Convincing the Rancher

Tess wasn’t sure if it was humor or malice that she saw in his eyes. “I agreed to no such thing! Stop trying to box me into a corner or make me feel guilty. I’m here to do my job and I intend to do it well. I assume you’ll do your job to the best of your abilities, also. Just two civilized adults doing what we’re being paid to do.” They’d reached the gate in her picket fence. “I appreciate your time this morning, Slaid. I’ll keep you informed as the project progresses. And thank you for the shopping trip.”

“Are you warmer now?” he asked, and there was a softness in his voice that surprised her.

“Yes. Not my usual attire for the office, but it will have to do.”

He looked her up and down. She could almost feel his gaze under her layers of warm clothing.

“I think it’s an improvement. They have business casual clothing, why not business country? Business wilderness?”

“I’ll ask my boss about it.” She couldn’t stand there with him any longer. Not with the strange wanting, that couldn’t, shouldn’t be rushing through her.

“Goodbye,” she told him, and fled past the gate and through her front door, shutting it gratefully against the chill of the air and the heat that was Slaid. Maybe she was a coward, but she was ready to hide out in the temperate climate of her little cabin.

CHAPTER FOUR (#ulink_6c7bf172-6a6d-50d5-962c-75a6a95bec8b)

TESS SAVORED THE rich taste of her cappuccino as it rolled across her tongue. After five days in Benson she’d fled to Samantha and Jack’s house this morning and begged for espresso. She’d been as desperate for her fix as any addict. She swallowed blissfully and leaned back in her chair in Samantha’s sunny kitchen. “Slaid deiced my car.”

Samantha stopped stirring her coffee. “When?”

“Every single morning this week. I don’t know when he does it because I never see him, but every morning someone has scraped the ice off my car. It has to be him!”

“Well, he is known for keeping early office hours,” Samantha said. “Maybe he’s doing it after dropping off Devin, his son, at school.”

“He’s making it hard to stay mad at him.”

“I know you didn’t appreciate him pressuring you to stay here. But can’t you see that it’s a little sexy, too? Maybe the guy is really happy that you’re in town.”

“But why?” Tess asked. “We’ve met twice since I arrived and all we did was argue! He thinks I’m an evil developer and wilderness destroyer and I think he’s close minded and full of himself.”

“They say there’s a thin line between love and hate.” Samantha’s smile was so obviously hopeful that Tess laughed.

“We are not talking about love here! Quite the opposite.”

“Okay, lust, then. Lust isn’t logical. And admit it, you’ve thought about him over the past couple years, haven’t you?”

“Once in a while.” A lot. Way too often.

“Maybe you should just go out with him,” Samantha suggested tentatively.

“Like on a date?” Tess repressed a shudder.

“Yes, a date. Like regular people do.”

“Honey, I am not regular people when it comes to that stuff. I can’t stand it.”

“Even when there are perks like not having to scrape the ice off your car?” Samantha raised an eyebrow.

“Well, that is the one temptation.”

“Now I know you’re lying. He’s a temptation. Half the women in this town are in love with the guy! Just his shoulders alone melt knees. In the summer they did a dunk tank for charity and he was in it and I don’t think the female population talked about anything but his abs for months afterward.”

“Okay, fine,” Tess admitted. “Two temptations—he deices my car and he’s good-looking. But it’s irrelevant. I’m here for work, and even if I liked him, which I don’t, or he liked me, which he doesn’t, we couldn’t get involved. Our relationship has to remain strictly professional.”

Samantha sighed. “Well, you can’t blame me for dreaming.”

Tess laughed at that. “I know you’re happy here in Benson, Sam, but don’t get any ideas about being my matchmaker.”

“But if you lived here, we’d see each other all the time. You could be in your godson’s life almost every day!”

Tess stared at her friend in shock, then realized that the expression of horror on her face probably hurt Samantha’s feelings. “Um...that would be great!” It hadn’t occurred to her that she’d be asked to be a godmother.

“You’ll do it, right?” Samantha asked. “Be godmother to our baby boy?”

Tess tried to suppress the flutter of panic in her stomach. “I’m so honored that you’d ask me.” She took a deep breath and tried to wrap her mind around the idea. Godmother. So far she’d mostly managed to pretend that this baby wasn’t really happening. Obviously she knew Samantha was pregnant, but Tess didn’t like looking too far ahead. Soon the baby would be here, and she’d be expected to adore it, and she just wasn’t sure she could handle that. Not after living through the pain of giving up her own child. “Absolutely. How exciting!” The corners of her mouth ached with the effort behind her smile.

“Anyway, back to your situation.” Apparently Samantha wouldn’t be easily distracted from her matchmaking. “Slaid is a really good guy. And I bet deep down, he’s crazy about you. Just give him a chance. You’re here in Benson for a few weeks. Try something new—go on a date!”

“I’d rather try something else new.”

“How about learning to ride?” Jack walked into the kitchen and poured coffee into a to-go mug. “I’m heading out to the barn right now. Apple needs exercise.”

“My horse,” Samantha explained. “She’s getting fat right along with me.”

“You’re not fat. You’re more beautiful than ever.” Jack kissed his wife with such tenderness that Tess had to look away. It felt as though she was intruding. Jack put his hand on Samantha’s belly, and his blue eyes shone with hope and happiness. “I can’t wait to meet this little guy you’re growing for us,” he said softly, then kissed his wife once more and grinned at Tess. “I hope you’re up for some babysitting duty, Aunt Tess.”

Tess inhaled her coffee and spluttered out, “Of course.” She needed to finish this project and get out of here before her friend’s due date—that much was clear. “Well, it’s been great to see you both,” she said brightly. “But the windmills call.”

The mood in the room shifted. It was subtle, but Tess was good at sensing subtleties. There was nothing like growing up with drug-addled, abusive parents to hone a person’s people-reading skills. She’d learned early on to identify any signs of trouble.

“About the windmills...” Samantha said quietly.

“You know we don’t support them,” Jack finished for her.

Tension coiled in Tess’s stomach. She’d figured they’d have doubts or questions, but she wasn’t expecting them to come out against the project immediately. “I don’t get it. Don’t you want clean energy?”

“Of course we do,” Samantha said. “But windmills would be a huge change for Benson. We wouldn’t be surrounded by nature anymore.”

“We love the wilderness, and it’s what brings tourists here,” Jack added.

“So I’ve heard.” Tess sighed.

Samantha looked relieved that Tess understood. “So many of the tourist businesses are my clients. I can’t be their public relations consultant if there is no public to relate to. They—we—need this place to stay pristine.”

“And there’s also the issue with the birds,” Jack added.

“What do you mean?” Tess asked.

“We’re a pit stop on one of the biggest migratory routes in the world. Windmills kill birds, Tess. By the hundreds of thousands.”