“Glad you think so,” Austin said, although he wasn’t bothering to look at Caleb anymore. At the moment, he only had eyes for Sara, who was more beautiful than ever in her state of righteous indignation.
When he thought about his life, Austin couldn't remember a woman ever coming to his defense the way she was doing now. His mother had tried, but she had been saddled with two kids and a volatile, unpredictable ex, too beaten down to put up much of a fight. Having Sara take Caleb on so willingly was something akin to a revelation, the idea that a woman could and would do that for a man. It was also hot as hell, although that was something he didn't want to think on too hard.
“All right, all right,” Caleb finally conceded, his face growing redder by the second as he held up his hands in defeat. “I hear what you’re saying, but I’d like you to hear me, too. If it starts to look like the tide is turning and things aren’t going as well as you’re leading me to believe, my offer is always on the table. I’d be more than happy to take that ranch off of your hands.”
“Right,” Austin said, clenching his jaw to keep from saying what was really on his mind. “Noted. I’ll be seeing you, Caleb.”
“That’s right,” Caleb agreed with another one of those infuriating slow smiles. “You surely will.”
Fortunately, their waitress chose that moment to reappear at the table, carrying a tray of food that necessitated Caleb going on his way. Austin could feel Sara watching him as their plates were distributed, but he didn't risk a look until their waitress was gone, and they were left on their own. When he finally caught a glimpse of her face, her eyes were so wide that Austin snorted with laughter, something he would never have expected directly after a run-in with Caleb Jackson.
“What was that?” she asked, her frank disbelief making him laugh all the harder. “I mean, seriously, what the heck? It was like that guy stepped out of a mafia movie or something.”
"You’re not far off," Austin said, shaking his head as he cut into his chicken-fried steak. "I’m the third generation he’s tried to pressure into selling. My granddaddy built that ranch with his own two hands, and he told me from the time I was little that the Jackson family were no friends of ours. Caleb Jackson will get his hands on that property over my dead body, and I mean that sincerely."
“But are you okay?” she asked, her brow creasing with concern as she reached across the table and put a hand on top of his. “Is there anything I can do?”
Her touch, as light as it was, sent through him a current of electricity so strong that he almost dropped the fork he was holding. Not for the first time, he was struck by how wrong his first impression of her had been. Gently, reluctantly, he pulled his hand back, patting hers before moving his back to his side of the booth.
“There is,” he answered around another bite. “You can sit here and have the lovely meal we came here to have.”
“Sounds wonderful to me,” she agreed happily, taking a long, apparently satisfying sip of her float. “And I’ll bet it sounds good to Lea, too.”
Austin looked down at his daughter, who was busy with her kid's meal and the little pack of crayons the diner had provided. Her head was bent studiously as if she were in the midst of creating her next masterpiece, only stopping every now and then to pick at her fries, and Austin felt a surge of love go through him that made him lightheaded. He bent and kissed the top of her warm little head, breathing in deeply the scent of honeysuckle from her shampoo.
“I like what you’re doing there, baby,” he said, setting his fork on the side of the plate so that he could give her his full attention. “What about you?”
She looked up at him, then looked at Sara and gave her a small smile. Austin held his breath, convinced that she was going to answer him, but she only returned to her work with new zeal.
“Which one is your favorite?” he tried again, the urge to hear her sweet little voice driving him forward. “Which color? Which animal? Do you think you’d like to see one of those in real life?”
He was starting to feel like he was on a rollercoaster, the way the words were coming out of his mouth faster and faster, but he couldn't seem to stop himself. He didn't like feeling out of control, but sometimes his need to make things normal with Lea overwhelmed him. But this time, Sara had reached out for his hand again.
“Hey, Austin?” she said quietly enough that he doubted that Lea would even register it. “Can I make a little suggestion?”
“Sure,” he said, shrugging and trying not to come off as too defensive. “I’m all ears.”
“I think questions can be a little overwhelming for her,” Sara continued, giving Lea a loving look that made Austin’s heart ache a little. “Maybe it would be easier on both of you if you just talked with her about what she’s doing instead of asking questions. Even if she doesn’t choose to respond verbally, it doesn’t mean you can’t have a conversation.”
Austin nodded and coughed into his hand, shifting in the booth so that he was angled to face Lea. He gave Sara one last look, got a nod of encouragement in return, and dove in headfirst.
"You know, I really like the colors you're using," he started, feeling foolish and forging ahead anyway. "I don't know if I've told you this, but green is my favorite color, and you're using a lot of it."
Lea didn't say anything, but she looked up at him, her eyes wide and full of curiosity, which he took to be a good sign. He could see Sara nodding out of the corner of his eye, and he took that as a good sign, too. He might feel like an idiot talking to a two-year-old who was unlikely to talk back, but at least it was something new, and what he'd done so far hadn't worked at all.
"And I don't know about you," he continued, starting to get into the groove of things and even, incredibly, to enjoy it. "But I'm a big fan of that tiger. Never been fond of snakes, but tigers are so fierce. Definitely the kind of animal you would want by your side if you were going on an adventure."
