The Rancher's Request

by Stella Bagwell

  Once Gracia was out of sight, Matt reached for the thermos of coffee sitting near him and passed it over to Juliet.

  After thanking him, she poured a small amount into a foam cup and sipped the rich liquid. “Want some?” she asked.

  He shook his head and she smiled at him.

  “So how are you enjoying this picnic? Bet you’re lying there wishing you were back at the ranch helping your brother in the horse pen.”

  “Actually, I wasn’t thinking anything of the sort. The day is beautiful. And it’s not often that I get to see parts of the ranch in such a leisurely way.” He glanced around him, then back to her. “I was just thinking that this was how my grandparents and great-grandparents must have seen this land when they first arrived here in south Texas. Just raw and wild and nothing on it, but mesquite and cactus, snakes and coyotes. If I’d lived back then I doubt I’d have had the fortitude or vision that they had to build the Sandbur.”

  Absently, she twisted the cup in her hand as her gaze searched his face. He’d taken his hat off before they’d started to eat and now the gentle breeze that fluttered the leaves above them teased his crow-black hair and splayed thick strands of it against his forehead.

  The fringe of shiny locks softened his features and mentally lured Juliet toward him. With her eyes fixed on his lips, she said, “It must be nice to have such heritage. I only knew about my grandparents on my mother’s side. The rest of my family—I don’t have any idea about them. My father couldn’t have cared less about his folks or his past and my mother was adopted. I guess some families are just bound together from the start and some aren’t.”

  He pushed himself up to a sitting position and Juliet’s insides quivered as his face ended up only inches away from hers.

  “Even bound families have their problems, Juliet. The Sanchezes and the Saddlers have both had their share of problems and worries and heartaches.”

  She thought of Matt’s wife and father, his sister’s broken heart and sighed. “Yes, I suppose so.”

  Suddenly his green eyes softened and he reached up and cupped his hand alongside her face. “Do you know how it made me feel to see you this morning?”

  Her heart went still, then leaped into a gallop. “No,” she whispered.

  His fingers moved ever so slightly against her cheek. “It made me happy, Juliet. Very happy.”

  Doubt pulled her brows together. “That doesn’t sound like the Matt Sanchez I know.”

  “It isn’t like him,” he said slowly. “You do things to me, woman. Things I don’t understand.”

  With every word he spoke, his face grew nearer until his lips were only a scant fraction away from hers. Juliet was frozen with anticipation, afraid to breathe or move or speak in fear that she would break the electric connection between them.

  “I told myself I didn’t want to invite you here today,” he murmured. “I told myself I was only doing it for Gracia. But the moment I saw you I knew I’d been lying to myself. I wanted to see you again because I can’t forget how you felt against me. I can’t forget how much—I want you.”

  The last words were whispered against her lips and his warm breath was like a ray of sun coaxing the petals of a flower to unfurl. Her lips parted; her eyes closed and then she felt his kiss sweetly searching, tasting and urging her closer.

  Her hands closed over the tops of his shoulders and the warmth of his flesh prompted her fingers to flex against his hard muscles.

  For days she’d thought of nothing but this and struggled to deal with the fact that she would never experience being in his arms again. But now here she was and erotic sensations were bombarding her from all directions.

  Her mouth opened and the tip of his tongue teased her teeth and her bottom lip, before he finally pulled back and rested his forehead against hers.

  “If Gracia wasn’t with us you’d be on this blanket and I’d be making love to you.”

  His frank words shocked her and her breath drew in sharply as she eased slightly back from him to search his face. “Matt—you—you said you didn’t want anything like this between us. What—”

  His hands reached up and framed the confusion on her face. “I know I’ve said lots of things to you, Juliet. And at the time I thought I meant them. But since then I’ve had second thoughts about you and me. About us. Maybe the two of us spending time together wouldn’t really be all that dangerous.”

  Dangerous. The word seemed to fit the explosive nature of their relationship. Yet she wanted to believe as he did that the two of them could be together without either of them getting hurt.

  She drew in a bracing breath while realizing her heart was hammering like a runaway engine. “Is that what you want, Matt? For us to spend time together?”

  A crooked grin twisted his lips as he drew her face back to his. “What does this feel like?”

  He began kissing her again, deeper this time and Juliet was about to curl her arms around his neck when Gracia’s voice floated up to them.

  “Juliet!” she yelled. “C’mon! The water is warm! It feels wonderful!”

  Matt broke the kiss just as Juliet was about to jerk back from him. She looked at him in dazed wonder and a wry smile spread across his face.

  “My child has great timing. You’d better go or she’ll be up here trying to drag you down.”

  “Yes. I’d better go,” she murmured and quickly rose to her feet. “What are you going to do?”

  His eyes lazily swept up and down the length of her. “Don’t worry about me. I have plenty to sit here and think about.”

  Three days later, Juliet was sitting at her desk, attempting to work while half her thoughts were on Matt, where they’d been ever since the day of the picnic. His change in attitude toward her had left her in a dazed sort of trance and she continued to wonder what had happened with the man. But did his motives even matter? In the end, all that should matter to her was that he finally seemed to trust her and he actually wanted to be with her. For a man like him that was like changing the moon into the sun, and she shouldn’t be looking into the miracle that deeply. Some things just couldn’t be explained.

