A Moment To Love (19 page)

A full half hour later, the kitchen was spotless once again. The thought that she’d forgotten something niggled at her. She peeked in the oven to find dinner bubbling away. What was she missing? She bit down on her lower lip as her gaze darted around. For the life of her, she couldn’t figure out what it could be.

She gave up worrying and walked out to the porch to look for signs of Cord. She wrung her hands together. She couldn’t recall ever being this nervous about impressing a man in her life—not even her father.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

C
ord stood by the barn door, his eyes glued to the beautiful sight waiting for him on the porch. He drank in the view of Lexi’s purple T-shirt clinging to the swell of her chest and narrowing down to her waist before flaring out at her jean-clad hips. His mouth grew dry as he forced his eyes back to her smiling lips.

It’d been ages since he’d been able to come home to someone. He could get used to this—real easily. Not that he’d let himself. She’d already shot him down once. How many slap-downs would it take for him to learn his lesson?

She probably wanted to talk some more about the damn resort. His jaw tightened. The thought that she ventured here only for business dampened his anticipation.

“Wow-wee, looks like that cute missy is back.” Manny let off a low whistle. “She still tryin’ to get you to sell?”

“I don’t know what she wants.” Cord’s heart beat a little faster as he stared at her. “But I’m sure going to find out.”

He handed Manny his reins. “Can you take care of the horse for me?”

“Absolutely. Have fun. I know I sure would.”

Manny chuckled the whole way to the barn.

Cord forced himself to walk casually to the porch. “Did we have a meeting planned that I’ve forgotten?”

She shook her head, her hair swishing around and framing her face. “I made you dinner.”

“Dinner?”

“I thought you might like it after working all day. The food…I need to check on it.” She raced across the porch like the house was on fire.

He followed her inside, smelling a foul stench. Was that dinner? She certainly hadn’t been exaggerating when she’d professed that she didn’t cook. In the kitchen, she rushed to the oven and yanked open the door. The smoke wafted through the air, setting off the smoke alarm.
Yep, that was dinner
.

She removed the baking dish and turned. “It was the right temperature. I know it. I double-checked.”

Cord opened the windows and back door before fanning the smoke alarm to quiet it. “How long did you leave it in for?”

Dawning filtered across her eyes before a defeated look pulled at her face. “I knew I’d forgotten something. I’m hopeless.”

Sympathy welled up in him. “No, you aren’t. Everyone forgets now and then.”

“I tried real hard to make a nice surprise for you.”

She’d wanted to surprise him? But why? What was she trying to tell him? He’d never been good at reading women. He’d have to tread carefully or risk her stomping off like she’d done the other day. And he wasn’t ready to see her go.

He smiled, not something he did often. “I’m very surprised. It isn’t every day I come home to a pretty lady and a dinner.”

She glanced down at the food and back at him. “I told you I was no good at homemaking. This is a disaster.”

“No harm has been done. Just put the dish on the stove to cool.” Even though dinner wasn’t salvageable, he was still touched by the gesture. “I’ll take care of it after I grab a quick shower. Do you mind waiting?”

She shook her head. “Want me to make something else? Like a deli sandwich? Surely I can’t burn that.”

At least she hadn’t lost her sense of humor. “How about you go back out and sit on the porch? It’s a lovely evening out. It’ll take me five minutes to get cleaned up. By the way, what was dinner supposed to be?”

“A taco casserole. I found the recipe in one of your cookbooks.”

He started for the bedroom, but then paused and turned back. “Just remember it’s the thought that counts.”

“That’s good. I certainly wouldn’t score any points for my culinary skills.” She shook her head. “How could I have forgotten the timer?”

“I’m sure if you had remembered, dinner would have been delicious.” He disappeared down the hallway.

He didn’t waste any time before stripping off his grungy clothes and slipping into a cool shower. She hadn’t mentioned anything about the land, so maybe she was just here to see him. But why? He scrubbed faster. Had she been thinking about that hot, steamy kiss they’d shared at the canyon? He sure hadn’t forgotten it. No matter how hard he’d tried.

