“Yesterday.”
“Carrying anything?”
“Another buckle, what else? You didn’t expect me to come home empty-handed, did you?” Jacob gestured at the desk. “Looks like you’ve got your hands full, too.”
“Same as always.” The manager position had him spending almost as much time shuffling papers as working with his wranglers on the ranch. Considering he did most of the paperwork in his own comfortable living room while watching Rosie play with her toys a few feet from him, he wouldn’t have traded the job for anything.
Yet, Monday night, he’d come much too close to throwing all his good fortune away.
“Haven’t seen you around the arena much lately,” Jacob said.
“I’ve been too busy to ride for pleasure.” Luke looked at the order forms spread across the desk in front of him. “But that’s going to change. In the near future, I’ll be spending plenty of time out there.”
In the past couple of days, Brock had asked more than once if he’d worked with Carly. Luke had come to the conclusion that he had no way out of the situation. Refusing would cost him this job and his chances of getting another one.
Like it or not, he was going to follow the boss’s orders and give Carly Baron the tips that could help make her a champion bull rider.
What she did with the info was up to her.
How things went between them from now on was up to him.
He damned well wasn’t going to come on to her the way he had Monday night. And yet, all week long, the memory of her with her shirt half off and her mouth close kept making it impossible for him to stay focused.
He shoved the order forms into a pile and clamped his jaw shut, knowing he couldn’t say any of this to Jacob.
Friendship was one thing, family another. If he had a sister, he’d probably deck any man who walked around fantasizing over her. But no sisters for him. No brothers, either. He did have a daughter, though....
Lord help any guy Rosie brought home.
“It’ll be good to see you out at the arena again. But what’s got you thinking about more than the job all of a sudden?” Jacob asked. “Or should I say who?”
Luke tensed. “What are you talking about?”
“Your little tryst with my sister the other night, for one thing.”
Damn. What the hell had Carly told her family?
“‘Tryst?’” he repeated, stalling for time, straining to get his reactions under control. “I didn’t think you even knew that word, buddy. Is that what she called it?”
“She who?” Jacob grinned.
Luke gathered up his paperwork and shoved the file under his arm. “Carly, of course. Unless you’re accusing me of putting the moves on a married woman.”
“I wouldn’t know what she called it, since Jet and I only saw her from a distance, walking home from your place. We were on the way out of here, and then I left town. I haven’t seen her yet to ask her any specifics about it.”
“No need to. I’ll tell you. There was no tryst. I gave her a ride home.”
“That’s it? That’s what she told Jet.”
Relief shot through him. He rounded the desk. “Out of the way. I’m headed home.”
Jacob followed him from the barn. “I’m disappointed in you, man. Carly’s a good-looking woman.”
Luke gaped at him. “She’s also your sister. And you’re...promoting the idea of me going out with her?”
“You could do worse.” Jacob laughed. “Although, she’d run you ragged in no time. That girl doesn’t give in on anything. What she will give you is a right hook, instead of listening to reason.” He rubbed his jaw. “I speak from experience.”
“Long-ago experience, I’d bet. She’s got to have grown up some since then.” Luke heard the echo of the words he’d said to her only last week, after he had walked out of this barn and nearly tripped over his own boots when he saw her sitting in the truck just a few hundred yards away.
By now, I would have thought you’d grown up some.
Judging by what he’d seen the other night, in some ways, she sure as hell had.
He forced his attention back to the other man, who stood there blathering.
“Well, yeah,” Jacob was saying, “she’s settled down some since then. But she’ll always have that wild streak in her.”
Irritation flashed through Luke.
Did Jacob and the rest of the family really believe that about Carly?
Did that explain why she’d always tried so hard to put on the wild-girl act whenever he was around?
* * *
THE PEACH PIT looked to be doing a booming business, judging by the number of vehicles littering the area around the small building. As he entered the main room, Luke couldn’t help grinning. Savannah had gotten herself into a sweet little deal here—much to Brock’s surprise.
When they had talked yesterday, Jacob told him she and her new husband were leaving today for a couple of weeks, finally taking their honeymoon. Her assistant, Gina, smiled at him from behind the front counter, where she stood boxing up some tarts. “Luke,” she said, tilting her head, “your pie’s all ready for you in the workroom.”
Nodding his thanks, he crossed to the far side of the room.
He stopped in once a week to pick up one of the Peach Pit’s specialties—and one of Rosie’s favorite desserts. She had been cutting new teeth for a while now, and a few mouthfuls of soft, cold peaches would be both a treat and a way to help soothe her. At least, for a few minutes. After that, he’d resort to the refrigerated teething ring.
He stepped into the workroom and found a sight to soothe him, too.
Alan Jackson sang from a CD player on a shelf above one of the workbenches, and Carly accompanied him, oblivious to any footsteps and unaware that he stood watching.
