No matter how much she wanted to, Rose didn’t mistake the jealousy pooling in the pit of her stomach. It was dumb and inappropriate, but it was definitely there.
“Hey, Rose.” Angie Anderson stopped beside her. “Did you just get here?”
“Yeah. You?”
“I was working my shift here at the resort, so I didn’t have far to go.” The pretty brunette followed her gaze across the room. “Oh, wow, Kim is here.”
“Kim?” Rose hoped her voice sounded curious instead of edgy and jealous.
“She went to high school with Austin.”
“Really?” Of course she did. That would put her in the right age group.
“Yeah. They dated off and on when they were both around.”
“She’s prettier in person than on TV.” Younger-looking, too. And thinner. Darn her.
“She’s nice,” Angie said. “But it didn’t work out with them.”
Watching the two chat and laugh, Rose agreed, “It looks friendly.”
“Yeah. I don’t know how my brother does it, but he somehow manages to stay friends with all his exes.”
Rose snapped her gaze away from the couple. “All of them? Is it like tissues? He uses one, then throws her away?”
“Not in a bad way.”
“Is there a good way?” Rose knew the effort to appear teasing was a dismal failure when Angie’s smile faded.
“Austin just wants to have fun. Nothing serious.”
And there was nothing wrong with that, Rose thought. It just highlighted another of the differences between them.
She forced a smile. “Good for him. A man who knows what he wants.”
Angie nodded. “Yeah, he’s a good guy.
“He is a very good guy.” And off-limits to Rose. “It was nice to see you, kiddo. I think I’ll go see where they need an extra pair of hands.”
She wanted to disappear but that was the coward’s way out. The next best thing was disappearing into the crowd. At one of the tables she spotted a gray-haired bear of a man who was somewhere in his mid-fifties. On the wooden table in front of him was a stack of electronic items and a roll of Christmas paper. He had a barrel chest and big hands, not anyone’s idea of a present-wrapping sort of guy.
She walked over and said, “I’m Rose Traub. You look like you could use a woman’s touch with those gifts.”
Pale blue eyes took her measure. When he spoke his voice was deep and hinted at a zero tolerance for attitude. “Ben Walters. My wife used to do all the gift wrapping.”
“Used to” could mean anything from divorce to disability to death. “Used to” paired with the sadness in those eyes that saw too much couldn’t be good and she wasn’t sure what to say.
“She passed on a while back.” The tone was a little gruff, but obviously he’d sensed her uncertainty.
“I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Me, too.” He held out the tape. “Here you go, Rosie. I could use the help. Can’t get the hang of holding the dang paper and gettin’ tape off that confounded thing to make it stay together.”
She grinned and took the dispenser. “Okay, then.”
For the next fifteen minutes they chatted while they worked at paper cutting, putting it around music players, electronic games or DVDs, then sealing it up. She was on the last item and so engrossed in the effort that the tap on her shoulder was startling.
“Hi.” Austin grinned down at her. “I see you met my good friend Ben Walters.”
“Yes.” The groan just barely stayed inside, but didn’t that just figure. Of course she’d pick his good friend. Although probably everyone in Thunder Canyon was his good friend.
Austin shook the other man’s hand. “It’s good to see you, Ben.”
“How you doin’, son?”
“Great. Busy.”
“Figured as much, what with not seeing you around town.”
“I’m working for Traub Oil.” He nodded down at her. “As a matter of fact, Rose’s brother Ethan is my boss. In my spare time I’m writing my doctoral dissertation on extracting oil from shale in a way that doesn’t harm the environment.”
Ben grinned and shook his head. “I always knew you were something special, too smart for your own good. Otherwise you wouldn’t have been so much trouble.”
Austin met her gaze. “It’s thanks to Ben and other people here in Thunder Canyon who took an interest in me that I have any future at all. They helped me mature and see the error of my ways. I was pretty screwed up in my teens.”
“Does Mr. Walters know about the tattoo?”
“Yeah.” Austin looked puzzled, a clue he’d noticed the coolness in her tone.
“It’s a beauty,” Ben said.
“So I hear.”
Austin glanced at the wrapped stack. “Looks like you’re finished here. I could use some help sealing the shipping boxes.”
“I don’t know. We might have more—” Rose looked at the older man for a way out but didn’t get any help.
“You go on with Austin, Rosie. DJ has a spread set out for us volunteers in the kitchen. I’m gettin’ some before it’s gone. You young folks go make yourselves useful.”
Before she could say anything, Austin took her arm and led her to a table where the assembly line ended and everything was placed in boxes. There was wider tape in a big dispenser suitable for securing the heavy cardboard flaps. She held them together while Austin slapped on the tape and moved the boxes into stacks in the corner.
They worked in silence because she didn’t want to talk. She couldn’t help thinking that the title of the song should be “Guys Just Wanna Have Fun.”
“You’re really quiet,” he finally said.
“Nothing to say.”
“Since when?”
On her knees, Rose met his gaze. He was bending over and the position put his face far too close to hers. She hated that knowing what she knew about him did not shut down that funny little skip of her heart. It was so darn annoying.
