Weekend With Her Bachelor (Bachelor Auction Returns Book 4) (7 page)

Not wasting another second, Ally stormed out of the diner, and he watched her head toward the library. When he stopped to look around, everyone was staring at him like he was an ax murderer. Shit. All he’d done was kiss a woman in public.

Granted, it was a great kiss, but it probably wasn’t the kind of kiss some of the kids who were having lunch should have seen. There were tongues involved. Heavy breathing.

It was a really dirty kiss.

Okay, so he screwed up.

He was about to say something, but thought twice, and walked back to the table to retrieve his jacket. Paige the owner, gave him a death stare. There was no other way to describe it. She didn’t say a word about what had just happened, just stared him down.

“Good day, Doctor,” Paige said with an edge.

“Yeah,” Gavin grumbled as he headed out. “That’s debatable.”

*

Ally went straight
home. She didn’t stop to see her mother, or walk around town like she planned. She didn’t take advantage of the gorgeous spring day. She didn’t eat at her favorite place.

It was all Gavin’s fault, the dumbass. That kiss. What the hell was he thinking with that kiss? It was tender, deep, hot. So, so hot.

So, instead of all the things she was planning to do, she was at home, changing into her favorite pair of working jeans and boots, and on her way out to the barn. If she was going to be mad, she might as well work it off.

Grabbing a pitchfork and a wheelbarrow, she started cleaning the stalls, ridding each one it of old bedding and manure, scrubbing water buckets and refilling them, and stuffing hay bags.

After two hours detailing the stalls, she moved to the tack room, and that’s where her father found her cleaning bridles and bits, probably one of the most thankless jobs in any barn.

When her dad came in and sat down next to her on the long bench, neither of them spoke. Ally had been fighting her emotions all afternoon, but her father didn’t do anything except stick close. It was a routine they’d perfected when she was a geeky teen and nothing went right for her, including Gavin Clark.

“I should be smarter than this,” she mumbled. “He got to me again, and I set myself up for it.”

“How do you figure that? You went to a charity event. You didn’t stalk the man.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “You’re human. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

“He was right about one thing; we shouldn’t be around each other.”

“He said that?” Her father was looking rather annoyed.

“I mean look at me. I’m a basket case. And nothing’s ever going to change. He’s not going to forgive me. We won’t be friends again. What was I thinking?”

“I don’t know about that. I think you’re important to him, but boys, and some men, have a hard time getting where they need to be. You either have to wait it out, or do like you’re planning and let it go. But friends? You two were
friends
, honey, but not really.”

“We were friends! We were!”

“Sure. Maybe when you were ten.” Her father was so matter-of-fact sometimes it was annoying. “What are you going to do?” he asked.

That was the big question. “I should forget about it, go to the wedding alone, and just be happy I helped the hospital.”

“Well, sure. Avoidance is always safer, there’s no risk.”

Ally went back to scrubbing the bit she had in her hand. “That sounds good to me. Look where risking my heart has gotten me.”

“I’m not following.”

She blew out a breath, absently rubbing a rag over her favorite snaffle bit. “Lars was a risk. We were so different, but it seemed right. He was smart and exciting…”

“He’s a self-absorbed moron, honey. Consider that bullet dodged.”

“I guess. Then with Gavin, I don’t know. I messed that one up. I know you don’t think we were friends, but we were. Maybe I’m just not meant to be with anyone.”

“Ally, get over yourself.”

“Excuse me?”

“Go grab a horse and take a ride. Blow off some steam, but stop this ‘poor me’ stuff. You aren’t the first person who’s been burned in a relationship, or who’s made a bad choice.”

“Thanks for the sympathy, Dad.”

“Honey, what do you want me to say? That Gavin shouldn’t have kissed you like that? I’m your father, of course I’m going to say that. That Lars was a mistake? I thought so from the first time I met him.”

“So? What’s your point?”

“My point is: what do you intend to do about your date with Gavin? It’s that simple. Lars, high school, it’s all out of the picture.”

Letting that sink in for a bit, she had to admit, she didn’t know. Part of her wanted to drive out to his parents’ ranch, drag him into the barn, and show him what a real kiss was like, among other things. The other part of her wanted to go straight back to Seattle and forget he ever existed.

She disagreed with her dad about one major point; their past did play a big role in the people they’d become. Ally was a better person because of her relationship with Gavin. She never doubted that.

More than likely, the right thing was somewhere in the middle, even if wild sex with Gavin, who was hotter than the surface of the sun, definitely had its appeal.

Playing with buckles and pulls, she reassembled the bridle and stood. “I need a shower.”

Her father stood as well and gave her a comforting hug. It was the kind of hugs reserved for fathers. “What are you going to do?”

“I think after I’m clean, I’m going to head out the Clarks’ ranch. I have a few things to say to Gavin.”

Her father laughed. “I bet you do.”

*

It had been
twelve years since Ally had driven herself to the Clark Ranch. Settled generations ago, it sat in the foothills of the Absaroka range, southeast of Marietta. Their land was gorgeous—a combination of pasture, old growth trees, and streams teeming with fish, it was 600 acres of Montana perfection. It wasn’t the biggest spread in the area, but it was ridiculously beautiful.

