by Elle James
Still, the fact he couldn’t tell what she looked like left a mystery about her that was frustrating him.
He forced himself to relax against the driver’s seat and focus on the trip ahead.
“How far is the ranch?”
“It’s about forty-five minutes out of town.” He looked her way. “If that bothers you, we don’t have to go.”
She shook her head. “Not at all. Leslie’s nothing, if not thorough. If she’s vetted her clients, I trust her process.” She turned toward him. “But if you’re having second thoughts, we don’t have to go.”
He grinned. “No. I’m in.” Max shifted into reverse, backed out of the parking space and shifted into drive. He left the office complex and drove out of Austin, heading northwest toward his ranch near Hellfire and Hole in the Wall.
He knew the road like the back of his hand. Once he left the traffic behind, he had no excuse for maintaining silence. He had to come up with small talk. God, he hated small talk. Why couldn’t people just enjoy being with each other without having to come up with something to say.
“It’s nice to be with someone who doesn’t expect you to talk,” Jane said.
He glanced toward her, expecting to see evidence of sarcasm.
But she was smiling softly, her face turned toward the road ahead.
“Agreed,” he said. Well hell, what else was he supposed to say?
Ten miles passed. Then twenty. And he still didn’t know any more about her than what was on her profile.
“I’m not much of a conversationalist,” he offered.
“I’m enjoying the scenery. You don’t have to entertain me. It’s nice to be away from the hustle and bustle of big cities and relax in the countryside.” She pushed her hat off her head and settled it into her lap. “I’m glad we’re not going to a restaurant for our first date.”
She had light blond hair, the color of corn silk. It was pulled back in some kind of braid that started at the crown of her head and hung down to the middle of her back between her shoulder blades.
Okay, so she was a blonde.
So was he.
Max had always pictured himself with a brunette. Again, he had to remind himself looks didn’t matter, as long as she wasn’t fixated on looking different than her natural self.
From what he could see, she was pale, her skin appearing soft and smooth. He had sunscreen at the ranch house. She’d need it where they were going, until the sun set. He’d hate to be the cause of a massive sunburn, all because he wanted to take her out on the ranch and more or less test drive her ability to adapt to ranch life.
If she ended up being the one, he wasn’t giving up his ranch to please her. This was his life after football. Crowds and cities were his past. He wanted a partner to share his love and passion for ranching and the outdoors.
She didn’t ride horses, but her profile said she liked the outdoors.
“You don’t ride horses, but do you ride a bicycle?”
“I haven’t since I was really small.” She grimaced. “Really, since training wheels. But I’m willing to learn again.”
“Do you hike?”
“Not really.”
“Play tennis?”
She shook her head.
“Golf?”
Jane bit down on her bottom lip. “No.”
“What is it you like to do in the outdoors?” he asked, at a loss for another sport she might be interested in.”
“I like to swim in my—” She clamped her lips shut for a moment, and then started over. “I like to swim.”
Based on her pale skin, she didn’t swim outside much. “Do you have a pool near you?”
She nodded, looking out the passenger window, her face turned away from him, but reflecting in the glass. “Yes.”
“How do you not burn?” he asked.
She turned a smile toward him. “I only swim at night. Otherwise, I’d burn to a crisp.”
Max nodded. That would explain the lack of a tan. “What else do you like to do outdoors?”
“I like to walk. I love the scents of flowers and evergreen trees.” She raised her eyebrows. “What about you? What do you like to do outside?”
He laughed. “Everything. Even sleeping beneath the stars on a cloudless night.”
“Sounds glorious,” she said on a sigh. “City lights keep people from seeing the stars.”
“Have you always lived in a city?”
She shook her head. “When I was really young, we lived in a small town between Dallas and Waco. I remember the stars shining so brightly, and I could actually see the Milky Way. I’ve missed the stars.”
Max stared up at the clear blue, Texas sky and smiled. “I think I can help you there.”
