Читать книгу Secret Love - Brenda Jackson - Страница 16

Jake stopped his horse at the end of the path and looked down at the cabin below. He raised his eyes toward the heavens and saw that the dark clouds he’d awakened to that morning were now moving away. He was grateful for that since his steers would need to graze in the pastures the majority of the day.

He fixed his gaze again on the cabin. He was tempted to go down and pay Diamond a surprise visit like he had done yesterday but talked himself out of it. He was too old to go sniffing behind a woman like a stallion in heat. Besides, it was too early. Chances were she was still asleep.

Jake frowned. He hadn’t been able to get a good night’s sleep. Visions of black hair, dark eyes and kissable lips had kept him awake. He turned slightly, about to lead his horse away, back up the path, when a movement caught his eyes. The door to the cabin opened and Diamond stepped out on the porch. Even from a distance, he could see that she was holding a mug of steaming hot coffee in her hands. She was dressed in a denim work shirt and faded jeans. Her feet were braced apart with her free hand tucked into the front pocket of her jeans. Her stand emphasized the soft curves of her body.

Jake sat in the saddle, transfixed. Even dressed like a cowgirl, everything about Diamond spelled feminine. “Oh, for heaven’s sake!” he muttered in annoyance to himself. “You have more things to do, Jake Madaris, than to sit here and spy on a woman.”

He released a deep, heavy sigh. He had always prided himself on being able to handle any female relationships. Caught in the thought that he was deviating from the norm bothered him. His dreams had always centered around Whispering Pines and not some woman’s warm arms and soft body—like they had last night.

Jake spared one last glance at Diamond before turning his horse back toward the pastures. There was work to do.

When Diamond heard the sound of the vehicle’s engine, she took a deep breath. Jacob had arrived. She had called for him earlier and had spoken on the phone to Blaylock. He was such a nice man. He had told her that Jacob had ridden out early that morning and wasn’t expected back until midmorning. He said he would give him the message when he returned that she wanted to see him, and to come via way of his Jeep and not horseback.

She felt the knot in her stomach clench. Never before had she allowed any man to get next to her like Jacob Madaris was doing. She frowned. He was just a regular man. But that thought didn’t stop her from taking another deep breath when she heard the sound of his knock on the door. She walked over to the door and opened it.

Diamond’s breath caught in her throat. There was nothing regular about Jacob Madaris, she thought as she studied his features. They were the same features that had invaded her dreams every night since she’d come to Whispering Pines. But for some reason, today those features appeared more manly and prominent. Today he looked like the quintessential cowboy/rancher. If anyone could combine the two successfully, it would be the handsome man standing before her.

“Hello, Jacob.”

“Diamond.” Jake breathed in her scent. It was warm, sweet, seductive. She was still wearing the cowgirl outfit he had seen her in that morning when he’d watched her from high on the mountain while she’d stood on the porch drinking a cup of coffee.

He cleared his throat when it suddenly became apparent that neither had said anything else to each other for a full minute after their initial greeting. “Blaylock said you wanted me.”

Diamond blinked. She wanted him all right, she thought, willing her pulse to stop beating so rapidly. “Pardon me?”

“Blaylock said you wanted to see me and to bring the Jeep.”

“Yeah, right,” she said, getting her mind back on track. Relax, she commanded herself, or Jacob will think you’re one ditzy woman. “Please come in. I need help with the pies.”

“Pies?”

“Yes. Remember I told you that I would bake them for your men; ten of them from the blueberries I picked.”

Jake frowned as he walked into the cabin. “You actually did bake them?”

Diamond chuckled. “I told you I would.”

Jake glanced around. A huge vase of roses sat on a nearby coffee table. He frowned when seeing the roses brought back memories.

Diamond saw his frown and didn’t understand the reason for it. “I picked them yesterday,” she said, explaining. “I would have gotten your permission first had I known that picking them would upset you. There were so many of them, and they were so beautiful. It was strange seeing them growing all around. I first noticed them when I went out picking berries a few days ago.”

Jake nodded. “I don’t have a problem with you picking them. Sorry if I gave you that impression. My ex-wife took a notion to plant over a thousand rosebushes on this land right after we got married. She was used to seeing roses where she came from and said Whispering Pines looked dreary without them.”

Now it was Diamond’s time to frown. As far as she was concerned, there was nothing dreary about Whispering Pines. “I happen to disagree with her. This land of yours of beautiful, Jacob,” she said, leading him to the kitchen. She then motioned to the clean and spotless kitchen. “No mess this time. No fight with flour.”

