“Not necessarily,” Patience corrected archly.
His sexy smile broadened as he leaned in close. “Trust me on this, Patience. There are some areas in which the old-fashioned way is best. And you may as well know now—” he trailed a hand down her face “—I’m an old-fashioned kind of guy, especially in that sense.”
Patience had half suspected Josh would react this way, once he got over the shock of Max’s plans for them. Unfortunately, to her immense chagrin, Patience found it all too easy to conjure up an image of her and Josh, locked in a passionate embrace, making love-making babies—as if there truly were no other way to achieve her lifelong dream of having a child of her own. Fortunately, she knew better. She had researched the ways to have a child without a mate. And there were plenty of those that did not involve her and Josh touching each other at all.
Apparently, Josh realized that, too, for he frowned abruptly and cast a look at the sky, which was turning a dusky blue-gray, with streaks of red and pink near the horizon. Reluctantly, he dropped his hand, moved away. “We better get back if we want to get in before dark.”
Not surprisingly, they were silent as they rode back, both caught up in their own thoughts.
Josh was an expert horseman. Patience enjoyed riding with him at a sedate pace. She enjoyed it even more when she urged her horse into a gallop and Josh and his mount kept pace.
Side by side, they raced back toward the ranch, slowing only as they rode into the yard and headed for the stable where the riding horses were kept. Josh was there to help her down from the saddle.
“I can do this myself,” Patience said a little breathlessly.
Josh gazed down at her. “I know,” he said softly. But he made no effort to remove his hands from her waist.
Warmth from his touch filtering through her, Patience could only stare up at him. Who knew how long they would have stood like that if not for the sound of a distinctly feminine cough behind them.
They turned in unison. Patience felt Josh tense as a beautiful, dark-haired woman in her late thirties moved to join them. She was clad in jodhpurs, a silk blouse and a velvet-collared tweed blazer. Her short, burnished mahogany hair was styled in sophisticated two-inch layers. Patience had only to look at her to realize that she was a Silver Spur Ranch customer, probably from the city, and probably there to see or buy a horse on the premises.
“Josh, hi,” the attractive woman said. “I’ve been waiting to talk to you.”
Josh dropped his hands from Patience’s waist, stepped back. “Nice to see you, Ms. Diehl. But this really isn’t a good time—”
Ms. Diehl’s smile remained fixed, but Patience could sense the tension flowing between them. “It won’t take long,” Ms. Diehl assured Josh. “I just wanted to let you know that I’m here for the weekend. I’ll be bunking in the guest quarters, as usual.”
“You come here often?” Patience interjected, more curious than ever.
“At least once a month. I’m Holly Diehl. I have a brood mare stabled here. Sapphire isn’t due for another three months. But I try to visit her whenever I can, and keep an eyes on things.”
And that included Josh, too, Patience was willing to bet. Was this what Cisco had meant when he warned her to be careful? she wondered uneasily, before her good manners took over and she did what Josh had purposefully, she was sure, neglected to do. “Hello, Holly,” Patience said with a warm smile. “And welcome. I’m Patience McKendrick.”
Holly nodded at her graciously, then paused, her hazel eyes sobering. “I read about your Uncle Max in the Butte newspapers,” she said compassionately. “Please accept my condolences.”
“Thank you,” Patience said.
“Max is really going to be missed around here,” Holly continued.
“By all of us,” Josh inserted solemnly.
For a moment they were all silent, sad. Josh looked at Patience expectantly. “Are you ready to get the horses put away for the night and go in?”
Patience nodded, knowing Josh had just given her permission to move on, but she didn’t want to miss any of what was going to be said, and so she just waited at his side.
Patience sensed Josh was not pleased with her behavior, but there was no evidence of that as he turned back to Holly. “Sapphire’s doing fine,” he told Holly bluntly as the two of them locked gazes. “There’s no reason for you to worry.”
Was it her imagination, Patience wondered, or were those words of Josh’s heavy with meaning other than just the obvious?
