“Hey.”
“You want something to drink?”
She swallowed. Yeah, she was parched. Plus this gave her a chance to dig for her sunglasses so her eyelids wouldn’t turn inside out again. She nodded.
“Coke?” He grinned. “Diet coke?”
“Just water, actually. I can give you some money.”
“Nah, it’s on me. No worries.” He ambled into the shop.
Maria followed him and headed toward the ladies’ room. When she looked in the mirror, she nearly had a coronary. Her hair was a mass of tangles and waves. She dug into her backpack for her brush and tugged it through her hair until the last snarl was gone. Then she laughed out loud. It would just happen again when she went back on the bike.
And she had every intention of getting back on that bike.
She took a moment to look at her reflection. Her cheeks were pink. Damn, they were glowing. And her lips were ruby red. Riding a motorcycle agreed with her.
Or Jeff Bay agreed with her.
She walked back out to find Jeff waiting with her drink by the bike. He had removed his T-shirt, and his tanned, broad chest glistened with perspiration. Oh, God.
“So what’s your name, beautiful?” he asked.
Her cheeks heated. Damn, they were already ruddy from the ride. “Maria,” she said quickly.
He smiled. “Mia?”
“No, Maria.”
“Oh, okay.” He reached toward her and trailed one finger down the curve of her cheek. “I like Mia better. It fits you.”
Had his finger been a lighted match? He’d left a trail of sparks in his wake. She hadn’t thought her cheeks could burn any hotter, but they did.
“I’m Jeff. Jeff Bay.”
She gulped. “Yeah, I know.”
“So you’ve heard of me?”
“No, not really. My friend knew who you were.”
“Well, that’s good enough for me.” He smiled again. “How old are you, Mia?”
She swallowed. “Eighteen.”
His grin was wide and showed perfect white teeth. “Good. That’s real good.” He leaned down and touched his lips to hers.
The kiss was deep and passionate…
Chapter Three
Jeff finished currying the last mare and stretched. Amazing how much he enjoyed ranch work after all these years. He’d rebelled against it with a vengeance on Grandpa’s ranch all those years ago, preferring instead to hang out with those criminal “friends” of his. He’d found out the hard way that they weren’t his friends.
He’d found out the hard way about Maria, too.
She was trying. He’d give her credit for that. She certainly didn’t owe him anything after what he’d threatened to do to Angie. Hell, I guess we’re even now. She betrayed me with my own brother and kept a child from me for thirty-two years. Course he’d been a loser back then and had done time to prove it. Maybe he’d gotten what he deserved.
He had an income now. Harper, his nephew, who legally owned Cha Cha Ranch now that Wayne had passed, paid him a good salary. Plus, Harper let him use the small house Angie had lived in before she married Rafe and moved to the western slope to manage Bay Crossing. He was lucky his nephew hadn’t booted him out after he’d tried to take Angie’s inheritance.