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And Cooper was not anybody’s special man so it was best to nip that fairy tale in the bud. God only knew how long they would be stranded together. Having felt the sting of the cold and seen the rapid rate of the snowfall, he was beginning to understand the biggest difference between a “storm” and a “blizzard” was that storms were a nuisance and blizzards were deadly. Smart people stayed indoors for the duration of a blizzard.
On top of that, as a trucker, Cooper had enough experience with highways and departments of transportation to realize that rarely traveled, two-lane roads used for shortcuts weren’t the first to be cleared. He and Zoe were stuck in this house for the next twenty-four hours—at least. His actual guess was that they were here for the weekend. He didn’t anticipate getting back to his truck before Monday morning.
But as long as he and Zoe had minimal contact, that might not be a problem. It was December twelfth. Though his brothers had bought the mortgage to his ranch and given him until Christmas to pay it off, he still had thirteen days. It would take him three to deliver his load and only another two to drive his certified check to Arkansas and put it in the hands of his brothers’ lawyer. He had absolutely no intention of placing the check in Ty’s hands, as he had been instructed in the letter advising him his brothers were calling in his debt. No court in the land would side with them if they tried to take his ranch just because he’d given the check to the lawyer, rather than directly to his brother.
Thirteen days was plenty of time. Technically, he had eight days of wiggle room. The storm wouldn’t last eight days. The department of transportation crews wouldn’t forget this road for eight days. There was no reason to be concerned about being stranded for a day or two. Particularly since he already had the check in hand.
Thinking about the check made him reach for his backpack. His partner wasn’t involved in his family’s feud, so Cooper had taken it upon himself to find the money for the balance of the mortgage. He’d cashed in his savings account and IRA, and had been forced to use the herd money, but he had almost every dime. All he needed was the pay from this delivery to add to the certified check. Then his brothers couldn’t hurt him anymore. He’d never again be so stupid as to give them an opportunity like a mortgage to find him.
He unlatched the closure of the backpack, lifted the lid and slid his hand inside to get the white envelope containing the check he’d had prepared at the bank. When his fingers found only two sandwiches, a coffee Thermos and a Twix bar, his heart stopped and he dumped the contents of his backpack on the bed.
But as everything came tumbling out, he remembered he had put the check in the safe in his truck. A new kind of panic tightened his chest. But he reminded himself the truck was locked. Hell, the safe was locked and it was hidden, camouflaged as the seat back. On top of that, conditions outside weren’t fit for man or beast. Nobody was going anywhere near his truck. His money was fine. There was absolutely no reason to freak out.
He sighed. He might not freak out, but he sure as hell couldn’t feel comfortable about leaving a check worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in an abandoned vehicle. Still, since there was nothing he could do about that until morning, there was no sense dwelling on it.
After eating his sandwiches and returning the candy bar to his backpack, he lay down on the bed and angled his Stetson over his eyes, but from downstairs he heard the baby cry. The sound got louder and louder until little Daphne was screaming, sounding like she was testing out her lungs.
Cooper squeezed his eyes shut. Great. As if it wasn’t bad enough he had a constant niggle of doubt about whether his check was safe, he was stuck with an oversensitive woman and a crying baby. If he had any tolerance for cold at all, he’d go back to his truck, get his money and find another cabin.
But he couldn’t handle the cold and it was getting dark, too dangerous to go outside even for a few minutes. He took a breath, pretending he couldn’t hear the crying baby or the soothing voice of her mom and that he truly believed no one would steal his money, but he knew it would be a long, long night.
When Cooper opened his eyes again, muted light was edging into his bedroom through the dusty blinds on the window, and he bounced up in bed. He’d chosen this room for the thick comforter, but had drifted to sleep on top of the covers and spent the night without it.
He couldn’t believe he’d fallen into such a deep slumber that he hadn’t heard a screaming baby. Positive that something had happened—like maybe the storm had stopped and his roomie had gotten curious about what he had in his truck—Cooper rolled out of bed, bounded down the stairs and made the sharp left into the kitchen.
Zoe stood at the sink, washing dishes. Without turning around she said, “Don’t worry. I didn’t run out to your truck and plunder for valuables. The baby’s just asleep.”
He stiffened. The clock on the stove said seven-fifteen. It had only been light for about twenty minutes. If she’d gone to his truck, she’d still be shivering. His check was safe.
But her reply reminded him that she was one incredibly defensive lady. He couldn’t even give her her privacy the night before without her jumping him about his motives. She might be among the world’s most beautiful women but she was pricklier than a cactus and suspicious as hell. And if he didn’t say something, he would alert her that there really was something of value in his truck.
“I wasn’t worried.”
“Sure you were. That’s the only explanation for why you ran down the stairs like your feet were on fire.” She paused, then added, “Unless there’s no bathroom upstairs.”
