“Does Dalton know anything about what goes on at a ranch?” Angus asked.
“Nothing.”
“What about sports?”
“I enrolled him in tennis lessons, but they haven't begun. And he's been playing soccer since he was four.” She smiled. “He's actually pretty good at it for his age group. Some of the kids stand in the grass and pick flowers. Not Dalton. He goes for the ball and gets it down the field.”
The love and pride were clearly evident in Gwen's gaze and tone.
Regret tugged at Angus's gut. If Gwen hadn't gone back to college after that summer, or if he'd been free to go after her, Dalton might have been his little boy.
“What about riding?” Angus held the front door open for her. “Has he ever been on a horse?”
She shook her head. “No.”
With a nod, he followed her into the house. His picnic idea just got more difficult, but not impossible.
He found his family in the kitchen. Dalton stood on a box by the counter, helping Colin.
“I'm making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.” Dalton turned and showed Gwen his hands smeared with peanut butter and grape-colored goo. “We're going on a picnic and riding horses.”
Gwen smiled at her son. “That's nice.” Her brows rose as she turned to Angus. “I'd have brought jeans with me had I known.”
“Don't worry,” Colin said. “I'm sure Mom will have some you can wear.”
Angus's mother eyed Gwen. “Of course I do, but they'll probably be too big and too short.”
“They'll do for riding,” Angus said. “She can cinch them with a belt.” As well-dressed as Gwen was, he figured it would make her nuts to wear someone else's ill-fitting clothes. All the better. Putting her off her game would make him feel better, more in control of a situation that could get out of control all too quickly.
Gwen raised her hands. “I don't have to go. You and Dalton might enjoy a picnic without me.”
“Oh no, you should definitely go. Angus will enjoy a day off working so hard. And I know Dalton would prefer to have his mother along with him in a new place,” Angus's mother said. “I'll be right back with something that will work just fine.” She hurried out of the room before Gwen could protest further.
Angus didn't like how his mother had gone from almost spilling the beans about Gwen breaking his heart, to practically welcoming her and her son into the family. And he didn't like how quickly she'd taken to the little boy. Maybe agreeing to eight dates was a mistake. If his mother got attached to Dalton and Gwen, she'd be disappointed when the dates were over and everything went back to the way it was before the auction.
“Really, I don't have to go,” Gwen said.
“Colin went to a lot of trouble to whip up sandwiches for us. I would hate to disappoint him,” Angus said.
Colin wiped off Dalton's hands and helped him down from the box. “You wouldn't disappoint me at all. In fact, I would gladly stay here and entertain Gwen while you and Dalton go for a ride.” He hooked Gwen's arm in his. “Why is it Mom and Angus know you, but I don't?”
Angus's teeth ground together and he fought the urge to knock Colin's arm off. “You were backpacking across Europe that summer after you graduated from Texas Tech.” He'd had to come home early when their mother was diagnosed. “Gwen, as you heard, this is my brother Colin.”
“I'd have skipped Europe to have a summer with you, Gwen.” Colin winked across at her and shot a teasing glance at Angus. “Stay here with me.”
“Colin, behave yourself. She's going with Angus.” Angus's mother entered the room carrying jeans, a blue chambray shirt, belt, socks and a pair of cowboy boots. “I didn't have a shirt that would fit you right, so I got one of Angus's and the boots belonged to Colin when he was a teen. They were too fancy for him so he never wore them and I never got around to donating them to charity. If they fit, you can have them.”
“Thanks.” Gwen took the armful of clothing, and Angus's mother led her down the hallway to a bathroom.
“I didn't realize the woman who bought you was an old flame.” Colin chuckled. “That makes this situation even more interesting.”
“She's not old and she's not a flame.” Angus stared at the little boy who looked so much like his mother. “I guess what you're wearing will do for a ride.”
“Do I get to ride a horse all by myself?” Dalton stared up at Angus, his eyes wide and so much like his mother's Angus found himself automatically liking the kid.
Angus shook his head. “Not this time. For today, we'll let the horses get used to having a small boy around them, and you can get used to how big they are.”
“I'm not afraid.” Dalton's chin lifted just like his mother's when she faced a challenge.
Angus couldn't help but smile, and he ruffled the boy's hair. “I bet you're not. But the horses might be afraid of a little person wandering around them. You have to promise to do exactly as I say.”
He pressed one hand to his chest and raised the other. “I promise.”
