Matchmaking with a Mission

by B. J Daniels

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. I saw a light….” He was sick of the lying. “Are you all right?”

  She nodded.

  “I saw someone leaving the house,” he said, trying not to let her see how upset he was.

  “My date.”

  He couldn’t miss her sarcasm. “I thought he’d take you back to your family ranch and you’d come over in the morning with your sisters. I didn’t realize you’d be back here tonight.”

  “It is my house. I came back for my pickup.”

  He chewed on his cheek for a moment. She hadn’t just come back for her truck. He suspected she’d come back to check up on him. And she wasn’t just scared, she was angry. Angry with him.

  “If I’ve done something to make you mad at me—”

  “Other than scare me half to death?”

  He sighed. “I apologize. I called up the stairs. I’m sorry you didn’t hear me.” Another lie.

  She let out a long breath. “It’s not you. It’s me. I’m just tired.” Lying seemed to be catching.

  “So I take it your date didn’t go well?” He hated how much that appealed to him.

  “The date was fine. It’s just been a long day and you scared me, that’s all.”

  “Okay.” He pretended to start back downstairs but hesitated as if as an afterthought. “Mind if I ask who that was you were with tonight?”

  She touched her tongue to her lower lip, then seemed to make up her mind. Damn, but the woman had a fine mouth.

  “Flynn Garrett.”

  Lucky was going by the name Flynn Garrett? Or maybe that was his real name, for all Nate knew. But why hadn’t Lucky mentioned this? It took all of his self-control to keep from letting her see how upset he was.

  “Flynn’s the man I had dinner with the other night who I thought was my date.” She frowned. “I thought you saw us together?”

  A lie that had come back on him. When was he going to learn? “It was dark out front. I didn’t recognize him. You’re still seeing him?”

  She cut her eyes to him.

  “I’m not jealous, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

  “Why would I think that?”

  “You can see anyone you want. It’s just that…wasn’t he at the auction? Didn’t he bid against you?”

  “What are you trying to say?” she asked, hands going to her hips, blue eyes firing.

  “Nothing. I’m not trying to say anything. Just forget you even saw me tonight. I wouldn’t want to ruin your date.”

  Since the first time he’d laid eyes on McKenna Bailey as a grown woman he’d done his damnedest not to notice just how much of a woman she’d become. But it had been getting next to impossible for some time now.

  The thought of her with Lucky was enough to make him homicidal. Nate couldn’t believe he was letting this woman work him up like this. What the hell was wrong with him?

  And what the hell was Lucky up to?

  Before Nate could descend the stairs, she grabbed his arm and spun him around to face her. “You have something to say, so let’s hear it.”

  MCKENNA WASN’T ABOUT to let him get away that easily. He was angry and upset, and she wasn’t going to just let him walk away until she knew what was going on with him. This had been coming for a long time between them, a tension building, and tonight was the night.

  “Okay,” he said slowly, squaring off against her. He seemed to choose his words carefully, although she could see that he was as angry as she’d been. “All I’m saying is that the guy might have ulterior motives, that’s all. He bid against you on the house. He might think there’s another way to get the house that would cost him even less if he plays his cards right.”

  As if she hadn’t thought of that herself. “Unlike you,” she said.

  “I’m not after your house.”

  “Oh, yeah? Then what are you after? I know you aren’t out here out of the goodness of your heart—or for a place to board your horse. So why don’t you be honest with me? Tell me the truth for once.”

  He took a step toward her, closing what little distance there’d been between them, his brown eyes blazing. Suddenly there wasn’t enough air in the room.

  “You want honesty?” he asked, his voice deep and low and fired with passion. “You sure you can take it?”

  She felt a hitch in her chest, but she held her ground.

  “I am jealous, all right?” He was within inches of her now, his gaze locked with hers. “Ever since I first saw you, you’ve been a thorn in my side. I wanted you. I wanted to ride off with you. I still want you—and you’re the last thing I need right now.”

