The Little Maverick Matchmaker (Montana Mavericks: The Lonelyhearts Ranch Book 3)

by Stella Bagwell

  “You do know how to dance,” she said after a moment. “And very well, too. Where did you learn these kinds of moves?”

  Just to impress her more, he dipped her over one arm, which caused her to release a breathless little laugh.

  “My mom,” he said. “She’s the dancer of the bunch.”

  “And are your brothers this good at cutting a rug?”

  “Hah! All my brothers have two left feet. They’d trip over themselves out here.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “No. They’re all pretty graceful guys. When they choose to be,” he added impishly.

  The song ended, but thankfully the band immediately broke into another. This time a young woman with long dark hair, dressed in a glittery evening gown, walked up to a microphone and began to sing.

  “Oh, this is one of my favorite songs,” Josselyn said.

  She began to hum along to the slow, dreamy tune and soon her cheek was resting against his shoulder. The scent of her hair drifted to his nostrils, while her soft curves seemed to melt into his hard body. Had dancing ever felt like this? Like he was moving across a fluffy cloud rimmed with golden sunshine.

  “I think it’s becoming my favorite, too,” he said in a husky voice.

  Her fingers tight around his, she moved her head so that she was looking up at him. The faint smile on her face caused something to stir the darkest parts of him.

  He wanted this woman. He wanted to touch her. Kiss her. Make love to her. The realization stunned him and left him feeling as if he’d just woken from years of sleep.

  “I’m going to make a guess that you’ve never heard it before,” she said.

  His eyes glinted devilishly down at her. “I’m hearing it now. And you know what I’ve decided?”

  “That I’m the one who needs to take dancing lessons?”

  “No. I’ve decided you’re much more like your old-fashioned granny than you think. The one who thinks a woman ought to root down with a man.”

  Her green eyes searched his and Drew suddenly felt so connected to her that he couldn’t tear his gaze away. Like two comets crashing together, the explosion had left him addled and incapable of doing anything but staring back at her.

  “Maybe,” she said. “In some ways.”

  He tried to draw in a deep breath, but a pressure in his chest hampered the effort.

  “Have I told you tonight how beautiful you are?”

  Her eyes widened marginally and then her fingers tightened on his shoulder. “It’s the dim lighting and the music,” she reasoned. “Any woman would look beautiful in these surroundings.”

  “You’re not any woman, Josselyn.” Bending his head, he whispered against her cheek, “And I want to thank you.”

  The front of her body pressed closer to his. “For what?”

  “Making me feel alive again,” he said, his voice thick with emotion.

  She seemed to understand that he didn’t need any words of response from her, and as she silently nestled her face in the crook of his shoulder, he felt as if he’d finally come home.

  * * *

  Much later that night, when Drew braked the car to a stop in front of her cabin, Josselyn’s mind was darting in every direction. Everything inside her, with the exception of one slither of sanity, was screaming at her to invite him inside.

  Coffee? TV? A late-night snack? Any reason might do to get him on her couch and into her arms. But the sensible part of her brain that was still working realized she might not be quite ready to make love to the man. And the way she was feeling at the moment, all he needed to do to get her into bed was to ask.

  “The evening has been so wonderful, Drew.” She unsnapped her seat belt and reached for her coat lying on the back seat. “Thank you for treating me to dinner and dancing.”

  He shut off the motor and turned toward her, causing Josselyn to unwittingly drop the coat to her lap.

  “The pleasure has been all mine, Josselyn.”

  The nervous beat of her heart was fluttering in her throat. “Well, it’s getting late and we both have to be up early. I’d better go in.”

  “I’ll walk you to the door,” he said.

  “No!” she blurted, then seeing his look of surprise, quickly added, “I mean, there’s no need. I left the porch light on. I won’t trip between here and there.”

  A knowing expression came over his face. “And you won’t have to ask me in. Is that it?”

  She let out a long breath. “Well, sort of,” she confessed. “I’d love to invite you in. But I—”

  “You’re afraid of what it might lead to,” he finished for her.

