Have a Little Faith (11 page)

“Yes,” Alex murmured. “Yes, make love to me.”

Both relief and impatience stabbed at him as he grabbed her shirt. The relief died instantly when Alex jolted and wrenched herself free of him. He landed on the ground on his knees and cursed. Before he could grab her, she sprinted out of the barn barefoot.

“God
damn it
, Alex!” he roared and ran o
ut after her. He saw her run and
jump
the fence. Alex slammed into the horse barn and Lane busted through the door behind her. All he could think about was getting his hands on her. He was burning from a nasty ball of anger and need.

He stopped abruptly when he saw Alex crouched down over Hope
,
who was lying on her side.

“It’s okay, baby.” She soothed the horse
that
was obviously in the last stages of labor. “I’m here now, you’re all right.” Hope’s blond hair was darkened with sweat. Her eyes were half closed while her lungs expanded deeply, slowly.

“Sweet God,
” Lane managed while he caught his breath. Alex barely looked winded, he noticed. Her hair was falling everywhere, her feet were covered in dirt, and yet she still looked so capable squatting over a laboring horse in her pajamas.

“I heard her cry out.” Alex tried but failed to keep her voice steady. “I pan
icked. I’m sorry I just ran, I—”

“
It’s
all right
, Alex.” His blood was still boiling
,
but concern for Hope and respect for Alex calmed his raging libido. He crouched down beside her and rubbed
his hand down Alex’s
back. “Do I need to call anyone?
The vet?”

She shook her head. “No, I worked part time for Doc Davis’ when I was younger. I know what to do. He just checked her a couple weeks ago, said everything looked good and ready.” She pressed her lips together when Hope cried out again from the pain. “Oh, baby. I know it hurts. It’s okay. When it’s over you’re going to have a beautiful little baby and this will all seem like nothing.”

Hope’s cries died off and she rested in between her contractions.

“Now what?”
Lane asked, making
himself
comfortable on the floor beside Alex.

“Now, we wait. I need to go in and get some supplies. Will you stay with her?” She asked
him for the favor
,
but was
reluctant to leave.

“Sure.”

When she came back into th
e stables, her hair was braided and
she wore jeans, boots, and an oversized brown t-shirt. She carried a bucket of water and towels and rags. Lane took a rag and began to dab it across Hope’s face to get the sweat out of her eyes.

“How many contractions has she had?”

“She’s cried out three times.”

Alex estimated she took ten minutes at the most. They were getting down to the wire. With everything set up, Alex sat on the ground beside Lane and curled her legs up under her.

“This is her first baby,
” Alex commented when the minutes were stretching on. “She’s healthy and strong so she’ll be fine.”

He wondered if she was reassuring him or herself. Saying nothing, he reached his hand out and was pleased that she didn’t hesitate to take it. “What are you doing with the foal?”

Alex shrugged.
“Selling it to you.”

“I’m buying the land,” h
e told her running his thumb on the backside of her hand. “Anything that can be moved will be moved unless you agree to marry me.”

She thought of Faith and her eyes stung.

Mistaking the tears of sadness for that of dread, Lane sat up. “What is it that frightens you about marrying me?”

She shook her head and cleared her dry throat. “I’m not sure.”

“I’d be a generous husband.” He turned her left hand over in his, imagin
ed a ring there. A ring he had foolishly
not thought about getting her. “I have no intentions of making your life anything but ideal.”

“Marriage is
n’t a business to me, Lane. I’m not even sure what it is to me.” She
winced when Hope cried out in pain.

“Maybe now would be a good time for me to tell you that I have feelings for you, Alex.
Strong feelings.”
His eyes were somber as they looked into hers. She could almost believe him and that scared her more than anything.

“You don’t even know me
, really
.”

“I know you are a beautiful woman with a tender heart. I know you’ve had a rough time in your life, all though I don’t know
details
yet. I know you’re a hard worker who thinks about everyone but
yourself
. I also know that if this right here,” he motioned
to
Hope, “wasn’t happening
,
we would be making love right now until neither of us could move.”

A
lmost mesmerized by his voice,
Alex caught
herself
gaping and averted her gaze back to
Hope.
“That’s a tidy summary,” s
he said lightly, trying to keep it that way. “But I don’t know anything about you.”

He could feel her relenting. He knew she was thinking about marrying him. “What do you want to know?” When she only shrugged he smiled. “All right. My name is Lane Daniel Tanner. I’ll be
twenty-nine
on my next birthday. I have an MBA from Harvard. I’m CEO of my father’s company. Single, hopefully soon to be engaged to you. I live alone in a penthouse apartment in
L.A.
I don’t have any pets or children
that I’m aware of,” h
e spoiled the last remark when he grinned hugely and was rewarded when she smiled back. “Anything else you’d like to know?”

“Is there anything left?” Nervous, s
he ran
the end of her braid through her fingers. His hand was still linked
firmly
with hers
,
but she enjoyed the contact.

“Oh, there’s more.” He
kissed the back of her hand.
“And there’s more to you, as well
. I intend to find out very soon.”

She took a chance and turned to him.
“Why do you want to marry me?”

“I told you, I see what I want and I take it.”