“Still—” Holly pinned Josh with a casual look as she retorted just as smoothly “—I’d like to talk to you in person about the recent changes.”
“No problem. I’ll be glad to go over everything with you in detail tomorrow,” Josh said bluntly. “In the meantime, Soaring Eagle would be glad to show you the farm records or answer any questions you might have about her care since you were last here.”
“Thanks,” Holly said easily. “I’ll do that.”
Holly thanked Josh politely, said goodbye to them both and walked away, leaving Patience to wonder if there was anything between Holly and Josh after all. She knew she wouldn’t rest until she had identified the source of the tension she had felt between them earlier. “So, what’s between the two of you?” Patience asked as she and Josh unsaddled their horses and went about the business of briskly rubbing them down. “That exchange seemed a little…personal.”
To Patience’s relief, the heated denials she half expected from Josh never came. “I think Holly is concerned about me in the same way I’m concerned about you, in the same way anyone is concerned about someone else who’s recently suffered a loss. Then, too, maybe she wants reassurance that the quality of care here will not change just because Max is gone.”
That made sense, Patience knew. She expected many more such calls in the days to come. Still, her radar was telling her there was more going on here than appeared on the surface. She made sure her horse had water and feed, then closed the stall door. “Does Holly usually stay the weekend when she visits Sapphire?”
Josh shrugged. “A lot of the owners who’ve bred their horses to our stallions and are waiting for their mares to give birth to their foals here stay over. Particularly when they have to drive long distances to get here. You know that.”
Yes, Patience did. In fact, they had a row of guest quarters between the bunkhouse, where the hired hands who resided on the premises lived, and the manager’s cabin, where she assumed Josh had been living since taking over the position. Nevertheless, she couldn’t shake the gut feeling that there was more going on between Josh and Holly Diehl than Josh was willing to say.
“Ready to go on back to the house?” Josh asked as they left the barn.
Patience nodded. “If you don’t mind, I think I’d like to turn in early tonight. Soon, actually.”
Josh glanced at his watch. “It’s only eight o’clock!”
Patience strode up the tree-lined path to the log cabin with its attached writing studio. The closer they got to what were more than likely going to be far too intimate quarters for the two of them, the harder her heart raced. “I know, but it’s been a long, stressful day.”
Josh continued to size her up as they approached the steps. He lifted a brow. “Sure you’re not just running?”
Chapter Three
Dear Patience,
I never got over a long-lost love. What should I do?
Sincerely,
Lost in the Jungle of Love
Dear Lost in the Jungle of Love, Get over it. Time marches on and so should you.
Looking for My Own Special Tarzan, Too,
Patience
“What could I be running from?”
“Lots of things.”
“Such as?”
“The past. The present. Even me. Or maybe it’s the news about Alec—and what you found out tonight,” he speculated, pinning her with a soft, searching gaze.
“You’re right.” Patience sighed as she stopped to admire th
e gardenia bushes that rimmed the house. They were in full bloom, the fragrant white blossoms filling the air around them with a heady, perfumed scent. “I haven’t had much time to deal with it.” She paused, her hand on the porch railing that bordered the steps. She was suddenly reluctant to go inside, to make their sharing quarters, at least for the next two days and two nights, official. “That’s why I was thinking maybe a long soak in a hot bath and an early bedtime would help me deal with things.” She hadn’t had supper yet and she wasn’t actually sleepy, but he didn’t know that.
“Then Max was right,” Josh said softly, looking amazed that anyone could carry a torch for a lost love for seventeen years. “You really weren’t over Alec, were you? And after all this time.”
Patience flushed with embarrassment. She hadn’t meant to reveal herself that way to Josh, or anyone else for that matter. Besides, as an advice columnist to the lovelorn who made her living telling others not to be saps in their personal relationships, she had a reputation to maintain. Her spine stiffened. “Whether I am over Alec or not—” and Patience admitted to herself there were days and nights when she did not think she ever would be “—it’s really none of your business, Josh.”
