Lone Star Daddy (McCabe Multiples) (16 page)

“I’m so glad you came today and brought Clint,” her Aunt Annie said shortly after they arrived. “I’m working on a new line of fresh fruit–based barbecue sauce and marinades, and I’d really like to use Double Creek blackberries. Do you think Clint would be interested in setting some aside for my company?”

Rose smiled. “We can ask.”

Together they went to talk to Clint.

Although he readily agreed to provide Annie McCabe with any of the produce that was not already spoken for, he was not as thrilled as Rose had expected him to be.

“Is everything okay?” she asked after they had strolled away. Being a supplier for Annie’s Homemade was a major coup!

Clint waved at the triplets, who were busy playing tag with their cousins, then went to her SUV to bring in the cobblers. “I didn’t know this was going to be a business meeting.”

“It wasn’t.” Rose carried one, too. “That was just a conversation.” But she knew he had a point. Today was supposed to be their only day off all week, the event a fun-filled party. Still...this was a McCabe gathering, and a lot of their family businesses were linked in some way.

“People always talk shop at social gatherings,” she added as they walked onto the screened-in back porch and set the dishes on the buffets already set up.

He grimaced. “Not always, Rose.”

Rose sized up the tense set of his broad shoulders. “You’re really going to stay mad at me over this?”

He shook his head. “Not mad. Frustrated.”

Was this their first fight—as a couple? She only knew she did not want it to be. Not on a beautiful day like today. Not when their relationship—and it
was
a relationship—was going so well.

She’d had one failed union.

She was not about to have another.

Rose glanced around. Seeing the kids were still well-supervised, she took Clint’s wrist in hand. “Well, then,” she told him defiantly, “you leave me no choice.”

She skirted the house, then led him beyond an impossibly long row of SUV’s and pickup trucks. “Now what are you doing?” he asked wryly.

Rose dragged him behind the barn, aware she hadn’t felt this brazen in, well, forever.

She wound her arms about his neck and went up on tiptoe. “I’m collecting on that kiss you owe me—from last night.”

He put his hands on her shoulders, his expression stern. “Someone could come by.”

“No,” Rose said just as stubbornly, “they won’t. And even if they did,” she rushed on impulsively, “I don’t care.” She pressed her lips to his, wanting him to know that it wasn’t just business bringing them together. It wasn’t just sex or friendship or the way he was with her kids. It was so much more than that. She felt it every time they were together, and she could tell by the way he was kissing her back, first sweetly and tenderly, and then hotly and without restraint, that he felt it, too. And that was when they heard the distinct cough.

The kind meant to interrupt.

Rose and Clint broke apart abruptly. Pivoted around and then saw, to Rose’s dismay, none other than her father, Jackson McCabe.

* * *

“I
T
’
S
NOT
A
BIG
DEAL
,” Rose said moments later, after her father had departed.

“Really?” Clint grumbled, thinking it a very big deal that the parent of a woman he was serious about had just gotten the idea that he was anything but honorable. This wasn’t how he wanted to start a dialogue with Rose’s dad. And it certainly wasn’t how he had been brought up. “Because I think if we hadn’t already been
behind
the barn, your dad would have taken us both there.”

Rose rolled her eyes. “He barely said anything.”

Clint caught her hand in his, furious with himself, because instead of protecting her as was his intent, he had made her vulnerable. Although Rose did not seem to realize that. “One disapproving lift of the eyebrow was enough, don’t you think?”

Rose walked toward a pasture, where some of the ranch horses were grazing. She leaned against the railing, looking out at the pastoral scene. “It was just a knee-jerk reaction. The kind he always had when we were teens.”

Aware this was the kind of setup he wanted for himself—with cattle and horses on different parts of the land—Clint took a place next to Rose. “So you and your sisters made a habit of this?”

“No,” she said, chagrined. “I was the one who always seemed to get caught kissing my boyfriend.”

Clint’s jaw tightened. He didn’t want to think about Rose in the arms of anyone else. “I gather it hasn’t happened lately?” he asked, studying the hint of sun-blushed color across her cheeks. “Not even with those three guys you dated recently?”

“Nope.” She shook her head. “Not in maybe...ten...years.” She gazed at him from beneath her lashes. “What about you, cowboy?”

