Chapter 5
AFTER THEY’D SET themselves to rights, they worked together to essentially drain the truck cab. Cade had been livid when he’d realized he’d forgotten to put the windows up. There was enough standing water for a goldfish to be quite happy.
Emma had silently rolled with it. Opening a suitcase in the backseat, she’d retrieved dry clothes and dressed without comment.
Cade hadn’t had the option. He’d been forced to fold up the new saddle blanket he’d bought Reagan for her birthday and use it as a seat pad to keep his wet ass off the leather seats. Emma had also used the blanket to dry off and it now smelled of her.
They made their way to the highway at a much less frantic pace.
He wasn’t as anxious to get to the ranch now, sure there would be questions about their late arrival and the reason he, at least, was soaked through.
He didn’t want to ask Emma to lie about what they’d done, where they’d been or why they were late, but he also didn’t want her subjected to his family’s questioning.
He’d end up getting pissed off and affirming what they would all most want to know about Emma—what was she to him?
He’d tell them she was the same to him as she was to them: a contractor and guest.
Liar, his mind whispered. She’s yours.
Not funny, he responded with silent vehemence. Not even remotely funny. Cade didn’t believe in love. It didn’t transcend all things but, like everything else, had an expiration date. He had only to consider his mother’s short life as proof.
Emma rode quietly, her gaze focused somewhere beyond the reach of the headlights as they sped down the highway.
Full dark had fallen, the storm blowing off to the northeast as they drove almost due west. Without streetlights or the occasional flashes of lightning, the most he could make out were brief glimpses of pale skin when the rare oncoming car lit her up.
He was desperate to understand where she’d retreated to in that sharp mind of hers.
“You’re tapping your nail to a silent beat. What song is running through your head?”
She twitched, and then seemed to force herself to glance his way, her pupils wide in the dim dash lights. “Pardon?”
“You object to a little pillow talk?”
“Pillow talk?” The question, a mere two words, was almost entirely devoid of emotion.
“You know. Talking after having se—”
“Right,” she all but shouted. “Right.” Softer this time. “Just trying to decide how I’m going to cover for my appearance when we get to the ranch. No doubt an explanation will be necessary.”
He shrugged. “Far as I’m concerned, we had a flat tire and you got out to help me. Stepped into the bar ditch and fell, ruined your clothes and got soaked in the process. You changed and here we are.”
“That easy?” she asked.
“Pretty much.”
“I despise lying,” she said on a heavy exhalation. “Unfortunately, I haven’t come up with a way around it, given our situation.”
Lying bothered Cade, too, but surprisingly not as much as Emma calling what they’d shared a “situation.” They’d address that later. For now, if a small fib protected her from a country-style interrogation and good old-fashioned ribbing? He’d issue a thousand lies to spare her, small or large.
His shoulders tightened at her accusatory tone. “What’s bugging you, Emma?”
She closed her eyes and huffed out a short laugh.
“I’m trying desperately to focus on what’s immediately in front of me, like composing ideas for the new travel trifold brochure for the ranch.
” She popped her knuckles one by one, swift and efficient.
“I’m also considering highly exclusive events a few times a year for those willing to pay a premium for the experience. ”
She continued to talk about all the events and advertising material she had planned.
She also wanted to write up press announcements to distribute to different media outlets before the end of her two weeks here.
“That should generate an initial rush of interest, so the ranch will need to be prepared with software for managing reservations.”
“We should save this conversation for the entire family’s input,” he said when she paused to catch her breath.
“I...well, I guess I wanted to explain what I was planning. I’d hoped you could give me some feedback on whether or not these kinds of things are in line with your family’s ideals.”
“You’re asking for my input?” Surprise rang in his every word.
“Why wouldn’t I?” She shifted, focusing her attention on him.
“You understand your family’s true vision for the ranch.
You made it clear earlier you have a defined idea of what you want when it comes to the end result.
Share your goals. Give me the best chance possible to be successful.
Tell me what reservation software you’re using, what your expectations are for repeat visits, referrals, corporate affairs and such.
