see you in an hour. We can go over the paperwork before dinner.”
“Fine.” Good idea. Remember that this was all business. His mother hadn’t sent him a woman to warm his bed. She’d sent her assistant here to finally give Jake what he’d wanted for years. Freedom from the Hunter family conglomerate.
Freedom to live his life the way he wanted.
The fact that his mother’s messenger was more than he’d expected...well, that wouldn’t matter once she was gone.
A few minutes later, Cassidy was trying to relax in a bedroom fit for a queen. She was tired, and she wanted a shower and something to eat. But first, she grabbed her cell phone and checked for coverage. Not surprising to find that she was good to go. Heck, Jake Hunter probably built his own cell tower on the mountain.
Shaking her head, she hit speed dial and listened to the phone ring until her sister answered. “Hey, Claudia,” Cassidy said, smiling. “Just wanted to let you know I got here safely.”
Her younger sister laughed. “Yeah, Montana’s not on the far side of the moon, so I figured you were okay when I didn’t hear any news about a plane crash.”
“Ouch.” Cassidy plopped onto the edge of the bed and let her gaze wander around the bedroom she’d been given for the night.
As spectacular as the rest of the house, the room was as large as her entire studio apartment back in Boston. And furnished better, she added silently. Again, there were floor-to-ceiling windows offering that tremendous view of water surrounded by pines bending and twisting in the wind. There were colorful rugs strewn across the gleaming wood floor, a fire burning cheerfully in the hearth and two overstuffed chairs pulled up in front of it, looking cozy enough to be on a Christmas card. On a narrow table against the wall sat a crystal decanter of what was probably brandy, considering the two bulbous glasses beside it. But there were also two bottles of wine. Red and white and accompanying glasses—which she would so take advantage of as soon as she was off the phone.
The bed she sat on was huge and covered in a silky quilt in varying shades of green that made her think of the forest beyond the house. The mattress was so soft and welcoming, it practically begged to be napped on.
“So how did your test go this morning?”
“Aced it,” Claudia retorted quickly and then laughed with glee. “I’m going to be the best damn doctor in the country by the time I’m done!”
“You will. And so humble, too,” Cassidy said, smiling at her sister’s enthusiasm. Since she was a child, Claudia had wanted to be a doctor, and now that she was taking premed at college, she was just unstoppable. Thanks to scholarships and the hefty salary Elise Hunter paid Cassidy, they wouldn’t have to worry about college expenses and Claudia could pursue her longtime dream.
“So what’s it like in the Wild West?”
Cassidy chuckled. “No stagecoach holdup if that’s what you mean. It really is gorgeous even though Elise’s son is kind of...” Hmm. How to explain that rush of attraction combined with the troll attitude?
“Ooh,” her sister said, “I sense intrigue. Cass is interested in an actual living, breathing male.”
“I’m not interested.” Okay, that was a lie, but she wouldn’t admit to it. Besides, interest and attraction were two different things, right? Interest would imply that she was looking at Jake Hunter as more than simply a great-looking man with a crappy attitude. Attraction was an involuntary biological imperative for the survival of the species and—oh for heaven’s sake, she sounded like one of Claudia’s professors.
To her sister, she said, “I’m just here to get him to sign some papers and then first thing tomorrow I’m on a plane home again.”
“Uh-huh. First thing tomorrow means you’ve still got all night tonight.”
Yes, she did. Funny, but the thought of spending the night at the ranch hadn’t bothered her at all until she’d gotten her first look at Jake. Now, it was different. That buzz of sensation she’d felt just shaking his hand left her feeling oddly off-balance and she didn’t really enjoy that at all. Not that she would tell Claudia any of this, of course.
“Is there some reason my baby sister is trying to shove me at a man she’s never even met?” Cassidy scooted off the edge of the bed and walked across the room to the window.
“Because my big sister has been living like a nun for way too long,” Claudia countered. “You haven’t been on a date in like forever. Do you even remember what fun is?”
Stung, Cassidy dropped onto the window seat, leaned against the cold glass and said, “I have fun all the time.”
“Doing what?”
“I like my job—”
“Work is not fun.”
“Fine. Well, I went to the movies just...” She had to think about that, and when she realized how long ago it had actually been, her scowl deepened. “Fun is overrated.”
“Uh-huh.” An all-too-familiar sigh of exaggerated patience sifted through the phone. “I’m all grown up now, Cass. You can stop throwing yourself on the altar of substitute motherhood.”
Her gaze locked on that amazing view, Cassidy let her sister’s words rocket around her mind for a second or two before she said, “Claud, I never thought of it like that.”
“Oh sweetie, I know.” Claudia sighed again. “Cass, you’ve been great. You’ve always been there for me but I’m grown now—”
“Yes,” Cassidy interrupted wryly, “nineteen is practically aged.”
“—and I’m in college,” Claudia went on as if her sister hadn’t said a word, “and you should really start concentrating on your own life.”
“I have a life, thanks.”
“You have work,” Claudia corrected. “And you have me. And Dave. But our brother’s married with kids of his own now.”
True. It had been the three of them for so long, it was hard to realize that her younger brother and sister were grown and didn’t need her hovering all the time as they used to. Especially Claudia. She had been only ten years old when their mother decided to follow her current “soul mate” into the sunset. So at nineteen, Cassidy had taken over. She’d been both mother and father—since their illustrious sperm donor parent had disappeared shortly after Claudia’s birth—and if she had to say so herself, Cassidy had done a great job of parenting. Maybe that was why it was so hard to stop.
“Fine,” she said. “I promise I’ll find a life. Once I get home.”
“Why wait? No time like the present to get started,” Claudia argued. “You’re on a ranch with a cowboy, for heaven’s sake. That’s a classic fantasy. Is he cute?”
Cute? No. Jake Hunter was way too manly to be classified as merely “cute.” He was gorgeous. Or rugged. Or strong, masculine,
