Runaway Heart Read online

  He sat opposite her at the table with a mug of his own coffee, opting to drink it black.

  "My nephew, Gage, lives here with me. Obviously, it's a big house with lots of places for a boy to get into trouble. I really just need someone to make sure he's fed, clothed, and not running wild while I tend to the ranch." He offered her a bone melting smile, his eyes crinkling with crows' feet at the edges and a dimple appearing on his left cheek. "The compensation is more than fair, and a room in the house is included."

  Ren nodded. It sounded fair enough—simple, like the ad had led her to believe. She prepared herself for the next difficult point of conversation.

  "About the accommodations… I do have a special requirement, if I were to get the job."

  He tipped his head wordlessly, waiting, and she continued, attempting to choose her words carefully.

  "I'm the primary caretaker for my fifteen year old sister. As I wouldn't have accommodations outside of this house, I would need to bring her with me. She's no trouble, honestly. We could share a room. And you could deduct from my salary for extra groceries." Ren held her breath and waited for the other shoe to drop. Understandably, this was the type of job for someone with no other commitments, least of all one that would require additional resources from her employer.

  Dane raised a brow and rose from the table, bringing his coffee mug with him.

  "Let me show you the house, Ren."

  She got to her feet and followed him, perplexed that he'd ignored her revelation as he headed through a long hall and up a stairway.

  "The master bedroom is downstairs—and so is Gage's bedroom—makes it easier for me to keep an eye on him and on the stock at the same time. Up here…" He gestured as they arrived at the top floor. "Is pretty much unused. There are four bedrooms. You can take your pick and your sister…"

  "Kerri." She supplied after a moment.

  "…Kerri. She can also choose her own space. It will work out just fine. The school bus comes by the end of our road every day. Gage will be starting school in September."

  At his invitation, Ren poked her head inside one of the bedrooms, which was fully furnished in tasteful rustic decor. Far more lavish than anything she could ever imagine decorating on her own, the room intimidated her. Ren looked up at the man who stood in the door frame with her, close enough to smell his masculine, woodsy aftershave.

  "Perhaps we should carry on with the interview…." Ren couldn't let herself hope that it would be this simple, but she found herself imagining her personal items in the room.

  "Interview's over, Ren. Pending a quick background check, you're hired." He held out his hand to seal the deal and she reluctantly put hers into it, acutely aware of the calloused fingertips brushing against the pulse in her wrist. He had to have been able to feel it speeding a mile a minute. She frowned, trying to discern exactly what kind of thought process was going on behind those eyes, but she couldn't figure out a damn thing.

  "We run two hundred head of Limousin cattle, so I'm usually busy working stock. Between the cows and the quarter horses we breed and train, I've got my brain in eight thousand places all at once, especially when we get to calving and foaling season. It's going to be a goddamn relief, excuse my language, to have even one of those eight thousand places covered. When can you move in?"

  Ren didn't have the heart to tell him everything they owned was already packed in the back of Jimmy.

  "When would you like me to move in?" He continued to stand in the doorway of the bedroom with her. What would be uncomfortably close to some obviously had no significance to him. She was the first to break, taking a step away to a more reasonable distance. Too much longer and her heart might have pounded straight out of her chest.

  "The sooner the better. We're due to start calving soon and this place just about goes crazy."

  "Tomorrow?" Ren held her breath—she seemed to be doing that a lot lately. She had already booked the bed and breakfast for another night, and she didn't want to seem too eager.

  "Tomorrow's just fine." Dane led the way down the stairs back into the kitchen where he took Ren's empty coffee mug. "I'll give you a call if anything comes up on the background check, but otherwise, show up and we'll move you in."

  "Thank you, Dane." She caught his eyes for just a moment, hoping she could convey her sincerity. Being hired for this job took care of a few of the crucial points she would have had to look after in the next couple of days in one fell swoop and it set her mind at ease. "Really."

  The smile he returned made her stomach flip-flop. "You're welcome, Ren."

