Page 26 of One Wild Texas Night
He held her close their breath mingled. He was warm, his body solid, so fascinating to her.
He rolled over to prop his head on his hand, looked down at her and smiled. He ran his index finger slowly along her jaw and up to her ear. “I want to keep you here in my bed the rest of the month.”
“Well, you can’t do that, but I can stay awhile. Later, I need to get back to getting my ranch back in order and everything rebuilt. Sometimes that overwhelms me—everything that needs to be rebuilt. Barns, corrals, fences, my house, other houses, an office. So much to build from just ashes. I really appreciate getting to stay here.”
He smiled. “Believe me, you can’t appreciate being here as much as I’m happy to have you here. You take your time. There’s no rush for you to rebuild and get out.”
“Thank you,” she said, smiling at him.
“I want you with me. This is a fabulous time,” he said, showering light kisses on her throat and then turning her to kiss her again, another deep kiss that stirred desire far sooner than she expected.
An hour later, they were still in bed, and she was in his arms, her naked body pressed against his as he held her close.
“Jake, I was going to town to get some clothes. Also, I need to call all sorts of people about my house and property and get work started on rebuilding. First, I have an appointment with my insurance agent.”
“It’ll all be there when you do call, and right now they’re swamped anyway. Relax and let’s enjoy the most fabulous lovemaking ever,” he said, his voice growing husky as it did when he thought about making love. “I want you here in my arms, against my body for just a bit longer. What time we wasted. I should have had you as a guest long, long ago and gotten to know you.”
She smiled. “After this we should be able to settle our differences out of court, huh?”
“Let’s not talk about ranches and differences and problems today,” he said while he ran his fingers over her bare shoulder and then down to her breast. “This is a special time.” He leaned closer to kiss her lightly on her throat, trailing more kisses over her jaw. “You’re beautiful. I can never get enough of looking at you naked.”
She wondered if she was already in love with him. She couldn’t think about it rationally when she was in his arms with his hands drifting over her.
He held her close now, still running his fingers over her.
“Claire, I want you to stay while you get your house rebuilt. You don’t have a home on your ranch or any outbuildings, and you can’t throw up a tent until that land is cleared of debris. Stay here with me. That will give us some time together, because when you go back, when we step back into our regular lives, you know our lives won’t be the same as they are now.”
She shook her head. “No, they won’t be the same. And I don’t think you’ve thought through your invitation to me,” she said, smiling at him. “I can’t get a new house thrown up in a few weeks. That project will take months.”
“I know what I’m asking,” he said solemnly, and her heart thumped. Stunned by the unexpected invitation to stay a long time with him, she gazed into his dark eyes while her heart beat faster at the thought of weeks in his arms, in his bed, making love often.
“I’ll have to think about that one,” she answered quietly. “If I stay a long time with you, it will become known in these parts. That could cause an uproar with all my relatives. It could cut me out of my family. I don’t want that to happen. I’m trying to reconnect with them. I have to think about that. It’s not going to go over well with your family, either. I know you have relatives in Texas, although not close to here, and you know that I do also.”
“We run a risk, but I don’t think my family will cut me out.”
“I don’t want to lose my family, but they probably saw my house burn on television. They might yield a little because of my losses. I can’t guess. I’ll have to think about the risk I take. Also, my brothers may try to catch you alone where they can beat you up for letting me stay here.”
“Let me worry about that one. I’ll be careful, and I’m not scared of your brothers.”
“On the other hand, I need to be near my property to rebuild. I don’t have another place to stay. This is perfect for me to work with the contractors on building a new house.”
Her breath stilled as she thought of another reason to rethink staying at Jake’s cabin.
“Then there’s another risk if I stay. I want to say yes right now, while at the same time, common sense tells me if I stay with you and we keep making love, I’ll never want to leave you. I’ll fall so deeply in love with you, my heart will break when we part. I don’t know. I have to give your offer thought before I answer.”
“Think about it. I don’t think you’ll fall in love. You’re incredibly independent, accustomed to running your own ranch. You’ll just go back to your regular routine.”
She suspected he was describing himself and his reactions to staying with someone he had had sex with and then said goodbye.
“I’m not sure you know what you’re asking. It’s none of my business, so if you don’t want to answer, don’t. My guess is that you’ve never invited someone to stay with you that long.”
He shook his head. “No, I haven’t, but it’s different this time. You don’t even have a house. You’ll be gone a lot on your ranch, supervising and working and just here at night—the best time and when I’m home. You’re damn independent or you wouldn’t be living over there alone and running that ranch. I think we can work it out, and if we can’t, we’ll change the arrangements.”
She smiled. “You promise to ask me to leave if you get tired of me?”
He gazed back solemnly. “I can’t imagine asking you to leave for a long time. I’m not a marrying man, Claire, but I want you here with me. And for the record, I don’t think you’re a marrying woman, either.”
She shook her head as she smiled. “Not to a Reed. You’re safe there, Jake. I’ve told you my feelings on that, and I know you wouldn’t ever want to marry a Blake. You lost a brother because of his marriage to a Blake. I lost a sister. So you’re right. I won’t want to marry you. But that doesn’t mean I won’t fall in love with you and end up with a broken heart.”
