Hard Loving Cowboy--Includes a bonus novella

by A. J. Pine

  She swept past him and walked into the house before he could fire off more questions. “Wow. This place is amazing. Seriously impressive.” A little cold for her taste with the gleaming white walls, uniform leather furniture, and the glossy, seemingly unused kitchen.

  “It’s the only place I could find on short notice.”

  Kate made the mistake of turning around to smile at him. He still hadn’t put on a shirt, the jerk. “So what did you say you’re doing at the resort again?” she asked, running her hand along the white marble countertop in the kitchen.

  “Actually, I didn’t say.” His voice was no longer deep and sleepy. Now it was just dull.

  She waited out the awkward silence until he gave in with a sigh.

  “I’m on a crew that’s helping build the new terrain park.”

  “Sounds fascinating.” She kept her gaze even with his. Don’t. Look. Down. Or she’d get all weak-kneed and woozy at the sight of his hot body again. She couldn’t afford to let Jay make her weak-kneed and woozy. “So you must be into snowboarding, then.”

  His eyes dodged hers. “I guess.”

  Wonderful. He was very informative. Getting him to open up and agree to an interview wasn’t going to be easy. Good thing she had a whole week. She would have to get creative about making excuses to spend time with him. He didn’t seem overly thrilled with the fact that she currently stood in his kitchen. Well get used to it, buddy.

  Kate turned and started opening the grayish glass cabinets.

  “What’re you doing?” Jaden walked over and closed one. “Why are you going through my stuff?”

  “I’m looking for the dog food,” she told him, opening another cabinet. Which was completely empty. “Remember? I’ll have Bella all day. I’m sure she’ll get hungry. Or did you already feed her?”

  After he shook his head, she opened yet another cabinet. Wow. The man had about six boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios stacked above the sink. And he was looking at her like she was crazy? “When’s the last time you ate a real meal?”

  “I eat.” He stiffly marched past her and disappeared into a pantry for a minute. When he came back, he had a dog dish and a bag of food. “She eats twice a day. Once in the morning and once in the afternoon.” He shoved the stuff into Kate’s hands. “Think you need anything else?” He clearly wanted her to go, and that was probably best since he refused to put on a shirt and she couldn’t stop ogling his body.

  “Nope. I think this is it. We’re good. Right, Bella?” With a bright smile, she turned and headed for the door. “I’ll have her home at five o’clock sharp.”

  Jay followed behind her. “If I’m not here, you can just let her into the house through the garage. The code is one-two-three-four.”

  She laughed, caught between amusement and a nervous giggle. “Wow. It’s like Fort Knox.”

  He shrugged, tensing those broad shoulders. “Don’t have much to worry about way up here.”

  That was true. Well…the normal person didn’t have to worry about much, but J.J. Alexander had just given her the code to his house. Which meant he’d basically handed her an all-access pass into his life.

  * * *

  Was it just him or were the days getting longer? Jaden shouldered his backpack and started the hike back to the ATV he’d left at the base of the mountain. Eight o’clock. Damn. Late again. Good thing he had someone to watch Bella. Even if the woman happened to be overly chipper and obnoxiously nosy at eight o’clock in the morning. At least all that energy should be good for wearing out his dog. Hopefully Bella had gone to sleep after Kate dropped her off.

  “Hey, J.J., hold up.” Blake Wilder came sprinting down the hill, and Jaden swallowed a groan. The man had never been his favorite person, but he had to admit—begrudgingly—Blake obviously knew what he was doing. Since the man had taken over resort operations four years ago, they’d almost doubled in size.

  Jaden strapped his backpack to the ATV and waited.

  “Looks like things are coming together ahead of schedule,” Blake said as he approached. “I called out the inspectors for the end of this week. Think we can make it?”

  “With the hours we’ve been putting in? Definitely.” A few more twelve-hour days and they’d wrap up this project. The thought didn’t thrill him as much as it seemed to thrill Blake.

