Tempted By The Texan

As she thought about his hesitancy, she frowned. Why had Jaron kissed her, made love to her, if he had been so reluctant? She might not be as experienced as a lot of women her age, but she knew beyond a shadow of doubt that it wasn’t because he hadn’t desired her. In fact, it had been as if needing her was the last thing he wanted. But he hadn’t been able to stop himself.

Confused by his reaction, she got up and collected her clothes from the bench at the end of the bed, then she went into the master bathroom for a shower. They needed to talk, and his usual brooding silence wasn’t going to cut it this time. She wanted answers and she wasn’t going anywhere until she got them. What they had shared last night had been too meaningful to be dismissed. Nor was she going to allow him to ignore their lovemaking as if it never happened the way he’d ignored their first kiss.

Twenty minutes later as Mariah pulled on the clothes she’d worn the night before, she made the bed, then opted to carry her shoes instead of trying to navigate the circular staircase in four-inch heels. As much as she liked the boost the shoes added to her five-foot-five-inch height, she wasn’t willing to take the chance of breaking her neck before she confronted Jaron and got the answers she wanted.

Picking up her jacket and purse, she left the master suite to go downstairs in search of Jaron. She was a bit surprised to find him seated at the table in the breakfast nook, drinking a cup of coffee. She had fully expected him to be somewhere outside with his ranch hands, doing whatever ranchers did.

“Good morning,” she said, walking over to set her things on one of the chairs.

He gave her a silent, stoic nod as he got up to take a mug from the cabinet above the coffeemaker. “You like cream in your coffee, don’t you?”

“I’m surprised you know that,” she said, pulling a chair from the table to sit down.

“I’ve watched you drink coffee with dessert at our family dinners for years. You and Lane’s wife, Taylor, are the only ones who don’t drink it black.” He shrugged one broad shoulder as he reached into the refrigerator to take out a dairy carton. “Will milk be okay? It’s the closest thing I have to cream.”

“That’s fine.” She’d known he watched her whenever they were together, but she hadn’t taken into consideration that he might have actually paid attention to mundane things like how she took her coffee.

“Would you like something to eat?” he asked as he set the cup in front of her. “I can make you some toast, but that’s about it. I haven’t hired a housekeeper and I’m not much of a cook.”

“No, thank you. I don’t usually eat breakfast.” She stared at him as he sat back down at the table. There was no easy way to bring up what he was trying to sidestep. And knowing him the way she did, there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that he would try to avoid discussing the shift in their relationship if he could. “We need to talk about last night,” she finally stated.

He eyed her warily for a moment before he asked, “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” she said, frowning. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Until last night, you had never made love.” His dark blue gaze caught and held hers for several seconds before he added, “I know I hurt you. I’m sorry.”

“That’s it?” she asked incredulously. “You gave me the most incredible experience of my life and all you can say is you’re sorry?”

“What do you want me to say, Mariah?” His even tone and calm demeanor infuriated her.

So angry she found it impossible to sit still, Mariah rose from the chair to pace the length of the kitchen. “How about admitting that our lovemaking meant as much to you as it did to me?” She stopped to glare at him. “And don’t you dare give me the excuse of being too old for me, because we both know it would be a total lie.”

A fleeting shadow in his dark blue eyes was the only indication that he wasn’t as removed from the situation as he would like her to believe. “Last night shouldn’t have happened,” he said, his stubborn calm irritating her as little else could. “I took something from you that I had no right to take, Mariah.”

“My virginity.” When he nodded, she shook her head. “You didn’t take anything,” she stated flatly. “It was my call to make. I chose to give that to you.”

“Last night was a mistake,” he insisted.

“No, it wasn’t. A mistake is taking it for granted that your roommate isn’t going to move out without telling you and leave you owing the entire month’s rent. Or believing that you have job security and then suddenly finding yourself out of work,” she shot back. “And we won’t even go into how big a mistake it is to believe that your car is reliable when it’s ten years old and makes more odd noises than you can count.” Mariah shook her head. “Last night was the only good thing that happened to me yesterday, and I’m not going to let you dismiss it as if it meant nothing.”

Jaron frowned as he got up and walked over to stand in front of her. “You lost your job?”

“Yes, but that’s not the issue here.” She refused to allow him to divert the conversation. “We’re not talking about my work situation. We’re discussing what happened between us.”

“There is no us, Mariah,” he said quietly as he rested his hands on her shoulders. The heat from his palms felt absolutely wonderful, but she did her best to ignore it. “I told you I wasn’t promising anything past last night,” he continued. He shook his head. “That hasn’t changed, darlin’.”

Staring up at him, she could see the determination in his eyes and the stubborn set of his jaw. She would have about as much luck convincing elephants to roost in trees as she would getting him to admit that what they’d shared was special. It simply wasn’t going to happen.

Resigned, she walked over to slip on her high heels and gather her jacket and purse. “I don’t suppose your men had a chance to see about my car?”

He dug into the front pocket of his jeans and, producing the keys to her car, handed them to her. “All you needed was a new battery.”

When he placed the keys in her hand, his fingers brushed her palm and a streak of electricity zinged straight up her arm. She could tell by the slight tightening of his jaw that he felt it, as well.

“I’ll pay you for the repair as soon as I get a new job,” she said, walking toward the door.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said, following her. “It didn’t cost that much.”

“I most certainly will pay you back for the battery. I may be out of a job right now, but I do have my pride,” Mariah said, turning back to glare at him. “I’m not a charity case.”

“I never thought you were,” he said, looking a little bewildered. “I’m just trying to help you out.”

