Thunder Canyon Homecoming (6 page)

“This is beautiful country,” she agreed.

“The prettiest in the whole world, apart from Texas, of course.”

“Of course,” she agreed drily.

He grinned. “Although I hear the West Coast has some good stuff, too. Like California girls.”

“Are you going to break into song now?”

“I only ever sing in the shower,” he told her, “so if you want to be serenaded—”

“Not necessary,” she assured him.

Corey chuckled.

“So what did you think?” he asked a few minutes later. “Not just of the ranch, but the ride.”

“I think I could learn to like this,” she admitted.

“I knew you would,” he said confidently.

There was that arrogance again—but it definitely suited him.

“You've probably been riding since you were little,” she guessed.

“Since I was knee high to a grasshopper, to hear my mama tell the story.”

She made a point of tilting her head way back to look up at him. “I can't imagine you were ever knee high to a grass hopper.”

“I was,” he surprised her by admitting. “In fact, I was short and scrawny almost all the way through high school. I couldn't even get a date to my junior prom.”

“And your senior prom?”

He grinned. “Well, that was a different story.”

“I'll bet.”

“How about you? Did you go to your senior prom?”

She thought back, smiled. “Yes, I did. I went with Thomas Anderson. He was president of the chess club, editor of the yearbook, valedictorian of our graduating class.”

“The first boy you ever slept with?” he prompted.

She shook her head. “No. But he was the first boy to break my heart.”

“Where is he now? Want me to go beat him up?”

She laughed. “That's not necessary. I got over him a long time ago.”

“Glad to hear that,” he said. “How about more recently?”

“More recently what?”

“Have you been dating anyone in Thunder Canyon?”

“No. And I'm not looking to start, either.”

“Why not?”

She shrugged. “I've been working a lot.”

“You know what they say about all work and no play,” he warned her.

“I don't play games.”

“Some games are fun, darlin'.”

She smiled at that, but her smile quickly faded. “I was dating someone in San Diego for a while.”

“Did he break your heart, too?”

She shook her head. “But I think I might have bruised his.”

“And you're still feeling guilty about it,” he guessed.

“Maybe. I don't know. I didn't think our relationship was that serious. We hadn't been dating very long, but he was looking to make a commitment and I wasn't.”

“Because you're not ready to settle down? Or because you didn't want to settle down with him?”

“I just didn't want to settle,” she said and winced when she realized how the words sounded.

But Corey nodded, understanding. “There was something missing.”

“A lot of somethings, actually,” she admitted.

“How is that your fault?”

“Well, according to my mother, I didn't give him a chance, my expectations are too high, I need to understand that chemistry takes time—” she broke off, her cheeks burning. “Well, that's getting a lot more personal than I meant to.”

“So, there was no chemistry with this guy, huh?”

She ignored his question because she knew the answer would lead her down a treacherous path.

They were at the barn now, and Corey dismounted before turning to help Erin down. She was grateful for his assistance, because as relaxed as she'd begun to feel in the saddle she wasn't at all confident in her ability to get out of it. She put her hands on his shoulders and slid down, the front of her body brushing against the front of his.

Like flint rubbing against rock, sparks flashed, heat flared. Her breath caught, her pulse pounded. His hands stayed on her hips, holding her close.

And suddenly she was smack in the middle of that treacherous path she'd been so determined to avoid.

“Did you guys have a good time?” Russ asked.

Erin jumped back, her cheeks burning.

“Oh, yes,” she said. “It was wonderful. Thank you.”

“Not a problem,” Russ said. “Melanie's just about to put dinner on the table. There's plenty of food, if you wanted to join us.”

“Oh.” She wasn't sure how to respond to the invitation. She'd met Russ and Melanie a few times and didn't want to refuse his generous offer, but she wasn't sure she'd feel comfortable sitting down at a table with people she barely knew.

“Thanks for the invite,” Corey said, coming to her rescue. “But Erin and I have other plans.”

“You're sure?” Russ pressed.

“Positive. But please thank Melanie for us.”

His friend nodded. “I will. And I hope you'll find your way out here again before you head back to Texas.”

“You can count on it,” Corey said, shaking his hand firmly.

The rancher tipped his hat to Erin, then led the horses into the barn.

 

“How are you holding up?” Corey asked when they were back in his truck and heading away from the ranch.

“Not too badly,” she said.

“You should take a hot bath before you go to bed tonight,” he suggested. “It will help ease any soreness in your muscles.”

“That sounds like a wonderful idea.” She tipped her head back and closed her eyes as if she was imagining herself sinking into a tub filled with bubbles.

Or maybe he just assumed that was what was on her mind because it was on his.

“And if it doesn't work, I'll call Stefan in the morning and see if he can squeeze me in for a quickie during my lunch.”

