The Texas Rancher's Vow. Cathy Thacker Gillen

how had this turned into such a mess?

      Oblivious to the unsettling nature of her thoughts, he shrugged again. “We’re all friends. Unless you’d rather take a date, which would be fine, too.” He flashed a generous smile. “Whatever you decide on that score, I still think you should go. A lot of very influential people will be there. Potential patrons. I want to introduce you around. Let everybody know what you’re doing for us.”

      Dex’s parents had often said the same thing to her, only their purpose had been garnering sympathy from their friends, and wanting everyone to know what they were doing for poor little underprivileged Jen. Who never should have had the greed to marry their son.

      And that painful past experience, Jen thought miserably, was exactly why she shouldn’t go.

      Showing art in her gallery was one thing. She was in her comfort zone. Social gatherings like the ball would only remind her of her failed marriage, and the humiliation she had suffered at her in-laws’ hands.

      “Of course, you’re going to need formal attire.” Emmett continued as if Jen had already accepted his invitation. “So I called Jenna Lockhart Remington this evening and filled her in.”

      The world-renowned haute couture designer who designed all the Oscar dresses? Jen’s flush of embarrassment deepened. “I appreciate it, Emmett, but the Lockhart salon is way out of my league, pricewise.” Even if the company’s flagship boutique was located in Laramie, Texas—home to all the Lockhart sisters and their wildly successful offspring.

      Emmett took some juice from the fridge and poured a glass. “You don’t need to worry about that, honey. I’m paying for it.”

      Matt looked at Jen again, with that same steady patience in his eyes.

      Forcing herself to breathe, she shook her head. “Thank you so much, Emmett. I appreciate the gesture, but I can’t let you do that. That really would not look right.” People would talk. Matt would…

      Well, who cared what Matt would think?

      She would, that’s who!

      Emmett smiled, waving off her protest. “It wouldn’t look right for you not to show up in an expensive gown, since all the dresses the ladies are wearing this year are going to be donated to an auction that will benefit Children’s Hospital.”

      “Oh,” she said, ignoring Matt’s glance.

      “Anyway…” Emmett drank his juice and left the glass in the sink “…any time you want to show up tomorrow, they’ll let you pick out a gown, and do a fitting.”

      Appreciating the chance to help Children’s Hospital, in a way she couldn’t afford to otherwise, Jen smiled at him. “Thank you.”

      “No problem,” he boomed. “Well, I’m headed on to bed. Night, y’all.”

      “Good night,” Jen and Matt echoed in unison.

      Emmett strode off, seeming, to Jen’s relief, to be in fine form once again. Had she been wrong to worry? All she knew for certain was that she wouldn’t feel good about the situation until he had seen a doctor and been thoroughly checked out.

      But that was going to take some persuading…

      An awkward silence fell.

      Matt continued to study her another long minute, then went back to plating his dinner.

      “Well, aren’t you going to say it?” Jen said. She knew what he was thinking.

      He covered his food with a sheet of waxed paper, slid it into the microwave and hit the reheat button. “Say what?”

      Jen served herself some food, as well. “That your father has a way of getting people to do what he wants them to.”

      Matt reached into the refrigerator and got out two Bohemia beers. He uncapped both, handed her one. “It’s not like you could refuse.”

      Jen found a lime, quartered it and squeezed a section into her bottle. “You, either.” She paused to savor the combination of fresh lime and Mexican beer. “Are you going to take a date?”

      Still waiting on his dinner, Matt eyed her above the rim of his bottle. “Depends.” He let his gaze drift over her. “Will you come as my date?”

      Tingling everywhere he’d looked—and especially where he hadn’t—Jen shrugged. It wasn’t that cool in the kitchen, but her nipples were contracting beneath her tank top. “I can’t do that.”

      His gaze drifted there, arousing another flood of sensations, before returning to her eyes. “Why not?” He turned to get his plate, set hers in the microwave and pushed the button again. “I don’t care who knows I’m interested in you.”

      Jen busied herself getting out the silverware and napkins. “Well, I care,” she told him stiffly. “Besides, we agreed—”

      Matt caught her around the waist and shifted her against him. He felt warm and solid. And safe.

      “We didn’t agree to anything,” he murmured, kissing her temple, then her cheek. “You said it couldn’t happen again.”

      Yes, she had. Jen closed her eyes. Why, oh why, had she been such a fool? Passion this strong was a once-in-a-lifetime thing.

      She could enjoy it without getting her heart broken, couldn’t she? If she was smart.

      Jen kept her eyes closed as he kissed his way down her neck. She jerked in a breath. “You didn’t argue.”

      Matt cupped her chin in his hand.

      Jen opened her eyes.

      Looked into his.

      His gaze was tender. And filled with a yearning as strong and sensual as her own. He ran a strand of her hair through his fingers, admitting softly, “Only because I didn’t figure pushing you would get me where I wanted to go.”

      Actually, Jen thought, it kind of was. He was just kissing her lightly and she was already fantasizing about taking him into the shower again and soaping him down, then moving right back to his bed.

      Matt continued, in all seriousness, “I promised myself this afternoon—and now I’m promising you—that I’ll slow down.” He paused to let his words sink in. “Give us time to get to know each other.”

      That was quite a promise. And one she hadn’t expected. Jen inhaled a shaky breath, aware that she was closer than ever to falling for him. Completely.

      Unfortunately, love and reason did not often go hand in hand.

      Feeling she owed it to him to be honest about this much, she predicted, “It’s not going to change anything in the long run.” Although it was already changing something now, because if he kept this up, she wasn’t going to be able to resist him for long.

      Matt smiled and kissed her lightly on the lips. He took her hand and led her to the table, then returned to the dinging microwave to get her dinner. “You keep telling yourself that. I’m going to tell myself something else entirely.”

      * * *

      JEN WAS STILL THINKING about what Matt had said the night before, when she accepted Emmett’s offer to lend her a car, and drove to town early the next afternoon.

      She knew Matt was a decent guy. He loved his dad, still grieved the loss of his mother—although he tried to hide that—and meant well in general. The problem was, he assumed Jen and he could keep it casual, keep it private, and continue sleeping together without their emotions getting in the way.

      And while that might be true for him, it wasn’t for her.

      She already had developed a huge fascination for him, which prompted her to do foolish things she had never considered before. Such as allow herself to be distracted from work. Mix business with pleasure. And make herself vulnerable to a man who was so far socially and financially out of her league it wasn’t