Must be a Reed trait.
Dustin would give anything to jump those stairs and follow her.
Instead, he walked into the empty house and wondered if his dreams of a gold buckle, marriage and a family would ever come true. Because regardless of his dreams, he couldn’t have Jenna.
Jenna was in the kitchen helping Andy with decimals when she heard a loud thump along with the granddaddy of all curses. Dustin had fallen again.
Her first thought was to rush to help him, but knowing that her assistance wasn’t welcome, she forced herself to concentrate on her nephew and his fourth-grade math.
“I think Uncle Dustin fell. Aren’t we going to help him up, Aunt Jenna?”
“If Dustin needed our help, he’d give a yell.”
“He did yell. He yelled fu—”
“Andrew Reed!”
“Oh, all right. I wasn’t going to say it.”
“And Dustin shouldn’t have said it, either. I’m going to have a talk with him.” As she got up stiffly from her chair, she knew that she sounded like the teacher that she was, and Dustin was about to experience her wrath—just like one of her students would.
She found him in the living room, sitting on the couch. When Dustin saw her standing there, he hurried to explain.
“I was trying to get the remote from on top of the TV,” he said. “It was just out of my reach, and I lost my balance with this damn cast. I used the crutches for leverage to get to the couch.”
“Dustin,” she said firmly. “Your language—”
“Sorry. If I offended you, I apologize.”
She nodded, noticing how pale he was from the exertion, and the awkward angle of his bad leg.
“I’d offer to try and make you more comfortable, but I know how much you want to do things on your own,” she said, feeling that they’d had this discussion before.
He just sat there with his arms folded, looking…frustrated.
“I’m getting too weak, sitting all day. I need to lift weights or something,” he said. “I’m not used to just sitting around, and I shouldn’t take it out on you.”
Jenna didn’t move.
“So…thanks.” Dustin looked up at her. “Why don’t you get back to your lesson?”
Obviously, he was embarrassed. But his apology—for both his profanity and his rejection of her—was sincere. Maybe, finally, she could try to figure him out.
Jenna went to the door and called Andy in from the kitchen. “Andy, take a break. Shoot some hoops if you want. I’ll give you a call when we’re going to start again.”
Andy hesitated. The sweet kid wanted to lend a hand. Jenna waved him away. “Go ahead.”
Andy hurried out the door, and Jenna took a seat on the rocker.
“Okay, cowboy. Now that I have your undivided attention, please explain why it’s so hard for you to accept any help from me.”
Several seconds went by before he spoke. “I’ve always done things by myself. It’s as simple as that. It’s not you, Jenna, although I don’t want to impose on you anymore than I already have. I truly appreciate everything you’re doing for me.”
Dustin leaned back into the sofa cushions. “Every time I’ve been injured, I’ve managed by myself. I live alone. I can’t count on anyone being there every time. Besides, I’m a big, tough cowboy.” He leaned toward her. “But getting to know you again is an extra bonus.”
Jenna’s heart soared. She looked at his sky-blue eyes, his smile that seemed sincere. “Thanks. I feel the same way about you, but—”
Dustin chuckled. “I knew there’d be a but.”
“But, I think you’re wrong about accepting help. I get where you’re coming from, though.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Anything else you’d like to know?”
“Are you involved with someone?” she blurted, then took a deep breath. Could she be any more obvious?
“No. I’m not.”
She sat back in her chair, relieved. So, he was fair game.
“What about you, Jenna? Do you have a boyfriend lurking in the cacti? A passel of children somewhere?”
She grinned. “No children. No husband.” Her smile faded a little. “My students are my children. I mean…I would have liked children of my own, but it didn’t happen. Now, I’m moving on. I’ve cut down on my hours and I promised myself that I’m going to travel more. No moss will grow under these…flip-flops.”
He was quiet for a while, studying her. Jenna felt that she’d disappointed him somehow. She decided to change the subject.
