Page 19 of Sweet Temptation

“So, are you hungry?” He glanced over at her.

“Not really.” Jackie met his gaze. “If I keep eating your mother’s breakfasts while living out here, I’m going to be as big as that house of yours.”

Even when she was nervous, she could make him laugh. “I doubt that.”

“I don’t.” Her focus returned to gazing out the window at the vast, flat Texas landscape blurring past them. “Is everything out here this flat and empty? Most of the way here, I barely saw anything in the distance.”

“There was a cow.”

She flung around in her seat. “You saw it? The one lonesome cow?”

“With nothing else around it.” He smiled. “Oh, yeah.”

“Shouldn’t there have been a barn, or a house, or other cows, or something?”

He chuckled again. “Maybe, but that one probably broke a fence line somewhere. His people will find him sooner than later.”

“Wow.” She twisted back to face forward, her shoulders a tad more relaxed.

“This would be a good time to discuss exactly what you’ve gotten yourself into.” Without hesitation, he stretched out his arm and took hold of her hand. She jumped slightly at the unexpected gesture. “This is the first thing that you’ll have to get used to. If we’re supposed to be in love, and soon happily married, we’re going to have to hold hands, hug, and,” he tried not to choke on the words, “kiss—sometimes—even in public.”

She nodded, but kept her hand in his.

Her profile was calm, thoughtful, but he couldn’t quite gauge what was going on behind those green eyes. “What are you thinking?”

“That I might be crazy.”

He let go of her hand.

Instantly, without hesitation, she snatched it back. “On the other hand, sanity is highly overrated.”

“Fair enough.” So much had to be broached.

“I’ll want to work. I know I’m helping your family out, but I still want to earn my keep.”

“You’re doing more than helping. You’re saving us.”

“God has a sense of humor.”

“How is that?”

“I can’t even save myself, and yet here I am, helping save a two-hundred-year-old ranch.”

“You understand that we have to convince my mother, and quickly, that we’re in love and don’t want to wait to marry?”

She nodded.

“So far, my brothers have avoided a church wedding, but Mom’s itching for a big shindig. If she insists on a church wedding, will that be a deal breaker?”

Those shoulders stiffened again. “I don’t supposeI don’t knowis the answer you wanted.”

“If it’s honest, yes, that’s the answer I want.”

She turned to face him again. “Honest?”

He nodded.

“I’m scared to death, but I’m more scared of what will happen to me if I don’t stay.”

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