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“Oh. Um. What is it?” She cursed herself for sounding like an overexcited teenager. Especially when he’d seemed so taken aback by the thought of her staying in Catamount.
She set the dishrag aside and lifted the phone to her ear, focusing solely on the conversation.
“I’d really like to make you dinner. Are you free this evening?”
“I don’t know, Drake.” She closed her eyes, trying to shut out the way the sound of his voice made her feel. The way it made her remember so many moments from their night together—from corralling goats to tearing each other’s clothes off. “Is it really wise for us to get involved when...”
Trailing off, she guessed he could fill in the blanks for all the reasons it wasn’t a good idea for them to see each other. She didn’t want to make things any more uncomfortable for him or Colin at the wedding.
“It’s a little late for second-guessing that. After our last evening together, I would say involvement has already happened.”
She bit her lip, knowing he was right.
“We never got to talk about it afterward,” he reminded her, his tone softening. “Dinner would give us a chance to do that.”
“To talk?” she clarified, uncertain if she could sign on for anything more than that.
Even though just hearing him made her insides heat and her body ache for him all the way to the roots of her hair.
“Don’t you think we should at least come to terms with it? Maybe make a plan for the wedding, so it’s not hopelessly awkward.” As he spoke she heard a soft noise in the background.
An animal snort, she guessed. But then, he probably spent a lot of his time around his cattle.
“That makes sense,” she agreed, wanting Emma’s day to be flawless. Not just because Fleur was doing the catering, but also because she really liked Drake’s sister. “I can do dinner tonight, but first I need to visit Josiah Cranston. I want to put those lease termination papers into his hands so the clock starts ticking on his thirty days to vacate the property.”
She needed to keep her distance over dinner. Just a meal to work out logistics for how to be around each other at the wedding, and then she’d return home. No dwelling on what had happened between them last time.
No kisses that set her on fire or orgasms that catapulted her into the stratosphere. She couldn’t deny the disappointment never to feel those things again, but she also felt a deep resolve at what had to be done.
“That works out perfectly,” Drake agreed, sounding satisfied. Also, in the background, a bleating noise.
A calf, maybe, since there were no sheep on Alexander Ranch. She shook off the musing that didn’t matter and tried to get her head on straight for the evening. Keep her distance. Settle what happened between them, make a plan for the wedding. Move on.
“Okay. I’ll message you after I find Cranston and let you know when I can be there.” Even as she told herself she wasn’t going to swoon at Drake Alexander’s feet again, she couldn’t help but warm to his offer.
She had to be careful around this man or she could wind up with feelings she wasn’t ready to have for him.
“I’ve got a better plan. Why don’t I drive you around the rangelands and help you find Cranston? Then I can bring you home with me.” Another bleating in the background, and the sound of Drake shifting around the phone.
She didn’t see the need to spend extra time with him when it would be difficult enough to resist him over dinner.
“That’s okay. I’m ready to leave now and—”
“Excellent. Because I’m right outside playing with Guinevere.” The deep timbre of his voice teased over her senses. “I’m ready to go when you are.”
Twelve
Watching Fleur exit the house and walk toward him in her simple white T-shirt and cutoff shorts, a pair of scuffed brown boots on her feet, Drake couldn’t help but think how at home she looked here. Her copper-colored braid lay on one shoulder, a wilted yellow ribbon tied around the end, as she paused to scratch the brown-and-white ears of Morgan le Fay.
When Fleur had first told him she was thinking about staying in Catamount, he had assumed it would be a mistake. That an ambitious chef from Dallas wouldn’t be happy in this remote Colorado small town. But how many of his assumptions about her were based on their rodeo days when she’d held herself apart from everyone else? He’d thought she was too proud, too full of herself. But he recognized now how insecure she might have felt after her parents’ split. He understood better than most people how much influence a parent’s judgment could have over a person.
How many of his own decisions had been reactionary measures to his parents’ request that he set a better example for his siblings? That one argument had so much weight because it had been the last time he’d spoken to them.
Whatever the reason for his old notions about Fleur, the truth was that she thrived in Catamount now. She’d started a business here. Connected with locals like Marta and his sister. And, maybe most importantly, her good memories with her grandmother were here. Who was he to chase her out of town because he wanted to buy her land? The idea stirred unease.
Fleur stopped a few inches from him, her lips curving in a smile he hadn’t expected but was so damned glad to see. How many times had he thought about her since their night together, reliving every moment of having her all to himself?
“You might have told me earlier in the phone conversation that you were standing outside my house the whole time,” she chastised, her gray eyes meeting his for a moment before sliding lower.