“Then we'll get started while your mother is dressing.”
Colin handed him a woven Mexican blanket and the canvas bag with the sandwiches. “Enjoy. Mom is over the moon.”
Angus glared at his brother. “She better not get too used to it. This means nothing.”
“Actually, you better hope it does mean something. For the sake of keeping the ranch.”
“You're on the hook too,” Angus reminded his brother. “When are you going to kiss and make up with Brody?”
“That day will never happen.”
“Then today is a waste of effort.”
Colin sighed. “
You
have to contact Brody. He hasn't talked to
me
in years.”
“What did you two fight about?”
Colin shrugged. “Something that never should have happened.”
His mouth twisting, Angus nodded. “A woman.”
“Not much gets by you, brother. Not much.” Colin clapped him on the back. “Good luck. That one will be really hard to resist. And frankly, I don't know why you would.”
“Says the man who can't resist a single woman,” Angus muttered, heading for the back door. “At least I can restrain myself.”
“Yeah. I can see that.” Colin's laughter followed Angus and Dalton across the kitchen.
With Dalton at his side, Gwen dressing somewhere in the house, Angus hoped he wasn't setting himself up for a big fall.
Chapter Six
Angus opened the back door and waited while the boy stepped out. As they walked down the steps, Dalton slipped his little hand into Angus's and smiled up at him, his eyes sparkling with excitement.
Angus's chest tightened. He could get used to having a little guy like this around. The child found joy in just being there, and Angus found that joy to be more than a little infectious.
Five minutes later, Angus had the gentlest mare on the ranch tied to a post inside the barn and a saddle thrown over her back. Dalton stood at the mare's nose, smoothing his hand over her muzzle, watching every move and asking questions as Angus cinched the girth. He was eager and smart as a whip. Like his mother.
“You two starting without me?” Gwen's warm voice melted over Angus like hot butter on a roasted potato.
“Mama, this is Fancy. Isn't she pretty?” Dalton called out, standing perfectly still as he'd been told.
Angus finished cinching the girth and let the stirrup fall into place before he turned to Gwen.
She wore the jeans his mother had loaned her tucked into the borrowed cowboy boots. The waistband was pulled tight with a belt around her narrow waist. But it was the blue chambray shirt tied at the waist, exposing a little skin at her midriff that gave Angus's heart palpitations.
Gwen had rearranged her hair into a French braid at the back of her head. She looked so much like the college coed Angus had fallen in love with that the years rolled back and he almost pulled her into his arms and kissed her like he would have if it had been seven years ago.
But it wasn't.
“Watch Dalton while I saddle another horse, will ya?” he said, his voice gruffer than he'd intended. This whole ordeal was going to be harder than he'd thought. How was he going to get through eight dates when he was having trouble with the first one with the kid?
Angus left the barn and walked out into the heat, welcoming the distance from Gwen. He needed a minute or two to get his shit together before he went back in the barn. For once Joe, the bay gelding he would ride that day, didn't play Keep-Away. He came right up to Angus and nuzzled his chest as if sensing the human's unrest.
Angus snapped the lead on his halter. “At least you don't have girl troubles.”
The horse snorted.
“You're right. Neither did I until last night. But what can I do?”
Joe gave him a gentle shove toward the barn.
“Okay, okay.” Angus smoothed a hand over the gelding's nose. “If I didn't know better, I'd swear you were working with my mother on this matchmaking thing. Well, just get it out of your mind. I'm not interested in long term.”
Joe tossed his head and whickered, the sound more like laughter than Angus cared to admit.
The horse seemed to know more about the future than he did.
Leading Joe, Angus returned to the barn and tied him up to the post next to the mare.
Gwen ran her hand across the sorrel's neck. “Fancy's beautiful. Is she one of the horses in your breeding program?”
He nodded. “She was my prime breeding mare until I retired her last year.”
“Will Dalton be riding with me?” Gwen asked. “It's been years since I got on a horse.”
“You'll have no problem picking it up again.” He remembered how natural she'd been when he'd taught her to ride. Her body moved with the animal's rhythm. “But, no, the boy will ride with me.”
Once he had Joe saddled, Angus helped Gwen up on Fancy and then lifted Dalton onto Joe's saddle. “Hang on to the horn.”
Placing his boot in the stirrup, Angus swung up into the saddle behind Dalton. The boy's face split into a huge grin and stayed lit up the entire ride out across the pastures to the swimming hole where Angus had planned to have a private picnic, just he and Gwen.
