The Rancher's One-Week Wife (7 page)

As the two men finished putting the food on the table, Karly suddenly realized just how hungry she was. She and Blake had had an early lunch before her riding lesson and trip to the upper pasture. Glancing at the digital display on the microwave, she was surprised to see that had been almost seven hours earlier.

When both men brought the food and iced tea to the table, Silas filled their plates with thick stew. Seating himself, he pointed to her plate with his fork. “You’d better eat up, gal. There’s more where that come from.” He grinned. “And I made a chocolate cake for dessert.”

“I’ll be sure to save room for a piece,” Karly said, picking up her fork. “I love chocolate.”

Smiling, Silas nodded. “Most women do.”

“How would you know what women like?” Blake asked, frowning.

Silas grunted. “Just why do you think men give women chocolates on Valentine’s Day, hotshot?”

“I don’t ever remember you having a girlfriend,” Blake said, sounding doubtful.

Silas shook his head. “Don’t go thinkin’ I didn’t have my pick of the women in my day, boy. I used to be quite the lady’s man about forty years back.”

Karly couldn’t help but laugh as she listened to the good-natured banter. It was like a game of verbal one-upmanship and she could tell the two men thought the world of each other. Blake treated Silas like a favorite uncle or beloved grandfather and it was clear the old gentleman cared just as much for him.

By the time the meal was over and Silas served them all slices of the chocolate cake, Karly couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed as much. “You two are hilarious. How long have you known each other?”

“I’ve known him and his brother since the day they were born,” Silas said, taking a bite of cake.

“You have a brother?” Karly asked, turning to Blake. He hadn’t mentioned having a sibling. But then they hadn’t really talked about family, or much of anything in their lives, when they were in Las Vegas.

He nodded. “Sean’s a couple of years older than me.”

“Does he live close by?” she asked, wondering what it would be like to have someone who shared the same memories of family and growing up. Being an only child, she’d never experienced that and she couldn’t help but feel that she’d missed out on something meaningful.

“Sean has a ranch about twenty miles to the north—on the other side of the mountain,” he answered as he took their empty plates to the sink.

“That must have been nice, having someone to play with when you were little,” she said, unable to keep from feeling wistful about it. “I always wanted a sister or brother, but I guess it wasn’t meant to be.”

While Silas loaded the dishwasher, Blake poured them each a cup of coffee and rejoined her at the table. “I take it you are an only child?”

“Back in December, we didn’t get around to talking about family,” she admitted, nodding.

He eyed her over the rim of his coffee cup for several long moments before he set it on the table and reached to cover her hand with his. “There were a lot of things we should have discussed, but didn’t.”

The feel of his warm calloused palm covering her hand made her feel heated all over and she found herself longing for the way things might have been between them. Before she could give in to that longing and do something she shouldn’t, she pushed her chair back. “I...suppose I should help Silas with the dishes,” she said, needing to put distance between her and Blake in order to regain her perspective.

She hadn’t traveled all this way to rekindle what they’d shared in Vegas. She’d come to put an end to it once and for all. But unlike the certainty she’d felt in Seattle when she’d first made the decision, the thought of ending it after this lovely visit made her want to cry and she wasn’t entirely certain why.

But when she started to rise from the chair, her thigh muscles were so stiff and sore, her legs threatened to fail her. “I shouldn’t have sat that long,” she said, slowly getting to her feet.

“That’s another reason I wanted to bring you over here,” he said, starting to lead her into the great room. “You’ll feel better after some time in the hot tub.”

Karly stopped to stare at him. “Blake, are you out of your mind? I can’t get in the hot tub.”

He looked thoroughly confused. “Why not?”

“For one thing, I don’t have anything to wear.” She motioned toward the double glass doors leading from the great room to the stone patio beyond. “And for another, I know the owner of this place may be good-natured, but I’m sure he would draw the line at having someone he doesn’t know taking a dip in his hot tub.”

“Trust me, sweetheart, he won’t care,” Blake said, guiding her out of the house toward the in-ground pool and spa. “I have free rein here, which means you do, too. You can slip out of your clothes and soak for a while in the hot tub and no one will be the wiser.”

“I’m not going to go skinny-dipping in a stranger’s spa,” she said, looking around as they walked outside. If the owner had a hot tub, she certainly couldn’t find it.