  Before she could move or breathe or speak, his warm palm cupped her jaw and his mouth was on hers.

  The kiss was even more unexpected in its effect on her. His free arm encircled her waist to drag her to him as he tipped her head back and deepened the kiss. She felt her toes curl, her face flush, her heart threaten to burst from her chest.

  This was some kiss, and yet she suspected Nate Dempsey was just getting started.

  She leaned into him, swallowed up in his embrace, in the feel of his mouth on hers, the taste of him. She’d wanted this. As crazy as it seemed, she’d dreamed of this from the day she’d first laid eyes on Nate Dempsey on the street in Whitehorse.

  And just when she was being completely honest with herself about what she wanted from Nate Dempsey, he let her go.

  “Any more questions?” he asked, his voice sounding rougher than sandpaper.

  She shook her head, not trusting her voice. She was shaking all over and close to tears.

  “I think that’s enough honesty for one night, don’t you?” he said.

  No! she thought. She couldn’t stand to let him walk away. Not now. Her body cried out for him even as her mind warned her not to be a fool.

  “Good night, McKenna. If you need me, you know where to find me.”

  With that, he turned and left, leaving her emotionally wasted, her body still tingling from his kiss and, worse, wanting more.

  She stood for a long while listening to the thud of her heart before she went downstairs. She’d known he would be gone, but she’d half hoped he would come back.

  Downstairs, she wandered through the house, telling herself she hadn’t made a mistake. About this house. About Nate Dempsey.

  But as she locked up and left, she feared she had on both counts.

  NATE WAITED UNTIL McKenna left before he went to look for Lucky. He found him at the local bar. At a glance, he could see that Lucky had had more than a few beers.

  “We need to talk,” Nate said, not bothering to take a stool.

  Lucky grinned over at him. “Wondered how long it would be before you found out.”

  “Let’s take this outside. Now.”

  Lucky shoved away the half-empty bottle of beer sitting in front of him and slid off his stool. “Let’s do it.” He staggered a little as Nate let him lead the way outside.

  The main street that ran through Whitehorse was nearly deserted except for the pickups parked in front of the bars. The night was dark and cool. A few streets over, a semi truck shifted down as it slowed to turn south off the Hi-Line highway.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing going out with McKenna Bailey?” Nate demanded.

  Lucky laughed. “Whoa, buddy. Look, McKenna and I had dinner together. When we ran into each other again I thought what the heck. But that was it. No chemistry, you know?”

  Nate thought about the chemistry he felt around McKenna. “I don’t want you seeing her again. It’s too dangerous.”

  Lucky held up his hands. “You’re telling me? Just picking her up at that house…it gave me the creeps.”

  “You sure you’re up to what we had planned for tomorrow?” he asked.

  Lucky straightened. “I’m sober as a judge.”

  Right.

  “Hey, buddy,” he said, laying a hand on Nate’s shoulder. “You were my only friend at Harper House. I haven’t fo
rgotten that.” His face seemed to cloud. “I just wish you could let this go, man. I really wish you could. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

  Nate nodded. “I appreciate that. So tomorrow morning, right?”

  “Yeah,” Lucky said, removing his hand and smiling ruefully. “Give me a couple hours. I’ll do what I can.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  The next morning when McKenna reached the house, she wasn’t surprised to see that Nate’s truck and horse trailer were gone.

  And still her heart fell. Of course he would leave. He’d opened up to her last night. He’d told her how he felt and that she was the last thing he needed. And now he was gone.

  She unlocked the front door to the house, hating the horrible ache she felt. What was it about this man? She was too smart to fall for someone like him. The man couldn’t be any more unavailable. Was that the appeal?

  Her furniture would be arriving this afternoon. Eve had called to say she had a wedding gown fitting so she and Faith wouldn’t be out until afternoon to help.