  “You got any idea what you’ll do next?”

  That question had haunted him for the last few days. “Haven’t thought about it much.” What options did he have except to go hide somewhere else? Last week, that would’ve been his first response, but Levi’s optimism the other night had made him think twice about picking up and leaving again.

  “I’m going to level with you here, Alexander.” Blake only seemed to be able to remember people’s last names. “I want a bigger focus on snowboarding around here. That’s the direction we need to go. And I think you’re the guy to get us there.”

  Jaden couldn’t remember the last time he’d laughed, but he was this close. “I’m not exactly well loved in the snowboarding community anymore,” he reminded him.

  “But you still have a name. You still have the knowledge and experience I need.” That was the other thing about Blake Wilder. When he looked at people, he saw only how they could meet his needs. “I could create a position for you here. Manager for the terrain park. I need someone out here every day during the winter season.”

  “You’re offering me a full-time job?” Was this a joke?

  “You’re the perfect candidate,” Blake insisted. “You’d be responsible for daily risk assessments, inspections, and the maintenance and testing of all the features.”

  Which meant he’d have to get on a board again. Anxiety skittered through him, headed straight for his heart, and dug in its claws. That’s where it always hit him, deep in the chest, poking and taunting and squeezing until the palpitations started. He couldn’t even think about getting on a board again.

  “The salary wouldn’t be what you’re used to making. But you’d get full benefits. And there’d be bonuses if you were willing to do some public events to help with publicity.”

  Public events? Hadn’t Blake seen what a train wreck his life had become? Jaden would show up for the public event, and there’d be hecklers and media and the same shit storm he’d been trying to escape. He climbed onto the ATV, ready to start the engine and get the hell out of there. “Thanks for the offer, but I don’t think it’ll work out.” He’d never strap his boots onto a board again.

  “Think about it.” Blake backed away. “Offer stands for a while. But I’d need a commitment by the end of the project. If it’s not you, I’ll have to find someone else.”

  He wanted to tell him he didn’t need to think about it. He’d never be able to do it, even if he wanted to. Instead, he gave the man a nod, put on his helmet, and then drove down the mountain.

  By the time he made it to his street, the sky was nearly dark, but he could make out a faint outline of a car parked next to the curb in front of his house. Had the media found him somehow? Instinctively, he slowed, but as he got closer he realized it was only a small SUV that looked suspiciously similar to the one Kate had been driving.

  What the hell was she doing at his house at eight thirty?

  He parked the ATV in front of the garage and cruised through the front door, looking around the empty rooms.

  “Hello?” Not even Bella ran to greet him.

  Just when he was about to go out front and search Kate’s car, he noticed the French doors to the back deck had been left cracked open. He jogged over and slipped outside.

  “Oh, good. You’re finally back.” Kate stood at the grill wearing a white apron and wielding a huge set of stainless steel tongs. “Perfect timing.”

  Jaden looked around once more to make sure he was in the right house. Yep. It seemed to be his rental. His deck. His grill that she was leaning over. What was he missing here? “What’re you doing?”

  “Making you dinner,” she said as though this were a nor
mal everyday occurrence. “Filet mignon with grilled asparagus.” She flipped the sizzling hunks of meat. “Oh! And mashed potatoes with bacon and garlic.”

  Uh…“Why?” That was the only word he could seem to manage from the fog of shock. He couldn’t deny that Kate Livingston was gorgeous. Even more captivating under the soft glow of the globe lights strung overhead. Captivating in a way that triggered his anxiety. For the last couple of months, he’d done his best to feel nothing. It was easier. But she stirred something. A craving that ached all the way through him.

  “What do you mean why?” She seemed to laugh so easily. “Okay. I admit it. This is a pity dinner.”

  “A pity dinner.” He couldn’t seem to do much more than repeat her.

  “All you have in that lavish kitchen of yours are six boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios.” She shrugged and turned back to the grill. “I feel sorry for you. How long has it been since you’ve had steak and potatoes?”

