by Lucy Monroe
Zoe rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right. Grant, most people wouldn’t let me stay at their home with all my pets. Why do you think it’s so hard for me to find a rental?”
She also didn’t know how she felt about staying in her old home, now occupied by the Pattersons, a wealthy retired couple who rented the place from Grant.
“I’ll call Frank in the morning,” he said, just as if she had not spoken.
“If you are that intent on getting rid of me, go ahead and call.” She set her half-finished mug by the sink. “I’m going to bed. It’s been a long day.”
Grant frowned. “I’m not trying to get rid of you. The Patterson place is a lot closer to town, and you won’t have to drive so far on icy roads to work.”
School let out in a couple of days, and Grant knew it. “So, we don’t tell anyone I’m staying here. If they don’t know, their overstimulated imaginations won’t have any fodder. And with school letting out soon, how is anyone going to know?”
Grant’s granite-like features twisted into a cynical smile and his blue eyes mocked her naïveté. “Mrs. Givens.”
“You think she’ll tell?”
His derisive laugh was answer enough.
“Okay. Call the Pattersons.”
Grant savored the quiet of the predawn darkness. He’d wanted to make some international business calls before waking Zoe. They needed time this morning to take care of her homeless situation. If she had let him rent her old home to her, none of this would have happened. But Zoe’s pride was only exceeded by her stubbornness.
When he walked into the kitchen, not only was the coffeepot on and giving off a terrific aroma, but Zoe was making breakfast. She flipped a golden pancake off the griddle onto a plate. A pan of eggs warmed on the back of the stove. He knew better than to look for bacon.
Zoe was a vegetarian. Ever since she was sixteen and had told him that every time she bit into a hamburger she saw the soft brown eyes of a cow. When she’d said it, he’d come close to giving up beef too.
A vegetarian rancher. Right.
Her dad had gone ballistic. Jensen had never even considered leaving the ranch to Zoe, and when he’d decided to retire early he’d sold the ranch to Grant to add to the Cortez holdings. Her dad had not believed that she would be able to raise cattle to butcher or sell. Grant did not doubt the older man had been right.
Zoe did not belong on a working ranch and that was a fact.
At least she still ate eggs. His stomach rumbled at the sight of the fluffy yellow pile of scrambled eggs on the plate.
“Mornin’.”
She turned around and smiled at him. “Mornin’. I made breakfast.”
“I see. Are you saying that if I let you stay here I can figure on the services of a housekeeper?” He teased. “That might make me rethink calling Frank Patterson—especially since I gave my housekeeper time off from now until Christmas to get ready for her children’s visit.”
“I cooked breakfast.” She pointed at the sink with the spatula and smiled. “I didn’t say anything about washing dishes.”
She stretched across the counter to pour him a mug of coffee. Her nightshirt rode up creamy thighs and Grant’s gaze glued itself to the sight while his fingers itched to reach out and touch the soft skin. Would it be as smooth as he remembered? Would she shudder like she had that one fateful time he’d allowed himself to see her as a woman?
He bit back a curse. He wasn’t about to give in to carnal urges where she was concerned again. Their friendship meant way too much to him. It meant more than any other relationship in his life, and he wasn’t about to put it at risk for something as fundamental as sex.
“Don’t you have some sweats or something to wear with that thing?” He grimaced at the question, hoping she didn’t hear the tinge of desperation in his voice.
Zoe stopped stirring the coffee and gave him a quizzical glance. “Why? I’m not cold. Does my nightgown bother you?”
Nightgown? It looked more like a T-shirt to him. “Of course not. I just thought you might be cold.”
She shrugged. “I’m not.”
“Good.” What else could he say? That the sight of her sexy legs had sent his male hormones raging?
She would run screaming from the kitchen. Or, worse, she would stay.
He’d call Frank right after breakfast.
