Somebody Like You Read online

  Annelise slapped her forehead and ran to a wall calendar that sported a buxom cowgirl in a black, almost-there bikini. Oh, my gosh. How could that be? How had she so lost track of the days?

  “The question remains,” the announcer continued, “will oil heiress Annelise Montjoy show, or will she disappoint the hundreds of children who depend on the money raised yearly by this event?”

  She met Cash’s eyes. “I have to go.”

  “I know.”

  She’d expected to be back home in Boston, her grandpa’s sister in tow, in time for the fund-raiser. But then everything had taken longer than she’d planned. The trek to Texas, the search for her aunt. And she’d gotten sidetracked by a man she thought she’d come to know. A man she’d allowed to mean something to her. Her mistake.

  As if reading her mind, Cash said, “Annie, my mouth moved faster than my brain awhile ago. I handled this whole thing badly.”

  “I can’t argue with that.”

  “Boy, you’re a tough nut to crack, aren’t you?”

  Her chin trembled. “I can be.”

  He moved to her, wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her close. “I’m sorry.” He kissed her forehead.

  She wanted to stay mad, but so much was going on. Inside her. Around her. Now this. It was all too much.

  She let him hold her.

  “Once I resurface, show my face in Dallas, they’ll follow me. The press. They’ll come to Maverick Junction if I return here. This”—she waved a hand—“will all be gone.” She swiped at a rogue tear. “And I haven’t found Grandpa’s sister. I haven’t found his miracle. Grandpa will die because I failed.”

  “Darlin’, we’ll find some way—”

  She shook her head. “No. Too many kids depend on this, Cash. I can’t let them down. I need to contact the organizers right away.” She sniffed. “And I’m being a baby. It’s just, I’m not ready to quit my search. I’m not ready for any of this to end. Not yet. But Grandpa will be so disappointed in me if I miss the fund-raiser.”

  Now the tears started in earnest.

  He scooped her up and carried her to the leather sofa, sat down and held her close, rocking and soothing her.

  Somehow, in the midst of her misery, she realized this man comforting her was the same one who’d nearly destroyed her earlier. How did she meld these two sides of him?

  The soft kisses he dropped on the top of her head, her forehead, the side of her neck changed subtly. The atmosphere shifted from compassion to sexually charged. His fingers moved to the tie on her robe, undid the knot. Beneath it, she was naked.

  She moaned when his palm flattened on her belly, arched her back when his mouth took her breast. Her hand snaked up to curl around the back of his head.

  When his lips trailed lower, dropping kisses along her stomach, she could have cried with pleasure. Instead, straining for some small vestige of willpower, she slid away from him.

  His eyes, dark with passion, lifted to hers. “Annie? What’s wrong?”

  What’s wrong? she wanted to shout. You broke my heart. Instead, she said, “This isn’t a good idea.”

  She pulled the robe together and knotted the belt, his eyes watching every movement.

  “It’s…well.” She fiddled with her small pinky ring, twirling it around her finger. “You said you’re not looking for anything permanent—”

  “That’s what this is about? I apologized already. I admitted to being an ass. I don’t know what more I can do or say.”

  “It’s not entirely about that. Hear me out. You’re not interested in a long-term relationship, and neither am I.” She looked away. “So I think it’s better that we don’t, you know, do this again.”

  “Guess I deserved that.”

  She narrowed her eyes, tried to read the expression in his but wasn’t quite sure what she saw there. Hurt? Maybe. Maybe it was simply disappointment that he hadn’t scored. That he’d struck out.

  Instantly, she rebuffed that idea, ashamed of herself. This was Cash. He’d understood at the pond and taken only what she’d offered.

  But her heart ached. She tried to convince herself it was simply hurt feelings and wished like heck she could believe that.

  “It’s getting late, Cash. I have a ton of things to take care of. Do you mind if I take the rest of the day off?”

  “Nope. Do what you need to do.” Without another word, he moved to the laundry room and returned with her clothes, now dry. He tossed them onto the sofa beside her, then went back into the kitchen.

  Ten minutes later, they were on horseback. Neither spoke during the ride.