“Stefan? A quickie?”

She laughed. “A quick massage,” she clarified.

“Oh.” But his frown deepened. “Don't they have women who give massages?”

“Of course. But Stefan has the most amazing hands.”

“And you let him put them all over your body?”

“I pay him to put them all over my body.” She didn't usually engage in this kind of flirtatious banter, but Corey's reaction to her statement was so typically and possessively male, she couldn't resist teasing him a little. “And he's worth every penny.”

“I could do the same thing—for free.”

She lifted a brow. “Show me your diploma, cowboy.”

“Well, no one's ever called it a diploma, but—”

She laughed. “I was referring to a professional accreditation. Stefan trained in Sweden.”

“I graduated from Texas A&M,” he said, flicking on his indicator.

Instead of heading in the direction Erin lived, he turned the opposite way.

“Where are we going?” she asked, more curious than concerned.

“I told Russ we had plans for dinner,” he reminded her. “You don't want to make a liar out of me, do you?”

“I just don't want you to feel obligated—”

“Erin.”

She frowned at the interruption.

“You seem to be forgetting that I'm the one who tracked you down this morning and pretty much blackmailed you into spending the day with me.”

“You did, didn't you?”

“Which should prove that if I didn't want to be with you, I wouldn't be.”

“Okay,” she finally said, but the furrow in her brow deepened when he pulled into the parking lot of the Super Saver Mart, still referred to by a lot of the locals as the Thunder Canyon Mercantile. “This is where we're going for dinner?”

He chuckled. “This is where we're going to get the ingredients for dinner.”

She looked at him suspiciously.

“No, I don't expect you to cook dinner for me,” he said be fore she could ask. “I'm going to cook for you.”

“You are?”

“Why do you sound so surprised?”

“I guess because I am,” she admitted, as they made their way toward the entrance. “No man has ever cooked me dinner before.”

He eyed her warily. “Are you one of those—what do they call them—vegetarians or vegans or whatever?”

The tone of his voice left her in no doubt what this man
from cattle country thought of that possibility and made her lips curve. “No, I'm not a vegetarian or a vegan.”

“Are you a picky eater?”

“There are some things I don't like,” she admitted, “but I'm not picky.”

“What don't you like?”

“Peas. Pickles. Pineapple.”

He lifted his brows. “You have something against the letter ‘p'?”

“I don't like squash, either.”

“Like…pumpkin?”

She smiled again. “Any kind of squash.”

“Well then, I think we're pretty safe,” he told her. “Because there are no peas, pickles, pineapple or squash in my red sauce.”

“I do like red sauce.”

“How do you feel about pasta?”

“I love pasta.”

He grinned. “Then let's go shopping.”

I
f she'd been surprised by his offer to cook for her, she was even more so by the ease with which he pushed the cart around the grocery store. He didn't just toss the vegetables into a bag, he checked the color of the tomatoes, tested the firmness of the garlic, gauged the texture of the peppers.

She made a face when he was sniffing the mushrooms. “Those aren't one of my favorite foods,” she admitted to him.

“These are shiitake, not porcini,” he teased.

“I'm just not a fan of any kind of fungus,” she said.

“You won't even taste them.”

She decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. After all, she was going to sit down for a home-cooked meal that she didn't have to prepare, and she was curious about his skill in the kitchen. Okay, she was curious about his skill in other areas, too, but she refused to let her mind go down that path. Again.

He added a head of romaine lettuce, a bag of carrots, a bunch of green onions and a cucumber.

Moving out of the produce department to the bakery, he grabbed a loaf of French bread, then a package of fresh fettucine, extra virgin olive oil, basil, oregano, a hunk of parmesan cheese and a bottle of red wine.

“You've thought of everything, haven't you?”

He took a mental inventory of the ingredients as they moved along the conveyor belt toward the cashier. “I hope so.”

“Do you do this often?”

“Shop for groceries?”

“Cook.”

“Do you mean cook for a woman or just cook in general?”

“Cook in general,” she said, unwilling to admit that she was just as curious to know if he was in the habit of cooking for his female companions.

“I have to eat,” he said logically.

“But—” She bit her lip, stifling the reply that had almost spilled out uncensored.

“But,” he prompted.

She felt her cheeks burn. “I just thought you'd probably have women lining up to cook for you.”

“Well, if you're offering …” He grinned.

“You said you were cooking for me,” she reminded him.

“Tonight,” he agreed. “But maybe next time you could show off your culinary skills.”

“You're assuming there will be a next time.”

“Not assuming,” he denied. “Just hopeful.”

She had enjoyed the time they'd spent together today and, so long as he wasn't looking for anything more than friendship from her—and so long as she remembered that she
wasn't in a position to offer anything more—she wouldn't object to spending more time with him.