Dalton was full of questions about the ranch, cattle, hay, snakes, coyotes and the clouds above. By the time they pulled the horses to a stop, Angus's ears were sore from listening and he'd talked more than he normally talked for an entire month.
He swung down from the saddle and held up his arms for Dalton, who leaned out, trusting Angus to see him safely to the ground.
Once his boots hit dirt, the boy darted for the creek and the pool of water where Angus and Gwen had skinny-dipped on more than one occasion.
Gwen's gaze rested on her son and the water beyond, her cheeks a pretty pink. Angus guessed she remembered too. Were her memories as clear and erotic as his?
He doubted it.
Taking Fancy's and Joe's reins, he tied them to saplings on the creek's edge where they could get a drink of the cool, clear water. Then Angus rummaged in the saddlebag for the blanket and spread it out in the shade by the pool. He went back to the saddlebag for the sandwiches and bottled water.
Gwen glanced his way and nodded. “Dalton, it's time to eat that sandwich you helped make.”
“Oh boy!” Dalton skipped to the blanket and sat cross-legged. Within minutes he'd gobbled down half of the sandwich, drunk some of the water and yawned.
Gwen patted the blanket beside her. “Lie down.”
“I'm not sleepy,” Dalton said and yawned again.
“Then lie down anyway and stare up at the clouds.” Gwen lay down beside him. “See that one?” she pointed. “It's shaped like a boat.”
“I see it.” Dalton glanced at Angus. “Aren't you going to lie down too?”
Angus smiled at the two, his heart swelling at the picture they made. If he wasn't careful, he'd fall right into that trap and wish he were a permanent part of that picture. When Dalton looked at him with those eager eyes, he couldn't say no. He stretched out beside Dalton and stared up at the clouds. “I see a giraffe.”
He remembered playing that game with Gwen when they'd lain naked in the warm sun, drying off after a swim. Only the game never lasted long because they ended up making love and falling to sleep in each other's arms.
After a few minutes of cloud gazing, Dalton's eyes drifted shut and his breathing deepened.
Gwen lay for a few minutes more, then she rose and stretched her arms over her head, the movement raising the shirt up her torso, exposing more of her creamy, smooth skin.
Angus swallowed a groan, stood and checked on the horses.
When he turned around, Gwen had moved down the hill to the edge of the creek and sat on a rocky ledge, her boots beside her, her toes trailing in the water.
Angus fought his urge to go sit beside her and lost.
He passed the blanket where Dalton slept curled on his side, his cheeks flushed, a smile playing at his lips, probably dreaming about riding his own pony.
Angus stood next to Gwen for a long moment, staring at the water below with a yearning he hadn't experienced in a very long time.
“We had fun that summer, didn't we?” she said softly.
He didn't respond.
“What happened?” she looked up at him.
“You left.”
“I had to go back to school.”
He frowned. School was important and he didn't begrudge her return, but he still felt the hurt of her leaving without saying a word. “You could have said goodbye.”
She turned, her brows furrowed. “I couldn't do it without breaking down. I said it all in the letter and gave you my phone number and the address of my apartment.”
“What letter?”
“I slipped it into the back pocket of your jeans the last night we were together. We were here.” She waved her hand at the copse of trees, the creek and the pool. “You fell asleep before I did. I put the letter in your pocket for you to find later, after I'd gone.” Her eyes widened. “You didn't get it?”
He shook his head. “No.”
“But it was in your jeans right where you'd find it.”
Those jeans probably went right into the wash. The letter would have disintegrated.
“As far as I knew, you slipped away in the night without so much as a kiss.”
“I had to go. I wouldn't have left if you'd told me to stay.” She smiled, though her eyes were awash with unshed tears. “I guessed it wasn't meant to be. When I hadn't heard from you in weeks, I figured you weren't all that in to me.”
Oh, but he had been. Everywhere he'd turned had reminded him of her. The ranch became a nightmare of reminders.
When his mother was diagnosed with cancer, he'd given up any thoughts of returning to Dallas and a fast track in his career, to contract as an architect from home on the ranch, giving him the latitude to gear up for the fight of his mother's life. His father's death was the reason he'd been home that summer he'd met Gwen. His mother's diagnosis had been his reason for staying.
“I guess it doesn't matter now.” Gwen shrugged. “We were young. I'm a mother now, and I have to be focused on what's good for Dalton.”
