The Last-Chance Maverick

by Christyne Butler

  Naked, he retrieved a condom from his wallet, and quickly rolled it down his sex before he joined her again, stretching out over her.

  She rose to meet him, eyes closed to hide her tears as she cradled his face in her hands while they kissed. He thrust into her, filling her completely and she welcomed him home. Clinging to him, she chanted his name again and again as he buried his face in her neck.

  “Vanessa,” he whispered against her skin, as he kissed her there.

  He rocked his hips, moving back and forth, pressing deep and holding before retreating and then doing it all over again. He lifted one hip, angling her to give her more. Giving and taking back all she offered as she matched his desire.

  “Yes. Oh, please...yes.”

  Vanessa pulled him closer, the perfection of this moment washing over her as she pressed her heart to his. The truth deep inside spilling free as she spiraled upward and then exploded into a million pieces as Jonah went rigid, straining with his own release as he groaned her name.

  She loved him. She loved Jonah Dalton.

  In that moment both the deepest joy and powerful heartbreak filled her soul, knowing she’d never experienced emotions this devastatingly profound in her life.

  And after tonight, she never would again.

  Chapter Eleven

  The morning sun filled the cabin with a warm glow, but thankfully the still-pulled shades kept out any piercing shafts of light.

  Vanessa stirred on the plush rug in the living room, stretching, feeling the soreness of muscles that hadn’t been used in a long time. The softness of the aged quilt moved against her skin while the scent of freshly brewed coffee filled her head. The aroma awakened her senses, even though she usually greeted the day with an oversize mug of her favorite chai tea.

  “Good morning, sunshine.”

  She froze. Jonah’s greeting came from behind her, the low tenor of his voice sending her heart thumping in her chest.

  Memories of their wonderful night together came rushing back.

  They’d made love twice more, the final time long after midnight once she’d slipped away to blow out the candles and banked the fire in the woodstove. Thinking he’d fallen asleep, she’d grabbed a quilt from the couch and moved to lie next to him again, unfolding the faded patchwork material over the two of them.

  It was then that Jonah grabbed her, pulling her on top of him, silencing her squeal of surprise with a kiss. A kiss that led to many more and they’d made love again. That time she’d straddled him as he held tight to her, allowing her to set the pace until he sat up, pulled her to his chest and claimed her mouth again as they both exploded in a mutual release.

  And each time, when their passions cooled and he held her closely tucked to his side, she’d waited.

  Waited for the never-before-felt kaleidoscope of joy and ecstasy and love careening around inside her to settle down. To fade away.

  It didn’t.

  If anything, the emotions grew even stronger. And so did the niggle of fear that came along with them.

  The night had been wildly romantic. They’d been working their way to this moment since they met. Of course, things would change once their relationship became physical. They were both young, healthy and each had made it clear it’d been a while since they’d been involved with someone.

  That’s all it was. Compatibility.

  Fun. The next step in their...friendship.

  Great sex. Great sex with a guy who was smart and funny and caring and creative—

  “Hey, are you not awake yet?”

  His question cut into her thoughts. Good thing, too.

  She refused to allow herself to believe that any of the crazy feelings bouncing around inside of her meant anything more than—what had she called it again?

  Yes, compatibility. Not love. She had to have been mistaken last night.

  Accepting that, she finally replied, “I’m awake. I’m just not used to talking to anyone before I shower.”

  Hmmm, that sounded mean.

  Surprised that any words managed to make it past the tightening of her throat, Vanessa rolled to her back and opened her eyes to find him standing over her. “Sorry. No offense. I meant to say good morning.”

  “None taken.”

  “What time is it?” she asked.

  “Almost ten o’clock.”

  “Ten?” She bolted upright, clutching the blanket to her chest. “Are you serious? Ten? Oh, I missed the sunrise!”

  “No, you didn’t. Don’t you remember? We watched it together.”

  That’s right, they had.

  Her internal clock had made sure she was up just before the first light broke over the mountains. She’d slipped from Jonah’s embrace, wrapped herself in a blanket and made her way to the oversize glass door, raising just the one shade so as not to disturb his sleep.

  Vanessa had watched the world awaken and offered a silent greeting to her friend, thanking her once again for insisting it’d been past time for Vanessa to take a chance and dare to live a different life.

  If she hadn’t, she never would’ve met Jonah.

  Moments later, she’d jumped when he’d stepped in behind her, wrapped his arms around her and placed a gentle kiss in the wild mess that was her hair.

  He’d then asked if she was all right.

  She’d lied and told him yes.

  But that hadn’t been a lie. Not fully. Being with him had been more than all right. It’d been wonderful.

  Then she’d made up some excuse about being an early riser even on the weekends, but not a morning person. When Jonah had suggested she get back beneath the quilts while he got the woodstove going, she’d readily agreed and must’ve fallen back asleep.

