by Jeannie Watt
“Allie...I need help.”
“What about your dad?”
“Real estate is in a slump right now. I can’t get a job while I’m laid up and I need to pay something on those bills. Soon.”
“You just got out of the hospital.”
“You know what’ll happen to my credit if I fall behind on payments.”
Perhaps the same thing that had happened to hers after he’d screwed up the ranch? Everything—all the credit cards, all the utility bills—had been in either her name or under a ranch account. Kyle had walked away from that fiasco scot-free while she had taken the hit.
“Look, Allie, just help me out here and I’ll leave you alone.”
“You’ll leave me alone even if I don’t help you,” Allie said stonily. Kyle was starting to get red, a sure sign that his temper was rising. Also a sure sign that this conversation needed to be over.
“I should have gotten part of the ranch. I worked it for five years and it was wrong that I got nothing for my labors.”
This again? Allie somehow managed to keep her mouth shut.
“It’s only right that you help me with these bills, Allie.”
There was no arguing with him when he got like this, so Allie simply got into the car. Before she shut the door he yelled, “We’ll be talking about this again. You owe me!”
He might think she owed him, but he also knew her well enough to stand back and not try something foolish such as banging on the window.
Allie pulled out of the parking lot and drove home with her teeth tightly clenched together. Every now and again she checked the rearview mirror, but he didn’t follow her. Good. Because if he had, then she would have called the sheriff’s office.
* * *
“YOU KNOW WHAT to do?” Zach asked sternly.
Jason managed to keep a straight face as he said, “Check the back fence line and finish clearing the ditch.”
Zach gave a nod. “And watch the white-face cow.”
“Will do.”
“How do I look?” Zach asked. He’d borrowed Allie’s iron and ironing board to press his shirt and he was wearing slacks and polished loafers.
“The judge will be impressed.”
“Hope so.” Zach grimaced. “Second offense, you know. He gave me the benefit of the doubt last time and all I got was community service. I was in possession of beer, but blew clean with the breathalyzer.”
“And if you’d blown an hour later?”
Zach just shrugged and Jason said, “Yeah.” He wanted to ask him if his dad was going to be at the hearing, but decided against it.
“See you in the morning. I hope.” Zach was staying the night at his mom’s place, then getting a ride to the ranch with her before she went to work.
“I don’t think they’re going to throw you in jail, but I imagine you’ll be looking at some more community service.”
“And I may lose my driver’s license and I have to take a course.”
“Going to do this again?” Jason asked mildly.
“Hell no.”
Jason gave an approving nod and headed to the ditch, pulling his gloves out of his back pocket as he walked. Behind him he heard Zach drive away for what would probably be the last time in a long time. It was going to be hard on the kid to not have a license, but he’d chosen his course of action and now he was paying the price. At least he was able to see his blame in the matter, and maybe now he was done punishing his dad and hurting his mom in the process.
While he cleared muck and debris out of a ditch, Jason practiced interview answers in his head.
What exactly is your job experience off the football field, Mr. Hudson?
Well, I’ve torn down a barn and managed a kid who now manages me. Oh, and I’ve helped birth several calves.
He’d have to come up with something better than that, and he was confident that he would. He’d been doing a lot of research at night, figuring out what he lacked and how he could counter those deficits with his life experiences. He usually did well in face-to-face meetings and he hoped against hope to do well in this one.
And then there was the issue of Pat. Coach had been in contact, and even though he thought Pat had played the prima donna and caused most of his own problems, he was worried. Jason was worried, too, but Pat wasn’t answering his calls. At least he was still in contact with their coach.
Jason straightened and tossed a shovelful of wet gunk to the side of the ditch.
He was about to start shoveling again, when he noticed a cow pacing the fence line. She bawled and paced, bawled and paced.
This was not normal cow activity.
Remembering Allie and her brandishing post, Jason put the shovel over his shoulder as he started across the pasture. The cow barely looked at him, and he could see that she’d recently given birth. But where was the calf?
The pasture sloped at that end and Jason started to get the bad feeling that the calf had somehow rolled to the other side. He quickened his pace, eventually breaking into a jog. The cow looked like she was ready to go through the fence by the time he got there. He skirted around her and squeezed through the wires, ducking low, so as not to touch the electric strand at the top.
A small creek paralleled the fence at the bottom of a gentle slope and sure enough, there was a small black calf lying in the creek. Jason sprinted for the animal, scooping it up and pulling it out of the water and hugging it to his chest. It hung limply in his arms.
For a moment he stood, feeling helpless and panicked. The mother bellowed and Jason realized that she truly was going to come over the fence and probably kill him if he didn’t get out of there. He started along the creek to the fence that separated the pasture from the meadow hay field. Mom came right long. Praying that she didn’t attempt to jump the sturdy pole boundary fence, he started awkwardly jogging through the hay field toward the house, the baby in his arms. It was still warm, but Jason had no idea if it was alive or dead. He just knew he had to get it to the house, where his phone was. Then he’d call Allie, call the vet. Zach. Someone.
