Chapter 14
LILA WAS WORRIED. Definitely about Erin, that had never gone away. But now she was fretting over Clint, too. He parked the truck near the entrance of the motel. Baxter hadn’t returned, or at least his car wasn’t in the lot.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come up?” She met his gaze. “I can return calls later. Or even tomorrow.”
He smiled. “You sure do get a lot of calls and texts.”
Her sister first, then her mom had called, and then Erin had texted. All of them multiple times. “Did that ruin the mood for you?” Lila asked.
“No.” Clint laughed. “No,” he repeated, shaking his head, then he leaned closer and kissed her lips.
He didn’t linger, probably afraid of giving her the wrong idea. It was clear he wanted their date to end. She’d really hoped he would spend the night with her.
“Most of it is your fault,” she said. “Everyone was calling because of you.”
“What did I do?”
“Besides give me an orgasm that nearly blew my head off?” She sighed. “You think I’m selfish. But I tried getting you to—”
“I don’t think you’re selfish.” Clint took her hand. The light squeeze he gave it felt oddly platonic, but she liked the lopsided smile. “If I recall, I was the one who drove that particular cattle drive.”
That made her laugh. “Interesting euphemism. Did you just think that up?”
“Come on,” he said with another unsatisfactory squeeze. “I’ll walk you to your door.”
He got out of the truck, so she had little choice, other than to sit there by herself.
Clint opened her door and held it while she slid out. She couldn’t help but see that he was hard, just as aroused as he’d been fifteen minutes ago. Would he still be that turned on if she’d done something wrong?
They headed for the entrance, his hand brushing against hers. It seemed he was about to take it. She saw his hesitation as clear as day.
She stopped. They both turned and faced each other.
“Clint—”
“Look—” he said at the same time, then gestured for her to speak first.
Her cell phone chirped. She jerked it out of her pocket.
“Oh, shut up.” She should never have turned the darn thing back on. Easy enough to fix. Her palms were damp, she realized, as she returned the phone to her pocket and looked up to find Clint studying her face.
“I think we have the same thing on our minds,” he said and put his hands on her shoulders.
“The timing sucks. Much as I would rather be going to your room with you, I have something very important to do. It concerns the ranch, which I’ve gladly neglected for nearly a week.
..” He smiled and lifted her chin when she slumped with guilt.
“Something I plan on doing a lot more of, if you let me. But I have this one obligation I can’t ignore.
I realize now that I should’ve told you as soon as I remembered. ”
Relief washed over her. “Then go. I can get to my room just fine.”
“I can at least walk you to your—”
“We’ll probably start making out in the elevator.”
“Good point.” His frown was just too adorable. “Any chance I can see you tomorrow night? I don’t care how late.”
“Absolutely.” She stretched up on her toes and kissed him. “Now, go.”
His body no longer seemed tense as he pulled her into his arms. Then they started kissing, more passionately than they should in a public place. She pushed him away.
“What?” he murmured hoarsely.
“You have to go.”
“Right.” He reached for her again, but she’d stepped back. “God, you tempt me...”
“That’s why I’m saying goodbye.” She gave him a small wave as she backed toward the door. Mostly because he tempted her too. Clint made everything else so easy to forget.
Lila didn’t have the responsibility of a ranch to run, but she had a duty to the film, to her career, and she owed Erin. They’d made a pact. They were in this rotten business together, for better or for worse. But even that didn’t concern Lila at the moment.
When he didn’t move, she turned and hurried into the motel. Once she was in her room, without even washing off her makeup or changing into her nightshirt, she called her friend.
“You didn’t have to call back tonight,” Erin said as a greeting. “Are you with him?”
“No,” Lila said, sitting on the edge of the bed and slipping off her flats. “And we’re not going to talk about Clint.”
“Did something happen between you guys?”
“We’re fine. It’s us, Erin. Something’s happened that you’re not telling me,” Lila said on an exhale. “And I won’t pretend it’s not killing me. Not anymore.”
Erin allowed silence to stretch, and then she sighed. “We’ll talk. But not on the phone. Tomorrow, okay?”
“That isn’t fair.”
“I’m not putting you off. I promise you. And please trust me that everything will be okay. But tomorrow would be better.”
Lila agreed, disconnected and fell back against the pillows.
Her friend could assure her they’d talk, but she couldn’t know that everything would turn out okay.
Lila had a strong feeling that wouldn’t be the case.
