She wished she could ask if it would be harder on him, too, but didn’t dare risk hearing his answer. To her way of thinking, there was a very real chance that she wouldn’t leave at the end of the summer. Something inside her said this man might be the one. She yearned for more time to be with him, to let her heart appreciate him more fully. And if it wasn’t meant to be, then she’d know by the end of the summer.
Stealthily, she skirted the edge of the desk and moved closer to the chair, then went down on her knees in front of him. “You don’t have a whole lot of options, Jake. You have to train the horses. And someone has to watch over Annie.”
His gaze strayed from her eyes to her mouth. Nervously, she licked her lips, and his quiet grunt sounded like a firecracker going off in the room. His nearness made forming a coherent thought hard, but she pressed her point. “Annie likes me, Jake. Let her be happy this summer.”
“What about your job?”
Right now, Madeline wasn’t sure she wanted a career in advertising anymore. Wasn’t sure about anything anymore. “I’ll take a leave of absence.”
His eyebrows dipped. “They’ll let you do that?”
Jake had no idea how valued her work was at Smith and Bower. No idea how many hundreds of thousands of dollars she brought in for the company each year. She’d request a leave of absence and they’d approve it without question. “Phew, I have carry-over vacation from two years ago. It won’t be a problem.”
“What about your father?”
“I’ll call him. He’ll understand.” At Jake’s frown she added, “I’ll make him understand.”
“What about the rental car?”
He was stalling; she knew it. But at least he hadn’t said no yet. “I’ll keep it for the summer. Annie and I can use it to drive around in.”
He frowned. “That’s going to be expensive.” He rubbed his forehead. “Maybe I can help out with the cost.”
“Jake. It’s okay. I can cover the car.”
His face muscles tightened and Madeline suspected he was wondering how much money she made. But he’d never ask. The cowboy had too much pride.
“Salary?”
She smiled. “Room and board is fine.”
Their eyes locked in a battle of wills. Then miraculously, his face softened, the lines alongside his mouth fading. He lifted his hand, and it hovered near her face a second before sliding across her cheek. “And us?”
The heat from his palm seared her skin, and she swayed closer. She liked that he’d used the word us. At least he thought of them as a couple. “What do you mean, Jake?”
His fingers slid into her hair and tugged her head closer. His breath caressed her chin. “Sex. What about us and sex, Maddy?”
Excitement rushed through her, followed by the sting of guilt for using her body to get her way. A second later, she slammed the door on her conscience. Now was not the time to be noble. The combustible chemistry between her and Jake was the best shot she had of convincing him to allow her to stay the summer. They’d use the summer to find their way as a couple. To find out if forever was in their future.
Even though she believed that what she felt for Jake was deep and true, being jilted by her former fiancé had left her a little shaky and uncertain. A tiny part of her heart insisted that she be darn sure that what she felt for Jake was an I-can’t-live-without-you kind of love. After all, a child was involved. And the last thing Madeline wanted to do was hurt Annie.
He traced the arch of her eyebrow with the tip of his finger. “How the hell am I supposed to keep my hands off you for another minute, let alone several weeks?”
“What if you didn’t have to worry about keeping your hands off me?”
His nostrils flared and his gaze raked over her body, stripping away each layer of clothing, piece by piece.
Joining him in the visual game of striptease, she changed the rules and ran a pink fingernail down the center of his chest, over his washboard belly. His fingers clamped around her wrist. Her gaze collided with his, heat and sparks flying between them with such speed she feared their clothing would burst into flames.
Jake’s mouth hovered above hers. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” He crowded her with his body until not even air could get between them.
She nodded, not trusting her voice.
He slid his free hand under her hair, wrapping his long, calloused fingers around her neck. “At the end of the summer it’s goodbye? No fuss, no regrets?” His lips feathered over hers, barely touching, barely tasting.
“Yes,” she breathed into his mouth. He pressed her palm against the front of his jeans as his lips settled on hers. He kissed her in a way that left no doubt in her mind what he wanted to do with her right then. Right there.
