Convincing the Rancher (17 page)

Slaid looked up and caught her watching him. “You doing all right with that pissed-off pumpkin?”

Tess giggled. It did look angry. “Hey, it’s art!”

Slaid’s laugh was low and rich. “Uh-oh. Doesn’t art reflect the artist’s inner feelings?”

Jack looked over. “Man, if that’s true, don’t mess with Tess tonight. That thing is scary.”

“It’s Halloween. I thought that was the idea.” She picked up her pumpkin and walked around the side of the house, placing it near the front door, lighting its candle. It glared at her with a contorted expression that really was unsettling.

“If that’s how I made you feel the other night, then I should’ve shown up with a lot more than a bottle of Scotch.” Slaid placed his simple smiling pumpkin next to hers and reached into the bag on the porch railing for a candle.

“Let’s just say it didn’t help much.”

“I know it’s not a great time to talk, and I’ll leave right now if you’d rather I go, but I’d like to stay and show you that I can be a good guy, a nonjudgmental guy. If that’s okay.”

“It’s fine.” And it was. She couldn’t explain it, but she was looking forward to spending Halloween with him.

A child’s high-pitched laughter trilled, and Tess ran to the front gate to peer up the street. A small group was making its way toward her cottage—four small kids in costumes wielding pumpkin baskets, and three sets of parents trailing behind.

“Trick-or-treaters!” Tess squealed. “Come on!” She darted past a surprised Slaid, reaching out to grab his hand and pull him into the house. “Hurry! We have to get the candy bowl!”

He burst out laughing. “Man, you have got to get out of the city more often.”

* * *

T
HE STREAM OF WITCHES
, princesses, monsters and other assorted ghouls had slowed to a trickle by the time Samantha and Jack took their leave. Slaid pulled on his coat, but he didn’t want to go without making sure things were all right with Tess. He’d been kicking himself all week, wishing he could take back the words he’d said at the party. But they were out there, and they’d caused a huge rift between him and the woman he couldn’t stop thinking about.

He watched as Tess closed the door behind her friends. She was so beautiful, with her hair down in messy waves past her shoulders, dressed in jeans and a sweater. He loved this relaxed version of her, the one she didn’t willingly show the world.

“What did you think of your first Halloween in Benson?” he asked.

“Pretty different than any I’ve had,” she answered.

“What kind have you had?” He wanted to know all about her. He knew so little.

“Well, I live on the thirtieth floor, so I don’t get any trick-or-treaters up there. And I—”

“Trick or treat!” The voices of the kids outside the door sounded older, almost Devin’s age, and Slaid had a moment of worry thinking that maybe it
was
Devin. But then he remembered that Devin was at his aunt’s for a slumber party, probably having a blast with his cousins—all of them hyper and crazed from way too much sugar. Still, he stepped out of view when Tess opened the door.

Tess handed out candy and lavishly complimented the kids on their costumes. She closed the door and set down the bowl. “That has to be the last of them.”

“You might get a few older kids, but you can always leave the bowl of candy by the door if you want to call it a night, or go sit on the back patio with me and build up that fire again.”

“You’re just trying to get your hands on some of that amazing single malt you brought over.”

“You caught me.”

She opened the door again to set the bowl on her front stoop. Then she pulled on her parka and hat, and led the way back through her little kitchen, grabbing the bottle and two glasses.

Out on the patio, Slaid threw some wood into the fire pit. Then he accepted the glass Tess offered and took a sip, relishing the smoky flavor. “I can feel all my Scottish genes stand up and cheer,” he said.

She laughed and sat on a bench. “It’s my absolute favorite drink. I’d take it over a cocktail any day.”

“Not the most common drink of choice.”

“I’m happy not to have the word
common
associated with me.”

He sat down next to her. “Definitely not a word I’d use. Confusing, confounding and commotion causing, yes. Common, no.”

She laughed, low and husky, and he listened to the sound fade into the darkness around them. He could sit here all night just listening to her laugh. And then it hit him. He hadn’t come here just to apologize. He’d come here tonight to try one more time to convince her to go out with him. It made no sense, they made no sense, but when it came to his feelings for Tess, making sense just didn’t seem to matter.