“I like the monkey!” Lea exclaimed, looking up at him excitedly before getting back to work. “Hoo hoo!”
Austin's heart leaped into his throat, and it took all of his self-restraint to keep from freaking out. His head snapped in Sara's direction, where he saw that she was beaming at him, her eyes sparkling with a thin film of tears. He didn't think she was actually going to cry, but he also wouldn't have thought any less of her if she did. At the moment, he felt like crying himself.
He didn't have adequate words to thank her, not for what she had done here in the diner or for all she had already done in his home. He could only smile at her again, nodding his appreciation and hoping that all he wanted to say showed on his face. Looking at her now, he had a hard time understanding how he could have mistaken her for a city girl who would only wreck his life. She had a true gift, and he was so grateful she had shared it with him and Lea.
He was starting to think that she just might be the perfect woman or at the very least, a better woman than any he had ever had the pleasure of knowing. It would have been great to meet someone like her under different circumstances, at a point in his life when romance was a possibility. With things being what they were, though, it was best to keep their relationship platonic. He had no space for a full-fledged romance and he wasn’t the kind of man to do something half-way.
Seven
After the meal at Wild Springs Cafe, things between Sara and Austin changed. Before, they had been cordial with one another. Now there was warmth and mutual understanding. On her part, there was also an attraction growing at an alarming rate, but she was sure it had to be one-sided. She would certainly never dream of jeopardizing the progress Austin was making by throwing herself out there only to be shot down.
And he was making progress, too, more than she would ever have dreamed possible on the day of her arrival. He wasn't perfect, but there was a charm in seeing how hard he was trying. She knew that collaboration didn't come naturally to him, and yet every time she made a new suggestion of something that would take him further out of his comfort zone, he
nodded his head and went to work. He had started to open up to her a little as the days went on, not a lot, but enough to know how blindsided he had been by his ex leaving him and how hard he had battled for purchase in his daughter's life ever since. He had every reason in the world to be mistrustful of everyone, and yet she could see how hard he was trying to trust her. The fact that it was clearly such a struggle made the effort mean more, and she couldn't help but compare it to the way her ex-husband had treated her. Nate had made her question every little thing about herself, but being with Austin, even in the capacity of nanny, made her feel like the capable woman she was beginning to believe again that she was. The effects of the harmony they were cultivating showed in Lea, too. She was growing more and more comfortable by the day, and her words were beginning to come with more frequency as a result.
It was exactly this that Sara was thinking about as she sat at the kitchen table early one morning. Lea was sitting beside her and joyfully attacking a bowl of yogurt with peanut butter mixed in. As unbelievable as it was, even to her, she felt Austin's presence before she saw him. Perhaps it was something in their pheromones, or maybe it was something else entirely, but her body seemed to know any time Austin was near.
"I should have known the two of you would be in here," he chuckled, coming into the kitchen and reaching up into the cabinets for a mug. With his arms raised above his head, she caught a glimpse of the strip of skin just above the band of his jeans, which hung low on his hips. When she thought about what she would see if the jeans were to slip a little lower, her entire face went hot, and she had to hide it behind her own cup of coffee, lest he look at her and think that something was wrong.
“That’s right,” she said brightly, hoping that he wouldn’t notice how flustered she was. “We’re breakfast buddies for sure. I finally found somebody who is as much of a morning person as I am.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear that you’re so well matched,” he said with a grin as he joined them at the table, ruffling Lea’s hair as he sat in between Sara and his daughter. “I like that you’ve found such a good routine with each other.”
"So do I," Sara agreed softly as she took another sip from her mug. If she had been feeling a little gutsier, she might have told him that she liked the routine all three of them had developed, not just her and Lea. She wasn't in the mood to rock the boat, though, and she certainly didn't want to make a total fool of herself, so she kept quiet.
"Although," he continued, his eyes beginning to gleam with a mischievous look, "I have to tell you; I was kind of hoping I might break the status quo a little. Just for today, if that makes any difference."
“Oh!” she exclaimed, her heart skipping a beat as she sat up a little straighter. “Well, of course! Whatever you need. Do you have something else in mind for me to do?”
"As a matter of fact, I do," he said, grinning from ear to ear. In her experience, he was a man who tended towards the serious side, but the way he was smiling now gave him a boyish charge that was almost irresistible. It reminded her of the Austin she remembered from her youth. "Do you think you're up for it?"
Despite her incessant questioning, it was almost two hours before Sara got to find out what Austin had in store for them. He was completely silent regardless of what she said or how she tried to needle him, but she could see his excitement once they were in the truck, driving toward their mystery destination. He was fidgeting at every stoplight and glancing at her out the corner of his eye every five seconds or so. It was like he wanted to see the exact moment when she realized where they were going. When she did, she reacted in a way that was surely what he was looking for.
“Oh my gosh!” she exclaimed, her hands flying to the sides of her face in excited disbelief. “Seriously, Austin? Are we really where I think we are?”
“I don’t know, Sara,” he said with one artfully raised eyebrow. “That all depends on where you think we are.”
“You’re ridiculous,” she laughed, tugging at her seatbelt impatiently, which started Lea laughing. “We’re at the fair, right? Please tell me we’re at the fair.”
