Home on the Ranch

by Tanya Michaels

  Jace shoved a hand through his hair. “I guess I’ll be going.”

  There were a lot of things Layla wanted to say, but she should probably make sure there was no chance of Addie overhearing. “Do you want to tell her goodbye first?”

  “You tell her for me. I think she’d rather I not interrupt her movie again.”

  Layla couldn’t honestly refute that. “I’ll walk you out.”

  Neither of them spoke again until she’d closed the front door behind them. Was there any chance she could lighten the mood? “Well, you survived the first meeting. It’s bound to get easier from here, right?”

  He met her gaze, his complexion unnaturally sallow under the orange porch light. “We both know that’s not true.”

  She’d never seen anyone more crestfallen. This is my fault. She’d impulsively thrown out the idea of dinner because she hadn’t known what else to do, and none of them had been properly prepared. “Jace...”

  “I just wanted her to like me.”

  She reached for him, the embrace half comfort and half apology. “She will. You just have to give her time.”

  Burying his face in Layla’s hair, he tightened his hold on her. “God, I hope you’re right.”

  It was jarring to see brash, confident Jace Trent so deflated. She rubbed circles on his back, the way she used to do for Addie when she couldn’t fall asleep. “Hey, it’s going to work out.” It had to. Somehow. “You’re very likable, remember?”

  He pulled back just enough to peer down at her, scrutinizing her expression as if to decide whether she was telling the truth. After a second, the corner of his mouth twitched. It wasn’t a smile, not by a long shot, but it was a start. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  Their gazes held. She felt the subtle change in his bearing—an alertness. An undefinable energy. Answering energy buzzed through her system. He ran the pad of his thumb across her bottom lip.

  She shivered. “Jace—”

  “Please.” His husky voice was cajoling, far more tempting than any chocolate cake on the planet. “It’s been a difficult night. One kiss, beautiful, to make it all better?”

  His logic was flawed. Rationally, she knew that. Far from fix anything, kissing Jace had the potential to make a complex situation even worse. But how could any woman resist a please from Jace Trent? Especially when she so badly wanted to indulge in the momentary refuge of pleasure. Logic and reason be damned. Inhaling a shaky breath, she stood on tiptoe as her eyelids fluttered closed.

  But before either of them could do anything more, headlights cut across the yard. Layla sprang back as tires crunched over the gravel. Gena hadn’t mentioned expecting anyone. Jace muttered a soft curse at the timing.

  When the car parked and the headlights cut off, it took Layla’s eyes a moment to readjust to the dark. The person climbing out of the car, however, was so familiar to her that she recognized him instantly. “Dad?”

  “Mr. Dempsey?” Jace’s tone was horrified, and Layla had a moment of déjà vu to the time her father had caught Jace and Chris with an adult magazine when they were thirteen or fourteen.

  She stepped forward to meet her father—and to put more distance between herself and Jace. “Dad, what are you doing here? You were supposed to call me from the hotel and figure out plans, not just show up at Gena’s.”

  Her father looked both sheepish and stubborn. “Is that any way to greet the man who drove your camera gizmos all the way out here?” He hugged her. “I missed you and the pickle. And I haven’t seen Gena in a month of Sundays. So I thought I’d...surprise you.”

  His slight hesitation spoke volumes of vulnerability. He was estranged from his family. Had he worried that, given warning, Gena might refuse to see him? Layla’s heart lurched. He’d made a lot of selfish mistakes in the past, but she had to believe in second chances and forgiveness. Otherwise, how could she ever forgive herself for not telling Jace the truth sooner?

  Jace. Yikes—she was going to have to tell her father the whole story. Preferably when the man who’d gotten her pregnant as a teenager wasn’t standing within ass-kicking distance.

  She cleared her throat. “Dad, I’m sure you remember Jace Trent.”

