“What do you think of the wild west?” Rick asked as they headed deeper into rural country.
“It’s beautiful.” Southwestern Arizona had a rugged magnificence she’d never imagined, that captivated her completely. No wonder settlers came out west to start a new life in places like this. The land had a way of calling to a person’s soul and claiming it.
Clouds had built up around the mountains, but the sky in between was an endless cerulean blue. The final road they took was paved, but they had to cross several washes, some full of mud from flash floods.
Lani still couldn’t believe that she was in a car with Rick, and that it was his house she would be staying at. Her attraction to him was staggering, but she kept reminding herself that men were men, and the memory of James was still way too fresh.
No more mistakes. And no mixing business with personal, either.
Her heart rate increased when they finally drove up a dirt road to a sprawling ranch home—an oasis in the desert, surrounded by enormous weeping willows, cottonwoods, and junipers. Nothing but ground hugging mesquite bushes and tumbleweeds survived for acres and acres outside the fenced-off yard, but inside the yard everything grew lush and green from the expansive front lawn to the extensive flower and vegetable gardens.
As they reached the ranch house, a black Rottweiler bounded toward the vehicle, followed by a grubby boy. He was just a little kid. Lani studied him with a reporter’s eye, sizing him up at around eight or nine. Rick parked the SUV, and as soon as he opened the door, the boy launched himself at the man.
“Dad! I missed you!”
Dad? Oh, my god.
Lani’s jaw dropped. Rick was a father? He had a son?
But of course. How could she have missed the resemblance? There was no doubt that boy was Rick’s, from the vibrant blue eyes to the chestnut hair, to the dimple in one cheek.
Damn it, Stanton. Don’t go wide-eyed over a cute kid and a dog. And a cowboy hunk. You’re a reporter. A professional. You can do this.
She grabbed her purse and laptop, and followed the others out of the vehicle.
As she stood beside the vehicle, the Rottweiler sniffed at her jeans and slobbered on her shoes.
Even the friggin’ dog is cute. Damn, damn, damn…
“Trevor!” Rick gave the boy a fierce hug and set him back down on the ground. “I missed you too, kiddo. Did you behave?”
“Yup.” The child nodded so hard his hair flopped into his eyes. Lani wanted to groan. “I did all my chores, and helped Grandma in the garden, fed the pigs, and found a rattlesnake, but I didn’t get close to it, I ran and told Grandma and—”
“Slow down there, Pardner.” Chuck crouched down, eye level with Trevor. “What’s this about a rattler?”
The boy squirmed. “I found it this morning and told Grandma and she chopped its head off with a shovel, and she gave me the rattles. They’re really long and so cool, you wanna see?” He grabbed his dad’s hand and tried to pull him toward the house.
“Hold on,” Rick said. “Trevor, this is Lani. She’s the reporter who’ll be staying with us.”
The adorable little dynamo actually slowed down for a second and looked at her. “Whoa, you’re a girl. We thought you were a boy. Isn’t Lane a boy’s name?”
Lani forgot about why she didn’t want to love the child instantly, grinned and extended her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Trevor. My real name is Lani but I go by Lane E. for my work.”
He gave her a gap-tooth smile and shook her hand, and she noticed he smelled of bubblegum and dog. He would easily be as handsome as his dad when he grew up. “You wanna see my snake rattle?”
Chuck patted Trevor on his shoulder. “Show Lani to the guest room, and then you can show her the rattle.”
“Okay!” The boy grabbed her hand and started for the house, hauling her along like he probably hauled his dog around when the big brute was a puppy. “How old are you? I’m nine. Well, almost nine. My birthday is in three days on the fourth of July. It’s summer, so we don’t have school now. Grandma says that there’s six more weeks until school starts and she can’t wait, ‘cause then she’ll get some peace and quiet. She calls me Taz. She thinks I’m like the Tasmanian Devil. Ever heard of him? He’s on Bugs Bunny. I watch it all the time on Cartoon Network.”
Lani laughed out loud. “I’m twenty-five and I think Taz is a good nickname for you.”
“My dad’s old ‘cause he’s thirty-four now. But Grandma and Grandpa are lots older.”
