Chapter 3 #2
I pretend not to watch the brother-and-sister reunion in front of me, but Cord’s presence is the undeniable, magnetic sort.
It’s impossible not to understand exactly why the men who work for him stay at Coyote Falls, miles from anywhere.
He’s got that energy, the sort that calls people to him, and I’m drawn into his addictive cowboy current for the short ride.
It means nothing. He’s probably got a girl in every small town from here to the Rockies.
But the empty homestead at Coyote Falls makes a liar of my adamant denial.
“What are you doing here? How did you get in?” Winnie peppers him with questions, hanging off his wide shoulders while I flounder at the overloaded table.
Cord lingers in the small kitchen. Ice-blue eyes find mine and pierce right through me when I risk a glance his way. I shiver, though plenty of other places heat.
He’s not here for you.
I gather my sanity and scoot to the edge of my seat to make my escape as Cord detaches from Winnie, pushing an overflowing bag into her hands.
“Sally’s version of packing. I thought she might need some of this.” He hesitates, his tone hardening. “Your front door was unlocked.”
I risk a second glance back at him while his attention is diverted elsewhere and try not to stare, but the man looks as good clothed as he did half-naked the week before.
It’s like Hollywood misplaced a cowboy for a casting.
Broad shoulders hint at the strength that lies beneath his shirt, straining the fine cotton at his biceps.
His short hair is neatly finished in a no-fuss cut close to his scalp, his skin darker in some places than others, that chiseled jawline etched with five o’clock shadow.
“Fusspot.” Winnie delves inside the bag her brother hands her.
When she looks up, something unspoken passes between them.
She breaks eye contact first, returning to rifle through Sally’s belongings.
“Thanks for driving this out. She’ll be glad to have her things back,” she mutters, not looking up as she shuffles around Cord. “I’ll put these in her room. Thanks.”
I frown after Winnie. “What’s that all about?” I slap a hand over my mouth. “Not my business.”
Rather than taking offense at my nosy-as-all-get-out nature, Cord grins. “You looked after my niece. I’d say it’s definitely your business. I get a few things for Sally each time I bring back whatever she forgot to bring home. I’d help out more if Winnie would let me.” He shrugs like it’s nothing.
For him, it might be. For Winnie? Not so much.
“Mmm. She doesn’t take charity from anyone.
Gifts make her uncomfortable, as though it takes away from the hours she works or her independence that she’s garnered after Br—the asshole.
Trust me. I’ve tried to pay her for pretty much anything and I can’t.
” I nibble my lip, the thought of not paying my own way still sitting strangely on my shoulders.
I blow the bout of discomfort away in a sharp breath and force a grin.
“Coffee? We have instant.” I gesture to the kettle on the stovetop.
Cord shakes his head. “I’m a bit of a coffee snob, I’m afraid.” His smile lingers, his gaze coasting along my body and back to my face.
The air stills. It’s impossible to breathe around this man when he studies me like I’m his next snack. He takes a step into my space. My wolf senses, attuned after so long away from everyone else, snap on.
“I never would have picked it.” I can’t help it; I scoot around the table and shoo him toward the living room. Somehow, he sucks all the breathable air out of the kitchen. “You’re too big for this space. Crowding me.”
I close my eyes. My painkiller-fogged brain appears intent on letting out all the state secrets today. I crack one eye to find myself his singular focus.
It’s… unnerving.
Cord’s cool blue gaze sharpens as it settles on me from where he’s stepped back to, the kitchen threshold, which seems to be as far as he’s willing to retreat. My cheeks heat beneath his intense study.
“I’m crowding you, or the room?”
“Both,” I blurt, confronted by his knowing gaze. “I’m sorry. I’ve had migraine pills for the last few days. They’ve fogged my head and canceled all my inhibitions.”
Dear Brain, please keep up with Mouth in front of the nice rancher.
He huffs a laugh. “Not your usual medicinal dependence?” Those still-twinkling eyes return my humor, thank God.
“Dependent-free. All free, here.” Wishing I could be as calm as I was back at his homestead, I shut my mouth with a click that my dentist will resent on my next visit.