  She groaned. “Did you take mind-reading lessons when you studied to be a doctor?”

  He leaned toward her, and as his hands settled gently on her shoulders she felt her whole body go mushy.

  “Only the mind of a green-eyed blonde with luscious pink lips.”

  “Drew.”

  His name was the only sound she could push past her thick throat, and even that response was unnecessary as his mouth was suddenly latched over hers, searing, searching, pushing every capable thought out of her head.

  Lost in the delicious taste of him, she rested her hands on his shoulders, then trailed them upward until her fingers were pushing into his hair. Her head tilted to one side as her lips parted and invited him to deepen the kiss.

  She heard him groan with need and then his hands were in her hair, cradling the back of her head as he anchored her mouth to his.

  Fire licked at the edges of her mind and stabbed splinters of heat over every inch of her skin. There was nothing she could remember ever feeling this good or right. Nothing she had ever imagined could compare to the sensations wrapping around her, swirling her in a blanket of pure pleasure.

  It took only moments for their kiss to grow hungry and wild and before she knew it, she was circling her arms tight around his neck, groaning with the need to be closer. At the same time, Drew was moving from behind the steering wheel and drawing her across the low console and onto his lap.

  With his mouth moving magically over hers, Josselyn couldn’t think, much less resist. Not that she wanted to. That sliver of sanity that she’d been gripping a few minutes earlier had long since dissolved. All she wanted now was to have Drew carry her into the cabin and make slow, sweet love to her.

  The desire must have conveyed itself in her kiss because she’d barely had time to process the thought when his hand found its way inside her blouse. And then his fingers were pressing into the soft breast encased in the lacy cup of her bra, eliciting a low moan deep in her throat.

  He lifted his mouth from hers and as she gulped for oxygen, he buried his face in the side of her neck.

  “As much as I want this to go on, I—I’d better go. Now. Before something happens that we’ll both regret.”

  Regret? No! How could she ever regret making love to this man? She couldn’t. But then, he probably wasn’t thinking about this in terms of making love. To him this was sex. The reaction of raw, sizzling chemistry and nothing more.

  The chilling thought was enough to have her scurrying off his lap and straightening her blouse.

  “Uh—yes. You’re right, Drew. I’m sure you hadn’t planned on this happening. And we don’t want to do anything as impulsive as jumping into bed together.”

  Her face burning with humiliation, she hurriedly fumbled with the door latch.

  “I’ll see my way to the door. Good night, Drew.”

  She climbed out of the car only to have him call out to her as she started to shut the door.

  “Josselyn, are we going to see each other again?”

  She lowered her head enough to enable her to see inside the car. Drew had already situated himself behind the steering wheel. His fingers were on the ignition key, ready to twist the motor to life. O
bviously, he had leaving on his mind.

  “Well, yes. I mean, if you want to. We could do something safe and simple. Like coffee at Daisy’s Donut Shop.”

  She gave him a little wave, then hurried on to the cabin. It wasn’t until she was inside and the door locked behind her that she saw Drew’s headlights sweeping across the lawn, then turning in the direction of Rust Creek Falls.

  That was where he belonged, Josselyn thought glumly. Back at the boardinghouse with Dillon and his grandparents. Back with his memories of Evelyn and a love that he wouldn’t allow to die.

  Chapter Eight

  Friday evening, after an incredibly hectic week full of emergencies and an overload of patients, Drew entered the boardinghouse in hopes of spending a quiet evening. Instead, the moment he walked into the old-fashioned entrance, Dillon was racing down the staircase, yelling like a banshee was on his tail. But rather than a ghoul chasing his son, it was Robbie wearing a Halloween mask complete with warts and long whiskers.

  “Dillon!” Drew caught his son by the shoulder as the child leaped with both feet onto the landing. “You know what I’ve told you about running. Especially on the stairs!”

  “But, Dad, Robbie—I mean Troll Monster—is after me! I gotta get away!”

