“How so?” He seemed genuinely interested.
“He can’t ground me anymore, so I really let him have it.”
Luke laughed again. “I bet you do.”
Audrey forced a smile. She didn’t get any of this. Luke acted as if they hadn’t been intimate, hadn’t steamed up the sheets on that guest-room bed. Was making love to a woman such an everyday occurrence to him that Luke thought nothing of it? Just casual sex with a onetime friend? “Casey knows I’m a big girl now. He doesn’t lord over me like he used to.”
She wanted to make it clear to Luke that Casey didn’t play into the equation. What happened between the two of them wasn’t any of her big brother’s business.
“So he finally cut the apron strings?”
“He’s getting there. It’s better than it was.”
Luke nodded, and they stared at each other. “Can I get you something cold to drink?”
“No…I’m just fine.”
“Okay.” He nodded once again and then she caught him glancing at his watch.
“Am I keeping you from something?”
“Nope,” he said, sitting up straighter in his seat, giving her his full attention. Luke was the best fibber on the planet. On the rodeo circuit, he used to tell white lies all the time to make people feel better.
Yes, Mrs. Jenkins, your strawberry-rhubarb pie is the best in the county.
Jonathan, you just need another year practicing with that fiddle before you make it to the Grand Ole Opry.
No, Audrey Faith, you’re not keeping me from anything important.
Audrey knew it was now or never. She had to speak with Luke about that night. She couldn’t leave things the way they were without clearing the air.
“I actually do have a reason for being here, Luke,” she said softly. “I think you know why, but if you’re going to make me say it…”
Luke’s forehead wrinkled as he gave it some thought. Then it hit him. “Ah…Audrey.” He raised his hand to stop her. “Say no more. I should’ve guessed the second I saw you standing on the doorstep.”
Relieved, Audrey let her stiff shoulders relax. Finally, they would get things out in the open.
“You heard about the wrangler job at the ranch,” he said. “Casey must’ve told you I was shorthanded. Come to think about it, there’s no one better to help me settle down my pain-in-the-ass, hardheaded stallion. I should have thought of hiring you myself, but we haven’t talked in years, so it didn’t cross my mind. The truth is, I need to get Tribute in line. He’s a big challenge. Casey tells me you’re not going back to vet school until the fall?”
Blood drained from her face and a shudder of dread coursed through her body. Her devastation would be visible any second now. She couldn’t let that happen.
Get a grip, Audrey. Hang on.
She was finally getting the picture. It was murky at best. “I, uh…y-yes, that’s my plan,” she managed.
She wished she’d chickened out instead of coming here. She could have done a quick one-eighty on the highway and headed straight back to Reno. Because the murkiness was clearing and the image left underneath was nightmarishly ugly.
We haven’t talked in years.
She could take that literally. Technically, they hadn’t talked…much. They’d moaned and groaned their way through that night. But she’d be an even bigger fool than she was now if she thought that’s what Luke had meant.
The Luke she’d known in the past wouldn’t have skirted an issue this big. He would have been up front and honest. He would have probably apologized and felt guilty as hell for making love to his best friend’s little sister. There was only one conclusion that Audrey could draw. There was only one reason any of this made sense.
Luke doesn’t know he made love to me.
That incredible night of passion they’d shared was one-sided.
He wasn’t being obtuse. He was clueless.
If someone plunged a dagger in her heart, the pain couldn’t have been any greater.
“What do you say, honey?” The timbre of his deep voice broke through her anguish.
“Want to spend what’s left of the summer with me on Sunset Ranch?”
* * *
“They’re just formalities, Audrey, but we’ve got to do them,” Luke said as he handed her an application for the job on Sunset Ranch.
She sat in the Slade family office located at one end of the sprawling one-story ranch house. Luke had taken a seat at his desk across from her. She felt his eyes on her as she began filling out the personal information on the form. Robotically, she went about accepting the job as wrangler on the Slades’ very lucrative horse farm, her mind on automatic pilot as she tied herself to working with Lucas Slade for the next two months.
