He guffaws, reaches for his beer, takes a sip then almost chokes as he laughs again. ‘A romantic. Yeah, okay.’
‘I’m serious. You think true love brought your brother back to life. That’s awfully sweet, for a cowboy.’
He looks toward the ceiling. ‘I’m just saying what I saw.’
‘And what about you?’ I prop my chin in the palm of my hand. ‘We’ve already established that you don’t do relationships. Why, though? When you clearly believe that love has the power to be so transformative?’
His eyes widen and then he glances at the bread. There’s one piece left—I push the basket in his direction, but he ignores it.
‘Who can say?’
‘Well, presumably you can.’
‘Nah, that’s the thing, I can’t. I just know I’ve never been interested in the whole love thing. I’m happy for my friends, family, when they fall in love or whatever. Weddings are great, kids are great, but I’ve never watched someone walk down the aisle and thoughtGee, I wish that was me.’
‘Maybe you just haven’t met the right woman?’
‘I don’t know,’ he says. ‘I’ve met a lot of women—don’t you think statistically by now I’d have fallen for one of them, if I was gonna?’
‘Fair point,’ I murmur, ignoring the stab of something in my chest when he refers to how many women he’s been with. He doesn’t say it, but I feel myself added to that, like a piece of hay on a haystack. Nothing special.
‘You’re coming to the next event?’ he asks, changing the subject with all the subtlety of a brick.
‘I’m coming to the next two events. Which is why a visit to the ranch will work perfectly.’ On that score, I don’t intend to take no for an answer.
‘You can come to the ranch,’ he agrees. ‘But just don’t expect to escape without getting your hands dirty.’
I hold his gaze, silently encouraging him to continue.
‘It’s a ranch, darlin’. You can come rope a horse with me, move a fence, maybe even get on the back of a bull.’
I blanch. ‘Erm, no, thanks.’
He laughs. ‘Yeah, forget the bull. Don’t think I’d wanna see that.’ He takes a drink of beer. ‘We can drive out there together from Albuquerque.’ His eyes narrow. ‘In fact, how’re you getting to the next event?’
‘I have a flight booked Wednesday.’
He leans forward, and beneath the table his ankle brushes against mine. Sparks shoot through me. I glance around guiltily, but no one’s looking our way. Besides, they couldn’t see beneath the tablecloth, even if they were. ‘I got a better idea.’
I halfway hold my breath, waiting for him to speak.
‘Let’s drive over together.’
My heart slams into my ribs. ‘Why?’
His smile spreads slowly, making his eyes sparkle. My insides burst. ‘You wanna see what my life’s really like? Well, a huge part of that’s being out there. Just me, the open road, and the setting sun.’
Vivid imagery comes to mind, along with the possibility of being enclosed in a car with this man. On the road, away from prying eyes, the risk of being discovered. Excitement bubbles beneath my skin. Enough excitement that I should take that as a warning and back right away. Because this is casual and meaningless—not the beginning and end of my fantasies.
‘It does sound beautiful,’ I say, noncommittally.
‘But?’
My lips pull to the side as I consider that. ‘Maybe the less time we spend together, the better.’
His laugh is a soft rebuke. ‘Why’s that, Bailey James?’
‘I just … think it’s smarter.’
