by Susan Meier
Cooper turned to look at the snow again. “I think a truce is a good idea.”
“Okay. Great. Now we can be civil.”
He nodded and relaxed a little, but not completely. He may no longer fear that she wanted something from him, but that didn’t stop his sexual attraction. Because he was a responsible adult he would curb it, but controlling it required being wise about distance and proximity, and also being careful about the conversational topics he chose.
Luckily, the weather was always safe. “I’ve never seen snow fall like this before.”
“I have. A few times.” She paused, then said, “Daphne, honey, don’t grab the cards.”
Cooper faced the table again. Zoe held the baby on her lap with one arm and used the other hand to grasp Daphne’s little fingers to keep them away from the cards.
She smiled up at him. “Would it be out of line for me to ask you to put that red seven on that black eight?”
He glanced down, saw the play she mentioned, and shifted the seven of hearts to the eight of spades.
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” He almost turned again to the window, but courtesy wouldn’t let him. “Want the red four on the black five?”
“What red four?”
“This one,” he said, taking the card from its spot on the board and placing it on the five.
“Oh. Didn’t see that. Thanks.”
He took a seat across the table, grabbed the card stack, and asked, “Do you play one card at a time or three?”
“Three.”
“Do you shuffle them or play them in order?”
She gave him a horrified look. “I play them in order. Anything else is trying to beat the odds! I play fair.”
He stifled a smile. This woman had some set of morals. “Okay. Whatever.” He counted off three cards and placed them face up so she could see her play options.
She sighed. “That card goes nowhere. Try again.”
He counted off the next three cards and slapped them on the table.
“Oh, an ace!” She glanced at him. “You know where that goes.”
He stifled another smile at her enthusiasm and put the ace of spades at the top of her play area. He jutted his chin toward the cards on the table. “Want that two of spades up here?”
She nodded, but said nothing else as she examined the board. Daphne screeched, trying to pull her hand free of Zoe’s.
“If I let your hand go,” Zoe said to her baby, “will you promise not to touch the cards?”
Daphne only screeched again.
“I’m not sure I’d take that as a yes,” Cooper cautioned and the little girl grinned toothlessly at him. She was an adorable kid. Her eyes were big and blue, like her mom’s, and her hair was so light it sometimes looked white.
“I agree. But I can’t sit here holding her hand all morning. It’s probably driving her crazy.” She released Daphne’s hand and the little girl instantly pounded it on the table.
Cooper began sliding the cards in play away from Daphne and closer to himself. He was surprised that he only had to move them three inches to get them out of her reach.
Zoe smiled her thanks.
Cooper’s heart did a somersault. It was so damned unfair to be alone in a cabin with a woman this good-looking and not be able to even try to seduce her.
“You’re a natural at handling babies.”
He cleared his throat. “Like I said, I did have those three calves last year.”
She laughed. Cooper counted out three more cards and set them on the growing stack.
“Put that red nine on the black ten.”
He did as she asked.
“Black eight on the red nine,” she said with a nod toward the card. He made the move.
Studying the board, looking for additional plays, she said, “So, you own a ranch.”
He realized he’d set himself up for the question since his ranch was the only thing he’d spoken about and the only conversational opening she had. But the last thing he wanted to talk about was the ranch. It only reminded him that he was forking out his herd money because his brothers hated him.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t ignore her when they’d finally found a way to be amiable. “Yeah. I own a ranch.”
“And you drive a truck?”
“Yeah.”
“So who watches the calves while you’re away?”
“They’re not exactly like Daphne. I don’t have to put them in day care.”
She nodded. “So you just leave everything alone, jump in your truck and go?”
“No. It’s not that easy, either.”
Daphne patted Zoe’s face and screeched. Zoe caught her hand. “Would you mind…” She sighed. “No. Forget it. I’ll do it.”
“Do what?”
“Get a rattle from her diaper bag,” Zoe said, but she rose and began walking toward the bedroom where he knew she had stashed the baby’s things. When she returned, Daphne was chewing on something that looked like a blue plastic pretzel.
“I could have gotten that.”
Zoe shook her head. “Right.”
“Are you back to showing me how strong you are?”
She glanced at him. “I don’t know. Are you going to tell me who babysits your cows?”
“You’re basing how you react to me on the fact that I didn’t tell you I have a partner?”
“I’m basing how I treat you on how you treat me. You’ll help with my card game because you’re bored, but you won’t tell me about your life—even the insignificant fact that you have a partner—because you don’t trust me. And since you don’t trust me, that makes you suspicious. People are typically suspicious of other people because they aren’t trustworthy themselves…. So…” She shrugged. “I didn’t think it wise to let you rummage through my stuff.”
He stared at her. “Are you kidding me? You think I’m some kind of criminal because I won’t tell you about myself?”
She shrugged. “No, I just don’t think you’re trustworthy.”
“I’m one of the most trustworthy people on the face of the earth!”
“Yeah. Right. That’s why you’re so suspicious.”
“I’m not suspicious. I’m simply not much of a people person.”
She didn’t answer, only stared at him until he couldn’t take it anymore and said, “What?”