The mother cow mirrored him, but didn’t come through the fence. He hit the pole fences and squeezed through rather than go to the gate, twenty yards away.
Allie’s car was there...
Jason ran across the drive, up the walk, setting the baby down on the porch and pounding on the door before he opened it.
Allie appeared in the kitchen doorway, a shocked expression on her face.
“I have a dead calf that may be alive. I don’t know.”
Allie brushed by him and went out the open door to the porch. “Get a towel,” she yelled.
Jason ran to the bathroom and came back with two bath towels. Allie pulled one out of his hands and started rubbing. Jason stood back, once again feeling helpless. Allie kept rubbing every now and again putting her hand against the calf’s nose, then rubbing again.
Finally she sat back on her heels and let her head drop in defeat.
“Too late?” Jason asked softly. She nodded and he crouched down to put a hand under her arm and help her to her feet.
But it had been warm...he’d thought it might have been breathing.
“Not the first time.” Allie let out a weary sigh as she stared down at the still body of the little black calf. “Won’t be the last.”
“Are you okay?” There was a note in her voice that he’d never heard before.
“I’m fine.” She pushed her hair back and turned to look at him briefly. “It’s just...been a day. Dead calves. Ex-husbands...”
Jason frowned at her, but she didn’t seem to notice.
“We’ll put the calf in the barn stall. Zach can take care of it when he gets back.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
“We have ditch we use on t
he far side of the property. Zach knows where it is.” Jason gave her a questioning look and she said, “Animal graveyard.”
She went back inside as Jason picked up the calf and carried its limp body to the barn, where he closed in into a stall so animals couldn’t get to it. He and Zach would take care of it when the kid got back. In the field the mother still paced, bawling and looking for her baby.
The sound tore at him.
He walked back to the house, went inside without knocking and headed down the hall to the bathroom, where he washed his hands. His clothing was wet and streaked with mud from the calf, but there wasn’t a lot he could do about that.
He came out of the bathroom to find Allie standing in the middle of the living room, staring at a painting she’d started. A calf, of course.
“By the way, I really am fine,” Allie said, looking over her shoulder as he approached. “It’s sad to lose a baby, but it’s part of the business. We lose calves every year.”
She was schooling him, but it wasn’t the calf that concerned him now. It was the other comment she’d made.
“What did you mean when you said something about a dead calf and an ex-husband?”
Allie’s gave a careless shrug. “Kyle met me after work to find out why I wasn’t taking his calls.”
“Your ex is hanging around your place of work?” Jason felt an instant surge of protectiveness.
“He still wants help paying his hospital bills. He never was very good with the word no.”
“So he’s stalking you?”
“I’m calling the sheriff the next time I see him. I don’t know how much good it will do, since he used to be a deputy—but he was a bad deputy, so it’ll probably be fine.”
“I don’t like this.”
“It’s okay, Jason. More of a nuisance than anything.”
“Maybe I should stay here. I can bunk with Zach.”
Allie’s chin lifted. “How about I take care of my issues and you take care of yours?”
She seemed more angry than afraid of her ex, so after a second’s pause, Jason said, “Agreed, but...if for some reason you become concerned—”
“I’ll call law enforcement.”
And judging from the stubborn look on her face, he was going to have to accept that answer. “Any chance you have some Jameson left?”
Allie nodded and silently went into the kitchen. Jason followed her and grabbed the bottle down from over the fridge after she pointed at the cupboard there. She got glasses and he poured a healthy splash in each one. He handed her a glass and said, “I’ll be gone next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I have an interview.” And he’d hoped to tell her under better circumstances. “With Brandt.”
Her gaze flashed up to his. “The job you wanted.”
“A candidate dropped out.”
“Does Zach know?”
“I got permission to leave.” He didn’t smile even though it was kind of funny.
Allie pressed her lips together, then took a sip of her whiskey.
“Allie?”
She gave a slight shrug and didn’t quite meet his eyes as she said, “I’m going to miss the hell out of you.”
* * *
HAD SHE REALLY just said that?
Oh, yes, she had.
Damage control.
“It’s the truth,” Allie said matter-of-factly. “And lately I’m all about the truth, uncomfortable or not. You can’t live life well if you’re lying to yourself.”
He reached out to run a light hand up her arm and then his fingers curved around her shoulder, pulling her closer to him. Allie went without a word, stepping into his one-armed embrace and letting her head rest against his broad chest.
“Any other truths you’d like to share?” he murmured against her hair.
“I don’t know if being attracted to you is good or bad.” She swirled the whiskey in her glass, then took a sip, keeping her temple pressed against his chest as she drank. False courage was fine with her right now—especially if she were going to start spilling all of her truths.
