The Maverick Cowboy(21)

"I did meet Angelina Lester. I didn't know that was her name at the time. Back then she called herself Angel. I also didn't know she was married."

"Ah."

"I took Rosa and Angelina out as a favor to Jim when he was overseas. It was Rosa's birthday, and he didn't want her celebrating alone."

"You slept with Angelina?"

"Yeah." He groaned. "I was eighteen, she was gorgeous, and I was an idiot." 

Jenna let that sink in. For some reason the thought of him with any other woman made her cross as crabs. But this wasn't about her. This was about Maria and the future.

"Why didn't Angelina tell you that she was pregnant?"

"Well, apparently having sex with a complete stranger was enough to send her running back home to make things right with her husband."

"Wow, you must've really sucked."

He turned to look at her. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." She hesitated. "But seriously, if she went back that quick and reconciled with him, she might not have realized the baby wasn't his."

"That's true."

"It also means that Maria might not actually be your child."

"But there is the faintest possibility that she could be."

"You only slept with her the once?"

"Yeah. I even used protection, I always do, but something went wrong, and I was too damned drunk to do much more than apologize and be glad when she said she was on the pill." He cleared his throat. "Sorry, that's probably more than you wanted to know."

"So what's the plan?"

"I dunno. Why do you think I'm sitting out here in the dark?"

"That's not like you."

"Hell, I know." He took a deep breath. "Okay. I think I'm over my pity party now. I need to get that DNA test done and talk to Dan Lester."

"Agreed." Jenna put her hand on his shoulder. "It's going to be okay."

"No, it's not, Jenna. Not for that little girl. You know that just as well as I do."

She rose to her knees, wrapped her hand around his neck, and got right in his face. "You'll do your best. I know that."

"Thanks," he murmured, his mouth so close to hers that she felt the vibration of the words rather than actually heard them. "Jenna-"

She closed the gap between them, and his mouth met hers, bringing them both into the kiss and enveloping them within it. He angled his head, slanting his lips over hers, and she leaned in even closer, allowing his arm to slide around her waist and practically drag her into his lap.

The kiss went on and on and she just let herself fall into it, the softness of her breasts now crushed against his chest, his big hand cupping her butt, pressing her closer and closer to the hard ridge of his jeans-covered cock. His fingers closed around her head and she moaned into his mouth, moving with him, wanting the intense waves of pleasure never to stop.

"Jenna-I'm so damn sorry about all this." He eased back a fraction so that he could see her face.

She gathered her wits and tried to smile. "It's okay, I know this isn't what you want and that this is possibly the worst time in your personal universe to have a woman sitting in your lap making you kiss her."

He frowned. "You didn't make me kiss you."

"I definitely made the first move." She put her hand on his chest. "If you just let go of me, I'll get off you."

"And what if I don't want to let go?"

She gave him her best glare. "Your current schedule doesn't permit personal relationships. You know that."

"We're just kissing."

"And kissing leads to other things and . . ." She tried to ease away, but he held firm. "We can't do those things here-not that we would even want to do those things anywhere else, I mean."

He raised an eyebrow. "You've obviously never had sex in a barn before. We could do it right now. All you'd have to do was take off one boot and one leg of your jeans and I'd unzip and-"



       
         
       
        

She slapped her hand over his mouth. Why did he have to be so darned practical about everything? "We are not having sex, we are just kissing."

This time when she pushed on his chest, he let her go. She struggled to her feet, leaning against the wall for support as the rest of her felt like molasses. She made the mistake of looking down just as he curved a hand under the obvious length of his erection and ran his thumb along it.

"Unfair . . ." She breathed.

He looked up at her, his hand remaining in place. "Yeah. Bad timing in so many ways. I mean, why the hell would anyone want to get involved with me? I'm a bona fide loser."

"You are a good person."

He slowly rose to his feet and put his hand on the wall beside her head. "I am trying to be a better person, which is why I'm not going to push this issue with you right now."

