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Corbin had been cute with dark blond hair and soft blue eyes. There was nothing cute about this man. Rugged was the only word that came to mind. A slightly crooked nose sat in the middle of an angular face half covered in dark scruff. While Corbin had been skinny, this man had broad shoulders that filled the doorway and had a tingle of familiarity settling in her stomach.
She understood why when the receptionist made the introductions.
“Mr. Cates, this is Liberty Holiday. Ms. Holiday, Jesse Cates.”
Jesse Cates?
Liberty stared at the man who had just swept off his Stetson. While his face was rugged, his hair was a hat-mussed mess of strawberry-blond waves. Beneath that crown of golden red were rich chocolate eyes that reminded Liberty of the Labrador she’d had as a kid—soulful with a spark of deviltry.
He stared at her for what felt like an eternity before a big smile spread over his face. Last night, all she’d been able to see was a flash of white teeth. Today, she could see the way his eyes crinkled at the corners and the ever-so-slight chip in the second tooth on the right side. Freckles were sprinkled over the bridge of a roman nose and high cheekbones. The chipped tooth, red hair, and freckles did make him look like Opie Taylor . . . the roman nose, square jaw, and deep-set eyes were more Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine.
The mixture was extremely unsettling.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Holiday.” His eyes narrowed. “Although I have the distinct feeling I’ve met you before. You ever been to Bramble, Texas?”
Liberty was still too stunned by his presence to speak. It took the receptionist making her excuses and leaving before she snapped out of her confusion and jumped to her feet.
“Just what the hell do you think you’re doing? Are you stalking me?”
His gaze swept over her from head to toe. Usually, she dressed in heels and a power suit for business meetings. Today, she had chosen to wear something a little more feminine and flirty. Her floral-print dress was short and formfitting, her cowboy boots high heeled and a flamboyant turquoise. When Jesse returned his gaze to hers, it was easy to read male appreciation. Which was exactly what she’d been shooting for . . . except with a completely different male.
A male who would be here any second.
“Never mind,” she said. “I don’t care what you’re doing here. I just want you to leave. And now. I have an important business meeting and I don’t need some rodeo bum screwing it up.”
His gaze lowered again. “You always dress for business meetings like you’re heading to a honky-tonk?”
Even though that was exactly how she looked, she didn’t care for him pointing it out. “That’s none of your damn business. Now get gone!” She pointed at the door.
He laughed. “You trying to get rid of me is becoming a little bit of a habit, don’t you think, darlin’?”
“What’s becomin’ a habit, darlin’, is you showing up in places you aren’t welcome. And by the way, you owe me a hundred dollars.”
His eyes widened. “Like hell I do. You cheated.”
She sent him a smug look. “I said ‘ready, set, go.’ I can’t help it if you weren’t ready.” She thought he’d get angry. Instead, he gave her another one of those blinding smiles . . . that if she was truthful, left her a little breathless.
“I’m always ready, darlin’. I’m just not always prepared. You took me by surprise. But I promise you, it won’t happen again.”
“You’re right. Because you won’t be showing up at Cooper Springs again. Unless you’re a man who doesn’t honor his bets.”
He studied her for a moment before he pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and flipped it open. There was a picture in the plastic cover where a driver’s license usually went. A picture of a big family standing in front of a Christmas tree in matching candy-cane-striped pajamas. It was an odd thing for a rodeo bum to carry around in his wallet. Until Sweetie had gotten in a big fight with Daddy and refused to come home for Christmas, the Holidays had taken matching-pajama pictures every year—with Liberty organizing the pose, of course. Seeing the family photo made her feel a little less annoyed with the man.
As did the hundred-dollar bill he held out. “I’m a man of my word. I won’t set foot on land owned by the Holidays again.”
The way he worded his oath made her more than a little skeptical, but she didn’t have time to argue the point. She took the money. “Thank you. Now get out of here before the man I’m meeting shows up.”
He closed his wallet and slipped it back in his pocket. “So I take it your daddy isn’t coming to the meeting?”
The question confused her. “Not that it’s any of your business, but my daddy doesn’t attend all my meetings.”
“Even if they’re about his ranch?”
She rolled her eyes. “Good Lord, this town just doesn’t know when to keep their mouths shut. They had no business talking to you about Holiday Ranch business.”
He hesitated for only a moment before he spoke. “They didn’t. Corbin did.”
She stared at him. “Corbin?”
