Mommy and the Maverick

by Meg Maxwell

  Marissa was so furious she could scream at the top of her lungs, but she was marching past Crawford’s General Store, where groups were still signing up for the competition. What was she going to tell Abby? Your knight in shining Gucci thinks he can buy me?

  By the time she got home, she’d worked out a plan. She’d tell Abby that something had come up and Autry Jones would not be able to do the competition with her. Some plan, she chided herself. Her daughter would be devastated. Tears poked her eyes.

  “Marissa?” Roberta Rafferty asked as she came out of the kitchen.

  Marissa stood by the front door, willing herself not to cry. “Where are the girls?”

  “Your father took them to the park. Marissa, what’s wrong?”

  “Why would you think anything’s wrong?” Marissa said. Then, with the kid-free okay to burst into tears, she couldn’t stop herself.

  Her mother pulled her against her and hugged her tight, then took her hand and led her into the living room—the “fancy” living room where no one ever went because the family room was the main hub of the house. Her mother sat her down on the brocade sofa and sat next to her. “Okay, tell me.”

  “It’s nothing, Mom, really.” Tears streamed. So much for nothing.

  “Marissa, I know it’s not easy living with me. You’re a grown woman and a great mother and you have Mom overseeing everything you do and commenting. But I love you, honey. And you can always talk to me and expect me to give you advice that serves you—not me.”

  Marissa considered that. Her mother was fair. And she did often look the other way and bite her tongue when she didn’t agree with how Marissa was handling something. The entire story poured out. How she and Autry had shaken on being friends. How they’d kissed. How he’d signed up to be Abby’s partner in The Great Roundup Kids Competition. How she’d gone to his hotel to tell him he could still get out of it, that Abby would understand he’d been pressured in the moment, and how they’d ended up kissing again and talking about how they had this mutual attraction. And then whammo, cold water on her head. He’d proposed buying her a house. Told her she could quit her job and he’d set her up for life.

  “In exchange for?” her mother asked.

  “Nothing,” Marissa said. “He said he has the money, and after everything I’ve been through, he’d like to help and make all our lives more comfortable.”

  “Your dad would say to take that at face value.”

  “You wouldn’t,” Marissa pointed out.

  “Maybe I would. I’ve been watching that man like a hawk the past week, Marissa. I’ve always prided myself on being a good judge of character. I don’t think he meant anything...sordid by it. I think he meant exactly what he said. He does live in a different universe, Marissa. One where you jet off to foreign locales and spend money without a second thought. He grew up that way. But I’d judge him more on the fact that Abby was hurting and he stepped in—and up. That’s a sign of who he is, Marissa.”

  Huh.

  “And your reaction to his offer showed him who you are, honey,” Roberta added. “I’m sure he’s known women who would’ve jumped on it.”

  No doubt. And maybe, just maybe, Marissa was looking for anything to help her distance herself from Autry. But as her mom’s words pushed past Marissa’s defenses, she realized Roberta was right—as usual. Marissa wrapped her arms around her mother. “How did I get so lucky to have such a wise mother?”

  Her mom squeezed her tight. “I will say this, though. I am worried that Abby is going to get very attached to Autry. She was already, and now, with practicing for the competition, she’s going to worship him. She knows he’ll be leaving, yes, but in her nine-year-old heart she may not understand that he’ll still have to go—and isn’t likely to be coming back. I do think you need to keep boundaries there.”

  Marissa nodded. The door opened and her father and the girls came in.

  “Look who was walking up to the house when we got here!” Abby said. “Mr. Autry!”

  Autry looked at Marissa, his gaze seeming to plead with her to give him a chance to explain. Little did he know her mother had done his work for him.

  “Girls, I need to talk to Mr. Autry, so why don’t you head into the family room for reading time?”

  Abby ran over with a big smile. “Mr. Autry, after you and Mom talk, can we practice walking two hundred yards backward?”