Figuring she already knew the answer to that, he smirked. “I haven’t acted like a love-struck teenager in about that amount of time, either.”

“Teenager, huh?” She seemed pleased.

“What can I say?” He shrugged, took her hand in his and looked deep into her eyes. “I’ve got a thing for you.”

Her expression softened in the way he loved so much. “And I have a thing for you,” she whispered.

Silence fell between them, easy now.

Figuring it was his turn to risk something, too, he took her all the way in his arms, lowered his head and kissed her with all his heart.

Chapter Fourteen

“Do you mind leaving for Dallas a little early?” Rose asked Clint the following week after they had unloaded the blackberries. “Say, Thursday noon instead of evening?”

Farmtech had offered to put them up in a downtown Dallas hotel so they’d be rested and refreshed for the meetings and contract signings scheduled for Friday morning and the introduction to select members of the agricultural press, set for later in the day.

“Sounds good to me.” He came closer, his low voice heightening her anticipation of their trip and rare time alone even more. He threaded a hand through her hair, his gaze skimming her upturned face. “Any particular reason why?”

In no hurry—since her kids were on an after-school play date that included dinner—Rose leaned against the closed barn doors. “A very good one, as a matter of fact. Fresh Foods Market in Dallas heard about the blackberries. They’ve asked me to bring in a truckload for their metroplex stores.”

Clint nodded, understanding what a boon that would be for both their businesses, even as he asked, “Will there be enough?”

Rose nodded, explaining, “It’ll be the last big harvest. After that, I think the yield will be a lot smaller, and then disappear entirely within a week. At least until next year.”

She tried not to feel too sad about that or think about what that would mean in terms of daily visits from Clint. After all, they didn’t need an outside reason to see each other.

And she wanted to keep seeing him, she realized. She wanted him to be a permanent fixture in her and her kids’ lives.

She moved away from him, still struggling with the knowledge of just how deep her affection for him was, of how very much she wanted them to have a future together.

Trying not to worry whether or not he was just as serious about her and the kids, she swallowed. “Anyway, we can get them all picked and crated by late Wednesday and keep the fruit refrigerated in the barn overnight. I’ll get co-op members to help load up the truck again on Thursday morning, and we can take off after that.”

He waited while she cut him a check for the previous week’s crop. “I assume we’re taking two vehicles?”

Realizing how amazing he looked, even with his hair all windblown and a day’s shadow of beard lining his handsome face, she nodded. “We can park my SUV at the hotel, but not the refrigerated truck. The store said I can leave that at their distribution center until I leave Friday night.” So at least she didn’t have to worry about finding a place to park it in the city.

Clint caught her wrist, lifted it over her head, and spun her around in an unexpected dance move that ended with her dipped back over his arm. “Do we have time for a date Thursday evening?”

Heart pounding, she wreathed her arms about his shoulders and batted her eyelashes flirtatiously. “Are you asking me out?”

He leaned closer and brushed his lips against hers. “I am. We have to work on that chemistry that so impressed the bigwigs.”

Rose sighed wistfully and let him kiss her again, more thoroughly this time. “Then, yes,” she breathed.

Slowly he brought her upright, slid his hands down her spine and cupped her against him. “Yes to the date?”

Her eyes sparkled. There was no mistaking his desire. Or hers. “Yes.” She pressed her lips to his once, and then again. “To...everything.”

* * *

T
O
R
OSE
’
S
DELIGHT
, all went smoothly on their trek to market. And it was even better once they arrived.

“The blackberries are every bit as good as everyone said they were,” the regional produce manager from Fresh Foods Market said Thursday afternoon after sampling them. “How do you want us to advertise them? Under the Rose Hill Farm banner or the ranch where they originated?”

Wanting to give credit where it was due, Rose replied, “Let’s go with Double Creek Ranch blackberries since that’s where they originated.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to sell them under the Rose Hill Farm name?” Clint asked. He shrugged his broad shoulders amiably. “Your business is more widely known for all sorts of quality local produce.”

And hence had better name recognition.

But they were from his land! Didn’t he feel the pride in that? The emotional connection to such a great crop? Shouldn’t he want the credit?

“Clint has a point,” the produce manager interjected. “It might mean more to the consumer.”