  *

  Dane poured his leftover coffee into the sink and watched Ren head back out to her car. He shook his head, clucked his tongue and sighed, an amused smile toying across his lips. Ren Maddock was something else, he just couldn't quite figure what that something else was.

  Though her resume showed she'd be better suited as a waitress than a caretaker for Gage, and his mama and brothers would all give him guff for hiring a pretty face, it had only taken him about two minutes of conversation to decide to hire her. It had taken him about two seconds to decide he wanted to bed her. It could be difficult to abstain from mixing business with pleasure, but Dane's reckless and wanton days were over with the duties of guardianship for his nephew. He could restrain himself. He would, because this would be a good choice for Gage and he was his top priority these days.

  Ren didn't get right into her car but walked past it, toward the orchard. Dane recognized a flash of red ball cap. Gage. The boy was supposed to be with Finn in the barns but the new arrivals had drawn his attention. Dane set his mug in the sink and followed her out into the yard.

  Rex was yipping and wiggling around a lanky teen aged girl with the same auburn hair as Ren's. She was seated at the base of one of the bigger trees and was holding a stick she threw for the dog. He retrieved it quickly, then returned to lie by her outstretched legs, his long tongue hanging out of his mouth as he panted, giving the appearance of a satisfied grin. Old Rex had been with Dane for almost a decade now, and it only took a couple of throws before he tired out but there had once been a time when the dog was tireless and trotted along every trail and fence line Dane rode. These days, Rex had been making his best canine attempt to nanny Gage where Finn and Dane failed. Too bad none of them had been able to prevent the broken arm.

  Nestled beside the teen was his nephew, a small boy with strawberry blond hair and a mess of freckles on his nose; the image of his own father when he'd been that age. He was chattering away as the girl who Dane could only assume was Kerri nodded, responding now and then with reserved one word comments.

  "So how bad is the old coot?" She spoke to Ren, only noticing after she'd opened her mouth that Dane was not far behind her sister. Kerri stopped, her cheeks flushing red as she took him in.

  "Not too old and not too coot-y, from what I can tell. He's only five. He might think you have cooties, though." Dane spoke up, his tone not unkind as he nodded toward his nephew. "Ren, this is Gage—Gage, this is the lady we talked about who would come to live with us and play with you while I'm busy."

  The boy jumped to his feet, surprisingly agile considering the cast, and wrapped his arms around Ren's knees. Dane's chest was tight with pride. There were moments, small as they were, that made him think he might not be entirely off the mark with his parenting strategies and this was one of them. Despite the loss in his life, Gage was still a remarkably open and loving child.

  He watched as Ren crouched to Gage's level and opened her arms to give him a proper hug.

  "It's nice to meet you, Gage. I'm excited to be here to play with you."

  Dane's gaze swung now to the still-flustered teen at the base of the tree.

  "And you must be Kerri. I'm Dane, and that," he gestured to the dog lazing happily in the grass beside her, "is Rex. And he is very happy to have you here. So am I."

  Dane was sincere. The big house felt empty since his parents had moved into town and he was looking forward
to a feminine presence in the home again, especially one as enticing as Ren.

  —FOUR—

  "Rex! Rex! They're here!" Gage nearly tripped over his feet and the dog's as he bounded down the stairs from the upper balcony where he'd been keeping watch for the Maddocks all morning.

  Dane looked up from where he had been seated at the kitchen table with his mother, going over the details of the informal offer of employment he had scrawled out for Ren to sign. He'd called in a favor with the Sheriff, an old family friend, and expedited the process to do a background check. As he'd suspected, she came back clean as a whistle.

  He felt like he was in junior high again, the way his heart quickened when he heard the roar of the Jimmy's well used motor in the yard.

  He couldn't explain to himself and hadn't bothered to try explaining to his mother why he had hired the young woman on the spot. Something about her had spoken to him, almost before he'd even shaken her hand. Her firm grip and consistent eye contact had confirmed: this was no weak woman. Her strength and resolve made her that much more beautiful, not that she needed it.

