“Care to dance?”

Her head shot up, expecting to see Walker standing there. It was Larry, one of the cowboys from a neighboring ranch.

She was about to say no, but since she hadn’t yet spotted Walker, she figured dancing was better than looking like a wallflower, so she smiled up at Larry and offered her hand. “Sure.”

walker headed into the beer tent to search out Jolene, but didn’t see her in there.

The whole town seemed to be crowded into the narrow main street, making it feel even hotter and more humid than the midafternoon heat bearing down on the cement walkway as he made his way out of the tent and toward where the band played. People crowded the street in front of the band, couples dancing and twirling to a fast country rock beat. He scanned the people, looking for Jolene, but didn’t see her, so he moved off and searched the tables set in front of the dance floor, thinking he’d find her there, but he didn’t.

The song ended so he stopped while people moved past him. Only then did he spot Mason and Gage along with Valerie and Brea, talking and laughing with another couple. It took him a few seconds to register the gorgeous blonde in the pink dress, her arm linked with a tall cowboy he didn’t recognize.

That gorgeous blonde was Jolene.

He couldn’t recall ever seeing her dressed like that. He sucked in a breath, gut-punched as she turned around and lifted her head, smiling up at the cowboy.

Her hair spilled over her shoulders like soft waving wheat. She was tan from her face to her legs. And wow, those legs, peeking out under that pretty pink dress, all the way down to her slender ankles and painted toenails. The dress billowed in the slight breeze as she turned to greet another tall, dark and irritating cowboy Walker didn’t know, who swept her onto the dance floor as the band started up again.

Wasn’t she popular? Put the owner of the Bar M in a dress and suddenly every prick within a hundred miles notices she’s a woman. He’d damn well noticed long before she put on a party dress. He’d noticed her in jeans, work boots and a long-sleeved shirt, with her hair hanging in a braid down her back, covered up with a cowboy hat. He’d noticed her covered up to her neck in dirt and smelling like cow shit. He’d noticed her when she was cussing like any of the men, when she was sweating and stank and when she was unpleasant. Not cleaned up and beautiful like she was now, looking like the sweetest thing this side of the Red River. Sure, she looked gorgeous today, but to him, she looked just as beautiful knee-deep in mud, too.

Where the hell were those guys when she was straining to hold a screaming calf, when she was branding and tagging and roping and doing all the things he admired so much about her? Those guys weren’t around. They hadn’t noticed Jolene then.

But Walker had. Though he had to admit she sure cleaned up good. And whether in blue jeans or a pretty pink dress, that was his woman those guys were passing around on the dance floor.

And he didn’t like it one damn bit. The problem was, he couldn’t do anything about it. Not without letting the whole town know how he felt about her. And that would stir up a hornets’ nest he wasn’t interested in messing with. It had taken years for him to even be able to show his face in town without the accusatory stares. He wasn’t going down that road again with Jolene, no matter how much he loved her.

Today just wasn’t a good day to go public. Too many people around who knew his history.

But he’d be letting Jolene down. Again. He didn’t want to hurt her, but if she found out the truth about him, if word got out that he was seeing her, she’d be hurt anyway.

No-win situation.

Shit.

He stopped off at the beer tent and bought a bottle, then headed down to the park to think.

an hour had passed and jolene’s head was spinning. She’d danced so much with guys from the neighboring ranches, her feet were killing her, and she had no idea why she was suddenly so popular.

“Put you in a dress and suddenly all the men from a hundred miles figure out you have br**sts and legs,” Brea said with a wry smile.

“Uh huh. How come they couldn’t figure out I was a woman before?”

Valerie slid into the chair on the other side of Jolene. “Some are dumber than others. And some like their women to actually look like women.”

Jolene took a long swallow of her bottled water. “And some noticed I was a woman no matter what I was wearing.”

“Walker, you mean,” Valerie said.

“Yes. Who I haven’t seen yet.”

