Maid in Montana Read online

  “I know I don’t have to. I want to.”

  She shook her head. “Just having you appreciate my cooking is thanks enough.”

  “Since you don’t want a gift. How about a ride? Maybe you’d like to take one of the horses out for a few hours.”

  Her eyes widened. She’d never ridden a horse, but being at this breathtaking ranch had awakened that desire in her. “I’d love to see more of the ranch.”

  Jeb knew Slim was up to something the second he walked into the kitchen.

  “I was just telling Sophie we have a new mare, perfect for someone like her to ride.”

  He faced her. As had now become the norm, her thick dark hair was swept to the top of her head and pinned out of her way, but tendrils escaped to frame her face. Her bright eyes were shining. Her smile made him want to smile back at her. Which was a really great reason to stop looking at her, but he couldn’t very well stare at the coffeepot while talking to her.

  “You’ve never ridden?”

  “No.”

  Her excited expression was almost too much for him to bear and he couldn’t stop the chuckle that escaped. “And you want to go riding this afternoon?”

  “I’ve got all the furniture and fixtures ordered. Now I have nothing to do but wait until everything arrives.”

  “Okay. Great. Whatever.”

  Slim smiled down at the dish of pastry in front of him. “That’s exactly what I told her you’d say. I also told her she couldn’t ride alone on her first time. She’d need a guide.”

  “Right again.”

  “Which is why I told her I’d watch her baby.”

  Jeb frowned. “How can you watch the baby when you’re going with her?”

  “Well, I could go with her but then you’d have to watch Brady.”

  Jeb’s breath caught. He pictured himself…alone…with the little boy with the wild hair and the bright eyes and the smile that could lift the spirits of a man on death row. Terror filled him. He’d never even held a child. He most certainly didn’t know how to care for one for several hours.

  What if he cried and Jeb couldn’t get him to stop?

  What if he—required a diaper change?

  What if he choked?

  “I can’t do either.”

  “You have to do one,” Slim pointed out, his smile sly and victorious.

  Slim was baiting him! He wanted Jeb to backhandedly admit he had the hots for his new housekeeper by refusing to be alone with her. Or in the alternative, he wanted Jeb to actually go on the ride and spend some time alone with the woman who could make him want to ravish her just being in the same room, hoping something would happen between them. Either way he was meddling, which Jeb had specifically warned him not to.

  Jeb took a breath. Slim knew Jeb would never fire him. Their bond went beyond a little teasing about a woman. So he was being clever, but Jeb could be pretty crafty himself. He decided to do exactly what Slim wanted him to do. Go with Sophie. But not with the result Slim expected. His foreman might think he was matchmaking, but Jeb had willpower enough to resist her. He would return without stars in his eyes or lipstick on his mouth because he would make this ride as innocent as possible. He’d shown new employees around the ranch before. And Sophie appeared to like behaving like an employee. So if he treated her solely as an employee when they were alone, in a fairly romantic environment, this ride could actually purge their attraction once and for all.

  “Fine. I’ll ride with her.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  WHILE Jeb got the horses, Sophie changed into jeans and sensible shoes. She eagerly raced to the barn, ready for the adventure of riding a horse and finally seeing more of the ranch than what was within walking distance.

  But, she also had another reason for wanting to take a ride alone with Jeb. It was the perfect opportunity to reinforce that he had nothing to fear from their attraction. She’d already set a tone of professional behavior. This would show him that even in a relaxed setting they could interact like mature adults.

  When she reached the barn Jeb stood by two saddled horses. One she recognized as the horse he’d been on the day she arrived at the ranch. The other was a brown mare, a lot less commanding than Jeb’s sleek bay.

  “Well, let’s get going.”

  After leading the two horses outside, Jeb pointed at the stirrup. “Put your left foot in there, then hoist yourself up, toss your leg over the horse’s back and settle yourself in the groove of the saddle.”

