Tempted by the Texan

Their foster father had stressed that Jaron and his foster brothers should view their time at the Last Chance Ranch as a fresh start and had helped all of them grow up to be productive, upstanding men. He’d counseled them with his sage advice, and for the most part they had moved on and left their troubles in the past. So why hadn’t Jaron been able to do that as completely as the others? If he could find a way to come to terms with what had happened in his childhood, would he finally feel free to try having a relationship with Mariah?

As he parked his truck in the garage, he glanced over at Mariah’s car. He wasn’t sure what the answers were. And until he figured it out, it was best just to leave things the way they were.

* * *

“Thank you for dinner,” Mariah said as she and Jaron walked into the family room to watch television after they ate. “It was delicious, but I’m positively stuffed.”

The carryout food that he’d brought back from the Broken Spoke had been very good, but the portions had been double the size of those at any restaurant she’d ever been to and more than she could possibly eat. She hadn’t even been able to take a bite of the delicious-looking apple pie he’d bought for their dessert. Knowing how much he loved it, she’d insisted he eat her slice as well as his own.

“You’ve eaten there before, haven’t you?” he asked, reaching for the remote.

“The other night when my car broke down was the first time I’ve ever been in the place,” she admitted. “Normally when I’m in the area, I’m at one of your family’s dinners or parties.”

“Speaking of family dinners, we have one coming up,” he said, turning the television to a popular crime show. “Next weekend we’ll be getting together for Sam’s birthday.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” she said, slipping off her shoes to curl up in the corner of the couch. “I haven’t seen the babies since Christmas.” Bria and Sam’s little boy was her only biological nephew, but she loved all of the foster brothers’ children as if they were related by blood.

“It won’t be long before there are two more.” Jaron gave her a wary look. “We know Nate and Jessie are having a girl. I assume you think T.J. and Heather will have a girl, too.”

Mariah smiled. “Of course.” Every time one of the men’s wives became pregnant, she had been positive the baby would be a girl, while Jaron had insisted it would be a boy. “I suppose you think Heather will have a boy.”

“To tell you the truth, it really doesn’t matter that much anymore.” He shrugged. “I’d never been around little girls until Ryder and Summer had Katie. Now all it takes is one of her cute grins and I turn into a damned fool.”

“That’s the way I feel about all of them,” she admitted. “The boys and Katie are all absolutely adorable and I couldn’t love them more if I tried.”

“Then, why do you keep insisting when one of the sisters-in-law learns she’s pregnant that the baby is going to be a girl?” he asked, raising one dark eyebrow.

“You haven’t figured it out yet?” she asked, laughing.

Looking confused, he shook his head. “Why don’t you let me in on what you think I should have figured out.”

“I just like arguing with you,” she answered, grinning.

“That’s it?” When she nodded, he frowned. “Why?”

Leaning toward him, she whispered, “Because I wanted to get your attention.”

“Well, you did that.” The lines on his forehead deepened. “I thought you were pissed off at me most of last year after I mentioned that I was right when Lane and Taylor found out they were having a boy.”

“No woman likes for a man to gloat on the rare occasion she’s wrong,” Mariah warned.

“So you were mad at me?” he asked.

“I wasn’t happy, but I was more miffed than I was angry.”

He grunted. “What’s the difference?”

“Miffed is unhappy,” she explained. “Angry is what I was last week when you went Neanderthal on that poor man and escorted me out of the Broken Spoke because you thought I was incapable of handling the situation myself.”

“I’d do it again in a heartbeat if the need arose,” he said stubbornly. “And if I were you, I wouldn’t feel too sorry for old Roy Lee. He needed a lesson in what it means to respect a woman, and I had no problem giving him a crash course on the subject.”