guarantee you would not be getting any sex at all.”
“Oh, I think I can make you come all right.” His wicked grin took her breath away. He leaned forward and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Like you’d be able to resist me for long.”
She grabbed hold of his wrist. “Please come and see Dr. Tio. I’ll drive you down there and right back again today. You’ll hardly miss any hunting.”
“Like I can currently hunt anything.” He eased free of her grasp. “You trying to guilt me into going?”
“No.” She refused to look away. “I’m asking you as a friend.”
He considered her for a long moment and then nodded once. “Okay.”
She let out her breath. “Thank you.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Conner didn’t like other people driving him, but he was way too tired to do anything but buckle up and let Beth take him to town. She was a good driver, her gaze everywhere as they bumped down the uneven track toward the more regularly used ranch road. He still held on to the strap because it wasn’t exactly a smooth ride.
He’d braced himself for Beth to get weird on him that morning. He’d found that even after he tried to be honest and upfront about his lack of availability, some women read way more into sex than he did. But Beth was her usual cheerful self, which didn’t explain why he was now the one feeling disappointed. If he was honest, he’d enjoyed everything about her unexpected visit—her humor, her determination to do the right thing by him, and the way she’d thrown herself into having sex.
She was a bright light in his miserable existence, and just being with her made him want things he’d sworn off years ago.
“You okay?” She glanced briefly over at him. “We’re only about fifteen minutes out from town now. I radioed ahead to let Dr. Tio know we were coming in.”
“Great,” Conner said. “Can’t wait.”
She chuckled as she turned the wheel to the right and the truck finally hit level ground. He noticed she’d tied her hair up in a messy ponytail rather than her usual braid. He imagined her combing it out as he watched, and then letting him slide his hands into it, and . . .
Jeez. He really needed to get away from her before he screwed things up. She didn’t want a guy like him in her life, a man hardened to violence. Hadn’t she suffered enough from her abusive ex?
“You can just drop me off in front of the doctor’s office. I can call you if I need a ride back,” Conner suggested.
“If ? You planning on walking home or something? So not happening.” She increased her speed as the road flattened out. “I promised Dr. Tio I would come in and give him my report.”
After that, Conner shut up and just watched the scenery fly by. The summer heat had scoured most of the color out of the landscape, leaving it dirt brown, gold, and brittle-looking. He imagined the risk of fire was high and that getting water to the cattle grazing on the hillsides was a full-time job.
Morgantown was a thriving little place with an old-fashioned look to its downtown that harkened back to its roots as a gold rush town. The valley also had an abandoned silver mine and a ghost town called Morganville up on Morgan Ranch. Just before he’d injured his leg, Conner had accepted an invitation to a trail ride to those sites from BB Morgan, a retired marine who was good friends with Jay.
BB had also offered him a job as a trail guide, something Conner had done in the past and enjoyed. He tried to imagine his life if he settled in Morgan Valley and still couldn’t get his head around it. He was a loner, a man who made few friends and who didn’t need anyone. Even as he reminded himself of that, his gaze kept sliding back to Beth and how good it felt to get close to her.
But she didn’t want a relationship. She’d made that very clear. She had teenagers to bring up and a secure loving family around her. Why wasn’t he simply able to enjoy that fact and move on like he normally did?
* * *
After checking in with Dr. Tio, Beth spent a few minutes chatting with his office staff about potential clients for the physical therapy business she ran in tandem with her job up at the Garcia Ranch. It gave her