  By now, Robbie had already seen the error of his ways and jerked off the rubber mask. His eyes wide, the child cowered against the bannister as though he expected Drew to throttle him. The idea very nearly broke Drew’s heart.

  Purposely gentling his voice, Drew said, “It’s okay to play, boys. But the both of you could get seriously hurt running down the stairs. Halloween isn’t far away. How could you two celebrate if you’re hobbling around on crutches?”

  “Celebrate?” Robbie tilted his blond head to one side. “What’s that?”

  Dillon rolled his eyes. “Aw, Robbie, don’t be so dumb. You know—it’s like having a party. Doing fun stuff and eating things you don’t get to eat all the time.”

  Drew rubbed the top of Dillon’s head. “That pretty much explains it.”

  Robbie’s wide-eyed gaze traveled back and forth between Drew and Dillon. “Oh. Will we get to do that here?”

  “Will we, Dad?”

  “I expect there’ll be some sort of Halloween partying going on,” Drew answered, then glanced at his watch. “You two better go get washed up for dinner. Melba doesn’t want any stragglers.”

  “Can Dillon eat at the big table with me tonight?” Robbie asked. “I like it better when he’s there.”

  When Drew left the clinic, he’d been dreaming of having a quiet meal upstairs in his private quarters. The last thing he’d planned on doing was joining the rest of the tenants around a boisterous dinner table. But Dillon enjoyed the company. And though, more often than not, Drew was caught up in his own busy life, he had noticed little Robbie. He wasn’t sure what had gone on in the boy’s life before he and his mother had come to live at the boardinghouse, but it was obvious to Drew that the child needed extra attention.

  “Okay, we’ll all have dinner together at the big table,” Drew told him. “As long as you two promise not to run on the stairs anymore.”

  Both boys jumped up and down with glee. “We promise!” they shouted in unison.

  * * *

  He was getting as soft as a pat of butter, Drew thought a few minutes later as he washed and changed into a clean shirt. It wasn’t his place to try to put a smile on the face of someone else’s kid. And before he and Dillon had moved here to Rust Creek Falls, he would’ve told himself that the emotional well-being of his son’s little friend was really none of his business.

  But Drew had changed since he’d come to this small mountain town. He wasn’t exactly sure when or how it had happened, but he didn’t feel like the same man who’d arrived only a few weeks ago. At some point the bitterness that had been gripping his heart for so long had slipped away, and once it had disappeared, everything around him had suddenly come to life. Instead of just seeing patients and studying medical charts, he’d begun to see and understand the needs and wants of his son in a much clearer way. He’d started thinking more of his family and all that his brothers meant to him. Christmas was still a few months away, but Drew was already getting that coming-home feeling of love and togetherness.

  You know who and what has made the change in you. You just don’t want to recognize how important Josselyn has become to you.

  The taunting voice in his head had him taking a stark glance at himself in the dresser mirror.

  Josselyn. Three days had passed since their evening together in Kalispell, yet in spite of that and his chaotic schedule, he couldn’t get her or their night together out of his brain. Especially the ending.

  The depth of the desire he’d felt for Josselyn still left him stunned. Where had all that hot yearning come from and how had he let it get so out of control?

  Even with Evelyn, he’d never experienced such reckless passion. With her it had been all sweet and tender feelings, not an animallike lust to mate.

  Dear Lord, if he hadn’t put a stop to things when he had, he would have made love to Josselyn right there in the car.

  We could do something safe and simple. Like coffee at Daisy’s Donut Shop.

  The tartly spoken suggestion had made it clear she was frustrated with him, and Drew couldn’t blame her. When he’d talked about regret, she’d most likely taken the word personally. But in truth, he’d been thinking more about her feelings than his. Compared to him, she was incredibly young. And she was the type of woman who didn’t have sex with a man. She made love to him. If she did ever decide to make love to Drew, he wanted everything in her heart to be certain and settled.

  “Dad, did you know tomorrow is Saturday?”

