Raina could see that, even though Lily was talking a good game, she wasn’t going to be able to think of anything else but Troy for a very long time. Still, if this conversation would help distract her a little…“I think Shep was nervous about Manuel’s procedure and his care afterward. When he found out I was finished for the day, he invited me to go along and see his ranch. I did, and somehow his two boys, Joey and Roy, asked me to come back on the weekend. We went on a trail ride. It was really a nice afternoon.”
“Nice?” Gina asked with a raised brow. “Does that mean you like Shep McGraw?”
“Shep’s an old-fashioned cowboy.” She felt herself blushing. “We’re very different.”
“Are you going to see him again?” Lily asked.
“I don’t know. I don’t know if I’m ready. And he has his hands very full with those three boys. I don’t think a lasting involvement is on his mind right now.”
“He’s the love ‘em and leave ‘em type?” Angie asked.
“I’ve heard rumors. But for the past year, all I’ve seen is that he’s trying to be a good dad.”
“Taking in three boys from foster care is noble,” Gina agreed.
Raina noticed that Lily was staring out the picture window, no longer hearing the conversation that swirled around her.
Raina touched her friend’s hand. “Would you rather we left you alone? Or should we try to come up with a meal we can all make and enjoy together tonight?” She knew Lily might have a tendency to forget to eat and that wouldn’t be good for her, especially because of the baby.
Lily saw through that ploy right away. “You’re trying to take care of me.”
“No,” Gina protested, “we’re trying to help you take care of yourself.”
Lily looked from one of them to the other and then her gaze fell on a picture of Troy in his uniform that was sitting on a side table. “All right,” she decided, pushing herself up from the couch. “Let’s comb my cupboards for something exotic we can make.”
Raina knew exotic wouldn’t help Lily stop missing her husband—it wouldn’t help her forget she was a widow. But cooking a meal with her friends could be a start.
As Shep sat in an examination room at the Family Tree Health Center the following Wednesday, one thought kept racing through his mind—he should have kissed Raina when he had the chance.
He felt awkward now, sitting here while she examined Manuel. And he hadn’t felt awkward at any time on Saturday. Not even after he’d almost kissed her.
Shep waited until she stopped examining Manuel’s right ear. “We had a good time on Saturday.” When she met his gaze without hesitation, he added, “I had a good time on Saturday.”
“I did, too,” she admitted.
Shep’s blood ran faster. The exam room suddenly got hotter.
Breaking eye contact, Raina crouched down to Manuel. “You were such a good boy for me today. How about a sticker for your shirt?” She reached over to the counter, grabbed a strip of stickers and held it out to Manuel. “Can you point to the one you’d like?”
Manuel glanced up at her and then back at the stickers. He pointed to one of a cowboy and a horse, with a rope that sparkled with glitter.
“Good choice,” she assured him with a smile, peeled it off its backing and put it on the right side of his shirt.
He kicked his legs and said “Horsey,” then ran his finger over the silver rope.
“So he’s healing like he should?” Shep asked.
“He’s doing great. If there aren’t any problems, I won’t need to see him for three months.”
Three months might be okay for Manuel, but it wasn’t for Shep. He cleared his throat. “So you enjoyed the trail ride?”
Her arm around Manuel, she met Shep’s gaze again. “Yes.”
“How about you and I go on a trail ride together without pint-size chaperones?”
She looked surprised. Before she could say no, he added, “Maybe we could pack a picnic and explore Red Creek a little more. What about your day off?” He was keeping it light, easy and as casual as he could.
Raina hesitated. “I have two surgeries tomorrow morning, but then I don’t have office hours for the rest of the day.”
“Tomorrow?” It took him a moment to wrap his head around that. He thought he’d have time to get prepared, to ready himself for the idea. But then again, he didn’t want her to change her mind.
He’d been leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. Now he unfolded them and approached the table where Manuel was seated. Raina was wearing a smock printed with cartoon characters today. Underneath, a pale pink silky blouse was tucked into cream slacks.
This close to her, the rush of heat targeted very strategic parts of his body. “Can I ask you something personal?”
“You can ask.”
“Have you dated since your husband passed on?”
“No, I haven’t. Some of my friends in New York thought I should, but I couldn’t. I guess I just wasn’t ready.”
“And now?”
“Are we going on a date?” she asked with a half smile that revved up his libido even more.
He chuckled. “That’s a fair question. I’d like to think of it as one, if that doesn’t rattle you too much.”
“If I just think of it as a picnic and trail ride, I won’t get rattled.”
“Are you sure?” He gazed deeply into her eyes and could feel the undeniable attraction pulling between them.
She ducked her head.
But he wouldn’t let her get away with that. He gently put his thumb under her chin, and she raised her gaze to his once more. “I think we should call a spade a spade,” he said.
“Or a date a date?” she teased.
“Yeah.”
After a hesitant moment, she asked, “What time do you want me there?”
“Whenever you’re done here.” He dropped his hand to his side, wanting to smooth his fingers over her cheek…brush her hair behind her ear…taste her lips.
