Right Here Waiting (14 page)

“Oh right, and have all the men know about our personal
business? I don’t think so. This is between me and you.” Okay, so maybe it
wasn't such a great idea, she thought.

“I’m sure there are other places we can go.”  She twisted
in her seat so she now faced away from him.

Blade stopped the truck in front of the cottage and cut
the engine. He turned to her. “I know I have done a lot to make you distrust
me, darling. I promise I’ll make it up to you. I don’t care if it takes the
rest of our lives.” He sounded sincere, but she still had her doubts.

She wanted to believe there was a future for them, but
they honestly didn't have one. As long as Blade wanted a sexual relationship
with her, there was nothing. She wouldn't settle for anything less with Blade
than everlasting love and a future, which included starting a family. If he
couldn't offer her those things, she passed on having him at all. Having him in
her life only short for a short period of time was recipe for a broken heart.

“I won’t be around long enough for you to even bother
trying to make it up to me,” she said at last.

A sad look settled in his steel gray eyes. “You don’t
really mean it.” He looked disappointed, but why?

“Yes I do. I have a life waiting for me to return to in
New York. I can't put off going home any longer.” She refused to let him see
how much leaving the ranch saddened her.

“You can still have a life with me here on the ranch.” She
wished it were true.

“You and I can’t have a relationship, Blade,” she said
with a sigh.

“Says who?” She turned to look at him. How could he even
ask her that? He already knew the answer.

She ignored his question. “Even if we both wanted the
same thing in a relationship, which we don’t, I could never commit myself to a
man who thinks I’m a slut.” She saw him flinch.

“I have apologized to you for my words, which I didn't
mean. Megan. I don’t know what else to do.” A small part of her wanted to
believe him.

“Sign the document so I can go home.” Why was he putting
her through all this over one signature?

“Is this what you really want, Megan?” he asked, leaning
in close to her.

“Yes.” He backed away from her.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I can’t do it. I won’t
sign anything which will take you away from me.” Now what? she wondered.

“You’re not making this any easier,” she groaned out of
frustration. Why was he being so difficult? It was as if he was following the
quote she once saw on a bumper sticker back in New York. He, who has the most
toys, wins. He wanted it all. He wanted the ranch, he wanted the blond – not to
mention how many other women were on his list as well as her, and he refused to
give any of it up. Megan was removing herself from his collection.

“Neither are you,” he stated dryly. She turned to look
away again.

* * *

H
is advances weren’t working. If he
were going to win Megan Nelson over, he needed a new plan of action. He wasn’t
used to this. Most women, like Shanice, fell at his feet and all but begged him
to have sex with them.

He knew he could have Shanice if he wanted her. He could
have her out of her clothes at the snap of his fingers. But he didn’t want
Shanice. He wanted Megan.

What was happening to him? Was he losing his touch? He
used to find all the female attention a turn on. Now he wasn't interested in
any of them. Megan was the only one who sparked his desire and she was fighting
off all his advances.

It wasn't just sex he wanted Megan for as he wanted all
those women for in the past. He wanted to spend a lifetime with Megan. Was it
too much to ask for? Was she against commitment?

She said she wasn’t a slut, which he already knew. He put
his foot in his mouth far too many times as far as Megan was concerned. Did he
blow what little chance he might have with her? Hell, she was sending him mixed
signals. Either she wanted him or she didn’t. It was that simple. She would
have to make up her mind soon.

He glanced over at her in the passenger seat of his
truck. She sat with her arms folded across her chest, almost defensively. Why
was she trying to protect herself from him? He would never intentionally harm
her. From the looks of things though, she wasn't too sure of that.

He reached over with one hand and gently massaged her
shoulder, hoping she would relax. She stiffened under his touch. He remembered
how she freely gave herself to him in his bed. He knew it was going to take a
lot to repair the damage and this rift between them caused by his big mouth and
his hot temper.

He continued to massaging her. She turned to him with the
saddest look in her eyes. It nearly tore him up inside to see her this way. He
never meant to make her want to leave.

A single tear ran down her cheek and she quickly turned
away, trying to hide the effect this situation was having on her, but it was
too late. He already saw.

He would need to mend the damage soon, he knew. But what
could he do? He would have to talk to Martha as soon as possible. He hoped she
would know what to do to help him and Megan get on the right path for a happy
future.

Megan broke the silence, bringing him out of his
thoughts. “Can you please take me back to the ranch? Josh and I are supposed to
be working on a project for a client.”

She still wasn’t looking directly at him and he could
tell she was still crying. She was too stubborn to let it show though. He
couldn’t just leave things this way between them. He needed to think of
something to say to her, but what?

“Megan, look at me, please, he pleaded. ”We can’t leave
things this way between us. It’s tearing me up inside because I know I am the
cause of your tears and heartache. I don’t know what to do to fix it. Please
help me and tell me what I can do.”

She slowly turned to face him. Her cheeks streaked with
tears, which she quickly tried to wipe away with the back of her hand. “I told
you what you can do for me.”

“What you are asking me to do is too much. I don’t want
to lose you, Megan. You mean the world to me. I have never felt this way for
any other woman.”  He knew he sounded frantic, but he didn't bother to hide it.

“Just take me back to the ranch," she whispered.
"I need some time to be alone and think.”

He reluctantly started the truck back up. Neither said a
word on the drive back. As soon as he cut the engine at home, she got out and
walked away without a word.

