“He’s a nice guy. And hot.” Damaris fanned herself. “We dated for about a nanosecond when he first came to town. I have to warn you, he never dates anyone for long. He’s a lot of fun, though.”
“That’s fine with me. I’m not looking for anything serious.”
“Great. I’ll give him your number then.”
Maybe this guy could get her mind off of Chase. She hoped so. She was about to go nuts thinking about that night. Dreaming about it. Waking up aching with the memories of Chase’s touch, his kiss. She had it bad for the one man she couldn’t have.
*
“So, did Natecall you?” Damaris asked her the next day.
“Yes. We’re going to Blue next weekend. He said it’s a restaurant out at the Barrels Winery. New American cuisine, whatever that means. Have you been there?”
“Whoa,” Damaris said. “Once or twice. Blue is about the nicest restaurant around. And romantic,” she said, patting her heart. “Very nice, especially for a first date. And a blind date at that. Although,” she added with a grin, “not totally blind.”
Ella’s eyes narrowed. “What in the world did you tell him about me?”
“I showed him your picture.”
“Damaris!”
“What? It’s on the internet. You’re standing by your horse wearing jeans and a T-shirt. It’s not like it’s obscene or anything.”
“That’s not the point. It just seems…intrusive. Kind of creepy.”
“Why? If it was a dating app you’d have put your picture on it.”
“But I’m not using a dating app.”
Damaris waved her hand. “Potato, potahto. Here, I’ll show you his picture.” She pulled out her phone and tapped on it, her fingers flying over the screen. She turned it around and held it out to Ella. “There.”
She took the phone and looked. He was standing beside a plane, a tall man in jeans and a T-shirt with a rock in the shape of a devil and the wordsDevil’s Rock Airportprinted on it. His light brown hair glistened in the sun and his cocky smile hinted that he’d be, as Damaris had said,a lot of fun.
“Okay, he’s cute.”
“Cute?”
“Fine. He’s hot. Are you happy now?”
“I don’t know. That depends on how your date goes.”
It surprised her how quickly she and Damaris had become friends, not simply employer and employee. She wondered if part of that was because Damaris enjoyed having another woman around. Ella knew she adored Ruthie, their housekeeper, but Ruthie’s domain was the kitchen and house and Damaris didn’t have much interest in that sort of thing. Damaris had told her she had a sister named Jedidiah who rarely came back to the ranch. Ella thought Damaris missed her sister more than she liked to admit.
Nate picked her up, which she’d agreed to rather than meeting him at the restaurant, since Damaris had set them up. The real man was even better than the picture. But as undeniably hot as Nate was, Ella couldn’t help comparing him to a certain cowboy. And the cowboy won, hands down.
Which really pissed her off.
After they’d gotten the initial questions and answers out of the way Nate asked her, “Are you feeling adventurous?”
“That depends. What did you have in mind?”
“Blue has a tasting menu. Small plates of a little bit of whatever the chef decides is interesting. But we won’t know what until it’s served. You up for it?”
“Sure. One good thing about small plates is if you don’t like it there’s not much of it.”
“Yes. But that’s also true if you like it.”
She laughed. “Good point.”