The clapboard house was built in the 1890s by Gavin’s great-great-grandfather; it was large, with at least six bedrooms, a huge kitchen, and a front porch that wrapped around the whole house. Barns and stables dotted the landscape close by, and his mother’s kitchen garden, with its just-tilled soil, was on the south side of the house. Ally remembered helping Mrs. Clark pick vegetables and herbs for dinner. When you were at the Clarks’, everyone helped out.

Sitting in her car, Ally steeled her nerves. She’d worn something deliberately and overtly feminine and she had no idea why. It almost felt mean, but it was her only defense at this point, other than killing him, and she didn’t want to go that far.

Her long, flounced skirt was gauzy and light, made up of several layers of brown fabric, and sported intricate embroidery and a tiny bit of ruffling. It was a gorgeous piece she bought from a local textile artist when she was driving through Oregon. She’d paired it with a soft, fitted pale pink Henley shirt and her best boots. There was a big belt, great jewelry, and she’d done her hair and makeup.

Her father claimed she was going to make Gavin cry. That was doubtful. Climbing out of her rented SUV, she pulled her wrap close around her shoulders as a stiff breeze blew through the valley. Ally figured if anything, he’d be annoyed, but after that kiss today, she agreed—he deserved to cry a little.

She had.

Climbing the short flight of stairs to the front door, Ally knocked purposefully. It was five-thirty, which meant it was quite possible she was interrupting dinner, something not generally recommended on a working ranch.

As usual, her timing was less than ideal.

She waited at the door, hearing people inside, but no one answered her knocks. As she started to make her way around to the kitchen door, she ran smack into Gavin, who was dirty, sweaty, and sexy as hell. He wasn’t shirtless, but that didn’t matter. His plain white t-shirt was stuck to his body showing off every defined muscle. Mother of God.

He grasped her arms and steadied her on her heels as she wobbled. “I thought I heard someone out here. Are you okay? I nearly bowled you over.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m…” Her breath shuddered being so close to him. The scent, the sweat, the defined muscles sent her hormones on a one-way trip south. One touch, and everything inside of her burned. “I came over to talk to you. But if it’s a bad time, I understand.”

“I went out and fixed about a mile of fence,” he said with a smirk. “I needed to blow off some steam.”

Ally knew that feeling all too well. “The stalls at home are pristine. I even scrubbed walls and water buckets.”

“Ah. Yeah. Sounds like we had the same idea. So what brings you out here? You just want to yell at me and get it over with?” He wiped his face with a plaid flannel shirt he was holding, and Ally didn’t know how long she was going to be able to hang on before she jumped him. The man was that irresistible.

“Yell at you?” She shook her head. “No. Like I said, I wanted to talk to you.”

“Okay. You look really pretty, by the way. Beautiful.”

Ally gave herself a quick look, happy that he noticed, but nervous because of the way he made her feel. He wasn’t supposed to do this to her anymore. She wasn’t supposed to be affected by him. “Thank you.”

“What do you want to talk about, Ally?” He leaned against the porch rail, looking casual, confident.

Sexy.

Really, really sexy.

Crap.

“About the weekend. I know you don’t want to go, so…”

“It’s not that I don’t want to. It sounds awesome, actually. And if things were different between us, it would be a great time. But can’t you see how hard it would be? For both of us.” He hesitated, turning his back to her before finishing. “I mean, there’s a lot of chemistry between us, but no common ground. Other than the fact that we knew each other once upon a time, what else is there?”

BOOM. With those words, Gavin dropped a truth bomb that blew up her insides.

There was no way for Ally to know how much that statement would cut to the bone. But it did. It hurt. It hurt like nothing she’d felt in a very long time. Keeping his back to her, Ally was sure he didn’t like being so blunt; he’d always been kind, and because of that, she felt the arrow go right to her heart.

Her lip started to tremble, her eyes burned. Oh no. She couldn’t cry. No.

“I have to go.” She couldn’t get away from him fast enough. Bolting across the porch and down the steps, she heard Gavin’s footfalls behind her. “I’ll tell the organizers we went on a ride or something so you don’t have to…”

She was almost to her car when he caught up to her.

“Ally, wait!” He grabbed her arm and spun her around.

Tears leaked from her eyes, tracking down her cheeks, and Gavin’s expression softened immediately. Emotional manipulation was not her style, which was why she wanted to get away.

“Ah, shit. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I don’t cry a lot, but I guess… it’s just… hearing you say that… Ugh. I hate this.” Breaking away from him, she started yanking on the car door handle, but nothing was happening. “Shit. Why won’t this open?” Turning her gently, Gavin wrapped her in his arms. As soon as she was pulled into his warmth, pressed against his strong body, the tears came harder and faster. This wasn’t about romance. It wasn’t about sex.

This was about her very best friend whom she’d hurt.

And she’d missed him. She’d missed him so much.

*