by Elle James
“Don’t be.” He wrapped his arm around the small of her back and led her deeper into the rushing creek water that came up to their knees. “Let’s get some of this off you. How do you want to do this?”
She lifted her hands palms upward and grinned. “The only way I know how.” Then she stepped back and laid down in the creek, submerging her head and letting water rush over her hair, face and entire body.
Max laughed and sat in the creek beside her.
Jane came up, rubbing her hands over her face to clear the remaining mud from the crevices around her nose, ears and eyelids. “And to think, women pay for mudpacks when they could come here and get them for free.” She grinned at him.
Max stared at her.
With her hair slicked back from her face, he could see her high cheekbones and the beautiful arch of her eyebrows. Her full, sensuous lips were a pale pink, wet and very kissable. Her violet eyes twinkled with humor.
That déjà vu feeling washed over him again. The only other woman he’d known to have violet eyes was the model in Vegas.
His eyes narrowed. Jane could have been the paler, less stunning sister of that woman, if he went purely by the color of her eyes. But the model had worn thick makeup around her eyes and a dark lip color. Her hair had been slicked back, much like Jane’s now, but they couldn’t be the same woman.
Jane was makeup-free and almost wholesome in the paleness of her skin and the way she wore her blue jeans.
And she was frowning at him.
“What?” she asked, swiping at her face. “Did I miss a spot?”
He shook himself out of the trance. “No. You got the majority of it. A shower will get the rest.” He glanced toward his submerged ATV. “If you’re okay, I’d like to pull my ride out of the water before we head back to the barn.”
“What can I do to help?” she asked.
God, he liked her. What female would fall down a bank, bury herself in mud and still ask what she could do to help?
He pushed to his feet and held out a hand.
Jane took it and let him draw her drenched body out of the water. Her shirt lay plastered to her skin, the outline of a pink bra showing through the thin material.
Max didn’t say anything, reluctant to make her even more self-conscious. But his body responded to the fact she wore a sexy bra beneath the plain shirt.
“The winch will do most of the work.” He held her hand a moment longer. “Are you good standing on your own?”
She nodded. “I can do that.”
He waded through the stream and carefully climbed the muddy bank to Jane’s ATV. Then he drove it across the creek to the other side, paying attention to where the creek bed was shallower. He made it safely to the other side, where he parked the ATV and set the parking brake. “I’ll need you up here when I pull my four-wheeler out of the water.” He hurried back down to the stream and ushered Jane up the other side, careful not to let her slip back down into the water.
When she was safely on the other side, he grabbed the metal hook on the winch and slid back down the bank, pulling as much cable he could behind him. When he reached his ATV, he placed the hook securely on the chassis of the vehicle, shifted it into neutral and released the parking brake.
Then he hurried back up the bank and straddled the four-wheeler. “Hopefully, with both of us on the ATV, it will be enough weight to keep it from sliding down into the creek with the other one.” He patted the seat behind him.
Jane’s brow furrowed as she slid onto the seat behind him. “Are you sure this is going to work?”
“I promise, if it looks like it won’t do the trick, I’ll leave it and come back later to haul it out of the water with a pickup truck. Hold on and think heavy thoughts.” He winked at her, and then turned the switch to power the winch. The little motor started turning, reeling in the cable until it was taut. The ATV beneath them jerked as the cable tugged on the one in the water.
Max revved the ATV’s engine and shifted into reverse. Between the wench and the reverse motion of the ATV, they budged the other vehicle in the water, dragging it through the deepest current to the bottom of the bank. The water helped to float it to that point, but the angle of the bank made it more difficult to drag it without the assistance of water floating the tires.
“Hold on,” Max said. The little winch engine wouldn’t be able to do all the work. He had to drag it out using the strength of the other ATV. He eased his thumb onto the throttle, edging the ATV backward a little at a time.
Jane wrapped her arms tightly around his waist and pressed her face against his back.
He hadn’t planned on scaring her, but he hated leaving the ATV in the water. It would require a lot of work as it was having had the engine swamped.
An inch at a time, he moved backward. Several times, the tires slipped in loose gravel. They lost a couple of inches. Then the tires would engage again, and they’d continue backward.
Finally, the submerged four-wheeler crested the bank and came to a stop on level ground.
“We did it!” Jane laughed. “I thought for sure we’d end up down there with the other one.” She climbed off the back and stood to the side, her hands clasped together, light dancing in her eyes.
Max shook his head and set the parking brake but left the engine running before he turned to her. “I’m hurt that you didn’t think we could do it.”
“After sliding down the other side, I didn’t think the ground would hold up.” She grinned. “But you did it.”
“I couldn’t have done it without you. That little bit of extra weight helped.” He unhooked the winch from the other vehicle and tried to start its engine. When he pressed the starter switch, the engine didn’t even turn over.
“Guess we’re riding double back to the barn.” Max pushed the dead ATV away from the edge of the creek and parked it beneath a tree. After setting the parking brake, he turned to Jane and waved his hand toward her vehicle. “Hop on.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Don’t you want to drive?”
