by Unknown
Suddenly Kate was conscious of how little her swimsuit covered.
“Mom!” Henry cried, and when Jonah turned to watch her approach, every nerve in her body tingled.
She dropped her towel on a chair and jumped into the water, swimming close to Henry and finding the cold water delightful on such a hot day. She glanced at Jonah to discover his heated dark gaze riveted on her.
“Mom, let me show you how I can jump in!” Henry exclaimed, scrambling out of the pool. She moved to one side and watched as he took two quick steps and jumped, landing with a splash and sinking under the water. He bobbed up and paddled to the side, and she clapped her hands, a thrill coursing through her.
“That’s wonderful, Henry! You can swim now!” She turned to Jonah. “It truly is marvelous!” she exclaimed with enthusiasm. “I’ve worried so much about him when he’s been around water.”
“Yeah,” Jonah answered gruffly. He got up abruptly and left them, jamming his fists into his pockets as he strode into the house. She stared after him, her zeal dampened. In her happiness over Henry being able to swim, she had forgotten the circumstances.
“Watch me!” Henry piped in his high-pitched voice, and she turned back to her son, refusing to let Jonah’s anger diminish her joy over Henry’s accomplishment.
She paddled around the pool with Henry until Jonah came out to light the grill, and then she told Henry they should get out and dress for dinner. As he climbed out of the pool and began to dry off, she swam one quick lap, watching until Jonah went back inside before she came up out of the pool and grabbed up her towel.
All three of them ate together, their conversation centering on Henry, who basked in the undivided attention of the two most important adults in his life. Kate knew he had been a bit shortchanged the past few years, because she had been so busy caring for her parents.
As Henry chattered, both she and Jonah responded, seeming to hang on Henry’s every word. Yet she was aware that they avoided conversing with each other. To her relief, Henry didn’t seem to notice anything awry.
The minute they finished eating, Jonah glanced at his watch. “We need to get going if we’re to arrive there in time for the opening.”
They carried the dishes inside and Jonah took Henry’s hand. “I’ll get him dressed to go.”
Caught between dreading the evening and anticipating it, Kate nodded, hurrying to her room to dress in a red T-shirt and jeans, slipping her feet into a pair of old loafers. She belted the jeans and fixed her hair, letting it hang down her back in one long, thick braid. Feeling fluttery and excited, knowing she should be staying home and letting them go without her, she dabbed on perfume and put on a bracelet with silver charms. Next, she fastened dangling silver earrings in her ears. Already, tendrils of her naturally curly hair were springing free from the braid, and she gave up trying to control it. Swiftly, she applied blush and lipstick, and then left to find Henry. He was downstairs with Jonah and he wore a red shirt and jeans.
“Ready?” Jonah asked, eyeing her with one brow arched. He had changed into a long-sleeved, plaid Western shirt, and jeans that hugged his slim hips.
She nodded and took Henry’s hand. He slipped away and skipped ahead of them, babbling about what he and Jonah had done during the day.
“He calls you Dad so easily,” she said.
“I’m glad,” Jonah replied tersely, and she fell silent, thinking he didn’t want to talk to her.
All the way to the rodeo Henry chattered, and soon they were seated outdoors on bleachers, with Henry in the middle. Jonah explained the rodeo to him and within minutes the grand parade began.
Kate looked at her son, whose eyes sparkled. He leaned forward eagerly, watching everything and asking Jonah questions. He laughed at the clowns, and Jonah bought him pop and popcorn. She knew Henry was having a grand time.
And so was Jonah. His eyes were warm with obvious love every time he looked at Henry, and he touched him often, draping his arm across the boy’s shoulders, dropping his hand on his head or holding him in his lap.
The sun slowly set while they watched the bronc riding, the barrel racing and the calf roping. By the time the saddle bronc riding began, bright lights on tall poles had been switched on, lighting the arena almost as brightly as the afternoon sun. Finally they watched the bull-riding. When it was over, Jonah carried Henry on his shoulders walking back to the car, and ten minutes after they drove away Kate glanced back to see Henry slumped over, asleep in the seat.
They rode in silence, her thoughts in turmoil. At the ranch Jonah carried Henry inside, saying he would change him into his pajamas and tuck him into bed. She waited in the family room, and when Jonah entered, he turned as if to leave as soon as he saw her.
“Jonah, wait!” she said quickly. “There are some things I need to say to you.”
“All right. What?” he asked curtly, hovering in the doorway as if impatient to get away from her. He stood stiffly, with his hands on his hips. “What is it, Kate?” he asked, and she could feel the wall between them and his still-smoldering anger.
“I can’t ever say enough how sorry I am,” she said, hurting with each word, yet knowing they had to be said. “I’ve hurt you and I’ve hurt Henry. You’re a wonderful father for him.”
“What’s done is done, and we can’t undo it. I’m trying to let go of anger and resentment. In time, with Henry around, I will. In the meantime, we ought to keep the hell away from each other.”
She hurt, hearing the anger in his voice, yet knowing at the same time it wasn’t anger that made him want to keep away from her. She could feel the volatile chemistry right now. In spite of all common sense and everything that had happened between them, she wanted to reach out and touch Jonah. She wound her fingers together.
