by Elle James
Jane had already closed her eyes and made her wish. Only time would tell if it would come true.
“What did you wish for?” Max asked.
Jane opened her eyes and shot a glance his direction.
He’d turned his head to look in her direction.
“If I tell you, it won’t come true,” she said. Not that she would tell him. He didn’t need to know that she’d wished he would ask her out on another date. There were a lot more things she could wish for, but she was starting with the short term. One step at a time.
Max reached for her hand and held it in his as they stared up at the stars.
Jane liked the feel of his calluses against her soft skin. This was a man who worked hard for a living. He lived an honest life, a life she’d love to be a part of.
If Leslie’s matchmaking program held true, Jane’s wish might come to pass, and she might eventually get to be a part of Max’s life on the ranch.
A thrill of excitement and longing filled her soul and gave her hope.
Come on, Max. Ask me on that second date.
Chapter 8
By the time Max drove Jane back to the coffee shop in Austin, it was getting close to midnight. They’d lain in the darkness, holding hands for a long time.
Max wanted to do so much more, but he’d been afraid of scaring Jane off. When she’d come into the kitchen from her shower, wearing his T-shirt and gym shorts, he’d had to stand behind the counter eating cold fruit until his body calmed and his erection abated enough that he wouldn’t embarrass himself.
For the love of football, her nipples had been taut, poking against the soft fabric of his favorite Aggies’ T-shirt. He’d wanted to rip it off her body and taste those nipples himself, rather than satisfy his hunger with strawberries and cantaloupe.
The coffee house had long since closed, and the parking lot was deserted but for a lone white Lexus.
“Yours?” he asked.
She nodded. “Mine.” With her key in hand, she started to get out of his truck.
Max touched her arm. “Wait.”
Her brow furrowed.
“I’d like to think I can still be a gentleman, even though you ended up in the mud on our first date.” He gave her a crooked grin and got out of the truck. Rounding the hood to the passenger side, he opened her door and helped her to the ground.
She stood with her key fob in her hand, dressed in her laundered jeans and slightly dingy white blouse. The mud stain hadn’t quite washed out.
Neither said a word for a long, awkward moment.
Then she smiled up at him. “Thank you for the wonderful adventure.”
He nodded. “Thank you for being a good sport about it.”
She touched a hand to his chest. “I enjoyed it. That’s the first adventure date I’ve ever been on.” She leaned up on her toes and brushed his lips with hers. “I won’t forget it.”
When she started to drop back down, he captured her around her middle with one hand and curled the other behind her neck. “Neither will I.” And he kissed her like he’d wanted to kiss her all evening. Hard, long and urgently.
She opened her lips to him, and he dove in, taking her with all the passion he’d bottled up for the past few hours.
He wanted so much more. Standing in a parking lot in the middle of the night, a kiss was all he could expect.
Finally, he had to let her go.
He lifted his head, dazed with lust and longing. “I enjoyed our evening.”
“Goodnight, Max.”
“Goodnight, Jane.”
She stepped away from him and hurried to her car.
Less than a minute later, she was gone.
For a long time, he stood near where he’d seen her into her car, staring at her disappearing taillights, his thoughts whirling in his head.
Then one came through the cacophony of images. He’d forgotten to get her freakin’ phone number!
Max dove into his truck, revved the engine and took off after Jane.
Within minutes, he realized it was too late. She’d disappeared onto another road and blended into the traffic.
At a loss as to how to get hold of her, other than through the email system of BODS, Max dialed Tag’s number.
“Dude, do you know what time it is?” Tag’s groggy voice sounded over Max’s truck speaker.
“I didn’t get her damned phone number,” Max cried.
“What? Whose phone number? Are you drunk? If you need someone to pick you up, call a taxi.”
“I’m not drunk, but I’m in Austin, and I need a place to stay tonight.” Max turned his truck around and headed for Tag’s apartment.
