by Myla Jackson
Jessie forgot when she’d taken her last breath. She lowered her eyelids, her glance slipping to his mouth, her lips tingling. “Yes?”
For a heart-pounding, breath-stealing moment, she thought for sure he was going to kiss her.
Then Brody straightened, his brows knitting. “Nothing.” He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Come with me to the house and show me where I can find my dinner.”
Jessie inhaled and backed away. “There’s a plate in the refrigerator. All you have to do is pop it in the microwave.”
“When are you coming to the house?” he asked.
“As soon as I’ve fed Scout and topped off his water.”
“Okay. But don’t make me come out looking for you. I don’t want to find you sleeping in the stall again.”
“You won’t,” she promised, her back to him as she scooped half a bucket of feed for Scout.
The barn door opened and closed, leaving her alone at last.
Jessie pressed the bucket of sweet feed to her chest.
Holy hell. She’d almost kissed the boss. Again.
As she dropped the grain into Scout’s trough, she vowed to keep her distance from the McFarlan brothers. They were entirely too attractive—especially the one whose hands on her body made her feel things she hadn’t felt before, making her want so much more. But she couldn’t afford for things to go wrong on this job. Scout depended on her, and she couldn’t let him down.
Chapter Seven
Brody woke early again the next day, dressed and carried his boots out to the kitchen.
He’d eaten slowly last night, waiting to make certain Jessie came in from the barn and went to bed in the guest bedroom. All night long, he was fully aware she was on the other side of the wall from him. He couldn’t help wondering whether or not she slept in the nude. He hoped she didn’t. If there should be a fire, God forbid, he wouldn’t want his brothers ogling her as she stood naked in the yard.
Several times in the night, he’d been tempted to knock on her door and ask if she was all right, or if she wanted anything. The only thing keeping him from doing that was the knowledge the master suite was on the other side of the guest bedroom from him. If he knocked on the door, his mother would hear and come out to investigate. Although, as late as she’d gone to bed, she probably wouldn’t be disturbed by a tornado roaring through.
His mother had gone out on a date the previous evening.
He, Angus and Colin had stayed up watching a game on television, then the news and the late shows, until their mother finally returned from her date with Carl the Heartbreaker.
She’d come in smiling. “Why are you all still awake? It’s past your normal bedtime.”
“And yours,” Angus had reminded her.
She’d smiled happily. “So it is. I’d better get to sleep. And so should you.” Their mother had gone off to bed as though coming home late were the norm, not the exception.
“I don’t like it,” Angus had grumbled.
“She’s a grown woman,” Colin had reminded him.
Brody had stared after their mother, refusing to comment—not even sure what to say if he did. He’d never thought about his mother dating.
Worry about his mother and the insistent tightness in his groin after leaving Jessie in the barn made for a crappy night’s sleep. All he wanted was to avoid bumping into anyone, get to the cabin and take out his frustrations on canvas.
Unfortunately, Jessie was up and already preparing breakfast in the kitchen when he entered. The heavenly scent of frying bacon filled the air.
She hummed softly to herself, off-key and oblivious to his arrival. Wearing jeans and a faded tank top, her sleek, athletic body moved from the sink to the stove. Apparently she hadn’t noticed him in the room.
Quietly he slipped his feet into his boots, hesitant to disturb the woman cooking.
Her humming stopped and she cursed when bacon grease popped out of the pan onto her hand. “Damn.” She tried to reach across to turn the burner down, but more grease splattered her arm and she jerked it back.
Brody leaped to his feet and hurried across the room. He stood behind her, reached around and shifted the pan from the burner. Then he turned off the flame.
At first she jumped when his body pressed against hers. She remained stiff until he turned her around.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes,” she said, staring down at her hands.
“Come with me.”
He gripped her arms and walked her over to the kitchen sink. He turned on the cool water and tugged her hands beneath the spray. “Better?”
When she nodded, he turned off the water and looked down at the red dots where the grease had burned her, his thumb gently brushing over the injuries.
She didn’t pull away and he didn’t want to let go. All night long he’d dreamed of holding her in his arms and kissing her. Now he stood close enough he could smell the herbal scent of her shampoo and feel the warmth of her body.
When she glanced up, her gaze meeting his, her eyes widened, the gray-blue orbs darkening, her indrawn breath causing her chest to expand and her breasts to rise.
“I don’t know why…” Brody gathered her closer, one hand tangling in her hair, the other sliding around to the base of her spine, tugging her against him, “…but you make me want to kiss you.” He bent over her, his mouth hovering close to hers. “Tell me no and I won’t.” His gaze on her lips, he held his breath as she opened her mouth, he assumed to put a stop to him.
She rested her palms on his chest and could easily have pushed him away. Instead, she curled her fingers into his shirt and dragged him down to her. At the same time as she rose up on her bare feet and covered his mouth with hers, sliding her tongue across the seam of his lips.
Brody tangled his hand in the hair at the nape of her neck and deepened the kiss.
When she opened to him, he swept in and claimed her tongue, caressing, thrusting and twisting with hers in a sensual dance. He slid his other hand lower, cupping the curve of her ass, pressing her hips against his, the swell of his cock nudging her belly.
