She hadn’t wanted to tell him the truth—that she had no plans other than lesson prep work—but she also hadn’t been ready to turn around and drive back to the Blue Sage that night, not without a little more time to psych herself up to facing him again. As salve to her conscience, she had called Josie and Marcy over for an impromptu party watching movies and making Chinese food and venting about the man himself.
“You should have seen the way he looked at me, like I was some deranged fan come to steal his boxers or something. Good grief.”
“Well, you did climb over his gate,” Marcy pointed out from the sink, where she was washing vegetables. “You can’t blame the man for being a little suspicious about you.”
“If I were going to become a stalker, why would I pick a washed-up recluse of an actor?”
“Because he’s a big hot bundle of yum?” Josie suggested.
Marcy made a face. “Yum factor aside, you know perfectly well he’s not washed-up, Ash. He walked away at the top of his game. I bet right this minute he could still step into any role he wanted and find himself back on the A-list. He just doesn’t want to be there.”
She had to admit, Marcy was right about that. Justin had the intensity and range of a truly great actor. And the cameras had loved him.
“I still cry every time I watch him in Warrior,” Josie said.
Ashley didn’t want to admit that she did, too—and that she’d watched the DVD just the other night.
“How many times did we drive to Idaho Falls to see Last Chance when we were sixteen?” Marcy laughed. “At least a dozen. Remember how you used to have that picture of him in your locker with his shirt half ripped off and his sexy black Stetson and that hard look in his eyes?”
Josie snickered as she twisted another egg roll. “If there was ever an obsessed stalker fan back then, it would have been you, Ash. I seem to remember you writing Mrs. Justin Hartford on everything from your algebra homework to the pizza napkins at Stoneys.”
“Will you two just forget about that? For heaven’s sake! It was more than a decade ago. Marcy’s already given me a hard time about my stupid crush.”
She loved her friends dearly. They had been friends since they were all in kindergarten and she found great comfort in that kind of continuity. She just sometimes wished they didn’t know every single detail about her life.
“You’re supposed to be sympathetic here. I was a silly teenager. What did I know about what to look for in a man? All I cared about ten years ago were dreamy eyes and six-pack abs.”
“Two things Justin Hartford still has,” Josie pointed out with a slightly overheated gleam in her own eyes. “He came into the hardware store last week for hex screws and I just about drooled all over his cowboy boots.”
“Dreamy eyes are fine but not when they come as a package deal with a man willing to abdicate his responsibility to his child.”
“That’s unfair,” Marcy spoke up as she drained the vegetables. “He invited you to come back and talk to Ruby about her behavior, didn’t he? I wonder if you would be so mad at him right now if you hadn’t had such a crush on him back in the day.”
“Yeah,” Josie warmed to the theory. “Maybe you built him up in your wild little fantasy world for so long that finding out the real man is just a struggling father with the same problems as the rest of us has left you heartbroken and disillusioned.”
She had to admit, there might be some truth in what they said. She had this image in her head of him as the hard-driving, hard-living hero he played so well. It was a little hard to reconcile that with the father of her biggest behavior problem.
She sighed. She was not looking forward to dinner the next night. How did a girl dress to have dinner with her teenage crush?
Chapter 8
BY THE NEXT EVENING, AS he was prepping the steaks for dinner, Justin still didn’t have a clue what was going on with Ruby and school.
He had tried to talk to his daughter about it a dozen times, but she had been acting strangely ever since she found out Miss Barnes was coming to dinner. She was popping out of her skin with an odd kind of excitement and every time he tried to bring up school, she made some excuse to escape.
He hadn’t pushed it, though he knew he should. He didn’t really have a good handle on the extent of the problem, and he thought maybe it would be better if he waited until the teacher was there.
Lydia hadn’t been much help, either. When he talked to her the night before, he found his aunt was firmly of the opinion that Ruby was only misbehaving as a coping mechanism to adjust to school. She wasn’t used to being around other children all the time, everything was new and she had the added complication of being the daughter of the town’s only celebrity, which automatically set her apart, Lydia thought.
She had talked to Ruby several times and the girl had promised she would do better. Lydia wanted to give her a little more time to adjust and she hadn’t wanted to bother Justin with it, especially as they had agreed she would be the liaison with the school.
She had nothing but praise for the teacher, though. Justin had had just about enough of hearing about all of Ashley Barnes’s wonderful qualities.
He sighed. He already had enough trouble with the females in his life. Why did he even think for a moment he needed to add more? Still, he hadn’t been able to get the teacher out of his mind. He had dreamed of her last night and had awoken aroused and embarrassed and with an intense hunger for cream puffs.
He jerked his mind away from those unruly images. “Ruby, you need to set the table,” he called. “Your teacher will be here any minute now.”
“Coming, Daddy,” she called from the other room and a moment later she flounced into the room. Flounce was exactly the word for it—she was wearing the ruffly girlie dress she and Lydia had bought the day before in Jackson.
She was all taffeta and lace, with mismatched ankle socks and her favorite sparkly sneakers.