"What issue?"

"The us one."

"There is no 'us.' It's not on your timetable, remember? And I'm going out with Nate."

"Screw Nate." He kissed her until she stopped spluttering and just kissed him back. "Actually, rewind that. Don't screw Nate."

"Have you quite finished?" Jenna demanded.

"Apparently."

"Then shall we go back to the house?"

"If that's what you really want to do."

She wanted to strip him naked and lick him all over and then she wanted . . .

"Yes."

He straightened and then bent to pick up his hat. "Then after you, princess."

* * *

Jenna walked ahead of him up to the ranch house, which was now lit up like a Christmas tree. Had they really been worried about him? Blue wanted to kick himself for scaring Ruth. She'd had enough of waiting for her family to come home to last her a lifetime. Shame washed over him as he thought about what he had to tell them all. He'd always been so quick to judge everyone else, and now he was the one at fault, and it was entirely his own doing.

Jenna held open the outside door for him and he braced himself as he kicked off his boots and went into the kitchen. January and Chase sat together on one side of the table holding hands; Maria was between Ruth and Billy, who was talking quietly to her.

"Hey." Blue found a smile somewhere. "Sorry I was out in the barn for so long. One of the horses was limping."

"Which one?" Chase asked before January elbowed him hard in the side.

Blue held out a chair for Jenna. "Here you go." She'd remained by the door as she usually did, like she wasn't sure if she was wanted. He'd noticed that before. Now it kind of made more sense. "You can't leave. It's dinnertime. I'm sure Ruth has enough to feed you." 

"I do." Ruth pointed at the table with her big spoon. "Sit down. I made mac and cheese for Maria, so you can share that while the rest of us dig into chicken and dumplings."

Blue waited until Jenna sat down before taking the seat beside her and opposite his father. "How's it going, Billy?"

"Good, son. I've been showing Maria around the ranch." Billy smiled down into Maria's apprehensive face. "I'm thinking you need to take her out on horseback to see the place more clearly."

"I can't ride," Maria said so quietly Blue almost couldn't hear her.

"Then we'll teach you." Billy patted her shoulder. "I taught Blue and his brothers when they were babies."

"Babies can't ride."

Billy chuckled. "They can if their daddy sits them up on a horse in front of them, can't they, boys?"

Chase passed down the iced tea. "Yeah. I remember watching Dad hold you just like that, Blue. It got a lot harder when the twins came along. They used to try and jump off."

"Like a pair of squabbling puppies." Billy's smile died. "I wish they'd come home soon."

"They are coming for the wedding." Ruth put the blue cast iron casserole dish on the table and the pan of macaroni and cheese, which was perfectly crisp and brown. "I heard from HW today, but Ry's coming, too."

Blue looked up at her. "Yeah? That's awesome." He focused on Maria. "Chase and I have two more brothers for you to meet. They're twins."

Maria nodded politely but didn't say anything else, so Blue helped himself to the casserole. He soon noticed she would chat away to Billy, of all people, and then shut down like a clam whenever he tried to speak to her directly. But how could he blame her? In her world he guessed that fathers were no longer to be trusted. He totally got that.

With everything that was going on, he'd also forgotten to check in with Chase about the search for their mother and sister. Wow, so much to feel guilty about and so little time.

Blue put down his silverware, his appetite gone, and rose swiftly to his feet.

"Excuse me, everyone. I have to make a phone call."

"Nothing's that important. You can at least finish your dinner." Ruth frowned at him. "I've got pie."

"That's awesome, but I have to do this. I'll come back as soon as I can, okay?"

His cell was practically burning a hole in his jeans pocket, the number Rosa had given him for Daniel Lester still on his screen. Blue went up to his bedroom and pressed to connect the call. It rang for a long time.

"Yeah, what?"

Daniel Lester's slurred tone was instantly recognizable to any son of a drunk.