She smiled his direction, her full lips stretching across those pearly, white teeth. “Is the ranch out far enough away from the city?”
He winked and lifted his chin toward the open road and the wide-open spaces. “You tell me.”
Jane clapped her hands. “I so look forward to the sun setting.”
“And the sunsets out here are spectacular. But don’t take my word for it. You can judge for yourself.”
Jane leaned back in her seat, her smile softening, but still there, all the way to the stone and iron, arched gate announcing the entrance to the Live Oak Ranch.
“You work here?” she asked, leaning forward.
He owned it, but she didn’t have to know that. Not yet. “I do. Me and some of my buddies spent the last couple of days hauling hay from those fields.” He nodded to the freshly cut hay fields. “There are over three hundred head of cattle and ten horses on the ranch.”
“Wow. That’s a lot of animals,” she said.
“That’s just the horse and cattle. We have a variety of goats, chickens, pigs, dogs and cats. And that’s the domestic animals.”
“There’s more?” she asked.
He nodded. “The ranch has over six hundred acres with abundant wildlife. We have turkey, quail, fox, coyote, and the occasional lynx and mountain lion pass through.” His lips twisted. “And the usual raccoons, opossums, ringtails and armadillos, as well as a variety of snakes and lizards.”
“Are you sure you don’t work as a game outfitter, or something?”
“No, ma’am. When you work the land, you get to know all the critters and even the types of soil you have to grow things.”
She raised her hands. “I believe you. Please tell me you’re not going to introduce me to all of those today.”
He wanted her to like animals, but had he come on too strong with his laundry list of what she’d find on the ranch? “Sorry, I didn’t mean to get carried away.”
She touched his arm. “You must love it out here.”
“I do. It’s important to me.”
She nodded. “And if it’s important to you, it needs to be important to whomever you share it with.” Her smile bloomed again. “It sounds wonderful. I’m sure I’ll love it, too.” Her smile slipped. “Except for maybe the part about the snakes. I’ve only held a snake once for a photo sh—” She stopped in mid-sentence and bit down on her bottom lip before continuing. “It was a boa constrictor. I think it was hungry, because it tightened its hold on me while I had it draped around my neck.” She gulped, her hand rising to her throat, her pale face growing paler.
“Seriously? How’d you get it off?”
“The snake handler waved a chicken in front of it. Apparently, chicken was its favorite food.”
“Thank goodness,” Max added. “Who would do that to a woman? Did you tell him that you didn’t want to hold the snake?”
“It’s okay. That was a long time ago.”
He could tell it still affected her, by the way her hand remained resting against her neck. “Don’t worry. I won’t make you hold a snake. We do have a variety of them on the ranch. But I’ll do my best to keep them away from you while you’re here.”
She gave him a tremulous smile. “Thank you.”
“Other than sna
kes, do you have any issues with any other animals?”
“I don’t think so,” she said. “I haven’t been around farm animals, so I can’t tell you. I had a cat once. But that was when I was very young. She slept with me. I remember her having very soft fur.” Her voice trailed off. “Sorry, I like animals, but I haven’t been around many. I did pet a tiger once.”
“A tiger?”
“Yes, and I stood next to a bear until he got cranky.”
“You’re a couple animals up on me. I can’t say I’ve ever been close to either of them, other than at a zoo.”
She shrugged. “I think as long as they’re well-fed and happy, they’re not hard to work with.”
“Talk to the trainers who’ve been killed by their pet lions, tigers and bears.”
A shiver shook her frame in the seat beside his.
“Were you at some kind of petting zoo or safari?”
She shook her head. “No, the animals had handlers.”
She didn’t go into any more detail, and they’d arrived at the sprawling, two-story limestone and cedar ranch house with its wraparound porches on both levels and a huge barn to the west of the house.
“The house is beautiful,” Jane said.
“It was built four years ago, so it has all the bells and whistles, from a pool out back to a theater room for watching the latest movies or football games.”
