The Bachelor's Baby (Bachelor Auction Book 3)(3)

He didn’t pause, but his hat tilted up long enough for him to sweep her with an assessing glance that took in her trendy knee-high boots, snug jeans and town coat. Chicago winters were no Sunday picnic, so her dress coat was engineered for maximum warmth, but it was double-breasted wool, royal blue with black embroidery around the collar and a skirted bottom that complimented her figure. She wondered what more depths of opinion he’d form if he knew it was from a vegan-based fashion house, marketed on its cruelty-free fabrics and natural dyes. Blake had mused she could boil and eat this coat if she had to.

“That’s right,” he replied, smoothly clipping on.

“You grew up near Lewiston,” she added, showing off her investigative skills. “Moved to Texas and worked in oil.” Thus the flashy truck, she surmised. Quite the renegade move to throw all that away to hobby farm Montana. “Some people think you should consider going organic, since the place has been sitting fallow so long. Did you know that?”

He cut her another glance.

She shrugged. “It’s a small town. We have a lot of opinions about what people should do and aren’t afraid to express them.”

She was also a naturally curious person who happened to work in news. Digging into people’s backstory was her crack. That’s how she knew he’d been a CEO with really, really big oil. Rumor was, he kept a helicopter in his corral, not horses.

“You the one marrying that ballplayer?” he asked, straightening and motioning that she should move into the driver’s seat to steer Blake’s truck as it was pulled forward.

“No, that’s my friend, Skye,” she said, mouth twitching as she absorbed that he could play the gossip game too. “I’m from the Lazy C.”

“The California girl.”

Her amusement grew. “That would be my brother’s fiancée, Liz. No, I’m the Chicago newscaster.” She gave him a second to reply, but he only backed away, the remote for the winch in his gloved hands. He waved her to get behind the wheel.

Bummer. She was really intrigued by him. For a second she’d thought she’d felt a spark on his side, too.

And since when did she hope for a connection to a local boy?

Although, he hardly fit the profile of a local. The men in her age bracket here in Marietta tended to be fit and strapping, but they were like family. This guy… Wow. Just wow to all that brawn and steely silence.

Climbing behind the wheel, she nodded and seconds later the truck was back on the road. She left the engine running and climbed out to thank him while he unhooked.

“Just being neighborly,” he dismissed. “Chicago, huh?”

“That’s right.”

“In town long?”

“Just a few days, cleaning out my old bedroom for my new niece.”

He nodded, sweeping a slower look over her that was very male and approving. It was like stepping off a plane into the tropics, surrounding her in sultry warmth. She swallowed.

“Why?” she asked, hearing a faint huskiness of receptiveness in her voice. Ask me out.

His mouth, which she was starting to think was definitely sexy, pursed in a rueful hint of vacillation. He decided to go for it, saying, “I was going to suggest, if you had time before you left, that you might like to drop by and see the place. If you’re interested.”

Bam. Chemistry. Right there in the steady green stare of sexual attraction he leveled into her eyes.

Global warming struck like a meteor because even though they were surrounded by snow and ice, she melted under a wash of incredible heat. Completely incinerated under his gaze, breath evaporating and face warming.

Oh yes, her hormones were interested. Very interested.

They held the silent connection for a long time, long enough for her heart to begin to flutter with nervous excitement and her brain to throw a panic party. Was she seriously thinking of sleeping with a stranger?

She was so discomfited by her own reaction, she fell back a step, mostly amused, but a little bit stung by how slick he was. That wasn’t an invitation to dinner he’d just issued. And it wasn’t like she hadn’t had her share of smooth lines from fast operators in the city, but she expected better from the men around here, she really did.

“Even though I’m only in town for a few days. Or because I am?” she challenged, still trying to decide if she was insulted or flattered.

“I’m not a man for complications.”

Or apologies, apparently. He didn’t look the least bit contrite. More imperturbable.

“It was just a suggestion.” Touching the brim of his hat, he said, “See you around,” and started back to his own truck.

“You know, I could have it all over town that you tried to pick me up out here, but only because I’m passing through,” she threatened, not really serious. It was more like lobbing a snowball to start a play fight.

“You almost said yes,” he threw back, arrogant and knowing as he stood next to the open door of his truck. “Want me telling people that?”

She gave him the ‘die’ look she usually reserved for her nemesis at the competing station.

“It was really nice meeting you…?” He lifted his brows in a prompt.

“Meg,” she provided on a chortle of amused outrage. “You might learn that much about a woman before you proposition her.”