He hid a smile. “Honey, you can’t wear that. You’ll ruin the pretty dress you and Aunt Lydia bought to wear to Sierra’s mom’s wedding next month.”
“I want Miss Barnes to see it. She’ll like the way it twirls. See, Daddy?” She spun in a circle, eyes wide with delight, and a lump rose in his throat. He loved this crazy, funny little thing so much it was a physical ache in his chest sometimes.
“You’re having a hot dog, though, and you know how messy those can be. You wouldn’t want to spill mustard on your dress, would you?”
Her brow furrowed as she considered and he pushed his advantage while he had it. “Set the table out on the deck and then go up and change into something else. After dinner maybe you can change into your new dress to show Miss Barnes.”
He knew that before too much longer, he wouldn’t be able to convince her of anything so easily, but for now his logic could still sway her.
“Okay.” She ran to the cupboard for the plates then stopped and gave him a considering look. “You should wear your blue shirt, Daddy. The one that’s soft and silky. Aunt Lydia said you turn all the ladies to mush when you wear it.”
Before he could ask why she might want him to turn her kindergarten teacher to mush—a task he doubted he had the ability to perform, much as he and his libidinous dreams might like to—she rushed outside with an armload of plates and silverware.
She had just returned for glasses when the buzzer on the front gates rang. Ruby shrieked with excitement. “She’s here! She’s here! She’s really here!”
Chapter 9
RUBY RACED TO THE INTERCOM and control console for the electronic gates. “Miss Barnes! Miss Barnes! Hi, Miss Barnes! I’m going to push the button and open the gate, okay? Okay?”
There was a slight pause then Ashley’s voice filled the kitchen and even through the intercom he could hear the amusement in it. “Thank you very much, Rub
y.”
She pushed the button then jumped away from the console. “You let her in while I go change, Daddy. I’ll be right back.”
He started to call her back—since she was already in the dress, she might as well show it off now instead of later—but she was gone, heading up the stairs at a full-out run.
The doorbell rang and Justin was startled at the way his pulse kicked up against his will.
He walked out to the entryway and opened the door then forgot to even say hello. She looked sweet and lovely and delicious enough to gobble up in one bite. He was so busy trying to convince himself he wasn’t hungry that he almost missed the wary look in her eyes.
“Hi. I’m early. I’m sorry.”
He was a little rusty as a host but he tried to do his best. “Not at all. Come in. Ruby’s gone to change her clothes and I’m not sure where my aunt has vanished to. I’m sure she’ll be along soon.”
She held out something in a white box wrapped in string. “I brought dessert. I didn’t know what you were serving so I didn’t know what kind of wine would be appropriate. And, anyway, I thought Ruby might enjoy something sweet more.”
“What is it?”
“Raspberry ribbon cheesecake. It’s my mom’s recipe.”
“Ruby will love it. I’ll just put it in the refrigerator. Why don’t you come outside with me while I put the steaks on?”
“You’re cooking?”
He had to smile at the utter disbelief in her voice. “I’m grilling. There’s a world of difference between the two. Throwing a couple steaks on the grill doesn’t exactly take much except a good spice rub recipe and a meat thermometer.”
She still looked flabbergasted as he gestured her ahead of him into the kitchen. She walked past him and again the tantalizing scents of vanilla and almonds—with a hint of raspberry now—teased him.
He closed his eyes, stunned by the overwhelming urge to lean forward and bury his face in her curls and just inhale.
It had been far too long since he had been with a woman. Months. That must be the reason for this sudden fascination with this soft schoolteacher.
One of the downsides of being a responsible single father was the serious crimp it put in any casual encounters. It never seemed right to bring women home for the night with Ruby in the house and lately he had been taking her along on the few trips he took out of town.
He had entertained some vague idea about calling Lexie Walker when he went to Denver on the horse-buying trip next week to see if she might be interested in flying out to meet him, as she had done a few times before. Lexie was a producer he had known in L.A. She was sharp, beautiful and sexy as silk sheets.
Oddly, the idea suddenly didn’t appeal to him at all. He didn’t have to look far to figure out why.
Chapter 10
“THIS IS LOVELY,” ASHLEY EXCLAIMED when they moved out onto the wide deck overlooking the western slope of the Tetons. With delight evident on her delicate features, she took in the twinkling lights in the trees shading the deck, the swimming pool with its waterfalls and spa, and the outdoor fireplace, where a merry blaze took out the slight chill of the September air.
Beyond the backyard, horses grazed near the whitewashed barn, and in the evening everything looked peaceful and still.
“We live out here when the weather is nice,” he admitted. “And even sometimes when it’s not. With the fireplace, we can enjoy it from March to early December sometimes, until the snow gets too deep on the deck.”
“She must adore it out here! My word, look at that play set. I think it’s more elaborate than the playground equipment we have at school.”
He smiled at her enthusiasm. “We’ll have to have your class out for a party in the springtime when it’s warm enough to swim again. Ruby would love it.”
Her eyes glowed at the idea and she smiled, the first genuine, heartfelt smile she had ever given him.
He couldn’t seem to look away from it, at the curve of her lips, at the way the left side lifted just a little higher than the right, at the dimples he suddenly hungered to taste.