Clint nodded. “Better sales benefit us all.”

“Okay. You fellas have convinced me.” Pushing aside any residual guilt she felt at stealing the thunder from his ranch, Rose smiled and accepted a check. They all shook hands. Then she and Clint headed for the hotel.

Once there, Rose wasn’t surprised to find their rooms were located on the concierge level. Farmtech had promised to give them luxury accommodations. Nonetheless, she was stunned to realize their rooms opened onto a shared living room and a balcony with a breathtaking city view.

With no kids to care for and the rest of the afternoon and evening stretching out ahead of them, the situation was suddenly filled with endless romantic possibilities. “Our dinner reservations aren’t until eight,” Clint said, gathering her in his arms. He gave her a squeeze and bussed her temple. “So we have plenty of time if you want to lie down.”

Actually, she did.

He caught her mischievous grin.

“I was thinking, rest.”

Rose wasn’t. She turned, gliding her hands across the solid warmth of his chest. “Are you tired?”

Eyes crinkling at the corners, he cupped her face in his large hands. “No.”

“Neither am I.” She reached up and gave him a light, lingering kiss that was both a celebration of the moment and a down payment for later. Reluctantly she broke off the embrace. “I do feel a little grungy, though.” She closed her eyes with a little moan, luxuriating in the feeling of his fingers entwined in her hair. “Want to check out the showers?”

He chuckled with undisguised affection, then let her go long enough to slip his arm around her waist. “Good idea.”

They walked into her bedroom. A king-size bed outfitted with sumptuous white hotel linens and a half dozen pillows dominated the plushly carpeted room. Beyond a luxurious dressing room was another door. They moved past it, into a large marble bathroom with a glassed-in shower and a sunken tub big enough for two. There were plenty of thick, fluffy towels, two spa robes, and an array of scented soaps, lotions and bubble baths.

Rose drew a deep breath, imagining the pleasure that could be had. Impulsively she turned to face him. “Care to join me?”

“What do you think?”

Rose knew what she hoped. That this evening would be their most sexy and romantic yet!

Clint grinned as if reading her mind. He caught her against him for another tantalizing kiss that had her heart racing. Then he drew back, his eyes dark and intent. “I’ll be back in ten minutes.” He gave her another brief, affectionate squeeze then disappeared.

Rose started the water and put in a generous amount of the fragrant bubble bath. She went back to turn down her bed, then returned to the bath. Quickly she washed the grime off her face, brushed her teeth and swept her hair into an updo off her neck. She had just stripped down and slid into the chest-high bubbles when a knock sounded on the door.

Clint strolled in with his usual innate grace. He dispensed with his robe and set it aside in a way that left her mouth dry.

Like her, he was already physically, visibly aroused.
Oh. My.
She flashed her best come-hither smile. “Come on in. The water’s fine.”

He tipped an imaginary hat, seeming to like what he saw as much as she did. “Don’t mind if I do.”

She was trembling as he settled opposite her. The tub was just big enough for him to stretch out his legs on either side of her. She took the back of his hand and kissed the inside of his wrist, loving the warm, masculine texture of his skin. Unable to help herself, she teased, “Is this how you imagined our evening beginning?”

Clint released a gusty sigh, then took her fingertips and sucked the ends of them gently, one by one. “Ah. No.” He reached out and touched her cheek. “I thought I was going to have to woo you.”

She shivered in response, aware this was all turning very sensual very fast. A fact that made her very, very happy. She gazed into his eyes, loving the fact they were alone again and doing something deliciously sexy...and forbidden. “And here it’s all so easy.”

His gaze grew serious, intent. “Some things are just meant to be,” he said huskily. Catching her wrist, he tugged her forward until she settled between his legs, her thighs wrapped around his waist, her arms on his shoulders. “This better?”

Making love with Clint was so much better than she ever could have imagined it would be. Rose pressed her breasts against his chest and rubbed lightly. “We’re getting there.”

“How about this?” His hands slid down her hips, and he fit her against him, softness to hardness, woman to man. He trailed his lips over her ear, her neck, then her lips.

They kissed wantonly, deeply.

“And this.” Aware being so close to him felt so right, Rose lathered soap between her hands and spread the fragrant bubbles over his chest, down his back, down the length of his arms. He shifted, giving her access to his thighs. Then, between subsequent kisses, slowly and lovingly, he did the same for her.

