Cash lifted a single brow, his eyes glinting in the dimming light. “So, you have a thing for clowns, do you?”
“Yeah, I’ve always found fake, squeaky, red noses to be sexy.” I fanned myself, pretending I might swoon in his arms at the mere thought of a rodeo clown.
“You know, I was always the class clown when I was a kid.”
I rolled my eyes. “Why does that not surprise me?”
“I’m fresh out of fake, squeaky, red noses, but I can pick one up tomorrow, if that’s what butters your bread.”
We both laughed, and he held me a little tighter. This was starting to feel like a real date. A date I was enjoying. A date that I didn’t want to end.
A date with a man I was going to fall hard for if I wasn’t super careful.
CHAPTERSIXTEEN
What was that old mantra I’d been repeating for the past couple of years about Cash’s charms?
I’m immune. I’m immune. I’m immune.
Ha! What a crock. No one was immune to his wiles—especially not someone who was slow dancing in the sunset with the man! All any woman could ever hope to do was distract herself from those charms.
I searched frantically for something safe to talk about as we swayed to the music—a topic that would get my mind off how good it felt to have his arms around me, because talk about rodeo clowns hadn’t cut it. All it had done was fill my head with images of a heroic Cash protecting hapless cowboys from raging bulls that weighed more than most European cars.
And let me tell you, the miniature movie playing in my head deserved an academy award. There were more slo-mo muscle shots than I cared to admit. In each one, his dusty white tee clung to his sculpted body as he stood between innocent cowboys and certain death.
It didn’t matter if I imagined him with the red clown nose or not, my brain could only conjure three words…
What a man!
This had to end. So, I blurted out the first thing that popped into my head. Well, the second thing. Thefirstthing that popped into my mind made my cheeks burn. “So, what was with all the note-taking when you were talking to the farmers before? I’ve never met anyone as interested in onions as you.”
He tucked one of my stray curls behind my ear as the lead singer on stage sang about the kind of love that lasted forever. I mentally scolded the butterflies stirring in my stomach. Forever was a very long time. I had to keep my focus on the present—this summer. We’d have our PG-rated fun, and then it would be done. Any expectation beyond that was just setting myself up for heartache.
“I was taking notes so I can fine-tune my ingredient list. They’re sponsoring the cookoff. The rules say I have to buy all my fresh ingredients from them. The whole event is a big push to get people to buy their produce from local growers.”
It was working. The romantic vibes were definitely thinning out and the movie had been relegated to my mental watchlist for later. I was sure those vibes would dissipate entirely if we kept talking about onions or better yet, garlic. I bet none of the other gals hanging onto their cowboys were having conversations about produce.
Umm, score one for me?
“So, that’s why you wanted to know what veggies would be ready by the end of the month.”
Cash gazed at my hand—the one he still held over his heart. For a split second, I was convinced he was about to kiss it. I held my breath, waiting to see what he’d do and wondering what it would feel like if he actually did it. So much for trying to pretend this dance wasn’t romantic.
“Yep. I’m tweaking my recipes to focus on this year’s harvest. I didn’t want to plan on cooking my seasoned zucchini fries if the squash bugs decimated the crop like last year.” Tingles raced up my arm when Cash traced a circle on the back of my hand with the pad of his thumb.
The singer crooned a line about never letting go, and my wild side hoped Cash was listening. I cleared my throat, while my rational side chased all thoughts of kissing from my mind. “You’re putting a lot of thought into this contest, aren’t you?”
“Like I said, it would be like winning the jackpot if I won that food truck. But win, lose, or draw, at least it’ll get my name out there.”
“Even a long shot is worth a try.”
He nodded slightly and sighed. “It might be a longer shot than you know, but yeah, worth a try.”
I rested my head on Cash’s chest, you know, to give my tense neck muscles a break. I took a deep breath and relaxed into the sound of his beating heart. We danced with his chin resting on the top of my head until the song ended, but only because I didn’t want to cheat him out of what I owed him. It had nothing to do with how much I didn’t want our dance to be over.
That’s what I told myself, at least. If it was true what they said about the lies we tell ourselves being the most dangerous kind, I was in more danger than ever before.
I waited until his arm loosened around me before taking half a step back.