She was looking at him as if she might want to do the same. “I’ll make sure my cell phone is charged this time.” Then she confided, “Shep, the boys made it easy last Saturday. When it’s just you and me…I haven’t dated for a very long time.”
“I hear it comes back easily. It’s just like riding a horse. You never forget how.” Then he did touch her again. He just couldn’t help it. He brushed the back of his hand over her cheek. “We’re just going to spend a little time together, Raina. We can talk, ride, hike—whatever we want. No pressure. No expectations.”
“That sounds good.”
“Wide horsey?” Manuel asked, interrupting them.
Shep lifted his son from the table, held him up in the air and made him squeal. “You’re a little young for a horsey. At least a real one. Maybe at Christmas, Santa will bring you a make-believe one.”
Gathering Manuel into his arms, Shep carried him to the door. He was already looking forward to tomorrow.
No pressure. No expectations. For either of them.
Raina had been jittery on the drive to Shep’s. But now, as they stood in the corral, the jitters were gone because she was worried he’d change his mind. He’d seemed distracted ever since she arrived. She wasn’t going to stay if he didn’t want to go on this trail ride.
He held the reins to her horse for her so she could mount. But she didn’t. Instead, she said, “I know you probably have a hundred other things you need to be doing.”
He looked surprised at her comment. “Why do you say that?”
“Because you seem far away. I don’t want to keep you from—”
“You’re not keeping me from anything.” He rubbed his hand over his face and gazed at her with consternation. “You’re too—”
“Perceptive?” she filled in sweetly.
He laughed then, a genuine laugh. “That’s one of the words for it.”
She waited, already knowing Shep used an easy grin and warm humor to deflect a discussion he didn’t wan
t to have.
“I’m concerned about Joey,” he admitted. “But being concerned about him isn’t going to change anything right now, so let’s just head into the sun and enjoy being alive.” As soon as the words came out of his mouth he grimaced. “I always step into it with you, don’t I?”
“Shep, you don’t have to watch what you say. I’d like nothing better right now than to ride with the sun on my face.”
He stepped toward her slowly, as if he wanted to touch her. In fact, she thought he might play with the tips of her hair as he had once before. Excitement—and apprehension—tingled through her down to her fingertips, and she knew that was because she’d like to touch him, too.
But instead of reaching toward her, he took a step back. “Do you need a leg up?”
“No. As long as you hold Lazybones, I’ll be fine.” Though she didn’t know if she really would be. Her hands were shaking now. She couldn’t recall the last time a man had made her feel exactly like this.
She reached for the saddle horn, put her foot in the stirrup and took a hop up all at the same time. She was in the saddle now, but Shep was standing beside her, just in case she’d have a problem climbing up. She considered herself a supremely independent woman. Yet Shep’s protective manner made her feel feminine and looked after.
Their horses walked side by side as they rode out of the corral. A whispery breeze lifted her hair, brushed her face and seemed to cleanse her. The week of surgeries, appointments, her concern about Lily—it all seemed to shed from her shoulders until she felt renewed.
Shep kept pace with her as they soaked in the brush and the crooked fence line, the end-of-summer colors. One field was still dotted with yellow flowers. In the distance she caught sight of the fields of white cotton, and farther away, wind turbines that seemed to stand like protective sentinels. All of it was Texas now, the old and the new, the wild and the tame.
As she turned toward Shep at the same time he glanced at her, she realized he was still part of the wild side of Texas, even though on the outside he sometimes seemed tame. Was that why he excited her? Was that why she could forget the past when she looked into his blue eyes and got lost in a sensual haze? Tall, with a physique that showed he wasn’t afraid of hard work, he rode a horse as if he were one with it.
They rode along the same trail they’d taken with the boys, but when they reached the creek they turned east instead of west.
“I know a spot,” Shep said, “where the horses will be happy. There’s a clearing for a picnic and more wildflowers than brush. I stuffed one of those NASA space blankets into the saddlebag, too, so we won’t have to worry about ants crawling on our plates.”
She laughed. “You thought of everything. Do you do this often?”
“I bring the boys out here a lot. They think walking along the creek is pure fun. But it’s a chance for me to teach them about marking a trail, learning what plants to stay away from—things like that.”
Shep seemed to know that the best ways to parent were the most subtle. But she often got the impression he wasn’t sure at all about how he was handling his sons. Was it because he hadn’t had a good role model?
That was none of her business, especially since he’d shied away from talking about his childhood.
Shep led them through tall grass, sage and tiny yellow flowers, where butterflies darted here and there. Riding beside Shep, Raina couldn’t imagine a more beautiful day.
Eventually he slowed and pointed ahead. “We can climb down here and tether the horses under those trees.”
Shep quickly dismounted and stood by Raina’s side, making sure she hopped to the ground safely. Standing close by, he waited until she was safely on the ground, then tethered the horses. The clearing under pecans and cottonwoods seemed to be a peaceful bit of paradise, as the creek water rushing over rocks into a natural dam sent crystal spray into the breeze.
“Would you like to hike first, or eat first and then work it off?”
“Maybe we could just sit and talk for a while and then decide.”
Shep gave her a long look. “Anything in particular you want to talk about?” He sounded a bit wary.
