Saddle Up(79)

“Thank you for the help,” Jo-Jo murmured to Keith, “and for putting up with their crap. As for the bomb you just dropped…” She gave Keith a pointed look. “We’ll talk later.”

Miranda stood gaping while Keith finished pulling the bags out of the back. She drew in an audible breath and confronted him, hands on hips. “Um…what the hell did you just do?”

He grinned. “Just saved our asses. I thought I was pretty smooth about it too.”

Her brows knitted over stormy eyes. “By faking an engagement? How does that help?”

“It sure makes things more pleasant for me,” he said.

Her lips compressed. “How do you figure that?”

“As your fiancé, I now have every right to some PDA. What’s wrong?” he asked, noting her scowl. “You don’t like being engaged to me?”

“I don’t like lies and deceit, even in exchange for PDA.”

“It’s only for a few days,” he said. “What else could we do after they caught us lip-locked?”

She exhaled a defeatist sigh. “I suppose you’re right. You just shocked me with that. By the look on her face, you shocked Jo-Jo too. For the record, I don’t think she pegged you as marriage material.”

“Do you?” he asked, turning suddenly serious.

“I never thought about it,” she said. “But I guess I have a hard time imagining you as a husband or father.”

“Why not?” It wasn’t as if he’d ever fantasized about that role either, but it irked him that she hadn’t. Isn’t that what all women did once they entered a relationship? “In what way am I deficient?” he asked.

“I didn’t say you were deficient…exactly. I guess it’s just that you’ve never talked about those things. Maybe I thought you didn’t want them.” Her gaze searched his. “Am I wrong?”

“I don’t know,” he replied. “I never gave it much thought before.”

But he was thinking now. Suddenly it wasn’t hard at all to imagine waking up every morning, cocooned with her after a night of lovemaking. He wondered what it would be like to put down roots and build a life with her. The engagement announcement that had sprung thoughtlessly from his mouth a short while ago no longer felt like a joke, and her rejection hurt more than he’d have thought possible. He told himself she was right. They weren’t nearly ready for that kind of step, but his pride was bruised to think she’d take him as a lover but didn’t consider him worthy of anything more.

“I don’t understand you,” she said. “You’ve insisted all along that you don’t want commitments or ties; that you don’t like to think about the future; that you prefer to live in the present. You’ve made it clear I shouldn’t expect anything from you beyond staying a few weeks and helping us with the horses. Isn’t that what you want?”

“Maybe it was,” he said slowly. “But my wants seem to be changing.”

He’d recognized long ago that he had feelings for her, but hadn’t dared to put a name to those feelings. Until now. He was suddenly aware of a terrifying truth—he was falling in love with Miranda. Although he hadn’t gone crashing instantly to the ground, he’d begun a free fall their first night together. He hadn’t noticed because it had been such a slow and easy descent, every smile, laugh, and kiss pushing him a little further, but in the end, he’d landed at her feet.

*

Miranda’s heart drummed loudly in her ears for one, two, three beats. “What are you saying? Don’t play games with me, Keith.”

“I’m not playing games,” he said. “Maybe your aunt’s assumption got me thinking. What if we weren’t playacting? What if we wanted this to be real?”

Was he serious? Did he just propose in a vague and oblique way? The thought of it thrilled and terrified her. She had no doubt of her feelings for Keith, but they were still so early in their relationship that an engagement would be like trying to build a house on quicksand.

She licked her lips and slowly answered, “Then I’d have to say we aren’t ready.”

He blinked, and then his expression went blank. “You said ‘we’ but you really mean me, don’t you?”

Miranda’s throat tightened. “Keith, it’s just…I didn’t mean—”

“You don’t have to explain anything. If you want a great f*ck, I’m your man, but I’m not the one you’re dreaming about making babies with one day. I’m not the one you think you’ll ever be able to count on, the one who will be there for you in the long run. Do I have that straight?”

Keith’s anger took her completely aback. Had he really been thinking about marriage? Family? His reaction told her he had. “You’re putting words in my mouth,” she said. “I only meant that we aren’t ready for the next step.”

Keith grabbed a suitcase with each hand. “Then it’s a damned good thing we are just playacting.”

*

Arriving upstairs, hand poised to knock, Keith halted at the sound of Judith’s raised voice.

“I can’t believe this situation!” Judith hissed. “We turn our backs for one minute, and that little bitch sneaks in to turn Mama against me. I’m not going to stand for it, Rob. If she doesn’t want to sell, fine, but this ranch is rightfully mine when Mama passes. And what the hell is the deal with that Keith anyway? Who does he think he is, moving in lock, stock, and barrel?”