Only You (3 page)

Maggie carefully placed the chocolate cake on the backseat of her Porsche and collapsed into the car. She’d sat on the sofa for three days waiting for her ankle to mend and for JD to reappear. God knows why she’d waited for him. What had she thought? That he’d fallen under her spell? Love at first sight? She snorted. Sure. Happened all the time.

She revved the engine and felt marginally better as the car slid smoothly down the driveway. She didn’t like sitting around waiting for things to happen. She needed action.

Surprisingly protective of JD, Claire had cautioned Maggie not to bother him. Apparently, he had a lot on his mind these days. Well, so did she. She hadn’t come all this way to sit on her butt all day. Both her friends had full, busy days, and it was only in the evening that she got to visit with them. Claire was preoccupied with managing the ranch, although Maggie had yet to discover exactly what that meant. Whatever Claire was doing, she kept busy. Maggie’s lips curled. The only thing that needed managing was Ethan and his high-handed ways of handling her friend. Not that she’d ever say that to Claire. No doubt she had found ways to improve the efficiency of running the ranch. If anyone could, it would be Claire.

Sammie had taken to the cowgirl’s life with an enthusiasm that surprised Maggie. She was up and at ’em before it was fully light in the morning, cleaning stalls and brushing down horses. Sammie, who had worked for a fashion mag for the last ten years. Maggie never would have guessed her friend would like mucking about in the . . . well, muck.

Claire said the ranch made its money running beef cattle. JD bought and resold horses as a sideline, but according to Claire, most of the horses were ones other people didn’t want. The Moondance Ranch was getting a reputation as a place to sell the old mare who ain’t what she used to be. Taking in horses no one else wanted didn’t sound like a paying proposition, but then, not everything was about money. At least, she hoped it wasn’t. Sometimes, though, it felt like money was the only thing people cared about.

She slowed and turned onto the dirt road that Dave had told her about. While he’d drawn a map to JD’s place in the dust beside the barn, she’d surreptitiously studied the older cowboy. He looked to be in as good a shape as JD, and although his face was weathered, she could tell he was a kind man. He would probably do as a second choice if JD wouldn’t cooperate with the baby project, except Dave had a standoffish air to him, and she had a feeling he’d head for the hills if she ever propositioned him. Not that she was inclined to. Not while JD was still a possible candidate.

Dave had said that JD likely spent most evenings at his house, but he didn’t know for sure, because JD kept to himself, which had probably been meant as a gentle reprimand to leave JD alone. Everyone acted so protective of him. She’d love to know why. His house was only a couple of miles away, so no problem if he wasn’t home. She wanted to see the house he’d built, anyway. Claire and Sammie and Dave all said it was something special. JD looked so much like a cowboy, it was hard to imagine him as a renowned architect, wearing a suit and having an office in a high-rise somewhere.

A few minutes later, she stopped the car below the house, even though she could see she was supposed to keep driving up to the side entrance. She got out and leaned against the car, her hand on her stomach. Gazing upward, she felt like someone had taken a big wooden spoon and stirred up her insides. Tears pooled in her eyes as laughter bubbled up her throat. It was the most beautiful house she’d ever seen, and it made her long for things she didn’t think would ever be part of her life.

Made of rock and cedar, the house clung to the side of a steep hill. A foothill, she supposed, as there were mountain ranges farther in the distance. It had several levels, the highest probably the bedroom with a wall of windows and its own balcony. Beneath was the main floor, again all windows and wood. An enormous rock chimney rose up through the middle of the house. The main floor had a large, extended deck, projecting out in front. The house was framed by hardwood trees, their leaves a tender spring green. In the fall they’d turn amazing colors.

But the most startling feature was a stream that sprouted out of the mountain above the house and cascaded down beside it, close enough that someone standing on the main deck could reach out and stick their hands in the waterfall. It was a fantasy house. The house of her dreams if she’d had a big enough imagination to have visualized it. If it were her house, she’d never leave.

Suddenly, going to see JD didn’t seem to be such a good idea. She wanted to keep things simple, and she was beginning to understand what Claire had been going on about. JD was a complicated, sophisticated man, playing at being a cowboy. Talent like his shouldn’t be wasted, but she was the last person to criticize someone’s decisions.

