Her Gentle Giant: No Regrets

Divine Creek Ranch 2

Heather Rainier

EVERLASTING CLASSIC

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

ABOUT THE E-BOOK YOU HAVE PURCHASED:

Your non-refundable purchase of this e-book allows you to only ONE LEGAL copy for your own personal reading on your own personal computer or device.
You do not have
resell or distribution rights without the prior written
permission of both the publisher and the copyright
owner of this book.
This book cannot be copied in any format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer program, for free or for a fee, or as a prize in any contest.

Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law. Distribution of this e-book, in whole or in part, online, offline, in print or in any way or any other method currently known or yet to be invented, is forbidden. If you do not want this book anymore, you must delete it from your computer.

WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5

years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000."

If you find a Siren-BookStrand e-book being sold or shared illegally, please let us know at

[email protected]

August…

Rachel Lopez slid her laptop into its carrying case and zipped it closed. The work day was finally over, and she looked forward to a bubble bath, leftovers, and a DVD. She hadn’t accomplished very much on her manuscript at lunchtime and hoped to get a little done before bedtime. She cleared her desk and lifted her purse from the drawer she kept it stashed in. Her head throbbed, and she remembered the other reason she needed a warm bubble bath. Her headache had persisted all day, and she was ready to relax.

“Rachel? There’s someone here to see you.”

Rachel looked up into the grinning, obviously curious face of her coworker, Bernice Williams.

“Who is it? Did they give you a name?”
What now?
Rachel was just about ready to walk out her office door. It was late Thursday afternoon and she wanted to slip out of her high heels.

Bernice smirked and leaned against the doorjamb. “Eli Wolf ring any bells?” She eyed her perfect manicure before crossing her arms in front of her, adding in her Texan drawl, “He asked for you by name.”

Rachel groaned softly and laid her purse and keys on her desk, trying to ignore the thrill that ran through her body at the mention of his name.

8

This is not good. This is not good. Stop getting your hopes up.

He’ll give up and then you’ll see. It’s not worth the trouble, or the
heartache, or the misery—

Her boss, Thorne Grogan, stuck his head in her door, interrupting her mental litany. “Hey, Rachel? You know there’s some big hulking dude out there asking for you?”

“Yes, Mister—Sorry! Thorne. Sorry. I’ll be right there.”

Mr. Grogan rolled his eyes at her and headed down the hall. At her former job with the local newspaper, the dress and conduct code had been strict, and she’d gotten used to it. It was going to take her a while to adjust to the more laid-back environment of Grogan Home Theater, Inc., where she now worked as bookkeeper.

Bernice whispered, “He brought you flowers, Rachel. Is he your boyfriend?”

Lamely and with reluctance, Rachel said, “No. He’s a good friend of mine. Is he waiting in reception?” She wondered why he’d brought her flowers.

Because he still wants me to go out with him after two months,
and I keep telling him no. Because I’m a dumbass.

“Yeah, want me to send him back?”

In the last two months since she’d met Eli, Rachel sometimes felt like she had an angel sitting on each shoulder. Good Rachel knew only trouble would come of dating a bouncer in a nightclub, especially a scrumptiously delicious-looking bouncer like Eli. Good Rachel wanted to play it safe and avoid getting hurt. Naughty Rachel wanted Eli anyway and was ready to kick the ass of any woman who dare lay a hand on him or approach him to flirt. Naughty Rachel wanted to get laid. Whether she kept herself at arm’s length or dated him, or worse, fall in love with him, she had a feeling she was going to have regrets.

Naughty Rachel tapped her shoulder.

He’s right outside waiting for me with flowers. He’s been so
persistent. How can I say no to—

“Earth to Rachel?” Bernice passed her hand in from of her face.

Rachel grinned sheepishly and said, “Right. Tell him he can come on back.”

Bernice grinned and scooted back down the hall to deliver her message.

,

9

Rachel gathered her things in her arms and stacked them on the front of the desk. She figured it would be best if she walked him out, and if he asked her out, she would turn him down in private. She knew Bernice might be eavesdropping on her conversation. Rachel liked Bernice, but she was nosey.