Of course, what had been lathered up had to be rinsed. The sensitive places that had been denied the first go-round were found in the second, others in the third. And there were so many kisses, Rose noted euphorically, in between.

Finally Clint groaned and rested his forehead against hers. “Time we move this to the bedroom, don’t you think?”

Good point. She was nearing completion now.

Rose chuckled. As their gazes met, the air between them reverberated with excitement and escalating desire. “Unless you know how to put a condom on under water...”

She watched his eyes darken as they roved over her jutting nipples and the curves of her breasts. She felt more womanly than she ever had in her life.

He stood lithely and, grasping her by the hand, brought her with him out onto the mat. Water and bubbles streamed down their bodies, the chill in the air an erotic counterpoint to the sizzling heat beneath their skin.

He caught her against him briefly, warming her with the length of his tall, powerful form, his arousal so pronounced, so smooth and velvety, she could hardly wait to have him inside her once again. Gallantly he wrapped her in a towel, then reached inside the pocket of his robe. Half a dozen condoms spilled out. “Can’t say I’ve ever tried it in the tub,” he admitted, gathering them up with one hand, taking her by the other. Naked and beautiful, he led her toward the bed and dried her off slowly and lovingly.

She lay down, watching as he took the towel and quickly dried himself off.

“Besides,” he whispered, lying beside her and kissing her again, “I like you under me.”

Rose watched as he opened the packet and swiftly, surely protected them both. She caught her breath at the passion still etched on his handsome face. “You do?”

“Mmm-hmm.” Big hands intimately circling her hips, he shifted so she was astride him. “And on top.”

She stretched out over him, kissing him sweetly, taking her time. His hand slid between them, stroking the tender insides of her thighs, finding the pleasure point, driving her crazy as more passionate kisses were exchanged. “Just so long,” he said finally, lifting her and surging inside, “as you’re in my arms.”

And she was. Even as they took each other to new heights and lingered there, with the tenderness and need and singularity of purpose they both deserved.

Afterward, as they lay cuddled against each other, she knew this was what it felt like when it was right. This was what it felt like when love was about to happen. “Clint?” she murmured softly, her heart full, her body still humming deliciously.

He lifted his head, gazed into her eyes and simply waited.

Wrapping her arms around him, Rose snuggled even closer. She knew she was desperately close to making a complete and utter fool of herself, but she forced herself to bare her soul anyway. “I know what I said before. But I don’t want this to be a temporary love affair.” Her eyes filled with deep, searing emotion she identified as joy. “I want it to last.”

Tightening his hold on her, Clint bent his head and kissed her again in a way that made her feel incredibly safe and cherished. “So do I, Rose.” He brushed his lips reverently over hers. “So do I.”

And then, she supposed, just so there would be no doubt, he made love to her all over again.

* * *

“D
ON
’
T
YOU
TWO
look like a couple of honeymooners,” Aaron remarked the next day when Rose and Clint walked into their meeting with attorney Travis Anderson at their side.

Rose met Clint’s eyes. He gave her an imperceptible look that reminded her of all they had shared the night before. A whisper of tenderness swept through her. She’d never had a more romantic, and satisfying, interlude in her life. Luckily for them, many more lay ahead.

“I guess that’s why everyone thinks we’re such great business partners,” Rose replied with a mysterious smile.

“Because we’re not just neighbors but good friends,” Clint concurred.

“Well, whatever it is,” the director of the advertising campaign noted with approval, “it clearly works.”

With a murmur of agreement, everyone took a seat at the conference table, and the business meeting began.

“The clauses Rose asked for were approved and added,” Ted announced. “Clint will receive the berry picker he’s been using, free and clear, and the taxes on it will be paid by the corporation.”

Gleefully Rose turned to Clint, who had a completely inscrutable expression on his face. “Surprise!” she said.

Ted grinned at her joke and continued, “Additionally, a steep lifetime discount has been arranged for any future Farmtech equipment that Rose and Clint wish to purchase for their prospective ranches. In return, the Farmtech legal department has added a few more clauses to the contract, too.” Ted paused. “They’re marked by the purple tabs in the copies we have printed out for review. So if everyone will take a look...”