Chapter Six
C asey spent all day thinking about Eva King. He’d hoped to have an opportunity to say goodbye this morning, but when he’d stepped outside after breakfast, her battered black van was already gone.
Obviously she’d decided to get a head start on the long drive back to LA.
To say he was disappointed was an understatement. He’d felt…gutted. Which was dumb, because saying goodbye wouldn’t have changed anything between them. It wasn’t like they were suddenly going to start a hot and heavy long-distance relationship. Despite how much fun they’d had last night, how good it had been between them, they barely knew each other, and she was clearly very focused on her work. He had only to remember her preoccupation last night to understand that.
None of that stopped him from thinking about her and the way she’d made him feel. The truth was, she’d blown his mind with her boldness and honesty and hotness—and he was never going to see her again.
He had to make a run into town for parts for one of the automatic waterers late in the afternoon, and it was nearly six by the time he was pulling into the yard. A familiar black van was parked in front of the barn and he tapped the brake in surprise, sending up a spurt of gravel.
So she hadn’t gone back to LA. She was still here.
The surge of triumph that rocketed through him was more than a little disturbing.
Chill, dude. She probably got held up or something and decided to start out tomorrow instead. This is not about you .
He knew it wasn’t, and to prove it, he made a point of carrying the parts for the waterer into the barn before heading inside to see if Sierra knew what was going on with their guest.
The sound of feminine laughter from the kitchen alerted him to the fact that his sister wasn’t alone as he entered the house, and he took a moment to take off his hat and check his hair in the mirror next to the coat rack at the front door.
Sure enough, he had hat hair, and he finger-combed it a few times before deciding he looked presentable. There was dirt and dust on his jeans and boots, and he needed a shower, but the need to see Eva again was stronger.
Doing his best to seem casual, he strode toward the kitchen. Both women looked up when he entered. They were standing at the counter, a pile of sliced and diced vegetables in front of them, along with an open bottle of wine and two half-full glasses. Eva was wearing a black tank top and a pair of jeans cut off at the knee, and she looked hotter than any person had a right to in such androgynous clothing.
“Perfect timing,” Sierra said. “I was just about to fire up the grill but now you can do it.”
Casey was too busy locking eyes with Eva to pay much attention to what his sister had said. A hundred sense memories from last night bombarded him as he met her blue gaze. Suddenly she was in his lap again, her mouth on his, her small breasts pressed to his chest.
Then he blinked, and she looked away, and he realized his sister was at the fridge, pulling out steaks for him to grill.
“…might as well get them started while I make the potato salad,” she said.
He accepted the plate, then glanced at Eva again. She was dusting off the counter with her hand, collecting stray bits of bell pepper and carrot.
“Thought you’d be halfway to LA by now,” he said.
“Eva’s staying with us for another week,” Sierra said, and Casey shot his sister a frustrated look.
Eva was the one he wanted to hear from.
“Does that mean you got the commission?” he asked, his gaze on Eva again.
“It means they want more information before they make a decision. But I’m in with a chance,” Eva said, her mouth quirking up in a brief smile that disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.
Maybe it was his imagination, but she seemed uncomfortable—and it wasn’t a huge stretch to think it was because of him. Because of what had happened between them last night.
Which knocked him off his stride. He’d been thinking about her all day, and here she was, struggling to make eye contact with him.
As though she was embarrassed about what had happened between them. As though she regretted it.
It was a bucket of cold water, and he took a physical step backward.
“Congratulations,” he said.
Then he headed for the back door, escaping to the porch. He set the plate of steaks on the bench seat beside the barbecue and took a moment to sort through his thoughts and feelings.
He’d had a great time last night. But apparently the feeling was far from mutual. Apparently Eva had been done with him the moment her skin had cooled.
