Cowboy Daddy by Susan Mallery Page B

advantage of that, but the others might want to learn a trade.” She sat down and patted Jake’s shoulder. “Your little girl comes from strong stock. We ain’t fancy, but we’re good folks.”
    Anne felt the blush climbing her cheeks. She glanced down and smoothed her skirt. If Jake was half as uncomfortable as she was, he’d probably pay her to get him out of the sweltering kitchen. She looked at her cousin and smiled. “It’s going to be a pretty night. Would you mind if we took a walk?”
    “Go right ahead.”
    “Jake?”
    He looked over at her. A puzzled expression wrinkled his brow. “Sure. I’ll tell Laurel.” He headed for the big family room.
    “He’s nice,” Becky Sue said before Jake was out of earshot.
    “He’s Laurel’s father. Don’t get any ideas.”
    “But you haven’t been out with a man since before my youngest was born.”
    Anne tried glaring at her cousin, but it was impossible to get or stay angry at her. She grinned instead. “Don’t go matchmaking.”
    ”I’m not. But you must admit, he’s nice lookinV
    ”I’ll admit to that, but nothing else.”
    Becky Sue started to speak, but Anne saw Jake returning and jabbed her in the side with her elbow. She led the way outside. Here the temperature was about ten degrees cooler than inside the trailer. The night sky hung low.
    “I’d forgotten about the stars,” she said, staring up at the thousands of twinkling lights. “I never could wish on that first star. As the sun set, there weren’t any, then I’d look up and the sky would be like this.” She waved her arms toward the heavens.
    “It’s like this on the ranch, too,” Jake said as he walked along beside her.
    “But not so hot.” She fanned herself with her hand.
    “You got that right.”
    By silent agreement, they headed away from the trailer park. Quickly the sounds of the children and the dogs, the bang of pots on the counter and the blare of the televisions faded. Soon all Annie could hear was the soft hooting of an owl and the crunch of Jake’s boots on the small rocks underfoot. Her own sandals were quieter as she stepped on the familiar, uneven ground.
    The smells of cooking faded more slowly, but soon she could inhale the scent of the desert, the clean air and the musky fragrance that belonged to Jake. Her arms hung loosely at her sides. They moved in the same direction to go around a small boulder, and they brushed together.
    Hot skin seared hot skin. The slightly sweaty contact sent excitement rippling through her body. The waves of need alerted all her senses, then settled low in her belly. She fought the urge to fold her arms over her chest. She didn’t want him to know he got to her.
    She cleared her throat. “So tell me, is Paradise what you expected?” she asked, more to distract herself than because she wanted to start a conversation.
    “Not exactly. You said the town was small, but I was expecting—”
    “A little more life?”
    “Yeah.”
    His voice sounded friendly. She wanted to know if he was smiling at her, but she was afraid to turn her head and look at him. What if he was smiling? How would she control the impulses that flooded her? Worse, what if he wasn’t? She would rather die than make a fool of herself in front of Jake Masters. He already had her at a disadvantage.
    “It’s not a bad place,” he said, stopping beside a large rock the size of a dining room table. When she would have followed him close to the boulder, he held her back with a raised arm. “Wait a minute.” He walked around the rock, then kicked at a small burrow. “Okay, you can come closer.”
    “What were you doing?”
    “Checking for rattlers. I’m wearing boots, you’re not.”
    She knew the desert snakes thrived around Paradise, but she was surprised Jake had thought of it.
    “I might have grown up in Dallas,” he said, as if he could read her mind, “but I’ve always been a country boy at heart.”
    “I never thought of you as a boy at all,”