  That sounded simple enough. “Okay.” She nodded and slid her foot into the stirrup. But in spite of a decade of aerobics, she couldn’t quite hoist herself up and over the broad back of the horse. Not even after three tries.

  With a sigh, Jeb put his hands on her waist and said, “All right. I’ll say one-two-three-go, then you sort of leap and I’ll help you the rest of the way.”

  Sophie took a shuddering breath and nodded, unable to speak. How was she going to keep this trip innocent when his big hands made her waist seem tiny, and having his fingers curled around her middle so intimately also felt—right. Wonderful. Perfect.

  “One-two-three-go!”

  With one foot in the stirrup, she pushed off with the one still on the ground. When she got about halfway up, Jeb pressed his palms to her bottom to give her a boost and her mind went blank. She forgot the part about swinging her leg around and nearly went flying head-first over the horse. She screamed, stopping her out-of-control forward momentum by slapping her palms on the saddle, which caused her to fall backward, almost on top of Jeb.

  Knowing he was probably furious she quickly said, “I forgot the thing about swinging my leg around.”

  “Well, don’t forget this time!”

  His angry voice caused her to face him. “Hey! Don’t yell! I’m new at this.”

  But when she caught his gaze, his eyes were bright and aware, taut with male need. Everything she felt from the touch of his hands on her was magnified a hundredfold in his eyes.

  He very quietly said, “Let’s try this again.”

  She almost told him to forget the ride. Not only was she still on the ground and still in need of his hands on her waist to hoist her up again, but she didn’t think her plan to stay neutral, like a boss and his housekeeper, was going to work. Their attraction was too strong and they were about to take a ride, alone.

  Thinking of the two of them all by themselves in the wide-open spaces brought a million possibilities to mind—including the fact that he could absolutely ignore her for hours. But she didn’t think so. If just having his hands on her behind caused her to forget everything but her name, out there in the wilderness, with no one to see, and the real world so far behind them, it was more likely that their attraction would get the better of them and one of them would act on it.

  Then what would she do? If he was the one to lose control would she resist? Could she resist? If he kissed her, would she let him touch her? And if he touched her, would she be able to stop them from making love? All this time she’d been so sure she could keep herself in line, but what if she only kept her wits because he kept his? And what if he only kept his because of prying eyes? What if, totally and completely alone, they couldn’t resist the force that made her shiver with need?

  He turned her around to face the horse again, grabbed her foot and tucked it in the stirrup. Before she could argue or even get her bearings, he said, “One, two, three go!”

  Rather than give her time to launch her leg over the horse, he put one hand on her butt to boost her at the same time that he grabbed her leg and helped it over the saddle. In what seemed like three seconds, she was straddling the mare.

  Excitement raced through her and she forgot everything she’d been worrying about. “I did it!”

  He shook his head with a snort. “Yeah. It’s more like I did it.”

  “What does it matter?” Atop the mare—who might look small next to Jeb’s horse, but who made Sophie feel as if she were sitting on top of the world—Sophie experienced
a wave of sheer power. This—this feeling of power and control—was probably part of the draw of working on a ranch, but it was probably also the reason Jeb didn’t appear concerned about their alone time. With this high view of the world, she genuinely believed she was strong enough to do anything. Including resist her boss.

  Jeb led the way, his horse walking at a leisurely pace. Not yet accustomed to straddling the huge beast, Sophie swayed from side to side, thanking God Jeb was in front and couldn’t see her.

  “You better find your center. Get yourself settled.”

  “Do you have a rearview mirror or something?”

  “I just know how greenhorns sit.”

  Irritated that he’d called her a greenhorn, even though she was, Sophie fidgeted until she stabilized. The mare glanced back at her as if voicing her approval. Sophie totally relaxed.

  In only a few minutes they left behind the ranch buildings, and were riding a dirt trail. Leaving the hustle and bustle of Jeb’s business, they rode into silence. Sunshine reflected off green grass with a dark mountain backdrop.

