She allowed cleansing tears to slide freely down her cheeks as she sat unnoticed in the dark theater.
When the movie ended, she got to her feet and walked out into the night, knowing it was time to go home.
Just before midnight Josie closed the apartment door with a quiet click and saw that a lamp had been left on for her in the living room. She moved forward, dropped her purse on the sofa, slipped off her shoes, then swept her gaze over the room.
It was so big, so empty-looking, she thought. So silent. She wouldn’t live here after the baby was born. She wanted a house with a yard where a child could play. Plus, there were too many haunting memories of Max within these walls.
And besides, she thought with a smile, she’d have to be crazy to raise a busy little one in a home with white carpeting.
As she started toward the hallway, her destination the safe haven of her bedroom, she stopped, frowning as a strange sensation suffused her.
It was as though she was being pulled by a gently tugging, silken thread that urged her to change her course.
Her heartbeat quickened and heat began to thrum hot and low within her. Max.
Of their own volition, it seemed, her feet moved her from the plush carpeting in the living room, down the hall and into Max’s bedroom.
She stood next to his bed, listening to the rhythm of his breathing as he slept, just barely able to see his silhouette in the dim slivers of light that reached from the lamp in the living room.
As her eyes adjusted to the near darkness, she saw him more clearly, savoring the sight of his rugged features, his thick, tousled hair.
He’d removed the pajama top for the night and his bare chest beckoned her to entwine her fingers in the dark, curling hair.
I’m home, Max, Josie whispered in her mind. I’m here, my love, and I want you, need you. I love you, Max Carter. I love you and our baby, and I will for all time.
Josie crossed the room, closed and locked the door, then shed her clothes, dropping them on the floor. She returned to the other side of the bed and slipped beneath the sheet and blanket.
She nestled as close to Max as the bulky cast would allow, then eased upward carefully to kiss his slightly parted lips.
“Mmm,” Max murmured in his sleep.
Josie kissed him again, her tongue stroking his in the darkness of his mouth.
Max’s eyes flew open and in the next instant he cradled Josie’s head in his large hands, urging her mouth harder onto his as he responded to her kiss with rough urgency. When his breathing became labored, he broke the kiss, raising Josie’s head a fraction of an inch.
“Josie,” he said, his voice gritty with passion. “You’re home.”
“Yes, Max, I’m home,” she whispered.
“Are you all right? On the phone you sounded...I don’t know...you were—”
“Shh. All that matters is that we’re together and I want to make love with you, but your ribs—”
“Hey, don’t worry about them. I’m burning for you, Josie.”
“Oh, Max, I... No, we won’t talk anymore, not now. All right?”
“You betcha, babe,” Max said, then claimed her lips in a searing kiss.
This, Max thought hazily, is the woman I love, the only woman I have ever, will ever, love. This is Josie. She came home...to me, and for now she’s mine.
Max lifted Josie up and over the cast, never breaking the kiss as he settled her on top of his heated body.
I’m making love, Josie thought, with the father of my child. I am making love with the man who has stolen my heart forever. Tonight is ours. Tonight he’s mine.
Max splayed his hands on Josie’s smooth back, then skimmed them lower to cup the feminine roundness of her buttocks. His arousal was heavy, aching with want.
“Josie,” he said, close to her lips, “it’s been so long. I want you so damn much.”
“Yes.”
Max gripped her waist as she shifted upward, then he lifted her onto him, filling her with all that he was, all that he had to give.
Josie received him, glorying in the sensual ecstasy he brought to her. She straddled him, taking care not to bump his injured leg.
And then the dance began, with Josie setting the tempo, rising, falling, moving to music only they could hear. They danced on, faster now, harder, wanting it all, wanting to burst onto the exquisite place that was theirs to share together.
“Ah, Josie,” Max said, lifting his hips with a groan of male pleasure as he found his release.
“Max!”
Josie flung back her head, savoring every second of the mystical haze Max had taken her to, then she collapsed against him.
