RESCUED BY THE RANCHER (5 page)

He turned the water up hot, burning hot. Cold
hadn’t helped him, but maybe scorching his skin would. Maybe he needed to stay
in the shower a while…a long while.

What the hell was she doing? Faith was acting
like a seasoned homemaker when she’d never had anyone other than herself and
Tom to care for – she was behaving like she was the woman of the house,
catering for her husband at the end of a long day. Jack had done a lot to help
her, which was the reason she was making an effort, but that panicked look he’d
had in his eyes told her he might run out the door and not return until they
were long gone.

Speak of the devil… she untied the apron,
folded it and placed it in the drawer where she’d found it.

“Smells great.”

This time Jake had a wide smile on his face
when he walked in.
And he looked handsome
as sin.
Faith had thought he looked good in his work clothes, all messy
from a day outside on the land, but now? He had a pair of faded jeans on with a
worn patch on one knee that looked like it was about to become a hole. His t-shirt
was white, fitting close enough for her to see his muscles clearly defined, and
his hair was still damp – messy and dark.
The
rancher was hot, she’d give him that.
Which left her
wondering all over again how a guy like Jake could be single.

“It’s just lasagna. It’ll be ready soon,” Faith
told him.

He walked past her.
Damn. He even smelled good.

“I was going to offer you a glass of wine, but
the only bottle I have in here is probably years old.” Jake was rifling through
a cupboard. “You don’t drink beer, do you?” His expression was hopeful.

Faith laughed. “As a matter of fact, a beer is
exactly what I feel like.” Perhaps not with dinner, but sitting down with a
beer and chatting to her rescuer didn’t sound like a bad idea at all.

Jake shut the cupboard and opened the fridge
instead. “I don’t believe you, but here.” He passed her a beer. Then he
frowned. “Help if I opened it first.”

He moved closer, into her space. Faith looked
up at his face as he expertly took the top off her bottle, watching him, taking
in what it felt like to have a man so near.
Especially one
that smelled like soap, with a body so big that she couldn’t see around him or
over him without moving.

“Thanks,” she murmured.

“Did you see the sheriff? Talk to him about
what happened?”

Faith took a long, cool sip of beer. “No.”
The sheriff was not someone she wanted to
talk to
. “I was hoping the fire chief would be in touch if there was any
news.”

Jake nodded. “I’ll call him in the morning, see
what’s happening.”

She smiled, refusing to think about anything
right now other than the man beside her and her son in the other room.

“I hope this isn’t too much. I mean, me
cooking, being here…” Faith let her voice trail off. She didn’t know what to
say to him, this man who’d been so kind to them, but who was clearly struggling
with having them in his home.

“It’s different,” he admitted, taking a long
sip. “But I’m guessing it’s kind of awkward for you, too.”

Faith smiled. She wasn’t used to such honesty,
and part of her wished he’d given her a different answer, but he’d been
truthful and that’s what mattered. She sat at the counter, keeping a barstool
between them so they weren’t too close.

“Cheers,” she said, holding up her bottle to
clink against his.
“To new friends.”

Jake raised an eyebrow, but he held his bottle
up in silent acknowledgement, before taking another sip.

“So how were those pregnant mares today?” Faith
asked him.

That made him laugh
. “Good. No one demanded a manicure.”

“No rubbing hooves, then?”

Jake shook his head, beer bottle poised for
another sip as he grinned at her.
“Nope, no rubbing hooves.”

They sat in silence for awhile, both looking
down, focused on their beers. Maybe he was as out of practice as she was when
it came to casual conversation, to flirting,
or not flirting in their case.

“Did you manage to sort a locksmith out, to
look at your car?”

Faith nodded.
“Yep, all under
control.
I’m just waiting on a new set of keys to arrive.”

“You know, I still can’t believe someone would
torch your house. That anyone around here would be that, I don’t know, so mean-spirited.”

She gave him a tight smile. “I can.” She didn’t
want to admit it, but there was one person she knew who
could
be capable of doing it. Someone who had a motive, only she’d
never have thought he’d have the guts. She could be wrong, but something told
her she could just as easily be
right.

Jake looked confused. “When you said you hadn’t
been here in a long time…”

Faith sipped her beer before jumping from the
stool, saved by the oven timer as it alerted her to the lasagna being ready.

“Let’s save that conversation for another day.”

Jake didn’t push her, just shrugged and leaned
forward on the counter, elbows resting as he held the beer out in front of him.

“You didn’t have to cook me dinner.”

Faith laughed. “Yeah, I did. After what you did
for us last night? I think dinner is the least I could do.” She paused, glanced
at him over her shoulder before taking the dish from the oven. “Besides, I had
to cook something for Tom.”

“He seems like a good kid.”

“He is.”

They went back to being silent for a
while,
the only sound the television blaring in the
adjoining room.

“This is hard for you, isn’t it,” Faith asked,
watching him as he watched her son. The way his eyes were focused on him, the
way he stayed dead still when he looked at Tom, it told her that there was
something about her child that was pushing his buttons.

When he turned to look at her, she could see
the sadness in his gaze.

“Another story for another day,” he said,
giving her a wink.

Faith nodded. He hadn’t pushed her, which meant
she’d give him the same respect.

“Is dinner ready?” Tom called out and ran into
the kitchen.

“Almost.
Go wash your hands and come sit at the table.”

Jake rose at the same time as Tom sprinted into
the room.

