The Rancher and the Event Planner - By Cheryl Gorman Page 0,31

JC was soaked to the skin. Together they gathered up the picnic things, stuffed them into the trunk of her car and jumped inside. Water dripped down her face. She looked at her legs, her new boots spattered with mud and wet grass, her new skirt soaked. Then she looked at Rafe. He looked hot and sexy and gorgeous as if he’d just stepped out of a shower. It wasn’t fair. She’d gone to a lot of trouble. She’d looked really good when she’d left the house and now she looked like a drowned rat.

Before she could say anything, he pulled off his shirt and threw it on the back seat. Her mouth fell open in response to all that male beauty suddenly on display just for her. He rummaged around in the picnic basket and pulled out a damp roll of paper towels. He yanked off a handful then handed her the roll. He rubbed the towels over his arms and torso then over his hair. She patted her face with a paper towel, looked in the vanity mirror and was horrified at what she saw. Mascara ran down her face, her hair was flat against her skull and she saw herself as a young girl again walking into the classroom after begin caught in the rain without an umbrella and Rona and her cronies snickering behind their hands.

He reached over and pulled a wet leaf and a couple of twigs from her hair. She turned and looked at him having his touch bring her out of her memory. He chuckled. “You look like one of those sad eyed clowns.”

She couldn’t believe he’d just said that. “What?”

His face paled slightly. “But much prettier, of course.”

“Right, thanks a lot.”

“Hey, relax. I was just kidding.”

He huffed out a breath. “I told you I was bad at relationships. I put my foot in my mouth all the time where women are concerned.”

She decided to take the high road. “That’s okay. I over-reacted.” She cranked the engine and said, “What’s a little rain between friends?”

***

Later as she stood under a hot shower, she thought it was much more than rain between friends. Or at least it felt like it. She didn’t want to act like a kid and hold a grudge but his words had hurt. A sad eyed clown indeed. She’d noticed the expression on his face. He’d felt bad about what he said. I told you I was bad at relationships. Maybe he was. Did that mean she should give up trying to make Rafe see that they were right for each other? Her first reaction was to shore up her defenses, to act like everything was fine but it wasn’t. He’d planted a seed of doubt in her mind with his words. No, she wouldn’t give up yet. There was still time. So fate had put a little rock along the path and blurred the direction. That didn’t mean they didn’t belong together. Or did it? There was only one way to find out. Keep pushing ahead, keep going until the end of her thirty days. By then she would know for sure one way or the other.

Chapter Eight

Rafe stopped the truck in front of the old mansion where guys in hardhats hustled in and out, busy on the remodel. The construction company Linc had worked part-time for in high school and college was doing the renovation work. He noticed Jennifer’s car, a sporty red two door parked off to the side and an odd thrill stretched in the pit of his stomach, but he pushed it aside. Since their date, Rafe hadn’t seen much of her. She had moved into the cabin with Cade because the construction on the kitchen repair was complete. He needed Jennifer’s agreement on a new idea. Whenever he ran his ideas for expanding the ranch by Caroline, she leveled his excitement by starting an argument. These arguments generally consisted of his lack of attention to her needs, her likes and dislikes, not to mention her rife jealousies concerning any conversation he’d had with another woman outside the family.

“This house is old, Daddy,” Molly said from the passenger seat.

“Yes, but we’re going to make her pretty again.”

As soon as they climbed from the truck, Molly took off toward the house. “Hey, punkin , hold up.” He caught up with her easily and together they stepped inside. The house was built of rhyolite and red sand stone with dormers, arched windows, curved brackets and stained glass