“Isn’t it?” Josh reached past her to pluck a gardenia blossom from the bush. “I’m supposed to marry you in less than forty-four hours.” He stripped the stem of leaves and placed the white blossom behind her ear. “At the very least we’re going to be business partners, Patience.”
He was taking too much for granted. Stepping in where he had no right. She had to find a way to put a halt to that, pronto. She slipped into ice-maiden mode, knowing it was her best, most effective defense. “Unless I choose not to inherit.” And that was a possibility, Patience thought stubbornly, plucking the gardenia blossom from her hair, if this did not work out.
He watched as she lifted the blossom to her face. “I thought you intended to honor Max’s wishes.”
Patience dropped the blossom to waist level and shrugged. “That was before I got to know you,” she answered haughtily, very much aware they were getting way too close, way too fast. She didn’t know quite how he had done it, but Josh had gotten an awful lot out of her in a very short time, while at the same time revealing next to nothing about himself or his own relationships. That, too, was dangerous. She hadn’t known Alec very long when she had gotten involved with him, either. Yet he had done the same thing. Managed to get very close to her very quickly.
“You still don’t know me,” Josh pointed out casually, picking another blossom, and then another, and another, handing them over one by one until she was holding a bouquet.
Aware that she felt suspiciously like a bride, and that maybe he wanted her to feel that way, Patience merely held her ground and shrugged. “And maybe that’s the way it should stay?” she suggested lightly, refusing to take him—or this marriage business—seriously. It was a baby she wanted these days, not a husband.
She looked at him pointedly. “Besides, you’re invading my space.”
He grinned. “And if I’m around, I’ll keep on invading it,” he promised. “So deal with it, Patience. Deal with me.”
She grinned back and coquettishly shook her head at him. She didn’t know quite how he had done it, but Josh had not only taken away her sadness, he had them flirting. Nevertheless, she didn’t want him getting too cocky. “Somehow, I don’t think this was in Max’s plan,” she told him drolly.
“Wrong again.” Josh plucked another flower and added it to her bouquet. “I think this was exactly Max’s plan,” he whispered with a knowing glance. “I think he wanted you to have more man than you could handle, right off the bat.”
Josh was certainly that, Patience thought as her insides warmed and her heart began to race. It wasn’t going to be easy sharing space with him, never mind platonically, even for the next day and a half. She could already tell. Which made her all the more reluctant to go inside.
She looked him over from head to toe and couldn’t help but note what superb physical shape he was in beneath the rough ranch-hand clothes. “Shyness is obviously not one of your problems.”
Josh laughed softly. “Guess not.”
Their gazes meshing, they regarded each other in breathless silence. Patience was aware that it was getting dark. And that she alone had the key to get into the house. If they waited much longer…
“Hey, Doc!”
Patience breathed a sigh of relief. A distraction!
She and Josh turned in unison to see Rusty striding toward them. Oblivious of the sexual tension that had been flowing like a fast-running river between her and Josh, the veteran ranch hand was anxious to relate his news. “Sorry to bother you, Doc…Patience.” Rusty tipped his hat at her, then turned back to Josh. “But Foxy Miss, that new bay mare that shipped in late today, seems to have a little swelling in the right foreleg tonight. Thought you might want to have a look at her afore you bed down for the night.”
“You’re right. I do.” Josh turned to Patience expectantly.
She thought she knew what he was going to say and couldn’t exactly say she was sorry about the reprieve, even if it was only temporary. “I know,” she said, reading his mind with a smile. “Whither thou goest, I go. At least for now,” she amended, tongue in cheek.
“Thanks.” Now that there was a problem to be attended to, he seemed anxious to get going. “It shouldn’t take long.”
“NEVER A DULL MOMENT around here, is there?” Patience asked as she accompanied Josh into the stables that housed Foxy Miss.
