Kitabı oku: «Expecting...in Texas», sayfa 3

Four

Vanessa and Devin left on their honeymoon immediately after the reception, and life on the sprawling ranch went back to normal.

But normal did not really include her, Savannah thought as she sat the next morning in the dining room, pretending to eat breakfast. She’d gone from being Vanessa’s best friend to being a ranch employee, and wasn’t really sure anymore how to behave.

Dallas was at the table with her, as was Ryan. After murmuring a preoccupied hello in her direction, Ryan had been prodded by his son to give the final okay on Savannah’s hiring.

“Hmm? Oh yes, of course. I’m sure you’ll be fine.” Picking up the cup of coffee at his place, he began walking away with it, heading for the front door. “But there’s no need to rush into anything,” he tossed back at her in his wake, still preoccupied. “Why don’t you wait until Vanessa returns before you get started? Just consider this an extended vacation for now.”

Translation: I’m being retained as a favor, Savannah thought. There was no reason to wait for Vanessa. Vanessa was a psychologist, not the manager of the ranch. That position belonged to Ryan, and to Dallas in part because Dallas would be the one who’d be taking over the ranch when his father retired.

A sour taste formed in Savannah’s mouth. She’d told Vanessa that she didn’t like the idea of being anyone’s charity case.

Dallas waited until he heard the front door close before saying anything to Savannah. “It’s not what you think.”

Savannah stopped toying with the breakfast pastry on her plate. There was just no way she could bring it to her mouth. She’d spent the first half hour of her day being miserably ill with morning sickness. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that Vanessa didn’t make up the bookkeeping job. We really do need someone to keep the books around here.” He looked toward the front of the house. “It’s just that lately, Dad’s been kind of preoccupied. What with the divorce, and Sophia trying to take him for all he’s worth.”

Savannah knew all about the bitter battle Ryan Fortune was embroiled in. “You read minds?”

Dallas laughed, shaking his head. “Your face is an open book. Consider yourself on salary as of this morning.” He pushed back from the table. “As for the books, I’ll show them to you myself later this week. I work at the Fortune TX offices in town, but I also have a hand in the ranch management. For now, why don’t you do what Dad said? Just enjoy our hospitality. Go for a ride. I’ll even join you, if you like.”

Savannah gave the pastry one last look and then rose from the table. “No, you’ve been kind enough already. I think I could use a little time to myself right now, if you don’t mind.”

He understood very well about wanting to be alone. Ever since his wife had died, Dallas had carved out huge chunks of solitude for himself.

“Understood.” Finished, Dallas dropped his napkin beside his plate and rose. “Tell one of the hands to saddle a horse for you. Help yourself to any one, although I’d recommend Pixie Dust. She’d got a disposition like an angel.” He smiled at Savannah before leaving. “Like you.”

Dallas really was very sweet, Savannah thought as she walked to the stables. It was such a shame that he didn’t smile more often. A man like that deserved to be happy. She fervently hoped that he would find someone someday to make him as happy as his late wife had.

As she walked, Savannah kept one eye out for Cruz. It wasn’t to try to get his attention if she saw him, but to avoid it. She really did want to be alone with her thoughts right now, to try to sort them out.

“Can I help you with anything, señorita?” Cruz was just walking out of the stables as she hurried in.

So much for trying to avoid him. “No, I just want to get a horse.”

“Choose one, I’ll saddle it for you.” Cruz gestured into the stable.

Savannah wanted to do it herself. She’d never gotten the knack of being pampered. And she certainly didn’t want to be waited on by him. “That’s all right. I’m sure you’re busy. I know how to saddle a horse.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were staying on at the ranch?”

Startled, Savannah’s hands froze on the saddle horn. She’d just placed the saddle on a strawberry mare and was about to tighten the cinch under the horse’s belly. Well, gossip sure did travel fast, she supposed. She tried to look nonchalant as she glanced at Cruz over her shoulder.

“I didn’t think you’d be interested.” It was an honest answer, if not the complete truth.

Nudging her gently aside, Cruz took over tightening the cinch. “I’m interested in everything about you, don’t you know that?”

The man could melt steel at thirty paces with that look, Savannah thought. And she wasn’t steel.

Savannah shook her head. “It’s all right— I relieve you of it.”

