True Love at Silver Creek Ranch(47)

“When can I see you again?”

As she got out of bed, unabashedly naked, she grinned wickedly, and said, “Tomorrow morning as we feed hungry cattle.”

After a quick stop in the bathroom to dispose of his condom, he followed her, saying, “That’s not what I mean, and you know it.”

She found her bra and put it on, along with her underwear, a lacy little thong the same bright pink as her bra. Who’d have guessed what she had on under those cowboy shirts and jeans?

He stared at her, openmouthed, then groaned. “I won’t be able to wait long to see all of you again.”

“This is a secret, which means we can’t plan anything.” As she pulled up her jeans, she shot him a look. “I think spontaneity can be exciting.”

He found his own jeans and donned them, not bothering with the top button. He pulled her to him and kissed her again. “Anything with you is exciting. But I’ll be patient.”

“Patient—and distant,” she added in a mock-severe tone, waving her finger in front of his face.

He caught it in his mouth and nipped her. “Just don’t go wagging that cute ass in front of me every chance you get.”

She pulled on her coat, grinning. “This cute ass will do whatever it wants. I’m the boss, remember?”

After one last smoldering smile, and an appreciative look down his body, she disappeared out the front door. Adam went to the window and peered through the edge of the curtain. She faded into darkness across the yard, but nearer the house she came back into the light. He watched her until she opened the kitchen door and was gone.

Then he sat on the couch, dropped his head back, and closed his eyes. He hadn’t seen that coming. But damn, what a lot to give thanks for.

Her request to keep things simple was for the best. He knew he had too much baggage to bring to any deeper relationship, and that would really be burdening the Thalbergs too much.

It was just sex, safe and protected, and no lies involved. No one was going to get hurt, and he’d never let Brooke suffer any embarrassment because of him. She was a proud woman, doing a man’s job. No way was he going to let her family think anything bad about her. She didn’t deserve that.

And then he realized there’d be no risk at all if he just stopped seeing her outside the job.

But he wasn’t going to do that.

As Brooke left the house in the morning, driving her Jeep into Valentine, she realized that last night with Adam, she’d forgotten her annual Black Friday shopping trip to Aspen with Monica, and hadn’t told him about it. It would be Emily’s first time.

But Brooke hadn’t exactly been thinking when she’d been with Adam. Every response had been physical and overwhelming. Sex with him had lived up to the heated imaginings she’d had the last couple weeks. After looking out the window at the bunkhouse and savoring her memories, she’d fallen into the deepest, most relaxing sleep and awakened in the morning feeling utterly . . . delicious. Satisfied. She had a little secret, something all her own that had nothing to do with her family. And Adam was passing on through, so she did not have to worry about something permanent happening. That was too much to think about right now.

She’d missed this intimacy with a man. It was only sexual intimacy, but that was just fine, she told herself. The worst part was feeling like a teenager, having to sneak back home.

As she drove away, she glanced at the bunkhouse one last time, and a faint uneasiness stole some of her contentment. The place looked so lonely, just like its new resident. She had her friends to hang out with, and he’d always had his, including the brotherhood of the Marines. But he seemed to have become a loner, and she wondered what had made him that way. Was it her place to suggest he go into Valentine and find some of his old friends? Steph’s brother Chris Sweet had gone to school with them—he’d been on the football team with Adam though he hadn’t been in Adam’s bad-boy posse before that.

But no, she wasn’t his girlfriend. She couldn’t talk to him about problems in his life. Yet she was a talker—no way could she avoid conversations with Adam. He’d just have to understand that.

Now that he lived so close, would she see him coming and going, perhaps even into town in the evenings? But no, Adam seemed to focus on work and his grandma, where she enjoyed being out with people, too.

Or did she just enjoy getting away from the ranch?

She tried to tell herself that everyone needed a break from their job, but the ranch was more than that—it was a way of life. She couldn’t believe she’d try to escape that—it would mean that everything she thought she loved about her life was a lie. She’d just helped Emily find a new direction—the bakery—so for Brooke to discover that she herself was feeling a bit uncertain was a blow.