Montana Rescue (The Wildes of Birch Bay Book 2) (11 page)

“Only at the pigheadedness of this gate,” Harper muttered.

And maybe a little bit at herself. Because she kept watching for Nick.

She’d seen him earlier as he’d been getting ready to ride, and she’d been unable to take her eyes off him. The man wore good looks effortlessly, and it wasn’t fair. It made a rational person like her think irrational thoughts. Toss in the fact that
he
no longer seemed to have an issue with checking
her
out—he’d not done it all day from what she could tell—and her mood had soured. She wouldn’t be surprised if he’d already forgotten her.

And why would he do anything else? She’d turned him down when he’d suggested they get together again. She’d made it clear she wasn’t looking for another roll in the hay.

He had no reason to hunt her down.

Yet absence makes the libido grow fonder, and all that.

But hadn’t he said he’d wait until she wasn’t so busy? That, alone, implied he’d seek her out again, didn’t it? She growled under her breath. Not only had he not paid the slightest bit of attention to her tonight, but she’d also checked her phone for missed calls or text messages too many times over the last few days to count. And she’d called herself an idiot every time she’d done it.

She was seriously messed up. She didn’t even want to go out with him again.

Except she did.

She ignored her sister, who now wordlessly watched her, and together they worked to get everything set to load the bulls. With a path secured to the waiting trailer, Jewel released the two animals they’d brought with them, one by one, and guided them into their individual compartments. The last guy was a bit more ornery than the first, but she and Jewel were getting good at this and took it all in stride.

Dusting her hands off after they’d finished, Harper scoped out the area to see if any of the other stock contractors needed help, but paused in her search at the sight of Nick. He stood with his family in the distance, and Harper once again couldn’t pull her gaze from him. What was it about this guy?

Was it just the sex? The torturously amazing kissing? The fact that he’d said he liked hanging out with her? It had been a long time since someone had simply enjoyed the pure pleasure of her company.

“He’ll make a great dad someday.”

Harper’s insides seized up at the sound of her sister’s words. Jewel now stood beside her, and without looking, Harper knew that her sister was taking in the same sight as she.

“I suspect he will,” Harper agreed. Nick currently had his niece on his shoulders, and the child was laughing with uninhibited glee. Additionally, Harper and her sister weren’t the only women watching. Nick directed female attention without trying.

“So . . .” Jewel drew the word out as they continued to watch. “About those noises I heard last weekend.”

Humiliation doused Harper. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Denial was her best friend. Her second closest was avoidance, which Harper had used every time Jewel had called her since Patti’s graduation. Thus, the reason this conversation was only now coming up.

“I’m talking about the
noises
,” Jewel repeated. “From your
motel
room.” She apparently would no longer let the fact that she knew what Harper and Nick had done go unnoticed. “A lot of noises,” she added. She began to moan under her breath, and soon the moans turned into panting. Harper kept her gaze straight ahead and pretended that her sister wasn’t being an embarrassing nuisance at her side, and as quickly as the sounds started, they stopped. Jewel leaned in and whispered, “I’m pretty sure I heard the headboard bang against the wall a few times, too.”

Harper hung her head.

“Then there was the pleading.”

She covered her face with her hands.

“And I do believe there was something about a condom . . . on his body, maybe? But what part of his body, is what I wanted to know.”

“Jewel,” Harper hissed. “Please stop.

“
Hmmm.
Nope. I don’t recall hearing ‘stop’ at all. Was there a ‘more’ in there, though? I’m not sure.”

Harper glared at her sister from between her fingers, and embarrassment heated her words. “Did you honestly lay over there listening to us the whole time?”

“What else was I supposed to do? Bang on the wall and ask you to keep it down?”

“Ah, geez. I can’t believe—”

“You’re not beating yourself up over it, are you?” Jewel’s teasing evaporated. “Because you know you did nothing wrong. He’s gone, sweetie,” her voice softened even more. “And that’s not your fault. You can’t punish yourself forever.”

Harper crossed her arms over her chest and turned her back to her sister.

“Harper,” Jewel said from behind her.