“And you want to stay at my place? Why not Coop or Gage’s place?”
“They’re out on ranches, and you’re in town.”
“What if I’d had a woman here?” Tag argued.
Max snorted. “You haven’t been on a date since I can remember. If I was a betting man, I’d say you’re in love with someone you can’t have, and you’re abstaining until she’s mentally or legally available.”
“Shut up, Max. You don’t know what you’re talking about. And if you want to stay here, you’ll keep your opinions to yourself.”
“Struck a nerve?” Max chuckled. “I’m on my way. You’ll be up with a cold beer?”
“I’ll be up.” Tag sighed. “The beer is cold.”
Max parked in the lot of Tag’s complex, locked his truck and took the stairs up to Tag’s second floor apartment.
As Max raised his hand to knock, Tag opened the door and shoved an ice-cold longneck bottle of beer into his hand.
“Get in here, you’re letting out all the AC.” Tag grabbed his arm and pulled him inside. Dressed in gym shorts and a Lynyrd Skynyrd T-shirt, he padded barefooted into his living room and plopped down on the black leather sofa, propping his feet on the glass coffee table in front of him.
“Sit and spill,” he said.
Max stood in the middle of the living room, shaking his head. “I don’t know where to start.” Then he downed half the bottle before he met Tag’s gaze. “The date couldn’t have gone worse.”
“That bad?”
“No.” He shook his head. “That good.”
Tag scrubbed a hand down his face. “Wait, that doesn’t make sense. Did you take her to a nice restaurant like we suggested?”
Max shook his head.
Tag sat forward. “You took her out to the ranch. Are you out of your mind? That’s not what you do on a first date.”
Max frowned. “I needed to know she was game for roughing it.”
Tag crossed his arms over his chest. “I take it she wasn’t.”
“No, she was.” Max stared at his friend, his eyes wide. “She showed up in blue jeans like I’d asked. And get this, she didn’t wear any makeup. I didn’t ask for that, but there she was, with no makeup.”
“And she wasn’t butt-ugly?”
“Not at all. She was fresh and clean and beautiful in her own way.”
“Blond or brunette?” Tag asked.
“Blond.”
“I thought you didn’t like blondes.”
“I thought so, too, but it didn’t matter. It’s what’s inside that matters. I’ve known that all along.”
Tag nodded. “That’s right. Hair color is irrelevant. If she’s good on the inside, she’s good all over—blond, brunette, redhead, thin, chubby, short or tall.”
“Exactly.”
“And is she?” Tag asked.
“Is she what?”
Tag patted his chest. “Good on the inside?”
“I believe she is.” Max took another long draw off his beer and shot a crooked grin Tag’s way. “When I crashed my ATV in the creek, she bailed off hers, slid down the bank, and face-planted in the mud just to help me. Not many women would do that.”
Tag blinked. “Wait. What? She slid down the bank and face-planted in the mud?” He laughed. “Oh, man, you blew it. Big time.”
“You think?�
�� Max frowned. “I helped her up and laid down in the creek with her to wash the mud off. Then she helped me by sitting with me on her four-wheeler to put weight on it so that we could drag the other one up to bank.”
Tag groaned. “No, no, no. You did not ask her to add her weight to the back of the ATV.” Tag shook his head back and forth. “You never talk weight around a woman.”
“Why the hell not? And where are you finding all these rules about women? I swear you must have a playbook.”
“You’re how old?”
“Thirty-four. Why?”
“You’d think by now, you’d have a clue.”
Max flipped him the bird.
Tag leaned forward. “Most women want to be treated like royalty. Like they’re the most precious thing in your life, and you’ll do anything to protect them from danger.”
Max snorted. “If you’re such an expert, why aren’t you married? And I don’t see any women lining up for the job of Mrs. Taggert Bronson.”
“I’m not the one worried I won’t get a second date.” Tag crossed his arms over his chest. “How’s your plan working out for you?”
