Authors: Hope Navarre
“Do not make this harder than it is,” Ryan growled. “Walt's waiting, and pretty soon he'll be hammering on the door.”
“We don't want that,” Ellie agreed, getting out of bed. She crossed the room to where Ryan stood near the door, took his face in her hands and showed him what she'd love to be doing if Walt wasn't about to hammer on the door.
“Go to work,” she said against his lips as his hands slid down to caress her ass before pulling her against him.
“You make it so easy...” he said with a smile.
Ellie couldn't keep Ryan out of her thoughts that day. He was a tender lover. Caring. Giving. Toward the end, demanding. She'd enjoyed all the many facets.
And she still wondered what had happened at the rodeo, which was why she spent a good chunk of time at the computer that day trying to find a guy with the last name of Madison who might qualify as Ryan's dad, who was giving him trouble. Trouble he didn't want to talk about.
The doorbell rang late in the afternoon and Ellie rolled her eyes as she got up from the computer and walked into the living room. She was getting tired of George, but it wasn't George at the door. Walt stood on the step with her laptop case in his hand.
“Are you sure you're done with it?” Ellie asked as he handed it to her with a quick thanks. His eyes were relatively clear and there was no scent of alcohol. Maybe broken ribs and a computer had been good for him.
“I, uh, bought one of my own. It came today.”
Ellie smiled widely. “Good for you.” Walt nodded and started to turn when Ellie said, “Want to have a cup of tea?”
“No.”
A few weeks ago she would have been insulted. Now she just shrugged it off. “Then could you tell me something before you go? Do both of Ryan's parents live around here?”
“Ryan doesn't have a dad.”
She distinctly remembered Ryan saying last night that his problem was with his dad. “Is he dead?”
“He's unknown,” Walt said abruptly.
“His stepfather, then.”
“He doesn't have one.”
“Oh.” Ellie instinctively knew she'd asked one too many questions and that she wasn't going to get any more information out of Walt. “Too bad,” she said.
But Walt surprised her again. “Why the question about his father?”
“I guess I misunderstood something he said. None of my business, really.” But she hadn't misunderstood. She was certain of it.
Walt's expression was a touch gentler than usual when he said, “Lydia's the daughter of my best friend. She ended up pregnant shortly after he died. I tried to do what I could to help her out, what with her having no family and all, but she never would tell me who the father was.” He scowled at Ellie then. “That goes no further than this room.”
“I understand,” she said, touched that he trusted her with this bit of information.
“Ryan's a good kid. He's accomplished a lot.”
“Agreed.”
“He tried to save my ass when the ranch went tits up. He tries to take care of people. Gets that from his mom.” Walt's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “And I notice that now he seems interested in taking care of you.”
He was a caretaker, Ellie would agree with that. He'd been watching out for everyone on the ranch since the day she arrived. And now he
was
watching out for her.
“I would be obliged,” Walt said grimly, “if you didn't go stomping on his heart.”
“Trust me, Walt. That's the last thing I want to do.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
E
VEN
THOUGH
HE
had other issues to deal with, his father for one, Ryan spent most of the day letting his thoughts drift toward Ellie. It'd been so long since he'd felt close to someone, truly close, and he and Ellie had seemed to know instinctively what the other wanted. Needed.
Hell, from the moment he'd realized there was more to cool Ms. Ellison Hunter, human-resources specialist, he'd been drawn to her. He'd enjoyed discovering the aspects of her personality that she kept hidden behind that professional exterior; enjoyed the natural way they were able to interact once she dropped her guard. Even discovering she was pregnant hadn't slowed him down for long, but that had been because he'd focused on Ellie as a woman, not Ellie as a pregnant woman. He'd thought about sleeping with her, but hadn't expected it to happen. Well, it had, and could well happen again before she left. And something deeper
could
develop if things continued on as they were....
Was he getting ahead of himself here?
Yeah, he was, but this was not something to go into lightly. If a deeper relationship developed between them, there was a huge life change involved not too far down the road. Was he ready for that responsibility? To just dive in on short notice?
What did he know about fatherhood? Only what he'd learned from Franciscoâit filled your heart, wore you out and made you crazy protective. Would he feel crazy protective over a child that wasn't his own? He was starting to feel that way about Ellie, so yeah, it seemed possible. And Walt seemed to have maintained a soft spot for him, even through those rotten teen years. But there were so many unknowns, so many things to consider, and it was way too early for that.
So for now he'd follow Ellie's lead. It seemed the gentlemanly thing to do.
* * *
A
FTER
W
ALT
LEFT
, Ellie put her laptop away and then walked over to George's trailer, wanting very much to tell him to mind his own freaking business. Not surprisingly, after ratting her out to Milo, he had not shown up the evening before to give his detailed daily report. Although Ellie had enjoyed the reprieve, she decided it was in her best interest to rebuild the bridge she'd burned. For now.