“Not really. I thought maybe you could tell me what the problem was with Joey.”
“You really want to hear that?”
“They’re good kids, Shep. If there’s anything I can do to help, I’d like to.”
After he gave her another studying look, he nodded. “Let me get that blanket so the grass doesn’t poke us.”
She had to smile. Shep was definitely a practical man, and she appreciated that.
Once he’d spread the silver blanket on the ground, they settled under a canopy of leaves. Raina kicked off her boots and tucked her legs beneath her. “So tell me what’s wrong. You really seemed worried this morning.”
Shep stared into the creek, then brought his gaze to hers. “Last week the nurse from the school called me. She said Joey didn’t feel well. He had a stomachache. So I picked him up and brought him home. He was mopey for a couple of hours but then seemed to be fine. I thought maybe he’d eaten something he shouldn’t have.”
“No fever or other symptoms?”
Shep shook his head. “No. I took his temperature. I watched him that day and the next. But he ate okay. He played with his brothers and didn’t act sick.”
“Did something else happen?” she asked.
“Yeah. Monday he didn’t want to go to school. He said his stomach hurt again. He cried and threw a fit, so I let him stay home. But something about it just didn’t feel right, so I took him in to see Tessa Rossi.”
“Tessa’s got a good eye, and she’s thorough.”
“Yeah, she is. She examined him and asked him a list of questions. She didn’t find anything. She said we could run a bunch of tests, but I hate to put him through that without good cause. Especially when she thinks something else could be going on.”
“Like something at school?” Raina guessed.
“Possibly. I don’t know. I can’t get him to talk to me. And Roy is just as close-mouthed. If he knows anything, he’s not saying.”
“Did you speak with Joey’s teacher?”
“That’s next on the list. I have a phone conference with her tonight.”
Raina couldn’t help moving a little closer to Shep, reaching out and touching his arm to offer comfort. But as soon as she did, everything changed between them. Instead of just engaging in friendly conversation, she felt connected to him in an elemental way. Her heart beat so fast she could hardly breathe, and the air around them seemed electrified.
Somehow, she managed to find a few words. “You’ll figure it out.”
The blue of his eyes had suddenly deepened. She knew he, too, felt the change in the air between them.
His voice was husky when he said, “This could be up to Joey. If he can’t trust me, it’s going to be hard going for us both.”
Shep shifted, leaned forward and sandwiched her hand between his and his arm—his very strong forearm. “I didn’t bring you out here today to talk about the boys.”
After only a moment’s hesitation, she asked, “Why did you ask me out here today?”
“Because I like you,” he said simply. “And because when I’m with you, all I can think about is kissing you.”
Her stomach did a flip. Her heart fluttered. The sun seemed even brighter and the sky even bluer.
“Say something,” he muttered. “If you want me to get back on my horse and forget this conversation ever happened—”
“I don’t want you to get back on your horse,” she almost whispered.
He took off his hat and set it on the blanket, out of the way. When he leaned in closer to her, she closed her eyes.
But his mouth didn’t cover hers. Instead, she felt his lips touch, whisper soft, slightly above her ear. “A kiss shouldn’t be too quick.” His voice was husky with desire.
“No?” she asked, her pulse pounding in her temples, her cheeks getting warm.
His hand, still covering hers, now moved up her arm and under her hair. “If a man goes for a woman’s lips right away, the kiss is over too fast. So I like to ease into it.”
His lips brushed the corner of her mouth and her breaths came fast.
“Or would you rather just get it over with?” he asked against her mouth.
She shook her head, and when she did, her lips rubbed back and forth across his. Like flint on tinder, heat sparked. Suddenly they were kissing, with no chance to go back to slow and easy. He held her head with both hands as his tongue slid into her mouth.
Her response was instinctive and inflammatory. It had been too long since she’d felt like this. So long. Shep made her feel beautiful and desirable, protected and wanted. She let those feelings rule her as she wound her arms around his neck.
She couldn’t seem to get enough of him. The kiss that had started easy, that had grown sensual, had now turned into raw hunger. The excitement of the moment and the heat they were generating drove them on.
Shep stretched out his long legs against hers. Side by side they held on to each other. She was driven by something she didn’t understand, something she didn’t want to think about right now. She just wanted to feel—feel like a woman, feel Shep, feel him touching her. He would touch her if she touched him.
She slid one hand under his shirt placket and unfastened the snap. Her fingertips met hair and bare skin.
Shep groaned and lifted her T-shirt to unfasten her bra.
Raina had never been impulsive, never been imprudent, not in her whole life. But now she felt reckless and invigorated and awake to her sensuality in a way she hadn’t been for almost a decade. She wanted Shep’s hands on her body. She wanted to know she was capable of responding. She needed this tough, enigmatic cowboy to make her come alive.
He seemed to need her, too. He invited her taunting caresses by murmuring, “That’s it, Raina. That’s exactly right.”
When he’d given her breasts enough attention to make her grip his shoulders tightly, she cried, “I want more.”
Cinderella and the Playboy / The Texan's Happily-Ever-After Page 19