by Jill Limber
But the spicy scent of his soap brought back this morning’s kiss, and she went warm and breathless all over again.
Until this minute she didn’t remember noticing his scent this morning, but then she probably wouldn’t have noticed a bomb going off, either.
When she got back downstairs all her purchases were on the kitchen table and the truck was gone.
She had been so busy mooning over Griff’s dirty laundry she hadn’t had the manners to thank Chris for his help.
She really did need to get a grip.
Griff knocked off work a little early. The streak of bad luck seemed to be over, and things around the ranch were finally under control. The fences were mended and so was the main water tank, and the windmill pump in the south pasture where he kept the bull was up and running.
He had a bunch of paperwork to catch up on, not to mention some reading he had been trying to get to for weeks.
He headed toward the back of the house. No matter how many reasons he gave himself that he was coming back early, he knew the real reason was a pretty little blonde.
He might work for a while, then just get himself a beer and sit in the kitchen and watch her fix dinner, because, Lord, he liked to watch the woman move.
That kiss this morning had about curled the soles off his boots. And he hadn’t been the only one. He doubted she could have told him her name when he let go of her.
Those big brown eyes of hers had an unfocused look that he found very sexy. He smiled smugly at the thought that he had put that look there and let himself relive the feel of her. He wanted her. Bad.
They were two consenting adults. There was no reason they couldn’t—his musings were cut off by a scream that sounded like a dying rabbit.
He raced around the side of the house and spotted Jolie standing on the old outside shower slab, a rusty garden hoe raised in one hand. She looked like an avenging angel brandishing a sword.
She was gearing up for another scream when he got to her.
“Whoa, sweetheart. What happened?” With one hand on her shoulder he pulled the hoe out of her trembling fingers and leaned it against the house.
“I…I…”
“Okay, take a deep breath.” She was shaking and her breath chugged in and out like an old steam engine.
She pointed at the dirt beside the slab. “A…a snake.”
He caught her as her knees buckled and hauled her up against his chest, where she vibrated like a buzz saw.
He looked down to where she had pointed. She had indeed killed a snake. A common garden snake. Griff guessed it had been about three feet long, but now the hapless serpent was neatly sliced into at least a dozen three-inch segments.
He swallowed a laugh. “Well sweetheart, looks like you conquered the viper.”
She had stopped shaking so he let her take a step away from him.
She looked down. “Is it dead?”
He knelt down and studied the snake, averting his head because he didn’t want her to see the smile he couldn’t seem to wipe off his face. “I think that’s a pretty safe assumption.”
Just as he got ahold of himself and straightened up, Chris and Lem came barreling around the house and skidded to a halt just short of the cement.
Chris looked from Jolie to Griff. “You two okay? We were working on the thresher and thought we heard a scream.”
Griff pointed to the snake. “We’re fine. Jolie just made us all safer by killing off that snake.”
Jolie nodded and started to babble. “I came out to scrub down the high chair and reached for the hose and there it was, just right there beside the pipe and…and…”
She was starting to do that fast breathing thing again, and she looked a mite pale.
Griff took her by the arm and led her over to an old plastic chair in the shade of a tree. “Sit down, sweetheart, and put your head down for a minute.”
He wrapped his hand around the back of her warm, smooth neck and pushed her head down gently. “Take a couple of deep breaths.”
Her hair slid like warm silk over his wrist. If his men hadn’t been there he would have pulled her up and into his arms and tried a little mouth-to-mouth.
He looked over at Chris and Lem as they stared down at the dead snake. He heard one of the men mutter something, then a snort of muffled laughter. Then they both broke loose, hooting and howling. Lem came up for air first, using his sleeve to wipe the tears off his face.
Before he could signal his hands to shut up, Jolie shook off Griff and sat up in the chair, glaring at Chris and Lem.
“Are you laughing at me?” she asked, clearly offended.
“No ma’am,” Chris managed to get out before he started snorting again.
Griff could see how embarrassed Jolie was by the pink of her cheeks. “Lem, you and Chris get on back to what you were doing.”
“Sure, boss. Thresher’s almost fixed.” They both turned to leave.
Chris looked over his shoulder at the snake and muttered something to Lem that started them laughing all over again.
Jolie got up out of her chair, her back as stiff as a poker. “I have things to do, too.”
Griff watched her disappear around the side of the house, then headed after Lem and Chris to get a shovel. He couldn’t resist the urge to look at the snake when he passed by.
Jolie certainly had done a thorough job on the poor creature. He shook his head. The city girl might be easy on the eyes, but she sure didn’t belong here in Montana.
Jolie stood on the enclosed porch and watched the rain coming down in sheets. She was used to rain, having been raised in Seattle, but she’d come to love the sunshine and big blue skies of Montana.
It was just as well she had to stay in, she thought with a sigh, because after the incident with the snake yesterday she certainly wasn’t going to go outside where she might run into Chris or any of the other hands. No doubt she had been the laughingstock of the bunkhouse last night.
