The Rancher's Rules

by Lucy Monroe

  “Who’s Carlene?” she forced out between stiff lips.

  “My date.”

  “Your date?” Was that husky voice hers?

  “Yeah.” He even sounded like one of his cowboys. She wondered if his Spanish great-grandfather had been equally chameleon-like. The man had certainly made the Double C a solid going concern, through hard work and business acumen a lot like Grant’s.

  “As in for tonight?”

  Grant gave her a look that said he thought she’d been sniffing glue instead of wiping it up. “Yeah.”

  There went her plans for another sexy dinner. Looking around the kitchen, she noticed other things besides the roses. Grant had set out silverware and plates on the counter to be carried into the dining room. “You’re having your date here?”

  “She wants to cook me dinner.”

  Carlene probably planned on serving him asparagus and a whole lot more. The hussy. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

  “Why not?” The sound of a bird screeching reached her ears. Grant frowned. “Is there any way to keep that parrot quiet tonight? He’s going to ruin the mood.”

  Too bad. She did her best to look apologetic while silently praising her parrot for his screeching tenor. “I’m sorry. He’s just like that. Nothing I can do.”

  “I’ll think of something.”

  She just bet he would. “I guess I’ll pick up the cats and get out of your way.”

  “Great.”

  It was a good thing Zoe didn’t have a glass of water handy. Grant would be the only contestant in a wet T-shirt contest otherwise. “Right. Well. I’ll just get the cats.”

  She found Alexander and Princess and put them in the cat carrier. Walking into the bedroom she had slept in the first night, she stopped to talk to Bud, the hamster. “Things are looking bleak, Bud. I’ve finally decided to stop pussyfooting around my feelings for Grant and he’s got a date with another woman.”

  He ran on his little exercise wheel, ignoring her. Males.

  Zoe wondered if Carlene liked rodents. She racked her brain, trying to remember if she had ever met the woman. An image of deep cleavage and incredibly tight, short skirts rose in Zoe’s mind. The weekend bartender at the Dry Gulch. The woman went through men faster than Grant went through relationships—or at least that was what people said.

  Zoe wanted to scream. She smiled instead, and loosened the door on top of Bud’s cage.

  Whistling a Christmas carol, Zoe picked up the cat carrier and left. She didn’t bother saying goodbye to Grant. She could do without another dose of his sexy, tight T-shirt.

  Grant put the finishing touches on the table. The roses looked good. Romantic. So did the rest of the dining room, thanks to his mother’s penchant for French provincial décor. She’d been gone for more than two decades, but because Lottie had only been interested in changing a few rooms of the ranch house, her influence remained.

  The front doorbell rang and he rushed to answer it. When he opened the door, cold air and perfume assailed him. It wasn’t an unpleasant scent, but it wasn’t Zoe’s either.

  Which was the point, he reminded himself.

  “Hi, Grant,” Carlene said softly, smiling. Her dress wasn’t nearly as revealing as the gear she wore to work in, but it accentuated her voluptuous curves all the same. “There’s one more bag in the car if you’d like to get it.”

  “I’ll get it. You go on in.”

  He moved back, but she still managed to brush his arm with her chest. He was surprised when she jumped and apologized. When he walked into the kitchen with the bags a minute later, he found her rummaging through the cupboards.

  She smiled, her expression a cross between nervous and welcoming. “I was looking for a pot to boil the pasta.”

  “Over here.” He pulled out the pot he had used to make dinner for Zoe the night before.

  “Thanks.”

  “Sure.”

  She turned to the sink and started filling the pot with water. “Want to make the salad?”

  “Okay.”

  She tossed him a bag of salad.

  Zoe never bought premade salad. She said it was a drain on the environment’s resources. And that was the last comparison he was going to make between his date and his best friend tonight. After rinsing the lettuce and tossing it in a bowl along with the pre-mixed dressing, Grant had to admit it sure was easier than cutting everything up.

  “I’ll have to make Zoe try this sometime. It’s a snap.” He grimaced, wishing he hadn’t brought her up.