The sun had already gone down and the lights around the stone patio and pool made it look as if they were standing on the edge of a tropical lagoon. At one end, a waterfall cascaded down a huge natural-looking rock formation into the pool. But when she looked closer, she realized that the hot tub was set behind the curtain of water, as if it was inside a hidden cave.

He pointed toward the waterfall. “It’s completely private. And I promise it will help to soothe your aching muscles.”

Relief from the stiffness in her thighs and lower back did sound like heaven. “The owner—”

“Won’t mind at all,” he interrupted. He grabbed a couple of bath sheets that were sitting on a lounge chair they passed on the way to the waterfall.

“Where did those come from?” she asked, beginning to realize he had this planned all along.

“I laid them out when we first got here,” he answered, looking smug. “It was while you were surveying the kitchen.”

“You had this planned when you invited me up here for dinner,” she accused.

He nodded and grinned. “Now take your clothes off and hop in.”

Five

W
hen Karly continued to glare at him, Blake frowned. “What?”

“I’m not taking my clothes off in front of you,” she said, stubbornly crossing her arms beneath her breasts.

He tried not to remember how perfectly those breasts fit in the palms of his hands or how responsive her nipples were when he teased them with the pads of his thumbs. Obviously, he hadn’t considered the full effect of the temptation she’d present when he’d come up with this hot-tub idea.

“Why not?” he asked, grinning and putting aside thoughts of her lovely breasts. “We did a lot more than just take our clothes off in Vegas and I don’t remember either one of us having a problem with that.”

If looks could kill, she would have dropped him right there where he stood. “That was different,” she insisted.

He raised one eyebrow. “How do you figure?”

“We were married.”

He shook his head. “Not at first we weren’t. If you’ll remember I ran into you in the hotel lobby in Vegas on Monday morning just as you were arriving to check in.” He smiled. “And I made love to you for the first time that night. We didn’t get married until the following Saturday night.”

“That was a long time ago,” she said softly.

“Not really.” Reaching out, he cupped her soft cheek with his palm. “Sweetheart, we’re still married and I’m still your husband until a judge says I’m not. There’s no reason for you to feel shy with me.”

Her expression softened a little, but she was apparently going to stand her ground. “We haven’t been together in over eight months, Blake.” She shook her head. “And in three months we’ll be divorced.”

There was a sadness in her eyes that he hadn’t expected. Was she regretting her decision?

The notion that she might be having second thoughts caused a hitch in his breathing and he didn’t want to consider why. But he immediately abandoned the likelihood that she had changed her mind again. Just because she might be sorry for what had—or more accurately hadn’t—taken place after they left Las Vegas, didn’t mean anything. In light of the choices she’d made and the way things had turned out, he had his own doubts that it would have worked out between them, as well.

Fighting to keep from lowering his head to kiss her slightly parted lips, Blake dropped his hand to his side. “Follow me. There’s an entrance at the side of the waterfall. Going in that way will keep you from getting your hair wet.” Once they entered the secluded area, he flipped a switch, turning off the underwater lights in the custom-made, sunken tub. “You can put your clothes over there to keep them dry,” he said, motioning toward a lounge chair a couple of feet away. Turning his back to her, he added, “Let me know when I can turn around.”

“I still can’t believe your boss won’t have a problem with someone using his hot tub without permission,” she said.

He started to tell her she was beginning to sound like a parrot, but the words lodged somewhere between his vocal cords and open mouth when he heard the rustle of clothing being removed a moment before her jeans and T-shirt landed on the end of the lounge chair. Blake swallowed hard. Then he took a deep breath when her lacy panties and bra landed on top of the pile. Just knowing she was as naked as the day she was born and standing right behind him was enough to send his blood pressure sky-high.

The sound of her stepping into the spa caused sweat to pop out on his forehead. He hadn’t anticipated remembering how he’d sipped water droplets from her satiny skin when they’d showered together. He gritted his teeth and tried desperately to think of anything but how her lithe wet body had felt against his.

“Oh, dear heavens that feels good,” Karly said, her tone appreciative. As if it was an afterthought, she added, “You can turn around now.”