  The two men nodded politely. Was she the only one who saw the wariness in Jace’s expression? She gently shoved him in the general direction of his truck. “Nice to see you again. All our best to your family.” To her father, she said, “You can go on inside. You’ll find Addie watching Wizard of Oz.”

  Her father’s grin was a gleaming flash of teeth in the darkness. “Color me shocked. You, uh, sure it’s okay if I just go in?” At her nod, he started toward the house, absently whistling “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” as he walked.

  “So,” Jace said, “she watches that movie a lot, huh?”

  Layla was too busy trying to process the adrenaline that had flooded her system to answer him. Good Lord. She’d almost been busted making out with Jace Trent by her father! As mortifying as that would’ve been, it was not the worst-case scenario. What if Addie had seen them? She recalled the mutinous expression on her daughter’s face when she’d demanded, Is he like Mister Kyle? Addie and Jace were already off to a rocky start. Layla couldn’t believe she’d almost let hormones make the situation worse.

  Keeping her voice down as her dad crossed the yard, she said, “That can’t happen again.”

  “What?”

  “You and me. And the kissing.” Her skin heated just at the thought of it. He was really such an excellent kisser. Dammit. “It was probably never a good idea, but there’s too much at stake now. You just got through telling me that you want Addie to like you. If she catches us together like that... It would be confusing for her.”

  He was quiet for a long moment, and she wondered if she’d offended him.

  “Jace, you have to understand. I—”

  “Has she seen you kiss many guys?”

  Hardly. She could count on one hand the number of guys she’d been physical with since Addie was born. But was that any of his business? She knew good and well that Jace Trent hadn’t been celibate for the last seven years. “Are you questioning my judgment as a mother?”

  “No,” he said softly. “Just trying to get a picture of what my daughter’s life is like.”

  Touché. Suddenly his question didn’t seem that unreasonable. What must it be like, trying to imagine Addie’s life with no insight or frame of reference? “I think she’s witnessed two kisses, and one was under the mistletoe at a neighborhood Christmas party. Which means watching us kiss would make you pretty damn memorable.”

  “I want to be.”

  “Well, sure, of course, but not for playing tonsil hockey with her mother.”

  He choked on a laugh. “You did not just say that.”

  “Oh, please. I heard you and Chris say much crasser things when I was young and impressionable.”

  “I guess that’s true enough.” Leaning against a tree, he hooked his thumbs in his front pockets, not meeting her eyes. “Don’t you think there might come a time when she’ll want to see you with a man? When she might want a father? Have you ever thought about who that man would be?”

  The question stretched between them like a creaky suspension bridge over a cactus-filled gorge. Was he asking because he worried about another man taking the place that was rightfully his...or because he hoped there might someday be something romantic between the two of them? Something more than furtive kisses in dark yards.

  Unable to formulate a response, she answered his question with a question. “Who knows what the future holds? But for now, we keep our hands to ourselves. Agreed?”

  He made a noncommittal sound in his throat.

  “I should get back inside. Gena hasn’t seen my dad in years. They might need a buffer.”

  “If you say so.” On the surface, his tone was polite enough. N
eutral.

  But she’d known Jace Trent since she was in preschool, and she heard the underlying taunt in his voice. He thought she was running away again. Well, to hell with what he thought—there was a perfectly good reason flight was an instinctive response that had been honed by evolution. Sometimes, it was the best way to survive a situation.

  She lifted her chin, refusing to let Jace make her feel like a coward. Single moms were survivors by necessity. “Good night, Jace.”

  “I’ll see you soon, beautiful.”

  A pleasant shiver brushed along her skin, and she told herself it was a result of the cool evening breeze. Sometimes, denial was a necessity, too.

  Chapter 9

  Jace was starting to have a real understanding of how rivers could carve out entire valleys. It had been thirty-six hours since he’d last seen Layla, and her words kept running through his head, gentle but relentless, eating away at all his other thoughts. For now, we keep our hands to ourselves. It was the for now that had him so preoccupied.

