“Same thing as her,” he said. “Sounds good.”
“You got it.”
Once she left, I said, “You can move to the other side of the table.”
“I like it here just fine.”
“It’s hard to talk to you like this.”
With a sigh, he grudgingly relocated.
“Better,” I said with a smile. “So that was Archer.”
“That was Archer.”
“He’s not the only one who thinks you don’t smile or laugh a lot.”
“That’s because I don’t.”
“You do around me.”
“Can’t help but smile around you, Freckles,” he admitted as he pushed Archer’s mug to the end of the table.
I didn’t know what to say to that. I liked that I made him smile. But it made my heart ping in sadness for him, too.
The waitress came by with clean silverware and two waters. She took the dirty dishes and disappeared again.
“So, what were you doing in New York? For your job, I mean?” he asked.
“I worked in publishing. It sucks.”
“Publishing sucks?”
I shook my head. “No. Publishing was fine. The job was perfect for me. Lifelong bookworm. It was everything else that came with it, though. The office politics. The coworkers. My boss.”
“When you go back to New York, will you look for something else in the same industry?”
“Don’t know. Can we not talk about it?” I asked with a sense of desperation. “Today I woke up feeling pretty good. I don’t want to get dragged down again.”
“Actually you woke up with your hand touching my?—”
“For the love of everything holy,” my cheeks blazed, “please wipe that from your memory.”
“Can’t.” His tone was low, raspy.
And it made desire coil deep inside me.
Our eyes met and we fell silent.
I shivered at the heat in his gaze. My throat went dry at the promise I read on his lips.
“So, what’s your story?” I asked, clearing my throat. “What were you doing before you came to work at Elk Ridge?”
He inclined his head in tacit agreement to change the conversation. “Archer and I were working on the rodeo circuit. We both wanted a change of scenery. So when Cas called and asked if we’d be interested in working on his fiancée’s father’s ranch, we said yes. We talked to Mrs. Powell and here we are.”
My gaze narrowed.
“What?” he asked.