* * *

T
ESS SIPPED HER
Scotch and stared at the fire. She could feel Slaid’s muscular arm against hers on the bench and she resisted the urge to lean her head on his shoulder. They weren’t like that. Couldn’t be. It had all been discussed and resolved on their ride and made so painfully obvious at the party. They weren’t meant to be involved.

“Tess, I have a real dilemma on my hands,” Slaid said quietly. “I know you don’t date, but I want very much to take you out.”

“That would be a mistake.” She felt the strangest sensation—her heart was rising in something like hope while her stomach was sinking in dread.

“We like being together. Let’s just give that a chance to grow.”

She wanted to. Part of her really wanted to. But another part was terrified, and that was the part that spoke. “What’s the point of giving it a chance? We’re such different people. When this project is over, I’ll go back to San Francisco and then on to wherever my company sends me next. I don’t plan on coming back to Benson too often.”

“You might change your mind,” he said softly.

“You think I might do what Samantha did.” Her laugh came out harsh in the dark mountain stillness. “You
really
don’t know me.”

“So give me a chance to know you better.”

A cynical response was on the tip of her tongue, but he sounded so earnest. Instead she looked over at him and, seeing the questions in his eyes—the wanting—she realized that he was torn about all this, as well. For the first time it truly occurred to her that there were two people in this equation—it wasn’t only about her and her fears. It was also about Slaid. He was caught in the night they’d shared, in the chemistry that still sizzled between them, and she needed to find a way to help him get free. But how, when it all haunted her, too?

“Look, I know it’s hard for someone like you to understand,” she told him. “You grew up here, in this one town, surrounded by people who know you and like you and care. I didn’t have that kind of life, and maybe I never learned how to live quite like a regular person.”

“Will you let me show you how? I mean, I can’t speak for all
regular
people, but I can show you how
I
live, how I’d like it to be between us.”

“But what if it’s not how
I
want it to be?”

“Then you just go back to your life in the city. No harm done.”

Tess didn’t know what to say, so she sat in silence, sipping their Scotch.

“Look up,” Slaid said softly, and she did. Out beyond the patio was the dark night sky. It looked like someone had scattered millions of tiny rhinestones on black velvet. It was a completely different sky from the occasional glimpses of stars she got through the San Francisco fog and constant city glow. And with Slaid by her side and the fire crackling nearby, the vast expanse of sky didn’t seem so lonely as she’d feared. In fact, it was beautiful.

“Gorgeous,” she breathed. She was starstruck. Held in her seat by the enormity of it all.

“
This
is the kind of thing I want to share with you, Tess.”

“I admit, it’s nice. But I don’t get it. You’re a guy. Aren’t you supposed to want a no-strings-attached, no-dates-required kind of relationship?”

He smiled at that and the firelight lit his profile with a golden glow. “Guess I’m not like most guys, then.”

“Oh, come on, Slaid,” Tess chided. “Men want women to be sexy. Sexy first and foremost, and also successful and a domestic goddess in the home. I’ve seen it over and over with my friends.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I think you’re sexy. Incredibly so. And successful... Well, we both know you’re kicking my butt with this windmill project. I don’t know about the domestic-goddess part. Although—” he winked at her “—as a single dad, it does sound kind of nice.”

“But I’m never going to be the domestic goddess of your fantasies, so why not just enjoy the smart and sexy aspects? Why not just keep it simple?”

“Your offer is pretty damn tempting. But there’s so much more to you than that. Somehow, Tess, you’ve missed out on the fact that you are a smart, funny, warm and fascinating person. And I want to spend time with
all
of those parts of you...”

“Well, that’s where we’re stuck, then,” Tess said regretfully.

“Why not give it a try? I promise I won’t do that weird dating ritual where I ask you a hundred personal questions right off the bat.”

“Good, because that sounds miserable.”

“I’ll do my best to talk only about myself if that’ll make you more comfortable.” He laughed. “Hell, most guys probably do that anyway. Doubt I’ll have to try that hard.”

