Never Say Never (19 page)

Jill nodded.

“He didn’t until Nina died. I think sitting in that car, not knowing what the hell had happened, had an effect on something inside him. I don’t know what, and I haven’t taken him to a doctor because it’s just a crazy hunch I have. I keep thinking, he’s been through a trauma, he’ll outgrow the stuttering. But I can’t comfort him; I can’t take the time to say ‘slow down, son, I’m listening to every word you say’ because I know he could be taken away from me soon. So I try not to think about it.”

“Oh, Dustin. You don’t have to tell me any of this. It doesn’t affect the way I feel about my employment.”

He stared at her, unable to believe her words. “I have to tell you because you were trying to escape a hell of your own. And you ran right into mine. It wasn’t fair of me not to tell you that things were going to be difficult here at the ranch.”

“I knew the job wasn’t going to be easy when I met my employer.”

Jill’s sassy grin took the edge off her words. Dustin tried to tell himself she meant what she was saying. But still he wanted to make sure she understood.

“Your employer is probably just going to get grouchier, right up until the day of the hearing. I might improve afterward. But if I lose Joey…”

“If you lose Joey, you’ll file an appeal,” Jill interrupted.

“Yeah.” Dustin rubbed his chin. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

“Because you don’t want to lose him at all. And you shouldn’t. But if by any quirk of the justice system you do, it won’t be forever. You’re a deserving father.”

“You think so?”

“I think you deserve a little more time. Parenting is not something one learns like math. And Joey’s stutter is no different than the one I had as a child.”

“Really?” Dustin couldn’t imagine beautiful, confident Jill stuttering.

She laughed, the sound as heartwarming as the Christmas tree with its blinking lights glowing in the corner. “Yes, Dustin. I was the youngest child. It was difficult getting a word in edgewise. When you’re competing with three older siblings, you might want to talk fast, but your mouth will only go its own speed. At least that’s what the speech therapist told my parents.” She gave him a playful slap on the arm. “It’s normal, Dustin. He’ll probably grow out of it, particularly once you’re not under so much stress. And if he was traumatized, the two of you can go for some family counseling. My take-whatever-it’s-worth opinion is that you might try to relax and enjoy your son. He’s pretty cool.”

Dustin grinned. “Yeah. It’s kind of weird having my miniature around.”

“Well, Joey at least lets his hair down every once in a while,” she teased.

“Hey, I’m letting my hair down now, aren’t I?”

“I think you’ve been trying to scare me off. Except for what happened today, you should know I don’t scare too easy.”

The smile slipped from Dustin’s face. “Speaking of that, Jill…”

Swiftly, she sat up, laying a finger against his lips. “Let’s not talk about it. Let’s not talk about anything serious anymore. You should just zone out in front of the fire.”

He caught her finger, and then her hand it in his. “Who can loosen up around here? All we need now is a resident ghost to stir up trouble.”

“I think you have all the trouble you can handle.”

Jill pulled at her hand, but he wouldn’t let her get away. With a start, he’d just realized how near this woman was. How very near this gorgeous, deeply understanding woman had become to his heart. Dustin tugged her, and incredibly, she moved closer without resistance.

“I might be in the mood for a little more trouble,” he told her.

“You’ll find it with me,” Jill said softly. “It’s a mistake to make a pass at your employee.”

“I’ll allow you to file a complaint.” He knew he might regret it later, but for now, the thought of kissing Jill was pushing his common sense from his mind. Ever so gently, he pressed his lips to hers.

Her mouth moved under his, seeking, a deeper fusing, and Dustin felt sparks ignite inside him. “Jill,” he whispered against her mouth hoarsely.

“I haven’t filed my complaint yet. Keep going,” she said, easing up against him.

At that moment, Dustin knew that the comfort Jill was offering he wanted, desperately. He wanted to give and take and forget about everything that had happened today. Carefully, he pressed his body against hers, nudging her onto her back without ever taking his lips from hers. He sought her warmth, feeling fire leap through him as he felt her daintier body underneath his. There was power in the feeling of Jill bonded to him.