Her head throbbed again, and she remembered she’d dropped her bottle of Tylenol in her desk drawer when she’d taken a couple that morning. Instead of walking around the large oak desk to pull open the drawer, she stretched across the thick glass top and hooked the drawer handle with her thumb, opened it, and reached for the Tylenol.

Several things happened at once. As she stretched to reach the drawer handle, she began to lose her balance, and she heard a knock on her open office door. The slick bottoms of her new red high heels slid right out from under her on the carpeting, and she flopped ungracefully forward, knocking her breath from her as she landed on her large purse and her laptop case, which began to slide toward the edge of the desk with her on top of it. Rachel knew she was moments away from sliding off the desk and landing flat on her ass. Her fingers made useless slipping sounds as she vainly tried to get a hold on the slick, empty desk top. Clutching her laptop to keep it from hitting the floor, she sought a foothold with her pumps, and her pointed toes hit the carpet, slid sideways out from under her and she did the splits.

Her head pounded painfully, and she whimpered as she tried to get her feet back under her. In the two seconds it took for this scene to play out, she imagined she looked utterly graceless and then heard movement behind her. Large warm hands caught her in a strong grasp right before she slid off the desk, grasping her precious laptop in her arms.

“Whoa, angel!” Eli Wolf said as he caught her around the waist, keeping her and her laptop from hitting the floor. She’d never felt like a bigger klutz in her whole life, and he, of course, never looked more gorgeous.

“Oh, damn.” She released her laptop when he took it from her and put her hands to her temples and whimpered again. Eli turned her to him and leaned down to look in her red-hot face.

“Rachel, are you okay?”

She looked up into his luminous gray eyes, which were filled with concern. Falling forward on her purse and laptop case had knocked
10

the wind from her, and she felt a little nauseated on top of her pain and embarrassment.

He brushed her hair from her face and directed her to sit in one of the chairs in front of her desk. “Sit and catch your breath. What were you doing?”

She pointed to the open desk drawer. “I was reaching for my Tylenol. I’ve had a headache all day and what just happened didn’t help it any. I’m sorry you saw me…like that.” She envisioned her ass stuck up in the air with her feet flying out from under her, Lucille Ball-style, while she flopped around, and cringed again.

Want to get away?

He stepped around her desk and found the Tylenol in the open drawer and brought the bottle of water that had rolled to the edge of her desk in her clumsy scramble. As he stepped back over to her, she noticed a bouquet of vivid orange roses lying on the floor.

He noticed where she was looking and lifted the bouquet from the floor. “I brought you flowers,” he said as he placed them in her hands.

Rachel took a few seconds to enjoy their fragrance, noticing that a single bright red rose was nestled in the center of the bouquet. He hadn’t picked these up at the grocery store. These roses had come from Merritt’s Florist, judging by the tissue paper that bore the florist’s logo they were wrapped in.

“Thank you, Eli. They’re beautiful. What are you up to?” she asked as she laid the roses in her lap. She opened the bottle of Tylenol, and he handed her the water.

“I came by to see if you had plans for this evening. I’d like to take you to dinner.” He hesitated and looked down for a second as if he were bracing himself. “If you’d like to, that is.”

I can’t do this, I can’t do this, I can’t do this—

She heard Bernice speaking to another employee in the hallway.

She didn’t know if Bernice would return to her desk behind the reception counter and knew she could not turn him down within the hearing of her coworker.

“Let me get my things and I’ll walk out with you, okay?” she asked softly. She hadn’t told him yes, but the happy smile that lit his face made her heart do another flip-flop
.

Oh, yes I can, oh, yes I can, oh, yes I can!

She contemplated the slippery slope she was on as she lifted her purse from the desk. He watched her carefully, as if making sure she
,

11

was all right to get up from the chair, and lifted the laptop case strap to his shoulder. Her head throbbed, and she wanted that bubble bath something fierce, but she found that she also wanted to say yes to this knight in shining armor. If she let him, she knew he could charm her socks off. Heck, he could charm her panties off, for that matter.

“I’ll go tell my boss good night.”

He smiled in understanding. “I’ll wait for you in the lobby.”

Carrying the roses and her purse, she followed the hallway down to the end and stopped in her boss’s open doorway. Another man sat conversing with Thorne, but Thorne looked up and grinned when he saw her. “Headed out for the evening?” he asked as he glanced at the roses she held. Her cheeks warmed a little, and she nodded.