  Carlene gave him an inquiring look. “Is she the schoolteacher? The one that dated Tyler?”

  Grant frowned. “Yeah.”

  Carlene laughed. “I would never have picked those two for a couple. She treated Tyler nice, though. He was always going on about what a lady she is.”

  “That’s Zoe.”

  “She even introduced him to his new girlfriend. Another teacher. I think Tyler’s really in love.”

  The last thing Grant wanted to do was talk about Zoe, love and Tyler, the man in leather. “Want me to do anything else?”

  “Sure, sugar,” she said flirtatiously, her Texas accent drawing the words out. “Only it will have to wait until after dinner.”

  Maybe this whole date thing was not such a good idea after all. He wanted sex, but the knowledge that it wasn’t going to be with Carlene hit him between the eyes with the force of a hammer. She was a lovely woman, but right now the only female who attracted him was Zoe.

  So much for his great diversionary tactic.

  “You can make dessert.” She said it nervously, and he wondered why.

  “Sure.”

  “I brought whipped cream, chocolate, and maraschino cherries.”

  “I don’t have any ice cream.”

  Carlene winked at him, but her face looked like she’d just added a whole layer of blusher. “I’m sure we’ll come up with something.”

  She moved forward almost awkwardly, her bee-stung lips parted for a kiss. Grant started backing away and she kept coming. The sound of an earsplitting screech came from down the hall.

  Carlene jumped and let out a pretty good screech of her own. “What was that?”

  “Zoe’s bird.”

  “What is her bird doing here?”

  Grant explained about Zoe getting evicted. He left out the part about Bud, not proud of the fact that he had been instrumental in getting his friend evicted from her apartment.

  “That’s a lot of pets for a single woman to have. No wonder she’s having a hard time finding a new place. I wouldn’t try to take care of so many, but I bet she never gets lonely,” Carlene said wistfully.

  Grant frowned, the comment about loneliness making him wonder for the first time if Zoe had so many pets for that very reason. “She just has a soft spot for animals.”

  “And then some.”

  “I better go check on the bird.”

  “All right.”

  As he walked down the hall toward the bedroom with the parrot, he wondered what in the hell he was supposed to do about Carlene’s whipped cream and cherries. She acted like a woman ready for a night of no-strings sex, but it didn’t ring true. Maybe Carlene was the lonely one. Whatever her motives, he wasn’t making dessert with her, tonight or any other night.

  And, damn it, he should have realized that before he ever asked her out. He kept telling himself he wasn’t a stupid man, but he certainly gave a good imitation of one sometimes.

  The sound of screaming from the kitchen interrupted his thoughts. Grant rushed back in the room without checking on the bird.

  Carlene stood on a kitchen chair, yelling loud enough to be heard in the next county. When she saw Grant she launched herself at him, literally flying through the air. “Mouse. It was a mouse.” She grabbed his shirtfront, shaking him. “He ran over my foot. He was brown and white and…” She trailed off with shuddering breaths.

  A brown and white mouse? Bud. Grant pushed Carlene into a chair. “I’ll get you a gla
ss of water.”

  “Water?” She jumped up and started screaming again. “There.” She pointed at the corner. “He’s over there.”

  Grant made a dash for Bud, but the hamster scurried under the cabinets. Grant turned around. Carlene was no longer screaming, but she was back on top of the chair.

  “It’s okay. It’s just Zoe’s pet hamster.”

  She made an obvious bid for composure. “Your friend keeps rodents for pets?”

  “Well, actually it was my hamster, and she agreed to keep him for me.” Grant got down on his knees and peered under the cabinet. “Do you mind helping me find him? He could get hurt, being out of his cage like this.”

  The look of horror that cast her features in stark relief could not be feigned. “I’d like to, I really would. I don’t want him hurt, even if he is a…” She swallowed. “A rodent. But I can’t. I’m sorry.”

  She sounded it too. She really was a nice woman, even if a little forward.

  “It’s all right. I’ll find him on my own.”

  Grant heard her step down off the chair. “I think I’d better go.”

