The Proposal & Solid Soul (4 page)

He met her gaze, held it for a moment. “And I will.”

O
N
T
UESDAY OF THE FOLLOWING
week, Bella was in her car headed to town to purchase new appliances for her kitchen. Buying a stove and refrigerator might not be a big deal to some, but for her it would be a first. She was looking forward to it. Besides, it would get her mind off the phone call she’d gotten from her attorney first thing this morning.

Not wanting to think about the phone call, she thought about her friends back home instead. They had teased her that although she would be living out in the boondocks on a ranch, downtown Denver was half an hour away and that’s probably where she would spend most of her time—shopping and attending various plays and parties. But she had discovered she liked being away from city life and hadn’t missed it at all. She’d grown up in Savannah, right on the ocean. Her parents’ estate had been minutes from downtown and was the place where lavish parties were always held.

She had talked to her parents earlier today and found the conversation totally draining. Her father insisted she put the ranch up for sale and come home immediately. When the conversation ended she had been more determined than ever to keep as much distance between her and Savannah as possible.

She had been on the ranch for only three weeks and
already the taste of freedom, to do whatever she wanted whenever she wanted, was a luxurious right she refused to give up. Although she missed waking up every morning to the scent of the ocean, she was becoming used to the crisp mountain air drenched in the rich fragrance of dahlias.

Her thoughts then shifted to something else, or more precisely, someone else. Jason Westmoreland. Good to his word he had stopped by a few days ago to join her for tea. They’d had a pleasant conversation, and he’d told her more about her grandfather. She could tell Jason and Herman’s relationship had been close. Part of her was glad that Jason had probably helped relieve Herman’s loneliness.

Although her father refused to tell her what had happened to drive him away from home, she hoped to find out on her own. Her grandfather had kept a number of journals and she intended to start reading them this week. The only thing she knew from what Kenneth Bostwick had told her was that Herman’s father, William, had remarried when Herman was in his twenties and married with a son of his own. That woman had been Kenneth’s mother, which was why he was a lot younger than her father. In fact, her father and Kenneth had few memories of each other since David Bostwick had left home for college at the age of seventeen.

Jason had also answered questions about ranching and assured her that the man she’d kept on as foreman had worked for her grandfather for a number of years and knew what he was doing. Jason hadn’t stayed long but she’d enjoyed his visit.

She found Jason to be kind and soft-spoken and whenever he talked in that reassuring tone she would
feel safe, protected and confident that no matter what decisions she made regarding her life and the ranch, it would be okay. He also gave her the impression that she could and would make mistakes and that would be okay, too, as long as she learned from those mistakes and didn’t repeat them.

She had gotten to meet some of his family members, namely the women, when they’d all shown up a couple of days ago with housewarming goodies to welcome her to the community. Pamela, Chloe and Lucia had married into the family, and Megan and Bailey were Westmorelands by birth. They told her about Gemma, who was Megan and Bailey’s sister and how she had gotten married earlier that year, moved with her husband to Australia and was expecting their first child.

Pamela and Chloe had brought their babies and being in their presence only reinforced a desire Bella always had of being a mother. She loved children and hoped to marry and have a houseful one day. And when she did, she intended for her relationship with them to be different than the one she had with her own parents.

The women had invited her to dinner at Pamela’s home Friday evening so that she could meet the rest of the family. She thought the invitation to dinner was a nice gesture and downright neighborly on their part. They were surprised she had already met Jason because he hadn’t mentioned anything to them about meeting her.

She wasn’t sure why he hadn’t when all the evidence led her to believe the Westmorelands were a close-knit group. But then she figured men tended to keep their activities private and not share them with anyone. He
said he would be dropping by for tea again tomorrow and she looked forward to his visit.

It was obvious there was still an intense attraction between them, yet he always acted honorably in her presence. He would sit across from her with his long legs stretched out in front of him and sip tea while she talked. She tried not to dominate the conversation but found he was someone she could talk to and someone who listened to what she had to say. She could see him now sitting there absorbed in whatever she said while displaying a ruggedness she found totally sexy.

And he had shared some things about himself. She knew he was thirty-four and a graduate of the University of Denver. He also shared with her how his parents and uncle and aunt had been killed in a plane crash when he was eighteen, leaving him and his fourteen siblings and cousins without parents. With admiration laced in his voice he had talked about his older brother Dillon and his cousin Ramsey and how the two men had been determined to keep the family together and how they had.

She couldn’t help but compare his large family to her smaller one. Although she loved her parents she couldn’t recall a time she and her parents had ever been close. While growing up they had relinquished her care to sitters while they jet-setted all over the country. At times she thought they’d forgotten she existed. When she got older she understood her father’s obsession with trying to keep up with his young wife. Eventually she saw that obsession diminish when he found other interests and her mother did, as well.

That was why at times the idea of having a baby with out a husband appealed to her, although doing such
a thing would send her parents into cardiac arrest. But she couldn’t concern herself with how her parents would react if she chose to go that route. Moving here was her first stab at emancipation and whatever she decided to do would be her decision. But for a woman who’d never slept with a man to contemplate having a baby from one was a bit much for her to absorb right now.

She pulled into the parking lot of one of the major appliance stores. When she returned home she would meet with her foreman to see how things were going. Jason had said such meetings were necessary and she should be kept updated on what went on at her ranch.

Moments later as she got out of her car she decided another thing she needed to do was buy a truck.
A truck.
She chuckled, thinking her mother would probably gag at the thought of her driving a truck instead of being chauffeured around in a car. But her parents had to realize and accept her life was changing and the luxurious life she used to have was now gone.