A feminine thrill filled her at the groan that vibrated in his chest. It was as if he couldn’t quite get close enough to her.
“Daddy!” Annie’s voice called from upstairs.
Jake tore his mouth from hers and stood so fast he almost knocked Madeline on her backside. He faced the window, his chest heaving, and adjusted his jeans. The sound of Annie’s footsteps in the upstairs hallway reached their ears.
Madeline backed up a couple of steps, biting her lower lip to keep from laughing. But when he turned toward her, she caught her breath at the determined look on his face.
“August.” He fisted his hands at his side. “No matter what, you’ll leave at the end of August.”
Madeline knew what he was doing. Putting up walls, barricading his heart. He wanted her as desperately as she wanted him, but underneath all his bluster, he was afraid of caring again. Well, she was afraid, too, but not so afraid that she wouldn’t take this risk with him. “Agreed.”
She had the rest of summer to open the cowboy’s eyes. If sex was what it took, then she’d gladly offer up her body. Naked, flesh to flesh, heartbeat to heartbeat.
He glanced around, suddenly nervous, reminding her of a boy asking a girl to the school dance for the first time. The rare show of vulnerability touched her heart, made her feel connected to him. Then he looked at her. Straight in the eye. His desire was there for her to see, but it was his need for her that made her heart flutter wildly in her chest. His blue eyes deepened, turned dark and promising, offering her a glimpse into his soul, where she saw a hunger for more than just the passion that blazed between them.
He moved to the doorway, then stopped and faced her. “I have one condition.”
She arched her eyebrow. “A condition?”
“No sex.”
What! How in the world did he think the two of them could keep their hands off each other for two months? The set of his jaw told her his condition was nonnegotiable. Still, maybe there was a way around this. “Okay. But I have a condition of my own.”
His eyes narrowed, but he remained silent.
“I reserve the right to try and change your mind.”
It was hard to tell, but she swore his face paled. The nerve along his jaw pulsed for several long seconds. “Fine. But don’t make the mistake of thinking I’ll go down easy.”
“HELLO, Ms. Redding, this is Madeline. Is my father available?” She’d called her father’s office three days ago and his office manager informed her that he was tied up in meetings most of the week. When Madeline refused to leave a phone number so he could return her call at his convenience, the woman had told her late today would be her best chance of catching him.
“Hello, dear. If you’ll hold for one moment I’ll ring him.”
While she waited, she stared out the kitchen window, willing the jittery muscle spasms in her stomach to cease. She didn’t think her father would take the news of her extended vacation well.
“Listen, Madeline, I only have a few minutes. I’m headed into another meeting shortly. Where are you? Jonathon said you’d changed your mind about going to the Bahamas with him and decided to visit friends, instead.”
So Jonathon hadn’t told her father about Vegas. Interesting. He was
probably worried about his partnership in her father’s firm. “Hello, to you, too, Father. How was the business trip to Canada?” She cringed when a rough burst of irritation came through the line.
“I don’t have time to chat, Madeline. Is something going on between you and Jonathon? He isn’t talking.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but her father cut her off. “The wedding is still on for November, isn’t it?”
She didn’t want to lie to her father, but trying to explain things long distance wasn’t going to work. She’d play along with Jonathon’s story. “I wanted to visit some old friends.”
“Friends? All your friends are in Seattle. Where are you, young lady? I have to tell you, Madeline, this behavior is so unlike you. I’m very concerned.”
But not concerned enough to cancel a business meeting and talk to your daughter. “Father, I’m fine. Really. I called because I wanted you to know I won’t be returning to Seattle until the end of August.”
“August! Daughter, what’s gotten into you? You’ll end up throwing your career down the tubes.”
“My career is fine. In fact, they were happy to see me take some vacation time.”
“What about Jonathon? Does he know you’re not returning until the end of the summer?”
“No, he doesn’t. You can tell him if you’d like.”
