LITMIR.BIZ

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from the airline, informing her that due to a contract-workers strike at the Denver airport, all flights had been canceled until further notice. Since the only commercial airline going in or out of the Cheyenne airfield was from Denver, she wasn’t going anywhere until the labor dispute was settled.

      “Lovely,” she muttered sarcastically. Now what was she supposed to do?

      She’d packed light because she hadn’t expected to be away from home for more than a couple of nights. And she certainly hadn’t planned on having to find a local place to stay indefinitely while the strike was settled.

      “Looks like everything is intact,” Blake said, unaware of her dilemma. He straightened to his full height as he dusted off his hands. “When does your flight leave?”

      “It’s not leaving,” she said disgustedly as she opened the browser on her phone to see what lodging was available in the nearest town. “All flights in and out of Denver have been canceled due to an airport workers’ strike.”

      He remained silent for several long moments and when she looked up, he was staring at her. “Looks like you’ll be spending some time on the Wolf Creek Ranch after all,” he said, folding his arms across his wide chest.

      “No, I’ll get a room in town,” she said determinedly. It had been hard enough to see him again, to sit across the desk from him. She couldn’t imagine spending the night in the same house with him, knowing he was so close and not being able to touch him or have him hold her.

      He pointed toward the mountains to the west. “Not tonight you won’t. I can’t, in good conscience, let you drive on unfamiliar mountain roads in the dark. Hell, it would be a miracle if you didn’t get lost or end up hung in the top of a tree after missing a curve and going over the side of the mountain.”

      “You can’t allow me to drive back in the dark?” she demanded indignantly. “I have news for you, buster. If I choose to go, you aren’t going to stop me.”

      He closed his eyes and shook his head as if trying to gather his patience. When he opened them, he looked directly at her. “I realize we won’t be married for much longer, but right now, I’m still your husband,” he finally said. “I take my vows seriously. It’s my job to keep you safe until a judge says otherwise. I’d feel a lot better if you would at least wait to make the drive until tomorrow morning. It’s safer.”

      Karly was surprised by his grudging admission that he thought he should protect her. There hadn’t been anyone who’d cared about her safety since her mother passed away several years ago. But as nice as it was to have someone worry about her well-being again, she needed to remember that Blake was only doing it because he felt it was his obligation. He’d signed the divorce papers. He must be as ready to undo their mistake as she was.

      Sighing heavily, she tried to decide what to do. Everything about this trip had gone awry. Her flight from Denver to Cheyenne had been delayed for over two hours due to a dangerous storm front moving through, the drive to the ranch had taken three times as long as she had anticipated due to the car the rental agency had provided and her meeting with Blake hadn’t gone as quickly as she’d thought it would. The way her luck had been running, it was very likely that she’d end up in one of the disastrous scenarios he mentioned.

      “Eagle Fork is only twenty miles away,” she said, glancing at the sun rapidly sinking behind the mountains to the west.

      “It takes a little over an hour in the daylight to drive down the mountain to get there. How long do you think it would take you to get back at night?” Blake pointed toward the road. “Do you really want to drive on unfamiliar, rough mountain roads in the dark? At least stay tonight.”

      “If I take it slow, I shouldn’t have a problem,” she hedged. Sleeping in the same house with Blake—even if it was in different rooms—wasn’t a good idea. He was six feet two inches of male temptation that had proved almost impossible for her to resist in the past. It had taken going all the way back to Seattle for her to realize the effect he’d had on her good sense. What crazy decisions would she make if she stayed here with him?

      “And what happens if you have a deer or elk run across the road in front of you?” he persisted, oblivious to her inner battle. “I’ve got news for you, sweetheart. If you hit one of those in that little toy car, you’re going to lose.”

      Karly stared at him as she weighed her options. Driving up through the mountains during the day with all the switchbacks and ninety-degree curves had been a challenge. And of course, there had been the last several miles to the ranch, which had become a dirt-and-gravel road pitted with more holes than a piece of Swiss cheese. But at night?

      She hated to admit it, but her choices were extremely limited. Since she didn’t know another soul in Wyoming, she either had to risk going down the mountain in the dark to find a motel room in Eagle Fork, or stay with Blake.

      As she watched the evening shadows begin to overtake the high mountain valley, she decided she had run out of time. There simply wasn’t enough daylight left to make it back to town before it got completely dark.

      “I suppose I could spend the night here and then drive back down to Eagle Fork tomorrow to get a room for however long it takes the strike to be resolved,” she said, talking more to herself than to Blake.

      “Then it’s settled,” he said, walking to the back of the car. “I’ll carry your luggage inside.”

      “I wasn’t expecting to spend more than two nights away from home and only have an overnight case,” she said, using the keyless remote to open the trunk as she walked over to take the small bag from him. “I can bring it inside.”

      He shook his head as he lifted it from the trunk. “Grandma Jean would have my hide if she got wind of me letting you carry your luggage yourself.”

      “Does she live close by?” Karly had never known what it was like to be close to a grandparent. Three of hers had passed away before she was born and her paternal grandmother had lived so far away, she’d only seen her a handful of times.

      “She lives down in Eagle Fork,” he said as he placed his hand at the small of her back to guide her into the house. “There were several of us who lived with her during the winter when we were still in school.”

      “Because of all the snow?” she mused as they climbed the stairs to the second floor. If the roads were so difficult to navigate in the summer, she couldn’t imagine trying to get around in a heavy snowfall.

      “It was easier to stay down there where we could get to school than have to miss and make up all of the schoolwork when we were finally able to get back to class,” he said, nodding as he stepped back so she could enter a bedroom. When he set her small suitcase on the bed, he hooked his thumb over his shoulder toward the door. “While you get settled, I have to drive over to the main house to see about a few things the owner needs me to take care of.”

      “Was that the huge log home I passed just before I got here?” she asked, unzipping the overnight case to remove her flip-flops. She loved wearing heels, but she had been in them all day and her feet were beginning to hurt.

      Blake nodded. “The owner had that built a couple of years ago. Right after he bought the ranch.”

      “It’s beautiful,” she said, removing the heels to put on the flip-flops. “And it’s perfect for the rugged surroundings.”

      He stared at her a moment before he turned and walked out into the hall. “I guess I’d better go on over to the main house. Make yourself at home. I won’t be long.”

      As she heard him descend the stairs, she began to realize just how little she knew about the man she had married. In Las Vegas, Blake had literally swept her off her feet and charmed her into a fairy-tale week of romance, lovemaking and a wedding. But as idyllic as their time together had been, they hadn’t talked about their families or jobs, their hopes or their dreams.

      “It would have never worked between us,” she murmured as she sat down on the side of the bed.

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