  Her turned toward Carlene, half of his attention still on the cupboard Bud had disappeared behind.

  She was buttoning her coat. He jumped up. “Hey. I’ll find the hamster. Relax.”

  She shook her head. “No, really…I don’t think I was up to tonight anyway.” Then she was out the door before he could answer.

  What had she meant by that? Damn. Where was Bud?

  CHAPTER SIX

  “YOU lost Bud?”

  How could he lose the hamster? Guilt settled in Zoe’s stomach and made her defensive. “I cannot believe you let your date scream the place down and lost the hamster.” She jumped out of bed, the phone still cradled to her ear. “I’m coming over.”

  It was not as if her idea to snuggle in bed watching old movies to keep her mind off Grant’s date was working anyway. Images of Grant and Carlene had superimposed themselves over the people on the screen.

  She arrived at the Double C to find all the lights in the house blazing. She knocked at the kitchen door, not wanting to give Bud a chance to escape when she opened it. Grant swung the door open almost immediately. His hair was disheveled. Had he been running his fingers through it in agitation, or had Carlene done it before leaving in a huff over the hamster?

  Dislodging the torturous thought with effort, Zoe asked, “Have you found him yet?”

  They had to find the little guy. Not only for Bud’s sake, but also because she’d already promised one of her students he could have the hamster.

  Grant ran his fingers through his hair and shook his head. “No. I found a space between one of the cabinets and the wall.”

  Zoe frowned. “You think he’s in the wall?”

  Grant nodded. “Yeah.”

  “I can’t believe it.” She groaned. “How are we going to get him out?”

  Rubbing the back of his neck, Grant sighed. “I think we need to give it some time and some quiet. If I were a hamster, Carlene’s screams would have made me go into hiding too.”

  Zoe fought to hide a smile. “I guess she doesn’t like rodents, huh?”

  “No. I don’t think she likes me much anymore either.”

  Zoe could not lie and say she was sorry. She looked around the kitchen and took in the half-prepared dinner. “You didn’t eat yet?”

  He shook his head. “No.” His stomach rumbled.

  The poor guy was starving. Looking at the pasta draining in the strainer, and the half-prepared white sauce, Zoe figured she could finish dinner. She started pulling ingredients from the bags. “Run some hot water over the pasta to reheat it.”

  Grant nodded. He picked up a bowl of salad, the lettuce obviously wilted from sitting coated in dressing. “I guess this is a goner.”

  “Yeah.” She peered into the bowl. “We’ll have to have cooked vegetables.”

  “Okay. No asparagus, though. I’m, uh, not in the mood.”

  She turned her face to hide the grin his words provoked. “I saw a bag of California Blend in the freezer last night. Pull it out. We’ll nuke it with a little butter and Parmesan.”

  She finished the white sauce, adding the canned salmon Carlene had left behind, while Grant reheated the pasta and cooked the vegetables. She made a mental note to drop off replacement ingredients with Carlene sometime the following week. Zoe hoped that would allay some of her current feelings of guilt. After all, she’d been responsible for ruining the date…and losing the hamster. She sighed and grabbed the last bag on the counter to empty its contents.

  Suddenly Grant’s hand shot in front of her and snatched the sack. “We don’t need this stuff. It was for dessert.”

  Zoe made a grab for the brown paper. “Great. I deserve something sweet after cooking your dinner.”

  Grant did not release his hold on the bag. “Not this.”

  “Why not? Did Carlene buy some expensive dessert and you’ll feel guilty eating it without her?”

  He coughed. “Uh. No.”

  “Look, whatever it is, I’ll replace it tomorrow. I’m in the mood for sugar.” She yanked on the bag.

  “No, Zoe.” He yanked it back.

  The paper tore. A spray can of whipped cream, a squeeze bottle of chocolate sauce and a small jar of maraschino cherries tumbled onto the counter between them. “Mmm. Looks good. What kind of ice cream did she bring to go with this?”