“Now what’s this about your Grandma being old?” came a voice from the porch, then a youthful woman stepped through the screened door. She had the same blue eyes as Trevor and Rick, though her brown hair was graying at the temples.
“Grandma! This lady is Lani, the reporter who’s staying with us. She’s not a man, though, and she’s twenty-five. I’m going to show her my snake rattle after I show her where the guest room is.”
The woman clasped Lani’s hand in a firm grip. “I’m Sadie Turner. I see you’ve met the welcoming committee.”
Lani returned the woman’s warm smile and thanked her for her hospitality. “You look much too young to be Rick’s mother,” she added, “and certainly not a Grandmother.”
Sadie laughed, a genuine sound that made Lani feel comfortable at once. “I like you already. I’m plenty old enough, and have the battle scars to prove it.”
Trevor nodded solemnly. “Grandma’s real old, ‘cause she’s over fifty and Grandpa’s really, really old ‘cause he’s older than that.”
“Off with you now, and show Lani her room.” Sadie gave Trevor a playful swat on his behind. “And wash up. You’re filthy.”
“Okay.” He pulled Lani through the screened-in porch, then the glass and oak double doors of the house, jabbering all the way. Lani could tell he would be the kind of kid who would wear a person out with his enthusiasm and chatter, but he’d already won a place in her heart.
The house was spacious with exposed beam ceilings and acres of unglazed
Saltillo
tile. The furnishings were southwestern and casual, the type of home where a person would immediately feel comfortable. Country western music played on a stereo in the family room, and they even passed a wood-burning stove that she assumed would work in the winter since the stovepipe climbed into the ceiling.
Trevor pulled her through a spotless kitchen that smelled of fresh-baked cinnamon rolls. They headed around a corner, then down a long hall and he stopped at the first room.
“This is the guest room. Dad’s is that one right next to yours, and the one at the end of the hall is my mine. Grandma and Grandpa’s room is way over on the other side of the house. Do you wanna see mine now?”
“Sure.” Lani tried to calm the nervous flutter stirring in her belly at Trevor’s words.
Rick’s room, right here?
“I think he’ll be a good chaperone, don’t you?”
Rick’s voice startled Lani, so close his breath tickled the back of her neck, and she caught his earthy scent. She whirled, sending her elbow into his hard stomach. “Oh! I’m sorry. No—no I take it back. You deserved that.”
He rubbed his side. “It’s dangerous startling you, darlin’.”
“Next time you might not be so lucky, cowboy.” She couldn’t help but be mesmerized by those blue, blue eyes. She wanted to kiss him again, to taste him.
She shook her head, shaking the thoughts from her mind and turned away. “Hold on, Trevor, I’ll take a look at your room once I put my bag and purse in here.”
Antique furniture of a deep mahogany filled the guest room. Cream brocade with a rose design covered the bed, matching drapes hung at the windows, and a beautiful Victorian lamp perched on the nightstand. It looked like a picture-perfect room at a bed-and-breakfast. A four-poster bed occupied the far side of the room, and she plopped her belongings beside it.
Rick followed, set her two suitcases on the rose-colored throw rug as Lani turned to face him. For a moment neither of them moved. The tension in the room had just tripled and Lani wasn’t sure what to do. Kiss him or kick him in the shin and make a run for it.
He winked then turned and headed back out the door. “Let’s see that snake rattle, Trev.”
After they checked out the snake rattle, Trevor grabbed Lani’s hand and took her on a tour outside. Warmth stirred in Rick’s gut as he observed Lani with his son. She listened to Trevor’s non-stop jabbering and looked suitably impressed at everything he presented to her, including Roxie the Rottweiler, a dead June bug, and Rock, his pet turtle.
When Trevor dashed off to search for one of the barn cats, Lani grinned at Rick. “You have a wonderful son. So much energy and utterly honest.”
“To a fault,” Rick agreed. “The kid doesn’t know how to lie—not yet anyhow. I wonder how charming you’ll find him once you’ve been around his endless gab for awhile.”
“He might wear me out, but I can tell he’s one great kid. I’ve always loved children, and wanted to have at least a couple.” Her voice went soft and her thoughts seemed far away. “But James insisted we weren’t ready, and he worried that I would get fatter.” She bit her lip and blushed, like she felt abashed, like she’d let something slip she hadn’t intended to.
