The company plane landed at the Rick Husband Amarillo Airport, and a car took them straight to a rental company where Andy picked up a black SUV.

The man was unpredictable in a lot of things but not his cars. He wanted big, safe, and a little intimidating. Much like himself.

“Is the lawyer connected?”

He raised a thick brown brow. “With the mob?”

“Yeah.”

“Why would you ask that?”

“The SUV. It’s hardly necessary in Amarillo, is it?”

He frowned. “I hadn’t thought about it. A habit I guess, and no, there’s no mob connection. Leastways, I don’t think so.”

“Good to hear. Are we going to see the lawyer first?”

He nodded. “If you don’t mind?”

“It’s your trip.” She didn’t care where they went as long as it was together. Although some private time would be nice.

Andy was tapping his fingers on the steering wheel to a country and western tune. “So how did you clear it with the family? Coming with me.”

“I didn’t.”

His tapping ceased. “You’re kidding me?”

“Nope. It’s no one’s business and it hasn’t been for a few years. I’m all grown up if you haven’t noticed.”

Andy gave her a quick look. His mouth was a hard line and his hands gripped the steering wheel. “I had noticed.”

Even said in such a regretful way made Caris warm all over. She’d have to be blind not to notice the way he’d been looking at her lately. Especially over the last twenty-four hours. It seemed that once she’d become a doctor, she was considered a woman worth a little of his time. The problem was Caris wanted all his time. At least until she went back into the real world.

“You know, when they find out, all hell’s going to break loose?”

“It shouldn’t.”

“Caris, you’re not stupid. Your family’s not going to approve of us hooking up. They’re protective of you, and that’s speaking mildly.”

She shook her head. “Pot—kettle.”

“Pardon?”

Could he really not see how he was with her? “You’re the most over-protective out of all of them.”

“It’s my job—I mean role.”

She snorted. “We have roles?”

“Sure.”

“Go ahead, tell me everyone’s ‘roles’,” she said, throwing quotation marks into the air for good measure. She was interested, despite thinking it was a lot of hogwash.

He scratched his head while he thought. “Your mother rules, Ben’s the overseer, Sarah’s the organizer. Evan’s the peacemaker and Matt was the troublemaker, but only because he was so conflicted about what he wanted and what he thought he had to be. Now that he’s running the stables, he’s so happy he seems to want everyone else to feel the same.”

She was astounded at his ability to pinpoint her family and their niches, but then again, he was the one person who had lived with them and shared all their secrets. It was only natural to have some well-founded opinions. “I guess that’s pretty accurate, but you forgot about me. How, or should I say where, do I fit in?”

He didn’t hesitate. “You’re the one the family’s the proudest of.”

“How did you reach such a ridiculous conclusion?”

“Isn’t it obvious? You’re the baby. You’re clever and cute. You don’t take sides and you’ve stuck to your guns about not working for Knight Industries, but help out if needed. You’re kind of perfect.”

At first, she’d been angry with the baby reference, but the rest of his speech, which was rather lengthy for him, was said with such pride she was almost in tears.

“Nothing to say?”

She turned to look out the window. “Not right now. I’m thinking.”

He laughed. “Think as much as you like, we’re here.” He pulled into a park in front of an impressive building. “Are you waiting in the car?”

“No. I’ll come stretch my legs unless you’d rather I didn’t.”

He pulled into a parking space in front of an impressive building then turned to her. “To be honest, I think I should go in by myself. I don’t know what this is really about. The lawyer was cagey when he phoned. It could be awkward and embarrassing.”

She put a hand on his arm and could feel his muscles bunch. He was so insular, but she had not come all this way just to sleep with him. Okay, it was a major factor, but she wanted him to know she was here for him, whatever he was going through.

“Andy, when has our relationship not been awkward and embarrassing? You and I do those things better than most.”

He threw on his stubborn look, so she went for a compromise.

“If you don’t want me in there with you, I’ll hang about in the reception room.”

“I don’t know how long it will take, but fine,” he relented with great reluctance.

Inside the glass doors, the air conditioning was welcoming. Along with a coffee machine and a bowl of mints on the low coffee table there was an overstuffed sofa to sink into. She did so and picked up a magazine while Andy approached the receptionist, who looked rather intimidated by him.

