Darcy and the Single Dad

by Stacy Connelly

  She read the regret in his expression and pressed her fingers to his lips. Disappointment doused the passion, the excitement, the perfection of the past few moments. “I know what you’re going to say,” she whispered, her voice still husky with those lingering feelings. “I’ve heard it all before.”

  She didn’t need the words when his withdrawal had already fractured her heart just a bit. Not so much that it wouldn’t heal, but enough for her to know where she was headed if she didn’t end this, if she didn’t let him walk away now.

  But how could she when kissing him, talking to him, simply breathing the same air he did, felt so right? It sounded crazy, but like the first time she drove down Main Street, seeing images from books and magazines and internet pages brought to life around her, she knew she’d found what she’d spent her whole life hoping to find. Clearville was home. And Nick was...

  She shied away from where her thoughts were heading, not yet ready to define what he could be. But words like affair and fling didn’t come close to describing the rush of emotion she experienced in his arms. Not for her and—she was betting her heart on this—not for Nick, either. He wasn’t a player like Travis Parker, out for whatever action he could get. So it had to mean something, didn’t it, for a man as controlled as Nick to lose that control, to kiss her with such heat and hunger?

  Taking a risk, she trailed her fingertips from his lips, down his throat to his chest where his heart still pounded as crazily as hers did. Heat flared in his eyes and an answering flush bloomed in her cheeks. “Maybe instead of worrying about what this thing between us can or can’t be, we should focus on what it is.”

  A muscle worked in his jaw as if trying to hold back the words he couldn’t stop himself from asking. “And what exactly is it?”

  “I’d have to say it’s pretty much...irresistible.”

  * * *

  “You okay, Doc?”

  Looking away from the computer to the open doorway to his office, Nick forced himself to meet his assistant’s gaze. He’d been staring at the screen, pretending to be working more than actually getting anything done, but Rhonda wasn’t one to be easily fooled. The attractive forty-something widow had worked for decades for the vet whose practice Nick took over when the older man retired. She was sharp and sassy and would sense anything unusual going on, anything out of the ordinary.

  Like kissing Darcy Dawson.

  Couldn’t get any more unusual or extraordinary than that. The logical part of him still couldn’t believe he’d kissed her even though the rest of him had no doubt. The taste of her lips, the silken feel of her hair pouring through his fingers, the curves of her body pressed against him—

  “Um, Doc?”

  Blinking, Nick realized his assistant was still waiting on his answer and he had little chance of convincing her it was just another day. “What is it, Rhon?”

  “I thought we agreed I make a lousy cup of coffee.”

  The out-of-the-blue comment threw him, but not so much that he didn’t answer honestly. “You do.”

  “In that case, here’s a lousy cup of coffee and the messages off the machine.” Arching her eyebrows above her dark-framed glasses, she crossed the room, clunked a steaming mug onto his desk and held up a stack of papers. Two things he always, always did after opening the office were taking the messages off voice mail and starting the coffee in the tiny break room. “You okay, Doc?” she repeated.

  Nick didn’t even know where to begin to answer that question. Too bad Darcy hadn’t used that hammer on him. Maybe it would have knocked some sense into his thick skull. “Fine. Thanks,” he added as he took the notes from her hand.

  “Everything all right with Maddie?”

  The simple question sent guilt slamming into his gut. Rhonda had been thinking about his daughter when Nick’s own thoughts had been solely focused on what he wanted. On the woman he wanted.

  He mumbled a reassurance at his assistant, who seemed to think twice about pressing him for details and left him alone instead. Maddie was fine; he knew that. He’d dropped her off at summer camp that morning and she’d eagerly raced off to join her friends.

  But hadn’t he decided if he was going to let a woman in his life, into their lives, it would be the right kind of woman this time? That he would follow his head, not his heart...and for damn sure not the hormones raging through his body.

  Swearing beneath his breath, he eyed the phone situated on the corner of his desk. He had many of the local businesses programmed into the system, including the number for Bonnie’s Bakery. One push of a button, and he could move forward with his plan.

