Sweet Water Vet: Taking Rachael Part 8

"You're hardly an old man at thirty. Anyway, what does that have to do with anything?"

"I suppose it's not such an issue now but..." He trailed off, trying to find the words.

"You know, Rachael said that it's sometimes hard for people to see when a particular pattern of behavior isn't relevant anymore; I've grown up, in case you haven't noticed."

"I've noticed, all right." Noticed and secretly coveted. He explained sadly, "It's not only that. I guess I think that you'll quickly outgrow me. I'm a deputy. Maybe I'll make sheriff one day if I work hard. You'll soon be a college graduate with a world of opportunities.

I don't want to restrict you."

"So you're saying I'm too good for you?"

"No," he paused, trying to articulate exactly what he did mean, "yes. You have part owners.h.i.+p of a cattle and oil empire, for heaven's sake."

"Bulls.h.i.+t." She sounded angry now. "How dare you think that I'm the type of woman who bothers about that? If anyone is bothered, it's you!"

"Janet, it's not like that. How long would you be satisfied with the type of lifestyle I could give you?"

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Janet sat back, looking shocked and very angry, "Oh, I'm seeing a different side to you now, you arrogant a.s.s. You're too proud to consider that it wouldn't be my lifestyle changing but yours. I wouldn't mind so much if it was because you thought that you couldn't make me happy, couldn't love me or keep me satisfied. At least that would be a reason really about us and not about you and your pride!"

"Now wait a minute. You're twisting my words." He swerved to a stop in the yard near her house. "I think that you've had a schoolgirl crush on me for a long time, but maybe it's based on some unrealistic idea of who you think I am."

"No, you listen. Be honest with yourself and me. Yes, I've had a thing for you for years, Mitch Mathews. I know you're a deputy, and I love your commitment to your job. I've never considered it an obstacle to a relations.h.i.+p with you. I love the fact that you're strong yet gentle, hard but kind. You're a good man with a hint of bad boy in you, and I like it. Don't you see anything about me that you like, or is it only my age, money, education, and options-which apparently don't include you-that you're concerned about?" She was getting really worked up now. "All the material stuff is irrelevant unless it's a facade to hide the fact that you haven't got any b.a.l.l.s!"

He sat still, stunned as he replayed her words. She's right. He suddenly realized that Janet wasn't a girl anymore. She had grown up, knew her own mind, and apparently, she wanted him.

Janet was still filled with righteous indignation. "You're also a stupid a.s.s for not seeing what's right in front of your nose." She grabbed the door handle.

"Stay right here," he shouted, pointing at her seat.

"Screw you," she yelled back, and before he could grab her, she fell out of the vehicle. "G.o.dd.a.m.n." She struggled to her feet and started to run.

Using long, fast strides usually reserved for running down fleeing suspects it gave him a few crucial moments to reach her. He was upon 64 her before she made it to the house, tackling her from behind but turning to take the fall on his back.

"What the f-"

He cut off her curse with a crus.h.i.+ng kiss, holding her head with one hand, keeping her pressed against him with the other. When he finally released her, she was breathless. He gently rolled her over and stood up, pulling her with him.

"I'm sorry. You're right. I'm a stupid, selfish a.s.s."

"I didn't say all of that." She was breathing hard, still recovering from his kiss.

"Well, it's true. I invented reasons why you shouldn't love me when I could have been giving you reasons why you should. I've been a fool." He kissed her again, gently this time, savoring the flavor of her lips and mouth, taking her breath in. When he spoke again, his voice was deep and gravelly "The problem was my pride and lack of confidence in you. You've been on my mind and in my heart for years. Will you give me a chance to love you in the way you deserve?"

The kiss they'd shared and her words had completely shattered his resolve to stay away from her.

"G.o.d, you're actually romantic. Who knew?"

He shrugged. "Or failing that, will you settle for lots of mind-blowing s.e.x?" Her brothers are gonna kill me.

She flushed pink.

"I don't think that Josh is home yet. His car isn't here," he observed hopefully.

"He will be soon, and I need to have a good, long talk with him.

I'd love to invite you in but-"

"But the time's not right. I'm going to Austin tomorrow for a firearms workshop until Tuesday. I'll call you when I get back, okay?"