Thankful that he had switched off the submerged lights to keep her from seeing the obvious evidence of how she still affected him, Blake sat down on the side of the lounge chair and took his time pulling off his boots and socks. Maybe if he gave himself a few minutes before he got into the water with her, he could get a grip on his suddenly nonexistent control.

When he stood up to unbuckle his belt and release the button at the waistband of his jeans, he thought he heard her moan softly. “Are you all right?” he asked, unzipping his fly to shove his jeans and boxer briefs down his legs.

He couldn’t help but chuckle when Karly sent a little wave of water over the rock edge of the tub as she quickly whirled around to look away from where he was undressing. “I-I’m just...amazed at how wonderful this warm water feels.”

“I think you’ll have to agree, the hot tub was a good idea,” he said, knowing that wasn’t the real reason behind her moan.

But he kept that knowledge to himself. Pointing out that she was no more immune to him now than she had been in Las Vegas would only put her on the defensive and prevent him from learning why she had changed her mind about them.

By the time he had removed his clothes, he felt a little more in control of his body. So he walked over to the side of the heated spa and stepped into the bubbling water. Lowering himself to the stone seat beside her, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath as the soothing, heated water swirled around them. Just knowing that her nude body was only inches away from his was playing hell with his good intentions.

“This is an unusual hot tub,” she commented. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen one made out of stones. It looks so natural.”

Nodding, he opened his eyes. “The owner told some pool designer what he wanted and the guy made it happen.”

“Well, whoever the designer was, he did a wonderful job.” She looked toward the curtain of water separating the hidden room from the pool. “This feels like we’re in a tropical paradise.”

“I’m pretty sure that was the plan,” Blake said, smiling.

Her appreciation for his home and for the attention to detail that he’d put into it pleased him more than he would have thought. The fact that he had wanted to share it with her for the rest of their lives made her approval bittersweet.

Deciding it was a good time to get a few answers about why she’d changed her mind about them, he asked, “Have you always lived in Seattle?”

She turned her head to give him a puzzled look. “Where did that question come from?”

“Just wondering,” he said, shrugging. He didn’t want to give her the impression she was being interrogated. And asking her the questions he hadn’t asked in Vegas would be a good way to keep his mind away from thoughts of her nude body.

“To satisfy your curiosity, I was born in New York City and with the exception of living in a small town in the Midwest for a few years, I was raised there,” she said, answering his question. “From what you said about going to school in Eagle Fork, I assume you’ve always lived around here?”

He nodded. “Yup. And I take it the pony ride happened while you lived in the small town.”

“Yes.” She laughed. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a market in Manhattan that has pony rides during their grand opening.”

“Why did your family move from the city?” he asked, making sure to keep his tone from sounding too interested.

“My father was an industrial engineer and the company he worked for sent him to study and improve the productivity of one of their manufacturing plants.” She stared at the waterfall. “He loved it in the Midwest, but my mother hated it.”

“What about you?” he asked. “How did you feel about it?”

“To tell you the truth, I was really too young to have much of an opinion one way or the other,” she commented. “And when my mother decided she’d had enough of small-town life, she took me back to New York and that was that.”

“Your parents divorced?” he asked gently.

She nodded. “Unfortunately, I only saw my father a couple of times after we moved. He was killed in a car accident within a year after the divorce.”

Without a second thought, Blake put his arm around her bare shoulders and pulled her to his side. “I’m sorry, Karly. I know how hard that is on a kid. I lost my mom when I was ten.”

“I was only six when he died and all I really remember about him was that he worked a lot and he took me for ice cream more than my mother wanted him to,” she said, her voice somber. He could tell it bothered her that she couldn’t remember the man who helped to give her life.

“Dads have a tendency to do things moms would rather they didn’t,” he said, chuckling. “I remember one time my mom gave my dad a hard time for taking my brother and me to Cheyenne Frontier Days and letting us eat so many corn dogs and so much cotton candy that we were sick for two days.”

“My mother wasn’t as afraid that I’d get sick as she was that I would gain weight,” she explained. “Martina Ewing was an editor for one of the premier fashion magazines before we moved to the Midwest and she was determined that I would be in the industry, as well.” She shook her head. “It never occurred to her that I might want to do something else with my life.”

“Did your mother resume her career when you returned to New York?” he asked when she fell silent. He sensed there might be something about her parents splitting up that was relevant to their marriage situation. He just couldn’t put his finger on what it was.