“Sounds like a stupid ass, this James. Because you’re perfect.” He put his hand on her shoulder and looked into her sensual brown eyes. “I wouldn’t want you any other way.”
“Thanks.” She shrugged away from his touch. “I’m not sure any man could truly love a woman as she is. I heard more than enough lies from James to convince me of that. Not to mention all the lies my father told my mother.”
Rick caught her hand, bringing her eyes back to him. “I’m not lying, and I’m not James or your father.” He squeezed her fingers. “They both sound like bastards.”
Lani looked startled, then laughed. “That’s them all right.”
He dropped her hand before she could pull away, and they walked through Sadie’s apple and peach orchard toward the barn. The air was completely still, a prelude to a monsoon storm. Thunderheads had built up all around, and it smelled of rain.
“How long have you lived here?” she asked.
“I grew up in this house.” He sidestepped a watering hose and sprinkler head hidden in the grass and made sure Lani didn’t stumble over it. “When I graduated high school, I moved to Tucson to attend the University of Arizona, then went into the Border Patrol Academy. After that, when I became an agent, I was stationed along the Texas border.”
Lani ducked under the branch of an apple tree. “How did you end up back on the ranch?”
“When Trevor’s mother died five years ago, I felt he needed his grandparents. So I managed to get a transfer here and we moved in with Mom and Chuck.”
“I didn’t mean to pry.” Embarrassment flashed across her face.
He smiled and squeezed her shoulder. “You didn’t.”
“Dad Dad Dad Dad!” Trevor charged toward them. “Come see! Come on, come on!” He grabbed Rick’s hand.
Trevor led the way, pulling his dad toward the barn. “Wait ‘til you see!” When they entered the dusty barn, Lani sneezed, and Trevor said, “Bless you. Come on now and see.” He pulled Rick around the saddles and tack to a cardboard box in one corner. “Look, Barny had kittens. Lots of kittens. It took me a long time to find her, but I did and I counted five kittens, and one is orange like her and two are black and I think one is calico, and the other is white.”
“Cute babies.” Lani crouched next to the box and sneezed. “The mama cat is beautiful.” Her eyes watered and she sneezed again.
“Those are some fine kittens, Trev.” Rick stroked one of the rat-like things as the mama cat kept a watchful eye on him. “I think Lani is allergic to cats or the barn, so maybe we’d better scram.”
“I’m—” She sneezed. “Fine. Really—” Sneeze. “I am.” Sneeze.
With a laugh, Rick grabbed her hand and pulled her up. “Come on, Sneezy.”
“Lani’s like Aunt Callie. She always sneezes when she comes out to the barn, too. Come on and let’s tell Grandma and Grandpa about the kittens.” The boy charged out the door and headed back to the house.
“I don’t think I’ve—” Lani sneezed. “Ever sneezed so many times in my life.” Sneeze.
“Let’s get you some allergy medicine.” Rick nodded toward the house. “And I think I smell Mom’s tacos. They’re the best in the west.”
Sure enough, tacos it was for dinner. It amazed Rick how comfortable Lani was with his family. After dinner, she insisted on helping clean up, and he joined her in washing and drying the dishes.
“I’m going to sleep like a baby,” she said after Trevor was tucked in bed, and Sadie and Chuck had retired for the night. “Those allergy tablets are making me drowsy.”
“I’ll call it a night, too.” Rick kicked off his boots at the front door, next to Trevor’s. “Back to work tomorrow.”
She walked ahead of him, then stopped before the door of the guest room, looking at him with those sensual brown eyes that made him burn. “There is a lock on this door, isn’t there?”
He slid his hands into his front pockets and studied her face, remembering how soft she’d felt in his arms the night before. How delicious her lips had tasted. His voice was husky as he replied, “You’ll be glad to know that I have the only key.”
“Rick!” She narrowed her gaze and gave him a mock frown.
He chuckled and moved closer to her. “The door locks from the inside.” A strand of her honeyed hair fell forward, and he brushed it behind her ear. “You have one hell of an effect on my self-control,” he whispered, his lips nearing hers.
“Dad!” Trevor’s voice shattered the quiet, and Lani jumped. The boy peeked around the corner of his room. “I can’t sleep. Will you read me a story?”