  Though she tried to hide it with her uncomplicated wardrobe of jeans, a modest V-neck top and sneakers, her body was feminine and appealing. She was not petite by any stretch of the imagination but she had an hourglass figure and a body that obviously was no stranger to hard work. Her curves were sumptuous, enough for a man to truly put his hands on. She stood only a couple of inches shorter than he did and wore her wavy auburn hair long and loose around her shoulders. It was as though she could control every part of her life, but had let her hair run wild because she needed a little excitement.

  Since she was fearlessly handling a teenager, he suspected she wasn't the type of woman who would call him screaming to come and kill a spider, catch a mouse, or clean up a puddle of vomit. She might even be useful on the ranch as a hand if she weren't going to be so important in the house. He had a feeling there was much more to the story of her fifteen year old sister living with her than she had let on, or might ever tell. One way or the other, she was the type of woman he wanted— as an employee and in his bed—strong, sure, a challenge.

  Ella rose as Dane did and the two of them went out onto the porch to meet the car, Gage well ahead of them, his cowboy boots pulled onto the wrong feet. Rex was a wiggling, barking, excited mess around his feet. The two of them spilled off the deck and into the driveway, tripping over one another as they went, each one making as much noise as the other.

  "Watch it or you'll end up breaking the other arm!" Dane called after his nephew.

  Dane drew in a breath as he watched Ren get out of the car. Damn, if she didn't look as good as she had the day before in a pair of dark washed jeans and a white t-shirt that showed just enough cleavage to be mouth-watering. Get a grip, Baylor.

  He was no eunuch, that was for certain, but it would suffice to say Dane had other things on his mind over the last two years with Gage under his care. Ranching was a job that never got any easier, and raising a child on top of it, all alone, was a serious complication. He barely had time to shit, shower, and shave, never mind bed a woman lately.

  Ella stepped off the porch ahead of him, but Gage had already made it to Ren and Kerri, meeting them in front of the car. The boy wound his good arm around Kerri's knees, closing his eyes with a satisfied smile that nearly swallowed up his whole face. Kerri's bewildered gaze passed from Dane to Ella, and finally to Ren.

  "I have a yicky-yuck stuck to me." Her voice held no disdain but neither did it hold any excitement or affection. Ren laughed out loud and reached down to ruffle Gage's hair affectionately.

  "Hey, what about my hug today?" Ren teased and Gage immediately unvelcro'd himself from Kerri and onto her older sister. The boy didn't waste any time getting familiar, that was for sure.

  After giving Ren a quick squeeze, Gage stepped back with a perplexed look on his face.

  "Wait, a yicky-what?" Before anyone could respond, he dismissed it with a shrug and grabbed Kerri's hand with his grubby one. "Uncle Dane says you can pick your own bedroom. Let me show you!"

  Before Kerri could protest, Gage was pulling her toward the porch, up the steps, into the house, and out of sight. Ren watched them go with a chuckle, looking a little anxious. It was then that Ella approached, with her typical ease. The woman made anyone feel like family in ten seconds, flat.

  "Ren. I'm Ella, we spoke on the phone yesterday." Forgoing a handshake, the older woman enveloped the younger in a hug. Dane saw Ren stiffen for a moment before letting herself get caught up in the warmth, compassion, and love that was his mother. "I'm sorry my husband Caine couldn't be here, but he wanted me to tell you how glad we are to have you."

  *

  For a moment, Ren was surprised by Ella Baylor's hug, but melted into it easily. Though she didn't know much about a mother's love based on her own experiences, Ella's entire aura was warm, comforting, and infectious.

  "Well, we're glad to be here." Ren offered Ella a smile and then met Dane's gaze briefly. His slate eyes sparked slow, fixed on her—like the wind on a lake right before a storm. Every degree of her body heat pooled at the base of her belly and she looked away anxiously, turning her attention back to Ella. "We're really looking forward to learning about life on a ranch. We grew up in a pretty urban area and Kerri has never even touched a horse before."