  Even though he knew it was a bad idea to be distracted while behind the steering wheel, he couldn’t stop thinking about her as he drove toward the Twisted R ranch—especially since he knew he’d see her there. Today was the first photo shoot. She’d verified by email that everyone could make it out to Jarrett’s ranch and said that she wanted to get started with some group photos.

  He hadn’t really spoken to her since leaving Gena’s the night before last. There’d only been the emails about the calendar and a succinct text asking him not to tell Chris yet that their father was in town. Not a problem. Now that Jace knew he was the reason Layla spent her senior year of high school pregnant, he was having trouble looking his best friend in the eye. He’d visited the hospital yesterday while Chris was waiting for a doctor to sign his discharge papers. Jace had spent most of the time discussing college football and finding reasons to leave the room frequently and fetch things for Chris and Suzanne. The worst part was, even while he’d been standing in his buddy’s hospital room, analyzing University of Texas’s coaching staff and repressing low-key guilt, Jace had still been thinking about Layla.

  For now, we keep our hands to ourselves. Okay—for now. But what about later? Because he’d realized something the other night. He wanted Layla Dempsey. He’d told her as much at the diner; the sexual attraction between them was no surprise. But this went deeper.

  Watching her in such a domestic setting, interacting with her child, their child, had done something to him. Granted, the night hadn’t gone all that well, from Addie being unimpressed with his gift to Martin Dempsey driving up as Jace was about to kiss Layla good-night. Still, there had been moments that were like glimpses into an alternate reality, one where he might be snuggled on a couch with Layla and Addie or sharing conversation about their day over the dinner table. It was surprisingly simple to imagine being with her after a long day at the store, weary after bad-tempered customers or late shipments, and having it all melt away when he took her in his arms. He didn’t just want sex; he wanted the rest of it, too.

  How quickly could he convince her that she might want that, too? Time was not on his side. It was wonderful that Chris had been released from the hospital, but with her brother slowly healing and this calendar project getting underway, how long did Jace have before she took his daughter and left him behind? His body tensed in a combination of urgency and dread. It wasn’t until the vroom of the engine roared at him that he realized he was flooring the accelerator.

  Easing his foot off the gas, he tried to think strategically. With the exception of Kelli leaving because she didn’t envision the pitter-patter of feet in her near future, he’d never really had problems with his love life. But if he had, he would have turned to his older brothers for advice. He didn’t know how to talk to them about any of this without revealing Layla’s secret. Breaking his promise to her not to tell them yet wouldn’t go very far in winning her over. So if—

  “Crap.” He blinked at the intersection ahead of him. This isn’t right. Despite being out to the Twisted R hundreds of times, he’d gone the wrong way. Had he really missed a turn he should be able to find in his sleep because he’d been so preoccupied with a woman? Maybe it was best his brothers didn’t know about this. They would mock him mercilessly.

  Making a U-turn on the deserted road, he tried to banish Layla from his thoughts long enough to successfully reach the Ross family ranch. Judging by the assortment of trucks already parked on the grass, he was one of the last to arrive. He immediately scanned the area for Layla, but didn’t see her or any of the guys.

  “They’re down by the barn,” a female voice called.

  He turned to see Sierra emerging from the main house, cute as a button in a plaid shirt obviously meant for Jarrett’s much taller frame and a pair of jeans. She pulled a rolling cooler behind her.

  “Hadley and I were just headed that way,” Sierra added. Sure enough, the town librarian stepped out of the house a second later.

  Hadley smiled. “Hey, stranger. Long time, no see.”

  She was kidding. She’d brought barbecue to the tack-and-supply store last night for Grayson’s dinner, which Jace’s business partner had graciously shared. Hearing Hadley tell Grayson all about the twins’ afternoon had left Jace antsy to call Layla and ask about Addie’s day. He’d resisted, though, giving her room to breathe and himself time to ponder options. When he’d gone to Gena’s to meet his daughter, he’d shown up with more enthusiasm than consideration. Next time, he would do better.

