“You don’t have to be happy with me seeing Dara, Leslie,” he said. “But you do need to and will be civil to her. I hope one day you can think of her as a friend again. You always liked her and I don’t see why that has to change.”
“Everything changed,” Leslie said flatly. “When you went out on a date with her, everything changed.”
“I won’t try to convince you to feel differently than you do,” Jack said. “But I do expect you to act like an adult and treat Dara with respect. Do you understand that?”
Leslie scowled then her face relaxed as she looked down at her lap again. “Yeah. I understand.”
“Good.” He got up from his seat. “One last thing.”
“What?” she said flatly.
“Stand up.”
“Why?” she grumbled, but got up anyway.
He held out his arms. “I need a hug from my daughter.”
Leslie took a step forward, then another. In the next moment she was in his arms. He hugged her tightly and she hugged him back just as hard.
He stroked her hair. “I love you, gumdrop.”
She backed away and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “I love you, Dad.”
“Finish up and get to sleep,” he said. “It’s late and you’ve got school in the morning.”
“Okay.” She rubbed one eye. “Good night, Dad.”
“Good night, sweetheart.” He grasped the doorknob, gave her a smile, then backed out and closed the door behind him.
Dara startled from a dead sleep. She blinked and tried to shake the fog from her brain as she stared up at her ceiling. What had woken her?
An insistent ringing registered in her brain. Her phone.
Trying to grasp consciousness more fully, she rolled over and grabbed her cell off the nightstand. She glanced at the screen and saw it was Charlee.
Dara jumped to fully awake. Damn.
“Sorry.” Dara sat up in bed as she answered. “I forgot.”
Hell, she’d been so dreamy over Jack last night that she’d entirely forgotten about canceling the walk with Charlee this morning.
“I see where I rate.” Charlee’s tone held laughter. “You saw Jack last night, so you were thinking about him.”
Busted.
Dara swung her legs over the side of the bed. “Are you at the park?”
“Right where we planned to meet,” Charlee said. “I can see I’m walking alone today.”
Dara groaned when she looked at the time. “I have an early call with the investors and I forgot about our walk when we scheduled it. Can you take this as sorry times ten?”
“I’ll think about it,” Charlee said, her tone teasing. “Of course it’s okay.”
Dara got to her feet and padded toward her closet. “So we’ll walk on Monday?”
“Don’t forget Bailey’s calling Sunday morning.”
Dara couldn’t help another groan. “Why don’t I wait until she gets back from Europe and tell her in person?”
“Really?” Charlee laughed again. “Wait another couple of months to tell her you’re dating her big brother? Hell, you could be married by then.”
“Ha ha.” Dara went through her closet and grabbed an SDR shirt. “But you’re right. I need to tell her. I just can’t figure out how.”
“Oh, how about, ‘I’m dating your big brother, Bailey,’” Charlee said. “Or ‘Guess what, we’re going to be sisters-in-law.’”
Dara laid her shirt on the bed. “Charlee, Jack and I are just dating, and we only started seeing each other.”
“Remember this,” Charlee said. “If you don’t tell her, I will, and I’ll make it as painful as possible.”
Dara yanked a pair of jeans out of a dresser drawer and tossed them onto the bed, next to the shirt. “You wouldn’t.”
“You know I would.”
“Ha.” She dug in another drawer and yanked out a mismatched pair of panties and bra. She needed to buy something sexy, with the hopes of a night, preferably many more, with Jack.
“You think I’m kidding?” Charlee interrupted Dara’s thoughts of Jack.
Heat flushed through Dara as she brought her attention back to Charlee. “You can hold off the threats. I promise I’ll tell Bailey Sunday when she calls.”
“This should be good.” Charlee added an evil-sounding cackle.
Dara smiled. “It’s sure not going to be easy.”
Another cackle. “Talk with you Sunday, my pretty.”
“Enjoy your walk, Broomhilda.” Dara disconnected the call and pitched her phone onto the bed with everything else.
Charlee was right, and Dara knew it, but that didn’t make it easy.
Dara stripped off her PJs and flung them into the hamper. It rocked from side to side before stopping.
Should she tell Bailey, “By the way, I’m dating Jack,” or something like, “You’re never going to believe it, but your brother Jack and I just started seeing each other,” or maybe, “I’m dating your brother. Well of course, one of the two who aren’t married. Guess which one.”
Dara picked up her shirt and jeans from the bed and pressed them against her warm face. This whole thing was making her feel like a teenager. It shouldn’t be so difficult to tell Bailey, but it would be.
She’d known Jack and the rest of the McBrides most of her life. Things had just shot in a direction she’d never expected.
* * *
It had been a long, exhausting day. If Dara didn’t have grocery shopping to do, she might have gone straight home and climbed into bed at six PM.
Instead, she needed to get food for Satan—if she wanted a peaceful home. Considering she had an empty refrigerator, she figured she’d like to eat something, too.
Not to mention she needed to call Jack—she wanted nothing more than to hear his voice. That thought sent renewed energy through her. Earlier today, she’d missed his call and he’d left a voicemail that he’d like to pick her up at five tomorrow evening to go to the barn dance.
