The Perfect Man Read online

  “Yes, but I can’t talk, can I?” She kept her attention on her task. “I thought the bar was on fire and I ran out on my two best friends.”

  “That’s different.”

  “No, it’s not.”

  “It is, and I’ll tell you why. At the bar, you responded that way because of your previous bad experience. I doubt the track star had that excuse when he ran out on you. Also, when a man escorts a woman somewhere, he’s in charge of her safety. Case closed.”

  She looked up at him without speaking, but her eyes said plenty. They started off with a soft glow that grew brighter, and brighter yet. Apparently she’d really liked hearing him say that. “Thank you, Adam.”

  “For what?”

  “Being a stand-up kind of guy.”

  His conscience pricked him. “Don’t make me out to be a hero. I’ve done plenty of things I’m not proud of.”

  “But you wouldn’t abandon a woman to a crazed mob.”

  “God, no. I’m sorry if you like the guy, but that’s despicable. You could have been killed.”

  “Fortunately I wasn’t.” She stood. “But since then I’ve been a little . . . edgy.”

  “No doubt.”

  She started in on Rocket Fuel’s flanks. “You don’t have to babysit me now. I’m getting into this.”

  “Okay.” He stepped back. “When you get to his rump, just come around that way to this side, but stick close to him. He’s not a kicker, but it’s better to learn good habits. When walking around behind a horse, either stay out of range, or move in close so he can’t get any momentum.”

  “Have you ever been kicked?”

  “Once, and I’m sure it was an accident, plus I wasn’t paying attention like I should have been. I had a football-sized bruise on my thigh for a good while, but no broken bones.” He hoped telling that story hadn’t been a mistake. “I don’t mean to scare you, but I want you to be safe.”

  “You’ve made that very clear. And I appreciate it.”

  “Common sense takes care of most things with horses, especially if they’re raised right, like Rocket Fuel. I can’t take any credit for him. He was a sweetheart when I got him.”

  “Mm-hm.” Her answer was soft, almost indistinct.

  He no longer heard the sound of the brush whisking over the horse’s coat. When he peered over Rocket Fuel’s back, he discovered her head was down, her face obscured by the brim of her hat. She rested the hand with the brush against Rocket Fuel’s rib cage, and she’d propped her other hand right next to it. Her shoulders quivered. She was crying.

  Shit. What was he supposed to do? The guys didn’t cry. They swore a lot, but not a one of them had cried. He couldn’t just stand there and let her cry all by herself. She’d had one guy desert her in her hour of need. He’d be damned if another one would.

  Moving quickly to her side of the horse, he spoke her name so she wouldn’t startle. Then he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

  With a sob, she turned and buried her face against his chest, knocking her hat to the ground. He wrapped her in his arms and held on while she soaked his shirt with her tears. She was a fairly noisy crier, and he thanked God for Rocket Fuel, who remained calm and stoic in the face of her misery.

  Adam wasn’t so stoic. He wanted to find the asshole who had left her to be trampled by a mob. Adam had a strong urge to rearrange the guy’s face. Accidents happened, but she wouldn’t be sobbing in his arms if the slimeball had stuck by her.

  Thank God she’d plowed into him the other night and he’d had the presence of mind to get Will’s card to her, or rather, her friend. Valerie couldn’t do better than Will for a problem like this. But she was crying so hard, and all he knew to do was hold her and tell her everything would be okay. He doubted that she even heard him.

  Eventually she ran out of steam, but she kept her face pressed against his damp shirt. “I’m so embarrassed.”

  “Don’t be.”

  “I am. I don’t even know you.”

  He rubbed her back. “Sometimes that’s better.”

  “Maybe.” She sniffed and kept her face buried. “I’m supposed to stay for a whole hour, but if it’s okay with you, I’d like to hang it up for today.”

  “Whatever works for you.”

  “I’ll be back.”

  “I hope so.” He really hoped so.

  “I didn’t know brushing a horse would turn me into a faucet.”

  “Like I said, Rocket Fuel has his own methods for getting to know folks.”

  “He’s a great horse.”

  “Yes, he is.”

  She took a shaky breath and finally lifted her head. “Don’t look at me. I’m sure my mascara’s smeared and my eyes are red.”

  “So’s your nose.” He wasn’t about to obey her command not to look at her. She was beautiful even when she wasn’t.

  “You weren’t supposed to look.” She gave him a wobbly smile.

  “I like looking at you, Valerie.”

  “Stop that. You’ll make me cry again. How come you’re so great?”

  “I’m not.”

  “Yes, you are.” Rising on tiptoe, she pressed a quick, but very warm, kiss on his lips. “Thank you.”

  He stood there in stunned silence. That’s something else the soldiers never did. Should he kiss her back? No. She’d expressed gratitude, not passion. His mouth tingled and he felt a little dizzy. Then he realized that could be due to lack of oxygen, and he dragged in a breath.

  But it had been a long time, more than a year, since any woman had kissed him on the mouth, and he savored the sensation. No doubt about it, whatever emotions he’d locked away during the divorce proceedings were working loose. That would be good news if he had an outlet for those feelings, but as he did not, he was on the road to Frustration City without a detour in sight.