  But his hand refused to reach for the keypad even as he reminded himself of all the qualities that made Debbie the perfect woman. She was pretty, kind, funny. She was Clearville born and raised and had deep roots, professional and personal, in the town they both loved.

  For all of that, and a dozen other pros in her favor, the one item on the con list had him turning away from the phone with a frustrated sigh.

  She wasn’t Darcy.

  Until he could shake this ridiculous fascination with Darcy Dawson, he didn’t have a snowball’s chance of focusing on anyone else. And yet hadn’t he felt more alive and aware when he was with Darcy than he had in months? Years? He felt as though he’d been moving on autopilot, doing what needed to be done with little sense of anticipation or fulfillment. But with Darcy... It was like a change from running on dim, dying batteries to plugging into 120 volts. Everything around him seemed so much more vivid, focused and energized.

  Irresistible... Was Darcy right? Was that instant, elemental attraction between them leading down an inevitable road? And did he really have to resist?

  If he cut loose this once, if he let himself have a bit of fun for now, would it really change his mind about his long-term goal? Or might it instead be a chance to get Darcy out of his system so he could move on?

  He took a swallow from the mug, but the dark brew just made him feel a little sicker to his stomach, and not simply because Rhonda’s coffee really was lousy. He wasn’t the type to use women for his own purposes and cast them aside. Those games were for SOBs like Travis Parker.

  Of course, it didn’t seem like Darcy was suffering any from her brief fling with Love ’Em and Leave ’Em Travis. If anything, roles had reversed and Travis was the one coming back for more. Something Nick would have considered just deserts if not for the protective and possessive desire to keep the man away from Darcy.

  Darcy, who’d made it more than plain she could take care of herself. And who’d been on more dates in her two months in Clearville than Nick had been on during an entire year. So was he really worried that she might end up falling for him?

  Yeah, right. Jeez, could he be a bigger idiot?

  But maybe Darcy was right. Maybe this attraction between them was a detour they could explore together.

  Chapter Seven

  “So what do you think, Doc?”

  Nick joined Jarrett Deeks at the corral fence. The other man stood with his arms crossed on the top rail as he looked out over half-a-dozen trail horses. His straw cowboy hat was pulled low over his dark hair, shading his expression, though with the clouds rolling in off the ocean some miles away, he didn’t really need it.

  Beyond his time in the rodeo and his love of horses, Nick knew very little about Jarrett Deeks. He was certainly a man who kept his thoughts and opinions to himself, but Nick didn’t think he was telling the cowboy anything he didn’t already know when he said, “He looks great, Jarrett. Better than I would have hoped.”

  Thanks to Jarrett’s efforts, the rescue horse he’d taken in a few weeks ago had put on weight. The shine was back on his gray coat, and as Nick watched, the horse tossed its head and took a spirited gallop across the corral. The change was remarkable, and he couldn’t help grinning. “It’s amazing.”

  The brim of the cowboy hat dipped in response to Nick’s words. Jarrett played things pretty close to the vest, but his lips curved into
a smile his hat couldn’t hide. “I can’t take credit, though. She deserves all the thanks.”

  “She?” As Nick echoed the word, he followed the other man’s gaze to a small chestnut mare. He watched as the rescue horse trotted over and nudged the other horse with its nose.

  “I was keeping him away from the rest of the horses at first. He was so weak. But even after he started regaining his strength, something was missing. That spark, you know? And all it took was putting the two of them together.”

  A spark. A flicker of interest. A buzz of excitement. A rush of attraction...

  Hell, he’d been missing it way too long himself, but now that he’d found it—now that he’d found Darcy—he didn’t have a clue what to do. Shelving his plan to find a woman to settle down with had been the first step. He had no respect for men who had a wife or girlfriend at home and another woman on the side. If he was going to pursue this thing with Darcy, then that was what he would do.

  Jump into the fire until the flame died down without making the mistake of thinking that kind of heat could last.

