Vanessa Roland stood in front of the kitchen window, the dishes still only half done in the sink, and decided that a good cry was in order. The tears were spilling down her cheeks before she could stop them, anyway. They wouldn't have cared whether or not she thought they were in order.
Outside the window, she could see mountains in the distance, and half a dozen big black cows chewing on alfalfa much closer. In her own backyard. How had she gotten here? It wasn't fair.
She missed the city. She missed her friends. She missed movies and shopping and good restaurants. She missed clean nails and hair that wasn't pulled up in a utilitarian ponytail.
She didn't want to be a farmer's wife. Especially when the farmer wasn't really a farmer. Carl had a business to run. The ranch was his childhood dream, and he was content to come home to it on weekends and spend his weeks in the city. Vanessa hadn't decided how to confront the fact that she knew that the apartment he rented was for more than sleeping and showering.
She allowed herself a gulping, hiccupping sob as she remembered the voice that had answered his phone earlier in the week. The very young feminine voice.
And now she was stuck here, in this god awful place, far from everything and everyone that she loved. And she didn't even have a faithful husband. It just wasn't fair.
"Mrs. Roland? Are you here?"
Vanessa was torn from her self-indulgent cry. She turned off the water, wiped her hands on the floral apron she'd found in the back of one of the kitchen drawers when they moved in, and walked to the door. Her face was red and blotchy. She knew that without looking in a mirror, but there wasn't anything she could do about it.
The man standing on her front porch looked like he'd walked out of someone's cowboy fantasy. Tall, leanly muscular, wearing jeans and a plaid shirt, boots and a cowboy hat. The brim threw his face into shadow. "Can I help you?"
He took his hat off with one hand and held it near his hip. "I'm Jackson Anderson. Your husband asked me to come by and check on you, make sure you didn't need anything while he was gone."
"He did?" Had Carl seen this man? His face was amazing. Strong bones, startlingly light eyes, skin that had been weathered by the sun. His hair was dark, and matching stubble colored his cheeks. She wanted to run her hands over his face. She fisted them in her apron instead.
"My farm is down the road. Your husband hired me to take care of his cattle during the week."
Vanessa raised her eyebrows, anger bubbling up again. "Cattle? Including his wife, huh?"
"Excuse me?"
"That's what I am to him. A fucking cow that he owns and keeps tucked away during the week, to play with on his days off."
"Mrs. Roland, Iβ"
"My name is Vanessa."
"Vanessa. You need to take a breath, honey. You look like you're about to pass out."
She felt it. She leaned against the door jam and tried to do as he said. He took her by the arm and ushered her into her living room. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry. I've met your husband."
A slow blush spread over Vanessa's face. "He's not that bad...he justβ"
"He's not that good."
What had Carl said the last time she caught him cheating on her? "It doesn't mean anything. He just needs things that I can't give him."
"Can't?"
"It doesn't usually bother me so much. When we lived in the city, I had things to distract me. Now all I have is the damn cows." She laughed, but it sounded more like a sob.
Jackson led her to the couch, and she sat, looking up at him. He had a really good mouth. Amazing mouth. A complete foil for the hardness of the rest of his face. "I can't imagine what he's getting somewhere else that he couldn't have right here."
Vanessa didn't know how to explain it. Or why she would even consider trying to explain the sexual component of her marriage to a stranger. "He loves me."
Jackson sat next to her. Close to her, so that she could feel the summer sun that had stored its energy in him while he stood outside. She thought he was going to argue with her. Instead he reached one big hand out and smoothed it over her hair. His fingers caught in the clasp holding it back into a ponytail, and he tugged at it.
Her hair fell over her shoulders and halfway down her back in a mess of neglected honey blonde curls. Jackson dug his fingers into it, his hands cupping the back of her head, and lowered his face until his perfect mouth covered hers.
His kiss was hot, demanding. He held her head, and tilted her face up to him. Her lips parted for his tongue. He moved one hand down to her waist and tugged her into his lap.