Wanted: Fairy Godmother (16 page)

He snorted. “Tell the truth. It was no secret you had a crush on me as a kid. You pestered me and followed me every chance you got.”

Her heart twisted in agony. His feelings on her childhood yearnings appeared crystal-clear. He hated it. “I swear to you, Jake, I had no idea it was you when I answered that ad in the paper. I was shocked to discover who you were when we met at the diner. I must have sat there for a half hour before I heard Flossie mention you.”

“Ah, Flossie. Now it makes sense. She set me up. You and she kept in touch all these years, right?”

“Wrong.”
Lord, how thickheaded could this man be?
she wondered, not for the first time since he found her out. She’d had all the grilling she’d sit still for. “Now, you listen to me, Jake Lassiter, because I’m only going to say this one more time and then that’s it.” A well of pride stole over her when he gave her his undivided attention. He looked downright receptive.

“I’m all ears,” he said grudgingly.

“I did not plan any of it, with the exception of getting back what is rightfully mine, understand? I needed the money to live on and save for my ranch. I saw your ad and called. For crying out loud, I didn’t even trust you at first. Why else would I ask for a darn reference from you?” She noticed him mulling that over. “Furthermore, Flossie recognized me, remember? Now, if she was in on something, would she nearly spill the beans? I don’t think so.”

He dragged a hand over his face, sighing heavily. “Ah hell. Are you finished?”

“No, not by a long shot. Now, if your cousins had been privy to such goings-on, do you really think they’d keep it quiet? They’ve got to be some of the most indiscreet young men I have ever met.”

He chuckled. “Well, you’re right about that. They’ve never been known to keep a secret for very long.” He smiled fondly, giving her a ray of hope.

“I have had no contact with anyone in Montana since my grandfather’s funeral.” Her voice broke.

“If you haven’t, then how do you know so much about ranching? You can’t tell me that after all these years you still recall in precise minute detail, as well as execute all the right moves, ranch life.” Doubts chased across his features.

“I badgered my mother into letting me hang around at a nearby ranch in California. I worked on the place in exchange for riding privileges.” She smiled at the rush of sweet memories. “The owner reminded me of Gramps. He and his wife sorta took me under their wing and encouraged me. That’s where I learned everything, including the rope tricks. They used to perform as a team.”

“What happened to them?”

“They both died in an accident when I was visiting with my father overseas.” She shrugged, the pain still biting at the lack of compassion from her parents. They had seen it as a blessing, hoping their daughter ceased her silly dreams of owning her own ranch.

“I’m sorry.” His softly spoken apology struck a chord inside of her, healing the open wound.

Clearing her throat, she switched back to the subject at hand. “So, you see, I didn’t plot a conspiracy against you and your precious freedom.”

She thought he’d snicker at that, but he didn’t even so much as lift a corner of his mouth. Instead, he looked at her as if he’d been betrayed, cutting her heart in two.

“You could’ve told me who you were,” he said, his voice heavy with accusation.

“I couldn’t risk losing the only job I could find in a month. Admit it-if you’d known, you would have never hired me on.”

“Probably not,” he conceded. “But you used me and it just proves to me I can’t trust you to do the right thing.”

Hurt crashed down on her. An invisible hand clenched her chest, squeezing the breath from her. Then the anger swept through Callie, washing away her numb state. “The right thing,” she said softly, and then repeated it in a much louder voice, “The right thing! That’s rich coming from you, Jake Lassiter. I’m not the one trying to shuck off my responsibilities and throw three orphaned teenagers out on their own to sink or swim.”

“That is none of your business.” His voice dropped dangerously low.

“Like hell it isn’t,” she muttered, crossing her arms and pelting him with a frosty stare. The boys were like family to her. She needed them as much as they needed her.

“We’re talking about you here, not about me.”

“Oh, really?” she asked sweetly. “And what about the us part?” She held her breath for his reply, hoping he cared just a little bit.

“There is no us.”

His words cut like a knife, blade-sharp and slicing. She tried to lessen the tension in the room, praying that if she introduced a humorous note, he’d unbend. Pasting a smile on her mouth, she said, “I thought that a few hours ago there was a very definite, very
steamy
us.”
Try to deny that one.

