Rich Rancher's Redemption

by Maureen Child

  “Sorry, nothing so exotic.” Lucy grinned. “But now I want to see the Valkyrie outfit.”

  Jillian rolled her eyes. “I’d be happy to never see it again. So, what’s the job?”

  Shifting, Lucy pushed the stack of coloring books out of her way, then sat up cross-legged. “Okay, now understand, you don’t have to take it or anything, this is just an idea. But I think it could work and you could be with Mac at the same time and—”

  Jillian’s lips twitched. “Just say it, Lucy.”

  “Okay,” she pushed her dark hair back from her face, tucking it behind her ears. “They need help in the day care at the Texas Cattlemen’s Club.”

  “Day care?” Jillian repeated, her mind already working through possibilities.

  Lucy immediately started trying to convince her. “It’s really a great place, just a few years old, actually. Brody’s been there a few times, when I’ve got clients to see and Mom’s not available. But the thing is, Mac could be there when you’re working. She can make friends, and you wouldn’t have to worry about her and—”

  Jillian held up one hand and laughed. “I don’t need the sales pitch. It’s a great idea.”

  “Fantastic,” Lucy cried. “From what I hear, the pay’s not bad and you wouldn’t have to get a babysitter, since Mac could be with you, so you’d actually be making more money. I’ve already told Ginger Hanks all about you and she’s excited to meet you. I thought if it’s okay with you, we could go down there tomorrow. I’ll introduce you and you can check the place out and see if you’ll like it or not.”

  “Thank you.” Jillian grabbed the other woman’s hand and squeezed. “I really appreciate this, Lucy.”

  “Completely self-serving,” she said, squeezing back. “I didn’t want to lose you to Vegas.”

  She snorted. “No chance of that.”

  “Good. I’ll find out where this apartment is from Will and take you by there tomorrow, too, if you want...”

  “Not necessary.”

  Jillian’s heart jumped into a gallop at the sound. That voice was so deep it seemed to roll through the room, demanding attention. Slowly, she slanted a look at the man standing in the open doorway. What was it about cowboys?

  Just by looking at him, she could tell that Jesse Navarro was the kind of man who walked into a room and all eyes turned to him. Men wanted to be him and women just wanted him. Jillian had seen his type before, but Jesse took it to a whole new level. She’d never run into a man who simply breathed confidence and strength. It was a little unsettling, especially when you yourself were feeling just a little off balance anyway.

  In a couple of quick seconds, her gaze swept him up and down and as she did, her heartbeat did a fluttery thing that she had zero business experiencing.

  He just stood there, watching her. His eyes were like melted chocolate, his dark brown hair curled over the collar of his long-sleeved white shirt. The hem of faded black jeans stacked on the tops of his scuffed black boots and he held his black cowboy hat in one hand at his side. So still, she thought, and somehow powerful in that stillness. Enough that her heart did another wild series of beats that hammered in her ears and made her breathing just a little rough.

  “Of course it’s necessary, Jesse.” Lucy spoke up. “It’s not like Jillian knows her way around town yet.”

  He shifted his gaze briefly to his sister. “Lucy, you’ve got that meeting in the morning with the architect about your new breeding barn?”

  Jillian tore her gaze from Jesse, because it was way safer to look at the other woman in the room. “Breeding barn?”

  Lucy waved one hand. “Jesse likes to call it that. But I am building a new stable for the horses I’m—”

  “Breeding?” Jesse asked.

  “Fine. Yes. A breeding barn.” She blew out a breath. “And he’s right. I forgot about the meeting. Okay then, Jesse will take you to the apartment tomorrow and then I’ll take you over to the TCC so you can find out about the job.”

  Jillian felt like she was being pushed downhill. She wanted to stop but she had the feeling the only way that was going to happen now was if she ran into a tree. Still, she had to try.

  “Thank you,” she said to Jesse, “but I’ve got GPS on my phone, so you really don’t have to take me—”

  “It’s decided,” he said, then gave both women a sharp nod. “I’ll pick you up at your motel about ten, that all right?”

