Bailey blinked. “You need my help.”
“I don’t.” She crossed her arms over her chest, and the paper crackled.
A weight sunk through his stomach. Something curled around his lower back.
“Tessa.” His warning came out hoarse.
“I mean it, Bailey.” She gestured with her hands. “I can handle the ranch. I’ve been lining up private investors, and I think I’ve figured out a way to get it off the ground by the end of summer.”
“And who will take care of the stock?”
“There’s that therapy ranch out toward Harrison.”
Bailey shook his head. How could she even suggest this? Didn’t she know he wanted to support her? “Tess, I want to help you.”
“Fine. Then go after your dream.” She stuck her chin out.
“How does that help you?” He tilted his head and crossed his arms in a pose mimicking hers.
“Get a great paying job in Austin and feel free to send money.” She glared at him. “Am I right that you could earn as much in a week of architectural design as you make in a month mowing fields and working maintenance for the school district?”
He opened his mouth to argue, then shut it. She was right. He’d been earning a goodly sum five years ago at the custom home design partnership in Houston. They’d probably be happy to give him a recommendation after they tried to talk him into returning.
A hiccup jerked inside his chest. The back of his tongue tasted like hope.
“Let’s get this guest ranch operating first.” He lowered his voice to the pitch he used with spooked horses.
She grunted. “Don’t try that whispering magic on me.” She set the plans on the desk and grabbed his arms. “Let me do this, Lee. Please.”
The pleading in her eyes undid him. She knew he couldn’t say no to that look. He tried to manufacture ire at her manipulation, but his soul held its breath. “She’s not going to want me following her to Austin.”
Tess pouted. “But you can do it anyway.” She slipped her hand in his. “Go talk to her.”
Bailey kissed his sister’s sunshine-scented hair.
As he worked through the next day, he tried to plan a convincing argument, something that wouldn’t sound desperate or stalker-like. In the end, he tossed shoes and clothes into an old duffel he used to carry laundry home in during college and prayed.
Let her want me.
13
Saturday afternoon, Jaz hugged her mother tighter, breathing in the scent of lilies, memorizing it. She’d only be two hours away, much closer than she’d been for the past six years. Why the ever-widening chasm in her chest then?
“Next weekend I’ll help you apartment shop.” Her mother smoothed a hand over her hair and kissed her cheek.
They broke apart, and her mom climbed into the idling car. Her father waved, his expression the same grim set he’d had since she told him she’d be leaving. He wanted to know how much money she’d earn and when she planned to finish her degrees.
Thanks for all the support, Dad. But she hadn’t expected anything more.
A flash of Drew’s smile echoed across her memory. He gave her two thumbs up, as he had whenever her dad walked away, frowning his disapproval.
She jiggled another box into the back of the car. She still had to load the linens her mother had set aside for her, and the clothes hanging in the closet. Maybe she’d be in Austin sooner than she’d told Deena.
In her bedroom, she scanned the walls and shelves. Bare. Not as colorless as the barracks when she’d left the Army, but a similar ache throbbed in her chest. Why? This room hadn’t been home for a decade. The past weeks were a hotel stay, a pit stop in her post-Army life.
Jaz tilted the box on top of the sheets. Light from the window played across the bronze facets. Her brother’s too-short life condensed into a single medal, appropriate since it represented his valor and his goal to rescue others.
Like he’d done for her as long as she could remember.
She snapped the lid closed and tucked the medal into her messenger bag. She scanned the room, grabbed another bag, and hustled to her car.
Outside, a rusty white pickup blocked the end of the drive. Jaz froze. Crossed arms emphasized the mass of his biceps as Bailey leaned against the truck. He used one hand to tilt his hat up, a salute she’d come to recognize as his form of greeting.
With the hat pushed back, she could see those devastating eyes. His gaze was as dark as the shadows lengthening across the eventful day.
“Heading to Austin?” The low gravel of his question raced up her back—a chilling pleasure.
