It Took a Rumor (7 page)

“Hey.”

Ivy looked up, then, just daring him to push her the rest of the way over the edge.
 

His smile had faded and he was looking at her curiously.
 

“What?” she asked, a little more snap to her voice than she’d wanted.
 

“Do you remember when you were little and our moms took us all to the State Fair?”

Ivy sighed. He’d successfully neutralized her temper—it was regaining its grip and crawling back up over the ledge and onto solid ground. But she didn’t want to chit chat with him. “Not really.”

“You’d have been pretty small,” Jake said. “Maybe four or five. You held my hand. I took you on the little kid rides and bought you cotton candy. You don’t remember that?”

“I really don’t,” she said. The waitress brought the ticket and Ivy handed over her card.
 

“I’ll get mine,” Jake said, digging his wallet from his pocket.
 

“It’s fine. It’s a business expense.” She nodded to the waitress to take her card and go.

Jake frowned at her, sliding his wallet back in his pocket. “You called me Mister Jake, that day.” He grinned. “Ain’t that funny?”

She glared at him, debating the merits of spitting in his face and walking away. But then, out of nowhere, she did remember. It was a golden memory, washed over from the brightness of the sun that day. She remembered him, though, seemingly gigantic, towering over her. She couldn’t remember his face. But his hand holding hers, making her feel safe and cared for, even though he’d wanted nothing more than to go hang out with his friends. “You got stuck babysitting me while Mom and Clara sat in the shade.”

He grinned. “That’s right.”

“There was a girl you wanted to hang out with, but you couldn’t.”

“Yep. You really killed my social life that day.”

“You weren’t mean about it.”

“Wasn’t your fault.”

She found herself smiling at the memory. At him.
 

But something about the way he was looking at her caused her stomach to unsettle and her cheeks to heat. “You sure have changed a lot,” he said.

She stiffened. “I’m an adult, now, of course I’ve changed.”

His grin widened. “Adulthood looks good on you.”

She slammed her hands on the table and stood, just in time to take the receipt from the waitress. “I’m leaving. If you ever decide to be reasonable and have a conversation about how our two families can cooperate, give me a call.”

She walked out as quickly as her three inch heels would allow, confused as hell at the turn that conversation had taken.
 

Jake drove his pickup through the field toward the creek on the back of the property. The unevenness of the ground jostled him, rattling his already pounding head.
 

He’d met with Ivy Turner that morning. She’d taken over for her dearly departed mother running the business. Now it was her job to deliver the annual offer to purchase the Deathridge ranch. And since Gideon didn’t want to meet with her, he’d sent Jake.

Jake hadn’t enjoyed the meeting and having his and his family’s inadequacies as ranchers thrown in his face. He had, however, enjoyed the way Ivy’s heeled foot occasionally brushed his shin under the table whenever she was crossing her legs. And the way the tendrils of her hair curled along her elegant neck. And the way, sometimes, when she leaned forward, her blouse would dip just a little too low.

Yes, sir, the little girl next door had gone and grown up sometime when he hadn’t been looking.

The overall effect of the meeting had been a confused mix of emotions that married together to create a pounding headache. Jake figured the best cure for a headache was work…at least, that’s what his Pop had always claimed.
 

They’d had a sick heifer, a few days earlier. The vet had diagnosed her with hemlock poisoning. It was odd because typically the cattle didn’t eat the stuff unless there was a severe drought, which there wasn’t. Still, that cow had wandered from the herd for a few hours during a move to a different field…never would have happened if Jake hadn’t left Boone and Dallas to do the job. When they found her, she’d been near the creek.

So that was where Jake was headed. The creek bed was flat where the cow had been, so Jake was able to drive right up to the bank. He was about to get out when he looked up through his dirt-smattered windshield and froze. Beyond a broken fence separating Deathridge and Turner property, lounging on a large, flat rock with her feet dangling in the water, was the little girl next door. In a yellow sundress. With her hair down. Miles from the uptight businesswoman she’d been earlier that day.

