gaze darted around the porch, as if searching for an excuse to say no, then she sighed, and moved toward him.
She sat down, holding herself stiffly. The scent of vanilla drifted to him. For once, her blond hair was loose rather than in the braids she favored. She wore a long-sleeved T-shirt over jeans and boots. Nothing sexy or enticing. Nothing that should have appealed to him. Yet he was aware of her, of how it would be to close the distance and have her lean against him.
“The fence looks good,” she said.
“Uh-huh.”
“Glen said you worked hard.”
“You sound surprised.”
She glanced at him, then faced front again. “You seem like more of a manager.”
“Better at giving orders than taking them?”
Her mouth turned up in a smile. “We both know that’s true.”
“Fair enough, but I can put in a fence if I have to. Until now, I’ve done my best to make sure I don’t have to.”
She wasn’t wearing any makeup, he realized as he stared at her. Her skin looked soft, as did her mouth. He lowered his gaze to her hands. Short nails and a few calluses. She worked hard with her hands.
“May said you’ve found someone to take the cows,” she said.
He picked up the bottle and took a drink. “The price is fair. He’ll be by in a couple of days to get them.”
“They’re going to end up on someone’s dinner table, aren’t they?”
“Is that concern I hear in your voice?”
She sighed. “I don’t want them hurt. I just don’t want them here. Maybe a zoo would take them.”
He swallowed just then and started to choke. She watched him anxiously until he’d recovered.
“You okay?”
He nodded and cleared his throat. “You want to offer your wild cows to a zoo?”
“I can’t think of them being killed and eaten.”
“Where do you think your steaks come from?”
“That’s different. I don’t know those cows.”
“You don’t know these, either. You’re scared of them. Heidi, it’s a lot of money.” He told himself not to remind her of that again. After all, every cent she made would go toward paying off his mother. If she got enough together, she might be able to sway the judge.
“Let me think about it. If he would promise not to kill them, then I would be okay with it.”
“What’s he supposed to do with your herd?”
“You’re being logical. I just want to have my goats and not deal with other animals. At least not the kind you eat.”
“People eat goats.”
“Not mine.”
“Your goats do have a good life here.”
Heidi told herself that her awareness of the evening came from the natural beauty of the surroundings and the quiet of the night. The goats had already settled down, the birds had nested and the crickets were out. She was one with nature. She was calm.
Then Rafe shifted on the step and she jumped. Her heart thudded so loudly, she was surprised the crickets didn’t all scream in terror, assuming crickets made any sound other than the chirpy one.
So much for being calm.
It wasn’t her fault, she told herself. It was what she’d said before. About not sleeping with him. Now he knew she’d been thinking about it. The man had an ego the size of the Grand Canyon. He probably thought she was desperate to have him in her bed, when the truth was she’d only been thinking about sex as a way to convince him to not take her ranch. A really dumb idea, especially considering she was reasonably sure she wasn’t good enough—bed-wise—to convince him of anything.
“Heidi?”
“Hmm?”
“You okay? You look like maybe you’re in pain.”
“I’m fine.” Or she would be. Eventually. “Dinner was great.”
“That’s what you were thinking about?”
“No, but that’s the conversational gambit I’m putting forth.”
He angled toward her, his leg now millimeters from her thigh. “You can do better than talking about my mom’s lasagna.”
“Fine. Do you miss San Francisco?”
“Yes.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re in my hometown. You could at least pretend to have to think about your answer.”
“Why? I like living in the city.”
“The shopping and access to the ballet?”
One corner of his sexy, well-shaped, come-kiss-me mouth turned up. She found her attention very much settled on his mouth, and wondered what it would feel like against her own. If he, you know, wanted to—
She mentally slammed the door on those thoughts and stared out at the barn. The silhouette was very meaningful, she told herself. Or at least safer than Rafe.
“I like fine dining and easy access to work.”
“Missing the corporate lifestyle?”
“Yes. I don’t have enough power here. I’m not a ranch hand, I’m a power broker.”
Despite her awareness and the steady hum of need that had taken up residence inside her belly, she laughed. “Maybe you should go back. To make sure everything is okay.”
“I have staff. They make sure everything is okay.”
“Must be nice.”
“It is.”
“Are you rubbing in your richness? I’m very aware that you could buy and sell me a hundred times over. It doesn’t matter. I’m not a city girl. And I don’t like townies.”
“Townies? You don’t seriously call people that.”
“Yes. They live in towns. They’re different.” Some of them had hurt her best friend, and Heidi knew she would never get over that.
“You should embrace townies,” Rafe told her. “They buy your cheese.” He leaned back against the railing. “What markets are you in?”
She blinked at the question. “You mean like, what are the names of the stores that sell my cheese?”