“She tried going back, but she’d been out of the loop long enough that she’d lost her place in the industry,” Karly answered. “She blamed my dad for the loss of her career and never forgave him for it.”

They both fell silent for a few minutes and Blake knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that her parents’ marital problems had been a big influence on Karly. He wasn’t sure exactly how it had factored into her decision to pursue a divorce, but he had every intention of finding out.

As he sat there pondering her reasoning, one thing became very apparent. He was sitting in a bubbling hot tub with her soft, nude body pressed closely to his. The lighted waterfall cast a dim glow into the tiny room, which only added to the intimacy of the moment. His reaction was not only predictable, but it was also inevitable.

With only a fleeting thought to the consequences, Blake pulled Karly closer and lowered his head. The feel of her water-slickened body rubbing against his was enough to send him into orbit, but the moment their mouths touched, a smoldering heat filled his lower belly and quickly sent liquid fire streaking through his veins. He briefly wondered how he could burn to a cinder while sitting in a tub of water.

When she sighed and brought her arms up to encircle his neck, it didn’t even occur to him to resist deepening the kiss, and as he stroked her tongue with his, her sweet taste and eager response only heightened the need building inside of him. It was like nothing had changed since they were in Vegas. He was as hot for her now as he had been then. And he could tell she wanted him just as much.

Unfortunately, his timing was lousy. Making love to her right now could very well scare her into leaving the ranch without him getting to the bottom of what went wrong between them. Besides, he wasn’t prepared to protect her. He hadn’t come to the hot tub with seduction on his mind. And an unplanned pregnancy now would only add another wrinkle to an already complicated situation.

Easing away from the kiss, Blake held her close as he took several deep breaths. His hormones were racing through him like a herd of mustangs at a wild horse roundup and knowing there were no barriers between his body and hers wasn’t making his decision to pull away any easier.

“It’s probably time we got out of the hot tub and headed back to the foreman’s cottage,” he said halfheartedly.

“I—I think...you’re right,” she said, sounding just as reluctant as he felt.

Leaning back, he stared into her incredible blue eyes. “Karly, what...” He stopped and cleared his throat to keep from asking her what went wrong with them. Instead he declared, “I’ll get out and get dressed first. Then I’ll wait for you out by the pool.”

“That’s a good idea,” she agreed. “Thank you.”

Damning his nobility, Blake got out of the hot tub before he could change his mind, quickly toweled himself dry and got dressed. Picking up his boots and socks, he made it a point not to look back at Karly, who was still sitting in the spa as he left the man-made cave. If he had looked back, he wasn’t sure he would have been able to walk away.

As he sat down on the foot of one of the lounge chairs by the pool to pull on his socks and boots, Blake told himself he was doing the right thing—that making love to Karly again would only make things worse when he watched her drive away in a few days. But that reasoning didn’t do a thing to lessen the need for her that still burned in his gut.

Rising to his feet, he took a deep breath. He might as well face facts. He wanted her—had never stopped wanting her. If he hadn’t known that before, he sure as hell did now.

He rubbed the tension at the back of his neck. He could see a lot of cold showers in his near future and the first one would be tonight—as soon as they returned to the foreman’s cottage.

* * *

“Blake, I think I’ll leave to make the drive to Lincoln County after we have breakfast tomorrow morning,” Karly said as he drove the truck away from the log mansion.

“I thought we had that settled,” he said, staring straight ahead. “You were going to wait until the strike was done and fly to Spokane.”

“I just think it would be for the best,” she said, unwilling to admit out loud that she was in real danger of falling under his spell once again.

Sitting in the hot tub next to him, having him put his arm around her and feeling his naked body against hers had almost been her undoing. Even though she hadn’t been able to see much in the dim light of the little cave housing the hot tub, her memory had filled in the blanks. In her mind, she had seen every well-defined muscle, every plane and valley of his impressive physique. Remembering how his strong arms had held her so securely and how gently he made love to her was overwhelming, and she shivered as a wave of desire coursed through every part of her.

“I know I shouldn’t have kissed you.” He took a deep breath and added, “Either in the barn or tonight in the hot tub. But it felt right and I’ll be damned if I’m going to apologize for it.”