Less than five minutes later, clean and refreshed, he entered the kitchen to find Lexi seated at the counter. “Thought you’d be outside.”

She shrugged. One look at her glistening eyes and red, blotchy cheeks, and he knew she’d had a meltdown while he was gone.

“What’s the matter now?” He approached her and took a seat on the stool next to her.

“I tried to clean out the dish, and I can’t even get the burnt food out of it. On top of ruining your dinner, I might have ruined your dish. I totally failed. I told you I wasn’t good at this kind of stuff.”

Cord pulled her toward him, and she willingly followed until she pressed against his chest, her face buried in his shoulder. His hand stroked her silky hair, and he wished he could hold her close all evening. There was something special about her, something that had him craving for any scraps of time she’d share with him. Did that make him pathetic? Probably. But he was beyond caring about his tattered pride. All that mattered now was Lexi.

“The dish will clean up once it soaks,” he murmured, his chin resting against the top of her head. “I’m impressed you’d even consider entering the kitchen on my behalf. What gave you the incentive?”

“You did.” She pulled back and looked up at him. “I…I wanted to make you happy.”

His instinct was to pull her back into his arms and kiss away her worries, but something told him that wasn’t what she needed just yet. “Talk to me, Lexi. What aren’t you saying?”

“I’ve extended my trip here longer than I’d intended, and now my father is insisting I wrap up this deal and return to New York as soon as possible.”

Her announcement came as no surprise, but it didn’t lessen the blow of knowing that she would be leaving Whistle Stop. He didn’t know why it should hit him so hard. After all, her life was in New York which might as well be the moon as far as he was concerned.

“We both knew you’d have to go back.” Try as he might, he couldn’t find a way to put a positive spin on it. He already missed her, and she had yet to pack her cute cowgirl hat and boots.

“I promised my father I’d quit stalling—”

“Stalling? Is that what you call what we’ve been doing?” Cord couldn’t help but feel as though she’d diminished their relationship. “And why have you been dragging your feet?”

“Because I…I care about you.” Her watery gaze peered at him. He steeled himself, resisting the growing urge to kiss her. She glanced away. “Because being here at the Brazen H is comfortable and relaxing. And…and most of all, because I’ve been waiting for you to change your mind about selling. You can’t give up all of this.” She waved her hands around. “It’s too much of a sacrifice even if it’s to save Haggerty. You have a little piece of heaven on earth. Why would you even consider letting the bank take it?”

“You care, huh?” He didn’t even bother fighting the grin that pulled at his lips.

She elbowed him. “Is that all you heard?”

“Oh, you said more? I must have missed it.” He’d heard her, but none of it mattered as much as knowing that she felt the same way about him. He reached out to her. They’d done enough talking—it was time for something more.

She sidestepped him and crossed her arms. When she tilted up her chin and her gaze narrowed, she reminded him of that businesswoman he’d met on her first day in town. “I promised my father I’d hammer out this agreement with you. Tonight.”

He sighed and raked his fingers through his hair. “Do you honestly think there’s anything left to say that would convince me to go along with your plan to develop my ancestors’ land into some amusement?”

“Everyone has a price. I just haven’t found yours yet.”

He leveled a hard gaze at her. “And you won’t either. I’m not selling.”

“If you won’t do it for yourself, do it for me. Help me save my father’s company and keep him from ever knowing how close we are to declaring bankruptcy.”

The pleading look in her eyes tore at him. For a moment, he almost caved in. He wanted so much to help her. In the next heartbeat, he realized he’d been in this situation before. Well, not exactly the same situation, but one quite similar. It had been a beautiful woman in a bad situation—his ex-wife. And look how that had turned out.

“Lexi—”

She held up her hand to stop him. He wrapped his fingers around hers. Her hand was small and soft. It easily fit inside his, and he never wanted to let her go.