Cord rubs a hand over the shadow on his chin. “Not a fan of being tied down, huh?”
And he’s perceptive as well. Bonus round.
I let my hair sway forward in a shield between us, glad I left it loose.
“I’m surprised you can make sense of my mumbling.
Where do you and Winnie usually hang out?
” I guide him through the equally small living room, pretending I didn’t just imagine being tied down by him, or, at least, not in the way he meant it. I halt, glancing back.
As he follows, a dark glitter in his eyes sends a jolt rippling through me.
You’re not sixteen anymore, Lanie. Nope, I’m an adult. And I’ll behave like one.
“I don’t hang out with my sister much at all,” Cord says softly, breaking the moment.
His eyes track me as I circumnavigate a small square coffee table, using it to put distance between us and reclaim some much-needed breathing room.
“Oh.” I perch on the edge of a two-seater next to a single recliner. “I usually socialize with wolves, so not a people person.”
Brilliant. You’re an antisocial, anti-person, canine-driven nomad.
Cord steps around everything to settle beside me, removing the barrier I put between us. Heat radiates from his jean-clad knee as it brushes mine.
I swivel to face him, my gaze halting on his perfect, arched lips. My big-girl words desert me. “At least you have clothes on this time.” I close my eyes. Just… don’t talk.
Ever. Again.
Cord’s choked exhale brushes my cheek.
“She’s not usually this bad.” Winnie reappears as I pry my eyes open. She takes the recliner opposite us. I smile, grateful for the rescue while internally cheering the support of the sisterhood. “Meds. You know.” She whistles like a deranged budgie, swaying in her seat.
My smile weakens. So much for solidarity. A phone vibrates somewhere in the townhouse. Winnie shrugs, rising to locate it.
“It’ll be work.” Cord sobers as his sister leaves the room. “She won’t stop.”
“She loves what she does. It’s her passion.
” I lean back, right onto Cord’s arm stretched across the back of the sofa.
Everything about him is oversized. My mind whizzes off in an inappropriate direction as a frisson of awareness tears through me.
“Sorry.” I wriggle around, but as with the kitchen, Cord’s presence consumes all the room in our cramped space.
I can’t decide if I love or hate that. Maybe a bit of both.
Cord’s gaze takes on a predatory look as he assesses me, and breathing becomes optional.
Hard lines of muscle give his hands a carved quality that continues along his forearms, where his sleeves are rolled to his elbows to display the sort of hard-won muscle that’s beyond droolworthy.
I add those to my Cordell Rand obsession, because damn.
Butterflies riot in my stomach while I try to shift back, but I have nowhere to go.
He clears his throat. “You’ve known her for a while?”
I tangle my fingers in my hair where the long ends pool over my shoulder and down to my thighs in a curtain of cherry red.
“A few years. I tended bar while I studied. Winnie was the party girl who showed me how to socialize on our nights off. Or, at least, she tried to help me befriend everyone. But that was years ago, before she married. And divorced. I’ve only been bunking here for a few weeks. ”
And we’re back to my freeloading habit. I already feel guilty enough on that front. Or maybe I’ve been in one place for long enough and it’s time to move on.
“I’m glad Winnie loves work, but she knows she can stop any time,” Cord says in a low voice, leaning in.
A million things clunk into place at once. I never considered just how wealthy Cord must be to own land like Coyote Falls on prime Montana grazing lands, plus the ranch house the size of a mansion. I mean, I lost myself there in a matter of minutes. Hell, the man probably owns a few mountains, too.
What about wolves?
Not for the first time, I consider asking him if he has a local population for my study project. The thought niggles, but I push away the idea of begging for an invitation. Not the time, Lanie.
“She’ll never let you do it.”
“Do what?” His demeanor remains open, but his eyes possess a shiftiness I recognize.
Suppressing a smile at the same reaction Winnie puts on when she’s caught out, I lean forward a miniscule amount, knowing I’ve read the rancher beside me right. “You want to pay for your sister not to work. That’s why she gets mad at you, isn’t it?”
Those icy eyes glitter at me, but for once I don’t back away.
For the first time, I stare right back.