He had a strange, vulnerable look in his eye. What had been thrown his way? What events led Coop here, to a dude ranch in the middle of nowhere? Because quite honestly, she’d never taken him for a ranch kind of guy. But she guessed he’d simply taken his playboy antics from the soccer field to the corral. Heck, what girl didn’t love a cowboy, right? There certainly wasn’t anything wrong with such a profession. It was a respectable job, but in senior year she overheard him talking about a career in sports medicine.
The waitress came with their drinks, and Julia took a big gulp and placed her frosty mug on the table before her. The cool liquid went down so nice and smooth that she continued to drink until she quenched her thirst. When she began to feel the effects of the alcohol—compliments of an empty stomach—she sipped slower and inched back on her chair to let loose a long, slow breath. Truthfully, until she stepped into this saloon, she hadn’t realized just how tightly wound she’d been.
The place was nice, comfortable, and designed to put its patrons at ease. After working hard for the last few months, perhaps a night at the ranch was just the thing she needed. Too bad she couldn’t stay longer. Sure, Coop had put the offer on the table, but she was intelligent enough to know that he was just being polite, trying to salvage a bad situation and make the best of it. He didn’t really want her here.
“I never took you for a beer-drinking kind of girl.” Coop gestured to the waitress for another, and Julia fought down the burst of heat creeping toward her face when she noticed that her mug was nearly empty.
Trying for casual, she said, “There’s probably a lot you don’t know about me.”
He leaned toward her, and his mouth was so close that if she inched forward their lips would be touching. “So where should we start?” he asked.
“Why should we bother?”
“Why shouldn’t we?”
She really didn’t have a good answer for that. When she didn’t respond, he continued. “So what do you do for a living, Julia?” She was taken aback by his question, as well as the genuine interest in his eyes. She really thought he’d spend the night grilling her on Mari, and was actually a little shocked that he wanted to know more about her. She decided to play along, since she had nothing else to do and nowhere else to be.
“I’m a lawyer,” she said, and waited for his eyes to glaze over. When they widened with interest, it caught her off guard.
He gave a slow nod. “Beauty and brains,” he murmured, giving a slow appreciative nod. “I’m not surprised, really. You always were smart.”
He thinks I’m beautiful? Probably just being nice.
She sat there staring at him, taking in the thoughtfulness on his face, and strangely enough, the admiration in his eyes when he spoke about her didn’t make her feel that she was being judged. As a teen, she’d shied away from such blatant observations, hating that she was the smart one and her sister was the fun one, but this time, she could feel a measure of pride welling up inside her.
“My turn,” Julia said, no longer wanting to talk about herself.
He gave a mock shiver. “Let the interrogation…er…I mean questions begin.”
“First, let me say that you weren’t always a prick. I remember the time you saved Davy Brown from the bullies.” Julia wasn’t sure why she’d brought up that particular incident. Maybe it was that vulnerable look she’d spotted in his eyes when he talked about life and its curveballs, or maybe it was because that was the day she’d fallen for him.
He gave her a coy look and teased, “I thought you said you didn’t remember anything about me.”
“Well, maybe I remembered a few things.” He gave her a knowing grin. “But there are still a few things I’d like to know.”
He leaned forward until their knees bumped under the table, and he pitched his voice low when he asked, “What do you want to know, Julia?”
Her heart lurched at the deep, suggestive tone of his voice. And oh, the way he said her name. How would it sound whispered against her lips as he made love to her? She shifted in her chair, crossed her legs against the pressure building between them at the thought.
Clearing her throat she asked, “Why a dude ranch?”
He got quiet for a moment, then gave a light shrug and leaned into her, his breath warm on her face. “Isn’t it every boy’s dream to grow up to be a cowboy?”
She noticed the careful way he sidestepped giving her a direct answer, but for some inexplicable reason, the lawyer in her—or maybe it was the woman—wanted to know.
“Yes, but most don’t go on to realize the dream. So why this old ranch? Why here?” She paused to wave her hand around. “In the middle of nowhere.”
She expected him to come back with some smart-ass comment about getting the girls, but when he sat back, lowered his head, and frowned, his guard slipped slightly. Her heart tightened. This was something personal. Someone or something had hurt him. She always thought of him as such a happy-go-lucky guy. Humor disappeared from his eyes as turbulent waves of emotion rolled across his face. He quickly tamped them down, cleared his throat, and smiled, his guard firmly back in place.
Returning to playful mode, he looked at her pointedly and flashed his perfect white teeth in a smile. “It was the right thing at the right time.” He grabbed his glass and held it up to her, but this time his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Now come on. Here’s to friends. Old and new.”
She clinked glasses with him, appreciating how smoothly he evaded certain questions and redirected the conversation. Clearly, he was keeping something from her. Not that he owed her any details—he didn’t—but she still couldn’t help but wonder what these guys were up to.
The lawyer in her itched to dig deep to get to the bottom of matters, and oddly enough, the woman in her wanted to take him into her arms and kiss the truth free. Which one would win?
Chapter Four
Julia paced around the bedroom and looked at the stack of clothes on her bed. The elderly gentleman manning the front desk had delivered them a few moments ago. Cursing herself for not having the foresight to pack her own bag, even though she swore she wasn’t going to board the plane, she sifted through the pile of clothes until she found a silky white nightgown.
After pulling it on, she padded softly around the room, running her hands over the quilted bedspread, the oak night table, and the small corner desk until she stood before her window. The warm evening breeze ruffled her short gown, and the cool silk felt gloriously soft against her skin. As it caressed her flesh, her nipples tightened in response. But she suspected it had more to do with Coop than the night air.
Earlier in the afternoon, Coop had jumped up from the table and guided her outside. He took her on a long walk around the ranch, giving her a personal tour of the facilities, and introduced her to the horses before he treated her to a hearty ranch dinner. After the meal, she found herself alone in her rustic, cozy room. One minute she’d been enjoying apple cobbler with Coop, and the next, the pretty brunette Tessa had come along to drag him away.
Of course, his sudden departure had been for the best. While she might have been enjoying his company—maybe a little too much—she wasn’t here to exchange intimacies with the sexy cowboy, no matter how delicious that sounded. No, she was only overnighting it at the ranch until the plane came back to rescue her. But that still didn’t stop her from thinking about where he’d rushed off to in such a hurry.
Groaning out loud and determined to get him out of her mind, she spun around and examined her bed. After a long day traipsing across the country, she knew she should just crawl between the sheets and try to get a good night’s sleep. But her body felt achy, needy, her insides far too fired up to settle in for the night.