Three pairs of accusing eyes turned toward him.Harper sat down, waited.Jack and Sadie followed her, like always.
Groaning, he rubbed his face.Getting up, he walked toward them.“This is fast becoming super weird.I’m not Cooper, but if I’m not mistaken, you want me to sketch what happened today, don’t you?”
And as if his words were some kind of cue, all three started barking.
“I haven’t even thought about drawing her again…”
But the dogs weren’t interested, they kept on barking.They only stopped once he sat down behind his desk.
Okay, he could check his emails, maybe they’d be happy if he was busy.As he opened his ET Beck email messages, he groaned out loud.He thought he’d caught up with all the orders that he’d received, but there were more than a hundred new emails.Some were orders for sketches of his dogs, others were from people requesting sketches of their own pets.
One email subject in particular caught his eye: Publishing deal for illustrations—Brooke Publishing.His eyes widened.Of course he’d heard of the publishers, they were a well-known publishing house for illustrated books.This was obviously a scam, why would a publisher contact him?He received so many scams, by now he could recognize one from a mile away.Even though he knew it wasn’t real, he was curious enough to read through the email that had been sent by one June Kincaid.They were, of course, offering him a dream deal—publishing his illustrations about his dogs with the option to also publish anything else he might have.
Yeah, right.He deleted the email.If it hadn’t been a scam, it would’ve been a dream come true.But if he pursued his dream, it meant he’d have to tell his family, leave Hayden and Cooper in the lurch, and there was no way he could do that.
While he was still thinking of the possibilities of the impossible, he pulled a piece of paper closer and picked up a pencil.Minutes later, his hand was flying over the page.Once he was drawing, the dogs finally settled at his feet.
Chapter Eight
By the timethe sound of Becket’s truck outside the guesthouse reached Ellie ears on Monday afternoon, she was just about hyperventilating.Why on earth had she agreed to go to Bozeman with Becket Weston of all people?
She’d come to terms with the fact that she wasn’t going to date again, wasn’t getting married, would be happily single.She even planned on getting a cat.But what happened?The known womanizer in town flashed one of his killer smiles her way and she kissed him, forgetting all her earlier resolutions, and even agreed to go with him to Bozeman.
Okay, it wasn’t that long of a drive, but she was going to be with him in the car.In a small space.Alone.For about half an hour.That’s a long time when every breath she would take would fill her being with his powerfully male scent.And then there was the dinner she’d apparently agreed to and, after that, still the drive back.There was no way she could do that and stay aloof, not with Becket Weston close to her.
The only bright spot in the whole scenario was that she’d texted him to pick her up at the guesthouse.When she’d opened her shop this morning, she’d realized that if Becket was to pick her up in Main Street, Aurelia Hill would know about it and the story would be all over town within seconds.The smiley face he’d subsequently texted her had made her smile, just another thing that added to her agitated state.
Last night Annie had kept her in the kitchen until Ellie had spilled everything, even her date with Becket today.How that happened, Ellie still wasn’t sure.Annie was a sneaky one.
Fortunately, neither Annie nor Craig was home this afternoon, so at least she could get in Becket’s truck without Annie watching her every move.
Her telephone conversation with Gloria last night was probably partly to blame for her feeling overwhelmed this morning.She was buying Gloria’s house.Her dream house.To say she had mixed feelings was putting it mildly.
Yes, of course she was excited.It was, after all, the house she’d been dreaming about ever since she could remember.But there was Becket.Deep down, she knew it wasn’t a good idea to see him on a regular basis.What she felt when she was with him wasn’t something she’d ever experienced before.If she was honest, it scared the living daylights out of her.
Her experience of any kind of relationship was warped at best.She wasn’t even sure what this craziness inside her was when she was with Becket.Lust, she recognized.Lust she understood.It was the bone-deep desire to be with him, the constant awareness of her own body, her needs, though, that was freaking her out.She was out of control and didn’t like it one bit.
Her nighttime reading usually calmed her wayward thoughts, but talking first to Annie, and then to Gloria, she’d been so overcome she hadn’t picked up her book or even thought of posting anything on social media.
Groaning, she closed her eyes.It would be wonderful to simply go with what she was feeling, but at some point Becket, like most people in her life, would walk away.Her own parents hadn’t wanted her Marcus was forever finding fault with what she’d done or who she was.
The front doorbell rang.She was simply going to tell Becket she’d changed her mind, she wasn’t going anywhere.Inhaling deeply, she opened the front door.And there he was: big, devastatingly handsome and so sexy she wanted to fling herself into his arms.
His eyes darkened as he looked at her.“You look… gorgeous.”
Every word she’d had ready left her mind, leaving her with nothing to say.
Irritated with the whole ridiculous situation, she pressed her lips together, sidestepping him and made her way to his truck.“I told you not to waste your lines on me.”She’d go, but she didn’t have to like it.
Only when she got to his truck, did she realize her dilemma.It was a hot day and she was wearing a short, yellow, halter-neck dress.It was a perfectly modest dress, but there was no way she’d be able to get into the truck with her dignity intact.Well, this was as good an excuse as any to get out of this silly date, anyway.
“Well, that’s it.I can’t get up into your truck.Don’t worry about me… Becket!”she yelled as he opened the door, scooped her up and put her in the seat.
Before she could take her next breath, he’d closed her door, walked around the truck and got in next to her.The truck roared to life.
“You can’t just pick me up!”she scolded.
“How else am I supposed to get you into my truck?”he asked.