Audrey wasn’t into science fiction, but she could surely relate to anyone who believed in alternate universes. This sci-fi version of her life had her living under Luke’s roof and working beside him every day, filling her summer days with something more than meaningless temp jobs back home until she could restart her veterinary education. This universe wasn’t ideal, but it was a far cry better than anything reality had had to offer.
Audrey completed the application. As she leaned forward to hand Luke the form, the fresh lime scent of his cologne brought memories of kissing his throat and shoulders and chest. It was the same scent that had lingered on her long after she’d fled her brother’s cabin.
Luke glanced at the application for less than five seconds, before smiling and standing. “You’re hired. Let me show you to your room.”
And within minutes, Audrey stood alone in her new bedroom, slightly dazed by what had occurred during the past thirty minutes.
She’d discovered she’d made love to a man who didn’t remember doing the deed.
He’d offered her a dream job.
And insisted she live in a guest bedroom less than twenty feet from his own room.
Audrey glanced at Jewel, who was stretched out lengthwise on the bedspread, a tiger-striped bundle of fur against black-and-bright-yellow flowers. The beautiful space was bigger than any room she’d ever called her own. And yet, as she glanced around the opulent surroundings, she questioned her decision to take the job, muttering, “What have I done?”
Audrey didn’t have to wonder for very long. Immediate clarity punched her in the gut. She’d done what she had to do. No way could she have walked out the door, never to see Luke again. The second she’d laid eyes on him today that possibility wasn’t an option. She finally came out of her thirty-minute fog and realized she was where she needed to be. She had been given another chance with Luke.
Yes, her heart was broken that Luke had forgotten their night together because her memories of him were profound, unforgettable. Her responses to his heady kisses severed all ties she had to good-girl status. She’d moved on him, mindful of his encumbered arm, in wild, wicked ways that had astonished her afterward. But while in the moment, she’d let go and ridden his tight, hard, muscled body until he was ready to guide her home.
I’ll never forget.
A satisfied purr escaped her throat. The cat’s head came up.
She stifled a chuckle and walked over to the bed. “Go back to sleep, Jewel,” she whispered, taking a seat and stroking the cat’s soft underbelly until her eyes drifted closed again.
Oh, to trade places with the cat right now. To have no worries and no heartache and sleep away the day…what could be better?
Audrey allowed herself a few minutes of self-pity and then tried to look on the bright side of things. At least Luke had faith in her. That was a plus. He’d hired her for a job that wasn’t easily won on the highly respected ranch, not because of his friendship with Casey, but because she had a way with animals. He trusted her abilities and needed her help with the dang horse that had trampled him and sent him to the hospital.
She would look upon Trib as a challenge that she could conquer.
Getting Luke to see her as anything other than his buddy’s
baby sister would involve a heck of a lot more work.
“I know we’ll be good together,” Luke had said, right before he’d walked out of the guest room.
Audrey sighed.
If he only knew how true that statement was.
* * *
As soon as Luke showed Audrey to her room, he went back into the office to give her application another glance. Audrey Faith Thomas, half sister to Casey—though nobody much mentioned the half part anymore—had had a rough upbringing. She’d lost her parents early on, and Casey had raised her. She’d been the tagalong little sis on the rodeo circuit. Luke thought that Audrey had gotten a raw deal in life. Casey had been overly strict with her. Luke figured her brother was overcompensating, being mother and father to her. Casey had tried hard, but a lot of the time, he didn’t know what the hell he was doing when it came to his little sister.
Audrey compensated, too. She took to the animals and the animals loved her in return. They were a good match. Audrey had a special fondness for the rodeo horses. There wasn’t a one that didn’t temper its wild mood when Audrey walked up.
