Staring at the campfire flames, Trey wondered what the hell he had done. Ever since the kiss he’d shared with Meg in the barn, she’d done her best to avoid him. At that moment, she was sitting with the Hendersons, looking like she didn’t have a care in the world. As if that kiss meant nothing to her. Dammit, it meant something to him. He hadn’t planned for or even expected it to, but it did. He had thought she felt the same way. As soon as he’d touched his lips to hers, it was as if he’d ignited something in her. It had only taken seconds for him to feel the same flames engulfing him. Not like any other kiss he ever remembered.
But when it had ended, when she’d pulled away from him after admitting she’d wanted it, something happened. Something changed. She’d left him with a smile that was as fake as a two dollar bill. And he hadn’t expected that from Meg.
He was crazy to want more, but he did. He was crazy to even consider getting involved with someone who would be leaving in a few days. But that didn’t usually bother him. He wasn’t a man who wanted any sort of commitment. He never planned to settle down with one woman. Nope, not him. He liked variety in his life, not a steady diet of the same. At least where women were concerned.
“Go ahead, ignore me,” he muttered under his breath.
“Talking to yourself, little brother?”
Trey’s answer was a grunt. Chace was the last person he wanted to talk to right now. Chace wouldn’t understand.
“She giving you trouble?”
“Women don’t give me trouble,” Trey replied. They never had before, anyway, and he wasn’t about to let them start now. Glancing at his brother, he grinned, but it was painful. “They’ve always told me I was trouble.”
Chace returned the smile. “So I’ve heard,” he said with a chuckle.
But Trey had to admit, Meg was beginning to get to him. Had been since before the kiss. And now…
Chace leaned closer. “You know, the dance is tomorrow night. Maybe you can make something happen.”
“Damn, Chace, who said I wanted something to happen?” Trey snapped. “And who said something hasn’t already?”
“Uh-oh. Did you get shut down, little brother?”
“Hell, no,” Trey lied.
Chace nudged him with his shoulder. “Then why aren’t you over there talking to her?”
Talk? The last thing he wanted to do with Meg was talk. He didn’t need words to find out if he’d imagined her response to his kiss. Hell, he hadn’t imagined it.
“I’ll show you how a man who knows how to handle women does it.” He pushed his way through the row of guests seated in front of him and marched across the circle, skirting the campfire, to stand in front of Meg. “Howdy, folks,” he told the others with his most charming smile. Grabbing Meg’s hand, he pulled her to her feet. “I need to borrow Miss Chastain for a minute.”
As he hauled her away from the other guests, she tried to pull away. “Let go, Trey.”
“Nope.” He held her hand even tighter. He didn’t stop, either, until he had her far enough away from the campfire that nobody would bother them. Only then did he let go, but only to wrap her in his arms. “I need to satisfy a little curiosity.”
Heedless of her hands pushing at his chest and the sounds of her protests, he dipped his head to capture her lips.
It only took a second for her to respond to his kiss, canceling her resistance and replacing it with a passion that made his head spin. She wove her hands around his neck, and he pulled her even closer, needing to feel her body’s slightest movement. But all he felt was heat, burning him with an intensity he’d never experienced. And he couldn’t stop. Like a drug, the taste of her, the feel of her, was all he craved.
Forcing himself to end the kiss, he released her and took a deep breath to steady himself. “Don’t say you didn’t feel anything this time,” he said as he walked away.
“Trey!”
He ignored her and kept walking until he was sure he’d disappeared from her view. Just like she’d walked away from him that afternoon. She might be getting to him, but he wasn’t addicted yet. And he sure as hell didn’t intend to be.
“She said what?” Trey demanded.
Meg looked up from her plate of fluffy scrambled eggs and saw Trey talking to Ellie.
“She got married last night, Trey,” Ellie said, the frustration in her voice evident. “She and Dave eloped to Louisiana and she called from there.”
