He'd lined them up in order that he wanted to see them so she pulled the next one off the list. "Here it is. Are you sure you even want to bother driving out there?"
His eyes crinkled at the edges. "Yes, I want to drive out there. This one had points against it coming in. It's the smallest on the list with less than a two hundred acres, which is a little small for what I need. And the pens need a lot of work and they're too close to the house."
"I see what you're saying." She gave him directions to the next place. "At this rate we'll be home by noon," she joked and seriously hoped not.
He talked about what he was looking for as they drove to the next listing. She liked listening to the cadence in his voice and deep timbre of it. She'd been too upset and aggravated the day before when they'd been in the truck together to enjoy anything. She'd been too busy thinking about strangling him...
"You said you're going to raise rodeo stock? Right?" she asked.
"I'm going to raise bulls. The stock I raise will be strictly for my own cattle business and it won't be a large herd so this acreage would work."
He was standing with his hands on his hips taking in the house, pens and surrounding acreage of the second listing. He looked impossibly perfect in that moment. Impossibly appealing. She pushed the negative thought away and struggled to be positive.
"Are you giving up riding them?" She held her breath, knowing if he said yes that would mean he wouldn't be an absentee owner.
"I'm thinking about it." His eyes met hers and held before he headed across the yard to the house, a brick home with a large porch overlooking the pastures. There were some huge old oak trees shading the yard and though it wasn't as spectacular as the patio of the ranch house C.C. had built, it was homey and appealing.
The flare of attraction burned strong and bold as she followed him. And it had only grown stronger as the morning had progressed.
Hailey had warned them that the house had sat vacant for many years, and was in need of repair. While Cliff unlocked the door, she peeked in the windows. "Hailey wasn't kidding. The place is crying out for help."
She had to pass close to Cliff as she walked through the doorway. Her pulse hummed with his nearness—and she almost leaned in and inhaled.
Soap and aftershave had never smelled so good.
There was some kind of chemistry bubbling between she and Cliff...chemistry she'd never, ever experienced before. Rafe, Ty, Chase and Dalton were amazing, hunky, handsome cowboys. When they spruced up for one of their dates they smelled good too—but she'd never had the urge to tackle one of them!
Okay. So, her imagination was getting out of hand.
Time to put some space between her and this cowboy. Moving quickly, she headed to the far side of the room to study the fireplace and then the kitchen as if her life depended on it.
She forced her mind to the task of evaluating the property—not Cliff. It had been vacant for over ten years. Since the oil boom around the area had dried up and folks had been forced to move away for jobs. It was apparent that it had once been a nice place, but time and neglect had taken its toll.
Not a problem Cliff had—he was perfect.
"I don't know."
She jumped at Cliff's voice and focused. He was looking about skeptically.
"A buyer might be better off starting from scratch and building."
Maddie cringed when a rodent scurried down the hall and disappeared into a bedroom. "You might be right." She hadn't been able to get any good feelings going about the place. Of course that could very likely be because all of her feelings were preoccupied with Cliff. And now, the rodent.
"Then let's move on to the next place." He shot her a smile. "We have all day. I'm not feeling excited about the house. And I can see in your eyes that you aren't either."
Maddie hoped that was all he could see in her eyes. "Right. We have a lot of places to choose from." She was almost to the door when she realized that she'd said "we" as if it mattered if she liked the place...
Back off now. You'll only be hurt if you invest any more of yourself. And you are acting way too unlike yourself, sister.
Maddie knew she should listen to the voice of warning but she'd promised herself that she would push herself. And that was exactly what she planned to do.
Of course she wasn't getting crazy or anything and that meant not being reckless—there was no "we" in this equation. She was just a gal trying to get to know a guy.
There was nothing wrong with that. Nothing.
It was natural. Holing up with herself and her stinkin' fear of letting someone close—that was the thing that was wrong.
Chapter Seven
The scent of home cooking and the rowdy tones of Toby Keith playing on the Juke Box greeted them as Maddie and Cliff slid into a booth at Sam's Diner. The hub of the town, the rustic diner was where Mule Hollow folks congregated all through the day to eat and catch up on the latest goings on. Cliff liked the place.
"Hi, Sam," Maddie called across the room to the tiny man behind the counter.
Sam was short and small like a jockey, with a weather worn face and intelligent eyes. Cliff had been in the diner several times when his shoulder had been hurt. Had even played some checkers with App and Stanley, a couple of retired ranchers who had checker battles every morning over coffee and sunflower seeds.
"Hey, Cliff. Heard you were in town," Sam said coming their way.
Sam had a legendary, fierce grip and Cliff braced for it as Sam clamped down hard.
"I hear you're looking for land around here. You getting out of the PBR?" Sam asked.
The Professional Bull Riders circuit had been Cliff's world for years. Was it now? He had an event coming up in about two weeks. He hadn't decided what he was going to do about it.
Cliff was aware of Maddie watching him. He grinned at Sam. "News travels fast around here."
"Small town. You gotta be quick to get somethin' by all of them well-meaning busy bodies. Particularly App and Stanley," Sam chuckled, his entire face crinkling with laughter. "My wife, sweet as she is, included. They were all in here talkin' about you two round breakfast. One of them saw y'all over at Hailey Belle's this mornin' together. Stirred up quite a dither."