She couldn’t wait.
Dara stopped at the grocery store, grabbed a cart, threw her multi-use grocery bags in it, and pushed the basket into the store.
Thoughts of Jack filled her mind. She pictured the incredibly sexy cowboy, who was clearly just as attracted to her.
How had she gotten so lucky? Nah, she wouldn’t call it luck. More like fate and meant-to-be. Yeah, she liked that.
She smiled and hummed to herself as she headed toward the produce area. On the way, she grabbed a roast chicken that smelled so good her stomach growled. A package of Hawaiian rolls was next to the roast chicken display, and into the cart went those, too. Oh, and that two-liter bottle of Coke in the display stand over there would be perfect with the meal.
When she reached the produce section, she grabbed a bag of carrots, then paused in front of the celery.
The only way celery could be eaten was with a healthy dose of crunchy peanut butter. Hmmm. That actually sounded good—she’d pick up some peanut butter on the aisle one over from the baking section.
Dara grasped a bunch of the pale green stuff and put into a produce bag. After she tied the bag and put it into the basket, she headed for the pet food aisle. She rounded the corner and nearly smacked into an exceptionally nice Wrangler-clad ass.
She looked up to see she had almost run into Jack.
He turned and her breath caught. He stepped around the cart and gathered her into his arms.
“You need a hug.” He hugged her tightly to him. “I certainly need a hug from you.”
She breathed in his scent as she hugged him in return. She felt the solidness of his tall muscled form.
When he drew back, he played with strands of her hair that had fallen out of her braid. “How was your day?”
She smiled. “Perfect now.”
He looked at the roast chicken, Hawaiian rolls, bottle of Coke, and carrots in her basket. “Dinner?”
She rested one hand on her cart. “Every now and then I have to grab one of the
ir roast chickens. Smells so good.”
He pointed to his basket, which was nearly overflowing with food. The contents included three gallons of milk, a few loaves of bread, three containers of ice cream, and a whole sheet cake from the bakery. Below the cart was a twenty-pound bag of dog food.
“Our dinner is somewhere in there,” he said as he pointed in the direction of the milk and a package of spaghetti.
She laughed at the cart. “Are you feeding a football team?”
He glanced at it before grinning at her. “A hungry teenage boy eats most of that. Hell if I know where he puts it. Kid is skinny as a beanpole.”
She smiled at the image. “Every time I see him, he looks two inches taller than the time before.”
“That’s because he probably is.”
Dara thought about tomorrow night. “I intended to ask you if I should bring a dish of some sort.”
He tapped the plastic lid over the huge red-white-and-blue-frosted cake. “This is our contribution.”
“Yummy,” Dara said. “The bakery here makes great cakes.”
Jack looked down the pet food aisle before meeting her gaze again. “I just grabbed a bag of food for Demon. I take it you’re in the market for cat food?”
She rolled her eyes. “Satan will more than live up to his name if I don’t get his favorite. He’s probably shredding a curtain or something because I’m late.”
Jack raised his brows. “That bad, huh?”
“I might have exaggerated a tiny bit.” She paused as an employee spoke over the loudspeakers before she continued. “If I didn’t have the bathrooms shut while I’m gone, he’d make sure to take every bit of toilet paper off the rolls and string the mess all through the house—after shredding it first.”
She shook her head at the thought of the bratty cat. “I keep my art studio locked so he doesn’t decide to do something evil with any of my projects.”
“Demon chewed on anything and everything when he was a puppy,” Jack said. “Max named him Demon after he ate three of Leslie’s shoes—from three different pair.”
“Ouch,” Dara said.
“Leslie was thirteen.” Jack shook his head. “She wanted to send him back to the rescue center and get a new puppy.” He smiled. “Of course she loves that dog, even if he has a demonic side.”
A woman with a cart came up and Dara stepped aside to let the lady by before she responded. “Sounds like we should never get these two together.”
“I don’t know about that.” The corner of his mouth curved into a smile. “Maybe they’ll cancel each other out.”
Dara laughed. “I can see it now. The house torn apart as those two butt heads.”
Jack studied her in a way that made her tingle from head to toe. “Is tomorrow at five good to pick you up?” he asked.
“Perfect. I’d planned to call you when I got home from grocery shopping.” She tried to maintain her poise when she wanted to melt into his arms. “Where’s the barn dance being held?”
“My cousin Creed and his wife, Danica, are having it at their place,” Jack said. “They started holding it at their ranch three or four years ago and have kept it going by popular demand.”
A flutter stirred in Dara’s belly. She hadn’t thought of seeing Jack’s relatives. “Isn’t Creed a professional bull rider?”
“Yep.” Jack nodded. “I think you’ll enjoy it.”
She smiled at him instead of snuggling up against his body. “I’ll be ready, cowboy.”
Dara really didn’t want to part from him. She wanted to stand right in the middle of the pet food aisle and talk with him.
Rather than stand there with that sappy smile on her face, she grasped the handle on her cart. “I should let you get back to finishing your shopping.”
“I got the dog food,” he said, “so I’m just about to head to a register.”