He watched as she disappeared inside the cabin she shared
with Josh. He believed every word she told him and he trusted her, but he
didn’t know Josh well enough to trust him. Blade slugged the steering wheel in
frustration.

CHAPTER TEN

M
egan and Josh worked all afternoon
trying to come up with ideas to try to promote a new line of clothing coming
out in the spring from one of the world's top fashion designers. As hard as she
tried not to, her mind kept wandering back to Blade and the words he said to
her in his truck before he brought her back to the ranch. It made it difficult
to concentrate.

A part of her wanted to believe what he was saying was
true. Her heart swelled with hope. She was half expecting him to say he loved
her. When he never did, her heart sank, and disappointment washed over her.
What would life be like now without Blade? She knew she would miss this ranch
just as much as she did when she left five years ago.

They took a break for lunch, long enough for them to each
grab a sandwich. They washed them down with iced tea while they chatted about
different angles for the campaign so Josh could create a power point
presentation of their ideas to be shown to the client. When they finished
eating, they got back to work on a layout for one of their ideas.

An hour later,
t
hey were compiling a list of
potential slogans when she decided she needed to get some fresh air and excused
herself. When she exited the cabin, she found herself wishing she never did
because of the scene she saw.

Blade was walking along the path with the blond attached
to his arm. She turned away, refusing to look at them. She could feel Blade’s
eyes on her.

She turned and found herself looking into Blade’s eyes.
There was no mistaking the look of hunger showing in them as he looked her way.
What was wrong with the man? He was with another woman, yet he was looking at
her as if he wanted to get her into bed. Wasn’t one woman enough for him?

She hoped he wasn’t getting any funny ideas involving the
three of them. She wasn’t into that kind of stuff. A lump formed in her throat
and she swallowed it before turning away and making her escape.

She hurried back inside the cabin to get away from Blade.
She suddenly wanted him, minus the blond. What was wrong with her? She was
never one to weaken to lust. Blade seemed to have this effect on her. She
wished desperately she could avoid him all together. It would be best for both
of them. She decided to go back in.

“What’s the matter?” Josh asked at her sudden return. He
seemed genuinely surprised to see her back so soon. “I thought you needed some
fresh air.”

“I did. Now I’m ready to get back to work. Where were
we?” She wasn't in the mood to talk about what just happened.

Josh shrugged and read back the last slogan idea they
came up with. They would need to be creative to come up with several more ideas
to find the right one for the campaign.

The clients wanted hip and trendy. She wasn’t in the
right frame of mind to think in those terms today. It was days like this when
she needed to force herself to keep going. Before coming here, she loved her
work so much; she never knew when to stop.

Josh must have noticed the change in her mood since she
went outside because he suddenly asked, “Are you okay? Are you sure you don’t
need to take another break?”  Josh was a good friend and she always enjoyed
working with him. It was good to know he cared enough about her to be
concerned.

“I’ll be fine,” she said, trying to concentrate on the
job at hand. “Why do you ask?”

“You just seem real distracted. You acted this way before
you went out and even more so since you’ve come back in. What happened out
there? Anything I should know about?”

“I just need a cold drink of water,” she said, excusing
herself again. It was more like she needed a cold shower to slow her raging
hormones down. There was no time for one though. Besides, if she wanted to take
one, she would have to go up to the main house since there was only a bathtub
in the cabin. It was tempting since Blade was out, but what if he returned? 
She wasn't going to chance it.

When she returned, Josh was getting on the Internet,
using the already existing dial up connection, which was slow. He looked up at
her when he noticed she returned to the room.

“I thought I’d email this list to the boss to see if we
are on the right track for what the client is looking for and to see if he has
any suggestions for us to use.”

“Good idea,” she said as she sat back down on a chair
next to Josh in front of the computer. It was going to be a long day.

She knew with the slow Internet connection, this could
take forever to do. She picked up the tablet and began reading the slogans out
loud to him as he typed.

* * *

B
lade would have loved to dump Shanice
on the spot, and take Megan up to the ranch house, and up to his bedroom, even
if he needed to carry her kicking and screaming the whole way, just so he could
make love to her and prove to her how much he really wanted her.

He was too much of a gentleman to really do it. He made a
commitment to Shanice and he was going to see it through until the end. The
last thing he and Megan needed was Shanice running back to Chicago and giving
Happy Meadow Ranch a bad name. In the circles Shanice ran with, word would
travel fast, and the ranch could lose a lot of business.

He was glad the riding lesson was over. How would he be
able to endure giving her lessons all summer? His hormones sure got him into a
fine mess he could not get out of. It sure as hell wasn’t helping him make any
progress with Megan, either. To be honest, the whole situation seemed to be
coming between him and Megan.

Being the gentleman he was, he offered to walk Shanice back
to her cabin, making sure she made it safely. She clung to his arm the whole
way there, acting as if he belonged to her.

“Please come inside,” she pleaded when they reached her
door. He should have seen this coming.

Blade cleared his throat before he responded to her
invitation. “Not now, maybe some other time. I have other plans right now that
I can’t change.”

Her lips formed into a pout. “Not even for me?” she
asked, still clutching his arm. He couldn't stand her touching him. If only it
were Megan by his side. He would do anything to have it be her.

“Not even for you,” he said, pulling his arm out of her
grasp. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I really must go.”  At this point he didn't
care if she got upset. He knew she would get over it in no time flat.