From Doctor...to Daddy / When the Cowboy Said ''I Do''. Karen Rose Smith

I say something to make you run off?”

      He was direct, that was for sure, and she liked that about him. She liked too many things. “It wasn’t you, Dillon. Really.”

      “That’s hard to believe.”

      When she didn’t say more, he took another step closer, and now they were within touching distance. “You have circles under your eyes.” He gently touched one of them with his thumb.

      Erika trembled and she hoped he couldn’t feel it. She’d never felt this kind of chemistry before. Taking a shaky breath, she decided just to give him a little bit of personal information. “I was up late last night studying. I’m taking an online management course. After all, I don’t want to be a receptionist forever.”

      “So you raced home to study?” He sounded … surprised. Maybe even a little impressed. “Would you like to do something like manage this whole resort someday?”

      “Yes, I would. From everything I’ve seen here, I think I’d enjoy hotel management. I’m hoping that if I do a great job with Frontier Days, I’ll be promoted.”

      Dillon’s gaze passed over her assessingly as if he was taking stock of her appearance and her intelligence, maybe even her age. Her shoulders squared and she knew she raised her chin, wondering what was coming next. Dillon had always been a gentleman, but they were alone here. Scott had taken advantage of any time they were alone to make a move on her.

      But Dillon didn’t engage in idle flattery, nor did he step closer. He asked, “Do you want to stay in Thunder Canyon or move on?”

      “I haven’t thought about leaving.” After all, she had a child and a life to make. “Why do you ask?”

      “Because you’re young, intelligent and beautiful. The whole world is open to you. Have you traveled at all?”

      She shook her head.

      “Do you want to?”

      “Maybe some day, but now I have to make a living and I’m establishing roots. After all, this is where I was born and raised. Don’t you feel that way about where you came from?”

      He shrugged. “I think a career path can lead away from roots. If you want to become a resort manager, you could end up on a tropical island.”

      Maybe he felt as if he’d shared too much personal information with her last night because he hadn’t answered her question. “I can’t picture myself leaving Montana. I feel grounded here.” She knew that mostly had to do with her mother and her daughter, but he didn’t need to know that. “Have you traveled much?” she asked, curious about his life … curious about what being wealthy meant.

      “I traveled before college, backpacked through Europe that summer.”

      “Your parents let you do that when you were so young?”

      “Let’s just say I was a responsible eighteen-year-old, and at eighteen my mother and stepfather couldn’t really stop me. I needed to get away and that was the way I chose to do it.”

      “I bet they worried about you the whole time you were gone.”

      “My mother was busy managing my father’s company. Her marriage to my stepfather was still fairly new. I didn’t feel they’d miss me.”

      “But they did.”

      “I could tell my mother did by the way her face lit up and she hugged me when I got home. What about your parents? Do they live in Thunder Canyon?”

      This was territory where she didn’t want to go, but she took a few footsteps in. “My mother does. She’s an elementary school teacher. But my father left when I was five and we never saw him again.”

      “I’m sorry,” Dillon said sincerely. “I know how hard it is to lose a parent, no matter how that happens.”

      She wanted to touch him now, the same way he had touched her. She longed to slip her fingers through the wave of hair on his forehead, or touch the line of his jaw that seemed so strong and determined. But she knew she should do neither. She knew she should back away.

      She actually did take a step back. “I have to start my workout so I can get to the office on time.” “I won’t keep you, then. I’ll see you later.” “Later,” she agreed, then headed for the StairMaster. She needed more than a sedate yoga routine today. She needed to expend some real energy. That way she could forget how Dillon’s thumb had felt on her cheek. She could forget the way his body turned her on. She could forget the way she’d felt when he’d held her in his arms.

      Late that afternoon, Erika studied the firmed-up details for Frontier Days. She found she accomplished more when Dillon wasn’t in his office. His presence distracted her no matter how she tried to focus. That was unusual. She was usually good at focusing.

      She heard the light footsteps in the hall and looked up when Stacy Gillette strolled in.

      Dillon’s “friend”—that’s how Erika thought of her—stopped at her desk. “Is Dillon in?”

      “Not right now. He’s in a meeting upstairs. Would you like me to page him?”

      Stacy didn’t seem perturbed. “No. I’ll see him soon enough.”

      A dinner date tonight?

      As Stacy left the reception area, Erika told herself once more she shouldn’t care what Stacy and Dillon meant to each other. But she did.

      Time to focus again.

      Turning to the computer, she printed out the schedule of events for Frontier Days. She was lifting the last page from the machine when she heard Dillon’s bootfalls and took a deep breath as he strode in. Right away she noticed the grim expression on his face. His gaze met hers when he stopped by her desk.

      “Is something wrong?” She didn’t know why her voice wobbled a little but it did.

      “We have a big problem. I had a meeting with Jeff’s father. I can’t talk him out of suing the resort. The whole situation is a mess. He’s already called his lawyer and the resort is going to have to do the same. I have a meeting with Grant tomorrow morning. He’s not going to be happy about this.”

      “Will the resort really be in trouble?” She could be out of a job in a minute if it was.

      “Legal fees add up. Guest numbers are down. The resort still has its main expenses. Grant might have to think about cutting guest perks.”

      Erika suddenly heard noise in the hall—adult feet, the patter of little feet. Dillon turned toward the doorway just as Erika’s mother and daughter entered in a burst of activity. That activity was Emilia. She was doing a combination of hopping and running in place.

      As soon as she saw Erika, she pulled away from her grandmother and practically flew to Erika calling, “Mommee! Mommee!”

      Erika opened her arms as her daughter launched herself at her. She felt the joy she always felt when she held Emilia close to her heart. After a few moments of mother-daughter bonding, Erika peered over her daughter’s head at Dillon. His face showed surprise and then dawning understanding.

      She had to say something. “Dillon, this is my mother, Constance Rodriguez, and my daughter, Emilia.”

      Dillon first shook her mother’s hand. “It’s good to meet you.” Then he turned to Emilia, a bittersweet expression on his face. “Hi, there.”

      Emilia turned into Erika’s shoulder shyly but peeked up at Dillon.

      “Say hello, baby,” Erika encouraged her daughter.

      Emilia opened one eye, rubbed her nose in Erika’s shoulder, then grinned at Dillon.

      “I can tell you’re going to be a heartbreaker,” he said. “Are you around two years old?”

      “Soon,”