The call started off fine, but took a dive like a 747 with engine trouble when Grant brought up the subject of Zoe staying at the Patterson place. Apparently Frank’s wife and Eudora Givens were good friends, and Zoe’s ex-landlady had already given her version of events. Frank wasn’t about to cross his wife by letting Zoe and her “menagerie” as he called it, stay in their home.
Grant hung up and sat staring morosely at the phone. How was he going to help Zoe find a place if even Frank Patterson wouldn’t let her stay in her old home?
Grant ran his fingers through his hair and rubbed the back of his neck. What was he going to do? Who would let Zoe and her pets move in?
No one. That was who. The only way she’d find a place to live would be to give up most of her animals. That was never going to happen. But…she could leave her pets in the barn with his livestock while she stayed at the Patterson place and looked for a new rental. Frank would not object to Zoe living there alone.
Now Grant just had to convince Zoe.
After returning from school, Zoe went straight to the barn. She wanted to check on Maurice. He was used to living in a chicken coop, so the barn should be an improvement. However, she didn’t know how he’d respond to living with horses. They were so much bigger than him. He might be nervous. As it turned out, Maurice seemed perfectly content. He accepted Zoe’s petting with an expression of goat disdain.
“I talked to Frank.”
Zoe jumped at the sound of Grant’s voice. She whirled to face him. “I didn’t hear you come in.”
He smiled. “You were busy.”
Zoe gave a final pat to Maurice. “What did Frank say?”
“His wife is a good friend with Mrs. Givens.”
Zoe couldn’t say she was sorry. She’d prefer staying with Grant until after the holidays. After the visit from her parents. “And?”
“She won’t let you and your pets stay.”
Zoe shrugged. “Guess you’re stuck with me for a while at least.”
Grant smiled. “Not necessarily.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m a problem solver, remember? It’s what I do. If I can figure out the logistics on shipping beef to Japan on a scale large enough to keep my investors happy, I can figure out the living arrangements for one small kindergarten teacher.”
“Watch the size cracks,” she warned teasingly, but she was nervous. He was a problem solver, and she could see her plans for handling her parents’ upcoming visit with aplomb going up in smoke. “So, what is your solution?”
“You can stay at the Pattersons’ and leave your pets here with me. When you find a place, you can take them with you.” His cat-that-found-the-cream-pitcher grin said that he thought his idea had merit.
Zoe’s stomach tightened in a knot. Her day had been emotionally wrenching enough. She’d forced herself to put an advertisement for Maurice, Bud and her bird in the local weekly paper, along with sending flyers offering the animals free of charge home with her students. The last thing she wanted to do was to leave all of her animals behind and go live in the sterility of a pet-free household at the Pattersons’.
“You have too many responsibilities already. I can’t expect you to take care of my pets too. You’re the one who said you didn’t have time to take care of a hamster.”
“I don’t. My hands will take care of your pets, and the real problem was that I didn’t want a hamster. I’m not the small pets type and you know it.”
No, he was the tycoon type, with a strong attachment to the land.
“I feel responsible for you being evicted and I am doing my best for you now.”
She didn’t ne
ed that reminder of his guilt. She’d much rather think he was helping her because they were friends. She really wished he didn’t want to get rid of her. “They’ll miss me.”
“You can visit, Zoe. You’re not going to be living in another state. The Patterson place is only about ten minutes away. Besides, I’ll help you find a place and you won’t be separated all that long.”
Zoe dug in her heels. “No.”
Grant leaned over and petted Maurice. “Be reasonable, Zoe.”
“No.”
He straightened, and his conciliatory smile was gone. “You’re an unmarried grade school teacher. Neither your principal nor the school board are going to think highly of you living with a man.”
Grant had a point and he knew it. She did too, which was why she hadn’t argued too fiercely with him the night before. “It isn’t going to be that long. I’ll explain to my principal about getting evicted. He’ll understand.”
Grant shook his head. “He might, but other people won’t. Do you want everyone in town talking about you?”