She had an open book in her hand, but was staring at him in shock. Jake grinned, got out of his truck, and splashed through the shallow part of the creek toward the broken fence. “Whose responsibility is this fence?” he asked, as though he even cared.

“Sell us your property and it’ll be ours.” She met him at the fence, her book abandoned on the rock, and rested a hand on her hip. She was standing ankle deep in creek water, goosebumps spreading up her legs. The dress was thin enough that he could see other evidence of the chill, too. Jake forced himself to look up at her eyes.

“No chance,” he said.

“Then I guess it’s all yours. Because I’m sure as hell not fixing it.”

He nodded toward her side of the creek. “See that brush over there?”

She turned to look.

“There’s hemlock growing in there. It’s all along that side of the bank on both sides of the fence. We nearly lost a cow because of it.”

“Huh. Weird. Well, thanks for the head’s up. That why you came down?”

“Yup. What about you? Kind of early in the day to be taking off work.”

“I had a rough morning. Some stubborn ass won’t make the best business deal of his life. It’s frustrating watching good people make bad decisions.”

He fought back a smile as he stared at her smart mouth. He leaned to the side to see past her. “Good book?”

She edged over to block his view. “Yes, as a matter of fact it is.”

“Is that a romance novel? You don’t seem like the type.”

“I read serious literature.”

“Just not today?”

“It’s not a romance, it’s…”

“I see a gray cover with a tie. Now I don’t know much about books and reading and all that, Miss Ivy, but that there is a romance novel.”

She stomped and huffed. “You know what, there’s nothing wrong with an intelligent woman reading romance novels. It’s very…liberating.”

“Whatever you say, ma’am,” he said, with a tip of his stetson.

“At least I’m literate.”

He studied her and decided to let her have the win. Her defiant chin was just too much. He wouldn’t want to break her spirit even if he could.
 

“Well,” he said, taking a step back. “I guess I ought to work on this another time. Wouldn’t wanna keep you from…liberating…yourself.”

He winked, enjoyed her sweet blush for a moment, and turned away.

“Wait.” She ran back to her rock and returned with her cell phone. She stepped over the broken part of the fence, the creek water now calf-deep on her. She thumb-tapped on her phone and then turned it to face him. “What do you think of these numbers?”

He studied them, giving nothing of his surprise away. “That’s the land and the business?”

“Yes. And quite honestly, it’s very generous. I didn’t even want to offer it, but Dad said if I got a chance to talk to you again, he wanted to give it a try.”

Jake’s jaw muscles ticked. He nodded. “Very generous. I’m not sure what part of ‘You can’t put a price on family’ is unclear to you, Ivy. But we ain’t interested.”

“You can speak for your father on this? On these numbers?”

“On any number.”

“You won’t even try?”

“I don’t even want to.”

She threw her hands up and let them drop to her sides. “You know, it’s one thing to have principles. It’s something else to be just plain stupid.”

“My granddad built this business—”

“With his own two hands. Blah, blah, blah. Wake the hell up, Jake. It’s all fine and good to have grand ideas, but eventually reality comes knocking. This is reality.” she held her phone up.

“You can take your reality and shove it where the sun don’t shine!”

“Oh, my God, how do you live like this? How do you make your decisions based on these laughable, outdated ideas of family loyalty?”

“Maybe because I have a soul! You’ve got nothing in there but a cash register.” He pushed two fingers against her chest, over her heart.

“I’d rather have no heart than no brain.” She pressed two fingers against his forehead.

“Your momma’d be mighty disappointed in you right now.”

“Don’t you dare bring my momma into this!”

“You think she’d be happy about you trying to tear a family apart?”

“I’m not trying to tear you apart! This wouldn’t be tearing you apart!” She held up her phone again.

This time, Jake grabbed the phone and chucked it up the creek. It landed with a short splash on her side of the fence. He stared after it, frozen in shock at his own rashness.