  “Here.” He sat on the edge of the couch and held out a mug to her. “Maybe this will help welcome you back to the land of the living.”

  She took his offering, pleased to see he’d remembered her preference for tea, thanks to their morning breaks at the job site. After the first sip, she then noticed that unlike her, he was fully dressed, right down to his boots.

  He was leaving?

  She had to admit she hadn’t thought about the morning after when she’d planned their private party for the previous evening. The truth was she hadn’t been completely sure of its success, never mind him staying all night.

  “Yeah, I have to go,” he said, having picked up on her perusal. “Derek texted me about twenty minutes ago asking if I still planned to help him and Eli today on another section of fence that needs mending.”

  “Ah, okay.”

  Jonah took a sip from his own mug, and then grinned at her over the rim. “If I wasn’t too tired, that is.”

  That meant his brothers, if not his entire family, knew he’d spent the night here. She wondered how long it would be before the entire town knew.

  Not that she was ashamed of being with him. Those who knew them probably already assumed they were sleeping together, but Jonah didn’t seem to like the gossipy side of living in such a small town.

  “But we’re still on for lessons this afternoon,” he added. “I’ll see you at the barn around four?”

  Number eleven: learn to ride a horse.

  The item from her list flashed inside her head, as did Jonah’s offer last night to again teach her when he’d shared stories about growing up on the ranch.

  She’d mentioned Derek’s offer for lessons and how he hadn’t been able to find the time other than the first afternoon. Then the lesson had been cut short when he’d been called away, before she’d even gotten in the saddle.

  Jonah had insisted if she was still interested in learning, he’d be the one to teach her. She’d liked that his tone had held just a hint of jealousy, even though she’d never thought twice about his brother in
that way.

  She’d never thought—or felt—about anyone the way she did toward the man in front of her.

  And that scared the bejeebers out of her.

  “Oh, I don’t want to take you away from anything important.” She pulled her knees to her chest, keeping the blanket firmly in place as she drank a bit more of her tea. “We can do the lesson another time. After all, you’re not going anywhere for another couple of months. Right?”

  Wow, where had that come from?

  Jonah’s brows dipped into a sharp V over his forehead. “You won’t be taking me away. I want to do it.”

  “Okay, I’ll be there.”

  He got to his feet, walked into the kitchen and poured the contents of his mug in the sink. “What are your plans for today?”

  “I don’t know.” She shrugged. “Working on sketches for the mural. Cleaning up this place.”

  Jonah joined her again, dropping to one knee so they were eye level. “Don’t clean too much.” He placed a finger beneath her chin and tipped her face up to look at him. “I think Halloween is turning into my favorite holiday, too.”

  And just like that, her heart was gone again.

  * * *

  Something was wrong.

  Jonah couldn’t say exactly what, but Vanessa had been acting strangely for the past week. Ever since their first night together, in fact.

  Which had been incredible. As was every moment he’d spent time with her since, both in and out of bed.

  Being with her had made him feel like a new man. She was passionate and fun in her lovemaking, just as she was in life.

  But his gut was telling him she was bothered by something.

  She’d cut their horseback-riding lessons short the following afternoon claiming she had to get back to work on her sketches, but considering his sisters and his mother had tagged along for the trail ride, he couldn’t really blame her.

  Not that they’d said anything to her about him spending the night. At least she’d claimed they hadn’t. His brothers had been quick to inform him when he’d finally joined them that the entire family was aware his truck had been spotted outside the cabin.

  All night.

  Still, he’d invited her to dinner with his family for the following day. His mother had pointed out that Vanessa hadn’t been to the main house since he’d come home, but when he called to ask, she’d been out at the resort working and hadn’t wanted to stop her creative flow.

  They’d gotten together later that night and he’d stayed over again on Monday and Tuesday as well, making love to her in the bed he’d built for the cabin after they’d gone to the Ace in the Hole to dance.

  She’d been just as spirited and lively as always, surrounded by a crowd of people, and while he’d enjoyed being there with her, all he’d wanted was to get her alone.

  To ask her to come to Denver for a few days.

  He’d gotten a last-minute phone call from his office Tuesday evening and due to a couple of issues on a job there that needed his attention, he was heading back to the city for a few days the following morning.

  At first, he’d been surprised when the idea of inviting Vanessa to go along with him had popped into his head, but the more he thought about it, the more he wanted her with him.

  Wanted to show her his penthouse, his office. Take her to his favorite steakhouse for dinner. Squeeze in a visit to the Denver Art Museum if they had time.

  She’d turned him down.

  Her eyes had lit up when he first brought up the idea on the drive back to the cabin. He’d been so sure she was going to say yes, but then she looked away for a moment before telling him there was no way she could be away from the mural for that long.

  He’d tried to convince her, but in the end he’d gone alone. Due to a bad storm, he hadn’t gotten back to Rust Creek Falls until late last night. As tempted as he’d been, he hadn’t gone to see Vanessa when he got back to the ranch.