Maddie's eyes widened. "I was helping Cliff."
"That's reasonable. So are you done riding bulls professionally?" Sam asked again.
"No, taking a break is all. I'm making some changes." Cliff knew he was going to come across this question a lot, but he wasn't ready to talk about it. He was still trying to understand why things had been different since learning his dad was dead. He hadn't seen his dad in six years. And it had only been that one time since the day he'd left home. He pushed the thoughts away, now was not the time to contemplate that part of his life.
"The PBR has been good to me and I have some commitments. But I figure it's time to start looking past bull riding to raising them."
"Smart. We've got a few folks around here who do that."
More folks came in so Sam took their order of burgers then headed off in the direction of the kitchen.
"Where's App and Stanley?" Cliff asked glancing over at the table by the window where the two old checker players were usually hunched over their game.
"They start the day early and are usually back home before lunch." She chuckled. "You have to be early to catch them. Breakfast till brunch is their time."
"I forgot. I'll have to swing by one morning and say hello. I met them when I was here before. Really enjoyed my visit."
Maddie smiled. "It's a great town."
"Yeah, I haven't been by as often as I should to see Rafe."
"You've been busy, had commitments."
"Yeah, I did. But..." He rested his elbows on the table and cupped his hands as he glanced around. He knew it was more than that. He'd been running—he'd only just realized that was what he'd been doing. "Rafe is my only family. It will be nice to see him more."
Something shadowed in her eyes and he wondered what
she was thinking as she studied him. "It's nice to have family. You're right, you shouldn't take it lightly or for granted."
"What about your family, Maddie? Where do they live?" He'd realized that she talked less about her past than he did. And he was curious—he knew that just because someone didn't talk about their past it didn't mean that they'd lived with an abusive drunk like he and Rafe had. Some people didn't talk about their past because they were private people.
Not because thinking of the past made them angry.
"I," she hesitated as if weighing what she wanted to say. "I was raised in foster care. My parents gave me up when I was a baby."
Sam brought their tea and burgers and Cliff hardly even noticed. "I'm sorry." He felt like an oaf because he could see in Maddie's eyes, those expressive eyes, that damage had been done. He knew there were an abundance of good caring folks out there who opened up their homes for hurting and abandoned kids. He prayed Maddie's had been good. He also knew there were plenty of them who housed as many as allowed for the steady source of income it provided them. "You had good people, right?"
"They were fine." She took a bite of her burger. "Sam makes the best burgers."
It didn't take a kindergartner to recognize her evasion.
He was about to ask for more when a group of young wranglers entered the diner and took the table across from them.
"Hey man! That's Cliff Masterson," one of them declared.
"Wow, I watched you win the Bull Riding Championship down in Houston two years ago," another one added and within seconds Cliff was the one back in the hot seat, bombarded with questions about bulls and competition. Before he knew it lunch was over and they were heading outside an hour later.
"That was nice of you to agree to give them pointers," Maddie said as he held the door opened for her.
He took her elbow to help her step up on the running board and then into the seat.
"I had some help when I started out. I recognize the fresh hungry look on their faces. Gotta give back sometimes."
She studied him as he held the door open for her. "You might irritate the fire out of me being bossy and all, but you're a nice guy." A smile hovered on her lips.
He leaned over her to buckle the seatbelt for her because he knew she would have trouble, holding her gaze as he did it. Her sweet scent and that smile had been driving him crazy all day. "You're rubbing off on me."
She laughed. "Did you forget how mad I got yesterday?"
"You're a woman with some fire to her that doesn't mean you're not sweet."
She was and he knew it. Instinctively he knew much of her spunk had probably come from defense from the background of being raised the way she had. He understood that his past had shaped him too.
They stared at each other. She swallowed hard and held his gaze. Before he could stop himself he'd leaned in and kissed her...and just like when he climbed on the back of a bull he realized this could go one of two ways.
It could go good or it could go bad.
And it would only take eight seconds or less to know.
*
Maddie was so startled when Cliff dipped his head and covered her lips with his. She froze, her mind reeling, her senses exploding as his warm breath mingled with hers. Everything blurred, her eyes drifted closed, and she found herself responding to his touch to the gentleness of the kiss. The tenderness of his fingertips lightly tracing her jawline, then cupping her head, drawing her closer as he deepened the kiss.
Maddie's heart thundered in her chest, she was lost in the feel of his firm lips moving over hers.
When he pulled back, his breathing ragged, his eyes probing he looked as dazed as she was.
What had just happened?
"I'm sorry," he said, and an instant later he closed the door and headed around the truck.
Maddie's heart hammered, she struggled to catch her breath as she gripped the door handle and let the world slowly stop spinning.
Let it gradually come back into focus.
Only then did she remember that it was right past lunch time and Cliff had just planted a smokin' hot kiss on her—right smack in the middle of Main Street.
Right where anyone who was looking would see.
Glancing around she groaned—because standing on the sidewalk two doors down stood Esther Mae Wilcox, Norma Sue Jenkins and Sam's wife, Adela Ledbetter Green.