“I can drive anytime. This is your day of adventure.”
She climbed onto the front and scooted forward, leaving room for him.
“Besides,” he added. “I was the reckless one who drowned his ride. You had more sense than to get in over your ATV’s head.” He slid on behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Go easy on me. I’m completely at your mercy.”
She laughed and shifted into drive, released the parking brake and gave the ATV some gas. They took off so fast, she almost left him behind.
If he hadn’t been holding on so tightly around her middle, he’d have been sitting in the dust.
At least that was his excuse for being as close as he was. The fact he could still see the pretty pink bra beneath her shirt had nothing to do with his desire to be close.
Uh-huh. Yeah, right.
Jane could barely breathe all the way back to the barn. Not because Max was holding her so tightly that she couldn’t get air into her lungs. She couldn’t breathe because she couldn’t catch her breath.
With Max’s arms wrapped around her middle and brushing against her breasts with each bump encountered, she couldn’t think or remember to breathe.
One kiss and playing in the water fully clothed with the man shouldn’t have her body on fire with desire, should it?
No.
But it did.
By the time they reached the barnyard and Max got off the back to open the gate, Jane was practically light-headed. The sun had set, and the gray light of dusk had deepened. The stars were just starting to appear.
She brought the ATV to a halt in front of the barn and climbed off, her legs wobbly from the long ride.
Max took the ATV from there and pushed it into the barn. A minute later, he emerged, hooked her elbow and guided her toward the house.
“Is this the end of our date?” she asked as they crossed the yard toward the porch.
“I promised you some stars. If you’re still up for it…�
� He paused at the bottom of the porch steps.
She glanced down at her damp clothing. Not feeling at all pretty. How could he like her, if she looked like a drowned rat? “I’m not sure I’ll enjoy them all wet.” She gave him a lopsided grin. “Though it was fun getting wet.”
Max chuckled. “Fun? You call sliding down a hill and landing face-first in the mud fun?”
She shrugged. “It was an adventure. And a little mud never hurt anyone.”
“I think I can find you some dry clothes, and you’re welcome to use the shower.” He started up the steps, his hand still beneath her elbow.
She balked, staring up at the house. “Won’t the owner care that you’re using his house?”
“I live here,” he said. “I can come and go as I please. And I can invite guests in as well.”
“Are you some kind of groundskeeper for when the owner is away?” she asked.
“Something like that,” he said, without meeting her gaze. “You can have the downstairs shower. I’ll take the upstairs.”
She followed him up the porch steps, stopping before the door to remove her water-logged shoes.
Max toed off his boots and held the door for her.
On the outside, the house was a pretty white limestone with cedar accents and a broad, wraparound porch on both stories.
Inside the house, the floors were a dark wood, the walls a light off-white. He led her through a mudroom into a brightly-lit, spacious kitchen a chef would give his first born to work in. A six-burner gas stove had center stage against one wall with a pot filler spigot to make it easy to make a vat of stew. A farmhouse copper sink graced a huge center island, and speckled granite countertops were in abundance for food preparation activities.
“Wow,” Jane said. “This kitchen is amazing.” She studied every detail, wondering if she could transform her own into such a usable and happy place. She doubted it. Though her kitchen was large, it wasn’t as big as the one before her.
“Coming from a cook, I’ll take that as a compliment.” He continued through the kitchen that opened up into a massive living room with floor-to-ceiling windows stretching across two of the long walls. The ceiling rose two stories high, giving the space a cavernous feeling that was open and welcoming.
They continued through the house to a bedroom with an adjoining bathroom.
“I’ll find something dry for you to wear. We can put your clothes in the wash. Hopefully, they’ll be dry by the time we head back to Austin.”
“You don’t have to go to all this trouble. If we wait for my clothes to dry, it will be really late by the time we head back to Austin.”
“I’d offer to let you stay the night, but I don’t want to get my face slapped for moving too fast.” He rubbed the side of his dirty chin. “Really, I don’t mind taking you back tonight. I’m used to the drive, and I have a friend in Austin I can stay the night with.”
Her heart had skipped several beats at the thought of staying the night in the same house with Max. Could she trust herself to sleep in separate beds, in separate rooms?
Not a chance.
The man had her tied in sensual knots.
She cupped his chin where his hand had been a moment before. “I’m not the violent type. I wouldn’t slap you for suggesting I stay the night. But, if you don’t mind, I’d like to be home before midnight.” It took a lot of willpower to say those words, but she was proud of herself for doing it. She didn’t want to appear to be too clingy or loose. For the love of Pete, they were still on their first date.
“I can make that happen.” He jerked his chin toward the bathroom. “You can get started in the shower. There should be towels in the cabinet behind the door. I’ll leave clothes here in the bedroom for when you get out.”
“Thank you,” she said and entered the bathroom, closing the door behind her. At that point, she leaned against the panel, closed her eyes and let go of the breath she felt like she’d been holding since they’d first met.
