Tempted by the Texan

Aside from the fact that her sister would have reminded her that she didn’t know the first thing about cooking, Bria would have probably felt compelled to be the concerned big sister and warn her not to get in over her head or to count on things working out the way she wanted. But Mariah had accepted the job with her eyes wide-open and wasn’t expecting anything more than getting the answers she wanted from Jaron.

“It looks as if you have enough food here to feed an army,” Jaron commented from the doorway.

Startled by the unexpected interruption, Mariah jumped and placed her hand over her racing heart. After carrying in the groceries for her, he had gone outside to help his men with some repairs to one of the barns and she hadn’t heard him reenter the house.

“Good heavens, Jaron! You scared me...out of a year’s growth,” she said, trying to catch her breath.

“I called your name when I stopped in the mudroom to take off my boots,” he said, motioning over his shoulder with his thumb toward the kitchen.

“I must have been concentrating on getting all of these things put away and didn’t hear you,” she said, brushing past him to enter the kitchen. Glancing at the clock, she walked over to the sink to wash her hands. “After you brought in the groceries for me, I started putting everything away and lost track of time. I’ll have your lunch ready in a few minutes. Will a sandwich and chips be okay?”

“That’s fine,” he said, nodding. “I’ll help.”

“Did you and your men get the repairs made in the barn?” she asked as she gathered the things she needed to make them ham-and-cheese sandwiches.

“Yes and no,” he said, taking plates from the cabinet to set the table.

“How does that work?” she asked, laughing. “You either did or you didn’t get things fixed.”

His low chuckle sent a warm feeling throughout her body. “We got everything done on the list of things that needed repairing, then we found one of the stall doors has a broken hinge and another stall that needs a few boards replaced.”

“It sounds as though keeping things in good shape is a never-ending job,” she said, setting a small platter of sandwiches on the table.

“Welcome to the world of ranching, darlin’,” he said, holding her chair for her. When she sat down, he took a seat at the opposite end of the table. “Our foster father always told me and my brothers that if we couldn’t find something that needed to be done, we weren’t looking.”

She laughed. “From everything I’ve heard about Hank Calvert he was a wonderful, very wise man.”

“I don’t know of any better,” he agreed. “I don’t even want to think about where my brothers and I would be if we hadn’t been sent to the Last Chance Ranch. He saved us from ourselves and we wouldn’t be where we are today without him.”

They fell silent for several minutes as they ate before Jaron spoke again.

“I...want to talk to you about last night,” he said, his voice hesitant.

Mariah stared at him a moment, wondering what he wanted to say. Had what she’d said to him the night before gotten through to him? Was he finally going to open up to her?

“All right.” Her appetite suddenly deserting her, she placed her half-eaten sandwich on her plate. “What do you want to discuss, Jaron?”

“I want to apologize for kissing you.” He shook his head. “It shouldn’t have happened.”

“Oh, good grief, Jaron!” She picked up her plate, got up from the table and carried it over to scrape the remainder of her lunch into the garbage disposal. Putting the plate into the dishwasher, she added, “If I hear you say that one more time, I think I’m going to be sorely tempted to throttle you.” She turned to glare at him. “Get a clue, cowboy. Kissing me is something you obviously want to do or it wouldn’t keep happening. And as for your apology, there is absolutely no reason for it. I wanted you to kiss me, and the night we made love, I wanted that, too. So keep your ‘I didn’t mean to do that’ or ‘it won’t happen again’ to yourself, because we both know better.”

Before she could stop herself, she marched over to the table, placed her palms on his lean cheeks and, leaning down, kissed him for all she was worth. His firm lips immediately molded to hers, and when she traced them with the tip of her tongue it took very little coaxing to get him to allow her entry. Treating him to the same delightful exploration that he had treated her to each time he’d kissed her, Mariah stroked and teased his inner recesses until a groan rumbled up from deep in his chest. Only then did she raise her head to stare into his dark blue eyes. She might have laughed at his startled expression if she hadn’t still been so frustrated with him.