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That’s when he saw her. The Costa Rican beauty whose family had saved them all. A grin split his face. What were the odds? He wasn’t sure about that, but what he was sure about was that she was more beautiful than he remembered now that he didn’t have to struggle to focus through a mild head injury, dehydration, and excruciating pain.
* * *
For a moment, Mari thought she was imagining Buck as a rush of adrenaline hit her squarely in the chest. This couldn’t be him in a teenage nightmare, but there was no mistaking his height, his build, and that gorgeous face. The way he had taken control of the battling women had every single female in the store riveted on him. He stood there, a man who was confident and take-charge, an aura of command in every line of his big body. It was a definite thrill to see him fully upright, healthy, and healed, allowing her to assess everything that made Sam Buckard stunning.
“That lady is telling the truth,” Mari said, pointing at the woman without the dress. “I saw everything.”
“If I could help?” the clerk from the register said. “We have more of those dresses in the back. I just haven’t had a moment to put them out. I’m sure we can accommodate you both.” She shot Buck a more than grateful smile that made Mari want to get into her own catfight.
He nodded as he murmured something to each woman, then started toward her, his eyes for her only. That gave her gut another sizzling shot of adrenaline.
The man literally radiated an aura of strength and masculinity. He was powerfully built with heavily muscled shoulders, but beneath his unquestionable virility, beneath his physical toughness, there was something…some indefinable quality that drew her.
He was dressed for the West with his faded blue jeans that hugged him in all the really good places, a dark blue plaid western-style shirt that fit him like a second skin, the cuffs rolled up revealing his sexy forearms. Looped through his jeans was an engraved silver buckle, and on his feet, he wore a pair of scuffed cowboy boots. The hat on his head made her pulse stutter, fueling every fantasy any woman ever had about a rugged cowboy.
His gaze never left hers as he progressed through the silent crowd, all of them feeling everything she was feeling about him. But even as that electric undercurrent of sexual chemistry zapped her, her heart hammering wildly against her ribs, she experienced a rush of heat…everywhere.
The universe was trying to tell her something here. Of all the places in San Diego she could have run into him, this was exactly the last she would have ever guessed.
“Well, hell. Maritza Eleana Solano Navarro.”
“Do you believe in fate, Sam Buckard?”
“I’m beginning to get a feeling about that, darlin’,” he said. She looked at him, into green eyes so penetrating, she lost her thoughts. Maybe it was time for her to have some fun, and Buck was exactly the man she had been hoping to find.
6
“I’m here to pick up a dress for my sister.” They spoke at exactly the same time, then laughed softly. The madhouse quality of the store resumed after the two women were mollified, and then apologized to each other.
“Let’s get our mutual chore out of the way, then we can find a place to have a cup of coffee. I know a great coffeehouse. This little establishment called the Golden Grain.”
He looked away, the muscles in his jaw working, as though he were struggling to maintain a veneer of control. The thought of this man out of control sent a shiver through her, her mind racing with all the possibilities. When he looked at her again, his intense green eyes bored into her, searing her with that burning look.
The crowd moved around them as he set his big hand against her lower back, his touch so light, but her body felt weighed down by it.
Mari was so aware of Buck’s presence. It was as if her body had a million little sensors in it. And to make matters worse…or better, it was forced intimacy as people pressed in from all sides, pushing them even closer together.
They reached the counter and the clerk smiled at him and ignored her like she didn’t exist. Yeah, Mari couldn’t blame her. “As I said before we were interrupted, I’m here?—”
“I got it,” she said, whipping out a box all ready to go. I just need to see your receipt, and it’s all yours,” the clerk said.
He pulled out his phone and satisfied her requirement. The clerk handed him the box with a hopeful little smile as she said, “I get off at six, maybe you would?—”
“I’m flattered,” he said, “but I’ve got plans.”
Her face fell and she nodded. “Oh, okay, maybe another time.”
Mari felt the same acute disappointment. She had a meeting this afternoon, and tomorrow she was heading to LA on the next leg of her business journey. But if he was busy then she had no choice. It was as if her self-control snapped into place, berating herself for letting down her guard for even a moment. Work was her priority. Work had to be her priority. Suddenly, for a brief moment, she felt so unsatisfied and hollow. She had thought he was attracted to her, but she must have been mistaken. It was strange because she knew how to read a room, and she knew how to adjust to meet any challenges she might encounter. She smoothed out her expression, making sure to keep her discontent completely internal. “I also need a dress.”
The clerk looked at her as if she was just noticing her for the first time. She blinked, then looked at Buck, then back at her. Her mouth tightened and her eyes narrowed. “Of course,” she said, her voice brisk and angry. “Name.”
“Carmen Navarro.” She reached into her bag for her phone and pulled up her receipt. She had treated her sister to the dress. The clerk’s reaction was wasted on her. It was apparent that neither of them had caught this man’s spectacular eye. Well, he would have been a major distraction anyway, and on this trip, she couldn’t afford to be less productive. She wasn’t going to fool herself that her father’s affection and love weren’t contingent on how she performed here.
“I’ll be right back.” She pushed through the crowd and disappeared into the back.
When she came back, she had the same box. Everything was so frenetic, she got jostled and her elbow hit Buck’s box. It slid off the counter and dropped at the clerk’s feet.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Mari said.