“That’s just it; I don’t know. And I want to call and ask her out again, but two things are keeping me from it.”
“Which are…?” Tag asked, eyebrows raised.
“I think she might say no.”
“Not a reason to keep from calling,” Tag said. “Next.”
Heat rose in Max’s cheeks. “I didn’t get her number.”
“You spent several hours with the woman, and you didn’t get her number?”
“I didn’t think about it until she’d driven off.” After he’d kissed her, and his vision and thoughts had become clouded with lust.
“You can contact her through the email the BODS system uses.” Tag raised his hands, palms up. “What are you waiting for?”
“Emails are too impersonal. I want to hear her voice when she tells me no.”
“Why are you so convinced she’ll say no?”
“I kissed her before we parted.”
“So?”
“No, I really kissed her.”
“Again…so?”
“I didn’t ask her permission, just laid one on her.”
“Did she struggle?”
Max shook his head. “No.”
“Did she tell you no or to back off?”
“No.”
“Then what are you worried about?”
“That she might think I came on too strong, and she’ll want nothing more to do with me.”
“And this bothers you?” Tag grinned. “Are you falling for her?”
Max glared at Tag. “If I was, I sure as hell wouldn’t tell you.”
Tag’s face split into a huge grin. “You are! Damn, I knew Leslie’s program would find you the perfect match.”
“Look, it’s only a perfect match if it goes both ways. I’m not so sure she feels the same.”
“Ha!” Tag pointed at him. “You are falling for her.”
Max paced across the floor. “I don’t know. So far, she’s hitting all my buttons. She likes to cook, enjoys the outdoors. Hell, even my dog likes her. And my dog hasn’t liked any of the women I’ve brought out to the ranch.” He frowned. “For that matter, none of the women I’ve introduced to the ranch have come back for a second visit.”
“Exactly my point. They didn’t want to get caught up in your fantasy of being a rancher.”
“Jane didn’t seem to mind. I swear, she actually liked four-wheeling.”
“Or she pretended to like it, to please you.”
“You think?” Max pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know what to think.”
Tag gave him a sly glance. “So, tell me about the kiss.”
Max dropped his hand, heat climbing up his neck, filling his cheeks. “What kind of question is that? A gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell.”
Tag grinned. “Question is, did you get past first base?”
“None of your business,” Max said. “Besides, a gentleman doesn’t move that fast on a first date.”
“So, you didn’t get past first base.” Tag laughed. “Why didn’t you just say so?”
“You’re missing the point of all of this.”
“What? That you’re a frustrated man who didn’t get past first base?” Tag grinned and ducked when Max launched a throw pillow at him.
“No,” Max said. “The point is that I want to ask her out again, but I don’t want to do that unless I know how she feels about our disastrous first date.”
“And you want to call her and ask?” Tag’s eyebrow rose. “You think she’d tell you if she hated it?”
“No.” Max paced the floor, shoving a hand through his hair. “She wouldn’t tell me.” He stopped halfway across the room, spun and faced Tag. “But she’d tell Leslie.”
Tag nodded. “Probably.”
Max scooped Tag’s cellphone off the end table beside him and shoved it toward Tag. “Call Leslie.”
Tag took the phone, shaking his head. “I’m not calling Leslie. It’s after midnight.”
“Call her. Tell her…I don’t know…tell her it’s an emergency.”
“The emergency being you’ve lost your mind?” Tag shook his head. “I’m not calling her.”
“Then give me her number, and I’ll call her.” He held out his hand for the cellphone.
“I’m not giving you her number.” Tag frowned. “You’ve completely lost it, dude.”
“I need to know.”
“It can wait until morning.”
“No, it can’t.” Max crossed to stand in front of Tag. “Please. Call her. Blame it all on me for waking her up.”
“Damn right, I’m blaming in on you,” Tag muttered. “I’m beginning to think BODS is a bigger problem than I originally thought.”
