Cougar in Texas (Rugged and Risque 3)

“Boy this town is getting better looking by the day,” Jess quipped.

“Wait ’til we all have kids,” Liza said. “Can you imagine mini-Jacks running around Wilder?”

Ginger wrapped up her call and clasped her hands together. “You two are thinking about starting a family?”

Liza positively beamed. “Jack asked, I said yes. I mean, how could I not? The mere thought of having children with his good looks and my fashion sense brings a smile to my face.”

“Ryan and I want children too.”

Jess laughed. “I have to admit, George has been hinting. Big-time. When we remodeled the Tudor, we prepped a room to make it easy to turn into a nursery.”

“Oh this is just too much.” Reese rolled her eyes. “Here y’all go again. Just when I thought I’d caught up in the sexual bliss area, you’ve moved onto baby bliss.”

“No one’s pregnant yet,” Liza said in an exasperated tone. “Don’t get too worked up. Jack and I have just, you know, been practicing.” She winked. “A lot.”

“Anyway,” Jess said, obviously changing the topic to get Reese’s mind off all the marital bliss. “I heard this Sam fellow isn’t wearing a wedding ring, so you can be certain there’ll be much more interest in him if he sticks around.”

Reese’s eyes narrowed on her. “Did you spend the afternoon in Lydia’s salon? Is that where you heard all this gossip?”

“Of course. Couldn’t you tell?” She gave a gentle shake of her light-auburn hair, the perfect complement to her peach-colored complexion.

“You look fantastic,” Liza assured her. “But how does that woman hear so much chatter before anyone else in this town?”

“If you sat in her chair even one time, you’d know,” Reese said in a droll tone.

“Still doing my own highlights,” Liza told them. “While Lydia has mellowed out considerably, I’m not yet convinced she won’t do something drastic to my hair because she doesn’t like the way I dress.”

“She did something drastic to my hair when she was mad about Ryan dating me,” Ginger said. “And it turned out great!”

Ginger’s golden locks sat perkily on her shoulders, all nice and fluffy.

“I can’t afford for her to hack off five inches,” Liza said. “I do not look good with short hair.”

“Interesting how the woman is even more talented when she’s miffed,” Reese mused. “Maybe you ought to give her a chance, Liza. You’ve still got a tinge of orange to those highlights.”

Liza smirked. “And you’ve got a couple gray hairs coming in along your part.”

Reese scoffed. “Now don’t go mentioning gray hairs to me. I’m sensitive about this cougar thing.”

“I still think it’s sexy as hell,” Liza contended. “And you just know it has to grind Tommy’s wheels.”

“Hear, hear!” Ginger said as she lifted her wineglass for a toast. “And don’t let the gossipmongers get you down. They just have too much time on their hands. Plus, Ryan said he’d swing by the B&B regularly and alert Dan Baker to do the same while Tommy’s in town.”

That was a tremendous relief. Unfortunately, she’d also have to warn Caleb and Sam. An unsettling thought.

Chapter Seven

Reese waited to broach the subject of her ex’s vicious rumor spreading and peeping Tom activities, not particularly amused by the pun, until the next afternoon. She drove out to the ranch around noon, taking the men lunch.

She honked as she passed the stables where they worked, then continued up to the house, some distance away. Climbing out of the car, she stared up at the enormous building and wondered what on earth the previous owner had been thinking when he’d constructed the huge abode. From what Reese knew of the place, no one had ever lived on the premises. The ranch had been completed in the early 2000s but had sat unoccupied all this time. Rumor had it the seller had moved out of the country with his global business. Obviously, he’d had enough money to not worry about paying for the property while it sat vacant, s

ince the bank had never foreclosed. Reese wondered if he’d intended to start, or had at the time, a large family. Were that the case, the ranch would certainly be a legacy worthy of investing in.

Her gaze slid to Sam’s truck as it pulled alongside her car. She wondered about Caleb’s true stance on children. Not that she was really thinking that far ahead, but he had mentioned he was saving his trust fund for them. And regardless of the fact that they were still testing the waters with their new romance, what woman wouldn’t consider all the nuances of a future with someone she was deeply attracted to? It was nice to know the deal breakers up front, and truth be told, all the baby talk the previous evening had her mulling over the possibilities.

Granted, for the time being, she was simply happy to have found someone to share her evenings with, so babies were most definitely not a pressing issue. And with Sam in the house as well, she actually felt as though she were a part of something more significant than being the standalone B&B owner she’d been, even during her marriage. The lonesomeness, she suddenly realized, had vanished completely since that first kiss Caleb had given her.

She smiled at him as he strode her way. When he reached her, he gave her a long, searing kiss, making her forget all about her mission to warn them of Tommy’s gossip.