Don't Dare a Diamond (Must Love Diamonds 5)

“Are you really that mad about what happened last night?” she asked from right behind him. “Because if that’s the problem here this morning, I’ll apologize. Again.”

“I’m not mad at you.”

“You’re sure acting like it over one little kiss.”

Geezus, that had been so much more than a little kiss. He opened his door, then thought better of it and slammed it shut again to face her. “I live in Colorado. You live in Texas.”

“And?”

“I don’t screw around just to screw around. Never have, never will.”

“Neither do I.” Her gaze met his for a moment, then faltered. She stuffed her hands in her front pockets and turned to lean her butt against the front tire fender while hunching her shoulders. Her gaze met his, then bounced away to look out over the mountains to the west. “So, I guess I do owe you another apology. I was scared. I am scared—about a lot of things. I was using you as a distraction to keep from facing some hard questions, and I’m sorry.”

He should be offended by that, shouldn’t he? No one liked to be used. He definitely should not be thinking about offering himself up as a willing distraction whenever she needed one. Hopefully often.

For the next three weeks, anyway.

He gave himself a hard mental shake and reached for his door once more. “Don’t worry about it. Apology accepted.”

As he opened the door, she straightened from the side of his Jeep. “Are you going to get more rescue horses?”

Despite her already knowing that answer, he gave a curt, “Yeah.”

“Can I come with you?”

“No.”

“Please?”

Halfway onto the driver’s seat, he paused with a frown. The less time they spent together the better. “Don’t you have a three hour workout to get done?”

She gave him an innocent little smile. “My trainer gave me the rest of the day off.”

Idiot.

“Then go shopping or something,” he said impatiently. “Meet your friends for lunch.”

“That’s totally sexist. Besides, I hate shopping, and all my friends are in Texas, remember?”

Damn it all anyway. He scrambled to come up with a good suggestion. Anything to keep from being closed up in a vehicle with her for an extended period of time. As if the overwhelming attraction wasn’t bad enough, she wasn’t quite the spoiled little rich girl he’d imagined, and he liked the woman h

e was getting to know. “Go visit your cousins then.”

“They’re all working. Besides, I want to see where you get the horses from and learn more about the whole process.”

And he didn’t want to bond with her over the rescue horses.

“Come on, Reyes,” she pleaded, looking up at him through her lashes. “If you’re bored, imagine how I feel, all by myself, all this way from home.”

That last bit was laying it on a bit thick. She knew it. He knew it. And yet there he was, feeling the corner of his mouth tug upward before he could force it back into a forbidding line.

Raine’s eyes lit up, and she hurried around to the passenger side of his Jeep.

Sonofabitch. “I did not say yes.”

Undeterred by his stern voice, she flashed him a saucy grin as she opened the door. “Yes you did. But I promise, I’ll keep my hands to myself.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about.”