“Don’t you think he’ll be upset?”
No.
“Jonathon is an up-and-coming lawyer, who’s going to leave his mark on this city. He’s driven and committed. You won’t find better husband material anywhere.”
It suddenly occurred to her that her father had picked out a man for her who was just like him. She thought back to her youth and shuddered. She didn’t want a marriage just like her childhood…cold and lonely.
“The meeting is starting. I have to cut this call short. Where can I reach you? I’ll phone within the next few days or maybe the middle of next week—my calendar looks clear then.”
“I’ll call you, Father.” She watched from the window as Jake removed his shirt and wiped the sweat from his neck and shoulders with it. “I’m busy doing a lot of sight-seeing. It’s best if I contact you.”
There was a long pause on the other end of the line. “Madeline, just tell me one thing. Is another man involved in this sudden decision to visit friends?”
“Father, I can’t talk about it right now.”
“I sure hope you know what you’re doing, young lady.”
So do I, Father. So do I. “Talk to you next week.”
“Fine. But I’d feel better if I had a number to reach you at in case of an emergency.”
Guilt broke her down. What if her father had a heart attack and someone had to get ahold of her? She had to prove to her father she hadn’t lost all her marbles. So she gave him Jake’s number and said goodbye before he could ask what state the area code was in. He’d probably have Ms. Redding find out within the next ten minutes.
Madeline hung up the phone, wondering if she’d done the right thing in contacting her father. She went back to the kitchen window and watched Jake saddle one of the horses, the sight of him allaying her doubts.
If she thought he’d cave into the sexual attraction between them she was sadly mistaken. Each time she got within three feet of him he spun on his boot heels and all but ran in the opposite direction. Most of the time he hid out in the barn with his blasted horses. Good Lord, the man fought the attraction between them as if it were a life or death battle. Until now, she hadn’t known he could be so bullheaded, making her wonder what other surprises he had hidden inside him.
Ah. But tonight would be different. Tonight, he was going down.
She’d planned this Saturday evening since Tuesday, when she’d gone to Coot’s Mercantile and asked him to phone in an order for a lingerie set from one of the store catalogs. She smiled at the memory of Coot’s bald head turning red when he’d rattled off her size, color preference and desire to have the items overnighted. Bless the man’s heart, he’d never asked whom she planned to wear the scrappy bits of lace for. As if he didn’t already know. Then she’d purchased two boxes of emergency candles and left, ignoring Coot’s toothless grin.
The tantalizing smell of fried chicken warming in the oven wafted through the kitchen. A sense of pride and accomplishment filled her as she thought of how hard she’d worked to prepare Jake’s seduction dinner.
Following Betty Crocker’s recipe for fried chicken and potato salad wasn’t easy. It took patience—something she didn’t have a whole lot of these days. She’d read somewhere once that the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach. At the time she’d thought it didn’t make much sense. Now she prayed it held some truth.
Earlier in the afternoon she’d called Gladys and asked if Annie could spend the night again. After a short hesitation, Gladys had agreed. When Madeline had dropped Annie off at the neighbor’s, she’d informed Jake supper would be at six instead of five.
Now as she surveyed the kitchen she couldn’t help but think how romantic it appeared. She’d found a beautiful lace tablecloth stored on a shelf in the pantry. Hoping Jake wouldn’t mind her using something of Sara’s, she’d covered the oak table with it and put a vase of wildflowers in the middle. A glance at the clock told her she had only a few minutes before Jake came up to the house. She grabbed the box of matches and worked her way around the room, lighting each candle, then closed the curtains, leaving the dim room glowing with warmth and shimmering light.
After hurrying upstairs, she changed out of her clothes. Spritzed perfume behind her ears and on the inside of her elbows, then changed into the black satin-lace bra and panty set she’d kept hidden under her bed until now.
Just then she heard the back door slam. She checked herself over in the mirror one more time. Satisfied she looked like a femme fatale, she slid her feet into her old satin wedding shoes, donned her chef’s apron and hurried downstairs.
