“I’m starving. This is breakfast. Oh, I should’ve asked...do you care if I eat in your truck?”
He shook his head, his expression puzzled. “It’s all junk food.”
“Look, I’d love to be dining on delicious organic salads and fruit every day. But even if the Food Mart did carry organic produce, it’s not in my budget.”
“You must have an expense account and per diem.”
“Sort of.” She unwrapped a Twinkie and broke it in half. “Motel rooms are covered, within reason, of course, and I’m reimbursed for gas. I’m using my own car, and I pay for my food.” She bit into her half and offered him the other.
It came as no surprise when he turned down the Twinkie with a single lifted brow.
“I have a bag of organic apples that I brought with me. It’s in my room.” Feeling a bit defensive, she stuffed the rest of the cake into her mouth. She hated that she hadn’t completely kicked her college junk food habit. But what she’d told him was true. She had to watch her pennies.
“And that room would be where?”
Shit.
She looked at him, pointed to her mouth and kept chewing, wondering how long she could stall. God, she’d kill for some coffee.
The scenery was beautiful. Her gaze skipped the scrubby brush closer to the road and took in the mix of pines, cottonwoods and quaking aspen covering the foothills of the Rockies. Fall had come late to this corner of the country. Some of the lower altitude trees still had orange-and-gold leaves clinging to the branches.
Not that she held any hope the landscape would distract Spencer. She fully expected him to make a U-turn at any second.
Deciding not to push his patience, she swallowed the last of the Twinkie and said, “I’m staying at The Boarding House Inn.”
“The same Boarding House Inn we passed five minutes ago?”
“Yep. The place is pretty cool. It really was a boardinghouse at one time.” Waiting for him to lay into her, she studied his hand resting on the steering wheel. His long, lean fingers looked elegant and graceful, with trimmed fingernails that seemed too neat and clean to belong to a cowboy. “Do you play the piano?”
The truck veered to the shoulder. He’d put both hands on the wheel as he prepared to make a turn. They hit a rock, and the sudden jerk had her reaching for the dashboard.
“Wait. Please, don’t,” she said just as a second bump jarred her poor bruised butt and made her wince. “Can I come with you?”
Spencer stopped the truck and sent her a curious look. “You don’t even know where I’m going.”
“It doesn’t matter. It’s warm in here, and I don’t have anything better to do.”
“So, why are you hanging around town, wasting money on lodging?”
“Well, if you’re going to resort to logic, forget it. I have nothing to say.”
He sighed and shifted to Neutral. “I’m not changing my mind.”
“I know.” And she wasn’t giving up the fight. “Actually, I do have a few things to take care of, like getting some pictures of the new storefronts in town. It’s crazy how much has changed in three months.”
“That shouldn’t take long.”
She stared at him. “You really do want to get rid of me. Okay.” She didn’t know what else to say. She’d always been outgoing and people generally liked her. “I’d offer to walk back if it weren’t so freezing, so if you wouldn’t mind...”
Shaking his head and looking resigned, he shifted to Drive. “I’m going to the Lone Wolf, a ranch about twelve miles from here.” He glanced at her. “If you want to come along.”
She nodded enthusiastically.
Spencer kept his foot on the brake and his attention on her. “On one condition.”
Erin stopped herself from rolling her eyes. “I don’t nag you about using your land.”
“Good girl.” He almost smiled. “You’re catching on.”
Good girl.
Gritting her teeth, she tore off a piece of Twinkie from the remaining half and stuffed it in her mouth before she ended up saying something snarky. God, did she hate not having the upper hand. She had to be nice no matter what, and Spencer knew it. He also knew she hadn’t folded. But she’d stick to the deal and not pester him for the rest of the day.
“Now, you want to tell me about that list of yours?”
SHE WAS TROUBLE. That was undeniable. And Spencer had gone out of his way looking for it. Something about the damn woman stirred a primal craving in him that he’d thought had died along with his career.
Part of the attraction was her husky voice. The low sexy timbre rasped against his skin and hijacked his brain. It made him wonder what her fingernails would feel like raking his back. Made it too easy for a man to get lost. Maybe even agree to something he’d later regret.
Carefully keeping his eyes on the road, he listened to her explanation about her friend’s involvement with the crazy list. But he hadn’t caught much of it. Only that it made sense someone else had put her up to changing her appearance. Three months ago, when she’d first turned up at Shadow Creek, she’d worn jeans and a T-shirt, her long hair clipped up and kind of messy.
Yesterday she’d looked ready for a date.
He sensed movement and glanced over at her. She’d loosened the neck of the black sweatshirt and let the hood fall to her back. Sunlight picked up caramel-colored strands of the brown hair he’d formerly considered unremarkable. Her eyes were nearly the same golden caramel shade. She had a small pert nose and a wide mouth. Her habit of pursing those full lips while she was thinking would definitely torment him if he let it.
“...Lila can pull off that sort of stuff. I’m hopeless. Oh, and thanks again for letting me use the washer and dryer. It was Lila’s skirt. And heels.” She paused to pull a can of Red Bull out of her bag and offered it to him. He shook his head. “Not my favorite, but I’ve had only two cups of coffee today.”
He shot her a questioning look.
“I’m a total caffeine junkie,” she explained. “It started in college.”
“Too many all-night parties?”
“I wish. More like late-night studying. And working part-time.”
“Where did you go?”
“UCLA. They have a great film school.” She popped the can. “Did you go to college?”
“Yep. No place you’d recognize.”
“Ah.”
Hell, he had to be more careful. Not ask questions that could be turned back on him. He’d kept to himself for so long he was out of practice. And with someone like Erin...the woman was an open book, frank and matter-of-fact. Maybe that was how she got people to feel comfortable. Convince them to open their homes and lives to her. Something he’d better keep in mind. And not recklessly invite her on ride-alongs.
“So, why are we going to the Lone Wolf?” she asked.
“I have some business with the owner, Matt Gunderson. I can’t speak for why you’re tagging along.”
Erin grinned. “It’s pretty out here. So different from when I was here in July.”
After putting the bag on the floorboard, she tucked her free hand under her thigh. Hunching her shoulders, she looked