Confused, Cooper said, “I didn’t see a bathroom.”
“Well, there’s a bathroom in the bedroom I’m using. It’s the only one I found. This is a really old house. I’m guessing it was built before indoor plumbing because the bathroom was built in the corner of the bedroom.”
Cooper suddenly understood what she was talking about. He’d been so focused on making sure she hadn’t gone to his truck that he’d forgotten nature’s call. He said, “Thanks,” and left the room.
Glad for a few seconds to collect himself before he faced Madam Cactus again, Cooper conceded that he had all but told her he had something important in his truck. That meant at some point he would have to brave the storm, get his check and pin it in his underwear for safekeeping because he was absolutely positive that was one place she wouldn’t look.
But after he stepped into her bedroom he forgot all about the check, the temperatures and even nature’s call. He could smell her. He didn’t know if she had special soap or shampoo or maybe perfume that she carried in her purse, but the room already smelled intimately of something light and tropical. Oceans and coconut oil. Suntan lotion.
His mind jumped to a hot beach and Zoe in a bikini and he squeezed his eyes shut. But he forced them open again. He was not attracted to her…well, he was attracted, but he knew he shouldn’t be and he wasn’t giving in to this…this…base instinct.
So, he held his breath as he quietly slid around the bed and into the small bathroom, which—just as she said—was built in the corner of the bedroom. He left as quickly as he could but as soon as he walked into the kitchen, the scent found him again because she was wearing it. As she stood at the sink, with her back to him, his gaze slid down the sleek locks of her pretty yellow hair, down her slim back, along the dip of her waist to her perfectly rounded backside, showcased in tight jeans.
Turning from the sink, she said, “There’s bacon on the table.”
Her silky blond hair curved around her cheeks and chin and then fell in lazy curls to a point somewhere between her collarbone and her breasts. When his gaze reached the bottom of the very last curl, he had to fight his eyes to move upward again.
“You found bacon?”
If Zoe noticed the way he had ogled her, she didn’t let on. “There’s plenty of food in the cupboards. Even meat and bread in the freezer.”
After her reaction to being in someone’s house the night before, that cheerful observation surprised him. “You looked around?”
She sighed. “I have a baby. I have to care for her. I had to see what was available and what wasn’t. Besides, I’ve been up since five. Daphne went back to sleep but I couldn’t, so I explored. You were right when you guessed this was a weekend retreat. But it’s not for hunters. I think it belongs to a family. Though there’s a poker table in the corner of the great room, the games in the cupboard are actually kids’ games like ‘Candy-land’ and ‘Yahtzee.’”
She dried her hands on a dish towel and walked past him. Not giving him a chance to comment on her discovery, she said, “If you don’t like bacon, there’s sausage in the freezer. Make anything you want. I intend to leave cash on the table to pay for everything we use.”
With that she walked out of the room and into the bedroom. She closed the door, effectively shutting him out the way he had shut her out the night before.
He shook his head in wonder, not sure if he was more surprised by her sense of responsibility or by the fact that she clearly wanted nothing to do with him.
Well, whatever. She couldn’t have missed the way he’d taken inventory as if she were the breakfast buffet, so he didn’t fault her for wanting to get away from him. He should be happy she’d removed the temptation of her fabulous face and figure. More than that, he should be absolutely joyful that she was making reparation for the bacon and bread. If she couldn’t take a couple of food items without a conscience flare-up, he didn’t have to worry that she would run to his truck and steal his money.
He grabbed two slices of bread, piled bacon on one and used the other for a lid, making himself a sandwich, and walked to the sink where he looked out the window at the storm.
He didn’t even bother trying to stifle his groan. He could actually see the wind because it was picking up the icy snow pellets and tossing them around, as if the falling snow wasn’t creating enough havoc on its own. That certainly proved there was no need for him to brave the elements to get his check. If there was anybody outside, they weren’t plundering trucks. They were racing for shelter. As long as the wind wailed and the snow fell, his money was safe.
He ambled into the great room. A sofa and chair sat in front of the fireplace along the back wall. He saw the poker table Zoe had mentioned in the far corner. But he was more interested in the television.
He walked over, fell into one of the chairs in front of the TV and grabbed the remote from the end table. He pushed the power button and the screen came to life.
He almost hooted with joy. Not just entertainment, but satellite TV! In a few flicks of the remote he found sports, movies, reruns of old sitcoms. With something to do other than snipe at each other, he and Zoe could be in the same room.
Not that he wanted to be in the same room with her. He didn’t. He simply didn’t want to force her to stay behind a closed door with nothing to do, as if she were in prison.
But he also didn’t want to give her the wrong impression about the two of them spending time together. If he invited her into the great room now, with the promise of television, it wouldn’t appear he had changed his mind from the night before and now wanted to chitchat. His invitation would be to watch TV.