Ivy watched it’s progress before turning wide, enraged eyes on him. “You son-of-a-bitch!” She shoved him hard in the chest.

Maybe it was because he wanted to shove her back but couldn’t, her being a girl and all. Maybe it was misplaced emotions. Confused switches in his brain somewhere crossing the signals. Whatever the reason, he grabbed her by the hair and pulled her in for a kiss. A hard, angry kiss. A kiss meant to punish, though he wasn’t sure which of them he was punishing.
 

He let her go and pulled his lips away.
 

She gaped at him, lips parted, breasts heaving. An instant later she was in his arms, her mouth hungrily taking his, her legs wrapped around his waist, his hat falling into the creek. He turned, moving toward his truck, intending to open the door. Somewhere in his brain there was a voice of reason, but when you find yourself pleasantly between a woman’s legs, instinct tends to take over. Instead of getting her into the truck, he slipped on a wet rock and wound up slamming her against the door instead. She cried out.
 

“You okay?” he gasped.

She nodded and mumbled something unintelligible before burying her fingers in his hair and taking his mouth again. He shoved the skirt of her dress up over her hips and pulled one side of the bodice down, baring a breast. He groaned in agony. He covered her breast with a greedy hand. For a moment, it shocked him back to reality. Here he was groping little Ivy Turner’s breast out in the open for God and anyone to see, except there wasn’t anyone here. Her breath came in hot bursts. He looked up. Their eyes met and for a moment he thought she would ask him to stop. But then she smiled. It was a split-second of camaraderie in the midst of a turbulent storm. In a blink, it was over, and her blue eyes darkened with lust as she smashed her mouth against his.

There was thin lace beneath her skirt. Fragile lace. He broke from her lips and growled, “How much do you care about these panties?”
 

“They’re my favorite ones—” She cried out as he ripped them off, and laughed as he fumbled with his belt, button, and zipper. After that, she wasted no time pushing herself onto him, meeting his thrusts passionately.
 

There was nothing he could do. No way he could hold back. If he could speak, he’d beg her to slow down and let him have the reins. But she kept pulling at him, sucking at his ear and neck, kissing him, riding him. Moaning. Breathing. “Jake!” she gasped as her muscles rippled around him and he lost the little bit of control he had, coming hard inside of her.

For a moment she clung to him, her arms and legs around him, her head on his shoulder. Small and vulnerable in his arms. The torrent of their breaths and heartbeats and moans subsided. Now there was only the trickle of the creek, the breeze rustling the leaves, and a nest of young sparrows singing nearby. Basically, silence.

Jake held her. Her small, vulnerable body was plastered to him and he felt like a protector. Like a hero. He breathed in the scent of her, felt her hot breath on his neck. Never in his life had he felt like more of a real man than in that moment.

He kissed her on the cheek and neck, cherishing her for a moment. Caring for her. He pressed his hand to her back feeling the fragile swell and contraction of her ribcage as she breathed and wondered how this moment felt like so much more than it should have. More than an indiscretion. More than an impulsive, foolish act. More…but what?

Ivy moaned and dropped her legs, sliding off of him. She slipped past him. He pressed his palms against his truck, closed his eyes, and took a breath to steady himself. When he turned, it was to see her kneeling in the creek water, her skirt gathered in one hand while her other hand was busy washing between her legs.
 

They hadn’t used a condom.

“Oh, hell, Ivy, I’m so sorry.”

He couldn’t see her face. Her hair curtained it. “It’s okay,” she said in a weak voice. “Not my smartest moment. But I’m on the pill. And you’re healthy, right?” Her words were confident, but her voice shook like a leaf in the breeze.

He knelt in the water next to her, not caring about getting his jeans wet, touched her chin, and turned her face towards him. “Perfectly healthy,” he promised.
 

She nodded and went back to washing.

“I’m so sorry,” he repeated.

“Oh, stop. I totally jumped you. Let’s just…let’s just leave this here. Okay?” She stood and dropped her skirt. It clung to her wet thighs.