A Home with the Rancher

by April Arrington

  “Nate’s your brother?”

  “Yeah.”

  She tipped her head back toward his magic touch, leaning into him, and tried not to slur her words. “Older or younger?”

  “Younger.”

  His fingers drifted down to rub her neck and she bit back a groan, searching for something coherent to say. “How much younger?”

  Mac moved closer. His thick thighs nudged the back of hers. “Not by much.” There was a smile in his voice. “Why? You’re not more interested in him than me, are you?”

  She twisted, narrowing her eyes up at him. “Who said I’m interested in you?”

  “Maddie. I believe you said you liked me.” He grinned. “A lot.”

  She turned back to the creek, hiding a smile. “Do you see your brother often?”

  He laughed, tossing the washcloth onto the rail then moving his palms to her shoulders. “Not a very smooth attempt at changing the subject, but I’ll bite.” His laughter trailed off. “No, I don’t see Nate often. He rides bulls. Stays on the rodeo circuit. Thanksgiving and Christmas are usually the only times of year I can count on seeing him.”

  Dani stilled. She and Scott had always been close and these past weeks at Elk Valley had been the longest she’d gone without seeing him. It was difficult to imagine going almost a year without spending time with her brother.

  “You must miss him,” she said.

  Mac murmured an assent.

  “And your parents?” She hesitated. “What happened to them?”

  He was silent for a moment. “My mom died of a heart attack years ago. It was a shock for all of us but especially my dad.” His voice grew tight. “I don’t think he ever got over it. He worked himself into the ground. A year afterward, he was gone, too.”

  Her vision blurred. Mac had not only lost his wife but he’d lost his parents, as well. Rarely saw his brother. No wonder he was so fiercely protective of his home.

  She reached up, capturing his wrists with her hands and squeezing. “I’m sorry, Mac. That must have been awful for you.”

  He went back to massaging her shoulders, voice heavy. “They were good people.”

  Dani turned to face him. His smile had dimmed and his eyes were shadowed.

  “I know,” she said. “They had to be to raise a man like you.”

  The corner of his mouth lifted. “A man like me?”

  She nodded. “Honest, loyal and fair.” Her stomach flipped. All things she wished she were better at. “And you’re a great father, Mac. What you have with Jaxon and Nadine and Maddie...”

  The tender look in his eyes made her skin tingle.

  “I wish I had that,” Dani whispered. “I wish my father knew me like you know Maddie. That he—”

  ...Don’t you know I love you just the way you are?

  She shook her head, unable to get Mac’s words out of her mind. The gentle tone and firm assurance. The very thing she’d yearned to hear from her father for so long.

  “You asked me why I left New York and it was true that I needed a change. But I didn’t tell you the whole truth.” She swallowed hard. “I came because I needed to prove something to my father. I guess I was being a lot like Maddie, trying to show him I was strong and could do things on my own. I thought if I could come here and succeed that he’d approve of me. Accept me. That when I went back to New York, maybe I’d feel like I finally fit in.”

  Mac stared down at her, eyes roving over her face.

  “But honestly, I’m starting to not want to go back,” she continued. “Back there I stick out.” She laughed, the sound dry and humorless even to her own ears. “And not in a good way. But I feel different here. You make me feel different.” She hesitated, searching for the right way to say it. “Here, I feel like I fit. I feel like you understand me.” Her cheeks burned, her simple words sounding more gauche than ever. “Like you get me.”

  He drifted a cool finger across her flaming cheekbone. “You get me, too.” His big hand wrapped around hers then lifted it to his chest, pressing her palm tight to his skin, the heavy throb of his heart beating against her fingertips. “Right here.”

  Something shifted in her chest, making her legs weak. She opened her mouth and tried to speak. Just say it. Tell him everything. You have to tell him.

  “I haven’t been completely honest with you, either,” he said.

  She froze, eyes meeting his as he moved closer.