“Riley,” she said as she shifted the child on her hip, “I might have overreacted a bit, but it was not a good reason to make fun of me. It’s not polite to make fun of people.”
Jolie moved into the living room. Griff had not laughed at her, but she could tell it had been a struggle for him.
She hated the idea she might be the topic of laughter in the bunkhouse, but the thought that Griff might think she was silly or stupid was too hard to bear. She decided to keep busy and not think about it at all.
Then there was the kiss. What a kiss. She wasn’t going to think about that, either.
She put Riley down on the living room floor and checked the book on child development she’d picked up in Billings the day before, turning to the section on the ten-month-old baby. She read with dismay all the things a ten-month-old should be able to do.
Riley did none of them. No crawling or clapping or waving bye-bye. He didn’t hold a toy in one hand, let alone two, and he made no attempt to pull himself up on furniture.
Well what was she going to do? Sit here feeling bad about the child’s lack of development or do something about it?
Jolie repeated her mantra to herself. I live with courage.
If she was going to do more than just spout the words, she would have to get going.
She went and gathered up a few toys, then got down on the floor with Riley and sat facing him, her legs crossed.
“Riley, we’re going to play. I have a suspicion that no one ever played with you.”
The baby watched her intently, his big blue eyes steady on her face.
“We’re going to do this every day. You’re going to baby school until you catch up.”
Jolie proceeded to develop a curriculum to help him catch up on the basic idea of play. Riley watched her stack blocks and line up toys. He didn’t participate, but seemed to enjoy the interaction.
She became so engrossed in their play she lost track of the time.
Around noon Griff came into the porch and peeled off his slicker and boots, then
put on a pair of sneakers. He was starving, and felt disappointed when he realized Jolie wasn’t in the kitchen and there was no sign of lunch. He was getting used to her taking care of his meals.
He could hear Jolie’s voice, but he couldn’t hear what she was saying. He followed the sound and discovered Jolie and the kid on the floor in the living room. They were both on their hands and knees. Her sleek blond hair fell over her face like a curtain, and she didn’t know he was there.
What the hell was she up to? His gaze shifted to his nephew.
He got a knot in his gut every time he looked at the kid. How long until he got past the sense of betrayal he felt every time he saw Riley? He pushed the thought aside.
He watched with growing curiosity as he listened to what she was saying.
“You just move one hand, then one knee. Then you do the same with the other hand and knee.”
Griff leaned against the doorjamb and watched as she demonstrated her crawling technique to the kid, who, in Griff’s opinion, looked a little puzzled.
“Don’t they usually learn that by themselves?”
Jolie’s head whipped around as he spoke, then she scrambled to her feet and smoothed her palms down the front of her jeans.
“Well, yes, they usually do, but I think Riley needs a little help.”
Griff shrugged. He really didn’t care, but at least she was talking to him. She’d acted so embarrassed over the snake yesterday she’d been avoiding him.
“Any chance of you fixing lunch?”
She glanced at the clock over the mantle. “Oh, I didn’t realize it had gotten so late. I’ll fix you something quick so you can go back to work.”
“No big hurry. It’s too wet out there to get anything done. I’m taking a couple of hours off.” He picked up the remote control and flipped on the TV.
The screen flickered on, and he punched the button until he found the football game he was looking for.
“Good. You work too hard.” She bent over and scooped the kid off the floor.
What a city girl. That comment showed how much she knew about ranching. It was nothing but hard work. He settled down onto the sofa and put his feet up on the coffee table.
Jolie walked over to the couch and set the kid right next to him. “You can keep an eye on him while I fix you lunch.”
She turned and left the room so quickly he didn’t get over the surprise before she was gone.
He was about to holler for her when he looked down and saw Riley was staring up at him, his little chin quivering. If he yelled the kid would probably bust out in a full-blown wail.
He started to get up and tell her to come and get the boy, but he didn’t know if he could just leave the kid sitting alone on the sofa.
Damn it all, anyway. This was why he had hired her, so she could take care of the kid. Every time he looked at him all he could see was betrayal.
Griff didn’t want to feel the warm weight of him as he leaned against his side. He didn’t want to look at his eyes that reminded him so much of his brother.
“Jolie, get in here,” He hollered.
He had called it right. The kid started to wail.
Jolie came flying out of the kitchen still holding a dripping tomato. “What’s the matter?”
Griff bolted off the couch and headed for the front door. “I gotta go.” He opened the front door and stepped out into the pouring rain and mud of the yard, feeling like seven kinds of fool.
Jolie slipped the tomato into her apron pocket, picked up Riley and held him against her shoulder, where he quieted almost immediately. She stared at the front door.
“What happened?” She asked as she rubbed his back. “Did he scare you with all that yelling?”
The foolish man had gone out into the rain without a jacket or even his hat. What in the world had gotten into him?
She put Riley in the high chair and put a handful of cereal on the tray, then went back to preparing lunch and pondering Griff’s strange behavior.
She hadn’t heard his cell phone ring. Had he suddenly thought of something he needed to do?
