Montana Reunion

by Soraya Lane

  “And that’s why you had to ask me if I was genuinely attracted to you, isn’t it?” His voice was soft, but she could hear the anger in his tone too, knew he was furious that she’d been hurt. “Because you’re second guessing everything.”

  Maddison nodded. She’d been needy and she hadn’t been able to help it.

  “How can I ever trust that a man wants me for who I am, Jack? How?”

  He shook his head. “The guy liked other dudes, Maddie. That doesn’t mean you did anything wrong, but it means he was a dickhead for playing you.”

  She blinked away tears, but not before Jack saw them.

  “Can you ever see me chasing after another guy?”

  That made her laugh. She couldn’t help it. When she’d been younger Jack and his brother had driven her mad because they’d had girls flocking around them, and they’d loved it. Jack was a ladies man; she knew it and so did he.

  “Did he ever kiss you like I just did?” Jack’s voice was deep, gravelly this time.

  Now she was squirming in her seat. That kiss had been… stormy, sexy, hot. Definitely not sweet. And definitely not convenient.

  “You need me to do it again?” Jack asked, waggling his eyebrows and giving her a wink.

  “You’re bad, you know that?” she told him.

  His face was so close she could feel his breath on her cheek, could sense the smile on his face as he drew even closer.

  “I thought going from friends to lovers was supposed to be difficult.” His voice was so raspy it sent a chill through her body.

  Lovers? “Who said anything about lovers?” she managed, barely louder than a whisper.

  Jack traced one finger down her cheek, arcing down her neck then all the way down to her thigh. His lips moved softly against hers, caressing her, his body close but not close enough.

  Maddison needed to stop, needed to push away, no matter how good this felt. Because she’d just had her heart broken, because this was too much too soon, when it was meant to be about convenience, not attraction. This wasn’t something she could just do on impulse and damn the consequences.

  “Jack, I think,” she said, putting a hand between them to force some distance. “That we need to take a rain check.”

  He was smiling like he knew exactly how to change her mind. And she didn’t doubt he could.

  “It’s too soon, I get that,” he said.

  “Yeah, and because we’re friends,” she told him, eyes never leaving his. “We never let anything happen before, and now…”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Now what?”

  Maddison sighed. “I just think we need to think this through before we let things go any further. You mean way too much to me, Jack. I don’t want to lose you just because we couldn’t behave like adults.”

  Jack laughed. “You know I could argue that we’ve been behaving exactly like adults should, right?”

  “I’m going home.” She was enjoying herself, but stopping Jack if things got hot and heavy again? Probably not going to happen.

  “So are we still engaged?” he asked, standing and offering her a hand to help her to her feet. “Or going to be?”

  “If it means saving your ranch, then yes,” she said, trying to tug her hand away from his, needing to put space between them. “But we’ll have to make it look real. I don’t want anyone to know it’s fake except for me and you. Do you really think there’s a chance you could lose the place?”

  He nodded. “I keep telling myself that I could easily win the court case. But really, how long would that take? Would I lose the ranch in the process for months? A year? Would it cost me everything I have, financially? I don’t know if it’s as straight forward as my lawyer’s indicated.”

  Maddison smiled. “So we’re agreed that if we do it, we make it look real?”

  Jack smiled straight back at her. “Sure.”

  “I don’t want dad figuring out that we only got married so he could walk me down the aisle, which means we have to make an effort to convince everyone. Okay?”

  “Okay.”

  She went to walk away but Jack had hold of her hand still, was keeping her from leaving.

  “Thanks for tonight, Maddie. Whatever happens, I appreciate the whole offer of marriage thing.”

  She could see the sincerity of his words reflected in his eyes.

  “Maybe it’s me who should be thanking you,” she said, squeezing his fingers before letting go of his hand. “For making me feel like a man could actually want me again.”

  He gave her a wink and slung his arm around her shoulders once she’d grabbed her handbag, like he would have done when they were kids. “There are plenty of men who’d want you, Maddie. A person can’t help being gay, we are what we are, but the way your guy used you? That’s what makes him an asshole.” He dropped a kiss to her head as they walked. “You didn’t make him that way, either. You know that, right? Because it sounds to me like he played you from the start.”

  “I don’t want to ruin this, Jack,” she told him.

  “Me neither.” He laughed. “But it’s kind of your fault, you know that? Before was just a kiss, but when I had to prove to you that you were hot? Well, that was definitely your fault.”

  Maddison watched as he opened the door to her car, before stepping back and waving her in.

  “Always the gentleman.”

  He grinned and shut the door after her, before leaning in when she rolled the window down, arms folded. “Goodnight Maddison.”

  “Goodnight Jack,” she replied, knowing she needed to think things through long and hard before giving in to how she felt right now.

  Because Jack was doing strange things to her, making her want things she’d started to give up on ever having. And she wanted him.

  Maddison only let herself glance in the rearview mirror once before concentrating on the long dirt road ahead. They were neighbors, but it was still a solid five minute journey home. Thank God she’d stopped at two glasses of wine with dinner, because otherwise she’d never have even been able to leave his place.