George smiled that congenial smile of his when he opened the door to find her waiting on the aluminum step, but his eyes were not friendly. Well, neither were hers, she was sure. Ellie faked a smile back at him. “I missed our meeting last night. Would you like to go over the findings?” she asked politely, gesturing to the chairs sitting under the pine outside the travel trailer.
“I didn't get much new information yesterday,” George replied, shifting his weight uncomfortably as he spoke.
You did according to my uncle, and you felt quite free to pass it along to him.
But Ellie wasn't going there just yet, because Milo still seemed to think George was the answer to all his ranching problems. Until she could convince her uncle otherwise, it made no sense to alienate the consultant, have him working against her. Thus the purpose of her current visit. Humble pie.
“I just wanted to drop by and apologize for what I said after the snake incident,” she said smoothly. “I've grown fond of Hiss and spoke more out of emotion than common sense when I saw you threatening him. It was uncalled for and I, of course, did not mean it.”
George's eyebrows rose in surprise at her apology, although he quickly overcame his reaction. He cleared his throat and said, “No apology necessary. I understand.” He then worked up an engaging smile, once more falling into character. “I've never before met a woman with a soft spot for a snake.”
“You have now,” Ellie said with a sweet smile. “I'll talk to you soon, Mr. Monroe.”
“Yes. Soon.”
Ellie suppressed a creeped-out shudder as she walked away. To think that upon first meeting the man she'd thought him charming, accomplished and good-looking.
As soon as she got back to the house, Ellie checked her email, then instead of starting her daily, and usually dismal, job search, she jotted down a few notes on a legal tabletâjust as she'd done when she'd first arrived and had been trying to get her life on track. After her job hunt that day, she wanted to find out a bit more about George's professional reputation, because no matter what Milo and the Kenyons thought, no one was as perfect as he was on paper.
She'd just opened a search engine when she got an email from Kate with a happy face in the subject box and a request to call when she had a minute to talk. Ellie called immediately.
“I have a job lead for you!” Kate said excitedly.
“You do?”
“Yes!” Her friend sounded tickled. “A pretty good one. Not the same caliber of job you had before, but one that might work with your...future...shall we say?”
“What kind of job?”
“It's in human resources, but more in the way of teambuilding as opposed to traveling around and evaluating.”
“Great. Shall I forward my résumé?”
“No need. They have it and more than that, you already have an interview.”
“I do?” That was a bit shocking.
“You're kind of in the middle of it right now.”
Ellie's mouth fell open. “I didn't know your company was hiring.”
“They're not, but my dad's is, and if you want the job, it's yours.”
Ellie's stomach sank. Not what she'd been looking for. Kate's father ran an electronics firm that he'd built from the ground up, moving from transistors to computer chips as the times changed. It was a nice privately owned company with offices close to the company she'd just left. She could go homeâwhere, she knew from chatting with her former coworkers, Nick now lived.
“Oh, wow.” The chances of running into Nick might be slim, but it still made her grow cold inside thinking about it.
“Yeah. I know. Dad's always had a soft spot for you.”
“Which is why I don't want him to create a job for me.” In the same way that Angela and Milo had done by offering her the opportunity to stay at the ranch.
“He didn't create a job. He needs someone. The current person is leaving in September. She's going back to school to get a master's degree in psychology.”
Ellie pressed her hand to her forehead. “So I'd start in September?”
“Yep. The pregnancy wouldn't be covered by insurance, since it's a preexisting condition, but other than that, I think it would work for you, Ellie. If you don't mind working for a tiny company instead of a Fortune 500.”
Not the career path she'd envisioned, but she wasn't exactly following the life path she'd planned, either.
“When would you need an answer by?”
“I'm not sure,” Kate said, sounding a bit taken aback. “I guess I thought you'd jump on this.”
“I probably will,” Ellie said. “I'm waiting to hear on a few other things, too.” Not entirely true, but getting involved with a friend's family was a big deal. Ending up closer to Nick than she intended was a big deal. It wasn't something she wanted to jump on without thinking it through.
“I understand. Of course.”
“Kate...you don't know how much I appreciate this. I'll let your dad know very, very soon. I promise you.”
Ellie hung up, thinking that she should be more excited and feeling as if she'd let Kate down. The solution to her problem was right there, waiting for her to say yes, but she needed time to go through the pros and cons. Make her plan. Go at it as the old Ellie would, and that meant thinking things through before acting.
And unexpectedly, now that an escape route had presented itself, flawed though it may be, Ellie realized she was going to have to get used to the idea of leaving Montana. Of leaving Ryan.
She had
to leave. The summer was ending soon; Milo and Angela were no closer to staying on the ranch than they'd been when she first arrived. She could probably live there indefinitely, “overseeing” the place, freeloading off her relatives, having no particular plan for the future.
The thought froze her up even more than the risk of running into Nick.