The banked light in his eyes flared to life, ensnaring her as if she were a trapped animal in the glare of headlights.

“That was before I knew who you were, before I realized how desperate you’d become even after all these years. I’ve had women try all sorts of things to get me in their bed, but this beats them all.”

“Desperate?”
Did I miss something important?
she wondered, frowning in confusion.

“You used my cousins to get to me. And don’t tell me you’re denying that you’re still hanging on to the crush you had as a little girl,
CJ
.” He captured her gaze, and then lifted his eyebrow in question. “Are you?”

In that moment, she felt like a hundred bulls stampeded her, trampling, bruising. She could either go on being tossed around or she could stand up and say her piece; she knew she’d never get this chance again.

Straightening her spine against the hard chair, she said in a clear voice, “How dare you accuse me of using the boys.
I
happen to care a great deal about them.”

She drew in a quick, painful breath, and then went on, “Yes, Jake, I’m denying that what I feel for you is still the crush I had on you when I was seven. This feeling is so much more. God only knows why, but I love you, Jake Lassiter, with every breath in my body, with every fiber of my being.”

Jake rolled over on his side, groaning deep. Lord, he craved that woman even more now than before he’d gotten a taste of her last night. His body hummed with remembrance.

And his head ached at the aftermath. CJ and Callie were one and the same. At first, he had a difficult time fitting the two together. The little girl with pigtails, hero worshipping him, pestering him, didn’t exactly mesh with the sexy, angelic independent lady who applied for the position.

But now, after sleeping on it, he felt a wealth of pride and admiration for the spunky kid turned fairy godmother.

And, if truth be told, he experienced hot, potent desire. His body throbbed as he replayed the exquisite lovemaking. Callie-soft, sweet, and so willing, he recalled, thinking reality far outweighed his best fantasies.

He wanted her.
But at what price?
he wondered. She claimed she loved him, which still shocked him to his core. She’d bewitch and beguile him until he became the man she wanted, losing himself, and most especially his freedom.

He wouldn’t allow anyone to steal that away from him, not now when it loomed so near.
I’ve worked too hard for this, for my life.

Jake braced himself for the challenging task at hand: dismissing the most incredible night of passion of his entire life, obliterating the deep-seated yearning of his body, and forgetting the very seductive, very alluring enchantress.

Opening his eyes, he expected to find Callie asleep and hunched over the table. He found nothing. The cabin held no trace of her.

He bolted from the bed, and then raced outside. The day shone bright and clear, the sun peeking over the horizon.

Stepping off the porch, Jake sank into the soaked ground. Mud sucked at his bare feet, pulling him, holding him. Finally he made his way to the back of the cabin. Only his horse stood in the lean-to. Shock and disbelief crashed down upon his head. She’d left. Without a word, without waking him, she’d gone.

Slowly, he walked back to the porch. Halting at the open doorway, Jake studied the barren interior. Never before in his life had he glimpsed such yawning emptiness.

His carefully controlled emotional life had vanished the moment Callie entered it. In its place, chaos reigned, twisting and battering him as the fiercest bull ride never had to his scarred body. He should be thrilled to be well rid of her. But somehow, he couldn’t even muster up a smile.

***

Jake leaned his forearm on his saddle horn. The hot, blaring sun beat down on him. His quarter horse shifted beneath him, snorting as the dust swirled all around them. At this vantage point, set slightly apart from the others, Jake overlooked the third day of spring round-up.

Dodging, panicky cattle streamed in front of him, coaxed by skillful cowboys from the winter range and back to the ranch. The constant mooing protests, thunder-like hoof beats pounding at the ground, and sharp, piercing whistles and calls rose and blended in a rich, heart-warming symphony.

Jake scanned his surroundings, stopping once he picked out Callie. Longing swept through him. Desire, deeper and stronger than he’d ever felt before, consumed him since she’d left the cabin. Ten of the most highly charged, nerve shattering days of his existence, Jake mused.