  After a while, Sophie could no longer stay silent. “This is spectacular.”

  He half turned. “The view?”

  “The whole thing. The view. The peace and quiet. The privacy.” She peeked over at him. “When you’re guaranteed that your mother’s students will fill up the downstairs of your house every day, privacy becomes very important.”

  “Nowhere to run?”

  “No. I could always find a place to run and even more places to hide. That was the problem. I would have spent my teen years in a closet.”

  He laughed. “Would have?”

  “Julianna, our housekeeper, typically found me and put me to work.”

  For that he turned. “Really?”

  “I think she knew what my parents refused to see.”

  He slowed his horse, allowing her to catch up with him. “What’s that?”

  “That we weren’t really rich. I don’t think she was trying to teach me a skill for a job, but she recognized that I’d need to know how to scrub my own kitchen and dust a bedroom.”

  “And you turned those few lessons into a career.”

  “You scoff, but because this job had room and board, the money I made here would have paid off the hospital and doctor bills from Brady’s birth in no time.”

  He looked away, obviously uncomfortable, but Sophie wouldn’t take the comment back or even amend it. She wasn’t sorry he now knew how much this job had meant to her, and even mentioning Brady might have been for the best. He didn’t like kids and she had one. That had cooled his attraction every time.

  They rode for another ten minutes in silence. She hadn’t intended to insult him because the silence was strained, oppressive. Even meaningless small talk would be better than this.

  She took a breath and casually said, “What brought you here?”

  “What makes you think I’m not from here?”

  “Slim and the other guys talk with a barely discernible twang, but still with a distinct way of speaking. You don’t have one.” She waited a beat then said, “So where are you from?”

  “Nowhere.”

  She laughed. “Right. Everybody hates their roots, but a person can’t claim not to have any.”

  “I can. My parents were everything your parents pretended to be. Rich. Sophisticated. Jet-setters.”

  Her eyes widened. “No kidding.”

  “They had so much money they didn’t need to put on airs or even stay in one place. They lived where they wanted, did what they wanted when they wanted.”

  “And ignored you?” she asked, almost hoping he’d say yes because then they’d be kindred spirits.

  He shook his head. “No such luck. I was on every fishing boat, at every party, on every yacht.”

  She gaped at him, angry that he didn’t appreciate his good fortune. “Pardon me for not being sympathetic.”

  He laughed. “Right. It was a joy to be exposed to things a kid shouldn’t see.”

  She’d never thought of that. Adults partying on a yacht probably forgot to be discreet. She pictured pitchers of margaritas, bikini clad women and men ogling, maybe getting a little free with their hands.

  Jeb pulled on his horse’s reins. “Let’s stop for a minute, give the horses a chance to get a drink.”

  He’d brought them to a small stream that wound through a grove of trees. Sophie gazed around in awe. “Okay.”

  He easily dismounted. Sophie watched him then mimicked what he had done.

  “Hey, look at that.” She grinned. “I got myself down.”

  “The trick will be whether or not you can get yourself back up.”

  She laughed, but her laughter suddenly faded. He was nice, funny even. Fun to be with. It was hard to believe he didn’t like kids. Especially since he supported an orphanage. Why would a man who didn’t like kids support an orphanage?

  In the ensuing silence, she glanced around, rummaging in her brain for something to say and remembering he’d never really finished the explanation about his childhood. “So, with such wacky parents, how’d you grow up to be so normal?”

  He grabbed the reins of both horses and walked them to the stream. As they drank, he said, “I didn’t. I was the most confused person on the planet until I went to university. I lived on campus for the first two years, but eventually I got an apartment next door to some really stable guys. People who were in school because they needed to learn accounting and business practices and even history.”

  “Let me guess…ranchers?”

  “Yes.” He glanced over. “As soon as the horses are done drinking, we’ll turn back.”

