“Dusty begged me to adopt her. When I agreed, he got a lawyer and we signed the papers. Dusty didn’t live until morning.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Yeah,” Jared said, staring beyond her as if lost in memories. He gave her hand a squeeze and released her. Picking up his beer, he took a long drink. “Was I lost at first! I’d never been around a little baby in my life. Never held one. She’s an angel and she’s blessed my life.”
“That’s wonderful that you adopted her,” Faith said. She was amazed he had adapted so well to fatherhood after the vagabond life he must have led.
“Looks like they want to close,” he said, gesturing to the empty café. “Let’s get out of here. We can talk in the pickup or we can go to my place.”
“My stars,” she exclaimed, looking at her watch. “It’s half past twelve! We’ve been talking for over two hours.”
He gave her a crooked grin. “So we have,” he said, with so much satisfaction, she had to laugh.
“Don’t tell me you knew we would.”
“I didn’t say it.” He had paid the check long before, and as he slid out of the booth he placed his hat on his head. He took Merry from her and picked up the carrier.
The night breeze was cool when they stepped outside, catching locks of Faith’s hair and blowing them across her cheek. Jared fastened Merry’s carrier onto the back seat, and said, “She’s asleep again. The afternoon in the park must have worn her out even with her little naps.” He slid behind the wheel and turned to Faith. “Give me directions.”
She did so, and they drove across south Tulsa to Faith’s condo, where Jared punched in the code to open black iron gates. Moments later, he stopped in her driveway and cut the motor.
“Want to see where I live?” she asked. She hadn’t given thought to whether or not she would invite him in, simply because she hadn’t expected to, yet when he’d switched off the motor, the words were out of her mouth before she could take them back.
“Sure. I’ll bring Merry,” he said, climbing out of the pickup. He reached into the back seat to gather the baby.
They entered Faith’s apartment through a small hallway leading into her kitchen. She switched on a light while Jared placed Merry, still in her carrier, on an oval wooden kitchen table and dropped his hat on a chair. The spotless room contained cherry wood cabinets, tile countertops and a pale blue-and-white floor.
“This is nice,” he said.
“I’ll give you a tour.” Hanging her keys and purse on a hook, she motioned to him, leading him through a formal dining area with a fruitwood table and sideboard, the surfaces gleaming. He thought of the tiny fingerprints smudged on the furniture in his hotel room, Merry’s diapers and belongings and toys strewn over the room, and his own clutter.
The living area was equally immaculate with Impressionist paintings hanging on the white walls, muted pastel upholstery lending touches of color in the beige-and-white decor and more fruitwood furniture.
“Would you like a glass of tea or pop?” she asked.
“Whatever pleases you suits me just fine.”
He followed her into the kitchen again and when she opened the refrigerator door, he quickly pushed it closed. He placed his hands on the refrigerator on either side of her, hemming her in.
Faith’s heart jumped and she drew a deep breath as she gazed up at him. He stood close enough that she could see a faint dark stubble on his jaw. His skin was smooth and brown, his eyes pools of midnight. A faint, thin scar ran across his right cheekbone.
“I don’t really need something to drink. Go with me to the rodeo tomorrow night. Come watch me ride.”
“Jared, dinner was nice—”
When his dark gaze drifted down to her mouth, her refusal died in her throat. Her pulse drummed, and she could see his intention in his eyes. Her body tightened, heated. The magic chemistry that had flamed between them from the first moments burned hotter than ever. She wanted his kiss, wanted his arms around her. Defying all logic and past history, disregarding every sensible thing she knew, she wanted his kisses. He was an unknown quantity, a temptation to discover secrets life had so far withheld from her. She closed her eyes and tilted her face.
Jared’s heart thudded. He saw the invitation, knew she was responding to him the moment her words died.
He knew full well they were as different as a flower from the equator and a glacier in the Arctic, yet a sizzling attraction burned between them. She was wonderful with Merry, and since when had he ever held back because of fear of the unknown?
He slid his arm around her narrow waist, feeling the suppleness of her body, and watched her almost visibly melt into his arms. Her scent was a bouquet of spring flowers. Soft and tantalizing like all the rest of her.
Her hands came up to rest gently on his shoulders—a feather touch—yet the contact jolted him straight to his heart. Her eyes opened to watch him. He could see the questions in their cool, green depths, see the willingness, the invitation that made him shake with anticipation.
His mouth covered hers, tasted, sought and found a heated sweetness that shattered barriers he had built up around his heart too many years ago to remember. His arm tightened and his world shifted, and he wondered if it would ever again be the same. This woman was special to him. They barely knew each other, yet he wanted her. Needed her.
He didn’t stop to question whether his feelings were right or wrong any more than he had stopped to question his actions at sixteen when he had run into a dark night, leaving family and home behind.
And he’d felt as if he was searching for something all those years, running, drifting, always seeking. In Faith’s sweetness and searing kisses, he felt as if he was home. Yet what could he offer her in return? She was accustomed to business types with their methodical planning and driving ambitions, not rough-hewed cowboys who took each day as it came.
While his heart thudded, he fitted her against his body, one arm tightly around her, his other hand tangled in her silky hair. He felt a chance for a future with her, yet was he pushing his dreams too far? She clearly loved little babies and responded to Merry, yet she might never come to love him.
He gave a deep growl in his throat. He was a man of action, not one to spend time debating the wisest course. She felt right in his arms. She was a marvel; her kisses, her warmth were perfection. Even if he was just a cowboy, she was responding to him. She seemed ready for something more in her life, too. Take a chance, his heart whispered.
Her slender arms wrapped around his neck and her hips thrust against him. When she trembled and moaned softly, his temperature soared. He wanted her with every inch of his being.
Faith had never known kisses like Jared’s, kisses that made years of loneliness fall away. Nor had she ever experienced the dizzying passion that burned into her, igniting responses she didn’t know she had. She felt drawn to this enigmatic man. She sensed a desperate need in him that sought fulfillment as much as the empty void she felt in herself.
Her sane, logical, routine world was torn apart in the raging storm of his kisses. Time hung in the balance. For this moment he was all she knew and, for now, all she wanted to know.
His lean, hard body pressed against her, and she felt his arousal. He raised his head and she opened her eyes, dazzled and befuddled. Kisses weren’t supposed to be life-changing. And his kisses had ended too swiftly.
She looked up into smoldering dark eyes that caused her heart to thud.
“Ah, Faith,” Jared said softly, running his finger along her jaw. “Will you marry me?”