“No, it’s fine,” Kelly said. “We’ll be at the house. Nice to meet you, Patrick.”
Patrick watched both women walk off. He wanted to run after Cyndi and demand to know why she hadn’t told him who she was. But he first needed to speak with Nora. He had a feeling that she’d set something up. She usually didn’t bring strangers to the ranch without telling him.
He folded his arms across his chest. “Okay, talk.”
Nora forced a smile. “She’s beautiful, isn’t she?”
“Who?” As if he didn’t know.
“Cynthia Reynolds, that’s who.” She rolled her eyes. “And she came here for help.”
Now all the pieces were starting to fall together. “Was Cynthia the reason for our meeting at Morgan’s last night?”
“Well, kind of.” She wrinkled her nose. “I was hoping that if you met and liked each other, that you would want to help her.”
Oh, brother. He’d helped her all right…and Cyndi had helped him, too. He drew a calming breath. “Just how am I supposed to do that?”
“She has this movie part coming up and it’s a Western and…you need to teach her to ride.”
Great. When did things get so bad that he had to teach a spoiled Hollywood actress to ride a horse? “Like hell. I don’t have the time or the disposition to put up with a demanding actress.” He couldn’t stop the flood of memories of last night. Cyndi was demanding, all right, as a lover, but she had been just as giving. He turned away.
“Patrick, wait. You don’t understand. She’s terrified of horses.”
“Not my problem.”
“She’s willing to pay twenty-five thousand dollars.”
He stopped and stared at his sister. “You’re kidding.”
She shook her head. “I know you normally work with children, but Cyndi needs to be able to ride for this movie. When Kelly told me about it, naturally I thought of you. You are the best.”
Patrick hated it when his baby sister pulled this sweet act. Ever since she was a kid, she’d brought home all kind of strays. He still had two dogs and a cat that she’d rescued. But this… “I have too much to do.”
“I thought your dream was to enlarge the vineyard, to start a winery. Helping Cynthia Reynolds will bring you a lot closer to that goal.”
It would take a long time for Patrick to save that kind of money. But the problem was, could he get past his relationship with Cyndi? Hell, what was he talking about? It was a one-night stand.
“Tell her I’ll give her some time in the afternoon.”
Nora looked funny. “Patrick, she needs more than that. You’ve got to work with her full-time. And this has to be a secret. That means she should live out here.”
“So what exactly happened between the two of you last night?” Kelly asked curiously. “The man didn’t seem to be too happy to see you. And before you deny it, I saw the sparks between you two, but I wasn’t sure if he was going to throttle you or jump your bones.”
Cynthia paced the large farm-style kitchen. Although the room had obviously new maple cabinets and the countertops were tiled in a natural-colored stone, there was a homeyness about the place that was warm and inviting. But no matter how inviting, she wanted to leave, to convince Kelly to take her back to town.
“I never told him who I was last night. We only exchanged first names.” She tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. “What’s the big deal? You encouraged me to share a few drinks and some laughs.”
Last night’s memories were still fresh in her mind, still stirred feelings within Cynthia. She couldn’t believe how much she’d wanted Patrick just hours ago. So much so she couldn’t keep her hands off him. Seeing him again this morning, she realized those feelings hadn’t gone away. Trying to work with Patrick Tanner would be a disaster.
“Are you saying that more happened between you two?” Kelly’s eyes were wide with hope and surprise.
“Since when do we—” Just then the back door opened and Nora walked into the kitchen.
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” she said. “Patrick and I needed to go over some things.” She released a long breath and looked at Cynthia. “My brother wants to talk to you. He’s outside on the porch.”
“Look, Nora, if this is going to cause trouble…” Cynthia began.
“No, he just wants to make sure that you’re serious about learning to ride. And to work out a few details.”
Cynthia nodded. Good. She would straighten this out. She’d tell Patrick Tanner she didn’t need his services and leave. There had to be dozens of instructors who could teach her to ride.
She walked out the door and found him sitting on the back-porch railing. His arms were folded over that gorgeous, broad chest. She shook away the mental picture of Patrick naked, then her gaze connected with his. “Look, Patrick, I’m sorry about last night.”
“What are you sorry about, Cyndi? That you spent the night with me, or that your little joke backfired?”
“It wasn’t a joke. You may not believe it, but I don’t make a habit of going to bed with men I just met.”
He didn’t look like he believed her. “No problem. We used protection.”
Seeing her pained look, Patrick wanted to take back his words.
“How come it’s only my behavior that’s being scrutinized?” she asked. “Is it because I left you first, instead of you leaving me?”
Her fiery question hit home.
He fought back. “How about because you didn’t mention that you’re Cynthia Reynolds? Was that the reason you wanted to leave it at just first names?”
“You ever think maybe my reason was that people act differently around me when they know who I am?” she asked. “You didn’t recognize me. It was nice being myself for a change. You didn’t seem to care who I was.”
Hell, she’d had him so hot he couldn’t remember his own name. “What do we do now?”
She shrugged. “I’ll just tell Kelly and Nora we can’t work things out. Although, I would appreciate it if you gave me the name of someone who can teach me to ride.” She glanced around, not really looking at him.
He could direct her to a half-dozen people, but he doubted she would get results in such a short time. “Nora said you only had ten days and needed to keep this quiet. That if the media gets wind of you taking riding lessons, you could lose the opportunity for this movie.”
“It’s not your problem. Tell your sister thanks and tell my sister that I’ll meet her in the car.”
Before Cyndi could pass him, he reached out for her. Mistake. The hot sizzle from the connection was unbelievable. What he was about to do was another mistake. “I’ll do it. But by my rules.”
Cynthia didn’t pull away, but she didn’t back down either. “What are the rules?”
“We’ll work from early morning until the afternoon. You’ll also be responsible for the care of your horse. There will be no media around, and you’ll move out here for the next ten days.” And he asked for a larger amount of money for his services than she had originally offered just to see how far he could go. He expected her to tell him to go to hell.
“And what if I don’t agree?”
“Then we say goodbye…this time.” Inside he wasn’t sure what he wanted her to do. He knew he didn’t