COWBOY FOR SALE--A Second-Chances Spicy Romance (17 page)

He watched as she bit into it—staring, really, as the tip of her tongue found a bit of sauce on her upper lip.

“I see you found some champagne.”

He nodded.

“Aren't you going to have anything?”

Jared blinked, trying to clear his head. He sat down and began to fill a plate.

After a few minutes of silence, Lacey poured the champagne and held out a glass to him.

“I hope you're good at toasts,” she said.

Was he imagining her eyes were filled with expectation? He just couldn’t be sure. And he wasn’t used to feeling that way. His gaze dropped to stare at the bubbles in his glass, then returned to once again rest on her luminous eyes.

He cleared his throat. “Well, I guess you're just supposed to say what's on your mind—”

“Or in your heart,” she finished.

“Right. Well, here's to us.” He paused, thinking a moment. “And I'm kind of glad the way things turned out—you're a much better date than my sister.”

He watched as Lacey's eyes widened a little, then crinkled as she smiled. “I'll take that as a compliment, though I wouldn't tell your sister if I were you.” She raised on eyebrow for effect.

He returned her grin and touched the rim of her glass with his. He took a long draw of champagne and watched as she sipped hers.

Both returned their attention to the food, stopping periodically to refill their glasses until the bottle was empty.

Lacey leaned back in her chair, her hands resting on her stomach.

“You warm enough out here?” he asked.

She rubbed her bare feet together. “It's just now starting to feel coolish to me. Why don't you build a fire inside and I'll clean up out here.”

Jared stood, avoiding her gaze.

Lacey by firelight might just be the death of me
.

***

Standing in the kitchenette, Lacey sneaked a peek at Jared while he worked at building a fire in the fireplace. Her fingers trembled a little as she tucked clear wrap over the leftovers from their picnic. The champagne had created a delicious buzz. She felt relaxed. Feminine. She felt everything. She could feel that her nipples were tight as they brushed against the soft fabric inside her sweatshirt. Her panties felt damp. She tingled from head to toe.

“You ready?” Jared called.

She smiled at the double meaning of his innocent question. Her intense desire was an unexpected surprise. Looking up, she checked his expression.

Do you feel the same?

Suddenly her mouth went dry. What if he didn't?

Turning away, Lacey gripped the edge of the counter until her knuckles drained of blood.
Don't be a fool. A little control right now is what you need—not what was starting to feel like uncontrolled lust.
She felt like a teenager, ready to lose her virginity.

Where had
that
thought come from?

Truth was, the way she felt…if she was being totally honest, the way Jared made her feel was crescendoing into something she didn’t want to stop. Was she prepared to go there? Was he?

Jared sat cross-legged in front of the fire and didn't move when she approached. She joined him on the sheepskin rug. Several minutes passed wordlessly.

“It's a nice fire,” she murmured.

Jared tilted his head toward her, catching her gaze. “How do you feel?”

“Hmm? About what?”

“Us. Being here. Tonight.”

Lacey didn't answer. Instead, she tore her gaze from his and stared at the fire, watching the flames curl around a log…softly, almost…lovingly.

“Should I get us some more champagne?” he asked.

She hesitated a beat before answering. “I'd like that.”

Jared gracefully got to his feet and occupied himself in the tiny kitchen.

She knew more champagne would weaken her resolve.
But maybe that's exactly what I need. Just have a little fun. Everyone else does it
. A tiny voice inside her head laughed at her feeble attempt at justification.

Jared returned and placed a bottle and delicate, crystal glasses on the floor in front of her. “Look, let's just relax. Talk. I promise to be a gentleman, scout's honor.”

Lacey smiled, relieved at his humor. She glanced at him and saw his three fingers frozen in a scout's pledge.

“Deal.”

***

Jared wiped imaginary sweat from his forehead, then lowered his hand. Returning her smile, he felt immediately more relaxed. He filled their glasses. This time they drank without a toast. Was he just imagining the flare of desire in her eyes?

Their silence was strangely comfortable. He considered his own past—dates before Courtney, after Courtney, other times he'd been alone with women. Most of all, he was surprised at the ease he felt with the silence between him and Lacey.

Maybe she was different. Maybe he needed to rethink his carefully thought-out rules. What did he really know about her? She was successful, but not arrogant about it. She seemed awfully young, but Jo had assured him she wasn’t that young. She was great with Jamie. Remembering Hank, he gathered she didn't appear to have the best judgment in men, but on the other hand, she was willing to admit her mistakes.

He needed to know more about her.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Lacey said softly.

“Truth?”

“Oh, this sounds like the beginning of twenty questions or truth or dare…”

“Afraid?” Her silence implied she might be.

“All right, let's set some ground rules. We get to ask what we want, but we each retain the right to say
pass
, okay?” She refilled her glass and met his stare.

“Fair enough. Who starts?” he asked.

“I offered the penny…”

He drained his glass and refilled it, then settled back, cross-legged on the floor before turning to her to answer. “Well, actually, I was wondering if you were really different from other women I’ve known, or if I was just imagining it.”

“Please rephrase in the form of a question.” Her silky voice held a slight challenge.

He stared at her profile, raised one eyebrow, and considered asking what he really wanted to know. Might as well cut to the chase, to what he hadn’t even thought to ask Courtney.

“How important is your career to you?”