“You know, Dustin, I’ve been wanting to ask you something else.”
“Shoot.”
“Did you save your parents’ ranch?”
Dustin nodded. “For a while. Then they got an offer they couldn’t refuse and sold out and bought a place in Florida. Now they’re in Alaska.” He looked down at the carpeted floor. “They gave me some of the money from the sale, which I’ve invested in rough stock here at Tom’s ranch.” He lowered his voice, as if thinking out loud. “When I win the finals, I’ll buy my own ranch. And someday, I’ll have a bunch of children who I’ll teach to rope and ride and…”
He stopped and looked deep into her eyes. “So, now you see, Jenna—” Dustin lifted the bad leg and stretched it out in front of him. “I had no choice but to turn down that scholarship.”
“I admire you, Dustin. I do. And you even found time to get your bachelor’s degree.”
He smiled. “And don’t forget my master’s.”
She stared at him, willing her brain to wrap around what he’d just said. Finally, it sank in. He had a master’s degree, and he was riding bulls?
“Really?” Jenna stopped rocking and leaned forward. “What’s your master’s in?”
“Business. And my bachelor’s degree is in animal husbandry.” He grinned. “Tom and I will take the rodeo world by storm by breeding a new generation of bulls and broncs.”
She couldn’t help but be impressed. Dustin was certainly a self-made man, and she just knew that his dreams—including those of a ranch and children—would come to fruition.
While her dreams would have to wait. Again.
“Jenna, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you, too.”
“Shoot,” she echoed.
“What did you mean when you said you could have been in Ireland today?”
She was quiet for a moment. “I canceled a three-week trip to Europe because Tom asked me to help Andy pass fourth grade.” She sighed. “I would have been having dinner in Dublin tonight.”
“Did Tom know about your trip?”
She nodded. “I shouldn’t have told him. He would have made other plans, but I insisted on helping Andy.”
“And then you got stuck with me, too.”
She held up a warning finger. “I didn’t get stuck with Andy or you. My trip will be rescheduled.”
She remembered that her plan was to have a whirlwind fling with a sexy European. But now Dustin, the man she’d always longed for from afar, was sitting across from her, making her pulse race.
“Andy needed me. Tom needed me. And you need me more than you know,” she said.
“You’re wrong, Jenna. I know exactly how much I need you.” Leaning forward, he issued those two small sentences with great intensity and seriousness.
What he said, how he said it and the expression on his face took her breath away, and she doubted very much that they were talking about his ankle.
Now that she knew Dustin was interested and available, her new plan was to have a fling with a sexy American cowboy.
Chapter Four
The next day, Jenna tried to concentrate on the biography she was reading, but she couldn’t. Instead she looked out the window and saw Dustin talking to Adriano, one of the ranch hands. Dustin and he were in an animated discussion, no doubt talking about their greatest bull rides.
She studied Dustin’s profile—his square jaw, the hint of a beard, twinkling blue eyes, his perfect nose and lips.
His sensuous lips.
They made her think yet again of the crush she’d had on him in high school. How many times had she doodled their initials in a heart with an arrow through it?
She’d been to every football and basketball game and rodeo event that he’d played in their first two years of high school. She’d been desperate to try and get his attention, but it was nothing more than unrequited love.
She couldn’t have been more socially awkward back then. Books were her salvation, and her curse. Her mother always remarked that she should get out more, go to dances and the like, but she hadn’t wanted to see Dustin out with other girls.
But now she was too old for crushes. Even though she’d wanted to get married back then—to Dustin—that wasn’t the case anymore. She’d decided a while ago that a fling was the way to go.
If she’d gone to Europe, would she have met several men by now? Indulged in some harmless flirting, and then continued on her trip?
But she didn’t know how to flirt. Not really. She could recite the periodic tables and calculate pi to the nth degree, but she didn’t know how to seduce a man.
