Cathy Thacker - The Long, Hot Texas Summer

He caught her hand when she would have turned away. “So your fiancé broke up with you?”

Amanda leaned into his touch despite herself. “I broke up with him. I didn’t want to come between Rob and his family, and I certainly didn’t want to have kids with a man whose own parents detested me.”

Justin turned around and brought out two plates. “And Rob didn’t try to persuade you otherwise?”

Noting that Justin had simply assumed she’d dine with him, Amanda shook her head. “In the end, he agreed a long-standing family quarrel wasn’t what he wanted, either.”

“And since then...?” Justin asked, seeming to understand implicitly how devastated the whole debacle had left her.

She decided she might as well eat with him—she was starving and he had enough food to feed four people. “I’ve had dates here and there, but nothing with the potential to be lasting.”

It seemed the kind of guys she wanted to date all had stellar childhoods and stable, loving families. In the end, none wanted to be dating a former delinquent.

The most vulnerable part of her did not want to find out that Justin felt the same way.

Justin loaded their plates with food and motioned for her to sit down at the stainless-steel work island that ran down the center of the room. He took a seat and his smile turned seductive. “So there’s really no reason you shouldn’t help me, then.”

Except that it would bring them closer, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to be closer to someone who made her feel this wildly excited and yearning for more.

She liked the way she had been before. Content with what she had, and who she was. Not longing for the Cinderella fantasy of a spellbinding romance.

Aware Justin was still waiting for her answer, Amanda settled onto a high-backed stool opposite him. “Don’t you have a mother or a sister or someone else you could ask?” Her mouth and throat had suddenly gone bone-dry.

He added a healthy splash of barbecue sauce to his plate and cut into his sausages with gusto. “I don’t have any sisters. My four brothers know as little about party planning as I do.”

“There’s still your mother,” Amanda persisted.

Justin set the barbecue sauce in front of her. “She’s a wildcatter, with her own company to run. Not only is she completely inept in the kitchen—to the point that it’s a running family joke—she’s pretty busy scoping out a new drilling site in the Trans-Pecos area of southwest Texas.”

“So,” Amanda said, picking up her knife and fork, “it’s back to me.”

Laugh lines crinkled at the corners of his eyes. “That lunch you served us proves you’re an amazing cook.”

She kept her eyes locked with his, even as her heart raced in her chest. She took a bite of the meal he had prepared. The sausage was delicious—crispy on the outside, meaty and flavorful on the inside. “This is really tasty, too.”

“The supermarket deli made half of it.”

Amanda felt her face flush even as she savored the tang of the German-style potato salad. “One excellent home-cooked meal is not going to get you what you want.”

“Sure?” His eyes danced with merriment. “Because there are more meals where this came from.”

Amanda raked her teeth across her lower lip. She knew he was attracted to her, too. Sparks arced between them every time they were near. “Is this just an excuse to spend time with me?” she asked warily.

He dabbed at the corners of his mouth with his napkin, poker-faced once again. “I said I wouldn’t hit on you while you were working here.”

And he hadn’t. The problem was, she was beginning to want to proposition him. At least in fantasy...

Heat climbed from her chest to her neck and face. “I believe that you really do need help for this worthwhile cause, but why does it have to come from me? Surely you could hire a party planner or caterer.”

Finished eating, Justin leaned toward her, forearms on the table. “We don’t have the budget for that. Plus, word would get out. And since entertaining is going to be part of the ranch director’s job...” He let the thought trail off.

Unbidden, another wall came tumbling down. One that, perhaps, should have stayed intact. “So to help them take you seriously, this has to be well-done,” Amanda guessed.

His mesmerizing blue eyes found hers. “You got it.”

She bit her lip, intrigued despite herself. “How many guests are you going to have?” She did like cooking for a crowd.

“Twelve,” he replied, setting his glass down. “Thirteen, if you’ll come and speak to the rest of the guests about your own experiences turning your life around and how it led to you becoming the upstanding adult you are today.” He glanced at her admiringly. “Because clearly whatever it is—whatever it takes to connect with an at-risk kid—you have in spades. I can see it in your dealings with Lamar and the way he instinctively relates to you.”

Amanda didn’t know what was worse. The thought of wanting to hit on Justin—when he was so obviously off-limits and out of her league. Or being simultaneously recruited to plan and cook for his party and be the star of his dog-and-pony show on dysfunctional childhoods.

Thoroughly insulted, Amanda set down her napkin and stood. “I have to hand it to you, McCabe. You really know how to make a gal feel good.”

He seemed taken aback by her sarcastic tone.

“The answer is no,” she snapped. “To all of the above.”

And no to the idea of ever making a play for him, as well. Heaven help her, she thought wearily as she strode from the kitchen. When would she ever learn?

* * *

THE NEXT MORNING, it didn’t take Lamar long to notice the atmosphere. “Is Amanda mad at you?”

She’d certainly taken his compliments—and request for help—the wrong way, Justin admitted ruefully.

Wishing he had even a small part of Amanda’s natural ability to communicate with troubled kids, Justin asked his teenage charge, “Why would you think that?”

“I don’t know. I saw her shoot you this look when she was heading over to the bunkhouse. She was definitely angry.”

Justin sighed and ushered Lamar through the lodge onto the back deck, where the sun was already beating down. The heat had risen past an uncomfortable ninety-five degrees, and it was barely past nine o’clock. “I may have ticked her off last night when I asked her to do me a favor that would help out the ranch.” Justin whistled and all five dogs came running.

Lamar hunkered down to pet them and was soon covered with doggie licks and kisses. Reveling in the unchecked affection, Lamar looked up at Justin. “That doesn’t sound like Amanda. Seems like usually she’s happy to help out with stuff. She even volunteers. Like with lunch yesterday. I mean, she didn’t have to feed us, but she did.”

“Yeah.” Justin had also been surprised by this morning’s standoffish attitude. “Maybe I just caught her at a bad time.”

The only thing he knew for sure was that Amanda had felt used or manipulated. Which rankled. All he had really wanted was to find a way to bring down the barriers she had erected around herself and get to know her better. So something else a heck of a lot more satisfying than just friendship might be possible. But that hadn’t happened. Worse, he had undermined whatever small gains he had made in his pursuit of her.

And he was, Justin admitted reluctantly to himself, pursuing her. Despite the fact he had promised not to make a pass at her. While she was working on the ranch, anyway. Once that was done, all bets were off....

“Am I going to be helping her today?” Lamar asked hopefully as he gave the dogs a final pat and rose to his feet.

Justin pushed aside the disappointment that he was still a less than acceptable choice from the teen’s point of view. But, like Amanda said, he had to remedy that by giving the kid something he could accomplish and feel good about. “No, you’re going to be assisting me,” Justin said, ignoring Lamar’s immediate scowl of displeasure. “First off, we need to give the dogs a bath.”