  A knock sounded on the open door to her office and Juliet glanced up to see Gilbert’s wiry little self stepping toward her desk. The sight of the man sent her spirits plummeting.

  “Madsen, I was just going over those photos you shot at the courthouse square. They’re good, but I want another one with the workers on the scaffold, not standing down below it. They look lazy and the contractor isn’t going to like seeing it in the newspaper and neither are the taxpayers.”

  If Juliet remembered correctly, the time she’d shot the photos of the restorative work being done on the courthouse, the men had been on the ground digging some sort of footing, not standing around. But she wasn’t going to argue with Gilbert. It would be easy enough to walk the two blocks to the courthouse and snap more pictures.

  “No problem. I’ll do it this afternoon,” she assured him.

  Nodding curtly, he glanced pointedly at her desk. “I’ve been expecting an update from you on the Ketchum story. How far have you gotten with it?”

  No further than she had two weeks ago, Juliet wanted to tell him. Instead, she tried to think of a good stall. “Uh—I’ve been meaning to stop by your office and let you know I’m still doing research.”

  The constant frown on Gilbert’s face turned into an all-out scowl. “Research! Madsen, I talked to you about this project two weeks ago. There couldn’t be that much research!”

  Laying down her pen, Juliet folded her hands atop her desk and gave him her full attention. “I hadn’t expected there to be,” she said. “But once I got to digging through the archives, I discovered there’ve been numerous articles done on the couple and the ranch. I need to assimilate all of them before I can do the piece any justice.”

  Moving to the corner of her desk, he jabbed his forefinger on a bare spot of the wood. “You’ve had time, Madsen. I want to see the piece finished by next week
.”

  Images of Matt and Gracia floated through Juliet’s mind and her stomach felt as though poisonous snakes were swimming in the pit of it and one wrong move could cause her to be fatally bitten.

  “I can’t do that,” she said carefully. “I need more time.”

  Raking a hand over his balding head, he lowered a glare at her. “I’m getting the feeling that you’re stalling, Madsen. Am I wrong?”

  The meek approach had never been Juliet’s style and she wasn’t about to cower to Gilbert, even if he was her boss. She had personal principles that no one could make her toss aside.

  “I’m just trying to get the full picture here, sir. I don’t want my name attached to a piece that isn’t fair and factual.”

  He snorted. “This isn’t the New York Times or even the Houston Chronicle, Madsen,” he said sarcastically. “So what if you dramatize a little? No one around here is going to question or investigate us.”

  Her jaw dropped as she stared at him in disbelief. “Your father was known for running an ethical newspaper, Mr. Gilbert. I was under the impression that the Fannin Review was still an honored establishment in this town. Do you want that to change?”

  Another snort erupted from the editor. “Honor. Principles. Since when did those two things sell newspapers? And what good will ethics do us, if we can’t afford to keep the doors open on this place?”

  Juliet was quite sure the newspaper was doing fine as far as financial security, which made Gilbert’s attitude even worse.

  “I don’t know about you, Mr. Gilbert, but I’d never be willing to compromise my ethics for bigger sales. I have a higher value of myself than that.”

  The image of his scowling face reminded Juliet of a skinny bulldog, all wrinkles and teeth, but not enough inner strength to win the fight. At least, not with her, she thought grimly.

  “That wouldn’t be so easy for you to say if you were sitting behind my desk, young lady.” Then with a dismissive swat of his arm, he added, “Just give me something on the Ketchums, Madsen. And make it good.”

  Something good. The two words caused Juliet’s mind to suddenly spin with an idea that should have already come to her before now. She could definitely handle a story with a positive element behind it. But would Gilbert? It was a chance she had to take.

  Nodding with total concession, she said, “All right, Mr. Gilbert, I’ll do my best to have the piece written by the end of next week. And I promise to make it something readers will enjoy.”

  Thankfully, the man looked somewhat mollified at her announcement and started toward the door. “This is it, Madsen. I expect it to be on my desk by the end of next week or there’s going to be serious issues as to whether you keep this job.”

  Juliet bit down on her tongue to keep from flinging several curse words at the man. But as he exited the room, she silently flung her opinion of him at his back.

  She was rubbing her fingertips against her forehead and still trying to compose her anger when the phone on her desk rang.

  Relieved at the interruption, she reached for the receiver.

  “Madsen here.”

  “Juliet?”

  The sound of Matt’s voice brought her to instant attention and she bolted straight up in the desk chair. Thank goodness Gilbert had just left the room, otherwise the conversation could have been worse than awkward.

  “Yes. Yes, it’s me.”

  “You sound surprised to hear from me,” he said with a bit of humor.

  “I am. A little.” The other evening, when she’d finally left the Sandbur after the picnic, the two of them had parted warmly. In fact, once Gracia had disappeared into the house, her and Matt’s goodbye had been a heated kiss exchanged at the door of her car. Even so, she hadn’t expected to hear from him this soon.

  “Well, I don’t mean to interrupt your work. I just called to ask you to dinner tonight. Are you free?”