  Before Autry could respond, Roberta said, “Abby, you heard your mother. Right now it’s reading time.” Roberta then ushered the younger girls and a wide-eyed Abby into the family room. Phew.

  Autry took a deep breath. “Marissa, I didn’t mean—”

  “I know. Now,” she said. “My mother set me straight.”

  “You told your mother?” he asked, staring at her as though she had five heads.

  “I guess we’ve gotten closer than I even realized. I’ve been living here for two years. My mom has been my rock more than I ever knew.”

  “You’re very lucky,” he said. “No matter how hard it is sometimes to live with your parents, you’re very, very lucky. I wish I were that close to my parents. I wish my father were my rock.”

  She nodded. “I forget sometimes.” She squeezed his hand. “I shouldn’t have thought you meant anything more than what you said. Everything you’ve done since you came into my life has been aboveboard and kind. I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions. But I’ve always worked for what I have, and providing for my family is my responsibility.”

  “You have no idea how much I admire you, Marissa Fuller.”

  She smiled. “Well, in that case, maybe you can spoil me a little bit. Take me out on the town tonight.” She said it before she could think it through. But she would love a steak or seafood dinner in Kalispell, maybe some line dancing at the Ace, a drink in the fancy lobby of Maverick Manor. She would even put on her sandals with heels and a little perfume.

  “You’ve got it. One night on the town coming up. But I need to ask. Right before our conversation went south, we were talking about the possibility of being more than friends. So is this a date or...”

  This gorgeous, wonderful man was standing before her, wanting to give her a little highfalutin fun before he left in two weeks. Marissa knew he liked her, wanted her, but he’d be leaving regardless at the end of August. She could give in to the fantasy of being with him for these two weeks—with no strings. As long as she held on to reality, she’d be fine and maybe even better for it. He’d leave, but she’d have experienced something magical for a few weeks that would leave her in a good place mentally and emotionally.

  Was she rationalizing an affair with Autry Jones, millionaire cowboy businessman? Maybe.

  But so be it.

  “I think we should let the evening decide where it goes,” she said with a sexy smile she didn’t even know she had in her.

  The smile he returned went straight to her heart and her toes.

  Just what would happen tonight?

  * * *

  Autry was getting ready for his date with Marissa when he heard a knock on his hotel room door. Marissa had wanted to meet him at the hotel instead of him picking her up, so that Abby, particularly, wouldn’t see her mom clearly going out on a date with Autry.

  But it wasn’t Marissa standing in the doorway. It was Alexandra Lamoix, director of new business development at Jones Holdings, Inc. His father had hired her six months ago and she’d proved to be a valuable asset. She was a shark like his dad, which was useful in the boardroom. But she was so angelic looking that no one realized it until after her negotiations got her everything she wanted. Autry kind of admired her. And kept his distance.

  “Alexandra?” He froze. If she was here, in person, something must have happened to his father. He felt the blood drain from his face and he grabbed the edge of the door to steady himself.

/>   “I make you weak in the knees, I see,” Alexandra purred in her raspy voice. She smiled, trailing a finger with a pale pink nail down the side of his cheek. “I always knew it.”

  “What?” he said through the fog in his head. “Is my father okay?”

  “Your daddy’s as fine as ever, darling.”

  His heartbeat returned to normal. “And you’re here because?”

  “Well, I was passing through Montana on my way to Seattle to research the Kenley Tech start-up, and how could I not stop by and see you?”

  Rust Creek Falls wasn’t exactly a stop en route from Tulsa to Seattle. She was here for a reason.

  Alexandra stepped inside the room and glanced around. Her long auburn hair fell, sleek and straight, past her shoulders, and the very formfitting sleeveless dress she wore with four-inch heels accentuated every curve, including unusually large breasts. Delicate gold jewelry decorated her neck and wrists. Yeah, he’d noticed her in the office back in Tulsa. It was impossible not to, especially because she always stood very close to him. That she wanted the chairman’s son and CEO’s brother, the president of Jones Holdings, wasn’t lost on him. But tempted as he was once, Autry’s trust meter no longer let him down. No, thanks, Alexandra. She might be attracted to him, but he’d be a stepping-stone to her. And as enticing as she was on the outside, he had zero attraction to what was inside.

