Roxanne had barely recovered from that news when, as an afterthought, Eli mentioned that his mother and sister would be stopping by.
Roxie fell back against the vinyl booth and let her chin fall toward her chest. “You’re taking me to meet your family?”
Eli laughed. He tilted his head back and Roxie watched in wonder as his whole handsome face relaxed into happiness. Hot desire swept through her. She wanted him. She wanted to get her lips and hands all over that man, all over his flesh and his happiness. She wanted to wrap herself up in him, pull up to the pump of everything good and wonderful that was Eli Gallagher.
“Damn,” she breathed.
Roxanne hadn’t wanted any man since Raymond. She hadn’t dared. Only Eli. She’d wanted him since the second she laid eyes on him all those months ago and she still wanted him, right here at this diner in the middle of nowhere.
She wanted Eli Gallagher with a fierce and bright longing that wiped out her memory of every other man she’d ever given herself to. Even Raymond was reduced to a shadow in Eli’s light. Eli made Raymond seem like a cheap imitation. Her head was spinning with the heat of her thoughts. The way she sat in the booth suddenly felt unbearable. Her underwear felt too tight. Then it felt too loose. She began to fidget.
“My sister Sondra only lives about a half hour away and she’s been taking care of my place while I’m in California,” Eli was saying. Roxanne had to force herself to pay attention. “My mom lives in Cedar City, but she wants to come up and make dinner for us tonight.”
Roxanne took a sip of her iced tea and tried to pull herself together. She worried she wouldn’t be able to hide her interest in Eli from his mother and sister. How could she play it cool when this man made her so hot?
“Are you okay over there?” Eli asked, a grin on his face.
“Fine. So …” She paused, smiling. “Do they know you’ve got a woman and her psycho dog in tow?”
“They do.”
“What have you told them about me?”
Eli reached over the table and held out his hand palm up. She slipped her hand into his, the soothing warmth of his touch moving into her center. Like always.
“I’ve told them the truth—that you are a client and a woman I want to get to know much, much better.”
Roxanne managed to take a deep breath. “So I’m a client and a potential … uh … well…?”
“Whatever you want to call it is fine with me,” Eli said. “A woman I’d like to start dating. A potential girlfriend. A friend who happens to be a girl.” Eli unleashed a grin so sly and sexy that Roxie feared she’d slide off her booth.
“Girlfriend?”
“That’s how I see it.” Eli raised one of his eyebrows. “How about you? How do you see it?”
Roxanne went very still. She removed her hand from his. Technically, there was nothing wrong with his description of what they were doing, but she didn’t know that she wanted to be anyone’s girlfriend. Ever again. Plus, she needed clarification on a few things. Immediately.
“Have you ever felt that way about a client before?” she asked.
“Never,” he said.
“Do you kiss all your clients?”
He shook his head. “No. Just you.”
“Not even Jennifer Aniston?”
“Nope.”
“Do you stretch out on the bed of all your clients?”
“Pretty much,” he answered, the corners of his mouth turning up in delight.
“Aha!” Roxie felt smug. “So everybody gets in the bed and snuggles with you?”
“No and no. You were the first one invited to join me for a snuggle.”
“Have you ever brought a client to your ranch?”
“Hell, no,” he said, chuckling. “In fact, I do my best to keep my address out of the public domain. That’s one of the benefits of using a P.O. box in town.”
She felt herself smile. This was just the kind of clarification she needed.
“I can’t get enough of that smile, Roxie,” he said.
She felt her cheeks redden. This thing was going really fast. In a few hours she’d be in Eli’s home, with his family and his eight freakin’ dogs! But something didn’t feel right, and she remembered what her city editor used to tell her—if she felt uncomfortable turning in a story, it meant she had more reporting to do, more information to get.
“I have to know everything about you,” she whispered.
“I’ll tell you anything you want to know,” he said.
She sat up straight, suddenly inspired. “Would you fill out one of your own questionnaires for me?”
Eli roared with laughter. “You drive a hard bargain, Roxie Bloom.”
“So you’ll do it?”