“You dragged all of us into this. The least you can do is make this one call for me.”
“Okay, okay. But if she bites my head off, you’re going to apologize to her.” Tag brought up his contacts list and selected Leslie Lambert’s number. “She’s going to be mad if I wake her up.” He shut up and listened. A moment later, he looked across at Max. “It rang once and went to her voicemail. She must be talking to someone else.”
“Why didn’t you leave a message?” Max asked.
“No need,” Tag said. “I’ll call back in a few minutes.”
Max’s heartbeat stuttered. “Who would Leslie be talking to this late at night?”
Max and Tag spoke at the same time, “Jane.”
“Leslie, I’m sorry to be calling you so late, but I had to talk to someone.” Jane hadn’t waited until she’d gotten back to her house. As soon as she’d left Max in the parking lot of the coffee shop, she’d rang Leslie.
“It’s okay. I wasn’t sleeping anyway. I got hooked on a television show, and I’ve been binge-watching all the episodes.” Leslie laughed. “I’m tucked into bed, wide awake and halfway through season three. So, thank you for saving me from spending the rest of the night wading through two more seasons.”
Jane chuckled. “You sound like you need to use your own program to find your perfect match.”
“No way. I’m still trying to get BODS off the ground. I don’t have time for a relationship,” Leslie said. “Besides, I had a good one and I’m not sure I’ll find another match as perfect as my first husband.”
“As a wise woman once said to me, you have to be open to the possibilities,” Jane said.
Leslie laughed. “That’s what I get for waxing poetic. How was your date with Max?”
Jane hesitated.
“That bad?” Leslie asked softly.
Jane sighed. “Not bad…but not good.”
“Tell me all about it.”
Jane could imagine Leslie settling back against her pillows. The image helped her open up about the afternoon and evening. She told her about the four-wheeler ride, the picnic and the mud bath, at which point, Leslie laughed.
“I�
��m sorry, but I can see you covered in mud, trying to impress a guy on the first date.”
“It wasn’t funny. I was a complete mess.”
“Oh, sweetie, have you ever thought that maybe he liked that you weren’t afraid to be a complete mess in front of him?” Leslie chuckled. “Face-plant in the mud. That’s a new one for the book of fifty worst dates.”
Jane’s heart slipped into the bottom of her belly. “Tell me you’re not writing that book.”
Leslie chuckled. “No, dear. But, if I did, my dates would go first. Believe me, I’ve had worse.”
“Worse than being covered in mud?”
Leslie snorted. “Yes. What happened after the mud incident?”
Jane went on to tell her about rinsing off in the creek, rescuing the drowned ATV and riding double all the way back to the barn.
“That doesn’t sound awful. And he let you drive?” Leslie paused. “Which means he had his arms around you all the way back. How did that feel?”
Jane’s body heated. “Other than being soaked to the skin…kind of wonderful.”
“Perfect!” Leslie said. “I knew BODS could do it. The program works.”
“But…”
“Uh-oh, we don’t like buts,” Leslie said. “But what?”
“But I don’t know if he felt the same.”
“What happened when you got back to the barn?”
Jane went into having showered, wearing his T-shirt, eating fruit and holding hands under the stars.
“Sounds like he moved past the mud bath,” Leslie said. “The big question is, did he kiss you?”
Jane had avoided sharing those parts of the day. Sharing information about a kiss felt too personal.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Leslie said. “Sounds to me like—” Leslie paused. “Wait, I’m getting a call.”
“Who would be calling you at this hour, besides me?” Jane asked. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, the blood drained from her face, and she felt light-headed. Her fingers tightened on the steering wheel as she turned into her driveway, glad she’d made it home without crashing.
“It’s Tag.” Leslie laughed. “He’s a friend of Max’s. I wonder if Max called him.” She shrugged. “I’ll call him back. Now, where was I?”
Jane’s head spun and her pulse raced. “You should answer that call.”
