“I want to take you to lunch.”
My head snaps around. “What?”
“It’s a quiet place,” He says. “At this time there won’t be many people there, but we don’t have to.”
I swallow thickly. It’s on the tip of my tongue to say no, to refuse and demand he take us back to the ranch after his stop at the grocery store, but it dies when I look at him.
There are no expectations, but there is determination.
“Okay.” I whisper.
“Yeah?” He grins.
“Yes,” I accept, but I reach for his arm. “It’s safe?”
“With me, you are,” He vows.
A loud honk of a horn startles us both, forcing Knox to pull onto the road only to travel to the other end, barely a two-minute drive. He parksin front of a diner that has a faded awning jutting out from the top of the windows and a door that doesn’t quite close. He switches off the engine and climbs from the car, rounding the hood to open the door for me, offering me his hand to help me from the cab.
In my head, I saw every set of eyes turning to us as we entered but in reality, no one even flicks their attention to us as we make our way through the diner that smells like fried food and coffee to a table in the corner. I take the seat facing the window while Knox sits opposite, leaving him with the view of the whole restaurant.
A woman sidles up to us almost immediately after we take our seats, her uniform stuck somewhere in the eighties, but she has a bright smile and pen and paper ready to take our order.
“Just drinks for the minute,” Knox tells her gently.
“Of course, Mr. Carter,” The girl smiles. “What can I get you?”
He looks to me to answer first.
“Just a coffee,” I tell her.
She scribbles it down and faces Knox, who gives her the same answer before she scurries away, and Knox turns his focus to me. Unease works through me though no one is paying us any attention.
“Relax, darlin’,” Knox pushes his boot against the side of mine.
“Easy for you to say,” I grumble.
He leans back in his chair, throwing an arm behind him to hook it on the back, a grin tugging up one side of his mouth. He’s the picture of ease, but I won’t lie and say the view isn’t good, not with the sun shining at his back and the mountains jutting toward the sky like rocky, sentient guards.
“Keep looking at me like that, Hellion, and I’ll take you in the back of the truck, really get the locals talking.”
I run my tongue along my bottom lip. “Don’t make threats you can’t follow through on.”
He chuckles darkly, “It wasn’t a threat, it was a promise, and I’m a man of my word.”
I press my thighs together just as the waitress returns with our coffees and her pad. I haven’t even looked at the menu, but Knox fills in, ordering us both the burger with fries. Shifting in my seat, I turn my eyes away from him to the windows.
A familiar blonde head of hair catches my attention. The vet strolls toward the diner, dressed in actual clothes today. Her jeans sit high around her trim waist, the blue and white pinstriped shirt tucked in with a large gold belt buckle and beige boots. Her hair is pulled into a ponytail, sunglasses covering her eyes.
Immediately my spine straightens.
I’m a possessive woman; I always have been. I don’t share, and I don’t like people touching mythings.
Knox has been mine since the moment he pulled me out of the barn, even if he didn’t know it yet.
The little bell over the door jingles with her entry, and Knox’s eyes move to the sound before he curses under his breath.
“Everly,” He greets her with a flat tone as she steps up to the table.
