A Maverick Under The Mistletoe

by Brenda Harlen

  He was adorably flustered and earnestly sincere, and she lifted herself up on tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “Thanks for the sex ed lesson, big brother. I’ll keep that in mind.”

  * * *

  Sutter didn’t pay too much attention to the speed limit on the way to the ranch, and when he got back to Clayton’s house, he took a quick shower. He’d made some progress with Paige today, as evidenced by the fact that she’d been the one to suggest they extend their date to include dinner, and he was determined to build on it.

  But he knew that if he left her alone for too long, if he gave her too much time to think, she might change her mind about going out for dinner with him. And he didn’t want to risk that happening.

  Less than an hour after he’d dropped her off, he was back at her house, freshly showered and cleanly shaven, but there was no response to his knock on the door. Her car was in the driveway and there were lights on inside, so he knocked louder.

  Finally the door was flung open. “Sorry,” Paige said. “I’m running a little behind schedule.”

  A fact that was verified by the thick terry robe she was wearing and her dripping-wet hair. He stepped into the foyer.

  “My brother stopped by,” she explained. “Not for any particular reason as far as I could tell, but…”

  He was only half-listening to her words, far more intrigued by the droplet of water that was slowly tracking its way down her throat, then over her collarbone before finally disappearing into the hollow between her breasts.

  He didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure that she’d heard the knock at the door and thrown on her robe without even toweling herself dry. Which meant that she was naked beneath the robe, and that one tug of the belt knotted at her waist would—

  He forced himself to sever the thought and curled his fingers into his palms to resist the urge to reach for her.

  “Sutter?”

  He yanked his gaze from her chest. “Yeah?”

  She huffed out a breath and drew the lapels closer together. Despite her apparent indignation, the flush in her cheeks and the darkening of those chocolate-colored eyes proved that she was feeling the same awareness that was heating his blood.

  “I said there’s beer and soda in the fridge, if you want a drink while you’re waiting.”

  “Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention,” he admitted. “I was thinking about how incredibly hot you look right now.”

  She pushed her sodden bangs away from her face. “I’m a complete mess.”

  “Do you remember when we cut through the woods on the way home from that party at Brooks Smith’s house and you slipped on the log bridge?”

  She shuddered at the memory. “It wouldn’t have been a big deal if I’d fallen into water, but the recent drought had reduced the stream to a trickle, and I ended up covered in muck and leaves.”

  And when they’d got back to the ranch, they’d stripped out of their muddy clothes and washed one another under the warm spray of the shower. Of course, the scrubbing away of dirt had soon turned into something else, and they’d made love until the water turned cold.

  “Even then—covered in mud from head to toe—you were beautiful.”

  “You only said that because you wanted to get me naked.”

  “Just because I wanted to get you naked doesn’t mean it wasn’t true. And speaking of naked…”

  “I should put some clothes on,” Paige realized.

  “Don’t go to any trouble on my account.”

  She lifted her brows.

  He smiled. “Actually, I didn’t mean that as a come-on.”

  “Really?”

  He gently brushed the pad of his thumb beneath her eye. “You look tired.”

  “I thought I was beautiful.”

  He smiled. “Incredibly beautiful, but tired. And if you don’t feel up to going out, I can go to Buffalo Bart’s to get some takeout.”

  He could tell that she was tempted. But she was also wary. No doubt she was thinking about the fact that takeout would mean coming back here, to her house, where they would be alone together. She shook her head.

  “I appreciate the offer,” she said, already heading for the stairs. “But I think it would be better if we went out.”

  “Even if I promise not to jump your bones?”

  She paused on the bottom step and sent him a sassy smile. “Maybe you should be worried that I might jump yours.”

  Chapter Seven

  When Sutter pulled into the parking lot of the Ace in the Hole, it was mostly full. Of course, dining options in Rust Creek Falls were extremely limited. Aside from this loosely termed bar and grill (which was much more bar than grill and definitely rough around the edges), there was Buffalo Bart’s for wings and a few other fast foods, and Daisy’s Donut Shop for coffee, pastries and light lunch fare.

  Paige recognized several vehicles in the lot, and belatedly accepted that walking through the door beside Sutter could very well escalate what was supposed to be a casual dinner to an event. Most of the longtime residents knew that Paige and Sutter had been an item in high school and beyond, and not one of them would have been surprised to hear the ring of wedding bells for the two of them. But that wasn’t how things had played out. Instead, Sutter had spoken out against his brother’s decision to reenlist and had left Rust Creek Falls, and Paige had been left nursing her broken heart.

  Sutter pulled open the door and gestured for her to enter. As they made their way to a vacant booth, several people lifted their hands in greeting or spoke a few words, and Paige didn’t doubt that they were the subjects of some murmured conversations. There had been speculation, of course, after she’d spoken up in Sutter’s defense at the mayoral debate, but most of that had died down within a few days because they hadn’t been seen out and about together. Being here tonight changed that.

  “I should have asked if your sister was working before we came in here,” he said, sliding into the seat across from her.

  “My sister?”

