like nothing better, but are you sure that’s what you want?”
“No,” she said in a slightly unsteady voice, “I’m not sure of anything right now.”
He plopped down on the sofa and concentrated on the fire while she sat on the edge of the chair adjacent. “I didn’t offer you anything to drink,” she said inanely.
“A beer would be nice.”
She stood. “Ruth has some in the fridge.”
“I don’t like to drink alone.”
“I have my coffee.”
His belly chuckle followed her all the way to the kitchen. With her heartbeat still out of sync, she fixed the drinks and returned to the room. Meanwhile, he’d sprawled his long lets out in front of him. Unconsciously, she eyed his powerful thighs and the bulge behind his zipper.
When she realized where she was staring, she whipped her gaze up, only to find him watching her with heat in his eyes. She took a deep breath, but it didn’t help. Both her face and lungs felt scorched.
He really should go.
She eased back down in the chair and watched as he took a swig of his beer. After setting the bottle on the table beside him, he said, “What brings someone like you here?”
Kelly gave a start. “Someone like me?”
“Yeah, a real classy lady who looks and acts like a fish out of water.”
“My cousin needed my help, and I came to her rescue.”
“Nothing’s that simple.”
“Perhaps not.”
He reached for his beer and took another deep swig. “But that’s all you’re going to tell me. Right?”
“Right,” she said bluntly, though she felt a smile tug at her lips.
“So you’re either carrying a lot of baggage or a lot of secrets, Kelly Baker. Which is it?”
“I’m not telling.”
“If you’re not willing to share, how are we going to get to know each other better?”
She didn’t know if he was smiling or smirking. She suspected the latter. “Guess we’re not.”
“Man, you know how to pull the rug right out from under a fellow.” He stood, lifting his shoulders up and down as if to stretch, before stoking the fire once again. That motion called attention to his sexual agility and charisma once again. God, the man just oozed it.
“You know the fact that you will barely talk to me makes me more curious than ever,” he said.
The tension heightened.
“You know what they say about curiosity.” She interlaced her fingers.
“Yeah, it killed the cat.” He grinned and the atmosphere eased.
“So what about you?” she asked, watching him plop back down on the sofa.
“What about me?”
“I bet you’re not willing to open your life to a stranger.”
He shrugged. “What do you want to know?”
She started to say, everything, then caught herself. “Whatever you’re comfortable telling me.”
“Hell, if I have anything to hide, I don’t know it.”
“Everyone has secrets, Mr. Wilcox.”
His features turned grim. “Mr. Wilcox? You gotta be kidding me.”
Her face burned. “I don’t know you well enough to be on a first-name basis.”
“Bullshit. The fact that you got me hot the first time I saw you puts us on familiar territory.”
“Funny,” Kelly retorted, though she knew her face was beet-red.
The lines around his mouth deepened, suggesting he was about to grin. “All right, Grant,” she said.
“Ah, now that’s better.” He polished off his beer, then got back on the subject. “I guess the most important thing about me is that I have trouble staying in one place.”
“Why is that?”
“Army brat. My dad was constantly on the move, so we didn’t stay in one place long enough to put down roots and form long-lasting relationships.
“Are you an only child?”
“Yep. Both my parents are dead.”
“Mine, too.”
“Ah, be careful now, or you’ll tell me something personal.”
She glared at him and he laughed; then continued, “It was only when I attended Texas A & M University that I learned what settling down meant. That was tough for a roamer like me, until I met my best friend, Toby Keathly.
“Toby was majoring in forestry at A & M, and since I also loved being outside, we bonded. I ended up majoring in forestry myself and spent all the time I could with Toby in East Texas, where he grew up.
“With the money I had inherited from my parents, after graduation I purchased several hundred acres in Lane County and built the log cabin where I now live. Soon after that, I formed my own company, and traveled around the world. And now, with the signing of this new contract for cutting timber, I’m as content as a pig can be.”
“That’s quite a story,” Kelly said.
“It’s my boring life in a nutshell.”
She laughed without humor. “There’s nothing boring about you.”
“Coming from you, I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“There’s one thing you left out.”
“Oh?”
“Your personal life. Women.”
“Not much to tell there, either. What experience I’ve had with them taught me one important thing.”
“And what was that?”
“They like men who can offer them security—home, family, steady job, the whole package—a package that’s as foreign to me as some of the countries in which I’ve lived.”
“Do you really believe that?” He sounded like a throwback from the 1950s.
He paused and gave her a look. “Now you’re meddling.”
“Ah, so when push comes to shove, I’m not
