Tony had told her to come look at his pumps. If he still had the old pumps and he had dug deeper—if he was telling the truth—then that would be the best thing for her to do. She frowned. Why did it rankle so much to do what he told her to do?
As she looked at his land, she couldn’t keep from moving her binoculars in a wide swing, curious whether Tony worked in the area. She didn’t see him and she hated to admit to herself that she was disappointed. She missed his company. Now she was sorry she hadn’t accepted his dinner invitation for Friday night, instead telling him to call her this week if he still wanted to take her out again. She hadn’t expected to hear from him and so far, she had been right. It was Thursday and he hadn’t called, so he must have had second thoughts when he got home.
She hated to admit that she was disappointed, but she told herself it was for the best. Still, she couldn’t stop the memories... She remembered being in his arms, his kisses, his blue-green eyes that darkened to the color of a stormy sea when he was in the throes of passion. How could he be so handsome and so sexy? Maybe it had been the tux. Or his naked body that was male perfection. Or his—
Her ringing phone cut off that steamy train of thought. Shaking her head as she wiped her brow, she yanked her cell out of her pocket expecting Abe, her foreman, but the caller ID read T. Milan. Her heart missed a beat as she stared at the phone until the next ring jolted her out of her surprise. She said hello and heard Tony’s deep voice.
“How are you?” he asked politely, and suddenly she was suspicious of why he was calling, but at the same time, she was happy to hear his voice.
“I’m fine. Actually, I’m at our boundary line and looking at your closest well trying to see your pump.”
“Hey, are you really? I’m not far. Stay where you are and I’ll join you and give you a closer look.”
She laughed. “You don’t need to.”
“Of course I don’t need to, but I’m already headed that way, so don’t drive off.”
“I wouldn’t think of it.”
“Oh, I almost forgot. I called to ask about dinner tomorrow night.”
So he hadn’t had second thoughts after all. She couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across her lips.
“How about something simpler than last weekend?” he continued before he had her answer. “Like Marty’s Roadhouse? I know it’s two counties away, but if we go anywhere around here, you’ll be besieged by cowboys wanting to take you out. Also, we’ll be the top of the list for local gossip.”
“I don’t want either to happen.”
“We’ll do a little two-steppin’ and eat some barbecue and discuss what you can do to get water.”
She should say no. They could talk about water on the phone or when he arrived in a few minutes. Common sense told her to decline. But then she thought about dancing with him. If she just had some self-discipline and had him bring her home after dinner, an evening with him couldn’t hurt. “That would be good,” she said.
“Great. I’ll pick you up at six. We’ll have a good time dancing.”
She heard a motor. “I think I hear you approaching.”
“You do. Stay where you are.”
“See you in seconds,” she said, and broke the connection. Amused, she pulled on leather gloves and parted strands of barbed wire that formed the fence that divided their property. She had been climbing through or over barbed wire since she was little. She straightened to watch him approach.
He drove up in a red pickup, stopped and jumped down. As he came into view, she saw that he wore a light blue long-sleevedshirt with the sleeves rolled up, tight jeans, boots and a black broad-brimmed hat.
She knew she was going against good sense getting involved any more deeply with Tony. So why did her entire body tingle at the sight of him?
“You look great,” Tony said as he approached her and reached out to tug her braid. “I never realized how good you look in jeans.”
She laughed. “Until last weekend, I never realized you could look at me without getting annoyed.”
Grinning, his gaze roamed down her legs again and every inch of her felt his eyes on her. “Oh, darlin’, those jeans do fit you. I just should have taken a second look.” He looked into her eyes and her breath caught. How could he cause such a reaction in her now? She had known him all her life and until last weekend she’d never once had this kind of response to him just saying hello.
“I’m glad you said yes to tomorrow night,” he said, the amusement fading from his expression.
Her smile vanished when his did. “Tony, we’re probably doing something we shouldn’t. You and I have no future with each other in a social way.”
He didn’t argue with her and, instead, continued to stare at her. He shrugged and stepped closer to run his finger along her cheek. The feathery touch sizzled and she had to draw a deep breath and resist walking into his arms.
“It’s just a fun Friday night, Lindsay. Surely we can do that just one more time.”
She knew the more time she spent with him, the more she could get hurt. Tony would not change, and neither would she. At the next problem to come up between them, he would be telling her what to do and she would be angry with him all over again. She needed to stay rooted in reality for the good ofher ranch, because she couldn’t afford to be sidetracked by him. “Come on,” he urged. “We’ll have a good time dancing. Marty’s on Friday night is fun.”