RESCUED BY THE RANCHER

by Soraya Lane

  “How about a campfire story, then? I could tell a good one, something scary.”

  Jake waggled his eyebrows and made them both laugh.

  “Nothing too scary, mister,” Faith scolded.

  Jake’s response was to lean in closer, the firelight making shadows on his face.

  “It was a dark and stormy night, and a cowboy was sitting alone around a campfire, when he heard a tap, tap, tap…”

  “Jake!”

  Faith admonished him as Tom shuffled tight back against her.

  “Songs, thank you very much, or you can have Tom in your bed, terrified, all night.”

  The look Jake gave her made her skin flush burning hot. Because she knew exactly what he was thinking, and it was the only reason he’d stopped telling the story. The only person Jake wanted in his bed tonight was her, of that she was deadly certain.

  They lay side by side next to the fire, a blanket almost covering both of them. Jake had been wondering if she was ever going to come, but Tom had finally fallen asleep and she’d unzipped his tent like an intruder in the dark. Now they were lying, in silence, staring up at the stars beside the last embers of the fire.

  “Faith, I’m not going to ask you to marry me,” Jake whispered, holding her in his arms, tight against his chest.

  She snuggled in even tighter, laughing. “Why not? And more importantly, why are we even talking about marriage?”

  He chuckled. “We’re talking about it because I’m thinking about it. But I’m not going to ask you because I know you’d say no, and besides, it’s way too soon, right?”

  That made her laugh again. “How can you know me so well after such a short time? And yes, for the record, it’s way too soon.”

  Jake kissed her – a long, lingering kiss that took every ounce of his willpower to keep soft and gentle. He touched his lips over hers, brushing them back and forth, exploring her mouth with his tongue before forcing himself to pull back. “You know what I do know?”

  She shook her head, eyes locked on his.

  “I know that you need a man you can trust, someone who will protect you no matter what and never let you down.” He paused, cupping her chin and forcing her to meet his gaze, to look into his eyes in the almost-darkness, to see how much he meant what he was saying. “I know we haven’t known each other for long, but if you let me love you, Faith, I’ll be that person. I can be a stubborn son of a bitch, but I’m more in danger of you hurting me than the other way around.”

  She traced his jaw with her fingertips, wriggling even closer so that their noses were almost touching. “I doubt that very much,” she whispered.

  “You don’t have to worry about Phil or anyone else like him ever again, Faith. And the sheriff? He was just protecting his son, and I honestly don’t believe he was involved other than trying to cover for him. He won’t be a problem, and if he is? I’ll deal with it.” He laughed. “You do have to worry about me asking you to marry me, though. Because one day, when I know you’ll say yes, I’ll be asking you. And that’s a promise.”

  “You’re keeping something from me, aren’t you?” she asked, tucking her arms around his neck so she could be as close to him as possible.

  He needed to tell her, to be honest with her. Because if he didn’t he might lose his chance to keep her, to have her here with him.

  “Phil won’t be bothering you anymore.”

  Her hold on him tightened, her face buried against his chest. “Did you hurt him?”

  He would have liked to hurt him. “No, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to wanting to.”

  “He did it, didn’t he?”

  Jake swallowed hard when he heard the emotion choke in her throat. But he owed her the truth if he was serious about making something happen between them. “Yeah, he did it.”

  “But he won’t be a problem now?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

  Jake ducked his head to kiss her forehead, moving to her lips when she raised her head. He looked into her eyes, not blinking.

  “I promise you that you’ll never have to see him or think about him ever again.”

  She caught her lower lip between her teeth – it always made him want to protect her when she looked so vulnerable, made him want to snarl at anyone who came near and hold her safe in his arms.

  “I’m your person, Faith. I know you haven’t had one of those before, but now it’s me. You don’t have to worry about looking after yourself anymore, because that’s what I’m going to do.”

  She laughed, a smile taking over her lips. “I’m not some pathetic woman who can’t take care of herself. You know that, right?”

  He laced her fingers with his. “That’s exactly why I want to look after you,” he said, kissing the tips of her fingers. “Because it’s about time someone did.”

  “You know what?” she asked.

  Jake raised an eyebrow. “What?”

  “I just might have said yes, if you’d asked me.”

  His teeth closed over her finger this time, making her squeal.

  “When I do ask you? I don’t want any maybes.”

  She laughed and so did he.

  “Baby, when I ask you to marry me,” he whispered, eyes locked on hers, “it’s going to be when I’ve earned your trust so much that you never even think of leaving here.”

  “I’m already there,” she whispered back, kissing him, lips painfully soft against his. “There’s not a bone in my body that wants to leave you or this place. I don’t know why or how, but it’s the truth.”

  He pushed her back down onto the sleeping bag, covering her body with his, pinning her down so he could kiss her all over without her being able to wriggle away.

  “Sounds to me,” he said, tracing kisses down her neck as he nudged her tank top down lower, “like I might need to try you out. You know, before I make a lifelong commitment or anything crazy like that.”

  “Oh really?” she teased back. “Well, it just so happens that I’m a woman of very high morals. No sex before marriage and all that jazz.”

