“Sure, it sounds fun,” Amber said. “Let’s go.”
Chad chugged the last of his beer, took Amber’s hand to lead her to the door of the bar, and ran smack dab into his neighbor Harper Bay.
“Watch where you’re going, Bay,” he said jovially. “You damn near knocked me off my feet.”
“Hey, Chad,” Harper said, “who do you have there?”
> “This is Amber. She’s working for Judy at the beauty shop. Amber, Harper Bay. He runs the ranch next to ours.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“A pleasure,” Harper said, taking Amber’s hand. “Can you hold on a minute, there’s someone I know would like to see you.”
“Who?”
“Give her a minute,” Harper said. “She went to freshen up.”
“Her?” Chad’s brain churned. Who would Harper have with him? He looked toward the ladies room, and within ten seconds, a goddess emerged. Tall and sleek, with mahogany hair that drifted past her shoulders in silky waves and a face that could rival Helen of Troy in beauty. And a body…breasts as luscious as any, curvy hips, and long legs that went on forever in those clingy jeans. Who the hell was she?
Harper turned and grabbed the woman’s hand. “You remember Catie, don’t you, Chad?”
Chad’s stomach dropped, as did his jaw. This was Catie Bay? Little Catie Bay, who used to wear her brown hair in pigtails and spent her life in the barn with her horses?
Had she always had breasts?
Where were the freckles? The braids? The…little girl? Where was the damn little girl? That little girl had nursed a mega-crush on Chad growing up. He and his brothers had always known. Ever since he’d been paired up with Catie’s older sister, Angelina, for a project in high school and he’d spent massive time at the Bay ranch. Catie’d been four then and had followed Chad around like a lovesick pup. Damn, she’d been a cute little thing. He’d seen her a lot over the years, watched her grow up. Hell, he’d danced with her at Dallas’s wedding. She wasn’t more than seventeen at the time, and he’d been, what? Twenty-eight or so? She’d been turning into a pretty thing then, but she was still a kid.
Then another image flashed through Chad’s mind—the last time he’d seen Catie Bay. At her eighteenth birthday party, some four years ago now. She’d cornered him in the private gazebo at her ranch, and…
His groin tightened.
He was eleven years her senior, and he’d stopped it. But it had been damn near the hardest thing he’d ever done. He remembered luscious eighteen-year-old lips clambering to touch his. Perky eighteen-year-old nipples poking through her silky green dress. Damn, she’d looked good in green, but she was a kid. Still had a light spray of freckles across her nose…
This woman standing next to Harper was no kid.
Nope, no kid at all.
Chapter Two
Catie inhaled, closed her eyes, and hoped beyond hope the ground might open up beneath her and swallow her whole. What in the hell had Harper been thinking? She’d seen herself in the mirror in the restroom. The ten hour flight hadn’t been kind. Her hair was limp, her eyes puffy, and her left cheek still had a faint imprint from the airplane seat where she’d fallen asleep for a blessed two hours. Still, she was shy about six more hours of slumber, and her face and body showed it. Thankfully, she hadn’t tripped coming out of the bathroom.
Chad McCray.
He was still the most handsome man she’d ever seen. His dark walnut hair fell to his shoulders in silky waves—silky waves she’d fantasized running her fingers through more than once. His brown eyes were long lashed and mesmerizing, and now, little crinkly laugh lines added to their allure. His sinewy and sexy forearms were as muscular as ever, and those wispy brown hairs still peeked out from his western shirt. Tall, the tallest of the McCray boys at six-feet-four—the most beautiful cowboy she’d ever laid eyes on.
And clinging to him was a pretty blond woman. A jolt of jealousy hit Catie in the gut.
Had she really wanted to come to the Bullfrog? What had she been thinking? Her margarita could wait.
Too late now, though.
“Hi, Chad,” she said, and held out her hand. Might as well make the best of the situation. She was an adult now, not some drooling kid with a crush. So she didn’t look her best. She could still act the part.
“Catie, I can’t believe it,” Chad said. “I wouldn’t have recognized you. You’ve sure grown up. Where the heck have you been? Why didn’t you come home to visit more often?”
“Well, I—”
“She hasn’t been home at all,” Harper said. “She’s been traveling the world with her global friends.” He laughed. “But I hope we can convince her to stay for a while, now that she’s here.”