  Jarrett glanced at his watch, then over at a dirt road that led back behind the stables and disappeared into a row of pine trees flirting with the low-hanging clouds. The wind picked up, combing through the horses’ tails, and Nick figured he’d be lucky to make it down the mountain road before the storm hit.

  “You don’t still have riders on the trails, do you?” Weekend wannabe cowboys who’d watched too many Clint Eastwood westerns wouldn’t enjoy getting in touch with Mother Nature when her sun wasn’t shining.

  The other man heaved a sigh somewhere between annoyance and self-deprecation. “There’s someone out there, but she’s not on the trails or on horseback.”

  Thunder rolled a low warning, adding to Nick’s bad-luck feeling. “Not on the trails...”

  “I’m pretty sure the city girl doesn’t ride.”

  City girl...

  “Let me guess,” he said grimly. “Tall, curvy, long red hair.”

  “You got her.”

  “What the hell is Darcy Dawson doing out there?”

  Jarrett raised a lean shoulder in a shrug. “Beats me. She came out here a couple hours ago, all fired up to go see the Whiteside farmhouse. Or what used to be the farmhouse since the place has been empty for decades.”

  “I thought you would have torn it down by now,” Nick murmured, still baffled by why Darcy would be driving around to see abandoned farmland.

  “That’s part of the plan. Just haven’t gotten around to it.”

  When Jarrett had first moved to Clearville and began buying up land for his stables, Nick had heard plans to add a few cabins, maybe even turn the place into a dude ranch. None of that talk came from Jarrett, though, so he figured the stories were simply the Clearville grapevine getting tangled up again.

  None of which explained what Darcy was doing out there.

  A fork of lightning streaked down in the distance, and Jarrett said, “I’ve gotta get the horses inside. If she’s not back by then—”

  “I’ll go look for her,” Nick interrupted. He wouldn’t be able to stop wondering what she was doing, so he might as well have something productive to do while he was thinking it.

  “You sure?” At Nick’s nod, Jarrett waved his thanks and opened the fence to round up the horses.

  Climbing back into his SUV and eyeing the darkening sky, Nick recalled his last visit to Jarrett’s ranch and the call that had taken him to Darcy’s house. At the time, he’d half suspected she’d fabricated the emergency. Now, he found himself hoping he was the one jumping the gun.

  He’d only driven a few miles over the uneven, pitted dirt road when the skies opened up. Windshield wipers swept back and forth in a quick rhythm, but so much rain coated the glass, he felt like he was driving underwater. The towering pines on either side bowed and swayed to the force of the storm. He swore when he hit a pothole hard enough to bounce him off his seat. The steering wheel jerked in his hands, and anger started burning inside him, cauterizing the fear he didn’t want to face.

  Mountain roads were nothing to mess with. Not on good days. Not on the paved roads.

  Finally, through the watery blur of the windshield, he caught sight of a flash of red on the side of the road—Darcy’s small sedan. His SUV slid to a muddy stop as he reached for the door. The wind nearly ripped the handle from his hand, and he squinted against the slash of rain in his face. He was soaked almost the instant he stepped outside. But that was nothing compared to Darcy who stood at the back of her car, trying—he suspected—to wedge something beneath the sunken back tire. Judging by the tilt of the vehicle, it was going to take more than that to pull the car free of the mud.

  Her hair streaming down her back and rain dripping from her face, she met his gaze over the roof of her car. Relief seemed to war with resignation in her green gaze as she raced to the passenger side of his SUV. Raising her voice over the pounding rain all around them, she said, “I was trying—”

  Cutting her off with an abrupt “Get in,” he didn’t wait for her to move. Especially not after an angry crack overhead followed a violent gust of wind. Scooping her into his arms, he dropped her onto the SUV’s passenger’s seat before circling the hood and climbing behind the wheel. Slamming the door shut, he demanded, “What the hell were you doing out here?”

  Probably not the best conversation starter with a woman he’d wanted to take to bed, but dammit, he wanted to know what she’d been thinking!

