lean body that drove her crazy, even in memory.
From outside the barn, Jody heard the swish of tires on the muddy driveway. She hoped it wasn’t one of her would-be boyfriends, racing over after the morning’s downpour to make sure her ranch hadn’t washed away. Although she always needed help, sometimes she could hardly bear to look at eager men, none of whom were the one she wanted.
She’d loved Callum enough to let him go. Sure, she’d hoped he would come back, but she’d understood five years ago that having to take responsibility for a wife and children would destroy his dreams. He’d just been getting his magazine started and had been working a part-time job to make ends meet while he poured his energies into
If he’d married her with two kids on the way, he’d have had to work full-time. The magazine would have lost its window of opportunity. By the time Callum came up for air, someone else would have seized the chance he’d let slip.
Although she sometimes wondered if she’d been a fool, Jody was glad she’d avoided a marriage that, under the circumstances, would have made them both miserable. She just hoped Callum would understand if he ever found out the truth.
Shrugging off her reflections, she stepped through the barn’s double doors and blinked as a shaft of sunlight broke through the parting clouds. Who on earth could be driving that aging boat of a convertible with the top jammed half-open?
The light must have dazzled her, because she could have sworn the man parking in front of the big house had Callum’s shaggy good looks. He bore little resemblance to his glitzy photographs, however, with his silver-blond hair hanging wetly and his clothes plastered to his body.
Jody’s pulse speeded. This wasn’t possible. Yet-being ruthlessly honest with herself-she’d known there was a chance he might read her essay and wonder about the twins. Was that why he’d come? Suddenly she wished she’d never entered the darned contest.
Feigning nonchalance, she strolled toward the car. Not yet aware of her, Callum got out and surveyed its sopping interior ruefully.
No other man could match him for broad shoulders and slim hips, or for the expressiveness of his sharply defined face. Jody remembered how he’d moved when he was on top of her, and beneath her, and most especially inside her. To her dismay, her body rippled with the memory.
“You forgot to put the top up!” she called.
“Jody!” Bright blue eyes fixed on her and she felt the connection crackle between them. “You look great!”
Self-consciously, she tucked her frizzy hair behind her ears. It was like trying to empty the
“Says me, and I should know.” With a couple of long strides, Callum reached her. “Don’t I get a hug?”
Jody nearly succumbed the moment she entered his arms. He smelled like expensive indulgences and honest maleness. No, no, no. She needed to keep a protective distance between them.
“So what brings you here?” she asked, extricating herself.
“A couple of things,” he said. “Hey, did I get you wet? I’m sorry. I should have reserved a car farther in advance. This was all they had. The roof doesn’t work, obviously. Would you look at me?”
Callum’s grin carried her back to their teen years, when he’d swept her off her feet by the open way he laughed at her jokes. He’d been irresistible. He still was.
“Come inside and dry off. You look like you could use some coffee.”
“Thanks. I’d appreciate it.” If he had any curiosity about the children, he gave no sign of it. He didn’t even look around for them.
Most likely, Callum was heading somewhere else, Jody mused as they walked. He would dry off, chitchat for a few minutes and be on his way quickly. She quashed a sharp pang of disappointment. It was what she wanted, wasn’t it?
“Do you have some business in town?” she asked.
“You’re my business,” he said.
Taken aback by this statement, Jody hesitated with one foot on the front porch. “Are you visiting all the finalists personally?”
“No,” Callum admitted. “It’s kind of a complicated situation.”
“Complicated how?”
“There was a mix-up.”
“What kind of mix-up?”
“The finalists’ names were posted without approval.” He bounded onto the porch with a litheness she’d missed more than she wanted to admit. “In fact, they got picked by an overenthusiastic secretary.”
In spite of her resolve not to let him get close, Jody’s spirits took a dive. He hadn’t come here for any personal reason. He’d been driven purely by pragmatism.
“So she picked your old pal as a finalist and it looks bad,” she hazarded. “You want me to withdraw, right?”
“More or less.” Quickly, he added, “Not without compensation, of course. We would guarantee you a trip to Las Vegas.”
From what she’d heard, Vegas could be a lot of fun, particularly if you scored tickets to the top shows. It wasn’t Paris, though. Paris was a fantasy, a dream of shrugging off the little disappointments and obligations that sometimes weighed on her spirit. It meant one last, glorious chance to fly.
All her life, Jody had been a good sport and the sporting thing to do right now was to cooperate. But she didn’t feel sporting. She felt determined.
Five years ago, Callum had made such tender, passionate love to her that he’d nearly spoiled Jody for any other man. Then, after she turned down his offhand suggestion that she pull up stakes and run away to California with him, he’d left without a backward glance.
The only reason he’d returned now was because she’d accidentally created an awkward situation for him. He expected her to give up the chance of a lifetime just as a favor? Not likely.
If she signed on the dotted line, he’d smile, thank her, slosh back to his pathetic rental car and drive out of her life forever. Although that was what she wanted, Jody refused to let him off the hook.
“Forget it,” she said. “I’m a finalist because I deserve to be one. I want that trip to Paris and that shopping spree. I’m going to enjoy buying some pretty dresses on my trip and, once I get home, I’ll hang them on the walls and enjoy the sight of them forever.”
She caught her breath, taken aback by her own defiance. Surely Callum, whose jaw had dropped open at her tirade, would respond with the scorn she’d always secretly suspected he must feel toward the homespun, unglamorous woman who’d briefly been his lover.
“Well, if we can’t come to an agreement,” he said, “I guess I’ll have to bring my suitcases in and stay for a while.” Before she could stop him, he retrieved two bags from his trunk and walked into the house ahead of her.
The sky had fallen, Jody thought. What was she going to do now?
CHAPTER TWO
CALLUM HADN’T HAD an easy trip. Airport security had searched him right down to his Italian leather shoes, his connecting flight in Dallas had been delayed and the sole vehicle available for rent in San Angelo might have served as a prop in the film
The downpour had added injury to insult. Stymied by a truculent convertible roof, he’d plowed on for miles through rainswept ranchlands, certain that mildew was forming even as he drove and too uncomfortable to scout for potential magazine articles. Thank goodness his suitcase and laptop had been locked inside the trunk.
Callum knew he should have called Jody ahead. She had every reason to be grumpy with him. He didn’t blame her for refusing to withdraw from the contest, although he hoped she would change her mind.