“Absolutely.”
Roxie nodded, relieved. “All right, then,” she said, relaxing back into the booth, hands clasped in her lap. “But there’s one thing I need to know right away.”
“Have at it.”
“Why did you turn me down for lunch?” Roxie said. “I think I’m ready for that explanation now.”
Eli nodded. He reached for his wallet and placed a twenty on top of the check. He stood, offering his hand to Roxanne and helped her from her seat. “We’ve got a seven-hour drive ahead of us. That’ll be just enough time for an explanation.”
She laughed at what was obviously a joke.
“But only if I talk real fast.”
* * *
Carole hopped out of the front seat of her ancient Ford F-150 to unlatch the gate and smiled. She did that every time she drove up this dirt road and looked out at the endless sparse beauty framed by desert mountains. Eli had managed to carve out a little piece of hallelujah for himself here, and she was proud of her son.
She hopped back in the truck and continued on, marveling at the sight of her boy’s log home as it appeared above the rise in the lane, behind the stand of towering cedars. The simple elegance of the structure still surprised her, even after five years. That Eli had paid for this place by using his God-given talent to help the world—that was plenty. But knowing her son had designed and then helped build the house with his own hands always made her shake her head in wonder. Eli was something special. Her son was one of a kind. He always had been.
God, how she wished she’d done things differently with him. She had let her own fear—her own vanity—outweigh the truth. Eli had a right to know Bob wasn’t his biological father, and he’d had a right to be told as much early in his life, so he could ponder it and settle it in his own mind. Sure, Eli would have been angry if they’d told him when he was twelve, the way Bob wanted. But it wouldn’t have been anything compared to the rage of a thirty-one-year-old man who was convinced his parents had betrayed him.
As Carole arrived at the end of the lane and parked near the wide front porch, she closed her eyes for an instant to say her usual prayer: Please, God, help Eli take another step toward forgiveness today, and have mercy on me for all my mistakes. Amen.
She took the keys from the ignition and let her thoughts return to the one question she’d been mulling over during the whole drive from Cedar City. Why in the world had Eli decided to bring a client home to the ranch? Who was she? And why now? Carole didn’t pry into the details of her son’s life, but she knew he’d not been in a relationship since his breakup with Tamara eighteen months before.
When Eli first told Carole he’d be spending a year in California to find his dad, she nearly lost her mind with worry. What good could possibly come of this? What if his father didn’t want anything to do with Eli? What if his father was a scoundrel? A weak man? An evil man?
But if there was anything positive to come of his foolishness, Carole knew it was the boost it could give to Eli’s love life. After all, there were more eligible females in one block of San Francisco than in the entire five thousand square miles of Garfield County, Utah. True, Eli had often reminded her that his plan was to find his biological father, not a girlfriend, but still, she could hope.
Simply put,
Carole was baffled. Who could have caught his eye, she wondered, and what kind of woman could make him cross that line between his business and his personal life? He’d never done it before, and his clients had included beautiful movie stars, recording artists, and even a model or two. The woman he was bringing home today had to be someone extraordinary.
Carole smiled as Sondra clomped down the porch steps to greet her. Her daughter’s short brown curls looked as wild as usual, and her sun-pink face just as cheerful. Sondra was the spitting image of her Bob—solid and freckled, and with the palest of blue eyes.
She looked nothing like her brother, of course. Even as young children, when Sondra and Eli sat side by side, it was obvious to everyone that Bob Gallagher was father to one but not the other. Was I more concerned about myself than my child? How could I have been so selfish?
“Mom!” her daughter called out, arms outstretched. They pulled each other tight, and Carole was happy to feel Sondra’s warm welcome, even though it was cut short by the arrival of “the horde,” what she called Eli’s collection of eight stray dogs plus Sondra’s chocolate Lab. Carole pulled away from her daughter’s hug to look down at the group and laugh.