“Anything I can do to help?” Jake asked.

She shook her head. “Just relax. I’ll set the
table and we’ll be ready. Where do you keep the placemats?”

Jake walked to the other side of the kitchen
and opened a drawer. “They could be a bit dusty. I haven’t sat at the table for
dinner in, well, a long while.”

She
wished she knew what was going on, what was causing him the kind of pain she
could see in his face.

“The good thing about dust is that it washes
off.” Faith crossed the room and went to take them from him, reaching out at
the same time as he passed them.

Their fingers collided, brushed, but when she
looked up to smile he took a step back. Like the last thing on earth he wanted
was to connect with her in any way.

“Mom?”

She spun around to find Tom standing behind
them. “Take these to the table, sweetheart.”

He did as he was told, and she decided not to
look back at Jake.
Because then she’d
just feel guilty all over again for staying in his home, when he so clearly
didn’t feel comfortable with them in his life, even temporarily.

Jake needed to snap out of it.
So what if he had a mom and her son staying?
It was time he buried the past and got on with his life, but there was
something about Faith that was twisting him all up in knots.

They’d eaten dinner, made small talk, and now
it was time to clean up, do the dishes. Normal stuff that for some reason was
requiring him to make way more effort than it should have.

“Can I see your horses in the morning?”

The question was innocent enough, but Tom took
him by surprise.

“Yeah,” he forced himself to say. “Sure you
can.”

“Tom, we don’t need to bother Jake, he’s
probably busy tomorrow.”

He appreciated the concern, but he needed to
step out of his comfort zone. “
It’s
fine,” he said,
pleased to see the boy smile again.

“Can I ride one?”

The look on the kid’s face told him he needed
to man up and make an effort – he would have been exactly the same as a boy,
desperate to do anything that would give him a chance to be around horses.

“You know what?”

Tom’s eyes lit up, wide as saucers.

“How about you head out with me first thing,
help me put their feed out and muck out the stalls, then you can have a ride on
my old pony. Sound good?”

Tom’s face broke out into a wide smile. “Yeah,
that sounds awesome. Can I, Mom?”

Jake turned to watch her, this young mom who’d
managed to get him all twisted in knots just being in his house. He could tell
she was hesitant, but she looked like she’d find it hard to say no to her son.

“Will you promise to go to bed now if I say
yes?”

Tom grinned at his mom, like he’d just brokered
the best deal of his life.

“Well, okay then, I
guess
,”
said Jake.

He smiled as he watched Faith point to the door
and follow Tom.
Having them here wasn’t
easy, but it wasn’t half bad either.

Faith found Jake sitting on the sofa with his
feet up, staring at the television like he wasn’t even remotely interested in
whatever it was he was watching. She flicked the jug on before walking in to
join him.

“Anything good on?” she asked.

He looked up and gave her a smile that didn’t
reach his eyes.
“Ah, not really.”

She sighed. It was beyond obvious that
something was troubling him, and it wasn’t easy for her not to mention it. To
not ask him what the problem was.

“Jake, I know I’ve already thanked you, but I
do really appreciate what you’ve done for us.”

Jake shrugged, like it was no big deal. “Like I
said, I’m just happy to help out.”

“If you don’t mind, I’ll borrow your truck
again tomorrow and find us somewhere more permanent to stay. The last thing I
want to do is outstay our welcome, and my keys will be ready to pick up by the
afternoon.”

That
got his attention
. Dark brown
eyes locked on hers, his expression so intense it was hard to read.

“You don’t have to do that.”

He was still staring at her, and she didn’t
know what to think. Did he actually want them here? Had she offended him? Heat
curled like a warm fist in her belly, sending goose pimples across her skin. It
had been a long time since she’d been with a man. After so long denying
herself, not letting any man close let alone into her bed, the fierce look that
Jake was giving her was enough to have her thinking things she’d tried her best
to forget.

“I can see that us being here is hard for you,
Jake, and I understand.” Or at least she would if he opened up to her, if he
told her what was troubling him. “I have secrets too, Jake, things I don’t ever
want to talk about. So when I say I get it?
That I don’t
expect you to spill your guts to a complete stranger?
I mean it.”

He stood up then, his jaw clenched tight. “You’re
right.”

About what?
She wanted to ask him, but she kept her mouth shut. She stayed standing,
didn’t move a muscle, eyes trained on his. Jake was tall and big, his frame
blocking the television screen and dwarfing her and everything else in the
room.
 

“I do have secrets, Faith, and I don’t want you
here almost as much as I
do
want you
here.”

Faith took a deep breath, wishing she wasn’t
standing so close to him. He’d been kind to her and now her body was betraying
her, like metal to a magnet, drawing her closer. But he was a stranger and she
needed to remember that.

“You want to know why I’m so fucked up,
Faith?
Why I can hardly stand the sight of you in my
kitchen?
Of your son in my house?”
His voice was a low
growl, a whisper.

Faith bit down on her bottom lip, crossed her
arms like he was making her uncomfortable, but he couldn’t stop. Because he was
about to tell her something that he’d never admitted to anyone, never managed
to voice out loud before. These were the things that he’d had bottled up for
longer than he should have let them be repressed and he didn’t know why the
hell he was suddenly unleashing them on her. On a woman he’d known only 24
hours, who was making him think all kinds of things,
have
 
the
sort of feelings he’d fought for so
long.