From her vantage point, Meg could see the disgust and anger on Trey’s face. Her heart sank. Obviously some woman’s marriage had him upset. Very upset. And here she’d been obsessing about the kisses they’d shared. Even though she’d tossed and turned all night, trying to force the memory of them from her mind, her body still hummed. Knowing she shouldn’t be eavesdropping, she did anyway, pretending to be interested in her breakfast, but straining to hear every word she could.
“Well that’s just dandy,” Trey bit out. “And what are we supposed to do in the meantime? We’re already short-handed.”
Meg couldn’t make out what Ellie said to him, but his answer was loud and clear. “I can’t. Pete needs help getting things ready for the trail ride on Saturday. I’m not some errand-boy nobody around here.”
“And I have a riding class to teach in fifteen minutes,” Ellie replied, her voice rising. “Chace is dealing with the herd. Pete’s busy with the trail ride. Do you have any suggestions?”
“One,” Trey shouted. “I’m going to wring Sherry’s neck the next time she so much as shows her face around here.”
Ellie shook her head. “She won’t be back. She pretty much quit. So we’re without a secretary until we can hire someone else, or at least find a temp to fill in for a while. Until then, somebody has to answer the phones and check on reservations and everything else.”
Meg didn’t even realize she’d gotten to her feet until she heard herself speak. “I can fill in for Sherry.”
Ellie and Trey swung around to stare at her, and Ellie stepped forward. “That’s very sweet of you, but—”
“I’d like to do something.” Meg looked from Ellie to Trey, who was frowning at her and shaking his head.
“This is your vacation, Meg.” Ellie smiled and glanced at Trey. “I can’t take advantage of your generosity, but thank you for offering.” She turned back to Trey. “We’ll make up a schedule. Everyone can take a turn.”
“And we’ll get nothing done,” Trey said, his frown deepening. “Chace will be the first to tell you. This is a working dude ranch. Working. Got it?”
Meg approached him and laid her hand on his arm. “I’ve spent years doing office work. Please, let me help.”
Pulling away from her, Trey shook his head. “Forget it. We’ll work something out.”
Meg wasn’t going to take no for an answer. She turned to Ellie. “It’ll only take a few minutes for you to show me what to do, and then you can concentrate on the riding lessons.”
“I don’t know…”
Trey swore under his breath. “I’ll show you,” he said, taking Meg by the arm. Steering her toward the main house, his voice sounded odd. “Just answer the phone if it rings. Don’t do anything else.”
“Ellie,” Meg called over her shoulder, “when you’re done with the lesson, come show me what else you want me to do.”
“I’ll be the one telling you,” Trey said.
She looked up to see his dark brows drawn together in a scowl and his lips in a tight line. “I don’t know what you’re so mad about, but you can let go of me,” she insisted, prying his fingers from her arm.
Opening the heavy oak door, he let her pass and led her down the stone-floored hallway. When they came to the office at the back of the house, he opened the door and waved her into the room. She sailed past him and crossed her arms beneath her breasts, waiting for him to follow. “I only want to help.”
“Thanks,” he replied, but it was said grudgingly. Moving to stand behind the desk, he straightened a pile of papers which were spread out over the top. “Just answer the phone and tell whoever calls that someone will get back to them.”
“You could let the answering machine do that for you,” she pointed out.
“Some people don’t like those contraptions.” Without a glance at her, he strode to the door. “When Ellie’s done with the lessons, you’re free. We’ll handle it from there.”
Meg nodded, feeling as if he were dismissing her and not knowing what she’d done to deserve this treatment. When he’d gone without another word, she circled the desk and sank onto the worn leather chair, looking around.
It was a man’s office. A busy man’s office. Piles of papers and file folders littered the desk. A half-wall of bookshelves behind the desk held books on ranching and animal husbandry, with a computer tucked beneath. A map of the area stretched along the wall beside the door, but when Meg stood and walked over to take a look at it, she discovered that it wasn’t a map of the Banderas, but of the Triple B Ranch.
