by Sara Orwig
“We’re just sitting and enjoying the evening. I sort of remember something about how you owe me one.”
“Uh-huh. One what?”
“I think one kiss would be a good return.”
* * *
The moment seemed light, not serious, not steaming with desire. One kiss, Jessica thought, shouldn’t draw them into another seduction.
“One kiss,” she repeated, only this time her voice was a whisper, the words drawn out, and she breathed heavily between the words as she looked at his mouth. “You started this. Just one short kiss,” she continued. He inhaled deeply, his arm tightening around her waist. Shifting her, he cradled her against his shoulder.
She wound her arm around his neck, looked at his mouth while she ran the tip of her tongue over her lips. She leaned closer to touch his lips so lightly. She grazed his throat with a kiss and then kissed his ear, circling it with the tip of her tongue. She brushed a feathery kiss on the corner of his mouth and then another on the other side.
“Jessica,” he said, grinding out her name as he drew her to him to kiss her.
The kiss deepened, became passionate. He shifted, leaning over her, kissing her hard and long. In a short time, he started to pull her T-shirt over her head. She caught his fingers and looked at him as she shook her head.
“Don’t go so fast. I’m getting in too deep again. We’ve gone from teasing fun to something seriously hot and seductive. I’m on a rebound, Ryan. I don’t want to go from one bad relationship to another one. One between us might not be bad, but I’m not emotionally ready.”
“I know that, but we’re only kissing.”
“We were only kissing. Now you’re about to change it to something else, something that’s a bigger deal and could make a difference in our relationship. Just wait.”
He raked his fingers slowly through her hair. “All right. We’ll do what you want because I don’t want to hurt you in any way.”
She hugged him and leaned down to kiss him again, wondering how long she herself could stick by what she had asked him to do.
Moving back to her chair, she fanned herself. “It suddenly is ten degrees hotter than it was.”
“If you’re hot, get your suit on and we’ll swim. A little exercise to work up an appetite.”
She smiled and stood. “You don’t have to ask twice,” she said, starting toward the house. He caught up to hold the door for her.
“Race you out there.”
She smiled again. “You’ve got a deal,” she said, walking faster and turning to head to her suite.
She showered quickly and pulled on a new suit she had bought in Dallas because she had known of the availability of a pool at the ranch. She left her hair falling free, pulled a T-shirt over her suit and stepped into flip-flops to head to the pool.
She hurried out and then slowed to walk toward the pool when she saw Ryan bob up and swim to the edge to fold his arms and watch her, waiting quietly. His gaze was blatantly hot, intense and lusty.
Eight
Aware of his eyes steadily on her, she shed the T-shirt and kicked off her flip-flops after dropping a towel on her chair. She walked toward him, conscious of her bright blue one-piece swimsuit. It was skimpy, but it covered more than some of the suits she owned. Still, she had no intention of flaunting a nearly bare body in front of Ryan any more than she had to for swimming.
She suddenly hurried and jumped in the pool, swimming away from him farther into the deep end. He was instantly beside her. At the end of the pool he treaded water to face her. “Beat you once. Want to race?”
“Sure. What—to the other end and back here?”
“Yes. First one to touch this end of the pool wins.”
It meant swimming around a fountain, but she was game. “You can say go.”
“Oh, no. You say go. It’ll give you a tiny edge that you’ll need because I’m going to beat you.”
“I don’t think so,” she said.
“One of us is wrong. If I win, I want a kiss. If you win, what would you like?”
She thought a moment and shrugged. “A back rub would be nice.”
“Agreed. Say go when you’re ready. I’ll even give you five seconds.”
“Don’t be silly. Okay, let’s go,” she said, splashing into the water and swimming hard. They stayed together until they turned and started back and then he pulled ahead so easily she wondered if he had really tried before. She put all her effort into it, but there was no hope of catching him.
Bobbing up at the end, she shook her head and raked her hair back away from her face. “You win.”
“You’re good.”
“Not good enough.”
“You’re definitely good enough,” he said with innuendo. He moved closer while he treaded water. “I want my prize.”
“Sure,” she said, brushing his cheek with a kiss. “How’s that?”
His arm banded her waist and he pulled her tightly against him. He was warm, wet, and they had almost nothing between them. One look at him and she closed her eyes as his mouth covered hers.
Instantly desire blazed, causing her to want to hold him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, tugging him more tightly to her while she kissed him in return. Their legs were brushing together, entangled, his leg slipping between hers while he pulled her against him and cupped her bottom to hold her close.
Her heart pounded. She lost awareness of everything except Ryan, his body, his mouth on hers, his hand moving on her. He leaned back and her top went down. He pulled her close, kissing away any protest.
His arm around her waist loosened and then she felt his hand on her bare breast, stroking her. Streaks of pleasure followed each touch and her hips thrust against him.
She wanted him. Need ignited into a raging fire, consuming her. His muscled leg was between hers, a warm, insistent pressure that added to desire. With a swift movement he pushed down her suit until it was caught around her legs. His hands seemed to be everywhere, caressing her, exciting her, driving her to want more, a steady demand that was sweet torment.