Angus sat beside her and tossed a rock into the water, disturbing the mirrorlike surface. The ripples spread out, diminishing the farther away they were from the point of contact. “What about what's good for you?”
She sighed. “I can wait. Dalton needs me.”
“And you don't need anyone?”
Gwen picked up a rock and tossed it into the water. “No.”
When she reached for another rock, Angus captured her hand. “If I'd known about the letter⦔
“Would it have made a difference?”
“Probably not. My mother was diagnosed with cancer. After my father's passing earlier that year I couldn't leave. Things got a little crazy.”
“I'm happy your mother survived.” She sat with her hands clasped together in her lap, her lips pressed together, her eyes glassy with unshed tears. One escaped the corner of her eye and trickled down her cheek, landing on her hand.
She stared down at the hand. “It's all water under the bridge, right?” Slipping her hand out of his, she stood. Her hair had loosened on the ride and a strand curled around her cheek.
Angus rose and reached out to brush it back behind her ear like he had so many times before.
Gwen's eyes widened and she stepped back quickly. “Don'tâ” She didn't get to finish her sentence because she'd stepped back too far and her heel came down on the curved edge of the stone ledge. Her body swayed backward, she flung out her hands and tilted toward the water.
Angus grabbed her hand and yanked her back from the edge, crushing her in his arms.
For a long moment Gwen rested her hands on his chest, her breath short and labored.
Angus's heart beat hard against his ribs, his hands splayed across her back. He didn't move, didn't breathe for fear of spooking her, like a timid colt. If he stayed still, she wouldn't remember that she didn't want to be kissed and he could sneak in andâ¦
Gwen tilted her head up, her hazel eyes smoky, her tongue slipping across her lips.
If she hadn't done that, Angus was almost certain he could have resisted. But when that tongue slipped over her lips, his focus zeroed in and he had to taste them.
He lowered his head, but at the last minute remembered his promise not to kiss her unless she asked for it. Hovering over her mouth, he prayed for a miracle.
“Please,” she whispered.
That's all it took and his lips connected with hers, his tongue pushing past her teeth to caress hers in a long, slow glide. He savored the flavor of her mouth, all minty and fresh, sexy, hot and moist. It wasn't enough. He slid his mouth lower, blazing a path over her jaw.
When she tilted her head back, exposing the long, slender line of her neck, he took that as an invitation to go lower, nibbling her with his lips, tonguing her skin down to the pulse beating wildly at the base of her throat.
She circled her hands around his waist and down to cup his ass.
Sweet Jesus.
He remembered the way her cool fingers felt running across his naked skin, making him want to shed every piece of clothing and tear hers from her.
Running his hands up under her shirt, he nearly wept when he realized she wasn't wearing a bra. His fingers found a distended nipple and he squeezed it, flicking it until it tightened into a hard bud. He stepped closer, nudging her thighs apart, his cock straining against the denim of his jeans.
The summer just got hotter and if he wasn't careful he might burst into flame.
“We shouldn't,” Gwen whispered against his ear, her hands saying the opposite as they slipped into the waistband of his jeans and slid down over his buttocks.
“You're not making a good case for stopping,” he said, nibbling on her collarbone, his thumbs circling her nipples.
Her chest rose and fell on a sigh. “We have to. Dalton will wake up soon.”
The horses nickered as if to agree.
Gwen jerked away from him and shot a glance at her son sleeping on the blanket. Then she turned away from him and stared at the water. “I remember the first time we went skinny-dipping here.” Her voice was little more than a whisper.
“So do I. I was shocked.”
She snorted. “You were so hot and horny I could practically smell the pheromones. If I hadn't taken the first step and stripped naked, it wouldn't have been long before you did it for me.”
His pulse pushed molten hot blood through his veins, his groin throbbing in remembrance. Angus stood behind Gwen and wrapped his arms around her waist, his hands splaying across her bare midriff. “Tell me to back off, and I will.”
“What about Dalton?”
“I can see him, but he won't be able to see us if he wakes.”
Instead of pushing him away, she slid one of his hands inside the waistband of her jeans and down to the triangle of silk covering her mons.
Drawing in a ragged breath, Angus slipped his fingers beneath the wedge of fabric and curled his fingers into the tuft of silky curls.
Gwen's breath caught on a gasp and she cupped his hand, urging him closer.
Taking her lead, he slid his finger between her folds and tapped the tip of her clit.