Rich Rancher's Redemption

Relief shone in her eyes and she nodded even as Will sputtered, “We can do better than a studio. A place with more room. A yard, maybe—”

“No.” Jillian shook her head, looked at Will and said, “This one sounds perfect. We’ll take it.” Then she turned her gaze back to Jesse. She looked at him for a long moment, then said simply, “Thank you.”

Those eyes of hers met his steadily, and he felt that swift tug of something hot again. He didn’t let her know that, though. “You’re welcome.”

* * *

“How’d it go?”

Jillian walked into the large, plush living room of Lucy Navarro Bradshaw’s suite at the Ace In the Hole ranch. The room was huge and airy, with floor-to-ceiling windows along the front wall, displaying a wide view of the ranch the Sanders family called home. The furniture was feminine without being frilly. Overstuffed couches and chairs covered in cream fabric splashed with blue and yellow flowers. Heavy, pale oak tables held stacks of books and brass lamps with amber shades. Rugs in pale, subtle colors dotted the gleaming wood floors and to make it all seem less like a photo shoot layout, toys, trucks and coloring books were scattered everywhere.

Ordinarily, Jillian would have felt completely out of place in such an elegant, old-money kind of home. But Lucy made the difference here.

At five feet six inches, Lucy was much shorter than Jillian’s five foot ten. She had layered brown hair, big blue eyes and a friendly smile that had welcomed Jillian from the first. Thanks to Lucy, even with everything that had been going on for the last two weeks, Jillian hadn’t felt so alone in Royal.

She didn’t know why Lucy had befriended her, but she was grateful. Jillian had left behind everything she’d ever known when she came to Royal, Texas, hoping for some sort of settlement from the estate of the man she’d thought was her baby girl’s father. Will Sanders. It wasn’t until the service for Will, when the man himself had walked through the door, that Jillian had realized she’d been duped. A damn impostor, posing as the rich, successful Will Sanders, had gotten past Jillian’s defenses and left her pregnant. Now she had no home, no job, very little money and a daughter to provide for.

Thinking of her little girl had Jillian’s gaze sliding to Baby Mac, playing with Lucy’s son, Brody. The tiny girl had soft blond hair, big hazel eyes and a dimple in her right cheek that never failed to tug at Jillian’s heart. Mackenzie Norris, closing in on two years old, and the light of her mommy’s life.

There was nothing Jillian wouldn’t do for her daughter.

“Jillian?” Lucy asked. “Earth to Jillian...”

“What?” She gave herself a shake and smiled a little. “Sorry. Mental wandering.”

“Don’t worry. Happens to me all the time,” Lucy assured her.

“Mommy!” Mac’s face lit up. “I color.”

“I can see that,” Jillian said, taking a spot on the floor beside Lucy and her son, the small, sandy-haired boy with eyes the color of root beer.

Brody, in his four-year-old wisdom, tried to whisper, “She goes outside the lines.”

Lucy laughed and skimmed one hand down her son’s head. “She’s still little.”

Yes, that was the reason, Jillian thought, but a part of her hoped that Mac always went outside the lines. She wanted her little girl to push envelopes, to reach for stars and every other heartwarming cliché on the books.

“Why don’t you take Mac to your room and show her your books,” Lucy suggested.

“Okay.” Brody stood up and held one hand down to the toddler already scrambling to go with him.

When the kids were out of the room, Lucy gathered up the crayons and tucked them into a wide, plastic box. “So,” she asked, slanting Jillian a look. “How’d it go?”

Jillian gathered up the coloring books, stacked them neatly, then laid them down beside the box of colors. “Pretty well, all things considered.”

“That’s called answering without answering,” Lucy chided. “My mom used to do it all the time to us. Now I do it to Brody.”

Jillian laughed a little. “You’re right. Sorry.”

“What did Will have to say?”

“Everything,” she said after a second or two. Jillian thought back over their meeting and couldn’t fault the man at all. He’d been kind, understanding and generous, considering that Jillian and Mac weren’t his problem to deal with at all. Sighing, she leaned back against the closest chair and stretched her legs out in front of her. “He’s a really nice man. Much nicer than the ‘Will’ I knew.”

Lucy reached out and took her hand, giving it a squeeze of solidarity. “He’s a good guy.”

“Yeah,” Jillian agreed. “He is. He offered to pay our way home to Vegas and set us up in a new apartment.”

