Free The Cowboy and the Cougar by Helen Hardt Page A

don’t mind."
    "Not at all."
    "Okay." He gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek. "After you’re done with Sam’s story, I have a special surprise for you."
    "Oh you do?" She arched her eyebrows, hoping she could pull off a seductive look.
    "Get your mind out of the gutter, sugar. Though I have plans for that kind of surprise as well. This is something tangible. And you’re gonna love it."
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Ten
     
     
    "It’s me, sugar."
    Holly inhaled, her skin tingling, as she gazed upon the beautiful painting of the boy on the horse she’d wanted to buy at Professor Fleming’s exhibit. She and Jack stood in his small den which was next to the kitchen. The canvas sat upright on a camel-colored leather sofa.
    "That’s why it wasn’t for sale. It belongs to me. I loaned it to Mark for the showing. He painted it when I was six, just Sam’s age. I want you to have it."
    She gasped as tiny tingles raced across her flesh. He was giving it to her? Something so precious? As much as she adored the painting, she couldn’t take it. It wouldn’t be fair, not when she wouldn’t be sticking around.
    "Jack, I can’t accept it. It’s something special from your godfather to you."
    "But I want you to have it. I saw the way you looked at it. You have an appreciation for it that I can never share. I mean, it means a lot to me because it’s from Mark, but you understand the art. What he was tryin’ to convey. To me it’s just a pretty painting."
    "How can you say that? Okay, maybe you’re not that into art, but he painted it out of love for you. Can’t you see it? It’s all right there on the canvas. This is more to you than a work of art, Jack. Much more."
    "I understand that. Honestly, I do. And I want to give it to you."
    "But that means...."
    "It means you mean a lot to me, too."
    Holly’s heart dropped to her tummy. God, she loved this man. She was so head over heels in love she couldn’t tell up from down. But as much as she loved him and as much as she adored the painting, she couldn’t accept it. To do so would be to perpetuate a lie, a lie she’d already been perpetuating far longer than she should have. She knew better. She and Jack had no future and it was time to tell him why.
    A tear trickled down her cheek. She’d lose him today.
    Forever.
    His long finger wiped the tear from her face. "What’s wrong?"
    "It’s a beautiful painting, Jack. And even more beautiful is the sentiment behind it and the fact that you want me to have it."
    "You’re beautiful, Holly. The most beautiful woman I know, inside and out."
    But he didn’t know her inside. That was the problem.
    She took a deep breath, opened her mouth, and....
    "Jack, tell me about Sam’s mother."
    Fucking coward .
    He smiled. "Does this mean you accept my gift?"
    No. "It means I’ll think about it."
    "Okay, good enough. For now. What do you want to know?"
    "Let’s start with her name."
    "Isabel Watkins. She was a cocktail waitress in a small ranching town on the eastern plains. She was nineteen and needy, I was twenty-two and horny. That about sums it up."
    "Was she pretty?"
    "Pretty enough. Not as pretty as you."
    "Jack...."
    "Yeah, she was pretty. Had dark eyes and hair like me, which explains why Sam looks like he does."
    "Sam looks just like you. He’s the spitting image of you in the painting."
    "Yeah, a little."
    "A lot. You’re both beautiful."
    "Shucks, ma’am," he drawled, "I ain’t beautiful."
    She swatted him in the arm. "Of course you are, and you know it. You’ve surprised me at every turn, Jack. I never would have imagined that my hot one-night stand would turn out to be such a fine man."
    "I don’t go out lookin’ for one nighters, Holly. I want you to know that. Sam came from a one nighter, but I was younger then. Not as discriminating."
    She grinned. "Just a young and horny cowboy, huh?"
    "Something like that."
    "You’re more than just a horny cowboy. More than just a nude model. Though I can certainly see