Galahad in Blue Jeans

by Sara Orwig

  Matt stood and swung her to his shoulders and she laughed as she clung to him. When he trotted down the hall, Mary Catherine squealed with pleasure.

  Vivian carried Julia with her and trailed behind him, coming into his bedroom to see him dump Mary Catherine on his big bed. She bounced and laughed and bounded to her feet, jumping up and down.

  “Mary Catherine, don’t jump on the bed.”

  “It’s good-night time, Mary Cat,” Matt said, shortening her name and making her giggle. She held out her arms and Matt leaned down to hug her and kiss her cheek, and Vivian’s throat knotted. Don’t win your way into all our hearts. She thought of remarks about him she had heard in town, describing Matt as a loner, solitary, closemouthed, remote, shut off to himself. Yet here he was, opening up to Mary Catherine completely. Opening some to her, too, Vivian knew. She was certain she was the only one to whom he had admitted his inability to read. And he had never let a woman stay at his house before, yet he wanted her to stay until her six-week checkup.

  “Tell me one more story,” Mary Catherine begged, pulling on his hand. With a nod of approval from Vivian, he sat on the side of the bed, leaning over Mary Catherine, and Vivian’s gaze ran the length of his long leg that was stretched out, a scuffed black boot showing beneath the frayed hem of his faded, ripped jeans.

  She placed Julia in her crib and went around the bed to sit across from him. Mary Catherine took her hand and still held Matt’s with her other hand and Vivian knew that Mary Catherine liked having both of them give her attention. Matt was fast becoming a substitute dad in Mary Catherine’s life and Vivian felt another small voice of warning that he was becoming too important to her daughter as well as to her. Maybe it was way too late to try to listen to warnings, she thought as he told Mary Catherine the story of Peter Rabbit.

  He kissed Mary Catherine good-night and left the room. Vivian took longer, but finally when Mary Catherine was asleep, she tiptoed out.

  She found Matt in the kitchen, getting a cold beer. “Want some lemonade?” he asked.

  “Yes, please. I brought Mary Catherine’s books. I thought we could go over the reading while Julia sleeps.”

  “Aren’t you getting tired of that?” he asked, amusement lighting his eyes.

  “No. You’re doing a great job.” She went to the table and waited. He crossed the room to her, and she walked around the table to sit down. Matt followed her around the table and pulled a chair beside her.

  “Matt, we can concentrate better if you stay on the other side of the table.”

  “Why? I’ll concentrate fine here.”

  She drew a deep breath. “You know exactly what happened the last time we sat side by side.”

  “I don’t remember.”

  “Yes, you do,” she said, closing a book and standing. “Maybe this wasn’t a good idea.”

  “Hold your horses. I’ll just sit here. C’mon and try. I’m ready,” he drawled, his voice pouring over her like a thick, sweet syrup.

  She was torn between walking out and sitting down. One was the logical, sensible thing to do, the other was exciting and what she had wanted all week. Too aware of him close beside her, she sat down and opened the little book.

  They got through the lesson, but by the time thirty minutes had passed, every nerve in her body was quivering; she was conscious of him with a raw need that made her fight her own feelings.

  “That’s it,” she said, closing the book, her frustration outweighing logic.

  His hand closed on hers. “One more thing before you turn in. I want to ask you something.”

  “What’s that?” she asked warily, looking into his dark eyes and feeling her pulse jump. He sat only inches away, his legs spread, his chair turned toward her. One arm rested on the back of her chair. The other hand ran lightly back and forth across her knuckles, tickling her slightly, making her too conscious of his touch.

  “Will you stay four more weeks until your checkup? I want you to stay.”

  Chapter 9

  With his question Vivian was torn in two directions. How she wanted to say yes and throw caution to the wind. But she was too practical and she had already been with him almost two weeks now, far longer than she had originally intended. He had won her friendship, and the wild attraction between them was something that kept her on a raged edge.

