The Proposal & Solid Soul (10 page)

And now he had fallen head over heels in love with a Southern belle, and for the time being would keep how he felt to himself.

A
N HOUR LATER
B
ELLA
lay in bed staring up at the ceiling, still inwardly fuming. How dare Jason put her in such a compromising position? No one would think he was sleeping in the truck. People were going to assume they were lovers and he was sleeping in her bed, lying with her between silken sheets with their limbs entwined and mouths fused while making hot, passionate and steamy love.

Her thighs began to quiver and the juncture between her legs began to ache just thinking of how it would probably be if they were to share a bed. He would stroke her senseless with his fingers in her most intimate spot
first, taking his time to get her primed and ready for the next stage of what he would do to her.

She shifted to her side and held her legs tightly together, hoping the ache would go away. She’d never craved a man before and now she was craving Jason something fierce, more so than ever since he’d tasted her there. All she had to do was close her eyes and remember being stretched out on her kitchen table with his head between her legs and how he had lapped her into sweet oblivion. The memories sent jolts of electricity throughout her body, making the tips of her breasts feel sensitive against her nightgown.

And the man causing her so much torment and pleasure was downstairs sleeping in his truck just to keep her safe. She couldn’t help but be touched that he would do such a thing. He had given up a nice comfortable bed and was sleeping in a position that couldn’t be relaxing with his hat over his eyes to shield the brightness of the lights around her yard. Why? Was protecting her that important to him?

If it was, then why?

Deep down she knew the reason and it stemmed from him wanting her land and Hercules. He had been up-front about it from the beginning. She had respected him for it and for accepting the decision was hers to make. So, in other words, he wasn’t really protecting her per se but merely protecting his interest, or what he hoped to be his interest. She figured such a thing made sense but…

Would accepting the proposal Jason placed on the table be in her best interest? Did she have a choice if she wanted the hold lifted on her trust fund? Was being legally bound to Jason as his wife for a minimum of
a year something she wanted? What about sleeping under the same roof with him and sharing his bed—she’d accepted they would be synonymous—would they be in her best interest? Was it what she wanted to do, knowing in a year’s time he could walk away without looking back? Knowing after that time he would be free to marry someone else? Free to make love to someone else the same way he’d make love to her?

And then there was the question of who was responsible for throwing the rock inside her house. Why was someone trying to scare her off? Although she doubted it, could it be her parents’ doing to get her to run back home?

She yawned when she felt sleep coming down on her. Although she regretted Jason was sleeping in his truck, she knew she could sleep a lot more peacefully knowing he was the one protecting her.

B
ELLA WOKE TO THE SOUND
of someone knocking on her door and discovered it was morning. She quickly eased out of bed and slid into her bathrobe and bedroom shoes to head downstairs.

“I’m coming!” she called out, rushing to the door. She glanced out the peephole and saw it was Jason. Her heart began beating fast and furiously in her chest at the sight of him, handsome and unshaven with his Stetson low on his brow. Mercy!

Taking a deep breath she opened the door. “Good morning, Jason.”

“Good morning, Bella. I wanted to let you know I’m leaving to go home and freshen up, but Riley is here.”

“Your brother Riley?” she asked, looking over his shoulder to see the truck parked next to his and the
man sitting inside. Riley threw up his hand in a wave, which she returned. She recalled meeting him that night at dinner. Jason was older than Riley by two and a half years.

“Yes, my brother Riley.”

She was confused. “Why is he here?”

“Because I’m going home to freshen up.” He tilted his head and smiled at her. “Are you awake yet?”

“Yes, I’m awake and I know you said you’re going home to change but why does Riley have to be here? It’s not like I need a bodyguard or something. A rock got thrown through my window, Jason. Not a scud missile.”

He merely kept smiling at her while leaning in her doorway. And then he said, “Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you look in the morning?”

She stood there and stared at him. Not ready for him to change the subject and definitely not prepared for him to say something so nice about how she looked. She could definitely return the favor and ask, had anyone ever told him how handsome he looked in the morning? However, she was certain a number of women already had.

