by Reina Torres
And before he pulled away her hand was between them, grasping the front of his shirt.
“Jesse?”
He gave her a soft peck of a kiss on her nose and she smiled up at him.
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“What’s next?”
The question was innocent, he knew Etta well enough to know that, but his body knew what it wanted next. And there wasn’t any discussion necessary.
But what it wanted meant much more than anything physical happening between them. Oh, he knew how to take care of her and protect her, but it went beyond just the act of loving her.
Jesse knew he was already half in love with Etta Bradford. And although math had never been his strong suit, he knew that the half he was talking about was ready to plunge all the way in. Pitching him head over heels.
And that meant everything. It meant love. Family. Forever. His father had always said that Sutton men fell hard and fast and when they did that was it.
And damn, he knew he was leaning far over the edge.
“What’s next,” he repeated with a note of wonder in his voice, “is another kiss.”
She leaned into it, her hands on his chest, and her breath on his lips. He slid his free arm around her body, pressing his palm against her lower back, pulling her away from the wall and into him. Gentle pressure of his lips on hers tilted her head back, wrung a sigh from deep in her throat.
A sigh that he caught in his mouth and tasted on his tongue. Sweet. Like honey.
Hungry for more he turned, putting his back against the wall, holding her tight as her hands grasped onto his shoulders. Her mouth opened under his and where he coaxed her, she followed.
Eager.
Passionate.
And that’s when it came to him.
This woman. This sweet and tender, strong and determined woman, had his heart in her hands.
He pulled back and tucked her close against his side, touched his forehead against hers and listened to the soft, uneven breaths from both of their lips.
“Jesse?”
He dipped his head for one last kiss before stepping back and putting enough distance between them that he could screw his head on straight. He wanted more, but the time wasn’t right.
“I should go home, Etta. I need to go home before I ask to go inside with you.”
She looked at the door and then back up at him. “You could. We could talk.”
“We could,” he took another step back, “but if we did, I’m afraid I wouldn’t want to just talk. I need a little space.”
“From me?” He saw the worry in her eyes.
“For you.” He saw her worry deepen, but his smile brought an answering one to her lips. “I’m trying to be good to you, Etta.”
Her eyes sparkled with laughter. “You’re good for me, Jesse Sutton. Now go, before I forget that you’re leaving for my own good. Good night.” She fished out her keys from the bag she had over her shoulder and opened the door.
“Good night, Etta Bradford. You have some sweet dreams tonight. I’ll see you in the morning.”
The way she looked back at him made him both regret leaving and more sure that he was doing the right thing. He motioned to the lock on the door. “I’ll see you in the morning. Now, go to bed.”
He didn’t leave until he’d heard her lock the door and secure the chain.
The next morning found Etta awake with the sun and in her car with a smile. As she drove past the laundromat she waved to Mr. Nakata as he was on his way out with the rubbish. He nodded back to her and she pulled out onto the road with the windows down. She reached out and turned on the radio to give her something to listen to beyond the heavy throb of her heartbeat in her ears. As she leaned back against the seat, she heard the opening notes of Top of the World by the Carpenters and let out a laugh. How perfect! That song filled her with joy and sang along as she traveled the road out to the ranch.
She knew she had to tamp down the wild energy coursing through her before she reached the main house. The walk alone would be enough to let her work off some of that excited energy. Etta just didn’t know what it was going to be like to see Jesse again.
Her dreams, when she’d finally drifted off to sleep had been sweet indeed.
Turning off the road, she moved through the gate and continued through the trees and then more of the long curving road before she saw the telltale turn that told her she was moments away from town.
It was hard to believe that so much had changed in so short a time. Her decision to move out on her own may have been an impetuous one, but if she hadn’t left that night… if she hadn’t driven until she was exhausted and turned off the main road…
All those decisions from that night had led her to this place.
And to Jesse.
She must have done something good during her life to have something this amazing happen to her. Etta wasn’t going to question it. That wasn’t going to happen. She was going to hold onto the feeling that was coursing through her veins and keep going. There was no way that she would change or turn away from what was happening.
She was more than hopeful. She was excited about life for the first time since her mother had passed. With only her father left, her family had become the people she knew connected to his businesses and some had been more kind to her and encouraged her. But they had always been very careful not to get too close. They didn’t want to do anything to temp her father’s sometimes mercurial anger.
This. This place. This family. They were different. Warm, accepting.
The kind of family that she had with her mother and had missed ever since.
As she pulled into the off-side parking area she noticed that there was a lot of activity in the area. A quick check of her watch told her that she was early as she had expected, but this kind of activity was new to her. Confusing too.
A knock on her rear window startled her enough to make her yelp.
Jesse was looking through the window with a big grin on his face and gave her a wink.
“Good Morning!”