Impressed with the size of the spread, although she knew the acreage to be in the six digits, Meg studied it. Balancing on the arm of a well-padded but worn leather wingback chair, she ran her finger over marks of twisting trails and wondered how much of the ranch she’d be seeing on the trail ride.
When the phone rang, she crossed to the desk and answered it. “Triple B Dude Ranch. This is Meg. May I help you?”
“This is Wayne Garrison at Garrison Feed Store over here in Stakeout,” the man on the other end of the line said. “Where’s Sherry?”
“I’m filling in for her today, sir,” Meg replied. She didn’t feel it was her place to tell him that Sherry wouldn’t be back.
“Dang, girl. You’ve got some nice manners.”
Swallowing her laughter, Meg managed to thank him. “Is there a special reason for your call, Mr. Garrison?”
“Call me Wayne. Everybody does. I was supposed to call when we got in the shipment Trey ordered, so that’s what I’m doin’.”
Meg jotted the message on a pad of paper and promised him she’d make sure it got to the right person. Replacing the receiver, she looked up at the sound of the door opening to see Trey amble into the room. He eyed the top of desk in front of her and let out his breath. “How’s it going?”
“Fine.” Meg relayed the phone message.
Trey nodded as he approached the desk. Meg watched him dig through one stack of papers after another. When she couldn’t stand it any longer, she pulled a stack toward her. “If you’ll tell me what you’re looking for—”
Wrapping his long, tanned fingers around her wrist, he drew her hand away. “I’ll find it.”
Meg huffed out an exasperated breath and crossed her arms on her chest to keep from shoving him out of the way. “You know, if things were filed in the file cabinet, you wouldn’t have to dig around to find them.”
“Aha!” He held up a sheet of paper that looked like an invoice, and then shot her a triumphant smile. “I don’t have any trouble finding things.”
Meg looked heavenward, shook her head and closed her eyes. “You just spent two minutes for what should have taken five seconds.”
His eyes narrowed as he looked at her. “What do you know about it?”
Uncrossing her arms, Meg placed her hands on the desk and leaned toward him. “I’ve worked in offices since I was sixteen. I’d say that’s long enough to know what works and what doesn’t.” She straightened and swept her hand through the air. “Is it always like this? Or is it only since Sherry’s been gone?”
Trey’s head dipped, his hat shadowing his face. “Always is, I guess,” he mumbled.
“What did Sherry do around here?” When Trey shrugged, she threw her hands in the air. “You mean you paid her to do nothing except answer the phone?”
“I don’t know,” he replied. “Seems like she was never real busy. She was always doing her nails or something when I came in. But she did her job, as far as I know.”
Scooping up a stack of file folders, Meg marched to the four-drawer file cabinet. “I’ll just start with these.”
As she pulled the top drawer open, he stepped up behind her and reached around for the papers in her hand. “I don’t want you doin’ this.”
Meg glanced over her shoulder to see him looking at her. His blue eyes were unreadable. He was so close to her, the heat of his body warmed her. All she needed to do was lean back to bring herself in contact with him. She wanted to—oh, she wanted to—but she didn’t.
“Why not?” she asked, her voice a husky whisper.
His free hand snaked around her waist and he leaned forward. “Aw, hell, Meg,” he said as he dipped his head towards her.
The sound of the door opening again was followed by Ellie’s voice. “Oh, Meg, I’m so sorry, I’m—”
Meg froze, not knowing what to do.
Trey shoved the file drawer back in with one hand, catching a file, while he let go of Meg with the other and pulled the next drawer open. “Just showin’ Meg where these papers go.”
“I …thought I’d try and straighten up a little,” Meg offered with a shaky voice. Freed, she squeezed out of the space between Trey and the drawer. Moving to the desk, she grabbed another pile of papers. She dared a glance at Ellie, who stood in the doorway, one eyebrow raised and a know-it-all smile on her face.
