The Rancher Returns

by Brenda Jackson

  She probably would have enjoyed it even more had he not been there to cloud her concentration. It had been hard to focus on the huge movie screen with a sexy man sitting beside her.

  “When are you going to stop acting childish, Layla?”

  She glanced over at him. “Childish? You think I’m acting childish when you told me last night that we won’t kiss again unless sex is part of the mix?”

  “Yes, that’s what I said and I meant it.”

  “Well, sorry if you think I’m acting childish but I’m the one acting more adult than you. All you can think about is—”

  “Making love to you.”

  She swallowed, seeing a picture of that very thing in her mind. “Yes.”

  “Can’t help it. You do things to me, Layla.”

  When she was honest with herself, she could admit that he did things to her, as well. But she would never admit it to him. He was just like all the other men she’d known, which is why she’d sworn off relationships. All men wanted of a woman was a roll between the sheets. She wanted more from life; she had a career to build. Men and sex only got in the way of her goals.

  She glanced over at him. “You were an only child, right?”

  “Yes, as far as I know.”

  When she looked at him in surprise he added, “My mother deserted us when I was eight and never came back. For all I know, she could have married and had more kids by now.”

  Layla nodded. “She and your dad got a divorce?”

  “No, but she might have changed her name and started over. Who knows?”

  Layla didn’t say anything for a moment. “You’ve never tried to find her?”

  “No.”

  “Not even when your father was killed in the war?”

  His jaw tightened. “Especially not then. If she didn’t return to see him while he was living, I sure as hell didn’t plan to give her the opportunity to see him dead,” he said in a biting tone. “Dad always believed she would come back to us. Even said he understood her need to get away. After all, he’d talked her into coming to Cornerstone.”

  “Where was she from?”

  “New York. Manhattan. They met while he was on military business at the United Nations. They’d only known each other a week when they married. They met one night at a restaurant, a month after her only family, an aunt, died.”

  “So when they met, she had no living family?”

  “No.”

  He didn’t say anything else for a long moment, and then he added, “According to Dad she lasted out here longer than he expected her to. She tried being a good wife, and I remember her being a good mom. Dad placed a lot of blame on himself since he had to carry out a lot of missions, leaving her here with Gramma Mel and Grampa Gavin. And when I came along a year later, he thought she’d adjusted.”

  “But she hadn’t?”

  “Evidently not. One day she up and left. She told my grandparents she needed to get away for a while and asked them to watch me. She said she’d be back before Dad returned from his overseas tour. Then she got in her car— the one Dad bought for her—and drove off.”

  “And she never came back?”

  He shook his head. “No, she never came back. Months later, when Dad returned home and found her gone, he was heartbroken. She left him a note saying she would come back. But she never did.”

  “And after all this time, you’ve never tried finding her?”

  “No. She decided she didn’t want me or Dad in her life.”

  * * *

  Gavin inwardly admitted that more than once he had thought about locating his mother, if for no other reason than to ask her why she never came back. One of his former SEAL teammates, Nick Stover, worked for Homeland Security. All Gavin had to do was give Nick her name and there was no doubt in his mind that Nick would tell Gavin her whereabouts. A part of him knew the main reason he hadn’t done so was his fear of what he would find out. What if his mother had never wanted him or loved his dad? At times it was easier to do what his father had done and believe the best...even if it was a fairy tale.

  He drew in a deep breath. Why had he shared any of that with Layla when he’d never shared it with a woman before? For some reason, when she’d asked if he was an only child, the floodgates had opened. Emotions he usually kept locked inside had come pouring out.

  “Any other family besides Ms. Melody? What about aunts, uncles or cousins?”

  He figured she was asking for conversational purposes only, so he obliged her. “My grandmother has a younger sister living in Saint Louis. Her only grandson, Benjamin, and I are close. We’re more like brothers than cousins. He spent a lot of his summers here. Ben’s a year older and in the Marines. Right now he’s stationed in Afghanistan, and we’re hoping he’ll be home for the holidays.”

  He glanced over at her. “What about you? Any cousins?”

  She shook her head. “No. My grandparents didn’t have any siblings and they had one child. I never knew my mother’s parents. They died in a boating accident when she was in her teens.”

  He said nothing as he drove. They were ten minutes from his home and although there had been sexual chemistry between them as usual, they’d managed to keep it under control. That was a surprise since his plans for this evening had originally been to end up in some woman’s bed. A part of him couldn’t believe he’d given up the chance for sex just to spend time in Layla’s company. And he had to grudgingly admit that although she’d tried to ignore him for most of the evening, he had enjoyed being with her.

  Moments later, he pulled into the yard in front of the ranch house. His grandmother would be leaving tomorrow and he would have the house all to himself. Bringing the car to a stop, he cut the ignition and turned to Layla. “I’ll see you inside.”

  “That’s not necessary,” she said, already opening her door to get out. “Thanks for driving me into town and joining me at the movies.”

  Although she’d said he didn’t have to see her in, he walked beside her anyway. “You’re welcome, although I know you really didn’t prefer my company.”