  And today, they’d only exchanged a few text messages as she was working again on the mural. On a Saturday. Not that he had a right to complain. He’d worked plenty of Saturdays and today was no exception.

  “You did good today.”

  His father’s voice cut into Jonah’s thoughts, causing the brush he was using to rub down Duke, a buckskin stallion he’d gotten for Christmas his senior year in high school, to tumble out of his hands.

  He quickly scooped it off the ground, glad he was done with the animal’s grooming as it meant he was due to see Vanessa in a couple of hours. “Thanks, Dad.”

  “Things went a lot faster with you helping out.” His father stood in the open doorway of the stall. “Your brothers might not say it, but they liked having the extra set of hands around. As for me...”

  Jonah fed the horse the treat he’d taken from the tack room refrigerator, but his gaze was on his father.

  Charles Dalton had been a rancher all his life, like his father before him. The years of hard work showed, but he was still strong and tough and worked his land right alongside his sons and their crew.

  Two of his sons, anyway.

  “I appreciate you chipping in.”

  His father was a man of few words and that was as close to a thank you as Jonah was going to get.

  He gave his horse one last slap on the rear that sent the animal out into an outside corral before he exited the stall. “I enjoy ranch work. I always have.”

  “Just not enough to make it your life’s work.”

  Jonah stopped to look his father in the eye. “No, not that much.”

  The two men walked together toward the front of the barn, Eli and Derek nowhere to be found. Jonah wondered if this was going to turn into another lecture on family legacy. It’d been a while since his father had pulled out his “you’re a Dalton and Daltons are ranchers” speech.

  Jeez, at least five years or so.

  They stepped out into the afternoon sun and headed for the corral with a few horses roaming around, including Duke. Stopping at the railing, they each propped their hands on the highest slat. It’d been a beautiful fall day, but there was a nip in the air now and it was expected to drop below freezing tonight.

  A good night for two people to stay in and—

  “You know, it meant a lot to me when you asked for your birthright.”

  His father’s words again jolted Jonah and he tucked away any thoughts of Vanessa to concentrate on what the old man had to say about the acreage promised to each of his sons. “Even if I used the land to build one of my designs?” he pointed out.

  “I didn’t care what you did with it— No, that’s not true. I did care, I do care. I was glad to see you building a home there.” His father kept his gaze locked on the horizon, the brim of his Stetson pulled low on his forehead. “Glad to have you back on the ranch. Knew it meant you were coming back. Even if it was only for a few hours a week.”

  “Dad, I was busy with school and work—”

  “And your wife, I know.” A wave of the old man’s hand cut him off. “But it felt like the moment you married and moved to town, you turned your back on your life here.”

  “I was living my own life.”

  “And you had someone who supported your dreams, which is more than I did back then.”

  Despite the fact he had two sons already involved with running of the ranch, Charles Dalton had wanted all of his boys to work the land with him.

  “You paid for my college.”

  “That was your mother’s doing. She insisted, no matter what studies you were working toward. Same with your brothers and sisters.”

  Jonah nodded, but stayed silent not sure where this conversation was heading.

  “We had hoped that you and Lisette planned to move out here, once you graduated college and finished that place.” This time his
father glanced at him. “Thought maybe she’d changed her mind about ranch living.”

  Jonah shook his head. No, that had never happened and his marriage had ended only four years after it had begun. Of course, that had nothing to do with the ranch and everything to do with the choices Lisette had made.

  “Did you know I almost screwed things up with your mother?”

  Jonah looked at his dad this time, but the man was once again staring straight ahead. He had no idea what his dad was talking about. His folks had been happily married for well over three decades.

  “We met in high school, too, like you and Lisette, but I was a couple of years older. After graduation, I told her—and my folks—that I wanted to rodeo professionally, so off I went.”

  Jonah and his siblings had heard this before. His father’s trophies and awards from his bronc riding days were in his study.

  “And she stuck with me. Of course, she was still in school for the first two years. So I’d go off and do my thing, get injured, come back here to heal and work for your grandpa until it was time for me to head out again. Sometimes we were together. Sometimes we weren’t.”

  His father paused, his rough-as-leather hands laced together tight out in front of him. “After about five years of this she told me she was tired of waiting on me to make up my mind. I didn’t believe her and we had some real knock-down, drag-out donnybrooks over breaking up or staying together. Until the time I came home and she said I had one last chance to get it right or she was gone.”

  Jonah knew what the answer was, but he asked, anyway. “What happened?”

  “I finally told her the truth. I was scared I’d end up like my dad. A man who couldn’t honor his wedding vows no matter how much he tried. Lord knows, with three marriages to his name, the man tried hard. Told her I’d already messed around while we were apart, told her everything. You know what she did? She asked me to marry her.”

  Jonah smiled. “And you said yes?”