Okay, that wasn’t helping the blushing problem.
Paige gave her a funny smirk. “Don’t worry about Bryce. I’ll ask him,” she called, already jogging away.
Wait! What would she say to him? Something told her it wouldn’t be good. “Paige!” Avery took off after her.
Bryce stared as she approached. His expression remained neutral, unreadable.
“We’re all heading to Moe’s,” Paige announced before Avery could stop her. “You in?”
“Nope,” he said, face suddenly drawn with determination.
Huh. Avery studied him. Why’d he seem so uncomfortable?
Bryce looked away from her and reached down to pet Moose, who inched his head up higher, like he wanted a better scratch.
“Didn’t think you’d join us,” Paige said with a wry smile. “But your friend Avery’s coming with me, then. Okay by you, boss?”
She watched his reaction to Paige. He actually made eye contact with the woman, but not with her. His gaze didn’t go anywhere near her eyes. What was his problem? Was he mad she’d played so well?
“She’s not my friend,” he said to Paige, patting the dog’s head. “She can do whatever she wants.”
Humph. Avery turned away so she didn’t have to look at him. The rosy glow on her cheeks was no longer related to his hotness.
“Come on, Moose. Let’s go home.”
As Bryce walked away in that lazy gait of his, the sting of her humiliation subsided. What had she done to piss him off now?
“Don’t mind him,” Paige said. “He’s moody. He’s been through some tough shit. You can’t take it personally.”
“I know.” Except his moodiness hadn’t seemed to be a problem when he was surrounded by his friends. Only when she got near him. He obviously didn’t want her around, but she was here to help him.
If he understood that, if he saw who she really was, then maybe he’d listen to her. Maybe he’d let her help him move on with his life.
Paige gathered up her bag and dug out car keys. “Ready?”
Avery looked longingly at the group now drifting toward the parking lot. They’d accepted her, high-fived her, complimented her skills, but she hadn’t come to make new friends. She smiled at Paige. “Thanks for the invite, but I just remembered I have some work to do. I should go back to the lodge with Bryce.”
The woman gave her a skeptical look. “Work?”
“Yes.” It was true. She had plenty of work to do. Starting with presenting their offer to Bryce in a more formal manner.
“Suit yourself,” Paige finally said. “If you’re still around, we have another game Sunday. We could use you out there again.”
“Thanks,” she called as her new friend walked away. “I had a great time!” The best time. She glanced up at the parking lot. Something told her the ride home wouldn’t be nearly as fun as the game had been. Even so, she hurried to catch up with Bryce. Unfortunately, by the time she’d made it to the parking lot, she was completely winded. How did all of these people survive on such little oxygen? By the time she caught her breath, he’d almost reached the truck.
“Hey!” she gasped, panting.
He stopped. Turned.
She could’ve sworn his face tensed into an irritated expression. She tried to take Paige’s advice. Don’t take it personally. If her heart didn’t inexplicably swell and pound whenever she saw him, that’d be a lot easier.
Mustering courage, she forced a peppy smile. “Turns out I’m pretty tired. Is it okay if I catch a ride back with you?”
He shrugged and turned around, lowering the truck’s lift gate for Moose. “In you go, boy,” he said in that firm gentle tone that made her quiver. She’d give anything to hear him talk to her like that.
Don’t count on it. He had one decimal when he talked to her and it wasn’t anywhere in the vicinity of gentle. But she could handle it. She wasn’t afraid of Bryce Walker. They’d gotten off on the wrong foot, that was all. He hadn’t seen how charming she could be, how fun, how sincere. She’d never met a business acquaintance she couldn’t charm. She’d win Bryce over eventually. Damn it.
Her tight stomach remained unconvinced, but she stomped over to the passenger’s side of the truck anyway. Just as she went to open the door, her cell rang. Dad’s face lit up the screen.
Bryce glanced over.
Was he in a hurry to leave? She held up her phone in a silent question.
He waved a hand toward her as if they were playing a game of charades. What was he trying to say?
