I push, leaning closer because I can’t help myself, “You’ve never shared them with Eliza?”
“She’s a Goobers person,” her voice is filled with disgust as she screws up her face. “She’ll even eat Good & Plenty. Can you believe it? Oh,” she stops and calls out, “do you mind putting extra butter on?” Her face breaks out into a wide smile and she nods, “Thanks.”
A chuckle escapes my chest, and I’m completely entranced by her. When everything is plopped on the counter, I reach for my wallet, determined to pay for this too. She tries to stop me, but that’s not going to slide with me.
She huffs, but I just hand her drink to her and collect everything else before ushering her into the theater. It’s almost empty, but it’s perfect as far as I’m concerned.
We sit in the center of the theater, and she nestles down into the chair the moment we sit, like she’s getting cozied into place for the long haul. There’s something endearing about it and it tugs at something in me.
As I sit down next to her, the lights dim and she glances at me, her breathing picking up slightly. Relaxing feels impossible, but the warmth of her soothes something in me and my shoulders drop.
“Here,” I whisper, handing her the box of Milk Duds.
When our fingers brush, a jolt races up my arm. I stare at her, my eyes wide. She just smiles and shrugs like it’s no big deal. That was something.
I think.
Wasn’t it?
As the trailers start, I hold the popcorn between us. For a moment I just watch the colors dance across her face, but when she glances at me from the corner of her eye, again, I force myself to face forward.
I’m not sure what it is about this woman I find so captivating. It’s tempting to find out. Spending time with her is far from a hardship.
I’ve spent more time off my land in the last week than I have in a long damn time. It feels good to breathe air that’s not heavy with the responsibilities and expectations. Even shopping at the market was, somehow, freeing. Not in a soaring kind of way, but in a no longer stuck kind of way.
I’ve been grinding it out at Sagebrush. And I don’t regret the time and effort I’ve put into the business, into my family’s legacy. But I can’t remember the last time I read a book for fun. I used to do it all the time in high school.
And I just lost it along the way.
Damn. I might just have to go and see Mrs. Riley down at the library.
Arden leans closer to me, her voice pitched low. “You’re thinking awful loudly over there, Cowboy.”
I stiffen and my stomach churns at the reminder. My Sunflower.
It’s not easy to shake it off.
When our hands touch again, this time in the popcorn, the same jolt goes straight through me. I almost let out a yelp, but I swallow it down at the last second.
This time I’m not sure I like it at all.
Or maybe I like it too much.
CHAPTER 8
ARDEN
I should not be sitting in the passenger seat of Ford’s truck right now. The last thing I should have agreed to is him picking me up. But here I am and my stomach is in knots.
Honestly, I thought I blew it at the movies, and he figured the whole thing out.
I called him Cowboy. The moment I realized it, I wanted to flee. It’s kind of wild how close I was to running screaming from the theater.
But I held it together and Ford relaxed next to me. He didn’t call me out or ask me if I spend a lot of time writing letters, like he’s pretending to be a detective and not the rancher he is.
Damn, he smells good. I glance over at him, unable to help myself. He’s wearing a flannel shirt, the sleeves pushed up hisforearms while the heat is blasting in the truck like spring isn’t just around the corner.
I guess it’s not close enough for him.
