Wyoming Wife?

“Wait here.” Jace turned and walked away. Now she really didn’t know what to do or think. A couple of minutes later he returned and handed her a thick terry cloth bathrobe. “Here, you can put this on until your clothes dry.” She accepted it, folding it across her arm.

A stern look crossed his face, and his voice took on a hard edge. “I have lots to do before the brunt of this storm hits, but when I get back you can tell me what the hell you were doing driving around the back roads in a snowstorm dressed like you were going to some uptown art gallery. Didn’t you even bother to listen to a weather forecast before you took your leisurely drive through the countryside with your common sense stuck up your CD player? You’re lucky I spotted you, otherwise you’d be in real serious trouble.”

“What?” His unexpected—and what she considered unfounded—verbal attack slapped across her senses and brought out her defensive anger. “I was hardly taking a leisurely afternoon drive in the country. I—” If the truth were known, that was pretty much what she had been doing. She had been mindlessly and blindly driving without any thought to where she was going and no purpose to her actions. She was not even sure when or why she had decided to get off the interstate. She had been totally oblivious to her surroundings. It was something she had never done before and was not about to admit to this very disconcerting stranger.

He stood tall with his arms folded across the front of his heavy jacket. He cocked his head and raised an eyebrow, but maintained his stern expression. “You were...what?”

She rubbed her hand across the back of her neck as she tried to calm her inner jitters. “I...had gotten lost. I was disoriented by the storm and was trying to find my way back to the main highway.”

He displayed a smug why am I not surprised expression that carried over into his tone of voice. “Humph! Just like a woman—no sense of direction.”

Her temper flared. “Exactly what do you mean by ‘just like a woman’? What are you, one of those chauvinistic types who think the womenfolk should stick to the cleaning and cooking and not try to do anything complicated like compete in the world of big business because that’s men’s work?”

He blatantly looked her up and down again. “I can only go by what I see standing in front of me...woman dressed in a silk suit with fancy shoes and a lightweight jacket in the middle of a snowstorm who doesn’t even know where she is.”

She felt herself losing the battle, but had to give it one last try. “I knew where I was before you grabbed me off the road and took me somewhere in a helicopter. You didn’t even bother to ask me if I needed help. You simply took it upon yourself to decide that you knew best!”

“I thought you just said you were lost and trying to find your way back to the main highway.” Again the smug look covered his features. “I guess I must have misunderstood you. So, just where were you headed when your superb sense of direction put you on a country road and buried you in the snow?”

“I don’t think it’s any of your business!” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she knew she should not have said them. They sounded too harsh, too defensive. They also sounded downright rude and very ungrateful. After all, she had been stranded on a back road and stuck in the snow. She should be thanking him for saving her, not being antagonistic.

She glanced down at the floor, took a calming breath, then recaptured his gaze. “Look...I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you like that. This whole thing has been a very unnerving experience for me. I’m not accustomed to dealing with chaos and disorder. I don’t like being forced into making snap decisions. I prefer to have things carefully planned out. I had been visiting...uh...a friend and...well, things didn’t—”

She felt the shiver across her nape. Again she was certain that it had nothing to do with being wet and cold. Everything about this Jace Tremayne—his words, his decisive actions, even his body language—said he was a very dynamic man. Overbearing, arrogant and chauvinistic, but very dynamic. He also radiated a tantalizing sex appeal that he did not seem to even be aware of.

His attitude softened a little bit. “Do you need to call anyone to let them know you’re all right? Any family members who might be worried?” He hesitated for a moment before continuing. “The friend you were visiting... or perhaps your husband?”

A couple of days ago she would have called Jerry Kensington. But now... “No, there’s no one I need to call.” She tried to shake away the sudden feeling of despair that threatened to overwhelm her. She looked up at him. Once again his silver eyes seemed to be attempting to penetrate through to her inner soul. She glanced down at the floor, unable to hold his gaze any longer for fear he could read her every thought and feeling.

He pointed down the hallway, once again indicating the guest room. “The second door on the right.”

Samantha opened her mouth to speak, but his actions stopped her words when he turned and walked out the front door. Just what had she gotten herself into? She certainly had not made any provisions for this strange turn of events when she had originally formulated her travel plans. A cold shiver darted through her body, reminding her of her wet clothes and need of a hot bath.

She carried the robe with her as she headed toward the guest room, pausing for a moment to look out a window. Large snowflakes filled the air and the wind had picked up considerably. She saw Jace disappear across the yard toward the barn. She pursed her lips, and a slight frown wrinkled across her brow as she turned away from the window. He had certainly pulled her out of a very precarious situation, but had he deposited her into an even more perilous one?

She was acutely aware of the totally out-of-character thoughts and feelings he stirred in her. She found him aggravating, he and his snap decisions made without benefit of proper thought and planning. But there was more, much more. She was far from being a prude, but the way he made her insides quiver with excitement was something beyond her logical reasoning. She had certainly never experienced that same type of excitement with Jerry Kensington. She glanced out the window again.