As soon as she entered the store a salesperson was right on her heels and it didn’t take long to make the purchases she needed because she knew just what she wanted. She’d always thought stainless steel had a way of enhancing the look of a kitchen and figured sometime next year she would give the kitchen a total makeover with granite countertops and new tile flooring, as well. But she would take things one step at a time.

“Bella?”

She didn’t have to turn to know who’d said her name. As far as she was concerned, no one could pronounce it in the same rugged yet sexy tone as Jason. Although she had just seen him a few days ago when he’d joined
her for tea, there was something about seeing him now that sent sensations coursing through her.

She turned around and there he stood, dressed in a pair of jeans that hugged his sinewy thighs and long, muscular legs, a blue chambray shirt and a lightweight leather jacket that emphasized the broadness of his shoulders.

She smiled up at him. “Jason, what a pleasant surprise.”

I
T WAS A PLEASANT SURPRISE
for Jason, as well. He had walked into the store and immediately, like radar, he had picked up on her presence, and all it took was following her scent to find her.

“Same here. I had to come into town to pick up a new hot water heater for the bunkhouse,” he said, smiling down at her. He shoved his hands into his pockets; otherwise, he would have been tempted to pull her to him and kiss her. Kissing Bella was something he wanted but hadn’t gotten around to doing. He didn’t want to rush things and didn’t want her to think his interest in her had anything to do with wanting to buy Hercules, because that wasn’t the case. His interest in her was definitely one of want and need.

“I met the ladies in your family the other day. They came to pay me a visit,” she said.

“Did they?”

“Yes.”

He’d known they would eventually get around to doing so. The ladies had discussed a visit to welcome her to the community.

“They’re all so nice,” she said

“I think they are nice, too. Did you get whatever you
needed?” He wondered if she would join him for lunch if he were to ask.

“Yes, my refrigerator and stove will be delivered by the end of the week. I’m so excited.”

He couldn’t help but laugh. She was genuinely excited. If she got that excited over appliances he could imagine how she would react over jewelry. “Will you be in town for a while, Bella?”

“Yes. I have a meeting with Marvin later this evening.”

He raised a brow. “Is everything all right?”

She nodded, smiling. “Yes. I’m just having a weekly meeting like you suggested.”

He was glad she had taken his advice. “How about joining me for lunch? There’s a place not far from here that serves several nice dishes.”

She smiled up at him. “I’d love that.”

Jason knew he would love it just as much. He had been thinking about her a lot, especially at night when he’d found it hard to sleep. She was getting to him. No, she had gotten to him. He didn’t know of any other woman that he’d been this attracted to. There was something about her. Something that was drawing him to her on a personal level that he could not control. But then a part of him didn’t want to control it. Nor did he want to fight it. He wanted to see how far it would go and where it would stop

“Do you want me to follow you there, Jason?”

No, he wanted her in the same vehicle with him. “We can ride in my truck. Your car will be fine parked here until we return.”

“Okay.”

As he escorted her toward the exit, she glanced up at him. “What about your hot water heater?”

“I haven’t picked it out yet but that’s fine since I know the brand I want.”

“All right.”

Together they walked out of the store toward his truck. It was a beautiful day in May but when he felt her shiver beside him, he figured a beautiful day in Savannah would be a day in the eighties. Here in Denver if they got sixty-something degree weather in June they would be ecstatic.

He took his jacket off and placed it around her shoulders. She glanced up at him. “You didn’t have to do that.”

He smiled. “Yes, I did. I don’t want you to get cold on me.” She was wearing a pair of black slacks and a light blue cardigan sweater. As always she looked ultrafeminine.

And now she was wearing his jacket. They continued walking and when they reached his truck she glanced up and her gaze connected with his and he could feel electricity sparking to life between them. She looked away quickly, as if she’d been embarrassed that their attraction to each other was so obvious.

“Do you want your jacket back now?” she asked softly.

“No, keep it on. I like seeing you in it.”

She blushed again and at that moment he got the most ridiculous notion that perhaps this sort of intense attraction between two people was sort of new to Bella. He wouldn’t be surprised to discover that she had several innocent bones in her body; enough to shove him in
another direction rather quickly. But for some reason he was staying put.

She nibbled on her bottom lip. “Why do you like seeing me in it?”

“Because I do. And because it’s mine and you’re in it.”

He wasn’t sure if what he’d said made much sense or if she was confused even more. But what he
was
sure about was that he was determined to find out just how much Bella Bostwick knew about men. And what she didn’t know he was going to make it his business to teach her.

B
ELLA WAS CONVINCED
there was nothing more compelling than the feel of wearing the jacket belonging to a man whose very existence represented true masculinity. It permeated her with his warmth, his scent and his aura in every way. She was filled with an urge to get more, to know more and to feel more of Jason Westmoreland. And as she stared at him through the car’s window as he pulled out his cell phone to make arrangements for their lunch, she couldn’t help but feel the hot rush of blood in her veins while heat churned deep down inside of her.

And there lay the crux of her problem. As beguiling as the feelings taking over her senses, making ingrained curiosity get the best of her, she knew better than to step beyond the range of her experience. That range didn’t extend beyond what the nuns at the private Catholic schools she’d attended most of her life had warned her about. It was a range good girls just didn’t go beyond.

Jason was the type of man women dreamed about. He was what fantasies were made of. She watched him ease his phone back into the pocket of his jeans, walk
around the front of his truck to get in. He was the type of man a woman would love to snuggle up with on a cold Colorado winter night…especially the kind her parents and uncle had said she would have to endure. Just the thought of being with him in front of a roaring fire that blazed in a fireplace would be an unadulterated fantasy come true for any woman…. And her greatest fear.

“You’re comfortable?” he asked, placing a wide-brimmed Stetson on his head.

She glanced over at him and she held his gaze for a moment and then nodded. “Yes, I’m fine. Thanks.”