  “Sweetie, your daddy is worried about you,” she said. “We all are, on the executive floor of Jones Holdings. First we lost Walker the Third. Now you’re here in this two-bit town for weeks? Walker the Second is worried you won’t come back. So am I.” She slid her arms around him, her incredible breasts pressed against him. “You know I’ve always had a soft spot for you, Autry. And I’ve come all this way to make my claim.”

  Unbelievable. He knew exactly what this was about. “My father sent you?”

  “It was both our idea,” she said, trailing a finger down his neck and pressing herself more firmly against him. “Come home where you belong. I’ll take off the next two weeks and show you what a vacation really is, Autry Jones.” She lifted her chin and puckered up her glossy red lips.

  He heard a gasp.

  It hadn’t come from Alexandra. Or himself.

  Autry looked behind Alexandra. Marissa stood in the doorway of his hotel room, shock on her face. She seemed frozen in place for a moment, then ran.

  “Aww, is that a sweet lil local you picked up here?” Alexandra said. “What a quaint sundress.”

  “Go home, Alexandra. Now,” he growled, and raced out. At the reception desk he quickly told the desk attendant to have the woman in his room escorted out and the door locked, then he rushed out of the hotel.

  He looked in every direction. There she was. Marissa was running—slowly, in her heels—up the sidewalk. He caught up to her fast.

  “Total honesty,” he said, taking her arm. He’d just earned her trust back—thanks to help from her mother. There was no way in hell he was letting his father and his minions undo all that.

  She wrenched it away from him.

  He held up his hands. “Hear me out. Please. I may be a lot of things, Marissa, but I’m not a liar. Or a cheat.”

  She let out a breath, but at least she remained still and didn’t bolt. Her hands were on her hips and she looked like she might snap a branch off a tree and conk him over the head with it.

  “I was in my room—alone—getting ready for our date. Which I’ve been looking forward to more than anything for a very long time. Someone knocked and I thought it was you, but it was the director of new business development at Jones Holdings. Alexandra Lamoix. Turns out my father sent her to entice me out of Rust Creek Falls.”

  “Why?” she asked, dropping her hands to her sides. That was a good sign.

  “Because he lost my brothers to this town. Or at least that’s how Walker Jones the Second sees it. My brother Hudson always did his own thing, but Walker the Third was a company man, just like my father. Walker came here to handle the lawsuit against the day care and presto-chango, he now lives here. Built a Jones Holdings office building here. First Hudson settled down in Rust Creek Falls, then Walker. Now I’m visiting and my father is worried whatever’s in the water will get me, too.”

  Marissa smiled. “Well, maybe he should be. Town legend says that because Homer Gilmore spiked the punch at Jennifer and Braden Traub’s wedding, inhibitions were loosened and that started a love and baby bonanza. Some say the magic love potion has been in the air ever since.”

  “Well, there’s no way that would affect me,” he said. “I’m immune.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “Immune to love?”

  “To babies,” he said, turning away. “Family life isn’t for me.”

  “To babies? But how? Why? You’re great with kids. My kids adore you.”

  “Well, it’s easy to be nice to everyone when I know there are no strings,” he said. “I’m leaving in two weeks.”

  “And if you lived here?” she asked, narrowing her eyes. “You never would have come up to my table at the Ace in the Hole with those beers?”

  “I would have because I didn’t know you were a single mother.”

  He could see a flash of hurt cross her expression. “And if you’d known?”

  “I wouldn’t have approached you.”

  She stepped back as though he’d struck her. “Well. Like you said, you’re not a liar. And now that this is all out in the open, there’s no reason for you to continue your...our...ridiculous acquaintanceship.” She stomped off in her heels, then bent over, took off both sandals and marched away barefoot.

  “Marissa, please wait,” he said.

