Justified Deception (Prequel: Dancing Moon Ranch Series)

by Watters, Patricia

  Matt brought the truck to an abrupt halt and jumped out, and said, in a caustic voice, "What’s this all about?"

  Jody smiled at him, her eyes scanning his bare chest. "You’re looking well," she said. "But then, ranch life always did suit you." She glanced over to where Ruth stood beside the truck. Walking over to her, and said, "Please excuse Matt. Protocol isn’t one of his strong suits." She offered her hand. "I’m Jody, and you must be the new nanny."

  The towel dropped off one shoulder as Ruth shook Jody’s hand, and in that instant, Ruth was aware that Jody’s eyes ranged the full length of her, clearly taking in the scant bathing suit. Ruth looked toward Matt for some sign of what to do. Then she saw Matt's face harden, as he said to Jody, "I know this isn’t a social call, so get on with what you want."

  Jody slipped her hand into the crook of the tall man’s arm. "We're on the west coast on concert tour so I thought we should stop by." She waved her hand in front of Matt, displaying an oversized diamond ring and a diamond-encrusted wedding band, and said, "I’m married now. You remember Wayne Waxman, my lead guitar."

  Matt didn't acknowledge the man. Instead, he fixed his eyes on Jody, and said, "You’re not welcome here so take your guitar player, your diamonds, and your bus, and get the hell off the Kincaid Ranch."

  "I want to see Annie," Jody said. "I have a right. She's my daughter."

  "You gave up all rights the day you screwed your stud and left," Matt said.

  The man raised his hand in protest. "Just a minute, Kincaid, you’re talking to my wife."

  Matt glared at the man. "I’m talking to a bitch who doesn’t much give a damn whose bed she finds herself in as long as it gets her what she wants," he said. "You want to take issue with that?" As they stood glaring at each other, the man’s hand drew into a fist then relaxed and he said nothing.

  "Fine," Matt said. "Now the two of you better be on your way before I lose—"

  "Daddy!" Annie yelped, while racing out of the barn with a tan puppy in her arms. She rushed up to Matt, and said, "This is the one I want. His name is Tristan."

  Jody crouched in front of Annie and stroked the puppy’s head, then looked at Annie, and said, "Hello, Annie."

  Annie eyed Jody with curiosity. "How do you know who I am?"

  Matt motioned to Ruth. "Take Annie into the house."

  Ruth grabbed Annie’s arm and started toward the front door.

  "I don’t want to go inside," Annie protested." I want to show the pretty lady Tristan." She broke free and turned back toward the gathering.

  Ruth rushed after her, the towel dropping to the ground as she did. "Please, Annie, do as your father says." She took Annie by the arm again and led her away.

  As she tugged Annie up the porch steps, Ruth heard Jody say to Matt, "Your opinion of me seems to fit your nanny as well. I’d say she’s definitely one who doesn’t much give a damn whose bed she finds herself in as long as it gets her what she wants. And off the top of my head, I’d say she wants the Kincaid Ranch and its prize stud."

  "You have fifteen seconds to be on your way," Matt said.

  "Fine," Jody replied, "But since you won't let me see Annie, you’ll be hearing from my attorney. Come on, Wayne."

  Matt waited until the bus was making its way down the road, then bounded up the porch steps and rushed into the house, sending the front door crashing against the wall. He marched into the kitchen where he found Annie sitting on the floor playing with the puppy and Ruth standing with her hands folded across her chest, looking like a deer trapped in headlights. Not wanting to humiliate her further, he said, "I can take over now."

  Ruth said nothing, just turned and left the room, the sight of her near-naked body hovering in Matt's mind. It was some moments before he realized he’d been staring after her, and that Annie had spoken to him...

  "How did the lady know my name?" Annie asked.

  Collecting his thoughts, Matt replied, "Lots of people around here know who Annie Kincaid is. Go give Tristan a scoop of puppy chow and put him in the pen Edith fixed for him in the laundry room."

  Matt had no intention of upsetting Annie’s world by introducing Jody into it. The only woman Annie needed in her life was Ruth. In fact, the only woman he needed in his life was Ruth, with her big brown eyes and dimpled cheeks and quick wit. "The fact that Ruth also has a body like Aphrodite...."

