“And, Julia.”

She looked back at him. “Yeah?”

His eyes darkened, and his voice dropped an octave when he said, “I really am glad you’re here.”

Even though she didn’t believe him, everything in the way he looked at her had her body trembling.

Must be the heat.

She shot another glance around the ranch. It was nice, and she didn’t have much of a choice.

“So what do you say?”

She gave a resigned sigh, but deep down couldn’t deny that she was a bit excited by the prospect of hanging out at the dude ranch. The thought of being on a horse again was very alluring. She’d just be sure to keep her distance from Coop until the plane came back to rescue her.

After a quick consultation with herself, she answered with, “I guess if I’m stuck here for the night, then I might as well enjoy the place.”

He flashed a wide grin. “Good. Come on. And I’m sure I can find spare clothes for you.” He grabbed her hand and pulled, and she wished he’d stop being so considerate and sweet. It made it too hard to hate him. “You look to be about the same size as Tessa.”

She wondered who Tessa was, but resisted the urge to ask. Instead, she noted the way he’d angled his head to get a better glimpse of her. She could feel his eyes studying her, taking in her navy pencil skirt, starched white blouse, and sensible pumps. She felt completely out of place standing next to this sexy, laid-back cowboy. Then again, they’d always traveled in different circles.

“What?” she asked and shifted uncomfortably under his scrutinizing gaze.

“I was just wondering.”

“Wondering what?”

“What exactly is it that you need to hurry back for?”

She thought long and hard before answering. “Nothing now, I guess,” she said honestly, having no reason to lie to him, other than the fact that she didn’t want him to know her life was as boring as her clothes, and that unlike her twin sister, Julia Blair was all work and no play. But he probably already knew that.

She kept pace with his long strides as they walked the gravel path to the ranch. “Then why didn’t you pack?”

Julia adjusted her purse over her shoulder. “I wasn’t planning on coming.”

“Then why did you go to the airport?”

She gave an uneasy laugh, and instead of telling him that her curiosity got the better of her, she said, “I don’t remember you being a man of so many questions.”

He gave her a crooked sideways grin that fluttered her heart, not to mention other parts of her body.

“So what do you remember about me?” he asked as he hurried his steps, moving ahead of her slightly.

Everything.

From his gorgeous body and handsome, boyish face to the way he played the field, and she wasn’t talking about the soccer field. All the girls had lusted after him while she watched from the sidelines.

“Nothing,” she lied.

“Good.”

Julia arched a curious brow. “Good? Why good?”

His mouth turned up at the corner, and his sexy smile warmed her right to the tips of her toes. “Because I was a bit of a cocky prick back in the day, don’t you think?”

“I hadn’t noticed.” The truth was, he might have been self-centered, out for his own pleasure like every other teen boy she knew, but he did have qualities that drew her to him. That day he’d found her in the closet, it might have hurt her feelings when he said he would never want to walk in on her naked, but he’d been a gentleman, respectful, and went to lengths to protect her from his friends. Rumor had it that later that night, he kicked the shit out of Jag and Mac for laughing at her.

“Maybe that’s because you were too busy studying,” he said, which raised the question, what did he remember about her?

As she took pleasure in the sight of his hard body, she noticed the new crook of his nose—how did he break it? Her gaze left his face to take in broad shoulders that tapered to a trim waist, long, hard legs, and a gorgeous ass that looked so damn good in his worn, low-riding jeans.

When his hand tightened over hers, his rough calluses scraped against her palms, there was nothing she could do to ignore the tremble moving through her.

As they approached the front entrance of the lodge, she was about to ask what he remembered about her, but he moved close, too close. Her brain stalled, and her body temperature ramped up a few degrees

He dipped his head, and for a moment she thought he was moving in for a kiss. He tipped his hat, pulled open the heavy door, and in a sexy drawl that nearly had her melting like a summertime Popsicle, said, “After you, ma’am.”

Rattled by his close proximity and overwhelming ruggedness, she berated herself for her foolish thoughts. Of course he wasn’t moving in for a kiss. She forced herself to grin at his playfulness. Careful not to touch him, she walked into what appeared to be a replica of a nineteenth-century saloon.

The cool interior helped push back the heat, not to mention the lust, and cleared her head. She glanced around the nearly empty watering hole and smiled as she took note of the decor. Coop tipped his hat to the woman behind the counter.

“I’ll have a beer,” he said, and turned to Julia. “What would you like?”

Julia swallowed, and even though she wasn’t much of a drinker, she looked at the draft tap and was sure she could use a cold one right about now. “Same,” she answered.

Coop pulled a chair out for her. Who knew he’d grow up to be such a gentleman? Well, maybe she did. He straddled the seat to her left, and she glanced around. How did Coop and his two best buds end up on a dude ranch?

She’d recognized Mac and Jag. What were the three of them up to? They had caused enough trouble in high school to last a lifetime, but obviously, they were up to their old antics. Why else would they have gifted her—well, her sister—and the other two girls with an all-expense-paid vacation to the ranch? They were obviously living out some wild, youthful fantasy.

God, would the three hellions ever grow up?

Coop adjusted his hat on his head, and she watched the muscles along his arm tighten.

She cleared her throat. “A cowboy, huh?” Julia asked.

“Yeah, when the mood strikes.”

She wasn’t quite sure what he meant by that, but when he didn’t bother to elaborate, she said in a low voice, more to herself than to him, “I never would have thought.”

“I guess you never know what kind of curveball life is going to throw at you.”

He had a strange, vulnerable look in his eye. What had been thrown his way? What events led Coop here, to a dude ranch in the middle of nowhere? Because quite honestly, she’d never taken him for a ranch kind of guy. But she guessed he’d simply taken his playboy antics from the soccer field to the corral. Heck, what girl didn’t love a cowboy, right? There certainly wasn’t anything wrong with such a profession. It was a respectable job, but in senior year she overheard him talking about a career in sports medicine.

The waitress came with their drinks, and Julia took a big gulp and placed her frosty mug on the table before her. The cool liquid went down so nice and smooth that she continued to drink until she quenched her thirst. When she began to feel the effects of the alcohol—compliments of an empty stomach—she sipped slower and inched back on her chair to let loose a long, slow breath. Truthfully, until she stepped into this saloon, she hadn’t realized just how tightly wound she’d been.

The place was nice, comfortable, and designed to put its patrons at ease. After working hard for the last few months, perhaps a night at the ranch was just the thing she needed. Too bad she couldn’t stay longer. Sure, Coop had put the offer on the table, but she was intelligent enough to know that he was just being polite, trying to salvage a bad situation and make the best of it. He didn’t really want her here.