Forever And A Day (Montana Brides, Book #7) Read online

  A smile worked its way across his face. “Nice to know.” He really should take her back to where she was sitting. Leave Emily to look after her. But as soon as she looked up at him with her big blue eyes he was lost.

  Emily laughed. “I’ll leave you two alone. I’ve got a few more cocktails to try.”

  “Don’t you know how to dance?” Sarah whispered.

  “I know enough to get by.” His hands landed on her waist when she started swaying against his body. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m happy. Gotta dance.” Sarah hummed to the music drifting across the room. She lifted her arms to his shoulders and kept moving, brushing her body against his until he couldn’t think straight.

  “Do you like me, Jordan?”

  Sarah’s voice purred in his ear. Liking didn’t come close to how he was feeling. She giggled and twisted her hips, dragging a groan from his chest.

  “You’re doing that on purpose.” His voice was deep and husky. He was aroused, so damn hot that he almost did some grinding of his own. But not with Sarah. Not now when she was borderline drunk.

  Her hands slid down his back, dipped below the waist of his jeans. Shit. He tried stepping back, but she held on tight. He reached for her hands. She stumbled, almost sent them toppling to the ground. He imagined her long legs straddling his hips, her body moving up and down. He pushed his fantasy back where it belonged and grabbed her shoulders.

  “You’re going home.”

  Sarah’s bottom lip pouted. “I like it here.”

  “I’m sure you do, but you’ve had too much to drink. I’m taking you home.”

  Her blonde hair drifted across his hands as she swayed in his arms. Jordan wasn’t sure if she was dancing to the music or unsteady on her feet. Either way it was time to get her back to Alex’s ranch.

  “We’re moving now.” He put his arm around her waist and started walking. If he couldn’t get her out the door on her own feet, he’d pick her up and hope for the best.

  They made if as far as the booth she must have been sitting at. Emily, Tess, Debbie, and Jenny stared at them with smiles on their faces.

  “Looks like you’ve got your hands full,” Tess said.

  “I’m not a handful,” Sarah said. “I’m six feet tall in bare feet.” She let go of Jordan and sent Tess a crooked smile. She took a couple of steps toward the booth and swayed.

  Jordan grabbed her waist and hauled her in close. “I’m taking her to Alex’s ranch.”

  Emily frowned. “We can take her home. We were about to go, anyway. Oww.” She looked across the booth and glared at Jenny.

  Jenny sent her an innocent smile. “Jordan has to drive straight past Alex’s ranch. It makes sense for him to take Sarah home.”

  “I know, but…” Emily gave Jenny another odd look, then glanced up at Jordan. “Okay. You take her home. I’ll call her in the morning to see how she’s feeling.”

  Jordan didn’t need a medical degree to know she’d have the mother of all headaches. “You do that. Are you okay driving yourself home?”

  “Sally’s going to pick us up. She had something else to go to in town.”

  Jordan nodded then focused all his energy on Sarah. She’d curled her head against his neck. He shook his shoulder, just in case she’d fallen asleep.

  Her big, blue eyes blinked up at him. “You feel nice.”

  It was all very well Sarah telling him that when they were alone. But with four other females listening, it was downright embarrassing.

  “Let’s go,” he muttered.

  Sarah walked beside him, singing to the latest song playing on the jukebox.

  “I like you, Jordan.”

  “I like you, too.” He nodded toward a couple of guys he knew and kept moving. If he stopped now he’d never get Sarah out of the door. And he needed her home and out of harm’s way. Although whether it was hers or his, he didn’t know.

  ***

  Sarah yawned. A great big, in your face yawn that should have locked her jaw in place.

  Jordan glanced across the cab of his truck. “My jacket’s on the floor if you want to go to sleep. Let me know if you’re going to be sick.”

  “Why does everyone think I’m going to be sick?”

  “Maybe because you drunk too much.”

  Sarah muttered something under her breath before yanking his jacket up and bunching it under her head.

  The walk out to the parking lot had sobered her up real fast. By the time they’d reached his truck she’d almost been back to her normal sparkling personality. After sending a quick text on his cell phone, he’d pulled out of the parking lot and headed toward Alex’s ranch.