So she answered him honestly. “No one has ever told me that.”

“Then let me go on record as being your first.”

She drew in a deep breath. He didn’t say “the” first but had said “your” first. He had made it personal and exclusive. She wondered what he would think to know she had drifted off to sleep last night with images of him flittering through her mind. Memories of his mouth on her probably elicited pleasurable sighs from her even while she slept.

“Doesn’t Riley have to go to work today?” she asked, remembering when he’d mentioned that Riley worked for Blue Ridge Management. She’d even seen his name on one of the doors when they’d exited from the elevator on the fortieth floor.

“Yes, but he’ll leave whenever I get back.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “And what about you? Don’t you have horses to breed or train?”

“Your safety is more important to me.”

“Yeah, right.”

He lifted a brow. “You don’t believe me? Even after I spent the entire night in my truck?”

“You were protecting your interest.”

“And that’s definitely you, sweetheart.”

Don’t even go there.
Bella figured it was definitely time to end this conversation. If she engaged in chatter with him too much longer he would be convincing her that everything he was saying was true.

“You will have an answer for me in four days, right, Bella?”

“That’s my plan.”

“Good. I’ll be back by the time you’re dressed and we can do breakfast with Dillon and Pam, and then I want to show you what I do for a living.”

Before she could respond he leaned in and kissed her on the lips. “See you in an hour. And wear your riding attire.”

She sucked in a deep breath and watched as he walked off the porch to his truck to drive away. The man was definitely something else. She cast a quick glance to where Riley sat in his own truck sipping a cup of coffee. There was no doubt in her mind Riley had
seen his brother kiss her, and she could only imagine what he was thinking.

Deciding the least she could do was invite him in, she called out to him. “You’re welcome to come inside, Riley,” she said, smiling broadly at him.

The smile he returned was just as expansive as he leaned his head slightly out the truck’s window and said, “Thanks, but Jason warned me not to. I’m fine.”

Jason warned him not to?
Of course he was just joking, although he looked dead serious.

Instead of questioning him about it, she nodded, closed the door and headed back upstairs. As she entered her bedroom she couldn’t ignore the excitement she felt about riding with Jason and checking out his horse training business.

J
ASON HAD GRABBED HIS
Stetson off the rack and was about to head out the door when his cell phone rang. He pulled it off his belt and saw it was Dillon.

“Yes, Dil?”

“Pam wanted me to call and verify that you and Bella are coming for breakfast.”

Jason smiled. “Yes, we’ll be there. In fact, I’m about to saddle up one of the mares. I thought we’d ride over on horseback. We can enjoy the sights along the way.”

“That’s a good idea. Everything’s okay at her place?”

“Yes, so far so good. The sheriff has increased the patrols around Bella’s house and I appreciate it. Thank him the next time the two of you shoot pool together.”

Dillon chuckled. “I will. And just so you know, I like Bella. She has a lot of class.”

Jason smiled. That meant a lot coming from his older brother. While growing up he’d always thought Dillon
was smart with a good head on his shoulders. Jason’s admiration increased when Dillon had worked hard to keep the family together.

“And thanks, Dillon.”

“For what?”

“For being you. For being there when all of us needed you to be. For doing what you knew Mom and Dad, as well as Uncle Thomas and Aunt Susan would have wanted you to do.”

“You don’t have to thank me, Jason.”

“Yes, I do.”

Dillon didn’t say anything for a moment. “Then you’re welcome. Now don’t keep us waiting with Bella. We won’t start breakfast until the two of you get here. At least all of us except Denver. He wakes up hungry. Pam has fed him already,” Dillon said.

Jason couldn’t help but smile, and not for the first time, as he thought of one day having a son of his own. Being around Denver had the tendency to put such thoughts into his head. He enjoyed his nephew immensely.

“We’ll get there in good time, I promise,” he said before clicking off the phone.

B
ELLA GLANCED DOWN AT
her riding attire and smiled. She wanted to be ready when Jason returned.