“Saw him headed west about a half hour ago,” Mason said, carefully balancing a plate overloaded with barbecued ribs, potato salad and corn on the cob.

Jolene turned to Mason. “He was here?”

“Yeah. I spotted him watching everyone dance. Then he took off. Not sure why he didn’t come over when he saw us.”

Jolene had a pretty good idea. She scooted her chair back and stood. “I’ll be back.”

West, Mason had said. The park was west of the main street. Other than that, there wasn’t anything but more streets with businesses, then the residential areas, a school and the church. She decided to try the park.

Normally on a hot Saturday afternoon the park would be filled with parents toting their kids to the playground and having picnics under the dense canopy of trees. Rusty redwood tables were haphazardly spread throughout the lush green hills there. It was at one of the empty tables she found Walker, staring out at a small lake where geese paddled along the still waters.

He turned and smiled as she approached and sat next to him. “Kind of quiet here,” she said.

He nodded and stared off at the lake. “I like it quiet.”

“Why didn’t you come and find me?”

“I did find you. You were busy.”

She snorted. “Yeah, put a dress on me and suddenly half the guys in the county start noticing. Dickheads.”

He turned his head her way. “Looked to me like you were enjoying it.”

“Just passing the time until you got here. What I enjoy is a man who noticed me before I put on a dress.” She reached for his hand, twined her fingers with his.

“You look beautiful.”

It was funny, but lots of guys had told her that today. It hadn’t meant a thing to her until she’d heard it from Walker. Butterflies danced happily around in her stomach. “Thank you.”

He leaned over and brushed his lips across hers, a kiss demanding nothing, but giving her so much.

She squeezed his hand. “Let’s go dance.”

He pulled on her hand. “I think I’ll sit this one out.”

She settled herself back on the bench. “Walker, how long is this going to go on?”

He tipped his hat back and leaned against the tabletop of the bench, stretching out his legs. “You’d be better off not being seen with me today, Jolene.”

“So you keep telling me. What you don’t tell me is why. I’d like to know what you think is so terrible about yourself that might sully my so-called pristine image.”

“Your image is fine. I don’t want to tarnish it.”

“Spit it out, Walker. We’ve been dancing around this too long. It’s time to spill.”

He blew out a breath. “Before I started working for the Bar M, I was a hand at the Double S Ranch.”

“Sam Woodman’s ranch?”

Walker nodded.

“That’s one of the biggest ranches in all the counties around here. They hire on hands that never want to leave. Why did you?”

“I didn’t. I was fired.”

“Because . . .?”

“Celia Woodman decided she was in love with me. And she wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

Jolene crossed her arms. “Celia Woodman is a slut.”

“She was sixteen years old at the time.”

“Ah.” Things were starting to fall into place, but Jolene kept her mouth shut so Walker could talk.

“I didn’t want to have anything to do with her, and I told her that, nicely at first, then firmly. Then I point-blank had to tell her to back the hell off.”

“But she didn’t.”

“She didn’t. One night she climbed into my bed na**d, in the middle of the night, woke me up out of a sound sleep. Scared the shit out of me, too. She said she was in love with me and wanted me to be her first.”

Jolene snorted. “She’d probably had her first when she was twelve.”

“Well, I don’t know about that. All I know is that I scrambled out of bed and climbed into my jeans in a hurry. Then I told her to get dressed and get out. But she wouldn’t. She held tight to the sheet, mustered up some tears, said she loved me and wanted to marry me.”

Jolene shook her head, angry as hell at how Walker had been manipulated by that scheming bitch.

“I told her I liked her just fine, but I was too old for her and I wasn’t going to have sex with her. So she started to cry. And cry even harder, and louder. And then her father walked in.”

“Oh, shit.”

“Yeah. And Celia’s entire personality changed. She started wailing, said I’d been after her for months, that I seduced her. Woodman fired me on the spot, said I was trying to seduce his daughter so I could sleep my way into a better position at the ranch.”