  “We’ll see about that,” he growled, biting the soft skin of her breast.

  She opened her mouth to shriek but he covered her lips with his hand so she couldn’t make a noise, at the same time letting her break free of his hold and flip him so she was sitting astride.

  Jake grinned as she glared down at him. He’d never had so much fun in all his life.

  THE END

  Want to read another great book by Soraya Lane?

  Montana Reunion

  Special preview enclosed!

  Best friends reunited… into a marriage of convenience?

  Jack and Maddison were best friends growing up, but when Maddison moved away from the ranch they struggled to stay in touch.

  When Maddison returns home after years away, Jack is all grown up and in need of a best friend again. And so is Maddison… trouble is, she needs more than a friend. So when she suggests that a marriage of convenience could solve both their problems, it seems like everything is falling into place. Until Jack finds out that she wants a baby.

  Their friendship is too important to ruin, but after a night of unexpected passion, everything changes. Because Maddison is pregnant, and suddenly she’s keeping one very big secret from Jack. And when he finds out, it’s more than just their friendship at stake.

  The Navy SEAL’s Promise

  (Amazon #1 Bestseller)

  Click here to buy!

  With only 48 hours back on home soil for Christmas, United States Army Corporal Saskia Cullen is desperate to spend every minute with her young son. So when heavy snowfall closes JFK airport and she misses her connecting flight, she’s devastated. Until Navy SEAL Luke Gray offers to keep her company… and then does everything within his power to get her home.

  Luke is back in the US on leave, waiting to hear the details of his next mission, and Saskia proves to be a pleasant distraction. And when he hears that she needs to get home to see her son, he’s prepared to do anyt
hing to help the sexy single mom. Trouble is, he hadn’t planned on falling for anyone, let alone a beautiful soldier about to return overseas.

  Preview – Montana Reunion

  CHAPTER ONE

  JACK Gregory closed his fist over the crumpled piece of paper he held, smothering it. He hated him. He hated his father with a passion he hadn’t even realized he was capable of.

  All these years of putting up with him, of trying to stay civil for the sake of their land, and now he was finally gone and the man was still trying to punish him.

  Jack walked to the window and looked out over the fields – across the parched, yellowed grass and out to the cattle roaming in the distance. He loved it here. He loved every tree that shaded his stock, every animal that grazed on his land, and the house that had been in his mom’s family for generations.

  The one mistake he’d made was honoring his father’s wish of burying him on the ranch in the family plot.

  His father had been true to his word, he just hadn’t expected there to be a clause attached to his will, a note that was read out aloud in his lawyer’s office, like a final serving of punishment to ensure he suffered even now that he was on his own. It wasn’t binding, would never hold up in a court of law to stop him from inheriting, but it sure made his father’s thoughts clear. That his eldest son had failed him as much as his youngest had.

  Jack collected his hat, slipped it into place on his head, and walked out the door. He whistled for his dog, asleep in the cool shade beneath the veranda, and headed for the barn.

  He had no intention of marrying, his father had known that, but running this ranch was something he was determined to do. With every beat of his heart, he would prove to himself that not everything about their old life had died when his mom had.

  Maddison Jones reached for her sister’s hand and squeezed her fingers.

  “Have I told you how good it is to be back?”

  Charley laughed, retrieving her hand and placing it back on the wheel. “Only a few times since you got in the car.”

  Maddison touched her head to the cool of the window, watching as the world she’d left behind so long ago sped past. “I know I was desperate to leave, but maybe I never realized how special it was here.”

  Growing up in Montana had been amazing, she realized that now. But as a teenager it had seemed like there was nothing here for her. Now it was like she’d come full circle, and getting back home had been the only thing she’d been able to focus on lately.

  “I’ve been trying to tell you that for the last five years,” Charley said, slowing as they approached the turn off to their ranch. “Clean air, horses, real people… what’s not to love?”

  It wasn’t that she hadn’t loved it years ago, but there had been other things she’d wanted to experience. Places she wanted to go. People she wanted to meet. Except she probably could have done without some of the people she’d met.

  “So tell me about dad? How is he really?” she asked.

  Her sister didn’t take her eyes off the road, but Maddison didn’t miss the tension that dragged her eyebrows together. “He’s okay, I guess, but he just won’t slow down. Doesn’t seem to think I can handle things on my own, even though I’m the young, able bodied one and he’s technically supposed to be on bed rest still.”

  “Or maybe he just doesn’t want you to do it alone?” Maddison suggested. “Mom’s concerned about you doing so much, and dad probably can’t stand the thought of not working the land every day. Rest isn’t exactly something he’s used to.”

  Charley’s face lost the frown and her mouth turned upwards into a smile instead. “Do you know who’s been helping out lately?”

  Now it was Maddison’s turn to raise her eyebrows in question. “Who?”

  “Jack.”

  Oh. Now that was a name that still made her smile, even if it had been… She shut off the question in her mind. Way too long was how long it had been. “How’s he doing on his own?”

  “Fine, I think. But then his dad’s only been gone a month.”