Zoe laughed, but it was hollow. The specter of gossip was all too real. “I don’t care what anyone who doesn’t know me well enough to know better thinks,” she said, with more rebellion than truth.
“What about your students’ parents?”
Why was he pushing so hard? “What about them?”
“Don’t play dense, Zoe. You don’t want your children’s parents to think you’re living with some man.”
“You aren’t some man. You’re my best friend,” she muttered.
He smiled. “Yeah. And because I’m your best friend, I’m not going to let you ruin your life, niña. What do you say? Should I call Frank back? The sooner you get moved to his place the better.”
Zoe could not stifle the twinge of pain that Grant’s eagerness to get rid of her caused. It reminded her too much of her dad’s attitude when he’d moved her mom to Arizona. “Will you ask him if I can bring Princess and Alexander?”
Grant smiled, obviously relieved. “Sure.”
“Great. You’d better do it right away. You wouldn’t want me to have to stick around any longer than absolutely necessary.” She could not help the bitterness in her voice.
Turning on her heel, she headed out of the barn. Grant couldn’t have made himself clearer if he had shouted through a megaphone. He did not want her around. She should have expected it. She’d worn out her welcome with her dad before she’d ever been born just by being a girl.
Grant snagged her coat and stopped her mid-step. “Hold it.”
She refused to turn around.
“I’m not trying to get rid of you.”
Zoe snorted in disbelief. Right.
“Okay, maybe I am. But it isn’t because I don’t want you around. Come on, querida. You know it’s for the best; you’re just too stubborn to admit it.”
She heard his words. In one part of her mind they made sense, but they did nothing to dislodge the lump in her throat. She wasn’t sure why she was feeling so emotional. Perhaps the words hurt so much because they were almost identical to the ones her dad had spoken when he’d told her he was selling the family ranch rather than let her oversee it.
Heck, Grant probably had some convoluted reason why his actions on The Night had been best for her too. She’d hurt then and she hurt now.
She shook her arm loose from his grip and headed up to the house. Her happy reserves were all used up and she was in no mood to discuss why it was better for her for Grant to kick her out too.
CHAPTER THREE
GRANT tapped his pen against the desktop. He’d been working the figures on their most recent Japanese export deal, but he couldn’t concentrate. The image of Zoe’s hurt expression when he’d convinced her to leave her animals on his ranch and move into the Pattersons’ was burned into his brain.
It didn’t help that she’d been avoiding him ever since. She’d been by to care for her animals twice yesterday. Both times she had made excuses not to stick around and talk. Not that he had time for it, but it bothered him that she didn’t.
Which made him what? Contrary, if nothing else. He should be grateful she was avoiding him with the way his hormones had been behaving around her lately, but he wasn’t.
He missed her.
She could be so damn stubborn sometimes. Like when her dad had sold the ranch. It had been the only move that made sense.
The Jensens had had Zoe late in life, when her dad had been in his early sixties already. He’d wanted to retire. His only son had died a year before Zoe had been born. With only a vegetarian daughter who would no more sell the cattle for beef than cut off her own right arm, he hadn’t had anyone to leave in charge of the ranch—so he’d decided to sell.
He’d been doing Zoe a favor, and Grant still wasn’t sure what she had been so upset about. Certain times of year, like during the stock sale, she’d been miserable living on the ranch. He’d tried to talk to her about it once, but she’d changed the subject. He hadn’t pursued it, not wanting her to realize he’d been the one to encourage her dad to sell.
They argued about enough lately.
Mrs. Patterson needed to vacuum under the guest room bed. Zoe sneezed for what seemed like the hundredth time while she pleaded with her cat to come out. “Alexander, you can’t stay under the bed while I’m at school. The litter box is in the bathroom, with Princess.”
Zoe was afraid that was the problem. She had left the cats in the bathroom with the litter box the last two days while she went to school. Alexander had not liked the confinement. Smart enough to realize that today would require more of the same, he had run under the bed and wasn’t coming out.
