Little Cowgirl Needs a Mum / Once Upon a Proposal: Little Cowgirl Needs a Mum

“It was a nice evening, Rafferty. Thank you.”

She took out her keys, but he stopped her. “I like it when you call me Evan.” He knew in his head this was a bad idea, but couldn’t stop himself as he pulled her toward him. He gave her a chance to back away, but she didn’t. “Say my name, Jenny.”

She swallowed. “Evan,” she breathed, and his mouth closed over hers.

Evan shut everything out of his mind, except for the feel of Jenny’s body pressed against his. He drew a breath and inhaled her fresh scent. He reached up and cupped her head, feeling the silkiness of her hair. On a soft moan, she opened her mouth and he got to taste her intoxicating sweetness. He hadn’t realized how hungry she made him.

He broke off the kiss but not his hold.

“Maybe this isn’t a good idea,” Jenny breathed as her arms slipped around his neck.

His mouth brushed over hers; he wasn’t listening at all to common sense. “It feels pretty damn good to me.”

CHAPTER SIX

IT was a little before nine the following morning when Jenny came downstairs to the shop. Millie was already there, and, to her surprise, so were several other women. They were all seated at the round table at the window.

“What’s going on?” Jenny asked as she came up next to her coworker.

Millie took her to the table. “Meet the ladies of the Quilters’ Corner. You already know Beth Staley and this is Louisa Merrick and Liz Parker. And soon there will be more.”

Jenny smiled, excited they were here. “Morning, ladies. I’m glad you’re taking advantage of the space.”

Millie turned to her. “You know, most times when you get a bunch of women together there’s drama.”

“There’s just going to be quilting,” Louisa Merrick said. She was an attractive woman in her late fifties. Her raven hair was laced with gray and pulled into a bun, showing off her beautiful bone structure. Her dark eyes sparkled. “My husband, Clay, is a Texas politician. He causes enough drama.”

Everyone laughed.

“Sounds like your life is exciting,” Jenny said, knowing a little of Senator Merrick’s reputation.

Louisa smiled. “I’d rather have a houseful of grandkids to spoil, but my son, Sloan, is a little slow to fill my request.” Louisa smiled. “You say you’re single?”

Jenny found herself stuttering. Please don’t let anyone set me up with a date.

Beth spoke up. “Sloan is more interested in raising his free-range cattle than in women right now. Jenny’s been busy, too … with her girls’ class.”

“He’ll be interested,” Louisa assured her, “when he finds the right woman.” She looked encouragingly at Jenny.

“I won’t be staying in town past the summer. I’ll be returning to San Antonio and my teaching job.”

After a series of groans from the women, Beth started talking about her granddaughter, Kasey. And Jenny was happy to no longer be the main topic of discussion. What would everyone think if they knew Evan Rafferty had kissed the daylights out of her last night?

She smiled to herself, knowing that, as much as she’d enjoyed the kiss, she couldn’t make too much out of it. Talk about a mismatch. Evan wasn’t the man for her. A warm shiver went through her at the memory of his touch.

Maybe if she wrote it on a piece of paper a hundred times then she’d start to believe it.

That same morning, Evan began his day as usual. He walked through the vines, checking the grapes as he had every day for years. He’d always been a man who thrived on routine, on habit.

But he wasn’t in the habit of kissing women.

He closed his eyes and Jenny came to mind. In the last twelve hours he hadn’t been able to erase her image, or the feel of her against him, or the taste of her.

The truth was, kissing Jenny had been incredible. He hadn’t wanted to stop, but he’d had to. It wasn’t wrong to want a woman, he told himself, especially a woman as appealing as the dark-eyed blonde.

What bothered him was how she made him feel. He wanted casual, and she had marriage and kids written all over her. He couldn’t go there again. Besides, Jenny had befriended his daughter. That could complicate things all to hell. And he needed to put his energy into his relationship with Gracie.

No, marriage wasn’t for him. He couldn’t make his first one work, so why would he try again?

At the sound of a horn, he looked over his shoulder and saw a crew-cab truck pull up next to the barn. Alex Casali and Gracie got out along with her new friend, Cherry. His daughter waved and he started down the slope as the group came toward him.

“Hey, Gracie.” He’d missed her more than he could have imagined.

“Hi, Daddy,” she called, surprising him as she rushed into his arms.

“Did you have a good time?”

She stood back and smiled. “It was so much fun. We watched movies and played video games.”

Hadn’t she missed him at all? “Sounds like fun to me.”

“Daddy, when can I have my sleepover?”

“I’m not exactly sure.” He glanced at Alex. “We need to discuss that with Jenny.”

Gracie looked at Cherry. “Jenny’s going to be the woman in the house. Daddy says mothers won’t let their girls come with only men here.”

Alex hid a grin. “Wise idea.”

Gracie turned back to Evan. “Will you ask her?”

He wasn’t sure he was ready to face Jenny yet. “Okay.”

“Today?”

That could be an excuse to see her again. “We’ll see.”

Gracie looked at her new friend. “Come on, I want to show you my room.”

“Ten minutes, Cherry,” Alex called after the twosome running toward the house. “Then we need to leave.” He turned back to Evan. “I doubt she even heard me.” He nodded toward the vineyard. “How about showing me around?”

Evan was surprised by the request. “Sure.”

Together they walked toward the rows of vines, heavy with grapes. “It’s quiet now, but we’ll start harvesting in a few months,” Evan said. “We’ll be busy then.”

“How many acres planted?”

“Right now it’s about twelve.”