He drew two cards from the deck and handed them face down to her. She plucked them from his fingers and added them to her hand. He watched her very closely. Nothing.

  Wait, there!

  A slight move, but the thumb on her right hand ever so slightly touched the ring on her pointer finger. Her grandmother’s ring. Colton knew that because he remembered seeing Mrs. B wear it every day when he was growing up, and then had given it to her granddaughter the first summer she came to visit. He’d never known Maggie to take it off since.

  So, she touched her ring. Was that a good sign or bad? Great hand or lousy? Guess he’d find out soon enough. He looked at his own cards. A pair of jacks. Not great. Time to play a little chicken.

  “I bet ten.” He tossed a handful of chocolate chips in the center.

  Dark brown eyebrows rose. “Good hand, huh?”

  “Maybe. Why don’t you find out?”

  She narrowed her gaze, staring at him, trying to call his bluff.

  Good luck sweetheart. Everyone had a tell…everyone except him.

  “I see your ten, and raise you fifteen.” She slowly dropped each chip onto the pile.

  Chocolate scent filled the air, reminding him of all the sweet things in the room he’d like to get his mouth on.

  “So confident, Magpie. I call.” He dropped another handful onto the table. “What cha’ got?”

  “You first, darling,” she said with a curl of her lips.

  “Oooo I like it, but maybe next time try not to make it sound like an insult.”

  “Stop calling me silly nicknames and maybe I will. Now, stop stalling and show me what you have.”

  There was no way he could let a set up like that get away. “I’d love to show you what I have, but maybe the kitchen isn’t the best place for our first time.”

  Those pretty green eyes rolled upwards. “Your cards, Colton. Get your mind out of the gutter and on the game.”

  He laughed, flipping his cards face up on the table. “Pair of jacks.”

  Beaming, Maggie turned hers over. Three tens and two fives. “Full house! I win. Again.” Scooping the chocolate chip pile into her hands, she dragged her winnings over to her already huge pile.

  “Unbelievable.” Guess the ring thing was a “good” tell.

  “Not really. You are a lousy poker player, Colt.”

  Affronted, he sat back in his chair. “Am not.”

  “You have a very overt tell.” She grabbed the fallen cards.

  He crossed his arms over his chest. “No way.”

  Her shoulders lifted in a shrug as she shuffled.

  No way. No way did he have a tell. He’d been clearing the table with his brother for years. He was a great poker player. Unless…Dade was lousy at poker.

  “Okay fine. Then I won’t tell you what it is, and I’ll get all the chocolate chips to myself.”

  They sat in silence as she finished shuffling, then dealt five cards out to each of them. Colton picked up his cards, glancing at them. A two, pair of eights, a ten and a king. Awful. He glanced across the table. No expression, no ring touching.

  “Three cards please.” He passed the king, two and ten to her.

  She put them in the discard pile and gave him three new cards from the top of the deck. Then she put down two of her own cards, replacing them with new ones. He waited, watched. She touched her ring.

  “Okay, I give. What’s my tell?”

  Maggie glanced up from her cards and smiled. “You tilt your head slightly to the right when you bluff.”

  Really? A head tilt? How had she noticed that? No one had ever mentioned that before, and he played poker every week with his brother and their ranch hands. He won a lot, too. Never had anyone noticed his tell. Hell, he hadn’t even noticed it.

  Maggie had.

  She noticed something about him that no one else had. He smiled. Another good sign.

  Picking up his new cards, he glanced at them. A three, a seven and another two. Crap.

  “Two,” she said, tossing chips into the center of the table.

  She was playing low ball, trying to get him to up the ante. Not with this hand.

  “I fold.”

  “On two?” Her mouth dropped in astonishment.

  He tossed his cards down on the table. “I may have a tell, Magpie, but so do you. Another full house?”

  Open mouth closing, she grimaced. “No, I had a straight.”

  Colton laughed, drawing a smile out of her.

