Chapter 14
Danielle and Wade
The next morning, Wade took a halting step back from going up the stairs when he glanced out the living room window and saw Dani’s car pulling into the driveway.
He leaned against the baluster and watched as she brought the car to a stop and got out--the same beautiful woman whose mouth he had unapologetically ravished last night.
Even now, he could still taste her, even after his morning cup of coffee and a leftover cinnamon roll.
Although she had been the one to break off the kiss, she had been just as aroused as he’d been.
A man could tell, mainly from a woman’s scent.
And by the time he had gone to bed last night, her sensual aroma had been absorbed in his skin.
Wade noted she wasn’t wearing a sundress today, but a skirt and a top. She looked sexy as hell in them. As usual, her hair flowed around her shoulders, and a pair of gold earrings dangled from her ears. She also had a cute pair of cowboy boots on her feet.
When she knocked, he headed for the door.
Chances were, she expected Elena to answer it since he hadn’t mentioned anything about his housekeeper taking time off.
However, he intended to make sure things would be as he’d told her, with him being gone.
He had enough chores outside to keep him busy and away from the house.
His men would be returning at some point this afternoon.
Since none of them had permanent residence on his spread, the place would be empty until Monday morning.
He opened the door, and although her eyes registered surprise, the smile on her lips remained intact. Lips he desperately wanted to kiss again.
“Good morning, Wade. Where’s Elena?”
He stepped aside, allowing her to come in. “She’s home. She always takes the day off when Carlos returns from being out on the range for any length of time. Even when it’s only been two days. She believes a woman is supposed to be there to greet her man when he returns.”
“Oh, how sweet.”
“It’s basic Willow Harrison ideology that Elena acquired and put in practice over the years.”
“Your mother’s?”
He chuckled. “Yes. I think my dad deliberately stayed out on the range more times than necessary just to receive my mother’s special brand of homecoming when he returned.”
“Your parents sound like a couple who enjoyed being married.”
“They were blissfully happy, up to the day they died. I think that’s one of the reasons they didn’t mind me being gone on the rodeo circuit so much.
When I was a teen, I got to spend a lot of nights over at Rich and Cal’s place.
Their parents were affectionate, but trust me, nobody’s parents were as affectionate as mine.
That’s the kind of marriage I want for myself,” he said.
“You do?”
“Of course,” he responded. “It’s the kind of marriage I’m used to being around. The kind I’ve always been exposed to. I want more than a wife. I want a best friend.”
Then, thinking he might have said too much, he said, “I’m going to be working outside the entire day, so I won’t be underfoot. You have my number. Call me if you need me.”
“Okay. If I keep up the same pace, I might just finish today instead of tomorrow.”
He hoped that was true. Though he’d definitely like to spend Friday with her if she was interested. The county fair arrived in town tonight and ran through Sunday. “Well, I need to go upstairs and grab a few things, and then I’ll be seeing you later,” he said.
“Alright, and Wade?”
“Yes?”
“Thanks for telling me about your parents. It sounds like they were special, and you were blessed that they displayed so much affection. My parents weren’t affectionate at all,” she said.
“I believe they loved each other, and they loved us, but Dad had this thing about keeping his emotions to himself. He thought demonstrating love was a sign of weakness.”
She paused a moment, and Wade waited. He had a feeling she had more to say, more to get out. And he was right.
“Dad died when I was fourteen, Libby was sixteen, and my sister Kim was almost eighteen. He was killed in a car accident a few months before Kim graduated from high school. Mom didn’t know what to do with herself after he died, since he hadn’t wanted her to work outside the home.
So she began volunteering at a few charities.
Just before I was about to leave for college, my sisters and I talked her into going back to school and getting her degree. ”
Dani laughed. “It was as if she got the educational bug and couldn’t stop.
Not only did she get her bachelor’s degree, but she kept going and finished up her master’s as well.
She became a teacher and then a principal.
She’d been planning to get her PhD when her aunt passed and willed her a house in Gary, Indiana.