“Oh.” One word of disappointment.

She glanced at Lucy and the other woman shrugged.

“I was sort of hoping you’d stay here in Texas,” Lucy said. “I mean, I don’t have that many close friends and, well, we just clicked, you know? So I’d miss you.”

Surprised as much by Lucy as she had been by the woman’s brother, Jillian asked, “Why?”

A short laugh shot from Lucy’s throat. “Well, come on. Do you have so many friends that you wouldn’t miss one if they moved away?”

“No,” Jillian said after a moment or two. “I don’t. I’d miss you, too.”

“Glad to hear it,” Lucy admitted.

“But I won’t have to miss you.”

“What?” Lucy asked. “What do you mean?”

“I’m not leaving Texas,” Jillian said, then shrugged when the other woman gave her a grin. “There’s nothing to go back to in Vegas and I think maybe Royal is a good place to get a fresh start.”

“It’s a terrific place,” Lucy agreed, leaning over to give her a one-armed hug. “I’m so glad you’re staying. But where are you staying?” She paused, then brightened. “Oh. You and Mac could move into the east wing here with me and Brody. This place is huge—there’s more than enough room. Brody would love having his new friend here and frankly,” she added, “so would I.”

Tempting. Jillian hadn’t had a friend like Lucy in well...ever. For some reason, the two of them had clicked almost from the start and Brody and Mac had already formed a strong friendship, too.

But staying here on Will Sanders’s ranch would just be way too awkward.

Besides, Jesse would be here, too.

And she didn’t think it was a good idea to spend too much time around that particular man. He made her want things she had no business wanting.

Two

Jillian took a deep breath and realized that not even Will Sanders had made her feel so jumpy and excited and eager all at once. No, she amended silently, not Will. Impostor Will. Back then, the impostor had swept her off her feet so fast that Jillian had forgotten all about protecting herself.

And now that she had not only herself but Mac to worry about, Jillian had to be more careful than ever. Especially since Jesse made her want to not be.

“Thank you,” she said. “Really, thank you for offering, but we can’t stay here. It would be...weird, with Will here and—”

“Okay,” Lucy replied, “I get that. But you can’t stay in the motel forever, either.”

“We’re not going to.” Jillian pushed a strand of hair back from her face and tucked it behind her ear. “You and Brody have been so nice. He’s so good to Mac...”

Lucy sighed a little. “He’s got his daddy’s disposition, thank goodness.”

“I don’t know, I think his mom’s pretty great, too.”

Lucy grinned. “But she’s got a terrible temper.”

Jillian laughed. “All the best of us do.”

From Brody’s room came the sound of laughter and the high-pitched whistle of a toy train. Jillian gave a little sigh. Brody had completely taken Mac under his very tiny wing. Only four years old himself, Jillian had the impression that he liked being the “big” kid in the eyes of nearly two-year-old Mac.

Jillian knew she was doing the right thing, staying here in Texas. Mac was happy, even in that crappy little motel they’d been staying in. There were parks to play in, ice cream shops to get treats from and there was Brody. It would work out, she told herself. She’d make sure of it.

“What are you thinking?” Lucy asked. “I can practically hear the wheels in your brain turning from here.”

Jillian leaned back against the couch next to her friend. Her friend. And wasn’t that a gift? She’d come to Texas hoping to get a settlement that would take care of her daughter only to have that dream ripped away from her. But she’d also found a good friend and a place to start over and that made up for a lot.

“Your brother—”

“Which one?” Lucy interrupted.

“Jesse,” Jillian said. “He’s found a place for Mac and I—” There was nothing in Vegas for her. She had no family except for Mac. No ties to that neon city and no real job prospects beyond being a cocktail waitress in one of the casinos. It was a good job and the pay wasn’t terrible, but spending hours a night walking around in high heels delivering drinks to people who’d already had enough wasn’t exactly her dream job. Besides, she had to have a babysitter for Mac and Jillian was starting to resent missing so much time with her little girl.

“That’s great, I’m so glad.”

“Me, too.” She sat back on the overstuffed couch. “It’ll be great to get out of that motel. Anyway, Will and I were talking and then Jesse walked in and—”

“Really?” Lucy scowled a little. “I thought Will wanted to talk to you alone. If I’d known it was a free-for-all, I’d have been downstairs, too.”