He bounced up from his seat. Sandwich in his left hand, he tapped on her bedroom door with his right. “Hey, the television works. If you want to come out and watch TV that would be cool. I wouldn’t mind that.”
“Thanks, but I’m going to take a shower.”
Shower?
Instantly a vision of Zoe naked popped into his head. He could see her glorious yellow hair cascading around her. Her perfect pink skin. Her shining blue eyes. Her nice round…
He squeezed his eyes shut. He would like to blame that quick mental image on her for saying the word shower. But he knew hormones or maybe his gender were at fault. Still, smart men didn’t chase after every good-looking woman they saw. They reminded themselves they were adults and also reminded themselves of all the reasons they couldn’t act like sex-crazed teenagers. Lord knows, he’d fought this battle before. He’d simply used logic and proper behavior. And this time around he had plenty of ammo.
First, he didn’t want anything to do with this woman. Second, she sure as hell didn’t want anything to do with him. And third, he had TV. There was absolutely no reason to stand outside her bedroom door salivating.
He said, “Okay. Great,” then could have kicked himself because the way he’d said it he sounded as if he thought the idea of her taking a shower was great. Well, too late to fix that. Time to retreat and hope for the best.
He nearly ran back to the great room, shoving the remainder of his sandwich into his mouth before he picked up the remote. He clicked through the unfamiliar stations until he found the Weather Channel then wished he hadn’t.
Staring at the map of the United States, he moaned in frustration. The storm that had stranded them had stalled over the mountain. The forecaster happily expected it to move on by the next morning. But he could be happy about that because he wasn’t stranded with a woman he didn’t know and her baby. The weatherman also didn’t have a check representing every cent he had in the safe of his abandoned truck!
A half hour later, Zoe came into the great room dressed in brown pants and a soft-looking red sweater, holding a happy Daphne. Though Cooper didn’t really want to make small talk, the obvious observation came out before he could stop it.
“Looks like you’re the same size as the woman of the house.”
“I wouldn’t know. There are no clothes in the closet. I keep an extra pair of pants and a sweater in the diaper bag because babies are messy and sometimes I end up needing changing as much as Daphne.”
She turned toward the kitchen and Cooper’s gaze took in every inch of her perfect body. A million visions and images popped into his head. Once again he blamed his hormones. Once again he knew logic and proper behavior would keep him in line. He forced his gaze upward away from her backside, but when he did he saw the way her pale curls contrasted with her sexy red sweater and a whole bunch of other images sprang to his mind.
He rubbed his hand along his nape. Did the woman own any color except red? Sure, she looked great in red, but that was the problem. She looked too damned great. Too damned sexy.
Taking himself back to logic and proper behavior again, he reminded himself that even if she found him as attractive as he found her, they couldn’t sleep together. They were stranded for two days. If it were only for the afternoon, a fling wouldn’t be out of the question. But two days didn’t work. If he seduced her, sex wouldn’t last two days. Eventually, they’d stop and she’d want to talk and then they’d know too much about each other. And then it wouldn’t be a fling. It would be the beginning of a relationship.
His stomach knotted. No way.
“I’m afraid I have some bad news.”
“Storm’s getting worse,” Zoe said, turning to face him, and Cooper’s stomach plummeted.
She was darned gorgeous. He couldn’t believe any man was capable of speech around her, let alone capable of leaving her once he married her. Then he realized she had to be a shrew for her husband to have left her. So far her behavior around him sort of hinted to that. Even the way she always had to be one step ahead of him was an indication that she needed to be right.
No man liked that kind of one-upmanship in a woman. Hell, no man liked that in another man.
He drew a quick breath. “Well, excuse me for trying to help.”
Zoe had been on her way to the kitchen again to take one of Daphne’s bottles out of the fridge where she had stored them the night before, but his comment stopped her. She wasn’t sure why he thought she was simple-minded or stupid, but she knew from their conversation the night before that he worried that she would be a burden. She’d thought she’d already put that doubt to bed, but apparently he was still skeptical.
“I found the TV, too,” she added.
“I was just trying to tell you about the storm.”
There was that tone again. As if she were an idiot. This guy might be the sexiest man on the face of the earth with his whipcord-lean body very nicely showcased in his worn workshirt and perfect-fitting jeans. Add his silky-looking black hair, and she couldn’t pretend that she didn’t notice his physical attributes. But he also had chauvinist written all over him and she simply wasn’t putting up with it.
“Here’s the deal, Bryant,” she said, deliberately using his last name to keep them on totally impersonal terms, so he could stop treating her as if she were a ninny. “I have a child. I don’t just pay my own way. I also pay hers because my ex doesn’t believe in child support. No matter how many court orders get issued, if he runs fast enough he can always evade them. So, I work. I take care of a household. I can fix a faucet. I can fix a tire. I can make a fire. I can turn on a TV.”
“Very funny.”
