Relationships required nurturing. In the distant past that had been something at which she had excelled. In recent years she hadn’t had time for it, not until she’d come back to Wyoming and inadvertently found her priorities shifting back to the way they had once been. Despite the turmoil of recent weeks, her life felt more balanced now. She could actually envision a time when she might be perfectly contented to work right here, alongside Tony, surrounded by the people who meant the most to her—her family and friends. When she tried to add Rafe to that image, she couldn’t.
She glanced up and realized Peggy was regarding her with puzzlement. “What?”
“If I had a guy who looked like him waiting for me, I wouldn’t be sitting in here with such a glum expression,” Peggy said.
“You’re absolutely right,” Gina said, forcing a smile and heading for the dining room. Hiding in the kitchen was no way to deal with this. She needed to tell Rafe about the conclusion she’d reached. Surely he wouldn’t be all that unhappy if she suggested that he go back to New York.
Unfortunately, Rafe looked as if he was here to stay, she noted as she spotted him sitting at a table beside a window, papers spread out around him. He seemed perfectly content with his office away from home. She walked over to join him.
“If you’re going to set up an office in here, I’ll have to charge you rent,” she said.
Rafe’s gaze shot up, instantly filling with so much heat it almost took her breath away. Why had she ever left the man’s room the night before? If this thing between them was destined to end, why wasn’t she taking advantage of every single second it lasted?
“You look beat,” he said, worry crowding out the desire in his expression.
“Just what every woman wants to hear. You need to work on your technique for flattery,” she retorted.
“Your beauty is a given. You still look tired.”
She grinned at that. “Better. But I’d suggest you keep practicing or you’ll never get the girl.”
A smile tugged at his lips. “I thought I already had the girl.”
Her pulse did a little bump at that. “Oh, really?”
“Do I?”
She pulled out a chair and sat down. “Maybe,” she said thoughtfully. “For the time being. In fact, we ought to talk about that.”
“Uh-oh,” he said. “You’ve had too much time to think overnight, haven’t you?”
“I didn’t spend it all on you,” she said testily. “But when you did happen to cross my mind, it occurred to me that this is crazy.”
“What’s crazy?” he asked.
“This,” she said, gesturing from him to herself and back. “You and me.”
“Why is it crazy? You’re the one who insisted on taking it to a whole new level. I’m just starting to get used to the idea. In fact, I’m just about convinced you’re a genius.”
“I don’t think you’re supposed to have to get used to the idea of caring about somebody. It’s supposed to just happen.”
“Not to me.”
A tight note in his voice suggested he was admitting something to her that he rarely admitted, perhaps even to himself.
“You said something like that last night, but I can’t believe it. You’ve never cared about someone?” she asked, unable to hide her incredulity. “Never?”
“Not really.”
“What about your mother?”
“I told you, we maintain a polite distance.”
Gina found the response appalling, but because of his forbidding expression, she let it go. “But you have been involved with a lot of women, right?”
“I’ve dated. I wouldn’t say I’ve been ‘involved’ with any of them.” He regarded her defensively. “Do we have to talk about this?”
“I think we do. Rafe, where do you see this going?”
“I don’t know.” His gaze locked with hers. “Do you?”
Gina sighed. “No,” she said, then waved off the response as if to erase it. The truth was she had thought of little else all night long and she had vowed not ten minutes ago to be honest with him about her conclusions. “I take that back. If I’m being totally honest, I don’t see it going anywhere. Not in the long term, at any rate.”
His jaw tightened. “I see. May I ask why?”
She leaned forward. “Look, you and I didn’t get off on the best foot at the beginning. You thought I was a criminal, for heaven’s sake. Because of my past—no, just on general principle—I resented that like crazy. But there was this undeniable physical attraction between us even then. It was probably heightened because there was nothing we could do about it under the circumstances.”
“But we did do something about it,” he pointed out. “We made love.”
“We had sex,” she insisted. “And it was great. Fabulous, in fact.”
“Glad to hear we were on the same page about that, at least,” he retorted.
She refused to be intimidated by his sarcasm. “You asked me why I thought it wouldn’t work. I’m trying to tell you.”
Rafe held up his hands. “By all means, though I’m not so sure we ought to be having a discussion about sex with half the town listening in.”
“Half the town?” Gina echoed, then turned in her chair to find that the restaurant had begun to fill up. Several fascinated gazes were turned in their direction. She was going to kill Rafe for not warning her sooner. Or maybe Peggy, who was just passing by with a smirk on her face. Gina snagged her hand. “Why didn’t you tell me we had customers?”
“You were sitting right here. I figured you weren’t either blind or deaf,” Peggy responded with an unrepentant grin. “I guess something else had captured your attention.”
“Have you taken their orders?” she asked, barely resisting the desire to grind her teeth in frustration.
“I’m doing that right now,” Peggy