“But you could have me without that. You know that.” She moved her hand restlessly over a tear in the knee of her jeans.

“That’s not all I want, Alex.”

She wanted to ask him what he did want but Hope let out another cry that was lo
ud enough to have Alex jumping
to her feet. She made her way over to Hope and slid down to her knees.

“It’s time.” She said and unfolded a towel.

By the time the sun came up, Alex was holding a new little filly in her hands. Lane looked on in amazement while Alex had cleaned and cooed the new baby. She t
hen cleaned up Hope,
giving
her equal attention before leaving her alone to nuzzle and feed her new baby.

Lane slid an arm around her
waist
as they walked out of the barn together. As soon as the door shut behind them, two
pickup
trucks pulled into the driveway. Jack got out of one and Monster got out of the other. Alex sent them both a wave that they returned.

“Hay day.
You want to come?” Jack asked when they closed the distance.

“Absolutely,
” Alex grinned.

“What are you in such a chipper mood for?” Monster gave one of her braids a friendly yank.

“Hope just had her foal.”

“She all right?”
Jack adjusted his hat and glanced back to the stables.

“They’re both great. She’s a beauty.” Alex slid out of Lane’s arm and turned to him. “Thank you for staying with me. I would have probably been a mess if I were alone. I’m going to go help haul hay.”

“Mind if I come?” h
e asked before he thought about it.

Alex looked taken aback
,
but she smiled quickly. “Sure. We could always use an extra pair of hands. I’ll be right
back;
I brewed coffee when Hope went into labor.”

She came back out with two cups of coffee and two hats tucked under her arms. Lane laughed and took one of each.

“You could’ve asked me to help, you know.” He climbed up in the bed of the truck behind her.

“I needed coffee,” s
he murmured after draining her cup.

“You’re going to have to walk me through this. I’m afraid to say I’ve never
attended a ‘hay day’
before.” Lane settled back against the wheel well while the truck bumped along the dirt road.

“Aaron’s going to drive the truck. Jim’s manning the trailer. Me, you, Monster, Jack, and Ty will grab the bales and throw them up to Jim. Jim stacks them. Then, we go back to the barn and arrange them inside.” She shrugged.
“Nothing to it.”

“Sounds easy enough.”
But he wondered why a man would be driving the truck while Alex was hefting hay bales.

Alex grinned. She wondered if he’d be saying it was easy after lifting a couple hundred bales weighing about fifty pounds each. She looked at his broad shoulders, the muscles in his arms.
Probably
.

As the truck crept along the dirt and gravel, Lane took in his surroundings. The six hundred acres left of Morgan Ranch were beautiful. Rolling
plains
with subtle hills were green and plentiful with wild flowers.

The morning sun wasn’t yet high in the sky and there wasn’t a single cloud visible. His gaze shifted from the open meadows to the trees that wooded in a perfect line along the edge of the Morgan’s land. He imagined a house right there, he mused. Big, two story and white with shudders and a whi
te picket fence. He could put it
right in front of the tree line.

He realized he wasn’t imagining a house for a possible dude ranch or theme park. He was imagining a house for him and Alex. His gaze traveled to her. She sat with her profile to him.
She, too, stared out at the land.

He wondered what she was thinking with that small, somewhat wistful smile on her face. Some of her hair had come loose from her braids and danced in the breeze.

She looked so right there, he
mused as his heart did a turn
over in his chest. He couldn’t imagine taking her away from where she looked so perfect. Sitting there with the meadows at her back, Lane realized he had
more feelings for her than he’
d ever had for another woman. Taken
aback, he tore his gaze off of her and watched the road move under them. 

Now, more than ever
,
he needed the answers to Alex’s life. And he would get them today, he decided. Time was already running out for him. No longer was he only thinking of the company or of a business arrangement. First and foremost, he wanted Alex for himself.

The truck came to a stop and Lane climbed out. Before Alex could even move, Lane had her by the
waist
,
lifting her up then down to the ground. With his hands still hooked on her hips, he crushed his mouth to hers.

The protest that had been on the tip of her tongue ended in a moan as his tongue lashed out and ravished
hers
. He nipped her bottom lip before bringing his head up and grinning at her dazed response.

“Must be the braids.”
He flipped one. Before she could speak he pressed his lips to hers briefly and firmly, took her hand, and walked toward the men and the hay pasture.

She wanted to put a hand to her spinning head but thought better of it since she was surrounded by men. Instead, she applied herself to her task. With gloves three sizes too big for hands, she hefted up fifty pound bales of hay and tossed them up to Jim on the trailer.

Aaron had the radio blaring out a country song
as he cruised
along
the field. For eac
h hay bale Alex hauled up to Jim
, Lane hauled two. She kept pace with the other men but was ultimately exasperated that a novice was out hauling her.

Lane caught her speculative frown and flashed a grin before he hefted up another bale. The muscles in her stomach knotted as her face heated. What was it about that man that could churn her up this way with a sing
le
smile?

She plucked her hat off and dabbed her sweaty forehead with the back of her glove while she drank half a bottle of water. After adjusting her hat, she neatly plucked up another bale.
Monster used one of his bottles and squeezed it all over his head. Alex laughed and then squealed when he flicked the rest of the water on her. She gave him a shove.