One Husband Needed. Jeanne Allan
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ground in a deceptively slow amble. With his wide-brimmed black hat, boots, blue jeans and tan, western-style, sports jacket, he looked as if he’d stepped straight out of a Hollywood western.
For all the man’s loose-limbed amble, something about his walk hinted at harnessed strength and controlled power. A shiver ran down Elizabeth’s spine as an image from a TV documentary flashed across her mind. A mountain lion on the prowl.
He was one of the sexiest-looking men she’d ever seen. His striking good looks and bone-deep self-assurance attracted the interested gaze of every woman in the vicinity.
An interest he reciprocated, judging by the way he inspected each woman he passed. He caught sight of Elizabeth, and his gaze lingered on her, appraising her.
Butterflies fluttered deep in her stomach, and Elizabeth turned away. She was a single mother, a twenty-nine-year-old widow. Sexy hunks had no place in her life.
After a few minutes, a perverse curiosity compelled her to look for the cowboy. He stood on the other side of the boarding area, his casual stance at odds with the way he scrutinized arriving passengers.
From the corner of her eye, Elizabeth saw Jamie drop to all fours and speed toward a discarded candy wrapper on the floor. “Yuk, nasty. Give to Mama.” Down on her knees, she confiscated her son’s treasure, making silly faces to distract him. Jamie grabbed her hair with both fists and giggled with delight. Pulling him toward her, Elizabeth hugged his warmth and blew kisses against his silky neck. She loved this perfect little being more than she would have believed possible.
A pair of dark, worn boots walked into her field of vision. “Mrs. Randall?” asked a deep, pleasant voice.
Elizabeth sat back on her heels and looked up. Way up. “Who are you?”
The man unleashed a slow, toe-curling smile. “Worth Lassiter. You are Elizabeth Randall?”
She should have guessed. The perfect Worth Lassiter. Elizabeth looked like something even the cat would refuse to drag in, and he looked as if he’d never had a bad hair day in his life. “How did you know who I am?”
“Russ told me to look for the prettiest woman with the best-looking kid.”
Irritation flared at the glib lie. Her father would say no such thing, and if he had, Elizabeth in her rumpled, stained clothes and messy hair hardly fit the description. The man had obviously zeroed in on her red hair.
When she made no response, Worth Lassiter squatted on his heels and held out a big hand to Jamie. “Hey there, partner.”
Jamie pressed back against Elizabeth and thrust his thumb in his mouth, his wide eyes staring.
“He doesn’t like strangers,” she said curtly.
Leaving his hand outstretched a few inches from Jamie, Worth Lassiter casually wiggled his fingers and looked at Elizabeth. “I’d hoped to be here in time to meet your plane from Lincoln, but I got hung up in traffic on Pena Boulevard.”
Apprehension prickled unpleasantly at the back of her neck. He could walk and talk as lazily as he wanted, but intuition told her his bright blue eyes would see things she wanted no one seeing. “Why would you meet my plane from Nebraska? I’m flying to Aspen. No one said anything to me about driving there.”
“I had business in Denver. I flew up yesterday and took care of it so I can fly back to Aspen with you. You look as if you could use some help. I’ll bet this little guy runs his mom ragged.”
Elizabeth’s chin rose. She didn’t need some candidate for Hollywood pointing out her disheveled state or assuming she was unable to cope with her son. Worth Lassiter wouldn’t look so smug and self-assured and—and clean if he’d traveled clear across the state of Nebraska with a cranky baby. “You needn’t have troubled,” she said stiffly. “I’m managing just fine on my own.”
The network of squint lines around his eyes deepened. “You’d think a man with three sisters would know better than to suggest a woman needs a man’s help with anything.”
The amusement in his voice scratched against her frayed emotions like fingernails on a chalkboard. She shouldn’t have come. It was going to take more strength than she possessed to make it through this visit.
Jamie giggled and lunged for a wiggling finger.
Elizabeth snatched her son and started to stand, but her right leg had gone to sleep, and she staggered, landing in an undignified sprawl flat on her back on the floor. Jamie squealed with delight at the new game, bouncing excitedly on her stomach. People walking by stared down at her. Squeezing her eyes shut in embarrassment, Elizabeth lay on the floor, praying she’d find herself back in Nebraska when she opened them.
So much for the power of her prayers.
“Are you all right?”
One look at Worth Lassiter’s face told Elizabeth he could barely keep from laughing as he stood and extended his hand.
Once, she might have laughed with him.
Barely maintaining a fingernail grip on what little composure she still possessed, Elizabeth hung on to Jamie. “I don’t need your help. I don’t want your help. Go away.”
Worth Lassiter put both hands in the air and backed up a step. Heat flooded her face, undoubtedly highlighting her every freckle. Setting Jamie on the floor, she struggled to her feet, picked up her son, hoisted her two carry-on bags to her shoulder and walked away.
The plane wasn’t ready for boarding.
More passengers had streamed into the boarding area, filling the seats. Without looking at the man steering people away from the sole vacant seat, Elizabeth yanked up her slipping bags and marched over to the row of chairs. “I didn’t ask you to save me a seat. I could have stood.”
Her ungracious words hung in the air. What was the matter with her? It was as if an evil genie had taken control of her tongue.
Unshed tears stung the insides of her eyelids. A year ago, her emotions had teetered on the edge of hysteria, but for Jamie’s sake, she’d pulled herself together after indulging in one good cry. She hadn’t cried since. She wouldn’t cry now.
Worth Lassiter took off his hat and played peekaboo from behind it with Jamie. Her son leaned forward in anticipation, and each time the cowboy’s face appeared, Jamie happily said, “Boo!”
With each “boo” her son crashed backward against her chest. When her flight was finally called, Elizabeth stood with relief, firmly holding a squirming Jamie. “Those are my bags,” she said sharply as Worth picked them up.
“Yes, they are,” he said calmly, “and I’m carrying them on the plane for you.” He walked toward the airline gate.
Leaving Elizabeth with no choice but to follow.
On board the plane, she put Jamie in a seat and grabbed the bags from Worth, silently daring him to object.
Crossing his arms in front of his chest, he lounged in the aisle against a seat back while Elizabeth struggled to put her larger bag into the overhead compartment. Not a hint of impatience crossed his face. She knew darned well he was waiting for her to admit she needed his help. Something deep inside her wouldn’t let her. She might not measure up to these perfect Lassiters, but she could darn well handle her own bags.
Gritting her teeth, she finally managed to shove in the bag and settled in the aisle seat with Jamie.
“Excuse me.” Worth Lassiter eased past her to the window seat after easily tossing his small bag overhead.
“There are other vacant seats.”
He lifted an eyebrow in mocking response to her sharp comment, tipped his hat over his face and leaned back against his seat.
Elizabeth didn’t want him sitting beside her. She didn’t want him invading her space.
She didn’t want to be edgily aware of him.