The whole idea was preposterous. Jace Tremayne was in no way representative of what her ideal man should be: a professional man; someone who carefully scheduled his activities; someone whose life was planned out and knew what he would be doing five years from now; someone who thrived on the stimulation provided by city life. In short, nothing like what she had observed of Jace Tremayne.

While his unexpected guest thawed out, Jace had several duties to handle. So why was he standing in the barn staring back at the house and making no effort to move? He did not know where this woman had come from or why she had been out on the road. He did not even know her name.

He did know that she was argumentative, stubborn and overly opinionated. He also knew she was hiding something. He could see it in her eyes, in the way certain things made her nervous. She was a strong and assertive woman, yet he sensed a vulnerability—a carefully hidden side that she tried not to show. He was also aware that she possessed the very real ability to slice right through to the center of his most heated desires, seemingly without even being aware of it. The realization left him decidedly unnerved.

He relaxed his tensed nerves and allowed a slight grin to tug at the corners of his mouth. Her angry accusation about him being a chauvinist, who thought a woman’s place was cooking and cleaning, amused him. His wife had been a creative, independent woman. They had met when she’d marched up to his front door and informed him that she was researching a book about the history of Wyoming and it would not be complete without information about his family, since they figured prominently. He’d told her there was plenty of information in the University library, but she had refused to take no for an answer.

Her death had hit him very hard. His own life had been so empty for the past four years. Work had kept him busy, but it hadn’t erased the hollow feeling that had lived inside him from the day his wife of only two years died of injuries incurred in an automobile accident. She had been three months pregnant with their first child. To compensate for the loss, he’d thrown himself into the needs of the ranch, putting in long hard hours. His unceasing efforts had paid off with material rewards, but his deepest emotions had remained locked away where they could not be trampled on again.

Then one stormy day this woman appeared from out of nowhere and intruded into his life. Even though their meeting was abrupt, the circumstances unusual and their contact best described as adversarial, she had certainly managed to arouse his long-dormant libido. For the first time in four years he felt a strong physical attraction to a woman—a woman he knew was totally wrong for him.

He allowed a slight furrow of his brow as he glanced down at the ground. It bothered him that she did not have anyone to call, that there was no one who would be worried about her. The hurt that had shown in her eyes also bothered him. Perhaps she, too, had suffered a very personal tragedy in her life, just as he had.

“The copter’s tied down. Should be okay.”

Jace shifted his attention to the medium-sized man in his early forties who had just come in the side door of the barn. Ben Downey was his ranch foreman. Jace was thankful for the interruption that put a halt to his thoughts about his very attractive houseguest, the ones that were starting to turn decidedly personal. “Good...thanks. Why don’t you check here in the barn to make sure everything is securely fastened, and I’ll make another pass through the stables. Have one of the boys pile extra firewood in the bins at the bunkhouse and ranch house. Have Vince check the emergency generator, make sure it’s ready to go on-line. It could be days before this storm clears. If it’s bad enough, the power lines could snap again like they did three years ago.”

Samantha emerged from the guest room an hour later, half that time having been spent soaking in a hot bath and trying her best not to think about the sensual thrill that tingled through her body whenever Jace Tremayne drew close to her. She had to keep telling herself that she would be leaving his ranch very soon, and the physical excitement he stirred in her would thankfully be put to rest.

She snuggled inside the bathrobe he had given her, having left her damp clothes hanging in the bathroom to finish drying. The robe belonged to a woman, but was at least three sizes too large for her. The texture of the terry cloth against her bare skin heightened her awareness of her nudity beneath the robe. She tightened the sash around her waist, then padded barefoot down the carpeted hallway to the living room seeking out the added warmth of the fireplace.

It was the first time she had relaxed since getting off the plane in Denver and driving to her fiancé’s house. She had been engaged to Jerry Kensington for almost a year, even though they lived a thousand miles apart. She had insisted on a two-year engagement. She believed that was the sensible and logical thing to do. It would give them a proper amount of time to discover any possible difficulties in their relationship, and plan out their future.

The past two months, however, had been difficult ones for her. In spite of all her careful planning, she’d had the feeling that something was wrong. What bothered her the most was that she did not feel as upset about that possibility as she should have. She had refused to deal with the fact that perhaps she did not love Jerry, at least not enough to sustain a marriage commitment.

Her trip to Denver was as much to clarify her own feelings as to see Jerry. He continually chided her about being too structured and compulsive, about having to plan out every facet of her life. She had eagerly anticipated his look of surprise followed by exclamations of pleasure at her impulsive decision to make the trip.

The image of what had really occurred came rushing back to her. The shocked expression that had covered Jerry’s face when he opened his front door had not been one of pleasure. His dark hair was bedroom tousled and he wore a hastily thrown-on robe. He had stammered awkwardly while blocking her entrance to the house. Then she had seen the reason why. The woman who had casually strolled out of his bedroom was dressed in one of his T-shirts. It was barely long enough to reach her upper thighs and she obviously had nothing on underneath it.