“Uh-huh,” Ellie said, her smile as wide as the Cheshire cat’s.
Meg felt her face heat up with embarrassment, and ducked her head to hide it. “I’ll just get these sorted.”
When the file drawer slammed shut, both women stared at Trey. Making his way to the door, he looked like a little boy who had just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “Sorry. I’ll just…” He looked from Meg to Ellie and quickened his steps. “I’ll get back to work.” Skirting around Ellie, who still stood in the doorway, he lit out like someone was after him with a shotgun.
“Well,” Ellie said, covering what Meg suspected was a laugh with a cough. “Let me give you a hand with that.”
Meg waved her away and picked up a brochure like the one Geraldine had given her for this assignment. “I’ll get this filing system straightened out and everything put away. Trey only wants me to take messages, but if you show me how, maybe I can book some reservations if anyone calls about one.”
“Everything’s in the brochure,” Ellie said with a nod at the paper in Meg’s hand, the awkwardness of the situation obviously past her. “And somewhere on the desk, or maybe in the drawer, there should be a reservation book where you can put the information. There’s no reason why you can’t do it. I don’t know what’s eating Trey. Maybe it makes him nervous having somebody who can actually do things in this office. Sherry wasn’t worth much, but she was all we could get.”
Meg moved to the filing cabinet to rescue the crumpled file. “I would think anyone would be happy to work here.”
“Too far out of town for most people,” Ellie said as she picked up a pile of papers and began sorting them into piles. “And we can’t pay a lot yet. But maybe it’ll get better.”
“If we work together, maybe we can make heads or tails of this mess,” Meg answered, taking a seat behind the desk.
“I’ll sort the papers and folders, while you familiarize yourself with the file cabinet.”
Meg agreed it was the perfect solution to tidying the office, and twenty minutes later, the two of them had the desk neat.
“Thanks for all your help, Meg. It looks great, but I need to get back out there,” Ellie said with a wave as Meg answered another call. “See you later.”
On the phone, Meg answered questions about what the Triple B had to offer, pleased that she could give a glowing and honest reply. She’d heard enough talk between the other guests to know that every one of them was pleased with what the ranch had to offer. Richard Emery, especially, had high praise, and the thought brought a smile to Meg’s lips. It wouldn’t be difficult at all to write a positive review. Everything she’d seen so far had been excellent in the way of activities, service and all-around friendliness and enjoyment.
Between taking calls and making reservations, she managed to make a list of all the files in the cabinet. It wouldn’t take her long to come up with a system the Triple B would find a vast improvement and easy to use.
The next time the door opened, she glanced up from her work to find Trey looking around the room, his eyes wide.
“Like it?” she asked.
He turned his gaze to her and frowned. “What did you do with everything?” he demanded.
“It’s filed away. Ellie showed me where everything goes.”
Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he looked away. “You can go now. I’ll take over.”
Meg wanted to ask him what it was that she’d done to earn his disapproval, but it was clear he wasn’t in the mood to talk. And by the look on his face, he wasn’t in the mood to be in her company either. Still, considering their last unbusinesslike encounter the night before, she couldn’t let him off.
Keeping her eyes on the desktop, she took a deep breath and jumped in. “What’s bothering you, Trey? Is there something in these papers I shouldn’t see? Some deep, dark secret about the Triple B?”
“Of course not,” he snapped.
She stood and walked around the desk to stand in front of him. “Then what is it? It’s clear that you don’t want me helping. Why not just tell me why?”
A muscle in his jaw jumped as he stood silently before her. “You’re supposed to be on your vacation,” he said when he finally spoke, his voice low and his eyes averted. “You didn’t pay good money to come here to work.”
“But I don’t mind,” she replied. Wanting to reach out and touch him, she didn’t, knowing he’d only draw away from her.
“Then you aren’t enjoying yourself.”
