She cleared her throat. “In this sort of situation, you could lavish a little more praise, but only if it’s genuine.”
“Of course.” He thought back to a moment ago, when she’d held the rope in perfect tension above her head. “I could watch you ride a horse and rope steer all night.” Did he sound too passionate?
Her eyes narrowed on him. “No flattery. You know that’s one of the rules.”
He sat up straighter. “I am not flattering you. I meant exactly what I said. I thoroughly enjoyed your performance and would love watching you do it again.”
“Really?” Did her voice hold a note of hope?
“Yes. Really.” He was not sure why his own voice dropped lower. “The truth is, I love watching you do everything.”
This time her eyes widened.
“Did I say too much this time?”
“Did you mean it?”
“Absolutely.” Once again, the lines were starting to blur between the pretense and the truth of how he was feeling for her. Even though he’d told himself he would put an end to the flirtatious lessons she was giving him, he hadn’t been able to make himself do so yet, and he wasn’t sure why.
She cocked her head toward the arena. “So, do you want to try any of the stunts?”
“If I do, I shall only make a complete fool of myself.”
“I promise I won’t laugh.”
Before he could say anything, a voice behind him answered, “No, Emberly. We don’t let the guests try the stunts, and you know it.”
Max shifted to find Tyler standing behind him, his thick arms crossed. The oldest McQuaid was in his usual cowboy hat, flannel, jeans, and cowboy boots. He was decisive, commanding, and a clear leader, not unlike Max. But he was also much more intense, somewhat gruff, and certainly not warm and welcoming.
“I think you’re done here,” Tyler said in a clipped tone, as though he didn’t approve of Emberly’s private rodeo in the first place.
Emberly visibly bristled. “We were fine, Ty. We were just doing some practicing like we’ve done plenty of times.”
A muscle in Tyler’s jaw ticked. “Fine. But it’s time to put an end to this.”
“Why?”
“You’ve given your guest preferential treatment all week, but this is taking things too far.”
Max’s gut tightened at Tyler’s tongue-lashing. Emberly did not deserve his censure. “Emberly is not to blame for any of this.”
“Max,” she started.
“’Tis true. When you texted the activities that we could do today, I chose this.”
“I wanted to do it too.”
“Regardless, I have encouraged more than necessary.” As he spoke, he leveled his gaze at Tyler. “So do not take your irritation out on her.”
“Don’t worry.” Tyler held his ground. “I’m irritated at you too.”
“Very well.” Max climbed down from the fence. His new leather boots were shiny and clean and completely out of place next to Tyler’s scuffed and worn boots that had likely seen a great deal of hard work. “I hope the irritation will very soon be replaced by satisfaction when I return home and do my best to promote your ranch in my country and around the world.”
Tyler’s expression remained hard. “You’ll return and never contact Emberly again?”
“Ty!” Emberly began to dismount her horse. “Stop right now.”
Max was not sure how to answer Tyler. All week, he had been telling himself his friendship with Emberly was confined to one week, that when he went back to his normal life, he would be busy and would forget about her. He had even tried to convince himself earlier that he could never do a long-distance relationship.