See if he can resist me now.
Breathless with anticipation, she called out softly as she entered the kitchen, “You’re right on time.”
“I believe I might have arrived too late. Did I miss the wedding?”
Horrified, Madeline stared at the stranger. She opened her mouth to speak but had no idea what to say, so she snapped it shut. The back door opened and Jake called out from the porch. “Maddy, I invited Reverend Thomas for supper.” He stepped into the kitchen and froze.
His gaze slowly took in the room, moving from candle to candle, then to the table with the fancy cloth and flowers. Then to her. His eyes widened in shock as he took in her outfit. He cleared his throat. “I guess you two haven’t been properly introduced. Reverend Thomas, this is Madeline Tate, Annie’s new nanny.”
Her face felt as though it was on fire and her hands shook as she tried to pull the chef’s apron higher up her chest. Jake, the rat, ran a hand down his face to smother his grin. How dare he find her predicament amusing. Good grief, she was standing in front of a preacher, practically nude!
Her chest tightened with humiliation, but pride and anger at the cussed cowboy kept her from fleeing the kitchen. “Reverend Thomas, it’s nice to meet you. Of course you’re welcome to join us for supper. Jake, if you’ll pour the reverend some lemonade and blow out these candles, I’ll change into something, something…well, something.”
She turned on her heels and exited the room, giving both men an eyeful of her black lace panties. She heard the choking sound Jake made and hoped he’d suffocate on his own spit.
The gray-haired reverend looked at Jake and grinned. “Nannies sure have changed since my day.”
Jake wasn’t sure what to say, but he felt he had to say something. “It’s not what you—”
The reverend held up a hand. “I’m not asking questions, Jake. I stopped by because Gladys pulled me aside after services last Sunday to tell me she’s worried about you and Annie.”
Jake swore silently that one of these days he’d have to take his meddling neigh
bor in hand. “I know she’s worried. But Maddy’s stay is temporary. She’s leaving at the end of the summer. I don’t have any choice. Someone has to watch Annie so I can work to pay the bills.”
The clergyman stared at him as if he were a dense schoolboy, and Jake resisted the urge to squirm under his gaze. “Gladys told me she offered to help with Annie this summer. She thinks of Annie as one of her own.”
Yeah, well, Gladys ought to find wives for her sons so she can have her own grandchildren and stop borrowing other people’s kids. “I appreciate the concern, but I’ve got everything under control.”
Jake felt ridiculous standing in the candlelit kitchen talking to a man of God, so he blew the candles out one by one, then opened the curtains. He tried to ignore the warm sensation that filled his insides when he thought of how hard Maddy was trying to seduce him, but he couldn’t. Never before had a woman pursued him with such enthusiasm.
“Jake. I’m not here to judge you morally. I, better than anyone in this community, know what you went through during your marriage to Sara.”
Jake still felt a twinge of embarrassment as he recalled sitting in the reverend’s home, confessing every little detail of his marriage and how he blamed himself for his wife’s death. He’d been so scared when Annie had stopped talking after Sara died. Scared he wouldn’t be able to help his daughter, scared he wasn’t good enough to be her father.
He’d panicked and run to the reverend, asking—no, begging—to be forgiven for his sins. He hadn’t planned ever to tell anyone about his marriage, but he’d found himself going back to the reverend’s house several times after that first night, seeking advice, a sympathetic ear. “I’m not going to let things get out of hand with Maddy.”
The clergyman stared at him thoughtfully. “Do you have feelings for her, Jake?”
“Of course I feel something for her.” He clamped his mouth shut. He’d always been up front with the reverend, but he sure as hell didn’t like talking about his sexual attraction to his daughter’s nanny. “She’s great with Annie.” He shoved a hand through his hair and leaned back against the counter. “Annie likes her. Likes the attention Maddy gives her.”
The Cowboy and the Bride Page 13