He busied himself pulling the vinyl cover off the barbecue, annoyed with himself for giving a shit. He’d had a good time—that was all he should be worried about. And no promises had been made—he’d stepped into the trailer last night believing she was going the next day, which was pretty much the definition of a one-night stand. He had no right to feel wounded or rejected. It made no sense. Any other guy would be high-fiving himself for scoring big time with no strings attached.
It was too good to be a one-off. We fit too well together.
Casey shook his head as he lit the grill, wishing he could shake the thought loose. The problem was, he hadn’t liked a woman as much as he liked Eva for a long time. She was bold, unpredictable, a bit dangerous. She was also smart, and driven, and she knew how to laugh at the world and herself.
And being inside her had been insanely good.
He fired up the burners, then automatically went through the process of scraping down the cast-iron grill before throwing the steaks on. He very deliberately didn’t let himself think about anything except the task at hand, and after a few minutes he felt his shoulders relax.
He knew where he stood now. That was the takeaway from the little scene that had just played out in the kitchen. They’d both had a good time, but it had meant nothing, and even though she was staying another week, it wasn’t going to happen again.
He was a grown-up; he could deal with that.
The sound of the kitchen door opening made him look over his shoulder. It was Jed, two beer bottles dangling from the fingers of one hand and a plate in the other.
“For the meat when it’s done,” Jed said, handing the plate over before offering Casey one of the beers.
Casey took it gratefully, taking a long pull from the bottle and welcoming the cold as it hit the back of his throat.
“All good out here? Anything I can help with?” Jed asked.
“Nope. These’ll probably only need a few more minutes,” Casey said.
“Did you hear we’re going to have a tenant for another week?”
Casey was conscious of his brother shooting him an assessing look but Casey kept his expression neutral. At least, he hoped he did.
“Yeah. Good timing—the extra rent money will just about cover the parts for the automatic waterer,” he said.
Jed seemed to be waiting for him to say more but Casey kept his focus on the grill, lifting one of the steaks to see if it was done yet.
“That all you’ve got to say?” Jed asked.
“What did you want to hear?”
“Ask her out for dinner or something. Not every day you meet someone who does it for you.”
Casey was momentarily speechless. Apart from a single, incredibly awkward five-minute conversation to confirm Casey understood the ins and outs of procreation and contraception before his senior prom, he and Jed had never had a conversation about their private lives. Not that there had ever been much to talk about—his brother pretty much lived like a monk, as far as Casey could tell, devoting all his energy to the ranch, and Casey hadn’t had a girlfriend for a couple of years now.
“Not much point when she’s going to leave in a week’s time,” Casey said.
“Don’t miss out on something good just because it might be complicated,” Jed said, and there was a weight—a heaviness—behind the words that made Casey turn to study his brother’s face.
“You all right?” he asked.
“Sure. How much longer on those steaks?” Jed asked.
“Not long.”
“I’ll tell Sierra.”
Jed let himself back into the house and Casey resumed his station in front of the barbecue.
Not for a second did he believe his brother when he said nothing was up, but the man was like Fort Knox when it came to talking about his feelings.
The steaks were done, and he loaded them onto the clean plate before turning the gas off and heading inside.
Sierra was just placing the salads in the middle of the table as he entered, and both Jed and Eva were already seated. Casey handed the meat over to his sister before washing his hands at the kitchen sink.
His shoulders were tight again, and he rolled them before reaching for the dish towel to dry his hands. He wasn’t looking forward to sitting down to eat with Eva and pretending nothing had happened between them.
The irony wasn’t lost on him—he’d spent most of the day regretting the fact he’d never see her again, and now he’d gotten his wish and didn’t want it.
“Steaks look great, Case,” Sierra said, taking the seat next to Eva.
Which left Casey sitting opposite her.
Awesome.
He flicked her a quick look as he sat and was just in time to catch her glancing at him, too, before focusing on the plate in front of her. So he wasn’t the only one feeling uncomfortable. He wasn’t sure if that made him feel better or worse.
“Help yourself, Eva,” Sierra said, offering their guest first pass at the salads and steaks.
