to reach down and grab hold of a little part of her soul. She didn’t want to look away. She forgot work. She forgot where she was for a moment. In the park today, she had felt that same magnetic pull, but she had blamed it on the sweet baby, the magic of the outdoors on a sunny afternoon, the unusual encounter. And maybe an expanse of a fabulous, bare chest.
She couldn’t blame her current reaction on any of those things, yet here she was barely able to get her breath, gazing up at a man who was staring at her as if he had been searching for her all his life.
“Yes, you can,” he said quietly, touching a tendril of hair near her face. “You have to eat sometime. Have you already had dinner?”
She felt the faint brush of his warm fingers on her cheek. She knew she looked disheveled. The afternoon had been as hectic as she had expected, and plunging through the spirea bushes earlier had mussed her cotton skirt and blouse. “No, I haven’t, but I’m not going to take time now. I have another hour’s work to do.”
“We’ll wait,” he said with a smile as he smoothed her collar. When his knuckles brushed her collarbone, she tingled. What was the matter with her? Had she worked until she was senseless? She was reacting to a perfect stranger in a very primitive way.
“No, you shouldn’t wait,” she argued, making an effort to look away from brown eyes so dark, she felt she was staring into a moonless night. “I can’t go out with you. You’re a complete stranger. I know nothing about you. And I have to get back to work.”
“Faith,” he drawled, his hand catching her arm as she started to turn away. His touch was feather light, and she paused, rooted to the spot. “We’re not going to stay strangers. Are you engaged or involved with someone?”
“No, but that isn’t the point. In this day and age it’s dangerous to be friendly to strangers.”
“I agree. So let’s fix this stranger status.” He retrieved a glossy program from his satchel and handed it to her. “Here’s my picture. I’m riding in a rodeo at the arena tomorrow night.”
She stared at the smiling picture of him and noted the statistics about his bull riding, saddle bronc riding and prizes he had won. “You’re a three-time world champion bull rider,” she remarked as she read.
With a flash of very white teeth, he grinned. “Somehow, I don’t think that’s a plus in your book.”
“I can’t even imagine it,” she answered, looking again at his picture. She had to admit the man was not only handsome, he had a charm that was spellbinding.
“You can call out to the arena, and any of the boys will tell you about me. I own a home here in Tulsa. The house is on South Peoria. If Merry could talk, she would verify that I’m safe. And besides that—” he thrust the rodeo program into Faith’s hands and pulled out a card from his frayed billfold “—this is my brother Wyatt. He’s a detective with the OCPD. We’ll go call him and he’ll tell you I’m safe. C’mon.”
“Oh, no! You don’t need to call your brother.”
“I’m not going to. You are. I have coins here and you can make the call yourself,” he said, positioning the stroller in front of Faith while he tugged lightly on her arm. “There’s a pay phone, so you’ll know this isn’t a setup job. You can call the OCPD yourself and talk to Wyatt. He’ll tell you I’m totally safe to go out with. If he doesn’t convince you, I have another brother, Matt. He’s a farmer. Let’s start with the cop.”
“This is ridiculous. I have work upstairs.”
“I know you do and I’m sorry to interfere, but some time tonight you’ll have to stop work and go home. And you’ll have to eat. Merry and I can help you unwind. Just a little dinner and I’ll get you home, so we can start getting to know each other.”
“I don’t think so,” she said, facing him. He was handsome with prominent cheekbones, skin as dark as teak, lashes unbelievably thick, a firm jaw. And every time she received the full force of his dark-eyed stare, she felt weak-kneed and knew she was going to cave in to him. She took a deep breath, trying to summon a no.
“Merry really wants you to go with us. She just doesn’t know how to say it.”
No vanished as he offered the handles of the stroller to her. Faith pushed Merry to the phone. Big blue eyes stared at her.
Jared placed the receiver in her hand, turned her to the phone and put the card in front of her. He plopped a bandanna on the shelf and untied it. Silver coins filled the red cloth. “Now, you just call the OCPD. There’s the number. Ask for Wyatt, and then you ask him about my character and reliability.”
She turned to him. “I just don’t think I have time in my life right now—”
He bent his knees slightly to be at her eye level, then he leaned closer. She caught a soapy scent that was pleasant “Faith, I think you should,” he said quietly. “I think we were meant to know each other. Sooner or later we will. So let’s make it sooner.”
Her heart started a ridiculous drumming. Never in her life had she had this kind of reaction to a man.
“Call Wyatt,” Jared commanded softly.
She turned and began punching numbers. Then she listened as the operator told her the amount of money required. Each coin made a metallic clink. Jared Whitewolf moved away, pushing Merry around in her stroller, and then he hunkered down to talk to the baby.
A deep male voice finally came over the receiver and Faith felt absurd. “Is this Detective Wyatt Whitewolf?”
As soon as he said yes, she launched into an explanation. “This is Faith Kolanko from Tulsa, and I’ve just met your brother Jared. He’s asked me to dinner, and since we’re complete strangers—”
She paused as the man at the other end of the line laughed.
“My brother is safe enough,” he said, his voice filled with amusement. “With horses and with women he’s a will-o’-the-wisp charmer. He’s harmless.”
“I met him this afternoon, and his little girl, Merry.”
The explosion at the other end of the line made Faith hold the phone away from her ear, but she recognized the shock in Wyatt’s reaction.
“Let me talk to him,” Wyatt said in a tone of voice that had lost all casualness.
Jared must have heard Wyatt’s response, too, because he turned and smiled, making her pulse jump. His grin was infectious, softening his masculine features. The man was incredibly appealing.
She held out the phone. “He wants to talk to you.”
“I’ll only take a second. Do you mind?” he asked, gesturing toward Merry. They switched stroller for receiver, Jared’s hand brushing hers ever so lightly, but she was fully aware of the contact.
“Hi, brother. Yeah, I have a little girl.”
Faith couldn’t help but listen to the one-sided conversation while she wondered what had happened to Merry’s mother.
“No. It’s a long story, Wyatt. I’ll tell you when I see you. Merry’s four-and-a-half months old.” Another pause, and