“I’m waiting for you to tell me why you’re not a people person.”
He laughed. “Why should I?”
“Oh, come on. We’re here in the middle of a snowstorm. Nine chances out of ten when we get out of here Monday, we’ll never see each other again. This is like a fantasy or something. It’s our one chance to pour our hearts out to a member of the opposite sex and get some answers.”
He stared at her. “That is your fantasy.”
She was silent for a minute, then she said, “Well, I never actually thought of it as a fantasy, per se. But I have thought that just once I would like to sit a man down and ask him some pointed questions so I can figure out what the hell makes your gender tick.”
“Well, honey, I’ve got a fantasy, too. And it also involves being stranded with a member of the opposite sex. And we communicate, too. Except we don’t talk. We communicate on that extraspecial level that doesn’t require talking. You know what I’m saying?”
Her eyes narrowed. “You want me to have sex with you?”
He smiled.
“A stranger?” she said, horrified.
“Women.” He laughed and shook his head. “Look, honey, it’s every bit as preposterous for me to pour my heart out to someone I don’t know as it is for you to have sex with someone you don’t know.” He shoved his chair away from the table and started toward the kitchen. “I’m going to make another pot of coffee,” he said, but he stopped suddenly because something she’d said had finally penetrated his thick brain. They really wouldn’t see each other after the snowplow went through. Monday morning when they parted company, it would be as if they h
ad never met. He could tell her every damned tidbit and morsel about his life and it wouldn’t matter.
In fact, it was beginning to sound like a nice compromise. And why shouldn’t it? She wanted to talk. He wanted to spend the weekend engaged in a more pleasurable pursuit.
They could both get what they wanted.
He faced her. “You know what? I really would like for you to think about my offer. No. Let’s call it a proposition. If you agree to spend Daphne’s next nap having no-strings-attached sex with me, I’ll talk your ear off. I’ll tell you absolutely everything you want to know.” He stopped and grinned. “And here’s a teaser. I haven’t spoken with my brothers in eight years. They recently bought the mortgage to my ranch and they are foreclosing.”
Zoe blinked at him.
“The story behind all this is rich and juicy…” He smiled again. “Curious?”
Chapter Three
God help her, she was curious. But not curious enough to have sex with a stranger. That was simply a ridiculous suggestion, even if she had experienced a zing of sexual awareness when he’d said it.
Not because he was good-looking. Physical attractiveness might be part of the reason she reacted to Cooper Bryant, but it was the ease with which he slid them into a negotiation for what he wanted that caused her blood to heat in her veins. He had no compunction about going after what he wanted. He wanted her. He said it. He negotiated for it. After months of focusing only on caring for her baby, having a man behave so boldly was a stark reminder that she had more facets to her personality than simply being a mother. She was also a woman. No matter how outrageous his suggestion, it was still flattering.
She shivered and decided she’d simply been without male attention for too long and told herself to stop thinking with her hormones. Particularly since she suspected he’d been either trying to shut her up or joking when he’d made his suggestion. Except she didn’t think he’d been kidding about his family. The words had come out too quickly for him to make them up on the spur of the moment. She would bet her last fifty cents there really was a story there.
And she intended to get it. Not so much because she was nosy as bored. Plus, his mentioning his family might have been a subconscious clue that he needed to talk. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have brought them up. Because she didn’t think it was possible for anybody to be trapped with another person for two days and not talk, she knew she could get this story out of him. In fact, she decided to make it a game. Having a purpose to the long, empty hours that stretched ahead of them was a much better way to pass the time than playing cards.
She considered for a second that initiating any kind of cat-and-mouse game with him might be dangerous. His additional life experience probably made him quicker, sharper than she was. Worse, if he hadn’t been joking when he’d made his suggestion, he’d very clearly told her what he wanted in exchange for his story. If she wasn’t careful, she might find herself in his trap.
Nah. He wasn’t that clever. And she was a lot smarter than people believed a blonde could be. She would know if she was getting herself in over her head and she would simply drop back.
While Cooper made the coffee, Zoe fed Daphne the remains of her bottle and the little girl fell asleep. Though Zoe’s daughter typically didn’t take a nap after every bottle, today Daphne seemed listless and cranky. Zoe gently set the sleeping baby in the middle of the bed and Daphne didn’t stir. Curious, Zoe sat beside her. After a close inspection, she noticed the Daphne’s cheeks were a brighter pink than usual. She placed her palm on the baby’s forehead and realized she had a fever.
Having been a mother for six months, Zoe didn’t panic. She had a thermometer and a bottle of pain reliever/fever reducer in her diaper bag. She would use one to find out if she needed the other. She rose from the bed and rummaged through the baby things until she found both and set them on the dresser for easy access when Daphne woke up.
Then she stood by the bed, not quite sure what to do.
There weren’t many options in a house in the woods during a storm. With Daphne asleep, Zoe’s only choice was to go out to the great room. But then she would be tempted to talk to Cooper and that wasn’t a good idea. She didn’t want to talk too much or too soon. He would recognize she was digging and he would clam up. Or, worse, remind her of his proposition. If getting him to open up was going to be the big weekend challenge that kept her from dying of boredom, she had to be smart about it.