“Mr. Carlile, you can go straight through.” She led him to a paneled door and closed it behind him. “Please help yourself to coffee or tea, Mrs. Carlile.” She gave Caris a tight smile as she returned to her desk.

Caris let the words wash over her then realized the time-lapse would make it awkward to contradict the woman. ‘Mrs. Carlile’ had a nice ring to it, but it wasn’t what this time spent with Andy was about. She wouldn’t be ready for marriage for years yet. There were at least another five before she could even think about it.

Muted voices filtered out of the room. Caris couldn’t make out proper words, but she heard Andy’s raised voice a couple of times. It seemed to be taking a long while. She’d already helped herself to coffee, changed magazines, and flicked through her phone. All of it she did automatically as her mind was centered on Andy and their trip, and hovering behind were thoughts of her family and how they would feel about them if this came to something other than a fling. Her mother was under the impression she was visiting Evan, who had left earlier that morning in his own plane. Caris hadn’t lied, but she hadn’t corrected them when the family had told her to say ‘hi’ to him and Macy.

Sarah thought she was mad in not travelling abroad, while Matt had been adamant that she tell his twin he was doing great, should Evan ask. She had to agree that being wrapped up in the stables and his girlfriend Aimee was better than anything a doctor could prescribe for his depression. He’d always been a little adrift of the family but had come back into the fold with Aimee’s help. She’d worked a miracle and, thank goodness, Matt had given up most of his reckless ways.

All this led her back to the fact that Andy was having a harder time coming to terms with any possible fall-out with the family. She still wasn’t convinced he was ready for the next step. The first was surely bringing her along.

Just then, Andy came barreling out of the office with a face full of thunder. Whatever he’d been told was not sitting so well with him.

He stormed passed and stood at the main door, holding it open and glaring at her. Any other time she would have given him a piece of her mind for being so rude, but fury vibrated off him and she could see he was close to boiling point. Meekly, she ducked under his arm and slipped out the door. He let the door go with a bang.

They climbed into the SUV, and she’d barely got her safety belt done up when he screeched out of the parking lot. Several miles later, he pulled into a lay-by overlooking a small lake.

He slapped the steering wheel and got out to stand on a grassy bank a few feet in front of the car. Caris slowly followed. She wanted to console him, tell him it would be okay, but Andy liked his space at the best of times. She could empathize with that characteristic, so she waited several minutes, watching him fume. He’d left his Stetson in the car, and a breeze pulled his shirt across his abs. Even angry, he was a gorgeous man.

When he was done with the heavy breathing, she took a step closer. “Do you want to talk about it?” she asked, softly.

“Not really,” he huffed.

“Is there anything I can help with?”

“No.”

It had been emphatic. She waited a little longer, but he didn’t acknowledge her again. She could practically see his mind ticking over in the way he had when he was solving a problem. He wouldn’t come back to her until he was done.

She sat on the grass and removed her shoes. Rolling up her jeans, she walked down to the water’s edge. It was a lovely day and from what she’d seen of Texas, this was as pretty a place to be as any.

She walked in up to her calves, shivering at the delicious coolness, while the sun beat down on her head. From her pocket, she pulled out an elastic band and put her hair into a messy bun which was much cooler on her neck. Putting her hand up to shield her eyes, she took in the beauty of the sparkling water, the lush mossy green banks, and the cloudless sky all meeting together on the horizon.

“You should have a hat on.”

Caris started at his voice, turned quickly, and tripped over a submerged log. Her arms spun like a windmill as she fell backward into the lake, which inconveniently dropped off a few feet right about there. A large hand grabbed the front of her shirt, pulled her forward, and brought her spluttering and gasping to her feet.

“What the heck!”

Andy let her go. “Hey, don’t blame me for your clumsiness.”

“You gave me a fright, which is what made me trip, not any clumsiness on my part. You big goon!”

“Gee, I’m sorry about that.”

“You don’t look sorry. Get that grin off your face right now. You hear me, Cowboy?”

The grin, if anything, got bigger. “Cowboy? You haven’t called me that in a long time.”

“You haven’t made me this angry in a long time.”

She was shivering and shaking, and suddenly he was all concern for her.

“Come on, kid, let’s get you dry.”

He helped her back up the bank then pulled her suitcase from the trunk. Laying it on the grass she opened it and took out some clothes. A dress, cardigan, plus underwear. Now, where to change? The only cover was a tree a few feet away, so she headed there while Andy stowed the case.