His erection was hard against her, hot, an indication of his hunger. She couldn’t resist running her hands over his muscled shoulders, his chest and thick biceps. She trailed her fingers down his smooth back and then her hands slid over his firm buttocks down to his strong thighs.
She moaned with pleasure, a sound muffled by their kisses. He leaned away a fraction, cupping her breast and circling the tip with his thumb, causing her to gasp and cling more tightly to him.
She finally twisted away from him, treading water while she pulled her suit up again and tied it at the back of her neck. “Ryan, slow down,” she said breathlessly. “We’re once again headed where I can’t go. I’m just not ready.”
Treading water, he watched her in silence. Suddenly he pulled her to him and held her. “I’m more than ready. I’ll do what you want, but I want you, Jessie, and someday again you won’t say no. Someday you’ll be as ready as I am because you have been and you’re fighting yourself on this.”
She started to answer, but his kiss took her reply and she was lost, kissing him back, knowing she was falling in love with this tall, wonderful Texas rancher. Her mind told her she shouldn’t, because they had no future, but she couldn’t stop what her heart felt.
Momentarily, she was tempted to yield to passion and stop worrying about falling in love with him and getting hurt again.
Instead, she wriggled out of his embrace. “Ryan, we swim or go in. Which is it?”
They both were breathing heavily. His expression proclaimed his desire, and his dark-eyed gaze devoured her. Silence stretched while she waited for his reply.
“We swim,” he said, releasing her completely and swimming away as if he were in a race for his life. She let him get a bigger distanc
e ahead and then swam after him, working as hard as he had to try to let swimming take all her attention and ignore the clamoring of her body and her heart.
They swam laps but kept a distance from each other, and gradually she cooled and then she began to have an appetite for dinner. She climbed out, picked up her towel and wrapped herself in it. She stepped into her flip-flops and headed toward the house, hearing him splash behind her. She didn’t look back but went inside to shower and blow-dry her hair before dressing for dinner.
She wore red slacks and a matching blouse. She was covered from head to toe except for her exposed forearms in the short sleeves. Too clearly the moments in the pool stayed with her, the memory of his wet body against hers, their wet legs entangled in the water. She ached to kiss him, to make love with him, to toss all caution aside.
Even with the swim and shower, she was hot with wanting Ryan. She was falling in love. She hoped not too deeply or too lastingly.
She returned to the kitchen to find him already there. He was dressed in jeans, a plaid shirt and brown boots. The ends of his hair were still wet. She drew a deep breath. Just the sight of him stirred her libido and she longed to be back in his arms. She wanted to walk up to him and wrap her arms around his waist and stand on tiptoe to kiss him.
Instead, she talked about dinner. “I can grill trout, make a tossed salad and green beans. How’s that for dinner?”
“Sounds fabulous.”
He walked to her and her heartbeat accelerated. “I’ll tell you what’s even more fabulous,” he said in a husky voice, resting his hands lightly on her shoulders. “You are, Jessie. Whether you’re in the pool or in my arms or just standing here talking to me about ordinary things like dinner. I want to make love to you again and sometime you’ll want to, too.”
She couldn’t answer. She did want to make love to him. Too much. That was the problem. But if she did, soon she would be deeply in love with him and that would be disastrous. The ranch was wonderful for recovery. But not for a lifetime, not for her, and Ryan wasn’t about to get serious anyway. He never had been and she didn’t think he was close to becoming serious now.
She shook her head. “I can’t afford to, Ryan,” she answered solemnly, being truthful in that answer. “I don’t want to fall in love. It’s too soon and I’m too uncertain in everything involving my heart. You won’t fall in love. You’re lusty. You want seduction and an affair. I’m trying to get over a relationship, not get into another one I’ll have to get over. No, I have to step away. As appealing and sexy as you are, I can’t get involved.”
“Appealing and sexy? You call me that and then you want me to ignore you and you want me to walk away? That becomes impossible.”
“You can. You have to.” She moved past him. “I’ve got to tend to dinner. You can help if you like,” she added briskly, getting things ready.
In minutes they were working together and it was as if the past hour hadn’t happened and she relaxed a degree. But she couldn’t shake her awareness of him moving around her, not totally. Finally, she had to get a cold drink on ice.
Throughout dinner they sat and talked and she thought everything seemed all right, but she could feel an undercurrent of tension and desire that remained constant.
It was one in the morning before she finally told him good-night. He walked her to the door of her suite. He didn’t touch her or kiss her, which was what she had asked, but all the time, she felt tingly, expecting him to. Even though she knew it was for the best, she couldn’t help feeling disappointed.
* * *
The next morning she was waiting when Ryan came downstairs for breakfast. As he strolled into the kitchen, his gaze ran over her jeans, the pale blue knit shirt with a collar. Her hair was in a thick braid. The sight of her accelerated his heartbeat, as it always did. He wanted to walk up, pull her into his arms and kiss her, but he would honor her wishes and try to avoid touching her.