She climbed back into the car and headed back to the ranch. What a shame. Physically, he was perfect for what she had in mind. They might even have had fun for a couple of weeks. But she’d finally disentangled herself from a loveless marriage, and she wasn’t interested in having a relationship—any relationship. She was free, and she planned to stay that way for a long time.

About a mile down the road, she pulled over and maneuvered the car around until she was headed back up toward the house again. Years of Dominic criticizing her had resulted in second-guessing every decision she made. She
wanted
to see JD’s house, and she wanted to see JD. She refused to tuck her tail between her legs and scurry back to the ranch just because he’d built the most beautiful house in the world.

Heavens!
Maybe that was her house. Maybe he’d sell it to her. She hoped to settle close to her friends, so why not here? And so what if he was a complicated man? He was still a man, and that was the part she was most interested in.

She continued on up to the side entrance and parked. Her throat ached when she saw the view from that high up. The ranch house and barns stretched out in front of her, sitting in a valley of their own, framed by hills with a stream running through the middle of the valley. The blue sky stretched on forever from up here, and the brilliant green pastures, fresh from the winter melt-off, almost hurt her eyes. Moondance Ranch was a little piece of heaven right here on earth.

She could be content living here. She could raise a child here. Filled with a sense of purpose, she practically skipped to the door.

Although JD’s truck was parked by the house, no one answered her knock. She rapped her knuckles against the door one more time, the chocolate cake she’d taken the trouble to bake for him balanced on one hand. She tried the doorknob. The door swung open, and she tiptoed into the house. It was even more beautiful inside than out. All wood and windows and tiled floors. The kitchen she’d entered was huge and opened onto a small dining area and a big family room. Perfect. But empty. There were two stools in the kitchen. That was it for furniture.

She tripped over a pair of work boots, JD’s likely, put the cake on the blue slate counter and tiptoed farther into the house. “Hello?” she called. When no one answered, she continued with more confidence. People didn’t leave their door unlocked if they didn’t want visitors.

She drifted through the spectacular living room, whose peaked ceilings mirrored the mountains outside, and then she slipped outside to the front deck. The minute she opened the patio doors, the sound of cascading water filled her ears.

And there was JD, sitting in a hot tub at the edge of the deck. Maggie took advantage of the fact that his eyes were closed to study the man closely for the first time. Until now, she’d caught only brief, tantalizing glimpses. She wasn’t close enough to see, but he was quite possibly naked. Certainly his chest was bare, and even as relaxed as he appeared, she could see the well-defined muscles in his abdomen and his massive shoulders. His head rested against the back of the tub, his corded neck and jaw shadowed with several days’ growth of beard. His light brown hair had probably been cut short once but now looked shaggy and too long for the cut. It was several shades lighter than his beard. His mouth was perfect, firm but well defined, as if someone had outlined it with a pencil.

He opened his eyes and stared at her as if he’d known all along she was studying him. “Maggie.” His voice sounded almost dreamy. Maybe he’d been asleep.

“I’m sorry,” she said automatically.

His mouth curled upward. “For what?”

“For, uh, for intruding.” And for ogling him while he slept. “The door was unlocked,” she added.

“Hmm.” He blinked a couple of times, rubbed a hand over his face. “I must have drifted off.” The corners of his eyes crinkled. “I’d invite you into the tub, but you have me at a disadvantage. I’m buck naked.”

“Right. I shouldn’t have walked in. Sorry. I’ll, uh . . . I’ll go. I left you a chocolate cake in the kitchen,” she called over her shoulder as she moved toward the back of the house.

Coward
.  She should have stripped and hopped into the hot tub and jumped him. Her heart bumped in her chest.

“You don’t have to go, Maggie. Give me a minute to get decent.”

She stopped, but kept her back to him. She loved how he said her name, his voice soft and low.

“I love your house,” she said to drown out the sound of him climbing out of the tub. A vision of water sluicing down his magnificent body as he stood up made her feel needy inside. How many years had it been since she’d had great, hot, sweaty sex? Sex had turned into another way for Dominic to try to control her for the last two years of their marriage. By the time she’d finally been free, she’d thought her sex drive had gone underground. Not now, though, with JD standing naked and wet right behind her. Her skin sizzled.

