The Cowboy Lassos a Bride (Cowboys of Chance Creek) (7 page)

“You’re moving? Where?” Autumn turned to her, disappointment in her eyes.

Hannah loved her for it. Autumn was the consummate hostess. She seemed to thrive on feeding and housing people. Still, she’d have plenty of people to house and feed a week or so from now. “Jake has a spare room.” She hoped her offhand tone would fool Autumn, but she felt her cheeks warm and Autumn’s mouth quirked.

“That sounds… cozy.”

Fila said nothing, but when Hannah met her gaze she saw right away the relief in the young woman’s eyes.

Mia stared at the floor. “Maybe I should look for another place, too.”

“No, you shouldn’t,” Autumn said firmly. “You two can share the spare room in the bunkhouse for now. Then you’ll both move back into your separate rooms in the Big House until spring. Once Cab and Rose get their house built, their cabin will be available, too. I had already planned on the two of you taking it over this spring. You can stay there as long as you want. I know it might be a little awkward at times until then, but we’ll make it work. I promise.”

Hannah was glad Autumn insisted the other two stay. Both Fila and Mia were young and in circumstances that would make it difficult to make their own way in the world. They needed someone like Autumn to look after them. She’d be fine at Jake’s for the time being. After her fourteen days she’d find an apartment in town.

“Jake’s pretty handsome. I always thought he was the best-looking of the Mathesons,” Autumn said to her.

“Don’t let Ethan hear you talking like that,” Hannah said. Even if it was true.

“Well, anyway, I’ll miss having you here, Hannah.”

“Thanks.” As soon as she could, she retreated to her room to pack. And plan. Fourteen nights with Jake. Maybe more.

You’re jumping the gun
, she told herself.
There’s no guarantee Jake wants to sleep with you.
But she wasn’t naïve enough to believe he’d offered her his spare room out of the goodness of his heart. She had no doubt she could climb into his bed tonight.

But would she be able to leave it when her two weeks were up?

“Still single?”
Holt queried when Jake stopped at his parents’ house on the way home. He, Ned, Luke and Rob had cell phones and used them frequently to stay up-to-date with each other and ranch matters, but Holt refused to get with the twenty-first century, which meant a nightly check-in was in order, or his father would be banging on his door at four in the morning with a list of the day’s chores.

“Yep. But not for long. Hannah Ashton is moving in tonight.”

“Hannah Ashton? Weren’t there any other single women at that shindig you went to?”

“Yes, there were.” But why did Holt want to know? Didn’t he like Hannah? Did his prejudice against her bison extend to the woman herself?

“Who?”

“You want a list?”

“Yep.” Holt waited, ramrod straight in the door that separated the kitchen from the living room.

Jake sighed. He knew his father well enough to understand that the sooner he answered the question, the sooner this conversation could be over.

“Mia Start and Fila Sahar.”

“Humph. And you couldn’t land either of them.” It wasn’t a question; it was a statement of Holt’s disdain.

“I didn’t want to. Good-night.” Jake left before Holt could incite him into an argument. He got back into his truck and drove the rest of the way to his cabin seething with anger. Couldn’t his father approve of anything he did? For once he’d like Holt to react with pride rather than his usual snide remarks, but that would be hoping for too much, wouldn’t it?

Jake knew his father hadn’t had it easy when he was growing up. For all their joking around about Holt’s father earlier in the night, the truth was the old man had been quicker to criticize or raise a fist than Holt had ever been. Jake knew his father loved all his children and doted on his wife, but he often had a strange way of showing it. Praise from his father was as rare as a two-headed snake, and often just as disturbing.

Well, it didn’t matter what Holt thought. He hadn’t specified which woman he needed to marry as long as he married someone, and Hannah Ashton was the only woman who interested him. As soon as they were hitched she’d take that curiosity of hers and apply it to the ranch in general. No telling what she’d come up with. He hoped she’d be a little like Autumn or his mother—a whiz in the kitchen. He, unfortunately, was not. He could picture them sitting across the breakfast table from each other, eating a real ranch meal instead of the cold cereal he shoveled into his mouth these days, and talking about the day ahead. Some chores they’d do together, like riding fences or helping with the hay harvest. Other chores they’d do on their own, him in the barn and her in the house. Their children, when they had them, would have both parents close by on the ranch—not like those city kids who didn’t see their folks from early morning to late at night. When Holt finally relinquished control over everything, Hannah would support his experiments with new ranching techniques. She’d help him research and plan and carry out trials. Maybe they could even publish their findings. He hoped Bella would be able to find a replacement receptionist without too much trouble.

Within the month.

He wondered if he should give Bella some kind of heads’ up, but decided against it after a little thought.

Time enough for that after his ring was on Hannah’s finger.

‡
Chapter Five

I
t was well
past midnight when Hannah turned in the lane to the Double-Bar-K. She passed the main house first, where Holt and Lisa lived and the boys had grown up, then drove another quarter mile to the cabins the Mathesons had built when their sons reached maturity. Jake’s came first, tucked off beside the lane flanked by two tall pine trees. With its wide front porch and generous proportions it didn’t seem diminutive to her, but she knew the Mathesons regarded the cabins as such and had heard from Morgan that they were built with an eye to adding on in the future.

She pulled up and parked in front of Jake’s place, but once she switched off the engine she found she couldn’t open the door.

What was she doing here? Did she really think she could sleep with Jake for two weeks and then just leave? She’d never entered a relationship before without the hope that it could turn into a permanent one. Now she was starting something with a definite expiration date. She wasn’t even sure that was possible.