Harper needed this to stop. Now. She didn’t want to talk about the past or what she’d done or not done that day. And she didn’t want to talk about what she’d done with Nick, either. So she peered over her shoulder and gave her sister a tight smile and forced a normal voice. “I’m not beating myself up. I swear. But
that
makes me feel bad. You have to see that. He was my husband. I should feel guilty about being with another man.”

“Maybe.” Jewel wrapped an arm around Harper’s waist. “But it’s also okay for you to move on.”

“I know.”

“Do you?” She studied Harper. “Because you’ve seemed kind of stuck for a while now.”

“I’m not stuck. I’m . . .” How did she explain it? And did she even want to?

Maybe Jewel was right. Maybe she
had
been stuck. But it wasn’t because she felt guilty for moving on. It was because of the anger. It festered inside her. They shouldn’t have even been there that day. Thomas shouldn’t have died.

And he shouldn’t have had to save
her
.

But Harper didn’t know how to explain any of that to her sister. Not without telling her everything.

“I’m not stuck,” she repeated. “I slept with Nick, and I don’t feel bad about it. Doesn’t that prove to you that I’ve moved on?”

“So you’re going to sleep with him again?”

White-hot lust shot through Harper. She didn’t answer Jewel, but both of them turned to watch Nick once again. Instead of playing with his niece, he was now entertaining a couple of the women who’d been eyeing him earlier. Making
them
laugh. One put a hand to his arm, leaning toward him, and the other stepped in closer, as if to compete. Nick simply grinned wider in return.

A couple of minutes later, he tipped his hat to both women and headed off with his family. Harper watched the other females fan themselves as he retreated, knowing exactly how they felt.

“I don’t think so,” she said, in answer to Jewel’s question.

“Why not?”

Because she suspected that he’d already lost interest. “I just don’t see the need.”

A snort burst from Jewel. “Honey, I’m happily married, but even I can see the
need
. He’s
fine
, Harp. Capital
F
kind of fine. And I’d be willing to bet he knows how to make things sing down there, too.”

Once again, Harper covered her face. For crying out loud, why did her younger sister insist on talking to her about this?

“Tell me it wasn’t amazing,” Jewel urged. “A body like that? It had to rock your world.”

A partial sigh, partial groan escaped Harper, and she finally made eye contact with Jewel. She intended to deny all charges, but when her mouth opened, what came out shocked her. “My world was rocked, okay? Completely off its axis. He’s ripped and hard, and”—she blew out a frustrated breath—“and I could have spent
days
exploring that.”

A hundred-watt grin covered Jewel’s face. “Then do it again. For me, if not for you. Screw his brains out. As many times as he’ll let you. Then do it once more for good measure.”

Harper gaped at her. “I don’t even know who you are anymore.”

“I’m the sister who’s on hormone overload and whose husband won’t be home for weeks.”

“Can we just drop it?” Harper begged. Because though Jewel made a good argument—as many times as he’d let her, and then once more—Harper didn’t plan on partaking anymore.

“Will you at least consider it?”

Hadn’t she been considering it since she’d run him from her room?

“Want me to make the noises again?” Jewel asked.

“No!”

Laughter rang from her sister. “Just have some fun, Harp. We all need it from time to time. And you deserve it. You’ve had a rough year.”

It had been longer than a year.

They turned and headed to the truck, and Harper found herself grumbling under her breath. “If I
do
do it again, you can bet I won’t tell you about it.”

“I’ll still know.”

She stopped walking. “How?”

Jewel grinned. “It’s all in the smile, babe. Didn’t we all notice it had changed?”

Harper sighed. This conversation was not what she’d expected. Nothing in her life lately was what she’d expected. She pulled up short. She needed a minute alone. “You go ahead and pull the truck out. I’m going back to see if I can snag us something to eat for the ride home.”

Too much thinking and talking about Nick had gotten in her head, and she needed to reorient herself. She wouldn’t be sleeping with him again. End of story. So no reason to fantasize about it. But she was also hungry, and they had a long ride home. Jewel hadn’t been as sick today as she had been last weekend, but the one time her queasiness had made an appearance had been when they’d had a moment for dinner. In fact, Jewel had to be as hungry as Harper. A woman couldn’t exist on saltines alone.