  He returned Hadley’s smile. “Good to see you again. Boys with you today?”

  She shook her head. “They’re ‘helping’ Grayson’s aunt do some yard work, which means she’ll wear them out for us, but they’ll be covered with mud when we go pick them up. It seemed wrong to bring children with me, considering.”

  “Considering?” Jace echoed.

  “All of the ogling we plan to do,” Sierra declared. “I invited our whole book club to watch the shoot.”

  Jace blinked, not sure if she was kidding.

  “I wanted to sell tickets,” Sierra said, “but I got voted down. Talk about a way to raise money...”

  Laughing, Hadley elbowed her in the ribs. “I meant that I thought it would be a bad idea to have the boys underfoot around Layla’s sophisticated photography equipment. You know the twins. I love them dearly, but they can break anything just by looking at it.”

  “So, there isn’t really a book club congregated to watch the process?” Thank God.

  “No.” Sierra pouted comically. “But only because this calendar is supposed to be a secret. Otherwise, I would have set up makeshift bleachers and rented a margarita machine.”

  Hadley grinned. “Best book club meeting ever.”

  Jace shook his head at them. “Troublemakers.”

  “Through and through,” Sierra agreed. “In lieu of margaritas, I suppose this more sensible cooler of cold sodas will have to do. If you want to take it down to the barn for us, we can go ahead and be on our way. We’re meeting a friend for a chick flick. Jarrett says the theater in town is actually playing a movie from this year, miracle of miracles.” She sighed longingly. “When I think about the cinemaplex in the city... There was one where they brought you cocktails! The seats were actual recliners with fully extending footrests and speakers built right into your chair.”

  “Seriously?” Hadley looked impressed.

  Sierra pressed the back of her hand to her forehead like the tragic heroine in a terrible play. “The things I sacrificed to move to the middle of nowhere to be with Jarrett!”

  Jace laughed. “Hadley, I don’t know why you’re paying good money to be entertained by a movie. This one’s plenty of drama all by herself.”

  Sierra made a mock curtsy in acknowledgement and handed over the cooler of drinks.

  As he approached the barn, Jace heard people talking.
At first, it was just a rumble of masculine voices. He recognized his friends speaking but wasn’t close enough yet to make out the specifics of what anyone said. But then Layla spoke, and it was as if his ears were finely tuned to pick out her voice. He heard her say that the pond was a good suggestion for a backdrop, but they’d have to contend with mosquitos. She made a joke about the calendar not selling well if her shirtless cowboys were covered in swollen red bugbites, although she supposed the local pharmacy could use them as ads to sell mosquito repellent. There was a ripple of laughter and even from a distance Jace found himself smiling.

  His smile faded when he entered the barn. Hugh and Grayson were seated on bales of hay and Jarrett was on a weather-beaten chair in the corner, which he’d tilted back on two legs. Jarrett’s shirt was partially unbuttoned, but the three of them were all dressed. Quincy Washington, however, was shirtless and standing entirely too close to Layla, grinning at her. Jace had the irrationally possessive urge to walk up and kiss her, to publicly stake a claim.

  Yeah, try that and see how it goes, genius. She’d bash him over the head with a camera.

  “Jace, you made it.” Grayson Cox nodded toward him.

  “Hey.” Jace returned his partner’s greeting, but his gaze kept sliding back to Layla and Quincy, the only other single man in the barn. It had been a few years since Jace participated in the rodeo. Were his arms still as toned as the other man’s? Did Layla prefer men who were lean or bulked up with muscle?

  That line of thinking was ridiculous. Jace had never worried about comparing himself to another man before. He’d grown up with older brothers half the girls in town swooned over, but that hadn’t hurt Jace’s social life any.

  “All right,” Layla said crisply. “We’re all here, so we should get to work. I appreciate all of you for agreeing to do this and don’t want to waste any of your time. Jace, we were talking about possible locations for pictures. I don’t want twelve shots of pasture—”