  Suddenly McKenna felt overwhelmed and had more doubts about her impetuousness in buying this house and starting a horse ranch. Had she been a fool to think that she could do this on her own? Let alone overcome this house’s past?

  At the sound of a vehicle, she saw Nate’s pickup and horse trailer turn into the driveway. She hated the way her heart soared at just the sight of him. He hadn’t left.

  She frowned as she saw that he had two horses in the trailer. She hurried out to meet him. “Is that my horse?”

  “I certainly hope so. Otherwise I’m going to be arrested and hanged as a horse thief.” He looked shy and uncertain this morning. His hair sticking out from his Western straw hat looked still damp, as if he’d only recently come from a shower. She caught the fresh scent of him and felt an ache that went beyond wanting.

  “Look,” he was saying. “I hope you don’t mind me taking it upon myself, but you’ve been working so hard on this place. I thought you might want to ride the property and remember maybe why you bought this place. It certainly couldn’t have been because of the house.”

  She started to correct him but stopped herself. His offer couldn’t have come at a better time. How did he know this was exactly what she needed? “Want to tell me how you knew which horse was mine?”

  “I’m good, but I’m not so good that I just drove by your ranch and said, ‘Hey, I bet McKenna Bailey rides that paint.’” He smiled, his eyes warming her like the summer day. “I asked your sister Faith, told her what I had in mind, and she helped me load your mare in my trailer along with your saddle and tack.”

  Apparently Nate wasn’t the only one who knew she needed her horse today. The thought of riding around the property instead of working on the house was more than a welcome one. She’d been so busy she hadn’t ridden her horse in days. And riding with Nate…well, she couldn’t have asked for anything better right now.

  “Thank you,” she said. A little voice at the back of her mind questioned his motive for the gesture, but she ignored it, refusing to look a gift horse in the mouth. Especially this particular one. “This was very thoughtful of you.”

  NATE SAID NOTHING, feeling the sting of guilt. Thoughtful was the last thing he was.

  They saddled up and rode through the tall green grass undulating in the breeze. It was one of those days when the sky was as blue as McKenna’s eyes. White clouds drifted along on the summer-scented breeze.

  Nate loved days like this. He remembered hiding in the grass, staring up at such a sky and praying that someday he would escape Harper House. But his dream had been to learn to ride a horse and go riding with the girl he’d seen on the paint horse.

  He glanced over at McKenna. As beautiful as the woman and the day were, it wasn’t quite the dream he’d hoped for. In his dream he hadn’t been doing it to get her away from the house for his own selfish reasons.

  He pushed the thought away as they rode over a rise, the house disappearing behind them. They followed the edge of the creek to her property line, then angled toward a stand of juniper at the far corner.

  In the distance he could make out the rough breaks of the Missouri River as it cut across this wild part of Montana. He was surprised how pretty this country was. He’d remembered it as stark, as stark as his heart had been when he’d finally escaped Harper House.

  “If you tell anyone what happened here, no one will believe you,” he’d been told by the people who’d run the place. “No one will want to adopt a child like that. They’ll put you in a mental hospital behind bars, and you will never see daylight again.”

  At eight, he’d believed it. He’d known how powerless he was as a child. People believed adults, and he’d seen what these adults were capable of, as well as the other kids. He wasn’t about to say a word.

  “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” McKenna said as she reined in her horse and sat looking out across the land.

  “Yes.” He wished he was seeing it for the first time. But in a way he was—through her eyes.

  The breeze played at wisps of her blond hair that hung from beneath her straw hat. The hat was pushed back, exposing her sun-kissed face, the skin lightly freckled and glowing. She couldn’t have been more beautiful. Or more unattainable.

  He looked away, torn by a desire to have this woman that ran deeper than her roots in this untamed country.

  “This would be a great spot to build a house,” he said. From here, he couldn’t see Harper House. From here, he could believe it no longer existed. Here, he could believe dreams came true.