  She turned around. “For what? So we can be ‘friends’? We tried that. It didn’t work. We tried setting up a date. It’s turned into a disaster before it could even happen.”

  “You always knew that I’m going to leave town. Tonight, the rest of the time I’m here, why can’t we just enjoy each other’s company? We know what we know.”

  “Because I don’t want to get hurt. Because I’m not a dummy. Because I won’t let my kids get hurt by your grand gestures when they’ll never see Mr. Autry again after August.”

  “I don’t want to get hurt, either, Marissa. It’s why I—” He turned away.

  “Why you what?” she asked.

  He shook his head. He didn’t want to tell her about Karinna and Lulu. Why dredge up all that pain when he’d buried it deep? Talking about it would make him feel like a fool, the supposed business whisperer who couldn’t see a hostile throw-over coming when it had been in bed with him the night before.

  “Autry! Marissa!”

  Autry turned to see Hudson wheeling his triplet nephews and niece in their choo-choo train of a stroller. He held up a hand.

  “Jamie and Fallon are on a date night, so Bella and I are babysitting. Bella’s making some complicated recipe for dinner, so I thought I’d take these three little climbers over to Daisy’s to play in the toddler playhouse while I had a double shot of espresso.”

  Marissa smiled. “They are so precious. I know you’re Katie,” she said to the adorable little girl. “And one is Henry and the other Jared.”

  “Jared is in the middle,” Hudson said. “The one chewing on his favorite teething monkey toy.”

  “You don’t freak out handling all three yourself?” Autry asked.

  “I’m an expert at babysitting triplet one-year-olds now. The trick is to keep them all in your field of vision. Not easy, but that’s how you keep everyone safe and alive.”

  Marissa laughed. “Well, if you could use some hands, we’re available.”

  “We are?” Autry asked. Maybe there was some kind of baby magic thing happening in this town if just the sight of these three cuties had worked on Marissa’s mood. Not only was she not r
unning off, she had volunteered them both to help out. That was a good sign.

  Oh, wait. No, it wasn’t. She’d volunteered them to help because of what he’d said about being immune to babies. She wanted to prove to him that he wasn’t.

  Because she didn’t know why he drew the line at single mothers—or had until he’d met her. Because she didn’t know what the sight of a baby did to his head and heart, reminding him of a loss that had scorched every bit of tenderness inside him.

  “I would love some extra hands,” Hudson said. “Thanks, Marissa.” He turned to Autry. “Guess you’re on baby duty, brother.”

  He’d get through the half hour or however long this would be. Because it was saving his relationship with Marissa. Saving their date.

  Huh. His date had been saved by teething babies. But that still didn’t mean he was changing his antibaby stance. The adorable small creatures got inside your heart—and could break it.

  Chapter Eight

  As they entered Daisy’s Donut Shop, Hudson saw a good friend and asked if Marissa and Autry would watch the triplets while he took a breather with his buddy. Marissa was thrilled to say yes. It wasn’t that long ago that her own brood were babies, but Marissa would always cherish the feeling of holding a baby against her, breathing in that delicious baby-shampoo scent and remembering another time in her life.

  The first time she’d held a baby to her chest, she’d been just a teenager, and she’d been so scared that she would mess up, not know what to do. She’d picked up half of “how to be a mother” from a book on parenting and “your baby’s first year,” and the other half came from instinct. And from her own mother’s help, even though sometimes she’d wanted to tell Roberta to stop hovering.

  So while she took one triplet out of the stroller—Jared’s little hands were raised, showing he wanted to be picked up—she felt all the warm, happy feelings in the region of her heart.

  Autry approached the stroller for baby number two, looking slightly sick. The supposed immune-to-babies thing. Right. She’d give him ten seconds to fall under the “baby spell.” Henry held out his arms, and Autry flicked open the five-point harness like a pro to lift him out. But he simply picked him up and set him down over the railing of the toddler play area. No cuddle, no kiss on the cheek, no baby talk.