“Oh, that’s right,” she grumbled to herself and pushed the blanket off to rise from the soft bed. She yawned and stretched, going to the window, and immediately spied Rian, wearing a tight white tee and jeans, looking incredibly sexy in the early-morning light, striding across the yard with that fossil of a dog, Dundee, loping at his side. Oh, damn. That man was sin incarnate. Just looking at him made her want to throw him down and have her wicked way with him, but she didn’t see that happening, since he was still sore at her for inadvertently getting him drugged, as evidenced by the fact that he’d chosen a separate room from hers.
Okay, so she felt a twinge of guilt about the drugging incident but she couldn’t control the actions of her friends any more than she could control the tide.
She moved away from the window and wandered the room, taking in the sweet country flavor of the decor, and wondered what’d it be like to live in a place like this, removed from the world, tucked away in a tiny town where everyone knew everyone else’s business. She smothered a small laugh. Actually, it kinda sounded like Hollywood.
She showered and went downstairs to see if coffee was on the menu and smiled with relief when she saw a small pot ready for her. There was also a plate of scones. “I love this place,” she murmured as she selected a raspberry scone along with her coffee and wandered outside to have a seat in one of the dual rocking chairs on the porch. She imagined this was where Kane and Laci spent their mornings, two lovebirds, enjoying their country bliss. A pang of envy followed as she bit into her scone. Oh, man, that’s good.
Rian walked into view and he climbed up the steps to join her, sliding into the other rocking chair with a grunt.
“I see you found the scones. Courtesy of Adeline. She’s a baker, like Cora was. Prepare to be force-fed at any given moment.”
“I don’t mind,” she said around a bite. “Where’ve you been? You’re all sweaty and it’s only eight in the morning.”
“The Bradford Ranch is a working ranch, which means there’s always work to be done. I was helping Warren this morning with the cattle and then there was a section of fence that needed repairing so I was doing that.”
“You know how to mend a fence?” she asked, impressed. “So handy.”
“I know how to do a lot of things. Warren taught us as teenagers. We were eager to learn whatever he could teach us because we knew in order to get out of our dad’s house, we needed skills that went above and beyond ducking a blow.”
She swallowed, hating that Rian had such a terrible childhood. “Can I do anything? I feel bad just sitting around, eating scones.”
“Do you know how to ride a horse?”
She nodded. “Of course. I’ve owned several.”
“Excellent. Then you can come along with me when I go to check the southern gate. Warren has a hard time getting to it because the terrain is a little too rough for him. I told him I’d check it out.”
“Sure. When?”
“Probably around eleven. If you ask nice, Adeline will pack us a lunch.”
“Like a picnic?”
“Well, I guess. You want to eat, right?”
So much for that wild hope of a romantic gesture. “Yeah, of course.”
“Great. I’ll let you handle the food detail, then.” He pushed himself out of the rocking chair with a slight wince. “Good God, anytime I think I’m in pretty good shape all it takes is one day on the ranch to remind myself that I’m such a city boy now.”
CoCo smiled and watched him leave, enjoying the view of that luscious backside very much. She didn’t know what he was talking about. He was the hottest country boy she’d ever seen. And even if he didn’t think of a picnic as romantic in any way, she was about to change his mind.
Was it bad that she wanted a second chance with her bodyguard?
Maybe. But she was too selfish to care and she didn’t mind admitting that, either.
Some opportunities were just too good to pass up.
* * *
RIAN WAS GRATEFUL to have the Bradford Ranch to hole up at but he was a mess of unanswered questions and raging guilt. While CoCo went to introduce herself to Adeline and in the process help pack a picnic for the afternoon, he made a call to Kane and hoped his brother was within cell range.