“Everything looks amazing,” Eva said as she forked a steak onto her plate and reached for the salad servers.
“Especially compared to the feast of instant noodles you had planned instead, right?” Sierra said with a laugh.
“Knew I was going to regret telling you that,” Eva said, flashing his sister a bright smile.
He couldn’t help remembering the way Eva had laughed last night as she flirted with him over burgers at the diner, which naturally led to the memory of her on top of him, her head thrown back as she gave herself over to pleasure.
Get a grip, dude .
Determined to distract himself, Casey reached for the water jug and filled everyone’s glasses, focusing on the small task with everything he had.
“So, Eva, I take it you’re going to be painting a mural on the old Clarke grain elevator?” Jed said, dusting off his best company manners to make their guest feel welcome.
“Oh, no. At least, not yet,” Eva said with a small laugh. “I’m in the running to create the mural, that’s all. They want to see and hear more, so they’ve given both of us a week to prepare a more detailed pitch.”
“So it’s like a competitive tender, but for art?” Jed asked.
“Exactly like that, except her competition is her ex,” Sierra said.
Jed took a pull from his beer before responding. “So I guess you’re fixing to slam dunk this thing, then?”
Eva smiled. “That’s the plan.”
“Well, good luck to you. Hope you get what you came here for,” Jed said.
“Thanks. And thanks for letting me stay for the week.”
Casey kept his eyes on his plate, grateful for possibly the first time in his life for his reputation for quietness. He’d always been reserved around people he didn’t know, and neither Jed nor Sierra would think it was strange he wasn’t rolling out the welcome mat for their visitor.
It was a small blessing, but he’d take it.
“You should hear her ideas,” Sierra said. “Tell them about your pitch, Eva. It’s so cool.”
Eva shifted in her chair, and Casey could tell she was uncomfortable with his sister’s suggestion. “They don’t want to be bored by my mural ideas.”
“They’re not boring, they’re amazing,” Sierra said. “That idea about representing the past, present, and future of Marietta is pure genius.”
“Well, thanks, but it’s still just an idea at the moment. I need to flesh out the concept, put together some proper studies.”
Casey frowned down at his plate. Was that what she’d been doing last night before he left? Sketching studies?
“You’re as bad as Casey, refusing to toot your own horn,” Sierra said. “Being modest is practically un-American, you know that, right?”
“I’ll try to be better,” Eva said meekly.
Sierra laughed. “I knew I liked you. If you don’t want to brag about your amazing concept, tell me what Australia is like. You said you did a commission down there a couple of years ago, right? I’ve always wanted to go there.”
“Hot. And dry. And scary,” Eva said. “But also beautiful and wild. And the coffee…some of the best coffee I’ve ever had in my life.”
Casey listened as they talked about Eva’s travels in Australia for the next fifteen minutes, allowing himself an occasional glance in her direction. She was a good storyteller, and not afraid to tell a joke against herself. When she laughed her whole face lit up, transforming her from attractive to stunning.
She had charm to spare, and he was uncomfortably aware of the tug of continuing attraction. Apparently it didn’t matter that she was done with him, he still wanted her.
The realization made him claim he didn’t want any of his sister’s truly excellent apple pie, and he made an excuse to leave the table early.
Only when he stepped outside did his shoulders climb down from around his ears. He made a point of checking on the mares, just in case Jed followed up on his manufactured excuse, lingering over the chore as long as he could. Then he collected his guitar from his room and made his way round to the very back of the house where the porch was protected by the branches of the big pine tree and he could look out across the darkened fields for miles. He kept an old chair out there for nights like this, and he sat and stared into the darkness, his fingers sliding restlessly over the guitar strings. A rhythm came to him, a collection of notes that swiftly arranged themselves in his mind. He gave himself willingly over to the music, channeling his disappointment and confusion into the work.
After a while, his noodling resolved into a grinding, dirty rhythm and ideas started to spark. After ten minutes, he stopped and pulled out the battered notebook he always carried in his back pocket and scribbled down the lyrics floating in his brain. Then he went back to playing, refining his ideas, searching for a bridge, finding a chorus.
