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“Maybe he doesn’t,” Chloe said, laying one hand on his forearm. “But I do. This means a lot to me, Liam.” She sighed again. “Now I know that even after my time on this ranch is over, a memory of me will still be here.”
His eyes darkened like a lake at night. He went perfectly still and then he said, “Yeah. Guess it does mean that.”
And, she thought, he didn’t look happy about it.
* * *
A week later, Liam was still fascinated by her.
She was walking that new foal around like it was a dog and damned if the little animal wasn’t following after her like a trusting puppy, too. And even with the extra time she’d been spending with the foal, Chloe worked twice as hard as anyone else and never asked for help. He respected the way she carried her own weight, but he was forced to keep reminding himself that a work ethic didn’t mean that she was built for this kind of life.
He couldn’t get away from the fact that she hadn’t been born with a silver spoon in her mouth, she’d been born with the whole damn set of silver. Her blood was as blue as the Texas sky, and sooner or later, that nature was going to show itself. At some point she’d get tired of being hot and tired. She’d want a manicure and a spa day or whatever it was idle rich women did with their days.
Hell, Tessa had once spent six hours shopping for shoes and hadn’t bought a damn thing. It was a way of seeing and being seen, he’d finally figured out. That’s what Tessa had been interested in. Being at the right place with the right people at the right time.
And that was Chloe’s world, too, despite whatever she was claiming at the moment. He had to remember. Because he wasn’t going to allow himself to get dragged back into a relationship that was doomed from the jump.
Just like he and Tessa, Liam and Chloe were from wildly different worlds. He understood his and didn’t have a clue about hers.
As if to prove his point, a low-slung, bright red convertible sped up the drive, with a tail of dust streaming up behind it. He tore his gaze from Chloe, who was taking the foal back into the stable, and watched as the car careened around a turn and Tim Logan, one of the ranch hands, did a long jump to avoid being run down.
“Hey, lady! Watch it!” Tim threw a hard look at the woman behind the wheel.
The car came to a sharp stop outside the barn, sending another cloud of dust flying. “Sorry, sorry!” The driver shouted her apology and regally waved one hand at Tim, who cursed under his breath and walked away.
Liam shook his head. He didn’t know who she was, but since he’d never seen her here before, he was willing to bet cold hard cash that she had something to do with Chloe.
She seemed to glide out of the car, a beautiful woman in a short, summer blue dress with a full skirt, swinging her bare legs out first. She wore three-inch blue heels, and her light brown hair was like a cloud lifting around her head in the hot breeze.
She slammed the car door, lifted one hand to shield her eyes from the sun and looked around until she spotted Liam. Giving him a well-honed smile, she sashayed toward him. Sashay was really the only word that could describe that hip-swaying, deliberately sexual walk. Liam decided that he could like the look of that walk, while at the same time, mentally labeling her as trouble.
“Hi!” She gave him a wide smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “I’m Ellen Hemsworth and I’m looking for my sister, Chloe.”
“Of course you are,” he muttered. Actually, Ellen was exactly what he’d expected Chloe to be, back on that day when he went to have a meeting with her.
“I beg your pardon?” She looked unamused.
Liam’s eyebrows lifted. He felt them go and couldn’t stop it. This was Chloe’s little sister. Driving a car worth more than most men made in a year and looking like she stepped out of a fashion magazine. If he’d needed reinforcement about Chloe and the life she was born to, here it was.
“Is there a problem?” Her tone indicated Queen to Servant, and there was no mistaking it.
“No, ma’am,” he said, pointing. “Chloe’s in the stable. Right over there.”
“The stable?” Ellen grimaced. “Are there horses in there?”