“Thanks. I built it three years ago.” He came up behind her and put his hand on the middle of her back. She stiffened.

She could smell his damp skin and feel his massiveness. “It’s all right, Maggie. I’m decent.”

Another blush stung her cheeks when she heard the amusement in his voice. She needed to practice if she was going to pull off seducing him, or anyone else. She tried to reassemble her scattered energy and turned to face him. He’d wrapped a white terry cloth robe around his body, the white emphasizing his dark tan. Her mouth went dry as she watched a drop of water trickle down his throat, fascinated.

“Don’t.”

Her eyes shot to his. “Don’t what?”

“What you’re doing. Don’t do that.”

“Sorry.” Then cursed under her breath. When she’d left Dominic, she’d sworn to never apologize to anyone ever again.
Come on, Miss Hussy, do your thing.

She looked him straight in the eye. “You’re so beautiful, it’s hard not to stare.” She blushed like her face was on fire.

His mouth twitched. Was he laughing at her? “I’ve been called a lot of things, but beautiful isn’t one of them. But thank you. I think.” He moved toward the staircase. “Have a look around while I get dressed. I’ll make us a coffee in a minute.”

That was it? She ogled him, told him he’s hot, and he wanted to make her a coffee?
And
he was laughing at her. Dispirited, she wandered toward the back of the main floor into an office.
Mistress of her own universe
. Yeah, that was working out well. She’d thought she was being brave and taking matters into her own hands, and all she’d ended up doing was making a fool of herself. All she had to do was talk the right man into having sex with her. That’s it. At thirty-six, she wasn’t exactly the pick of the herd, but come on. Surely she wasn’t over the hill yet.

“You’re pouting,” JD said from the doorway. He’d put on a pair of faded jeans and a white T-shirt that hugged his chest.

“I guess I am.”

“What was it you were after?”

“Sex.”

JD blinked. She wasn’t sure but thought he looked a little white around the mouth. “You should have jumped into the hot tub with me.”

She huffed and looked away, trying not to laugh. Damn it, she’d been enjoying her pout. “Next time I’ll be more . . . aggressive.”

He grinned. “I like the sound of that. If there is a next time. I may have to start locking my doors.”

She shrugged. “Your loss.”

He looked hard at her mouth. “No kidding. Come on.” He scooped up his truck keys and shoved his wallet into his back pocket. “I’ve got something I want to show you.”

“But I haven’t had the house tour.”

“We’ll come back and eat cake, and I’ll show you the house then. There’s not much to see, anyway.” He took her elbow and propelled her to the door. “We only have an hour or so left of daylight.”

Maggie allowed herself to be led to his truck and climbed up inside the cab when he opened the door for her. For all she knew, this was his way of getting her out of his house. He probably thought she was a crazy divorcée. And, yeah, okay. Maybe she was a little like that, but there was a point to her nuttiness. “Where are we going?”

“Don’t look so suspicious. We’re going back to the ranch.”

She settled her chin against her chest and folded her arms. He was dumping her back at the ranch like a mangy dog that didn’t know its way home.

“What’s going on in that head of yours?” he asked.

She glared at him. “What do you mean?”

His eyes lit up when he smiled. They were the same blue as his faded jeans. “You have an expressive face. Right now, you look like you’re planning on murdering someone. How’s your ankle?”

“Fine. A little sore still.”

“Swollen?”

She rotated her ankle. “No. I didn’t twist it that hard.”

“Good. Do you ride?”

Her mind went blank. Surely he wasn’t asking her . . . “I’m—I’m sorry?”

“Oh, honey.” He shook his head. “Horses. Do you know how to ride a horse?”

“Oh. Of course.”

“Why ‘of course’? I thought you grew up with Claire and Sammie in San Francisco.”

She looked out the window and smiled. “Yeah. We were like sisters, and like a lot of young girls, we were all into horses at one point.”

“Did you have your own horse?”

This time she directed her smile at him. “Buttercup. She was beautiful. A Morgan.”