by Sara Orwig
“His money won’t do any good in Newton County. Sheriff Gonzales can cause him grief if he tries to come see you.”
“I don’t think he’ll come until I’m settled in Houston. He’s gotten a full report from the P.I. about you. I imagine he’d just as soon avoid you as not.”
“He must love you.”
“No, he doesn’t love me. You can’t imagine his ego because you don’t have that kind of ego. Everything he does has to be the biggest and the best. Eventually, I’m sure he’ll marry again, but the divorce is a failure and Baker can’t admit to any failure in his life. This is for show. If I go back, he can make it look good to others, and eventually he can lead people to believe he decided to dump me. Baker has no love for me or for the girls. Absolutely none for them. I wouldn’t take them back to him for triple what he offered.”
“You’re casual about money.”
“Some things aren’t worth money. You saw how frightened Mary Catherine was of you when you met her. She’s that frightened all the time of her own father.”
Matt tightened his fist and silently called Baker Ashland some foul names as he watched Mary Catherine and Pete laugh about something. “Pete told me he’s taking Lita to a movie later tonight. She’s in one of her classes until nine o’clock.”
“She talks about him constantly and he stops by sometimes to talk to her.”
Matt couldn’t think about Lita and Pete. His thoughts bad gone back to Vivian. Matt wondered what kind of house Vivian had left behind. Once again, he felt out of her league, knowing she may be accustomed to luxury and life in the fast lane. His farm was a quiet place where one led a simple life.
“Saturday night I asked Lita to stay. I’ll take you to El Reno to eat ribs,” he said, wondering about her former lifestyle.
“Sounds like fun,” she said, giving him a full-fledged smile that made him draw a deep breath as if all the air had been punched out of his lungs. When she smiled, she was irresistible, so beautiful, he didn’t want to stop looking at her.
“You don’t do that enough,” he said in a husky voice.
“What? I’m not doing anything.”
“You’re smiling.”
“You’ll have to admit, there’s been a lot to keep me from smiling—smashing my car, having a baby in a storm, trusting a total stranger, being followed, hearing from Baker.”
“Maybe we can tip the scales the other way,” he said quietly, wanting to reach for her but not wanting to stir up a storm of questions with Mary Catherine. “A beautiful new baby, Mary Catherine less fearful, a friend who finds you absolutely irresistible, a quiet place to rest after childbirth, a repaired car.”
She laughed. “Okay, you win. I’ll remember all that and try to smile more.”
“If we weren’t out here where Mary Catherine can see and I weren’t holding Julia, I would show you some other reasons to smile,” he said in a husky voice.
“For a quiet, introverted man, you have your moments when you say things that just take my breath away.”
“Do I, now?” he asked. “Does anything else I do take your breath away?”
“You know the answer to that one,” she said, knowing he was flirting and liking it too much.
He took her hand in his, spreading his fingers and looking at her slender ones, pale against his brown skin. “The introvert and the extrovert. You like being with people, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do. That’s why I like my business. I work with people daily and it’s fun.”
He placed his hand on her knee, still holding her hand in his. “Mary Catherine is good for Pete. I think he’s getting over some of his grief.”
“Good.”
“I better go relieve him so he can get into town and pick up Lita.”
Matt jumped down and headed toward Pete while Vivian held Julia and watched him walk away, her gaze drifting down over his long legs, remembering the feel of his body pressed against hers. He hadn’t wanted her to go back to Denver, but he hadn’t offered anything more than what he had already talked her into, two more weeks with him. Yet had she wanted or expected him to? Not at all, she told herself.
The concern she experienced earlier returned. Baker wasn’t giving her up easily. He would never have made that size of an offer if it wasn’t enormously important to him to get her back to Denver.
It was a week from Saturday night before she and Matt got to go out, because the following Saturday Mary Catherine didn’t feel well and Vivian didn’t want to leave.
When the Saturday night came, Vivian dressed in jeans and a blue cotton blouse. Her hair was tied behind her head with a blue ribbon. Matt was in a long-sleeved white shirt and jeans and when she walked into the den where he was waiting, she had to struggle to keep from staring at him because he looked incredibly handsome.
After instructions to Lita and Pete, they left the house. Vivian sat in the air-conditioned pickup, watching the land flash past.
“I like you in jeans. You look great.”
“Thank you,” she answered cheerfully. “So do you.”
He gave her a warm look. “We’ll get back to that one later.”
She watched him drive for a moment until he glanced at her and then she turned away. The first of next week was her checkup. Then it would be time for her to leave. Why was she going out with him tonight when she would tell him goodbye in days? Tonight would just make the goodbye more difficult. “I’ve never had this much trouble resisting something I should avoid before. I stopped drinking cola. I stopped drinking coffee because of the caffeine. I’ve never smoked and don’t drink alcohol except for an occasional glass of wine. I’ve been able to stop eating chocolates except on rare occasions.”
Slowing at the turn to the highway, he looked both ways. They swung up onto the highway and he glanced at her. “What can’t you resist?”
“You,” she said simply, receiving a quick, probing glance from him. “We shouldn’t be going out together. This is going to make it more difficult next week.”
