Page 71 of Her Boss, Her Rancher: Sunrise On The Ranch

“Come in.”

“Good morning,” he said.

With a lurch to his insides, his gaze swept over her, taking in her hair pinned high on her head. Her pale blue shirt and coordinating slacks heightened the blue of her eyes. He wanted to cross the room, wrap his arms around her and kiss her into a frenzy of desire.

Instead, he paused at the door of her office, glancing beyond her to see the monitors showing the floor plans of various rooms in his new wing.

“You’re already at work,” he said. “Did you have breakfast?”

“Oh, yes. Etta was in the kitchen and I had a delicious breakfast—eggs Benedict, melon and berries, and orange juice. I assume you were out working.”

“Yep, I was. How’s it coming here?” he asked.

“We’re just getting started. Let’s look at each suite and you tell me if there’s anything I need to know,” she said, walking to the computers and pulling a chair close so they could look at the same monitor.

He still intended to let her make the decisions, but he sat beside her because he wanted to be close to her, and this was the only way. He caught a faint whiff of her perfume, something light, barely discernible, yet enticing. Everything about her was enticing and he inhaled deeply, trying to focus on what she was saying to him. He looked at her long, slender neck, fighting the urge to run his fingers lightly over her skin and trail kisses under her ear.

With an effort he studied the computer screen and tried to squelch all lusty inclinations—a hopeless ambition when he sat only inches from her. The chemistry between them shook him.

With grim determination he stared at the monitor and tried to forget that she sat beside him. She seemed unaware of their attraction this morning, but he wondered what would happen if he brushed her hand with his or leaned closer when he asked her a question.

Unable to resist, he decided to find out. “Shift to the west bedroom,” he said.

When she paused to find the one he was talking about, he placed his hand over hers and moved the mouse. “There,” he said. He pointed to a balcony off one of the bedrooms. “This is on the west, and I’ve ordered an awning for it. Out here in summer that afternoon sun will be fierce.”

He was barely thinking about what he told her. He had heard her quick intake of breath and knew she was responding to the physical contact, just as he had.

The knowledge was electric. He wanted to forget business and kiss her again, but he could not and would not.

For the next hour he maintained a professional manner, keeping his distance. She managed to be just as cool and detached, and if he hadn’t heard her deep breath when his hand covered hers earlier, he would think that she barely noticed him as anything other than her client. They would not have a lot of time together before she would be working on her own and then going back to her Kansas City office. Once the job was over, he wouldn’t see her at all.

He turned to her. “While you’re here, you might as well see a little bit of Texas, some local life. Do you eat barbecue?”

Smiling, she nodded. “Yes, and I imagine Etta is as good at cooking barbecue as she is at cooking prime rib.”

“She is, but this time it won’t be Etta’s cooking. There’s a rustic barbecue restaurant in a small town near here. I want to take you. How about this Thursday night, since you said you’re leaving Friday?”

Something flickered in the depths of her eyes, and there was a few seconds’ hesitation that made him think she would refuse, but then she nodded. “Barbecue Thursday night sounds great,” she answered cautiously.

It had been a spur-of-the-moment invitation, but now his anticipation grew because she had to have debated with herself whether or not to turn him down—and she had said yes.

“Eli and Lucinda will arrive tomorrow afternoon and fly back to New York Wednesday.”

“They can have suites here. I’ll tell Wendell so everything will be ready for them.”

It was midmorning, and he was already eager for the evening.

He knew he should leave her alone. But he couldn’t help thinking that maybe, this time, there would be more than a kiss between them.

After a quail dinner that night, Sierra went to the kitchen to compliment Etta. When she turned to leave, Blake took her arm lightly, another one of those casual contacts that she shouldn’t even notice, much less want. Now was the time to tell him good-night and get out of his presence, except she wanted to stay with him.

“Let’s sit on the patio. It’s a perfect night. There’s no wind, and it’s pleasant and quiet.”

“Sure. That was a marvelous dinner. It’s the first time I’ve eaten quail.”

“Etta knows how to cook game birds.”

“Blake, this is lovely,” Sierra said, enjoying the cool spring evening, the pool with a splashing fountain and beds of red and yellow tulips in bloom in front of a backdrop of pink japonica and yellow forsythia. “Do you sit out here a lot?”