Nobody's Dream (18 page)

M
arry her?

Luke’s Spanish might be rusty, and she had spoken in rapid-fire Spanish, but Luke caught a couple words, including his name and
casarse
.

Marry me.

Judging by the expression on her face and the anger in her voice, she just told her brother she wouldn’t marry me if I were the last man on earth.

Hold on here. It’s not like he’d even asked her. He didn’t know how things were done in Peru, but weren’t shotgun weddings a thing of the past?

No wonder Cassie had been pissed at Eduardo since he’d arrived. Hell, Luke barely knew the girl and had done nothing inappropriate with her. He wouldn’t let her brother force them into a farce of a marriage just because the man was a century—maybe two—behind the times.

Then something else the man said earlier sunk in. It pleased the hell out of him to hear that those
were
blushes on Cassie’s face just as he’d suspected a few times. If Luke wasn’t so pissed at the way her brother was treating her right now, he’d have grinned in triumph.

The silent showdown between the siblings continued until Eduardo waved a hand in frustration and marched out of the kitchen. Instead of relishing her victory, Cassie began shaking.
Aw, hell
. Luke automatically reached out to hold her, but she held her hands up to ward him off.

“I am fine!”

Was she trying to convince him or herself?
“Mind telling me what that was all about?” He might as well play dumb because he had only caught a little of what they said after they lapsed into their native language.

“A difference of opinion.”

I’ll say.

Surprising him, she elaborated. “My brother thinks I am still sixteen and in need of his protection.” She took her and her brother’s near-empty bowls to the sink and rinsed them out. He carried his own over to set it down, but tried not to invade her personal space. Cassie needed a wider berth today. Too bad, because they had been making progress over the past twelve days.

“Want me to have a talk with him? Maybe I can set him straight about how things are done in this country.” Hell, in this
century
.

She dropped her sponge and pivoted around. “No! If he will not listen to me, he will not believe you, either. Just let him be. He needs to learn that I am grown and live by American social standards now. What I do with my life is my choice. If I choose to have a lover, it would not be any of his business.”

Do
not
think about her choosing
you
as her lover, Denton.

“I don’t want him thinking things about you that aren’t true. You and I both know nothing happened out in the shed.”

A shadow clouded her eyes, and she looked down. “There are things you do not know about me. Eduardo will always feel he needs to—”

He tucked his index finger under her chin and forced her to meet his gaze. “I know all I need to know about you, darlin’. Don’t let him or anyone else tell you different. You are one special lady.” Well, when she wasn’t all prickly, but maybe she had her reasons for being wary of men and putting up a front. All Luke needed to know to judge her character was that she’d risked her own safety and peace of mind to see to his needs. She’d nursed him back to health—twice. Cooked amazing meals for him. Even let him share in the experience of bringing Gracie’s baby into the world. And her alpacas loved and trusted her. Animals were good judges of people.

So was he. Despite the façade she showed the world, deep down, she was kind, compassionate, and loving. She just didn’t seem to know how to deal with those emotions and tried to shut them off.

“Any man would be proud to have you as his wife.”

She narrowed her gaze. “You understood what I said to Eduardo?”

Luke recognized the spreading ruddiness in her cheeks as a blush this time and forced himself not to grin. “Just bits and pieces. Stick to your guns. Don’t let him force you into doing something you don’t want to do.” He lowered his hand to his side. “But if the day ever comes that
you
want to get hitched, you could do a lot worse than me, darlin’.”

Damn.
Where had that come from? Maybe his ego had been a little bruised by the way she’d made him feel like shit on her boots when she’d told her brother she wouldn’t marry him. Still, she’d pretty much been yanking at his heartstrings since that day last fall in the waiting room when she sketched the picture of Maggie and his baby.

Realizing how cocky he sounded, he grinned. “Sorry, darlin’. My mouth has a mind of its own sometimes.”

“You will make some lucky woman very happy someday, Lucas. I am just not that woman. Too much has…” Her voice drifted off, and she turned back to the sink. “Thank you for not taking offense at my brother’s words. He was raised in a strict, patriarchal society in which girls and young women are seen as innocent beings who need to be wrapped in woolen blankets until their wedding night. It is a matter of honor for Peruvian men that their daughters and sisters remain pure and untouched until marriage.” She sighed and muttered under her breath, but just loudly enough he caught the words. “It is too late for me.”

So she’d had a boyfriend back home, and it sounded as though they’d had a serious relationship if she thought she was no longer pure by her culture’s standards.

“Pedro?” The name slipped out before he had time to apply a filter.

She spun around and blinked at him a couple of times. “How do you know about Pedro?” What was it he saw in her eyes—fear? Hatred? Certainly not love and affection.

“You spoke his name in your sleep this morning.”

She closed her eyes and swallowed hard. Again, he wanted to reach out and hold her, comfort her, but knew she wouldn’t let him. After a moment, she glanced up again, her gaze empty of emotion.

“Pedro was my fiancé. We were to be married after I graduated from uni.” Her hand shook first, and then the tremors moved up to her shoulders. Poor girl wasn’t holding in her emotions as well as she wanted.

Aw, hell.
Luke closed the gap. Her rigid stance told him not to put his arms around her, so he stroked her arm gently instead. “Shhh.” If anyone needed a hug right about now, it was Cassie. However, something told him baby steps would work better with her. She didn’t pull away from his gentle, nonthreatening touch on her arm, at least. He wished he could give her more, but didn’t want to send her running again.