“So,” she said, “you think I talk too much?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“It was implied.”
“No.” He squatted and rested a forearm on his thigh, a blatantly masculine posture. “What I implied is that something’s bothering you.”
“And you’d be wrong.” She shoved the sealed carton aside and pulled over another one.
“It’s about that kiss last night, isn’t it?”
She looked up, surprised that he was spot on. But it was more than that. This flirtation had more problems than a leaky row boat. Answering his question would lead to a discussion that was a waste of time.
“That’s so not true.”
“Then tell me what’s on your mind,” he insisted.
“There’s nothing to tell.”
“I know you’re into dares.” He frowned at her, met her stubborn and raised her one. “I double dare you to deny that you enjoyed kissing me as much as I enjoyed the hell out of kissing you.”
Double dare? Really? Whatever had possessed her to confess that she was competitive with her brothers? She wanted the words back in the worst way because everyone knew a double dare was sacred.
“I can’t deny it,” she finally said.
“I thought so.” Satisfaction slid into his expression. “Then what’s the problem?”
“Why are you hanging out with me?” she challenged.
“I like you.”
“But why? Is it for kicks? Bragging rights to the town dating champion? Give her the Austin Anderson stamp of approval?”
“That’s not what I’m doing.”
“No? Because word on the street is that you date as much as I do. The difference between us is that you’re not looking to get serious.”
The shadowed look was back and hinted of dark things. “What’s wrong with that?”
“Not a thing,” she admitted. “You’re young and have lots of time to settle down. But here’s where I have a problem with you kissing me. It leads to
intimacy. In my opinion sex has to mean more than just having a good time. Unless a man and woman are emotionally committed, a session between the sheets shouldn’t happen.”
“Someone’s been reading too many fairy tales.”
There was an edge to his voice, hinting of hurtful things. She didn’t have details, which shouldn’t matter anyway. Something or someone had sent his love life into the Dumpster, but she couldn’t afford to let that tug at her heart.
“Clearly you think romance is foolish. Good to know.” Rose stood. “I think I need a break.”
Before he could stop her, she turned and walked away. Knowing he was into quantity instead of quality was good information, a wake-up call. But it had the effect of a snowball down the back of her shirt and chilled her clear through. Her warm, dewy, wide-eyed anticipation to see Austin froze and died an ugly death.
Her romantic ideal was what it was. She wanted what she wanted. A prince of a guy who would love her forever, marry her and raise a family. It wasn’t negotiable, so there was no point in wasting her anticipation on a man who didn’t fit her romantic ideal.
Even if that man’s kisses made her want a session between the sheets.
Chapter Six
It was finally Friday of a long week that Austin acknowledged was in the top five of long weeks. The truth was, only a couple days had passed since Rose brushed him off.
Someone’s been reading too many fairy tales.
He wanted those words back more than any words had ever been wanted back in the history of man.
Surely he’d aged years since that night which might work in his favor, if she would ever talk to him again, he thought darkly. More than that, he didn’t want pleasing her or talking to her again to be so damn important.
Ethan Traub had requested a face-to-face with Austin before lunch and he was in his office just waiting for the word that his boss was free. Concentrating was a challenge and he wasn’t getting much work done, so he looked out the window.
The headquarters of Traub Oil Montana was located in a three-story brick building on State Street, in Old Town, one block off the square. Austin was an engineer working in Research and Development and had his own office with a desk, computer and a couple of chairs. Just a few months in the company’s new Thunder Canyon center of operations, the furnishings were spartan, but he worked on the third floor and the view was pretty good from up here. Especially for a guy some people in town had predicted wouldn’t amount to spit. There was a lot of satisfaction in proving them wrong and he’d feel smug about it once the Rose problem was put into perspective.
Word on the street is that you date as much as I do.
Those words kept playing over and over in his head. Word on the street? Who had she been talking to? And what exactly had they said to her about him? It couldn’t have been flattering because clearly Rose had been ticked off. The behavior was a complete one-eighty from the night before when he’d made her laugh, then kissed her and made her want. She’d kissed him back and neither of them had been thinking of anyone else they’d dated.
His intercom buzzed and he pressed the button. “Yes?”
“Austin.” It was Ethan’s secretary. “He’s free to see you now.”
“Thanks, Kay.” Then he had a thought. “Does he want to see any of my research data?”
“He didn’t say, so I’d guess no,” she answered.
“Roger that. I’ll be right there.”
On the way to Ethan’s office, just down the hall, Austin wondered a little uneasily if this impromptu meeting had something to do with Rose. Had she told her brother about that kiss? Probably not, what with the pending wager she’d made. But the downside of having the hots for your boss’s sister was not knowing if the request for a face-to-face was business or personal.
He pushed open the double doors and walked into the outer office. Kay Bausch, an experienced secretary who’d relocated from the Midland, Texas, branch of Traub Oil, looked up and smiled. She was a blonde in her mid-fifties and very attractive. Blue eyes hinted at a sense of humor and keen intelligence. She was a widow. It occurred to him that she should meet Ben Walters. What was he? Cupid? Austin couldn’t even manage his own love life. Bad choice of words. Not love. Not again.