  Maddison nodded, suddenly feeling claustrophobic in the vehicle. Just looking outside at the land rolling past the window was making her want to stretch her legs. And thinking about Jack had made her take a very fast trip down memory lane. To what seemed like centuries ago, but was little more than a decade.

  “I should have kept in touch with him.”

  Charley shrugged. “Yeah, you should have.”

  Not what she’d needed to hear. “It wasn’t that I didn’t want to, but things change. People change.” Sounded corny but it was true, and Jack had been her best friend. She’d never intended on losing contact with him, it had just happened.

  “Speak of the devil.”

  Maddison looked up so fast she practically gave herself whiplash. “Where?” she asked.

  “Top of the ridge.”

  She followed the field in a straight line up as Charley slowed. Riding down towards them, mounted on a black horse with four white socks and a striking white blaze, was a man way bigger than Maddison remembered Jack to be. “Are you sure that’s him?”

  Why the hell had no one told her what the grown up Jack was like?

  “No, it must be another lone cowboy riding out on the Gregory land.”

  Charley’s voice was sarcastic. But it didn’t make Maddison look away.

  “It just, doesn’t, well…” Maddison held up her hand in a wave as the rider did the same. Geez, it really was him. “Jack’s kind of changed.”

  “Has he? I haven’t noticed.” Charley laughed. “Bet you’re regretting not staying in touch with him now, huh?”

  Maddison ignored her. She had no intention of rising to the bait. But as the car slowed, her stomach started to flip. If she’d been alone, Maddison might have been tempted to restart her childhood habit and bite her nails again.

  “We should say hello,” Charley insisted.

  Before she could respond, their vehicle slid to a halt and Charley was jumping out of the driver’s seat.

  “Hey,” her sister called to Jack.

  Maddison took a breath. Then another deep one. She had nothing to feel weird about – nothing at all. Jack had been her best friend, her partner in crime, and they’d grown apart. So why was her heart hammering so hard at the idea of seeing him again?

  She couldn’t delay the inevitable any longer.

  “Maddison?” She’d hardly stepped from the car before Jack was in front of her. He swung down from his horse, face shaded by his hat as he landed with a thud to the ground.

  She refused to look at her sister, watching Jack as he took off his Stetson and crossed the short distance between them. “Hey Jack,” she managed.

  Damn, he’d changed. Jack had always been nice looking, but there’d never been anything romantic between them, even if she had lain awake at night as a teenager wondering if he’d liked her like that. Wondered if something would happen between them one day if she didn’t leave. But now? Jack was seriously handsome, in a rugged, real-man kind of way. He was tall as hell, his jeans hugged his long legs, and a checked shirt fitted snug to his broad frame.

  “Missy Maddison, all the way from the big city, huh?”

  She didn’t have a moment to answer before he enveloped her in a hug. A real hug. The kind that told her he’d genuinely missed her. That he was actually pleased to see her. Not the kind of fluttery pat on the back that was usually followed by a series of air-kisses that she’d become used to of late.

  “It’s good to finally see you again.”

  “It’s great to see you too, Jack,” Maddison told him, reluctantly stepping back as he let her go, away from the warmth of his embrace and the citrus scent of his cologne. She looked up into deep brown eyes that were so familiar yet so unfamiliar to her at the same time. And lined. There were lines there now, deep creases that she didn’t remember. “Are you doing okay?”

  He shrugged, twirling his hat between his fingers. “I can’t say I miss my old man, if that�
��s what you mean.”

  Maddison nodded. She knew first hand why he’d hated his dad so much, and she couldn’t blame him. “Pleased to see the end of the old bastard, huh?”

  Jack laughed and so did her sister, and Maddison found herself smiling with them. You could take the girl out of the country, but not the country out of the girl.

  “So how long are you back for?” Jack asked.

  Charley slung an arm around her shoulders before she could answer. “Indefinitely. We’re going to keep her here as long as we can.”

  She smiled and took the chance to study Jack some more. The man was seriously good looking, built like an athlete and with a smile that could make a girl’s knees knock. Like hers were threatening to do right now.

  “Maddie?”

  She hadn’t been called that name in a long time. “Honestly Jack, I don’t know.” It was the truth, she didn’t. “But it’ll be long enough for us to catch up properly. I promise.”

  He smiled – the same kind of smile she remembered so well. “Good.”

  Maddison tilted her face to look up at him as he placed his hat back on his head and swung up into the saddle. “Are you sure everything’s okay?” she asked.

  She felt her sister pause beside her, no doubt as concerned for Jack as she was. He just shrugged.

  “One day soon I’ll tell you all about it.”

  And then he gave them a wave and turned his horse, nudging her into a trot as he headed back up the incline.

  “Home?” Charley asked.

  Maddison forced her eyes from Jack’s disappearing silhouette and touched her sister’s shoulder as she walked past her to the passenger side. “He’s not okay, is he?”

  “Maybe he’ll be better now that you’re home.” Charley gave her a wink over the roof of the vehicle before swinging into her seat.

  “And what exactly is that supposed to mean?”

  “Weren’t you two best friends, before you fell in love with him?” her sister asked. “I mean, I was only a kid back then, but I’m sure I remember you doodling love hearts around his name.”