“What?” he asked.
“You heard me. Why do you care what’s happened?”
He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. He looked stressed. She wondered if this questioning wasn’t his way of hiding from whatever had driven him from Chicago. No matter what he’d said the night before she didn’t believe he just felt like visiting her brother on an impulse.
“This ranch is important to me.” Seth’s sincerity had never been more apparent.
“Then why haven’t you been back for fourteen years?”
“It’s not my ancestral home.”
“I’m doing my best to save it.”
“What do you think Matt will say when he sees this place?”
“It won’t look like this when he comes home.”
“Really?”
“Yes, I have big plans.”
“Tell me what’s going on.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because you won’t understand.”
“Trust me, Lynn. I’m on your side.”
“The last time I trusted you, you kissed me and walked away.”
“Is that what this is all about?”
“Of course not. I’m just saying your track record isn’t the best.”
“And yours is?”
“I didn’t walk away.”
“You didn’t come after me either.”
“I don’t want to have this conversation. I’m due at the bank at ten and I don’t want to be late.”
“Just tell me what’s going on. Is it money? Maybe I can help.”
“Why are you here, Seth?”
He was silent.
“That’s right,” she said with a nod. “You have your own secrets and I have mine. Let’s keep them that way.”
“Your family meant a lot to me.”
“I know. But it’s better this way. Besides, you’re leaving today.”
“I could still help you.”
“No, you can’t. But I’ll make a note that you tried.”
Lynn walked away from him wishing she felt a little more confident. Wishing for a miracle she knew she had faint hope of getting. Wishing that Seth wasn’t leaving today.
“Lynn, wait. I’ll drive you into town.”
She’d gathered her purse and a sheaf of documents. This was a Lynn he’d never seen before. He’d be lying if he said she didn’t attract him. She wasn’t the rough-and-ready ranch girl that he didn’t know how to handle. For the moment she was a city woman, like every other woman in his life.
She glanced over her shoulder at him, her eyes hidden by a pair of dark glasses. Mystery surrounded her, and Seth wanted to investigate the changes. Would the real Lynn McCoy please stand up?
“I’d rather take myself.”
Of course you would, Ms. Independent. She reminded him of his stepmother and sisters. They’d take any challenge but they’d do it in their own unique ways. And he knew he had to respect Lynn’s way of doing things even if it wasn’t his own.
Reality intruded. She’d said she was going to the bank. More than likely that meant she needed money and the only way she was going to get it was to look as if she didn’t need it. The Jag was a showy car, pricey and elegant; it spoke volumes for whoever drove it without him having to say a word. It had netted him invitations to the nicest residences in Chicago, even though he knew many of those old-money folks looked down on him because of his dubious parentage.
“The banker will be more likely to listen to whatever you have to say if you arrive in the Jag.”
“Okay, but I drive.” The haughty look she’d conjured up made him want to kiss her. She seemed untouchable in her upswept hairdo and her fancy suit. He wanted to rumple her up and find the girl who’d let him sleep in her home last night. To find the girl with hair hanging down her back wearing silky long johns.
Though Lynn’s suit made her look more like the other women he knew, he realized that he wanted her to be different. The thought floored him. Maybe he had an ulterior motive for wanting to help?
But he knew more than lust motivated him. There was a soft spot in his soul for the McCoys.
“No one drives my Jag.” He spoke from the gut. The car was as important to him as his laptop or his Swiss timepiece. He wasn’t going to chance it.
“Now where’s the trust?” she asked softly. Her words cut right through the superficiality of what he’d been thinking.
He did feel a bit like a child on Christmas morning who’d been asked to share his new toy. “Who’s talking about trust? This car is a finely tuned machine and you’re used to driving that tank over there.”
“Is it the car you’re worried about or your tough-guy image?”
He remained unfazed. “Whatever the reason, the result is the same. I’m driving.”
Deliberately he walked to the passenger side of the car to open the door for her. “What a gentleman you are, Seth Connelly. Too bad I know the real you.”
Though he knew Lynn had meant her remarks as something else entirely, she’d struck a nerve. “I think the door’s unlocked.”
She didn’t know the real Seth—no one did. And he’d made it his life’s mission to make sure that the situation stayed that way. He didn’t like Lynn’s innuendo that he was less than civilized. But maybe there was a kernel of truth in her words. Underneath his civilized veneer beat the heart of a warrior, not a Prince Charming.
He’d never been anyone’s white knight but he was the guy they’d turned to in a fight, knowing he’d never lose. That had been true at twelve when he’d come to the Connellys and it was true now in the courtroom where he won every battle he took up.
Whether Lynn liked it or not, he was in her corner. The debt he owed the McCoy family was too big for him to not step up to the plate now.
Five years of military school and six years of college had ensured that he could converse within any circle and not embarrass his family. Lessons from his stepmom, Emma Connelly, on deportment and manners had made sure he was every inch the gentleman.
“Are you going to check the door?” she asked.
Seth realized he’d been standing next to the car. He should just turn around, lock the door and drive her to town. He should pretend that her words hadn’t ripped away a scab he’d never known was there. He should not lean down so that her face was only inches from his and her sweet breath brushed across his cheek.
“I don’t think anyone knows the real Seth.”
She cupped his jaw in her hand and Seth was humbled by the touch even as it started a series of fires throughout his body and brought the hardness to his loins that had made sleep uncomfortable all night.
“I do.”
“Then who is he, Lynn?”
“He’s a man who’s strong and loyal. A man willing to go to any lengths for those he cares for, even putting up with the tantrums of his best friend’s younger sister.”
“You weren’t throwing a tantrum. You were right. I don’t like to