“I get the feeling Jesse wasn’t invited,” Jillian told her. “He just...came.”

Lucy nodded. “Sounds like him. What did he have to say?”

“He told me about an apartment just outside town. It’s a small studio—”

“No way.” Shaking her head, Lucy said, “Will can do better than that.”

Jillian stopped her cold. It had been hard enough for her to accept any help at all. The thought of Will setting her and Mac up in some luxury apartment was just too much. She didn’t want charity. She wanted a chance.

Glancing around the quietly beautiful room she sat in now, she acknowledged that a studio wasn’t going to be anything like this, but that was okay, too. She was accustomed to making do and as long as she could find a job, save some more money, Jillian would be happy. She had plans and Royal seemed like as good a place as any to work on making those plans a reality.

“I don’t want him to do better,” Jillian said. “I can take care of myself and Mac. All I need is a place to start. Well, and a job.”

“I can understand that, about the apartment I mean,” Lucy said. “And as for the job, I might know of something if you’re interested.”

Surprised, Jillian fixed her gaze on her friend. “I’m interested.”

Lucy laughed. “I haven’t even told you what it is yet.”

Kicking her long legs out in front of her, Jillian crossed her feet at the ankle. “Is it walking around in high heels wearing a Valkyrie outfit listening to drunken come-ons all night?”

“Sorry, nothing so exotic.” Lucy grinned. “But now I want to see the Valkyrie outfit.”

Jillian rolled her eyes. “I’d be happy to never see it again. So, what’s the job?”

Shifting, Lucy pushed the stack of coloring books out of her way, then sat up cross-legged. “Okay, now understand, you don’t have to take it or anything, this is just an idea. But I think it could work and you could be with Mac at the same time and—”

Jillian’s lips twitched. “Just say it, Lucy.”

“Okay,” she pushed her dark hair back from her face, tucking it behind her ears. “They need help in the day care at the Texas Cattlemen’s Club.”

“Day care?” Jillian repeated, her mind already working through possibilities.

Lucy immediately started trying to convince her. “It’s really a great place, just a few years old, actually. Brody’s been there a few times, when I’ve got clients to see and Mom’s not available. But the thing is, Mac could be there when you’re working. She can make friends, and you wouldn’t have to worry about her and—”

Jillian held up one hand and laughed. “I don’t need the sales pitch. It’s a great idea.”

“Fantastic,” Lucy cried. “From what I hear, the pay’s not bad and you wouldn’t have to get a babysitter, since Mac could be with you, so you’d actually be making more money. I’ve already told Ginger Hanks all about you and she’s excited to meet you. I thought if it’s okay with you, we could go down there tomorrow. I’ll introduce you and you can check the place out and see if you’ll like it or not.”

“Thank you.” Jillian grabbed the other woman’s hand and squeezed. “I really appreciate this, Lucy.”

“Completely self-serving,” she said, squeezing back. “I didn’t want to lose you to Vegas.”

She snorted. “No chance of that.”

“Good. I’ll find out where this apartment is from Will and take you by there tomorrow, too, if you want...”

“Not necessary.”

Jillian’s heart jumped into a gallop at the sound. That voice was so deep it seemed to roll through the room, demanding attention. Slowly, she slanted a look at the man standing in the open doorway. What was it about cowboys?

Just by looking at him, she could tell that Jesse Navarro was the kind of man who walked into a room and all eyes turned to him. Men wanted to be him and women just wanted him. Jillian had seen his type before, but Jesse took it to a whole new level. She’d never run into a man who simply breathed confidence and strength. It was a little unsettling, especially when you yourself were feeling just a little off balance anyway.

In a couple of quick seconds, her gaze swept him up and down and as she did, her heartbeat did a fluttery thing that she had zero business experiencing.

He just stood there, watching her. His eyes were like melted chocolate, his dark brown hair curled over the collar of his long-sleeved white shirt. The hem of faded black jeans stacked on the tops of his scuffed black boots and he held his black cowboy hat in one hand at his side. So still, she thought, and somehow powerful in that stillness. Enough that her heart did another wild series of beats that hammered in her ears and made her breathing just a little rough.

“Of course it’s necessary, Jesse.” Lucy spoke up. “It’s not like Jillian knows her way around town yet.”

