Free Secret Love by Brenda Jackson Page B

pull, this overwhelming urge.
    Taking another deep breath, Jake pulled Diamond’sdress down and gently lifted her out of his lap and placed her back in her seat. Without saying another word, he opened his side of the vehicle, got out and walked around to hers. Opening her door, he picked her up in his arms and carried her to the door and placed her on her feet.
    The light on the porch created an intimacy neither of them needed right now. He stepped back, knowing he couldn’t dare touch her again. He kept his gaze steady with hers, trying not to notice her lips, swollen and moist from his kiss, and the longing and wanting that were still in her eyes.
    “Do you want me to leave Whispering Pines?”
    Her whispered question broke the quiet stillness of the night. “No,” he whispered, when deep down he knew he should be saying yes. “No, I don’t want you to leave. What I want is for us to know that it will never work.”
    “And you’re sure of that, Jacob?”
    “Yes, so accept that as I have. In the meantime, we’ll have to be mature enough to deal with it. We’re not two animals whose only urge is to mate. We’re two intelligent human beings who can recognize when a situation won’t work. This is one of them. I don’t want to hurt you and I refuse to let you hurt me.”
    “And you think I will hurt you?”
    “Yes. I discovered long ago that nothing is usually as it should be, not the way you’d like it to be.” He took a step back. “I’ll be by early in the morning to get you for the cattle drive, since you’re determined to go on our first day out. Good night, Diamond.”
    She watched him walk back to his Jeep and leave.

Chapter 8
    J ake wasn’t surprised the next morning to find Diamond dressed and enjoying a mug of coffee when he arrived at the cabin during the predawn hours.
    To make matters simple, he had saddled up a horse at the ranch, a mare he’d felt would be easy enough for her to handle, and had hitched the animal to his horse and brought it along. Diamond had been standing on the deck, waiting for him when he’d ridden up. She had immediately put down her mug and smiled, evidently pleased with his choice of a horse for her.
    “She’s beautiful, Jacob,” she said, as she took a good look at the horse she would be riding that day. She reached up to touch the animal’s muzzle. Diamond’s smile widened when the horse nickered and playfully tossed her head.
    You’re beautiful, too, Jake thought as he watched Diamond interact with the huge palomino. Even now he doubted she was wearing makeup, but the smooth freshness of her dark skin, her eyes the color of whisky and the fullness of her lips made her a delectable sight early in the morning.
    “I’m glad you like her. She belongs to one of my nieces, but I’m sure she won’t mind your riding her. Christy’s a real big fan of yours.”
    Diamond glanced up at Jake and smiled again, the same smile she gave him whenever she saw him, the one with the ability to stir his insides.
    “Are you ready to ride?”
    Diamond nodded. “Yes, I’m all set.”
    Jake watched as she mounted the mare, not surprised with the ease with which she did so. According to what she’d told Blaylock yesterday, which the older man had been most eager to share with him and the men over breakfast, was the fact that Diamond was not a greenhorn when it came to riding a horse. Although she had not been raised on a ranch, as a child her father had made sure she had gotten numerous riding lessons.
    “Then let’s go,” Jake said, turning his horse toward the north pastures. He decided to set out at a slow pace. It would be a long workday and he didn’t want to tire out the horses too soon.
    They rode in silence. Jake tried not to think about what had transpired between them the night before and knew that nothing had truly been resolved. If the truth were known, he wanted her now more than ever. His suggestion that they behave like two intelligent human beings and not