Yet here in front of her was a very eligible, sexy man. Just being around him had heightened every nerve in her body. Trouble was, he was treating her more like a sister than a potential lover, except for a couple of flirtatious comments and absentminded touches.
Could she seduce Dustin?
Her heart beat wildly and her mouth went dry as a plan began to formulate in her mind.
Jenna once again thought of the magazine she’d bought back in Phoenix, just for the article entitled “Ten Ways to Seduce a Man.”
She’d thought that the article would help her get a jump start on her goal of seducing a man in Europe. Now, she had another plan.
She knew that she was knowledgeable when it came to academics, but she was totally lacking in whatever she needed to seduce a man—especially a man like Dustin. A man who was right here, right now.
The magazine was still in her suitcase, and she hurried to her bedroom to retrieve it. Women’s Universe was glossy and slick, loaded with pictures of celebrities and self-improvement articles.
Sitting on the bed, she opened the magazine, turning to page thirty as indicated on the front cover.
She’d read the narrative later. For now, she’d just skim the highlights. The list of tips for catching a man’s eye by dressing—and acting—sexy or confident seemed practical yet…daunting. Wearing lots of makeup, leaving her hair loose and wild had never been her style.
But who was she to argue with Woman’s Uni verse?
Well, there was no time like the present to give it her best shot. She tossed the magazine aside and hurried to her closet.
She slipped off her T-shirt and put on the turquoise peasant blouse she’d bought for her vacation, arranging it so it would drape off her shoulder.
Bending over, she flipped her hair forward and brushed it out. Then she tossed her head back and shook it, giving her hair an instant wind-blown look. Then she touched up her makeup, adding lip gloss and blush.
Smoothing down her khaki shorts, she looked at herself in the mirror. Okay, it wasn’t her usual style, but she looked pretty good. Confident that she’d done the best she could, she headed out to dazzle Dustin.
She couldn’t wait to see his reaction to tips one, two and seven.
Dustin limped over to where Andy was playing basketball.
“How about some more one-on-one?” Dustin asked.
Andy’s face lit up, then slowly dimmed. “I can’t. I have to do homework.”
“Aunt Jenna’s working you hard, huh?”
He shrugged. “It’s boring.”
“Can I help? I’d be glad to.”
“You’ll help me?” Andy took off at a run. “Wait there. I’ll be right back,” he yelled over his shoulder.
Dustin sat down at the patio table. He didn’t have to wait long before Andy came racing back, a backpack dangling from his hand.
“It’s math homework. I have to do page fifteen and sixteen about decimals.” Andy rolled his eyes. “What do I need decimals for?”
“To figure out your money, for one thing.”
Andy pointed to the worksheet in the book. It was pretty dry, just rows and rows of addition and subtraction. The next page was multiplication and division.
“Let’s look at the first problem. Imagine we’re watching bull riding. I rode seven point two seconds. Your dad rode six point nine six seconds. How much time did we ride in total?”
Andy’s pencil scribbled. “Fourteen point sixteen seconds,” he said quickly.
“What was our average score?” Dustin asked.
“Hey, that’s not in the book!”
Dustin chuckled. “Just tell me. I know you can do it.”
“Seven point zero eight.” Andy grinned.
“Easy, huh? Let’s do another one.”
And they did. One after another. They did the average NASCAR miles. The division of miles per hour of three racers. More bull riding. And football players gaining yardage.
Jenna appeared after another bull-riding problem. At least he thought it was Jenna. She looked…different. Her hair was loose and she was wearing a lot of makeup. He wondered if she was going out somewhere, and his heart sank as he speculated that she was going on a date. But she would have asked him to watch Andy, so that couldn’t be it.
Dustin forced himself to concentrate on helping the boy. He seemed to be learning, so he was going to keep presenting various scenarios. “Three bull riders belonging to the Young Guns team rode a total of 366.75 points. Average their score because the announcer wants to let everyone know on the air,” Dustin said, glancing at Jenna.