  Drew finished snapping the last button on his Western shirt before he glanced over his shoulder to see Dillon standing in the doorway of the bedroom. The boy had made an attempt to tame his hair with an abundance of water and a brush. Some of the dark locks were plastered against his skull while others stuck up in tall spikes. Drew decided that Dillon’s effort was all that mattered.

  “Yes. I did know that tomorrow is Saturday.”

  “And you don’t have to work on Saturdays,” Dillon pointed out. “Unless some woman starts to have a baby. Right?”

  “That’s right,” Drew answered, while wondering where all this might be going. “Why? Are you thinking it’s time for another fishing trip?”

  Dillon skipped into the room. “Another fishing trip would be super, Dad. But we can do that some other time. I was thinking it was time you saw Josselyn again. Maybe take her out on a stroll through the woods or a picnic in the park.”

  Drew kept his amused smile to himself. “Oh, you do, do you? And you think a stroll or a picnic is what a girl likes to do?”

  “Sure. That’s the kind of stuff I see on TV. And the girls are always laughing so I figure they like it.”

  “That’s only in commercials,” Drew informed him.

  “Well, I’ll bet Josselyn would like going for a walk with you. If you’d hold her hand. And smile at her.”

  Lord help him, Drew thought. He was definitely going to need it when his son reached his teenage years. “Maybe she would. If no babies suddenly decide to be born tomorrow, I just might ask her.”

  Grinning broadly, Dillon said, “That’s the ticket, Dad. You’re getting the hang of things now.”

  Taking hold of his son’s hand, Drew led him out of the bedroom. “Come on. Let’s go down to dinner. And, Dillon, whatever you do, don’t say any mean things to Robbie. Hear me?”

  “Oh, shoot, Dad, I’m never mean to Robbie. Sometimes I have to show him the ropes. ’Cause I know about a lot more things than he does. But he don’t mind. That’s the way it is with friends. We help each other out.”

  “And who taught you that philosophy?”

  “Why,
you did, Dad.”

  Pride swelled in Drew’s chest as he smiled down at his son. For the first time in years, he was beginning to feel like a real father again.

  * * *

  The next afternoon Josselyn was surprised when Mikayla showed up on her doorstep, minus little Hazel.

  “Mikayla, I love that you’ve come to visit, but I’m very disappointed that you didn’t bring the baby,” Josselyn told her as the two women sat on opposite ends of the couch. “Is she feeling okay?”

  “She’s fine. Just a bit fussy. When I finally got her to sleep, Eva practically shoved me out of the house. She thought I needed a break. I’ve been busy packing.”

  “Packing? You mean Jensen has finally found a house for the three of you?”

  Her eyes sparkling with excitement, Mikayla nodded. “Yes! He’s rented one of the Victorians in town. You’ve probably noticed the houses before. They’re over on Falls Street, just north of the river. You know, the ones that Jonah Dalton renovated a couple of years ago.”

  “Sure. They’re beautiful and not far from the elementary school. How nice, Mikayla. So when is moving day?”

  “Two days from now. That’s why I’m already packing.”

  “Oh, I’m going to miss you and the baby being close by,” Josselyn told her. “But I’m so happy that the three of you will be together.”

  “I’m not sure how long we’ll stay in the Victorian. Jensen has plans to buy land in the area and build a beautiful new home for us.”

  “Wow. A new baby, a wedding and plans for a dream house. I can’t imagine how you must be feeling.”

  “Like a princess,” Mikayla said with a soft laugh.

  “Well, Princess Mikayla, just make sure to keep little Hazel bundled during the move. She’s going to be the star of your wedding.”

  Mikayla smiled. “Don’t worry. I’m going to make double sure Hazel doesn’t have any setbacks. I can hardly wait for our wedding to take place.”

  “That day will be here before you know it,” Josselyn told her. “And by the way, I met Caroline Ruth the other day in Gilda’s boutique. And I ran into her again having coffee at Daisy’s.”