  “Matt, it would—”

  “Vivian,” he drawled in a honeyed, coaxing voice that vibrated in her like a tuning fork and stopped her reply. “Stay the next four weeks. Mary Catherine is having a wonderful time.”

  “You’ve been good to her and good for her. She isn’t afraid of you or Pete. I can’t tell you how grateful I am to you for that because she was so frightened of men. Baker used to yell at her and send her off in tears.”

  “Yeah, well, that’s over now,” Matt replied gruffly. “Hopefully, she can forget. You’re working here and you don’t have anyone waiting, so staying here isn’t keeping you from work or from anyone in your life. It’s just four more weeks.”

  “That’s a month,” she said.

  “That’s not much time out here. Stay.” He tucked a tendril of hair behind her ear and let his fingers drift over her ear. Then he placed his hand on her shoulder. She was aware of his touch, more concerned about his tug on her emotions.

  “Matt—”

  “Vivian, when you go, you’ll be gone for the rest of our lives. Give us this little bit of time together. Stay here,” he said in a husky voice. “I want you to stay.”

  She couldn’t get her breath, couldn’t answer because a firm no wouldn’t come and she knew she shouldn’t say yes. Trying to think clearly, she stood, pushing back away from him.

  He stood at the same time.

  “I’ll tell you in the morning.”

  “Why worry through the night about what you’ll do?” he said in that deep rumbling tone that was so compelling. “It’s not that big a decision. Just say yes.” His dark gaze held her immobile and her heart thudded.

  “You get your way so easily,” she whispered.

  “Yeah, let’s see if I do,” he said, and leaned forward to kiss her, tantalizingly, slowly, rubbing his lips against hers.

  She had fought against this moment, dodged it, and yet waited breathlessly for it. His arm slipped around her waist and he pulled her to him. He moved close, tightening his arm around her while his kiss deepened and changed to a breathtaking intimacy that made her heart pound.

  Matt leaned over her, holding her tightly against him with his arm wrapped around her waist. She slipped her arms around his neck, kissing him wildly as if a dam had broken inside and all the desire that had been building the past two weeks finally was finding release. She stroked his neck and wound her fingers in his hair while his hand slid down her back and over her bottom, pulling her up tightly against him. She felt his erection, his hardness pressed against her softness. He was solid, warm, strong. His hand slipped lower to the bottom of her cutoffs, stroking her thigh lightly, and then he shifted, his hand going beneath her blouse to her breast.

  “Matt—”

  His mouth covered hers as he rubbed his hand over her nipple and then cupped her breast. Vivian was fluttery with pleasure that rippled in her. Her breasts were heavy, full, tingly, but the need low in her body made her move closer to him. She moaned softly as her hips thrust against him.

  His tongue stroked hers and his kisses were heady. Why did it seem she had spent a lifetime waiting for this moment in his arms? Why this tough cowboy whose world could never be her world, who kept his heart and his feelings to himself? Yet, when he kissed, he gave himself fully. He made her feel as if he wanted her desperately. She couldn’t resist, but let her hand slip beneath his T-shirt, and trail across his bare chest.

  He growled, deep in his throat, an atavistic male sound of need that made her realize what an effect she could have on him with the slightest touch.

  Holding her tightly, Matt bent over her. His body was on fire with wanting her. She was incred
ibly soft with skin as smooth as vanilla cream. He ached for her, wanted to peel away her clothes, yet it was too soon after childbirth. He knew he had to stop and was amazed she hadn’t made him stop yet.

  His pulse roared, shutting out all other sounds and his heart thudded violently against his rib cage. Never had a woman’s kisses been so devastating. He knew Vivian was special, but he also knew he would have to let her go. Just not yet, not yet.

  He cupped her breast, feeling her buttery softness, the weight of her in his hand. He wanted her and before those weeks were up, he hoped she was in his arms in bed with him. He wanted her bare body beneath him; he wanted her passion.

  Raising his head, he looked at her. Her eyes were closed, her mouth open from his kisses. “Vivian—” His voice was a thick rasp.

