Diamond in the Rough (Diamond J #2) (8 page)

A knock on the back door sounded. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Aidan looking at her, his face shadowed under the brim of his black cowboy hat. He spoke through the screen. "Is he okay?"

She nodded, then turned back to her task. Damn it. He did sound concerned. "Come on in," she called out, clipping off the words.

He stepped into the kitchen. "I'm sorry." He swept his hat off and clutched it in front of his broad chest.

Toby leaned to the side so he could see around Gina. "That was fun!"

Gina shifted so she was in her son's line of vision. "But it was very dangerous." She pointed to his mouth. "You lost a tooth."

The boy's eyes rounded and his grin widened. "I did?"

Gina lowered her chin and gave Toby the sternest look she could muster. "That's not a good thing. You didn't have any loose teeth." Her heart beat was finally returning to normal. Relief washed over her. Her son was okay.

Aidan stepped forward. "At least there was no harm done. A few scrapes and a lost tooth--"

"No harm done?" Gina held up one hand, cutting him off. She turned, sucking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "He could've been hurt badly. Broken an arm. Or worse."

His blue eyes darkened like a Missouri sky during a thunderstorm. "I didn't think--"

She gazed up at him. "That's right. That's exactly right. Now, please, go load those calves up and leave." She stretched her arm out and pointed.

He nodded, settled his hat on his head and shoved it down. He tapped the brim, turned and left without another word.

Gina helped Toby down and took him outside to help gather the kids together. She brought them all inside, leaving Aidan and his cohort to take care of the calves.

She got the kids started with a balloon game and turned to look out the front window. Aidan and the other guy had both calves at the trailer, but the calves balked, not wanting to jump inside. As she watched, Aidan stroked them, rubbed them behind the ears. He bent down and scooped the bigger calf up and lifted it into the trailer, while the other ranch hand yanked on his calf's lead rope to no avail. Aidan stepped down, then gathered that calf in his arms. The animal struggled, feet kicking, then seemed to relax in his arms. He lifted that calf into the trailer. Once the door was secure, he turned and looked at the house.

Gina turned away quickly. She'd been so angry with Aidan, but when her gaze settled on her son as he proudly recounted for his friends what it felt like to ride a bucking calf, she wondered if her temper had flared too hot.

She heard the rumble of a truck again and went to the front door, expecting to see Aidan again. Instead, Steve slid out of his truck and hurried up the walk, arms laden with presents.

At least he'd shown up.

Toby ran to him and ripped into the presents, encouraged by the whoops and hollers of his little friends. Steve beamed at his son as he pulled a pair of red cowboy boots out of a box. The boy whooped, then dropped to the floor. Within a minute, he'd stripped off his sneakers and put on the new boots.

Her ex looked up at her and grinned. He mouthed, "Sorry I'm late."

After Toby opened the last present, he got right up in Steve's face. "I rode a calf today."

"Really?" One of Steve's eyebrows raised. "Do tell."

"Mom's friend, Aidan, brought these two calves over and they put a pen in the back yard and we all got to see them and pet them and feed them."

Gina felt Steve's gaze bore into her. He said, "Mom's friend, Aidan, huh?"

Toby plunged forward, telling his story. The kids around him chimed in, anxious to relay what they had seen, and tell how they'd been involved.

Soon, parents began to show up to pick their kids up.

When the last child left with his parents, Toby stood in the doorway waving.

Steve grasped Toby's shoulder and squeezed. "Happy birthday, little bud. Hope you had a good one."

"I did," Toby said seriously. "Aidan was very nice to let me ride his calf. That was a once in a lifetime thing."

Gina busied herself cleaning up after the party. After Steve helped Toby put some of his toys away, he returned to the kitchen. "So, this Aidan."

Gina looked at him and arched an eyebrow. "What about him?"

"Why haven't I heard about him?"

"Nothing to hear. Just a ranch hand at the Diamond J that delivered the calves I requested for the party." She ran a hand through her thick hair and pulled it back over her shoulders.

