Slow Hand (Hot Cowboy Nights, #1)(15)

“Care for some lunch?” he asked.

“No thanks. Iris already brought me something.”

“Which you didn’t eat.” He nodded to the unfinished sandwich. “From the Star Bakery, too. Best homemade bread around.”

“I just wasn’t hungry,” she replied. “Help yourself.”

He parked his ass on the corner of the desk and picked up the other half of her sandwich. He took a big bite. “Has Iris gone home?”

“Yes. She left a few notes on your desk.”

“I’ll take a look in a minute.” He surprised her by taking a swig from her Coke. It was a thoughtless act, but struck her once more as too intimate. Drinking after another was something you only did after kissing—with tongue. She recalled with a flush that they’d actually passed that marker already.

She’d fixed her gaze on his bobbing Adam’s apple as he swallowed and even found that part of him sexy. This wayward pattern of her thoughts was getting out of control.

“Any progress to report?” he asked.

She shook her head and massaged her temples. “Not much. I managed at least to get my driver’s license number from my insurance company, but I can’t get a replacement without a credit card. And even then, it could take up to seven days before I receive it. I don’t have seven days! I called to request a longer leave from work but my boss is a coldhearted be-atch. I’ve managed to get the rest of the week off by using up all my vacation time, but if I don’t clock in the following Monday morning, I’m canned for job abandonment.”

“But then you won’t be working for the coldhearted be-atch anymore.” His crystal-blue eyes twinkled with humor. “You see, darlin’? Every cloud has a silver lining.”

Nikki couldn’t help herself. For the first time in days, she laughed. Maybe it was just a substitute for despair, but she let it rip, a long, spastic belly laugh that made no sense at all when crying was so much more appropriate. Was she hysterical? By the time her eruption of mirth finally petered out, he looked like he was wondering the same thing.

“I’m sorry.” She sobered. “Please don’t think I’m unhinged.”

He grinned wide. “First impressions are mighty hard to dispel.”

“If you’re referring to Denver, it’s unfair of you to throw that meltdown in my face. You have to understand how much I hate to fly. Even in good weather. It terrifies me, Wade. It’s just not natural to defy gravity like that. I’ll never understand how those hulking tons of metal stay in the sky. Then after all that stress, to find the next flight full, it was all just too much to handle.”

“Let’s just say your extreme reaction was enough to move me to give up my seat. Matter of fact, I seem to be developing a weakness for helpless and hysterical women. It seems you now have me at your complete mercy.”

“I’m really sorry about that—for putting you in this position.”

“Don’t be. I wouldn’t have met you otherwise, and you are most definitely worth the trouble, Nicole Powell.” He gave her a slow smile that warmed her to the toes. “Good thing too, since you carry so much of it around with you.”

“I’m not normally like this,” she protested. “I have it together. Really. My life is very quiet, orderly, and uneventful. And I really like it that way.”

“Speaking of carrying things…” He ignored her rebuttal. “You might want to grab your bags. My business here is done. I’ll take you to Sheridan now, but I’d rather not come back this way until morning. I’d like to head out to the ranch tonight instead. There’s an important matter I have to discuss with my brother, one that’s best done in person. I think you should come with me.”

“Why?” she asked. Time away from him was exactly what she needed.

“I don’t think you should be alone,” he answered, “especially not knowing anyone.”

She despised her feelings of helplessness, vulnerability, and being out of control. It was as if the moment she’d arrived in Montana, someone had pulled the rug out from under her. Worse still, Wade made her want to trust him, and that was really treading treacherous territory.

“Your concern is kind but unnecessary,” she said. “I can take care of myself. I’m a grown woman after all.”

He gave her another slow perusal. “Don’t think that has escaped my notice, but like it or not, you’re stuck with me, since no other cowboy’s come along in his gleaming white pickup to rescue you.”

“It doesn’t gleam. At all.”

“It’s nothing a coat of wax…or ten…won’t fix.” He chuckled and flashed her that contagious grin again. She couldn’t help smiling back.

“If you really prefer it, I’ll bring you back here for the night, but you’d be much more comfortable bunking at the ranch.”

Although she hated the thought of being alone, his suggestion spelled “danger” in blazing neon.

“I don’t think it’s such a good idea,” she said. “It’s one thing for me to stay here at your office, but quite another to intrude on your family.”

“Look. It ain’t like that here. We have one of the sparsest populations in the country. We embrace strangers. In fact, Mama will probably try to move you in. It’s not often she gets to have a hen party, outnumbered by men as she always is.”