  “Did you have a good time?” he asked.

  Sarah mumbled something into his jacket, then pushed it aside. “I only had two cocktails.”

  “Three. Didn’t your parents ever tell you to be careful?”

  She sighed. “All the time.”

  He stopped at a set of traffic lights and stared across the cab. Sarah had dropped her head back to his jacket. Her blonde hair looked soft and silky in the glow from the streetlights. Something inside of him tightened, made him think that this was where she belonged.

  And then she hiccupped and he glanced back at the road. “What’s it like being an only child?”

  “It sucks.”

  Jordan smiled. That covered everything in two short words. “Why?”

  Sarah yawned. “No one to talk to.”

  That made him feel sad for her. Even though there’d only been him and his brother at home, there were always other kids around. Cousins, friends, neighbors. It didn’t matter whether they were related or not, everyone was treated the same. “What about your friends?”

  She snorted, then rubbed her nose against his jacket. “Haven’t talked to them in ages. Spent most of my time with James.”

  Oh, hell. Now he felt like a peeping Tom. Only he wasn’t spying on Sarah he was dipping into her life when she wasn’t in control of her brain. Or her mouth. The one that was smiling at him like he could be her best friend.

  “Who’s James?”

  “Fiancé.”

  Jordan’s foot slipped off the brake and they both lurched forward. He tried to remember if he’d ever seen her wearing an engagement ring. He hadn’t. He was sure he hadn’t. He took another look at her hands. They were curled inside his jacket, tucked up out of sight.

  A horn tooted and he glanced up to see a green light blazing through the night sky. He slowly accelerated, careful not to let Sarah see how much the news of her fiancé had rattled him. “When did you get engaged?”

  “Long time ago.” She sighed and dug a little deeper into her seat. “Bastard.”

  Jordan blinked. He didn’t know if he’d heard her right. Her fiancé was a bastard? Maybe that was why she’d come to Montana? You didn’t normally stay engaged to a bastard, not for long anyway.

  “What happened to your fiancé?”

  “Ran off with my software.”

  That’d do it, Jordan thought. Although to most people, running off with some software would be better than another woman. But not to Sarah. He didn’t know anything about her computer business, but he did know her. If she felt that bad about her fiancé and what he’d done, it must have been serious.

  He didn’t say much as they drove toward Alex’s ranch. He wasn’t going to ask her about James. Not that it would have done any good if he had asked her a question or two. She was snoring softly beside him, unaware of the thoughts racing through his brain.

  He shouldn’t even have been in Bozeman. But he’d come anyway, especially after Emily had sent Alex a picture of everyone sitting around a table with cocktails in their hands.

  He’d recognized the booth, the table. They hadn’t moved from Charlie’s Bar and Grill. He’d even recognized the goofy grin on Sarah’s face. She’d been heading toward a hangover. None of the guys knew what transport they’d organized to get home, but he was determined to find out. He sure as hell didn’
t want Sarah driving, or any of them for that matter.

  Apart from Ben, he was the only unattached male in Alex’s house. He’d been nominated to stop by Charlie’s Bar and Grill, casually bump into them and see what was going on. He didn’t need to be casual when he’d seen Sarah weaving across the dance floor. She was drunk and having a great time.

  He knew Emily and the other women would have looked after her, but he wasn’t taking any chances. Sarah had a stubborn streak. If she didn’t want their help, they wouldn’t have been able to stop her doing what she wanted to do. Especially if that involved meeting someone else.

  And that got him thinking about other things. Like the kind of man she might or might not be engaged to. Her mystery fiancé could be anyone, but most likely he’d be from the city. Portland was a big place, bigger than Bozeman, anyway.

  Falling for someone who enjoyed city life would appeal to her. Closed in spaces, traffic, and more stores than you could count would match what he knew about Sarah’s life before she’d come to Montana.

  She had a sharp mind. Her fiancé would be intelligent, maybe have a college degree. If she’d lost contact with her friends, he’d have to have a big personality, someone a woman could easily spend time with. Someone that would become the center of her world without her knowing how it had happened.

