“Do?” He caressed the word with his silver tongue and almost made Brandee shiver.
She recognized her mistake, but the damage was done. Her tone grew impatient as she clarified, “Did you just stop by to say hello or is there something else on your mind?”
“You know what’s on my mind.” With another man this might have been a horrible pickup line, but Shane had elevated flirting to an art form.
Brandee glanced up and rammed her gaze into his. “My ranch?” For years he’d been pestering her to sell her land so he could ruin the gorgeous vistas with a bunch of luxury homes.
To his credit, the look in his hazel eyes remained friendly and compelling despite her antagonism. “Among other things.”
“You’re wasting your time,” she told him yet again. “I’m not selling.”
“I never consider the time I spend with you as wasted.” Honey dripped from every vowel as he flashed his perfect white teeth in a sexy grin.
Brandee’s nerve endings sizzled in response. Several times in the last few years she’d considered hooking up with the cocky charmer. He possessed a body to die for and offered the perfect balance of risk and fun. Sex with him would be explosive and memorable. Too memorable. No doubt she’d spend the rest of her days wanting more. Except as far as she could tell, Shane wasn’t the type to stick around for long. Not that she was looking for anything long-term, but a girl could get addicted to things that weren’t necessarily good for her.
“In fact,” he continued, sex appeal rolling off him in waves, “I enjoy our little chats.”
“Our chats end up with me turning you down.” She gave him her best smirk. “Are you saying you enjoy that?”
“Honey, you know I never back down from a challenge.”
At long last he broke eye contact and let his gaze roam over her mouth and breasts. His open appreciation electrified Brandee, leaving her tongue-tied and breathless.
“Good seeing you both.” With a nod at Chelsea, Shane ambled away.
“Damn,” Chelsea muttered, her tone reverent.
“What?” The question came out a little sharper than Brandee intended. She noticed her hands were clenched and relaxed her fingers. It did no good. Her blood continued to boil, but whether with lust or outrage Brandee couldn’t determine.
“You two have some serious chemistry going on. How did I not know this?”
“It’s not chemistry,” Brandee corrected. “It’s antagonism.”
“Po-tay-to. Po-tah-to. It’s hot.” Either Chelsea missed Brandee’s warning scowl or she chose to ignore it as she continued, “How come you’ve never taken him for a test drive?”
“Are you crazy? Did you miss the part where he’s been trying to buy Hope Springs Ranch for the last three years?”
“Maybe it’s because it gives him an excuse to stop by and see you? Remember how he came by the day after the tornado and stayed to help?” Two and a half years earlier an F4 tornado had swept through Royal. The biggest to hit in almost eighty years, it had taken out a chunk of the west side of town including the town hall and a wing of Royal Memorial Hospital before raging on to cause various degrees of damage to several surrounding ranches.
“He wasn’t being altruistic. He was sniffing around, checking to see if because of the hit the ranch took whether I was in a position where I had to sell.”
“That’s not why he spent the next few days cleaning up the storm damage.”
Brandee shook her head. Chelsea didn’t understand how well Shane hid his true motives for being nice to her. He lived by the motto “You catch more flies with honey than vinegar.” The smooth-talking son of a bitch wanted Hope Springs Ranch. If Brandee agreed to sell, she’d never hear from Shane again.
“Where Shane Delgado is concerned, let’s agree to disagree,” Brandee suggested, not wanting to spoil her lunch with further talk of Shane.
“Okay.” Chelsea clasped her hands together on the table and leaned forward. “So, tell me your good news. What’s going on?”
“I found out this morning that Hope Springs’ first summer session is completely booked.”
“Brandee, that’s fantasti
c.”
Since purchasing the land that had become Hope Springs Ranch, Brandee had been working to create programs for at-risk teens that helped address destructive behaviors and promote self-esteem. Inspired by her own difficult teen years after losing her dad, Brandee wanted to provide a structured, supportive environment for young adults to learn goal-setting, communication and productive life skills.
“I can’t believe how well everything is coming together. And how much work I have to do before the bunkhouses and camp facilities are going to be ready.”