Zoe had already tried her most coaxing voice and offering kitty treats, but Alexander would have none of it. Darn it. She was going to be late for school if she didn’t hurry.
“If you don’t come out from under there, I’m giving Princess your play mouse.”
Who said cats couldn’t understand plain English? Alexander dashed from under the bed and made a beeline for the bedroom door. Zoe would have lost him if two male hands had not shot out to catch the desperate feline. Zoe saw fancy tooled Spanish cowboy boots from her vantage point under the bed. Grant.
She scooted out and lifted her gaze to him. He was wearing jeans and a flannel shirt under his coat. So today he was working the ranch with his hands. It surprised her he still did it. He was a man of contradictions. A smart business tycoon who could ride herd on a horse or fly a helicopter to do it equally as well.
And he looked equally yummy in both business and ranch attire, which was not a comforting thought in their current relationship.
Jumping to her feet, she dusted her hands off. “What are you doing here?”
“Bad morning?”
“Not if you discount that I woke up late, had to skip breakfast and my cat hid under the bed. Now, even without breakfast, most of my students are going to arrive before I do.”
“I’m glad I came over, then.”
“Why did you?” She smiled so he’d know she wasn’t being snippy.
Her annoyance with him had worn out sometime after dinner last night. It wasn’t his fault she was feeling so vulnerable since her dad had sold the ranch. It had been a final slap in the face. The ultimate confirmation that Zoe wasn’t the son he’d wanted and hadn’t made much of a daughter either.
“The roads are bad.” He smiled that killer smile that had been doing strange things to her insides since she was sixteen. “I’m going to drive you to work.”
She sighed with exasperation. “Grant, you may not realize this, but there are women all over the county who are driving themselves to work today. Some are driving busloads of children to school and even more are driving their own.”
He shrugged. “Better get a move on. You’re already late.”
“You aren’t going to listen to me about this, are you?”
“No.”
“I could refuse to ride with you.”
&n
bsp; “I’d just follow you all the way into town. Why deny yourself my scintillating company?”
Why indeed? It was pretty sweet he wanted to drive her himself, considering that even if he was concerned he could have asked one of his hands to do the chore. “Fine. Put Alexander in the bathroom. Check their food and water too, please. I’m going to get myself something to eat on the way, since you’ll be driving.” Grant was not the only one who could give orders.
He tipped his Stetson. “Yes, ma’am.”
The fake drawl shivered through her, doing things to her heart and her desire. She forced a casual smile and squeezed past him, her breath quickening as her breasts brushed against his arm. She rushed into the relative safety of the kitchen.
When they were in the truck, she started to peel the banana she’d grabbed along with a yogurt for her breakfast. “How are my pets?”
“You know they are fine. You just saw them yesterday afternoon. Snoopy is sleeping out in the barn, though. He prefers it.”
Zoe felt a pang in her heart. Snoopy didn’t belong being cooped up in an apartment. He was a ranch dog. Grant had offered the big German Shepherd a home when Zoe had moved from her parents’ ranch, but she’d refused. Maybe selfishly. But Snoopy had been her dog since he was a pup and she couldn’t let him go.
Considering the results of her calls on apartments the day before, she might not have any choice. Sunshine Springs wasn’t a big town, which was why the rich and famous seemed to like it so much as a getaway destination. It helped that it was close to the ski slopes on Mt. Bachelor as well. But rental space for year-round residents was limited, and the rates could be astronomical.
No one she’d spoken to, no matter what kind of rent they charged, had been willing to rent to someone with a large dog like her German Shepherd.
Grant frowned. “Your bird is one of the loudest, orneriest parrots I’ve ever seen.”
“You get used to his singing after a while.”
He slid her a disbelieving glance before focusing on the snow-covered road. “Singing? The bird squawks loud enough to wake the cows in the pasture.”