Go ahead and take it?
Take your time?
Answer it over there so I don’t have to listen to you talk?
A smile snuck past her better judgment as she answered him with a series of wild arm gestures, because he sure didn’t seem to get along well with actual words.
He only stared back at her with that blank indifference. Yet another joke wasted on him.
Opting for space and privacy, she trotted to the edge of the parking lot before swiping the screen and holding it against her ear.
“Hey, Dad. Now’s not a good time.”
“You haven’t checked in,” he answered in his brisk, I want an update and I want it now tone.
She lowered her voice. “I’ve been busy. You sent me out here to work, remember?” The sight of her dusty yoga pants and Cubbies shirt mocked her. Yeah. Work.
“You’ve been busy negotiating, I hope. When can I expect a signed commitment?”
The question made her queasy. She snuck a quick glance at Bryce over her shoulder. “We haven’t gotten that far.”
“How far have you gotten?” Her father demanded.
“Um. Well…”
“He hasn’t budged, has he?” he grumbled. “Stubborn son of a bitch. It’s time to play hardball.”
“No!” The last thing Bryce needed was Edward King playing hardball. She’d seen her father do whatever it took to get a property he had his eye on. He always managed to get his way, and he didn’t care what it cost or who it hurt. But she did, especially knowing that Bryce was a widower. “He’ll budge. Trust me. I need more time with him. A couple of days.”
“Fine.” Her father conceded with a sigh. Luckily, he’d always hated telling her no. “You work it from your angle. I’ll work it from mine.”
“That won’t be necessary.” She’d make sure. His angle meant using his name to bully his way through the process and coerce people into making exceptions.
“I expect an update as soon as possible,” Dad said. “We’ll talk soon.”
The line went dead. She slipped it back into her bag and trotted over to Bryce, attempting to channel the inner professional who’d seemed so displaced since she’d arrived in Aspen. Time was running out. If Bryce would quit being so stubborn, she could help him understand that it would be best for everyone if he sold to her father. For him. For Elsie. They could go anywhere, do anything they wanted. If he’d stop looking at her like an enemy for five minutes, she could show him she was actually trying to help. She understood how it felt to have the pain of the past hold you back.
But it was time for Bryce to move on.
*
Bryce drummed his fingers against the steering wheel. Okay. Any day now.
Across the parking lot, Avery had finally slipped her phone back into her bag. Whoever she was talking to, she obviously hadn’t wanted him to hear. She’d drifted out of earshot right when she looked at her cell phone screen. Fifty bucks said it was her daddy. Probably calling to see if she’d brokered the deal of the century yet. A smile twitched. As much as she annoyed him, there was some satisfaction in not giving her what she wanted like everyone else seemed to. He had to admit, she had a talent for making people like her, for making people think she liked them.
But he wasn’t easily fooled.
Avery climbed into the truck, tucking those long legs into the passenger side.
And damn if the sight of them didn’t send a hot throbbing all through him. A purely phy
sical reaction, that was all. Ever since she’d taken him down on the field and he’d felt her curves pressed against him, warm and right and satisfying, his imagination had started to wander into enemy territory…
“Sorry about that,” she said, interrupting a traitorous fantasy that involved him taking her back to the grass. A warning flared in his gut. He didn’t look at her.
“No problem.” Starting the engine, he glanced over his shoulder to make sure Moose was lying down, then backed out of the parking spot.
“So that was a great game, huh?” she remarked in that animated melody she’d used on his friends all night.
“Yep.” One-word answers. He’d stick to the one-word answers. Things were safer that way. She had this crazy ability to open people up, to make them talk, to say things they didn’t usually tell people. During the fourth inning, he’d heard Paige spill the whole story about being the black sheep of her family, about how she wished she had a better relationship with her parents. She didn’t even talk to him about that stuff.