There were a couple of real cuties in the bunch. Gizmo, the regal shepherd mix, and the silly little terrier mutt were Carole’s favorites. The rest were ugly as the day was long, creatures only a dog whisperer could love. But every single one of them was perfectly behaved. Calm. Respectful. Friendly. Every time she visited she was greeted with the same vision—a pack of assorted dogs with their butts planted on the ground, their tails fanning the dirt, and their eyes filled with enthusiasm. Carole took a moment to pat each on the head in greeting.
“Do you know anything about this chick Eli is bringing home?” Sondra asked, suddenly frowning. “Did he tell you anything?”
“No. I was hoping you’d have details.”
“Me?” Sondra waved her away and opened the passenger side of the truck, pulling out the large insulated casserole carrier. “Are you kidding? Eli never tells me anything juicy. He avoids all talk of romance with me. I think he doesn’t want to stir anything up—he hates to hear me cry.” Sondra unzipped the carrier so she could sniff at dinner.
“Careful, that’s probably still warm.” Carole’s heart sank for her girl. It was a shame that a whole year had passed since Sondra’s divorce and she still couldn’t move on. As her mother, Carole would have given anything to see Sondra get back out there, going to a movie or grabbing an occasional dinner with a handsome young man. It didn’t have to be true love. It didn’t even have to be serious. She only wished Sondra could relax and have some fun.
But who was Carole to judge? Her own Bob had been loyal and true, and she’d been spared the kind of heartache Sondra had endured. How was a woman supposed to recover from that kind of thing, anyway? One day you think you have a sweet and loving husband and the next day you discover he’s a serial cheater with women lined up in several states. Carole knew it would take Sondra a long time to heal from that hurt, if she ever did.
Sondra lowered her nose close to the glass lid on the carne asada with green chiles. “God, that smells good, Mommy. I’ve been fantasizing about this all day.”
Carole smiled and placed a hand on Sondra’s back as they walked up the steps, across the pine-plank porch, and through the twelve-foot-high front doorway. The dogs followed them as far as the door, but didn’t cross the threshold without being invited.
“Eli and Madame X won’t be here for hours, so I’ll stick this in the fridge.” Sondra spoke over her shoulder as she headed into the large, open kitchen. “I can’t figure out why they decided to drive—twelve hours is quite a chunk of time to spend trapped in a truck with someone you hardly know.”
Carole had considered that, too. “Exactly how long has he known this girl?” she asked.
Sondra shrugged. “From what I understand, she’s a brand-new client. It’s the girl who begged him to go back to San Francisco on Monday, when he was already halfway home.”
“What in the world…?” Carole stopped and leaned her elbows on the large center island of Eli’s kitchen, trying to let that information sink in. “He’s known her for a matter of days and he’s bringing her here? That doesn’t sound like Eli.”
Sondra snickered, pouring both of them a glass of white wine. “Yeah. He’s not exactly the most spontaneous dude in the world, is he?”
“No,” Carole said without hesitation.
“I hope to hell Tamara never hears about this,” Sondra said, shaking her head.
Carole sighed. After waiting more than three years for Eli to commit, Tamara apparently gave up on him, leaving Eli and Utah for Seattle. The last she heard, Tamara was engaged, which is what she’d wanted all along. She’d been a fine girl, and Carole never really understood why their relationship had ended so suddenly. She and Sondra assumed that Tamara was simply sick of waiting.
“What in heaven’s name is that boy up to?” Carole wondered aloud.
Sondra laughed. “I asked him about that. I said, ‘Eli, you spend half your time hiding from fan-girls. Are you sure you want to bring a stranger to your home?’ ”
Carole popped upright. “And what did he say?”
“He said he’s got it under control.”
Carole nodded, admitting he probably did. Eli always seemed to have it under control. In fact, the only time she’d ever seen him lose his cool was when Bob died and he discovered those damn adoption papers. True, Eli’s whole career was showing other people how to remain calm, but she’d love to see him let his hair down once in a while.
“And …” Sondra sipped her wine and wiggled an eyebrow. “I asked Eli if I should make up the guest room.”
“You did not!”
“I sure did.”
“That’s pretty darn nosy of you.”
Sondra shrugged off her mother’s comment. “So did you have a nice drive?” she asked, walking into the living room and plopping onto one of the soft leather armchairs. “Is there still construction on I-15?”