“No. It’s not funny. It’s not one damned bit funny that I have to tell you I’m a capable adult because you clearly think I’m some kind of spoiled princess or something. I’d like to get that squared away so we can move on.”
“We can move on.”
“Great. Because if we’re stuck here for the weekend I don’t intend to be the only one cooking and doing the dishes.”
“That’s fine by me because, just like you, I work and take care of my own house…and run a ranch.” He smiled tightly. “I guess you could say I have you beat.”
She turned to go into the kitchen again. “You won’t have me beat until you also add in caring for a child.”
He followed her. “Last year, three of my cows had calves.”
She slammed the refrigerator closed. “Did you have to get up with them at two in the morning?”
“Once. And I’m painfully familiar with colic.”
“Well, good for you. You’re the first man I consider myself equal to.”
His eyes narrowed as if he knew she’d insulted him—or somebody—but he couldn’t figure out how. Zoe took Daphne and her bottle into the great room. She settled on the rocking chair and fed the baby one of the five bottles of formula she had prepared the night before. Even if they could leave tomorrow, and she knew they couldn’t, Daphne would be out of bottles before that. Zoe would have to again prepare formula from the faucet water and there was no guarantee that wouldn’t eventually upset Daphne’s system.
Preoccupied with the baby, Zoe didn’t notice that an uncomfortable silence had settled over the small house or that Cooper Bryant was pacing until Daphne had fallen asleep and Zoe rose from the rocker to take the baby into the bedroom. Even then, she didn’t say anything. It was not her problem that Cooper Bryant was pacing the room, obviously bored.
She laid Daphne in the center of the double bed and began to arrange the pillows around her. But, on second thought, she pushed the bed against the wall, giving Daphne two sides of protection. It wasn’t the best situation in the world, but they were stranded. As long as Zoe checked on the baby every few minutes, Daphne should be fine.
Satisfied, Zoe ambled into the great room. She wasn’t much for TV, but she had seen a deck of cards. It had been a while since she’d played solitaire. Entertaining herself that way would be fun. In fact, it was a great deal of fun to be away from her house that always needed to be cleaned, the mountain of bills she couldn’t pay and the notice that told her her house was going up for sheriff’s sale because no one had paid the taxes.
She entered the great room and found Cooper Bryant staring out the French doors behind the poker table. If it weren’t for him, this weekend away from reality might actually be a nice break.
He didn’t turn from staring at the mounting snow, which Zoe had earlier watched just as he was doing right now. She was sure the look of disbelief on his face probably mirrored the one she’d worn staring at the sight.
Approaching the poker table, Zoe said nothing. She opened the top drawer of a cabinet, found the cards, pulled a chair away from the table and sat. The only sound in the room was the noise the cards made as they slid against each other when she shuffled.
“I’m not much of a card player.”
“Great. I was going to play solitaire.”
He turned. Crossing his arms on his chest he said, “Okay. I get it. I get it big-time. You are not a helpless female who needs someone to take care of her.”
She began to lay out the cards. “Thanks for recognizing the obvious.”
He scowled and Zoe dropped the cards and studied him for a second before she said, “Look, I know you’d rather be alone. Frankly, so would I. But since we aren’t, the alternative for us is to form some kind of a truce.”
“A truce?”
“Sure. We agree to share chores. We agree to be civil. And we declare each other off-limits romantically. That way, we can talk pleasantly without worrying that one or the other is getting any ideas.”
Because what she said made sense, Cooper almost agreed until a tantalizing thought entered his head. Whether she knew it or not she had just backhandedly admitted that she found him attractive, too. They were stuck together. They were both attracted. Neither one of them wanted a relationship with the other.
This weekend could be a lot of fun if he could figure out a way to convince her that they should take advantage of their two days away from real life by having a bit of no-strings-attached sex.
But before he could come up with a way to form the suggestion, Daphne cried and Zoe was off her chair and in the bedroom like a bolt of lightning. Cooper realized that was the reason he and Zoe couldn’t have no-strings-attached sex. Women with babies had a guaranteed, built-in defense mechanism. Every time things heated up, Daphne would probably start crying.
Zoe came out of the bedroom carrying Daphne. The baby looked tired, but not sleepy, and though Cooper knew little to nothing about kids, he didn’t think this was a good sign. Zoe didn’t say a word. She simply walked back to the table, sat on the chair, put the baby on her lap, and continued her solitaire game.
Cooper turned to look at the snow again. “I think a truce is a good idea.”
“Okay. Great. Now we can be civil.”
He nodded and relaxed a little, but not completely. He may no longer fear that she wanted something from him, but that didn’t stop his sexual attraction. Because he was a responsible adult he would curb it, but controlling it required being wise about distance and proximity, and also being careful about the conversational topics he chose.
Luckily, the weather was always safe. “I’ve never seen snow fall like this before.”
