Behind Closed Doors (15 page)

He hadn’t said...

But then, neither had she.

* * *

B
Y LATE
M
ONDAY
afternoon, Beth was hanging on to sanity by a thread. The day had started out great. All the scheduled workers had shown up. But then the plumber discovered he’d ordered the wrong pipes, which set him back two days, and three rooms had mysterious electrical problems.

After waiting a week for Mike Burnett to present the bid he’d put together for the carpentry work, Beth had to postpone their meeting so she could provide taxi service for Liberty because Candace had bailed at the last minute.

The good news was that Nathan was expected home in the afternoon. So before returning, Beth had changed from her grubby work clothes to a pair of killer jeans that made her butt look good and a cute Stella McCartney button-down blouse. Rather than go overboard, she chose medium-heel ankle boots.

She did a quick mirror check as she approached the Lucky 7. Her heart rate sped up when she saw a big dark green SUV parked close to the house—the one she’d seen in his garage Friday night. She hoped that meant he was home, and if he didn’t come out, she had an excuse ready to justify knocking on the front door.

She didn’t see Liberty or Woody as she got out, though she was ten minutes early. Still no sign of Nathan. She rounded the truck bed, too busy admiring a pair of playful roans in the corral to watch where she was going. Her heel sank into something squishy.

Mud. Thick and disgusting. It dragged on her boot when she tried to lift her foot.

Dammit.

She tried very carefully to step backward. And splattered her jeans. Thankfully, she saw a spigot and hose close to the bunkhouse. The jeans would be fine, but not her Italian leather boots if she didn’t do something.

It wasn’t easy, but she managed to clean them off without adding more mud. But she needed a rag or towel to speed the drying process. She glanced around, looking for someone she knew, and saw Nathan. He was standing about ten yards away, watching her.

Her grip on the hose tightened as if that would slow her pulse rate. “I could use some help here.”

For a moment he stayed motionless, then shoved his hands into his pockets and approached...not in any particular hurry. Something about the way he moved unsettled her. Or maybe it was the remote expression on his face. He looked more like the inhospitable man she’d met the first day and not the sexy, generous lover whose bed she’d shared.

He stopped a couple of yards short, training his gaze on her boots. “What happened?”

She blinked at his aloofness. Unless she was mistaken, he was purposely avoiding her eyes. “I didn’t see the mud until it was too late.”

“What is it you’d like me to do?”

“I need a towel or clean rag so the leather won’t stain,” she said, his indifference flooring her. What had she done wrong? They hadn’t even talked since Friday night.

“I’ll ask one of the men to get you a rag,” he said, and started toward the barn.

“Nathan?”

He stopped, turned back to her, his brows raised.

“Is something wrong?”

Wariness crossed his face as their gazes met. And for a moment, desire flared in his eyes, burning so hot it made her breath catch. In the next second it was gone, leaving behind a man who looked as if he couldn’t be bothered with her. “No.”

“Wait,” she said when he started walking again. Yes, she was glad he was playing it cool, and she was trying to do the same, but he was taking things a bit far. It wasn’t as if anyone was around to hear them. “Can we talk?”

He hesitated. “Maybe later.”

Maybe? That made her mad. If she hadn’t seen the want in his face it would be different. But after the day she’d had, she could do without the dismissive attitude.

“Nathan?” she called, and this time when he looked at her as if she were an annoying seven-year-old, she raised the hose and sprayed him.

His expression of disbelief was priceless. He glanced down at his jeans and tan shirt. He wasn’t all that wet. Mostly his left sleeve and part of his pants leg. He used his dry sleeve to blot his chin.

Oops. She’d gotten him there, too.

Nathan did not look happy. He had no trouble meeting her eyes now.

She stared back, a little surprised herself. She supposed that laughing made it even worse.

His eyes narrowed to a glare. “Are you out of your mind?”

“Yes,” she said. “Pretty much.”

He brushed ineffectively at his wet sleeve, glanced down at the few damp spots on his boots and shook his head.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, I hardly got you.”

Eyeing the hose as if it were a snake about to strike, he said, “Turn that damn thing off.”

Maybe she wasn’t done with it. “Or what?”

Annoyance shifted to amusement in his dark eyes. “Beth,” he said in a quiet, warning tone of voice.

