4
“W hat is the most exciting thing you’ve ever done?” Cat asked.
They were sitting on the grass outside their motel room, enjoying the cool evening air while Lucy took her after-dinner stroll around the courtyard.
“Why do you ask?” Jared avoided her question with a question.
“Because this trip is the most exciting thing I’ve ever done,” she said. “And I was wondering what was yours. It’s called making conversation.”
Jared glanced away. “I’ve never had much excitement in my life.”
“Oh, come on,” she said. “Enough of the strong silent stuff. Tell me a story.”
She reached out and rested a hand on his forearm in a light caress. Jared glanced up. Her enormous eyes were soft and inquisitive. A man could get lost trying to follow the patterns of color swirling in her irises.
Think of her as a little sister, he told himself. An annoying little sister at that.
“Please, tell me,” she said.
Jared shifted away from her touch.
“Okay, I don’t know if this was the most exciting thing that’s ever happened to me, but it was the most profound,” he said.
“I’m all ears,” she chimed and propped her chin on her hand, poised to listen.
“My mother died when I was very young.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“No, it’s all right. My father kept her memory alive for me with stories of how she used to sing to me when I was little and play all sorts of games. I have wonderful loving memories of her. She was an amazing mom.”
“That was good of your father.”
“Yeah, he’s the best,” Jared agreed. “It wasn’t easy for him. I was what you might call a handful.”
“You?” Cat looked at him with mock surprise.
“I remember when I was seventeen and full of back talk and attitude.” Jared gave Cat a wry smile. “I decided I didn’t need to take orders from anyone anymore, especially from my father. Like all teenagers I bucked every direction he gave me and did my best to make our lives a living hell.”
“He never gave in. He just worked me harder. I had packed a bag and was about to take off for parts unknown, when one of our mares began to foal. My curiosity dragged me to the stable, and my father immediately gave me the task of pulling a newborn colt into the world. To see a life begin...it was the single most amazing moment of my life.” Jared paused, reliving that incredible day in his mind.
“My father never mentioned the packed bag I’d shown up with, and I never left. It was at that moment I realized, that despite the hell I’d put him through, my father trusted me enough, loved me enough, to let me perform one of the most vital functions on the ranch. I don’t think I ever talked back to him again.”
A cicada buzzed somewhere in the field behind them. Night had settled in and the glow of lanterns illuminating the courtyard made the moment intimate. Unaccustomed to revealing his innermost self, Jared felt immensely uncomfortable. Cat gazed at him with understanding, but still he felt raw and exposed.
“Your father must love you very much,” she observed. She reached out and squeezed his forearm again.
When she would have let go, Jared stopped her and wrapped his hand around hers. The sound of her voice and feel of her touch soothed him. Her mysterious eyes were warm, and he knew she understood the memory was sacred to him.
It was strangely uplifting to meet a woman so intuitive. There was no judgment in her eyes, just acceptance. She didn’t try to tell him how he should feel. She just embraced what was.
She threatened a man’s sanity with her taunts and her teasing, but her sensitivity and warmth just about unhinged him. And if he had to spend another night in a room with her, he was going to be a prime candidate for the ha-ha house.
Abruptly, Jared pulled away. His gaze was centered somewhere over Cat’s left shoulder, and he muttered something about needing to clear his head. She watched in dismay as he began to walk away.
“But where are you going?” she protested.
“For a walk.”
Just like that the man shut her out and walked away. Feeling her temper rise, Cat glared at his back. He just couldn’t stand to share one little crumb of his life with her, could he?
“Jared!” she yelled across the yard, oblivious to the other motel guests watching them with rapt attention. “Thanks for sharing!”
If he heard her, he didn’t acknowledge it. Unlatching the gate, he strode out of the courtyard without even glancing back at her.
Defeated, Cat sank back down onto the grass. When would she learn to butt out? She’d obviously driven Jared away with her incessant grilling about his life. Confidence had to be won. It couldn’t be badgered out of a person. Unfortunately, whenever Jared was around, her curiosity always got the better of her.
With a resigned sigh, she grabbed Lucy’s leash and headed toward their room. Suddenly, being in Ohio wasn’t so thrilling anymore.
The streaming movie winked its blue gaze over the room, and Cat made a valiant effort to follow the plot. It was useless. She found the clock on her phone infinitely more interesting.
Cat paced the tiny room with Lucy on her heels. It was two o’clock in the morning, and Jared hadn’t returned from wherever he’d disappeared to and he wasn’t answering his phone. Cat’s emotions had run the gamut from anger to worry and back. If he didn’t show up soon, she was going to start calling the local hospitals as well as the police.
“How about another walk, Lucy?” she asked the puppy. “If I sit here for one more minute, I’m going to go out of my mind.”
Leaping to her feet and rushing to the door, Lucy was eager to go. It was the third walk they’d taken in the past four hours, but she didn’t seem to mind in the least.
The night was cool and quiet. Having no idea where to look for Jared, Cat let the puppy lead her around the brick building. The story he’d shared with her about his father had answered some of her questions about him, but it had also added a slew of new ones.
