“Doesn’t change the fact that you like her,” David said with a shrug.
Before Caden could respond, Erin turned and grabbed his arms.
“Great news,” she shouted over the din of the brewpub. “Lucy’s agreed to help with the adoption event.”
Caden shrugged off her hold and shook his head. “I didn’t ask for her help.”
Erin frowned. “Don’t be rude again.”
“I’m not—”
“You need her.”
“I don’t,” he said through clenched teeth.
Erin pointed a finger at him. “How much of the marketing plan I created have you implemented at this point?”
“I’ve been busy on the ranch.”
“Exactly. Lucy has retail experience in sales and marketing. She’s going to take over for you to make sure we have enough publicity for the event.”
Caden looked over Erin’s shoulder to Lucy. “If you don’t want my help,” she muttered, “it’s not a big deal.”
“It is a big deal,” Erin insisted. “Ever since word got out that Caden would take on stray animals, people have been bringing them to him left and right. It’s too much. An adoption event right before Christmas is the perfect way to find good families for your sweet babies.”
Caden felt color rise up his throat when Lucy’s mouth kicked up at one corner. “I wouldn’t call them my sweet babies.”
Erin threw up her hands. “You have a certified therapy bunny, Caden. Play the hardened cowboy all you want, but we know you’re a big softy at heart.”
“We do,” Lucy agreed, her eyes dancing with amusement.
“I don’t even know why I agreed to open the barn. I can find homes for the animals on my own.”
“The adoption event is happening, and Lucy’s going to help,” Erin said in the same tone of voice he imagined she used to quiet a room of rowdy five-year-olds.
Caden looked at David. “You’ve got your hands full.”
“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” David answered.
“I’m so glad we met tonight,” Erin said to Lucy as she pulled her in for a tight hug. “I have a feeling we’re going to be great friends.”
Caden’s focus sharpened as he watched Lucy go stiff. All the humor disappeared from her gaze, and instead she looked like someone had just punched her in the gut.
“It was...um...nice to meet you,” she said quickly. “But I’m kind of jet-lagged, so I should probably head back to the ranch. Have a good night.”
She turned and fled, weaving through the crowd so quickly that Caden lost sight of her within a few seconds.
“Was it something I said?” Erin asked quietly.
“Nah, honey.” David reached across the bar to smooth his fiancée’s hair away from her face. “You were brilliant. I’m just not sure Caden’s Lucy is used to having someone as sweet as you offer to be her friend.”
Caden felt his jaw clench. “She’s not mine.”
“Not if you don’t catch up to her,” David agreed.
Caden knew the smart thing to do would be bellying up to the bar and ordering another beer. Lucy Renner seemed plenty capable of taking care of herself. He sure didn’t need her infringing on his life, his friends or his animals. He needed her gone.
He took a breath and turned to find Erin and David staring at him with equally knowing looks on their faces.
“Damn,” he muttered and took off toward Elevation’s front entrance.
* * *
It had started snowing while Lucy was in the bar. Big, fluffy flakes streamed down from the sky, glowing in the light of a nearby streetlamp and lending a sense of peace to Crimson’s Main Street. Lucy would have stopped and tipped up her face to catch a snowflake on her tongue if she wasn’t in such a hurry to get away.
She felt like a fool rushing out of Elevation and away from a woman who’d been nothing but kind to her. When was the last time Lucy’d had a girlfriend?
She almost laughed out loud at the thought. Her mother had always taught her that other girls, and later women, were to be viewed as competition and not to be trusted.
As much as Lucy knew her mother’s ideas on female friendships were wrong, some part of the message had sunk in and she’d never seemed to be able to make lasting friendships. Maybe because whenever another woman made a friendly overture, she freaked out like she did with Erin.
At least Caden was probably happy she was gone.
Of course, she had no idea where she was headed. She needed to get her bearings and find a taxi or Uber to get her back to the ranch. But it was hard to slow down when it felt like running away was what she did best.
Heavy footsteps sounded on the sidewalk behind her, and she glanced over her shoulder to see Caden approaching. She hated to admit how happy she’d been to see him at the bar.
Chad and his friends were fun, but they were immature boys compared to Caden. Even though he’d never been anything but gruff and rude with her, she felt an odd sense of comfort when he was around.
As usual, he was scowling when he caught up to her. “Where’s your jacket?” he demanded.
She looked down at the thin sweater she’d chosen for the night, along with skinny jeans and ankle-high boots that allowed a tiny strip of skin to show below the hem of her jeans. It was amazing how cold that little bit of exposed skin had gotten already.
Caden, in contrast, wore dark jeans, well-worn cowboy boots and a heavy canvas jacket that looked deliciously warm. She shivered as his gaze raked over her, and she wasn’t quite sure whether it was in response to the cold or the intensity of his green eyes.
“I didn’t wear one.”
“Are you trying to catch your death of cold?”
Lucy clapped a hand over her mouth when a giggle bubbled up unexpectedly. “You sound like a grandma.”
“At least little old ladies have the common sense to wear a coat in Colorado in the middle of December.”
