The Rancher's Unexpected Family. Helen Lacey

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       Chapter Three

      He thought she was sexy.

      Ash turned hot all over just thinking about it. Had she ever considered herself sexy before? Probably not. It made her feel like someone else. Someone she didn’t know.

      She wasn’t that person. She was the person other people confided in. In high school she was the girl always put into the friends-only category. Even her relationship with Pete had started out in the friendship zone. They’d been lab partners and then study buddies and then one night, over hot dogs and Kool-Aid, he’d kissed her clumsily. They dated for the last two years of high school and by then she knew they were perfect for one another. They’d talked about their future, made plans and imagined their wedding day and everything that would follow. She would join the police department while he would become an apprentice mechanic at a garage in town. Then they would travel and see the world together and one day start a family and live happily ever after. But then she got pregnant a year out of high school and everything changed. Not at first. In the beginning, Pete seemed as happy as she was. They got engaged and agreed they’d marry once the baby came. Jaye was born—beautiful and precious. But soon, her dreams turned to dust. Pete wasn’t interested in being a father. He was more interested in his motorcycle and drinking and other women.

      The wedding was postponed and their relationship deteriorated. After Jaye’s accident things got worse because Pete had been watching him that afternoon. Or not watching him, as it had turned out. He’d taken his motorcycle out for a test run and left Jaye alone on the porch. Pete had insisted he’d only been gone for a few minutes. But it was long enough for Jaye to crawl out of his playpen and wander off. And Ash couldn’t forgive him for not protecting their son. For months afterward, she was consumed with sleepless nights, hospital visits and endless doctor and physical-therapy appointments.

      Four months after the accident, Pete left town on his motorcycle and never came back, leaving a note saying he wasn’t cut out to be a father and wanted to see the world. Ash hadn’t heard from him since. His mother followed a few months after he did, clearly unable to deal with the shame that her son’s departure had left in his wake.

      After that, Ash focused all her energy on her son, the ranch and her career. She graduated from the police academy in Rapid City and then joined the department in Cedar River. She had all the support she needed from her mother and Uncle Ted and carved out a valuable life for herself and her child. She rarely dated and didn’t want to think how long it had been since she’d shared any kind of intimacy with a man.

      Sheesh...too long.

      Because with dating came sex, and with sex came responsibility and the potential for a relationship. And she didn’t have time for that. She had too much going on. With the ranch and her job and Jaye and the kids she took in, sharing her life with someone seemed...impossible. At the very least, difficult. So, love and sex took a back seat. Or so she believed.

      Since yesterday she had been thinking about sex. Sex that was hot and heady and scorchingly erotic. Sex that could made her senses sing and leave her breathless and wanting more.

      Sex with Cole Quartermaine.

      All night long.

      At least, that’s what she’d imagined in her dreams. She’d had a restless night and now, at nine o’clock on Sunday morning, Ash wished she could hole up in her bedroom for a few more hours and not allow reality to intrude. But it would.

      I’m really attracted to you.

      Cole’s words echoed in her head.

      She couldn’t remember a man ever saying that to her before. She had gone out with a few guys over the years and even had a couple of lovers, but there had been very little heat and even less real attraction. But this—this was different. This was heat and awareness on a whole different level.

      Of course, nothing would come of it. Firstly, he was at the ranch for her help with his daughter. An affair would be a distraction from that. Secondly, she wasn’t about to start anything that had no future since he lived in a different state. And thirdly, it was too ridiculous to contemplate!

      By the time she headed downstairs Jaye’s room was empty and Ash knew he would’ve already had his breakfast with Tahlia and Micah and was probably outside with his great-uncle. Ricky resided in one of the smaller cabins just a stone’s throw from the house, but the younger kids lived in the main house in the room next to her mother’s. Uncle Ted had moved into one of the larger cabins years ago, which made him a good chaperone for anyone staying in the cabins.

      Ash poured herself a coffee and buttered a piece of toast and was just about to sit down at the table when her mother entered the room. She looked up and smiled.

      “Everything all right?” her mother asked.

      She nodded. “Sure. I overslept. My busy week catching up with me.”

      “Well, you have a few days before you go back to work on Wednesday, so you have time to relax and unwind.”

      “I know,” she said and drank some coffee. She’d planned a few days’ leave to get acquainted with her new guests, but now she wasn’t so sure that was a good idea. “Is Jaye with Uncle Ted?”

      “No,” her mother answered. “With Cole.”

      Her back straightened. “Why is he—”

      “They’re in the barn,” her mother interrupted. “Tinkering with that old truck of yours, and there’s a good dose of hero worship going on. The kid is certainly smitten.”

      He’s not the only one.

      Ash put on a serious face. “Cole’s here to try and connect with his daughter, not to answer Jaye’s million and one questions. I should probably—”

      “It’s good for Jaye,” her mother said, cutting her off again. “And probably good for Cole, too. I think he had a rough night with Maisy. When I went to check on Ricky last night after dinner and give him his lesson plan for this week, I heard them arguing. There’s a whole lot of hurt and anger in that young girl’s heart, most of it directed at her father.”

      Ash understood the feeling. Her own father had left when she was ten years old. Her stepfather left when she was fifteen. And then Pete when she was twenty-one.