She kept a firm grip on the hose, her finger on the trigger of the nozzle. “Nathan.”

He almost smiled as he took a step toward her. “Remember who started this.”

“Started what?” Brave words considering there was no escape for her. Ending up in the mud again would really tick her off. Anyway, he was bluffing. What could he do? They were practically out in the open.

That smile, though, she’d never seen it before, and she sure didn’t trust it....

From three feet away he lunged for her.

She got off a shot, managing to spray his face before he captured her wrist. In their struggle for control of the hose, he turned the spray on her. Beth let out a shriek. He caught her, his arm tight around her waist, lifting her off the ground. Air left her lungs in a rush, and for a moment she couldn’t move or breathe.

“Give up?”

Her back was pressed to his chest, his quick, hard breathing warm on her neck. She’d completely let go of the hose. No water was coming out. She was no longer a threat. Nathan could’ve safely released her already, except he hadn’t.

His arm loosened, allowing her to slide down a few inches. Before she found the ground, he tightened his hold again. Suspended in the air, anchored only by his arm around her ribs, she felt the pressure at the undersides of her breasts. “What do you say, Beth?”

“Fine. You win. Just quit being a damn grouch.” She turned her head but couldn’t see him. The arm trapping her against him was the one with the wet sleeve. She could feel the moisture soaking into her blouse.

“So if I let you go, you’ll behave.”

“Don’t push it, Landers.”

His chuckle stirred her hair and memories of last Friday. “Right,” he said, and slowly put her down.

She’d felt his arousal pressed against her backside, and as she turned to face him, she did everything in her power to keep her attention above his waist. A tactical error, as it turned out. She should’ve avoided his eyes. They told her exactly what he wanted to do to her.

She moistened her suddenly dry lips, drawing his gaze to her mouth. She had to move away from him before one of them did something stupid. If they’d been anywhere else she knew what would happen next. But not here. She stepped back and his hand shot out.

He caught her arm. “Careful.”

She looked at the ground behind her. “Thanks,” she said, hiding a smile because he was overreacting.

“Aunt Beth, what are you doing?”

Beth jerked a look at her niece. Her eyes were the size of pizzas and her mouth still hadn’t closed. She stared at Beth as if she’d just committed treason.

Standing beside her, Woody took off his hat, scratched his head and studied the clear blue sky.

“I was trying to get the mud off my boots,” Beth said, and only then did Nathan release her arm.

“Come this way, it’s drier.” He sounded calm, nothing like the man who a minute ago had eyed her as if she were dinner.

Beth waited for him to give her a wide berth, then walked around the back of the spigot.

“Woody, you mind getting Beth a clean rag?”

He abruptly turned for the barn.

Nathan nodded at Liberty. “I hope you got as much paint on the shed as you did on yourself.”

She was still staring at Beth, but gradually dragged her gaze away to look down at the red-splattered denim coveralls Woody had given her. “Oh, yeah,” she said, smiling briefly. “Troy pissed me off.”

Beth’s top, damp from Nathan’s wet sleeve, clung to her skin. She plucked at it until she noticed he was trying hard not to watch her and she lowered her hand to her side. “What does that mean?”

Liberty returned her mutinous glare to Beth. “Why are you dressed like that?”

She blinked and glanced down at her designer jeans and the dress boots, suddenly feeling a bit silly. “I’m meeting with Mike Burnett, and I’m late. Is that paint still wet?” She nodded at the coveralls. “I don’t want you getting any of that on my upholstery.”

Liberty hesitated, apparently decided to accept Beth’s explanation, then patted herself down.

Beth chanced a peek at Nathan. He was watching her with a slight frown. She hadn’t lied about Mike. She’d postponed the meeting with the carpenter to pick up Lib.

“No, it’s dry.” The girl looked at Nathan. “Are you going to be here tomorrow?”

“I should, unless something comes up.”

“Do you think I could see the Arabians again?” She smiled up at him, tilting her head to the side just a little, just like Candace did when she wanted something from a man.

The image hit Beth hard. Fifteen years old, yet she was already mimicking her mother.

“Sure.” He smiled back at her and Liberty practically glowed. “As long as you get your work done first.”

“I will.” Her gaze swept to Beth, their eyes meeting briefly, though long enough for Beth to get the message.