“I do make a mean enchilada,” she told him.

“Spicy?”

“I guess I'll let you be the judge of that.”

“I'll look forward to it.” He smiled before he turned to the cashier to pay for his groceries.

 

Corey put Erin to work washing the lettuce and other vegetables while he got busy chopping and dicing. Her kitchen was laid out almost identical to the one in the condo he was renting, so he felt comfortable moving around in it and opening cupboards and drawers to find what he needed. He located a big pot to boil water for the pasta and a wok-style frying pan that he could use to make the sauce. He opened the bottle of wine to let it breathe while he heated a drizzle of olive oil in the pan and tossed in a couple of crushed garlic cloves.

“Where did you learn to cook?” Erin asked him.

He dumped the red and green peppers into the pan, stirred them around with a wooden spoon, then began peeling the tomatoes.

“Here and there,” he said.

She lifted her brows at the vagueness of his response, but he didn't elaborate. He didn't think he'd score any points with Erin by admitting it was an ex-girlfriend who'd taught him the basics of the sauce he was currently making for her. Especially not if she knew that he'd appreciated Gina's marinara sauce more than he'd appreciated Gina and, once he'd realized that, he'd decided to learn to make it for himself so that he could enjoy his pasta without the complications of an unhappy relationship.

“Why don't you pour the wine?” he suggested.

She found two glasses in the cupboard and did as he suggested.

He finished dicing the tomatoes he'd peeled and tossed them into the pan, then added some spices and stirred everything around again.

“It smells good already,” Erin told him.

He washed his hands and dried them on the towel that was hanging over the handle of the oven door before he turned to take the glass of wine she offered to him. “It will taste even better,” he promised.

Her brows rose up again. “Cocky, aren't you?”

“Confident,” he corrected.

When he stepped toward her, Erin felt an instinctual urge to retreat. But the counter was at her back, leaving her with nowhere to go.

His lips curved, slowly, seductively. Her heart hammered.

She had no doubt that he had reason to be confident. She knew enough about his background to know that he'd been born into a powerful and influential family, but he'd also achieved his own success. And men like Corey, men who wore success and self-assurance as comfortably as the designer labels on their backs, drew more than their fair share of female attention. Which made her wonder—what was he doing with her?

She wasn't oblivious to her own appeal, but she wasn't an heiress or a supermodel, and she didn't doubt that Corey had dated women from each of those categories—and a few more. She also guessed that he was a man accustomed to getting what he wanted, and the look in his eyes left her in no doubt that what he wanted, at least right now, was her. And though she had no intention of giving in to the desire that surged through her veins, she couldn't deny that she wanted him right back.

His gaze dropped to her mouth, and she knew that if he kissed her again, right here and right now, she would be lost. She put a hand out—a desperate, wordless attempt to hold him off, at least long enough for her to gather her wits about her—and realized she was holding her glass of wine in it.

“Well, then,” she said, lifting her glass a little higher. “We should toast to dinner.”

Amusement crinkled the corners of his eyes as he tapped the rim of his glass against hers.

“To dinner,” he agreed, “with new friends.”

She sipped her wine without tasting it, all too aware of his closeness and the intensity of his gaze on her.

“I should set the table.”

“There's no rush,” he assured her. “The sauce needs to simmer for about half an hour.”

Half an hour?

It wasn't all that long, really, but somehow, it seemed like an eternity. Because the more time she spent with Corey, the more difficult it was to ignore the attraction she felt.

Her immediate response to him had been purely physical—the first time they met, she hadn't known him well enough for it to be anything more than a hormonal response to a good-looking man who practically oozed charm and sex appeal. But the more she got to know Corey, the more she found herself actually liking him.

Despite the attraction that zinged between them, she felt comfortable with him. Comfortable enough to laugh when he teased her, to respond in kind when he flirted with her and to enjoy the conversations they shared as much as the silences that sometimes fell in-between. Yeah, she was definitely starting to like him, and the combination of lust and like was a lot more difficult to ignore than a purely hormonal reaction.

But when they were alone together, as they were now, the pleasure she felt in his company grew into more, and she wasn't completely comfortable with that.

“Speaking of the sauce,” she said, needing to break the spell that had woven around her like a spider's web, invisibly drawing her closer to him. And just like a fly caught in a web, she knew that it would be dangerous to let him get any closer.

“What about the sauce?” There was a hint of laughter in his voice, amusement sparkling in his eyes.

“Don't you need to stir it…or something?”

“Or something,” he agreed and lifted a hand to trail a finger down her cheek.

Her pulse pounded, her breath caught.

Corey's eyes stayed locked with hers.

“You're a bundle of contradictions, Erin Castro.”

