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“Okay.” After experiencing such intense emotions, Lizzie felt dazed and ready for a nap. “Are you sure I can’t—?”
He retrieved his hat from the ground and dusted it off against his thigh before placing it back on his head.
“I’m good.” He got into the truck. Lizzie couldn’t help but notice he was still aroused.
He saw her looking and gave her a crooked smile. “Next time let’s try this together, yeah?”
“God, yes,” Lizzie agreed fervently. “That would be wonderful.”
“Slow and steady, remember?” Adam said. Before he drove off he turned to give her one last leisurely kiss, which made her really wish the being together part would start immediately.
Eventually, the familiar ranch house came into view. Adam pulled into the space between the barn and the fenced-in paddocks.
“The house isn’t locked up. You can just go right on in through the mudroom if you want to get started.” He was suddenly all business.
“Okay. I have a fair idea of where Ines keeps everything so I should be good to go,” Lizzie replied.
“Great.” Adam got out of the truck and headed for the barn. “I’ll deal with the horses and check back with you in half an hour.”
He strode away without a backward glance and Lizzie made her way into the house. The first thing she saw was the big portrait of Louisa and Adam on their wedding day that hung over the fireplace. Her steps slowed as she considered it. Was that why Adam had stopped to touch her before they reached the ranch where his wife had grown up? If he’d really wanted a bed, there were plenty of empty ones here.
Even as she had the thought, she realized that Adam would never do anything to sully the Cortez family or his memories of Louisa. Not that she would’ve been happy about him touching her here either, but it would’ve been nice if he’d been up-front and honest about it. She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered, her previous happiness disappearing. Maybe he hadn’t consciously thought about the place being off-limits . . .
A breeze drifted through the back door she’d left open. And maybe she should have asked him for her panties back.
She went into the kitchen, checked the solar power was working properly, and filled a bucket with hot water and dishwashing liquid. The energy she could have used between the sheets with Adam was easily converted into a ferocious desire for hard work. Her cell buzzed, and she checked it to see a message from Yvonne saying they’d be there in just over half an hour.
She debated changing into her jeans and T-shirt, but she had no desire to go outside and encounter Adam until she got a hold of her strange mood. She knew she wasn’t being quite fair to him, but her emotions refused to fall into line. She opted to borrow one of Ines’s aprons, and left it at that.
By the time Yvonne and Roman arrived, the house had been vacuumed and polished to perfection. Lizzie busied herself talking to her son as Yvonne explained that Rio was out in the barn with Adam discussing potential improvements to the ranch.
“I brought us a picnic lunch.” Yvonne placed the basket on the kitchen table. “Ines told us to take our time exploring the ranch before we made our minds up.”
“It is a lovely place.” Lizzie found plates and silverware and put them beside the basket. “I was best friends with Louisa Cortez, so I practically grew up here.”
“Did your parents have a ranch?”
“No, my dad was the manager of Morgantown Bank before it merged with three other banks. He took early retirement rather than retrain and move to a different location. I don’t think he’s ever regretted it.”
Lizzie set out the plates and invited Roman to sit down, but he was too busy making friends with one of Ines’s many stray cats. Lizzie let him be after reminding him to be careful around the new animal. The last thing she needed was another visit to the emergency clinic with her son going into the CPS report.
She stiffened when she heard voices and Rio and Adam came through from the mudroom. It occurred to her that she had no means of transport home until her friends had finished their business. Rio grinned at her. He wore his usual all-black PBR garb except his hat was white straw as a concession to the sun.