According to her application, after college, she’d worked for a veterinarian clinic in Reno for a couple of years before deciding to apply to equine vet school. Luke also noted all the charity and volunteer work Audrey had done through the years. She had listed animal shelters and horse rescues, and was part of the Freedom for Wild Horses organization.
Luke picked up the phone and punched in Casey’s number. “Hey,” he said when his friend answered.
“Hey.”
Luke owed his friend a favor for letting him crash at his Tahoe cabin last month. Being with his buddy helped his recuperation move along more quickly. Well, at least it’d been less mentally painful. Luke thought he’d go stir-crazy, not being able to do a dang thing with his arm in a cast and three cracked ribs making it hard for him to breathe. Up at the cabin, it was okay to do nothing but while away the time. Casey made it easy and they’d had a few laughs.
But he would have hired Audrey even if he didn’t owe Casey a favor. She was qualified and a hard worker. Audrey was true blue and a nice kid.
“I’ve got your little sis here. She’s working for me now.”
There was silence on the other end. And finally “She didn’t tell me that.”
Uh-oh. Luke didn’t like getting in between the two of them. “Yeah, well, it just happened. You must’ve mentioned that I was shorthanded on the ranch. Anyway, she showed up looking for work, and I hired her as a wrangler for a few months.”
“Hell, Luke. I don’t recall mentioning any such thing to her. I must be getting old and forgetful.”
Luke laughed. Casey was only thirty-three. “Hell, yeah, you are. You see any problem with her working here?” Not that Luke was asking permission. Audrey was twenty-four and making her own decisions now. He’d called Casey for an entirely different reason.
Casey hesitated. “Not at all, buddy. It’s just that she’s been acting a little weird lately. You know, sort of wanting to be by herself and all. I thought she’d come up to the cabin to spend the summer with me. She had this loser boyfriend in Reno and she finally dumped him. The jerk was cheating on her. My little sis really took it hard. I don’t think she’s over it yet. It was all I could do to restrain myself from knocking his stupid self from here to Sunday. Jackass.”
“Jackass is right.”
“Damn straight.”
“Well, she’s here now,” Luke said. “She’s going to be staying at the main house. You don’t need to worry. I’ll look out for her.”
“Like you always do. I appreciate it, Luke. And I’ll count on you to make sure none of those ranch hands break her heart.”
“Hell, she’ll be breaking theirs.”
Casey chuckled. “That’s all right, then.”
“Yeah, I hear you. Don’t worry about Audrey. And you come up anytime you want to visit. Stay at the ranch.”
“What, and leave my cabin? I got me a keg of beer, my barbecue grill and gorgeous women to stare at by the lake all day long.”
Luke’s mind flashed an image of one gorgeous woman in particular—a blonde with long, slender legs and a dazzler of a smile—who had crashed the lakeshore party Casey had thrown on Luke’s last night at the cabin. She’d shown up at his farewell barbecue and had caught his eye the second she’d walked over to join the festivities. She’d been with a small group of people and Luke never did get the woman’s name amid the fifty or so partygoers that Casey had invited. She’d come late and left early, but not before giving Luke half a dozen suggestive looks. He’d been ready to approach her, but had gotten sidetracked by someone interested in hearing about his rodeo days.
“You ever find out who that blonde was?” Luke had good reason to ask.
“You mean the stunner?” Casey asked. “I was drunk, but not too drunk to see how fine she was.”
“So you know who I’m talking about.”
“I found out her name is Desiree.”
“And?”
“She’s an acquaintance of one of my neighbors. She lives on the East Coast somewhere. She’s gone. That’s all I know, man. You missed your chance.”
Luke wasn’t going to divulge what had happened with the blonde to Casey. Luke kept his private life private. But since he’d been accepting his friend’s hospitality and living at his cabin for a few weeks, a surge of guilt washed over him for not being completely truthful with Casey. Though having a one-night stand with a stranger, no matter how beautiful, wasn’t exactly something to brag about. Not in this day and age. He wasn’t eighteen anymore. He was old enough to know better. His only excuse was that he’d been in a haze. Drugged up on pain meds.
