She rose to her feet and came back toward him. “I must be easy to argue with.”
“You? No way. You keep winning,” he said, giving her a grin. “Maybe I just care more with you.”
“Why would you?” she asked with a shrug.
“Because I like you.”
“Do you?” A smile came to her lips. “I used to be more fun than this, you know. I used to be more pulled together, too.”
“I don’t care. I like you this way,” he replied.
“Even tired out, and my hair in a ponytail?” she asked with a teasing smile.
“Perfection.” He took a step closer and caught her hand in his. Her fingers were warm, and instead of pulling away, she squeezed his hand back.
“We aren’t supposed to do this,” she whispered.
“I know...” He wanted to move in closer still, but he didn’t dare. “Maybe we can be friends who hold hands sometimes...”
“I don’t think friends do that.” She smiled slightly.
He dropped her hand, and his palm felt cold where her fingers had been. “Then I’ll behave. But I stand by it, Jane. I like you. And I’m not hitting on you or asking anything from you when I say that. It’s just a fact.”
“That’s the nicest thing someone has said to me in a really long time,” she said softly. “But I’m so tired out. I’m drained. I feel like I’ve got nothing left to offer even a friendship anymore.”
“You don’t have to worry about that with me,” he said. “Let me take care of stuff for a bit.”
“For a few more days,” she said, and she met his gaze. “Then we’ll be signing papers and I’ll be heading out. That was the deal, wasn’t it?”
He paused. She was right. It was the deal, and he’d been trying not to think about it.
“Ever think about being a cook?” he asked. “You could stick around. Work the ranch.”
“Your mom did that, and it wasn’t good for the family,” she countered.
“It would be nice to have you around,” he said quietly. “Really nice.”
“You hired a guy,” she reminded him.
“I’m not attached to him yet,” he said, and he sent her a teasing grin.
She sucked in a breath. “I don’t know, Colt. I have a feeling that our bickering could get out of hand.”
Colt nodded—he knew what she was trying to say. He’d like her to stay, and she didn’t want to be in that close. It was okay. He didn’t really blame her.
“So what do you want to do today?” Colt asked. “You want to keep riding, or go back?”
“I want to see that tree house, Colt.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” She nodded. “This one’s for Josh. I want to see what you guys were so proud of back then.”
“Okay, then. Let’s get back on the horses.”
Micha and Suzie came tripping toward them, and Micha held up a long, wriggling worm between two fingers.
“Look!” she said.
Jane made a face, and then laughed. “Yes, Micha. It’s amazing.”
And maybe it was best that Jane not stay here on his ranch, settle in, raise her daughters here...because while he knew all the logical reasons to steer clear of matrimony, she was the one woman so far to seriously tempt him.
She’d be heartbreak in the end, he had no doubt, but sometimes a guy walked into pain willingly because a woman made it all seem worth it.
“Let’s get going,” he said, and he started around the house toward the horses. They were half an hour away, and he was hoping some time with memories of his cousin would get his feet back on the ground.
Chapter Eleven
The countryside sparkled with drips of rain that clung to nodding stems and left the air smelling of damp earth. The clouds rolled away and some patches of blue sky and sunlight broke through, warming the air and their skin as they basked in those first luxurious rays. Even the horses seemed to perk up, stepping a little higher and tossing their heads.
The rest of the ride was a quiet one. Colt kept looking over at her, because now that he’d had the idea of Jane just sticking around, he kept imagining what it might be like to have rides like this one more often.
Suzie settled in front of him, the ride seeming to lull her into a quiet mood. These girls could end up being skilled riders, given enough practice and access to a ranch. Not that he had all sorts of free time to give toddlers riding lessons. Why was he even thinking about this?
Maybe when they visited once every year or two, he could take them all out riding then. That was more reasonable, but the thought was mildly depressing. They wouldn’t remember him. He’d just be a guy in a few stories their mother told them—their dad’s cousin. And what was that? Not even a terribly close relation.
Colt could see the trees coming up in the distance, and as they drew nearer, his memories of the place came closer and closer to the surface. Back when they were kids, this patch of trees felt like it was so far away from all the adult supervision they were used to. They felt dangerous and grown-up. There was no one to tell them to how to do anything, no one to overhear their conversation. And there was that testosterone-fueled part of both Colt and Josh that had responded to the freedom.
“It’s just ahead,” Colt said.
The tree line was bathed in late morning sunlight, and Jane looked in the direction he was pointing.
“It’s quite far from the house and the barns and all that, isn’t it?” she said.
“Yeah, it is,” he agreed. “It felt even farther when we were young, though.”
Riding out with smuggled hammers and nails, some purloined boards strapped into saddle bags—the difficulty had made it more like an adventure. If they’d had access to some suitable trees close by everyone else, they would have lost interest and