  And that would have been very dangerous. Very dangerous indeed.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  JACK stared out across the fields and surveyed his land. Ten thousand acres of property that had been in his mother’s family for generations, and it finally had a willing captain back at the helm again. All he had to do now was convince his brother to come back, to claim the half share he wanted to transfer to him, and everything would be right in the world. Or at least as far as he was concerned it would be.

  And then there was Maddison.

  Could he really do it? Marry the one girl he’d loved all his life, but who’d never been more than a friend to him? The night before had been… exhilarating. Interesting, enjoyable and exhilarating.

  He had to make his mind up soon, because if he gave Maddison his word, he wasn’t going back on it. She deserved honesty above anything else, especially after how her ex had treated her, and that meant that if he actually proposed, he’d have to go through with it and not back down.

  But so long as she was happy with his terms, he’d have no reason to change his mind.

  He picked up his phone and sat down in the shade cast by his truck. His dog flopped at his side, tongue lolling out as she watched him. Jack dialed his brother’s number, put the phone to his ear, then opened his water bottle. He took a few swigs before holding the bottle high and pouring it slowly so Rosa could have some.

  “Hey Scott,” he said when his brother answered.

  Jack leaned back against the wheel of his truck and listened to his brother.

  “I think I’ve found an answer to our problem,” he told him, wishing he could see the look on his brother’s face when he told him. “I told Maddison about the will, and she, well, she offered to marry me.”

  Scott laughed so hard that Jack had to hold the phone away from his ear. He scowled at it in his hand. He’d expected surprised, but not quite that level of amusement.

  �
�What’s so damn funny?” he asked. “The fact that she agreed to it at all, or the fact that I’m proposing to shack up with my former best friend?”

  Scott was laughing again.

  “You know what, screw you Scott. Maybe I’ll keep the ranch for myself,” Jack grumbled. “Unless you’re actually planning on returning.”

  He said goodbye, jumped to his feet and waited for Rosa to get in the cab. Scott might find his getting married hilarious, but right now it sounded a hell of a lot better than taking the will to court to contest it, and spending another year stuck out here alone. He loved the solitude of being a rancher, but after being around Maddison, maybe he’d underrated company.

  Maddison stretched, hands high above her head, before bending forward at the hips to reach for the ground, trying to imagine herself being as supple as she’d like to be. She almost leaped from her skin when her mobile started ringing.

  So much for a quiet morning doing yoga.

  It was her boss. Again. She sent the call to voicemail then flicked off her phone. She knew she couldn’t avoid work completely while she was away, but she needed 24 hours. At least. After so many years of working without a vacation, it was time for a break.

  “Knock knock.”

  Maddison looked up. Her mom was standing in the doorway watching her.

  “Hey.”

  “Your boss again?”

  She nodded. “Yep. I almost wish we could go back to the days of no cell phone coverage here. I tried to fob her off by saying we had no internet, but I’m starting to think she doesn’t believe me.”

  “Come and have breakfast with me. Dad’s taking a walk, Charlotte’s out working, so it’s just the two of us.”

  Madison rolled her yoga mat up neatly and followed her mom out into the hall. She’d take any excuse to avoid a work-out.

  “Mom, can I ask you something?”

  She received a smile in response. “Anything.”

  “When you had Blake, was it easy for you to get pregnant?”

  Her mother gave her a worried look before pushing her gently towards the table. She retrieved two plates from the counter and Maddison poured their coffee into mugs while she waited.

  “I was barely twenty-five when I had your brother, and I was pregnant the first month we started trying,” her mom said, passing her the syrup to pour over her waffles. “Then I was lucky enough to have you all close together. Thankfully I never had to struggle with getting pregnant.”

  Maddison nodded, shutting her eyes as she bit into her first blissful mouthful. Damn she’d missed her mom’s cooking.

  “Where’s all this coming from, sweetheart?”

  “I was reading some information about fertility, and from now on it’s a downhill spiral for me. Every year after 30 your chance of getting pregnant drops, and I want a baby so bad, mom.” She had tears in her eyes, unable to push them away. “I had the nursery planned for our apartment, and I honestly thought it was going to happen for me. That I’d be a mom before my next birthday, you know?”

  Her mom reached for her hand, squeezing it so tight it made her look up. Forced her to stare into her mom’s eyes.

  “Being a mom is the toughest and most rewarding thing in the world. But bringing a child up with that man would have been wrong, and you know it. After what he did to you…” her mom shook her head. “I think we can all be grateful that he’s gone from our lives. You wouldn’t want to be feeling the way you do about him right now and dealing with raising a child.”

  “But I can still be a mom,” she whispered, playing her fork across her breakfast. “I’ve looked into doing it on my own, and it’s something I want, mom. I want to be a mother, and I don’t want dad to miss out on his chance to have a grandchild. He deserves it.”

  It looked like her mom had lost her appetite as much as she had. “You’ll be a great mom one day, Maddison. Just don’t rush into anything too soon. At least promise me that.”