  “Shoot. It took Lizzy years to figure out my tell.” She rubbed her ring again. “Gran was the one who taught me how to play poker. Her ring always brings me luck. Well, in the game at least.”

  They played a few more hands, both trying unsuccessfully to hide their tells. After a few hands of fruitless betting and folding, they called it quits. Maggie suggested stew for dinner. They worked together chopping up the meat and vegetables and tossing everything in the small crockpot he kept at the cabin. It was strange how right it felt. How totally normal it was to stand beside this woman and make a meal. Like they had been doing it forever.

  Colton shook his head. He was starting to sound like a freaking Hallmark card. He glanced out the living room window. It was still snowing outside, but it had tapered off to small, sparse flakes.

  “We’ll be able to get out of here tomorrow morning,” he said. “You can ride into town with me.”

  “What about my car?”

  She wandered over to the living room couch. Sitting, she curled up with a blanket and grabbed a book of crosswords puzzles from the coffee table. Who had left that here? Probably his mom on her last visit; his mother loved her word games.

  “There’s no way you’d get down this mountain on a spare. I’ll give Pete a call when we get back into town and have him come get it. He can tow it back and fix the tire for you.”

  “I can make the call myself you know. I do know how the telephone works.”

  He turned to face her; her arms were crossed, a stern set to her jaw. Too cute. Time to tease the bear.

  “Hey, I’m just trying to be helpful. I take you in, save your life, feed you, offer to call a tow, and what do I get—”

  “Cookies.”

  He smiled. “Oh yeah. Those were great. Any left, Magpie?”

  She smiled, just as he had intended her to. “No porker, you ate them all.”

  “Porker?”

  She shrugged. “You make a nickname. I make a nickname. You don’t like it?”

  He gave her a playful wink. “I love it, sweetheart.”

  They spent the afternoon chatting about various things. The ranch, the stars she met in LA, nothing too serious. After the hearty dinner, he suggested a movie. There was no cable, but there was a stack of DVDs in the cabin. Maggie picked out a B rated monster flick, one of those so bad it was good. They laughed the entire way through, making jokes as the film went along. He couldn’t remember the last time he had this much fun with a woman—with her clothes still on. By the time the movie finished, it was past ten. Maggie’s mouth opened on a jaw-cracking yawn.

  “I am beat.”

  “We should probably turn in so we can get an early start tomorrow.”

  She stood, tossing the blanket she had been snuggled up with back onto the couch. “Yeah, I need to open the shop tomorrow. I hope no one is upset about it being closed today.”

  “People here understand about weather emergencies, Magpie.”

  She snorted. “I guess they would.”

  Time for bed. The question was, who was going to sleep in it? The answer he wanted was both of them. But as he watched her hesitant green gaze glance back to the bedroom, the realization that there was only one bed dawning, her hands starting to twist, and he knew what he had to do.

  “I’ll take the couch.”

  Her mouth turned down. “That’s silly. I’m smaller. I’ll fit better. Plus, it’s your bed.”

  “We can share it,” he said with an overtly suggestive tone, only half-kidding.

  She blushed. “Dream on, Colt.”

  “Seriously, take the bed. I’ll be fine out here. It’s where Dade always shoves me when we both come up anyway.”

  “Okay.”

  Then, shocking the hell out of him, she went up on her tiptoes and leaned in. Her soft, sweet lips pressed against his cheek in a barely there kiss. It took everything in him not to turn his head and claim her mouth.

  “Thanks, Colt.”

  With that, she turned and headed down the hall.

  “Maggie.”

  She paused, glancing back at him.

  He gave her his best wolf grin and whispered just loud enough for her to hear, “I will dream tonight. Of you.”

  Chapter Eight

  “Rise and shine, Magpie. The snow has stopped. It’s time to head out.”

  Maggie groaned, pulling the covers over her head. The room was warm, and the bed was comfy. Why did he have to go ruin it by reminding her of the freezing snow waiting just outside? Couldn’t she just stay in bed all day?