  Four

  Originally Valerie had been scheduled to spend an hour each Saturday morning at the Triple Bar, but she wrangled an extra hour from work midweek so she could go out more often. The senior partners at the law firm seemed happy to give it to her.

  She’d told them she was in therapy to get over her PTSD, something she’d never talked about in the office before. They were delighted. Apparently everyone she knew had been hoping she’d get herself help, and she’d had no clue they were paying that much attention.

  As she drove out to the ranch for her third Saturday session, she hummed along with the radio. Three weeks ago she’d made this trip with a sour ball of anxiety in her stomach. Today she felt as if the sun was shining in her heart, even if it wasn’t shining outside.

  Rain had been falling off and on ever since she’d left her apartment. She didn’t know how that would affect her work with Rocket Fuel, but Adam hadn’t called to cancel, so apparently they were still on. That made her very happy. The hours spent at the ranch had become her favorite thing.

  She loved watching the new foal, Naughty Boy, aka Bubba, who was now big enough to romp outdoors with his mother. After she’d finished grooming Rocket Fuel, she’d walk over to the fence and the curious foal would run up to check her out. She’d stroke his silky neck for a few seconds and then he’d bound away again.

  Grooming Rocket Fuel wasn’t scary anymore, either. She’d even tried leading him around the corral a few times, and she’d learned how to put on and take off his halter. She looked forward to gazing into his liquid brown eyes and running her bare hands over his solid warmth.

  Sometimes, she got a little teary when she did that, but she’d never completely lost it like the first time. That morning she’d clung to Adam as if he were the mast of a ship in a storm-tossed sea and if she let go for an instant, she’d drown.

  They hadn’t spoken of that moment since then, but she thought about it constantly. Her tears had come without warning. She’d always prided herself on controlling her emotions,
especially in front of others, but she’d been helpless to do it that day.

  When she’d felt the warmth and strength of his arm around her shoulders, she’d allowed herself to let go. And he’d come through like a champ. The memory of his solid warmth and his soothing words remained clear three weeks later.

  Another sensation remained clear, too—the velvet touch of his lips against hers. Later that day she’d blushed to think that she’d been so bold, but her embarrassment had faded since then. In fact, she’d been tempted to try it again. Or maybe not.

  She’d debated the wisdom of that during the days when she wasn’t at the ranch, days when she missed Adam a lot. Judging from his casual comments, he hadn’t dated anyone since his divorce. But she’d caught him watching her a few times with a gleam in his eye.

  If he’d been alert, he might have caught her doing the same with him. His gentle, yet firm, approach to his horses was sexy. She liked his loose-hipped, confident stride, and she’d learned to read his mood by the way he wore his hat. Nudging it back with his thumb meant he was curious about something and about to ask a question. Pulling it low over his eyes indicated intense focus, or even anger.

  She wondered if he knew that he’d jerked down the brim of his hat when she’d told him about Justin leaving her at the concert. His anger, coupled with his emphasis on keeping her safe, had been one of the reasons she’d started blubbering. Add in Rocket Fuel’s patience with her lame attempt to groom him, and she’d been an emotional wreck.

  Three weeks later, she felt stronger. Sirens still made her slightly nauseated, and she took the stairs at work instead of riding in the elevator with a bunch of folks. She’d promised herself to take the elevator on Monday, though.

  Last night she’d met her friends for drinks at the Golden Spurs & Stetson, and she’d suggested sitting within view of the door, but not right next to it, like before. She also gave herself points for overcoming her humiliation enough to go back in there. Baby steps, but important ones, in her estimation.

  Melanie and Astrid had asked her how she was getting along with Adam. That was a complicated question, so she’d dodged it. Knowing her friends, they hadn’t been fooled. They’d figured out she was interested. But they hadn’t pushed for more information, for which she was grateful.

  She hadn’t worked out her own feelings for the guy. But when she drove up and saw him standing just inside the barn door out of the rain, her heart did a little summersault of joy. He obviously was waiting for her.

  When she stopped the car and climbed out, he smiled and motioned to her. “Get on in here. And watch out for the mud.”

  “What, you’re not going to spread your cloak over that puddle?” She left her hat on the passenger seat. She wouldn’t need to shade her eyes from the sun today.

  “This is a working ranch, lady, not the streets of Elizabethan England.” He grinned at her as she made a dash for the barn. “Was that a test to see if I’d heard of Sir Walter Raleigh?”

  “I wouldn’t presume to test you on trivia.” She fluffed her hair with her fingers. “I’ll bet you had a grander education than I did.”

  He thumbed back his hat. “You didn’t Google that information?” Apparently the guy wore his hat rain or shine.

  “Actually, I did Google it, so I know how fancy your education was, but now I’m kind of embarrassed about snooping.”

  “Don’t be.” His silver gaze was warm. “I would have done the same thing in your place.”

  “I’ll bet not many ranchers around here have degrees from Harvard.”

  He grimaced. “Family tradition. My grandfather went there, and my father went there, so of course I had to go there.” Then he blew out a breath. “Listen to me, whining because I was forced to attend an Ivy League school. What a brat.”