That’s why he had to steer clear. Avery pried too deep and he couldn’t go there with a woman. Not right now. Look at what had happened to him after Yvonne died. He’d lost himself for three years. He’d wandered around like he didn’t know who he was without her. Hell, he was still trying to figure it out.
“Bryce?” Avery asked in that sugary sweet voice. “Is everything okay?”
“Sure.” He followed the road. Ten minutes. It’d be a quick ten-minute ride back to the ranch. Surely he could wait her out for ten minutes.
“Are you sure?” Her hands fidgeted nervously with the hair spilling down over her shoulders. “Because it feels like you’re upset with me or something.”
Ah, hell. Not this. What was it with women, anyway? Why’d they have this burning desire to get to the bottom of absolutely every feeling they had? Why couldn’t they sit in silence, enjoy the scenery? “I don’t know you well enough to be upset with you,” he finally said, increasing his pressure on the gas pedal. The cops were notorious for pulling over speeders on this section through town, but tonight he was willing to risk it.
“Look.” Avery’s hands sliced the air in front of her. “I understand why you don’t want to sell. Trust me. I get it.”
Ha. Trust her. He didn’t trust her any more than he trusted her father. At the end of the day, she worked for the infamous Edward King. She might be smokin’ hot and nice, and, like she insisted, a good person, but she still had a job to do. He wouldn’t forget that.
Instead of answering, he leaned over and flicked on the radio. Nothing like a little Brad Paisley to tune out a woman.
Avery shot him a fiery look, topaz eyes blazing, lips thinned into a warning that tempted him to test her.
That didn’t help things. She looked even better when she got mad. His grip on the wheel tightened until his knuckles ached. Mom was right. He had to get out more. Start dating again. Any woman besides Avery King…
She hunched forward and fiddled with the radio until he could hardly hear Paisley. Fine. That was fine. Five more minutes and they’d be back at the ranch anyway. He’d be free of her.
“You need to listen to me, Bryce. Please.” She launched into yet another impassioned monologue about how selling the ranch could change his life.
Yeah, well. He’d had enough changes in his life over the last few years. So sue him if he wasn’t interested. She didn’t seem to pick up on his lack of concentration, though. She went on and on until he pulled the truck into the driveway and parked in front of the office.
“Are you listening to me?” She leaned over the console between them and got in his face, close enough that he could smell oranges, that he could trace the sexy curve of her upper lip with his tongue if he’d wanted to.
“Have you heard anything I’ve said?”
The throb started again, deep in his chest, invading his body until it occupied all of him.
“Seriously, Bryce this is—”
Screw it. He cupped his hand around the back of her head and roughly brought her lips to his, totally unprepared for the impact it would have. Shock waves coursed through him, unleashing a craving stronger than he’d ever felt.
Avery squeaked in surprise but he didn’t let up. Need thundered through him and it was a helluva lot louder than the logic he’d spent the last several hours beating into his thick skull. Her lips were soft and moist and everything he’d hungered for during the last three lonely years. He gentled a hand up into her hair. It felt like silk against his skin.
A small moan purred in her throat and her upper body relaxed, lips melding to his in a pulsating heat. She ran her hands up his chest, and that was all he needed. He bent forward, halfway over the console, gathering her closer, kissing her harder, deeper. If it wasn’t for that console, he’d pull her right into his lap…
“Wow. Just…wow,” she whispered against his lips.
He answered by parting her lips with his tongue. There. That’d take care of her chatting problem.
Avery gasped a sharp intake of air, her chest rising against his.
Taking it as an invitation, he commanded her with his lips, opening and closing them in a sensual rhythm. A dull ache resounded in his chest. God, he’d forgotten the depth of a kiss…
He shifted to get a better angle, more access, but that console…
She pulled back with a small smile, lips grazing his in a tease, then she pressed in again and proved that she could make out as well as she could talk.
A scratching sound scraped the window. Moose whined, then barked.
Great timing, as usual.
Avery pulled away, eyes sparkling with a look of happy surprise. “Um…” Her tongue ran over her lips and her eyes peered up into his. “We should talk about this.”