  “I lied when I told you I didn’t intend to kiss you last night.” He cupped her face, tilting her chin up to his. “It’s all I’ve thought about for two weeks. What it’d feel like to hold you. To touch you. Taste you.” His expression darkened as he studied her. “I don’t want to keep things professional. I want to make them personal. And I meant to kiss you last night.” He lowered his head. “Just like I mean to now.”

  He covered her mouth with his, parting her lips with his tongue and sweeping inside. He filled her senses, his male scent surrounding her, his intoxicating taste enveloping her tongue and his touch sending tingles over her skin. Her entire body lit up on the inside.

  Dani wrapped her arms around him and kissed him back, her hands kneading over his bare shoulders, his hair-roughened chest and then his chiseled abs. He groaned and gripped her hips, lifting his mouth from hers and dragging in air.

  She pressed closer and threaded her fingers through the thick hair above his nape. “More.”

  His eyes darted over her. To her hips. Her chest. Legs then mouth. As though he couldn’t decide where to focus. “More?”

  At her nod, he lifted her against him then walked backward and leaned against the cabin wall. Easing a thigh between hers, he kissed her again, his lips leaving hers to travel down her neck. His tongue teased a tender spot below her ear, shooting delicious bolts of sensation through her body. She stifled a cry of pleasure and dropped her head back, lifting her chest toward his roving mouth.

  He complied, stringing open-mouthed kisses along her collarbones and sliding his hands beneath her shirt. His palms cupped her bare breasts, his calloused thumbs brushing gently across the sensitive peaks. They both moaned and he dropped his forehead against hers, their heavy breaths mingling.

  The sound of rushing water and rustling leaves were barely discernible over the heavy pounding of her heart. His broad hands still moved slowly under her shirt, caressing her breasts and making her sag against him.

  Dani smoothed her fingertip over his bottom lip and smiled, feeling like a giddy teenager again. “Are we really necking in the woods, right now?”

  “Yeah.” He grinned and smoothed his hands over her back. “And it feels...”

  The raspy note in his voice made her meet his passion-filled eyes.

  “Fan—”

  “—tastic.”

  They spoke at the same time then burst out laughing.

  Maybe it was the sexy glint in his eyes. Or that endearing dimple in his chin. Whatever it was, Dani found herself tugging his mouth back to hers for a deeper kiss.

  Mac hugged her closer and spun them around. He pressed her to the wall just as his left boot crashed through a rotten wood plank in the deck. “What the hell—”

  “Oh, no!” She scrambled for a grip on his biceps as he struggled to maintain his balance.

  He braced himself with a hand on the cabin wall then jerked his boot free of the hole, muttering a string of curses under his breath.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  He nodded, leaning back to peer around the corner of the cabin.

  She froze and listened with him for any sounds of movement. Thankfully, there were none. Maddie was still asleep inside.

  Dani cleared her throat nervously then smiled up at Mac.

  He grinned as he smoothed her shirt down over her jeans. “Guess this isn’t the safest place to fool around.”

  She laughed.
“Then where would you suggest?”

  He tucked a wet strand of her hair behind her ear then traced his fingertip down her neck—the same path he’d kissed. “The overlook, next Friday night.” His smile faded as he glanced down at the ragged hole in the deck. “Figure I should take the kids camping at least one more time before this place completely falls apart.”

  Dani froze, the reminder of Mac’s circumstances sending a chill—and a fresh wave of guilt—through her. She was digging this hole of deceit so deep she may never be able to climb out. But telling the truth meant possibly losing him altogether.

  “Hey.” He tapped her chin and grinned. “There’ll be a campfire, stars and more kisses, guaranteed. It’ll be fun. I promise.”

  Dani’s head screamed it was a bad idea. That she should politely decline, tell Mac the truth now and accept the consequences, whatever they ended up being.

  But her heart said otherwise.

  “I’d love to.”

  Chapter Seven

  Mac had a routine for packing before a hike. A fast, efficient method that ensured he was always well-prepared for a night of camping.

