after one romp in the bedroom together. But to see him now, just hours after their encounter, flirting with another woman while treating her with his usual indifference, she felt a senseless urge to leap across the table and smack Buck’s handsome face.
Grow up and get over it! she told herself as the petite blonde walked away from the table with their order. Even the sway of her jeans-clad hips held an invitation. The art of seduction was one Terri had never mastered. And suddenly she felt very insecure about her performance that morning. She was hardly the alluring, experienced type of woman he usually chose as a bedmate. The sex had seemed fantastic to her...but had it been merely forgettable to him?
She had to forget what had happened. That would be the only way to survive life in Buck’s magnetic aura. That—or leave.
Quinn’s happy chatter was enough to fill the awkward silence while they waited for their order. Lost in her own thoughts, Terri was startled when Buck reached across the table and nudged her arm. “Hey,” he said, “where have you gone to?”
She blinked herself back to the present. “Did you need something?” she asked.
He gave a shake of his head. “You’re not at work now, Terri. I don’t need anything. I just asked you a question. Did you know one of your earrings was missing?”
“Oh, yes.” Reflexively, she brushed a hand to her bare earlobe. Was it an innocent question, or was he testing her? “Bob noticed it was gone earlier today. I’m still hoping it’ll turn up somewhere.”
“Too bad. I know you liked that pair.” His expression was all innocence.
“Yes, I did.” Terri scrambled to change the subject. “Quinn was telling me she’s growing out of her clothes. I think she needs a shopping trip.”
“I’ll let you off early tomorrow to take her,” he said. “Take my credit card and get her anything she wants.”
“Can I have an iguana?” Quinn asked.
Buck raised an eyebrow. “Now where did that come from?”
“My friend has one. It’s really cool. I’d take care of it. Iguanas are easy. They just eat lettuce and stuff.”
“Think about it a minute,” Buck said. “If it eats, it poops. You’d have to clean its cage every day. Could you do that?”
“Sure. That stuff doesn’t bother me.”
“But what would you do with it at the end of the summer?” Terri put in. “You can’t just walk away from an animal and leave it here. You’d have to take it home with you. Would your mother let you keep it?”
“If I ask her and she says yes, can I have one?”
“Ask her first. Then we’ll talk about it.” Buck cast Terri a grateful glance. He ran Bucket List with an iron hand, but his daughter could talk him into anything—whether it was a good idea or not.
What the little girl really wanted was his time. But it was easier for him to flash his credit card and get her whatever caught her eye. By now Terri knew the pattern. Now that she had arrived for the summer, Buck would welcome Quinn with open arms—he did love his child. But as business issues pulled him away, she’d be shunted off to riding and swimming lessons, turned over to Terri, or left to read books or play video games on her own. Maybe this summer, Terri could help her find some friends her own age in the area.
The subject of the iguana was tabled when the pizza and drinks arrived. Terri tried to ignore the way Jennifer’s hip brushed Buck’s shoulder as she set their order on the table. Was the woman angling for a big tip or something else? But what did it matter to her? Why should she even care?
They were all hungry. Conversation dwindled as they wolfed down the pizza. Buck had just paid the bill when Terri glanced at her watch. It was almost eight o’clock. The aides at Canyon Shadows usually came in around eight thirty to shower the residents and get them ready for bed by nine. With the facility at the far end of town from the restaurant, she would barely have time to make the promised visit to her grandmother.
She stood up, brushing the crumbs off her lap. “I’ve got to get going, or I won’t make it.”
Buck rose. “We’re ready to go, too. We’ll walk you out.”
They trailed outside. At this hour the summer twilight was still fading. Mourning doves called from the old cottonwoods that overhung the parking lot.
“Thanks. See you tomorrow.” Terri strode ahead to her Jeep, then halted with a groan. She wasn’t going anywhere. The Jeep’s rear tire was flat to the rim.
Terri was staring at her Jeep when Buck caught up with her. “Too bad,” he said. “I told you those old tires of yours needed replacing.”
“Well, I can’t do much about that now, can I?” Terri shook her head. Even if she left her vehicle and walked to Canyon Shadows, there was no way she’d get there in time to visit her grandmother. “Go on and take Quinn home. I know how to change a tire.”
“Well, you’re not doing it tonight. I’ve got people for that job.” He whipped out his cell and, before Terri could stop him, typed out a text message before he pocketed the phone again. “Quinn and I will take you to see your grandma. I remember Harriet from the old days. She was quite the spunky little lady. I’d enjoy visiting her, too.”
If Buck hadn’t seen Harriet since the old days, he was in for a shock, Terri thought. Her grandmother was a different person now. “Thanks, I’d appreciate that,” she said. “But you won’t need to come inside. Just let me off and go. When I’m through visiting, I can walk back here and change the tire.”
“You heard me—the tire will be taken care of. It’s arranged. Come on.” He guided her toward the Hummer with a light hand on the small of her back. The warm pressure of his palm triggered a tingle of memory that raced like flame along a fuse through her body. The feeling was sweet torture. If only she could forget what had happened between them, or at least dismiss it—as, it seemed, Buck had. But Quinn was with them now, Terri reminded herself. She wouldn’t know for sure whether he was going to bring up what had happened between them until she was alone with him.
He opened the passenger door for her and helped Quinn into the backseat. The drive to Canyon Shadows took only a few minutes. “You don’t have to stay—I really don’t mind walking back to Giovanni’s,” Terri said as the Hummer pulled into the parking lot.
“Will you stop arguing with me, Terri?” Buck’s voice carried a hint of reined impatience. “I told you, I’d be glad to come in and say hello to your grandmother. And Quinn won’t mind coming in, either.”
“I know that,” Terri said. “It’s just that my grandma has changed a lot since you knew her. She’s ninety-one and not doing very well. She has her good days and bad. I’ve learned not to expect too much, but I worry that seeing her might upset Quinn.”
He stopped the vehicle and laid a hand on her shoulder. “Let me be the judge of that, Terri,” he said.
* * *
Buck had never been beyond the front doorway of Canyon Shadows. The rambling two-story stuccoed building was decent for a nursing home, with manicured grounds and a covered walkway leading to the front doors. Bouquets of silk roses and framed landscape prints cheered the lobby, but an air of gloom still hung over the place. Maybe that was inevitable when nobody who lived here wanted to be here.
He let Terri lead the way as they signed in at the front desk and continued on to the elevator and up to the second floor. In all the busy years she’d worked for him, he could barely recall asking her how her grandmother was doing. What had brought on this sudden interest in her life outside work?
But he knew the answer to that question, and it didn’t make