Grabbing her hat off the rack she placed it on her head and opened the door to step outside on the porch. Riley had gotten out of the truck and was leaning against it. He glanced over at her and smiled.

“Ready to go riding I see,” he said.

“Yes, Jason told me to be ready. We’re having breakfast with Dillon and Pam.”

“Yes, I had planned to have breakfast with them as well but I have a meeting at the office.”

Bella nodded. “You enjoy working inside?”

Riley chuckled. “Yes, I’ll leave the horses, dirt and grime to Jason. He’s always liked being outdoors. When he worked at Blue Ridge I knew it was just a matter of time before wanderlust got ahold of him. He’s good with horses, so are Zane and Derringer. Joining in with the Montana Westmorelands in that horse business was great for them.”

Bella nodded again. “So exactly what do you do at Blue Ridge?”

“Mmm, a little bit of everything. I like to think of myself as Dillon’s right-hand man. But my main job is PR. I have to make sure Blue Ridge keeps a stellar image.”

Bella continued to engage in conversation with Riley while thinking he was another kind Westmoreland man. It seemed that all of them were. But she’d heard Bailey remark more than once that Riley was also a ladies’ man, and she could definitely believe that. Like Jason, he was handsome to a fault.

“So, Riley, when will you settle down and get married?” she asked him, just to see what his response would be.

“Married? Me? Never. I like things just the way they are. I am definitely not the marrying kind.”

Bella smiled, wondering if Jason wasn’t the marrying kind, as well, although he’d given a marriage proposal to her. Did he want joint ownership of her land and Hercules that much? Evidently so.

J
ASON SMILED AS HE HEADED
back to Bella’s ranch with a horse he knew she would love riding. Fancy Free was
an even tempered mare. In the distance, he could see Bella was standing on the porch waiting for him. He would discount the fact that she seemed to be having an enjoyable conversation with Riley, who seemed to be flirting with her.

He ignored the signs of jealousy seeping into his bones. Riley was his brother and if you couldn’t trust your own brother who could you trust? A lightbulb suddenly went off in his head. Hell. Had Abel assumed the same thing about Cain?

He tightened his hands on his horse and increased his pace to a gallop. What was Riley saying to Bella to make her laugh so much anyway? Riley was becoming a regular ladies’ man around town. It seemed he was trying to keep up with Zane in that aspect. Jason had always thought Riley’s playboy ways were amusing. Until now.

Moments later he brought his horse to a stop by the edge of Bella’s porch. He tilted his Stetson back on his head so it wouldn’t shield his eyes. “Excuse me if I’m interrupting anything.”

Riley had the nerve to grin up at him. “No problem but you’re twenty minutes late. You better be glad I enjoy Bella’s company.”

Jason frowned at his brother. “I can tell.”

His gaze then shifted to Bella. She looked beautiful standing there in a pair of riding breeches that fitted her body to perfection, a white shirt and a pair of riding boots. She didn’t just look beautiful, she looked hot as sin and a side glance at Riley told him that his brother was enjoying the view as much as he was.

“Don’t you need to be on your way to work, Riley?”

His brother gave him another grin. “I guess so. Call
if you need me as Bella’s bodyguard again.” He then got into his truck and drove off.

Jason watched him leave before turning his full attention back to Bella. “Ready to go riding, sweet heart?”

A
S
B
ELLA RODE WITH
J
ASON
she tried concentrating on the sheer beauty of the rustic countryside instead of the sexiness of the man in the saddle beside her. He was riding Hercules and she could tell he was an expert horseman. And she could tell why he wanted to own the stallion. It was as if he and the horse had a personal relationship. It was evident Hercules had been glad to see him. Whereas the stallion had been like putty in Jason’s hands, the horse had given the others grief in trying to handle him. Even now the two seemed in sync.

This was beautiful countryside and the first time she’d seen it. She was stunned by its beauty. The mare he’d chosen for her had come from his stable and was the one he’d rode over to her place. She liked how easily she and the horse were able to take the slopes that stretched out into valleys. The landscape looked majestic with the mountains in the distance.