  Darcy stiffened, clearly annoyed by his tone, and crossed her arms over the long-sleeved, blue T-shirt she wore. The dark color didn’t disappear into transparency the way a lighter material would have, but between the rain and the cold, it didn’t take much imagination to picture the shape and the size of her breasts.

  The softness of her skin, though... That was still worth imagining.

  “Gee, Nick, I don’t know. I guess it seemed like a nice day for a drive.”

  His hands tightened on the wheel as he backed into the brush on the side of the road and turned around. She’d win points for attitude, no doubt about that, but the delivery, given through chattering teeth, dimmed the smart-ass effect. Cranking up the heat, he aimed the vents in her direction. “Take off your shirt.”

  Peering through the heavy rain, he couldn’t risk taking his eyes from the road, but he still caught a sideways glimpse of her head whipping in his direction. “Excuse me?”

  He bit back a comment about going topless on such a “nice day” and instead said, “You’re freezing, and there’s a shirt in the backseat. You’ll warm up a lot faster without the wet clothes on.”

  As she twisted around, her damp hair brushed his arm, sending a shiver of desire racing down his spine. “What about you?” she asked as she pulled the denim shirt onto her lap.

  Just the thought of Darcy taking off her clothes heated his blood to the point where he half expected steam to start rising from his skin. “I’ll be fine.”

  In the interest of their safety—and his sanity—he kept his gaze fixed straight ahead as she peeled the wet T-shirt over her head. But even with that serious effort, he still had the vision of pale skin, naked shoulders and firm breasts covered by baby-blue silk taunting him. With his shirt finally in place, she rubbed her hands up and down her arms, her chills gradually subsiding.

  But he had a good idea she was still shaken by what had happened when they’d been driving on the highway for ten minutes before she asked, “Where are we going?”

  “My place is closer. We can dry off there, get something to eat and wait for the storm to die down a bit before I take you home.”

  Dropping her head back on the rest, she gave a low moan. “What about my car?”

  “Was it damaged? Did you run over anything?”

  “No, it was just stuck.”

  “You’re lucky it was just stuck. You—”

  Darcy shook her head. “Nick, thank you. For the rescue and for the ride, but I don’t want to talk about i
t, okay?”

  He took his eyes off the road just long enough to meet her gaze. Her green eyes were snapping beneath her lowered brows, and the heat in the SUV had brought color back to her cheeks. But despite the stubborn, defiant tilt of her jaw, he read the hurt she was trying to hide.

  He didn’t know why she’d driven out to the middle of nowhere, but whatever she found had broken her heart.

  * * *

  Tucked into the corner of a leather couch in front of a crackling fire, a soft chenille blanket draped over her legs as she waited for a gorgeous dark-haired, dark-eyed man to emerge from the kitchen with something to drink, Darcy thought the entire setting should have embodied enough romance for a jewelry store ad.

  Should have...if the gorgeous guy in question wasn’t annoyed with her. Again.

  But the scowl hadn’t left Nick’s face since they’d made their mad dash from his SUV into his house. She’d huddled on a small area rug at the front door, trying not to drip on the hardwood floors, as he disappeared down a hallway. He was back a minute later with a towel, yet another shirt for her to change into and a pair of drawstring flannel pajama bottoms. For a second, she thought he might start rubbing her down, like some foolish kid who didn’t know when to come in out of the rain, but instead he handed her the bundle in his arms and promised her something to drink once he dried off, too.

  His cabin home was small, but every detail was designed with comfort and a love of outdoors in mind—from the river-rock fireplace reaching to the exposed-beam ceiling to the sturdy, man-size furnishings and the wall of windows at the back of the house. Rain streaked the glass leading to a glorious redwood deck with views of the trees and mountains in the distance.

  He’d made room for his daughter, too. School photos lined the driftwood mantel, and Darcy spotted some kids’ books squeezed in between large volumes on veterinary medicine. A lone pink shoe peeked out from beneath the recliner on the other side of the room, playing hide-and-seek with its mate, and a collection of primary-colored scrunchies decorated the trunk-style coffee table.