His jeans rasped against hers. Jill moaned, reaching up to tangle her hands in his hair. Pressing small kisses down her neck, Dustin breathed in the wonderful fragrance that was Jill, all soft and delicate.

The swell of her breasts was womanly and enticing; Dustin pressed a kiss against each swell before returning to Jill’s lips.

Her eyes were closed, but her hands had moved slowly down his back to his buttocks. She slipped her hands inside his jeans to rub the skin. Dustin thought he might die from desire. Somewhere a faint shred of decency called to him, urging him to remember that this woman deserved his protection.

“Jill.”

Her eyes snapped open. “I haven’t cried ‘uncle’.” But she knew by the look in his eyes that he’d remembered. Dustin had remembered who she was and why she was in his home. The fact that she had prayed the most delirious kiss she’d ever experienced would never end didn’t matter. Even as she’d moved closer to him, she’d known that kissing Dustin was a thing of the moment. Later, they would no doubt tell themselves it had happened on a strange and tragic day when events had whirled out of control; they had both merely reached out to find an anchor in the storm. And they had found each other.

But Jill was realistic enough to know that the moment was all they would share. Still, she hated that it had ended. She had never felt anything like this before. The way Dustin had kissed her had fulfilled some basic needs and one private fantasy.

He pulled away though she could see the fire still simmering in his dark eyes. Jill sighed, knowing it was for the best, and told herself to be happy for the magic she had experienced. This wondrous man wanted her. She’d always wondered if he was attracted to her. After learning that Carl—who’d insisted they should “wait” until they got married—was sleeping with anything that had permed blonde hair and three-inch red fingernails, Jill wondered why he hadn’t been attracted to her. Something inside her worried that she lacked the necessary sexual allure to make a man want to kill to jump into her bed.

Dustin Reed had blown that worry clean away. With the length of his body pressing against her, she’d been able to feel his desire.
She turned him on.
Something very female inside her was pleased that it was the handsome, thoroughly masculine cowboy who still had one leg twined inside hers who thought she was sexy.

It was best to let Dustin off the hook. Before he felt responsible for kissing her, she needed to let him know she understood what had happened.

So she smiled. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

Completely feigning her nonchalance, Jill untangled herself from Dustin and leaned back on her elbows the way she had been previously. “For comforting me. For making me feel better. I think I can actually go upstairs and sleep now.”

Lie. It was killing her to leave him on the blanket. He was staring at her like she was nuts. Jill forced herself to her feet.

He caught at her jeans. “Jill, don’t just thank me and walk away. I don’t want us to feel bad about what happened.”

“Of course not. It’s perfectly natural for two human beings to reach out in a crisis. I’m glad we could be there for each other.”

His brows furrowed at her words. “You’re not upset? You won’t worry that it will happen again?”

Jill’s heart sank a little. “No. I won’t worry that it will happen again.” She had known in the beginning it was a dream that might only come true once. “Good night, Dustin.”

He sat up and turned to look into the fire. “Good night, Jill.”

It didn’t feel right, leaving him sitting there alone.” His back looked broad and strong outlined by the yellow light of the fire. He might be strong, but he was still alone.

Jill forced herself to turn away. Reluctantly, she went upstairs, knowing she was doing the right thing.

Chapter Twelve

Dustin awakened to the sound of pounding on the front door. He’d spent an uncomfortable night in front of the fireplace, which was now letting in drafts of cold air. Cursing to himself, he got up to open the door.

“I should have known it’d be you. You’re going to have to get your own eggs and sausage out of the kitchen. I’m not cooking, and nobody else is awake,” Dustin grumbled at Marsh.

“Breakfast sounds good, but actually I need to talk to you. You look like hell. Didn’t you sleep last night?”

Dustin scrubbed a hand over the prickly growth on his chin. Lord, he needed a shave and a shower. “No. Orange juice?”