  "Daddy?"

  Matt looked at Annie. "Yes, honey?"

  "What's an afditey?"

  Matt stared at Annie.

  "You said Ruth has a body like an afditey."

  It wasn't until then that Matt realized he'd said the words aloud. "It's Aphrodite. And she was a pretty woman."

  "Then you think Ruth is pretty?"

  "Well, yes."

  "Are you gonna marry her?"

  "Why would you ask that?"

  "You love her, don't you?"

  Matt didn't reply. The question had taken him by surprise. It also made him feel strange, different somehow, like the thing that closed around his heart the night he'd found Ruth alone on the porch. Dismissing the odd sensation, he said, "I haven’t known her long enough to love her."

  "Did you kiss her at the swimming hole?" Annie asked.

  Matt lapsed into thoughtful silence. Yeah, he’d kissed her alright. And all he could think about now was how much he wanted to kiss her again, every inch of her beautiful naked body, and fasten his lips on one of her....

  "Well did you?" Annie looked up, expectantly.

  Matt squared his shoulders. "Just because a man is alone with a woman doesn't mean he'd kiss her. That would be taking advantage of her. Besides, when a man kisses a woman it's because he wants to marry her. Ruth and I won't be getting married." He hoped that would end it.

  "Did you like the way she looked in her bathing suit?"

  Matt shrugged. "Well yeah." But like didn't begin to describe Ruth in that skimpy suit.

  "Do you think she looks as good as Lorinda?" Annie pressed.

  Now Matt was irritated. "I don't know. I've never seen Lorinda in a bathing suit." True. But he'd seen her in a whole lot less, and thinking of her in the buff did nothing for him now.

  "Do you think Ruth has big boobs?"

  "Good Lord Annie." But as he said the words, the image of Ruth standing at the water's edge while looking over her shoulder at him made him want to kiss her until she wrapped her arms around him and let out one of her sweet little moans…

  "Well?" Annie stared at him, waiting for a response.

  Matt shrugged. "I really didn't notice.

  "Would you marry her if she had big boobs?"

  "Enough about Ruth," Matt snapped. "And no, I don't plan to marry her. It's gonna be just you and me, kiddo, like it's always been. Satisfied?"

  Annie shrugged. "I guess."

  Matt got the impression Annie was disappointed. One day soon, he'd remind her that Ruth was just another nanny who'd leave them when a better offer came along. But the fact was, Ruth wouldn't find a better offer than what he could give her at the Kincaid as his....

  As his what?

  "Just feed your pup," Matt mumbled to Annie.

  Annie looked up at him, puzzled, and Matt realized feeding the pup was precisely what Annie was doing.

  ***

  During the quiet, solitary hours just after midnight, when even the house seemed to be slumbering, Ruth lay in bed, eyes fixed on a ceiling painted in the eerie, bluish glow from a utility light across the drive, and asked herself how she could have come so close to giving herself to the man whose daughter she might ultimately take away, a man who lusted after her but didn't love her, and who had no intention of marrying again. She tried to convince herself she'd allowed things to get out of hand in order to avoid answering Matt’s questions about Beth, but she knew it was a barefaced lie. Nor could she clear her mind of the brazen smile she'd offered as she stood on at the edge of the water, urging him to come take her.

  But it was the sight of him racing after her, naked and aro
used and uninhibited and scooping her up in his arms and holding her against a body about as perfect as a man could have, that taunted her now. The fact was, she’d wanted to give herself to Matt for the pure, hedonistic reason that she wanted him. Just as she knew he wanted her. And the only way she could check her unleashed desire was to continue avoiding him, just as she had been, ever since she’d rushed out of the kitchen in her bathing suit four days before. She'd even skipped dinner that night, eating leftovers in the kitchen after Edith retired to her room, though she'd made sure Annie joined the men for dinner, as usual.