“Oh, Max,” she said, her voice ringing with awe. She paused. “Your ribs. I—”
“Don’t move. You feel wonderful right where you are. Don’t go.”
“No, I won’t leave you, Max. Not yet.”
“No,” he said quietly, “not yet.”
Chapter Thirteen
Max slept late the next morning, waking finally to the aroma of cooking bacon wafting through the air—and the sight of Jeff Wilson sitting in the chair next to the bed.
“What...” Max started, then glanced quickly at the rumpled sheets on the other side of the bed that were the only evidence Josie had been there. He looked at Jeff again. “What are you doing here?”
“Turning green with envy at the quality of your recuperation accommodations,” Jeff said, smiling.
“Yeah, well, it’s been hard to take,” Max said, sliding both hands beneath his head on the pillow. “But I’m tough, brave and bold. I just gritted my teeth and put up with it all. You know what I mean?”
“I know you’re full of bull, Carter.” Jeff laughed and shook his head. “I’ve never even stayed in a hotel this fancy. A penthouse apartment? Whew. You’re one lucky cowboy.”
“Right.” Max frowned and pulled his hands free. “This lucky cowboy has a busted leg.”
“Which brings us back to your question of what I’m doing here.”
“Oh?”
“I showed your X rays to a specialist yesterday, and he agreed with me that the cast put on that leg was a bit of overkill. I’m not saying it wasn’t a bad break, but...”
“But?”
“The damage is below your knee. If you took it easy, used common sense and didn’t stay on your feet too long at a stretch, you could make do with a walking cast.”
“A walking cast,” Max repeated, his frown deepening. “That would make it possible for me to—” a sudden and unexpected chill swept through him “—leave here and go back to the ranch.”
“Yep. I had strict instructions from Joseph Wentworth to keep him fully informed of your progress. I called him yesterday afternoon, brought him up-to-date, and he had me flown in a private plane here to Freemont Springs bright and early this morning.
“There’s an ambulance down at the curb waiting to take us to the hospital to change that cast, then we’re flying home.”
“Today?” Max raised himself up on his elbows.
“Don’t I have any say in this? Damn it, Jeff, it’s my leg.”
“You’re a rancher, not a doctor. You don’t get to vote. As soon as you’ve had some breakfast, we’re out of here.” Jeff got to his feet. “I’m going to go have a second breakfast. Some of us have been up for hours, unlike someone else. Oh, and shave before we leave, would you? You look like crud.”
“But...” Max sank back onto the pillow as Jeff left the room. “Hell.”
He was leaving today? Leaving Josie in just a couple of hours? His mind raced. No! It wasn’t supposed to happen yet. Damn it, not yet.
Josie had come to him last night, sweet and loving, wanting him as much as he wanted her. He still didn’t know where she’d been until so late or why. All he knew was that she’d come home to him and they’d made love—beautiful, wonderful love.
Max dragged both hands down his face.
Josie. The woman he loved, the only woman he’d
ever loved. No, he couldn’t leave her. He’d tell her to pack a suitcase because he was taking her home, with him, where she belonged. They’d be married and have four kids—hell, they’d have six kids. They’d laugh and love and be so damn happy. Josie...
“Wentworth,” Max said dismally.
No, Josie wasn’t going home with him. She would stay right here in her world, with its penthouse apartment, white carpeting and all the other fancy trimmings her money could buy.
Josie cared for him, he knew she did. But even if she was in love with him—which he seriously doubted—she’d never consent to living on the Single C, making do with the little he could offer her. It wouldn’t be enough. He wouldn’t be enough.
The Single C. Man, he could remember the day he’d registered that name and the brand he’d be using on his cattle. He’d been so smug, cocky, silently laughing at the way he was declaring loud and clear that Max Carter didn’t need anyone in his life.
The Single C. That logo would haunt him now, taunt him with its empty sound, echo in his mind like painful, physical blows. It would shout the fact day in, day out, and through the endless stretch of nights that lay before him, that he was, indeed, single. Alone. Lonely. Because Josie wouldn’t be by his side.