Austin stopped in front of the desk. “How are you, Kay?”
“Great. You?”
“Also great,” he lied. “Have you got big plans for this weekend?”
“I do if you define big plans as staying home with a good book.” She smiled. “How about you?”
“My big plans include sorting research data to include in my doctoral dissertation.” God, that sounded dull. He was a geek. No data required to support that theory.
“That’s pretty impressive. When you’re finished, do I have to call you Dr. Anderson?”
“Not if you want me to actually answer,” he said.
The phone interrupted her laugh. Before answering, she said, “Go on in. He’s expecting you.”
Austin walked past her, knocked once on the closed door, then opened it. The man who was spearheading Traub Oil Montana sat behind his desk. “Hi.”
Ethan looked the part of a spearheader—tall, handsome, powerful. He closed the laptop on the desk. “Austin, have a seat.”
Noting that the other man didn’t look particularly upset, Austin breathed a little easier when he took one of the chairs facing his boss. “What’s up?”
“I had a meeting yesterday with the accountants and they’ve increased the R&D budget.”
“Wow.” Excitement poured through him. “Really?”
“Thanks in part to you, that town meeting in October went a long way toward easing some of the locals’ misgivings about extracting oil from shale.”
“Me? How? I just answered questions for people as honestly as possible.”
“For now that was enough. We bought land leases from some and extraction rights from others, but every last one of them was concerned about the environmental impact of this project on the area around Thunder Canyon.”
“So am I.”
“It showed,” Ethan assured him. “They were impressed with your answers and it meant even more coming from someone they consider one of their own.”
“This is my home and I wouldn’t be a part of anything to hurt it,” he said simply. “All I did was tell them the areas of concern. The support activities generate wastes that require disposal. I’m doing my doctoral dissertation on in situ conversion processes that may reduce the impact.”
“You have an emotional stake in what happens and it runs deep.” Ethan nodded. “I’ve been reading your reports carefully. It’s pretty technical stuff. Hard to understand.”
Not as hard to understand as your sister, Austin thought. But that was information best kept to himself. “Basically, water is an issue. I’m working on a process of filtering and recycling.”
“To eliminate toxins and reuse water which would be especially effective in arid regions where water consumption is a sensitive issue.” Ethan’s grasp of the reports was right on.
Austin was impressed. “Above-ground processing utilizes between one and five barrels of water per barrel of produced shale oil. In situ, below ground,” he explained, “uses one-tenth as much water and I’m trying to minimize that.”
“What else are you working on?” Ethan asked, clearly interested in this aspect of the operation.
“I’m looking at a process to refine carbon capture and storage technology in order to reduce the extraction process’s footprint on the environment.”
Ethan laughed and held up his hand. “I’m going to stop you right there. My eyes are glazing over. I try to keep up, but I’ll have to take your word on the research part.”
“Okay.” Austin nodded. “But a bigger budget will really make a difference in improving our technology capabilities. Thank you.”
“I’ll pass that along to the number crunchers.” Ethan leaned back in his chair. “The discussion you had with the Thunder Canyon H
igh School science teacher was particularly effective, by the way. Talking to the kids in class about what’s going on is generating conversations with their parents. All the reaction is very positive.”
“Glad to hear it.” So all was good on the career front and should have made Austin a happy guy. Should have being the key words. He started to stand up. “Thanks for letting me know—”
Ethan held up a hand. “Before you go—”
“What?” he said when the other man hesitated.
Hopefully it was something more about business, but Austin didn’t think so. There was a protective-older-brother look on Ethan’s face that was a dead giveaway.
“You’re under no obligation to answer. This is completely unrelated to your work which is impeccable. I couldn’t be happier with what you’re doing here at Traub Oil.”
“But?” Definitely about Rose, he thought grimly.
“Jackson mentioned something and I was wondering—”
“This is about your sister,” Austin said. No point in dodging the issue.
“Yes.”
“What about her?” He wouldn’t volunteer anything that would give her brothers even a technicality win in the wager. He also didn’t want to dig himself into a hole by opening his big mouth.
“I saw her with you at the wedding. And I’m told you’ve been spotted around Thunder Canyon together. Hanging out at ROOTS. At DJ’s. The Holiday Presents for Patriots project.”
Small-town life. Austin knew from firsthand experience that it was both a blessing and a curse. People were there for you and they were there for you, whether you wanted them or not. And they talked.
“About the wedding,” he started. “We were both going alone, so—”
“A date?”
“No.” The word came out more forcefully than Austin intended even though the wedding was before she’d made the wager. “Just friends.”
“Are you dating?”
The double-dare bet. Austin wouldn’t rat her out, no matter what tension there was between them. But Ethan’s motivation for asking had nothing to do with a silly bet, Austin realized. The expression on the other man’s face was all about brotherly concern.
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