He shifted his gaze briefly to his sister. “Lucy, you’ve got that meeting in the morning with the architect about your new breeding barn?”

Jillian tore her gaze from Jesse, because it was way safer to look at the other woman in the room. “Breeding barn?”

Lucy waved one hand. “Jesse likes to call it that. But I am building a new stable for the horses I’m—”

“Breeding?” Jesse asked.

“Fine. Yes. A breeding barn.” She blew out a breath. “And he’s right. I forgot about the meeting. Okay then, Jesse will take you to the apartment tomorrow and then I’ll take you over to the TCC so you can find out about the job.”

Jillian felt like she was being pushed downhill. She wanted to stop but she had the feeling the only way that was going to happen now was if she ran into a tree. Still, she had to try.

“Thank you,” she said to Jesse, “but I’ve got GPS on my phone, so you really don’t have to take me—”

“It’s decided,” he said, then gave both women a sharp nod. “I’ll pick you up at your motel about ten, that all right?”

“Pointless to argue with him,” Lucy gave a dramatic sigh. “He’s got a head like solid concrete.”

Jesse frowned at her, but there was no anger in the look, Jillian noted. Just brother-sister stuff, which was sort of entertaining to see. If she hadn’t been right in the middle of it.

“If you’ll just give me the address,” she tried again.

“I will. Once we get there,” Jesse told her. “See you then.”

When he left, Jillian took a deep breath and let it slowly out again. “Your brother is—”

“Pushy? Opinionated? Arrogant?” Lucy provided with a grin. “My answer is D. All of the above.”

And don’t forget dangerously sexy.

Jillian swallowed hard. “Does anyone ever say no to him?”

“Many have tried, few have succeeded,” Lucy admitted wryly. “You’re okay with him taking you tomorrow, aren’t you? I mean, he really is a good guy.” She paused, gave Jillian a sly smile. “And he’s single.”

Jillian blinked. She’d seen that gleam in the eyes of other friends over the years and she knew that Lucy was trying her hand at a little matchmaking. Which just was not going to happen.

The whole setup thing always turned into a nightmare. Besides, she wasn’t looking for a man. The last one she’d found had been the impostor who had swept her off her feet then left her pregnant and wondering who the heck her baby’s father really was. No, she’d had enough of men. What she wanted now was to build a home for her baby girl. She wanted to make a future for the two of them and a man was a distraction she didn’t want or need.

“No thanks,” Jillian finally said, pushing up from the floor. Outside, the afternoon was slipping away and soon, a spectacular sunset would be staining the sky. “I’m not looking for a man. And I’m really not looking for one who likes to tell people what to do.”

“Oh, he’s not that bad. He’s not a bully or anything, he’s just...Jesse.” Lucy shrugged and stood up, too.

“Uh-huh. And was your husband bossy?” The instant the words were out, Jillian wanted to drag them back into her mouth and lock her lips closed. Since she couldn’t, she said, “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have mentioned—”

“Relax,” Lucy soothed, reaching out to give Jillian a quick hug. “I’m the one who told you I’m a widow, remember? I don’t mind talking about Dane. I want Brody to hear about his daddy, so those of us who knew him have to talk about him.”

Didn’t make Jillian feel any better.

“But to answer your question, no, he wasn’t bossy. After hanging around with Jesse and Will for a while, he tried to be, but he just couldn’t pull it off.” Lucy laughed a little in memory. “Dane was nothing like Jesse, really. Or Will, for that matter. But to be fair to my oldest brother, he’s so used to taking charge I don’t think it ever occurs to him to not do it, you know?”

No, she really didn’t. Not one man Jillian had ever known had been the responsible type. They didn’t want to take charge because they hadn’t wanted to be blamed if things went wrong. Heck, her own father had walked out on his family when Jillian was just five because he hadn’t wanted the responsibility of a family. So she didn’t have any experience with men like Jesse. And maybe, she told herself, that was why he was bothering her so much. She couldn’t pigeonhole him into any of the types she was most familiar with.

And maybe that was a good thing, since being a cocktail waitress in a casino gave her an up close and personal look at the worst kind of men. The takers. The whiners. The braggers. Now thanks to the impostor who’d convinced her he was crazy about her, she had another category. The liars. So far, Jesse Navarro seemed to be in a category all to himself.

“Well,” she finally said, “I take care of myself and Mac and I don’t take orders well.”

