Maureen Child - Runaway Temptation

But as it turned out, she’d been in love with the idea of being in love and the reality of actually marrying Jared had been enough to jolt her out of the illusion.

Shelby walked farther into the room, lifting one of the crystal bud vases for a closer look, then carefully setting it down again. In her business, she’d learned early about maker’s marks on crystal and glass. She knew antiques when she saw them and had a pretty good idea of the value of different pieces.

She did a slow turn, admiring the bones of the room and she wondered why Caleb’s mother had felt that emotional need to surround herself with things. The ranch itself was elegant and even in its current state, Shelby could see that the home would be, once cleared out, amazing.

“Yeah, it’s pretty bad,” Caleb said from behind her.

She turned to look at him. “I’ve seen worse.”

He laughed shortly. “Hard to believe.”

“Oh, this is nothing, really.” She lifted a porcelain tray and ran her fingertips across the library table it rested on. “No dust. I’ve been in places where the dust was so thick the furniture looked like ghost pieces. The wood was white with neglect.”

“My foreman’s wife, Camilla, takes care of things around here.”

“Well, she does a good job of it.” Shelby looked around again. “It can’t be easy to keep all of this dusted.”

He sighed and gave a look around. “I keep telling her that we’ll get people in here to haul all of this stuff away, but—”

“But you get busy,” Shelby said.

“Yeah.”

“And that’s where I come in.”

He turned a wary look on her. “What’s that mean?”

“I’m a professional organizer,” Shelby said, smiling up at him. “This is what I do. I go into people’s homes and help bring order to chaos. I had my own business in Chicago. A successful one.”

“And you gave it up to marry Jared,” he mused.

“Yes, well.” She stopped, frowned. “Bad judgment aside, I’m excellent at what I do.” She turned to look at the room again before staring up at him. “I can take care of this for you.”

“Is that right?” He was holding a pair of jeans and a T-shirt.

She supposed shoes were too much to hope for.

“Sure. It’s great, really.” Shelby’s mind was racing, figuring, planning and when she had most of it all set, she started talking again. “I need a place to stay for a while.”

“Now, wait a second...”

“Just hear me out.” She took a breath and released it in a rush. “You’ve been fabulous. Really. So thanks again for the whole rescue and bringing me here and not being a serial killer.”

One corner of his delectable mouth quirked briefly. “You’re welcome.”

She grinned at him. Really, he was ridiculously good-looking, but when his mouth hinted at a smile, his looks went off-the-chart hot. Still, not the point at the moment.

“But the truth is,” she said, “until I can get all of my stuff from Jared’s parents’ house—not to mention get into my money, I’m stuck.”

“What about family?” he asked. “Isn’t there someone you could call?”

“No.” Sorrow briefly landed on her, gave her a fleeting kiss, then moved on again. “My mother died last year, so I’m all that’s left.”

“Sorry.” He looked uncomfortable.

Shelby understood that, since she’d seen it often back home. So she spoke up quickly to even things out between them again. “Like I said, I’m a professional organizer.

“The plan was to open a business here in Texas...” She frowned, unsure now just what she would do about that. “Back in Chicago, I had hundreds of satisfied clients.”

“Uh-huh.”

He didn’t sound interested, but he hadn’t walked away, either. Which meant she hadn’t lost him completely. And seeing this house had given her the first shot of good news she’d experienced in days. Before, she’d felt like a beggar, asking for help, borrowing clothes. But if he let her do this, she could feel as though she were paying her way. And that, more than anything, was important to her. She liked being her own boss. In charge of her own life. And right now, she could use a jolt of that in her system.

“My point is,” she said eagerly, “I can straighten all of this out for you. I can organize everything of your mother’s. All you’ll have to do is decide what you want to do with everything.”

He glanced around the room again and looked back to Shelby. “It’s a big job.”

“I’m up to it.”

He studied her for a long minute, long enough that she shifted position uncomfortably. What was he seeing when he looked at her? He was seriously gorgeous, so Shelby had to wonder if he was feeling the slightest bit of attraction that was humming through her blood. And the minute she thought it, she pushed it away. Really? Run away from your wedding and have some completely indecent thoughts about your rescuer? God, Shelby, get a grip .

“My brother and his wife have already taken what they want, and as for me, keep what works in the room and we could donate the rest of it, I guess,” he said.

Concession , her mind shouted and she jumped on it. “Absolutely, and that would be very generous. The crystal alone is probably very valuable. I could contact an antiques store and see about selling some of it if you want me to. I can check all of it for you. Make lists of what you have and where it is and—”

“Do you ever stop talking?”

She frowned at him. “Not often. And this is important. I really need to get you to agree with this or I’ll be sleeping in a park or something. So I’ll do all the work here in exchange for room and board until I can get my life back on track.”

“And how long do you figure that will take?”

She winced. “Depends on how cooperative the Goodmans are.”

“So forever,” he said.

She sighed and felt a momentary dip in her enthusiasm. “I know it’s an intrusion on you and I’ll try not to bug you much...”

He was watching her and she wished she could read whatever thoughts were digging furrows between his eyebrows. The man was unreadable, though. He was the embodiment of the iconic cowboy. Tall, rugged, gorgeous, stoic. So she was forced to wait. Thankfully, it didn’t take long.

“I suppose we could try it.”

She sighed, grinned and slapped one hand to her chest. “Thanks. Wow. I feel better already. This is great. You won’t be sorry. I’ll have this taken care of so fast you won’t even recognize the place.”

“Uh-huh.” He started walking toward the wide hall. “Anyway. You can stay over here in the east wing.”

Shelby was looking around the house as she followed him. From what she could see in the hallway, there were plenty of places for her to organize there, too.

“I’ve never lived in a house with wings.”

He glanced down at her as she hurried up to walk at his side. “Yeah, this one’s got all kinds of wings spreading out from here, the center. Every generation has added to it for nearly a hundred and fifty years.”

“Wow.” Shelby was impressed. She and her mother had been constantly on the move, from apartment to condo, to rental house. They’d never stayed anywhere longer than three years. So hearing about a family who had been in the same spot for more than a century filled her with a kind of envy she hadn’t expected. That was roots, she told herself. Digging in, planting yourself and building your own world. One for your children and your children’s children.

And that hunger for family, for roots, was what had prompted her to allow herself to be swept off her feet by Jared. Lesson to be learned there, Shelby told herself.

The walls in the house changed from log to stone and back again as they walked. The hardwood floor was shining, letting her know that the house was well cared for in spite of the clutter in the main room that had dribbled into the hallway. She imagined that Camilla had to work like a Trojan to keep everything as clean and beautiful as it was.