She said she wasn’t ready to become emotionally involved, yet she wanted to kiss. She had wanted to make love the night they had done so. Thinking about loving her, kissing her, he was hot again. He wiped his brow. He wanted her, but he didn’t want her hurt.
She was so worried about falling in love—something that never concerned him. He would not fall in love. She was another beautiful, fun woman in his life, although he had to admit she was special to him in some ways. She was different because he knew she would be unforgettable and because she was living in his house, but otherwise, he didn’t worry about a broken heart. While he didn’t worry about himself, he didn’t want to hurt her. He had always remained friends with the women he had broken things off with and he didn’t want that to change.
Convincing himself to sidestep her, he helped himself to fruit and cereal, orange juice and coffee and sat at the table.
As she got her breakfast and sat across from him, he raised a quizzical eyebrow.
“To what do I owe this honor? You haven’t eaten with me for quite some time.”
“I have a better grip on my emotions and I wanted to eat with you.”
“Great. I’ll go for that,” he said, thinking she had the biggest and most beautiful blue eyes he had ever seen. How easy it would be to sit here and look at her for the next hour. He could allow himself to sit back and remember her soft, warm body pressed against him in the pool last night. He didn’t figure he’d convince her to swim with him again. He knew that would be playing with fire.
As they finished breakfast, he sat back in his chair. “I have a feeling when you move on, Jessie, you will leave me with this ranch filled with animals that I will have to care for.”
“Of course not. Just one yellow cat—Sunshine. I’ll tell Gwen to feed Sunshine. You’ll never even know any of them are here and this way you will have saved some animals and given them a home.” She sat back, smiling at him. “You’re a good person, maybe too appealing.”
“Don’t tell me things like that if you want me to leave you alone.”
She gave him a dimpled smile and then they both sat quietly.
“Penny for your thoughts,” he said, finally breaking the silence.
“That’s about all my thoughts just then would be worth. Just thinking again how poor my judgment has been.”
“That’s in the past. Let it go, Jessie. It’s over if you want it to be over. Walk away and don’t look back.”
“It’s not that easy.”
“Let me show you a way to forget.” He got up and picked her up, sitting back down with her on his lap.
“Ryan, Gwen should be in anytime now and we weren’t going to do this and get into these situations.”
“I don’t exactly remember promising that. And you can move if we hear Gwen coming in. This is better. Jessie, we’re not getting into anything serious. I’m just holding you. I still say, when you want, try a few kisses for fun—and they are definitely fun. That’s not going to hurt. Kisses should help.”
She smiled, shaking her head. “Kisses are intimate and they involve the heart and feelings. This is exactly what I’m talking about.”
She scooted away, shaking her head as she began to clear the table.
When she spoke a few moments later, he could tell she was aiming for aloof and professional. “So what’s your schedule today?”
“When I get to Dallas I’m meeting a friend for lunch, Jared Weston. I haven’t seen him for a while. His dad worked for mine and our families are close. I’ll be in Dallas the rest of this week.”
“I’ll miss you, Ryan,” she said quietly, turning to walk away.
His heart skipped with her statement, so uncustomary for her. He watched her walk away from him in her tight jeans and desire stirred. He wanted her as much as ever, but he was trying to do what she wanted and keep his hands to himself.
He stood and left the kitchen. Knowing she would miss
him, he needed to put space between them or he would be trying to kiss her.
* * *
He was flown to Dallas in the small jet he kept in Bywater. At lunch he waved when he spotted Jared entering the restaurant. His friend approached his table and Ryan rose to shake his hand.
“How’s the old married man?” Ryan asked, eliciting a grin from Jared.
“Doing great. You need to come see us. Allison is redoing the Dallas house, which is a hassle. But hey, you’ve had a great shot at the rodeos because I’ve been too busy to deal with them.”
“The last time I rode was in New Mexico, in April.”
“I hear you have a new cook. I ran into Will. He said only you could come up with a cook who has drop-dead-gorgeous looks and can cook better than ninety-nine percent of the professional chefs in the state.”
Ryan laughed. “My brother. I’ll have to tell her. She is gorgeous and she can cook better than ninety-nine percent of the chefs in Texas or any other state, for that matter. I should have taken Jeb up when he offered to bet me she couldn’t make toast, but at the time, I figured he was right. No one this pretty should be able to cook this well.”
“Well, what do you know? You sound like you are headed for the altar.”
“No. Not at all. She has plans. I am just a stop on her agenda. She is here for a year. Then she will return home to Tennessee and open her own restaurant. I think she is practicing recipes and trying them on me. I am a mere guinea pig.”
“Why did she come all the way to Texas to try cooking?”
“She had a rotten marriage and a bad divorce. Her ex didn’t want to let her go and her parents didn’t want her to go. She needed to get away from them.”
“That makes sense. Out on the RD Ranch, she’s away. Far, far away from Tennessee, especially any of the cities.”
“That’s right. She’ll go home when a year’s up. Besides, you know I’m not interested in marriage. And neither is she.”
“That’s what I thought and look at me.”
