The Proposal & Solid Soul (9 page)

B
ELLA GLARED AT
J
ASON.
It was a ladylike glare but a glare nonetheless. She opened her mouth to say something then remembered they had an audience and immediately closed it. She cast a warm smile over at Zane and Derringer. “I’d like a few minutes alone with Jason to discuss a private matter, please.”

They returned her smile, nodded and gave Jason “you’ve done it now” smiles before walking out of the kitchen.

It was then that she turned her attention back to Jason. “Now then, Jason, let’s not be ridiculous. You are not sleeping in your barn just so I can sleep under your roof. I’m staying right here.”

She could tell he did not appreciate his order not being obeyed when she saw his irritation with her increase. “Have you forgotten someone threw a rock through your window with a note demanding you leave town?”

She nibbled a minute on her bottom lip. “No, I didn’t forget the rock or the note attached to it, but I can’t let them think they’ve won by running away. I admit to being a little frightened at first but I’m fine now. Marvin is having the window replaced and I’ll keep lights shining around here all night. And don’t forget Marvin sleeps in the bunkhouse each night so
technically, I won’t be here by myself. I’ll be fine, but I appreciate your concern.”

Jason stared at her for a moment and didn’t say anything. He hadn’t lied about aging twenty years when he’d gotten that call from Pam. He had walked into her house not knowing what to expect. The thought that someone wanted her gone bothered him, because he knew she wasn’t going anywhere and that meant he needed to protect her.

“Fine, you stay inside here and I’ll sleep in your barn,” he finally said.

She shook her head after crossing her arms over her chest. “You won’t be sleeping in anyone’s barn. You’re going to sleep in your own bed tonight and I intend to sleep in mine.”

“Fine,” he snapped like he was giving in to her suggestion when he wouldn’t do anything of the sort. But if she wanted to think it he would let her. “I need to take you to Pam’s to show her and the others you’re okay and in one piece.”

A smile touched her lips. “They were worried about me?”

She seemed surprised by that. “Yes, everyone was worried.”

“In that case let me grab my purse.”

“I’ll be waiting outside,” he said to her fleeing back.

He shook his head and slowly left the kitchen and walked through the dining room to the living room where Marvin and a couple of the men were replacing the window. They had cleaned up all the broken glass but a scratch mark on the wooden floor clearly showed where the rock had landed once it entered the house.

He drew in a sharp breath at the thought of Bella getting hit by that rock. If anything would have happened to her he would have…

At that moment he wasn’t sure just what he would do. The thought of anything happening to her sent sharp fear through him in a way he’d never known before. Why? Why were his feelings for her so intense? Why was he so possessive when it came to her?

He shrugged off the responses that flowed through his mind, not ready to deal with any of them. He walked out the front door to where Zane and Derringer were waiting.

“You aren’t really going to let her stay here unprotected?” Derringer asked, studying his features.

Jason shook his head. “No.”

“And why can’t the two of you stay under the same roof?” Zane asked curiously.

“None of your business.”

Zane chuckled. “If you don’t give me an answer I’m going to think things.”

That didn’t move Jason. “Think whatever you want.” He then checked his watch. “I hate to do this but I’m checking out for the rest of the day. I intend to keep an eye on Bella until Pete finds out who threw that rock through her window.”

“You think Kenneth Bostwick had something to do with it?” Derringer asked.

“Not sure, but I hope for his sake he didn’t,” Jason said in a voice laced with tightly controlled anger.

He stopped talking when Bella walked onto the porch. Not only had she grabbed her purse but she’d also changed her dress. At his curious look, she said, “The dress I was wearing wasn’t suitable for visiting.”

He nodded and decided not to tell her she looked good now and had looked good then. Whatever she put on her body she wore with both grace and style. He met her in the middle of the porch and slipped her hand in his. “You look nice. And I thought we could grab dinner someplace before I bring you back here.”

Her eyes glowed in a way that tightened his stomach and sent sensations rushing through his gut. “I’d like that, Jason.”