Jessie curled her hands around his neck, her breasts smashing against his chest.
“I smell bacon,” a voice sounded from the back of the house.
Jessie broke away from Brody, the back of her hand rising to cover her kiss-swollen lips.
Heavy footsteps sounded on the wooden floors and Colin entered the kitchen. “Something smells good.”
He stopped when he spotted Brody standing close to Jessie.
“Breakfast will…um…be in just a few minutes.” Jessie spun away from the two men and placed the pan back on the stove.
“Don’t turn the heat up so high on the bacon and it won’t pop like that,” Brody said. “And don’t set a place for me.” He barely looked at Colin as he jammed his cowboy hat on his head and left through the back door.
His body on fire, his cock pushing hard against the fly of his jeans, Brody felt like he might explode. Still hungry, but for something other than food, he hopped on one of the four-wheelers he’d found in the back of the barn and headed out to the cabin.
What had he done? Jessie was an employee of the ranch. Brody was her employer. If he could square things away with his mother, and if his artwork wasn’t embraced by wealthy Texans, he might not stick around. He could be back on the road to Seattle, a hell of a long way from Texas.
He didn’t have room in his life for a relationship, especially with a woman who came with a horse. Not that a kiss made it mandatory to have a relationship with her, but damn. He’d thought that if he kissed her, he’d purge the desire to hold her. Boy had he been wrong. Holding Jessie in his arms, kissing her, pressing his body against hers only made him want her even more.
Coming home had become a lot more complicated than he’d anticipated.
Jessie managed not to burn the bacon because she didn’t put it back on the burner. It’d cooked enough. Well, almost. So it was a little droop
y and not as crisp as she liked, but it wasn’t burned. She’d also scrambled eggs and only burned two out of the six pieces of toast.
Angus and Colin ate everything she put before them and washed it all down with coffee.
“Don’t wait dinner on me,” Colin said. “I’ll be late getting back today. One of my foremen is out sick and my trim guy’s wife is having a baby. I’ll be filling in where I can to keep things on track.” He left, giving Jessie a last concerned glance.
She smiled and waved, pretending nothing was wrong or different, or that his brother hadn’t kissed her so thoroughly it had rocked the world as she knew it.
“After I take care of the animals, I have to make a run into town to the hardware store if you’d like to ride along,” Angus offered.
“No, thank you. If it’s all right by you, I’d like to take Scout out for a ride. He could use the exercise and I’d like to see more of the Rafter M.”
“You’re welcome to ride anywhere on the ranch you like, as long as you close the gates behind you.”
Her mouth twisted. “I grew up on a large ranch. I understand the need to keep the gates closed.”
Angus nodded. “Right. I’m preaching to the choir. Be careful out riding by yourself.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time.” Jessie smiled at the oldest brother. “But thanks for caring.”
He touched her arm. “I think you’ll be a great addition to the ranch, Jessie.”
“When I’m not cooking, if there’s anything you need done in the barn or anywhere, I worked with my father mending fences, castrating steers and even doing light construction repairs. I can handle a hammer like no one’s business.”
Angus laughed. “I believe it. I might take you up on the help later. Go for your ride and look around. A fresh perspective is always good.”
Jessie cleaned the kitchen, hurriedly dragged on her boots and stuck a cowboy hat on her head. By the time she reached the barn Angus was climbing into the ranch pickup.
“I got only half the stalls clean, but I’ll finish when I get back. Use whatever you need from the tack room for your ride on Scout and help yourself to feed and hay.”
“Thank you.” Jessie, feeling lighter and happier than she had in a long time, waited until Angus left before she turned to the work she felt more capable of.
For the next two hours, she mucked stalls and layered in fresh straw. By the time she finished, she was hot, sweaty and ready for her ride on Scout.
She took the time to check him over, clean his hooves and brush him. Then she threw a blanket on his back, and the saddle that had been her father’s went on top of the blanket. Lastly, she slipped his bridle over his head.
Scout pawed the dirt, ready to get out for a run. He enjoyed going for a ride as much as Jessie did. Heading through the gate she’d seen Brody drive through the previous day, she closed it behind her and rode away from the barn and house.
Out in the open, Scout broke into a gallop, racing across pastures, over hills and down into gentle valleys. When they came to a fence, they turned and followed the fence for a while.
Jessie checked for broken wires, damaged posts and noted where they were. She could return later or another day and repair them, figuring if she made herself indispensible, the McFarlans would have to keep her on permanently.
Nearing noon, the sun beat down on her—typical Texas, hot and dry. The ground dipped into a shallow valley with a line of trees snaking the length of it, indicating a water source. Scout must have sniffed it, because he trotted down the hill and into the tree line.
A creek ran the length of the valley, the water flowing, crystal clear and inviting. Jessie dismounted and led Scout to the edge to drink.
When he’d had his fill, she looped his reins over the saddle and found a patch of grass he could munch on. She never worried about him running off. Scout was as loyal as a dog and usually stayed with her, or nearby as her protector.