  When she didn’t deny what he’d said, he chuckled. “No wonder you don’t have a boyfriend.”

  She glanced over at him. “What makes you think I don’t have a boyfriend?”

  “I asked Gramma Mel if any man had visited you here and she said no.”

  Layla frowned. “That doesn’t mean anything.”

  He chuckled again. “Yes, it does. If you had a boyfriend he would have come here, if for nothing else but to check on you. To see how you were doing. To feel out the competition. To stake his claim.”

  Even in the moonlight, he saw her roll her eyes. “Not all men are territorial, Gavin.”

  “Any man connected to you would be.”

  They had made it to the porch. When he offered her hand to assist her up the steps, she said, “No need.” And then she walked up to the door without his help. He knew why. All it would have taken was one touch and they would have lit up like the Fourth of July and they both knew it.

  “Thanks for seeing me home. At least my temporary home.”

  “No problem. What time does the equipment arrive tomorrow?”

  “Sometime before noon. Thanks again for allowing me to store the equipment in that old barn.”

  He nodded. “When will your team get here?”

  “Some will start arriving the day after tomorrow and will be staying at a hotel in town. We’re hoping to finish the dig in a couple of weeks and then we’ll be on our way.”

  A couple of weeks. He had every intention of making love to her before she left. In the meantime, he planned to stick to his resolve about not kissing her until she was ready to give in to their desire—even if it killed him.

  “Good night, Layla.”

  When she ju
st stared at him, he smiled. Evidently she’d expected him to kiss her good-night. “I’ll stand here until you go inside.”

  She nodded. “Good night.” And then she quickly opened the door and went in.

  He didn’t move until he heard the lock click in place. Then he tilted his Stetson back from his face as he moved down the steps. Not kissing her had been hard but he meant what he’d told her yesterday. The next time they kissed would be when they made love. Just thinking about how intense that kiss would be sent heat through his body, especially to his lower extremities.

  If he hadn’t needed to meet with Caldwell and his men first thing in the morning, he would have taken another ten-mile run around the ranch.

  Ten

  Three days later, while out riding Acer, Gavin came upon Layla and her excavation team in the south pasture. Most of them had arrived a couple of days ago but he hadn’t been around to meet them. He and his men had driven the cows to the north pasture where they would be kept during the winter months.

  Over the next few weeks, the cows would be fed to maintain their good heath during the cold spell. Unlike the south pasture, there was plenty of grazing land in the north and a small pond to help irrigate the area. The pregnant cows had to be separated and tagged and the process had taken a lot longer than expected.

  Just as well, he thought, as he brought Acer to a slow trot and then a complete stop at the top of the hill. He’d needed distance from Layla. With his grandmother in Cincinnati and him being out on the range for the past three days he’d assured their paths didn’t cross.

  But now he was back and as he looked down at the activity going on below, he couldn’t stop his gaze from seeking her out. At first he didn’t see her, but when the crowd dispersed somewhat, there she was, looking as beautiful as he knew she would be.

  He rubbed his hand down his face. Nothing about this seduction was working out like he’d figured it would. It seemed he would be the one to break before Layla. He just didn’t get it. They wanted each other. That was definite. So how could she keep fighting the attraction? Desire had to be eating away at her as much as it was at him.

  He hadn’t seen her since that night they’d gone to a movie. Seeing her now made him realize that after all those hot and steamy kisses, and copping one good feel of her thighs, she had gotten into his system. That was crazy. Women didn’t get into his system—ever. So how had she managed it?

  He fixed his gaze on her as if three days could have changed her. They hadn’t. Even from where he sat unobserved on Acer’s back, he could still see her flawless skin. She looked just as young as the members of her team. Her students. Wearing her hair in a ponytail, jeans, a pullover sweater and boots should have made her fit in. Yet there was something about Layla that stood out. Something that made his stomach churn and his groin ache every time he saw her.

  He never did make it into town just for that booty call. The only woman he wanted was Layla.

  Bottom line—she had stirred something deep inside of him that wouldn’t go away. At least not until he was inside of her, all the way to the hilt. It was only when his body connected with hers that he would be able to rid his mind of the belief that she was the only woman for him.

  Watching her team work, he remembered something else. Namely that phone conversation he’d had with Clete yesterday. The old man recalled seeing the marker. He’d known why it was there, since he’d heard talk in town about someone digging on the property. But according to Clete, he hadn’t moved it. That made Gavin wonder who had. Both he and Clete agreed the wind could not have blown it away nor could it have gotten washed away by the rain. Which meant someone had come on Gavin’s property and pulled it out. Why?

  Gavin hadn’t been receptive to the idea of Layla digging on the Silver Spurs. But if someone was intentionally setting her up to fail, they would have to deal with him. Flip’s camera had picked up something buried here. That made Gavin wonder if someone intended to unearth whatever was buried before Layla did so they could get the credit? His jaw tightened at the thought. Not on his property. And not on his watch. And not with his woman.

  His woman...

  How in the hell could he consider her his woman when he hadn’t bedded her yet? Besides, Gavin Blake never claimed any woman. But as he fixed his gaze on Layla, he knew that she was his. Bedded or not.