“Impressive,” Jane said. “The owner must have put a lot of thought into it.”
So, she didn’t think he was the owner, only the ranch hand who worked at the ranch. He didn’t disavow her of that impression. Max thought it best she like him for being him before she realized he had enough money to build several mansions and buy even more acreage.
Rather than park in front of the house where he usually did, he drove around the back and pulled to a stop between the house and the barn.
He climbed down and rounded the front of the truck to open the door for Jane.
She eased onto the running board but missed getting enough of it to hold her. Her foot slipped off, and she fell forward into Max’s arms.
He caught her easily, crushing her to his chest until she got her feet beneath her and could stand on her own.
Something about the way she felt in his arms made him feel odd. Sort of like déjà vu.
“Are you all right?” he asked, leaning back to look at her face. Those damned sunglasses. He couldn’t read her expressions, because he couldn’t see them.
She turned her face up to his and grimaced. “Sorry. I’m not usually so clumsy.”
“No worries. Big trucks take some getting used to.”
She nodded. “Thanks for catching me.”
Again, that feeling of déjà vu struck him, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. “As long as you’re not hurt, we can move on to the next leg of our adventure.”
Her eyebrows rose above the rims of the sunglasses. “You mean we’re going farther?”
He nodded with a crooked smile. “We’re not staying here. I have a special dinner planned in a special location.”
She stepped out of his arms and tilted her head. “Are you sure you’re not going to lead me off into the boondocks and make me find my way back?” She propped a hand on her hip. “This isn’t some sort of test, is it? Like the Army dumping rangers in a swamp where they have to survive for a week eating snakes and bugs.” She shivered. “I like animals all right, but I draw the line at eating bugs.”
Max laughed out loud. “No. No. I’m not going to lose you in the swamp. We don’t have a swamp on Live Oak Ranch. And I won’t leave your side. Remember, I promised to keep the snakes at bay.”
She nodded. “Still not convinced.”
“I was going to take you on a horseback ride, but since you don’t ride yet, we’ll go on four-wheelers.”
“Four-wheelers? Like ATVs?” she asked. “Would it help to know I haven’t driven one of those any more than I’ve learned to ride a horse?” She shook her head. “I feel like I might be failing your test.”
The slump of her shoulders made Max reach for her hands. “No. I don’t want you to feel like you’re failing anything. In fact, I already like your spunk. I’m impressed that you’ve actually petted a tiger. And I thought I was badass for having ridden a bull.”
“You have?” Her fingers curled around his. “That sounds much more dangerous than my boa constrictor.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “It wasn’t pleasant. I didn’t stay on long. The bull convinced me that I didn’t want to do the rodeo circuit.” He’d been lucky he hadn’t broken anything. Having been on the fast track for a football scholarship at Texas A&M, the bull riding fiasco could have cost him his education and his chances to play on an NFL team.
“Yeah, the rodeo wasn’t my thing. It was a dare from some of my high school friends,” he admitted.
“Some friends.”
He held out his arm. “If you’re up for it, we’ll move on. Your chariot awaits.”
“Again, I’ve never driven an ATV.”
“It’s okay. They’ve made them pretty simple. All you have to do is shift it into forward and press your thumb on the accelerator.”
“Thumb? Not foot?”
“That’s for a car.”
“Right,” she said. “I knew that. But isn’t a four-wheeler like a motorcycle?”
“It is.”
“Don’t you twist the handle?”
“Not on these. It’s all in the thumb. The brakes are on the handle, and there’s one by your foot. Come on. I’ll show you. You’ll be an expert before we leave the barnyard.”
“Do you have clearance from the owner to use the ATVs?” she asked.
“I do. He’s okay with me using anything on the ranch.”
She glanced around. “Does he not live here?”
“Sometimes,” he said, hating the white lies, but he wasn’t ready to reveal who the owner was. Not yet.