The scenario ate at her all day, ruining her concentration until finally she retreated to her garden. She was in the backyard, planting the last of the flat of daisies, when she heard the ranch truck coming across the field. Her hands stilled in the damp earth, and then she plunged them back in again, making a hole to plant yet another daisy. Would she see Ryan tonight?
Without a doubt.
Would they make love?
She hoped. It wouldn't solve her job dilemma, but it would distract her from reality, give her a few hours of not having to think about her future and to simply be in the moment. And he seemed to need that as much as she did. In a way, they were lucky to have found each other at this point in time. She hoped that they still felt that way when she had to leave.
Ellie planted her last daisy, then went into the house to shower. George would no doubt want to meet now that she'd made peace, and then, after thatâher lips curved in anticipationâshe'd see if she could arrange a short meeting with Ryan.
* * *
E
LLIE
SHOWED
UP
at his door just after dusk. Ryan had promised himself that he would wait for her, let her make the moves since she had the most at stake. And move she did. He'd barely closed the door behind her when she reached up and started unbuttoning his shirt. He returned the favor, backing toward the bedroom as they shed clothing. He caught her to him and collapsed onto the mattress a few steps after they cleared the doorway, his body taking the brunt of the impact before he rolled over and trapped her beneath him. She laughed before reaching up to pull his head down to hers, and then they lost themselves in the business of pleasing one another, pleasing themselves. Twice.
Since he was spending the next day with George, discussing the possibility of mobile fencingâwhich he actually thought was a decent ideaâhe figured it was probably a good thing that Ellie had arrived fairly early and then, with a kiss that made him very much want to drag her back into bed, left. But he could still smell her subtle scent on his pillow. Damn, but he wanted her there, where he could hold her against him as they fell asleep.
* * *
T
HE
DAY
WITH
George went better than any of the others they had spent together. For some reason the guy was on better behavior than usual and for most of the day he spoke to Ryan as a peer instead of acting like an asshole expertâright up until the subject of Walt came up as they were driving back to the ranch. That was when George asked Ryan point-blank how long Walt had been an alcoholic.
“Define alcoholic,” Ryan instantly responded.
“I think you know the definition,” George replied.
“Walt isn't an alcoholic.” He simply had a binge every now and then.
George smirked at him and Ryan knew that Milo Bradworth would receive a tip that the current manager had a probable substance-abuse problem. This guy never let up. He wanted to extend his contract for a year, pulling in a hefty salary and throwing his weight around, and Ryan didn't think either he or Ellie was going to be able to do anything about that.
That night he'd joined Ellie in her garden where she'd proudly showed him the improvements she'd made. There were flowers everywhere. Banks of petunias, rows of daisies and snapdragons and pansies. She beamed up at him, making him want to kiss her yet again.
“I don't know,” he said slowly, wanting to smile at the instant frown that formed on her face. “Don't you think a pie-shaped bird feeder would add something?”
“Jerk,” Ellie muttered, but she had to bite her lip to keep from smiling back.
He didn't leave until sunrise.
They stayed awake for most of the night talking, sharing experiences, laughing. Bonding. Ellie, he discovered, had a profound sense of whimsy that she rarely expressed. Why? What would people think if she wore lime-green heels to work? He'd suggested that it didn't matter what they thought, only what she thought. “In other words, screw 'em,” he advised.
Ellie laughed. “You have
no
idea of what my world is like.”
“Probably not,” he agreed, tracing the line of her hip with his fingertips.
She propped up on one elbow. “I admit that I don't even own lime-green heels, although I do admire them. But think about it... Would you want the person who made the decision as to whether or not you got to keep your job wearing frivolous heels?”
“I'm having a hard time imaging George in heels, frivolous or not,” he replied.
“George isn't making that decision,” she said, her expression sobering.
“Are you sure?”
One corner of her mouth lifted. “I'm doing what I can to make sure of it.”
Ryan didn't ask for details. With Ellie he found that if he waited, she let loose with what she wanted him to know. She simply wasn't one to be pushed and he, fortunately, was patient. It worked out.
“I like it when you stay,” she finally murmured as her eyes drifted shut.
He idly stroked her hair. “Maybe I'll stay more often.”
She nodded against his chest and a moment later her breathing became steady and deep. Ryan put a protective arm over her and closed his own eyes. Tomorrow was coming all too soon, so it felt good to be so at peace right now.
* * *
R
YAN
HAD
NO
rodeos that week, so in seven days they made love at least seven times, enjoyed more than one sunrise before Ryan slipped out of the house and discovered that, for having grown up in such different environments, they valued many of the same things. Peace and quiet, a good beer, now off-limits to Ellie, old movies and goofy TV reruns. But there was an undercurrent, a sense that as good as things were at the moment, it couldn't last. Not without taking a hard look at some hard issues. At some point they were going to have to either face those issues or go their separate ways.