her growling stomach. How far could she walk at midnight in a strange town in a storm?
With a groan, she closed her eyes, feeling moisture from the rain trickle down her neck.
Chapter Two
Nate Thalberg felt perfectly steady on his feet, though still hot under the collar, as he turned off the light in the back room and reentered the bar. Three pairs of eyes fixed on him. Tony De Luca’s were the first to drop as he smiled and continued to dry a tall glass before hanging it on the rack above the bar. The other two men, twin brothers Ned and Ted Ferguson, plumbers for Sweet Construction, were a good ten years older than him and long past their pickin’-up-women-in-bars prime. But they still snickered.
Nate ignored them and sat down at the bar. “Another Dale’s.”
“You might as well head to Aspen if you’re going to drink that stuff,” Tony said, his usual response. He set the bottle before Nate without another word.
Nate was grateful. He was still aroused and embarrassed and feeling like a fool, all at the same time. He hadn’t behaved like that since college, and that was almost ten years ago. Of course, he hadn’t left Valentine Valley much since then, and he was careful about picking up a local woman in a bar. He knew them all, and all their relatives. A little fun wasn’t worth what would happen the next day, the assumptions of what he owed them, the way they’d look at him as if he were their newly acquired property. Nope, when he went out with a woman, and that happened regularly enough, she knew exactly where she stood with him. And it wasn’t on the road to any sort of relationship.
But he’d come into Tony’s after a long day riding in the White River National Forest checking the herd. Once it would have been enjoyable to hang with his brother and talk about nothing and everything. But lately, he and Josh had clashed over minor things, and every physical exertion ended up being a contest of wills. It made for a long, frustrating day.
Tonight Nate had needed some peace. He knew Tony could be quiet, at least when he didn’t have a hockey stick in his hand. So he’d come to the tavern to enjoy the rest of the baseball game.
Until she’d shown up. Emily. Every other man at Tony’s had stared at her, however briefly, and he hadn’t wanted to be one of those. But she’d had this pink raincoat on, and when she’d taken it off at the door, her black sweater had ridden up an inch at her waist, and her long strawberry blond hair curled damply near her neck. She was short and curvy in all the right places, and when she’d looked around at the nearly empty bar with wide but tired blue eyes, something in him had paid a bit too much attention.
Remembering how he’d stared at her, unable to stop, he took another swig of beer in disgust. He was weak.
“That should be your last,” Tony said, leaning back against the shelf near the cash register. “You have to drive.”
Before Nate could take offense, Tony glanced with a frown at the door. “Maybe I should have stopped her, too.”
“Emily,” Nate said without thinking.
Tony grinned. “At least you got her name. Or did you get more?”
Nate winced and sighed. “Nope. Shouldn’t have been trying for more.”
“She seemed willing to me.”
“And tipsy. I shouldn’t have—”
The door jangled, and Nate automatically turned to look. Emily stepped back inside, rain dripping down her coat, her fingers gripping her purse.
Without looking at Nate, she said coolly to Tony, “My car won’t start, and I’m not certain who to call for a tow. Could you please give me a name?”
Tony walked to the end of the bar. “Sorry, but Ernie won’t come at night if it’s not an emergency.”
“Oh.”
Nate thought she looked blank for a moment, as if it never occurred to her that there were parts of the country where you couldn’t have what you asked for twenty-four hours a day.
She took a deep breath, still not glancing at Nate. “Then if you could call me a taxi, I’d appreciate it.”
“It’s too late,” Nate said quietly.
“Pardon me?” She met his eyes at last.
He felt a jolt of need. Damn, but she still affected him even though he regretted their little game and his lack of control. And then she bit her plump lower lip, making everything worse.
“Only one taxi