"You'd better because, Deputy, you're on probation. Have a good think about what I've said, Mitch Mathews, and if you are even half

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the man I hope you are, you'll spend the future making it up to me."

She started toward the door of the house but then stopped to add, "And you'd better use some imagination."

He watched her enter the house without a backward glance. For a few moments, he couldn't bring himself to move. He wanted to go after her but knew she had a family matter to deal with, so he reluctantly headed home. Soon, however, he was smiling.

Imaginative? I can do that.

Calming down, Janet leaned heavily against the door. You'd better use some imagination. She groaned inwardly at her words. Where the h.e.l.l did that come from? Janet wasn't exactly Ms. s.e.xually Experienced. In fact, she was the opposite. What the heck had she set herself up for? She'd overheard some of the ranch hands joke that a night with the deputy left a girl bowlegged in the morning.

Apparently, all of his big, broad, hard body was in proportion. Well, lucky her, she hoped.

She knew that Mitch cared, but he hadn't believed that she really wanted him. She had not-so-secretly loved him for nine years and he'd thought that it was some childish crush. He probably believed that he had been doing the n.o.ble thing, standing back so that she could get on with some fantastical high-flying lifestyle he'd envisaged for her. Well, he was in no doubt how she felt now. On the journey home she had thought about Rachael and her misunderstanding with Joshua. She'd resolved not to make the same mistake and, for once, had taken a more direct approach. The next move had to be his, though, and it had better be soon because she was going back to college in two weeks.

She heard his truck leaving and turned on the house lights.

Obviously, Joshua wasn't home and he wasn't answering his mobile, so she sat back on the big leather sofa to wait. She turned the TV on 66 to keep awake, but before long she was snoozing, and by midnight she was fast asleep.

Joshua had decided to stay away from the house for a while. He went to the place where he sought solitude and strengthawhere his parents were buried at the ranch, on Lookout hill. He turned the car's lights off and stood in front of the graves in the pale moonlight. It was like a balm to his soul, and he calmly thought things through. When he'd left her on the dance floor, he'd also abandoned the hope that he had finally found the right woman, one who might be able to handle him and give as much as she could take. With Rachael, he had began to think of all the wonderful possibilities that life still had in store for him. Now that had been sucked away, leaving a vacuum of disappointment.

He hardly knew Rachael, yet he felt a connection unlike any he had ever experienced. It went beyond physical attraction, although that had plenty to do with it. He admired and respected her, too. She was certainly a strong, pa.s.sionate woman, and he'd thought she'd be able to take him on. He'd been antic.i.p.ating the challenge and was sure that he'd detected a hint of sin about her that attracted him even more. Clearly, his own feelings had clouded his judgment. He had incorrectly a.s.sumed she felt the same way. What made it worse was that she wanted his brother. He cursed himself for the fool he was.

He'd thought that their encounter had been more than good s.e.x, but apparently she hadn't.

How the h.e.l.l was this all going to work out? As he sat quietly, a realization came to him as it often did in this place. There was nothing he could do about it, nothing at all. That didn't sit well with him. He wasn't used to being pa.s.sive, but for a change, he'd have to let the tide of fate ebb and flow and deal with whatever washed up as best he could.

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When Joshua finally arrived home, he saw no cars in front of the house but the lights were on. He heard noise coming from the TV room and went to investigate, hoping that it wasn't James. He didn't want to talk about tonight with James. But then, if James wasn't home, who was he with? For the first time ever, he felt jealousy toward his brother. It was a horrible, gnawing thing in the pit of his stomach and he didn't care for it one bit. He found his sister curled up asleep on the sofa, so he carefully covered her with a blanket, turned down the lights, and switched off the TV. No doubt she had intended to talk to him about Rachael, but he didn't want to disturb her. It could wait until the light of a new day.

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Chapter 4.

Joshua found it difficult to sleep but must have dropped off at some point because he was rudely awakened at dawn by an incessant shaking that wouldn't go away.

"WaWhat? What's the matter? What time is it?"

"Time you sat up and listened to me."

As he slowly heaved himself up, Janet thrust a cup of fresh coffee under his nose. "You'll need this." She then proceeded to tell him about her conversation with Rachael. The further she got with the explanation, the more alert he became.