She heard the words through the open window at her side and rolled it up before she stepped out of the car, grabbing up her purse and keys as she went.
“Hey,” she barely got the word out before Jesse’s hands settled on her waist and pulled her closer, “Good Morning to you too.”
The way he looked at her made her knees week, but he wasn’t going to let her fall. The hold he had on her kept her right where she was… inches from him.
“You look happy.”
Her laughter was joined by his. “Of course, I look happy,” she leaned closer, “it’s because I am.”
The kiss he gave her was a surprise, but a good one. Still, she pulled away and looked up at him with wonder in her heart. How could a simple touch mean so much?
Something struck her when she was leaning into his touch. Stepping back, she gave him a curious look. “Aren’t you supposed to be working with…”
“Randy? That’s the thing I came down to tell you.”
When he didn’t immediately explain, she gave him a pointed look. “What? Tell me what?”
“I’m about to have two weeks of peace as far as Randy is concerned.” He hugged her tight and she had to turn her head to the side to hear the rest of what he said. “He’s leaving today to go back to Hollywood. He’s got some press thing to do for his last film and they’re doing some camera testing with a potential co-star for the film. I don’t know exactly how long he’ll be away, but the producer I spoke to on the phone this morning told me it’s going to be at least two weeks.”
Jesse held her so tight she would have struggled to breathe if she wasn’t already breathless with relief. Randy was leaving for a few weeks.
The sudden relief that she felt made her weak in the knees. With the excitement of bonding with Alice and having a wonderful night out with Jesse, she’d pushed the exchange with Randy out of her mind. Who wanted to focus on something so horrible when there were finally go
od things in her life? A reason to look forward.
“Hey, you’re quiet.” He stepped back and took hold of her shoulders. Crouching down a little, he looked her straight in the eyes. “What’s up?”
“Nothing.” The next time she said it, she almost believed it. “Nothing. I’m just shocked!”
“Me too.” He looked down the street at the town and gestured to the new group of trucks that had set up near the far side of town. “They’re adding a new street down at the end. They’re going to clear out some land and build a few structures on each side. Their set designer is up at the house with my parents.”
“You didn’t stay to look at them?”
His grin warmed her all over. “I knew you were on your way and I wanted to tell you the good news. You won’t have to worry about me being grumpy while he’s gone.”
She gave him a questioning look. “Really?”
He held out his hands. “What?”
Laughing with him, she waved him off toward the main house. “You better get up there before they make any decisions without you.”
Jesse waved for her to join him. “Come with me. I’d like to hear what you have to say.”
“Me?” She almost laughed outright. “I wouldn’t know what would work best. You better get up there and I’ll grab the rest of my things and bring them up.”
He shrugged and gave her a wink. “Don’t take long,” he called out, “I think I might take you out to lunch.”
“Okay,” she laughed, holding her hands up in surrender, “I’ll be right up there. Now go!”
She stood there long enough to watch him round the bend in the road. There was something sinfully delicious about watching Jesse jogging up the road in his well-worn denims. The man was beautiful in every way, body and soul. He amazed her.
Once he had disappeared from sight, she turned back around and reached for her purse. She fumbled with the shoulder strap and the knitted bag fell over, dumping some of its contents behind the driver’s seat.
“Oooh, come on!”
She laughed at herself. “Of course! Fate just had to level out the playing field, hmm?” Setting her purse upright on the driver’s seat, she pulled the lever to release the seat back and push it forward toward the steering wheel.
Bracing one hand on the seatback and her knee against the side of the car, she reached in and picked up her coin purse and a couple of colored pens that she kept with her.
As she started to push back, she saw a shadow fall through the window over her. “Jesse, I told you to-”
The face staring down at her wasn’t Jesse’s. It was Randy Calhoun. His blond hair was lit by the sun and once again she was struck by the similarity of the image before her and the man who she’d seen in more than a dozen movies. He was smiling at her like they were old friends… good friends.
“You don’t look happy to see me.”
She grinned at him, using her best salesgirl smile. “Just surprised, that’s all. Jesse mentioned that you’re going back to Hollywood.”
“He did, did he?” Randy’s laughter was almost a snort. “I bet he was only too happy to tell you.”
She left that alone.
“Did he tell you that I’m going to do some screen testing for a co-star?”
“Yeah, sure.” There was no need to deny it. “It sounds like things are going great for the movie.”
“There’s only one thing wrong that I can think of.”
That didn’t sound good. “What?”
“You’re not on the list.” He was somehow closer.
“I don’t understand.”
He set his hand on the top of her car, crowding her between his body and the doorframe. “I told you, I thought you’d be great in this film.”
“No.”
“It’ll be great. You can drive down with me. We’ll take a few days. Maybe stop in Santa Barbara. I’ve got a director friend who has a beach house out there. I think you’d love the beach down there. It’s amazing.”
