“Aha! And you’re going to give them a surprise party.”
Tess looked secretive. “Could be.”
“My lips are zipped,” Janice said. “But be sure and invite me.”
“I will.”
After she left, Mac leaned closer to Tess. The scent of her cologne worked on him, giving him ideas he shouldn’t be having, but he didn’t want anyone to overhear him. “You see how complicated this can get? Now you’re going to have to give your parents a party to cover your tracks!”
She shrugged, and the straps of her dress moved. “No problem. It’s a good idea, anyway.”
His fingers tingled as he imagined slipping those straps down. Slipping the sundress down. With a soft oath he leaned back against the booth. “I’ll bet you’re freezing in here, right?” He wasn’t freezing, that was for sure.
“Not really.” She reached up with both hands and combed her damp hair back from her face with her fingers. The motion lifted her breasts under the cotton of the dress, and there was no doubt that she was braless.
Mac told himself he wasn’t getting turned on. Definitely not. “Let me get that old flannel shirt I keep in the truck.”
“I don’t need your old flannel shirt. I’m fine.”
But he needed her to cover up. “I could get it anyway, just in case.” He started to leave the booth.
“Mac, I don’t want the blasted shirt, okay? I want to get this project going. So sit down and tell me what you’ve got.”
He stared at her, his mind in turmoil. He should tell her about Mitch and Randy. He really should.
“Meat loaf’s here!” Janice announced. “Goodness, you haven’t touched your salads. Must be some party you two are cooking up.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” Tess said. She moved her salad plate to one side. “Just set it down there, and I’ll eat everything together.”
“Me, too,” Mac said, following suit.
“Better clean your plates,” Janice said. “Or no dessert for you. And Sally made fresh peach pie today.”
Mac patted his stomach, which was in no mood for a meal, let alone dessert. “Sounds great. You know I love peach.”
Once Janice had disappeared, Tess leaned forward again. “That reminds me,” she said in an undertone. “I’ve been learning the most amazing things from my reading. For example, the use of flavored oils. Did you know they make peach?”
“No.” His jeans started growing tight. Mind over matter wasn’t working.
“Have you read any books on the subject?”
“No.” He stabbed his salad, determined to get through some of this food if it killed him.
“There are some wonderful ideas in there. You might want to take a look.”
He lost control of his fork and it clattered to the plate. “I don’t think so.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake. Men and their egos. I’ll bet even you could learn something.”
He picked up his fork and returned to his meal with a vengeance. “Thanks, but I think I’ll just blunder along on my own.”
“Okay, but this is a perfect opportunity to check the books out without anybody knowing you’re doing it. When I leave, I’ll be taking those books with me and you’ll be SOL.”
“I won’t be likely to forget you’re leaving.”
The light of amusement faded in her eyes. “Oh, Mac. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say it like that. I know you’d love to do the same.”
He clamped down on his emotions. There was no point in wanting what you couldn’t have. “I wouldn’t say that. And somebody has to take over the ranch. I noticed this past winter that my dad’s already slowing down.”
“Have you ever given them the slightest hint that you don’t want to take over?”
“I do want to take over. They’ve struggled so hard to build that place and keep it going. It would kill them to have to sell it to strangers when they can’t work it anymore.” He looked into her eyes. “If you were an only child, would you be heading for New York?”
She seemed about to say yes, when she hesitated. Then she sighed. “Probably not. It really helps that my brothers look like they’re going to stay in Copperville forever.” She sent Mac a look of deep sympathy. “You can come and visit me anytime you want. I’ll show you New York in style.”
“Thanks. Maybe I’ll take you up on that.”
“We could have a great time. The top of the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Times Square. Promise me that you’ll come to visit me, Mac. It would be so wonderful to have that to look forward to.”
“Okay, I promise.” His heart wrenched at the thought of how much they probably would enjoy themselves. And then he’d have to come home again and leave her there. Well, he’d just have to get over it. His life was here, and hers would be there, and that’s the way it was meant to be.
“I feel so much better, knowing that you’ll come to visit me.” Her eyes glowed. “I guess I always pictured seeing some of those things with you. Maybe I’ll wait until you get there before I do some of that tourist stuff, so we can both experience it at the same time. I’ve heard Ellis Island is very moving. And the Metropolitan Museum of Art will be beautiful, and we could save our money and eat at one of those pricey restaurants, at least once, and—”
“I’m not taking you to a pricey restaurant unless you can do better on the food than you’re doing here.”
She glanced at her plate and picked up her fork. “I guess I’m distracted. I can’t seem to think of anything except this move, and getting ready for it.” She pushed her food around and glanced up at him. “Mac, I know you think I’m crazy for wanting this one thing before I go.”
“Not crazy.” He laid down his fork and gave up all pretense of eating. God, she was beautiful. Not cute, not attractive, not passable. Beautiful. He’d never admitted that to himself before, but he’d probably always known it on some unconscious level. He’d been entranced watching her talk about their future adventures in New York.
“Then you understand?”
“Yes.”
She sagged against the table, and her sigh was heavy with relief. “Thank goodness. I wondered if I’d ever convince you.”