“Thank you for all you’re doing for him. And for teaching him to swim. That’s a wonderful gift to him. Minute by minute he’s losing his shyness.”
“He’s a great kid,” Jonah said gruffly.
Kate wanted to cry out, “He is a great kid, and if only you had put us first in your life, we would be a family now!” Instead, she bit her lip and remained silent.
The phone rang, and Jonah crossed the room to answer it. When he did, she turned and left. As she walked out of the room, she could hear his voice lose all its gruffness and cold anger. The warmth that replaced it gave her a pang, because once, long ago, his voice had sounded like that whenever he talked to her.
Wondering if, in spite of what he had said, there was a woman in his life, she hurried upstairs to her room, which was a haven and a prison.
Feeling restless, she paced the floor, certain that sleep wasn’t going to come, yet knowing she should try because she had to be at her job early the next morning. She moved to the window to look down at the pool, which glowed in the night like a bright turquoise jewel. It was empty, and she swiftly changed into her swimsuit. She would swim laps and then maybe she could sleep. She knew that Jonah didn’t come out when she was in the pool, and he wasn’t out there now.
She hurried through the silent house and crossed the terrace, dropping her towel and cover-up on a chair. She jumped into the pool just as Jonah surfaced and shook water from his face.
“Mercy! I didn’t know you were out here,” she exclaimed, startled and turning to the ladder to climb out.
“Come back, Kate,” he said. “I just arrived. We can both swim. It’s a big pool. You take this half and I’ll take that half.”
“If we both swim, we might not hear Henry.”
“I’ll crank up the intercom, and you’ll hear him.”
Jonah swam away from her and she stared at him in consternation. He climbed out, splashing water, and her gaze ran over his lean, muscled body, the black swimsuit outlining his firm bottom. Her insides clenched and desire heated her in spite of the coolness of the water. She knew exactly how that marvelous male body felt against hers, knew how he used it in lovemaking. She turned away and minutes later heard a splash as he jumped back into
the pool.
She didn’t want to return to her room, yet it was like putting dynamite and fire close together to stay in the same swimming pool with him. It was big, but not that big.
Clamping her teeth together, she began swimming as if she were in a race for her life. She swam laps without stopping, until her muscles ached. Once she glanced over to see his wet, muscled shoulders gleam as he easily sliced through the water.
Finally, she paused in the deep end and looked around to discover him nearby, watching her with amusement in his dark eyes for the first time since their initial encounter in San Antonio.
“You’d think a great white was after you,” he remarked dryly.
“Maybe I feel like one is,” she replied.
Jonah’s brow arched. “Don’t worry, it’s not.”
“I thought we were each going to stay on our own side of the pool and not talk or anything.”
“Or anything?” he drawled, and suddenly she wondered if he was flirting with her. Startled, she stared at him.
“Kate, I need to talk to you, and couldn’t tonight when Henry was with us, on the way home in the car,” Jonah said, his tone changing abruptly. She knew if he had been flirting, it had been a slip he didn’t intend. “I didn’t want him to wake up and hear us,” Jonah continued. “My folks used to talk when they thought I was asleep, and I heard all sorts of things I wasn’t supposed to.”
She smiled slightly, feeling edgy, wondering what he wanted to talk to her about. She was unable to relax because he was too close, too bare, too masculine. He was strong and fit and the sexiest man on earth to her, and he was only inches away.
Chapter 6
“Y ou heard Scott today—we had cattle stolen by rustlers last night.”
“That sounds like something out of an old movie.”
“Well, it happened, and it’s happened in other counties north of here. I don’t want you to worry, but you need to know. We have sophisticated alarms around and in the house, in the barn and outbuildings, and in every house on the ranch.”
“You sound as if more is involved than rustling.”
He shrugged. His raven hair was wet and plastered to his head, which changed his appearance, making him look more dark and dangerous. She was too aware of how close they were to concentrate well on what he was saying. They were in the deep end, where neither could stand on the bottom, and she clung to the side. He treaded water, barely moving.
“There was more involved. Scott didn’t want to mention the subject in front of you or during breakfast.”
She waited because she knew Jonah had bad news and was trying to get her braced for it. “And…” she prompted.
“They slit the throats of some of the cattle.”
“No!” she gasped, chilled and revolted at the same time. “Why would they commit such a senseless slaughter, Jonah? The thieves have nothing to gain by doing that and you can’t have lived here long enough to have made enemies.”
“I don’t know. I don’t have any answers, but you’re right, they had nothing to gain by slaughtering my cattle. That’s a hate crime, so something else is going on. I don’t know if the culprit got the wrong ranch, if he thought John Frates was still alive, or if the hate was directed at someone who works for me.”
“That’s dreadful!” Another chill ran down her spine, and he had her full attention now. “That’s a far cry from stealing cattle.”
“I know it is. I didn’t intend to scare you by telling you. I just wanted you to know what was happening.”
“Thank you for that,” she said, glad to know but suddenly worried about Henry.
“Scott told me that the men will be on the lookout. Clementine said that when I’m gone, she keeps the alarm on. Someone will always be with Henry, either Clementine or me or Scott, who has two sons of his own.”
