Big Sky Bride, Be Mine!. Victoria Pade
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them—a glimmering green, like secret, hidden emeralds—making them interesting, intriguing, stunning.
Her nose was thin and not terribly long. She had petal-pink lips, perfect white teeth and high, apple-bright cheeks that gave her some of that country appeal, too.
Her neck was long and a little thin, and she had such perfect posture that it made her fairly short stature—five three or four, maybe—seem like more.
And the body that went with it all?
Compact but still curvaceous enough to have had him wondering how she would look without clothes …
Not that he had any business doing that!
Work, the training facility, Chelsea Tanner and getting Tanner Brewery to sponsor the Monarchs—that was what he was supposed to be focused on now, he reminded himself as he neared the Bowen farm. Chelsea Tanner, whom his father would be thrilled to have him hook up with. Chelsea Tanner, whom his father believed would be a great match for him and for the future connection between the Montana Monarchs and Chelsea Tanner’s father’s brewery dollars.
The trouble was, Chelsea Tanner just didn’t do it for him. They’d met at the huge party his father had thrown when Morgan had been granted the NFL franchise. They’d hit it off. But merely as friends. The fact that it could be a match made in business heaven? That was all his father could see. But for Ian? A beautiful face, long legs and a shared interest in Jazz weren’t enough.
In his mind’s eye, the image of Jenna Bowen was edging out that of the supermodel….
But he was getting the shove from Chelsea’s father, too.
Chelsea’s father wanted Ian to lure Chelsea back from one of her many photo shoots in Europe in the hopes that she might be interested in becoming the spokesmodel for Tanner Brewery in order to add a little class. And to keep his daughter closer to home.
Ian was working on convincing Chelsea to come home and become the face of Tanner Brewery. But beyond that? Sharing their jazz playlists was the only other thing he was interested in. The only thing Chelsea was interested in with him, too.
Ian turned off the main road onto the path that led to the Bowen property’s boundary.
Hardly a road, it was pitted and bumpy. It was difficult to decide which of the tractor-tire ruts he should stick to. It was definitely more rustic than the paved drive, with its white rail fence on either side, that led to the house. But he wanted a view of the place from one of its edges so he could look out over the whole seventeen acres and get a clear picture in his mind about the best layout for the center. So, the dirt road it was.
He didn’t go any farther than he had to, however, before he pulled to a stop.
Then, with the engine still running, he put the car into park, grabbed the binoculars he’d brought with him for this purpose and got out.
No doubt about it—this was the perfect location for the training facility, he thought, as he looked out over the property through the binoculars. Flat farmland, wide, open space except for the small barn and the house that would be leveled in favor of the administrative building that would be the entrance to the center.
But when Jenna emerged from the back door carrying baby Abby, it was the existing house that held his interest.
Ian had the impression that Jenna was taking advantage of the weather, too. She didn’t seem to have any real reason to be outside, and she was clearly dressed for work, since she was wearing dark purple scrubs. But still, she carried Abby into the yard and pointed to a bird sitting on a post of the paddock fence as she said something to the infant.
Abby was a sweet baby. And as cute as they came, with her honey-blond, curly cap of hair, her chubby cheeks and her big, brown eyes.
And Jenna was her aunt-slash-new-mom….
Ian recalled how Meg had introduced her friend, and it didn’t make sense to him. He had just assumed that Abby was Jenna’s daughter, plain and simple. But that didn’t seem to be the case. As he watched the two now, he didn’t see anything that would indicate that Jenna wasn’t Abby’s mother, however.
Abby was yet another reason he needed not to go off on flights of fancy over Jenna Bowen. He liked Abby, but he was at least ten years from wanting kids in his own life. And when that happened, they had to be his biological kids.
That was his sticking point.
Just as he was thinking that—and still watching Jenna and Abby through the binoculars—he saw Jenna lightly kiss Abby’s cheek.
Then, as if the gesture hadn’t been done right, Abby grabbed both sides of Jenna’s face in her two pudgy little hands and gave her a return kiss that had a whole lot more oomph to it.
The scene made Ian laugh at the same time Jenna did, just before she twirled around with the infant, making Abby laugh along with her.
And out of the blue—for absolutely no reason Ian could put his finger on—he felt like he should drive over there and say hello.
That was a little strange—the sudden yen to be a part of what he was spying on.
Of course, it was a great day in the country, he did get a kick out of Abby, and Jenna was a naturally beautiful, fresh-faced woman whom he’d enjoyed talking to for that brief time yesterday. So maybe it wasn’t really such a big mystery that he felt like saying hello.
Well, the mystery might be in the intensity he was feeling to get to them, but still he reasoned that he did need to be establishing a relationship with Jenna Bowen. So why not take advantage of the day, the situation, the coincidence and the convenience of having her right there, no more than a two-minute drive around a U-shaped dirt path?
He’d be silly not to take advantage of all that and lay some groundwork for a purely friendly relationship with her that could potentially benefit them both, wouldn’t he?
Sure he would.
Now he just needed to take his eyes off of her to do that….
He forced himself to lower the binoculars, to get back in the car, feeling oddly grateful that the engine was still running, and that all he had to do was put it into gear.
And if he was in such a hurry to get to her that he left huge plumes of dust behind him when he hit the gas?
It didn’t mean anything.
And neither did his lack of concern for how bumpy a ride it was on that road or what it was doing to his shocks not to take any care with how he drove.
He was merely going to extend a simple greeting to the farm owner he would like to convince to do business with him.
And the fact that the farm owner was the lovely-to-look-at Jenna Bowen meant nothing at all …
As Montana winters went weather-wise, Jenna’s first one back hadn’t been particularly bad. But since she’d lost both of her parents during that period of time, it had felt very bleak. So that first, early taste of spring on Sunday was a welcome relief.
She had to be at the hospital for a three-to-eleven shift but—not wanting to waste the warmth and sunshine—she’d decided to take Abby outside for a little while.
She hadn’t been out the back door for more than a few minutes when the sudden stirring of dust over on the border road drew her attention.
“Looks like we’re gonna have company,” she told Abby, inching back in the direction of the house.
During the last ten years, she’d lived in several places where being cautious was advisable, and while she might be back in Northbridge, she still didn’t recognize the expensive black import that was coming her way. Just in case her drop-in visitor wasn’t welcome, she wanted the ability to duck inside in a hurry.
In fact, she was standing so that she and Abby were in the lee of the screen door, where one step would take them over the threshold to safety, when the car drew near