Just a ranch hand.

Who made her heart flutter.

Who put her son on a wild animal.

He'd looked so contrite when he'd come into the kitchen to check on Toby, wringing his hat in his hands, those blue eyes focused intently on her, as if her opinion was the only one in the world that mattered.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Fear

Gina’d lain awake the past two nights. Aidan made a bad decision, and her little boy paid the price with a lost tooth. But really, how bad was that? Toby had gone right along with it. What kid wouldn't?

After Aidan had pulled away in his truck, Gina couldn’t get Christine’s words out of her mind, either. How could a cowboy - a ranch hand - afford a ranch, even a small one? There had to be something more to the story. Where could he have possibly gotten the money? Everyone in town had been talking about the cattle thefts. Was he in on it? He did have an edge to him, an air of danger. She'd seen that firsthand Saturday, the way he'd acted without considering the consequences.

She'd also noticed how different he was from the other ranch hand who had come to the house. Aidan carried himself in a confident manner. He met her gaze, spoke to her as an equal, spoke to the other man like a boss would. His voice didn't have the same country twang as most of the folks in Wilder.

She glanced at the big round clock on the wall. It was nearly eleven. She’d called yesterday and left a message with an older woman at the Diamond J that the invitations were ready, and the woman had said she’d make sure Aidan came by to get them before noon. Ever since, she'd worried about being face to face with him.

Toby hadn't stopped talking about the calf. Maybe she'd been too hard on Aidan.

She was in the back room when she heard the bell over the front door jangle. She pushed her way out of the back room with her arms loaded with boxes of scrapbooking supplies ready to be put on the shelves and a pencil clutched between her teeth. Her eyes met his and nodded at her.

A couple of days had dissipated her anger. What he'd done was stupid, but Toby was okay. In fact, Toby couldn't quit talking about his riding experience. But she didn't want to seem too eager. Aidan could wait a few minutes.

Her back stiffened and she held her head high, chin up. She called out, "I'll be right with you."

He nodded and tapped the brim of his hat.

She strode to the racks and sorted the papers into their respective slots. She considered herself lucky to own her own business. When her job at the water cooler factory closed just a couple of years out of high school, she had taken a job as a receptionist for one of the law firms on the square. Her boss was good to her and was even understanding if she needed to miss work because Toby was sick.

Unfortunately, Milton Proctor suffered a heart attack before she’d even celebrated her first anniversary with the firm. He’d survived, but it changed him. He became focused on family and a couple of pet charities. He didn’t have to work, so he didn’t.

It scared Gina, the changes that she saw happening in Milton. Without him, the firm wouldn’t be able to keep going. Gina was surprised when Milton invited her to lunch over at the Come On Inn grill one day. She expected to be let go. Instead, he handed her a lease. She was confused at first. Thought that perhaps he had taken her to lunch to discuss a difficult client. Then she saw her name on the lease.

Her gaze flew to his face. One dollar rent. She raised her eyes and met Milton’s gaze. A huge smile spread across his wrinkled face, breaking the map of wrinkles.

And so her dream of owning a scrapbook store had come true.

She peeked around the paper rack at the cowboy standing in the front of her store. He was tall, easily six foot. His shoulders were broad, his arms well muscled. A pair of work gloves tucked in his back pockets drew her eyes to his butt. Red dust covered his black cowboy hat, and his boots were scuffed.

Yes, she thought, he was a real cowboy, not one of those wannabes that walked around in polished boots made out of some exotic leather like shark or ostrich. He'd been such a natural on Saturday with the calves, but he had no idea how to take care of a child.

She scooped up the box of supplies and hurried toward the crafting table, eager to drop them off and get up front. She smiled around the pencil in her teeth, hoping it looked like a smile and not a grimace.

Something dark and fuzzy came into her field of vision, from below, right across the top of the box. It was big, and it was getting bigger. Her focus shifted from the cowboy to the thing crawling across the papers in the box clutched to her breast.