Jaz dipped her chin and dropped the bags she carried in the passenger seat of her car. Her heart danced against her breastbone, but her mind went mute. What was left to say? She’d helped him save his ranch and tied him to Sweet Grove.
She stole a glance at him as she ducked back through the open garage. Her lips tingled, anticipating a goodbye kiss.
In her room, she slung the handle of one of the remaining bags over her shoulder and hefted the one holding sheets and towels. She swiveled and barreled into firm pecs and steely abs. She grunted.
“Is this the last of it?”
She stared at his lips, tempted to push onto her toes and revel in the concussion of emotion and pleasure of his kiss. Instead, she gulped and focused on his calloused fingers wrapped over hers on the handle of the bag. She released it automatically, and when he held his other hand out, she passed the second one off, too.
“Back seat?”
She licked her lips, trying to swallow around the hive buzzing in her throat. Bailey’s gaze dropped to her mouth. Her heart revved like an engine in overdrive. She sidled away from him. “Yeah. I just have to grab what’s hanging in the closet.”
His gaze flicked back to hers. Then he was gone and the room chilled. How could one cowboy be so hot?
You’re walking away from that?
She shrugged, hating how her stomach plummeted. Her life was a litany of walking away from one dream after the other. She squeezed her eyes shut.
Lord, help me find what I’m searching for.
Her eyes snapped open. She piled the clothes onto the bed and closed the closet doors.
He was back. His large hands could easily span all the hangers, but he only lifted half of them. Even the hem of her longest dress didn’t skim the floor. He edged away from the door, waiting for her to precede him.
Always the gentleman.
Jaz draped the rest of the clothes over her arms. She scurried around him like a rat avoiding a well-baited trap.
After she lay the clothes over the packed back seat, she scooted away. When he leaned into the car, his toned backside looked as fine as ever.
She gulped. He wasn’t a player, and he’d already told her goodbye. Bailey respected and understood her, but he belonged to Sweet Grove. Jaz needed to spread her wings.
She fidgeted with the handle on the door. He closed the back door and hatchback of her car. He stopped inches in front of her.
“Thanks.” Her voice wobbled. She clenched her fingers into a ball.
“I don’t want you to go.” The words were quiet and carried a world of doubt and longing.
Jaz choked on her next breath. Bailey slid closer and cupped her cheek. Her eyelids veiled her sight, and the sensation of his rough skin stroking her smooth cheek traveled through every nerve ending. She tried to capture the experience and store it for later.
“I can’t stay, Bailey.” She stared into his steady gaze, pouring every reason for leaving into a silent communique. “Not even for you.”
The corner of his mouth twitched. Her heart stumbled, longing to see that grin again.
“But you’re tempted to stay?” He lowered his face toward hers. “By me?”
Firm lips swept across hers. Sensations crashed in a flash flood through every atom of her being. Her arms groped his waist as his fingers swept beneath her ear and into the hair at the nape of her neck. She opened h
er mouth to taste all of him, and suddenly she was kissing air.
She blinked up at him, trying to catch the breath he stole. After a few swallows, she found it. “It’s not just the job. Or my dad.” Her voice shook, so she stopped talking.
He shoved his hat higher, and his gaze brushed across her features, a caress she felt as much as the one at her neck and hip.
“You’re not running from memories of Drew, are you?”
She pressed her lips in a line. “I came to collect them. They’re going with me.” She thought of the photo album and the medal.
“Take me with you, too.”
She pinched her brows together and tried to step away from him. He dropped both hands to her hips and held her in place, so close his heat melted the resolve she’d donned as body armor.
“But, Tess. And the ranch.”
“Tess told me to go after you.”
Of course she did. Jaz shook her head. “What would you do in Austin? Where would you stay?”
His fingers drew a circle on one of her hips, igniting a firestorm in her gut. She covered his hand with hers. The full-fledged grin appeared then, turning her insides to a circus of monkeys.
