Only this time, I spill coffee all over my leg.
Zane looks at me sharply. “What was that you said about never spilling?”
“Er, I, well?—”
He laughs and grabs the jacket, pressing it against my leg. “See? You shouldn’t have been laughing at me spilling my coffee. Look what happened.”
“I wasn’t laughing—” I try to say, but trail off when I realize my explanation is worse than him thinking I was laughing at him. Because it’s not like I can tell him I was mesmerized by him holding my hand. Or the feeling of his abs beneath my palm.
Then there’s the part where his hand is wrapping around my leg right now, vigorously drying up the coffee spill.
“You know what? You and I are probably some of the most inept help Max could have asked for today,” Zane says with a laugh. “He’s hoping for some good quality riders, and you and I can’t even drink a cup of coffee.”
I stare at that tan hand that’s stopped rubbing my leg and is now clutching the jacket as he tosses it onto the middle seat between us.
“Sorry about your coat. You’re welcome to borrow one of mine.” He tilts his head toward the back seat. “I brought a couple of sweatshirts. You might drown in it, but at least it won’t be sticky with coffee.”
Zane pulls out on the road, heading toward our friend Max’s ranch. He chatters away as though the whole interaction had zero effect on him.
That’s when I realize he isn’t affected by me. I’m his ‘good friend Bliss.’ Why would a little thing like mopping up spilled coffee affect him?
Yet here I am, the woman pining after a man who only sees me as a good work companion.
CHAPTER 3
Zane
“You toldme she’d be up for it,” I mutter to Max.
We’re both standing in Darlene’s living room while we wait for her to fill our orders.
After talking with Bliss this morning, I drove into town to pick up an order of vaccines from Darlene, who runs a feed store out of her double-car garage. We don’t have a full-scale feed store here, but Darlene will order anything we need and keeps a few essentials on hand, like dog food and chicken feed. Pine Ridge is too small to keep a full feed store in business, but Darlene’s saved us a lot of drive time by ordering everything to her place.
My friend Max was the one who told me that Bliss would be the perfect candidate for a wife, and I, being the fool that I am, believed him.
Max raises his eyebrows. “You asked her to marry you?”
“You told me she’d say yes,” I remind him.
In fact, this whole thing was practically his idea.
Max blinks slowly as he stares at me. Then he sighs and runs a hand over his face. “You’re kidding me, right?”
“No, I took your advice and asked her. When I told you about my problem, you asked me if I’d ever thought about Bliss.Yousaid she would be the perfect solution and I should ask her to marry me.” I try to keep my tone hushed.
I don’t need Darlene overhearing and sending a big ol’ group text about Zane Madden chasing Bliss Jefferson around town.
Bliss would be so mad if I was the reason rumors were flying about her. She’s a pretty private person. In all our time working together or talking in town, she has rarely divulged any personal details about herself. She has never come across as a very open person. I don’t want to be the one who makes her uncomfortable by instigating the rumor mill.
Max shakes his head rapidly. “No, no, no, no. I said she would make a great wife. I thought you two might date and fall in love. You know, like you’re supposed to do! I didn’t say she would say yes if you just asked her to marry you. Did you even take her out on a date?”
“I don’t want to date. I want to marry her.”
Dad isn’t going to let me be full partners in the ranch just for dating someone. He’s convinced that once I get married, I’ll be as happy and settled as he and my mom are. And even though he hasn’t put any stipulations on this marriage, I know he’s hoping I’ll find someone around here so that I can continue running the ranch. Dad’s ready to step down and take Mom on some vacations that he’s been promising her for years. I know he’ll never fully retire, but if I become the primary owner, he’ll feel like he can leave occasionally.
Even worse, I understand him wanting to see me settled. Both of my older brothers had an interest in running the ranch, but then they traveled with the rodeo circuit, and each married someone from out of state.
“Sometimes, you deeply concern me,” Max muses. “What woman on earth is going to agree to a proposal without a date?”