  "There's nothing better than raising a young person in the country. They grow up hard-working, responsible, and respectful, as I'm sure my boys will prove to you." She cast a teasingly warning look in Dane's direction.

  "I'm sorry to run off on you—but I've got to help out with the lunch rush at the store. I just wanted to be here to welcome you into the family." She gave Dane a kiss on the cheek and squeezed Ren's shoulder lightly. "Please call me if you need anything—help, advice, company, coffee. Anything."

  "It was nice to meet you." Ren smiled as Ella waved and got into the sedan in the yard, pulling carefully out of the drive.

  Ren watched as Ella's sedan drove out of sight and then turned to find herself alone with Dane, awkwardly staring at one another across an expanse of space that seemed too far and too close all at once. What was it about this man and standing too close and looking a little too long? The way he looked at her now made her feel as though she was going to be swallowed whole if she didn't make a quick move—at the same time, she wasn't one hundred percent sure she didn't want to be swallowed whole by this real live cowboy.

  She wanted to say something to break the silence but couldn't think of a single thing, and tucked her hands in her pockets, almost shy. He took her cue, breaking the intense gaze.

  "Let's go get the kids and I'll give you the grand tour of the ranch."

  —FIVE—

  Dane followed Ren up the stairs and toward Gage's excited chattering. Kerri's answers to his questions were sparsely worded and quiet, but the novelty of his fascination with her didn't seem to have worn off just yet. It didn't matter to Gage, who continued to carry on the mostly one sided conversation, barely pausing for a breath. Dane knew he was just happy to have someone closer to his age than his uncle who might listen to what he had to say.

  The two of them were seated side by side on the bed, with Rex watching them expectantly, adding his own voice to their conversation here and there. Ren stopped abruptly in the doorway to take in the scene with a smile and Dane nearly ran straight into her. He pulled to a stop before he hit her but he was close, close enough to take in the clean, fresh, feminine smell of her with earnest hunger.

  Damn. He was already knee deep in a pile of trouble. She'd only been in his home a total of about an hour and he wanted to drag her to his bedroom and ravish her without excuse or apology. He would take his time with her, tasting every inch of her satiny flesh… Jesus.

  Apparently the side effect of having no time for women was that he turned into a rabid pervert when he finally got one up close and personal.

  She looked over her shoulder at him and offered a smile th
at made his knees weak. He checked himself.

  "Which room should I take?"

  "I know just the one." Dane turned and led the way, pushing open a door at the opposite end of the hall from the feminine room Kerri had selected with Gage's help. The guest room he showed her was spacious with a queen bed, an en suite bathroom, and a second door to a back stairwell. He had actually grown up in this room, but he'd done renovations after his folks moved out and it didn't hold much semblance, decor-wise, to the room he'd once occupied. Long gone were the posters of scantily clad girls and his rodeo heroes.

  "This is the largest bed in the guest rooms—it's got the bathroom and then this stairway leads to the back landing by Gage's bedroom." He pause—the landing and stairwell separated Gage's bedroom and his own. "You know, in case he has a nightmare or something."

  "Does he have nightmares often?" she asked.

  The question made Dane uncomfortable. He had long felt that if anybody who knew much of anything about parenting really questioned him, he'd be found wanting. His fear of somehow tanking the ranch financially sat only marginally higher than failing Gavin on his list of things that scared the shit out of him.

  It wasn't that he didn't try; it was just that he sometimes felt like there was some certain science to raising a child that he hadn't quite mastered. He filled in the gaps with unconditional love for Gage, but there was no way he would ever replace Gavin as the boy's father. Though Dane was a patient man, he could get a little gruff when he was afraid—he'd apologized a million times over for yelling at Gage when he'd fallen off the corral fence.

  Gavin had been a natural father, endlessly patient with Gage. The second Gage was born, it was clear Gavin's primary purpose in life was to be that kid's dad. There had never been a second of doubt that he would raise his son to be a fine young man with manners, humor and generosity. Dane just hoped he could at least maintain that and do his brother proud.