  “Eight years.” He hadn’t eaten potatoes for eight years. They had too much starch, and he’d had to keep his body fit.

  She spun and gaped at him, those standout eyes wide with a look of genuine shock. “Eight. Years?”

  “I’ve had steak. Just not potatoes.” But he’d loved mashed potatoes growing up. That might’ve been his favorite food. Gram used to dump in butter and real cream and fresh herbs from the garden…

  “God, really?” she repeated. “Where have you been? In prison?”

  “No.” But actually, these last three months had felt like exile. Not that he could tell her that.

  “Well, I hope you’re hungry.” Kate walked over to the patio table, which had already been set with dishes and silverware. “Because we have a ton of food. And Darla insisted on sending me home with some wine and truffles.” She uncorked a fancy bottle and poured the red wine into two glasses.

  Jaden stood right where he was. He had no clue what to make of Kate Livingston. She seemed friendly and innocent. Or maybe that was just the dimples in her smile. Maybe she only looked friendly and innocent. Maybe she’d go all Fatal Attraction on him any minute. “Why are you here?” he asked again, and this time he wasn’t being polite. “Why are you in my house making me dinner?”

  Kate set down her wineglass, her shoulders slumping from confidence to surrender. She seemed to think a minute and then turned and walked toward him as though giving up. She stopped a foot away, her mouth no longer smiling. “I’m lonely. Okay?” Her chipper voice had mellowed. “Things in my life aren’t awesome right now. I’m not exactly in a place I want to be. And after I saw your house this morning, I figured maybe you were lonely too.”

  Now, that he could understand.

  “Okay, then,” Jaden said, taking his place at the table. “Let’s eat.”

  Chapter Five

  Well, what do you know? All those things her mom said about the truth being the best policy were actually legit.

  Kate pushed her plate away. As soon as she’d admitted to Jaden that she happened to be lonely, too, everything changed. He still wasn’t a Chatty Cathy by any means, but during their dinner, she’d managed to make small talk, and he’d answered all of her questions about the new terrain park in impressive detail.

  Unfortunately, he didn’t seem interested in talking about anything else, and all the effort she was making to carry the conversation while doing her best to ignore his smoldering good looks was starting to wear on her.

  Kate checked him out again. Was it possible that Jay had gotten even hotter as they sat there across from each other? Or was that the wine talking?

  “Thanks for dinner.” Jay tossed his napkin onto his empty plate. There was something magnetic about his eyes when he wasn’t so sullen. They were focused and open. Good listening eyes.

  Kate looked away. “I’m glad you liked it.” It’d been a while since she’d cooked for someone who actually appreciated it. The last guy she’d dated would head straight for the television and turn on the latest football game after they ate, leaving her to do the dishes. But she wasn’t dating J.J. Alexander. Ha. That would be…ridiculous. She wasn’t here to get lost in his magic eyes or sigh with rapture when he smiled, which was so rare that the shock of it made her heart twirl every time.

  She was here to get a damn story.

  “You seem cold.” Jay eyed the goose bumps on her arms.

  Cold. Right. Sure. That’s what it was…

  “Want me to turn on the fire?”

  She looked past him to the dark outline of the mountainous horizon. When the sun had slipped behind the peaks, the temperature had dropped about twenty degrees, but she hadn’t noticed until he’d said something. A fire already burned low in her belly. “Uh. Sure. Yeah. A fire would be great.”

  Jaden bent and opened a small door on the side of the table, and as if by magic, flames illuminated the decorative rock piled in the center of the table.

  In any other situation, it would’ve been intimate and romantic, with the stars glistening overhead, the shushing of the wind in the pine trees. But this was an interview. So instead of settling back into her chair and enjoying the peaceful night more than she should, she leaned forward and folded her hands on the table, ignoring the way the fire made Jaden’s face glow. “So, Jay…” She smiled, summoning her impeccable small-talk skills. “What do you do when you’re not working on terrain parks?”