“I don’t need your help,” she said pointedly. “The only thing I need from you is an explanation of what changed between us and why you’re wanting to go back to the way things were. But you refuse to talk to me about it.”

She knew she was probably overreacting to the situation. But she was frustrated beyond reason and besides, if she didn’t vent in some way, she couldn’t be sure she wouldn’t bop him on top of his stubborn head with her purse.

“Do you have any prospects of finding another job?” Jaron asked, following her out the door. “Do you need help making the rent since your roommate moved out? I could loan you—”

“Don’t you dare offer me money,” she warned, her anger rising to the boiling point. “After last night, you would be the last person I—”

“I’d like to do something to help,” he interrupted, reaching up to run his hand through his dark brown hair as if he was trying to think of a way to help her out. He hesitated for a moment before he offered, “I still need a housekeeper who cooks. And the job comes with free room and board. You could work here until something better comes along.” He didn’t sound all that encouraging, and she knew it was nothing more than a token gesture. He didn’t want her to take the job and had only offered it to her because he felt guilty.

“You’re offering me a job and a place to live?” she asked incredulously. She didn’t know whether to laugh out loud at his erroneous assumption that she could cook or be highly insulted that he thought she was so desperate she would accept his offer.

“The job is yours if you want it,” he said, looking less than enthusiastic about having her around all the time. She had no doubt he expected her to turn it down and that was exactly what she intended to do.

“No, thank you,” Mariah answered as she carefully descended the steps. If her mother hadn’t taught her to be a lady, she’d gladly tell him what he could do with that job.

As she navigated her way across the yard to the driveway, hoping that she could keep from breaking an ankle or at the very least one of the expensive four-inch heels, she thought about the opportunity Jaron had inadvertently handed her. It would be poetic justice if she did accept the job. By living under the same roof with him, he certainly wouldn’t be able to avoid her, nor would she let him forget the special night they had shared. And as for making his meals, it would serve him right if he had to eat her cooking.

But the more she thought about it, the more sense it made. She needed a job, and he owed her an explanation that she was determined to eventually get from him. What better way to do that than by seeing him every day?

The only drawback she could see about taking the job was the possibility of losing what was left of her sanity from dealing with a man who made a habit of closing himself off. And then there was the problem of her sister accusing her of being impulsive again when Bria learned Mariah was living at the ranch with Jaron. But if she could find out the reason behind his insistence that he was no good for her, it would be worth it.

When she got into her car, she glanced up at the house to see Jaron still standing on the porch, watching her. His arms were folded across his broad chest and he was leaning one shoulder against a support post. He looked so darned good to her it took her breath away.

Mariah worried her lower lip as she weighed her options. If she drove away, she might never get the answers she wanted from Jaron. And if she stayed, she might get an explanation that she didn’t want to hear. Unfortunately, she would never know unless she took the chance.

Taking a deep breath, she reached for the door handle. She might be setting herself up for a huge fall, but she just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to settle things with Jaron Lambert once and for all.

* * *

Jaron frowned when he watched Mariah open the car door. What was she doing? She had rejected his guilt-induced job offer outright, and he had been greatly relieved. Why wasn’t she leaving and getting on with her life, so he could try to get on with his? He had made it perfectly clear there was nothing to talk over and that they’d never be more than good friends.

Or could she be having more car trouble? That had to be it, he decided. Her car was older and had so many miles on it that he’d been surprised it had only taken a battery to get it going that morning.

By the time she made her way back to the porch in those ridiculously high heels, he was reaching for the cell phone to call Billy Ray to come up from the barn to see about her car again. But when she climbed the steps to stand in front of him, the defiant look on her pretty face stopped him cold.

“I changed my mind. I’m taking the job you offered me until I can find an office management position. I expect you to be in Shady Grove first thing Saturday morning with your truck to help me move,” she stated flatly. Turning, she added as she descended the steps to go back to her car, “And don’t be late. I want to get settled in before I have to start the job on Monday morning.”

Shocked all the way down to his size-twelve Tony Lamas, all Jaron could do was stand there staring as he watched her march back down the steps and out to her car. As she drove away, he couldn’t help but wonder what the hell had just happened. He’d only offered her the job of housekeeper and cook as a token gesture because he’d been sure she would turn it down. And she had. So why had she changed her mind?

Rubbing at the sudden tension building at the back of his neck, Jaron watched her car disappear down the lane leading to the main road before he turned and walked back into the house. What was he going to do now? He couldn’t rescind the job offer. He’d brought it up and Mariah had accepted it. As far as he was concerned, that was as good as a written contract.

But what was he going to do about living in the same house with her? How was he going to keep from going completely insane from the temptation she posed day in and day out? And why was there a part of him that wasn’t the least bit sorry that she had taken the job?

Three

Late Saturday afternoon, Jaron carried the last of Mariah’s things into the Wild Maverick ranch house and wondered how one woman could possibly need so much stuff. She had two huge boxes alone that had been marked “shoes.” Why did she need so many? All he had were his dress boots, a couple of pairs of work boots and a pair of athletic shoes he wore when he worked out.

For reasons he didn’t want to delve into, he had decided to move her into the room he’d shown her the night he brought her home with him from the Broken Spoke, instead of the housekeeper’s quarters off the kitchen. And it was just as well that he had. The closet down there was way too small and would have never held all of her clothes and shoes.

“Is that the last of the boxes from my car?” Mariah asked, sticking her head out of the walk-in closet when he entered the bedroom.

He nodded. “That’s the last of it.”

“Just be glad I donated a lot of clothes and household items to the crisis center,” she said, laughing as she walked out of the closet to get one of the containers of shoes. “If I hadn’t, you’d probably be carrying in boxes until well after midnight.”

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