  Layla had been reading what looked like a report when suddenly, as if she felt him watching her, she tilted her head up and stared straight at him.

  * * *

  A lump formed in Layla’s throat. Beneath the brightness of the noon sun sat a gorgeous man on a beautiful horse. She’d seen the horse before. One day after arriving on the Silver Spurs, she’d noticed when one of the men had taken it out of the stall to groom it. She had been admiring the animal when the man, Curtis, told her the horse’s name was Acer and that he belonged to the boss. This was the first time she’d seen Gavin on the horse and the sight took her breath away.

  It had been three long days since he’d taken her to the movies and later walked her to the guest cottage, leaving her there and blatantly ignoring her since. Honestly, what had she expected? For him to have kissed her good-night regardless of what he’d said the night before? What he’d done was to toss the ball in her court. He probably figured she didn’t have the guts to play it.

  But it wasn’t that she didn’t have the guts. She didn’t have the time or the inclination... Oh, who was she fooling? Definitely not herself. If anything, not seeing him these past few days had made her realize that out of sight, out of mind didn’t work when it came to Gavin.

  “Who in the blazes is that?”

  Layla didn’t have to move her gaze from Gavin to know one of her students, Tammy Clemons, stood beside her looking at Gavin, as well. “That’s Gavin Blake. He and his grandmother own the Silver Spurs. They were kind enough to let us dig here.”

  “Um, maybe I should thank him. Properly.”

  A sudden stab of jealousy ran through Layla, and as much as she tried pushing it back, she couldn’t. Properly? She didn’t have to wonder just what Tammy meant by that. It was rumored around campus that Tammy often bragged about sleeping with her professors to get better grades.

  Layla knew not to believe everything she heard, but Tammy’s behavior made Layla think there was some truth in that claim. Especially since Tammy was here on this dig. Some said her latest conquest was Dr. Clayburn. That wouldn’t surprise Layla since the married man and father of two was known to have roving eyes. More than once she’d heard about his late night meetings with female students. Those meetings were something Layla was certain the college president had heard about but had chosen to ignore.

  Tammy’s grades should have made her ineligible for this team, but Dr. Clayburn had personally added her name above other more well-deserving students. When Layla had brought it to Dr. Clayburn’s attention, he’d gotten upset that she’d questioned him. He’d reminded her that he had the power to withdraw the school’s funding for the excavation.

  “That guy is what you would call a real cowboy. And I didn’t have to travel to Texas to get one.”

  Layla saw the twenty-one-year-old lick her lips with her gaze trained on Gavin. It shouldn’t matter to Layla. But it did. Why? She didn’t want to be Gavin’s bed partner so why should it bother her if someone else did?

  “Need I remind you, Tammy, that you’re here to work on this project?”

  Tammy frowned. “No, Dr. Harris, you don’t need to remind me of anything. Just like I’m sure I don’t need to remind you that although we’re dedicated to this dig during the day, the nighttime hours are ours to enjoy. And I intend to enjoy him.”

  The young woman stated the words so matter-of-factly that Layla had to take pause. Was Tammy the type of woman Gavin wanted? The kind who could handle both work and play without breaking a sweat? A woman who enjoyed the
challenge of both?

  Layla was about to reply when a huge smile covered Tammy’s face. “He’s seen me checking him out and is coming down for me.”

  The thought that Gavin might be showing some interest in Tammy made Layla’s chest ache.

  She turned her attention back to Gavin. He was sprinting down the hill on the huge horse and she recalled something he’d once said. When he saw a target he wanted he went after it. Was he now galloping down the hill because he wanted Tammy? The young woman evidently thought so.

  He looked good on the horse, wearing a Stetson on his head. Tammy was right. He was the epitome of what a cowboy should be. Tough. Rugged. Fearless. But then she could probably use those same adjectives to describe him as a navy SEAL. Gavin slowed his horse to a trot when it hit level ground and then he headed in their direction.

  “Didn’t I tell you he was coming to check me out?” Tammy said, with a ton of confidence in her voice.

  The young woman didn’t lack any faith in herself as a woman who could draw a man’s interest. Gavin reached them and brought the horse to a stop. A lump formed in Layla’s throat when she saw his attention hadn’t even flickered to Tammy. He was staring straight at Layla.

  “Gavin.”

  “Layla.”

  “And I’m Tammy,” the younger woman quickly said, not waiting for an introduction. She flashed Gavin a huge, flirty smile.

  Gavin switched his gaze from Layla to Tammy. “Hello, Tammy.”

  “You look good on your horse. I would love for you to give me a ride.”

  Gavin released a smooth chuckle. “Sorry. Acer is temperamental. I’m the only one he lets on his back.”

  “Um, I’m sure there are other ways we can ride,” Tammy purred suggestively. “Without your horse.”

  Layla cleared her throat. Did the young woman have no shame? Tammy had pretty much offered herself to Gavin. Talk about being over-the-top brazen. The smile, she noticed, didn’t leave Gavin’s features when he said, “Thanks. But no thanks.” He then turned his full attention back to Layla. “Have dinner with me tonight.”