“No.”
“Well, you sure have a way of twisting my words around. No, we are not having sex. We’ve never had sex. We’re friends. We’ve been friends since we first started out in the business. I rely on him and he does the same with me. And in this business, it’s hard to find people you can trust.”
“And you trust Colt.”
“With my life.”
His lips curved.
He was so irritating. “What?”
“You movie people are so dramatic.”
She turned and walked away from him. He caught up to her easily.
“And here I thought you were tough.”
“I’m plenty tough. But you’re an ass**le.”
He didn’t seem offended. “Not the first time I’ve heard that.”
She stopped and turned to face him. “Then tell me, Logan. Exactly what does it take to warm you up? Because I’ve been nice. I’ve been friendly. I’ve invited you to the set of the movie. And yet I’m getting all this hostility from you and I don’t understand why.”
“Was I being hostile? I thought we were just bantering.”
“You call that bantering?”
“I would. Obviously, you wouldn’t. I guess I’m used to my brothers and the ranch crew. We regularly hurl insults at each other. If I offended you, I’m sorry.”
She wasn’t buying it. “So you insult Martha?”
“Martha’s like a mother to me. I would never insult her. Besides, she might seem sweet on the outside, but she takes no guff. She might beat me over the head with a cast-iron skillet.”
Des could see that about Martha. “So you treat women differently, then.”
“Of course.”
“But not me. Or did you just not notice I was a woman.”
“Oh, I noticed, all right.”
“At least you’re not blind. I was beginning to wonder about you, Logan.”
He’d walked off the gravel road, and they’d ended up under a shady group of trees near a lake. She headed toward the copse of trees. Her feet were tired so she grabbed a spot under one of them and sat down.
He looked down at her. “Now what are you doing?”
“Sitting.” She patted the spot beside her. “You should try it.”
“I don’t think so.”
“I don’t bite. Honest.” He might enjoy baiting her, but she really enjoyed his discomfort around her.
“I’m fine standing.”
“Suit yourself.” She pivoted around to look out over the lake. “Are there fish in there?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you go fishing?”
“Sometimes.”
“I know how to fish.”
“Seriously.”
She tilted her head up to find him looking at her. “Yes. Seriously.”
“When have you gone fishing?”
“Lots of times, though not in a long time. When I was a kid, my dad would take me fishing whenever we were stationed somewhere near a lake.”
“And you liked spending time with your dad, even if that meant learning to fish.”
“Exactly. And hey, I was an adventurous sort of kid. Fishing never bothered me.”
He crouched down and pulled up a piece of grass. God forbid he should actually sit. That might make him comfortable.
“Anything else you can do in that lake?” she asked.
He frowned at her. “Like what?”
“I don’t know. It’s hot here. Maybe skinny-dipping?”
“No.”
She laughed. “Why not? Are there alligators or eels in there?”
“No.”
“Then you’re missing out on another opportunity to get a woman naked.”
“I don’t miss out on opportunities to get women naked. I just don’t skinny-dip.”
“Today might be your lucky day, Logan.”
She stood, and so did he. When she began to unbutton her shirt, he grabbed her hands.
“Stop.”
“Why? Afraid to see me naked?”
“No. But unless you’re an exhibitionist, you’re going to be baring yourself to a half dozen of my hands.”
She turned and looked in the direction of his gaze. Sure enough, several ranch hands were working the fence line north of them. She hadn’t even noticed.
“Well, shit.” She hurriedly buttoned up her shirt.
Logan cracked a smile. “I’m sorry to have missed that show.”
“You might have mentioned those guys to me.”
He shrugged. “We had some fence come down and several of the guys are replacing it today.”
“Asshole.” She turned and walked away, Logan’s laugh ringing in her ears.
She didn’t say a word to him on the walk back to the house. Instead, she went inside and found Martha in the kitchen pouring a glass of iced tea.
“How was your tour?”
“Interesting,” Des said, gratefully accepting a glass from Martha. “Thank you.”
Ignoring Logan, she visited with Martha for a while, asking her questions about her duties on the ranch. Martha was a great conversationalist, and talked pretty much nonstop about ranch life and her daily routine.
She was obviously a hardworking woman, just like everyone who worked the ranch.
Colt and Ben eventually showed up. “How was the ride?” she asked.
Colt grinned. “It felt great to be on a horse again.”
“The kid’s good,” Ben said to Logan. “We can put him to work anytime.”
Colt laughed. “Thanks. It’s nice to know I could potentially have a backup career in case this whole acting thing doesn’t work out.”
Martha let out a snort. “Considering your box-office draw, young man, I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”
Colt leaned over and kissed Martha on the cheek. “Thanks for that.”
“We should get going,” Des said, having had enough of Logan’s attitude for the day. “We’ve taken up enough of everyone’s day.”
“You did no such thing,” Martha said. “I loved having you here. I don’t get a lot of female company. You’re welcome anytime.”
She hugged Martha and so did Colt.
They walked outside and toward the vehicle they’d arrived in.