  For the rest of the week it was easy to avoid Matt. He and several of his men were helping the Bureau of Land Management round up some of the bands of wild horses that roamed free in the area. But now he was back, and again she'd skipped dinner. But eventually he’d come looking for her. But standing near-naked in front of his strikingly beautiful ex-wife had been the most degrading and humiliating moment in her life. And it all happened because of a whim, and a skimpy bathing suit. If it were not for resolving the issue of whether Annie was Beth, she'd leave this place and the physical effect Matt had on her. But she didn't have that choice. So, no matter how driven she was with need for Matt, she would not let it happen again...

  And then the bedroom door opened and she saw him standing there, barefoot, stripped to the waist and wearing sweats. He walked to the bed and peered down at her. She closed her eyes, hoping he'd think she was asleep, but he didn't buy it. Instead, he said, "We need to talk."

  "Just go away."

  "Not until I get some answers." The bed settled down beneath Matt's weight, and Ruth could feel his eyes on her, when he said, "Why have you been avoiding me?"

  Ruth attempted to draw the covers around herself but found them trapped beneath Matt. Turning onto her side and presenting her back to him, she said, "You should know why. Now, please go. Annie will hear us."

  "Annie's downstairs sleeping in Edith’s room so she can be near her pup." Placing his hand on Ruth's shoulder, Matt said, "Okay, honey, what gives?"

  Ruth yanked the covers from under him and scooted back against the headboard. Drawing the covers over her chest, she said. "What gives is that nothing like this has ever happened to me and it makes me feel cheap and ashamed. I don't normally go running around half naked, teasing men, and I have no explanation for my behavior."

  Matt drew in an audible breath. "So you’ve decided to hide from me? Until when?"

  "I don’t know. I’m confused."

  "Then I’ll clear some of the confusion. You behaved the way you did because you simply allowed yourself to feel what I feel, and to act on it. And your behavior wasn’t shameful, honey. Standing in that skimpy suit and smiling at me over your shoulder, and teasing me the way you did... it was about the sweetest thing that ever happened to me because I know you're not that kind of woman." He trailed a finger along her bare shoulder and down her arm."

  "Please don't do that," Ruth said. "It'll happen again, and this time no cowboy in a truck will come rescue me from myself."

  "So nature will take its course. What's wrong with that?"

  "We don't love each other."

  "But we can enjoy each other without the complication of love. I want you, Ruth."

  "And when the passion fades and you no longer want me, what then? Will you send me packing so you can make room for a new nanny in your bed?"

  "I have never had a relationship with any of Annie's nannies," Matt said. "That's not what I do. But with us it's different. It's good. It's right."

  "No, it's not right. I don't want passion without love, or sex without marriage," Ruth said. "It's that simple. Now, please go. I'd be mortified if someone found us together like this."

  "Okay, I'll go. But we will talk about this later." Matt left the room as quietly as he'd come in, pulling the door closed behind.

  Ruth punched her pillow. Whatever it took, they would not talk about this... ever. Nor, would they pick up where they'd left off at the swimming hole. The memory of it would soon fade, along with her bizarre sexual desire for Matt Kincaid.

  But for tonight, she wanted him more than ever.

  ***

  Matt paced the living room floor, restless with pent up energy and frustrated that Ruth had managed to outmaneuver him, avoiding him for the better part of another week. She'd planned outings with Annie whenever he was scheduled to be working in the vicinity of the ranch house, and she'd taken care of her duties with Annie at the house while he was out mending fences, or moving stock. But their separation had given him time to think. And time to mull things over. Something about Ruth had been niggling him, like trying to remember an elusive dream that would emerge from the subconscious only to slip away again.

  She'd lost a daughter. Odd that the daughter would be Annie's age now. Not odd. Coincidental. Too coincidental? Had she taken the job as nanny to a little girl who would be the same age as her dead daughter, just to fill the void? The catch was, in his ad, he'd never mentioned Annie's age, or sex. The ad. Another paradox. Ruth never saw his ad. She claimed she heard about the position from a woman she'd met on a bus. She'd never said who the woman was, and he'd never asked. Now, the whole bus thing seemed specious.

