“I’ll give it some thought and let you know,” she said evasively. She had never been one to make hasty decisions and she wasn’t about to start now.
Six
Hurrying down the hall toward the front of the house, Taylor hoped whoever was knocking on the door turned out to be the delivery service with the things she’d shipped to herself from California. But her smile faded when she found Roy Lee standing on the porch.
“Sorry to bother you, Ms. Scott,” he said, smiling. “But I was on my way back from a trip to the feed store and I thought I’d check to see if you need me to help you with anything today.”
“No, but thank you for asking, Roy Lee,” she said, wondering why he wasn’t doing whatever work the foreman had assigned him for the day.
“Okay,” he said, looking disappointed. He stood staring at her as if waiting for her to issue an invitation to come inside the house.
“Was there anything else, Roy Lee?” she asked, wishing the cowboy would just leave. She didn’t want to be rude, but he was making her extremely uncomfortable.
“No. I just wanted to make sure you know I’m available if you need me.” He continued to look at her for several long moments before he finally added, “I guess I’ll let you get back to whatever you were doing.” He started down the steps, then suddenly turned back. “If you do find something you need help with, just call the barn. I’ll be more than glad to come back and take care of it for you.”
“I’ll remember that,” she said, watching him walk to the ranch truck he’d parked next to the house.
Closing the door, she felt a chill slide through her. On impulse, she reached down to secure the lock. She wasn’t sure what it was about the man, but she didn’t trust him.
“Who was that?” Lane asked, coming out of the office.
“Roy Lee,” she answered. “He wanted to know if I needed his help with anything today.”
Walking over to her, Lane put his arms around her waist. “You know what his problem is, don’t you?”
She shook her head as she tried to ignore the warmth that spread from the top of her head all the way to her toes from his touch. “If you have any kind of insight into what he’s up to, please enlighten me.”
“Roy Lee has a huge crush on you and unless I miss my guess, he’s had it since you were teenagers,” he said, smiling.
“That’s ridiculous,” she insisted. “I haven’t been here for a visit in several years and besides, I’ve never given him the slightest bit of encouragement.”
Lane grinned. “Let me clue you in on the way this works, babe. When a man finds a woman attractive, he’s a lot like a banty rooster strutting around the hen house. He’ll do whatever he thinks will get her to notice him. For Roy Lee, it’s offering to help you out. He’s trying to prove to you that he’s handy to have around and that you need him.”
“The only thing he’s accomplishing is giving me a major case of the creeps,” she said, shuddering. “I can’t put my finger on what it is about him, but I’m just not comfortable being around him.”
Pulling her to him, Lane hugged her close. “I’d be the last person to tell you not to trust your instincts, Taylor. But he’s done nothing that would warrant me firing him.”
“I’m not saying he should be fired.” She rested her head against Lane’s broad shoulder. “I just don’t want to be around him.”
“You don’t have to be.” He kissed the top of her head. “I’ll be here to run interference while I help you practice your poker skills. And as added insurance that he doesn’t bother you, I’ll have Judd assign him to chores on another part of the ranch.”
Feeling a little better about the situation, she tilted her head back to kiss his lean jaw. “Thank you.”
“That’s completely unacceptable,” he said, smiling as he lowered his head. “If you’re going to kiss me, I want the real deal.”
As his mouth came down on hers, Taylor immediately melted against him. In the past couple of days she’d thought a lot about his suggestion that they acknowledge the magnetic pull between them, but she still wasn’t sure what to do. Lane didn’t want a relationship any more than she did, but a casual liaison had never been her style.
Unfortunately, it didn’t seem that she had a lot of choice in the matter. Every time she was close to Lane, she forgot all the reasons she didn’t want to get involved with him or any other man. All she could do was think about the way he made her feel.