During the two days that they’d been driving, Cat had told him several stories about herself and her family. He’d never volunteered any. And now, tonight, when she’d finally pried open his shell a crack, he reacted by retreating completely.
Just where in Ohio had he gone, she wondered. And why did she care so much anyway? He was just a traveling companion – nothing more.
So what if his kiss had melted her brain? She didn’t want to get involved with him or anyone. She wanted to be on her own to prove that she could take care of herself and never risk the kind of rejection she’d suffered from the big dumb jerk. She couldn’t handle that sort of ego smashing again, especially with some close-lipped, relationship-phobic hottie like Jared McLean.
She sighed. The desire she felt for him made her other concerns seem trivial. If all she could have with him was a short-term affair, she knew deep down she’d do it.
An affair! Cat felt a flush fill her cheeks. She hadn’t considered a fling. Potentially, that could work. She tried to picture it and visions of naked Jared, rumpled sheets, incongruous sexual positions, and...yeah, no. If sex with Jared was even one-tenth as good as she imagined it, she’d never be able to keep it casual.
She felt a connection with him, despite his silences, that she’d never felt with another guy. Not even the big dumb jerk. She couldn’t even think of Matthew and Jared in the same context. Sex with the big dumb jerk had been practically nonexistent and very much skewed to his preferred positions and outcome...so to speak. Frankly, she hadn’t missed it.
If sex with Jared was anything like his kiss...it made her sweat just to contemplate it. She wanted him. A fling would let her have him without having to risk being hurt. Could she do it? Could she be intimate with him and walk away? More importantly, could she live with never knowing what it was like to be loved by him?
Lost in thought, Cat followed her meandering puppy away from the motel and down the darkened street.
Where in Ohio could she be? Jared checked the bathroom for the third time and resumed pacing. It was two-thirty in the morning and both Cat and the puppy were gone. His conscience kicked him with the thought that she’d probably gone looking for him, which only made him angrier. He’d called her only to find her cell phone on the nightstand by her bed. Damn it.
Fighting to be rational, he tried to use logic to figure out where she could have gone. She hadn’t gone to the van, because that’s where he’d been. The bench seat in the back of the van had been even more impossible to sleep on than the motel bed, and he’d finally given up, but when he’d arrived at the room, she was gone.
He called the front desk. The staff working the night shift said they hadn’t seen her or the puppy. That left the pool area, but a glance out the window proved it to be deserted.
Maybe she just took Lucy for a walk, he hoped, trying to reassure himself. He headed out the door, determined to find the missing pair of delinquents.
He took a quick stroll around the building. There was no sign of them. Cameron was going to kill him. He’d promised to deliver her safely to her job in Arizona. Instead he’d been entertaining very unbrotherly thoughts about her and now he’d lost her in Ohio. Feeling his chest tighten with anxiety, Jared headed for the road. She couldn’t be that irresponsible, he told himself while he scanned the surrounding area, looking for any trace of her or Lucy.
Cat felt certain the way back to the hotel was to her right. Without hesitating, she pulled Lucy along with her. It was late, she was tired, and she’d forgotten her phone. If Jared was determined not to be found, then the heck with him. What a fine companion he’d turned out to be.
She didn’t care if he decided to desert her and hitchhike his way back to Arizona on his own. Goodbye, good riddance and have a nice walk. She didn’t need him anyway. At least, that’s what she kept telling herself.
It wasn’t until she heard the heavy footsteps, crunching on the road behind her that she reconsidered that opinion. The steps were moving fast and headed right for them. If she didn’t pick up the pace, the stranger would be upon them in a matter of moments.
“Come on, Lucy,” she whispered. The icy grip of fear had her by the throat, and Cat felt a ridiculous need to cry. Cameron always warned her not to go out alone. But did she listen? No!
The person was drawing closer. Cat glanced over her shoulder, but she couldn’t see a thing in the dark. Her heart was hammering triple time, and the only thing she knew for sure was that she had to get out of there and fast. Scooping up Lucy, she turned on her heel and began to run toward the safety of the nearby woods.
The footsteps behind her echoed hers, and Cat knew with sudden clarity that her number was up. So much for her adventure west – she was never going to make it out of Ohio.
“Catherine! Stop! What the hell are you doing?” The voice broke through her panic, and Cat swung around to see Jared striding toward her. Fury rang out with his every step, but she was too relieved to care.
“Oh, it’s you,” she said, her knees buckling with relief and the weight of the furball in her arms. “I thought you were a bad guy.”
“Don’t be so sure I’m not,” he snapped. “What are you doing out here?”
“I...we...were looking for you,” she explained.
“You were what?” He was just a few feet away from her now, and Cat blinked at the fury in his eyes. “Do you realize you scared the snot out of me?”
Cat smarted under his anger and felt her own temper steam.
“Don’t you yell at me.” She shoved Lucy into his arms and began to storm away. “If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be out here.”
“Me?” Jared raged over the puppy’s head. “What do I have to do with your poor judgement?”
“Poor judgement?” Cat spun back to face him and planted her hands on her hips. “If you hadn’t behaved like such an immature adolescent, I wouldn’t be out here looking for you.”
“Immature adolescent?” His eyebrows lifted.
