Loving Lauren

by Jill Sanders

Chase stood there, his back against the wall as he listened to Lauren. Her face was flushed, her long hair was pulled up in a loose braid, and she was wearing an old blue flannel jacket over a thin robe, large black rubber boots, and hot pink pajama bottoms. He'd never seen her look better. He tried to focus on her words, but he just couldn't seem to take his eyes off her lips as they moved. Before he knew it, he'd pulled her into his arms and covered that sweet mouth of hers with his own. He had a few seconds before she started pushing him away. Using his hands, he gently cupped her face and kept her mouth to his until she stopped fighting all together. Her lips tasted like heaven; they were as soft as he'd remembered.

  She leaned closer to him, putting her hands on his chest as a slight moan started in her chest, matching the one he felt rumble in his own. He felt her tilt her head and then her hands were in his hair, holding him closer.

  Just then, the door to the small building flew open and Lauren jumped away from him so quickly, she almost fell backwards. He reached out and steadied her by holding onto her hips. Her hands went to his chest and they both looked over to the open door where Alex stood, smiling.

  “Well, well, well.” She leaned against the door frame. “I came out here to see what was wrong with the water. It appears like it all evaporated into steam with you two heating it up in here.” Lauren's sister smiled at them. Chase couldn't help it, he smiled back and chuckled. Lauren glared at him, pushed him away, then straightened her clothes.

  “The pump is broken. I'll go in and call Billy right now and see if he can come repair it.” She turned to go, but Chase reached out and took her arm.

  “It needs replacing.” He watched her eyes heat.

  “It will be repaired.” He didn't let go of her arm.

  “It needs to be hauled to the scrap yard. Lauren, you need a new pump. There's no denying it.”

  She let out a large breath and looked at her sister.

  “What?” Alex asked.

  “Go on up to the house. I'll be there in a minute.”

  Her sister's eyes got big and she slowly crossed her arms over her chest. “I'm not some child you can boss around.”

  “Please, Alexis.”

  Alex looked between Chase and Lauren, then let out a large theatrical sigh. “Fine.” She turned around and walked away, leaving the door wide open.

  Lauren turned back to Chase and for a second he thought she was going to start yelling at him. Then she took a deep breath.

  “Listen, Chase. I appreciate all that you've done for us in the past, but I've been running Saddleback Ranch for the last seven years. I know what needs to be done around here. If I say the water pump needs fixing, then that's what'll happen. I can't afford to replace it just yet and the repair will have to hold until I can.”

  “Lauren, you have a pile of money that's been sitting in the bank downtown for the past six years. And I know for a fact you haven't touched a dime of it to fix this place up.” He held up his finger when she started to interrupt him. “This place is in dire need of some major repairs. So you can either own up to the fact that this thing”—he pointed to the large pump—“needs replacing or you can call Billy all the way out here and have him tell you it's beyond repair.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest and looked over at the old pump. She was silent for the longest time and he thought he could see tears building in her eyes.

  “Fine. I'll go call him now.” She turned and started walking out of the building, but then stopped in the doorway and looked back at him. The light behind her caused a halo to form around her dark hair, highlighting the honey richness hidden within the darker tresses. “I don't appreciate you interfering in the ranch. We had a deal, and unless you're going back on it, you'll stay out of my way.” She turned and was gone before he could think of a reply.

  She was right, after all. The twenty-year-old Chase had made a foolish deal. He'd been young and had desperately wanted something. Now, after seven years, he knew he didn't want to…no…he couldn't keep their original deal. He'd just have to amend some of the smaller points. He walked to the door and watched her stomp her way through the light rain to the back door of the old house.

  It was true what he'd said. The place needed a lot of repair. Over the last six years, she'd chosen to put money into their joint checking account instead of doing what needed to be done to repair the old place. The white paint needed to be sandblasted and repainted. The whole roof needed repairing. Even the back deck was tilting to one side. He'd only seen the kitchen and dining rooms briefly last night when he'd been over for dinner, but he could tell the old stove was a fire hazard and the refrigerator looked like it was from the sixties. He doubted the upstairs had fared any better.

  It had pissed him off seeing how she'd forced her family to live, choosing to be hardheaded about paying him back instead of using her money to live more comfortably. Hell, the small house he lived in at the edge of her property looked better cared for then her own place. At least she knew better than to let her employees live in shambles.

  He pushed off from the door frame and walked a few feet in the direction the snake had gone. It wasn't normally his policy to kill an animal, but he knew the darn thing would find its way back to the cool building, and most likely next time he wouldn't be there to pull Lauren away to safety. It took less than two minutes before he heard the rattle and sliced the head off the large snake with the shovel he'd carried from the pump building. Digging a small hole, he tossed the body into it and covered it up. When he turned to put the shovel back, he noticed Lauren standing on the back deck, scowling at him. He reached up and tilted his cowboy hat and smiled the biggest smile he could. She glared at him and then turned to go back in the house.

  All during his short drive into town, he thought about that kiss. He knew he wanted to kiss her again. He actually wanted to do more than just kiss her, but thought it would take a lot more kissing to soften her up before he could enjoy the feel of her body next to his. She was sure stubborn. He chuckled and remembered how she'd glared at him. He'd never had a woman glare at him like that before. Even when his mother had been alive and he'd gotten into trouble, she'd never glared at him like that.

  Lauren would make a wonderful mother. His mind stopped and for a moment, his entire body went rigid. For the first time in his life, he was actually thinking about having kids. With Lauren. As he stopped at the one stop light in the middle of town, he looked over at the bank and realized what his next step was. He just prayed to God it wouldn't get him killed. He smiled as he parked his truck across from the bank and whistled as he walked across the street.