  When they walked their horses into the barn, Annelise saw an older man and woman beside one of the stalls, talking to Hank.

  “Hey, there, son. Riding the fences today?”

  Beside her, Cash tensed. “Might say that. Annie, my mom and dad. Pauline and Quentin Hardeman.”

  Annelise slid from her horse. Keeping a firm grip on Shadow’s rein, she led him to where Cash’s parents stood. Extending her hand, she said, “It’s so nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Hardeman.”

  Cash’s father swallowed her hand in his huge one. “Nice to meet you, Annie. Quentin, please, and Pauline. We’re not big on formality here.”

  “Thank you, Quentin.” She took Pauline’s hand, surprised at how strong it was. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Pauline, from your son.”

  “I’ll bet you have.” Cash’s mom shot her a smile. “Don’t believe half of it, and I won’t believe everything he tells me about you.” Then she moved to give her son a hug.

  Annelise studied Cash’s parents. His father, a good half-foot shorter than Cash, fell a couple of inches shorter than his wife, too. He stood somewhere around five-feet-eight and carried an extra twenty to twenty-five pounds, all of it in his midsection. A handsome man, his face was tanned and lined, no doubt from time spent outdoors. Slightly bowlegged, he’d probably spent a lot of that time on the back of a horse.

  Pauline Hardeman wore her thick, chestnut hair in a short, no-nonsense style. Cash took after her slender build but had his dad’s dark hair, tanned skin, and miss-nothing, emerald-green eyes.

  “What are you guys doing here?” Cash asked. “I figured after being gone all this time, you’d have enough catch-up at your place to keep you busy for a week.”

  “We do,” his dad groused. “I made the mistake of taking your mom into town for breakfast. To Sally’s.”

  Cash grimaced.

  His dad laughed. “Yep, she told us all about your new ranch hand.” He nodded toward Annelise. “Couldn’t keep your mom away.”

  Annelise wanted to squirm beneath his parents’ scrutiny but called on her years of training. She smiled at them, praying they wouldn’t read on her face how she and their son had spent the afternoon. One glance at Cash, and she knew his mind had taken the same route.

  But if either of his parents guessed their son and the new ranch hand had been rolling around naked on a quilt at lunchtime, neither let on.

  “Where are you from, Annie?” Pauline asked.

  Grateful the truth was out, Annelise answered honestly. “Boston.”

  “Whoa, that’s a long way from here,” Quentin said. “Don’t guess you wandered into Maverick Junction by mistake then.”

  The man was nobody’s dummy. “No, I didn’t. I used to have family in Texas and thought I’d visit. I decided to stay for a while, and Cash was good enough to offer me a job.”

  She doubted he’d buy that as the whole explanation, but, to her relief, he let it go.

  “If you’ll excuse me, I need to give Shadow a good rubdown after our ride.” She threw his parents a smile, totally aware Pauline had a thousand questions. Not today. They’d have to wait till she had her feet under her.

  Annelise turned to Cash. “If you don’t need me, I think I’ll head home after I finish here to make those other arrangements.”

  Cryptic, but she didn’t want to go into any more detail.

  “That’ll
be great.”

  The phone Cash had given her rang, and she dug it out of her hip pocket. She answered it as she led Shadow away. She didn’t look back, didn’t want to see the questions in Pauline’s and Quentin’s eyes. Didn’t want to catch Cash’s gaze.

  The phone call captured her attention immediately, blocking everything else.

  “Yes, yes, I can make it. Thanks so much, Oliver. I appreciate this more than I can say.”

  Hank entered the stall and lifted the saddle off Shadow for her.

  “You didn’t need to do that, Hank.”

  “I know it. Maybe I wanted to.”

  “Well, thanks.”

  “No problem.” With that, the unpredictable old hand turned and walked into the office in the back. Pauline and Quentin followed him in, having been promised a cold drink.

  By the time she’d finished grooming Shadow, the tension in her neck and shoulders was almost palpable. It had been an extraordinary day. One every girl dreamed about. One that usually involved romance, candles, and flowers.