“Well, what do you call a man who runs off and sulks just because he confided a part of his precious personal life to someone?”
“Is that what you think?” he asked, his low voice becoming soft.
“Yes,” she said, kicking the dirt at her feet as if it were him. Silence hummed between them as they watched one another, each refusing to take back their angry words.
Cat glanced up and caught Jared watching her with an intensity that made her mouth dry. A man really shouldn’t look at a woman as if he were starving and she were a steak. Cat felt her skin grow hot and she pulled her gaze away from him.
“Look, it’s late.” Jared balanced the dog with one arm while he ran a hand over his face. “Why don’t we go back to the motel and get some rest. We can discuss this in the morning.”
“Fine,” Cat agreed, pressing a hand to her galloping heart. Without glancing at him, she turned and resumed walking.
“Cat,” Jared called, a hint of amusement in his voice. “The motel is this way.”
She turned in time to see the suspicious shaking of his shoulders as he adjusted the puppy in his arms and led the way back to her their room. He was laughing at her!
“I knew that!” she snapped.
“Uh-huh,” he said with a snort.
Cat sighed.
“Wake up, sunshine,” Jared ordered as he crossed to his own side of the room, fresh from a hot shower.
“What time is it?” Cat groaned from beneath her covers.
“Time to hit the road,” he answered. “If we are to maintain your schedule.”
His shirt was only half on when Cat poked her head around the makeshift curtain.
“You’re not going to yell at me again, are you?” she asked.
“No,” he said with a smile. His dimples winked at her, and Cat felt her breath catch in her throat. She could smell his clean, male scent and the sight of his half-bare, broad chest made her toes curl into the floor. “But we are going to have a nice long chat.”
“Good.” She grinned at him. “You’re overdue to spill your guts.”
She ducked back behind the bedspread before he could respond.
What to wear? Standing in the bathroom, Cat examined the contents of her suitcase with a scrutinizing gaze. What did a woman wear when she wanted to have an affair?
Cat had decided that she did want to have an affair with Jared. The sight of his half-bare chest this morning had tipped the scale. She wanted him, and she was going to get him, with no strings attached.
She studied her naked form in the mirror. She was no voluptuous paramour, but she wasn’t displeased with the shape she’d been given. Now all she needed was an outfit that would bring Jared to his knees. There wasn’t a whole heck of a lot of time left for her to get him into bed, and that was precisely where she’d decided she wanted him.
She wasn’t ready for a relationship, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t have a meaningful fling with Jared. She listened to the Call Her Daddy podcast . Single, independent women had hookups all the time. And wasn’t that what she was now? A single, independent woman?
With that goal in mind, Cat chose a blue, cropped tank top and matching bicycle shorts. It was her workout attire, but it was sleek and tight and, with any luck, it would leave little to Jared’s imagination.
Three hours later, she realized she might as well have not bothered. He treated her with all the cordiality of a distant cousin. His gaze never lingered on her for more than a heartbeat and never in an intimate manner. As for the long talk they were supposed to have, that never materialized either. When Cat tried to engage Jared in conversation, he was suddenly more interested in listening to the radio.
“How about some music?” he asked.
“Fine,” she answered. If her response lacked enthusiasm, he didn’t notice.
She watched his square fingers flip the dial, lingering only seconds on the stations as he passed.
“There we go,” he said, finally settling on a station. The twang of a guitar and a nasal voice filled the van.
“Country? You like country-western?” she asked.
“Is there anything else?” Jared asked, turning to look at her for the first time that day.
“You probably wear a cowboy hat,” she accused.
“When I’m working on the ranch,” he confirmed. “Boots, too.”
“Figures.” Cat shook her head. The singer’s voice blared into the silence, crooning about a love gone wrong, his pickup truck and his dog. “I can’t listen to this,” she announced and flipped the dial around until she found a contemporary rock station. The lead singer screamed his vocals to a primal beat that made the entire van shake. Cat bopped in her seat to the rhythm and shouted right along with the singer.
“No! No way!” Jared bellowed over the music. “You have that on and I’ll have a headache in five minutes.”
“If you play country, I’ll die of boredom,” she declared. They glared at each other in a contest of wills.
Jared flipped the dial to a news station. “Local authorities have released the sketches of the suspects, a man and woman in their mid-to-late sixties, wanted in connection with the Boston County jewelry heist last week. The thieves were reported to have stolen the famous ruby-and-diamond choker, last owned by Mrs. Gwendolyn Divine, while it was on display at the New England Heirloom Museum. The Divine choker is valued at three million dollars.”
“No news,” Cat protested. “It’s depressing and I’m on vacation.”
“There has to be something we can both stand.” Jared began to twist the dial again. “Ha! This is perfect.”
A perky beat began to fill the cab, and Cat frowned, trying to recognize the song. It sounded suspiciously like... “Oldies?” she asked, wrinkling her nose in disgust.
“Oh, come on,” Jared said. “This is a good one. Listen.”
In spite of herself, Cat began to mouth the words.
“Ha! You know the words!” he accused, and she felt herself flush to the roots of her hair.
“This song is older than I am,” she retorted. “I was weaned on this stuff, how can I not sing along?”