  He crossed the floor again. What had he said to Ruth just before her sprint into the water? Until then, she'd made plain her thoughts about swimming with him in the raw. Then on impulse, she jumped up and dashed for the river. And her stance at the water's edge clearly invited him to join her. A distraction? Had she opted for an erotic romp in the water with him, one that would end in sex, rather than following the direction their conversation had been heading? Wherever that was. And that's what was niggling him. He'd been so distracted by the sight of her near-naked body and his own strong need that the gist of their conversation became blurred at the time, and now it totally escaped him...

  The sound of a vehicle drew his eyes to the window. To his alarm, he saw a Harney County sheriff’s car pulling up out front. He met the sheriff at the door. "What’s the problem, Les?"

  "These are for you." Les Willcuts held out a thick envelope.

  Matt saw that the packet came from the office of Jody’s local attorney. Flipping open his pocket knife, he sliced the envelope and slipped out the papers, reaffirming what he already suspected. "Jody’s true to her word," he said. "She’s petitioning the court for joint custody."

  Les’s brows gathered in surprise. "Joint custody of Annie? Why would she want to do that? Last I heard she hadn’t been around here in years."

  "She was here last week," Matt said. "When I wouldn’t let her see Annie—" he waved the papers in front of Les "—she threatened to do this. I suspect her attorney already had the papers drawn up, ready to serve as soon as I denied Jody access to Annie, which Jody knew I'd do."

  "But, why would Jody want Annie after all this time?"

  "Who knows? Guilt? Maybe to impress her new husband? You tell me, Les. You knew Jody before I did."

  Les shifted, uneasily. "Yeah, well, I didn’t know her that way." He crooked his thumbs in his pockets and added, "Maybe her biological clock’s ticking and she’s starting to feel it, and with that body of hers, she’s not likely to want to stretch it all out of shape being pregnant. Annie takes care of both problems. But what do you intend to do? You’ll have to respond to this."

  "I’ll respond alright. I’ll sic my brother, Bret, on her and she won’t know what hit."

  After Les left, Matt called Bret, who informed him he’d fly out to the ranch as soon as he could tie up some loose ends.

  Two days later, Bret’s twin-engine Cessna touched down on the ranch runway that ran west of the stable. Matt went out to meet him and they headed toward the house. As they entered the main room, Matt was surprised to find Ruth rushing for the stairs so she could continue avoiding him. But this time she wouldn’t get away. "Ruth," he called after her. "Come say hello to Bret."

  Ruth paused at the foot of the stairs, her back to them, and for a moment Matt th
ought she intended to ignore him and keep going. Then she turned, and on her face Matt saw the same trapped look as when she’d stood in the kitchen in her bathing suit. She managed a smile as she walked toward them. "Nice to see you again, Bret."

  Bret took her outstretched hand, and while looking at her closely, replied. "It’s nice to see you again too." For a few moments he studied her, then his brows gathered in a puzzled frown and he said, "Were you possibly involved with one of the local television stations? I think that's where I might have seen you before."

  Ruth shook her head. "Like I said, I have one of those generic faces everyone mistakes for someone else."

  Matt knew, from the look on Ruth's face, that her words were not genuine. Sometime real soon, he’d make a point of finding out why.

  CHAPTER 9

  Ruth stood in the hallway, listening to the voices of the men in the dining room below. She'd left the table early, as she’d done all week, but this time it wasn’t to avoid Matt, but to stay away from Bret. He was getting close to the truth. He'd placed her face on television, and she knew he wouldn't let the issue go until he'd solved the riddle.

  Oddly, she was also glad he was there, if only to keep Matt occupied for a while. Playing cat and mouse with him was beginning to weigh heavily on her. Earlier that day he'd intercepted her as she was leaving the stable, and he told her he wanted to talk to her after dinner. Leaving the table early was a temporary way out. She knew he was upset because she’d been avoiding him, but she didn't want to be alone with him until she learned the truth about Annie, because she knew how it would turn out. The pull was too strong, her resolve too weak. If she could, she'd pack up and leave. And maybe that's how it would end. Annie would turn out to be just a little girl who Matt adopted, and Beth would still be out there somewhere.