Lacey shifted her gaze to the curling flames of the fire. “I’d have to say that my career is probably one of the few things I've done right in my life. After trying some other things, I finally figured out what I'm good at and I’m proud of my accomplishments. I can support myself. I really like the company and I'm working towards a pretty big promotion. It's fulfilling to me.”

Jared winced slightly. “So you enjoy working all the long hours a manager typically works?” He knew the commitment of being in charge…and knew it well. Owning the ranch had made him realize his own commitment was twenty-four/seven. Every day, all the time. But, thing was, he was cut out for it, it suited him perfectly.

“Actually,” she began, her voice telling him she was choosing her words carefully, “I'm thinking about slowing down. A little. The girls at the salon call me a workaholic. Which I don’t want to be, I’ve realized lately. At the same time I’m reaching for the stars, career-wise, I think I'm finally also ready for…more…a hobby, maybe. Something besides just working, you know?”

Well, now I'm confused.
Jared added his gaze to the flames.

She interrupted his thoughts. “You have something against women with careers?”

Uh-oh.
“It depends.”

“On?”

Jared turned his head toward her and caught her gaze. She looked so innocent, so open. Was she?

“Looks like I touched a nerve. You can pass if you want,” she offered.

He took a deep breath and returned his gaze to the fire. “Jamie's mom chose her career over…us. So, yeah, that left a lasting effect on me.”

They sat in thick silence for several moments.

“Do you want to talk about it? About her?”

Jared's mind filled with all the painful memories he'd worked so hard to suppress. Would she understand? Or would she take Courtney's side—that women deserved to have a career as much as men did. And, truthfully, sure, they did.

And some women did seem to be able to balance things. But, Courtney, she was more of an “all in” kind of woman. Unfortunately, he’d learned that too late.

Dazzled by her beauty, he’d been amazed she even paid attention to someone like him. She’d seemed unreachable…forbidden fruit.

He sighed. The trouble had started the minute he’d bought the ranch. He’d satisfied his own dream, assuming if she loved him she’d share it. Or at least learn to. That had been his biggest mistake.

He rotated his shoulders, trying to release the tension that had developed. He wanted to talk about it…needed to.

“First of all, you need to know that I've loved having Jamie to myself. I never thought Courtney—that's Jamie's mom—really wanted a kid. She just kind of…did it, you know? I think mostly she wanted a
little her
, or something.”

“I know women like that.”

“But I still can't understand how she could just leave us for a career, choosing her job instead of her family.” His jaw clenched tightly as he closed his eyes against the flood of emotion he was experiencing, loosened by the champagne, no doubt, plus Lacey’s comforting voice.

“I do believe some women really shouldn't have children,” she began, “but you need to realize that Jamie's lucky she's got a dad like you. It's just going to be hard, sometimes, to handle the girl-stuff. I’m guessing your sister is a big help.”

“She is,” he agreed, “when she's around. She gets busy, though, and I can't go running to her with every little problem.”

“You know what? It's going to be quite a while before it feels like there are problems you can't handle. I promise you.”

He looked at her. It wasn't the conversation he'd expected. Maybe she
was
different.

She flashed a smile. “We did pretty well, don't you think?”

“My turn,” he said. “I heard you were engaged, but it didn't work out. What happened?”

***

This time, it was Lacey who turned away. Her cheeks flushed hot and her stomach tied itself into a neat, little knot.

“Need to pass?” he asked.

It almost sounded a little more like a dare to her than an offering. Or was it that he simply wanted to know more about her past?

Why not talk about it?
She had to admit that it was starting to feel good to share. When had she felt that way? Not recently. And not with a man. Never with Dirk, if she was totally honest. Talking with the girls at the salon was different. Even then she tended to censor herself, never really revealing everything. Had she always been that way? So guarded?

Jared cleared his throat, then said, “I’m sorry, I—”

“I was engaged to the wrong man,” she interrupted, deciding she might as well go through that door since he’d opened it. He had just shared a piece of his heart with her. Didn’t he deserve the same?

“What was wrong about him?”

“Everything. In a nutshell, I was a naive, overly-trusting female and, behind my back, he was a philandering jerk.”

“Details?” His voice was soft, as though he would accept whatever she might say.

“Okay.” She took in a deep breath and continued. “He was eight years older than me, so it seemed like we didn’t have as much in common sometimes. He had an adorable little boy named Devyn, though, and he and I got very close, you know? I found myself wanting to spend time with Devyn even more than Dirk. Now I wonder if that was a problem. Anyway, long story short, Dirk fooled around with his secretary, she got pregnant, and he left town with her, taking Devyn out of my life forever. All of it was devastating, and it’s taken me a long, long time to even begin to get past it.”

***

Son of a bitch.
Gloria was right about Lacey’s broken heart when she’d told him that at the Rockin’ Ranch. He could hear the pain in her voice, and could tell the wound was deep. It was a lot to get over.

“Anyone since?” he asked.

“Celibacy is in, haven't you heard?” She paused before adding, “Neither one of us sounds too successful in the love department.” Her voice turned quiet, serene.

Jared felt her hand, whisper soft on his knee. He looked down at it, tiny and pale on his jeans. Then he turned and looked into her eyes. They danced with green fire. And he wondered if she had any idea how pretty she was.

Keeping her gaze, Jared placed his hand on top of hers and gently squeezed it. “Thanks for being so honest with me.”

She was so beautiful. Her dark hair cascaded over her shoulders, shimmering with mahogany-colored lights reflected from the fire.