“Did you get the e-mail I sent you?” she asked.

Thorne nodded. “Yes, and I saw the discrepancies you were telling me about. I can’t go into detail about it, but I appreciate your diligence in getting to the bottom of the matter. I knew I made a good move when I hired you, Rachel. Good work. Enjoy your evening.”

His smile was broad, and he glanced at the roses with speculation in his eyes.

“Good night, sir—sorry! Good night, Thorne.” She did it again.

He rolled his eyes and propped his cowboy boots up on the corner of his big oak desk.

“G’night, Rachel. Have a good evening.”

She nodded at the other man who had turned to see whom Thorne was speaking to and made her way back down the hallway.

Eli stood near one of the front windows looking out but did not appear focused on anything outside. Light from the windows shone in and illuminated his pale gray eyes. He was dressed in his leathers and a T-shirt and, as she approached, she could detect his clean, spicy scent. He looked good enough to eat with his shiny, long black hair streaming down his broad back. Underneath his T-shirt, every muscle stood out in relief, and the short sleeves lay snug around his bulging biceps. Her fingertips twitched with the desire to reach out and stroke him.

He must have finished early with his tower climbing job and gotten cleaned up to go to work at The Dancing Pony. He worked three or for days a week for the local electrical cooperative as a subcontractor doing some of their tower climbing work. To listen to
12

him talk about it scared her. The thought of climbing three hundred feet or more in the area gave her the heebie-jeebies.

Eli looked up when he heard her heels click on the ceramic tile in the waiting area. Her heart flip-flopped when a broad, sexy smile spread over his face. His gaze warmed her as he looked appreciatively at her from head to toe. Her earlier humiliation at being seen in such an awkward position was salved by the admiration in his gaze now.

He was used to seeing her in western wear, but for work she dressed in skirts, blouses, and heels. Today, her long brown hair was pinned up in a clip.

She turned to Bernice, who was currently ogling Eli from behind her reception counter. Bernice’s facial expression mirrored those of many other women Rachel had seen gazing raptly at Eli over the last two months. The receptionist was his senior by at least ten years, although she was still in great shape, but Bernice was happily married with two kids, so Rachel didn’t feel like gritting her teeth at her perusal quite so much.

“Good night, Bernice,” Rachel said as Eli moved to hold the glass door open for her.

“G’night, sweetie! Y’all have fun!” she called in her high-pitched, reedy twang.

The sun hit her full in the face as she walked through the door.

She held her fingers to shade her eyes and groaned at the excruciating pain in her head. A feeling of disappointment began to grow in her heart. She was definitely weakening under Eli’s charm because she knew she would have said yes to a supper date this evening if not for the pain in her head.

Eli moved to block the sun from her face and put the palm of his hand to the back of her head. “It’s pretty bad, huh?”

“Mmm-hmm. The brightness is killing me,” she murmured.

“Come on, angel. Let’s get you to your car.” He put his arm around her shoulders and walked her to her vehicle, which was thankfully parked under a tree in the shade. She glanced up and noticed his big Dodge pickup was parked beside her car, dwarfing it.

She used her remote to unlock it, and Eli opened the door for her. She sighed in relief as she sat down in the driver’s seat. He put her laptop case on her back seat and then squatted down beside her as she sniffed her roses again.

,

13

“These are beautiful Eli, but I—” Should she tell him she would have gone out with him tonight? Should she encourage him?

At the sound of clicking heels, she looked up as another member of Mr. Grogan’s staff walked down the sidewalk toward them. It was the big-busted blonde in her early twenties who worked in sales.

Rachel saw the moment the girl laid her eyes on Eli. A sexy smile spread across her bright red lips, and she immediately exaggerated her wiggling walk, twitching her skinny ass as she approached. When she was even on the sidewalk with Eli and in his full view, she dropped her car keys then made a big production of retrieving them from the sidewalk, giving him a generous and slow-moving view of her big-busted cleavage in the process. The girl never even looked at her as she smiled invitingly at Eli and proceeded around the corner to her car.

Bitch
.

Rachel fumed at the interruption of their moment and the slutty forwardness of her coworker. She glared at her then looked back at Eli, to find he was completely focused on her.