Wyatt wondered if she’d picked up on his tension and was only trying to help him relax. But when he searched her expression, two realizations struck him. Erin truly did feel on edge, and there wasn’t a trace of guile in her eyes to suggest she was given to artifice. He felt some of the tension ease from his neck and shoulders.

“I didn’t think I would, either,” he confessed. “But except for that one time months ago when we met for dinner at the Straw Hat, we’ve never been around each other very much.”

“No. Out at the ranch, you always run the minute you see me.”

Wyatt chuckled. “I’m sorry. I guess that is how it must have looked, but believe me when I say that it was nothing personal.”

She took another taste of her wine. “I was flirting with you back then. I promise not to do that anymore.”

Wyatt hoped that she wouldn’t. He considered himself to be a strong-willed man, but his sense of purpose faltered when this woman came on to him. He lifted his glass in a toast. “To friendship. Only friendship.”

She pressed the edge of her goblet against his and agreed by saying, “Only friendship.” Then she smiled and said, “That’s going to be so much easier. When you sent me a text last autumn to meet you for dinner, I thought you meant it as a date and almost had a heart attack.”

Wyatt frowned slightly, trying to remember why he had felt it was necessary to dine with her that evening. Then he registered what she’d said and focused his gaze on hers. “A heart attack? Why?”

“I was in uniform, and I didn’t want to meet you looking that way. I raced over to the Morning Grind, and Julie switched clothes with me. Then she did my hair and makeup.”

“Wow. I had no idea.” Wyatt did remember how different Erin had looked that evening, though, and he also recalled feeling relieved, because he preferred women who didn’t fuss very much over their appearance. He liked certain perfumes as long as the application was light. He was okay with a touch of makeup. But he wasn’t into bedhead hairstyles, false eyelashes, too much mascara, or bright red lipstick. In short, he had been more attracted to the Erin in uniform than he had been to the dolled-up version of her that evening, and to him, that had been a good thing. “You looked great,” he said, which he told himself wasn’t really a lie. Most guys would have been salivating. It was just that Wyatt had a lot more trouble resisting Erin when she didn’t put so much effort into it. “I can’t for the life of me remember what it was I needed to talk to you about that night.”

She dimpled one cheek in a saucy grin and settled a twinkling gaze on him. “I think you wanted to give me a quick course on camping basics. I got you an electric coffee grinder as a gesture of apology for the way I behaved when we first met, and I thought you could use it at base camp.”