“You drive it the same way you do when wearing a pink hat,” he said, pulling her one step closer. “It’s just sitting there, collecting dust. It could stand to be driven around for a few days. And it’s free.” His gaze slid to her mouth.
Free definitely appealed to Madeline’s frugal nature. “Are you sure?” she asked. “Seems invasive.”
“I’m sure.” He’d pulled her so close that she could see the flecks of blue in his gray eyes. “I should point out that it’s also got a decent backseat.”
Madeline had never known how arousing it could be to have a man look at her mouth the way he was looking at hers. “Are you going to kiss me again?”
“I’d like to,” he said. “Are you going to kiss me again?”
“It’s not a good idea,” she said softly.
“I know,” he responded agreeably.
“Yesterday was an anomaly,” she said. “Bad storm and all that.”
“Oh.” His gaze lifted to hers. “We’re going with the bad storm defense, huh?” He smiled, and let go of her braid.
That smile swirled around in the pit of Madeline, lighting her up. “So… does this mean you are okay with me staying at the ranch with Libby?”
Luke laughed at that. “No,” he said firmly.
He stood so close that she could almost feel him against her. It made her feel warm. Too warm. Hot.
But Luke kept smiling as if he could see how hot she was feeling, just how out of breath. “See you at the ranch later?”
“Yep.” She nervously crossed her feet at the ankles, put her hands on her waist. “Lots to do.” She made a little circling gesture with her fingers. “To resolve things.”
He nodded, his eyes shining with pleasure. “Okay. But stay out of my stuff, Blue Eyes,” he said, and stepped around her. He started to walk away, and looked back over his shoulder. “By the way, I dig the boots.”
Madeline instantly looked down, almost having forgotten them. When she looked up, he had walked on.
She turned around and stared at her tiny little car, her heart racing a mile a minute. Her palms were kind of sweaty. Good God, she had not come to Colorado to get involved with some… some hunk and then fly back to Orlando! What was she doing? She was kidding herself, that was what. Any attraction to that man was going to end badly. She was going to get all giddy and excited that a man as handsome as Luke would find her attractive, and then she’d leave Colorado for Orlando and her life. It was her way: She’d always let a guy get close to her, a perfectly wonderful guy, and then back off. Run. It was a habit she had never examined too closely for fear of what she might discover. But it was as she’d told Luke—not a good idea.
So what was bothering her? Ah yes… she hadn’t wanted him to agree that it was not a good idea.
“Jesus, stop it, Madeline,” she muttered. Just. Stop.
But as Madeline got in to her car, she wasn’t sure if her head wasn’t telling her heart to stop being her twisted self for once? Or stop toying with the idea of a hot affair with Luke Kendrick?
EIGHTEEN
This time, when Madeline’s clown car puttered into the drive at the ranch, she was ready for the dogs—she’d picked up dog biscuits at Walmart.
She emerged cautiously, the open bag in her hand, biscuits ready to be handed out. She was mildly disappointed that only one of the dogs bothered to come out from under the porch. As the dog approached, she was quick to hold up a biscuit. That proved to be a mistake, however, because the moment she held it up, the other three leapt to their feet and rushed out from under the porch, straight for her.
“Stop!” she cried out. “Stop, stop!” Madeline tossed biscuits at them, which they were incredibly adroit at catching, their tails swishing furiously behind them. They crowded in closer, wanting more, and a twinge of panic sprouted in her chest. “Stop!” she shouted again.
“SIT!” she heard Libby bellow, and from the corner of her eye, saw her striding from the garage, carrying a box, and all four dogs sat instantly. “Garage!” she commanded as she marched forward. With a wistful look and sniff in the direction of Madeline’s box of biscuits, the dogs reluctantly slunk away, trotting off down into the meadow, their noses to the ground.
Madeline sagged against her car. “I don’t know how you do that.”
“Haven’t you ever had a dog?” Libby asked, taking the box of biscuits from Madeline.
“No. We moved too much when I was a kid.”
“Oh, really? Was your mom in the Armed Services?”
Madeline laughed. “No. She was flaky.”
Libby blinked. She handed the box of biscuits back to Madeline. “Well, for starters, you don’t offer biscuits unless they follow your command. Otherwise, it’s a free-for-all.” She suddenly smiled. “Look at you,” she said. “Cute dress.”
“Thanks.”
“Are you going to try hiking?” she asked, leaning back to have a look at Madeline’s boots.