  It took his kids two minutes to shoot it all to hell.

  “No, Maddie.” Mac tugged another pile of clothes from her bag. “You’re not taking eight sundresses for one night of camping.”

  “I have to take them,” she said, plopping onto the grass beside her bag. She shielded her eyes against the afternoon sun and looked up at him. “I need them.”

  “What for?”

  “For after we swim in the creek. I’ll need something dry to put on.”

  “That’s why we picked out two pairs of shorts and two shirts,” Mac said. “You’ll have one dry outfit to wear when you get out and the wet set will be dry by morning for when we start back.”

  “But it’ll be dirty—”

  “We’ll be dirty, Maddie.” He took a long, calming breath. “That’s part of camping.”

  “I don’t like that part.” She frowned. “And I want to take my dresses.”

  Good Lord. At this rate, it’d be sundown before they even started.

  Mac smothered a groan then stared past her toward the hiking trail. It was four o’clock. They were supposed to have left for the overlook an hour ago but he’d underestimated the challenges of helping three children pack for one night outdoors. And the effect one thin piece of paper could have on him.

  “We got the snacks, Dad.”

  Grass rustled at Mac’s back and he glanced over his shoulder. Jaxon and Nadine walked across the field, their backpacks fully packed and settled on their backs. He breathed a sigh of relief.

  Finally, a break—

  “Wait.” Mac held up a hand, watching as they drew to an abrupt halt, overstuffed grocery bags clutched in each of their hands and swinging against their legs. “What’s in those?”

  “Pork skins.” Jaxon smiled and lifted one of the bags. “And chips and salsa and—”

  “Soda, cheese dip and video games,” Nadine added.

  “Nope.” Mac shook his head, walked over and tugged at the bags. “No, no, no. Y’all are going to put all of this right back where you got it from. I don’t want you carrying more than—at most—ten percent of your body weight. Besides, the purpose of this trip is to spend time together. You won’t have time for video games and I’ve already packed all the food we need.”

  Jaxon scowled. “But, Dad—”

  “What food did you pack?” Nadine asked, tugging back at the bags. “Cuz I don’t like that stinky chili stuff you usually bring.”

  “Chili?” Maddie stuck out her tongue. “Yuck.”

  Mac gritted his teeth. “Nadine, let go of the bag.”

  She pulled harder. “But—”

  “Everything okay?” Smiling, Dani walked up, eyeing his grocery bag tug-of-war with Nadine.

  The sun hit her just right, shining through her hair, highlighting her pink cheeks and bouncing off her white T-shirt where it clung to her sexy curves.

  Mac’s heart skipped a beat. The remembered feel of her in his arms made his hands itch to reach for her again.

  Jaxon shrugged. “Dad said we can’t take the chips and salsa.”

  “Or the soda,” Nadine said, cutting her eyes up at Mac.

  “Dad?” Maddie asked.

  He turned, watching as she peered into her backpack. “What is it, Maddie?”

  “I forgot my sleeping bag.”

  Jaxon scoffed.

  Mac sighed. “I think we just need to start over and repack your bag.”

  “Start over?” Maddie asked. “But that’ll take forever.”

  Mac closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. “I know.”

  “Mac?” Dani’s hand, supportive and soft, curled around his. “Are you all right?”

  He opened his eyes and drudged up a smile. “Yeah. Why?”

  She put her back to the kids and whispered, “You seem upset about more than just backpacks. And you’ve been like this all week.”

  He looked down and dragged his boot over the grass, watching the blades slowly spring back up. The past few days had been tough. He hadn’t kissed Dani since the storm and he was unsettled by the intensity of feelings she aroused in him. That damned broken deck at Sugar Falls had been bugging him all week and he still hadn’t had a chance to fix it yet, despite another slow bout of business. Cal, Tim and Dani had worked their tails off on the grounds every day but he’d begun to fear that no amount of new business could save the ranch.