  “I have a house,” she said, frowning over at him.

  He wished he hadn’t spoken and broken the spell. As she spurred her horse and took off down the slope toward a spot where the creek pooled, he caught a whiff of her perfume. It threatened to drop him to his knees.

  By the time he caught up to her, she had already dismounted and was pulling off her boots.

  He swung down from his horse and watched as she kicked aside her boots, stripped off her socks and rolled up her jeans to wade into the clear, flowing water.

  She let out a squeal that made him laugh. “Aren’t you going to join me?”

  He knew the water would be ice-cold this time of year, but he couldn’t resist the challenge he heard in her voice any more than he could resist the woman herself.

  Shaking his head at his own foolhardiness, he tugged off his boots and socks and, rolling up his pant legs, waded in. “It’s freezing cold!”

  She laughed, a wonderful sound, and for a moment it could have been one of his boyhood dreams. They were kids on a summer day, playing in the creek. She splashed him, and he let out a shocked roar as the icy water took his breath away. He lunged for her as she splashed him again.

  And time stopped. Their eyes locked across the frozen space. The suspended water droplets flashed in the summer sun and turned to jewels. Her laughter rode the breeze. And there it was: this connection between them that he’d fought ever since seeing the woman she’d become sitting astride that paint horse on the other side of the fence.

  As he looked into her eyes he saw that she had felt it all those years ago, as well. Just as she felt it now.

  Stunned at this realization, he couldn’t help but feel all of this had been written in the stars years before they were to meet. As Lucky would say, it was fate.

  He reached for her. Wet, her hand slipped his grip and she stumbled backward toward the deep pool. As she started to fall back into the deep water, he grabbed her again, but he only succeeded in going in with her.

  The cold water took his breath away. Just as she did.

  They both gasped as they surfaced. Her laughter filled the air and he pulled her into his arms.

  Wet hair clung to her cheek. He brushed it back, his gaze going to her mouth an instant before his lips. The kiss was soft, tentative at first.

  She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, gazing up at him, those blue eyes as challenging as they’d
been only moments before.

  He kissed her again, telling himself this was meant to be. And damned if it didn’t feel that way.

  “I’m freezing,” she whispered against his lips.

  He carried her over to the sunny green grass along the bank. Her fingers trembled as she tried to unbutton her shirt. He covered her hands with his and slowly unbuttoned the top button, then another. His gaze went to hers. She was watching him, those blue eyes no longer cool. Instead they burned like a hot, bright flame.

  He freed the rest of the buttons to expose a pale lavender lace bra that did nothing to hide her hard, erect nipples.

  His own desire was a pounding heat in his veins. He looked from her full, round breasts to her face as he slipped off her shirt and bent to touch his tongue to the dark nipple pressed tight against the lace fabric.

  She moaned in response and reached to unbutton his shirt.

  He stopped her. “You don’t know me.”

  “Don’t I?” she said.

  Their gazes locked for a long moment, then he let go of her hands. She knew that boy he’d been. The one who still dreamed.

  McKenna worked open the buttons on his shirt to spread the fabric aside. His chest was tanned and smooth, his abs hard and muscled, his shoulders broad and strong.

  But as she rose on her knees to push the shirt from his shoulders, her finger brushed a scar. “My God,” she breathed and leaned past him to stare at the network of scars laced across his back. “Who did this to you?”

  He reached for his shirt.

  “No.” She moved back to face him, bending down to kiss his lips. He didn’t yield at first.

  She wrapped her arms around him, drawing him down on the grassy sun-drenched bank. She didn’t question this need for this man. She’d never been this brazen. But then, she’d never felt this strongly about any man.

  He drew back from her kiss, his eyes searching hers. Then slowly, his gaze still locked with hers, he began to unbutton her soaking wet jeans and free her from them. His fingertip trailed along the edge of her lace panties for a moment, his eyes taking her in as if memorizing every inch of her.