Page 7 of Just a Stranger

Georgie picked up his head and licked her fingers. His tail wagging, he hopped off my lap and resumed exploring. He stopped to sniff around in the plants and eat a few stray blades of withered grass.

I willed her to look at me. This close, we were inches from a kiss. She didn’t, keeping her gaze fixed on the dog. She was smarter than me.

I shouldn’t stay sitting next to her; it was pure temptation. She was my boss’s sister, and like the old saying goes… you don’t shit where you eat.

Elmer was a great town, and I’d built a legacy at this ranch. Introduced new breeds of cattle to the beef operation. Had three popular breeding stallions standing stud. And I’d even hired the head winemaker all the way from France. I could survive not managing Blue Star, but I didn’t want to. Not giving in to temptation was the smart plan.

We rose at the same time, careful not to touch each other. She was on the step above me, and when I turned to explain the situation with the guest house road, we stood eye to eye, leaning toward each other, a hairsbreadth of space between us. Time slowed and then stopped. Despite the heat, we were frozen. The weight of everything that had happened between us and the cruel twist of fate that brought us here cast us in ice.

Details from last night flickered through my head: kissing a pale freckle on her shoulder and the sound of her breath as she slept. Our attraction hadn’t been some kind of air-travel-induced stupor. She was exactly as I recalled, and I wanted her even more than when I first saw her.

As far as I knew, there wasn’t a right thing to say in this moment. Even if I’d been gifted with a silver tongue, this would be awkward, so I drank her in. Her smell. Her face. Everything I thought I’d never see again.

A puff of hot air that passed for a breeze here in July broke the spell, blowing her hair across her eyes, severing our connection. She stepped off the porch, putting a solid three feet of space between us.

“I’m going to start charging you for every yes, ma’am.” Her lips twisted up on one side in a crooked smile that reminded me of her brother.

I shook my head and uttered the only thing I could. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Was that a joke? Interesting.”

Humor worked well in strained situations. Not that I had many jokes, but she teed that one up for me.

She started toward her car, and I caught her arm. Her silky skin burned like a branding iron, and my lungs hitched like there wasn’t enough oxygen in Texas to catch my breath.

It wasn’t just the sex part of yesterday that had me groping for the right thing to say and gasping for air. It was the memory of sitting in a generic hotel bar and watching her answer almost every question right as she played along withJeopardy!on TV. Her laugh. And the smell of roses.

I was so fucked.

“I had no clue you were Wilson’s sister. Promise.”

Confusion flashed across her face. She’d expected me to say something different.

Damn it. I probably should have. Something… better.

With a ton of effort, I kept from sliding my hand up to close around her nape so I could kiss her. Indulge in the physical connection that pulsed between us.

“Of course you didn’t.” She shrugged off my haphazard comment. “We met in the lost luggage office. It was… chance or fate. The universe putting two people on the same path for one night.”

“One night.” That was the information I didn’t know I’d been looking for. I dropped my hand from her arm and stepped back. Time for this cowboy to cool his heels. My thoughts of obsession and mutual attraction died a quick but painful death.

Her growl of frustration stopped me in my tracks.

“It’s not that I don’t or wouldn’t, but I’m—I’m a mess. Fifty directions at once. And with you working for Wilson, it would becomplicated.” Her words rushed out fast, one on top of the other, while her hands flailed.

I clenched my jaw so hard something twitched under my right eye. Rae was many things, but I didn’t think mess was the right word. I strongly disliked that she saw herself that way, but I wasn’t in a position to offer my opinion.

“My brother is letting me stay in the guest house while I’m here, and I’m not sure I should, or we should…” She shrugged and inhaled before summing up her decision. “It seems like you and he have a good working relationship. And I don’t want to upset that.”

“Understood.” I forced my jaw to relax enough to speak the single word and shoved my mirrored sunglasses back on.

Her mouth opened, then snapped closed. Whatever she might have said was stifled by my stiff posture and expressionless face.The wallwas how I thought of it—my go-to method for dealing with people and their bullshit. I’d been defending myself with it as long as I could remember.

“Your car won’t make it down the road to the guest house.” I moved away from the front porch and toward the vehicles. She kept pace next to me.

“Yeah.” Her head cocked to one side, like the dog’s had when I used a funny voice. Either my change of topic or attitude had confused her. “Wilson mentioned something about deferred maintenance.”

I stopped and pointed in the direction she should drive. “You and Georgie take the main ranch road to the next turnoff. Park by the silver truck in front of the gray house. Walk down the path from the parking area to the guest house. You’ll see it. I’ll be there waiting for you.”

---