I
T WAS CLOSE TO TEN AT
night when Bella returned home. Jason entered her house and checked around, turning on lights as he went from room to room. It made her feel extra safe when she saw a police patrol car parked near the turnoff to her property.

“Everything looks okay,” Jason said, breaking into her thoughts.

“Thanks. I’ll walk you to the door,” she said quickly, heading back downstairs.

“Trying to rush me out of here, Bella?”

At the moment she didn’t care what he thought. She just needed him gone so she could get her mind straightened out. Being with him for the past eight hours had taken its toll on her mind and body.

She hadn’t known he was so touchy and each time he’d touched her, even by doing something as simple as placing a hand in the center of her back when they’d been walking into the movies, it had done something to her in a way that had her hot and bothered for the rest of the evening.

But she had enjoyed the movies they’d gone to after dinner. She had enjoyed sitting beside him while he held her hand when he wasn’t feeding her popcorn.

“No, I’m not trying to rush you, Jason, but it is late,” she said. “If your goal this evening was to tire me out then you’ve done a good job of it. I plan to take a shower and then go to bed.”

They were standing facing each other and he wrapped his arms around her and took a step closer, almost plastering his body to hers. She could feel all of him from chest to knee; but especially the erect body part in between.

“I’d love to take a shower with you, sweetheart,” he whispered.

She didn’t know what he was trying to do, but he’d been whispering such naughty come-ons to her all evening. And each and every one of them had only added to her torment. “Taking a shower together wouldn’t be right, Jason, and you know it.”

He chuckled. “Trying to send me home to an empty bed isn’t right, either. Why don’t you just accept my proposal? We can get married the same day. No waiting. And then,” he said, leaning closer to begin nibbling around her mouth, “we can sleep under the same roof that night. Just think about that.”

Bella moaned against the onslaught of his mouth on hers. She was thinking about it and could just imagine it. Oh, what a night that would be. But then she also had to think about what would happen if he got tired of her like her father had eventually gotten tired of her mother. The way her mother had gotten tired of her father. What if he approached her about wanting an open marriage? What if he told her after the first year that he wanted a divorce and she’d gotten attached to him? She could just imagine the heartbreak she would feel.

“Bella?”

She glanced up at him. “Yes?”

Jason Westmoreland was such a handsome man that it made her heart ache. And at the same time he made parts of her sizzle in desire so thick you could cut it with a knife. She thought his features were flawless and he had to have the most irresistible pair of lips born to any man. Staring at his mouth pushed her to recall the way their tongues would entangle in his mouth while they mated them like crazy. It didn’t take much to wonder how things would be between them in the bedroom. But she knew as tempting as it was, there was more to a marriage than just great sex. But could she really ask for more from a marriage of convenience?

“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay tonight? I could sleep on the sofa.”

She shook her head. Even that would be too close for comfort for her. “No, Jason, I’ll be fine. Go home.”

“Not before I do this,” he said, leaning down and capturing her mouth with his. She didn’t have a problem offering him what he wanted and he proved he didn’t have a problem taking it. He kissed her deeply, thoroughly and with no reservations about making her feel wanted, needed and desired. She could definitely feel heat radiating from his body to hers and wasn’t put off by it. Instead it ignited passion within her so acute she had to fight to keep a level head or risk the kiss taking them places she wasn’t ready to go.

Moments later she was the one who broke off the kiss. Desperately needing to breathe, she inhaled a deep breath. Jason just simply stood there staring and waiting, as if he was ready to go another round.

Bella knew she disappointed him when she took a step back. “Good night, Jason.”

His lips curved into a too-sexy smile. “Tell me one thing that will be good about it once I walk out that door.”

She really wasn’t sure what she could say to that, and in those cases she’d always been told it was better not to say anything at all. Instead she repeated herself while turning the knob on the door to open it. “Good night, Jason.

He leaned in, brushed a kiss across her lips and whispered, “Good night, Bella.”