Spider!!

Horror didn’t even begin to explain the depth of emotion that she felt. Her blood ran cold, her mouth went dry and a shiver ran all the way down her body, starting at her scalp and traveling all the way down to her toes. The spider was hairy, ugly and had a round body at least as big as a quarter. It froze for a moment, then the legs started to move again, first one then another, moving toward her.

She screamed. Not a horror movie scream, but a high pitched girl scream. She pitched the box and the contents flew through the air, papers and envelopes and glue and glitter going every which way. As the papers fluttered to the ground like leaves, Gina’s eyes searched the mess for some sign of the spider. She looked down and saw it about two feet in front of her, moving fast across the old linoleum tiles, straight toward her.

She shook and screamed again, then jumped onto the nearest chair, but didn’t stop there – she climbed on top of the folding table and squatted there, watching the spider. It moved with her, as if it were drawn to her, and stopped just inches from the leg of the table she was perched on top of. Its two front legs felt in front of it, as if it were trying to find her.

She was so focused on the spider, as if she had tunnel vision, that she didn’t see the others. Wasn’t even aware that she was not alone in the shop, until she heard Midge’s voice.

“Good grief, stop screaming, would you? You scream like a girl.”

Gina looked up, trying to fight the shivers that kept running down her arms and legs. Goose bumps pimpled her flesh. And she saw him. The cowboy. In her fright, it took a moment to remember his name. Aidan. That was it. Aidan.

She rolled her eyes, irritation dimming the fear for a moment. He wouldn’t want anything to do with her after this escapade. What a frickin’ nut case he must think she was!

Midge looked at the spider, then dashed toward the back room.

Gina called out, “Where are you going?”

Midge yelled over her shoulder, “To get the spider spray. Ain’t no way I’m going to step on that thing! It’ll be gross – guts everywhere!”

She disappeared into the office and from all the clanking and banging, it sounded like she was making quite a mess trying to find the spray she was looking for. Aidan stepped forward and eyed the spider still exploring the floor directly below Gina’s perch.

Calm as could be, he walked over, picked up a piece of paper and scooped the spider up. It jerked a bit, then froze. Aidan strode to the front door. Gina stood up on the table and watched as he opened the door, squatted down and tipped the paper. Stunned, she stood and watched. She’d never seen anyone do that before.

Midge burst through the back door, the glossy black can of spider spray leading the way. She stopped and her hand dropped, limp at her side. She blinked, then moved toward the crafting table. She looked up at Gina, then glanced over her shoulder at Aidan, who walked toward them down the center aisle of the store.

Midge mumbled, “What the—”

Gina broke in, her voice incredulous. “He didn’t kill it. He released it.”

Aidan came to a stop just before he stepped on the blizzard of papers on the floor. He shrugged. “I took him outside. The spider.”

“But,” Gina frowned as she sat down and swung her feet off the table. “It was a spider.”

Aidan stepped carefully between the papers, then reached out for Gina’s hand. She hesitated a moment, then placed her hand in his and let him help her down from the table. His eyes were beautiful, so clear and bright and blue, shot through with streaks like lightning, like nothing she’d ever seen before.

Midge broke in, “Don’t worry about me, you two. I can pick all this up all by my lonesome.”

Gina tore her eyes away from the cowboy and looked down at her friend, who squatted on the floor gathering up the stuff that Gina had sent flying through the air when she freaked out about the spider.

Suddenly, she was mortified at how she acted. She averted her eyes and righted the box that she had tossed aside in her panic. She picked up small boxes of embellishments and brads, and Aidan squatted on his heels beside her.

He picked up a card and looked at it. He said, “Hey, these are the invitations for the barbecue!”

