LITMIR.BIZ

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“How do you figure into all this?”

      “I don’t,” he said, putting up both hands. “I just gave the lady a ride.”

      Erin grinned. “I’m trying to get him to let us use Moonlight Mountain. The director wants to shoot the last scene of the movie on the west ridge.”

      “I can see why. Nice piece of real estate you’ve got there,” Matt said to Spencer. “I’d considered making an offer on it myself, but I think you’d already put down earnest money.”

      “Well, damn. I wish you had bought it. Spencer’s playing hard to get.”

      “Don’t start,” he warned in a low voice just as Rachel approached.

      “Oh, please, I haven’t even begun to get started.” Erin smiled sweetly, heard Matt chuckle, then turned to Rachel.

      “Erin, right?”

      “Yes, we met at— Oh—” Erin stumbled back a step. Rachel was a hugger. “Okay,” Erin murmured, doing her best to reciprocate but feeling awkward. She kind of patted the other woman’s back and hoped that was enough.

      Matt grinned but not without a hint of understanding in his face. “You meet Rachel once, and you’re a friend for life.”

      “Not everyone.” Rachel glanced at her husband. “You know who I’m talking about,” she said and turned to Spencer with a smile and her hand out. “Hello. I’m Rachel.”

      He shifted the speculative look he was giving Erin, his expression easing as he nodded at Rachel. “Spencer Hunt.” He reached up and yanked off his hat before shaking her hand. “Pleased to meet you, Rachel.”

      With raised brows, Rachel looked at her husband.

      “Ah, Christ.” Matt rubbed his jaw, the corners of his mouth twitching. “Thanks, Hunt. Yeah, thanks for showing up the rest of us poor slobs with your fancy manners.”

      “You can blame my mama for that.” Spencer reset the hat on his head and smiled. A real, honest-to-goodness, genuine smile that seemed to come so naturally.

      Wow. Erin hadn’t known he had it in him. “You’ve never removed your hat for me,” she said.

      He turned to her with a hint of amusement in his face. “If you were less irritating, maybe I would.”

      Matt choked out a laugh. Then something caught his attention, and he excused himself, moving to the side. “Hey, Chuck,” he called to a young man walking toward the corral. “Have you seen Petey?”

      “I think he’s in the bunkhouse.”

      “Mind getting him for me?”

      “No problem, boss.”

      Rachel’s lips were pressed together as she studied Spencer and then Erin. “Are you guys headed to the stable?”

      Erin shrugged. “I don’t even know why we’re here.”

      Matt rejoined them. “Yep, we’ll be in the stable for a while. Maybe take a ride out to the north pasture. We’ll end up at the house eventually. Are you going to be home?”

      Rachel nodded. “I put a roast in the slow cooker. It won’t be ready until closer to dinnertime. But I can make some coffee for now, and sandwiches later.”

      Coffee? The magic word.

      Erin resisted the urge to raise her hand and jump up and down.

      “I’m sure there’s coffee brewing in the stable or the barn. I’ll call you in a while.” Matt smiled and kissed Rachel. “Thanks, honey.”

      It was just a brief brushing of lips, but it was the tenderness in his eyes that made Erin’s chest ache. No man had ever looked at her like that. And probably never would. In the thirty-three years her parents had been married, she’d never seen them kiss or hug each other even once. But then she hadn’t seen much of them, period. They’d worked a lot, so she’d mostly hung out at Lila’s house after school.

      “Erin? You want to come to the house with me?” Rachel asked. “Or would you prefer to go with the guys and learn everything you didn’t want to know about storing and shipping frozen bull semen?”

      With a laugh, Erin looked at the men. Seeing their wry smiles, she realized it wasn’t a joke. “Huh.” She turned back to Rachel. “So, you mentioned coffee?”

      “I can even make you an espresso if you want.” Rachel checked her watch. “Damn. We have to hurry. The chocolate chip cookies are almost ready to come out of the oven.”

      “Seriously? You made cookies?” Erin said, in awe of her new hero.

      “They’re actually the slice-and-bake stuff,” Rachel whispered as they started for the house. “But honestly, they taste homemade, so don’t tell anyone.”

      Erin slowed and glanced back at Spencer. “Don’t leave without me...”

      He’d been watching her. Rather boldly for a reserved man who guarded his privacy. Made her wonder just how well he knew Matt. And what exactly he was trying to do, besides give her a coronary.

      “Better save me a bite,” Spencer said with a wink.

      “Go worry about your semen.”

      She hadn’t noticed the cowboy leaving the barn until he burst out laughing.

      Grinning, Rachel was darting glances at Spencer when Erin fell into step beside her.

      “Uh-uh.” Erin shook her head. “I know that look. It’s not like that.”

      “How do you know what I’m thinking?”

      “Because you remind me of my friend Lila, and she would be looking at me just like you are right now.”

      Rachel’s smile widened.

      “I barely know him. Since the minute we met, he’s been trying to get rid of me.”

      “I’ve seen him only once, and it was from a distance,” Rachel said. “He’s very good-looking.”

      “Yes, he is. And stubborn. Annoying as hell.” Erin almost sneaked another look but caught herself. “I mean, who wouldn’t jump at the chance to make a small bundle for doing nothing?”

      “I take it you want to do some filming on his property?”

      Erin nodded. “He owns a lot of land, but his ranch isn’t that big. His herd is small. It’s hard to believe he makes so much money that he could afford to—” Erin frowned. “Is frozen semen big business?”

      “It can be,” Rachel said. “If you have the right stock to begin with. Matt raises rodeo stock. So far he’s bred two champion bulls and a winning stallion, and he hasn’t been at it very long. He’s just started to research the feasibility of selling the semen.”

      “How does Spencer fit into it?”

      “Other than he knows about proper storage and shipping, I’m not really sure.”

      Erin didn’t believe that for a second. Not with the way Rachel purposely avoided eye contact. Good to know she was trustworthy or simply not the type to gossip. Either way, she’d earned Erin’s respect.

      “Hey, do those chocolate chip cookies have nuts in them?” Erin asked as they reached the porch of the well-kept two-story house with green shutters.

      “Of course.” Rachel looked insulted. “If I’m going to cheat and pass them off as my own, why on earth would I skimp?”

      Erin grinned. A woman after her own heart.

       5

      AFTER A TWO-HOUR tour of the Lone Wolf, Spencer decided he liked Gunderson. They’d met twice before, once by chance,

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