B
ELLA WASN’T SURE WHAT
brought her awake during the middle of the night. Glancing over at the clock on her nightstand she saw it was two in the morning. She was restless. She was hot. And she was definitely still bothered. She hadn’t known just spending time with a man could put a woman in such an erotic state.

Sliding out of bed she slipped into her robe and house shoes. A full moon was in the sky and its light spread into the room. She was surprised by how easily sleep had come to her at first. But that had been a few hours ago and now she was wide-awake.

She moved over to the windows to look out. Under the moon-crested sky she could see the shape of the mountains in their majestic splendor. At night they were just as overpowering as they were in the daylight.

She was about to move away from the window when she happened to glance down below and saw a truck parked in her yard. She frowned and pressed her face closer to the window to make out just whose vehicle was parked in her yard and frowned when she recognized the vehicle was Jason’s.

What was his truck doing in her yard at two in the morning? Was he in it?

She rushed downstairs. He couldn’t be in a truck in front of her house at two in the morning. What would Marvin think? What would the police officers cruising the area think? His family?

When she made it to the living room she slowly opened the door and slipped out. She then released a disgusted sigh when she saw he was sitting in the truck. He had put his seat in a reclining position, but that had to be uncomfortable for him.

As if he’d been sleeping with one eye open and another one closed, he came awake when she rounded the truck and tapped on his window. He slowly tilted his Stetson back from covering his eyes. “Yes, Bella?”

She opened her mouth to speak and then closed it. If she thought he was a handsome man before, then he was even more now with the shadow covering his jaw. There was just something ultrasexy about a man who hadn’t shaved.

She fought her attention away from his jaw back to his gaze. “What are you doing here? Why did you come back?”

“I never left.”

She blinked. “You never left? You mean to tell me you’ve been out here in the car since I walked you to the door?”

He smiled that sexy smile. “Yes, I’ve been here since you walked me to the door.”

“But why?”

“To protect you.”

That simple statement suddenly took the wind out of her sail for just a moment. Merely a moment. That was
all the time she needed to be reminded that no one had tried truly protecting her before. She’d always considered her parents’ antics more in the line of controlling than protecting.

She then recovered and remembered why he couldn’t sit out here protecting her. “But you can’t sit out here, Jason. It’s not proper. What will your family think if any of them see your car parked in front of my house at this hour? What would those policemen think? What would—”

“Honestly, Bella, I really don’t give a royal damn what anyone thinks. I refuse to let you stay here without being close by to make sure you’re okay. You didn’t want me to sleep in the barn so this is where I am and where I will stay.”

She frowned. “You’re being difficult.”

“No, I’m being a man looking out for the woman I want. Now go back inside and lock the door behind you. You interrupted my sleep.”

She stared at him for a long moment and then said, “Fine, you win. Come on inside.”

He stared back at her. “That wasn’t what this was about, Bella. I recognize the fact just as much as you do that we don’t need to be under the same roof alone. I’m fine with being out here tonight.”

“Well, I’m not fine with it.”

“Sorry about that but there’s nothing I can do about it.”

She glared at him and seeing he was determined to be stubborn, she threw up her hands before going back into the house, closing the door behind her.

Jason heard the lock click in place and swore he could also hear her fuming all the way up the stairs. She could
fume all she wanted but he wasn’t leaving. He had been sitting out there for the past four hours thinking, and the more he thought the more he realized something vital to him. And it was something he could not deny or ignore. He had fallen in love with Bella. And accepting how he felt gave his proposal much more meaning than what he’d presented to her. Now he fully understood why Derringer had acted so strangely while courting Lucia.

He had dated women in the past but had never loved any of them. He’d known better than to do so after that fiasco with Mona Cardington in high school. He’d admitted he loved her and when a new guy moved to town weeks later she had dumped him like a hot potato. That had been years ago but the pain he’d felt that day had been real and at seventeen it had been what had kept him from loving another woman.