  Dinner with Matt? Juliet was well aware that the picnic invitation had initially been for Gracia’s sake. But this was something different, something very personal, and the whole idea made her tremble. If she wanted to be a practical, safe woman, she wouldn’t think twice. She’d gently decline with some sort of excuse. But wise or not, that wasn’t what she wanted to do. Spending time with the man had turned into a craving.

  “Juliet? Are you still with me?”

  His voice jolted her out of her whirling thoughts and she stammered, “Er—yes—I’m here. I was just trying to remember if I had any obligations after work this evening. I don’t think I do.”

  “Does that mean yes?”

  Closing her eyes, she pushed her long hair off her forehead and drew in a bracing breath before she made the leap. “Yes. It means yes.”

  She heard a faint sigh on his end of the line and wondered wildly if he’d actually expected her to say no. Didn’t the man know she was falling for him in the worst kind of way?

  “Good. I’ll pick you up about seven. Give me your address.”

  Her eyes popped open. “You mean we’re not eating at the ranch?”

  He chuckled. “No. But if you want to, I can arrange it. I just thought you’d like to eat something other than ranch grub tonight.”

  And maybe he wanted the two of them to be alone, without Gracia or Cordero, or anyone else on the ranch around to interrupt them. The idea sent tingles of anticipation down Juliet’s spine and she realized she was moving toward dangerous water, but it was too late to do anything about saving herself. She was too weak to fight the undertow.

  “All right. I’ll be ready,” she said, then gave him the directions to get to her house.

  After they’d exchanged goodbyes and she’d hung up the phone, Juliet fell weakly back in her chair and exhaled a heavy breath.

  For long moments she stared unseeingly at the work on her desk, until her gaze finally settled on her empty ring finger. Once a diamond had sparkled there, given to her by a man who had showered her with attention and so-called love. She’d believed she and Michael had a future. She’d planned on it, worked toward it. But then everything had come tumbling down like a mud hut in a rainstorm and her loss had left her feeling just like that—homeless.

  Since then, when it came to men, she’d sworn to live a more careful life. She’d promised herself to never fall in love with a man who only wanted to use her. Is that what she was doing now, she asked herself, falling in love with Matt, a man who’d already told her he didn’t want a woman in his future?

  She couldn’t answer that now. Not when all she could think about was being back in Matt Sanchez’s arms.

  Chapter Eight

  Juliet was late getting home from work and ended up having only a half hour to shower and change into something suitable to wear. But since she had no idea where Matt was taking her to eat, she had to simply guess and try to choose something that would fit in at either a fast-food joint or a fine restaurant.

  She ended up pulling on a cotton floral dress with a background of red roses. It had a cinched waist with a matching belt and a flared skirt that ended just above her knees. She added high-heeled sandals, golden hoops to her ears and a tiny cross of pearls around her neck.

  Matt’s knock came just as she was putting a last swipe of color to her lips. Quickly, she dropped the tube of coral lipstick into her handbag and, taking it with her, hurried to the front room to answer the door.

  Juliet’s residence was a surprise to Matt. He’d expected her to be living in an apartment where a renter didn’t have to worry about maintenance to the structure or the lawn. He would have never pictured her living in a neat little clapboard house with flowers growing at the edge of the porch and a live oak shading the front yard. The homey image didn’t match her Dallas background, but maybe she’d changed since moving from the big city. Matt wanted to think so. He wanted to believe she wasn’t a fish out of water here, a fish that would eventually want to head back to the big, wide ocean.

  His thoughts were interrupted when the door in front of him swung op
en and Juliet was silhouetted in the light coming from somewhere behind her.

  The lines of her curvy body encased in a feminine dress was a sight for his hungry eyes and for a moment all he could do was stare and wonder why it had taken him so long to give in to his desire. Why had he fought this attraction so hard, when there were men who’d give their eye teeth and more for a woman like Juliet? It wasn’t as if she could kill him. Maim his heart maybe. But that was a chance he had to take.

  “Hello, Matt. I’m almost ready. Want to come in a minute while I finish?”

  He stepped through the door and past her luscious body. Along the way her sweet perfume trickled to his nose and tempted him to simply turn and reach for her. But Matt was smart enough to know that once he touched her, he might not be able to stop. So he moved to the middle of the room and looked around him with interest.

  “This is nice, Juliet. I would have never expected your home to look like this,” he admitted, as he glanced around at the wooden rocking chair, the chintz furniture and a vase filled with Texas bluebonnets sitting on a drop leaf table. A fat black cat was curled up in the seat of the rocker and the animal looked up at him with lazy curiosity.

  Smiling, she asked, “Really? What did you expect? Lots of frilly, girlie things?”

  Shaking his head, he walked over to an end table where a photo stood of Juliet and an older woman standing in a pose together. He picked it up and studied their images.

  “No. I had something more modern in mind. Like empty spaces, chrome fixtures and black-and-white walls—you know the type.”

  Her smile deepened. “I’m not that sterile, Mr. Sanchez. I’m cozy. I like people and things around me.” She gestured toward the photo he was holding. “That’s my mother with me. Before she became ill.”