When she glanced up, all she saw was a big man striding toward them, the sun at his back blinding her so that she couldn’t make out his features.
“Hi, Gloria. Glad you came.”
That voice. She recognized that voice.
Oh, no.
She shielded her eyes from the sun and his features came into focus. She pointed at him as if he was an apparition, not a flesh-and-blood man. “Dillon?”
“That’s me.”
“What the hell are you doing here?”
He took a couple steps closer. She stumbled back.
“What do you mean what am I doing here?”
“I mean. What. Are. You. Doing. Here?”
He frowned. “This ranch is mine. For now. Until you help me sell it, that is.” He opened his arms wide. “Welcome.”
Gloria could not believe it. She propped her fists on her hips. “You tricked me into coming here?”
“Tricked you?” Dillon tilted his head to one side, the wide brim of his cowboy hat hiding his eyes. “Is that what you think?”
“Yes, that’s what I think.” Gloria angled her chin up at him. Good Lord the man was big. She’d forgotten how big he was. “For what reason, I can only guess.”
The real estate agent cleared his throat and Dillon turned to him. “Give us a few minutes, will you, Max?”
“Sure thing.”
Dillon waited until Max was out of earshot before taking a measured step toward her. “Tell me, who did you think was behind the contract?”
Gloria bit down on the end of her pencil. “Well...”
“Who do you know who lives in Montana, besides me?”
“Oh, um...”
“Anyone?” With each step he took toward her, his voice became lower.
“I thought you lived in Wyoming,” she said with a lame laugh.
“Why would you think that?”
Before answering, she took a moment to think about it. She had a vague recollection of Dillon telling her where he hailed from—twice—so why didn’t she remember? She’d like to believe it was because she didn’t care, but that wasn’t exactly true.
God, I’m an idiot...
He frowned, as though he’d heard her unspoken words, and then he removed his hat and raked his fingers through his thick dark brown hair before positioning it back on his head.
Why did such a simple act have such a profound effect on her? Maybe it was because she was so aware of him whenever he was around—his presence, his size, seriously the man just took up too much space—it made her uneasy. So, when he spoke in that melodic, ambling drawl of his, the words just strolled right on by.
Because you’re too busy checking out his package.
Oh, God! Gloria tore her gaze from the front of Dillon’s well-fitting jeans. Had he caught her? It was hard to tell with the brim of his hat shading the top half of his face. She faked a scowl, hoping to cover her lapse in concentration.
“Look, Gloria. I’m selling this ranch and I need a stager. You’re the only one I know.”
She tilted her head back so far it felt as if her neck might snap. He was doing this on purpose, coming closer, making her feel so...small. Her instinct was to back away, but she didn’t. She stood her ground. “There’s this amazing thing called the internet and all you have to do is type the word stager into a search engine, and you’ll get a whole list of people. It’s amazing.”
She may not have been able to read his eyes, but there was no mistaking the taut line of muscle along his wide jaw that told her he was clenching his teeth. Yep, he was clenching his teeth, all right, because when he spoke, it was through those closed teeth. “I may not have grown up in the big city, but that doesn’t make me stupid.”
“I never said—”
“No. But you implied it.”
Gloria opened her mouth to refute his claim and then stopped because, while she couldn’t see his eyes beneath his hat, she felt the intensity of his stare, daring her to deny the insult.
“I’m sorry.”
That muscle along his jaw tightened again and Gloria found herself fighting an irrational urge to touch it, run her finger tip along it. Lightly. She clenched her hands into fists instead.
“Look, Gloria, I have no idea what I did to you to make you think I’m some asshole with an agenda. But here’s the deal. I saw how efficient you were at the fund-raiser you threw for Daisy. According to Jamie, you pulled that event off in less than a month. You’re organized, professional and experienced. You can get the job done and that’s what I need.”
The last bit was said so low, the words threatened to sift through her hair before floating by on the wind. Gloria wasn’t even sure she heard him right, all she knew was that the sound of the letters strung together evoked a tingling sensation at the base of her spine.
Dillon’s gaze slid from her to take in the surrounding landscape. “And, I want this place sold as soon as possible.”
* * *
GLORIA GOT IN her car, started up and drove away. God, what was wrong with her? Why was she acting like such a jerk?
Dillon. That’s what was wrong with her. There was something about that man that drove her insane, something about him that got under her skin and made her completely crazy. She took a deep breath and blew it out very slowly.
Well, at the very least, this time he didn’t bring on a panic attack. That was a good sign. Why she’d had one the last time, she still didn’t understand because there’d been no reason for it that made any sense. It had been years—four at least—since her last one. What had that one been about?
Oh, yeah.
She’d gotten trapped in an attic when moving furniture up there for one of her jobs. The small constricted space, full to the rafters with junk, one second she was fine, the next she was on all fours, barely able to breathe. Thank God Faith had been there.
While this one hadn’t been a full-blown attack, Gloria knew how these things worked: the fear of an attack would linger at the back of her mind, festering, reminding her that she was powerless and she’d be living with low-grade fear that an attack could come on at any time, any place, undermining her tenuous sense of security.
Making her feel weak.
Out of control.
It was the worst feeling in the world.
She glanced up into the rearview mirror, watching the buildings of the ranch grow smaller in the dust from the gravel road and she increased the pressure on the gas pedal.
So the contract hadn’t worked out. At least it gave her some time away from Chicago to gather her thoughts. With this contract off the table, what she needed to do was put her head down and get to work. But she couldn’t go home. Her dad was there, and while she loved him fiercely, his manic energy would not be conducive to her well-being. It never had been.
Maybe she should see if she could stay with Daisy for a while. No. Daisy was still a newlywed, she didn’t need to be crashing that party, as if crashing their wedding night wasn’t bad enough. Sighing, Gloria racked her brain, going through her list of friends, ticking off who she could possibly stay with. But there was always something: new baby, marriage trouble, new job, no room...
She’d ask Faith, except living together and working together was never a good idea.
What she needed was