“Whoa!” Jenna had her hands on her hips. “You were supposed to do your homework on your own, young man.”
“But Uncle Dustin is making it fun!” Andy said, looking up from writing his answer. His mouth gaped open as he pointed at Jenna. “Hey, Aunt Jenna, why are you so dressed up?”
Swallowing, she patted her hair and tucked in a bra strap “I—I—um…”
A light breeze carried the scent of her perfume toward Dustin. Roses.
“I’m sorry that I interfered, Jenna,” he said sincerely. “I had asked Andy if he wanted to shoot hoops, but when he said he had homework, I thought I’d help. Blame me.”
Jenna held up a finger, telling him to wait, and smiled woodenly at Andy, who still looked at her like she’d just dropped in from another planet. “Andrew Reed, please go into the house and finish your homework on your own. Okay?”
“Yeah.”
When Andy was out of hearing range, Jenna turned to Dustin. “I’m not blaming you. And if Andy is learning by your method, then that’s perfectly fine with me.”
Actually, it sounded as if she were annoyed—and he decided to call her on it. “You don’t sound perfectly fine. You sound mad.”
She fussed with the hem of her blouse. “I’m mad at myself. I should have taught Andy using sports examples like you did. Math can be dull to a kid. You made it come alive. I just bored him to death with the standard textbook because I was so focused on catching him up with the rest of his class.”
He studied her spring-green eyes, now surrounded by blue eye shadow. “Don’t be too hard on yourself, Jenna. Not every problem on every test is going to have a story about bull riding or car racing on it.”
She tugged on her blouse again. Her bra strap peeked out, and she impatiently tucked it back in. He’d never seen anyone fight with a bra and a blouse so much.
“Just wait until I use the amount of manure a bull can produce when Andy has to learn square feet and cubic feet,” Dustin said, grinning.
Jenna laughed. He loved the sound of it, and wished that she’d do it more often. She was way too serious.
He tried not to look, but her hair was sticking out in several places. She nervously tucked it behind her ear. Better.
Dustin didn’t know what her n
ew hairstyle was all about, or what was up with her choice of blouse, but he’d figure it out sooner or later.
To be honest, he didn’t know if he liked her new look. She was always fresh-faced, her hair tucked into a ponytail, with a dusting of freckles on her nose and a bright smile. Right now, she looked like some of the buckle bunnies that followed him and the other riders.
He had to admit that he liked the fact that the gauzy blouse revealed a little more skin. Hell, he’d always thought that she was an attractive woman, but now…well, she just didn’t look like the Jenna he’d always known. The woman he’d always wanted.
His cell phone rang. He answered the call, making a gesture of apology to Jenna.
“Hey, Jeff,” he said, greeting his agent. “I’m doing okay.”
There was some idle chitchat about the weather before Jeff got around to the purpose of his call.
“Remember that commercial for Scents of the West—the one for the men’s aftershave called Eight-Second Ride? Anyway, the film crew is coming out to Tom’s ranch to shoot the commercial with you in it. They know you have a cast on your ankle, but they’ll work around the thing.”
Dustin didn’t like this part of being on top of the standings, but he owed it to his sponsor to support their products.
“When?” he asked.
“Tomorrow, if you’re up to it.”
“I’m doing okay. What time?”
“First thing in the morning.”
He had planned on hitching a ride with one of the hands to check on the progress of the fence mending on the border of the south pasture. Then he’d wanted to update himself on the breeding and birthing records of the rough stock.
All that would have to wait until after the commercial. He certainly couldn’t turn down the cash.
“I’ll be ready,” Dustin said. He disconnected the call and went into the house to tell Jenna about the taping. He wasn’t sure how she would feel about yet another disruption that would distract Andy.
Letting himself into the living room just as it started to rain, he found Jenna sitting on the sofa watching a game show on TV.
How to Lasso a Cowboy Page 5
