Page 38 of Piece Of Me

Taz smiled at her and flicked the reigns. “I’m taking you to a little piece of heaven on earth.”

“Some would say the entire state of Montana is heaven on earth.”

“I might have to agree with that.” He leaned close to her, aware of the length of her thigh touching his. “But there’s one spot that takes the cake and I’ve only shared it with my girls.”

“Oh.” The word fell from her lips, a soft sound that made his heart bang against his chest. The sounds he wanted to hear were a hell of a lot more X-rated. “I can’t wait to see it.”

Taz told himself to settle the hell down and get a grip. Christ, he wasn’t a fifteen-year-old buck on the hunt for a piece of ass. Even if his mind was headed to places he needed to not think about.

He was taking this slow. A novel idea for a man who’d never been serious about a woman in his life. He wasn’t an asshole or anything like that—he’d never lied to a lady in his life. That was something his father did. But he’d also never been interested in any woman long enough to consider the things he’d been considering lately. Which was more than casual. More than anything he’d had before. There was something about Scarlett Bridgestone, and whatever that something was, she was worth the going slow part.

She was worth waiting for.

CHAPTER 12

“Tell me about New York.”

Scarlett sighed and rolled onto her back. She was content. Lazy. Happy.

Their lunch had been amazing. Taz was full of surprises, he’d presented her with gourmet sandwiches, the kind normally found in fancy delis, homemade chicken soup and the best damn cookies she’d ever had. And as promised, he’d brought her to the prettiest spot in Montana—at least that she’d ever seen. Nestled at the edge of Yellowstone, up on a hill that overlooked a river, and beyond that a valley, the scenery was picture perfect. In the distance were buffalo, their large bodies brown dots as they grazed the tall grass, and beyond them fields of wildflowers bloomed, spectacular swaths of bitterroot, paintbrush, and lupine. It felt as if she were in another world. Another time and place.

And definitely a world away from New York City.

“New York City,” she repeated, eyes on Hank who was asleep in the large basket Taz had brought their picnic in. Snug as a bug and shaded, the only part of him that was visible was his little foot. He was deep in dreamland, and she expected him to stay that way for at least an hour. How could he not be content out here in God’s country?

“I have a degree in Art History. I went to New York because I thought I wanted to work in a gallery or a museum.”

“And?”

She looked at Taz, who was on his side, inches from her. “I discovered that I didn’t like working in galleries or museums.”

“Is that why you came back to Montana?” Had his voice always sounded like sex and candy?

“No, that’s when I decided to work as an intern at a publishing house. I blame The Devil Wears Prada for that decision, though maybe working for a magazine would have been different. I lasted six months before I managed to piss off the editor I was interning for and got my ass fired.” She laughed and shook her head. “I disagreed with every single book she took to acquisitions, which is when I learned that publishing is about making money for big companies and not about buying books that will change the world. I mean, for the most part. Luckily enough good ones get through the process and make it out to the masses.”

“The world we live in is about making money, so I’m not surprised. Did you leave after that?”

“You would think so, but no,” she replied wryly, “that would have been the smart thing to do. But I owned a Brownstone. I bought it using some of the money from the trust my mother set up when she died. Then Cal up and paid it off without asking, which meant I was in this big, exciting city with no debt, no constraints on my time, and it was easy to kind of disappear for a few years.” She exhaled slowly, thinking back to that time in her life. “Sometimes I think I just wanted to be as far away from Montana as I could be. It wasn’t always peaceful at the ranch. After Mom died, Dad started to drink, and he was a mean drunk. There was always fighting, especially between my dad and brothers. I used to hide and hope no one noticed me. Then Cal left and my sister Vivian and I, we just don’t get along. I never understood her, and I still don’t. She’s like this egg with a shell you can’t crack. I don’t know if anyone will ever do it.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Eventually she left too.” Scarlett shrugged and looked away. “You can’t pick your family and running away from them doesn’t always work out the way you want it to. I thought New York was the answer to everything I didn’t know about myself. Thought I would find purpose, a job I loved and was good at, but I still don’t know what that is.”

“You’ve got time to figure out that stuff.”

Truthfully, she hadn’t tried all that much since she’d been back. She looked his way again. God he was beautiful. “I think we should change the subject.”

“Yeah?” He inched closer. So close she couldn’t help but notice how thick his eyelashes were. Totally unfair, but still a good look for him. “What do you want to talk about?”

“You.”

“We playing the question game again?” A hint of a smile lit up his handsome face.

“Maybe.” She rolled onto her side which brought her closer to Taz. “Why did you bring me here?”

“I thought that was self-evident.”

“To show me the prettiest spot in Montana.” Her eyes dropped to his mouth. “But why’d you really bring me here.”

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