She shrugged. “We were going to a bar in Chad’s heated truck. I didn’t think I’d need a coat.” At the mention of heat, her body seemed to register the below-freezing temperature of the winter night. A shiver coursed through her and her teeth started to chatter.
“Let’s go,” Caden ordered, unbuttoning his heavy coat and wrapping it around her shoulders. She almost sighed as the residual warmth from his body enveloped her.
“You don’t have to do that,” she said even as she pulled the jacket tight around her.
“My dad will kill me if I let you freeze to death.” He took her elbow none too gently and began to steer her toward a dark gray truck parked next to the curb.
“I’m fine on my own. I can call a cab.”
He laughed. “In Crimson?”
“Or I’ll Uber a ride.”
“Don’t read too much into this. We’re going to the same place. I can drive you back to the ranch. I’m not asking you to wear my high school ring.”
Caden held open the truck’s passenger-side door as she climbed in. He might not like her, but this cowboy was a gentleman. Lucy couldn’t remember ever being with a man who had such decent manners.
“Do boys still give their girlfriends a class ring to wear?” She pulled the seat belt around her and giggled again. “Or letter jackets? Is this canvas coat like the ranch version of a high school letterman’s jacket?”
Caden leaned closer and stared into her eyes. “Are you drunk?”
She pushed him away. “No. I had a couple of beers when we first got to Elevation.”
“Talking nonsense is a symptom of hypothermia.” He slammed the door shut before she could respond. A moment later he climbed into the driver’s side and turned on the car.
“I’m not hypothermic,” she said through her teeth as he cranked up the heat and adjusted the ve
nts to blow on her. “It was a joke.”
His hand stilled for a moment, and he glanced over at her as if he was unfamiliar with the concept.
“Chad shouldn’t have left you,” he said, pulling out into the middle of the deserted street.
“I haven’t seen snow like this for years,” Lucy told him, ignoring the comment about the young ranch hand. Truly, she was happy Chad had made the connection with the girl he wanted. There was something about the snow that made the night feel particularly intimate, and someone should be taking advantage of it.
“How long have you lived in Florida?”
“Mom and I moved from Indiana when I was eleven.”
“Why?”
She hesitated, then admitted, “She’d met someone at the restaurant where she worked. Jerry had come to Indianapolis for business.”
“Husband number two or three?” Caden asked quietly.
“Two.” Lucy sighed. “He was a good man. He treated me like a real daughter.”
“But it didn’t last?”
He asked the question casually, but she couldn’t help but wonder if he was digging for information to use against her mother. “They wanted different things from life.”
Caden arched a brow but didn’t say anything else. She pressed her fingertips to the side window, then to her cheek, hoping the cold would calm the blush she could feel rising to her face.
As much as she didn’t want to admit it, on the surface Caden was right in so many of his assessments of her mother. But what he didn’t see was that Maureen never went into a relationship with malicious intent. At least, not as far as Lucy had ever been able to tell. Her mother always seemed to believe she was head over heels in love with whatever man she’d set her cap for in the moment. Unfortunately, that didn’t make Maureen’s romantic history appear any less dubious.
“Are you a Crimson native?” she asked, needing to fill the silence between them and distract Caden from whatever thoughts he was having about Maureen. Lucy could tell by the set of his jaw that they weren’t positive.
He gave a brief shake of his head. “I moved here when I was ten.”
“To live with Garrett?”
“I was with a foster family after my mom died.”
“I’m sorry.”
One big shoulder lifted. “It’s not a big deal. She wasn’t much of a mother, anyway.”
Barely slowing, he turned off the highway and down the long gravel drive that led to Sharpe Ranch. Lucy grabbed hold of the door handle when the truck’s tires slid on the snow-covered road. Clearly Caden was more affected by his mom’s death than he professed to be.
Lucy wanted to push him for more, intensely curious as to the circumstances that had made him Garrett Sharpe’s son. As a girl, she’d entertained embarrassing fantasies about being adopted by a wholesome, all-American, network-sitcom-type family. A family where the mom baked batches of homemade cookies instead of spending hours dolling herself up for whatever man she was trying to impress that week.
Guilt lingered over the daydreams that had made her feel disloyal to her mom. In her own needy and immature way, Maureen loved Lucy to distraction. But Lucy had always wondered what it would have been like to get a do-over on her tiny dysfunctional family.
Caden had been given that gift, but she guessed it had come at a steep price. Besides, it was dangerous to know him better. Her feelings for him were already a jumble when she needed to stay clear as to her purpose at the ranch. The task her mother had given her.
She couldn’t fall for him and still do her job as Maureen’s faithful lackey. And even though she hated that role, it felt as much a part of her as her own skin.
He pulled to a stop in front of the main house. The porch light glowed in the dark and snow swirled around her as she climbed out of the truck. The air felt even colder now that she’d warmed up a bit, but she couldn’t stop herself from lifting her face and catching a few icy flakes in her open mouth.
She opened her eyes to find Caden standing directly in front of her. “Snow tastes like a fluffy winter cloud,” she said, feeling like she owed him an explanation for her behavior.