“You know you don’t have to leave just the minute six weeks are up. You can stay a little longer.”
“Like how much longer, cowboy?” she asked him playfully, half-annoyed and half-pleased with his wanting her to stay a little longer.
He grinned. “Until we get tired of each other.”
“Is this some kind of proposition?”
“No. When I proposition you, lady, you’ll know it.”
She laughed. “I think I better pack and go and get on with my life. You’ll have to agree, though, tonight isn’t the smartest thing either of us has done.”
“I don’t agree. You won’t, either, when you sink your teeth into those ribs.”
“I answered Baker’s lawyer,” she said, changing the subject.
“Good. Have you heard back from him?”
“Yes,” she said, wishing now she hadn’t brought it up because she didn’t want to think about Baker tonight. “He’s telling me all the advantages of accepting Baker’s offer—and of course, there are plenty. He’s promising he’ll only see me at work when I want to see him.”
“Would he keep a promise like that?”
“Of course not. Baker will make lots of empty promises to get his own way. I e-mailed another refusal back to him, but I’ll hear from him again. And again. And then the lawyer will come see me to try to persuade me in person. I know, restraining order or not, I will eventually have to face Baker.”
“I sort of hope that happens while you’re here. That’s a good reason to stay longer.”
“I can deal with Baker. I’ve had plenty of practice.”
“So let’s not talk about him again tonight.”
They chatted as they made the long drive to El Reno and ate in a rustic restaurant with a sawdust floor and a tantalizing smell of barbecue hovering in the air. The ribs were as good as Matt had promised, and afterward, they drove back to Dakani and beyond its town limits. Halfway between Dakani and the farm, Matt turned off the road at a
long, low building built of concrete blocks. Guitar music blared from a loudspeaker and doors and windows were open wide.
“Here’s the local honky-tonk. It’s noisy, jumping and smoky, but the music is pretty good and the beer is cold. Okay?”
“Are there going to be fights?” she asked, seeing a pool table inside the door.
“Probably, being Saturday night, but if it becomes a brawl, I’ll get you out of here.”
“Deal.”
“Okay, lady, we’ll go in and start enough rumors to run all the way to my brother in Tulsa.”
As they got out of the pickup and walked toward the door, Matt put his arm around her waist possessively. “Now, don’t get independent on me. This is no place for your liberated-woman side. Country boys love pretty women and they’re not politically correct about showing it. I have to claim you or I won’t see you again tonight because every single guy here will want to dance with you.”
“I wasn’t complaining,” she said, and he looked down at her sharply. She smiled as they went up the steps and entered the smoke-filled room.
The noise was deafening. Couples circled the floor doing the two-step while a guitarist played and sang accompanied by a drummer. In minutes Matt had a table, a beer and a ginger ale ordered and he was leading Vivian to the dance floor.
They moved together in a fast two-step and she realized she hadn’t danced a two-step in too long to remember. Matt was light on his feet, and she could follow him easily, swiftly circling the floor and enjoying getting out. He watched her while they danced and she was caught up in his dark gaze, forgetting the noise and crowd and smoke, knowing this was another night she would remember for a long time to come.
Three dances later was a slow waltz and Matt pulled her into his arms. They danced easily together, moving in unison while he still watched her with a hungry look that all but set the air between them on fire.
“You’re a good dancer. You haven’t been sitting out there on the farm by yourself every Saturday night,” she said lightly.
“Nope, but there’s never been a Saturday night I liked dancing like this one.”
The next piece was even slower and Matt pulled her closer, resting his head against hers as they barely moved while they danced. She was pressed tightly against him, their thighs touching, their bodies together and her desire escalated. It had been building and growing all these weeks, the nights spent together sitting on the porch or out on the fence rail, the breakfasts, the moments together with the girls, the long phone conversations with him during the day. She was torn between wanting to be m his arms and wanting his loving and knowing if she gave herself fully to him, she would give her love right along with her body. She couldn’t treat love casually or lightly.
She danced slowly with him, wondering about him. What was the depth of his feelings? The depth of her own? Was she in love with him? Was it circumstances? She didn’t think so. They were together constantly, but she had worked closely with some of her male clients and never had any reaction to them.
When the piece ended, he didn’t release her until she stepped back. “The song’s over,” Vivian commented.
“I didn’t know,” he said in a husky voice, running his finger along her cheek.
Matt wanted her more than ever and he had waited patiently while she had recovered and gained her strength and gotten to know him. He hadn’t rushed her, but he was through waiting. He wanted her to be his lady, his woman. He couldn’t think about tomorrow or next week or her going out of his life.
“How about going home?”
“Fine with me. The smoke is getting to me, anyway.”
He draped his arm across her shoulders, and they threaded their way through the crowd toward the door. Several yards from the door, Vivian looked up as a beefy giant of a man dressed in a T-shirt and jeans entered. Shocked, she stopped, knowing she was facing Rocky Thornton, Baker’s private detective.
Chapter 13
Vivian was shaken, disturbed, to look up and find the private detective facing her. She had known a confrontation with him would come sooner or later. She glanced at Matt and noticed the look of fury on his face when he spotted Rocky Thornton.
