She glanced toward the river and saw a couple of colorful kayaks floating by.
“Looks like fun,” Jason said.
“Yeah, though I’m more of a tuber myself. Way more relaxing.”
“I’ve never done that.”
“Not exciting enough?”
“Not enough time.”
“Seems you make time for things when you want to.”
“That I do.” The suggestive grin he shot her way caused her skin to tingle as if she were about to be struck by lightning.
The waitress arrived with their food, giving Sloane a few moments to try to come up with a new topic of conversation. Anything but how Jason looked more delectable than anything on the menu.
“Can I ask you a personal question?” he asked as soon as the waitress left the table.
“You can ask. No guarantee I’ll answer.”
“Fair enough. I know you and your brothers and sister are adopted. Are any of you birth siblings?”
She shook her head as she picked up one of the wings from the basket in front of her. “No. All from different families, adopted at different times.”
“That says a lot about your parents.”
“They’re the best kind of people. Mom wasn’t able to have kids and they wanted someone to pass the ranch down to. They like to joke that adopting kids was kind of like eating potato chips. You can’t stop with just one.”
“Do you mind me asking about your background?”
She experienced the pang of loss she always did when she thought about her early years. “Not much to tell. I lost my parents when I was young and didn’t have any other family.”
“What happened?”
This was pretty heavy first-date conversation, but it surprised her that she didn’t mind. Resist him all she wanted, he was still easy to talk to.
“My mom died when I was two, so I don’t remember her. Of the flu of all things.” And thus why she never missed a flu shot and wouldn’t allow her family to either. “Dad...” She swallowed, feeling the ache in the part of her heart reserved for him. “He had lung cancer.”
“I’m sorry I brought up bad memories.” Jason reached across the table and wrapped his hand around hers, giving it a supportive squeeze.
“It’s okay.” And it was. While a part of her would always miss the parents who brought her into the world, sometimes it was nice to talk about them. But she’d always been hesitant to do so with her adoptive parents. Though she had no doubt they wouldn’t mind, some part of her feared hurting them and they didn’t deserve that.
“What was your dad like?”
She smiled at a memory that sprang to mind. “He was the best. I remember one time—I must have been five because it was before he got sick—I climbed up this tree in our backyard only to discover I was too scared to make my way back down. Dad climbed up and sat beside me for a while, pointing out things all over the neighborhood that we couldn’t see from the ground. When it started to get dark, he put me on his back and climbed down. He always made me feel safe.”
For a long time after she’d arrived at the ranch, feeling safe had seemed like something that only existed in her past. In her six-year-old brain there’d been a lot of fear that either she or everyone around her would die.
“Gradually, my adoptive parents made me feel safe, too, and I stopped thinking about them as ‘adoptive’ parents. They were just my parents.”
Jason nodded. “That’s how my dad has always thought of his parents, too.”
“He’s adopted?”
“Yeah, when he was a newborn. He never knew who his birth parents were though, so it was different than having known them and losing them.”
The simple fact that his dad was adopted created a feeling of connection with Jason she hadn’t expected. A warmth built in her chest, starting to melt the invisible barrier she’d erected between them.
“Is that why you agreed to come speak to the kids?”
The mischievous grin came back. “Nah, that had more to do with a certain pretty blonde.”
She laughed off his compliment, trying to hide how it caused an entirely foreign giddiness to rise up within her.
“I hate to think of how many women have fallen for that line.”
“None. It’s brand-new.” He watched her for a long moment. “Also, it’s not a line. I like you, Sloane Hartley. Get used to it.”
He said it as if he’d be around beyond this one night. And in that moment, she wished he would.
But she’d learned a long time ago that wishing for something didn’t make it come true. The fact that her thoughts were even traveling in that direction was so surprising that she didn’t truly know what to make of them. Was her mom’s talk of her finding love and starting her own family getting to her? It wasn’t as if she hadn’t had the occasional thought herself, but a passing thought was all it had ever been, since there was no one in her life to fill the missing part of that picture.
She had to remind herself there still wasn’t anyone in the picture. Even if she and Jason had a fabulous time tonight, he would be gone tomorrow. It was possible she might see him again, maybe in a year when the Blue Falls Rodeo fit into his schedule again. That thought caused an ache in her chest.
As they ate, she told him more about the camps and life in Blue Falls.
“Sounds a bit like where I’m from, about an hour outside of Boise. It’s not as big as Blue Falls though.” He made a circular motion with his finger in the air. “More like Poppy. I never could get away with anything.”
“But I’m betting you tried.”
“Don’t all little boys?”
“Hey, it’s not only the domain of boys. Angel and I engaged in our fair share of mischief, too.” She smiled. “Only we were better at not getting caught.”
When they finished their meals, the waitress left them the dessert menu to peruse.
“Do you want anything?” he asked.
