“I love you so much. Seriously, Ash, this was really sweet. You earned major points.”
He wiggled his eyebrows. “I could have gonebigger. I wanted one of those button-down western shirts with the paisley print, but Jake said something about running me over with my own car if I bought it.”
Just imagining it sent me into a fit of giggles that felt so good. I couldn’t believe how much better I felt with Asher here. Suddenly the task in front of me didn’t seem so ominous. With my sweet, sexy man beside me, I could do anything.I plucked his cowboy hat from his head and settled it atop my own. “How do I look?”
In answer, he attacked my neck. Laughing, I squirmed out of his arms and grabbed my jacket.
“We going somewhere?” he asked.
I looked him over and grinned. “Oh, hell yeah. I’m showing you off. You’re taking me to the fair and feeding me cotton candy and elephant ears. Then we’re going to make out while flippingin the Zipper.”
“Kinky.”
My cheeks hurt from smiling so much. “You’re in my world now, city boy.”
AC/DC’s song “Shook Me All Night Long” was playing when we got in line at the ticket booth, and I couldn’t suppress the smile tugging at my lips. It was amazing how some things never changed. Memories of roundups past flooded my senses, reminding me how much I’d loved the fair as a child.
I sawa lot of faces I recognized, and a few people stopped to say hey and meet Asher. I kept introductions and conversations to a minimum, wishing I could build some sort of shield around us that deflected their advances. Even though I’d said I wanted to show Asher off, I really wanted to keep him to myself.
We walked away from the entrance booth hand-in-hand sporting flimsy paper bracelets, andI tugged him toward the rigged games. “Hey, want me to win you a stuffed animal?” I asked.
“Shouldn’t that be my line?” he asked.
I shrugged. “You can try. But see that shooting game right there? And that hit the balloons with the darts one? I don’t mean to brag or anything, but I will own you.”
“Is that supposed to deter me?” he asked, pulling me toward the shooting game. “Because that seemslike a pretty sweet deal.”
The way he looked at me set my entire body on fire.
A woman shouted my name and I turned to see one of my many distant cousins approaching. “Hey, Dylan, I heard you were back.” She eyed Asher, looking a little too thirsty for my liking. “Andwhodid you bring with you?”
“Asher, this is my cousin, Allison. Allie, this is my boyfriend, Asher.”
Her eyebrows rose. “Boyfriend?Does Dak know about him? The way he was talkin’—”
“We haven’t run into Dak yet,” I said, cutting her off. “But I’ll be sure to introduce him.”
Her gaze drank Asher in for a few more moments. “Good luck with that,” she said before sauntering off.
“Who’s Dak?” Asher asked.
“A guy I grew up with.” I shrugged, not wanting to discuss Dakota or any of my other problems. But I didn’t want to hideanything from Asher, so I stopped and turned to face him. “We never dated, but our parents got it stuck in their minds that we’d grow up and get married someday.”
“And...?” he asked.
It was possible Asher knew me a little too well. Paired with his mad lawyer skills and my inability to tell a lie, I was screwed. “I’ve told him it’s not going to happen, but he hasn’t let it go yet.”
“What’sthis guy like?”
“Nice. He’s a good guy, Ash, but there was never anything between us. I think he likes the idea of us way better than he ever liked me. He doesn’t even know me. I haven’t seen him in years.”
“He sounds like a stalker.”
“He’s harmless. Really.” Then, because my perfect night was falling to shit, I looked past Asher to see my dad heading toward us. “Dammit,” I growled.
“What?”Asher looked over his shoulder. “What’s wrong?”
“My dad’s coming.”