“I’m convinced.”
“Then you’ll help me? You’ll find someone and introduce us?”
Maybe he’d known all along what he had to do. Maybe he’d just needed time for the inescapable truth to settle upon him. But now he could see no other way. It was dangerous, extremely dangerous. A great deal was at stake. Still, it was the only answer, and he was man enough to accept that, along with the consequences.
He took a deep breath. “I don’t have to look for someone. I already know who will do it.”
“You do?” Her eyes grew bright, her cheeks pink. “Who?”
“Me.”
4
TESS GASPED and put her hand over her mouth. She felt as if someone had dumped a bucket of warm water over her. Oh, God. Mac. Could she do it? Her imagination quivered and danced around the idea, unable to focus on the possibility. Her heart beat so loudly she thought he might be able to hear it. Mac. Oh, dear. How delicious. How impossible. How frightening. How lovely.
“Unless you don’t want me to.”
She was having trouble breathing, let alone talking. “I—I—”
“It’s okay if you don’t. I might not be…what you want.”
“I…have to think.”
“Sure.”
Although she was caught up in her own turmoil, she sensed his vulnerability. “I’m honored,” she choked out.
“Honored?”
“That you’d even consider…that you’d even be willing…”
“Better me than anybody else I can think of.”
“Is it…” She paused and squeezed her eyes shut. “Such a sacrifice, then?” At his astonished laughter, she opened her eyes.
“Are you kidding?” He stared at her in wonder. “If word got out that you were in the market, the line outside your door w
ould stretch all the way to the Nugget.”
“You think?” He’d never, ever given her such an extravagant compliment about her sex appeal. His compliments on that score had been nonexistent, come to think of it.
“You could have your pick,” he said. “You don’t have to settle for me. I just thought—”
“That I’d feel more comfortable with you. Thank you, Mac. And I probably would. Once I get over the shock.”
“Take your time.”
“You won’t change your mind?”
He shook his head.
“But what about my brothers?”
He let out his breath in a great gust. “I won’t pretend that won’t be tough. But I’ve kept our secrets from them before.” He gazed at her. “I guess I can do it again.”
She’d never been so impressed with another human being in her life. “I don’t deserve such a good friend.”
He gave her a crooked smile. “Don’t go giving me too much credit. This wouldn’t be the worst assignment I’d ever drawn in my life.”
“So you think you could have…fun?”
“I think I could manage that.”
Tess leaned back in the booth and fanned herself with her hand. “Wow. This blows me away.” She glanced at him with his fresh shower, shave and clothes. “Did you decide this before you showed up tonight?”
“No. I honestly didn’t know what I was going to say to you when I got here. Then, while we were talking, I finally decided this was the only solution I could live with.”
She hesitated, feeling unbelievably shy. “The reason I asked is that I wondered, considering that you’re all cleaned up, if you thought that we’d just…take care of it.”
He coughed and cleared his throat. “Is that what you want?”
She couldn’t seem to control her racing pulse, and every breath was a struggle. “I don’t know. I realize this is my project, but I’m not feeling very much in charge right now.”
He gazed at her. “I have a suggestion.”
She swallowed. He was the sexiest man she’d ever seen in her life. How had she missed that in all these years? “Okay.”
He leaned forward and beckoned her to do the same. He lowered his voice and his eyes grew smoky blue. “Maybe we need to work up to this. We could take a drive, park somewhere, do some old-fashioned making out and see how it goes. And to take the pressure off, we’d agree not to go all the way this first time.”
He was so close that his breath caressed her face. His hands—hands that had positioned her grip on a baseball bat, picked her up when she fell off her bike and pinched her when she’d dropped the frog down his back—had taken on a whole new significance. And they lay less than an inch from hers on the Formica tabletop. As she looked into his eyes, her heart beat so fast she thought she might have a heart attack. This was a Mac she’d never met before. “I g-guess we could do that, but…”
“But? And how were you envisioning the process?”
Her cheeks grew hot. “Honestly?”
“Honestly.”
She kept her voice to a low murmur, which increased the sense of intimacy in the booth. “If you’d set me up with someone, I envisioned a one-night stand, to get it over with.”
He winced. “That’s a terrible idea.”
“It is?”
He held her gaze with those electric eyes. “I thought you wanted to have a nice time.”
“I do.” She drew a shaky breath. “But couldn’t I have a nice one-night stand?”
“Not you. Some women, maybe. Not you. You need to ease into it.”
“That’s why I’ve been reading all those books. And I’m a quick study.”
His eyes twinkled and his mouth twitched as if he wanted to smile, but he didn’t.
“What?”
“It’s just so you, to thoroughly study a subject before you get into it.”
He had her totally off balance, and she wasn’t used to feeling that way with Mac. She tried to equalize the situation. “I could probably teach you a few things, Mr. Know-It-All!” she whispered a little louder than she’d meant to. Then she glanced around quickly to see if anyone was listening. Nobody seemed to be paying them any attention, which wasn’t surprising. Seeing the two of them huddled over the table in the back booth of the Nugget was commonplace.