Better known as the Match Makin' Posse of Mule Hollow.
Chapter Eight
Climbing into the truck Cliff's insides were all jangled up. He cranked the key, shifted to reverse and in a daze, backed out of the parking lot.
What had he been thinking?
He'd hauled off and let his impulsive nature take hold of him kissing Maddie right out of the blue like that.
Right there in front of Sam's Diner for the entire world to see.
The realization of what he'd done got lost in the euphoria of the kiss though. Man, had that been something.
He glanced over at Maddie hoping she wasn't as mad as he feared she might be. Her blistering gaze instantly shot that hope to pieces.
"What's wrong?" The truck was stopped and he hesitated, his hand on the shift ready to ram it into drive. He hadn't expected her to be that mad.
"What's wrong? That is." She lifted a hand in a hesitant wave.
His gazed followed hers.
He'd only been here two weeks when he'd visited Rafe, but he knew exactly who the ladies were waving at them from the sidewalk.
He groaned. Waved. And hit the gas.
*
Maggie woke before dawn and headed out to the barn. She was moving a little better and glad of it. It took a lot of struggling but she got her horse saddled.
The kiss, despite everything, remained on Maddie's mind all afternoon and through the night. She'd overreacted when she'd realized the matchmakers had witnessed the kiss.
Yes, they may have ideas now—okay, there was no doubt that when three known matchmakers witnessed a kiss in broad daylight on the main drag of town—they were going to get ideas.
All kinds of ideas and all of them were going to end with a matchmaking plan. Her sleepless night couldn't change that.
There was nothing to be done about it.
But that kiss. That amazing, gentle kiss that had whispered to the deepest dark corners of her wounded heart where dreams and fear clung together...
She'd lost her good sense yesterday.
These feelings he'd initiated inside of her could get out of hand. Spending time with him in large doses could be dangerous to her heart.
Maddie tightened her horses cinch and girded up her emotions at the same time and then she headed to the house. Everyone would be in the kitchen by now.
She prepared herself for their protest but as far as she was concerned she was working today. And that was final.
Cliff—his smile wide and welcoming was the first handsome face her wretched gaze sought out. Oh dear goodness but the man took her breath away.
How could anyone look so good leaning against the counter drinking a glass of orange juice?
But with lean, corded muscles honed from years of bull riding, his dark hair curling at his collar and his blue eyes gleaming like stained glass shot through with sunbeams he could have sold orange juice by the case. Her mouth went dry.
He was the epitome of every Prince Charming she'd ever dreamed of as a lonely young girl growing up.
No doubt about it, it was time for her to put some distance between her and Cliff.
"You were outside early. How are you feeling this morning?" he asked.
"Fine," she said, then, unable to lie added, "Sore, but better."
Rafe handed her a mug of coffee. "Second day is always the worst. You'd better take it easy again today."
"Thanks, but I've already saddled my horse. I'm going today."
"Told y'all. I win." Chase gave a triumphant laugh.
"Win what?" She looked about the room.
"Chase said you'd be goi
ng this morning." Dalton grinned.
Maddie wasn't sure how to take this information. "And y'all didn't think I would be."
"Now, don't go getting all riled up. We figured you'd be hurting worse today than yesterday."
Ty grabbed a pan of biscuits from the oven. "You need to heal up."
"You don't have to help on our account. You need to take care of yourself." Dalton flipped bacon in a pan.
Cliff's husky chuckle touched her from across the room and made her feel his kiss again. Her stomach clenched and she shot him a glare, not at all happy with the way every cell in her body was straining toward him.
"I'm coming, so end of story," she snapped, then headed back outside. "Hurry your breakfast, boys. Daylight's burnin'."
No sooner had she sat down on the patio chair to wait on the fellas to finish than Cliff followed her outside. "Don't even try to talk me out of this," she warned, shoring up her defenses against letting herself fall for him.
He pulled out a chair and sat down. "I figured this was what you'd do. Are you still mad about the kiss?"
Yes. The dull ache of her ribs was a reminder of how much more a broken heart could hurt. "This is not a good idea, Cliff."
His jaw tensed and he rubbed the back of his neck. "I shouldn't have kissed you. Not so soon and not like that where it could cause you trouble. That's the last thing I'd want to do."
She couldn't look at him.
"Make sure you've wrapped your ribs good. You have wrapped them?" he asked, gently.
Completely surprised that he wasn't trying to tell her she didn't need to go, she stared at him. "Yes, I have."
He was looking out for her. Just like yesterday but in a completely different way. How was she supposed to handle that?
"I figured you'd wrapped them, but I wanted you to know I cared."
Her pulse skipped a beat at the sincerity in his voice. She needed that distance she'd decided on. She stood too quickly and her ribs let her know it. But she had to put some space between them. And she had to do it now.
The guys came out of the house at that moment and she wanted to hug them. Their timing was so perfect. No one had ever put this much effort into flustering her!
MULE HOLLOW MATCHMAKERS 21: NEW HORIZON RANCH 01: Her Mule Hollow Cowboy Page 5