Resisting Mr. Tall, Dark & Texan

He not only needed to keep her from quitting, but he also needed to find a way to make her see that opening a bakery was a dream best left to die a natural death. He needed her to keep working for him. And to keep being his live-in best friend.

He picked up his coffee and sipped.

Not much got by Lizzie. Now, she was studying him with pure suspicion in her eyes. “What kind of scheme are you hatching?”

He rearranged his expression, going for total harmlessness, as he set down the cup. “Montana will be fun. A change. Change is a good thing.”

She made a humphing sound. “In spite of your plans for getting into oil shale, how likely is it that you’re going to be building an office there?”

“Very likely.” He hoped. “I have family there. Two brothers. Cousins. And my sister and my other brothers are making noises like they might want to settle down there, too.”

“An invasion of Traubs.”

“Well, I wouldn’t put it that way exactly.”

She snorted. “I would.”

He reminded her, “And I have found a house there.”

“You mean you had me find you a house there.”

“That’s right. And you did a great job.” At least judging by the pictures she’d shown him online. Neither of them had actually been there yet. But the lease was for only six months. If he didn’t like it, he’d find something else.

She was giving him that don’t-kiss-up-to-me-because-I’m-not-buying-it look. He didn’t care much for that look. She said, “How about this? You go, I stay. I hire and train my replacement while you’re gone.”

Not a chance. “Forget that.” He ate another bite of the amazing muffin. “I’ve changed my mind.”

“About?”

“I want two months out of you in Montana. Forget training your replacement. When the two months are up, I’ll find my own assistant.”

She wrinkled her very assertive nose. “Montana. Ugh.”

“Don’t knock it until you’ve been there. Thunder Canyon is like everyone’s dream of a hometown in the mountains. And the scenery is spectacular.” When she only sat there staring at him mournfully, he reminded her, “You get a giant bonus. For only two more months.”

She slanted him a sideways glance. “Two months would be it. The end. You accept that?”

He didn’t. So he lied. “Absolutely.”

“Fine,” she agreed at last. “Two months. I go with you to Montana. I get that big bonus and you find your own new assistant.”

“Deal.” He popped the rest of the muffin into his mouth and offered her his hand across the table. She took it and they shook.

He was careful to keep his gaze steady on hers and only to smile on the inside, to give her no clue that he was lying through his teeth. There was no way she was leaving him. He just needed more time with her to make her see the light.

Two months in Thunder Canyon should be just the ticket.

Chapter Two

Late Thursday afternoon, Ethan parked his rented SUV on Main Street in Thunder Canyon. The early-June sun shone bright and the air was crisp and clean, with a cool wind sweeping down from the mountains. In the distance, snowcapped peaks reached for the wide Montana sky.

He was thinking he would walk the three blocks to the Hitching Post, the landmark saloon/restaurant that had stood for well over a hundred years now at the corner where Main jogged north and became Thunder Canyon Road.

But then, a few doors down, he spotted his sister-in-law Erika. The pretty brunette stood peering in the window of one of the shops. Beside her was a gorgeous blonde. Ethan knew the blonde, too: Erin Castro, his brother Corey’s bride-to-be.

As Ethan approached, Erin turned her back to the window. She sagged against it, hanging her head. When she spoke, Ethan heard the tightness of barely controlled tears. “I can’t believe this. I talked to him yesterday …”

Erika peered all the harder in the wide front window. “I’m so sorry, Erin. I really don’t think there’s anyone in there. And all the display cases are empty.”

Erin tipped her head back and let out a moan. “How can this be happening? Oh, Erika, what am I going to do now? The wedding is Saturday.”

Erika turned around and leaned back against the window, next to Erin. “I can’t believe he would just … vanish like that.” Right then, she glanced over and saw Ethan lurking a few feet away, waiting for them to notice him. She frowned. “Ethan? Hey, I didn’t know you were already in town.”

He nodded. “Got in an hour ago. My assistant shooed me out of the house. She doesn’t like me underfoot while she’s trying to unpack—and why do I get the feeling something has gone wrong here?”

Erin let out another moan. “Because it has.” She aimed a thumb over her shoulder at the sign that said Closed Indefinitely in the shop window. The shop was a bakery. La Boulangerie was written in flowing script across the front windows. “I came over to make my final payment on my wedding cake only to find that the baker, apparently, has skipped town.”

Erika said, “She paid him two-thirds in advance. Can you believe that? This is fraud, plain and simple.”

“It’s a disaster, that’s what it is.” Erin raked her shining blond hair back off her forehead with an impatient hand. “I don’t even care about the money at this point. I care that it’s Thursday … .” A whimper escaped her. “Thursday.”

Erika wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “We’ll figure out something. There are other bakeries in town.”

“I can’t believe it. Forty-eight hours until the wedding.” Erin’s huge blue eyes swam with tears. “The whole town is coming. And. No. Cake.”

Ethan never could stand to see a woman cry. Plus, as soon as he’d realized what the problem was, he had the solution. “Erin, dry those tears. And come with me, you two. My car’s right there.”

His brothers’ women looked at him as if he was a couple sandwiches short of a picnic.

Erin sniffed. “Ethan, we’re both glad to see you and we’d love to spend a little time with you. But right now we’ve got to find someone who can deliver a six-tier wedding cake by Saturday.”

“I’m with you. I get it.” He took Erin’s arm and wrapped it around his. And he offered his other arm to Erika. “And believe it or not, I happen to know the best baker in Texas.”

Erin remained unconvinced. “That’s great, Ethan, but there’s no time to fly someone in from Texas.”

“I know. And that’s not a problem. The baker in question is right here in town—whipping the house I’m renting into shape, as a matter of fact.”

“Uh, he is?”

“Actually, her name is Lizzie. She’s a genius of a baker. She’s at my house and we are going there now.”

Lizzie stood in the formal living room of the house she’d rented for Ethan, BlackBerry in hand, and checked off the afternoon’s already-accomplished tasks.

Unpack 4 Ethan. Check.

Unpack 4 self. Check.

There was more in the same vein. But overall, the house was in pretty good shape. It had come quite nicely furnished and she’d hired Super-Spiffy Housekeeping to make the place shine. Also, the Super-Spiffy folks offered a shopping service. Lizzie jumped on that, too. As a result, the pantry and fridge were now fully stocked and ready to go.