He looked completely lost. “Of what?”

“Of the need to be charming around me.” She tried to look serious, and only partially succeeded. “Cruz, if we’re going to keep running into each other like this, you’re going to grow very tired of being so devastatingly charming to me.”

His eyes slid over her in a look that could only be called possessive. His smile was wide. “Never.”

Savannah sighed. “Why don’t you just treat me the way you treat Vanessa? It might make it easier on both of us.”

Especially on her, she thought. She didn’t know just how much longer she could keep resisting him. It was important to stop the game now, before she became too addicted to what he might offer. And too devastated when he didn’t offer it any longer.

Picking up the reins, Cruz led the mare out for her. “Well, for one thing, I never made love with Vanessa.”

Savannah had never even considered that possibility. Now that Cruz mentioned it, she realized that Vanessa and him making love was something that very well could have happened—growing up on the ranch together and being so close.

But she believed him when he said they hadn’t. Words slid effortlessly from his tongue like golden honey pouring from a pitcher, but somehow she believed him. Besides, surely if Vanessa had ever been romantically involved with him, she would have said something when Savannah confessed about being pregnant with Cruz’s baby.

Still, Vanessa was one of the most beautiful people, inside and out, that Savannah had ever known. She couldn’t understand Cruz not making a play for her friend. “Why didn’t you?”

His smile grew a little less lethal. “Because she’s like a sister to me.”

For some men, that wouldn’t have meant much. But Savannah knew what a high regard Cruz had for his family. It hadn’t taken long to discover. She could tell by the way she’d seen him kiss his mother on the cheek at the reception, the way he’d looked at his sister Maggie when she’d talked to some of the male guests. There was affection and an air of the protector about Cruz when it came to his family.

All the things, she thought, that had been missing from her own life, her own family. They had been three polite, well-educated people forced to live with one another for a time—all because of one mistake.

The same mistake she’d made, but wasn’t going to compound, even though a part of her ached to have Cruz in her life any way she could. Each time she was around him, she found herself more drawn, more attracted. More wistful. And more resolved not to make her parents’ misjudgment. Love did not bloom under adversity. Only hostility did.

“I don’t know if that makes Vanessa lucky, or not,” Savannah commented.

The remark started Cruz wondering about her again. Was she as genuine as she seemed? Or was it all just a very clever act? When he was with her, he could swear that she was completely sweet, completely innocent. Yet away from Savannah, when thoughts had time to ferment and impressions faded, Cruz found himself thinking she had to be like the rest.

Didn’t she?

He glanced toward his own horse. Hellfire stood in the corral, jealously watching him work with the other horse. A thought began to form, created by impulse.

“That would be for you to judge,” he told her, “not me.”

The conversation was headed toward hotter ground than she wanted to tread on. Savannah took the reins from him.

“If I’m going to be working for the Fortunes, you and I are going to have to come to some sort of mutual agreement.”

His eyes sparkled. She was playing hard to get, he realized. Nothing he loved better than a challenge. It made him want her that much more. The fact that he’d already had her didn’t really enter into the picture.

His eyes cut the distance between them until there was nothing. “I’m all for that.”

Savannah tried to pull her wits together. Cruz was making it very hard to think. “We’re going to have to have a working arrangement.”

Just what he had in mind. He ran his hand up along her elbow and had the pleasure of seeing a spark of desire enter her eyes. “You know what they say. All work and no play…”

She thought of everything Vanessa had told her after she’d made her confession. Cruz’s conquests were legion. “No one can accuse you of that.”

“No,” he agreed. “They can’t.” His brown eyes darkened a shade. “But I work hard for my keep. No one can say any less than that, either.”

Had she offended him? There was so much pride in Cruz, so much in the way for her to wade through. She knew she didn’t want to inadvertently put him down. Even if she never wanted to tell him that the child she carried was his, she still wanted to get to know him. For her baby’s sake, as well as her own. To get to know him and to perhaps become his friend, at least for a little while. Her parents had been lovers, but never friends—and in the end, Savannah knew it was friendship that kept love alive.

He held the reins for her as she mounted the horse. “So, where are you going?”

She looked toward the wide, open spaces that beckoned to her. “Just for a ride. To clear my head a little.”

He still held on to the reins, even though she reached for them. “Alone?”