Kate looked at the darkness beyond the well-lit yard. “It’s so open out here and so isolated.”
“It’s safe. I can promise you that,” Jonah assured her. He sounded so confident, so certain, yet she was still nervous. And she heard the note of steel in his voice, reminding her that he was accustomed to dealing with danger and it didn’t frighten him. “I suppose you’re right, but you can’t keep people from getting onto your land. Last night proved you can’t.”
“No, but they won’t be up here by the house. We have dogs and motion-detection lights and alarms. I’ll have more lights installed for a wider perimeter. All seven houses on the ranch plus the bunkhouse have motion lights outside.”
“With you here, I know that there’s no need to worry. I’m sorry you lost some cattle.”
“They’ll be replaced. Now, jumping from that subject to another—when we arrived home from the rodeo, I got a call from my folks.”
She realized that was the call that had come when she’d walked out of the room. And now she knew why his voice had become warm and friendly.
“They would like to come see us this weekend, which translates to they would like to come see Henry.”
“That’s fine with me. Henry will love them, just as he already loves you.”
“I called Boone to charter a plane for them, and he said he would fly them here himself. I invited him out to the house for dinner.”
“Jonah, this is your home. You do what you like. You don’t have to run things past me,” she said, surprised that he was informing her of his plans as if he needed her approval.
“I’m telling you because I don’t want you to come home from work to find a houseful of people you didn’t expect. On Friday night, I’d like to have a little get-together with some of my new friends and some old friends. I’d like to invite the neighbors.”
She smiled. “Neighbors out here means people who live fifty miles away.”
“They’re still neighbors.”
“Fine. I’ll be glad to help in any way I can,” she said.
“I’ll have it catered and Clementine will be here to help. You won’t have to do a thing.”
She tilted her head to study him. “I know you made an above-average living and now you’ve inherited all this. You’re chartering planes, having parties catered—this ranch must be very productive.”
“It is,” he answered easily.
“Someday soon you’ll start to date,” she said, thinking of Mason asking her out today. As Jonah settled in this area, he would be meeting all sorts of people, Kate knew.
He shot her an unfathomable look, and she wondered what he was thinking. “We’ll worry about my wanting to date when it happens,” he said. “Right now, I need to familiarize myself with the ranch and get to know Henry. I’ve got a horse picked out for him.”
“I hope it’s gentle,” she said, noticing that Jonah had changed the subject swiftly.
“Gentle as a lamb. I’m taking Henry to town tomorrow to buy him a pair of boots.”
“You’ll turn him into a cowboy.”
“He’s a Texan now. And if he’s a cowboy, that’s fine.”
“I know it is,” she answered. “You’ve already been so good for him.” This time when he gazed at her in silence, she could see that familiar smoldering anger in his eyes. “Would you rather I stayed in the town during your party?” she asked.
“Hell, no. You don’t need to do that. My folks’ll want to see you, too.”
“Your mother might want to see me. Your father acts cool, but Boone is more than cool. He’s angry.”
“Boone will be all right. You can keep Mom between you and him.”
Kate had to laugh at that one. “I’m not hiding behind your mother!”
“Yeah. As if she’d let you,” Jonah said, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. Kate remembered how easily he used to laugh, that deep, masculine laughter she so sorely missed. “Friday night when they get here, I’d like to ask Mike Remington and his wife over, and tell them to bring their baby girl, Jessie.”
“This is your home, Jonah. You can invite anyone you want and do anything you want.”
“Do anything I want, Kate?” he asked, his tone suggestive.
“As long as it’s legal. But from your expression, you must be thinking of something that is off-limits, even to the homeowner.”
“It’s off-limits, all right,” he drawled, and her suspicion that he was flirting deepened, sending her pulse rocketing.
“So what is this mysterious something you want to do that is so off-limits?” she asked curiously, knowing she should leave well enough alone.
“You always said I liked living dangerously and playing with dynamite.”
“Yes, you did, and I guess you still do.”
“So what in my life translates to living dangerously, to dealing with dynamite and all its risks?” he asked in a seductively soft voice.
Her mouth went dry because their conversation was opening doors both of them had long ago slammed shut. “I can’t believe you’re doing this.”
“Doing what, Kate?” he asked with a devilish gleam in his eyes.
“We should swim away from each other, Jonah,” she said breathlessly, unable to move.
“I’m not holding you. I think there’s a foot of water between us,” he said, but his words were a challenge and his dark gaze captivated her, turning on every nerve in her body. Then he drifted closer, and her pulse pounded when his arm circled her waist.
“We should keep our distance, Jonah,” she warned again, but her voice had a tremor in it.
Jonah was torn with fury and desire. When she was only inches away, how easy it was to forget one and yield to the other. He suspected she was no more capable than he was of swimming away or even breaking eye contact. He was held by invisible needs that were as binding as chains. With all of his being he wanted her. In spite of common sense, in spite of anger, in spite of his lack of trust of what she might do, he desired her. And he liked flirting with her—it came as naturally as breathing, yet was as dangerous as running into a burning building.