“But I am!” she insisted. “It isn’t going to hurt me to spend a little time doing this to help out. Ellie told me how important it is, with the ranch being short-handed and all. You’re filling in, why can’t I?”
“Why didn’t you take the riding lesson this morning? Why aren’t you out there with the other guests?”
Meg shrugged. “I didn’t feel like it, that’s all.”
“You haven’t done much of anything with the others,” he pointed out. “Why did you come to the Triple B, anyway, if you don’t like doing the sort of things we offer?”
Meg felt the noose she’d made for herself grow tighter. It was time to think like Margaret Chastain. “Because my aunt gave me this vacation as a gift,” she fibbed. “She wanted me to experience something different.”
“Different,” he repeated, as if the word held some special meaning. “And this is so different. You in here doing what you do when you’re not on vacation.” His gaze met hers, daring her to deny it.
Meg didn’t know whether to be exasperated by his concern or pleased that he cared. “I give up,” she said, moving past him to the door. “You obviously don’t want my help, and you can’t understand why I offered it.”
At the door, she stopped. Gazing at his wide shoulders, so set in defense and anger, she wished she could tell him the truth. But she couldn’t. “If it will make you any happier, I told Janet Henderson that I would go with her and her husband later. Ted’s going to teach me how to fish. So I do want to be involved like everyone else.”
Without waiting to hear his reaction, she left the house, not sure that she cared what he might have to say.
“Way to go, Brannigan,” Trey muttered. “You can’t figure the woman out, so you make her mad.”
He hadn’t meant to do it, but damn, he didn’t want to see her spending her time playing secretary. And she’d done such a good job of it, too. One look at the usually messy ranch office, and he knew Ellie had been right—they should have replaced Sherry a long time ago. But it had never been the right time. Trey had his hands full with making sure the dude part of the ranch was running properly and worrying if the Triple B was pleasing the guests. Everything had to be perfect. Especially now with Trail’s End looking them over. He wanted nothing more than to prove to Chace and Dev that he could make a success of the dude ranch they’d both been dead set against.
“She did a good job, didn’t she?”
Trey turned to see Ellie in the doorway. “Yeah, I guess she did,” he admitted, feeling even worse. He sure hadn’t told Meg he was pleased.
“Maybe we could talk her into staying,” Ellie said, coming into the room and settling on his dad’s old wingback chair.
“What do you mean?”
Ellie shrugged. “It’s just that…well, she seemed to enjoy herself today. More… I don’t know. Animated? Not so closed off?”
“We’ll find somebody for the job. Until then, we’ll deal with it,” he said, moving to the chair behind the desk and easing down onto it.
Ellie studied him, her brow wrinkled. “But you’d think she’d want to get away from work. Maybe she isn’t happy where she is. Has she ever mentioned her job?”
“I never asked her,” he replied. “It never came up.”
Ellie shot him a mischievous grin. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
Trey wasn’t certain why it had embarrassed him to be caught with Meg earlier. It wasn’t as if Ellie or anybody else had never found him lavishing his attention on a woman. In fact, if all the ribbing he took was any indication, most everybody expected it of him.
“She’s got us on the right track, it looks like,” he said, ignoring Ellie’s jab. “No reason we can’t take it from here.”
“But we need someone like Meg all the time,” Ellie insisted. “She knows what she’s doing. She’s the kind of person who can make a difference.” Scooting to the edge of the chair, Ellie became more animated. “I listened to her talking to prospective guests. Trey, she was great! Being a guest herself, she could honestly give her answers from a guest’s viewpoint. And unlike Sherry, she has an enthusiasm I doubt anyone around here could match.”
“So you’re suggesting we hire her?” Trey asked, laughing. “She’s on vacation, Ellie. You know, those things we never get to take?” he added with a wry smile. “What makes you think she’d quit what might be a perfectly good job to come work here on the Triple B?”
