Montana studied him with unsympathetic eyes. “I’ll tell it to you straight. You and I both know that one date will stir up those ladies out there. I’m not up for that. I’m here to get my head on straight, win a rodeo and help with the baby. Nothing more. I don’t need a bunch of sweet, matchmaking ladies fixing me up with a cowboy … who just happens to be you. Sorry. But no.”
He felt slightly insulted. “They know I’m not looking for anything long-term. I’ve made that clear to them. And every woman I go out with,” he clarified, thinking she’d like that better.
Her eyebrows rose slightly. “Lots of them, huh?”
That eyebrow didn’t bode well. “What?” he asked warily. “Oh, lots of dates?”
“Lots of women.”
“Um, a few.”
She crossed her arms and tilted her head slightly, silently assessing him. He felt like a science project.
“I’m sure that knowledge helps you get lots of dates.”
He was confused with where she was going with this conversation. “It doesn’t hurt. I mean, for someone like you I’m not a risk. I’m just a date. Conversation, company. You know, no strings attached.” That didn’t sound good, even to him. What was wrong with him? He scrubbed his jaw, thinking suddenly that crawling under a hay bale might be in order, judging from the appalled expression on her face.
“And it works out well for you? All these different women who don’t want any strings attached.”
Was she teasing him—or was she really irritated by the whole idea? He wasn’t sure anymore. “Yeah, it works out great.”
She grinned sarcastically. “Good for you,” she gushed. “I’ll stick to not jumping into that.” She gave him a pat on the arm, rolled her eyes and headed toward the exit.
He stood there, not sure about what had just happened. “Hey, whoa. Wait up.”
She rounded the corner out of sight, her voice rang out singsong, “I don’t think so.”
The sound echoed in the hall, drawing him. He chuckled and jogged to catch up to her. She was already out in the open and heading up the hill toward the house. Laughter could be heard drifting on the barbecue-scented night air. As if in a hurry to get away from him, she strode with purpose, her boots crunching the gravel as she went, her braid swinging in time to the fast pace.
“What’s your hurry?” he asked, skidding on the gravel, coming up beside her.
She slid him a glance. “I don’t want to give anyone the idea that you and I lingered in the barn for romantic reasons. That wouldn’t be good.”
He grinned. The woman tickled him. She was so blunt about things. “No, I guess that wouldn’t be good. Might get rumors started, and boy, we wouldn’t want that, now, would we?”
“No way.” She didn’t smile, but he thought she was teasing. “I certainly wouldn’t want anyone thinking I was joining your string of random dates.”
What did women expect from a guy these days? Just because he wasn’t interested in marriage didn’t mean he wasn’t interested in women. “There’s nothing wrong with not settling down. Not being ready for forever.” He shifted from one boot to the other.
She hiked a brow. “It’s random and cheap.”
Her attitude irritated him suddenly. He wasn’t doing anything wrong. Hadn’t done anything wrong, he reiterated to himself strongly, as she started walking off again.
He followed her, not real happy about the situation but not certain what he wanted to do about it.
The party was in full swing when they reached the backyard. Montana clomped up the deck steps. Distracted by his irritation, he was intent on following her just as he caught movement out of the corner of his eye.
“Luke,” Erica said, nothing nice dripping from her words.
“Erica. Um, hi.” She didn’t look happy. Nope, matter of fact, she looked really unhappy—throw things unhappy. He hadn’t expected to see her. But he should have known Lacy wouldn’t have left her out of the party.
Montana turned back toward him and met his gaze before connecting with Erica’s.
“What are you looking at?” Erica snapped at Montana, right before throwing her soda at him!
Yup, throw things unhappy was about right. One minute he was standing there irritated and confused by Montana’s attitude. Now, he was drenched with the contents from Erica’s tall glass of Texas sweet tea!
“What?” he gasped, blinking through the tea dripping from his eyelashes.
“You two-timing jerk!” Erica huffed, then strode past him, shooting a glare over her shoulder—as if he hadn’t already gotten the message.
“Two-timing …” he stuttered. He was well aware that everyone within earshot had heard and witnessed the scene. “We just went on two dates. Just dates,” he said, looking at Montana.
A twitch of her lips told him she was fighting off laughter. “Yeah,” she managed. “Looks like all that dating is working out well for you, huh?” She winked at him, then strode into the house, leaving him dripping on the deck.
“Everybody’s a comedian,” he muttered. It was time to have a serious—and he meant serious—talk with Erica. He was not the marrying type. Never was and most likely never would be.
Chapter Four
Norma Sue Jenkins efficiently blocked Luke’s way when he headed toward Erica. A robust ranch woman, Norma Sue was hard to avoid when she wanted your attention. She handed him a dishtowel. “I tried telling Erica you and her wouldn’t match up.” She looked worried. “This isn’t good, Luke.”
He glanced past Norma Sue and saw Erica tear out in her small compact car. Wiping the sticky tea from his face he shook his head. “No, Norma Sue, it isn’t. I wasn’t trying to hurt anyone. I told her straight up that I was just dating. I wasn’t looking for forever, and she seemed okay with that. Until the second date, and then she started in on all that Mr. Right stuff.”
She patted him on the back. “I know. I know. I told her you weren’t looking for love, just companionship. I knew she had her sights set on forever, and I told her you weren’t the one to count on for that—”
“I think I’m supposed to say thanks to that.”
“It doesn’t sound good to me, either, but we both know, up till now, that’s where you stand. Erica thought she could change your mind and lied to you about her intentions.” Norma Sue frowned, her pink cheeks drooping. “All I’ve got to say is, you may be in for it. I don’t know if you noticed, but Erica is a bit high-strung. She doesn’t take rejection too kindly.”
The woman had just tossed tea on him. He was standing there drenched. “Yeah, Norma Sue, I get the picture loud and clear.”
“I figured you did. Why don’t you give her some time to cool off, then I suggest you go see her and try real hard to smooth this out. We aren’t used to this kind of trouble going on in Mule Hollow.”
“Tell me about it. I’m not used to this kind of trouble, either.”
He spent the next hour getting ribbed and teased about the incident. Cowboys loved teasing and giving each other a hard time, so, thanks to Erica, he was probably going to be the brunt of jokes for the rest of the year. The talk at the diner alone was going to drive him crazy. And if Erica thought her actions were going to help her find “Mr. Right” anytime soon in Mule Hollow, she was about to be up a creek without a paddle. Getting a date might have just gotten a whole lot harder for her.
Then