“No, Randy. Thanks, but-”
“You’re really trying to make this difficult.”
She leaned back against the car and watched him carefully. His voice had that edge in it again making her wary.
“Why can’t you just come with me? You know we’ll have a great time.”
“I don’t want to go, Randy. I’m happy here. I have a job and-”
“You want to waste your time at a desk? I’ve got a guaranteed table at Musso & Frank. Or we can just lay around in a hotel room. I have my pick of all the biggest and best.”
“Randy, stop.”
He just stared at her as if she had somehow grown a second head. Or a third eye. “You won’t get anywhere in this world acting like a country girl.”
Randy spat the words and she was done trying to be nice.
“Then go, Randy. I am who I am. And if you don’t like it, why are you wasting your time with me?”
There was silence for a moment and then he leaned in, almost nose to nose with her. “There’s something about you that I want. I know we’d be good together. I’d be happy with you.” His hands reached for her, settled on her waist and moved up her sides. It all happened in a moment and she managed to shove her hands between them and pushed him back. She grabbed up her purse and slammed the door behind her. As she moved away, she saw Randy staring after her. She kept moving until she was at the house and sat down in one of the chairs until her hands stopped shaking.
“Two weeks,” she told herself, “two weeks…”
Chapter Eleven
JESSE
Life had never been better for Jesse. With Randy Calhoun away from the set there was a completely different atmosphere on the ranch. The crews seemed to feel it too. The progress on all the preparations for the movie were moving along so fast that they’d be ready to film before Randy returned from his trip to Hollywood.
Hopeful. Confident.
Those were two things that usually fell on his ‘someday’ list, but for the last little while things that had been forever out of reach… well, they were close enough to touch.
And damn if it hadn’t started the night his personal fairy princess in her mama’s dress walked right into his life.
Well, into the laundromat, but he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
If it was ornery enough, it might just bite his nose off.
And he wasn’t looking for anything to go wrong.
Not today… not tomorrow…
But all of that, he was pushing to the wayside, because he had a special night planned.
And the woman he’d planned it for… he was going to treat her like a queen, because that’s what she was.
The truck labored its way up through the rough ground and around small groups of trees, finally pulled up into the little grove that had been his favorite place on the ranch for most of his life.
When he set the truck into park, he took a moment to think about his brother.
It still hurt to know that he’d never be back amongst them in life, even though he’d had so much more life to live. Even though they’d buried him in the family plot up behind the house, his presence there wasn’t more than a whisper in his head.
Here, in this spot, where the two of them had spent countless hours and gotten into too much trouble, Jesse could still hear their childish screams and laughter.
He turned off the radio and listened to the silence around him. The soft tick tick of the watch on his wrist, the quiet rush of wind through the trees above their heads, and the rush of blood through his ears telling him that his heart was pounding like a jackhammer.
“You know,” he began to speak with hardly an idea of what was going to come out of his mouth, “one day I asked my brother why he only dated Alice. He was the most popular guy in our school. He tackled football like he tackled life, head down and full of confidence. He had every girl in school looking his way and hoping to catch his eye.
“But he only looked at her.”
> He felt Etta’s hand on his arm and realized that he hadn’t even seen her move, he was so wrapped up in his thoughts.
“What did he tell you? About Alice.”
He turned a little so he could look over at her without letting her see the tension he felt in his jaw and the raw prickle of tears behind his eyes. He covered her hand with his and gave it a slow, tender squeeze.
“He told me that Alice was the one. He said it hadn’t been one of those love at first sight things, but close. That his eyes had to get used to what he was seeing before him, like when the sun shines right in your eyes and makes you blind a little bit. And then you see clearly again, and what’s in front of you is the most amazing thing you’ve ever seen in your life and you know.”
He let his words fade away and listened to the world inside of the truck and turned his hand ever so slightly so he could feel her pulse under the tip of his fingers. Her heart was pounding as hard as his was.
“I just wanted you to know, Etta. That this thing between us isn’t just because you’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever seen or known. It goes deeper than that for me. It comes from the part of my heart that was broken when Frank died. It comes from the hope that told me that you were out in the world somewhere and I worried,” he looked over at her and saw her eyes sparkling with the moonlight reflected off the hood and dashboard, “I worried that I’d be so stuck here that I’d never find you.”
Her smile dazzled him. “And then I came to you.”
“Yes, you did.” He shook his head back and forth, laughing at himself. “You walked right in and put me to work.”
They laughed together, filling the cab with the sounds of unspoken words, but he couldn’t wait any longer. Lifting her hand from his arm he kissed her fingertips and set her hand down on her lap. “You sit right there so I can come around and get you.”
He got out of the truck, dropped his keys on the dash, and headed around the hood, keeping his eyes on her the whole time.