And God, how she wished Clint were here to help her forget.
But he was right. They tempted each other, in so many ways, and Lila sure didn’t need to lose sight of her career, her future, not when she was so close.
Foolish her, she’d begun to think Clint just might be the one man she didn’t want to let slip away. And yet she’d only known him a week.
One short week.
On top of that, it was the holiday season, and she was emotional about not being able to go home.
That explained so much. It was for the best he wasn’t spending the night, she thought, rolling over to bury her face in the pillow.
Because with so much going on already, she was starting to seriously doubt her judgment.
CLINT WAS SURPRISED to see the office light on as he parked the truck. It was 9:20 p.m. He figured his dad would still be up, but not working on ranch business. It was the only time he used the office, and that was a rare occasion.
Guilt slammed Clint. Shit. He really had been neglecting his duties if his dad felt the need to step in, though he was the one who’d urged Clint to take some time off.
Not in the mood to run into his mom or grandmother, he skipped going through the house and walked to the outside entrance to the office. They never kept the door locked. He paused for a brief knock so he wouldn’t startle his dad.
He was sitting behind the old oak desk with the middle drawer open and frowning. “Hi, son,” he said, glancing up. “You’re home early.” He shoved aside a stapler and box of paper clips. “Do we have any tape in here?”
“What kind of tape?” Clint sat in the leather chair across from the desk. He wasn’t used to the view from this side. Damn, they had a lot of books crammed together on the built-in shelves.
“You know...the kind your mom uses to wrap presents.”
“Ah. I don’t think so. Isn’t there some in Mom’s junk drawer?”
“I looked.” Clearly agitated, he continued rifling through the desk. “She must’ve put it somewhere else. Probably with her wrapping paper.”
“What do you need it for?”
“To wrap her Christmas present.”
“You bought her something?”
His dad narrowed his eyes. “Yes, I did. Just like I’ve done in the past. So, I’ll thank you not to make it sound like I don’t give your mom presents.”
Clint laughed. “I meant it’s not a vacuum cleaner or new washer. Not if you’re going to wrap it.”
“Wise guy. I bought tickets for a Caribbean cruise,” he said, and Clint’s jaw dropped. “You bought your gal anything yet?”
“You know Kristy and I broke it off months ago.”
“I’m talking about the other gal,” his dad said with a small smile.
“Don’t have a gal, and I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“The young lady you spent last night with, Clint. I didn’t expect I’d have to spell it out for you.”
Clint sighed, wishing like hell he’d waited until tomorrow. “This is a different time, Pop. I like Lila,” he said, not keen on discussing the topic with his old man. “I like her a lot. But she’s not...mine.”
“Why? Because she has something to do with that movie they’re shooting near Blackfoot Falls?”
Clint nodded. “She’s part of the crew, and when they’re finished, she’ll be gone.”
He’d given up the search and was putting all his energy into frowning at Clint. “You know that for sure?”
“It’s her job, Pop. I’m sure.” Clint straightened. “Look, I wanted to talk to you. About me taking over. No point in waiting till after Christmas. We both know the answer. I’m honored you have faith in me.”
“Faith in you?” He shoved a hand through his salt-and-pepper hair.
“We still have the Whispering Pines because of you. I’m real clear about that,” he said, when Clint shook his head.
“I’ve always been a lousy businessman. I know my cattle, though.
Just wish I’d had enough sense to let someone else handle the business end early on.
Your mom’s smart about that sort of thing.
I was young, newly married and had too much ego to get her involved. ”
Clint rubbed his jaw. Sounded familiar.
“What’s that grin for? Your old man was young once.”
“Weren’t we all?”
Doug Landers snorted a laugh. “Hell, you’re still a pup.
Smart as a whip, though, I’ll give you that.
You knew everything about auctions and keeping the books well before you went off to college.
And even the cattle... Don’t you tell your brother I said this, but you’ve always been a better cattleman than Nathan. He’s good with horses.”
Clint chuckled. “Come on, Pop. Give me an early Christmas present. Let me tell him you said that. You can be there to see his face.”
“Yeah, go ahead, start a war. Your mom would love that.” His smile faded as he looked solemnly at Clint.
“What I’m getting to is this... I’m not accepting your answer.
Not yet.” He held a hand up when Clint started to protest. “Obviously I’m not questioning your ability.
But you were right to ask for time to think it over.
And I believe you still have some thinking to do. ”