“Can’t do much about how I talk.”
“I wouldn’t want you to. Your accent is charming.”
“Is it, now?” He’d never considered his way of speaking as an asset. “Why is that?”
“There’s a lilt to your voice and a way you brush past consonants that’s very appealing.”
“If you say so.” In other words, she enjoyed listening to him. He’d take it.
“But you don’t sound like a cowboy. It would help if you sprinkled a fewyes, ma’amsandno, ma’amsinto the conversation. Assuming you’re talking to a woman, of course.”
“Why would I do that?”
“It’s considered polite. The cowboys around here use that phrase a lot.”
“Where I come from, a woman doesn’t like it when you call herma’am. It’s insulting, like you think she’s old.”
“That’s not the case here. The McLintock men say it all the time.”
“To you?”
“Sure.”
“Even though you’re so young?”
“I’m twenty-six.” She lifted her chin a notch.
He smiled. “Still too young to be calledma’am.”
She waited for a lorry to drive past before they crossed the street. “Ah, but if they say it with a twinkle in their eyes, it’s adorable. If they add enthusiasm, likeyes, ma’am!you know they’re excited about whatever you’ve suggested. Then there’s slow and sexy, likeyeess, maaa-aaam.That delivery can be extremely seductive.”
“Not in Ireland.”
“I believe you, but in cowboy country, that phrase is the secret sauce.” She headed across the street.
He kept pace with her. “I see.”
“If it’s a stretch for you, since you’ve been taught the opposite, then never mind. And here we are.” She walked toward the Buffalo’s front entrance.
He beat her to it, grabbing the brass handle and swinging the door wide.
She glanced up, amusement in her eyes. “You must be ready for lunch.”
He chuckled. “Yes, ma’am.”
Her eyes widened and her cheeks flushed. “Well, done, cowboy.”
The flash of arousal in her gaze wasn’t lost on him. Secret sauce, indeed.
CHAPTER FOUR
Teaching Kieran the benefits of sayingyes, ma’amhad been a tactical error. Sara’s pulse was still racing as she walked past the large wooden buffalo and tripped the sensors. The buffalo moanedHot enouuuuf for youuuu?”
A little too hot, thank you, and she wasn’t talking about the weather. She glanced toward the table where her folks and Lani were giving her the eye. She waved.
“What the devil?” Kieran stared at the mascot in obvious fascination, backed up and came through again. Then he started laughing. “That’s gas.”
If she hadn’t spent time with the Dublin group, she wouldn’t knowthat’s gasmeant he thought the talking buffalo was hilarious.His reaction to it had likely drawn her family’s attention, too, especially since the mid-afternoon crowd in the Buffalo was sparse.