Firmly, she leaned over and took the reins from his hand. “I don’t mind being alone. Dallas offered to come with me, but—”

At the mention of the other man, she saw Cruz’s mouth harden just a fraction.

Dallas again. Was there something serious going on between them? Dallas had his own house on the ranch, yet Cruz knew that last night, the other man had slept in the big house.

As had Savannah.

He raised his chin, his eyes cool. “And you turned him down?”

Why was he looking at her that way? What had she said? “I didn’t want to take him away from anything.”

“That’s very kind of you.” The smile returned, as if nothing at all had crossed his mind except to enjoy the day as it unfolded. “But we can’t have you riding around and getting lost. I’ll come with you.”

She looked toward the corral. It was where Cruz worked to train each horse individually. There was one in there now. “Aren’t you working?”

Taking hold of the mare’s bit to keep Savannah from suddenly riding off, he led her horse over to his own horse. Releasing Pixie Dust, Cruz easily slid onto Hellfire. He needed no saddle, no reins—just his skill.

“Even employees get to have a lunch break. I’m just taking mine a little early.” Cruz gestured for her to lead the way. “I was about to go for a ride anyway.”

Savannah turned the mare toward the open country. “Where would you have gone if you hadn’t seen me?”

“To a very lonely place. Now it won’t be so lonely.”

Savannah shook her head. Heaven help her, but she was enjoying this, even when she knew it wasn’t real. “You don’t stop, do you?”

Cruz was the picture of innocence. “Stop what?”

She played along, though she knew that he knew exactly what she meant. “Flattering.”

Solemnly, he shook his head. “Not when I’m inspired by an angel.”

If she was an angel, she thought, it was of the fallen variety. “What we did that night wasn’t very angelic.”

“No?” His brows rose so that they melted into the hair that fell into his eyes. “I could have sworn I heard heavenly music and angels singing at one point.” He saw her looking up at the sky as if she was searching for something. Or waiting. “What are you doing?”

“Looking for lightning.” An impish smile curved her mouth, though she tried to sound serious. “It should be striking you at any minute.”

He laughed, kicking his heels into the horse’s flanks to pick up a little speed. “Lightning never strikes down a man who speaks the truth.”

Savannah slanted a knowing look in his direction. “Yes, I know.”

Cruz laughed again.

Maybe she shouldn’t have come.

God knows she’d wanted to. The minute she’d turned around to see Cruz at the stables, she’d wanted to be alone with him like this. But it wouldn’t be right, not with this secret between them.

And making love with him, the way she so desperately wanted to do, would only further entangle her heart. She had to concentrate on the future, not the immediate moment, no matter what sort of ecstasy it promised to bring.

But all her logical thoughts kept flying away from her, just as they had that first night they’d been together. Cruz had that kind of effect on her. Just being near her, he drew every scrap of common sense out of her head and replaced it with a yearning so huge that it was almost unmanageable.

They’d been in the meadow now for at least half an hour. Cruz had been nothing but gentlemanly in his advances, touching nothing more intimate than her arm or her neck. He still managed to reduce her to a mass of needs that were better off unsated.

She’d had to fight herself more than she had him.

Stepping away as he came closer to her, Savannah glanced down at her wrist. When she raised her eyes again, she saw that he was looking at her, bemused.

“You keep looking at your watch. If you’re expecting someone, they won’t be coming here.” He stared deep into her eyes. “This place is special.”

From up here, with the valley below, she had to admit that the view was spectacular. How many women had he brought here before her? She had to keep that foremost in mind.

“Conjured it up just for me, did you?”

Being out here had always been a humbling experience for Cruz. It put the world, and his ambitions, into perspective. He and his sister Maggie had discovered this place as kids. He came here mostly to be alone with his thoughts. Instinctively, he’d known Savannah would like it. Being here with her seemed right somehow.

“If I could have, I would have. You belong in a place like this. It puts the beauty of nature up against a gauge.”

Savannah rolled her eyes. He really knew how to take the most blatant of lies and make it sound like the truth. Or perhaps she just desperately wanted to believe that he meant at least a small part of what he was saying. And that he cared about her, even a little.

If there was a seedling, it could be nurtured to grow….

Oh, damn, what was she doing, trying to create hope in the middle of a hopeless situation?

