The Rancher and The City Girl (Tempting the Rancher 1)

“Don’t be sorry,” he said, coming closer, his eyes still on her. “I’m starting to think you look better in my clothes than I do.”

“I doubt that. You look pretty good.”

He grinned and sat down next to her, handing her a mug of coffee.

“Thank you,” she said. “I didn’t realize this was a full-service kind of deal.”

She took a sip and kept her eyes on him. The man was fine. Worn jeans, bare feet, and no shirt. Yes please.

He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, and she shivered. “You sleep okay?”

She smiled. “You mean, when you actually let me sleep?”

“Hey, it was your mouth I found on me at three a.m. You expect me not to respond?”

“I was dreaming,” she defended.

“About kissing my chest?”

“Maybe…”

He smiled and kissed her on the lips. Was this what happiness felt like? A calm easiness with another person? She liked it. Liked that Tripp, and his home, and his bed, were warm. All the time. That felt like home.

But this wasn’t her home, and Tripp wasn’t her man. They were friends at best because of all his damn rules. Problem was, her resolve was starting to crumble. Maybe being here wasn’t so bad. Maybe she could want long term.

But could he?

He lifted his chin at the window she’d just closed the blinds on. “You ever ride?”

“A horse? No,” she said quickly.

“Gracie loves the horses. She’s out there almost every day.” He gave her a thoughtful once-over. “Would you ever ride? Or try riding?”

She shrugged. “Yeah, I’d try it. I just don’t know if it’s for me.”

She got the feeling that she may have answered the question wrong, but the truth was, she really didn’t know. The animal looked big, and she had no clue how to steer one or if it would buck her off.

“Not a lot of horses in the city, I take it,” Tripp said.

“No,” Charlotte agreed, noting the pause in his voice. She felt like a contestant in a spelling bee. Tripp’s questions felt like he wanted a specific answer.

“You like it there? Your job and city life and all?” Tripp asked.

She didn’t know what to say. Did she like it? No. But she’d worked hard and needed to support herself, which meant getting her career to take off. Even if she was considering Wyoming—and that was a big if—there was no clientele here. No big fish to land, and certainly no company to work for.

“There’s a lot of opportunity in Los Angeles,” Charlotte finally said.

“But you work for yourself?”

“Yeah, I build websites freelance, but I’m trying to get with a big company. I’ll have a steadier income and can build a larger clientele that way. And there’s no better place or promise for the line of work I’m in than California.”

Tripp took a sip of his coffee and glanced at the window, then back at Charlotte. “Well, I made a promise to get you back to your gram’s first thing,” he said, and rose from the bed. He put his coffee on the dresser and pulled out another T-shirt. This one was blue and fit him just as snug as the others. Perfect.

She got up and started dressing. She’d have to see if she had a jacket in the car to wear home, because now in the light of day, she felt ridiculous. She hadn’t thought about having to sneak in past Grammy, much less sneak past her in only a bra. When she went to pull Tripp’s shirt off, he stopped her and tugged the hem. “You keep this,” he said. “To remember me by when you leave.”

There was something in his eyes Charlotte couldn’t place, but she felt like she’d just gotten a D on a test she needed to ace.

Walking out the front door and into the morning sunshine, she was greeted with the happy wave and yell from Gracie.