Earlier Lib had wanted her to see the Arabians, but now she’d purposely been excluded. Her niece had a crush on Nathan. Beth figured it was basically harmless. He was filling the need for an adult male in her life. But it was still a problem. Because it was clear Liberty wanted Nathan all to herself.

* * *

T
HE CRASH ECHOED
down the narrow hall. Beth nearly jumped out of her skin. It was more of a booming sound, not shattering glass, so she was moderately relieved. If the guys had dropped one of the new parlor windows she would’ve had a meltdown. The budget she’d set for the renovation was already becoming a joke.

“Everybody okay?” she called out, interrupting a string of curses that told her nothing. Things could’ve gone either way. The ensuing silence made her nervous. She set the broom against the wall and made it halfway down the hall before someone answered.

“Yes, ma’am. Just fine.” It was the new kid, Duncan. Tall and skinny, he kept bumping his head on the early-1900s doorframes.

She stopped, smoothed her palm over a slight crease in the new drywall while wondering if she really wanted to see the damage. It would only elevate her blood pressure. “Anything I should know about?”

“Everything’s okay, Beth.” That was Joe. She trusted him. “It’s all good.”

Now, that phrase she hated. Somehow it always failed to reassure her.

Beth turned around anyway, bypassed the room she’d been sweeping and went to her office. It was already 4:25 p.m. The guys would be knocking off work soon and she’d have to pick up Liberty. After some arm-twisting, Candace had shuttled her from school to the Lucky 7 before leaving for Kalispell. To go to work, or so Candace claimed.

After the hose incident yesterday, Beth had decided it was best for her to stay away from the ranch as much as possible. She’d been such an idiot, and now she had to be even more careful. In a way, Liberty’s crush made everything worse.

Boy, she and Nathan really had to talk. At least he’d tried to get in touch. They’d been playing phone tag today.

Exhausted and tense, Beth sank into her chair, wincing when she hit the busted spring. She understood Lib’s need to have a steady, strong male figure in her life. Nathan had been patient and kind with her. Of course she’d grown attached. She barely knew her own father. And obviously he was a terrible role model anyway.

Beth didn’t know her own father’s name or if she and Candace even shared the same dad. Their mother had refused to tell them. Beth suspected Paula didn’t know herself. None of it mattered, not now. But when Beth had been a scared kid, convinced she’d end up alone and homeless, she’d fantasized about having a dad. Someone big and strong, handsome, too, but most of all, in her daydreams, he was kind.

Sighing, she shoved all thoughts of her screwed-up family from her mind. The guys might be leaving soon, but she planned on working late. She’d have to make coffee later. She checked the clock on the microwave.

Sitting on top, the diner’s familiar white wrapper caught her attention. Had she forgotten to finish her morning cinnamon roll?

That got her out of her seat. She nuked it for a few seconds, then tore off a hefty piece and stuffed it in her mouth.

“Oh, God.” That her sigh interrupted her chewing actually annoyed her. This was crazy. She thought she might seriously be addicted.

Oh, well, there were worse things...

Before she finished swallowing she’d pulled off a second piece. She brought it halfway to her mouth...and saw Nathan standing just outside her door.

He smiled.

She froze, heat filling her cheeks to burning. “How long have— You don’t knock?”

“May I come in?”

“Sure, if you wipe that smirk off your face.”

His grin remained in place, and like Duncan, Nathan had to duck his head to enter her office. Another two inches and the breadth of his shoulders wouldn’t have cleared the door frame, so she couldn’t see if anyone was behind him.

God, he looked good.

She gave him a mischievous smile and was about to say something suggestive when a sudden unpleasant thought stopped her cold. “Where’s Liberty?”

12

“
W
OODY OR
C
RAIG
will bring her later,” he said, not wanting to worry Beth. “I was hoping to get some time alone to talk.”

“Oh.” Beth let out a breath. “Good.”

“Do you have time for me now?” He’d come here to do a lot more than talk. The memory of her body was interfering with his life. Knowing she was so near and not being able to touch her made every day feel like a week. An hour alone with her was all he needed, but clearly he wasn’t thinking at all. At the sound of hammers from the other room, he winced. He’d counted on her workers being gone by now.