A layer of white dusted the brim of his Stetson and his wide shoulders. He didn’t seem to notice the frigid temperature at all, even though he wore only a thin navy-striped Western shirt tucked into his dark jeans.
Lucy’d met a lot of men in her life, but this surly rancher was her first bona fide cowboy. She’d never fancied herself a fan of the John Wayne/Clint Eastwood cliché, but the butterflies dancing across her stomach as Caden’s eyes darkened in the soft light told a different story.
Apparently she had a thing for cowboys.
That generalization was easier to swallow than admitting the low hum of lust buzzing through her was a response only to Caden.
“You’re an odd one,” he said quietly, but his mouth curved into a slow smile, making the words feel like a strange sort of compliment.
“One of a kind,” she agreed, trying to make her tone sunny. “That’s me.”
He gave a slight shake of his head. “I don’t want you here.”
The desire whirling through her deflated like a day-old helium balloon. “Well, that’s just too bad for you, then.” She made to move past him, but he grabbed her arms.
“But I do want you,” he whispered. Before she could react to that revelation, he lowered his head and claimed her mouth.
Despite the gruffness of his tone, the kiss was shockingly gentle. A hopeful exploration. A question that she was happy to answer with a resounding yes.
His mouth was soft against hers and need shot through her, hot and sharp like a match set to her skin. The tiny part of her that wasn’t lost in the moment did a little jig at knowing she wasn’t the only one unable to douse the spark that flickered between them.
She swayed closer, feeling his grip tighten on her arms. It was as if he was trying to resist pulling her tight against him, and the truth of that was like a face-first fall into a snowbank.
Of course he was resisting. He’d just said he didn’t want her here. Lucy knew all too well that lust wasn’t a dependable emotion. It could be used to manipulate someone far too easily. Carelessly.
After a few too many painful lessons dealt by life, she’d promised herself never again to be careless with her body or her heart.
She broke away, stumbled back a few steps and raised her hand to her mouth. The still-falling snowflakes seemed to sizzle against her heated skin. “And you were worried about Chad taking advantage of me?” she accused. “Pot, meet Kettle.”
Caden took off his hat and slapped it against one thigh, ran a hand through his hair. “I’m not...”
“No,” she interrupted. “I’m not going to let you hurt me or whatever else you think is within your power. And I’m sure as hell not going to let you chase me away.”
He laughed harshly. “Is that what it felt like I was doing?”
“Good night, Caden,” she said instead of answering. “Thanks for the ride.”
Then she turned and rushed toward the house.
Chapter Five
Caden climbed the steps to the main house the following afternoon, massaging his knuckles against his aching back.
He’d slept on the lumpy sofa in the barn’s office the previous night, a kitten nestled against his hip while another purred contentedly on his chest. It had been cold and uncomfortable, with only a horse blanket as a cover, but he’d figured it was better than following Lucy into the house.
Not when his need for her had burned away what he believed about her motives for being in Colorado to a pile of useless ashes around his feet. There was something about the woman he couldn’t seem to resist. It went beyond her physical beauty, although that was lethal in and of itself.
He couldn’t deny the imm
ediate connection he’d felt to her. As much as he wanted to sever it, the more time he spent with her, the stronger it became. Having her smile up at him as she caught snowflakes in her mouth, perfectly enjoying the quiet moment, had made his heart ache with longing to feel that kind of simple joy. So he’d kissed her. He’d tried to claim some of that pleasure through fusing his mouth to hers.
Damn if it hadn’t worked, too. As soon as his lips grazed hers, a feeling of euphoria had rocketed through him like he’d just taken a hit off some kind of crazy, powerful drug. It wouldn’t take much for him to become addicted to the feel of Lucy in his arms, and he realized he owed her a debt of thanks for pulling away before he forgot himself and let things go too far.
The one other time Caden had let his heart lead him with a woman, he’d ended up destroying his relationship with his brother. And Tyson had ended up dead as a result.
For that and so many other reasons, Caden needed to stay as far away from Lucy as possible.
He found an old jacket in the barn to wear for morning chores and grabbed a granola bar from the tiny kitchen in the bunkhouse. Chad pulled up just as Caden was heading toward the barn to feed and water the animals. The young ranch hand was still wearing the same clothes from the night before and sporting a quarter-sized hickey on the side of his neck. He looked like the cat that swallowed the proverbial sexual canary.
Caden wanted to punch him.
“I’m in love,” Chad proclaimed at the top of his lungs, doing a few fancy dance moves as he caught up with Caden.
Caden’s gaze strayed to the second floor of his father’s house—to the room where he guessed Lucy was still fast asleep in the wee morning hours.
“Keep your voice down.”
Chad lightly punched him in the arm. “You and Luce have a late night?”
“No, but you shouldn’t have left her stranded at Elevation.”
“I didn’t strand her,” Chad argued. “I saw you come in and knew you’d take care of her.”
“She’s not my responsibility.”
Chad laughed. “You make everyone your responsibility, boss. Want to hear about my night with Jessica?”
Sleigh Bells in Crimson Page 5