Harper hurried back through the concession area, finding most everyone either already gone or within minutes of leaving, but her gaze finally landed on one seller who hadn’t quite packed everything up. Only, when she made it to his cart, he had exactly one hot dog and one package of cotton candy remaining. She took what he had, knowing she’d insist Jewel eat it all, and headed back the way she’d come. But as she made her way across the dirt floor, her feet slowed at the sight of the tall, lean cowboy leaning against the far post. His hat was pulled low, and she could feel his eyes on her.

Her pulse sped up.

Nick didn’t push off the side of the building, so Harper kept moving in his direction—trying not to look excited to see him. When she reached his side, her eyes went to the funnel cake in his hand, and her mouth watered. And not just for the deep-fried sugary snack.

“Hey,” she said causally. She swallowed. “I figured you’d be off with Betsy by now.”

His brows inched up. “Betsy wasn’t here tonight.”

“Some other woman, then?” She set her features to unconcerned, but she wanted to smack herself for momentarily letting her jealousy show. What did it matter who he slept with?

Instead of letting himself be baited, Nick held up his paper plate. “Want a bite?”

She wanted a bite, a lick, and a whole lot of other things.

She wanted the funnel cake, too. Her stomach growled.

“I know you like it,” he murmured, waving it beneath her nose.

“And how do you know that?”

“Because it’s what you tasted like the night you kissed me.” He popped a bite into his mouth and chewed around a smile, while heat teased at her cheeks. But she didn’t take any of the funnel cake. Her stubborn streak had sparked to life with the mischievous gleam in his eyes, and she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

“Then I’d say I’ve tasted like a lot of things over the years,” she taunted. “Doesn’t mean I like all of them.”

His laugh was low and sexy. “So you still busy?”

“Jewel’s waiting for me.” She accidentally eyed the funnel cake in his hands before jerking her gaze back up. It was a shame when her head was torn between flirting with a hot cowboy or begging for his high-calorie treat. “But we’ve already got the bulls loaded,” she finished lamely.

“I meant
after
tonight.” The mischievousness faded. “What are you doing tomorrow?”

Oh. He was referring to her being too busy this week to do anything with him. She bit back a smile. “Depends on what you have in mind.”

And damn, hadn’t she made that sound inviting?

She swallowed and pretended not to notice her unintentional come-on, but the corners of his mouth hitched up. He finally pushed off the post, but he didn’t go far. Just far enough to stand directly in front of her. He kept the funnel cake between them.

“Dinner at my sister’s house?”

Harper’s eyes went wide. “Dinner? I thought you meant . . .” She trailed off. She’d thought he might mean a number of things, but none of them had involved dinner with his sister.

“What?” he asked. Then his own eyes widened. “You thought I meant sex?”

“No!”
She gulped. At least, she’d been trying not to think that. “I thought you meant doing something
fun
. Like you suggested the other day.”

Another low chuckle hit her ears. “Sex
is
fun.”

“Nick.”

He tugged off another bite of the snack and wiggled his brows at her.
“Harper.”

She couldn’t quite pull her eyes from his mouth as he chewed. When had chewing become sexy? And why did she now want to be that bite of funnel cake? “You know what I mean,” she breathed out.

“Yeah, I know what you mean.” He licked the sugar off his fingers, and she feared a groan might slip out of her. “So you doing okay?” he asked.

She frowned at the subject change. “I’m fine.” Were they now going to small talk? “Looks like you are, too. Nice riding tonight.” She flailed about, looking for something else to say. “I saw Ben and Dani here watching you.”

Surprise lit his eyes. “You know Ben and Dani?”

“Sure. I knew your brother Cord in school—he was a couple years ahead of me—and I’d see Dani at footballs games cheering him on. I see Dani around town now, too. And I know Ben because I’ve taken him up a couple of times.”

Ben had once been a celebrity photographer, but had changed direction when he’d discovered he had a daughter last year. He was currently working on his second coffee table book. She’d put him down in several gorgeous locations for nature shots during those two trips.