The Rancher's Rules

“I’ll move it back to the living room for you.”

“Why bother?” She turned around to face him, her tearstained cheeks causing guilt to tug at him. “It’s already set up. Why not just watch it in there?”

Because he did not want to torture himself. Not about to admit that to her, he shrugged. “Be more comfortable in the living room.”

Shutters came down in her eyes. She nodded. “You’re probably right. You set up the VCR while I put on some sweats.”

He did not like the emotionless expression on her face, or the flat tenor to her voice. She was slipping away from him again, and that scared the hell out of him. “Forget it. We’ll watch it in your room.”

When she remained silent, he added, “If you fall asleep, I won’t have so far to carry you.”

She looked at him, serious as a heartbeat. “I won’t fall asleep.”

“I was just teasing.”

Her smile looked forced. Damn, he had to get things back to normal with them. Taking long strides, he passed her by. Grabbing her wrist, he towed her behind him. “Come on, niña. You’ve got a date with the Duke.”

He did not stop until he got to her bedroom. Doing his best to ignore the effect the sight of her rumpled sheets had on his libido, he tossed the donut bag on the bed. “You break out the donuts. I’ll set up the video.”

She laughed a Zoe laugh. A cascading breath of amusement, sweet with joy. His heart tripped at the sound and he thought the torture of watching a movie next to her tempting body would be worth that one giggle.

She dove onto the bed and whisked the covers over her bare thighs. He nearly let out a sigh of relief when the supple limbs disappeared beneath the quilt. She opened the bag and pulled out two napkins, placing the pastries on them. He set up the video and then joined her on the bed, grateful for the covers between him and Zoe’s enticing legs.

She snuggled next to him and munched on her donut. They watched the opening credits roll in silence. As the movie started he heard her say quietly, “Thank you.”

He turned his head, but could only see the top of her hair. “For what?”

“Being my friend. I promise not to do anything else to jeopardize our friendship.”

Something about the way she said it tugged at him. “You could feed my new ropers to Maurice and it would not jeopardize it. It might jeopardize your life, but not our friendship.”

“My demise would seriously hamper our relationship.”

So would throwing her on her back and making love to her enticing body. He forced down his raging desire and remembered that fact as she shifted to a more comfortable position next to him. It was going to be a very long movie.

Two hours of torture later, Grant was still castigating himself for choosing a video they both knew so well. It had done nothing to distract him from Zoe’s proximity. Her laughter at the final scene choked off mid-giggle as she yawned hugely, covering her mouth with her hand.

She turned to face him. “You’d better head home. I need to get some sleep if I’m going to look for a place to live tomorrow.”

“Got any leads?”

“No. Not many people want to rent to a zookeeper.”

“You are not a zookeeper.”

She yawned again. “Thanks.”

He stood up and then walked over to the VCR. Popping out the video, he asked, “Why don’t you just buy a house?”

Zoe looked at him, and unfathomable sadness settled in her eyes. He wished he understood it. What was making her so unhappy? “I told you, a teacher’s salary does not stretch to a heavy mortgage.”

“You know I’d help you.”

She just looked at him.

“Okay, what about your parents? They’d help out with the down payment and you know it.”

“The same parents who aren’t coming home to spend Christmas with me?”

He felt the pain he saw in her eyes. “Yes.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Look, even if I wanted to buy a house, this is the worst time of year to find one. Even if I did find one, it would not close before the Pattersons return. I need a place to live now.”

He knew she was right. “You could stay at my place until your house closed.”

Zoe’s eyes narrowed. “We’ve been through this. I seem to remember you saying something about unprecedented damage to my reputation.”

He grew uncomfortable under her pointed gaze. “I’m sure we could think of something.”

“Something like an apartment complex that allows animals?”

He picked up the now empty pastry bag and wadded it up. He tossed it in the garbage and then turned to face her again. “I’ll let you get your beauty rest, then.”