“Heck, yeah. You convinced me to go on this date. You’re totally buying me dessert.”
“Is it so bad that you have to have cake to get through it?”
“Not just cake, but ice cream, too.”
“Wow.”
She laughed at his feigned offense and decided to reveal a little more truth than she was honestly comfortable sharing. “You’re not that bad. I could even skip dessert.”
“Oh, no,” he said with a wave. “Now I want about half an apple pie.”
She tossed her wadded-up napkin at him, and he reflexively batted it away—right into the side of the head of the woman sitting at the next table.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Jason said at the woman’s look of annoyance.
Sloane covered her mouth but couldn’t totally hide the snort of laughter, especially when Jason shifted his gaze back to her and gave her an “eek” expression.
“How about we find dessert elsewhere?”
“I don’t know. I think I might like to see you squirm,” she said.
“I was wrong about you. You’re actually evil.”
She laughed, drawing another annoyed look from the couple at the adjacent table. “Come on. I know a place.”
Jason tossed enough money on the table for the bill, then they headed for the exit. The moment his hand rested against her lower back, her entire body woke up as if she’d been walking around half asleep. Was it possible some part of her actually wanted what her mother had been pushing her toward?
She had to remind herself again that it didn’t matter. Jason was leaving in a matter of hours. Why did that fact keep trying to wander off and make her believe this was anything more than one night away from work and responsibility?
“So where to?” he asked as soon as they stepped outside.
“This way.” She headed for
the sidewalk that led back into the part of town she’d passed through earlier.
“Is there apple pie at the end of this jaunt? Because I now have apple pie on the brain.”
“Something even better.”
“Yeah?”
The suggestive way he said it had her imagining pulling him into the dark, wooded area along the river and satisfying her curiosity about what it would feel like to have his hands on more of her body than just her lower back. Instead, she shook her head.
“Men. You’re all alike.”
“I sure hope that’s not true. I know some real asses.”
When they reached the ring of food trucks, they crossed the street. She headed straight for a bright lime-green truck covered with painted cacti and Rosita’s in red cursive along the side.
“This place has the best sopaipillas you’ve ever put in your mouth.” She requested two orders and plunked down the money before Jason could retrieve his wallet.
“I should be paying for those.”
“Says who?”
“Tradition. Chivalry. Good manners.”
She waved off all of those. “Do I seem like the kind of woman to be stuck on tradition to you?”
“I feel as if there’s no safe answer to that, so I’m staying quiet.”
“Hey, maybe you’re smarter than I gave you credit for.” She handed him his sopaipilla covered in cinnamon sugar and honey.
They sat at a picnic table and she watched as Jason took the first bite of his sopaipilla. The way he closed his eyes, licked his lips and made a deep sound of appreciation caused those naughty thoughts to come roaring back again. Thoughts that involved Jason in considerably fewer clothes, a large fluffy bed and no one else for miles around.
Okay, this was normal. She was a heterosexual woman and Jason was one hell of a sexy man. His sense of humor and the way he’d been with the kids made him damn near irresistible. Honestly, it was a miracle she hadn’t jumped him already.
She took a huge bite of her own sopaipilla so she could pretend any sort of appreciative noise she might make was because of the pastry and not because a part of her was having thoughts about crawling across the table and tackling him.
“That’s it,” Jason said as he wiped honey away from the edge of his mouth. “I’m never leaving Texas.”
She knew it was an exaggeration, but she couldn’t deny that she liked the idea of him sticking around more than she should. A reality check hit her like a runaway horse as she finished the last of her sopaipilla. She wiped her mouth with her napkin and balled it in her hand. Well, tonight had been fun while it lasted. While she’d allowed it to last.
“I should be getting home.”
Jason’s expression was devoid of humor when he asked, “Did I say something wrong?”
“No. Just have a long day tomorrow.” No longer than any other, but it sounded like a plausible excuse to take her leave. She stood, probably too suddenly judging by the surprised expression on Jason’s face.
He wiped his mouth and fingers quickly with a napkin and started to gather their trash.
“You don’t have to leave,” she said. “Sounds as if you might like a second helping.”
He lifted an eyebrow at her, then tossed the trash in the nearest can. “Sitting here eating pastries alone wasn’t exactly what I had in mind for tonight.”
Her pulse jumped throughout her body as if his words had floored its accelerator. “What did you have in mind?”
Did she really want to know? Did she trust herself to know and resist?
As they headed toward the sidewalk, he glanced over at her and took her hand, entwining his fingers with hers. “Something like this.”
She didn’t know whether to pull away or allow herself to enjoy the feel of his warm, strong, work-roughened hand against hers. Some part of her brain must have decided on the latter because they walked hand in hand down the sidewalk. It was such a simple thing, holding hands, and yet she couldn’t remember when she’d last done it. To her, it had always meant more than a hug or even a romantic dinner, sometimes even more than a kiss, and yet here she was holding hands with a man she’d known all of three days. And if she was being honest, it felt good. Really good.