  “Lani,” he clarified. “I came in last week for a burger and she was my waitress.”

  “She doesn’t actually work here,” Paige told him. “She just fills in for a friend sometimes. Courtney works at a couple of different places and Rosey can’t always schedule her hours around the other job, so whenever there’s a conflict, she asks Lani to cover her shift.”

  “That’s good, because if Lani was relying on tips to pay her bills, she should learn something about customer service.”

  Paige grinned ruefully. “I’m sorry if she gave you a hard time.”

  “You don’t have to apologize for your sister,” he told her. “And I can’t blame her for being mad at me. Because I can see that from her perspective I didn’t just leave Rust Creek Falls—I left you.”

  Paige shrugged, forced herself to respond casually. “From my perspective, too, but I survived.”

  “I never doubted that you would. And at the time, I didn’t see that I had any other choice but to go,” he confided. “Although I realize now that leaving town so soon after Forrest reenlisted only cemented everyone’s impression that I didn’t support him or his military career.”

  The waitress—and it was Courtney who was working in their section tonight—came to take their drink order. Sutter asked for a draft beer and Paige nodded to indicate that she would have the same. Usually she preferred wine, but the selection at the Ace in the Hole was limited to red or white house wine, which was whatever happened to be the cheapest bottle available from Crawford’s that week.

  She waited until Courtney had gone to get their drinks before she responded to his comment. “It doesn’t matter what other people thought—or even what they think now.”

  “That sounds good in theory,” he agreed. “But the first time I came back to Rust Creek Falls, Clovis Hart wouldn’t let me fill up my tank at the gas station.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  He shook his head. “I knew that speaking out against Forrest’s decision wouldn�
��t go over well with a lot of people—but I didn’t expect it would make me persona non grata to the whole town.

  “By the time I got to the Triple T, I was on empty. I had to ask Braden to come into town with jerry cans so that I would have enough fuel to drive out of town again.”

  “I’m surprised you ever wanted to come back again after that,” she admitted softly.

  “Despite the falling out with my family, they’re still my family,” he told her. “And despite the fact that our relationship was over, I still looked for you every time I was home. I didn’t expect a smile or even a wave, I just hoped to catch a glimpse of you in a crowd somewhere.”

  “I tried to lie low whenever I heard that you were in town,” she admitted. “Because it hurt too much to see you.”

  “It hurt me, too. You were such a huge part of my life, and then…” His words trailed off as Courtney returned with their beverages.

  She set the glasses down. “Did you want anything to eat or just the drinks?”

  “We definitely want food,” Sutter said, looking to Paige for direction.

  “We’ll share the nachos grande,” she decided.

  “For an appetizer maybe,” Sutter said.

  “Bring the nachos,” Paige said to Courtney. “We can order something else after that if we’re still hungry.”

  “Nachos,” he said, shaking his head after Courtney had gone.

  “They’ve upsized the order since you left. The nachos are more than enough for both of us,” Paige assured him.

  “I guess we’ll find out,” he said. “But next time, I’m taking you to Kalispell to a real restaurant.”

  She sipped her beer. “What makes you think there’s going to be a next time?”

  “You had a good time today,” he reminded her.

  “I did,” she agreed. “But I’m already having second thoughts about being here with you.”

  “So I’m not the only one who feels like an animal trapped in an enclosure at the zoo with spectators pressed against the fence staring at us?”

  “No, you’re not.”

  “I don’t care if people talk about me—I’m used to it,” he said sincerely. “But I don’t want to make things difficult for you.”

  She lifted her glass to her lips. “I guess it just bothers me that everyone who sees us together automatically assumes I’m going to fall for you again—and have my heart broken all over again.”

  “Everyone?”

  “My sisters, my brothers, my friends—even Irene Murphy in the feed department at Crawford’s warned be to be careful.”

  “I would never intentionally hurt you,” Sutter told her.

  “I know,” she said, and she did know. But his lack of intent hadn’t prevented it from happening. When he’d left Rust Creek Falls—and left her—she’d felt as if her heart had been ripped out of her chest.

  Yes, he’d asked her to go with him, but he had to have known there was no way she could do so when she was in the middle of her required yearlong in-class supervised teaching experience. And he hadn’t been willing to wait five months for her to finish. In fact, he’d been so eager to get out of town she doubted he would have been willing to wait five days.

  Thankfully, she’d had her teaching to keep her busy. The work—her own and that of her students—occupied most of her waking hours throughout the day. But for the longest time, dreams of Sutter continued to haunt her nights, and she’d wake up in the morning missing him.

  He’d been gone about a year, and she was almost halfway through her first year as a “real” teacher when she decided that she’d been missing him long enough. When she’d crossed paths with Jeremy Wellwood, a local high school teacher, at a conference and he’d asked her to go out, she’d accepted the invitation, determined to forget about Sutter once and for all.

