Kathie DeNosky - Rich, Rugged Ranchers

He blew out a breath. “Don’t know. Birthing can be tricky at times. Skylar is a trouper though. She’s strong and if anyone can help her, it’d be Luke.”

“That’s what I’ve heard. Luke knows a lot about horses.”

“He does,” Logan said, keeping his tone light. If the woman wanted to praise his brother to high heaven tonight, he wouldn’t stop her. He wouldn’t like it much, but he wouldn’t stop her. The two of them were already thick as thieves again.

His brother’s relationship with Sophia had always irked him. Logan was the oldest of the three boys—Justin being the youngest. Logan had been very close to Luke until Sophia had gotten in the way. Ever since their friendship had developed, Logan felt like he’d been left out in the cold. Montrose women had managed to shred Slade family loyalty. It shouldn’t be so, but Luke couldn’t see it any more than his father had. Their blindness left a bitter taste in Logan’s mouth, sharper than the chili he’d just polished off. His only consolation was that Shelby was heading toward the table with Sophia’s burn-as-it-goes-down chili on her tray. “Your chili’s coming up.”

The waitress set the bowl in front of Sophia. Spicy aromatic scents of peppers, onions and cilantro drifted to his side of the table. “Thanks, Shelby.”

“You got it.” She shot him another sweet smile before walking away.

Sophia took her time, opening her cloth napkin and placing it on her lap. Then she lifted her lashes and those brilliant amber eyes surrounded with flecks of gold fell on him. “Smells delicious,” she said.

“That’s why we’re here.”

The second he said “we,” his pulse pounded in his ears and images popped into his head of the two of them, really playing nice. For anyone in the café watching, it might appear that they were on a date.

It’d be a cold day in hell, he thought, yet he couldn’t take his eyes off her.

Sophia dipped into the chili and came up with a rounded spoonful with cheese dripping off the sides. Steam shot straight up for half a yard then disappeared into the air. Sophia pursed her lips and blew gently, her mouth forming a small O to whisper away the heat.

Logan’s Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat. His damn body pinched tight, and he sat mesmerized as Sophia prepared to take her first bite of ass-kicking chili. Logan had never thought of chili and sex together, but now, that’s all he could think about. Watching her take her first bite, swallow, then gaze up at him, looking satisfied and accomplished, gave him a sexual thrill that he’d never experienced before. It was beyond crazy and like a fool, he grinned.

So did she.

The light in her eyes matched the way he was feeling inside, most likely for entirely different reasons. “Piece of cake,” she said.

Piece of something, he thought, grateful the lower half of him was covered by the table. It hadn’t escaped him that he was the one suffering as Sophia ate from her bowl of all-you-can-suffer Kickin’ chili.

He watched her eat three more spoonfuls without even a slight flinch. The woman was good at spicy.

“You know,” she began, stirring the chili with the stainless-steel spoon, “it was nice of you to ask Hunter to help me move in yesterday.”

“Who said I asked him?” he shot back.

“So you didn’t?” Her almond-shaped eyes rounded in surprise.

He shrugged. “Maybe I did.”

“I didn’t think you’d given it a thought. You didn’t personally offer to help.”

“Did you expect me to?”

“I had hoped you’d be a gentleman. I didn’t want to start off at Sunset Ranch with bad feelings.”

Logan ignored that last part of her statement. He wasn’t in the mood to get into it with her tonight. “I’m not the welcoming committee. I have a ranch to run. Hunter helped you. Isn’t that good enough?”

“Yes, I suppose. I was beginning to feel good about that, and you, until you set me up with Ruth Polanski. It was a low blow, even coming from you, Logan. You led me to believe I had to fire the woman.”

Logan scrubbed his jaw. It wasn’t his proudest moment, but he’d been angry and wanted to lash out at her when she’d first arrived. She’d called it correctly. It had been a low blow. Logan didn’t play dirty. Not usually. Yet he wasn’t ready to apologize. “You must have been pleasantly surprised when you learned you didn’t have to let her go.”

“I worried about it all night.”

He put himself in a no-guilt zone and hung tight. “I’m sure you slept well enough.”

Sophia shook her head and her long wavy hair, caressing one side of her shoulder, flowed over her breast. “You need to let go of the past, Logan. You’d be a happier man.”

A lecture, coming from her? “What makes you think I’m not happy? I’m sitting here, watching you pretend to stomach that chili. Tell the truth, Sophia. It’s burning like hell now.”

To his surprise, she put her hand just under her breasts, spread her fingers out over her stomach and delivered a low rumble of laughter. “You’d love to believe that.”

“You won’t admit it?”

“Maybe it’s more fun to keep you guessing. When’s the last time you’ve had fun, Logan?”

“What do you care?”

“That long?” Sophia asked, shaking her head as she lifted another spoonful to her mouth.

The woman was getting to him and damn if he wasn’t enjoying himself. Not because he thought Sophia was suffering with the chili, but because she was a woman who stood up to a challenge and managed to keep him guessing.

“You’re forgetting who’s driving you home.”

“Oh, no. I am very well aware,” she said, her amber eyes blazing with warmth enough to make heat crawl up his belly and put a lump in his throat.

He swigged the last ounce of his beer with a quick gulp.

Sophia, on the other hand, had yet to reach for her glass of water.

Sophia sank into the comfy, forgiving seat cushion of Logan’s black pickup truck. The luxury four-wheel drive sported a polished wood and beige leather interior with a dashboard full of digital controls an airline pilot would envy. She fastened her seat belt and watched the scenery go by as they exited the café’s parking lot and took to the open road. An hour ago, the golden sunset had faded and now lights from the town they left behind sparkled like tiny diamonds in her side rearview mirror.

Sophia eyed Logan as he drove with one hand on top of the steering wheel. Country music played softly. The lack of conversation was actually comforting. They’d extinguished their small talk while in the café. She couldn’t think of anything else she wanted to say to him that didn’t involve business, and Sophia wasn’t in the mood to spar with him about that right now.

Logan was used to comfort, style and the finer things in life. Even though he lived on a ranch, everything he owned, from his classic felt Stetson hat and expensive tooled-leather boots to the exquisite sprawling ranch home, was top-notch. She hadn’t missed the one-hundred-dollar tip he’d laid on the table for the waitress just minutes ago. She had gushed and tried to give it back, but Logan had insisted on her keeping it. Apparently, he had money to burn. Sophia would bet her last dollar that the designer watch he wore on his wrist cost more than her mother’s yearly salary when she’d worked at the Desert Breeze Motor Inn.

They’d spent three years working in that dive, before Louisa had finally landed a job more suitable for her managerial skills. In many respects though, the life Sophia had with her mother was richer and worth more than any of the material possessions she could ever hope to own.

Sophia had gotten a small taste of the good life when she’d married. Though many believed she’d married the older man for his money, Sophia had convinced her mother that she’d married for the promise of love. When in truth, neither had been true exactly .