She ran the tip of her tongue along her lips. “I was looking at my watch because I don’t want you to be late, getting back.”

Coming up behind her, he slid his hands over her arms. And felt her shiver involuntarily against him. A fire leaped through his veins. Far more demanding than what he’d felt when he thought Dallas had bedded her.

“Let me worry about me,” Cruz said softly. His warm breath whispered along the sensitive flesh along her neck.

Savannah could feel her stomach tightening.

“Besides, I don’t punch a clock,” Cruz told her. “That’s not how horse training is done.”

Keep him talking. If he talks, he can’t kiss. And if he can’t kiss, I can’t melt.

“How is it done?” Her own voice sounded incredibly squeaky and thin to her ear.

“With skill.” She could feel his mouth curving into a smile against her neck. “Just like making love with a woman.”

He knew he could have her if he pressed the tiniest bit. But something held him back. So instead of stoking the fire he knew was already burning, Cruz laid his cheek against hers.

“Look out there.”

Below their feet, stretching out to eternity, was perhaps the most breathtaking valley she had ever seen. She sighed softly, letting the serenity soothe her. “It’s beautiful.”

Cruz saw more than just beauty, he saw solitude. A place where a man’s place in life didn’t matter.

“Nothing for miles.” Suddenly, he wanted her with an intensity he’d rarely felt. But he needed her to come to him on her own, not be seduced into doing it. It wouldn’t count unless she came to him.

Slowly, he turned her around to face him. “No one would see us. It’s far more isolated than a stable.”

Her heart lodged itself in her throat, taking up a position that was becoming increasingly familiar. “Did you bring me here just to make love with me?”

His eyes held hers. What was it about her that drew him in like this?

“I would bring you anywhere to make love with you, Savannah. And there is no ‘just’ about it.” He broke with tradition, and told her the truth, if only just this once. “I’ve had you on my mind ever since that night.”

God, how she wished she could believe him…. But she knew she’d just be fooling herself. Men like Cruz Perez didn’t remember a single encounter like the one they’d shared. If she were being honest, it surprised her that he even remembered her name. Granted, he hadn’t left her abruptly after it was over, with some hurried, flimsy excuse. Instead, he’d held her in his arms, murmuring softly to her in Spanish. She’d been afraid to ask him what the words meant—afraid because they wouldn’t be what she’d wanted them to be: a promise.

It was a silly notion, then and now. She knew his reputation. And her own inexperience. The two did not make for a memorable encounter for someone like Cruz.

With effort, she left the shelter of his arms. “I flatter easily, Cruz, but don’t mistake that for stupidity.”

He looked intrigued. “I would never think of you as stupid, querida.” Not to be outmaneuvered, Cruz slipped his arms around her waist. It struck him that something had changed since the last time they’d made love. “You feel thinner.” He glanced down at her waist. “Are you losing weight?”

Savannah caught her lower lip between her teeth. Right now, thanks to morning sickness she was losing weight. But that would all change soon.

Trying to be casual, she shrugged, her arms moving against his. “Nerves.”

He studied her face carefully. The revelation further intrigued him. A ploy, or honesty? “What are you nervous about?”

So many things. You. This reckless feeling inside me.

Savannah caught herself before she blurted out more than she intended. Instead, she told him, “New jobs always make me nervous.”

“I think it’s more than that.” He searched her face. Cruz narrowed his eyes. “Do I make you nervous?”

Savannah took a deep breath. Lies were always hard on her. She’d never really managed to tell them with any sort of flair.

“Maybe,” she admitted. “Just a little.”

The confession caught him off guard. Women were rarely honest with him. He found it a rather charming quality. And very disarming.

Bending, he kissed her cheek instead of her lips. “Then I won’t give you anything to be nervous about.” This time, he added silently. Cruz looked into her eyes. “We have time.”

Rather than quell her nerves, he’d made them jump even more. He was far too close for Savannah to think rationally. The only solution was distance.

“Speaking of which—” She held up her wristwatch for his perusal.

“Yes, I know.” Lowering her wrist, he took her hand in his and began walking back to where they’d tethered the horses. “Maybe we should be getting back. I’ve given her enough time to feel secure that I’m not returning to plague her. She’ll be surprised to find me nudging at her heels again.”