She pointed to a row of small cat food cans. “I’m doing the same as soon as I grab a couple for my little monster.”
“I’d offer to carry your groceries to your car, but I’m afraid it’s going to take me longer to get through checkout than you.”
“I think that’s true. And,” she looked at her cart, “I don’t have much to carry.”
He shrugged. “If it meant I’d get to spend more time with you, then I’d even carry your purse.”
Dara found herself laughing out loud at the image of this big strong cowboy carrying her purse. “I’m picturing it now. I don’t think it will go with your outfit.”
“Are you sure?” He grinned. “I hear it’s a fashion these days.”
“And so’s a man bun.” She burst into more laughter. She could not picture that. “Tell you what, I’ll checkout behind you so that we can talk more.”
He gestured in the direction of the checkout lanes. “Ladies first.”
Dara felt near to bursting with the thrill of knowing Jack wanted more time with her.
“And this way I get to watch your cute butt,” he said from behind her.
She found herself grinning as she looked over her shoulder. “And here I’d been thinking the same thing if I walked behind you.”
When she reached one of the lanes, she saw they each had at least three people standing in them. Good. More time with Jack. She picked the one with the longest line.
She stepped aside. “You go first so I have an excuse to stand in line with you.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You need an excuse?”
“Pretty much no, but it’ll be easier.”
Jack grinned as he got into line and she followed him. She eased around the cart so that she was standing in front of it while he stood behind his.
“Have you decided for sure if you want to take over as 4-H leader?” she asked.
“I think it sounds like a fun way to spend time with a bunch of kids,” he said. “And bonus is I’ll get to be around you.”
“You know exactly what to say to make me smile.” Cue another sappy smile.
They talked about the club and some of the projects the teens were working on.
When the line went down far enough, Jack unloaded his cart onto the conveyor belt. He had so many groceries that he was checking out by the time she could put the few she had on the belt.
She had never had so much fun in a checkout line before.
After they both finished, they pushed their carts out of the store. Jack paused in front of the cart roundup location.
He reached into her basket and brought out her groceries and put them onto his cart. “Where’s your Jeep?”
Dara pointed to her Jeep at the far end of the row. “Last one.” She fell into step beside him. “You do know your ice cream is probably melted by now.”
“Very much worth it, honey.”
Sigh.
They strolled to the end of the row and she unlocked the Jeep. Jack opened the back and put the bags in before closing it.
“Thank you.” She grinned. “I don’t know how I would have managed without you.”
He smiled and reached for her hand. “Come here.”
She went to him and sank against him as he wrapped his arms around her.
A long hug before they parted followed by a brush of his lips over hers took her breath away. When he released her, he waited for her to get into the Jeep and start the vehicle. She lowered her window and smiled. “Five tomorrow evening.”
He smiled in return and nodded. “Good night.”
Dara put her Jeep into gear and drove out of the parking lot. As drunk over Jack as she was, she nearly collided with a car at the stop sign. She stomped on her brake, bringing the Jeep to a hard stop, just inches from the car’s bumper.
Time to focus on driving and not on Jack McBride.
The vehicle in front of her pulled out, onto the street. Dara drove up to the stop sign and checked for traffic before turning right and heading home.
Where she could safely daydream over Jack as much as she wanted.
Chapter Nine
; “I haven’t been to a barn dance in forever.” Dara looked out the truck window as the high desert scenery sped by.
“According to Mom, I’ve been going to them since I was an infant.” Jack drew her attention to him. “Said I was born to two-step.”
Dara laughed. “I bet you were a cute kid.”
“You’ll have to see my baby pics.” He grinned at her. “Mom said I was cute as hell.”
She rubbed her palms on her Wrangler jeans that she’d worn for the barn dance. “Will your parents be there tonight?”
“No doubt.”
The fact that Gus and Molly would be at the barn dance set Dara off balance. She hadn’t thought about any of the other McBrides being there. Good grief. Why hadn’t she?
Seriously, Dara. She mentally shook her head. You’re too wrapped up in Jack to think about anything else.
“How do you think your mom and dad will feel about us dating?” she asked, then chided herself for being insecure.
He glanced at her and smiled. “They’ll love it.”
Dara decided to change the topic from his parents to the McBride clan. “I bet there are a whole lot of McBrides who’ll be at the dance.”
“All hundred plus of them,” he said with a grin. “Well, something like that.”
“Half the cowboy population,” Dara said.
He laughed. “At least.”
Dara’s belly had quieted from the moment he’d picked her up, until the mention of his parents and a valley full of McBrides. She was so focused on just the one McBride. He was pretty much all she’d been thinking of.
Lovesick, much?
Over the years, she had seen Danica and Creed around town and at McBride events she’d gone to with Bailey. She’d never had any kind of conversation with them.
Dara played with a button on her red, gray, and white plaid shirt. No barn dance was complete without Stetsons or ball caps, Wranglers, flannel, leather belts with big buckles, and cowboy boots.
She’d forgone a hat and big buckle, but wore a leather tooled belt, along with a pair of comfortable boots she’d had a long time that had been broken in ages ago. And her fringed suede jacket—she loved that thing and didn’t have much opportunity to wear it.
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