Marlowe didn’t want to agree. “And terrifying,” she said.
“Well, I don’t know if you realize this, Marlowe, but he’s a whole cowboy.”
She had noticed. She’d never had a cowboy fantasy before, but right at the moment, she felt consumed by it.
He was something utterly new.
Something wild and untamed, something part of thisharsh, jagged landscape. More mountain than man, an old-growth tree rather than a sapling.
He made Aiden seem insubstantial, not just with regard to his physique, but there was a weight to Cody that she had never sensed in Aiden. Or really, any other man.
Not that she had vast experience with men. She chose to stop thinking about men and start thinking about her job, her new home, as she stepped out of the lobby and into the parking lot.
The March sun was bright and warm on her face, though winter was still fighting to keep its grip, a chill hanging onto the clear, crisp air. The mountains were capped with snow, and there had even been thick snow banked on the side of the highway she and Cara had taken to Mustang River yesterday.
Like the man, it was a rugged sort of place.
“I’ll drive you,” Cody said.
“Oh… Sure,” she said.
Cara scrambled to get into the backseat of the truck, and Marlowe felt awkward. Did she get in the backseat and make it seem like he was chauffeuring them? Or did she get in the passenger seat and put herself next to him?
Next to him, she decided, because that was the not weird thing, really.
She rounded to the passenger’s side and got in, buckling her seatbelt, even though she had a feeling they weren’t leaving the property.
He backed out of the parking space and headed down the paved road, back toward the highway.
“When you head out toward the ranch, nothing is paved. But we figured guests wouldn’t want their car getting all dusty and rumbling along the gravel road. Just be forewarned, if you take your vehicle out that way,” he said, pointing off to the right. “It’s not so nice.”
“How big is this place?”Cara asked.
“About four square miles. The cattle ranching operation is back as far from the road as possible, and on the opposite end of the property from the resort. We wanted the resort to be close enough to town that people could go eat dinner elsewhere if they got tired of eating here. Also, go shopping or whatever else they might want. Also, we wanted to make sure your bakery was close enough to be patronized by people in town as well.”
“I appreciate that,” she said.
Of course, it added value to the ranch, and she was going to have to share her profits with the Grayson family, even though they weren’t charging her rent, but Marlowe didn’t say anything about that right then.
“I know I’ve seen pictures,” Cara said. “But I’m still really excited to see it. Especially the sign.”
She could remember Cara’s excitement over this whole thing, and she ended up feeling angry at Aiden all over again.
He hadn’t just left Marlowe; he had left his sister, too.
When she finally had a chance to live her own life and not just be a caregiver to their mother. Which he hadn’t helped with.
She pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath.
“Yeah. It’s very exciting. Cara really is the best,” Marlowe said, turning to look at Cody. A mistake.
God, somehow, he was even more gorgeous in profile. His nose was straight and strong, his jaw perfectly square, his chin just right. She hated a weak chin. But there was nothing weak about Cody Grayson. Not even close.
She swallowed hard and looked away, but then she found herself glancing at him again out of the corner of her eye. At the strong column of his throat.
“I can’t wait to taste her baked goods,” he said. “Kind of a tough thing to get a handle on with a long-distance interview.But since I decided I trusted you enough to hire you, I figured I’d trust your review.”
She couldn’t tell if those words were loaded or not. She didn’t know him well enough to say. But it compelled her to defend herself, even if only a little.
