of the sidewalk. She knew Chance had this car, but she had only seen him drive it once before. He opened the door and held it while she slid onto the leather seat. Once she was situated, he closed the door and went around the hood of the car to the driver’s side. Shortly, they were headed toward the town hall where the festival was being held.
Chance slipped a George Strait CD into the car’s system, and the music filled the space around them, making the need for conversation a moot point. Josie settled into her seat and allowed a smile to form on her lips. She would live in the moment and not think too far ahead or look back over the past. Tonight, she was determined to take it one step at a time. She would just be content to follow Chance’s lead…in more ways than one.
The town hall was festooned in decorations of red, green, gold, and silver. Lanterns were glowing on the gold linen-covered tables. Hay bales sat around the corners of the dance floor, and a local band was in the middle of a country tune when they entered. Twinkling strands of multi-colored lights hung from the rafters, and the smell of baked goods and country cooking mixed with the cool night air filtering through the open windows of the loft ceiling.<
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As they entered, she and Chance were greeted by people they knew, and they found themselves invited to share a table with three other couples. Josie didn’t get to sit, though. Removing their coats, Chance took hers and draped it over her chair back. Then he took hold of her hand, intent on heading toward the dance floor.
“Can’t we have something to eat or drink first?”
“No stalling, Josie. I have waited all I intend to wait to dance with you.” Chance drew her into his arms and tightened her up against his body, quickly shoving every other thought or word from her mind. “Just relax. It’ll come back to you. Close your eyes and remember what I taught you that day in the barn…before the prom.”
How could he expect her to remember that when all she could think of at the moment was how her body felt every inch of the way along where his body touched hers? They fit like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle…her angles and his planes became one…moving to the slow tune. She became so lost in the feelings that she had no time to think about the fact that she was actually dancing.
When Chance moved his chin beside her head, his warm breath tickling the top of her ear, only then did she exhale a sigh of contentment.
“I told you that you could dance. You’re a natural in the way you move.”
“You’re a good teacher. That’s why you were in such a hurry to dance with me. You were fishing for another compliment.” Josie gave a smile against his shoulder.
“Wrong. I was just in a hurry to get you in my arms. I figured this was the surest way to do it. The three days away felt more like three weeks.”
That caused Josie to miss a step, but Chance easily smoothed it over and sent a chuckle into the soft hair at the top of her head. “Don’t think, Josie. Just relax and enjoy.”
She did just that. His words tumbled over and over within her the rest of the evening. Coupled with the smiles and the way his dark blue gaze would catch hers and hold it, sending a message that definitely heated up her insides and promised things still to come, she was lost between hope and desire. Dare she believe that all of this could be real? And not just for the benefit of their neighbors and fellow partygoers? Josie decided that, for just a little while, she would allow herself to believe that all things were possible…including Chance actually coming to care for her.