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But no. He’d planned on being alone. He could handle being alone. He hadn’t envisioned a deviation from that plan until she had fallen down his mountain.
There wasn’t a world where the fabulous and famed beauty Jacqueline Oliver settled down in a backwoods Montana valley with a cowboy who could claim a high school diploma, a Silver Star Medal and a blown-out knee for his military service, an ability to train horses and take care of cattle, and a yearning for her. Her last boyfriend had been a millionaire and a senator, he believed. He wanted to Google her and didn’t want to at the same time. It wasn’t as if he’d followed her life, but the Olivers had a lot of press about them. It was intriguing she didn’t want to look at pictures of her family. Was she afraid to remember?
Jacey turned to him with a mischievous glint in those blue eyes. She didn’t seem afraid of anything at this moment. His stomach pitched happily, and he could believe this sweetheart was nothing like the prim and proper daughter of billionaires who wouldn’t notice him if he fell down at her feet and begged. She was his Jacey, not some out-of-reach Jacqueline.
“Sweet Home Alabama!” She held the DVD up and grinned. “I am ecstatic you own this movie. I believe it is a favorite.”
“You’ve seen it?” It was intriguing what triggered an elusive memory. Most of them had been bad, but this was happy.
“I … must have.” She shrugged it off. “You resemble Josh Lucas.” She gave him an alluring look.
How he kept his seat when he wanted to rush across his living room, sweep her against his chest, and kiss those straight lips that had been teasing him all day was a mystery to him.
Jacey was injured, in danger, and neither of them needed the heartache of falling for each other far too quick and being ripped apart even faster.
Life stunk sometimes, and he was certain he’d already fallen for her.
As she stood with the movie in hand, he didn’t think life stunk at all. He stood—to put the movie in the DVD player, not so he could kiss her.
“I don’t look like Josh Lucas,” he protested. “I have much darker hair and skin.”
“I didn’t intone you were clones.” She rolled her eyes, jutting out one hip and putting her hand on it. “It’s in the eyes, the smile, the slight dimples in the rugged cheeks.”
“Ah.” He chuckled and shook his head. “I definitely don’t have dimples.”
“Believe me, your dimples appear when you grin, and they are irresistible. Do you not study yourself in the mirror?”
“Never.” He couldn’t hide his smile. When she cried, all he wanted to do was comfort her and protect her from every hurt. When she smiled or laughed, he couldn’t resist joining in and praying he could bring more smiles, laughter, and someday love to her life.
“Well … you are in possession of dimples, my handsome cowboy.” She lifted both hands innocently.
“Well … you have Julia Roberts’s lips, sweetheart.”
He didn’t know how she’d take that. But she smiled with those glorious lips and said, “I savor the sound of you calling me sweetheart.”
He loved saying it to her. He hadn’t called Sheryl a pet name, just Sher as a nickname. With Jacey, that endearment had slipped out and now he found it on his lips often.
She stepped in closer, and he moved at the same time. Jacey was probably five-seven, definitely not short for a woman, but he still had a good nine inches on her. She was feminine and irresistible. Despite the many discrepancies he knew they had, he was certain he’d met his perfect match.
“Sweetheart,” he murmured as his hand lifted to cup her cheek.
Desire flared in her blue eyes and he knew he was sunk. He had to cool things off. Somehow. He was her protector, not her lover.
Disappointment surged in him as he snatched the movie from her hand instead of cradling that smooth cheek and jawline longer. He angled around her, not letting himself look and see if she was disappointed he hadn’t jumped at another opportunity. Remembering how it had felt to cup her gorgeous face in his hands outside the fence this afternoon, he also remembered that she hadn’t been grossed out that his hands were dirty from the shovel and burying the calf and flinging the coyote into the woods. He’d probably smelled awful. She also hadn’t flipped out and blamed him for shooting a predator.
Incredible. Jacey was incredible. He never expected to find a woman so suited to him. How was it possible she was famous and endangered? Jacqueline Oliver could never settle down in a remote Montana valley with a cowboy. Could his Jacey make that choice? He doubted it.
As he started the movie, he wondered how long she’d stay with him. If she’d captured his heart this tight in one day, what could she do with a week? Yet Jacey wasn’t trying to capture or manipulate him. She wasn’t anything like Sheryl. Jacey didn’t remember her past and still was genuine, fun, and loving.
He turned back to face her. She darted over to the wall and switched off the overhead lights. The sun had set, but it was still light enough outside and from the glow of the television to see her outline. She all but danced to the couch and plopped down right in the middle.
Did he really have any choice but to sit close to her? Sure, there was a loveseat and two recliners, but it would be rude to not sit on the couch next to her.
Justifying to the tenth degree, he could hear his dad say.
Well, tonight he was going to justify. He wouldn’t kiss her, but he could sit by her.
He eased down next to her. Her shoulder brushed his arm, and she smiled up at him. The previews were playing. He didn’t need to watch previews. He didn’t need to even watch the movie. He could keep studying Jacey’s beautiful face in the blue light of the television. Blue was her color. It lit up her blue eyes and complimented her tanned skin.