Mac leaned back against the worn seat, amusement in his eyes. “No doubt you could.” As they continued to gaze at each other in silence, his expression became more guarded. He picked up his spoon and balanced it on his forefinger. “The question is, do you want to? Last time I checked, the ball was still in your court.”
“I don’t know, Mac. This is very…personal.”
“That’s a fact.” He concentrated on the perfectly balanced spoon.
“You know me so well.”
“About as well as anybody.”
“Things would never be the same between us.”
He laid the spoon down. “They’re already different.” He glanced at her. “Am I right?”
Oh, yes. The blue eyes she’d always taken for granted now had hidden secrets, and she was already wondering how those eyes would look filled with passion. Passion for her. The thought made her body tighten and throb in ways that had nothing to do with friendship. “You’re right,” she said.
“Let’s get out of here.”
Anticipation leaped in her, making her shiver. “What about your dinner?”
“I wasn’t hungry to begin with. But if you want, we could have Janice box it up.”
“Let’s not bother. It won’t last in this heat.”
“Probably not.” Mac reached in his back pocket for his wallet. “We don’t need a bill. As long as we’ve been eating this Thursday-night special, we should know what it costs.”
“Right.” Tess opened her purse.
“Put your money away, Tess.”
She glanced at him. “But we always split the bill. I don’t want you to think that just because—”
“New game, new rules. You’re my date tonight, and dinner’s on me.”
The gesture thrilled her more than she was willing to admit. “Aren’t you taking this a little too literally?”
“Nope.” He slid out of the booth. “I would expect any man in my position to have the courtesy to buy you a meal.”
Her feminist conscience pricked her. “What, as some sort of barter arrangement?”
He took his hat from the hook at the end of the booth and settled it on his head. “No, as an expression of gratitude.”
Her breath caught in her throat at his gallantry. No wonder he’d had women falling at his feet. She’d never quite understood it, but then, he’d never turned the full force of his charm on her.
Janice ambled over toward them. “Leaving so soon?” She glanced at their plates in surprise. “Was something wrong with the meat loaf?”
“No,” Tess said. “We—”
“Goodness, you’re flushed.” Janice put her hand against Tess’s cheek. “You’re feeling feverish, child. I’ll bet you’re coming down with the flu.”
“I think she might be, too,” Mac said. “That’s why we decided to leave.”
“My Steve came down with the flu last week. You wouldn’t think a bug could survive in this heat, but it seems to be going around. Best thing to do is stay in bed.”
Tess felt her face heat, and she didn’t dare meet Mac’s gaze. “Right.”
“Look at you!” Janice exclaimed. “You’re burning up! Better get on home.”
“What’s wrong with Tess?” called Sam Donovan from his stool at the counter.
“Flu!” Janice called back.
“Flu?” asked Mabel Bellweather, popping up from the booth where she’d been sitting with her sister Florence. She hurried to Tess’s side. “Should I call your mother, honey? She’d want to know if you’ve come down with the flu.”
“I’ll call her, Mrs. Bellweather,” Mac said.
Mabel patted his arm. “You’re a good boy, Jeremiah MacDo
ugal. Anybody’d think you were kin to Tess, the way you’ve watched out for her over the years. I know she’ll be in good hands.”
Tess looked at the floor, at the walls covered with Frederic Remington prints, at the golden light of sunset outside the café windows. Anywhere but at Mac.
“Just get along now,” Janice said, guiding them toward the door.
Although she wanted to run out the door, Tess made herself walk like a sick person as she preceded Mac through the restaurant. They exited to a chorus of get-well wishes.
Mac helped her into the truck. “Well, at least we’re being inconspicuous about this.”
“We can’t go through with it,” Tess wailed. “Soon everybody in town will know that you took me home from the Nugget, and—”
“And what?” He started the truck and switched on the air-conditioning. “You’re letting a guilty conscience run away with you. They aren’t the least bit suspicious of us being together.” He backed out of the parking space and headed down the street toward her house.
“You’re sure?”
“I’m sure. You saw the way Mrs. Bellweather patted me and told me I was a good boy.”
Tess glanced over at him. “And is that what you intend to be?”
He pulled up at the town’s only stoplight and gave her a look that threatened to fry her circuits. “Depends on your definition.”
STAY COOL, Mac told himself. He was supposed to be the experienced stud, the one who knew the score. If he gripped the wheel tightly enough, Tess wouldn’t know that his hands were shaking. And if she noticed he was sweating, then he’d blame it on the hundred-degree temperature.
The reaction they’d gotten at the Nugget had convinced him of one thing—nobody would suspect that he and Tess had progressed to more than friends for the same reason he’d taken so long to come around to the idea. It was totally out of character for both of them. Even the Blakely brothers wouldn’t guess, if he and Tess could keep from tipping them off.
But oh, God, what had he done? His whole world was turning upside down. If Tess agreed, then they would become lovers this summer, assuming he didn’t turn out to be like his old dog George, who’d been taught to stay out of the living room when he was a puppy and now couldn’t be dragged in there. Mac wasn’t sure how deep his hands-off conditioning ran, but he might find out soon.
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