“Max?”
He looked up quickly to see Josie coming toward him slowly, carrying a tray.
Ah, look at her. Max thought. There she was. His incredible Josie. The woman of his heart, his mind, his soul. The woman he loved. The woman he was about to leave—forever.
“I...I have your breakfast,” she said, stopping next to the bed.
“Oh, yeah, sure, okay. Thank you.”
Max fumbled with the pillows, pushed himself up, then took the tray from her. She sat down in the chair and clutched her hands tightly together in her lap.
“You’re awfully pale, Josie,” he said, then picked up a fork. “Are you all right?”
All right? Josie thought. No, she wasn’t remotely close to being all right. She’d had a bout of morning sickness that had left her weak and trembling.
Then an hour after that she’d opened the door to a smiling Jeff Wilson, who had breezily announced he was getting that lazy lout Max Carter out of her way today, and wasn’t it about time?
She’d wanted to shove Jeff back into the hallway, slam the door on him and the words he’d spoken, make the cold, stark reality disappear.
Dear God, Max was leaving her today.
Her beloved Max, the father of the baby who’d definitely made its presence known as she’d dashed for the bathroom at dawn.
Max, the man she loved so much, so very much, was going to be whisked away in a handful of minutes.
Tick...tick...tick.
No. Please, no. Not yet. Not yet.
“Josie?” Max said, concern etched on his face as he looked at her.
“What? Oh. I...I’m fine, Max. I’m just...well, rather stunned at this sudden change in plans. You know, Jeff arriving and saying you’re going to get a walking cast and then return to the ranch and...”
Tears filled her eyes.
“I’m...you’re... Dear heaven, Max, you’re leaving.” She waved one hand in the air. “Ignore me. I just hate goodbyes of any kind. We knew this day would come.”
“But not yet,” Max said quietly.
“No.” Josie swept the tears away as they spilled onto her cheeks. “Not yet.”
Max nodded, poked at the eggs on the plate with the fork, then set the tray next to him on the bed.
“Is something wrong with the food?” Josie asked.
“I’ve lost my appetite. Josie, listen, I want you to know that if I hear from my cousin Sabrina, I’ll tell her you’d like to speak with her about your brother Jack. I’ll give her your address and telephone number.”
“But—”
“I know, I know,” he said, raising one hand. “I had an unbendable stand on the issue of personal privacy, but...well, let’s just say I’ve changed my stubborn mind-set.”
“You have?” Josie said, straightening a bit in the chair.
“Josie, you made me realize that it’s not a clearcut, black-and-white issue. There are times when caring and sharing are needed.”
“Oh,” she said, feeling the tempo of her heart increase.
“I understand now,” Max went on, “why you read the letter addressed to Sabrina and why you came to the ranch hoping to find her. I’m sorry I was so hard on you about that. Will you accept my apology?”
“Yes. Yes, of course, I will,” she said, fighting against more threatening tears.
Oh, Max, she thought. How difficult it must have been for a man like him to have said those words. Accept his apology? She’d wrap it up like a precious gift and hug it close to her heart.
Max had changed. But how much and in what other ways? Would he now trust her enough to reveal more of his past and his dreams for the future? Did the importance of caring and sharing extend to him, as well as her search for Sabrina?
She’d have to move slowly, and so very carefully, to discover just how far-reaching the changes to Max Carter went.
But...
Tick...tick...tick.
There wasn’t time!
The clock was going to strike at any moment. As soon as Jeff finished eating his breakfast, Max would be bundled up and taken away, torn from her embrace.
No! It wasn’t fair. They couldn’t be separated now. Not now. Not yet. Fate was pointing a stern finger, ordering Max to return to his world and her to remain where she was.
Dear heaven, what should she do?
The changes in Max, what they might mean to her, to them, were too fragile, too new, for her to announce that she was packing a suitcase and going with him. She didn’t even know if he truly wanted her to remain by his side.
And what about the baby?
