may want to consider a career in baking if you ever decide to give up acting. These cookies are delicious.” They were seated across from each other at a table in the kitchen by the window.
Diamond smiled, appreciating his compliment. She had tried baking for Samuel once or twice. He had laughed at her effort. “It was really nothing. I simply followed the recipe.” She motioned to the leather-bound cookbook lying on the counter. “Whoever put that book together did a fantastic job.”
Unable to help himself, Jake reached for another cookie. It seemed he had eaten a couple of dozen of them already. “My sisters-in-law will appreciate hearing that. It was a joint effort between the six of them and was intended to be a gift to the woman who was my wife at the time.”
Diamond nodded, hearing the slight bitterness in his voice. Sterling had told her that he was a divorcé. “Did she forget to take it with her when she left?”
“Nope.” Jake’s eyes narrowed. “She didn’t want it. She didn’t want anything to remind her of this place.”
Diamond knew it was probably none of her business, but she couldn’t help asking. “Why? It’s beautiful here.”
Coolly, Jake’s eyes met Diamond’s inquisitive ones. “She didn’t think so. She hated this place. She was a city girl from Boston, and married me hoping she could one day convince me that ranching wasn’t what I was good at, and that I’d eventually move with her back to Boston. On the other hand, I believed that one day I’d be able to convince her that ranching was what I was good at, and that she would be happy here. In the end, we both lost out. She went back to Boston and I remained here. End of story.”
Diamond’s eyes grew thoughtful as she watched Jake take another bite of his cookie. She doubted in all actuality that that was the end of the story. It was all he cared to share with her at the moment.
“So tell me. What brought you by? Did Sterling ask you to check up on me again?”
Drawn as if by magnet, his gaze locked with hers. “No. Coming out here was my idea. I was wondering how you were getting along.”
Diamond smiled. “Other than my fight with the flour today, I’ve been fine. On my first day I mostly slept in, and yesterday I decided to explore the great outdoors. I even went berry picking. I collected two pailfuls.”
Jake nodded. So Lowell had actually seen her near the south pastures picking berries after all. “What do you plan to do with all those berries?”
Diamond lifted a brow as if the answer to that question should have been obvious to him. Since it wasn’t, she decided to respond. “I’m going to make pies.”
“Pies?”
She nodded. “I came across a pretty good recipe in that book. I believe I picked enough berries for at least ten pies. They will be my gift to your men. That’s the very least I can do for their willingness to be discreet about me being here.”
Jake fell silent as he studied her. He was astounded that she was again thinking about the men who worked for him. He shook his head. He wasn’t sure if any of them would be able to handle receiving a piece of pie made by Diamond Swain’s very own hands.
He downed the last of his milk, knowing it was time for him to leave. The last thing he wanted to do was to get any ideas that Diamond was different from most sophisticates that he knew.
Jake stood. “Thanks for the cookies and milk.”
“You’re welcome, and if you’re out this way again, Jacob, do stop by. I enjoyed your company.”
Jake looked at her and felt that same sizzle he always felt around her. He was attracted to her, way too attracted. Suddenly he jerked his attraction back like a whiplash, refusing to go there. It had been years since he’d had woman troubles and he intended to keep it that way. His love affair was with Whispering Pines. She was the only lady in his life right now. He felt content in knowing she would always accept him for what he was and not try making him into something he was not.
“I doubt I’ll have time to drop by again. There’s plenty of work to do around here. I can’t very well expect my men to pull their share of the load if I’m not pulling mine,” he said curtly.
Because he had presented his blunt statement like he had expected some sort of response, Diamond said, “Of course you can’t. And I apologize if I’ve kept you from your work, Jacob.”
Jake didn’t like the idea that she thought she had kept him from his work. Then again, he thought maybe it was for the best for her to think that way. He couldn’t afford to share another quaint and cozy meal with her again, even one of cookies and milk. It was best if he went back to his original plan to keep his distance. Especially since each time he saw her he couldn’t help but wonder how her mouth would taste under his.
“The next time I talk to Sterling, I’ll let him know you’re doing okay. I’m sure he’ll want to know.” He then turned and walked out of the house.
Diamond followed him out to the deck and watched as he mounted his horse. Just before he was about to ride away, he glanced over at her. After making what appeared to be a quick but unwilling decision about something, he said, “You didn’t keep me from my work, Diamond. I was where I wanted to be.”
Without saying anything else, he rode off at a gallop and not once looked back.
Chapter 4
Smiling to herself, Diamond backed into the cabin and closed the door. Her eyes sparkled at the thought that Jacob had grudgingly admitted, in so many words, that he had wanted to spend some time with her. She was glad to know that he was fighting his attraction for her as much as she was fighting hers for him.
Diamond sighed as her mind began operating on some sort of adrenaline high. The very thought of Jacob was assaulting her senses and giving her a heated rush. For some reason, her attraction to him seemed instinctive, natural and sensible. He was handsome, rugged and downright appealing. What woman in her right mind would not be captivated by those attributes?
She remembered how at the table while they were eating cookies and drinking milk, Jacob had smiled at something she’d said. For one precious second, she had become mesmerized by that slow, seductive smile. It had taken all the willpower she possessed to maintain her composure.
Diamond shook her head, trying to fight off this unusual state she found herself in. She immediately reached the conclusion that she must be going through some type of hormone crisis. She was in total awe of the emotions Jake aroused in her. She struggled to clear her head, reminding herself that she’d come to the ranch for peace, quiet and relaxation.
She slumped down in a nearby chair, too weary and too confused to start tackling the cleanup of the kitchen just yet. She blew out a breath of frustration. Whispering Pines might be just what the doctor ordered, but Jacob Madaris was not. She wanted to convince herself that he was just another man, and in her line of business, she’d been around plenty. She drew her brows together. What was there about Jacob that wanted to make her forget the fiasco of a marriage she’d had with Samuel? It was a marriage that should have taught her a lesson. But one look at Jacob and she forgot everything, even the hard, cold fact that when it came to the affairs of the heart, she was a complete failure.
Diamond stood on her feet. She would put Jacob Madaris and how she intended to deal with him out of her mind