“I have a degree. I could get a job.”
“But I know how much the ranch means to you.”
“It’s a home for Tess.”
Swelling in her chest made her breath catch. She couldn’t risk this again. Could she?
“What about your home, Bailey? Isn’t the ranch all you have?”
Bailey studied her face, a slow perusal. The distracting swirl of his fingers started on her opposite hip.
“Is the ranch all I have?” He leaned closer. His breath fanned her cheek when he whispered, “I thought I’d found something with you.”
Her heart sprang toward him, pounding against her breastbone. She inched closer without meaning to do it. The cotton of his shirt slid beneath her palm as she raised her hand to cover his heart.
She’d lost everything, but what if all of that was so she could find love? Doubt rattled like buckshot inside her brain.
“I know it’s only been a couple of weeks.” His throat bobbed. “But I crushed on you so hard in high school. And when I saw you with Poppet, it all came rushing back.”
His fingers tightened on her waist. In those summer night eyes, hope called to her.
What if God was answering her prayer?
“I don’t—”
Her fingers covered his mouth, pushing until he stopped talking. Their gazes melded.
“You’ve got my number, cowboy. No need to uproot yourself today.” Her stomach plunged, already missing him.
He stared into her eyes until he drilled her soul. “You’ll be my girl?”
Her lips twitched. Had she ever been anyone’s girl? She rose onto her toes, kissing away the half frown.
“Will you be my guy?”
His mouth claiming hers told her everything she needed to know.
* * *
One Month Later
Afternoon sunlight pounded against her skull. Jaz swatted the behind of the last girl and followed her out of the heat and into the locker room.
So much for the championship bid. The Longhorns had been ranked in the top five before this week, but it ended at regionals today.
As her eyes started to adjust to the dimness of the hallway between the dugout and the locker room, Deena pulled her aside. “Someone’s asking for you.” She thumbed toward the exit into the stands.
“Not that I’m sad to miss the tongue-lashing—”
Deena held up her palm. “Your part-time gig isn’t worth that.”
Jaz thanked her friend, snagged a bottle of water from the ice chest near the door, and downed half of it as she climbed the stairs. Her mom planned to attend the game this weekend. Jaz loved seeing her, but was a little tired of shopping for her barren apartment.
A sigh escaped as she hit the bar and stepped into the shadowed hallways beneath the stands. A cowboy leaned against the far wall.
Jaz halted, rubbing her eyes. Her lungs forgot to breathe.
“Good game, coach.”
She was an assistant to the assistant who was on medical leave, not anyone’s coach.
Jaz stepped out of the doorway. The clang of the closing door echoed in the enclosed space. “Hey.”
Even though they texted each other every night, her heart was jigging around her stomach.
“I wanted to surprise you.”
He stepped closer. Her eyes devoured his half-smile, the fit of his shirt across broad shoulders, and the loose way he ambled toward her.
“I’m a mess.” Old insecurities reared into her throat, stalling her words.
Bailey’s hands framed her chin. “You’re beautiful. Mind-boggling.” His calloused fingertips stroked her cheek and he gulped. “Sexy.”
Before Jaz could argue, his lips covered hers, caressing, confirming. She melted into him, stunned at the flood of energy shooting through her. His hands slid to her shoulders.
A trail of kisses crossed her sweaty cheek. Hot breath chilled her neck.
“I missed you.”
The truth of it soothed across a too-often-broken heart. A tear in her soul stitched together.
She rested her palms on his waist. “So, cowboy, what brings you to Austin?”
One corner of his mouth curled up, and then the other. Her chest ached at the sight of that grin and the light sparking blue fire in his eyes.
“Besides my gorgeous girlfriend?”
She blinked at him. He dangled a set of keys before lacing his fingers in hers and dragging her forward.
“I need to change.”
His eyes scanned her. “You’re perfect.”