So if she’d willingly had sex with him before marriage, something must have happened to Pedro to break off their engagement. Some kind of accident or something? Was he dead? “I’m so sorry, Sweet Pea.”

He’d suffered the loss of his first love, too. Still, he might be jumping to conclusions. Cassie hadn’t really said what had happened to her fiancé. Maybe he’d betrayed her. Cheated on her. Left her.

He’d definitely left her hurting.

“Wanna tell me about him? Maybe it will help.”

She took a step back until she was pressed against the wall. Her glance darted toward the doorway as if planning her escape. “No. I never want to talk about him again. He is dead to me.”

That didn’t sound as though he was literally dead, just that she’d ended things with him. But she still dreamt about him, so some part of her hadn’t resolved the end of the relationship.

“Then he wasn’t worthy of you in the first place. You’ll find the right man someday.”

A man like me
.

Whoa!

After his initial shock, though, he wondered why
not
him? Dammit, he could love, cherish, and protect her better than most.

“I will never let any man that close again.”

So much for that idea, Denton.

Sounded like Pedro was the bastard who sent her up here to hide away. “I’m sorry he hurt you, Cassie. But not every man you meet will be like him.”

She drew in a ragged breath. “You don’t understand.”

“Then help me understand.”

Her breathing stilled, and he thought she might actually confide in him. But the walls came up again quickly. “I do not wish to speak of it.”

Luke ran his hand through his hair. He wasn’t going to get anywhere in lowering her defenses with a battering ram. Eduardo’s ultimatum sure hadn’t helped. Things had been going so well before he turned up. With the two of them left alone up here long enough, maybe passions could have flared and landed them back in the sack.

Instead, I got sacked by her brother.

This might be a good time to go inspect the road and see what the chances were of putting that plow onto the front of her Tahoe and digging his way out. He needed to expend a little frustration right now, too.

“I’ve got some work to do.” He walked into the living room with Cassie following and found her brother staring sullenly into the flames. Maybe he could ease some of the tension with him by finding a common purpose. If nothing else, asking him to help him clear the road could prove Luke didn’t intend to live in perceived pseudo-sin with the man’s little sister forever.

“Eduardo, why don’t you give me a hand outside with the snowblade?”

“No, Lucas! You just had another blow to the head. You should be resting.”

He turned and glared at her, hoping he silently communicated his response. The last thing he wanted to admit in front of her brother—or her—was that he couldn’t pull his own weight.

She shook her head and muttered something in Spanish about men that didn’t sound too nice. “I need to check on Milagrosa.” Cassie rushed from the room, and the front door slammed seconds later.

For the next half hour, the two men worked in near silence hooking the plow blade onto her Tahoe. So much for getting-to-know-you conversation, but Luke realized he was afraid to say anything for fear of misinterpretation—again. The man had a one-track mind. Instead, he spoke only when he needed a tool or help lifting the blade.

Once the plow was in place, Luke waved Eduardo away and sat behind the wheel. He needed time to think. The next few hours he managed to make a small dent in the snowpack but didn’t clear more than six feet of snow from the road. It would take weeks at this pace to break through. He hoped the Giardano brothers were having more luck on the other side.

Maybe he should ask Eduardo for directions for hiking out of here. But the thought of leaving Cassie and going back down the mountain opened a gaping hole in his heart.

He barely knew her, but his instincts told him she was hurting and lonely. Damned if he didn’t want to try and make it better.

Luke understood the loneliness he saw in her eyes. He’d experienced that himself, worse than ever since Angel had left his place. Just having a companion around made the days so much fuller.

Before he left here, he intended to propose a no-strings-attached friendship between Cassie and him. Karla had her life in Denver, but with baby on the way, she wasn’t going to have much time for friends. Cassie said earlier that she’d begun feeling the loss when Karla married Adam.

So why shouldn’t these two lonely people forge something together. They both could use some company every now and again. What would she say to being friends with him after he left here? Hell, they didn’t have to date or do anything serious. Maybe just meet at daVinci’s once in a while for a game of pool and a beer. Or a margarita, in her case. Wait, she said she didn’t play pool.

Luke grinned. He’d love to teach her the finer points of the game and show her how much fun it could be. The thought of her body pressed between his and the table…

Okay, don’t go there, Denton.
Safer to focus on having her join him for a nice steak dinner once in a while in Breckenridge. No, she wouldn’t be having steak. Maybe one of the many health-food restaurants then. He could eat that stuff every now and then if it meant spending time alone with Cassie again.

Luke shifted the Tahoe into park and stared down the mountain. He couldn’t see his ranch from here, but he’d looked up at her mountain pass often enough this winter and spring, even though he’d never been able to see her place, either. Just knowing the girl of his dreams—well, one dream at least—was up here had given him a sense of peace for some reason whenever a case of the lonelies came over him.

Did his feelings for her have anything to do with the dream where Maggie had come to him last fall? The one where Maggie told him she was sending him an angel. He’d misinterpreted that dream ten ways from Sunday since then. Maybe now he finally understood what Maggie meant. Cassie was an angel with broken wings. She needed someone who would love and nurture her. He’d like to place his bid on a job like that.

Maybe Luke had been put in Cassie’s life to help her grow a pair of strong, new wings? Surely that was it. “Maggie, I think I understand now.”

He hadn’t heard from Maggie in half a year at least, but he still talked to her.

Luke had always been a nurturer. First with Maggie, whose family had beaten her down, too. Despite being successful and happy at what she chose to do, she’d never gained their love and acceptance. It had bothered Maggie that they’d cut her off emotionally, but in some ways she seemed relieved not to have to spend time with them.