  “Come on, sweetheart. We got to move if you want to open your shop on time.”

  “I’m not your sweetheart, Colton Denning,” she grumbled through the covers at the door.

  She could hear him chuckle on the other side.

  “I’ve got fresh coffee.”

  If only coffee would work this morning. “Give me ten minutes.”

  “You got five.” The sound of his footsteps retreated.

  Stupid man.

  It was his fault she was so tired and grouchy this morning. All that teasing and flirting yesterday had wound her up tighter than a pair of skinny jeans. Then he had to go be all sweet and concerned. Offering to call a tow for her. Drive her into town.

  Why couldn’t he just be an asshole so she could hate him?

  And then there was the proximity. Bad enough she had seen him nearly naked yesterday morning, but last night, while watching the movie, Colton had been so close. Sure, the couch in the cabin was really small and more of a love seat. Awfully convenient excuse. With the heater running full steam and the fire roaring away, it had been toasty warm inside last night, but she’d still kept that throw blanket wrapped around her like armor against him. Still, she remembered the warm, firm press of his thigh against hers, and the strong, lean muscles of his arm casually laid across the back of the couch behind her.

  Her hormones had been raging so much she’d almost accepted his offer of sharing the bed. Somehow, she’d found the sanity to decline. No good would come from giving in to her stupid childhood crush.

  Deep down, in her heart of hearts, she feared it wasn’t just a childhood crush. She was afraid it might be much more than hero worship or silly puppy love. If it was, and she gave into it—and he didn’t feel the same—it would crush her worse than Miles had.

  For her heart’s sake, friendship was all she could offer. Probably all he wanted anyhow. The cowboy was smart, successful, and sexy as hell. He could have his pick of women. Why would he want a mousy little baker covered in more flour than foundation?

  Realizing two of her allotted five minutes were already gone, Maggie begrudgingly tossed the covers back and rose. She wore a long, dark T-shirt that she’d found in the dresser. It smelled like Colton. Another reason she had tossed and turned last night. Smelling the man had invoked all kinds of fantasies that kept her hot and bothered, all night long.

  Stripping off the shirt, she tossed it on the bed and reach for her clothes she’d thrown onto the floor the night before. She dressed quickly, not bothering with makeup since she had none here. She had her hair braided without even realizing she’d done it. It was automatic. Pulling a hair tie out of the front pocket of her jeans she fastened the end tail.

  Hesitating at the door, she glanced to the bed.

  One beat.

  Two.

  Oh, why the hell not.

  Rushing back, she grabbed the T-shirt, balled it up, and stuffed the material in the inner pocket of her jacket, next to Gran’s recipe box. Hoping it wasn’t too noticeable, she headed back to the bedroom door. Just as she grabbed the knob, it swung open.

  “Jeez, I was coming right out. Impatient much?”

  Full, sexy lips smiled, and her stomach dipped like the first drop of a roller coaster.

  Stupid stomach.

  He held out a travel mug of what she prayed was coffee.

  “I was hoping to catch you naked.”

  At his wink, she gave him a playful shove and pointed to the mug. “That better be coffee.”

  He handed it over. “It is, and seriously, we need to get going. The weather report says there’s another storm headed this way in about two hours.”

  It would take them an hour alone to get off the mountain.

  “Just let me hit the bathroom, and I’m good to go.”

  In less than five minutes, they were in Colton’s truck, headed down the mountain. The radio played static intermixed with bits of country when the signal was good. Maggie sat in the passenger seat drinking her coffee, glad he had suggested she ride with him. The road turned icy overnight, but he was handling it like a pro. She would have been white-knuckled, praying every second of the trip. Snow may be pretty, but the stuff was hazardous.

  A little over an hour later, they arrived back in Peak Town. The streets were plowed, but the town had seen some of the snowstorm, too. Small drifts were piled next to where the streets and sidewalk had been cleared. The sun was out, melting the snow, but there were dark clouds on the horizon. Doomsday clouds, as she now thought of them.