Carole knew when she was being tortured. She played along, bringing her wine into the room to join her daughter. After a refreshing sip, she stretched out her legs and admired the high vaulted ceiling, then gazed out the west-facing wall of windows to the mountains. There would be a dramatic light show at sunset, like most evenings.
Carole stayed silent for as long as humanly possible, hoping she could contain her curiosity longer than Sondra could stand the silence. Eventually, she surrendered. “Well? Are you?” Carole asked.
“Am I what?” Sondra inquired, looking perfectly innocent.
Carole laughed. “Lord, but you are hard on your old mother. Are you making up the guest room or not?”
“Oh, that.” Sondra set her wine glass down and folded her hands in her lap. “Eli told me not to bother.”
Carole sat back into the deep chair, stunned. She stared at Sondra a moment.
“Oh, my God,” she said.
Chapter 11
Roxie had been so riveted by Eli’s tale that she hadn’t moved, and the legs she’d tucked beneath her body hours before had fallen asleep. She shifted her weight in the front seat of the truck and stretched out, willing the blood to start circulating. Only then did she notice that the quality of the light had changed, leaving shadows on the endless dry and flat landscape around them.
“I’ve bored you to death,” Eli said, reaching for his bottle of water. “They should rename this area Bored to Death Valley.”
Roxanne chuckled, grabbing the bottle before Eli could, twisting off the cap for him. “Here you go.”
Eli looked sideways at her, the corners of his eyes wrinkling with a smile behind his dark aviator sunglasses. He nodded his thanks and held the bottle up, as if drinking in her honor.
Roxanne studied him for a slow, suspended moment as the afternoon light gilded his hair and skin. He was a beautiful man. There was no doubt about it. She considered how his strong jaw moved a
s he gulped, the up-and-down bobbing of his Adam’s apple, how starkly white the gauze bandages were against his tanned skin. She winced.
“Everything okay?” Eli asked.
Roxie shook her head. “No, Eli. I’m sick that Lilith did that to you. Does your arm hurt? Are the stitches itchy?”
Eli shrugged. “Not so bad. They’re the self-dissolving kind. I should be as good as new in a week or two.”
Roxie continued staring at the bandages, her heart sinking. “I sincerely apologize for my dog trying to eat you alive,” she said.
Eli laughed, then reached over to brush a section of wind-whipped hair from Roxie’s face. She felt herself lean into his touch. “And what about you, Roxie? You did pretty much the same thing, you know,” he said, letting his fingers trail down the side of her neck.
She nodded, figuring what he said was true. She remembered how pissed she’d been the day of the baby shower, when Eli followed her out to the paddock. She’d bitten the man’s head off. Obviously, she’d lashed out at him because she was embarrassed to be caught in a moment of self-pity. Plus it angered her that she continued to feel such an attraction to Eli when she’d been trying desperately to forget all about him. And clearly she’d still been stinging from his rejection all those months before. It seemed so simple now, so easy to put together. But a week ago, Roxanne couldn’t have admitted those things to herself if her life depended on it. A lot had changed since then, she realized.
“At least I didn’t sink my fangs into your forearm,” she said.
“True,” Eli said. “You went right for the jugular.”
Roxie scrunched up her face. “It wasn’t all that bad.”
Eli took another swig of water and returned the bottle to the cup holder. “Well, you told me you didn’t much care for cowboys. Then you told me I’d blown my one chance with you.”
“But that was before I knew about … everything,” she said.
Roxanne let her head fall against the seat back, staring straight ahead through the windshield at the flat ribbon of road. Eli had just spent the last few hours telling her about how he’d learned his father wasn’t really his father, how it had made him question everything he’d assumed about himself, his family. He’d told her how he’d come to California to find his real dad, and the string of disappointments he’d faced. He’d explained that he’d turned Roxie down because he didn’t want to start something he had no intention of finishing. But when he got her phone call asking for help with Lilith, he knew there would be no more denying his attraction for her.
Not That Kind of Girl Page 14