So she packed up and left Huntsville, Alabama. ”
Wade then remembered something that Rich had mentioned the last time he’d been home for an extended period of time from the rodeo. “Your mother remarried recently, right?”
A huge smile touched her lips. “That’s right. She married Jeremiah Montgomery. He’s good for her and, unlike Dad, he has no issues showing her how much he loves her. I can tell Mom is happy.”
Dani released a satisfied breath and then looked him in the eye. “That’s what I want, too, Wade. The kind of marriage your parents had, the kind my mom has now.”
Then, as if she realized she had gotten a little ahead of herself, she shook her head and said, “My goodness. How on earth did we start talking about stuff like that? I have work to do, and so do you. Sorry I took up so much of your time rambling on the way I did.”
“You didn’t,” he assured her.
“I’ll see you later, Wade.”
He then watched as she rushed off toward his office.
Six hours later, Dani pumped her fist in the air in triumph.
“Yay!” She had finished the Barker project a day early.
After sending the file to Paula, she leaned back in her chair and released a deep breath.
She had been working steadily and hadn’t realized she had missed lunch.
Good thing she’d had a candy bar in her purse.
As he’d promised, Wade had not gotten underfoot. In fact, she hadn’t seen him since that morning when she had talked his ear off. She still didn’t know what had gotten into her. She usually didn’t share so much of her family business with someone she barely knew.
And she definitely didn’t usually share so much of herself…the way she had done last night. Kissing him should not have been such a big deal. It was only supposed to be a good-night kiss. But it had quickly become so much more than that.
It had felt so good to be held in his arms, while he’d taken her mouth with such expertise and greed. Before long, they’d both gotten carried away. Thank goodness she’d had the good sense to put a stop to it before either of them lost control.
The sound of horses and riders made her glance out the window.
She saw some of Wade’s men returning. He’d said the branding would end today.
Then she saw him coming out of the barn to greet them.
She couldn’t resist sitting back and admiring how good he looked in his jeans, a western shirt, and a Stetson.
Right now, he looked the way he’d been last night in her dreams…
until he had undressed. Not content to deal with reality, her dreams had taken her to a place where they’d both been naked and ready to make love.
The image of her gliding her hands up his sexy, well-built body, before returning to his sculpted abdomen, and then grasping hold of his shaft was still engrained in her memory.
Her alarm had gone off right before he’d been about to penetrate her.
She’d woken up covered in sweat, and desperate for release.
It had been years since she had dreamed about making love with a man. She wasn’t a lusty twenty-something anymore. But she was a thirty-one-year-old woman with sexual needs—needs that were starting to make themselves known. And it had all started with Wade...
Then again, there was no reason she wouldn’t be sexually attracted to a man since she and Steve had stopped sleeping together months before she’d left. But somehow, she felt bad putting Wade and Steve in the same thought. Wade was nothing like her ex, and she thanked God for it.
And speaking of Steve… He had called her again today, and she’d let his call go through to voicemail. But she’d decided to listen to his message this time.
He was still trying to convince her to come back to him, telling her they needed to start planning their wedding.
She wondered what part of “I don’t want to be with you,” he did not understand.
There would be no making up this time. He had shown her a part of him that scared her.
She’d seen just how aggressive he could become if things didn’t go his way.
So, after listening to Steve’s message, she took the final step to end things by blocking any future calls from him.
Feeling proud of herself, she indulged in watching Wade.
Then as if he sensed someone watching him, he glanced straight at his office window, and saw her.
There was no use pretending she hadn’t been staring, so she waved.
He smiled and waved back. That Wade Harrison smile would be her downfall if she weren’t careful.
Now that she had finished the project, there was no reason for her to hang around or even come back here.
She was grateful she didn’t have any other pressing deadlines, so she wouldn’t need to use Wade’s internet.
Hopefully, that Jerry guy would return next week to fix whatever electrical problem existed at her sister and brother-in-law’s ranch house.