We need to develop a stronger game plan that covers these issues and more, and we’re really under the gun to get it done before the inaugural event. ”
“You’re proposing a hell of a lot of change all at once. We have two weeks, Emma—two weeks—before the first guests arrive. And as far as reservation software goes? We’re using a calendar and pencil to track requests and keeping receipts in an envelope clipped to Eli’s Day-Timer.”
She slumped into her chair, eyes wide. “You can’t run a big business that way.”
“That’s the point,” he said gently. “This shouldn’t be treated the same as a big business. This is an intimate venture, and we intend to keep it that way.”
“But...paper and pencil? Even small businesses work better with appropriate technology. Something as easy as scheduling software and QuickBooks for accounting would make your lives so much easier. Those two things won’t take away from the intimacy of the experience. Trust me.”
“We can talk about it when we’re all together.”
“Fair enough.” She hesitated. “Paper and pencil. I’m feeling a little sick. Is there anything else I should be aware of? You know, before I get there and make a total ass of myself?”
“Just keep in mind that, besides Eli, the rest of us have always been pretty simple people. We’re as fiercely loyal to each other as we are resistant to change.”
“Great. So if I can find a way to ensure you don’t have to use a computer, upgrade to satellite internet or serve anything but beef from your kitchens, your family might be receptive my ideas?”
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t infuse that question with sarcasm.” It was all he could do to keep the smile off his face.
Emma leaned her head against the headrest and closed her eyes. “Pretend away. I’m going to silently brainstorm ways to chisel guest receipts into stone. I have a good connection at UPS. Maybe I can get a deal on shipping the stone tablets to guests as keepsakes after they’ve gone home.”
Cade chuffed out an involuntary laugh. He admired her grit. Seriously, how could he not?
“Laugh away, chump,” she continued. “I’m going to have you computer literate and making online reservations before I leave,” she groused.
“You’d be better off spending your days teaching a pig to fly as you would getting me to use a damned computer.”
“We’ll see,” she said with far too much confidence for his comfort.
The quiet that fell between them then was comfortable, even easy.
It gave Cade a chance to realize he’d been an ass.
For all they’d shared, nothing excused his behavior.
He’d been mostly responsible for what had gone down between them.
He’d tried for suave, tried to come across as somewhat sophisticated, but he was sure even his best efforts were pathetic in the face of Emma’s worldliness.
It struck him then, what made them different.
The woman had class—the kind of polish that couldn’t be manufactured.
The idea they might have a little something together while she was here had been a delusion. What an utter fool he’d proven himself to be.
But he still wanted her. It clouded his mind, made his brain short-circuit. It was annoying, being so out of control over a woman he didn’t really know—even after he’d been so incredibly intimate with her. And yeah, it had been intimate.
He wasn’t the love ’em and leave ’em type.
That was his little brother’s MO. Cade was privately referred to as Father Covington by a group of single women in the area because he never got involved with anyone.
And here he’d taken a near-perfect stranger over the tailgate of his truck in the middle of a rainstorm.
Not just any stranger, either, but one he assumed was far more accustomed to silk sheets and five-star hotels, not the nature experience he’d given her.
There was no way she’d be interested in him after that.
Doesn’t stop you from wanting her all over again, his subconscious whispered.
“Shut up,” he muttered.
Emma glanced at him. “Pardon?”
“Forget it. Talking to myself.” And doesn’t that quite nicely sum up the head case you’ve become in the few hours since you met her?
Cade focused on the road, watching with a growing sense of unease as the shadowy outline of the Bar C’s main gate was revealed in the headlights’ glow.
They were here.
EMMA WISHED MORE of the ranch was visible. She was curious about where Cade came from. After his very, very personal welcome, she was curious about who he really was when he wasn’t seducing the pants—or little black dress—off some wide-eyed, holy-crap-he’s-all-man city girl.
He’d gone from somewhat conversational to absolute silence the moment they passed under the ranch’s sign.
The farther down the wide dirt road they went, the thicker the tension in the cab became.
She rolled down her window and reveled in the night.
Besides the sound and light from the truck, silence ruled supreme out here.
Then the forlorn mooing of a cow reached her, eliciting a wide smile.