Tempted by the Texan

“That’s great, but how am I supposed to get home tonight?” she asked, rubbing her temple with her fingertips as if she might be developing a headache. A sudden rumble of thunder followed by a flash of lightning in the distance caused her to groan. “Great! Just great. I still have ninety miles to drive before I get home, my car won’t run and now it’s going to start raining. Could this day get any better?”

“It’s been a rough one?” he asked, noticing the defeated expression on her pretty face.

She looked at him as though he might be one of the simplest souls she’d ever met. “Let me put it to you this way—I’ve definitely had a lot better.”

As he stood there staring at her, he waged an internal battle with himself. It was getting late and there weren’t a lot of choices. He was worn-out from working all day and she sounded as though she was exhausted from whatever had ruined hers. He could drive her down to Shady Grove, but he really wasn’t looking forward to making the hour-and-a-half drive back as tired as he was—not when he had a very comfortable, fully furnished six-bedroom ranch house ten miles away.

“Don’t worry about how you’re going to get home,” he said, glancing at his watch. “You can stay at my place tonight and drive back to Shady Grove in the morning after my men get your car fixed.”

“I don’t want to impose.” A sudden gust of wind had her impatiently brushing her long dark brown hair away from her face as she shivered from the February cold. “Could you drive me over to Sam and Bria’s?”

It would be the best for all concerned if he could take her to her sister and his brother’s ranch. Unfortunately, that option wasn’t on the table. “Sam and Bria left this morning to go down to Houston for a stock show.”

She looked uncertain for several seconds and he could tell she was trying to think of something—anything—else she could do. When her shoulders sagged in defeat, he knew she’d reached the same conclusion he had.

She sighed heavily. “It doesn’t look as though I have a choice, does it?”

He shook his head. “I’ve got five spare bedrooms and you can take your pick.”

“All right,” she finally agreed, opening her car door. She retrieved a short black leather jacket from the passenger seat and pulled it on, then used her remote to lock the car.

Neither spoke as they walked the short distance to his truck and he helped her into the passenger side of the cab. What could they say? He had let his guard down and given in to the temptation of kissing her. But it couldn’t happen again. Now that she was going to have to spend the night at his place because her car had broken down, another kiss like the one he’d given her a few minutes ago could very easily push him over the edge and cause him to lose what little sense he had left.

When Jaron walked around the front of the truck to slide into the driver’s seat, he stared straight ahead as he started the powerful engine. He still wanted her and he could only hope that he’d cool off on the ten-mile drive to the Wild Maverick Ranch, at least enough to get some sleep.

But as he steered the truck out of the parking lot and headed toward his ranch, he knew as surely as the sun would rise in the east tomorrow morning that wasn’t going to happen. Now that he had tasted her sweet lips and held her soft body against his, he wanted a whole lot more. And that was something he knew for certain he could never have.

Mariah deserved a man who could offer her a future free of the emotional and physical scars of the past. Unfortunately, he had both.

* * *

When Jaron drove his truck beneath the arched entrance sign of the Wild Maverick Ranch, Mariah’s heart skipped a beat. She still couldn’t believe that he’d kissed her, let alone that she was going to spend the night at his new ranch.

When she was eighteen, she’d had a crush on him and dreamed of nothing more than having him feel as enamored with her as she was with him. He’d known about the infatuation, and instead of teasing her about it as some men might have done, he had been a perfect gentleman. He hadn’t encouraged her in order to stroke his ego, nor had he discouraged her. He had simply ignored it and treated her the same as the rest of his brothers. She’d known he thought he was too old for her back then, and he’d been right. She hadn’t been mature enough to handle a relationship with a man in his late twenties.

As the years went by and they saw each other at the family gatherings her sister held for the six foster brothers, she’d seen Jaron watch her and known he found her attractive. But to her disappointment, he hadn’t asked her out or treated her any different than he had when she was a teenager.