It was a boozy, sexy song, meant for late nights and dark bars, different from the stuff he’d been writing lately, but it captured the essence of last night perfectly. The promise, the flirtation, the lust, the gratification. The earthy, consuming realness of being with a woman who’d grabbed his attention and held it from the moment he first laid eyes on her.
He was going over the bridge again when he caught the scuff of shoes on wood. He knew straight away that it was Eva, even though it was too dark to see anything that wasn’t up close and personal—there was a sudden vibration in the air, and within himself, and his hands stilled on the guitar.
“I didn’t meant to interrupt,” she said.
“It’s okay,” he replied.
“Cool song. Is it one of yours?”
“Maybe, if I get it right.”
“Sounded pretty amazing to me.”
She moved closer, and he could see the gleam of her eyes and the outline of her body.
“Am I invading your special place? Is this your songwriting corner?” she asked.
“No, and yes. But it’s not a tree fort. Girls are allowed.”
Her teeth showed briefly as she smiled.
“I wanted to talk to you about last night,” she said, and his stomach was suddenly as tight as a drum.
“Okay,” he said, and he could hear the wariness in his own voice.
“I can get caught up in my own head sometimes, and it wasn’t until you left that it occurred to me I’d just done the equivalent of wham, bam, thank you ma’am. And that was not cool, at all, and I’ve been feeling like crap about it all day. So I wanted to say I’m sorry for being rude.”
It was so not what Casey had been expecting and it took a moment for her words to sink in.
“You don’t need to apologize,” he said, even though her words had taken a weight off his mind.
“Yeah, I do. You gave me such a good time, but then I was so inspired by what you said about your folks and this place, I had to get my ideas down on paper before they disappeared. And you tried to remind me you were still there, but my head was somewhere else entirely and I didn’t realize until after you’d gone.”
He tried to remember what he’d said last night that might have been inspiring, but he’d been so wiped after climaxing twice in quick succession that all he had was a vague memory of talking about the accident.
“You don’t remember what you said, do you?” She moved closer, parking her butt on the porch railing so she was directly in front of him.
Almost within reach.
“You told me that keeping this place going was about preserving and honoring your parents’ legacy, and I couldn’t stop thinking about how special that was, which led to me thinking about Marietta’s legacy, and then I needed my sketchpad. And then I disappeared down a rabbit hole and didn’t come back up until after you’d gone.”
“I’m glad it helped,” he said. “It’s great you’ve got a real chance at the commission now.”
She sighed. “Okay. I guess I deserve all that politeness. I’ll let you get back to your song. And don’t worry, I’ll be working twenty-four seven on this proposal, so you’ll hardly ever see me.”
He blinked, taken aback by her words. She pushed away from the porch rail and he shot out a hand to catch her forearm before she slipped past him and disappeared into the darkness.
“You think I regret last night?” he asked, barely able to believe it.
“I could understand why you might. If a guy was that dismissive of me, I’d probably want to key his car.”
Her arm was warm in his hand, and he could feel the sinewy strength beneath her soft skin. Even though he wanted to keep touching her, he forced himself to let her go.
“I’ll admit, my ego took a hit, but I get it. Sometimes when I’m writing a song, I tune out so much, Sierra claims she has to jump up and down in front of me to get my attention.”
“Except we’d just had earth-moving sex and you were naked in my bed. Slightly different situation.”
He felt a stab of gratification at her words. “Define earth-moving for me.”
There was a small pause before she responded. “Fishing for compliments, Carmody? I didn’t scream loud enough to tip you off last night?”
“Maybe I just want to hear you say it.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea. You’re a little distracting, and I need to stay focused.”
“I thought about you today, too,” he said, and she laughed outright.
“You’re not going to make this easy, are you?”
“Funny, I thought I was bending over backward to be easy.”