  She didn’t mind one bit the candles had been missing. As for flowers, she’d had those. The meadow had been filled with wildflowers, the ultimate in fantasies. And romance? Oh, yeah, her cowboy provided that and then some. He’d quite literally swept her off her feet.

  If it had ended right there on that blanket by the pond, she’d be seeing stars and singing operettas. But it hadn’t. It ended with him telling her it had been nothing more than an afternoon’s fling.

  Not exactly what a girl hoped to hear after giving a guy her virginity.

  She hadn’t expected a declaration of love. Hadn’t wanted a declaration of love. But she would have preferred he wait a bit to spell things out. She could have wished for a little less reality so soon.

  “Hey, Annie.” Cash came up behind her, startling her. Shadow nickered.

  Hand on her heart, Annelise turned to Cash. “You need something?”

  “Thought maybe you’d like to grab some dinner together tonight.”

  Oh, yes. She’d love that. Her heart whipped into fifth gear. But she couldn’t. This man was dangerous to her equilibrium, and she needed to remember that. It might be best for everyone if she made the trip to Dallas for the fund-raiser, then kept right on going, back to Boston and her life there.

  The thought made her unbelievably sad.

  “I’m sorry, Cash, but I can’t.”

  “Can’t or won’t?”

  “Both, actually.”

  He cleared his throat. “Look, I know you’re mad at me.” He kicked at the bottom of one of the stalls. “And you have every right to be.”

  “This isn’t about you. Not everything is.”

  “Ouch.” He shook his fingers as if burned.

  “What? I hurt those delicate feelings?” She shrugged. “So sorry.”

  “Yeah, you look like it.”

  “That phone call? It was from Oliver. He arranged a meeting with Ms. Hanson for this afternoon. I need to drive over to Lone Tree.”

  “You want to borrow my truck?”

  She shook her head. “I’ll take the bike. It’s not that far.” She met his eyes. “It’ll give me some time to clear my head.”

  From the look on his face, he understood. He’d taken a magical moment this afternoon and destroyed it with his careless words, his poor timing. She’d given him something precious, something she’d held on to for so long. And he’d taken that gift and smashed it.

  But she’d learned a valuable lesson. She certainly understood the power of sex now. Why people, sensible people, did stupid, stupid things for it. And she’d no doubt learned that lesson at the hands of a master.

  Today hadn’t only been about sex for her. She’d waited a long time for the right person. She’d believed Cash was that person. She’d been wrong.

  Oh, she wouldn’t fool herself into believing he wouldn’t be up for another romp or two with her. But from now on, it had to be strictly business between them.

  His gaze searched hers. Finally, he said, “All right. If there’s anything I can do, let me know. I understand how important this is to you.”

  He turned and started to walk away, then swung back around to her. “Annie, about today—”

  “It’s okay, Cash. We’re two consenting adults. Nothing happened today that either of us didn’t want. We both participated. It’s okay,” she repeated.

  With a nod, he stuffed his hands in the back pockets of his jeans and walked away. His phone buzzed, and he pulled it out of his shirt pocket as he stepped into the Texas sunshine.

  She put away her grooming tools, gave Shadow and Moonshine some water and a handful of oats each, then went into the tiny bathroom in the back to freshen up. No sense going home. She’d leave from here.

  Cash and her feelings for him, whatever they were, had to be put on the back burner. She had something more important to focus on.

  Thelma Hanson.

  Did she hold the key to their futures? To her grandfather’s health? She’d soon find out.

  *

  Reaching for her helmet, Annelise turned when Vivi’s little red sports car pulled up behind her. She watched as Vivi hopped out, her dress more suitable for a Vegas casino than a stable.

  “Hey, Annie, I was hoping to catch you before you left for the day. I’ve come to do you a favor.”

  Knowing how Cash felt about his grandmother and having witnessed her hands-on approach to him at Bubba’s, Annelise went instantly on guard. She hooked the helmet back over the sissy bar. “Really?”