Samantha had seen the guilt in his eyes, but his embarrassment had clearly come from having been caught, rather than any regrets about his actions. She had turned and walked away, and Jerry Kensington had made no attempt to stop her. She had never in her life felt as betrayed as she had at that moment...or as alone.

That was two days ago. Since then she had driven aimlessly through Colorado and into Wyoming until she had become stranded in the middle of nowhere, plucked out of a snowstorm by a stranger in a helicopter and whisked away to a ranch. She had no idea where she was, other than somewhere in Wyoming. Her life had always been so organized, structured and carefully controlled. She had no practical experience dealing with turmoil or unplanned events.

She also had no practical experience with the way Jace made her feel. The physical side of her relationship with Jerry Kensington had been carefully planned, too...just the type of predictability she thought she had wanted. But it was also dull. Somewhere in the recesses of her mind she had wished he would just once do something exciting to surprise her. She knew that was an absolute contradiction to everything she had professed to want out of life, but she couldn’t stop the thought.

She carefully took in her current surroundings. It was a large, comfortable room that gave the impression of many happy family gatherings over the years. She felt a moment of sadness. Happy family gatherings had not been part of her childhood. And now, after that disastrous and humiliating scene with her fiancé—she corrected herself: Jerry Kensington was now her exfiancé—it did not look as though they would be part of her future, either.

She straightened her posture and squared her shoulders as she forced a new determination. It was obvious that being in a relationship—marriage and a family—was not to be. She would throw herself into her career and concentrate on being a success in the business world. It would guarantee her a comfortable future. That should be enough. Being stuck at this ranch was only a minor interruption of her plan. She would make the best of it for the short duration of her stay, then return to Los Angeles as soon as the weather cleared.

A cold blast of air whipped in as Jace came through the front door. He stomped his boots on the floor mat to knock away the snow, pulled off his gloves and removed his heavy jacket. Then his gaze fell on the mystery lady. There was something very appealing about the way the large robe enclosed her body—and very enticing. He cleared his mind of the inappropriate thoughts and crossed the room to the fireplace. “Did you find everything you need?”

“Yes, thank you.” She turned up the collar of the robe, then nervously tugged at the sash, pulling it tighter around her waist. “I sure appreciate the use of this robe.” His nearness sent little tingles across her bare skin and a flush of heat across her cheeks. She lowered her gaze to the floor, too embarrassed to meet the silvery shimmer of his eyes any longer. She tried to calm the nervous excitement that welled inside her.

“The robe belongs to Helen. I’ll pass on your appreciation.” He could not stop the surge of desire that rushed through him.

Her voice quavered slightly, attesting to a nervousness. “Helen? Who is she?”

He paid an undue amount of attention to the fire in an effort to dismiss the very real physical allure that continued to tug at his consciousness. “Helen Downey. She’s the housekeeper and cook. Her son, Ben, is my ranch foreman.”

Samantha looked around, searching for the owner of the robe. “Is she here? I’d like to thank her for the considerate gesture.”

“Nope. Helen’s in Florida visiting her daughter.” Jace stared at his houseguest for an uncomfortable moment. She smelled of soap and radiated a scrubbed freshness. She stood about five foot six. Her short, chestnut-colored hair feathered softly around her face, accentuating her delicate features. Her neatly pedicured toes peeked out from beneath the long robe.

Another hard jolt of desire stabbed at his insides, then reverberated through his body. He did not even know her name. He had not asked, and she had not volunteered the information. It made the whole thing seem strangely exciting, almost like some sort of clandestine rendezvous designed strictly for lascivious pleasure without any strings or emotional attachments.

His disconcerting stare caused little tremors to form inside her body. She took a calming breath and tried her best to project a businesslike outer persona while attempting to regain control of the situation. “I’m afraid we sort of got off on the wrong foot. I’ve been very inconsiderate in not introducing myself. My name is Samantha Burkett and I’m from Los Angeles.” She held out her hand toward him. “And you said you’re Jace Tremayne?” The moment their hands clasped together she felt the outdoors cold that lingered on his skin. But underneath that exterior was a very human warmth that radiated a soft glow and sent a sensual little tingle up her arm.

“Tremayne...” He had not released her hand from his grasp nor had she withdrawn it. “I remember seeing a large gated entrance with the name Tremayne above it, and I think Tremayne Road was where I had turned just before skidding into that snowdrift. Is that you?”

“That was my great-great-grandfather. He settled on this land and started the ranch shortly after the Union Pacific Railroad was established here, several years before Wyoming was even a state. The ranch’s primary business has always been the raising of beef cattle, but my father expanded into other areas when he granted some mining leases on the northern acreage about twenty-five years ago.”