No. Oh, hell, no. As far as he was concerned, there wasn’t much to say. She tasted good. Real good. But now that he was breathing in the fresh, mountain air, instead of her intoxicating scent, he remembered. Yvonne. Her face haunted him, and that kiss…it was intense and real and it felt exactly like a betrayal.
“Bryce…” Avery collected his hand in hers. “That was…really something. I’m just not sure—”
“Sorry.” He yanked his hand out of hers. Time to go. “Good night, Avery.” Air pounded for release in his lungs as escaped from the truck. Without looking back, he jogged into the office, the burn of want still torturing him.
Once inside, he slumped into the chair behind the desk and stared blankly at the wall. Holy hell. He’d kissed her. He’d kissed Avery King.
Well. That ought to shut her up.
Chapter Eight
Four days. Bryce had managed to avoid her for four flipping days. Avery left her guest suite and marched down the hall to the Walker Mountain Ranch dining room, like she did every morning. It had become something of a routine. Over breakfast, she’d ask Elsie when she could expect to see him, and each day the woman apologized and made excuses.
“Sorry, dear. He’s helping Sawyer install a patio today.”
“He took an overnight trip to Denver for some supplies.”
“He’s rock climbing with Shooter.”
If his mother knew about the kiss, she didn’t let on, but she obviously felt bad that Bryce was clearly avoiding her, profusely apologizing on her son’s behalf and making Avery a gourmet breakfast every morning as a peace offering. Quite effective, the way that woman could cook.
For the most part, Avery had managed to put on a good performance and act like Bryce’s absence didn’t matter. But it made it impossible for her to do her job. Not to mention…how could he kiss her like that? Like she was water and he was half-dead with thirst—then avoid her like nothing had happened? She wasn’t sure if she should be humiliated, angry, or completely infatuated with the man. Her brain, her body, and her heart had been battling it out, and so far her body seemed to be winning, quaking with sheer elation every time she pictured his face.
Warding off another internal earthq
uake, she rounded the corner into the great room and was greeted with the scent of strong coffee. It reminded her of her father. He preferred his coffee like motor oil and always drank it black. That smell was all it took to wake her up.
Today. She had to talk to Bryce today. Over the last three days, Dad had left her twelve messages. She’d texted him and claimed that things were moving forward, but that her cell reception was bad. She’d promised to have an answer for him by today. Therefore, it didn’t matter if Bryce was hiding in Denver again. She’d track him down, force him to face her, and make one closing argument for why it would be better for him to sell for millions than to lose it all to the bank.
“Good morning!” Elsie swooped across the dining room and wrapped her in a customary hug.
“Morning.” She hugged her back, always calmed by the woman’s soft and friendly presence.
Elsie pulled away, a special glimmer in her eyes. “I hope you don’t mind, dear. But I’ve packed a ‘to go’ breakfast for you today.” She gestured to the table, where a small picnic basket sat, almost overflowing with goodies.
To go? Avery walked over and peeked inside. Muffins, granola bars, plump red grapes and a Tupperware container of fancy sliced cheeses. “Wow.” For the first time in quite awhile, a grin stretched her mouth. “So where am I going?”
“Well…” Elsie clasped her hands like she was trying to quell her excitement. “Bryce has to work in the stables today. I thought I’d send you out there to share with him.”
Sure enough, the traitorous tremble worked its way up her body and ended in a heated flush on her face. She had Mom’s Scandinavian complexion to thank for that.
“Besides,”—Elsie murmured with a sly expression—“the horses need to get out. It’s been weeks, and it’s a beautiful morning for a ride.”
She couldn’t argue with that. Outside the dining room windows, the flawless blue sky stretched out, clear and glassy, as serene as a lake on a still evening. Despite the fact that she’d once had a bad experience on a horse, it was the perfect scenario. A ride would give her extra time with Bryce. He wouldn’t be able to avoid her. That alone made it worth risking her life.
No Better Man Page 8
