Marie Ferrarella - The Lonesome Rancher / Finding Happily-Ever-After - The Lonesome Rancher

His gaze darkened and she had trouble not reacting.

“I’m a rancher, a cattleman,” he said with such conviction, she knew what it meant to him. “It’s what I’ve always wanted to be since the day I came to River’s End when my mother married Clay Merrick. Although for some people they feel you need to be something more. And then they set out to try to change you.”

“Why would they do that? You’ve found what you love to do in life.”

Sloan wanted to believe Jade’s sincerity, but he harbored too much bitterness. “The game is different when your father is a U.S. senator,” he began. “There’s the prestige and important connections that go along with the title. It draws the good and the bad.”

“I take it … this woman was one of the latter.”

He nodded. “That about sums it up. Crystal Erickson came to town and singled me out, telling me she wanted to meet me. We went out for a few months, and it didn’t work out. End of story.”

He wished it had been simple. Sloan shook his head, thinking about what a fool he’d been, remembering after they’d been dating awhile, he’d come home and found Crystal there. She was talking with his father.

Out of sight, Sloan had listened while she planned out his future. Her dream was for Sloan to follow after Clay. She’d even offered to help prep him to take over the seat in congress someday. She even assured the senator that she could convince his son to run for office. Sloan quickly realized that Crystal didn’t love him as much as the Merrick name.

Angry more than hurt, he broke it off with Crystal. She wasn’t happy and it didn’t take her long to get back at him.

“Even though I ended things between us, my family paid the ultimate price with their story and pictures plastered over the tabloids.”

“I’m sorry, Sloan.”

“There’s no need to be.” He shrugged. “It’s been over a long time.” He didn’t want to think about his mistakes. He just knew that he wasn’t about to have a repeat in the future.

His gaze locked with hers. This woman could make that damn difficult, make him forget every hard lesson he’d learned from the past.

He forced himself to walk to the window, fighting the pull to go back to her and convince her to do more than share a kiss. The rain sheeted off the window as lightning flashed across the sky, drawing a blanket of intimacy around them. He didn’t trust himself.

Sloan glanced over his shoulder to see Jade watching him. He had to remind himself of how foolish he’d been when a beautiful woman was involved, and how in the end the Merrick family ended up as headline news.

He also needed to set things straight. “Earlier I shouldn’t have taken advantage of this situation.” He didn’t want to get any closer to her, either. “What happened between us was unprofessional.”

She nodded. “I’m to blame, too. I’m your employee.”

He frowned. “You’re my mother’s employee.”

Those incredible eyes of hers widened. “Close enough.”

“We need to get back. Louisa …”

“My mother is fine. And until the storm passes we can’t leave here.”

As if to emphasize his words, several flashes of lightning shot across the sky, followed by instant crashes of thunder. She jerked involuntarily.

“Whoa, darlin’, I won’t let anything happen to you.”

She stiffened. “I don’t need you to play the big, strong cowboy. I can take care of myself.”

Sloan raised a hand. “I have no doubt about that.”

He couldn’t help but wonder about the things she’d gone through these past months. He could see the sadness behind her toughness. Maybe that had been the reason he’d spoken so freely to her. It was something he couldn’t let happen again.

“I should check on the horses.” Tugging his hat lower on his head, he opened the door and fought the strong wind as he stepped onto the porch.

He went to the railing and placed his hand on Cally’s rump and along her flank. “Sorry, girl, it’s going to be a while before I can get you home.” He’d removed the horses’ tack earlier, but he wished they had more protection from the storm than the two blankets he’d found in the cupboard.

He checked Amigo, then studied the still dark clouds in the dim light. He needed to get Jade out of his head. The last thing he wanted was her as an added complication. No, in a few weeks Jade Hamilton would be back in Dallas, and he’d be working hard at River’s End.

That was what he needed to concentrate on now. The ranch. Had he lost any of his herd or his crop from this storm? He didn’t need to think about a beautiful green-eyed woman, but that was exactly what he was doing.

He wiped the rain from his face, unable to deny the stirring he felt. He just had to figure out a way to stop it.

Nearly two hours later the freak storm had finally moved on, and Bud had arrived at the homestead with his truck and a horse trailer.

Jade had never been so happy to see anyone. After Sloan kissed her, she knew she couldn’t give into her attraction for him. For so many reasons. She was thankful that Sloan had disappeared into the bedroom, leaving her alone by the fire until they were rescued by Bud.

The men loaded the animals and she got in the backseat of the truck. On the trip to the ranch house, she was happy not to have to talk as the men were busy discussing storm damage. She hadn’t thought about the toll the heavy wind and rain took on crops and animals. She knew now that bad weather was a threat to a rancher’s livelihood.

Bud pulled up at the kitchen door and Sloan climbed out of the passenger seat to help her. The sky was clear, the night cool.

She looked up at him, trying to avoid his gaze. “I can manage, thank you,” she said and started to walk off.

He reached to stop her. “It’s for the best, Jade.”

Ignoring his warm touch on her arm, she looked back at the truck. Bud wasn’t paying them any attention. She still lowered her voice and agreed. “It’s the only way, Sloan, or … I’ll have to leave.”

His eyes narrowed. “Dammit, Jade, that’s the last thing I want. That’s the reason I’m going to stay away from you. I don’t want you to leave … for my mother’s sake.”

So it hurt a little that this all seemed so easy for him. “I’m tired. I’m going inside.” She climbed the porch steps and was met by two worried looking women, Marta and Louisa.

Louisa grabbed her in a hug as Sloan and Bud drove off. “Thank God, you’re okay.”

“I’m sorry we worried you.”

Louisa made Jade sit down at the table. “Why? You didn’t cause the storm. That cold front wasn’t even supposed to come this far south.” She shook her head. “I hate to think about what could have happened. Thank God, Sloan was there with you.” Louisa glanced behind her. “Where is my son?”

Oh, yeah, without Sloan, she might not be confused about everything. “Taking care of the horses.”

Marta brought her a cup of steaming cocoa. “What would you like to eat?” she asked.

Jade shook her head. “I’m not really hungry. I just need to get cleaned up and then sleep.” She glanced at Louisa. “If you don’t mind.”

“Of course not,” Louisa said. “Why don’t you take your shower and Marta will bring a light supper up to your room?”

Jade was too tired to argue. She stood. “Okay and thank you. Good night.”

Jade climbed the stairs to her room and began stripping off her damp, dirty clothes inside the connecting bathroom. Once in the stall, she let the hot water erase the chill from her body. Closing her eyes, she suddenly saw Sloan’s face. The look in his eyes before he took her mouth in their first unbelievable kiss. She could still feel the imprint of his body against hers, and it caused a different kind of warmth to shoot through her.