The heated dreams of the night before suddenly rocketed through his brain and in his mind he was once more tangled in all that softness, touching his mouth to hers, tasting that sweetly curved mouth.
He heard a ragged-sounding breath and managed to drag his attention from her mouth—and from his own feverish imagination—to meet her gaze. Her pupils were wide, her color high, and thick, heady awareness suddenly bloomed between them.
He needed to kiss her. He didn’t want to, he knew he shouldn’t, but he had to know if she tasted as delicious as he had imagined. He couldn’t seem to stop himself from leaning forward.
An instant before he reached her, he heard the bang of the screen door and jerked back just as Ruby raced out of the house.
“Here I am! I changed and everything. Hi, Miss Barnes!” She hugged her teacher’s legs and Ashley looked dazed—whether from Ruby’s affection or their almost-kiss, he couldn’t guess.
“Do you want to come see my bedroom? It’s pink and green and my bed is in a real playhouse!”
Ashley cast a furtive look at him, her color high. “I... Of course,” she murmured, looking relieved at any excuse to escape.
“The steaks won’t take long,” he said, calling on all his long-neglected acting skills to keep any trace of embarrassment from his voice.
She nodded and walked out with Ruby’s hand tucked in hers, leaving him alone in the starlight to wonder what the hell had just happened.
Chapter 11
JUSTIN HARTFORD HAD NEARLY KISSED HER. If his daughter hadn’t come bursting out onto the deck, Ashley had no doubt that with a half second more alone with him, she would have been in his arms.
She followed Ruby up a sweeping staircase constructed of hewn half logs, painfully aware of the way her knees trembled and her stomach still felt jittery and weak.
Justin Hartford. Almost. Kissed. Her.
He had wanted to, anyway. She had seen the sudden heat in those heartbreaking eyes of his, the slight parting of his lips, and hadn’t been able to stop her body’s instinctive sway toward him.
What a jerk, she thought, but the familiar imprecation held no heat whatsoever. She had wanted him to kiss her. Another minute or two and she probably would have begged him to.
They reached Ruby’s bedroom and she could only stare. “Wow. This is your room?”
“Yep. It’s cool, huh?”
“Very cool.” It was a dream of a room for a little girl. Everything was pink and flowery and Ruby had told the truth—her bed was built into a massive playhouse built into the center of the large room. It was like a room inside of a room, with a door and windows and a gabled roof that touched the ceiling.
“Daddy and me built the playhouse. I helped hammer the nails and measure the wood and everything.”
“Oh?” It was very hard to dislike a man who could create such a wonderland for his child.
“Yep. My daddy makes really good things. My aunt Liddy says he has always been good with his hands. She said when he was a kid, he was always making stuff from junk wood he found around. And he’s strong, too. When we builded my bed, he carried all the wood in by himself.”
Ruby frowned for a moment, her brow furrowed in concentration, then it cleared and she smiled. “Oh, and he makes up funny stories. My favorite is about the ugly hedgehog. Daddy does all kinds of voices when he tells stories and he always makes me laugh. You should hear him.”
“Oh?” She tried to pretend disinterest, but in truth she was fascinated to hear about Justin’s interactions with his daughter.
“Yeah, and he can swim superfast! You should see him. And he rides horses better than anybody else in the whole wide world. I have my own horse, but my favorite is when I ride with m
y daddy.”
Why did Ruby suddenly remind her of a used car salesman trying to unload a junker? Ashley wondered uneasily. She really shouldn’t be listening to all these things about Justin. It made him seem too real, entirely too likable.
Still, she forced herself to smile. “It sounds like you have a lot of fun with your dad.”
“We’re best buds. Me and Daddy and Aunt Liddy are a team. Daddy says so. I love him a ton.”
She suddenly gave Ashley a funny sidelong look she couldn’t quite interpret.
“Except I think maybe he’s lonely.”
Chapter 12
JUSTIN HARTFORD LONELY?
She couldn’t even imagine it. Still, the conviction in the girl’s voice set off warning bells. “Ruby, is that why you’ve been misbehaving in class? Because you think if you’re naughty enough in school and don’t do your work, you’ll be sent home to the Blue Sage, where you can be with your father?”
Ruby’s big blue eyes opened wide and she looked so genuinely startled at the suggestion that Ashley knew she must be completely off the mark.
The little girl giggled. “No! That’s not why. You’re silly.”
Oh, she certainly was, especially if she thought a gorgeous, compelling man like Justin Hartford could ever be interested in a boring, naive schoolteacher like her.
“Will you tell me the reason?” she pressed. “I don’t think you really hate school, even though you pretend you do.”
“I don’t hate it,” she whispered. She looked down at the thick carpet of her room, digging the toe of her sneakers into the floral pattern.
Ashley paused, totally at sea to figure out what all this was about. “Is it me you don’t like? Perhaps we could switch you to the other kindergarten teacher’s class.”
“Noooo!” Ruby looked horrified by the very idea. “I don’t want another teacher. I have to be in your class. Please, Miss Barnes. Please don’t make me go to another class!”
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