“That conniving little heifer. And Sam Woodman is a blind moron when it comes to Celia. He always has been.”

“No matter how much I tried to tell the truth, no one believed me. Word got out and everyone took Woodman’s side. By then Celia was telling everyone how I tried to take her innocence and how her daddy protected her from a moneygrubbing opportunist. No ranch would hire me on until Mason did.”

Jolene shifted to face Walker, sliding her fingers along the nape of his neck. “None of this is your fault. How could you possibly defend yourself against a devious slut like Celia and a blind-to-her-faults father like Sam Woodman?”

Walker shrugged. “Wasn’t much I could do about it. It was their word against mine. And no one was inclined to take my word as truth.”

“I do. I believe you. You’re not the type to seduce a young girl. And believe me, I know Celia. She has never been innocent. Which is why she has the reputation she has now, five years later. So apparently she hasn’t managed to snag some unsuspecting cowboy into marrying her.”

“It doesn’t matter. I still have the reputation. And I won’t ruin yours by having you associate with me. People will think I’m with you to get my hands on Bar M land.”

Jolene laughed. “Do you think I care what people think? If they’re that small-minded, then they’re no friends of mine.” She stood and held out her hand. “Come on.”

He looked up at her, his gaze narrowing. “Jolene.”

“Don’t argue with me. We’re going to dance. I want to show you off. It’s time we stopped hiding.”

“I’m fine with seeing you in private.”

“I’m not. I’m in love with you, Walker. And it’s high time people knew it.”

nine

jolene clamped her lips shut as soon as she’d said the words. But now they were out there, and she couldn’t take them back.

Walker stared up at her, his head cocked to the side as if he were trying to understand her, as if she were speaking a foreign language.

“Yes. I said it. I love you. No big deal.” She tugged on his hand. “Now let’s go dance.”

He stood, but instead of following her onto the walk, he pulled her against him, wrapped his arms around her, threaded his hand through her hair, and kissed her deeply, soundly, and with more depth and feeling than she’d ever been kissed by him before. Her toes curled in the ridiculous kitten heels her sisters had insisted she buy. She wanted to lift one foot up like she’d seen in movies when the girl was being kissed by the man of her dreams. She wanted to swoon.

He pulled away, his eyes darkening to a stormy gray. “I love you, too, Jolene. Which is why I don’t want to hurt you.”

Oh, God. He loved her. She melted into the grass, just sank against him, never wanting to move again. “You couldn’t possibly hurt me unless you left me. Now let’s go dance and ignore everyone.”

He didn’t look convinced, but took her hand and they walked toward the main street. Despite the magnitude of the crowd, they managed to find Valerie and Brea and the guys, and grabbed something to eat and drink. When the band started up again after their break, Jolene stood.

“Ready to go kick up your heels?”

Walker arched a brow. “I’m game if you are.”

She grabbed his hand and pulled him into the middle of the crowd, laughing as she realized that he was a damn good dancer. He two-stepped her around the outside of the circle of dancers and then managed to pick up one of the line dances easily enough. Her guy had some serious rhythm, which didn’t surprise her at all considering his rhythm in the bedroom.

And when the band played a slow song, being in Walker’s arms and swaying to the music was her every dream come true. She laid her head on his shoulder and realized her life couldn’t get any more perfect than this moment.

Except Celia Woodman was on the dance floor with some random cowboy and shooting daggers her way. Jolene just smiled at her.

Too bad, honey. This cowboy’s mine, all mine. She tilted her head back and slid her hand behind Walker’s head, pulling his lips to hers for a kiss.

Celia could take that and choke on it. The bitch deserved so much more for the hell she’d put Walker through.

But it wasn’t just Celia staring daggers at Jolene and Walker. Sam Woodman stood at the edge of the crowd, his arms crossed and a murderous expression on his face, all directed at Walker. A few of his buddies stood next to him, all neighboring ranch owners, their gazes riveted on Jolene’s man.