Marsh glanced into the parlor as he walked by it. Dustin knew he hadn’t missed the blankets on the floor. He went into the kitchen, mentally bracing himself for Marsh’s question.

“Heat go out upstairs or something?”

“No,” Dustin growled. “I spent the night in front of the fire because I thought it was a cool thing to do.”

“Hm.” He looked at Dustin closely. “Why do you have pink lipstick on your mouth?”

“Because my lips were chapped.” Frowning at Marsh, he reached up in the general area he thought the lipstick might be and rubbed hard. Trouble was, he’d kissed Jill pretty thoroughly. The lipstick could be anywhere.

“You’re not really wearing lip prints this morning,” Marsh said jovially.

Dustin cursed.

“It was just a hunch I had. I suspected your sour mood might have less to do with sleeping in front of the fire than having a rock in your underwear all night.”

Dustin slammed a palm on the counter. “Are you finished?”

Marsh sat down at the table, propping his boots up. “Nah. Cook, while I talk.”

“I’m not your wife,” he grumbled. But he tossed the orange juice container at Marsh and started hunting in the refrigerator for eggs.

“I hope to hell not. My wife’s gotta be pretty.” Marsh poured himself some juice, then got up to set another glass out, which he placed at Dustin’s seat. “Okay. I went to check out the girl at the bakery early this morning, figuring a bakery opens extremely early or who’s gonna feed folks? So she might be fixing biscuits or something.”

“That’s why you’re on my porch before my rooster’s had a chance to crow? You couldn’t get breakfast anywhere else.”

“Foul, foul,” Marsh said, shaking his head. “Mrs. Vickery says the girl isn’t coming back. There was a message on her machine this morning.”

“I assume you’re going to her house.”

“I would, if Mrs. Vickery had known where she lived. Unfortunately, she was paying the girl under the table.” Marsh clicked his tongue. “Good, upstanding Mrs. Vickery. It’s always the quiet ones, isn’t it?”

Dustin cracked an egg into the pan, feeling his temper sizzling along with the egg white. “Now what, damn it?”

“We’ll see. We’ll have to keep a close eye on things. Meantime, I’ll check out some other folks who might know where this girl lives.”

“Mother knows everybody and the dogs they own in the county. She ought to be able to tell you.”

Marsh nodded. “Yep. Say, how did Jill do last night?”

Dustin’s hand jumped. He yelped as he burned himself on the skillet. “Do what?” he demanded.

Marsh paused. “Run that under cold water. Was she all right?”

“She’s fine, damn it.” He ignored the advice about cold water. He could have done that last night, too, but who wanted a cold shower in December?

“Hey, buddy, I’m asking you if that poor woman who ran for an orphan’s life she barely knows was able to calm down enough to sleep last night. I’m not inquiring as to whether she meets your Playboy Bunny measurements—hey, wait a minute. You didn’t…”

“Marsh!”

“Holy smokes, Dustin, you’ve been worrying if she’s pregnant! Even you wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.”

“I kissed her! That’s all.” He glared at Marsh. “It was a simple, thanks-for-everything-you-did kiss. Nothing more.”

“Uh, yeah, buddy. And China Shea spent the night with me last night.”

Dustin snorted. He slapped a plate with two eggs, yolks burst, in front of Marsh. “At least then you’d be waking
her
up at such an ungodly hour instead of me.”

“Nah. Some habits are hard to break. I’ll bring her with me when it’s breakfast time at the Reed Ranch.” He stared down at the eggs before looking up to stare at him. “Listen, Dustin, I think you’re taking your housekeeper a bit serious.”

Toast flew up out of the toaster, a bit crisper than was edible. He hadn’t been able to concentrate on the biscuit directions for thinking about Jill, so he’d taken the easy way out.

Reaching for the two dark pieces, he tossed one onto Marsh’s plate. “Rest easy. Nothing serious is going on. I shouldn’t have kissed her, but no mountains moved, so what the hell.”