  “In the past, I’ve competed.” His eyes hardened again, as though petitioning her to leave it at that.

  Only she couldn’t. “You don’t compete anymore?” She figured he’d come back eventually, like all those other professional athletes who were mandated to take a short time-out after a scandal but then eventually came back and made their victorious reappearance.

  “No. I can’t compete anymore.”

  He can’t? That’s not what all of the news reports had said. It sounded like his injury had been relatively minor, all things considered. “Why not?”

  “I crashed.” His face remained perfectly still. There wasn’t even a twitch in his jaw. “Got injured.”

  It seemed she wasn’t the only one who exceled at telling the partial truth. What could she expect, though? He didn’t know her, didn’t trust her. She’d have to earn that over time.

  “So what about you?” The fact that Jaden was actually asking her a question obviously meant he wanted to change the subject. “Do you like being an editor?”

  “No.” Huh. Had she ever admitted that out loud to anyone else? “I mean, after graduate school, I always saw myself doing something different,” she corrected. “Something more important.”

  His eyes softened again as he gazed across the fire at her. “Like what?”

  She didn’t even have to think. “Writing stories that change the world.” That had been the reason she’d pursued journalism in the first place. She could’ve become a doctor like her brother and sister, but she loved words. She saw power in words. “I wanted to be another Gloria Steinem. A journalist. A political activist.”

  “So why aren’t you?”

  Easy for him to say. He probably still had millions of dollars squirreled away somewhere. But she hadn’t wanted to fulfill her parents’ prophecies that she’d have to live in their posh Beverly Hills basement in order to survive. “I had to find a job.” It was more than that, though. It was the rejection. She’d written a couple of pieces, figuring if she couldn’t get hired at any of the prestigious publications, she could work her way there by freelancing.

  So she’d written a profile about a girl she’d met on the Metro. After seeing her for a few days in a row, Kate struck up a conversation with the young teen and learned that she’d recently joined a gang. Once she got to know her, Kate had written an article detailing the plight of young women in poverty and why more and more are turning to gangs in order to survive.

  All total, she’d amassed forty-three rejection emails from various publications, telling her that either no one wanted to read about girls in gangs, or the article wasn’t exa
ctly what they were looking for at the moment, or she had a bland writing style. Kate sighed. “According to the rejection letters, I’m not good enough.”

  Jaden shrugged. “Then you make yourself good enough.”

  “I don’t know how.” She’d done everything. She’d aced journalism school. She’d gotten in touch with all of the contacts she’d built over the years. No one wanted her.

  “Well, you shouldn’t give up.”

  He’d given up, though. “Why can’t you go back to competing, then? Athletes overcome injuries all the time.”

  “It’s more complicated than that,” Jaden said, staring into the fire. “And anyway, we’re not talking about me. We’re talking about you, Kate.” He raised his eyes to hers.

  She actually shivered when he said her name. At some point, she’d lost control of the conversation, and worse, of her heart. It beat hard and hot and fast. Shit. She couldn’t do this. Couldn’t fall for him. “I should do the dishes.” Clumsily, she gathered up their silverware and plates and slipped into the house with Bella following at her heels. Easing out a breath, she carted everything to the kitchen sink.

  Unfortunately, Jaden did not head straight for the television set to turn on whatever sports match would be playing in May. Nope. He came right into the kitchen and stood behind her. “I can do the dishes.”

  “That’s okay,” she sang as she turned on the faucet. “I’ve got it.” She’d intended to use the few minutes of rinsing and washing to regroup, but it was obvious that she wouldn’t be able to recover. She could feel him standing behind her, feel her body being drawn to his…

  “Sorry if I said something that made you uncomfortable.” Jay reached around her and turned off the faucet.

  “Oh no, not at all.” She didn’t know what to do with the wet plate in her hands. It wasn’t anything he’d said. It was the way he’d started to look at her. The way he was looking at her now. Like he saw much more than she’d ever intended for him to see.