In the shower David washed his hair, letting his thoughts run free. He was going to talk Marissa into going out with him this Saturday night. He couldn’t wait to get her all to himself.
“Slow it down, buddy,” he told himself beneath the splashing water. He knew Marissa’s whole intent would be marriage and he didn’t want that. Why couldn’t the woman just go out for a few dates? That’s all.
The thought conjured up memories of her kisses, and the nether regions below his waist grew hot again, desire tormenting him as he remembered her soft body in his arms. The bath towel was too slight a covering, he had felt her warmth through it. When he had let his hand drift down to her waist, he had wanted to slide his hand beneath the towel, down over her bottom and back up. Just thinking about her, he was getting all hot and bothered again. David tried to shift his thoughts elsewhere to chores he needed to do on the ranch. Thoughts of cattle lasted about ten seconds until memories of Marissa nudged them away again.
She was so scared of getting hurt that she had shut herself away from the world. Her divorce was two years ago—that was plenty of time for her to get on with life. David sighed and shook his head. Why was he having such a reaction to her? He had dated dozens of beautiful women and he hadn’t been all tied in knots by them.
Marissa was different from all those women. There was a down-to-earth manner about her, a deep sense of nurturing where Autumn was concerned, a practical, no-nonsense approach to life. And there were her kisses that had all but melted him into a puddle. He couldn’t recall having as intense a reaction to any woman’s kiss as he’d had to Marissa’s.
With a groan he finished showering and toweled off, dressing in clean jeans and a fresh T-shirt, moving automatically, lost in thoughts about his nanny.
He wanted Marissa in his arms, in his bed. The thought revved up his temperature another notch and erotic images tormented him even though common sense told him that he would never get her into his bed without some promise of marriage. And that wasn’t going to happen.
He thought about Ellen Drake, whom he had dated some since being home again. She was amusing, lighthearted, sophisticated, and she didn’t take things seriously. Ellen wanted to have a good time and to be seen in the proper places with the proper people. He suspected Marissa didn’t give a fig about such things. He ought to forget Marissa before he found himself caught in a sticky mess with a weepy female.
Memories still too hot to handle rushed into his mind and he knew he couldn’t just forget Marissa or ignore her. He wanted to persuade her to go out with him, which he suspected would not be an easy task.
A saint was what she said she wanted. Well, he wasn’t one. But since he had no intentions of getting deeply involved, why should it matter?
Marissa was ruining his sleep as effectively as Autumn had her first night with him. He’d thought he would have long, peaceful nights. Now every night, sleep eluded him, and he wasn’t thinking clearly during the day. Females! Get a grip, he told himself. She was just a pretty face. If she went out with him, fine. If she didn’t, fine. Two weeks ago he hadn’t even known Marissa Wilder existed. Forget her.
“Right,” he grumbled aloud, trying to ignore his eagerness to spend the coming evening with her.
All evening Marissa kept him at arm’s length and David had another miserable, sleepless night. Tuesday he was up before dawn, putting on coffee,
When he heard Autumn crying, he fixed a bottle and headed toward Marissa’s room. He knocked lightly on the closed door and heard her cheerful voice call for him to come in.
“Good morning,” he said, swinging open the door. His gaze swiftly took in her jeans and red T-shirt that clung to her delectable figure. She looked as refreshed as if she had slept around the clock, but she had reacted intensely to their kisses, so he knew there had to be some effect. When he looked into her lively brown eyes, his body temperature rose.
“’Morning, David,” she said happily. “Thanks for getting Autumn’s bottle ready. I’ll feed her in the kitchen.”
He handed Marissa the bottle, aware of their hands brushing, wanting to wrap his arms around her and take up where they left off yesterday. Instead, he trailed into the kitchen after her and asked what she wanted for breakfast.
While Marissa was busy feeding Autumn, he left, heading for her bedroom, where he crossed to the closet to quickly peek at the size in one of her dresses and to look at a pair of her shoes. Before leaving the room, he paused a moment, glancing around the bedroom that had been a guest room all his life and a room he barely recognized now. Gertie kept the house tidy and spotless and that was the way David had always known it. Not so any longer.
The bedroom was filled with Marissa’s possessions: everything from two pots of blooming begonias to books, from makeup to a clock. Pictures of her family adorned the dresser. He picked up a picture of a smiling couple and decided they must be her parents even though they looked younger than he would have guessed. Hats were hung on the bedposts and he could picture her in the Bo-Peep dress again. This room fit more with that image. He smiled and left, wondering if Gertie would be in a huff. He might have to pay her a little extra for dealing with Marissa.
When he returned to the kitchen, Marissa was sitting in the rocker with Autumn. While she fed the baby, he called his foreman, Rusty Bratton, to tell him that he wouldn’t see him today. They talked about ranch matters for a while and then David replaced the receiver.
“You’re not staying here to help me with Autumn, are you?” Marissa asked. “If you are, you don’t need to.”
“Nope.” He poured a cup of coffee and crossed the room to sit near them. He tried to keep from staring at Marissa, but he liked looking at her. Her hair was tied behind her head with a red ribbon, and he wanted to go untie the ribbon, and run his fingers through her silky hair.
She had put him off last week about a Saturday night date. He wasn’t going to let that happen again.
“I’m going to town, so give me a list of anything you need or anything I should get for Autumn,” he said.
“I’ll do that before you go. I’d like you to pick up a Chutes and Ladders board game if it’s convenient. My nephew Mitch will have his fourth birthday soon.”
“Sure, that’s an easy one,” he replied, still thinking more about running his hands through her hair than the day ahead of him. “Get your list. I’m going to make some phone calls before I go,” he said, and left the room before he did reach for her.
Less than an hour later, dressed in jeans, boots, a shearling jacket and a broad-brimmed Western hat, David left, glancing back over his shoulder to see Marissa standing at the window, holding Autumn close to her shoulder. She waved and he returned the wave.
In town after he had run his errands, David stopped by the hospital to talk to whomever was guarding Jane Doe. On Jane Doe’s floor, nurses passed David with soft steps while farther down the hall, a door wheezed shut. He saw a familiar jeans-clad figure at the end of the hall. Clint nodded in greeting and came toward David.
David shook hands with Clint. “I had to come into town and I thought I’d stop to see if there’s any change.”
“Nothing,” Clint replied, glancing at his watch. “Ryan will relieve me soon. And I talked to Alex and he still hasn’t come up with any significant leads on her identity or the money. The police don’t have anything
