Page 159 of The Cowbears of Curvy Bear Ranch

“If you really don’t mind taking me,” she said. “Then I’d like to go first thing in the morning. If that worksforyou.”

“We can go right after breakfast.” He gave her hand a squeeze. “Get some sleep tonight. You had alongday.”

She walked him to the door. “Thanks, Hank. There aren’t many guys like you in New York. They’re more likely to step over you than to stop andhelpyou.”

“You’re not in New York anymore, city girl.” He winked. “Out here, men are men and we help peopleinneed.”

“I’m not really ‘in need,’” she fingerquoted.

“Whatever you say.” He tipped his Stetson. “I’ll see you atbreakfast.”

After he left the room, she closed the door and returned to the bed. She’d never been so instantly and completely attracted to anyone before. A little voice inside her screamed that she should run after him and drag him back to bed. But she was good at quashing that naughty littlevoice.

As she slipped into her pajamas and then into bed, she couldn’t stop thinking about his gorgeous brown eyes. When he’d been talking to her, she couldn’t help but stare into them to study the flecks of gold around his irises. And those arms? Hot damn, he looked like he could lift a truck with one pinkie. Too bad she wasn’t on vacation. Normally, she wasn’t impulsive, but she wanted to jump all over the sexy cowboy. It had to be the stress of the situation. What else could explain her instant attractiontohim?

* * *

The next morning,Carol pushed a pile of scrambled eggs around her plate. With the way her stomach roiled, she could hardly choke down a piece of dry toast, let alone anything else. She smiled and nodded at the appropriate points as other guests tried to pull her into their mundane conversations. The group’s biggest worry seemed to be timing their trip to Old Faithful so that it would be erupting right after theyarrived.

A tiny ball of anger bounced around her belly. There were far more important things to worry about than a properly timed trip. Didn’t that stupid geyser go off every hour anyway? She couldn’t remember what she’d read on the sightseeing pamphlet. She’d been up reading until two a.m. while waiting to fall asleep. The lack of sleep wasn’t helpinghermood.

She wanted to stab her fork into the plate and then throw it across the room. But as usual, she kept her emotions in check. She didn’t want to make a scene. Besides, it was better to just blend in. Why stand out and hope that someone will notice you when it’s easier to just ignorepeople?

“Not hungry?” Hank askedsoftly.

“Notreally.”

She’d already been seated when he’d walked into the room. Instead of joining his brothers near the head of the table, he chose the chair directly to her right. Although the table was long, it was a bit crowded. Everyone had arrived for breakfast at the same time. Hank sat close enough that the entire right side of her body tingled withawareness.

As the guests yammered on about their plans, she took comfort in his presence. The scent of pine wafted off of his freshly washed, still-damp hair. To distract herself, she imagined what he would look like in the shower, all lathered up with soap bubbles and smelling like a man’s man. They sure didn’t make guys like this inNewYork.

Hank shoveled two plates full of eggs into his mouth before eyeing her untouched food. “Uh, I hate toask,but—”

“I’m done. You can have the rest of mine if you want,”shesaid.

He flashed a sexy smile as he reached for her plate. Maybe it was just gratitude because she’d given him the last of the eggs, but she couldn’t help but think there was something more behind his expression. It was probably wishful thinking. Since when did men look at her like they wanted to eat her for breakfast? She couldn’t remember the last time she’d turned aman’shead.

After washing down the eggs with two cups of coffee, he wiped his mouth with a cloth napkin. “Ready toheadout?”

She nodded and stood just as Madison wandered in from thekitchen.

“Where are you two off to?” sheasked.

“I’m taking her into town. I have some errands to run and so does she, so I figured we could just take one car,”Hanksaid.

“That’s awfully nice of you,” Madison said. “Would you mind stopping at the marketforme?”

“No problem,”hesaid.

“Here’s a list.” She handed a folded-up piece of papertohim.

“A list, hmm?” he asked withagrin.

“Just a few things I need for the house. I was going to send Logan, but with the storm coming, he’s trying to get the roof on the barn as quickly aspossible.”

“I was just over there about an hour ago. He’d said he didn’t need any help,” Hank said in anexasperatedtone.

“Mack’s down there with him. He said your trip was important, so he stepped in to help finish the roof,”Madisonsaid.

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