Jake smiled. “I’m impressed.” In all actuality, he was. It seemed everything about Diamond was beginning to impress him, especially when she had defended the beauty of his land. All Jessie had ever done was to put Whispering Pines down. She had hated it here. And she sure as heck would never have given thought to doing anything nice for his men. She had told him on more than one occasion how she detested them. She saw them as a group of men who barely had a high school education. She thought they were irresponsible men without any goals in life other than to play cowboys without the benefit of Indians. Jessie never had a word, kind or otherwise, to say to any of them. She had placed herself on a higher level than they were. But Diamond was a well-known movie star, who was known worldwide, and whose film credits were remarkably impressive. Yet she had taken the time not to bake just one pie, but ten of them for his men.

“I talked to Blaylock to be sure it would be okay since I didn’t know what type of menu he had planned for them today. I didn’t want to overstep my boundaries since he’s their cook.”

Jake nodded. That was another thoughtful gesture on her part. He was beginning to realize that Diamond Swain was a very unique woman.

“He’s really a nice man.”

Jake frowned. “Who?”

“Blaylock. I talked to him on the phone for over an hour. He gave me a recipe for vegetable soup. I’m going to make some tonight.”

Diamond felt a fluttering in her heart when Jake smiled. “Well, once you get the pies in your Jeep, we’ll be ready to go,” she said, as she began placing the pies inside a huge cardboard box.

“You’re coming?” Jake asked her in surprise.

She glanced up at him. “Sure. Remember I told you that I wanted to meet them.” She studied his features closely. “That won’t be a problem, will it?”

Jake saw the worried look on her face. Her expression indicated she wasn’t sure if she would be doing something wrong or against his wishes.

“No, that won’t be a problem, and I’m sure they’ll get a kick out of it.” And I won’t be able to get a lick of work out of them for the rest of the day after they meet you, he thought further to himself.

He watched her features soften into a relaxed smile. “Good.”

“Do you know anything about cows?”

Diamond glanced over at Jake, wondering about the question he had asked out of the clear blue sky. They had been riding in his Jeep for the last few minutes or so without much conversation. She tried not to concentrate on the large work-hardened hands that gripped the steering wheel and wondered how those same hands would feel on her.

Her brows furrowed. The middle part of her body reacted to that particular thought. “I guess I know the same thing about them as everyone else,” she replied, deliberately turning to look straight ahead.

“Which is?”

“They give milk,” she said, looking back at him, meeting his gaze.

Jake smiled warmly. Another thing he liked about Diamond was the fact that she had a sense of humor. “Yes, they do give milk but I’m not running a dairy, although all the milk served on the ranch is fresh.”

“Even the milk we drank the other day with the cookies?”

“Yes.”

Diamond nodded, smiling. “No wonder it tasted so good. I thought it was delicious.”

Her compliment pleased Jake. “Thanks. My father used to run a small dairy and make door-to-door deliveries to the neighbors.”

“Have you ever considered going back into the dairy business?”

“Nope. We have enough to do just to make sure we get the steers to the market on time. That alone keeps us pretty busy.”

“I’m fascinated by all the things that you do around here. I’d like to learn more about it.”

“Why?”

Diamond shrugged. “I don’t know, I just do.” She didn’t want to tell him that for some reason, she wanted to know all she could about Jacob Madaris. She had a feeling that to know and understand Jacob Madaris, the man, she would first need to know and understand Jacob Madaris, the rancher. From the little bit Sterling had told her about him and what she had observed since arriving, Whispering Pines was his life.

“Just what are you interested in?”

She wanted to say you, but didn’t. “I’m interested in everything about this place. From fixing fences, driving the herd, doing the roundup to this very chic system I understand you use to guarantee you’re delivering the very best beef to the consumer that money can buy.”

“I thought you came here to rest.”

“I will be resting, Jacob. I haven’t enjoyed myself this much in years. There’s something about Whispering Pines that’s so exciting and refreshing. Everything here is so clean, pure and unique. I love it here.”

Jake didn’t say anything as he kept driving. Jessie had also been excited when he had first brought her here. So excited that she had been adamant about planting those rosebushes everywhere, even in the least likely places where they would survive. But soon, like it usually happens with city slickers and sophisticates, the novelty wore off and instead of finding the ranch exciting, she had found it dreary and boring. One day Diamond would feel the same way. She was too well-traveled not to. Whispering Pines was just a hole in the wall compared to the other exotic places she had visited. The only saving grace for the ranch was that it didn’t come with reporters and provided her a lot more privacy than she was used to.

When Jake turned the Jeep onto the road that would take them to the ranch house, he glanced over at Diamond and said, “We’re almost there.”