Ellie looked him square in the eye. “You.”
Trey’s next breath caught in his chest. “Me?” he said, barely able to get the word out. He shook his head to recover from the surprise she’d given him. “Just because you saw me with my arm around her doesn’t mean she’d give up a life she knows and come to live here.”
“Wouldn’t you like to get to know her better?”
Would he? He hadn’t given it much thought. Mostly, he just figured she’d be leaving at the end of the week, and that would be the end of it. But something more lasting? It wasn’t what he’d planned, that’s for sure. But he hadn’t completely come to terms with the fact that she really would be leaving, either.
He pushed away from the desk and stood. Walking over to where Ellie sat smiling up at him, he tweaked her nose. “You know, sister-in-law, I really do like you. But sometimes, you let your romantic notions get the better of you. There’s nothing going on between Miz Margaret Chastain and me that hasn’t gone on with a hundred others.”
“She’s nothing special?” Ellie asked as he turned to leave the room.
He stopped. Special? He sure as hell couldn’t say she wasn’t.
He pulled off his hat and raked his fingers through his hair. “No. I mean, yes.” He shook his head. “Hell, I don’t know what I mean.”
“If you’re that unsure, Trey, maybe you’d better find out.”
Trey wasn’t so sure he wanted to do that. Something told him that this woman, who was getting to him bit by bit, might be dangerous to his well-being. And he wasn’t ready for that. He didn’t figure he ever would be.
Still, he was curious. “So what do you suggest?”
“I think you should ask her if she might be interested in taking a job at the Triple B. Find out if she’s happy with her current job, or if she might want to try something different.”
It didn’t take long for Trey to consider it. Did he really want Meg around? Indefinitely? Living here, or even nearby? It solved the problem of not seeing her again after Sunday. And he had to admit, there was a part of him that wasn’t looking forward to saying goodbye. But what about two or three months from now? What would happen when the excitement wore off, the way it always did, and they were stuck working together? It didn’t sound good to Trey. Not good at all.
“If you won’t ask her, I will,” Ellie said, breaking into his thoughts.
Trey knew Ellie could be stubborn. From the stories Chace told about when the two of them first met, Trey knew that once Ellie got an idea in her head, she wouldn’t let go. “Whose ranch is this?” he asked, hoping to lead her in another direction.
“It’s yours and Dev’s and Chace’s.” Lifting her chin, defiance flashed in her eyes. “And mine, too. But this is for the good of the ranch, Trey. You’re not going to find anybody more willing to help than Meg. And with the talent she’s shown, she’d be a gem for the ranch.”
Trey couldn’t deny it, if what Ellie had said earlier was true. “How many reservations did she book?”
Ellie stood, walked to the desk, and flipped the reservation book open. “About a dozen,” she said, looking through the pages. “And she wrote down all of the information on each one so we can do a follow-up call if you think we need to.” She turned to face him. “But I was here for part of them, and I know she did exactly what you and I would do. Even better.”
Twelve reservations in a day? Trey couldn’t believe it. They usually felt lucky if they had half a dozen in a week. “All right,” he gave in. “I’ll ask her. But don’t count on it, okay?”
Nodding, Ellie grinned. “And if she says no, ask her if it’d be possible for her to stay an extra week or two until we can hire someone else. We really do need her, Trey.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Trey sat reasoning with himself after Ellie left. He wasn’t hot on the idea of having Meg here for any length of time. But it wasn’t Meg. It was him. He knew his track record. He wasn’t the type of man to settle down with one woman. He left that to Chace. And he pretty much had it figured out that Meg was a forever kind of woman, the kind he steered clear of. He didn’t want to see her hurt. But the Triple B sure could stand having her around for a while.
The question was, how could he approach her with this job offer and not come off like some unfeeling jerk, yet still not promise her anything permanent? He wasn’t sure, but he did know that he had to find a way. Somehow. If only for the good of the Triple B.