She couldn’t tell Max about their child now, then have Jeff walk into the room in the next second.
Tick...tick...tick.
“Are we finished with our breakfast?” Gertie said, bustling into the room. “What’s this? We haven’t eaten hardly a bite?”
“We aren’t hungry,” Max said, glaring at her.
“Well, we’ll be a hungry boy by lunch hour, won’t we? So be it. Shall we have a wash and a shave?”
Josie got to her feet. “I’ll get out of your way so you can tend to...things.”
“Josie—” Max began.
“Excuse me,” she said, then hurried from the room.
When Josie rushed into the living room, she nearly bumped into her grandfather, who was standing just beyond the hallway.
“Granddad,” she said, her eyes widening in surprise. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m just making certain that everything goes smoothly, that my orders are carried out as I directed. Max is still recuperating. I don’t want him worn to a frazzle by any slipups.”
“That’s very considerate of you,” she said, sinking onto a chair. “Max will be all set to go shortly. He’ll be ready...to leave. To go home. To his ranch. Where...where he belongs and...and wants to be.”
“Is something wrong, Princess?” Joseph said, raising his eyebrows.
Josie narrowed her eyes and looked up at her grandfather. He was waiting for her to say she had remembered sobbing out her declaration of love for Max that day in Max’s kitchen.
The innocent expression on Joseph Wentworth’s face was a bunch of baloney.
Well, nice try, Granddad, but no cigar.
She wasn’t about to start weeping on mighty Joseph Wentworth’s shirtfront about how much she loved Max. Why was her granddad so determined to ship Max home so quickly, with no notice, no warning?
She wasn’t going to make that kind of a spectacle of herself when she didn’t know the depths of Max Carter’s feelings for her.
“Wrong?” she said, forcing herself to smile pleasantly. “No, nothing is wrong. This is just a rather chaotic start to my day. All this hubbub has jangled my nerves.”
Don’t say another word, Josie Wentworth, she ordered herself. For once in her life she wasn’t going to babble like an idiot while she was lying through her teeth. For the first time in her twenty-nine years on this earth, she was going to get a bold-faced lie past her granddad.
Joseph leaned slightly toward her. “You’re positive nothing is upsetting you—beyond your jangled nerves from all this activity?”
Josie executed a huge yawn, patting her hand against her open mouth.
“I’m sleepy,” she said when her performance was completed. “I was out late last night. Once everyone’s out of here, I’m going to take a nap.”
“You were out late?” Joseph said, his voice rising. “You just waltzed yourself out the door to do the town, leaving Max alone to stare at the walls while trapped in his wheelchair?”
“Granddad, I’m not his baby-sitter. How many games of Candy Land can a person play before going nuts?”
“I did something wrong while raising you, young lady. Your going out last night was a selfish thing to do.”
Josie shrugged. “Whatever. I certainly had a good time, though.”
“I need a cup of coffee,” Joseph said, then strode from the room.
She’d done it, Josie mentally cheered. She’d pulled it off with Academy Award-winning skill. All she had to do now was keep from dissolving into a sobbing mess on the floor when she watched Max being taken out of the apartment.
All she had to do was witness Max Carter leaving her—forever.
Josie closed her eyes and pressed both hands to her stomach, envisioning the baby growing there.
She had to hang on, she thought. Be strong. Be a Wentworth. She could do it. She had to. She’d figure out later how to inform Max about their child.
But when the door to her big, empty apartment closed behind Max Carter, she was going to cry, and cry and cry.
In the kitchen Joseph nodded absently to the cook, who announced that she was leaving since her assignment was completed. When the woman was gone, Joseph sat down opposite Jeff at the table.
“This isn’t going well, Wilson,” Joseph said, frowning, his voice hushed.
“Let’s give Josie and Max some time to allow the fact that they’re about to be separated to really sink in,” Jeff said, keeping his voice low. “They were both surprised by my news, you know. Stunned.”
The Rancher And The Amnesiac Bride Page 15