He hadn’t seen her in days now, not since the morning at the arena, when she’d raced off on Pal as though he’d set a couple of herd dogs after them. And before that, at his house, when he’d...acted like a real dog himself.
He’d need to behave a sight better than that if he planned to work with her. And he did. There was no avoiding it.
No avoiding his reaction to seeing her now, either.
She was hunkered down in front of the bench, tugging at a plastic-strapped pile of flattened cardboard boxes. The worn denim of her jeans pulled tight over her curves. A sweet treat better than peach pie any day, even Savannah’s. His mouth watered. His hands itched. And before he could stop himself, he’d sauntered over to stand just behind her.
“Need help?”
She let out a little shriek and stood, nearly cracking her shoulder on the edge of the table on the way up. She slapped the off button on the CD player and glared at him. “For Pete’s sake, Luke. What are you doing here?”
“Came to see you.”
“Right. And Daddy’s converting the practice arena into a baseball training camp.”
He laughed, though the reminder of Brock Baron and the arena set him on edge. “What are you doing here?”
“Filling in for Savannah while she’s on her honeymoon.”
Something Jacob hadn’t mentioned the last time they met. But as Jacob didn’t live on the ranch, maybe he hadn’t known about the working arrangements. “I’m surprised your daddy went along with that, since you’re supposed to be here to nurse him back to health.”
“Considering all the time I was spending with him, I needed a break for my mental health.”
“How’s the rest of you doing?”
She frowned. “What?”
“Your shoulder.”
“Oh. It’s...coming along.” She shot a glance at the table across the room. “Speaking of coming along, I know you didn’t come here to see me. I just remembered Gina said you were stopping in to p
ick up a pie.”
“Can’t I do both?” He smiled. “But first, I’ll pick up those boxes.” He slid the pack out from under the table. “Where do you want ’em?”
“Over there.” She gestured toward the table opposite and mumbled, “Thanks.”
“No problem.” He slid the pack into its new location and cut the plastic tape with his pocketknife. “All ready to go.” She was leaning against the other table. What would she do if he moved in and put his hands on the tabletop on either side of her?
Probably give him a taste of that right hook Jacob had talked about.
He stayed where he was. “The boys were telling me you got in some practice on Twister.” Before she could say anything, he shrugged and continued, “I’ll be happy to give you some advice.”
“Thanks, but what makes you think I need any?”
“How many hours have you clocked on the back of a bull?” he returned.
“On live ones, not many.”
“How many?”
She sighed. “All right. Just the time I’ve spent on Twister this week.”
“Then how about we set up a meet out at the arena. Tomorrow, late afternoon suit you?”
“No, thanks.” She crossed her arms and winced.
“It’s not coming along that well, is it?” An unnecessary question. He couldn’t help noticing that her shoulder was sore. As many times as the cowhands said Twister had tossed her, probably a good many other of her parts hurt, too. Parts he didn’t need to be thinking about....
He sure didn’t wish the pain on her. But at least the situation gave him an excuse, too. A reason to keep his distance.
“It’s just a twinge,” she said. “But between daddy duty and filling in here at the store, I haven’t got a minute to spare.”
That worked in his favor, too. “We’d better hold off, then.” Why did the idea fill him with disappointment? “To tell you the truth, I’m not sure why you want to do something so dangerous as ride bulls, anyhow. Just because it’s the craziest thing you can think of to rile your daddy?”
“Oh, I’ve come up with much wilder plans in my past,” she assured him.
“I’ll bet you have.”
“Besides, I’m beyond that.” She looked away.
“Then what’s with the bull riding? Still looking to find out where you belong?”
Her gaze shot back to his. “I can’t believe you remembered that.”
“Some things, I don’t forget.”
Her shoulders slumped, and she sighed. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s like I once told you. I can’t compete with either of my sisters. And I don’t want to,” she added quickly. “We’re all different, I know that. But Lizzie’s a natural-born executive and a mother hen besides. And Savannah’s such a homebody, so quiet and laid-back, yet she’s gotten exactly what she wanted out of life. They know where they belong. They always have. And I...I don’t know. Maybe bull riding is something I could do well.” She shrugged. “How did we get onto this topic, anyhow? You came in to pick up a pie.”
“Yeah, but while I’m here...” He might’ve gotten off the hook for now about giving her bull-riding lessons. That didn’t excuse him from other obligations. He stepped in closer, conscious of Gina and the customers in the outer room. Carly stiffened, raising her chin. Her blue eyes looked wary. “No need to get uptight. I just wanted to apologize for what happened at my house. And to tell you it won’t happen again.”
“That’s good.”
“Yeah.” Wasn’t it? Then why did her easy acceptance make him feel another shot of disappointment? His conscience knew the answer to that better than he did.
Because you want a second chance at what almost happened Monday night—you damned fool.
