When he vanished from sight, she turned to go to her room to change to jeans and get her things to drive back to her real life at her ranch. She wished she had gotten a selfie for herself and then she laughed at herself. If she had, at the first ornery thing he did, she would have erased it. And she didn’t expect one weekend to change Tony’s alpha-male ways or his flitting from woman to woman.
Even if he changed, which couldn’t happen, she didn’t care to break her rule about avoiding entanglements with cowboys and ranchers. Tony would be the last man on earth she would want to fall in love with because it would be disaster for each of them from the first minute. They were both ranchers, with clear ideas of how they wanted to run things and opposing ideas on most everything. Life with Tony would be a continual battle. Unless he retired and just stayed in the bedroom. That thought made her laugh out loud as she drove all alone in her car, heading west out of Dallas and back to her ranch.
Midmorning on Tuesday as Tony sat at his ranch desk and worked at his computer, trying to find Texas water sources, his phone rang and he answered to hear his brother Wyatt.
“I thought I better call and see if you survived Saturday night. I heard you didn’t come home until Monday evening.”
“Keane, my foreman, always knows how to get hold of me. You didn’t know I was worth so much money, did you?” Tony asked.
Wyatt laughed. “You brought in a fortune at the auction. And it was all for a good cause, so thanks. You really contributed, but don’t let it go to your head. Even though this is bound to bring another slew of admiring females into your life.”
Tony hadn’t thought of that. “Maybe, but there’s one thing I do know. I will never bet with you on saddle bronc riding events again.”
Wyatt gave a belly laugh. “How’d the date with Lindsay go, bro? I was worried what she might want to do with you. I gotta tell you, I had no idea she could look like she did.”
Tony recalled the blonde beauty who was such a surprise. “Lindsay’s looks sent me into shock, and once I caught sight of that red dress, the evening instantly improved. But you shouldn’t worry. We did fine together.”
“I figured her looks would smooth things over. Don’t know if you know yet, but the two of you are all the gossip in Verity and in the sheriff’s office. I’ve been asked more than a few questions. I think around my office, they’re waiting for a report from me about how the evening went.”
“Civilized. That’s what you tell them. We just set aside our differences—for charity.”
“I’ll bet you did,” Wyatt said, and Tony could hear the amusement in his brother’s voice. “No way in hell would you fight with someone who looked like she did Saturday night. And she must have wanted something from you badly to pay that kind of money.”
“Yeah, she wants more water.”
“Don’t we all. She should know you can’t help her out there. No rain in the forecast, either. Hang on a sec, Tony.” Wyatt put him on hold while he consulted with one of his deputies. When he returned, he was back on what appeared to be his favorite subject. “Like I was saying, some people will never look at Lindsay the same way. Those who didn’t see her at the auctionare curious as hell. I don’t know why she keeps those looks hidden.”
“She’s not interested in dating cowboys or ranchers. She doesn’t want anyone telling her how to run her ranch. You can figure that one out.”
“Definitely. I was shocked to see who had won the bid,” Wyatt remarked drily.
Tony would agree with that. “We had a good time Saturday night, but she’s still Lindsay, all stubborn and serious. But we did agree to ease off the fights from now on.”
“Thank heaven for that one. My life will get a hell of a lot more peaceful. Call when you come to town.”
“Sure, Wyatt.”
After he hung up, he stared at the phone, thinking about Lindsay, and he was tempted to pick up the phone and call her. Then reason reared its head. Beneath all that beauty, he reminded himself, she was still the stubborn, obstreperous woman she had always been. She was as wise to avoid ranchers as they were to avoid her. She was not his type. Still...that weekend with her had been the sexiest in his life, and she had been the sexiest woman he’d ever been with.
He had to shake his head to get rid of the images that flooded his mind. The two of them in bed, in the Jacuzzi... No, he had to leave things alone. The weekend was over and it wouldn’t happen again.
Breathing a sigh, he turned to the ledger he needed to work on and tried to forget her and the steamy memories of their weekend.
The next few days slipped by without a cloud in the bight blue sky, the drought growing more severe as water dwindled in the creeks and riverbeds and strong, hot winds warmed the parchedearth. Lindsay threw herself into work, trying to forget the weekend with Tony, but she was unable to do so. It surprised her how much she thought about him. Even worse, she finally admitted to herself that she missed seeing him. She gritted her teeth at the thought. She didn’t want to miss Tony. She didn’t want him or the weekend they’d had to be important. Her reactions to him continually shocked her.
All her adult life she had avoided going out with men who would want to tell her how to run her ranch. She had managed, until Tony. That was the road straight to disaster. She didn’t want to marry a take-charge male—and a Milan, to boot!—and then fight over running everything. There was no way she would be in agreement on everything or turn her ranch over to someone else to run. She shook her head, knowing she needn’t worry. Tony wouldn’t ever get close to proposing to her. He wasn’t going to propose to any woman. He was not even the type of person she wanted to go out with again, and she was certain he felt the same way about her.
It was done. They were done. It was that simple.
Turning back to work, she forced him out of her mind. Soon she wouldn’t even think about him.
But that resolve didn’t stop her from mulling over his property. That afternoon when she drove her pickup along the boundary between her ranch and Tony’s, she stopped, switched off the engine, got binoculars and climbed up on her pickup to find out if she was close enough to see his pump on the water well nearest her land.
It was visible in the distance, but she couldn’t tell whether it was old or new. Damn. Time was running out for her.
How much longer could she go without rain?
Her other neighbors were buying water and having it piped or shipped in.