“Is that where you want us to be?” he asked, giving her a lopsided grin as he undid his own seatbelt and began to climb out of the truck’s cab.
She rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated groan, a sound that Lea mimicked, which made her giggle and earned a burst of laughter from Austin. She was almost sure that Austin would never realize how hard and fast her heart was beating because of him, not because of the surprise. He wouldn't hear the buzz of excitement filling her head. After all, he had no way of knowing that aside from those delicious root beer floats, the county fair was where all of her fondest summer memories came from.
She took in a deep, satisfied breath, lifting her face to the perfectly blue sky and letting the breeze wash over her face. In her mind's eye, she could remember so many details of this place from when she was small. It was so vivid that when she opened her eyes again, she had a brief, bizarre moment where she couldn't quite tell whether she was in the present or the past. The trees were tall enough that they still felt like gentle giants lining the dirt road to the carnival's entrance, and it was all she could do not to start off at a run.
“Look at this, Lea!” she gushed once they were inside and surrounded by the sights, sounds, and—best of all—the smells that only a carnival could provide. “Have you ever seen anything so magical?”
Lea, who was holding onto both her and Austin's hands, shook her head so vigorously that she almost knocked the bow right off of her head. Sara laughed, simply delighted by the combination of Lea’s youthful exuberance and the environment as a whole, and bent and kissed the little girl on the cheek. When she stood up again, Sara felt Austin's eyes on her, and although she told herself she wouldn't look, she couldn't help herself. She found him watching her intently, an expression in his eyes she couldn't quite read.
“What do you think, girls?” he asked, holding her gaze for a beat longer before turning his attention to Lea’s face. “What should we do first?”
Before Sara could say anything, Lea let go of her hand and pointed up at her, a solemn expression on her face. Apparently, carnivals were serious business, an idea that Sara was more than happy to encourage.
“Well,” she said slowly, chewing on a fingernail and doing a slow turn, considering all the options. “I’ve always been partial to the horseshoe game. Think you’re up for it?”
“Are you kidding?” he grinned, starting in that direction. “I was born ready.”
The three of them made a beeline for the game, stopping for a corndog and some cotton candy despite the fact that it was only ten o’clock in the morning. Austin paid for the game despite Sara’s insistence that she would be more than happy to do it, and after instructing Lea to stay right by their sides, they began the game.
When Austin moved behind her, Sara told herself that it was by accident and that he didn't realize how close their bodies actually were. When he took it a step further, reaching around her with both strong arms, she realized she was mistaken. All the blood rushed to her head so quickly that for a moment it was all she could hear, and she glanced behind her to find that his face was so close that his chin was practically resting on her shoulder.
"What are you doing?" she asked breathlessly, sure that he must be able to hear the pounding of her heart.
“I was thinking I might help you with your form,” he said, a husky quality to his voice that hadn’t been there before. “Unless you’ve got an objection, of course. I certainly wouldn’t want to step in where I’m not wanted.”
"No, you're definitely wanted!" she said quickly before realizing just how the words came off. She shook her head, her face flaming, the scent of him so close making it difficult for her to think straight. "I mean, your expertise is wanted. I mean your tips. Your tips are much appreciated!"
"All right," he said softly, the feel of his breath against the side of her neck sending a shiver down her spine. "Then let's
see what we can do."
She nodded, no longer trusting herself to speak, and tried her best to concentrate on the task at hand. Honestly, though, it was an uphill battle and one she already knew she would lose. With Austin so close that she felt entirely enveloped by him, it was much more difficult to pretend that she wasn't developing feelings for him. She could feel her control over her heart and her head slipping by tiny increments, and part of her knew that she was going to look up one of these days and realize she was in too deep to pull herself back out again.
Austin had no idea what he was doing. He hadn’t devised this carnival outing to give himself an opportunity to get close to Sara, at least he didn’t think he had. His overt intention had been to break up some of the monotony of their routine with some good old-fashioned family fun. Except now, with his arms wrapped around her from behind and his body starting to respond to her in ways he couldn’t control, he had to wonder whether or not he had been lying to himself all along. Dimly, with the part of his brain that could still do some honest to God thinking, he realized that what he was doing now was a classic high school move, one he had likely pulled himself a time or two. Take your date to putt-putt or the batting cages and show her the “proper form” so that you could press your body right up against hers, if only for just a moment.
“Ponies!” a tiny voice said from beside him. “Daddy, ponies!”
It was the word “daddy” that did it. Lea was two years old and yet try as he might, Austin couldn’t remember ever having heard her call him daddy before. Before she’d come to live with him, his chances to talk with her had been extremely limited. And Caroline had never made any effort to give their daughter a solid understanding of what his role in her life was. He realized now that he had become so pessimistic about ever hearing Lea speak again before Sara had come to them that he hadn’t even considered the possibility of hearing her refer to him as her father. Hearing it now was enough to make his throat feel tight and raw. It was also enough to make him let go of Sara, although he couldn’t deny the loss he experienced when he felt her body heat leave him.
The Rancher’s Tempting Nanny Page 5