At the same time, she couldn’t stay in the bedroom as if she were afraid of him. That could make him believe he had the upper hand and every time he wanted something, all he would have to do would be suggest they sleep together. The trick to getting Cooper’s family secret would be balance. Casualness. She had to project an attitude that said she was comfortable with him but not overly interested. Eventually, out of sheer boredom he would reveal a bit here and a piece there, and pretty soon, he would have confided his whole sordid tale.
That sounded like the perfect way to handle her challenge, so Zoe cast one more glance at sleeping Daphne. The baby appeared peaceful, but she wouldn’t be asleep forever. When she awakened, probably achy and miserable if she had caught a virus, Daphne would be whiny and weepy and Zoe would have to dedicate her full attention to her.
Best to get into the great room now while she had some time and start making friends so she could get Cooper Bryant’s story.
With one last peek at Daphne, Zoe left the bedroom and strolled into the great room. Cooper had pushed the two TV chairs out of the way and replaced them with the sofa where he currently lay watching television.
“What’s on?”
“Basketball.” He gave her a pained look that somehow made him look extremely masculine and sexy. “You’re not going to ask me to change channels, are you?”
Telling herself to stop noticing how sexy he was, she glanced at the screen. Sports. She’d simply never found a way to get interested in them. But she wasn’t the type of person to begrudge another of his pleasure. Besides, letting him have this favor was a great way to begin showing him she was kind and trustworthy—somebody he could talk to.
She smiled at Cooper, as one friend smiled at another. “No, you watch. I’m fine. I can play solitaire.”
Without acknowledging her warm expression in any way, Cooper settled into the sofa and glued his gaze to the screen. He didn’t so much as grunt a thanks.
Well, whatever. Part of gaining his trust was not pushing for an answer when he didn’t believe any was required. She had to show him she accepted him as he was so he would feel comfortable telling her his big juicy life secret.
She sat at the poker table and saw that her original solitaire game hadn’t been disturbed. She resumed play and within three or four moves realized that the game was lost. She gathered the cards and started again. Within a few plays, though, that game was lost, too. So she gathered, dealt and started again. Another loser. Another deal. Another loss. Deal. Loss. Deal. Loss.
She squeezed her eyes shut. She didn’t mind being unlucky, but being unlucky while bored could drive anyone insane.
She glanced longingly at the television, then at Cooper. Were his eyes closed?
She slowly rose from the poker table and walked to the head of the sofa. Peering down, she confirmed that his eyes were tightly shut and realized he wasn’t watching the game. He was sleeping through the game.
Unfortunately, he was also holding the remote. On his stomach. Right about belt level.
After all the reactions she’d been having to him since he’d made his preposterous proposition, she wasn’t sure touching him in any way, shape or form was wise. But the man was sleeping and she wanted the TV.
Studying the perfect male specimen stretched out before her, Zoe got another of those zings of attraction. He was solid man. Somebody who worked for his muscles, didn’t just work out. In his jeans and plaid shirt he was nothing but pure, unadulterated man. He was so gorgeous any woman would have reactions to him.
Which mean
t she was perfectly normal, and she shouldn’t be making a big deal out of simply taking the remote from his hand. Because it wasn’t a big deal. He was attractive and she noticed. So what? It wasn’t as if the remote was on his upper thigh. It was on his stomach. No big deal.
Slowly, quietly, she reached down, loosely gripped the top of the remote and began sliding it from his hold. But before it was even halfway out, his free hand came up and clamped around her wrist.
Without opening his eyes he said, “If you’re taking me up on my proposition, I want to be awake for that. Actually, I think I need to be awake for that.”
Heart racing, Zoe snatched her wrist from his grasp and jumped back. “I wasn’t taking you up on your proposition! I want the remote.”
“You said I could watch television.”
“Yeah, but then you fell asleep…” Damn it! Her heart wouldn’t slow down. Her limbs were trembling. He’d just about scared her lungs into collapsing.
“I wasn’t asleep. I was listening to the game.”
“Right,” she scoffed.
“I really was,” he said, then gave her the exact score.
Because basketball was a game where points could be added in a matter of seconds, she knew he wasn’t lying and, chastising herself for having any kind of attraction to such an idiot, she went back to the poker table. Before she sat, however, she heard Daphne stir so she changed direction and went to check on her.
As Zoe entered the bedroom, Daphne opened her eyes and Zoe saw they were glassy. Combining the look in Daphne’s eyes with her now bright red cheeks could have been enough to confirm that she had a fever, but wanting to be safe rather than sorry, Zoe took the thermometer to check Daphne’s exact temperature. Sure enough, it was above normal. Not high enough to worry, but high enough to warrant medicine.
After setting the thermometer on the dresser again, Zoe reached down to lift the baby from the center of the double bed and turned toward the door. Grabbing the medicine with her free hand, she headed for the kitchen. Apparently dazed from her virus, Daphne didn’t even whimper until Zoe slid the teaspoon of liquid medicine on her tongue, then her lips trembled and she opened her mouth to protest and a red stream of fever reducer poured from each corner.