“Then this should be interesting,” Lucy murmured, and Jillian was pretty sure her friend was amused by the whole situation.

* * *

The apartment was clean.

That was the best Jesse could say about it the following morning. Hell, when he’d first suggested this place, he’d remembered the apartments being better than this. Bigger. Less...institutional. With Jillian and her daughter at his side, Jesse felt like apologizing for suggesting this apartment in the first place.

“It’s perfect.” Jillian walked farther into the numbingly boring, impersonal space.

“Put your glasses on,” he muttered.

She whipped around to look at him. “I don’t wear glasses. I see it clearly enough and this will be fine. It’s got a lot of windows, so it’s nice and bright.”

“Which just makes me wonder why you’re not seeing what I am when I look at this place. It’s like a prison cell,” he added, letting his gaze slide around the one big room.

At one end, there was a small, but complete kitchen, with a fridge, microwave, stove and dishwasher. The countertop was serviceable black, the cabinets were painted white and the sink was stainless steel. On the opposite side of the room was a double bed and against the front wall was a couch with a chair pulled up alongside and a tiny coffee table in front of it. There was a small bathroom with a tub/shower off the main room and he guessed the other doors were for the closet. Which pretty much described the whole place.

A beige, claustrophobic closet.

“Know a lot about prison cells, do you?” she asked.

He shot her a quick look. “Not personally, but I’ve seen movies. This would make a good set for one of them.”

“There’s nothing wrong with it,” she argued. “A little paint, a few rugs and a bright quilt will make it shine.”

“Shine?” he repeated dubiously. He walked toward the kitchen—took him four steps—and turned around at the sound of bedsprings squeaking. Mac was jumping up and down on the mattress, a gleeful look on her little face. Leave it to a kid. Even in a cell, they’d find a way to have fun.

“Mac, baby,” Jillian cooed, “don’t jump on the bed...”

“Might fall apart,” Jesse muttered, scowling as he looked around the room again.

Jillian scooped Mac up in her arms, then turned to face him. “It’s perfectly fine for us.”

“The whole place could fit inside my living room.” He shoved both hands into his jeans pockets.

She flushed at that and said, “Not all of us need that much room.”

“Not all of us want to live in a box, either,” he countered.

“Really?” She tipped her head to one side and stared at him. “This was your idea, remember?”

“Don’t remind me,” he muttered darkly. When he got back to the ranch, he was going to talk to Will about this building. Get someone in here, a designer or something to make these places less...depressing.

His gaze fixed on the woman watching him. Today, she wore yoga pants that looked as though they’d been painted onto her long, long legs and defined a figure he’d only guessed at before. She had a dancer’s body, he thought, slim, but curvy in all the right places. The long-sleeved red shirt she wore over those black pants strained across breasts he’d really like to get his hands on and that tail of wavy blond hair hung over one shoulder as if drawing an arrow he didn’t need to the breasts he was thinking too much about. Her hazel eyes were more green than blue today and he wondered what that said about her mood.

“Jesse!” Mac leaned out from her mother’s grasp and held both arms out to him.

Dutifully, he stepped forward and plucked the girl off her mother’s hip.

“You don’t have to hold her,” Jillian said, as if apologizing for her daughter.

“If I had to, I wouldn’t want to,” he said, and turned to look at the little girl clinging to him. She tugged at him, as completely as Brody did. But with Mac, he didn’t feel the twin tug of guilt that he did with his nephew. “What do you think, Mac? You want to stay here or go back to the ranch?”

“Horsies!”

Grimly, he nodded. “That settles it. You can stay at the ranch until you find a better place. There’s plenty of room there and—”

“No,” Jillian told him.

“Excuse me?”

“Don’t hear that word often, do you?” she asked. “Well, you’ll have to deal with it. Mac isn’t even two yet. Of course she wants to be with the horses, but she’s not the one making decisions for our family. We’ll be staying right here.”

He saw the stubborn glint in her eyes and knew she’d dig her heels in on this, so he let it go. For now. But the damn truth was, she and Mac could stay at the ranch with no problem. There was the main house, his mother’s cabin, a couple guest cottages...more than enough room for one woman and a tiny girl, and if they were there, Jesse wouldn’t have to feel like he’d dropped them off in a dump.

“It’s not a dump,” she said, and he blinked. Had he said that last part aloud?