  “Pointless to argue with him,” Lucy gave a dramatic sigh. “He’s got a head like solid concrete.”

  Jesse frowned at her, but there was no anger in the look, Jillian noted. Just brother-sister stuff, which was sort of entertaining to see. If she hadn’t been right in the middle of it.

  “If you’ll just give me the address,” she tried again.

  “I will. Once we get there,” Jesse told her. “See you then.”

  When he left, Jillian took a deep breath and let it slowly out again. “Your brother is—”

  “Pushy? Opinionated? Arrogant?” Lucy provided with a grin. “My answer is D. All of the above.”

  And don’t forget dangerously sexy.

  Jillian swallowed hard. “Does anyone ever say no to him?”

  “Many have tried, few have succeeded,” Lucy admitted wryly. “You’re okay with him taking you tomorrow, aren’t you? I mean, he really is a good guy.” She paused, gave Jillian a sly smile. “And he’s single.”

  Jillian blinked. She’d seen that gleam in the eyes of other friends over the years and she knew that Lucy was trying her hand at a little matchmaking. Which just was not going to happen.

  The whole setup thing always turned into a nightmare. Besides, she wasn’t looking for a man. The last one she’d found had been the impostor who had swept her off her feet then left her pregnant and wondering who the heck her baby’s father really was. No, she’d had enough of men. What she wanted now was to build a home for her baby girl. She wanted to make a future for the two of them and a man was a distraction she didn’t want or need.

  “No thanks,” Jillian finally said, pushing up from the floor. Outside, the afternoon was slipping away and soon, a spectacular sunset would be staining the sky. “I’m not looking for a man. And I’m really not looking for one who likes to tell people what to do.”

  “Oh, he’s not that bad. He’s not a bully or anything, he’s just...Jesse.” Lucy shrugged and stood up, too.

  “Uh-huh. And was your husband bossy?” The instant the words were out, Jillian wanted to drag them back into her mouth and lock her lips closed. Since she couldn’t, she said, “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have mentioned—”

  “Relax,” Lucy soothed, reaching out to give Jillian a quick hug. “I’m the one who told you I’m a widow, remember? I don’t mind talking about Dane. I want Brody to hear about his daddy, so those of us who knew him have to talk about him.”

  Didn’t make Jillian feel any better.

  “But to answer your question, no, he wasn’t bossy. After hanging around with Jesse and Will for a while, he tried to be, but he just couldn’t pull it off.” Lucy laughed a little in memory. “Dane was nothing like Jesse, really. Or Will, for that matter. But to be fair to my oldest brother, he’s so used to taking charge I don’t think it ever occurs to him to not do it, you know?”

  No, she really didn’t. Not one man Jillian had ever known had been the responsible type. They didn’t want to take charge because they hadn’t wanted to be blamed if things went wrong. Heck, her own father had walked out on his family when Jillian was just five because he hadn’t wanted the responsibility of a family. So she didn’t have any experience with men like Jesse. And maybe, she told herself, that was why he was bothering her so much. She couldn’t pigeonhole him into any of the types she was most familiar with.

  And maybe that was a good thing, since being a cocktail waitress in a casino gave her an up close an
d personal look at the worst kind of men. The takers. The whiners. The braggers. Now thanks to the impostor who’d convinced her he was crazy about her, she had another category. The liars. So far, Jesse Navarro seemed to be in a category all to himself.

  “Well,” she finally said, “I take care of myself and Mac and I don’t take orders well.”

  “Then this should be interesting,” Lucy murmured, and Jillian was pretty sure her friend was amused by the whole situation.

  * * *

  The apartment was clean.

  That was the best Jesse could say about it the following morning. Hell, when he’d first suggested this place, he’d remembered the apartments being better than this. Bigger. Less...institutional. With Jillian and her daughter at his side, Jesse felt like apologizing for suggesting this apartment in the first place.

  “It’s perfect.” Jillian walked farther into the numbingly boring, impersonal space.