  “But we hardly went anywhere!”

  “We’ve gone far enough.”

  Yeah. They’d gone far enough in the conversation! He’d told her a bit of his past but this was as far as he intended to go. And the only reason she could think of why he’d refuse to tell her facts so far from the past that they shouldn’t matter anymore was that they did matter. Which meant school or his friends somehow connected to one of their two taboo topics. Their attraction or her baby.

  Curiosity tingled through her. How could friends cause a man to dislike kids? It didn’t make any sense. And because his dislike of kids had cost her her job, she couldn’t let it go.

  She walked over to him. “You know what? I don’t think so. Everybody else might have to scrape and bow when you talk, but I’m already fired. So I’m not taking no for an answer. I want to hear about the guys who impressed you enough that you copied them.”

  He sighed. “No.”

  She groaned. “Why not? What’s the big deal in telling me?”

  “It’s none of your business.”

  “Really? I’m guessing the reason you don’t like kids is all wrapped up in this story, and since I lost this job because you don’t like kids, I think I have the right to know.”

  He turned away, but she caught his arm and spun him around again. “What are you so afraid of?”

  His gaze latched onto hers, his stormy eyes revealing his anger. “Seriously, you don’t want to mess with this right now.”

  “Yes, I do! And I’m not going to stop—”

  As quickly as she’d spun him around, he grabbed her by the waist and hauled her against him, his lips falling to hers. He didn’t kiss her gently like a man expressing an emotion. He kissed her roughly like a man in the grip of a need. He swallowed her gasp of surprise and took advantage of the slight parting of her lips to slide his tongue into her mouth. Her head spun and liquid warmth fell from her chest to her toes.

  But she didn’t stop him. The same thing that had its hooks in him took a hold of her. Her mind went blissfully black and she kissed him back, every bit as greedy as he was.

  He abruptly pulled away, his breathing raspy, his voice equally so when he said, “Now, can we go back?”

  She stared into his stormy-gray eyes. Saw the heat, but also the confusion. He hadn’t kissed her to demonstrate their
attraction. He was warning her. Their chemistry was a little too hot and a little too strong. At some point it would get the better of them. If they didn’t stop talking, getting close, that “point” would be today.

  “Yes. We can go back.”

  But could they?

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  A LITTLE after eight the next morning, the kitchen door swung open. Sophie peeked up from feeding Brady to see Jeb stopped in the doorway. Their gazes caught. The same syrupy warmth that had flooded her when he kissed her poured through her, but he hardly registered a reaction. If anything, he looked confused.

  Quickly glancing down again, she saw the baby spoon in her hand, remembered Brady was right beside her in the chair and her heart stopped. Jeb liked her well enough—maybe too well—when they were alone. When it was just them. A man and a woman who were incredibly sexually attracted. But put Brady into the picture and he had absolutely no interest in her.

  He walked directly to the coffeepot. “I got a call about three o’clock this morning. Slim’s mom had a heart attack. He’s in Texas. He’ll be out for a while.”

  Sophie’s breath backed up in her lungs. Sympathy for Slim enveloped her, along with sudden understanding. Jeb’s confusion had nothing to do with her or Brady. “Oh, my goodness, I’m so sorry.”

  “Yeah. He’s a mess.” Jeb filled his travel mug with coffee and faced her. “He called me as soon as he got off the phone with his sister, borrowed the plane and flew down.” His gaze found Brady and his eyes narrowed. She expected him to chastise her, but he kept the conversation on Slim. “I imagine he’s pacing a hospital corridor about now.”

  His eyes flicked back to Sophie, and she tried not to feel anything when their gazes met, but a wave of sensation rolled through her. She couldn’t turn off or tone down her reactions to him. She’d never felt any of the things with Mick that she’d experienced the day before when Jeb had kissed her. Her off-the-charts response to him was confusing, frustrating, seductive—and absolutely insane.