  Slowly her lashes rose and the heated fires that burned in her blue eyes were like a blow to his middle. He sucked in his breath as if all air had suddenly been drawn from the room. The lady wanted what he did. He touched the blue vein throbbing in her throat and felt her racing pulse.

  “Stay the next weeks. I want you here.”

  She nodded and he let out his breath, bending his head to kiss her again while joy was rampant, fueling desire. She would study! She would stay. She returned his kiss, her tongue stroking his and thoughts blazed into oblivion.

  “Matt,” she whispered, catching his hands. “I’ll stay, but we can’t do this.”

  “Why not?” he asked, raising his head. Her cheeks flushed and her lips were already red from his kisses. She looked more desirable than ever.

  “I don’t want to leave here in love,” she whispered, and he inhaled, his temperature soaring.

  “Given our backgrounds, Vivian, I don’t think there’s any danger of that,” he said solemnly, picking up strands of her long, silky hair and letting them slide through his fingers. “It’s early. Don’t go to bed yet. Julia is sleeping. Let’s go sit outside.”

  She nodded. He couldn’t imagine that she would fall in love with him. There were too many barriers, too many reasons not to. He picked up the drinks and she went with him, letting him hold open the door. She stepped back as he reached for it.

  “See, I’m learning,” she said.

  “You adapt to me amazingly well,” he said, making it personal and watching her as something flickered in the depths of her eyes before she walked outside.

  He pulled a chair close to hers, turned up the intercom and sat beside her to prop his feet on the porch rail.

  “It’s beautiful out here,” she said.

  “I think so.”

  “Do you sit here at night, too, by yourself?”

  “Yes.” He laughed and reached for a lock of her hair. “You can’t imagine that, can you?”

  “Yes, I can imagine you doing that. I heard in town about how solitary you are.”

  “Well, they’re right.”

  “If you like being here alone all the time, I don’t know why you want us to stay.”

  “I feel like you belong here,” he said gruffly, and her pulse jumped. “Logic tells me you don’t,” he continued, “but it feels that way. How can anyone resist a baby?”

  “Most men can resist them easily,” she said with a cynical note. “Don’t tell me you have always been fascinated by babies.”

  He chuckled. “You’re right. Julia is very special and a very adorable baby.”

  “You sound like a dad!”

  “After helping bring her into the world, I kind of feel like one,” he replied quietly, and her amusement faded.

  “You were great for both of us. Now all three of us owe you a debt.”

  “I’ll work on that—what you owe me.”

  “What do you think you’d like,” she asked, lowering her voice and flirting with him. “I might not be able to deliver.”

  “Oh, you’ll deliver, Vivian. You’re—”

  “There I go again!” she exclaimed, interrupting him and throwing up her hands. “What is it about you that brings that out in me? I don’t flirt with any other guys I know.”

  “That’s good news,” he replied cheerfully.

  “There’s something about you—” She broke off. “Let’s get another subject. I think Lita is in love with Pete,” Vivian said, attempting to change the subject. She was aware of how close Matt sat, conscious of his fingers combing through her long hair and surprised she had acquiesced so quickly in agreeing to stay the remaining four weeks. She had rehearsed how she would tell him she had to go when the car was repaired. How she would thank him and then leave. A few kisses, an “I want you to stay,” and she was mush.

  “I don’t know that it’ll do her much good. Pete thinks he’s too old for her because she’s only nineteen,” Matt said.

  “How old is he?”

  “Thirty-six, I think.”

  “I’m twenty-seven.”

  “You’re a baby. I’m thirty-four,” he teased.

  “Thirty plus years of doing it your way? No wonder.”

  “You have twenty plus of doing things your way, so we’re a match there.”

  She smiled at him, knowing he was teasing her. After a few minutes’ silence, she returned to their earlier subject.

  “Lita talked about Pete all day. She told me that both of you are paying her medical bills.”

  “She’s had a tough time. The guy left her when he found out she was pregnant. She doesn’t have family here. She just needed some help.”

