Chapter 12 #2
She shook her head, fighting for clarity.
“But whatever this thing with him is, it can’t go any further than this temporary, insane fling.
” She fisted her hair and pulled, her wide eyes seeking Reagan’s compassionate ones.
“I’ve fallen for him, and that makes him far too dangerous to my business and my life in Manhattan.
It’s going to suck leaving him.” Emma crossed her arms, gripping her elbows.
“Maybe we should put the brakes on tonight’s date.
It will only complicate things further, and the last thing Cade or I want is complication. ”
“No.” The vehemence in the one word was as effective as a verbal slap. “I swear, you two are so stubborn you wouldn’t recognize opportunity if it showed up on your doorstep with a calling card.” She pushed out of her chair and stormed out the door and down the hall. “C’mon.”
Emma followed Reagan into the bedroom she shared with Eli.
Regan was already in the small closet, grabbing clothes off hangers. She spun and thrust a pair of jeans into Emma’s arms. “Put these on. I want to see the jeans on you before I pick a top. And put on your boots.”
Moving as if she was on a version of What Not to Wear—“East Coast Metro Meets Wild West Chic,” she accepted the pants and started for the bathroom.
“Right here, Emma. I’m not chancing you going out the window.”
Oh, yeah. She knew about last night. Damn if Emma was going to ask about it, though.
She wasn’t about to get into a conversation about Cade’s past. It would be all too easy to sell her business and move out here on a hope and a prayer where that man was concerned.
He was her ultimate weakness, and she didn’t do weak. But... “I don’t have any underwear.”
Reagan barked out a laugh and pulled out a brand-new package of thongs. “You learn to stock up on the practicalities with Covington men. Eli can be a little...destructive.”
With an amused chuckle, she accepted the new underwear. She pulled off her sundress and shimmied into the jeans. “Damn, they’re tight.”
“Breathing isn’t required or even expected when your man takes you out on the town. Not out here.” Reagan grinned. “Wow. I thought you were curvier than I am, but damn. What I’d give to have an ass like that.”
Emma blushed and half laughed, half wheezed out her response. “Pilates.”
Reagan shifted and slapped her own ass. “Saddle butt.”
They laughed as if they’d been friends for ages instead of a week, but time didn’t matter. Emma was simply grateful to have found a woman to commiserate with.
CADE LEFT EARLY in order to allow Emma to get a little more sleep. She’d been exhausted. So was he, but that didn’t matter. No matter how late he’d been up pleasuring her body and seeking his own from hers, chores still had to be done. There was no such thing as a “nookie pass” out here.
He skipped down the porch stairs, muscles fluid, gait almost languid. Male pride made him want to pound his chest. He snorted at his asinine inclinations. Truly, though, the look on her face would stay with him all day, perhaps longer.
He’d lost his heart, and that meant it wouldn’t be long before he made a special trip to Albuquerque to locate the best jeweler the city could offer.
He wanted to offer her something big enough to matter but small enough to keep from being ostentatious.
Classic, she’d once called herself. That’s what she deserved. Something classic.
Cade checked himself. What was he doing?
He had to get away from thoughts of forever, let his heart and nerves settle, before he could make a logical decision about how and when things should go down.
She’d shown him last night that he was everything she desired, and the results had blown his heart wide-open.
But he couldn’t trust that his head was screwed on straight, either.
Softly singing the latest Luke Bryan song, he forced himself to focus on their incoming guests.
That strangers were arriving in a week made him want to puke.
He’d really hoped he’d get over that sensation, but no.
Not even close. He’d be opening his home, his private life, his way of life, to a bunch of people willing to pay for the “experience.”
And maybe that was what irked him most. They’d be cared for, cooked for, their horses tended.
They’d get an idyllic representation of ranch life.
They wouldn’t build fence, butcher their own beef, mend tack, deal with sick animals or fret because they were out of milk and it was fifty-four miles to the closest town to get more.
They wouldn’t truly be living the life, but rather getting a postcard image of being a cowboy.
The idea of having kids at the ranch, instilling in them the morals and values this way of life demanded, appealed to Cade.
He grinned. If it killed him, he was going to get programs going for the little kids, particularly goat roping and sheep riding.
They’d eat it up, and that would nearly make it all worth it for him.
He was still grinning when he noticed Emma’s cabin window was open.
He remembered jogging past the window last night and seeing it open.
Grabbing his master key, he went to the door only to find it unlocked.
It hit him harder than he expected that she’d planned to come back here, that she hadn’t come to him with the intent of staying with him.
“Don’t be a drama queen,” he said softly. “She asked you to spend the night with her, Covington. You talked her into coming with you instead.”
A gentle push opened the cabin door, and he stepped inside.
The window had been open all night, and the morning breeze had scattered file folders and paper from the side table she’d been using as a desk all over the floor.
The blue notebook he’d rarely seen her without now had a green counterpart.
Could be her next project. That led to thoughts of her leaving and the last of his light mood evaporated.