  They’d gone into Kalispell to the North Bay Grille for dinner. The meal had been delicious and Paige had really enjoyed chatting with Jeremy and getting to know him a little bit better. They’d talked some more on the drive back to Rust Creek Falls, and when he’d walked her to her door and Paige had thanked him for a wonderful evening, she had been sincerely grateful because she’d had an excellent meal and fascinating company and she hadn’t thought of Sutter at all…. Okay, maybe she’d thought of him once or twice, but he hadn’t preoccupied her every thought, and that was definite progress as far as she was concerned.

  Jeremy was an attractive man, and if her heart didn’t beat a little bit faster when he smiled at her, that didn’t mean she wasn’t attracted to him. She’d figured that only proved that she wasn’t a schoolgirl anymore. She was simply past the stage where she was going to get all starry-eyed and weak-kneed over anyone.

  And then Jeremy had kissed her. His lips were a little too soft, a little too moist and his technique a little too practiced. Or maybe it was just that his lips weren’t Sutter’s lips. And when he’d touched her, she’d wanted to pull away rather than lean into him. Because his hands weren’t Sutter’s hands.

  Alone in her bed that night, she’d realized that she’d been subconsciously comparing every man she met to Sutter—and had found them all lacking in some way. The realization frustrated her, because she wanted to share her life with someone, to marry and have a family. For years she’d believed she would have that family with Sutter. But he’d made it clear that he had no intention of coming back to Rust Creek Falls for anything more than the occasional visit, so she had to stop wanting what she couldn’t have and think realistically about her future.

  When Jeremy called her again, she’d ignored her reservations and agreed to another date. Over the next few months, there were several more dates until she finally decided she was ready to take the final step. The next time he’d invited her back to his place, she’d accepted. She had sex with him, and after she went home, she’d cried herself to sleep.

  He called her the day after, but she admitted that she was still not completely over her ex. It didn’t seem to matter that Sutter had been gone for almost two years. He was still firmly entrenched in her heart.

  She felt horrible about what had happened with Jeremy. She’d liked him and enjoyed spending time with him, but she hadn’t cared about him as much as she’d cared about proving that her relationship with Sutter was firmly in the past. She’d thought that sleeping with someone else would make her forget the only man she’d ever loved. Instead, it had proved to her that physical intimacy without real emotion was cheap and meaningless.

  After that, she’d vowed that she wouldn’t fall into bed with another man until she was sure that she genuinely cared about him and could imagine a future for them together. Alex Monroe was supposed to have been that man, and she’d honestly thought they were heading in that direction—until Sutter came back to town.

  She was twenty-seven years old and she’d had only two lovers. She wasn’t sure if that was admirable or pathetic. Was her limited experience a reflection of discriminatory taste or simple disinterest? And what did it mean that her formerly dormant libido was humming whenever she was around Sutter?

  Thankfully, Courtney returned to their table, saving Paige from further introspection.

  The nachos were heaped on a platter and layered with spicy ground beef, melted cheeses, diced tomatoes, sliced black olives and jalapenos, with bowls of sour cream and salsa on the side. Sutter’s eyes widened when the waitress slid the platter into the middle of the table.

  “Still think you’re going to need more than this?” Paige teased him.

  He shrugged. “I guess that depends on how much you’re going to eat.”

  She lifted a chip heavy with meat and cheese from the top of the platter. “As much as I can.”

  He grinned and gestured for Courtney to bring them a couple more drinks.

  They both dug into the chips, eating more than talking until they’d devoured half of them. The nachos were salty and spicy, and Paige downed her second draft fairly quickly. She’d never been a heavy drinker, but she wa
s thirsty and the beer went down easily, so when Courtney asked if she wanted another, she nodded. Sutter shook his head in response to the same question but ordered a soda, no doubt conscious of the fact that he was driving.

  “I almost forgot how much you liked Mexican,” he noted.

  Paige wasn’t eating with as much enthusiasm now, but she continued to pick at the chips. “My second favorite kind of food.”

  “What’s the first?”

  “Anything sweet,” she admitted.

  “I’d love to take you to Seattle sometime,” he said. “There’s a little restaurant tucked at the end of a residential street that serves seriously authentic Mexican. The menu is written in Spanish, the tamales are homemade and the margaritas are icy and tart.”

  Her brows lifted. “You don’t strike me as the margarita type.”

  “I’m not,” he admitted. “But Jenni guzzles them down like water.”

  She didn’t want to ask. His life in Seattle was none of her business, but he’d dropped the name so easily, her curiosity was undeniably piqued. “Who’s Jenni?”

  “Jenni Locke—the head trainer at my stable.”

  “I thought most trainers were men.”

  “I’d say the majority probably are,” he agreed. “But there are increasing numbers of women in the field and I have to say Jenni is one of the best I’ve ever known.”

  She traced the ring of condensation on the table with her fingertip. “How long has she been with you?”

  “Since the beginning.”

  “You must know her pretty well, then.”

  “You work closely with someone for three years, you get to know them pretty well,” he agreed.

  “Are you…involved?”

  He paused with a nacho halfway to his mouth. “What?”

  She shook her head. She hadn’t meant to ask the question and wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer. “Forget it.”

  Of course he didn’t forget it. Instead, he said, “Do you mean romantically involved?”