“Hmm.” She shoved her bangs from her eyes and the scent of some flowery perfume teased at his nostrils. “Tiffany said something about taking the kids out to the farm—you know, the old Zalinski place that Santini Brothers Enterprises bought for their latest vineyard and winery. They probably just haven’t gotten back yet.” She slid her sunglasses off her nose and chewed on one bow as she squinted down the length of the driveway. “I guess I’ll just have to wait.” Pausing for a second, she turned her attention back to Luke. “So, I’ve been meaning to ask ever since I first saw you, what brings you to Bittersweet?”

“Business.”

She was a pushy little thing. She gave him the once-over, a swift glance up and down his body, and her expression said it all. In faded jeans, a T-shirt and his scruffy boots, he didn’t look like the typical three-piece-suit-and-tie businessman. But then this was Bittersweet, Oregon, not New York City or L.A.

“What kind of business?”

He had to get the word out sooner or later. Though he was going to do a little bit of detective work for Ralph, that was only part of his reason for hanging around. The ranch was his real purpose and now that the sale of the property was a done deal, he saw no reason to keep it to himself anymore. “I bought a spread a few miles outside of town and I’m hoping to convert it into a working dude ranch.”

Her eyebrows arched up as she slid her shades onto the bridge of her nose again. “You mean for tourists to come down here and round up wild horses, and brand cattle, and, well, do all that macho outdoorsy cowboy thing—kind of like the movie City Slickers?”

He couldn’t help but smile. “Not that elaborate, but, yeah, that’s the general idea.” There was a whole lot more to it than that, but he didn’t see any reason to fill her in—or anyone else, for that matter—with the details. Not just yet. Until he was sure of them himself. Besides, she had a way of distracting him. In white shorts and a sleeveless denim blouse, she showed off a tanned, compact body with more curves than a logging road in the Cascade Mountains. The V of her blouse’s neckline gave him a quick glimpse of cleavage between breasts that were more than ample to fit into a man’s palm.

He caught himself at the thought and shifted his gaze back to the truck. Katie Kinkaid’s all-American-girl-next-door good looks were heightened by a bit of raw sensuality that gripped him hard and caused a ridiculous tightening in his groin.

Obviously it had been way too long since he’d been with a woman.