It would be over a month until she could move back to the Cruz ranch, so she needed a plan for what to do when her fourteen days with Jake were up. She’d better start hunting for a cheap apartment tomorrow. Maybe she could handle a fourteen day romp under the covers with Jake. Maybe they’d spin it out over the holidays and into January, but then it would have to stop. Not only was she taking on a full-time course load next semester, she also planned to work. The commute to and from Billings would eat up more time, and to top it off she’d have to move to Colorado this fall. There were no closer vet programs.

Besides, she knew herself too well. She was already half stuck on Jake. If she got all tangled up with him, how could she concentrate on the years of school that loomed in front of her? All in all, this was a very bad idea.

Maybe the nights with Jake should remain chaste, after all. But how? Could she claim she had nightmares so bad she needed company to stave them off? Would Jake buy that?

“Hannah? You coming in?”

Hannah jumped at Jake’s sudden appearance at her window. His voice was muffled by the glass between them, but his words were clear enough.

And so was the stab of pure lust she felt at the sight of him so close by.

Was she coming in? She thought of Gladys safe and sound for the rest of her shaggy life. She thought of sharing a cramped bedroom in the bunkhouse with Mia and Fila for a month.

She thought of fourteen nights with Jake.

Hell, yes. She was coming in.

When Jake held
the front door open and let Hannah pass through it he felt a shiver of anticipation run the length of his spine. When she stopped inside the doorway to take in the small living room, dining room and kitchen that formed the main floor, her proximity made his groin tighten.

She wanted him. So badly she’d jumped at the chance to move right in. They were hours—or maybe minutes—from their first sexual encounter and his blood was running hot. He’d waited a hell of a long time for this moment. Hannah was lithe and pretty and smart to boot. She shared his love for animals and she worked hard. She’d be a hell of a lover and would make one heck of a wife. The thought of carrying her in her wedding dress over this threshold one day soon filled him with anticipation and a sense of rightness. This was the woman he was meant to share his life with.

“The kitchen is straight ahead,” he said, coming into the living room behind her. “The bedrooms are upstairs.” He pointed to the flight of stairs that led to a balcony. “There’s a bathroom down that hall. Let me show you around.”

The tour of the main floor took a matter of moments. He saw her take in the rough kitchen, the sparsely stocked shelves and lack of a dishwasher. He closed the bathroom door almost as soon as he opened it. He’d forgotten he’d left it a mess this morning.

“Your room is up here,” he said, leading her up the stairs a few moments later, hoping the condition of the place so far hadn’t put her off. At least the spare room was in decent shape. He’d had the presence of mind to check that. It contained a queen-sized bed, a plain wooden dresser and a desk under the single window.

Hannah stood in the doorway, as if reluctant to come any farther inside. “It’s nice, I guess.”

Uh oh
. Was she having second thoughts? Time to turn on the Matheson charm. “Come on in, take a better look.” He entered the room fully and held out his hand.

To his surprise, she took it. Hers was warm and small in his, and he squashed an urge to caress it.

Barely.

Instead, he showed her the closet and opened a drawer in the dresser. “There’s a desk here for you, too.”

“Terrific.”

Her voice was small and thin. Glancing down at her, he caught her glancing up, and suddenly he knew she was feeling the same way he was. Nervous. Interested. A little excited.

He tried to dampen that excited feeling, or at least get it under control, but he was all too aware of her standing next to him in this private place. There was a bed right there, after all—a comfortable, beckoning bed.

“Hannah, look,” he began.

“Jake, I…”

They stopped. Laughed a little.

“You first.” Jake thought she’d protest, but she took a breath and began to speak.

“Ever since that night… when the men came for Fila—I haven’t been able to sleep very well.”

He nodded slowly. It wasn’t what he’d expected her to say. He’d expected her to mention Bella and Evan’s wedding—what happened in the break room. They still hadn’t spoken of it despite the many conversations they’d had since. He thought about it all the time. He figured she must have thought about it, too. Instead of asking him why he’d done what he’d done, however, she was talking about the night they’d reconnected. The night terrorists had come to Chance Creek hunting for Fila. The night he’d been part of a shootout—his first and hopefully last—and Hannah had been there, too. In harm’s way. It made sense she had trouble sleeping since then. Less understandable was the blush creeping over her milky skin. He’d been around Hannah long enough to know that she blushed easily, but what had set her off now? Worry that he’d find her nightmares childish? Or something else?

“Sometimes I’m up for hours,” she went on. “I usually end up in Autumn’s kitchen, drinking warm milk. I read or turn on the television.”

She looked at him expectantly but he wasn’t sure what she was trying to tell him. “That won’t bother me,” he hazarded.

Hannah bit her lip. “I guess what I’m saying… what I’m asking,” she corrected herself, “is—could I sleep with you tonight?” Her words came out in a rush and her flush deepened.

Well, he’d be damned. She really did want him. A certain part of his anatomy stirred to life and a quick series of images flashed through his mind. Hannah undressed, reaching for him. Ready for him. “Uh… sure. You bet. No problem.” Hell. He sounded as eager as a schoolboy. Time to get a grip.

Time to act like a man. If Hannah was woman enough to ask that favor, he wasn’t going to leave her in any doubt of his willingness to comply. He tightened his hold on her fingers, tugged her closer, slid a hand under her hair to cup her head, bent down and kissed her.

Her mouth was as soft and sweet as it had been at the Mortimer wedding, and he thought he could spend hours just like this—kissing her like he had that night in the break room. She hesitated only a second before sighing and melting against him. He wrapped his other arm around her waist and pulled her in closer, his whole body set alight when her breasts touched his chest, her thighs pressed against his. He nibbled her lips, then searched with his tongue until she parted them with a sigh and allowed him in. The taste of her turned him on until he thought his blood would boil with wanting her.