“I’ll have to finish showing you around the northern part of the Wild Maverick another day,” he said, deciding he’d had about all he could take. “It’s going to start getting dark soon.”
“I’ve really enjoyed seeing your land,” she said, resting her head against his shoulder. “Thank you for showing me around.”
“I’m glad you had a good time,” he said as they rode into the ranch yard. “This spring we’ll have to get the cook to pack us a lunch and go for a picnic down by one of the creeks.”
“Can we go fishing?” she asked, sitting up to look over her shoulder at him. “When we were little, our dad took me and Bria fishing a few times. The best I can remember, we played in the water more than we fished, but we had a lot of fun.”
He nodded. “When the real estate agent was showing me around the property last fall, he said that the creeks had catfish and bluegill.”
“I wouldn’t know the difference,” she said, laughing. “But I’m looking forward to it.”
She sounded as if she really meant it, and Jaron decided right then and there that whatever hell he’d gone through showing her around his ranch had been more than worth it. He might not be able to assure her that there would be a tomorrow for them, but he could do everything in his power to make her happy for as long as they were together.
And come hell or high water, that was exactly what he was going to do.
Six
When Mariah walked into her closet after her shower, she started going through clothes, wondering what on earth she was going to wear for her night out with Jaron. A few days ago, when they’d returned from their ride around the ranch, he’d been called away to help his men in the calving sheds and she hadn’t seen a lot of him the rest of the week. He had apologized and explained that calving season ran for several weeks, and because the majority of the cows having calves now were first-time mothers, they had to be watched more closely for signs of trouble during the birthing process. But when he’d come in earlier than usual this afternoon, he’d surprised her by telling her to dress up for dinner because he had something special planned for Valentine’s Day.
Pushing back hangers as she tried to decide on a dress, Mariah smiled. Since their talk a few days ago, Jaron had been more at ease and now took every opportunity he could to touch her or take her in his arms for kisses that left her head spinning. And she loved every minute of it.
She knew it wasn’t a commitment or even the promise of one. But it did give her hope.
It might be foolish of her to think that Jaron could eventually overcome the sadness and abandonment of his childhood. And her intuition was telling her that there were more problems in his past than what he had told her. But he had shared part of it, and that was a start. Maybe one day, he would be able to tell her all of what he had been through and the reason behind his being sent to the Last Chance Ranch. She realized that she could very well be deluding herself and opening the door for a broken heart if he couldn’t. But she would never know if she didn’t take that leap of faith. And not giving them a chance was simply not an option.
With her mind made up to give him the time to fully trust her with his secrets, she turned her attention back to finding something to wear. When she pushed a black cocktail dress aside to reveal the simple red minidress she’d worn the night Jaron had brought her home with him from the Broken Spoke, she grinned. He’d really seemed to like the formfitting knit jersey fabric and drop shoulders. And since it was a beautiful dark red with a little bit of shimmer to it, it would be perfect for a Valentine’s Day dinner.
With her mind made up to wear exactly what she’d worn the night he’d made love to her, she slipped the dress from the hanger and grabbed her black spike heels from the built-in oak shoe rack. Walking back into the bedroom, she placed them on the bed, then opened the dresser drawer where she kept her lingerie. As she put on the matching strapless black lace-and-satin bra and panties, she hoped Jaron found them as irresistible this time as he had the first time he’d seen her in them.
Thirty minutes later, she walked out of the bedroom toward the stairs. Her makeup was in place, her hair was styled and she was ready for a night out with the sexiest man she’d ever known.
Her breath caught when she spotted the man who had captured her heart the first time she’d seen him waiting for her at the bottom of the winding staircase. Dressed in a long-sleeved white Oxford cloth shirt and dark blue jeans, Jaron looked amazing. When he looked up and saw her, the appreciation in his dark blue eyes and the smile on his handsome face caused her stomach to flutter and sent a wave of warmth coursing through her. If it was possible, he stole her heart all over again.