  “Put your glasses on,” he muttered.

  She whipped around to look at him. “I don’t wear glasses. I see it clearly enough and this will be fine. It’s got a lot of windows, so it’s nice and bright.”

  “Which just makes me wonder why you’re not seeing what I am when I look at this place. It’s like a prison cell,” he added, letting his gaze slide around the one big room.

  At one end, there was a small, but complete kitchen, with a fridge, microwave, stove and dishwasher. The countertop was serviceable black, the cabinets were painted white and the sink was stainless steel. On the opposite side of the room was a double bed and against the front wall was a couch with a chair pulled up alongside and a tiny coffee table in front of it. There was a small bathroom with a tub/shower off the main room and he guessed the other doors were for the closet. Which pretty much described the whole place.

  A beige, claustrophobic closet.

  “Know a lot about prison cells, do you?” she asked.

  He shot her a quick look. “Not personally, but I’ve seen movies. This would make a good set for one of them.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with it,” she argued. “A little paint, a few rugs and a bright quilt will make it shine.”

  “Shine?” he repeated dubiously. He walked toward the kitchen—took him four steps—and turned around at the sound of bedsprings squeaking. Mac was jumping up and down on the mattress, a gleeful look on her little face. Leave it to a kid. Even in a cell, they’d find a way to have fun.

  “Mac, baby,” Jillian cooed, “don’t jump on the bed...”

  “Might fall apart,” Jesse muttered, scowling as he looked around the room again.

  Jillian scooped Mac up in her arms, then turned to face him. “It’s perfectly fine for us.”

  “The whole place could fit inside my living room.” He shoved both hands into his jeans pockets.

  She flushed at that and said, “Not all of us need that much room.”

  “Not all of us want to live in a box, either,” he countered.

  “Really?” She tipped her head to one side and stared at him. “This was your idea, remember?”

  “Don’t remind me,” he muttered darkly. When he got back to the ranch, he was going to talk to Will about this building. Get someone in here, a designer or something to make these places less...depressing.

  His gaze fixed on the woman watching him. Today, she wore yoga pants that looked as though they’d been painted onto her long, long legs and defined a figure he’d only guessed at before. She had a dancer’s body, he thought, slim, but curvy in all the right places. The long-sleeved red shirt she wore over those black pants strained across breasts he’d really like to get his hands on and that tail of wavy blond hair hung over one shoulder as if drawing an arrow he didn’t need to the breasts he was thinking too much about. Her hazel eyes were more green than blue today and he wondered what that said about her mood.

  “Jesse!” Mac leaned out from her mother’s grasp and held both arms out to him.

  Dutifully, he stepped forward and plucked the girl off her mother’s hip.

  “You don’t have to hold her,” Jillian said, as if apologizing for her daughter.

  “If I had to, I wouldn’t want to,” he said, and turned to look at the little girl clinging to him. She tugged at him, as completely as Brody did. But with Mac, he didn’t feel the twin tug of guilt that he did with his nephew. “What do you think, Mac? You want to stay here or go back to the ranch?”

  “Horsies!”

  Grimly, he nodded. “That settles it. You can stay at the ranch until you find a better place. There’s plenty of room there and—”

  “No,” Jillian told him.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Don’t hear that word often, do you?” she asked. “Well, you’ll have to deal with it. Mac isn’t even two yet. Of course she wants to be with the horses, but she’s not the one making decisions for our family. We’ll be staying right here.”

  He saw the stubborn glint in her eyes and knew she’d dig her heels in on this, so he let it go. For now. But the damn truth was, she and Mac could stay at the ranch with no problem. There was the main house, his mother’s cabin, a couple guest cottages...more than enough room for one woman and a tiny girl, and if they were there, Jesse wouldn’t have to feel like he’d dropped them off in a dump.

  “It’s not a dump,” she said, and he blinked. Had he said that last part aloud?

  “You’re not that hard to read,” Jillian explained.