  The more he thought about her fiancé, the more confused he became. Working on Alex’s ranch must have been a huge change for her. He couldn’t figure out how someone that had owned her own IT business had ended up cooking meals in Montana.

  Whatever the answers were, he wouldn’t be getting any sense out of Sarah until tomorrow.

  He turned into Alex’s driveway, moving slowly along the wide dirt track. He stopped in front of the house that Sarah shared with the ranch hands. When Alex bought the property, it had come complete with a two story home and more outbuildings than he’d needed. He’d converted one of the barns into his home and used the main house as accommodation for the single ranch hands.

  Alex must still be awake. The lights from the ground floor of his home were shining brightly. Sarah’s house, the one she shared with the ranch hands, would have been in total darkness if it weren’t for the porch light swinging in the breeze.

  Jordan opened his door and moved around to Sarah’s side of the truck. He looked at the door handle, then in at the blonde head leaning against the window.

  He ran back around the truck, sat in his seat, and nudged her arm. “Sarah?”

  She didn’t answer so he gave her another poke. “Sarah? Wake up. We’re back at the ranch.”

  She woke up enough to lift her head and stare at him. “Jordan?” She rested her head against the headrest and sighed.

  “Don’t go back to sleep.” He moved fast, jumping out of the truck, opening her passenger door, making sure she didn’t fall on the ground. He leaned across the cab and unlocked her seatbelt.

  “What time is it?” Sarah put one of her feet on the ground and started hoisting herself out of the truck.

  “About eleven.” Jordan watched her second foot hit the dirt.

  She kept one hand on the side of the truck, balancing where her body needed to go with what was left of her common sense.

  “Let me help.”

  She started to shake her head then must have thought better of it. “Thanks.”

  He smiled at the frown on her face. “Are you sure you’re not going to be sick?”

  “I don’t know.” Sarah’s face turned a pale shade of white.

  “Sit.” He helped her into her seat and opened the canopy on the truck. He rummaged around and found an old plastic bag. With more than a little relief, he stuffed it in his pocket and ran back to Sarah. “If you need to be sick, just let me know.”

  “I don’t feel so good.”

  Oh, hell. He hated vomit as much as he hated shopping. He pulled the bag out of his pocket and held it in front of Sarah’s face. She grabbed hold of his hands and pulled him close. Her hair fell around the bag and his hands, a curtain of blonde silk that would wear the worst of her night on the town.

  He didn’t know whether to leave her as she was or try and minimize the damage to her pride.

  Sarah dropped her head to her knees and he gave up deciding. He left the bag in her hands and kneeled beside her. He bunched her hair in his hands and hoped she didn’t start vomiting.

  After a few minutes, she sat back against the seat. “I’m okay. Just dizzy.”

  Jordan looked across at the ranch house. “I’ll give you a hand to get to your room.”

  Sarah nodded, then stood up. This time around she reached for his arm and held on tight. “My bedroom’s on the ground floor. Turn left when you get inside the entranceway.”

  He didn’t know whether she was telling him where she slept in case she passed out or if she thought she’d be vomiting too much to make sense. Either way, he needed to move fast.

  Jordan opened the front door, thanking whoever had left it unlocked. They stumbled through the door, banging into a table in the entranceway.

  “Down that way.” Sarah stepped to the left and Jordan moved with her.

  “What’s going on down there?” Mac Andrews thumped down the staircase. “Is that you, Sarah?”

  Jordan stared at Mac’s bare chest and jeans. “Do you normally parade around the house half naked?”

  Mac jumped a mile. “Who the…? Jordan? What are you doing here?”

  “I need to lie down,” Sarah groaned.

  Mac moved quickly across the room. “What’s wrong?”

  Jordan kept moving. “She’s drunk.”

  “I am not.”

  He almost didn’t hear Sarah’s softly spoken words, but Mac did.

  “Drunk? Are you sure?” Mac pushed past Jordan and opened a door on their left. “This is Sarah’s room.”