She nodded, feeling her cheeks flush as she realized that she had just dumped the entire set of invitations. She couldn’t even remember the last time that she mopped the floor. Last Monday? She picked one up and examined it. She blew on it, to get the dust off of it, then brushed it off. She placed it carefully on the table, then picked up another. Aidan stared at the invitation he held between his thumb and forefinger.

Damn. Her first really good job, almost a real corporate job, and she screwed it up after all the time that she had put into designing and making them.

He flicked it with his other hand and said, “These are the invitations you made for my boss.”

She murmured, “I’ll redo them.” Double the cost of supplies. There went her profit margin.

He scooped up a bunch of the invitations and tapped them together on the floor to straighten them up, then glanced at her. “Why would you do that? What’s wrong with ‘em?”

Midge said, “She’s worried that they’re messed up now and you won’t be happy with them. Or that your boss won’t be happy with them.”

Aidan scooped up another handful of invitations, added them to the stack he’d already started and straightened up. “Nothing wrong with these. They’ll be just fine. I’m sure Beth will be thrilled to pieces with them.”

He set the invitations on the table and again held out his hand to Gina. She felt herself wilt just a little at the gesture. She hated feeling helpless and for some reason, that was exactly the way she felt at that moment. She wasn’t in control of the situation. Didn’t present the image of a professional woman. She reached up and took his hand then straightened.

He kept hold of her hand even after she stood. His grip was strong and sure, hardened with hard work. Her instincts had been right. He wasn’t a wannabe. He was the real deal. She looked up into his eyes and felt her knees melt.

He spoke softly. "Again, I'm really sorry about your little boy."

"It's okay." It wasn't. Not really. But she had a job to do. "Toby's been telling everybody that he's a real cowboy now."

His blue eyes sparkled and he smiled. A little dimple formed in his left cheek. She hadn't noticed that before. He gave her hand a little squeeze, rubbed his thumb across hers, then released her.

Her body betrayed her. In spite of the fact that he was irresponsible and rough around the edges, he was sexy as hell. If she felt that way just touching his hand, she couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to be close to him, to kiss him, to be cradled in his arms. She wanted to run her fingers over her chest, trace the lines of muscles along his abdomen, follow the trail of dark hair down his chest and lower—

She glanced at Midge and she could tell by her friend’s face, it wasn’t a secret. Desire was written all over her face. No, not just desire. Lust. Her friend was grinning at her, and winked as she picked up the box of embellishments.

Midge said, “You all go ahead and talk about whatever you need to talk about. I’m just going to take these to the back room. To the store room. It may take me a long time to get these things put away. A long time.”

One dark eyebrow twitched up as he looked at Gina, then said, “Didn’t you just bring these out of the store room?”

Midge answered for her. “Gina is kind of a space case sometimes. I’m sure she didn’t add them to inventory, so I’m just going to go back there and check every single one of these little packages to make sure they’re on the computer.”

Gina felt the blush rise up her cheeks again. Damn it! Why did she have to wear her emotions on her sleeve? It was damned embarrassing. She pointed to the chair on the opposite side of the table, indicating that he should sit, then she sat down at the table in the chair that she had just leapt into a little bit ago. She scooted the invitations toward him.

He reached out to take the cards, and their fingers touched. It was like an arc of electricity flowed between them. Gina felt a tingle run up her finger, through her hand, up her arm and into her shoulder. The jolt went straight to her heart.

She blinked and yanked her hand back. The man across from her watched her, those amazing blue eyes focused on her. She’d felt that tingle when they touched. Had he?

He looked at her expectantly, his eyebrows raised, lifting his cowboy hat up just a touch. He asked, “Well?”

“Uh,” Gina fought to gain her bearings, then stuttered, “I-I’m sorry. What’d you say?”

Midge snorted behind her, “He just asked if you were interested in a little passionate entanglement of the legs.”

Gina sputtered, but couldn’t form a word to save her soul. Aidan grinned, exposing teeth that seemed even whiter against his tanned skin. One of his front teeth had a tiny chip out of it. “So, how ‘bout it?”