And damn but he smelled good.
Jason set down his glass on the sideboard and then gently took hers and set it alongside his own. Allie looked up at him, losing herself in the warmth of his gaze as he wrapped his other arm around her loosely and said, “Just to be crazy, why don’t we go with good?”
“Then I have to ask myself where it’s going.”
“And how do you answer yourself?”
“If I’m honest...I have to say that since I haven’t figured out my own life, my own self, how can I factor someone else into the equation?” Especially when the results had been so devastating in the past.
He gently tipped up her chin. “You bring up good points.”
“Yes. I know.” She lifted her eyebrows at him. “I’m great at that. Bringing up points that I don’t have an answer to.”
He smiled at her—that gentle don’t-worry-I’ve-got-your-back smile that made her want to believe he really did have her back—and then framed her face with his big hands. His fingers were pleasantly warm against her skin and she wanted more than anything to believe that this was a good thing.
If only so many other things in her life had not imploded.
But thoughts of implosions didn’t stop heat from flowing through her body. It didn’t keep the small tingles from traveling over her skin. And it didn’t stop her from just plain wanting.
“Maybe,” he said in low voice, “this is a take-it-one-day-at-a-time situation.” His mouth was so close. All she had to do was rise up on her toes and touch his lips.
“Could be,” she agreed huskily.
The last word was barely out of her mouth when his lips met hers. Lightly. Reassuringly. His fingers pushed up into her hair, just as they had the first time he’d kissed her, and when he raised his head, his lips were still a fraction of an inch away from hers. She slid her hand up around his neck and pulled his mouth back for more.
Jason drew her closer, pressing her body against his long, hard frame. Their tongues touched lightly, jolting her senses, before they tangled and stroked for real, turning her body to liquid fire.
When the kiss ended, Jason raised his head to meet her gaze, his expression so very serious as he said, “One moment at a time. One day at a time. That’s how I spent my career, because you never knew when something was going to happen to end it.”
She could do a moment. And then another. And another. She could live her life instead of letting fear of consequences rule her world. She’d already made strides forward, deciding to seek out a new career, whatever that might be.
No fear...
Wrong.
She always had fears. Things happened if she didn’t.
And they happen when you do.
It was the same argument she’d had with herself since her father had died. The argument she always managed to bury, thinking she’d won, only to have it pop back up at inopportune moments...such as now.
“Allie...do you want me to leave?”
Her eyes flashed up to his. “No. I do not want you to leave.”
“Then what?”
“I want you to make me stop thinking,” she muttered. “I want you to just make me feel.”
“Done,” he said, leaning down to touch his lips to her throat. “And done.”
He was right. She was done.
She stepped back and started undoing the buttons of his ruined shirt. She’d barely even noticed how wet it was when he’d kissed her, but now...
“I should shower,” he said as he helped her undo the buttons, revealing an amazing set of washboard abs. She raised her eyes to his, ignoring what he’d said.
“Why haven’t you been working without your shirt?”
He c
overed her hands with his. “Shower?”
She shook her head. “Later.”
“Whatever,” he muttered as she took him by the hand and led him up the stairs. Truthfully, she was afraid of coming to her senses if she had time to think, but after he’d taken off his shirt and his jeans, leaving them in a damp heap as he stood before her in his briefs, she realized that wouldn’t have been an issue. Not after she’d seen him almost naked.
Her throat went dry. The knit fabric of his underwear hugged him, showing the outline of his erection. And every bit of his body was sculpted, muscled. She’d never seen anything like it. Slowly she reached out to touch him, run her hand lightly over his chest.
“You work out a lot?” she asked.
“Are you going to keep making funny remarks?” he growled.
“I’m nervous.” Ridiculously, heart-in-the-throat nervous.
“Aren’t we all?”
He was nervous?
As if in answer to her question, he took her hands in his, pulled her a step closer, so that their thighs touched and the hard length of him was pressed against her belly. “This matters to me, Allie.”
And, Allie realized, it also mattered to her.
One moment at a time. Time for big decisions later.
* * *
“I MIGHT HAVE to invest in a bigger bed.” Until tonight, her double bed had seemed quite roomy, but with a football player taking up three quarters of it, not so much so.
“I don’t mind this,” he said as she nestled against him, totally spent and very, very satisfied. Jason had demonstrated athleticism that she could truly appreciate and now he stroked his hand up and down her back in long, lazy motions. Allie’s eyes were just drifting shut when he said, “I’m worried about this guy. Your ex.”
Allie raised her head, feeling like she’d been splashed with cold water. “He just wants money.”
“You’re certain.”
“Very.” She put her forearm on his chest and propped her chin in her hand. “Trust me on this.” He cocked an eyebrow in an if-you-were-me-would-you-let-it-go? expression and Allie gave up. “His plan is to bother me until I get tired of him and pay him off.”
“This has happened before?”