She didn't dare ask what he meant, or maybe she was afraid that she knew. As clearly as she could read the desire in his eyes, she was sure he could see the same want echoed in hers. But she'd told him that she didn't want to get involved, and she'd meant it.

“I'm not trying to be,” she told him.

He held her gaze for another minute before he stepped back. “I know. And that's why I'm going to focus on my sauce and let you set the table.”

She exhaled slowly and turned to set her wineglass on the counter. As she reached into the cupboard for the plates, she assured herself that she was grateful he'd backed away.

Grateful and relieved.

And more than a little disappointed.

 

Half an hour later, they were seated at the table enjoying hot pasta, warm bread and crisp salad.

“You were right,” she admitted. “It tastes even better than it smells—and it smells fabulous.”

He twirled his fork in his own pasta. “I'm glad you're enjoying it.”

“Are you kidding? This is one of the best meals I've had since…” Her words trailed off.

Since she'd come to Thunder Canyon, she suddenly realized and felt a pang of sadness thinking of the family she'd left in San Diego. But she'd had no choice. Not if she wanted to find the answers to the questions that Erma had planted in her mind. And she did want those answers. She
needed
the answers in order to understand who she really was.

“Since?” Corey prompted.

She forced a smile. “Since I can't remember when,” she told him, keeping her voice deliberately light. “Really, this is amazing.”

He took a slice of warm bread from the basket, tore it in half. “Do you want to talk about it?”

She swallowed another mouthful of pasta, then wiped her mouth with her napkin. “Talk about what?”

“Whatever's on your mind.”

She reached for her wineglass. “There's nothing—”

He touched a finger to her lips, halting the automatic denial. She set her glass back down, nearly sloshing wine over the rim.

“If you don't want to talk about it, say so, darlin',” he told her. “But don't tell me there's nothing because it was obvious when I got here this morning that there was something bothering you and I can tell that your thoughts are wandering again.”

She wondered if she'd been so obviously preoccupied or if he was more intuitive than she would have guessed. Either way, she couldn't imagine telling him what she'd been thinking. She couldn't imagine telling
anyone
about
her suspicions, though she knew she should probably talk to someone before she took the next step.

Right now she had no idea what her next step was going to be, how to follow-up and find proof of her theory. Sure, she'd considered approaching Grant and saying, “I think I might be your sister.” But as hard as she tried, she couldn't imagine how he might respond to such an announcement, except that she was confident he would
not
throw his arms around her and say, “Welcome to the family.”

At the very least, he would be cautious; more likely, suspicious; possibly he would even question her sanity. All of which would be understandable reactions to such an unexpected claim, and all of which reaffirmed for Erin her decision to stay away from the resort today and avoid any chance of crossing paths with her boss.

But as much as her actions had been motivated by self-preservation, she couldn't deny that she was glad Corey had shown up and taken her mind off of the situation—at least for a while.

“I was just thinking that I was glad I played hooky today,” she told him, because that was true.

His eyes narrowed, as if he knew she wasn't being completely truthful with him, but then he smiled. “I'm glad you played hooky today, too.”

“Unfortunately, I can't keep playing hooky, which means that I have an early morning.” She pushed her chair away from the table and stood up, taking her plate and cutlery to the dishwasher.

“Is that supposed to be my cue to take off?”

“Yes, it is,” she said, but with more than a hint of reluctance.

She really had enjoyed her day with Corey—and she'd appreciated that he'd been able to take her mind off of her worries when nothing and no one else had done so.

“I'll head out as soon as the kitchen is cleared up,” he told her.

“You cooked dinner, so I'll take care of the cleanup.”

“That doesn't seem fair when I made the mess.”

“It's more than fair, considering the delicious meal I just ate.”

“Are you sure?”

“I'm sure.” More importantly, she was worried that if she didn't get him out of her apartment as soon as possible, she might change her mind about wanting him to go.

“All right then,” he relented. “But only because I have some early morning meetings myself that I need to prepare for.”

“Meetings? I didn't realize…I thought you were just in town for your brother's wedding.”

“I would have come just for the wedding,” he agreed. “But as it turned out, I had a business opportunity come up in the area.”

“Then you're going to be staying in Thunder Canyon for a while?”

He leaned closer. “Do you want me to?”

More than she should, and that was
not
an admission she was willing to make to a man who was all too aware of the effect he had on the female species. Instead, she only said, “I'm sure your plans have nothing to do with me.”

His smile, slow and sexy, made her heart bump against her ribs.

“Don't be too sure, darlin',” he said in a tone that was as slow and sexy as his smile and shimmered over her skin like a caress. “While it's true that some new opportunities have come up, I'm not sure I would have been so willing to hang around if I wasn't also tempted by the possibility of spending some more time with you.”