She stumbled behind him, wincing when they stepped into the sunlight. He’d taken her to the service entrance of the parking lot. She recognized the beater truck parked in a tow away zone.
“Haven’t been here long?”
Bailey’s grin widened. “I saw the last two innings.”
“You’re lucky you didn’t get towed.”
Bailey led her to the truck. The bed was packed with boxes, and the crew cab was stuffed with jeans and shirts.
Jaz gaped at the sight. He waggled the keys again. Her gaze riveted on those sexy lips.
“I start my job on Monday.” He angled the bill of his hat up further so she wouldn’t miss his wink. “These keys open my studio apartment.”
Her jaw slackened even more. No matter how often he speculated about moving away from the ranch, it had seemed like some distant future event.
“What about Tess?”
“She’s a big girl.” His lips curled into a frown. “She’s got a vested partner now. And she kicked me out last month.”
His exaggerated drawl sent a flush of shivering tingles up her arms. She loved the sound of his voice. Technology was great, but it didn’t replace moments like this when his hand warmed her hip and his eyes proclaimed a million truths she struggled to believe.
As Bailey pulled her closer, her stomach shivered. In his unblinking gaze she saw a future, and his circle-drawing thumbs reassured her it wasn’t all a dream.
She bit her lower lip, sucking it in her mouth. “You never said anything. What’s the big—”
His lips covered hers with hot urgency. A few pulsing heartbeats later, he slowed and sweetened the kiss, then drew back. He whispered on her lips, “I’m here to win your trust and love.”
“I trust you.” The breathy voice sounded foreign to her. “I don’t want you to regret—”
He pressed his lips to hers, waking every nerve from head to toe. When he edged back, her insides churned and her knees buckled. He flashed a flirty grin and plopped his hat onto her head. “Want to see my place?”
She sighed and arched one brow. “My stuff is in the locker room. My car…”
The squawk of the passenger door opening cut her off. Pressure from his hand guided her into the blast of hot air escaping the truck.
“We can pick it up later.”
Jaz slid onto the seat, gripping his hand before he could step back. “Are you sure about this?”
The glint in his eyes said he understood that she was asking about more than the move from Sweet Grove. Her stomach twisted.
His luscious lips slid into the grin she adored. “I’ve been sure about this since you nearly knocked my head off with a softball.”
Lord, it’s too perfect to be real.
Bailey interlaced their fingers. There was no mistaking the adoration sparkling in his steady gaze.
Love threw a fastball, but doubt struck out.
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What’s Next?
Read the first chapter of LOVE’S LITTLE SECRETS, book 10 of FIRST STREET CHURCH…
Norma Wells didn’t know who to thank for the state of her silver anniversary party plans—Pinterest boards or her pastor’s wife. A quarter-century married to the same man should be celebrated in style. So what if she didn’t love him anymore?
Norma blinked at the photo of the elaborate cake on her smart phone. No one would guess it was a Wells family recipe beneath all that fluff. After Tabitha Olson balked when Norma insisted on baking her own cake, Norma agreed to let a professional frost and decorate it.
“It’s a landmark anniversary,” the pastor’s wife had argued, and Tabitha knew the pitfalls to matrimonial longevity.
At least she had a daughter and grandchild to show for it.
“Waiting for me again?” Her boss, Kyanna Patchett, stopped beside her elbow. “Is that for the party tomorrow?”
Norma held her phone out to the principal. While Kyanna studied the photo, Norma clicked through the log out and shut down protocols on her desktop computer before fumbling with her bottom desk drawer. She shoved an open bag of sunflower seeds out of the way and grasped her well-used leather handbag.
“What flavor?” Kyanna handed the phone back and sidled away so Norma could stand.
“Secret family recipe.”
Kyanna’s eyebrows shot up. “A nameless secret recipe?”
Love's Lingering Doubts (Love's Texas Homecoming Boo 1; First Street Church #9) Page 10