  To top it all off, the worst of his worries had materialized this morning, forcing him to dwell on facts he could no longer ignore. His mouth twisted. Figured it’d happen on the one day he’d set aside to spend time with Dani and the kids.

  “I’m fine.” He weaved his fingers through hers. “Just got a lot on my mind.”

  “Then you picked the perfect day for this camping trip,” she said. “Because we’re going to have fun, just like you said.” She smiled. “No matter what.”

  Her teasing coaxed a grin from him. “Is that right?”

  “Yes. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been looking forward to this all week and it’ll do us all some good.” She nudged him toward the stable. “Now, why don’t you check the grounds one last time before we leave? While you do that, Nadine and Jaxon will put that food back in the kitchen and I’ll help Maddie repack her bag. Then, we’ll take off.”

  “As simple as all that, huh?”

  “Yes,” she said, pushing him harder. “Now go, then meet us back here in ten minutes.”

  He laughed. “Yes, ma’am.”

  Strolling across the grounds, Mac stared up at the mountain peaks, taking deep breaths and flexing his hands. He made his way to the stable where Cal was mucking stalls.

  “Thought y’all had already set out,” Cal said, dumping a shovel full of waste into the wheelbarrow.

  “We’re about to. Just looking things over before we leave.” Mac grabbed a bag of clean shavings and moved it closer to the stall. “Where’s Tim?”

  “Took the horses on the trail. No guests riding today but he figured the horses could use the exercise.”

  Mac nodded. “Were you the one that brought in the mail this morning?”

  Cal glanced up then went back to sifting through shavings again. “I always do.”

  “Then I guess you saw it?”

  Cal didn’t answer, just kept scraping his shovel across the stall floor.

  “The envelope from the bank,” Mac said. “The one marked final notice?”

  Cal straightened and propped an arm on his shovel. “Yeah. I saw it.” He dragged his arm over his sweaty forehead. “Didn’t think it was my place to mention it.”

  “Why? It concerns you.” Mac looked out the open door of the stable, across the green field to where Dani and th
e kids were repacking Maddie’s bag on the grass. “If you have any questions, this is a good time to ask.”

  Cal remained silent.

  “I’m not budging ’til I’m forced out. But you know when the time comes, I’ll take care of you and Tim, right?” Mac looked at Cal. “Landon Eason’s got a lot of land just up the road and he’s mentioned on more than one occasion that he could use some extra help. I’ll put in a good word for you both and you’re guaranteed the job if you want it.”

  Cal knuckled his hat higher on his head. “Is that where you’ll go? Eason’s spread?”

  Mac shook his head, gut roiling. “I can’t stay in Elk Valley knowing I’ll never own this ranch again. It’d be too hard being that close and that far away at the same time.”

  “So what’ll you do?”

  Mac’s shoulders slumped, his fears growing so heavy they almost suffocated him. “Start over somewhere else.” He refocused on Maddie as she stood up in the field and tugged her backpack on her shoulders. “That’s all I can do.”

  Two hours later, Mac, Dani and the kids cleared the final swell of the trail leading to the overlook. The rocky dirt path ended and an open stretch of grass led to a wooden fence at the edge of the mountain. Sunlight cast gold and rosy undertones through the misty haze covering the mountain peaks in the distance.

  “I did it,” Maddie shouted, hugging Mac’s leg.

  “You sure did, baby.” Mac ruffled her blond hair then laughed as she and Nadine chased each other in circles, squealing with excitement, their packs bouncing on their backs.

  “See. Told you we needed this.” Dani, slightly out of breath from the hike, leaned on the top rail of the fence. “Wow. I didn’t think it could more beautiful than Sugar Falls.” She whistled low, her face flushed a pretty pink and excitement in her dark eyes. “This is unbelievable, Mac.”

  Unbelievable. He reached out and trailed his knuckles down her soft cheek. That was the perfect word for his current circumstances. For life giving him Dani the same time it took this land from him. He couldn’t imagine a more ironic high and low.