  Jordan half carried her across to her bed and sat her on the edge of the mattress. Mac disappeared somewhere, so he helped Sarah take her shoes off. Before her second shoe hit the carpet she fell sideways, lying on the bed like a limp rag doll. He lifted her legs onto the bed, straightened her up as much as he could.

  Mac walked back into the room with a bucket and towels in his hands. “There’s a bucket beside your bed, Sarah.” That wasn’t all he had. He wiped Sarah’s face with a washcloth and she sighed.

  “Thanks.” She turned on her side, smiling into her pillow.

  Jordan stared at Mac. “A washcloth?”

  “You concerned you didn’t think of it?”

  “Of course not,” Jordan huffed. He pulled a blanket over Sarah, tucking it under the mattress in case she did something crazy, like fall out of bed. The washcloth in Mac’s hand might have been thoughtful. Even considerate. But that didn’t mean she was anything more than Mac’s housekeeper, bare chest or not.

  Mac stared at Jordan. “I thought you were over at Alex’s place? Sarah went into town ages ago. How did you find her?”

  Jordan pulled the curtains in Sarah’s room. He wasn’t going to tell Mac he’d been worried about her. He’d think Jordan had lost his marbles.

  “Emily sent Alex a picture from Charlie’s. He wanted me to check that everyone was okay.”

  “Last minute wedding nerves will do that to a guy.”

  “I wouldn’t know.” Jordan grabbed an extra pillow off Sarah’s bed and wedged it between her body and the mattress. At least she wouldn’t roll onto her back and choke.

  “She’ll be fine,” Mac said as he walked out of Sarah’s room. “If she needs anything during the night, I’ll be here to help.”

  “You think that makes me feel better?”

  “Depends on where those feelings might be running.”

  Jordan wiped his hand across his face. It was too late at night to discuss the finer points of a non-existent relationship. Especially when that conversation involved a woman who might be engaged.

  He needed to go home and get some sleep. If Sarah didn’t arrive to cook breakfast tomorrow morning, he’d b
e in charge. He wouldn’t be able to whip up any pancakes, but he could put cereal on the counter and bread in the toaster.

  “Let me know if you need anything,” Jordan said on his way out the front door. “If you see Sarah in the morning, ask her to call me if she can’t get across to make breakfast.”

  Mac looked at him oddly, then followed him out of the ranch house and down the porch steps. “She likes dancing. The old fashioned sort, like waltzes and foxtrots.”

  Jordan had been reaching for his keys. He stopped and tried to figure out where Mac was going. “You mean, Sarah?”

  “Yeah. I’ll let you work out the rest.”

  Jordan opened his door and leaned against the side of his truck. “Has anyone ever told you you’re a crazy cowboy?”

  “All the time.” Mac laughed and turned to go back inside. “But you’d be even crazier not to do anything about Sarah. If you’re that way inclined.”

  Jordan thought about where his inclinations might take him.

  Halfway home he realized his inclinations wouldn’t be going anywhere. Sarah had a fiancé. He held a glimmer of hope that he was an ex-fiancé, considering she’d called him a bastard. But that didn’t change the fact that she’d fallen in love with an educated, city-slicker, brain-box.

  He didn’t hold out much hope in the romance department. He had more debt than brains and didn’t know one end of a database from the other.

  Not exactly groundbreaking reasons why she’d consider getting to know him better.

  ***

  Sarah parked Alex’s spare truck beside Jordan’s home. It was six-fifteen in the morning and her head felt like a firecracker had exploded between her eyeballs.

  Mac had looked at her suspiciously when she’d grabbed a mug of coffee. She didn’t know how much of last night he’d witnessed, but she wasn’t too proud of herself. She’d never gotten drunk before, never had a hangover, or left her car in a parking lot because she couldn’t drive home.

  A door slammed behind her and she squinted across the yard at Jordan. He stopped in his tracks and stared at her. A rush of heat hit her in the face.

  If she’d thought Mac was bad enough, Jordan was worse. He’d seen her when she’d been drunk. He’d taken her home, reduced what was left of her pride to the size of the bowl sitting beside her bed.