He stopped short of the barn and turned to her. “Wait here.”
“Okay.”
He threw open one of the big doors on the barn and strode inside. The barn smelled of fresh hay from the bales he and his friends had stacked in the loft the day before.
The horses he’d had moved to the stalls in preparation for an evening ride nickered.
“Sorry, no ride for you tonight,” he called out. He ducked into the barn’s office. Roy Tate sat in his office chair with his boots up on the desk, his hands working the leather strap of a girth. “Hey, bossman,” he said. “Did your date stand you up?”
Max hurriedly closed the door. “Don’t call me bossman. And no, she’s waiting outside the barn.”
Roy dropped his feet to the ground and rose from his chair. “I need to see this. You say a computer matched you two? Damn, if there’s hope for you, you think there’s hope for me?”
“Hell, no. You’re too stuck in your ways.” Max glanced over his shoulder. “Jane doesn’t know I own this place. I’d like to keep it that way, for now.”
Roy’s brows rose up into the dark hair hanging over his forehead. “Seriously? How the hell you gonna impress her if you don’t tell her?”
Max frowned. “That’s just it. I want her to like me. Not my holdings.”
Roy’s eyes rounded. “Oh. Well that’s a horse of a different color. Whatcha want me to do?”
“Nothing. We’re taking the ATVs out to the lake. You can turn the horses out to pasture once we’re out of the barnyard.”
Roy gave him a mock salute. “Gotcha. And my lips are numb.”
“Mum. Your lips are mum.”
Roy frowned “Mine are numb. I don’t know what yours are.”
“Never mind.” Max hurried to the refrigerator. “You didn’t eat the meal I had Cookie prepare, did you?”
“No, but I wanted to. You put enough notes on it, I couldn’t miss them.” He cupped his crotch. “And I kinda like my parts where they are.”
Max pulled out the basket he’d had his chef prepare with
fried chicken, potato salad and beans. He’d had him throw in a bottle of wine and a couple of stainless-steel stemless goblets. To keep his foreman from raiding the food, he’d written ten notes and taped them to the basket threatening to cut off the foreman’s balls if he so much as touched the food.
“Glad you can read,” he said, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
“Can I help it I have a thing for Cookie’s fried chicken?”
“I’m sure he has some left over for your dinner tonight. Just wait until we leave to go up to the house.”
“Yes, boss—” He caught himself and finished with, “Moose.”
“And don’t call me Moose.” Max shot another glance over his shoulder. Thankfully, Jane hadn’t followed him into the barn. “She doesn’t know I played in the NFL.”
“Well, hell,” Roy exclaimed. “What does she know?”
“That I work on the ranch. Nothing more, nothing less.”
Roy shook his head. “Think it’s a good idea to start off with lies?”
“They’re not exactly lies.”
Roy gave Max a narrow-eyed glance. “If they aren’t the truth, what are they?”
“I do work at the ranch,” Max said, his cheeks heating. “That’s the truth.” It was, but it wasn’t all of the truth and Max hated lying by omission.
Roy snorted. “Yeah, but not for pay.”
“No kidding.” Max tipped his head toward the loft. “If not for me and my friends, all that hay would still be sitting out in the field.”
Roy held up his hands. “Hey, I’m not judging or complaining. Damned glad to get the help. And damned glad to have a job.”
“Now, help me get the four-wheelers out of the back.”
“Already done. They’re waiting in a stall, gasoline all topped off.” Roy pushed his thumbs through his belt loops and rocked back on his heels, a grin on his face. “Didn’t think your date would be all too keen on riding a horse she hasn’t been on. Especially on a first date.”
“Worse than that, she’s never been on a horse.” Max still hadn’t come to grips with that. But then, how many city women had even been close to a horse?
Why hadn’t BODS found him a country girl? Wouldn’t that have been a better fit?
He hurried to the stall Roy indicated and revved the engine on the first ATV. Today would be a make or break first date.