“One of the charms of the place, in my opinion,” Josh retorted, trying not to notice how pretty Patience looked in her riding gear. Trim but not overly tight, her dark blue denim jeans outlined her long, sexy legs to advantage. The white silk tunic she wore was long and full, blousing almost to midthigh. She wore a short suede vest, one shade darker than the pale, wheat gold color of her hair, over that. Knee-high boots of the same soft-hued leather. The outfit shouldn’t have been that sexy. And maybe it wouldn’t have been on anyone else. But ever since the moment he had laid eyes on her, coming out of the house for their ride, Josh had had all he could do to keep his hands to himself.
He wanted to take her in his arms. He wanted to slip his hands beneath the vest and her blouse and trace all of her soft, supple curves. And most of all, he wanted to tease her and goad her until she forgot all about the past and concentrated only on the present. He wanted to kiss her senseless until she thought only of the present.
Aware she was watching his every move, waiting for him to elaborate, Josh slipped into the stall ahead of her and explained, “I like being busy.”
Patience nodded as he stepped closer to Foxy Miss, who, after her long ride in the horse trailer, still seemed a little skittish.
Patience watched as Josh stroked Foxy Miss’s mane and whispered to her softly, telling her all he was going to have to do to check her out.
When she had settled down, he hunkered down beside her to have a look at her foreleg. Rusty had been right. It was swollen. It needed to be bandaged.
“What do you need?” Patience asked.
“Some liniment and a crepe bandage,” Josh said. “They’re in the first-aid trunk, in the tack room.”
Patience returned breathless seconds later, her cheeks pink from the energy expended. “Here you go.”
Their hands brushed as Josh took both items, giving him another jolt. “If you’ll stroke her mane, I’ll do the rest,” he said, checking his reaction to her nearness.
“Sure thing.” Murmuring soft, soothing words, Patience stepped into the stall.
Free to focus simply on the injury—which was, from the looks of things, more than likely a temporary condition caused during the transport—Josh carefully applied liniment and wrapped the foreleg. Finished, he put the materials away, washed up and went back to join Patience, who was still speaking in dulcet lullaby tones to Foxy Miss.
Seeing that Josh was waiting for her, and that Foxy Mi
ss looked a little sleepy, too, Patience stepped out of the stall and shut the door behind her. “You were great,” Josh said.
“So were you.” Patience smiled. In fact, she thought as she joined Josh in the wide aisle, she hadn’t really appreciated his talents on that score until just now, but he was obviously a wonderful veterinarian who had quite a way with animals.
“That being the case, I’d say a little congratulations are in order,” Josh teased gently, taking both her hands in his. Just that swiftly, he bent toward her, their lips met, and before Patience knew it they were experiencing their first kiss. With all they had been through that day, all Max wanted them to share, Patience had expected he would kiss her, if for no other reason than to see if they were in the least compatible. And, knowing that Josh was the kind of man who did everything well and with full concentration, she had expected his first kiss to pack a wallop unlike anything she had ever felt. She had even expected herself to respond to the sensual, tender, seducing caress of his lips on hers. And she did.
But she hadn’t expected the kiss to feel like a step back in time. And—heaven help her—it did.
His lips were soft, seductive and so sure.
Just like Alec’s.
His breath was warm and staccato.
Just like Alec’s.
He sifted his hands through the silk of her hair.
Just like Alec.
But, Patience thought almost hysterically, he wasn’t Alec! Breathlessly, she tore her lips from his. Hands pressed against his chest, she levered herself away from Josh. She was trembling from head to foot as the blood drained from her face.
“What is it?” he demanded.
Patience drew in a shaky breath, very much afraid he would haul her back into his arms and kiss her again if she showed the least vulnerability to his embrace.
“Nothing,” she fibbed.
But Josh, damn him, wasn’t buying it. His brows drew together in thundercloud fashion. “It’s him, isn’t it?” he accused, sounding both amazed and bitterly resentful all at once. “You’re still thinking of him!”
The Ranch Stud Page 5