That couldn’t be an option. He might not have to work with her, but she was still the boss’s daughter. He had to get along with her. Somehow. “Listen, Carly. We already agreed we can’t go back. But we never settled about going forward. Personally, I don’t see a reason we can’t be friends.”
She looked at him as if he’d just made an indecent suggestion. “Friends?”
“Yeah. You know, folks who stop and chat awhile when they run into each other.”
She stood silent.
He tried again. “Folks who smile at each other once in a while.”
Her mouth flattened into a firm line.
“All right, then, folks who pretend to get along with each other until one of them calms down and they can manage the real thing.”
Her chin raised another notch.
So did his temper. “And especially folks who don’t get their damned backs up the minute things don’t go their way.”
“Down, boy. Your hackles are rising.”
Smug and insulting, all at the same time.
His temper got ready to rip...then she smiled.
“Carly, I swear—” He didn’t know what he wanted to say. He didn’t know what to do. Until her eyes gleamed. The damned woman knew she’d reduced him to standing there babbling like a fool. And she liked the fact.
Carly and his conscience. Between the two of them, he didn’t stand a chance.
So...what the hell...
The look in Luke’s eyes gave Carly full warning. She needed to get the heck out of Dodge. Or least out into the store’s main room, where she would find Gina. Customers. Safety.
But by the time she ran through the list of advantages to leaving, she was trapped—by her own inability to look away from Luke.
Things began to move in slow motion, yet so rapidly they stole her breath.
He reached up to touch her face, to brush his fingers across her cheek. His roughened fingertips made her skin tingle, just the way the ointment on her shoulder had felt the other night. Only instead of cool cream, his fingers were warm and firm, curving along the length of her jaw, catching her chin and tilting it upward.
He moved in closer, towering over her, his body nearly touching hers.
She swallowed hard and pressed her tongue to the back of her teeth, fighting not to lick her lips instinctively. Not to give him any encouragement. Not to play the tease.
As if he understood her struggle, he smiled. As if trying to coax her into the action, anyway, he ran his thumb across her bottom lip. And then, as if he couldn’t stand to wait any longer, he leaned down and kissed her.
It was like the first time they’d kissed, all over again.
It was like nothing she’d ever experienced.
It was like blazing new territory.
It was like coming home.
It was crazy, it was wild.
And allowing it to happen was the dumbest thing she had ever done.
She should have run when she’d had the chance. Should have gone into the other room.
At least she knew better than to let this continue.
She put her hands flat against him, almost losing her determination when the warmth of his chest spread through her palms and fingers. She wanted to curl those fingers into the fabric of his clean white Western shirt and tug him toward her, to pull him closer for another kiss. The intensity of the longing left her reeling.
Somehow, she managed to push him away.
“So, what exactly would you call that?” she demanded, her voice raspy. “An olive branch? A peacekeeping effort? The modern-day equivalent of a handshake?”
“I’d call it a step or two over the line from friendly,” he admitted.
“And not too smart.”
“Maybe not. But nice. Very nice.” He gave her a crooked smile that made her reel just a little more. “And now it’s out of the way.”
“What is?”
“The worry over when it was going to happen.”
“Oh, brother.” He was lucky she didn’t deck
him. The nerve of the man, kissing her to make a point.
“Carly?”
Thank heaven for assistants.
Gina stood in the workroom doorway, smiling at them. “It’s time to close up shop. Did you two take care of business back here?”
So much for thankfulness.
She studied Gina’s face but found no sign of a smirk.
Luke, on the other hand, stood grinning at her. Why not? He’d taken care of business, all right.
The business of making her look like a fool.
Whether or not Gina had seen anything she shouldn’t have, Carly had done something she should never even have contemplated.
“We were chatting,” he told Gina. “I hadn’t gotten around to getting my pie.”
“No problem. I still have to finish my prep for tomorrow.” Gina left the room.
Luke picked up the pastry box Gina had set on the worktable just before his arrival. “Thanks for the pie. But it can’t be as sweet as what I just tasted.”
Her face flaming, Carly bit her tongue and hurried into the outer room. She moved behind the counter to ring up the sale.
“Umm...Carly,” Gina said. “Savannah doesn’t charge Luke or his mom.”
“Really?” She raised her brows.
“Really,” Luke said.
Carly crossed her arms and looked pointedly at the box in his hands. “That’s no way to make a profit. From now on, Savannah ought to make you pay double.”
Gina laughed.
“She’s a tough one, isn’t she?” He spoke to Savannah’s assistant, but his eyes never left Carly’s. “At least, she pretends to be.”
“No pretending about it,” she fibbed, looking back at him without blinking. She needed to make him believe the words. Had to make him think he hadn’t rattled her.
Considering the kiss they had just shared, she felt more desperate than ever to cling to her wild-child reputation. At this point, it seemed like the only defense she had left against him.
Chapter Nine
Carly left her truck in the parking garage and made her way to the lobby of the adjacent downtown Dallas office building.
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