Vague memories of that night continually plagued him.
At least now he knew who the mysterious woman was. She’d taken the reins that night, which suited him fine since his injuries prohibited much mobility, and his mind was pretty fogged up. At times he’d thought he’d dreamed the whole thing except that he did remember small details, like her fresh-flower scent, her long flowing blond hair caressing his cheek and his completely sated body and good mood when he’d woken up that morning.
“Well, the mystery is solved,” Luke said, thinking it for the best that she lived so far away. One-night stands weren’t his thing but neither were complicated affairs. Luke had yet to meet a woman who held his interest for too long. Most of his relationships lasted less than six months before one of them realized that something was missing. Luke never felt the need to explore what that something was. If it wasn’t right there, pounding in his heart and making him silly crazy, what was the point of forcing it? He’d done that once with a girl in high school, trying hard to hang on, to convince her it was working, and in the end, he’d been the one who’d gotten his heart shattered.
Usually when he entered into a relationship with a woman, if the flow wasn’t smooth and easy from the get-go, Luke was the first one to bail.
“Too bad, though,” Casey said. “She was smokin’ hot.”
Yep, she was. There was no arguing that point. From what he could remember, she’d been a hellcat in bed. But he let the comment drop and turned the conversation to a new venture Casey was thinking about going into since he’d been forced into retirement with his back injury.
After a few minutes, Casey ended the phone call with a last parting remark. “Thanks for helping my little sis out, Luke. You’re her second brother. I know you’ll look out for her.”
“You got my promise on that, Case. I won’t let you down.”
Two
Audrey grabbed her canvas overnight tote from her truck. She didn’t know what to expect when she arrived here without an invitation—certainly not to be hired on Sunset Ranch—but she’d brought a few essentials and a change of clothes with her, just in case things worked out with Luke. A girl could be optimistic, couldn’t she? At the very least, she assumed that Luke would’ve remembered making love to her. It was a given, or so she�
�d thought. There had been two people on that bed, sighing and groaning with pleasure, for the better part of an hour.
Now that she was staying on the ranch as an employee for a couple of months, she’d have to do some shopping in town to get a few more changes of clothes. She’d placed a call to Susanna Hart half an hour ago. Her next-door neighbor and good friend back in Reno had the key to her house—technically, Casey’s house—where she’d grown up, at least when she wasn’t traveling from town to town on the rodeo circuit. Casey hadn’t allowed her to stay home by herself much when she was in high school. Susanna’s mother would watch out for her when she had a big test at school or something; otherwise, she tagged along with her brother.
Her high school experience had been grim, and she’d struggled to get good grades and keep up with events that were important to her. Senior year had been hard, and though she’d dreamed of Luke taking her to the prom, she’d settled on going with a nice boy who’d also been somewhat of an outcast.
Susanna had offered to pack up her clothes, her laptop, a few photos and Jewel’s favorite cat bowl and send them on. Audrey hadn’t gone into detail about her situation other than to tell her friend that she’d be working on Sunset Ranch with the horses for the summer.
As she gazed at Jewel snoring lightly on the bed, Audrey wished she could be as oblivious to the world around her as her feline buddy. The bed looked inviting, and she wasn’t supposed to officially start her job until tomorrow. But it was the middle of the day and she wasn’t much of a napper.
She walked into the bathroom to splash water on her face and then gasped when she looked in the mirror. She gave the image staring back at her a frown. She looked like hell. Her eyes were rimmed with red from lack of sleep last night and her hair, which was badly in need of a trim, was sticking out in three places from under the hat. “Goodness, Audrey, you look a sight.”
She worked on her appearance in haste.
Right now, Audrey longed to meet the horses. As she’d driven up, she’d seen the ranch corrals and the dozen or so horses, standing under giant oaks that provided shade from the other side of the fences.
Sunset Seduction Page 2