  She nodded, even if her agreement was verging on a lie. She might not be rushing into motherhood, but if Jack actually wanted her to marry him? Then she was guessing it would be a quick wedding, which would mean making it clear to everyone that it wasn’t because she was knocked up.

  The back door was flung back with a bang that echoed through the kitchen, followed by her sister calling out.

  “Guess who I found lurking around outside?” Charlotte called.

  Maddison swallowed another mouthful of waffle before pushing her plate away. She looked up, saw her sister, then went dead still.

  Speak of the devil, there he was. Jack walked into the kitchen, hat under his arm, eyes locked immediately on hers.

  “Morning ladies,” he said, voice smooth and sweet as honey.

  The man she’d vowed to marry the night before suddenly looked a whole lot more real standing in her mother’s kitchen. Not to mention a whole lot more gorgeous.

  “Hey Jack,” she said, trying so hard to sound anything other than flustered.

  “What a nice surprise.” Her mom stood and embraced him, kissing his cheek before she let him go. “I was just telling Maddison last night how much we’ve been missing you. It’s time you started coming over more often.”

  Maddison cleared her throat, hardly able to look Jack in the eye. But he was looking at her. Like he was struggling as much as she was.

  “I was hoping to speak to Maddison,” he said, giving her mom his most charming smile. “But I wouldn’t turn down a waffle if there’s one to spare?”

  Her sister gave him a kick and he groaned like she’d really hurt him, before winking at Maddison. Her mom glared at Charlotte, pushing past her to give Jack a plate, her censure obvious.

  “Syrup?”

  “Yes ma’am,” he replied, still grinning wickedly in Maddison’s direction.

  She had no idea why Jack didn’t have a wife, because from what she was seeing right now he was still quite the charmer with the ladies.

  They all stood around, Charlotte slumping down into a chair to eat a late breakfast, Maddison fidgeting on the spot, her mom in the kitchen, and Jack leaning his big frame against the counter. She tried not to stare, but it was impossible. His long jean-clad legs stretched out in front of him, tanned forearms exposed where his shirt was rolled up… she decided to look out the window instead, tuning out the conversation he was having with her mom.

  “I’m not sure if Maddison told you, but I’m in a bit of a predicament.”

  She switched her focus back to the people in the room again. “I wasn’t sure if it was something I could share.” Or something she wanted to share yet, not after one conversation shared over a bottle of wine. She hadn’t had the time to process everything yet and needed more time to figure out the best way of sharing what they’d discussed.

  “Basically, I either need to lawyer up or find a wife so I can inherit the ranch. Otherwise it will be passed to some distant cousin who’d probably turn it into a dude ranch given half a chance.”

  Jack was looking a lot more relaxed about sharing his problem than he had been the night before, but she could see the tightness in his jaw, how hard it must be for him to tell them like it meant nothing. When it meant everything to him.

  “He didn’t? Your father actually put a clause in his will saying that?” Charlotte was sitting still, for once with nothing to say, but the look on her mom’s face as she spoke said it all.

  “That and more,” Jack confirmed, finishing his waffle and taking his plate to the sink.

  “So we need to find you a wife,” Charlotte announced. “Shouldn’t be too hard, unless you’re overly fussy. But I guess that depends on how fast we have to find one.”

  Maddison was trying to catch Jack’s eye, but he was looking at her sister instead.

  Please don’t tell them, please don’t say anything…

  “I think I’ve already found one,” he said, grinning again. “Mad—“

  “Jack can I have a word with you? Privately?” she interrupted, walking across the
room and taking him by the elbow.

  She didn’t care that her mom and sister were staring at her like she was crazy, what she cared about was making sure Jack didn’t go announcing something that they hadn’t even talked through properly. Something that was going to change both their lives, that needed to be thought through and discussed.

  She marched him to the back door, pulled on her boots and waited for him to do the same.

  “I know you were pretty into me last night, but there’s no need to be so rough,” Jack joked, slowly reaching for his boots, like he was enjoying every minute of making her uncomfortable.

  “Stop it!” she hissed. “Seriously, Jack, you can’t just go blurting things like that out. Not in front of my family.”

  He let her drag him out the door. Heat hit them straight away, so she led him toward the barn where they could get out of the sun and away from prying eyes.

  “I thought you would have told them already,” he said.

  “And I thought we had more to discuss before we let anyone in on what was happening.”

  He sighed then shrugged. “You’re right.”

  That she hadn’t been expecting. To have Jack actually agree with her on something when he’d always used to be so stubborn.

  Maddison walked into the cool of the barn and turned over a feed bucket to sit on. Jack did the same.

  “If you want a romantic proposal, Maddie, I think we could do better than this.”

  Jack was grinning again and her temper flared. “This isn’t a joke to me, Jack. If we’re going to do this, I want it to seem real to everyone else, I told you that. I want my dad to actually think we’re marrying because we want to, not for some bogus legal clause or to help him out.”

  “So what, exactly, are you proposing?” he asked.

  Maddison took a deep breath, wishing she’d had more time to think it through. She’d lain awake most of the night trying to figure it out, but she’d only gone around in circles.