“Don’t say a word now,” she said, as though with more time, he’d change his mind. “I want you to come to the town meeting tomorrow night and hear my proposal.”

He shook his head. The last thing he wanted to do was be stuck in a room with a bunch of townsfolk who were going to turn on him and try to strong-arm him into selling Haggerty. “Lexi, you’re asking too much—”

She pressed a finger to his lips, silencing him. She was right. They’d done more than enough talking. His immediate reaction was to stick out his tongue and suckle her fingertip, to give her a sample of what she was missing out on. His gaze caught and held hers. There was definite interest there. The temptation grew within him. What could it hurt? Maybe he was moving too slow, being too cautious.

Throwing caution to the wind, he parted his lips and swiped the tip of his tongue over the pad of her finger. There was a distinct inhale of breath, and her eyes dilated. Before he could wrap his lips around her digit, she pulled her hand away.

Color rushed to her cheeks. “I…we…um…think about it.”

“I am.” His voice was low and deep, filled with desire.

She clenched her hands together. “I meant think about attending the meeting.”

She didn’t fool him. She was turned on, too.

“I’ll think about your proposition if you promise to think about mine.” Her eyes widened, and he couldn’t resist chuckling. “I meant about you buying the acreage I have for sale and settling down here. I might even be persuaded to share Midnight Star with you.”

There was a glint of temptation in her eyes. “I’ll think about it if you’ll seriously consider my request.”

“I said that I would.” He walked over to the fridge and pulled the door wide open. “Now what should we do about dinner?”

“I don’t know.”

“There’s leftover chile rellenos. I guess I should ask if you like them.”

“I’ve never tried them, but I like to try different things at least once.” Her cheeks lit up and she glanced away, but not before he noticed.

“Promises, promises.”

The color in her face intensified, providing final proof of her wayward thoughts.

The fact she was also remembering their steamy clench made him want her all the more. He was ravenous, and his desire had nothing to do with food. He knew where this evening would lead, at least he hoped so, but he had to move slowly. He didn’t want to scare her off. They might never have another evening like this one.

He pulled out a foil-covered dish. With her elbows resting on the center island, Lexi perched her chin on her palm, watching him as he shredded some Monterey Jack over the red sauce. He chopped a little fresh cilantro and sprinkled it over the top.

“You’re the first man to cook for me. You know, I could get used to this special treatment.”

He liked the idea of being the first to do something for her. “You could, huh?”

“Mmm…hmm. I find a man who pays such close attention to details extremely sexy.”

She found him sexy? His shoulders pulled back, and his chest puffed up. Slow and steady, he reminded himself. He slid the covered dish into the oven, set the timer, and turned. “While that warms up, how about a drink? Would you like some wine?”

She nodded. “I’ll get it.”

He put a hand on her shoulder. “Tonight, I’m going to wait on you. Do you have a preference?”

She shook her head. “You choose.”

“I have a perfectly good bottle of Chardonnay. It comes from a local winery.”

“I didn’t know New Mexico had wineries.”

He located the bottle and handed it over to her to examine. “There are a number of them around the state. You should visit one or two before you leave.”

Her eyes twinkled. “Are you offering to be my tour guide again?”

The idea certainly appealed to him. There was a lot he wanted to show her—a whole lot. “You have a knack for suckering me into showing you just about everything.”

“Everything?” Her voice held a sensual tone to it.

They made idle chatter about his day as they worked together to set the table. The food didn’t take long to warm in the oven. In no time, he carried the steaming dish into the dining room. He never bothered to eat in here when it was just him, but somehow, with Lexi here, he wanted to do things differently. Everything seemed fresh and new with her around.

Lexi’s eyelids drifted shut as she inhaled deeply. “You made this all by yourself?”

“You sound surprised.” Her eyes opened and met his. There was no denying it, he’d fallen under her spell. “I’m a man of many talents.”