Despite the underlying thick, oppressive tension residing between them, Callie communicated with him the same as before, teasing and persuasive, yet never crossing that distinct, crystal-clear line between employee and employer. It was the hidden words, the unspoken passion that bubbled and seethed, spewing out and enslaving them both to each other. Some invisible rope tethered her to him and vice versa, tugging on his heartstrings.

The air crackled with suppressed emotions. Frayed nerves began to surface. The boys, swept up with the current, teetered on the edge of an eruption of their own. Concerned for his cousins’ well-being, Jake contemplated a quick solution, but found no answers.

“Hey, son.” Gus guided his horse alongside Jake’s. Dragging out his neckerchief, Gus wiped his damp brow. “Looks like we didn’t lose that many head to the blustery winter. They should fetch a good price come fall after we fatten them up some over the summer.”

Jake grunted in agreement, his gaze still fastened on Callie. She wove Chessie expertly back and forth, cutting out the calves from the rest. A wealth of pride stole over him. She was damn good.

“Looks like you got yourself a real pro there.” Gus nodded to Callie, dragging Jake’s stare momentarily away.

“Yeah, looks that way.” He tried to keep his voice even and uninvolved. It didn’t seem to work.

“It’s none of my business…”

“That’s right, Gus, it isn’t.” His clipped, terse words warned of his lack of interest in discussing his personal life. Now if only the older man would understand.

Gus snickered. “Well, that’s never stopped me before, has it?”

Jake cringed, expecting the worst.

“Seems to me that that pretty filly and you had words. Now, Jake, I’m just as shocked as you to find out that Jasper’s little CJ turned out to be our Callie and one fine lady to boot. But, she didn’t mean any harm. She wasn’t trying to trick us or anything. Now, Flossie says—”

“Ah hell, here it comes,” Jake said in disgust, straightening in his saddle and pinning his foreman with a glare.

“Now hold up there, it ain’t bad. Flossie says Callie was only protecting herself. After all, you couldn’t expect her to stampede back into our lives and win us over by declaring herself as Jasper’s long-lost granddaughter, now could you?” He didn’t give Jake time to answer even if he wanted to. “No, you couldn’t. She eased in, letting us get to know her and like her. Your cousins took to her like a newborn calf to a teat, natural-like and mother-like.”

Jake ran it through his head, over and over again, finding little fault with Gus and Flossie’s musings. Callie faced suspicion and possible ostracizing if she’d galloped back into Montana on her high horse.

Looking at it like that, alienation seemed daunting and insurmountable for someone who only wanted to belong. He guessed he couldn’t blame her. But he realized it still hurt for her not to trust him with the information. Deep down, he knew he never would have given her a chance at proving herself as a fairy godmother or anything else if he’d known the truth.

Thank heavens I didn’t know,
he thought, discovering how much he’d have missed, how much he’d have lost, not to mention what the boys would have never gained from knowing Callie.
Magic. Adventure. Caring. A chance in a lifetime.

“And look at the way the cowhands get along with her. They appreciate how hard she works right alongside of them. They give her mighty high marks.”

Jake couldn’t disagree. But what Gus failed to point out was the way the men ogled her. He’d caught more than one eyeing the way her jeans stretched enticingly across her cute little bottom. Sharp, searing jealousy gripped his gut at the memory.

Gritting his teeth, Jake turned to his foreman. But, before he uttered one word, a flash out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. “What the hell?”

“Sweet Jesus, it’s Stan,” Gus cried.

Callie sped past Jake, following Stan’s runaway steed. Jake’s heart dropped to his knees. Waves of panic crashed down on him. Yanking on his reins and kicking his horse into action, Jake raced after the pair. “Not again,” he muttered, thinking that the record number of days the boys had stayed out of trouble had come to an abrupt, jarring end.

Hot, dusty air slapped his face and he held his breath. Squinting, he noticed Stan, still in the saddle, listing to the side. If the boy tilted any farther, his weight would drag him to the ground. The risk of Stan being trampled under the horse’s pounding hooves increased tenfold. Icy fear clawed at Jake. He jabbed his heels into his mare, urging the animal to hustle.

Callie’s horse caught up with Stan first, matching stride for stride. She reached out, snagging a handful of Stan’s shirt. “I’ve got you,” she yelled, the wind whipping her words back to Jake.