  It’s springtime, dammit!

  Colton pulled up in front of Cupcakes Above the Clouds and put his truck into park, leaving the engine to idle.

  “You want me to call Pete about your car? It’s really no trouble. I have to talk to him about a new timing belt for Dade’s truck anyway.”

  She wanted to say no. She could handle it on her own. But, with having to find a new distributor, going through Gran’s recipes, and prepping for the blogger, she was a little overwhelmed. Would it really hurt to let a friend help out?

  “If it’s not too much trouble. I’d really appreciate it. Tell Pete to call me when it’s fixed.”

  He grinned. “You got it, Magpie.”

  Rolling her eyes, she opened the truck door and slid out. She paused before closing the door. “Would you like to come over for dinner tonight?”

  What? Where the hell had that come from?

  She had just blurted it out without thinking. By the look on his face, Colton was as shocked as she was. “I—I was thinking I’d make you dinner.” I was? “To thank you for—you know. Saving my life and everything.”

  There, that sounded reasonable and friendly. Not pathetically lustful at all. Just making dinner for a friend to thank him for his help.

  Colton recovered from his shock and smiled like he had just won the lottery. “Sure, Magpie. I’d love to.”

  Again with the nicknames. Maybe this was a bad idea. Too late to take it back now. “Six thirty okay with you?”

  “Perfect. See you then.”

  “Bye.”

  Slamming the truck door, she turned and ran up the stairs toward her apartment. Her face burned. What the hell had she just done? Only an hour ago she’d told herself not to get involved with the tempting, flirtatious cowboy. Hadn’t she agreed that it was a potential mistake that could rip her heart out?

  Yes, she had.

  So, why did she feel like a giddy schoolgirl whose crush had just checked the yes box?

  Chapter Nine

  Still grinning from Maggie’s unexpected invitation, Colton pulled his truck into the driveway of the ranch. He had lived here his whole life and couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. Less than ten minutes outside of town, the property had over fifty acres that included a small creek and a few riding trails. Pure heaven.

  Stepping out of the truck, he shut the door and headed toward the house. He could already smell the coffee, eggs, and bacon. The morning chores would be done and everyone was sitting down to breakfast. That was the way it worked on a ranch. Chores first, food second.

  Inside, he hung his jacket up on the coat rack and made his way to the kitchen. Sure enough, everyone was sitting around the large, wooden table chowing down. Standing at the coffee pot refilling a cup, his brother glanced up when he entered the room.

  “Hey, Colt. How was the cabin?”

  “Great.” Work on a ranch never ended, but he and Dade made sure to take a few days here and there to recharge their batteries while the other stayed behind to keep an eye on things. “Anything happen while I was gone?”

  “Molly’s nose is leaking snot like a drippy faucet. I think she had a cold,” grumbled Juan Ortiz, their ranch foreman and right hand man of three years.

  “I called Doc Billings. He said he’d come by later today.”

  Billings was the only vet in a fifty-mile radius. In horse and cow country, that made him a very busy man.

  “We should move her to the empty paddock in back. If she’s sick, we don’t want the others catching it.”

  Dade nodded. “Already done. You eat yet?”

  He shook his head. His brother motioned for him to sit, already fixing up a plate for him. Only two years older, Dade had always taken his role as big brother very seriously.

  Juan and the other hands finished their meals and headed back out to tend to the horses.

  “So, anything interesting happen this weekend?”

  A plate piled high with eggs, bacon, and toast was set in front of him. He glanced up to see a knowing gleam in his brother’s eyes. Though Dade had darker hair than him, their eyes were the same, clear blue. That blue was now staring a hole in Colton.

  Shoveling a forkful of eggs into his mouth, he shook his head and stayed silent.

  “I hear you dropped Maggie Evans off at her place this morning.”

  What the hell? “Who told you that?”

  “Carl when he dropped off the feed delivery.”

 

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