She found a clean towel underneath the counter and breathed in the scent of clean linen to detox her nostrils after the harrowing ordeal she'd had on the horse. With time, she was sure she could get used to living on a ranch. Hell, she might even enjoy going for long evening rides with Beau every so often. She’d probably have to if she ever hoped to be in a real relationshipwithhim.
It was then that the harsh reality hit her in the face. She and Beau weren’t dating. Not really. She wasn’t exactly sure where she stood with him. Dixie loved her, that was a fact, but a child’s admiration seemed a lot easier to win right now than Beau’s. There was the softness of his touch and the hungry way he looked at her sometimes, but besides that, there was nothing else to prove his affections. She wasn’t really even sure how to find out without blatantly asking him, which was out of the questionanyway.
She dried her body and hair to the best of her ability and then slipped on a fresh set of clothes. Not wishing to be wasteful, she wrapped her used towel around her shoulders to keep her damp hair off her clothes. She exited the bathroom, letting steam roll out with her. Not only was the water pressure phenomenal, but she could turn it to the perfecttemperature.
When she stepped out into Beau’s bedroom, she took a moment to look around, searching for anything that could tell her more about him. With the stench of cow shit still clinging to her skin, she didn’t want to waste a lot of time wanderingaround.
A pair of jeans were thrown over the footboard and she saw the back pockets were speckled with dirt and hay. Maybe he intended to wear them later? Next to his digital alarm clock, she could see the prong-end of a phone charger and a rather fancy looking wrist watch that laid undone across the surface. It was definitely too clean and formal to wear when he was out working with the livestock. Maybe he only wore it for special occasions? The idea of Beau in anything but Wranglers was a little hard to imagine, but she wouldn’t mind seeing him in a nice suit andjacket.
The walls were bare, but that wasn’t too surprising. If he had just moved in a few months ago, he probably didn’t have the time or the motivation to get too settled and personalize the room. His closet wasn’t crowded at all. His wardrobe was sparse in comparison to hers. Only maybe half a dozen button-down shirts, and some polos. No sign of thatformalsuit.
Tara ran her fingers over the smooth leather fabric of a jacket sleeve and noticed there were several shoe and packing boxes covering the floor of the closet. If only she had the time and privacy to leaf through and see what secretstheyheld.
This couldn’t have been everything he brought with him from his previous place. Could this room have belonged to him before he left home the first time? This hardly looked to be the room of a teenage boy that would have been kept in pristine condition by loving parents. Then again, with the rocky history between Beau and his family, maybe they wanted to wipe out all remembrance of him. That would explain the minimalist décor and lack ofpossession.
The chest of drawers must have held his t-shirts, jeans, and other clothes that most people didn’t bother to hang up in a closet. She wondered if the book would retell this moment and give her hints to whatever hidden contents were in thedrawers.
Remembering the book reminded her that there was so much left unspoken in this story. She still didn’t know Beau’s side and so desperately wanted to know what he thought of her. He seemed interested, but she wasn’t about to go probing for answers to him personally. There had to be some way to get him alone, without Daniel or Dixie so she could better assess what it was theyshared.
She bit her lip as a clever plan formed in her mind. Then again, could she even do anything? So far, she had let Beau and the book dictate what was happening day to day. How much freedom was she granted when it came to throwing in a plot twist or moving this romance forward the way she wanted ittogo?
She jumped just as the bedroom door opened and Beau appeared. Spinning in place, caught in the act of staring into his closet again, she was suddenly too shy to say a thing. Did he suspect that she was looking at his stuff? Would hebemad?
He seemed to recover from the shock of seeing her there, barefoot with a towel draped over her shoulders, and smiled. “Have a niceshower?”
Oh, what she wouldn’t have given to know if he would ever say those exact words to her again, but under different – more pleasurable – circumstances. While she rinsed her hair, she couldn’t help but realize that the shower stall was just big enough for two people to squeeze in. That made her mind run wild withideas.
She nodded and hoped that her cheeks didn’t turn too red under the question. “Yeah, thanks for letting me use yourbathroom.”
“Anytime.”
Tara forced herself not to read into that response. He was just being nice. No need to get excited. Though, she could already tell that a bit of heat was pooling betweenherlegs.
Beau cleared his throat and she wondered if he realized his slip. “Have you ever played Texas Hold ‘Em before?” he asked as he jerked a thumb towardthedoor.
She blinked at the question, unsure of how to respond. “Ummm… I think I played it once or twice during summer camp, but notrecently.”
Beau’s smile reached his eyes. “Well, I think Dixie may want to teach you. She’s been shuffling the cards for the last tenminutes.”
Somehow, Tara had expected whatever game they played would involve dice, moving pieces around a board, and laughing across a table. Cards hadn’t even entered her mind. “I hope I wasn’t leaving y’all waiting fortoolong.”
“No, Dixie’s just impatient. When we’re done with a few rounds, we’ll startdinner.”
Tara walked closer after retrieving her bag from the bathroom. “What’s on the menu, bytheway?”
“Spaghetti.Dixie’sway.”
She made a face. “Should I bescared?”
Beau chuckled as he leaned a bit on the doorknob. “No, not at all. It’s actuallyprettygood.”
“When you said it was Dixie’s kind of spaghetti, I half expected the sauce would be ketchup orsomething.”
He laughed as she came to the door and they stood so close to one another that she could smell that clean linen scent on his shirt that matched his towels. “Believe it or not, she is picky about her spaghetti. You won’t have to worry about anything unusual in yoursauce.”
Tara smiled and let this moment seep in as she looked up into Beau’s gorgeous blue eyes and saw how the outside corners crinkled when he laughed. It was like he made everything perfect, just by being this close to her. Why hadn’t she paid more attention to him in school? Had she been so shallow as to look him over just because he didn’t have big muscles or a jersey uniform? Beau had the heart of a real fairytale hero, but she had passed him up. How could she had been sostupid?
And by the way he looked, he must have felt the same. Oh, how she wished that darn book could have told her what he was feeling right then. She had no idea what to say. Honestly, just to stand so close, sharing the same air, was more than enough to make her ridiculously happy. They could have kissed, or just stood there for a hundred years. As long as he was there, gazing down at her with such kind eyes, Tara didn’t care which it was. Surely he did care for her, even alittle.
