Blackstone Ranger Chief

one in her core—which was why she had been vastly disappointed when he just turned and walked away after he got his drink. The rejection spurned her on to take more shots of tequila.
From where he stood in the doorway, he didn’t move, didn’t say anything. The man just kept staring at her. Oh God, he was even cuter than she remembered. Handsome actually. Strong, chiseled jaw with a little dent in the chin. She remembered it being clean-shaven last night, but this morning, there was a bit of scruff on it. His shoulders were broad and looked like they were built like rocks, the muscles underneath the golden bronzed skin stretching out his white T-shirt while various tattoos dotted down his brawny arms. He was tall, too, probably a couple of inches over six feet.
Her mouth went dry, like she’d coughed up sand. Glancing to her left, she saw a glass of water and two tablets. Ignoring the unmarked medicine—because she was hungover, not stupid—she grabbed the glass and chugged down as much as she could without choking.
“Better?”
God, it was like his voice plucked this string inside her that made her body vibrate. “Y-y-es. Thank you.” An awkward silence stretched between them. “Um, I was wondering, could you tell me … where we are?”
“In my house.”
Right, she guessed that much. “But what am I doing here?”
“You asked me to take you home.”
Embarrassment coursed through her, all the way to the tips of her toes. “I-I did?”
He nodded.
“I’m sure I didn’t mean it. I mean, not to your home.” Oh God, had they … done anything? For some reason, that didn’t make her feel embarrassed—only disappointed that she hadn’t remembered anything at all.
“You walked out of The Den, and I saw you were about to cross the street. Nearly stepped in front of a truck.” He took a few steps toward the bed. “And then you said you drove here from New Mexico.”
“And here is …?”
“Blackstone. Colorado.” His brows wrinkled. “You don’t know where you are?”
She shook her head. “I was just passing through. I needed to rest since I’d been driving nearly non-stop from New Mexico, and I had a cramp in my leg, and so I stopped at that bar. I didn’t mean to start drinking, but I figured I deserved just one, and if I ate a huge dinner it would be fine, but it felt so warm and—” Oh God, she was babbling. “So, this town is called Blackstone?”
“Technically we’re in the Blackstone Mountains, outside of the town.”
“And what are we doing in the Blackstone Mountains?”
“You asked me to take you—”
“Yeah, I got that part.” Her head was throbbing again.
“There’s medicine for you next to the water. Should help with the headache.”
She didn’t make a move and instead picked at some non-existent lint on the sheet. “I’m so sorry. For the inconvenience.” The man remained silent, but moved closer. “I—” When she looked up, startlingly clear green eyes were staring at her, and her stomach flipped. “Did we …” Her hands gestured nervously at the bed.
“No.” His jaw hardened. “You passed out in my arms, and I brought you here. I slept downstairs on the couch.”
Although she’d already guessed that nothing happened because she would have needed a damn can opener to get her out of this dress, somehow, his confirmation disappointed her. Stop being silly, Anna Victoria Hall. Not having drunken sex with a stranger was a good thing.
“Again, I’m sorry.” Shimmying to the edge of the bed, she slung her legs over the side. “I just—whoa!”
The world spun again and another dizzy spell came over her, sending her toward the floor. She braced herself for the impact, but it never came. Instead, two strong arms caught her and pulled her up against a hard chest. That faint masculine scent that she had smelled on the sheets surrounded her now, so delicious and tempting that she had to take a whiff.
“Uh, miss?”
Unfortunately, to take that whiff, she had to press her nose against the very hard, very male chest she had been propped against. Quickly, she pulled her face away from him.
If any god is up there or downstairs, please strike me dead now.
He remained silent, but his hand went up to her cheek. His touch was soft and gentle, and despite the clenching of his jaw, there was a surprising tenderness in his eyes. Her heart thudded against her chest at the gentleness of his touch.
“You have some, uh, stuff there.” His fingers brushed at her skin, rubbing away some sleep crust from the corner of her eye.
Her cheeks aflame, she stood up and pushed off him. “Uh, thanks.” How did he get to her so fast? “I need to use the bathroom.”
He cocked his head at the door on the right. “Over there.”
Brushing past him, she quickly dashed to the door. As soon as it closed, she let out a sigh, then looked up at the mirror.
“Oh, poop.” Her skin was sallow, and the bags under her eyes had bags. It was a good thing during one of her pit stops, she managed to find some makeup wipes at a gas station convenience store, otherwise, she’d surely be sporting mascara raccoon eyes.
After washing her face and doing her business, she looked down at the dress with a deep sigh. How am I going to get out of this thing? Even if she did manage to get this bedazzled monstrosity off her, she didn’t exactly have anything else to wear.
A knock on the door knocked her out of her thoughts. “Yes?”
“I have some clothes for you, in case you wanted to change. When you’re done, you can come downstairs.”
“Oh.” That was nice of him. “Thank you. I’ll be right out.” Okay, now the only thing she had to figure out was how to free herself from this testament of bad taste. Maybe there’s something I could use around here.
The bathroom was sparse, but spotless and clean. A hand towel hung from a hook to