weekend, we could mosey on down to the ranch so you can take a look around before you decide. We have plenty of places for you to stay overnight.”
Overnight? No way. “I believe I’ve heard enough and I really don’t think—”
“Pack an overnight bag, and I’ll see you at four in the lobby,” he said as he started across the lot toward the motel. “And FYI, I won’t take no for an answer.”
Wouldn’t take no for an answer? Ha. Maybe that worked for most women, but Jillian Elizabeth Amherst wasn’t just any woman, a fact he would soon learn. She’d spent a good deal of her adulthood telling people no, from pesky men to her own parents.
Come on, Jilly. Take a chance, for once in your life.
Jill shoved aside her onetime best friend’s words and allowed caution to come into play. She had a decent life, a satisfying job. She liked the travel even if she didn’t care for the solitude at times. She didn’t really desire to have a permanent home or a larger salary, although she wouldn’t reject extra money in most cases. But she surely didn’t need the hassle of trying to avoid a cowboy who had begun to capture her fancy, and imagination. She worried she might not want to turn him down, if the opportunity presented itself.
That reason alone led her to the appropriate decision. When Houston Calloway walked into that lobby this afternoon, he wouldn’t find her there.
* * *
Houston was kind of surprised to see Jill standing there, a blue canvas bag hanging over her shoulder, a larger suitcase at her feet and a ticked-off look on her face. She struck him as one of those organized people, and she probably didn’t appreciate the fact he was ten minutes late for the rendezvous.
“Not much on punctuality?” she said as he approached her, confirming his suspicions.
“Sorry,” he muttered. “I overslept.”
“I didn’t sleep at all.”
She’d said it like that was his fault. “Why not?”
“Aside from having to turn in my rental car, I kept rolling your offer around in my mind, weighing the pros and cons. Instant insomnia.”
No shock there. “Fair enough. Now follow me.”
After picking up her suitcase, Houston escorted Jill out of the lobby to the black limo waiting at the curb. The driver opened the rear door and took the suitcase while Jill climbed inside. She claimed a spot on the lengthy seat on the far side of the limo, while he sat opposite her to maintain a wide berth between them. Otherwise he’d be battling the urge to coax her down onto the gray leather.
Like she’d be open to that. And he sure as hell didn’t understand why he’d suddenly become so damn attracted to a woman who’d been a burr in his butt for two years. Maybe it was just the challenge and the chase. Maybe he’d gone too long without female attention. Maybe it was those dimples and that shiny auburn hair and the way that peach-colored T-shirt enhanced her finer attributes. And damn she smelled good, like the lavender his stepmom, Jen, planted everywhere she could find a scrap of dirt. Jillian’s finer qualities, coupled with her no-BS attitude, presented a mighty fine package. He could so take her on one, hot ride...
“Nice ride,” she said, breaking through his fantasies.
“Only the best. The bar’s fully stocked if you want a drink.”
“No, thanks. When I drink, which is extremely rare, I don’t ever do so before seven.”
He could use a shot of whiskey, but he’d refrain in order to maintain some control over his libido. “Did you have any lunch?”
“I grabbed a sandwich a couple of hours ago.”
When she flipped that thick hair over one shoulder, he wanted to grab a cab and get out of there before he forgot his manners. “We’ll have dinner with the family tonight,” he said.“That would be a welcome change of pace. I tend to have a lot of fast food.”
“I hear you. Nothing better than a home-cooked meal.”
“I agree,” she said before glancing out the window.
Houston still couldn’t quite get a grip on the fact she’d agreed to accompany him in light of all her earlier arguments against it. He sensed Jill might be questioning that decision when she shifted and turned her attention onto the smoky glass partition separating the front from the back. The conversation died during the twenty-minute drive to the private airport and didn’t resume even when they boarded the D Bar C corporate jet.
They settled into the beige leather seats kitty-corner from each other in the main cabin near the onboard bar. Jill stared out the window without speaking, leading Houston to wonder why she would find a hangar so damn interesting.
He snapped his seat belt closed and cleared his throat. “How does this plane compare to the others you’ve been on?”
She tore her gaze from the tarmac and looked around. “About the same,” she said before finally looking directly at him. “Plush seats. Full kitchen with white marble counters. The ultimate in technology, right down to the WiFi. I assume the sleeping quarters are in the back.”
“Yeah. Feel free to stretch out after we take off.”
She rifled through her bag, took out a magazine and began to flip through the pages. “No, thanks. I’m fine right here.”
All talk ceased as they taxied down the runway, and once they leveled off midair, Houston got up and grabbed a beer from the bar fridge. “Want anything to drink? I make a mean gin and tonic.”
“No, thanks,” she said without looking up.
“Glass of water?”
“No, thanks again.”
Jill seemed bent on ignoring him, and that royally ticked Houston off. He took a swig before settling back in the seat. “Did I do something to piss you off?”
She sent him a fast glance and went back to flipping. “Not today.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
After closing the magazine, she looked at him straight on. “I’m sorry. I’m tired. I didn’t intend to take it out on you.”
He suspected there was more to it than fatigue. “Are you sure something else isn’t bugging you?”
“If you must know, my mother left me a voice mail and I listened to it right before I left the motel room. She reminded me that my sister is getting married next weekend and I’m expected to attend. Sometimes her demands rub me the wrong way.”
Houston decided Ms. Amherst had some serious mama issues. “You don’t sound too excited about the nuptials.”
“I’m not. I’ve never been that close to Pamela. She’d didn’t even invite me to be in the wedding party. But I’m five years older and let’s just say she’s always been the favored child.”
He sensed a sorry story there. “Why is that?”
“Pamela