  “Really.” Her short skirt riding up her thighs, Vivi tiptoed across the dirt patch. “I don’t expect you and me’s ever gonna be BFFs or anything like that, but still…” She shrugged. “I hate to see you hurt.”

  “Who’s going to hurt me?”

  “Cash. I saw you two ride in this afternoon. He took you to the pond, didn’t he?”

  Annelise felt as if she’d been slapped.

  “He’s playin’ you like a fine fiddle, honey. And while he’s doin’ that, he’s playin’ with me, too. In bed. And I gotta tell you, he’s makin’ me sing.”

  Annelise’s heart stuttered, stopped, kicked into overdrive. She said nothing. Couldn’t.

  Vivi rubbed her shiny red nails over the skirt of her dress. “You thought the pond was special to you and him, didn’t you? That you were the first he’d taken there?”

  When she remained quiet, Vivi laughed. “You did. What a shame. You should have known better. I mean, do you honestly believe an uptight, straitlaced girl like you could keep a man like Cash happy?”

  Vivi stared at her, unblinking. “You can’t compete with me, Annie. I’m a showgirl, through and through. I know how to give one hell of a performance, earn a standing ovation, if you get my drift.”

  Her eyes turned hard. “You can’t give him what he needs. Cash is mine. Don’t let me catch you poaching on my territory again.”

  With that, she scooted into her little red car, backed out onto the drive, and roared away.

  Annelise watched her go, her mind reeling. By the pond, what she and Cash shared had seemed so right. She’d never, ever expected to come close to what she’d felt this afternoon.

  Cash had told her he’d never taken another woman there. She wanted to believe him. But Vivi knew about the lake. She sounded credible.

  One of them was lying to her. Which one?

  Self-doubt reared its ugly head. She was a novice.

  Cash wasn’t.

  Maybe she had left him wanting. She chewed her lip and watched the dust cloud grow behind Vivi. He had warned her not to harbor expectations. Business, she reminded herself. She had to keep it business with him. Nothing more.

  Hank stepped out of the barn, and she jumped. “Hank. I didn’t see you.”

  “Nope, don’t imagine you did.” He spat a stream of tobacco juice onto the ground. “Probably ain’t none of my business, and I’ll apologize right up front for eavesdroppin’, but that woman Leo got mixed up wit
h upset you, and I’m not gonna stand back and let her get away with it. No, sirree.”

  “I have to go.” She blinked quickly, praying she could hold back the tears. “I have to meet someone in Lone Tree.”

  “Understood,” he said gruffly. “But you’ll take a minute first.” His tone broached no argument.

  “I didn’t catch everything she said, but whatever it was, you’d do best not to believe her. I don’t especially like to speak ill of anyone, but that woman is plain evil. She’s hurt a lot of people with her lies and deceit.”

  Annelise wanted to believe him, but truth? What Cash did with Vivi wasn’t likely to be something he’d broadcast. Hank really had no way of knowing what went on between Vivi and Cash behind closed doors.

  Or at the pond.

  “Thanks, Hank. I appreciate it.”

  “You think on what I’ve said.” He turned and disappeared back into the shadows of the barn.

  She rode off, remembering a short story she’d read in high school. “The Lady or The Tiger?” The accused had to decide between two doors to determine his guilt or innocence. If he chose the tiger’s door, he’d be torn to bits. If the lady stood behind the door, he lived but had to marry her even if his heart was elsewhere.

  It all came down to trusting your instincts.

  More and more, she was coming to understand that. She had to make her own choices. Had to trust herself and her own instincts about people.

  She could make business decisions all day long without the slightest hesitation. But when it came to personal? She lacked confidence. And it was lowering to admit that. Barely able to decide on a paint color, how could she decide what to do about Cash?

  She wanted to trust. Wanted Hank to be telling the truth.

  But after today, could she?

  Chapter Fourteen

  The drive to Lone Tree had seemed endless the first time Annelise made it. Today, it was endless times ten. Between the possibility of finding her aunt and the hurtful words Vivi’d tossed out, she was on overload. Excitement, nerves, uncertainty, and dread—all raced through her like a dog trying to catch his tail, playing havoc with her emotions.