  “That’s nice. She loves babies and little children. She’s great with Mary Catherine and Julia.”

  “Good. She’d be good for Pete. I’m glad they’re friends because he needs someone as much as she does, but for vastly different reasons. Whereas, you, independent lady, can take very fine care of yourself.”

  “Maybe, Matt.”

  He laughed. “You almost clobber anyone who attempts to do something for you.”

  “It’s not that bad. I guess it’s habit. I grew up that way. My mother was crazy about my dad and neglected everything except him. I ran the household from as far back as I can remember.”

  Thinking about her as a little girl, Matt played with strands of her hair while she talked. “Maybe that’s where Mary Catherine gets the gumption to do what needs to be done, like her coming to get me to help,” he said.

  “I don’t think that’s inherited,” Vivian remarked dryly.

  “I’m sorry you were neglected,” he said solemnly.

  “It wasn’t physical. I had what I needed. My parents were so wrapped up in each other, I was an intrusion. When my dad died, I was in my last year of junior high. Mom couldn’t manage anything. I worked all through high school. I started with just a file clerk job in a public relations firm, but by the time I was taking college classes, I had moved up in the business.”

  “What about your mom?”

  “I took care of her until she died two years ago.”

  “How’d you meet your ex-husband?”

  “While I was in college, I was promoted and had my own clients and that’s how I met him. Baker was new in the real estate business and needed some advertising and a logo. I did the PR for his firm and his business grew and mine grew. By the time I finished college, we were married. Three years later, I had Mary Catherine and my own business.”

  “You’re a very independent, ambitious, successful lady,” he said, drawing his fingers slowly through locks of her hair, letting them fall back on her shoulder.

  “I never wanted to be like my mother—totally dependent on a man, totally wrapped up in him. When my father died, my mother’s life might as well have ended.”

  “Well, I think you’ve succeeded in not being like her.”

  “You think I’m much too independent, don’t you?”

  He paused to look into her eyes. “I suppose that’s one place where we’re alike. I’m independent enough that we clash.”

  She nodded. “That’s nice to hear you admit it. You’re used to getting your way in everything. Who’s here to
oppose you? The cows and horses? I can imagine how many battles with you they win.”

  He grinned. “Okay, I’m set in my ways.” He leaned back in his chair and looked at the sky. “I like living out here. Look at that sky. You won’t see that in a city.” He reached over and laced his fingers through hers.

  “Matt—”

  “Shh. I’m only holding your hand. That’s nothing.”

  Vivian knew it was a lot more than nothing. Any touch of his set off tremors in her nervous system. She looked at the stars and talked to him quietly, belying the turmoil churning in her. His kisses had her wound up, hot, too aware of him. Even though she wanted him, she was thinking about how swiftly and easily she had capitulated and agreed to stay. In four weeks she might be so hopelessly in love that leaving then would break her heart.

  It would hurt now to leave. What would it be like in four weeks?

  Amazed how strongly she already felt about him, she listened to the deep rumble of his voice and conversed with him while all the time her thoughts were shifting and seething like seas in a storm.

  Finally she stood. “Julia is really sleeping. I think I’ll go check on her.”

  He came to his feet at once, resting his hand on her shoulder. “I’m glad you’re staying.”

  “It’s against good judgment.”

  “You’ll be fine,” he said, “all three of you.” He leaned down to brush her lips lightly with a kiss.

  “Matt, you can’t keep doing that.”

  He nodded and she left, hurrying inside. Jubilation raged in him along with desire. He burned from her scalding kisses. He wanted her badly and he wanted her in his bed before she left for Houston.

  In the meantime, sleep was lost this night. Matt stepped down off the porch and jogged to the road, turning up it and jogging toward the highway, trying to work off the knots her kisses had tied him in.

  The next morning after breakfast as Matt was striding across the porch, he glanced at Vivian. “We’ll be working up here at the corral this morning, separating some cows and calves. We’re selling off some of the calves. If you want to bring Mary Catherine and watch, it’ll be fine.”