"She's staying at Flora's Place." She paused and c.o.c.ked her head to one side. "So what are you waiting for?"

"Er," he hesitated, "for you to leave. I'm naked."

"Oh, right. Well, I'll just leave you to it," she muttered, hastily backing out of his room.

Joshua showered quickly, shaved, and pulled on a pair of jeans, a T-s.h.i.+rt, and a light jacket. He grabbed the toast that Janet offered and kissed her on the cheek as he walked out of the door. Flora's Place was only twenty minutes away as the crow flies. It was faster by horse than car, so he saddled up Star, his stallion, and headed out at a steady canter.

While he rode, he hoped that she still wanted to see him. He was delighted that she didn't want James or the menage lifestyle and that she had confessed to liking-no-"fancying the pants off him." He knew she was uncertain because she was basically new to Meadow Ridge, and they hadn't known each other long, but he wasn't going to let her get away. Not this one. She was going to be his.

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Rachael's alarm went off at 5:45 a.m. She slapped her hand around on the bedside table a few times before eventually hitting the off b.u.t.ton. Slowly, she emerged from underneath the duvet, questioning her own foolish enthusiasm the night before when she had set the alarm for an early morning run. Exercise cleared her mind, and she always felt energized after a good workout. It really didn't seem like such a great idea now, but she knew that once she got a strong coffee down, she would be ready to go. She fell out of bed, forgetting that the old four-poster was higher than modern bed frames.

Bleary-eyed, she tugged on a pair of running shorts, a cut off exercise top, and a pair of thick sports socks before shoving her feet into her new trail-running sneakers. Now, where had she put the coffee?

As she sipped her drink, she decided that today she would go to the Sweet Water Ranch and speak to Joshua. She would feel an idiot, but she was not the type of woman to let a misunderstanding on her behalf go uncorrected, and she thought that he wasn't the type, either.

She hadn't decided if starting a relations.h.i.+p at this time was a good idea or not. She was aware that she was a.s.suming that he still wanted her. What did Janet say about a.s.suming ? First, she wanted improve her mood and work off the annoyance that she felt with herself. A good three-mile run should do it. She headed out, setting a fast pace while listening to her iPod.

As Joshua neared the boundary of his property, he thought he saw something moving in the opposite direction. Thinking that it could be an animal of some kind, he took his binoculars out of his saddlebag for a closer look. Astonished, he saw Rachael running through the trees, heading back toward her cabin. Joshua followed her, realizing 70 that she wasn't aware of him. The thought left him cold. Anyone could have sneaked up on her. He'd have a word with her about it later.

She picked up the pace for two hundred yards, then slowed to a brisk walk for the last one hundred. Once she reached her cabin, she started to hit and kick the h.e.l.l out of a punch bag that hung on the porch.

She was covered in sweat, and the little beads of perspiration glittered like diamonds on her skin. He watched her punish the bag with surprising ferocity. No wonder her body was so toned. He could clearly see defined muscles on her legs, exposed by high-cut shorts.

Her back, shoulders, and arms also looked taut, yet there were womanly curves too. Her a.s.s looked firm and supple but not skinny: "just big enough to park your bike in," his Irish granddaddy would have said. Right now, he was thinking about parking something else between those firm b.u.t.tocks. She's magnificent.

When she had finished with one last hard punch and a grunt, she removed her earphones.

"Sure hope you never get p.i.s.sed off at me," a voice behind her drawled.

Rachael whirled around red faced and panting with exertion. She couldn't believe it. There was Joshua Ryden on his horse about ten yards away. d.a.m.n, I didn't hear him. How long has he been there?

She made a mental note to herself not to play her music so loud in the future. He stared at her intently for a few seconds and then, gracefully like a big cat, swung down from the saddle. She couldn't help but notice his long legs and muscular thighs-thighs meant for riding horses...and women. Thighs that would look good between her legs.

G.o.d, what am I thinkin g ? As he turned around for a moment to tie the bridle to her porch, she took in his gorgeous denim-clad a.s.s. She

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almost groaned but swallowed hard instead, managing to pull herself together in time. She took an involuntary step back as he prowled toward her.