She laughed again, then she took a step closer, almost as though she couldn’t help herself. “Funny, and hot. How am I supposed to resist that?”
“Don’t know why you’d even try,” he said, shamelessly offering her his best lazy smile.
She shook her head. “I thought we talked about you using that smile for good instead of evil.”
“I promise my intentions are nothing but good.”
Reaching out, he hooked his finger into the belt loop on her jeans and pulled her closer, only stopping when she was standing between his legs. She watched as he slipped his finger free of the belt loop before tracing her skin along the top of her waistband. She shivered subtly when he stopped at the stud on her jeans.
“You’re probably wondering how good I can be, right?” he asked.
She closed her eyes in a long blink. “The thought did cross my mind.”
He slid the stud free.
“When I do something, I like to do it properly.”
She swallowed audibly as he gripped the tab on her zipper and slowly slid it down.
“That sounds very…thorough.”
“Thorough. That’s a good word for it,” he said, then he shifted forward in the chair.
He pulled her jeans open and leaned forward to press his lips to the soft, warm skin of her belly. Her hips rocked forward a little and he opened his mouth and tasted her skin.
As he already knew, she tasted good , and he wanted more.
She made a small, low sound as he gripped her hips and pulled her closer still, peppering kisses across her smooth belly to the lacy top of her panties. Her hands found his shoulders, her fingers digging into the muscles there as he continued his journey south, kissing the gentle rise of her mons through the delicate lace.
Her jeans impeded further progress so he kissed his way back up, opening his mouth hungrily when he reached her bare flesh again.
“Oh, God, that feels so amazing,” she whispered brokenly.
She sounded so lost in pleasure, it went to his head. All he could think about was getting her clothes off so he could make her lose her mind entirely. Gripping the waistband of her jeans, he started peeling them down, past her hips—just as he heard the unmistakable sound of the kitchen door opening around the corner. The distinct sound of footsteps made Eva jerk with alarm, then she brushed his hands aside and yanked her jeans back up in a lightning-fast move. By the time Sierra rounded the corner, Eva was leaning against the porch railing again, arms crossed over her chest.
“Case, I know you said you didn’t want pie, but I saved you a piece anyway because I’m a good and kind sister,” Sierra said.
Her steps slowed when she realized he wasn’t alone and Casey could practically hear the wheels turning in her mind as her gaze went from him to Eva and back again.
“Thanks, appreciate it,” he said.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt,” Sierra said.
“You didn’t. I just heard Casey playing out here and stopped by for a free performance before I headed back to the trailer,” Eva said. “Speaking of which. I’ve got a ton of work to do.”
She stepped away from the railing, clearly keen to be gone.
“Don’t go on my account,” Sierra said. She took a step backward, signaling her intention to return inside. “Make sure he plays ‘Montana Dreaming’ for you while you’ve got him cornered. It’s one of his best.”
Then she pivoted on her heel and disappeared back around the corner of the house.
Casey waited until he heard the door close behind her before catching Eva’s eye.
“Come here.”
“No way.”
“Didn’t take you for a chicken.”
Her chin came up. “I’m not, but you can’t be trusted. And apparently neither can I when I’m around you.”
Casey smiled and reached down to collect his guitar. Then he stood and closed the small distance between them. She had to tilt her head back to continue looking him in the eye as he lowered his head to capture her mouth in a short, hot kiss, just because he could and because he was that freaking desperate to be close to her.
She could pretend all she liked, but they both knew where this was headed.
“Here’s what’s going to happen—I’m going to go inside, put my guitar away, and grab a shower. Then I’m going to come out to the trailer, and you’re going to be naked on the bed, ready for me. Got it?”
Her eyebrows rose and she gave him a look. “Bossy, aren’t you?”
He answered her with another kiss, pressing his body against hers this time so she could feel exactly how much he wanted her. They were both breathing hard when he came up for air.
“Not a stitch on. Got it?”
Then he left her standing in the darkness.