She finished making the sandwiches and heating the soup, listening for him to return. She fed Riley and took him upstairs for his nap. Griff still hadn’t returned.
Finally Jolie sat down to eat. As she was finishing her sandwich, she heard Griff come in the back porch.
She got up and opened the kitchen door leading to the porch just as Griff pulled off a soaking wet T-shirt. He stood by the washer in nothing but his dripping wet jeans.
Her mouth went dry, and she couldn’t tear her eyes away. The man was truly beautiful. Muscular and honed, he looked like an underwear model in GQ.
She looked up at his face and saw that he had caught her staring. She expected a teasing smile, but instead he had a very hard expression.
“What happened?”
He quirked an eyebrow at her as if he didn’t know what she was talking about. “When?”
“About a half hour ago when you left as if the house was on fire, that’s when!” How obtuse could the man be?
“Oh, that. Nothing happened. I’m dripping all over the floor.”
Indeed there was a growing puddle around his big bare feet. She couldn’t have cared less. Something very weird was going on here.
“We need to talk.”
He stared at her intently for a moment. “Yeah, we do. As soon as I go get some dry clothes.” He sounded angry.
Something must have happened. “There’s a load in the dryer.”
He began to unfasten his jeans, and Jolie turned quickly and returned to the kitchen. If she saw any more of him she’d turn into a stuttering idiot.
She reheated his soup in the microwave and unwrapped his sandwich. He came into the kitchen and sat down at the table.
Jolie took the chair opposite him. He ate the way he did everything else, but now his calm efficiency didn’t hide the tension in his broad shoulders.
She held her tongue. There was no point in starting the conversation until he was finished. He didn’t talk while he ate.
He polished off the last of the soup and pushed his bowl aside, then gave her a hard look.
“I hired you to take care of the kid, and that’s what I expect you to do.”
“I don’t understand.” Taking care of Riley is what she had been doing twenty-four hours a day since she got here.
“I don’t want you to dump him on me.”
Dump him? Is that why he had yelled for her loud enough to make the baby cry and bolted out of the house into the pouring rain?
“You were watching TV. I thought you would enjoy a little time with your son.” She was trying very hard to control her temper. How dare he?
He clutched the edge of the table until his knuckles were white. He opened his mouth, then seemed to think better of what he was about to say.
Jolie plunged right in with things she had wanted to say since she arrived. “You need the interaction and so does Riley. You’re hardly ever home when he’s awake. How are you going to get to know your own child if you don’t spend time with him?”
He stood up so abruptly his chair skidded back across the linoleum.
“He’s—not—my—child!”
Jolie could only stare at him. What was he talking about? Did he think his wife had had another man’s child and foisted it off on Griff? Couldn’t he see the resemblance?
“What do you mean he’s not your child? He looks just like you!”
“No. He looks just like my brother.” His voice was oddly flat and toneless.
Jolie thought of the framed photo she had found upstairs in Riley’s dresser of the two boys, almost identical in looks.
“He’s your nephew.” That didn’t explain the animosity. Then a thought occurred to Jolie. “Riley’s mother is…”
Griff made a choking sound. “Was. My wife.”
All of a sudden Jolie realized what had happened.
Griff’s wife and his brother had had an affai
r.
At least now she could understand why Riley made Griff so uncomfortable.
She didn’t want to cause him further pain, but she had to know, for Riley.
Gently she asked, “Is your brother dead, too?”
Looking incredibly weary, Griff ran his hand down his face. “Yeah. They were out celebrating. Jake won a rodeo down in Oklahoma. They got drunk. He hit a telephone pole going over a hundred. They were both killed instantly.”
Jolie was horrified. “Was Riley with them?”
“No. They left him with a sitter in a motel. When they didn’t come back she called child services. It took them six weeks to call me.” Griff sat down as if he was too tired to stand anymore.
Poor Riley. Poor Griff. Every time he looked at the baby he must think of his wife’s infidelity and his brother’s betrayal.
Would he ever be able to get past what had happened and parent this child? Jolie had her doubts.
Now so many things that had troubled her made sense. Like Griff’s reluctance to interact with Riley. And the nickname Wild Man had belonged to Griff’s brother.
Silently she cursed them for what they had done to Griff and to their child.
“I know it must have been terrible for you when your wife and brother betrayed you, but you can’t blame Riley.”
He looked at her, surprise written all over his face. “I don’t blame the kid.”
“But you can’t stand to be in the same room with him.”
Griff didn’t deny that.
“Do you think you can get past what happened?” He had to, for Riley and for himself.
Griff shook his head, then rubbed his palms down his face. He folded his hands under his chin, elbows on the table.
“Honestly? I don’t know.”
“Would you consider giving him up for adoption?” Jolie would take him in a heartbeat if Griff said yes.
He looked at Jolie as if she was crazy. “Of course not. He’s family.”
In spite of her sympathy for him her temper flashed. “So, let me get this straight. You won’t have anything to do with him, but you won’t give him up. You want him in your house but not your life. You want to hire someone to raise him.”
“That’s not the way it is.” Griff protested.