So good that it no doubt was a bad idea. A really bad idea.
Chapter Eight
Jason wasn’t entirely sure prolonging his date with Sloane was a good idea because he had a weird feeling in his middle that there was something fundamentally different about spending time with her. Dates for a guy who lived his life on the road like he did usually involved some dancing, laughter, some making out and even occasionally a trip back to his motel room, though he was nowhere near the ladies’ man that Bo was.
But what common sense he possessed told him that if he tried that route with Sloane, she really would toss him in the river. And he wouldn’t blame her. Though he’d known her only a few days, he firmly believed Sloane deserved better than a one-night stand. Considering he was leaving the next day, he probably shouldn’t even be holding her hand. But that simple act made him feel light and full in a way he’d not experienced before. That, in and of itself, should tell him to end the evening. Instead, he veered down a path that led to the river.
They’d only walked a few feet down the path alongside the river when Sloane stopped suddenly and pulled her hand out of his. She took a couple steps away before turning to face him.
“You need to know that I’m not one of those women who hang around rodeos hoping to snag herself a cowboy to get lucky with.”
He crossed his arms and stared back at her. “Did I give you the impression I thought that?”
She gestured at their surroundings. “You insisted on this date. Now we’re walking along in near darkness holding hands.”
“And that makes you assume I’m planning to drag you off to have my wicked way with you?”
She shifted her weight from one foot to the other and diverted her gaze toward the river. “I didn’t say that.”
“But you seem suspicious of my motives. Has it occurred to you that maybe I just like you?”
She shrugged as if she either didn’t know or was uncomfortable with whatever answer had formed in her mind.
“I’m aware I’m leaving tomorrow and that you’re not the type of woman to go for a rowdy night of sex followed by a sayonara the next morning.”
She shot him a look that almost seemed offended. Women. He hadn’t met one yet he fully understood, not even his own mother and sister. He liked women, just didn’t get them.
“We can enjoy the rest of the evening or end it right now, your call,” he said.
She watched him for a moment, then spun away and walked farther down the pathway.
Well, he guessed he had his answer.
But then she stopped in front of a bench, stood still for a moment before sinking slowly onto the seat facing the river. After a breath of hesitation, he closed the distance between them and sat beside her. For a couple of minutes, they sat in silence and it was actually kind of nice. The sound of the river gently flowing by was peaceful, the kind of peace that couldn’t be found even as he drove alone down empty highways. He had the strangest thought that he could sit right here on this bench forever and be happy.
“I’m sorry,” Sloane said.
“For?”
“I shouldn’t have made that assumption about your intentions.”
“No need to apologize. You had a better than average chance of being right.”
“I’m glad I wasn’t.”
“Ouch. I think my ego just shriveled up and died.”
She gave a little snort of laughter. “You know darn well I didn’t mean anything derogatory about your attractiveness.”
“Is that right?” He playfully bumped her shoulder with his own.
She shook her head. “Men.”
“You know you love us.”
“I don’t know. I’m just glad my parents adopted at least one other girl so I wasn’t completely drowning in testosterone and body odor all the time.”
“Body odor? I’ll have you know I even showered for this date.”
She sniffed in an exaggerated fashion in his direction. “You don’t totally reek.”
“Just for that...” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her flush against his side.
When she laughed, it sounded more genuine than anything he’d heard from her, so much so that it pulled him up short. She must have sensed the change in him because she met his gaze. He felt her breath catch in the same moment his did.
“Will you throw me in the river if I kiss you right now?”
The barest hint of a smile played at the edge of her lips. “Only one way to find out.”
“Time to live dangerously,” he said as he skimmed his hand along her cheek until he was cradling the back of her head.
“Says the man who wrestles steers for a living.”
The way her words sounded breathless lit a fire in him that he had to rein in enough so he wouldn’t devour her.
“Women are way more dangerous,” he whispered as he lowered his lips to hers.
* * *
HIS MOUTH FELT like heaven. Any resistance Sloane might have had to allowing things to progress even a moment ago dived into the river and floated away downstream right along with her common sense.
Jason deepened the kiss gradually as if expecting her to pull away at any moment. But, heaven help her, she didn’t want to. Her hand slid up his chest, and an unexpected thrill and hunger went through her at the feel of the firmness beneath his shirt.
He pulled her even closer, and she actually moaned in response to the feel of so much of him pressed against her body. Heat rushed through her and made her feel as if she’d never experienced warmth before. It was the sudden thought that she was boarding a runaway train that was on fire that made her think she should pull away. But before she could follow through, Jason lifted his mouth and eased back from her. She didn’t know whether to yank him close again or be thankful he had more willpower than she evidently did.
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