  Grant did not answer. Zoe looked at him. He would not meet her eyes. Puzzled, she looked from him to the toppings and then back at him again. “Come on, Grant. What kind did she bring? Sinful Pleasures or something?”

  “Look, let’s just get dinner on the table. I’m starving.”

  Fine. She’d see for herself. Moving across the kitchen, she still could not fathom what had him so embarrassed. She opened the freezer door and rooted around inside. She closed it, and then turned to face Grant. “There isn’t any ice cream.”

  Grant frowned. “I know.”

  “Did you forget to buy it?”

  “No.”

  “What good are ice cream toppings without ice cream?”

  Maybe that was why Grant had acted so strangely about her opening the bag. She looked back over to the counter at the toppings. Sudden understanding stabbed at her with the pain of a branding iron. “You. Planned. To. Have. Carlene. For. Dessert.”

  How could he do this? She knew Grant wasn’t chaste, but this? To her knowledge he wasn’t into one-night stands, and this was his first date with Carlene. He hadn’t even slept with his last girlfriend. He’d be furious to find out that she knew, but women talked…just like men.

  Zoe felt her throat clog with tears. She had to get out of there before she made an idiot of herself. She was definitely overreacting, but she couldn’t seem to help it. She whipped around toward the door. “Leave a bowl of food out for Bud. He’ll get hungry and come out.”

  She rushed into the mudroom and grabbed her coat. Jerking it on, she cursed her impulse to feed Grant. If she hadn’t finished making dinner, she never would have known about his plans with Carlene and her heart would not be breaking in a million bitty pieces on the linoleum of the mudroom floor.

  Just why her heart was involved at all was not something she wanted to dissect right now.

  She did not make it three steps to the door. Grant spun her around, keeping a firm hold on her upper arms. “I did not plan anything. You know me better than that.”

  “I thought I did.”

  “You do, damn it.”

  She glared at him, her eyes blurred with tears she refused to shed. “Then what were you going to do with ice cream toppings? Eat them on top of crackers?”

  “I was not going to do anything with them.”

  “You expect me to believe that?”

  “It doesn’t matter. Being my best friend does not give you the right to dictate how I handle my relationships.”

  The vise constricting her heart tightened until Zoe thought she
could not breathe. “It’s already a relationship? I thought this was your first date.”

  He sighed. “That’s not the point.”

  Zoe shoved away from him, breaking his hold on her arms. “You’re right. The point is that I need to leave. Who knows? Maybe you can still salvage your evening with Carlene. At her place.”

  She spun around. Checking to make sure Bud was not waiting to make a break for outside, she yanked open the door and rushed out. She could not get away from Grant fast enough. He called her name, but she ignored it. She had already made an utter fool of herself. She wasn’t going back for more.

  She barely remembered her drive back to the Pattersons’. Her mind was filled with Grant’s words. She fought against the truth, but finally had to accept it. Being his best friend did not give her the right to judge his actions or his relationships.

  It didn’t give her the right to try to seduce him either. Even if he was the only man she could seriously contemplate making love to.

  She let herself into the house and then let the cats out of the bathroom. They followed her to the bedroom, obviously too sleepy to punish her for leaving them in the bathroom with their usual aloof behavior. She undressed. Climbing under the covers, she called the cats to her. Mercifully, they both came willingly and cuddled against her. She needed their warmth. She felt so cold inside. So lost.

  Animals had always been safe. Safer than people. For as long as Zoe could remember she had trusted her animal friends to give her the unconditional acceptance she craved and did not receive from the people around her. Everyone but Grant. It hurt, but she had to face facts. If she insisted on crossing the line into intimacy, she could very well lose the one person she could not bear to do without.

  “I made a big mistake.” She stroked Alexander’s silky fur. He began to purr, the soft sound vibrating through Zoe’s fingertips. “I went ballistic on Grant over his plans with his date tonight. And it wasn’t any of my business.”

  So much for her idea to satisfy her lust for Grant and keep her heart out of it. Her reaction tonight proved her heart was involved on some level, though she refused to even contemplate the prospect that she might still be in love with Grant.