  She was touched that he’d confided in her. He usually kept his personal remarks to a minimum. “I don’t think it’s the school so much as not having a choice.”

  His eyes widened. “Exactly! My path was mapped out for me and I didn’t think I could change it. Will’s the person who finally convinced me I could.”

  “I’m glad he did. You seem totally at home here.”

  “I am.” He sighed with obvious satisfaction. “My mom’s starting to accept my decision, which is nice. She was upset about the divorce, but Elise would never have adjusted to ranch life. She told me she’d married a guy who wore tuxes and three-piece suits. She had no interest in living with John Wayne.”

  Valerie didn’t know if the coziness of the dry barn had encouraged him to talk about himself, but she welcomed the chance to know him better. Poor guy. Neither his family nor his wife had valued the real Adam Templeton.

  “For what it’s worth,” she said, “I think you’re a vast improvement over John Wayne.”

  “You mean because I’m alive?”

  She laughed. “Well, there’s that, but I—”

  “Wow. That’s the first time I’ve seen you laugh.”

  “It is? That can’t be right.”

  “You haven’t laughed the whole time you’ve been coming out here. I would have remembered if you had.”

  She wondered if he realized how much he’d revealed with that one remark. He’d been paying attention to her, all right. Very close attention. The implication of that sent a shiver of pleasure up her spine.

  He cleared his throat. “So I guess you’re making progress, huh?”

  “I think so. I plan to tackle riding in the office elevator on Monday.”

  “Great idea.” He hesitated. “Want me to ride it with you?”

  “That would be silly.” But she had to admit the task would be much easier with his solid presence. “Comforting as it would be to have you there, I can’t ask you to come downtown just to ride an elevator with me.”

  “Then we’ll throw in lunch.”

  Her chest tightened. He was asking her out. She hadn’t accepted a date from anyone since the fire because she hadn’t wanted to risk an embarrassing meltdown. But he’d already seen her lose control. He knew all about her issues.

  “We don’t have to have lunch,” he said quietly. “I could just ride the elevator with you and leave.”

  She realized then that the invitation wasn’t all about her. If she’d guessed right, he hadn’t asked a woman for a date since before he was married. He might be rich, and he might be confident when dealing with his finances or with his horses, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t vulnerable in this area.

  “I’d love to have lunch with you,” she said. “And I’ll save my elevator ride for when you show up at my office. We’ll go down together.”

  “Okay.” He still seemed uneasy. “I’m not trying to push you into anything, though. It’s just lunch.”

  She met his gaze. “I like you, Adam. I like you a lot.”

  His response was velvet-soft. “Likewise, Valerie.” Heat flared in his silver eyes for a brief moment before his expression changed and he was all business. “We’d best get started on today’s project before the hour gets away from us.”

  “Right.” She took a deep breath and tried to regain her mental balance. She’d suddenly pictured how the hour could really get away from them if he moved even one step closer. “What’s on tap for today?”

  “Since it’s raining, we could work with Rocket Fuel in his stall, if you’re up to it. Might be good practice for the elevator ride.”

  “Sure.” During her last session she’d walked into the horse’s stall, clipped the lead rope onto his halter, and led him out to the hitching post. Grooming him in the stall shouldn’t bother her.

  “The caddy’s all set to go.”

  “I’ll get it.” She walked into the tack room and grabbed the plastic container. The barn had become a familiar place to her, and she loved feeling at ease there.

  As they walked down the aisle, she noticed hea
ds poking out from most of the stalls. “You have a full house today.”

  “Pure laziness on my part. They’d be willing to go out and run around in the rain, but then we’d have to clean ’em up again. Bubba’s owner is coming out to pay a visit tomorrow, and I’m prideful enough to want all the horses looking good.”

  She stopped walking. “Wait a minute. Bubba’s owner? That’s not you?”

  “No. A racing stable had already contracted for the foal when I bought Saucy Lady, assuming it was a live birth. It was, so they’ll take him once he’s weaned.”

  “That’s terrible!”

  His gaze was stoic. “That’s the horse business. I knew I wouldn’t get to keep him when I bought his momma.”

  “But . . . but you’re a wealthy man. You could buy him back.”

  “I did offer, but they won’t sell. They agreed to amend the contract for a price, though, so Bubba goes to them on the condition he won’t start his training until he’s two. He was born late in the year, so theoretically they could take him out early because of it, sort of like a kid who’s enrolled in school before he’s ready. They could ruin him if they do that.”

  “Let me get this straight. You had to pay them to do the right thing for a horse that doesn’t belong to you?”

  “Yes, and that might sound like a stupid financial decision, but I couldn’t let that little guy go without protecting him.”

  “It doesn’t sound stupid. It sounds humane.” She wondered how many times he’d been chastised for such impulses when he was younger and being groomed to be a hard-headed businessman.

  “I’ll be watching them like a hawk, too. If they show any signs of trying to race him too soon, my lawyers will slap an injunction on them and I’ll sue to get him back.” He tugged the brim of his hat down over his eyes.

  “You’re a good man, Adam.”

  He shook his head. “Like I said before, don’t go making me out to be something I’m not. I’ve made some business decisions I wish I could do over.”