  That made him frown. No man liked to be told he was clear as glass, and Jesse more than most had always prided himself on his poker face. Unless he wanted them to, no one knew what he was thinking. Well, until today.

  “Dump!” Mac cried, clapping her hands.

  He laughed shortly. “She agrees with me.”

  “Again,” Jillian pointed out. “She’s a baby.” Then, turning around, she plopped both hands on her hips and gave the whole apartment a thorough look-see. Took her about ten seconds.

  “I’ll get a couple of rugs, but the hardwood floors are gorgeous.”

  “Not very big,” he said.

  “I’ll paint the walls a pretty green, I think...”

  “Won’t need much.”

  “I’ll get a crib for Mac and put it at the foot of the bed...”

  “Don’t get a big one.”

  She inhaled and sighed heavily, ignoring him. “Maybe a little table and two chairs...”

  “Very little table.”

  “You know,” she said, suddenly spinning around to face him, fire in her eyes and battle on her features. “You’re not being helpful.”

  “I’m not trying to be,” he said flatly. “This isn’t much bigger than that motel you and Mac have been staying at.”

  “It’s big enough. I’ll get that job, take my time, look around and find something else when I’m ready.”

  “You should be ready now,” he argued.

  “I don’t take orders from you.”

  “I’m not giving you an order. If I were, you’d follow it.”

  “Is that right?” She actually laughed and if he hadn’t been so irritated, he’d have been charmed. That deep voice of hers sounded even sexier when she was laughing. Her eyes lit up and that incredible mouth of hers moved into a smile that was too damn seductive.

  “You think a lot of yourself,” she said, “but nobody tells me what to do.”

  “Somebody should,” he countered, then huffed out an exasperated breath. “Look, I suggested this place, but now that I’m seeing it again, it’s just not right. You and Mac, you deserve better.”

  Irritation slid off her face and she gave him another smile. This one warmer than the last. “Thank you. And you’re right. We do. But I’m the one who’s going to get it for us.”

  Hard to argue with pride since he had plenty of that himself. “Can’t talk you out of this?�
�

  She spun around again, taking another all-too-brief look. When she met his gaze, she said, “Nope. But you could drive us to the motel and help me move our things over here.”

  “Yeah,” he said tightly. “Guess I could do that.”

  “Jesse! Horsies?” Mac asked, cupping her little hands on his cheeks to turn his eyes to her.

  “Not right now, sweet girl,” he said and frowned at the disappointment in the tiny girl’s eyes.

  Over the last couple of weeks, Mac and her mother had been at the ranch several times, and each time they were, the little girl had demanded time with the horses. He’d taken her up for her first ride himself and she hadn’t been able to get enough. He knew what that felt like. He’d been about six the first time Roy Sanders had set him on a horse, and Jesse had known in that moment that he’d found where he belonged. Now little Mac had fallen for the same animals that had stolen Jesse’s heart so many years ago.

  So he tugged a lock of her hair gently and said, “We’ll see the horses later, okay?”

  “You shouldn’t promise her something you might not be able to deliver on,” Jillian warned. “She doesn’t forget a thing.”

  He slanted his gaze to hers and locked on like a targeting system. “I always keep my promises.”

  Her eyes said she didn’t believe him, and Jesse wondered what had made her so distrustful. Of course, the minute that thought entered his mind, he remembered why she was in Royal in the first place. A man had lied to her, used her and left her pregnant and alone. The kind of man who did that was no man at all to Jesse’s way of thinking. And if he ever found the bastard, he’d make sure the son of a bitch paid for the pain he’d put so many people through.

  But was it just the impostor who’d put that wary look in Jillian’s eyes? Or was it more? And why did he give a flying damn?

  He didn’t.

  “Come on,” he said abruptly. “I’ll take you back to the motel. We’ll get your stuff.”

  “Stuff!” Mac laughed at the new word, and Jillian smiled.

  Jesse met her eyes and he watched as her smile faded. Probably best, he told himself. If that mouth of hers kept curving so temptingly, he wouldn’t be able to resist tasting it.