How could Leslie’s program have chosen such a man? He was too perfect. He was hardworking, outdoorsy, seemed honest, and he wasn’t a celebrity or bigshot in sports. He didn’t care to go to the fanciest restaurant, nor did he expect her to dress to the nines and be made up perfectly at all times in case a reporter happened to show up and snap a picture.
With a smile on her face, she stripped out of her clothes and passed in front of the mirror.
Holy cow! She was a complete wreck. Her face still had smears of dirt and mud, and her hair was caked in mud.
She was surprised the man hadn’t run screaming or thrown her in the back of his truck and hauled her back to Austin without showing her those stars.
Switching on the shower, she adjusted the temperature and stepped beneath the spray. Making use of the available bodywash and shampoo, she made quick work of cleaning every inch of her body of the offending dirt, washing the mud down the drain.
When she was finished, she dried her body and squeezed the moisture out of her hair. She found a comb in the drawer and worked the tangles out of her hair.
Wrapping the towel around her, she eased open the door, half-hoping she’d catch Max placing clothing on the bed.
The room was empty, but a neat stack of clothes lay on the bed and the door to the bedroom was closed.
So much for tempting the man by strutting out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel.
Chastising herself for being too eager, Jane crossed to the pile of clothing. He’d left an extra-large red, T-shirt with the Texas A&M logo imprinted on the front and a pair of gym shorts.
A shiver of desire rippled across her and pooled low in her belly. She’d be wearing his T-shirt and shorts without any undergarments beneath them. That would be as close to naked as she’d get to him on their first date. The thought made her feel absolutely decadent.
She smiled as she pulled the T-shirt over her head and the shorts up over her hips.
She adjusted the drawstring inside the shorts to keep them from sliding off. Then she knotted the hem of the T-shirt to one side to keep it from falling down around her knees.
Though her breasts hung free beneath the shirt, it was large enough to hide the fact that her nipples were taut and hard.
A quick glance in the bathroom mirror reminded her that she wasn’t all that sexy with her hair damp and her face scrubbed clean. She looked more like someone’s kid sister in her oversized clothes.
Good.
Maybe the kid sister reminder would keep her from throwing herself into Max’s arms, begging him to take her to bed and make mad, passionate love to her.
Pasting a sisterly smile on her face, she exited the bedroom and wandered out into the living room.
Noise from the kitchen made her follow the sound.
She found Max pouring tea into iced glasses.
“I hope you like iced tea,” he said.
“Unsweet?”
He nodded. “You can sweeten to taste. I prefer mine without sugar.”
“Me, too.”
“I like other forms of sweets.” He reached into the refrigerator and pulled out a tray of cut-up fruit.
Jane smiled. “I much prefer natural sweets than cakes or donuts.”
“Agreed. But I am a sucker for pies.”
Jane drew in a deep breath and let it out on a sigh. “Apple pie with vanilla ice cream.”
“My mother made the best sweet potato pie.”
“I’ve never had sweet potato pie.”
“It’s like pumpkin, only better. I’ll make one for you sometime.”
The fact he wanted to make her a pie, gave Jane hope that they had a future beyond that night. But she didn’t want to push him to nail down their next date.
They grazed on the fruit for a few minutes, standing at the granite counter, eating and not talking.
And it was a good thing. Jane couldn’t think of anything to say other than she wanted to eat strawberries off Max’s naked skin. No, saying something like that was far too soo
n in their relationship.
He was a rancher. A man who loved the simple life. How appalled would he be if she came on too strong too soon?
“We can take this outside,” he offered.
She polished off another bite of cantaloupe. “I don’t need any more. It was delicious. Thank you.”
He stored the tray in the refrigerator and grabbed his glass of tea. “You can have something stronger, if you like. I’m staying with the tea since I’m driving later.”
“Tea is wonderful.” Jane wrapped her fingers around the cool glass and followed Max out a side door onto the porch.
He didn’t stop at the porch but walked down to a patio area and a pool with a soft blue light glowing in the darkness.
“We’ll watch the stars from here.” He set his glass on a table next to a couple of lounge chairs. “You choose which one you’d like.”
Jane settled into the one on the right and set her glass on a table on the other side of her chair.
Max walked over to what appeared to be a pump shed and flipped a switch. The lights in the pool blinked out. He returned to Jane’s side, dropped into the empty lounge and stretched out his legs, crossing his arms behind his head. “I understand there’s to be a meteor shower over the next couple of nights.”
Jane stared up at the star-filled sky, letting her vision adjust to the darkness. The longer she lay there, the more stars she could see along with the hazy smear of millions of more stars that made up the Milky Way. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen so many stars.”
“I love to lay out here in the dark.” Max chuckled, the sound deep and inviting. “I’ve been known to wake up out here after falling asleep in one of these chairs.”
“Must be wonderful to live so far away from city lights.”
“I love it,” he said, simply.
“I can see why.” She was staring up at the Big Dipper when a flash of light raced across the sky. “Was that—”
“A meteor?” he said. “Yes.”
“I was going to say shooting star,” she admitted. “But meteor is more realistic.”
“My father always said that if you make a wish on a shooting star, your wish will come true.”