Tess laughed, but she knew better. He wasn’t the type of guy to go on about himself, and he was the type to want to know all about the woman he was involved with. He’d just told her as much. But she also knew that if he said he would try not to ask personal questions he would keep his word.

She stared into the fire. She remembered the happiness she’d seen between Samantha and Jack earlier. The wistful feeling inside when she’d watched the way that Sandro looked at Jenna. For the first time, she caught herself wanting something like that.

She took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay.”

He’d been leaning back, staring into the flames, one long leg crossed over the other. “Yeah?” He glanced over and a grin spread across his face, revealing that dimple she liked.

“I’ll try it,” she qualified. “One date. Then I’ll see.”

“How about Thursday night? Dinner. I’ll pick you up at seven.”

“Okay.”

If he kept looking down at her like that, with that big old smile and sexy dimple, she was going to kiss him. “Don’t get too cocky, Mayor Jacobs.”

“So it’s mayor now, is it?”

“I like a man with a little authority.”

He raised an eyebrow at her suggestive comment. “Okay, then. My first mayoral edict between us is, let’s settle back and enjoy these stars.” He put his arm around her, pulling her close so she could lean her head on his shoulder, lean her body into his warmth and strength. “Is this okay?” he asked.

“Mmm...” Tess murmured. “It’s good.” She wished it wasn’t quite so good.

Slaid kissed the top of her head. “See? Good old-fashioned dating. Not so scary. Now take a look up in the sky. I’m going to show you a few of our local constellations.”

He was all farm-boy eager, and she couldn’t help teasing him. “Ooh, you sure know how to show a girl a good time, Mr. Mayor.”

He laughed. “I’m only just getting started, Ms. Cole.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

T
ESS KNEW THEIR
date was a terrible idea the moment they stepped into the steak house on Thursday night. It was packed, and everyone was thrilled to see the mayor. Slaid backslapped and hand shook his way through the restaurant on the way to their table. He inquired about the Johnsons’ sick cattle, and Mr. Elliot’s tractor that apparently had been on the fritz. Somehow he knew that seven-year-old Ariel, out dining with her proud parents, had had a book report due yesterday.

She stood next to him, feeling awkward as he introduced her to what felt like half the town of Benson. It hadn’t occurred to her that not only was she going on the first date she’d been on in a decade, but that it would be a very public event.

Once they got to the table, Slaid’s politician joviality faded. “Sorry about that. In a small town you get to know folks pretty well.”

Tess glanced around the room and saw several pairs of eyes dart hastily away. “How do you live in a fishbowl like this? Everyone’s watching us.”

Slaid turned to the gossiping room and gave a big grin and a little wave. Several people caught it and started laughing. “You get used to it. You just gotta laugh about it.”

“I don’t think I could ever get used to it.”

“Well, you’re here working on what could be a pretty controversial project, so you might need to try.”

“I don’t mind the work stuff. I can speak in front of any group, talk to the press, it’s no problem.” It was the personal stuff that had her stomach churning. There was no way to explain to Slaid how during her childhood, her private life had been so public, so completely
without
privacy. Committees of social workers, teachers and foster parents hashing out the details of her care in meetings, asking so many personal questions.

And then the most public event of all—her pregnancy at sixteen.

All that was behind her now. She
knew
that. But it was why she kept her private life so very private now. Tess’s heart pounded, and she felt sweat breaking out on her back. A wave of dizziness washed through her, and with it came panic.

“I’m sorry. I can’t do this.” She stood up, grabbed her purse and coat and rushed for the door, weaving in and out of tables filled with surprised faces. She needed to be gone, to be alone. Needed to breathe.

Luckily, in a small town there was no need to stand around hailing a cab. Tess pulled on her coat and turned toward her cottage, taking in huge gulps of the night air as she walked. She could almost feel the buzz of gossip that must be following her and knew that her hasty public abandonment of the beloved mayor wouldn’t help her sell the project she’d been sent here to represent. Going on a date with Slaid had been a mistake.

“Tess!”

She stopped but didn’t turn around, and Slaid fell into step beside her. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”