“Hey,” Thornton said, putting up his hands instantly and looking at Matt. “I just wanted to say a few words to Mrs. Ashland.”
“Get the hell out of here,” Matt said tersely.
“Your husband asked me to speak to you. May I just talk to you for two minutes?”
Matt stepped forward and people around them moved away, but Vivian’s hand closed on his arm. She felt the knot of muscle and knew in just a minute there would be a fight.
“Matt. Wait. I’ll talk to him outside.”
She turned to Rocky Thornton. “Two minutes is all,” she said forcefully. “I’ll be right back, Matt,” she said, walking outside ahead of the detective. Thornton’s request to talk was not unreasonable and she would just as soon have it now and get it over and done.
“I got the lawyer’s e-mail and answered it. My answer was no and I will not change my mind. You can tell Baker, whatever he offers, I’m not going back to Denver,” Vivian said to Thornton.
“He asked me to tell you to think about the girls and what he will provide for them,” Thornton said in a flat, gravelly voice.
“I am thinking about them,” she said, furious that he would try to use the girls as leverage. “Mary Catherine has been terrified of men because of him—frightened of her own father. I won’t take her back. Has he thought about what it’s like for a child to grow up afraid of her father? I’ll send his lawyer another answer. The two minutes are up,” she snapped, and turned to walk away. She saw Matt waiting by the step, and then he came striding toward her.
“Okay?” he asked, putting his hands on her shoulders.
“I was shocked to see him standing there only a few feet in front of me.”
“When we get in the car, I’m calling the sheriff.”
“Why? I talked to the detective willingly.”
“Sheriff Gonzales needs to know.”
“Thornton’s still here,” she said, feeling dazed now that the encounter was over.
“So am I,” Matt said, hugging her close. “Don’t let him spoil a fun evening.”
“I won’t, but the surprise is still sending little shock waves through me.” She looked around the lot. “He’s gone.”
“Yeah, he hightailed it out of here the minute you walked away. I saw him drive off.”
She put her arm around Matt’s waist and he looked down at her, tightening his arm around her. As soon as they climbed into the pickup, Matt picked up the phone to call the sheriff. He started the motor and switched on the air-conditioning while he told Chet Gonzales about Rocky Thornton. Matt switched off the phone and put it down.
“Chet said he’ll find out where Thornton’s staying. He may talk to him, give him a warning to leave you alone.”
“Thanks, Matt. There aren’t many things in life that Baker has wanted and been unable to get. It’s difficult for him to accept this.”
“He’s going to have to.”
They rode in silence and Matt knew she was adjusting to what had happened. The whole incident had happened in less than five minutes, yet he had seen the color drain from Vivian’s face and he knew she was shaken.
When he turned off onto his own road, he decided enough time had passed for her nerves to begin to calm. He slowed and parked, leaving the motor running as he reached over to unbuckle her seat belt.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting your mind on something else,” he said as he wrapped her in his embrace and leaned over to kiss her. There was a delay of about one second before she responded and then the tension went out of her as she melted into his arms and returned his kiss. He kissed her long and thoroughly, satisfied that he had driven Rocky Thornton out of her mind.
“I’m not ending this evening out here smooching in the dark, but I wanted you to get back on track. We’ve had a fu
n night.”
“Yes, we have.”
He put the pickup in gear to head home.
“Wyatt called today. That’s my brother, well, half brother actually, in Oklahoma City. He’s talked to Jared. I think they’re all coming over next weekend to meet you.”
“I’m leaving.”
“You can’t. They’re coming to see you and I want them to meet you.”
“Matt, that’s—”
“Hey, Vivian, please.”
There was a pause and she nodded. “Talk about someone wanting to get his way.”
“Mine is for a good cause. You’ll like my brothers.”
“Do they know we’re not dating?”
“What did we do tonight?”
She stared at him. “It was two friends out together.”
“What’s dating? Not two enemies out together.”
“They’ll expect to come over and meet someone you’re going to marry.”
“They know better than that. Believe me, they do. They just want to see the first woman to stay at my house. Now that that record is broken, my life should be peaceful once again.”
“Oh, sure, until you bring the next woman home to stay.”
He chuckled. “You know I’m not going to do that. You’re it, lady. The one and only.”
Vivian listened to those words that meant so little the way he was using them, yet could mean so much. They’d had a regular date tonight, and he had described it as such. Was she breaking through this cowboy’s wall that he kept around his heart? Did she want to? She better find her answer to that question fast. She had to decide her own feelings before she took a long look at his.
She was staying another week longer. How easily he had talked her into staying to meet his family. They were dating, she was meeting his family, she lived at his house, they kissed—wild, fiery kisses that melted her, kisses like she had never known before. What did he feel for her? Did his feelings run deep and was he refusing to acknowledge them? Or was he unable to put his feelings into words?
They were beginning to have all the characteristics of a couple falling in love, except from remarks he continually made, he wasn’t in love. He wasn’t talking about it, at any rate. Was she in love with him? She never could answer her own question. She knew he was important to her. More so every day. She was wildly attracted to him. He was her best friend now. Maybe the best friend she had ever had.