The Rafter M Ranch reminded her of growing up on the Circle C in the Panhandle, when her father was foreman over eight other ranch hands. She’d had the run of the ranch from the time she was old enough to saddle her own pony. One of her favorite summer activities was swimming. The Circle C had a nice creek with a pool deep enough her feet couldn’t touch the bottom in many places.
Wondering if this creek had the same, Jessie walked upstream a few yards, pushed through a stand of willows and into an open, rocky area.
Bingo.
Nestled in the middle was a wide, deep pool, perfect for swimming.
With Angus and Colin gone from the ranch and Brody off doing whatever Brody did when he disappeared for hours, Jessie figured she had the pool all to herself. She glanced around, peered through the branches and listened. Nothing but birds singing.
She pulled her tank top over her head and draped it over a bush, then shucked her boots and jeans. Hesitating in her bra and panties, she listened again and then stripped them off as well.
With nothing but air on her skin, she walked into the water until it came up to her waist. Then she bent and pushed off, swimming across the pool, letting the clean water cool her skin and wash the dust and sweat from her body.
This was the reason she could never work in a city. She loved the land, the freedom to swim in the nude and the way she felt one with nature.
Jessie swam several laps and then flipped onto her back and floated, staring up at the sparkles of sunlight flitting through the leaves above as a gentle breeze rippled across the canopy.
With her ears in the water, sound was muffled and she felt like she was in a world all her own.
This place was magical, like a shadowy grotto, the pool surrounded by large boulders…one of which had a cowboy perched on the edge, leaning back, his gaze on her.
Jessie gasped and froze. When her arms and legs stopped moving, she sank like a rock, inhaling water as she went.
Chapter Eight
Brody spent the morning with his paintbrush flying over the canvas, an image emerging as he combined color and texture in bold strokes. The subject, like the day before, was the woman who’d captured his attention that morning in a kiss he wouldn’t soon forget.
He hoped, by painting, to get her out of his mind. This painting turned out to be of her face as she looked up at him, her lips begging to be kissed. Rather than work her out of his system, the painting revved his libido and made him want her more.
Well past noon, he realized he hadn’t moved from his position in hours, and it was getting hot.
Stretching, he decided he needed a break to work the kinks out of his shoulders and maybe head back to the house for lunch. Colin would be gone for the day. Angus might be working his horses, and his mother… Oh hell, who knew what his mother was doing since she’d gone on strike.
Which left Jessie. Possibly alone.
He almost decided to stay and paint for the rest of the day rather than face her again. An apology was probably in order for taking advantage of her and kissing her like he did.
Brody capped his paints and moved the easel into the cabin, closing the door. He’d come back later and finish what he’d started. If only people and relationships were as easy to manage as a painting. He hadn’t realized just how warm it had become until he wiped the sweat from his brow.
Instead of hopping on the four-wheeler and heading back to the ranch house, he walked over the top of the next hill and down into the valley where the old swimming hole was located. After staring at Jessie for the past several hours, he could use a cooling swim.
He’d almost reached the tree line along the creek when a movement caught his eye. A horse emerged from the brush, a saddle on his back. As Brody neared, he recognized the brindle coloring of Jessie’s gelding. Fully saddled, the reins looped over the saddle horn, the horse bent to pull at a tuft of grass.
Where was Jessie?
Brody’s heartbeat kicked up a notch and he lengthened his stride until he was running down the hill tow
ard the creek. Had she been thrown? If so, was she lying facedown in the water, drowning with no one to pull her out?
Fear wrapped around Brody’s heart and squeezed his chest so hard he could barely breathe as he pushed his way through the trees and bushes and emerged onto a giant boulder overlooking the old swimming hole.
Breathing hard, his gaze swept the water, searching…
A slim, pale figure surfaced and rolled over onto her back, the water glistening on her skin.
Jessie. Naked and natural, a water nymph gliding through a sylvan pool.
She lay on her back, staring up at the canopy, a slight smile curling her lips, her arms and legs skimming the water in graceful strokes.
Brody dragged in a deep breath to calm his rampaging pulse. It did no good. Desire replaced fear, and his heart beat on in a rapid staccato. Caught in a trance, he sank down on the rock, his gaze fixed to the beauty below, his cock hardening, his body on fire, aching to take the woman into his arms and hold her, surrounded by the water, the trees and the sparkles of sunshine finding a path through the leaves above.
Even as his body lusted for her, in the back of his mind he was naturally selecting the oils it would take to capture the magic of her image on canvas. She was the muse to his art.
His brothers would laugh at his strange thoughts. But they weren’t there. Brody had Jessie to himself.
She was halfway across the pool before she spotted him, her eyes widening, her arms and legs stopping their fluid motion. Then she sank beneath surface.
Brody leaped to his feet, kicked off his boots, shucked his jeans and shirt, and dove into the pool.
Jessie thrashed below the surface, apparently struggling to get her arms and legs in a position to help her.
Coming from behind her, Brody slipped his arms beneath hers and dragged her up for air.
Jessie twisted around, coughed, sputtered and clung to him as he slowly swam them to a shallower point where his feet could rest on the bottom.
Droplets streamed over her face and down her neck to her shoulders. She coughed the water from her lungs, clinging to his shoulders until she could breathe normally.
