most magnificent blue eyes. In the time that I'd known him, he'd grown a beard. He kept it trimmed short, and it made him look much more like a grown man than he did when he first arrived at the Bluebird Ranch.
“Come on in. I'm just about ready to put the steaks on.” He followed me back to the kitchen. I watched out of the corner of my eye as he took in my house. It was way more house than a single guy needed, and I was feeling pretty full of myself when I furnished it and spared no expense. Something that was even funnier if you knew I spent most of my downtime either at Cap and Frankie's or out at the ranch.
He normally had more energy than he knew what to do with, but tonight his vibrant blue eyes looked tired. “Did you have a long day?”
He chuckled and said, “Yeah, what gave me away?”
“You just look tired, is all.”
“Yeah, it was a long drive back after a morning spent with a client. To say he overstated his daughter's ability is an understatement. I think by the time I left, he realized it though, and he said he would sign her up for some lessons. I don't know about people sometimes. Horses are easy—”
“It's the people that are hard,” I finished for him as I grabbed a couple beers out of the fridge and held one out to him. “I remember you saying that the other day, but I think you’re underestimating yourself. You're great with horses, but you are really good with people, too.”
He took the beer, but his cheeks flushed at the compliment. “Thanks.”
“I'm going to toss the steaks on the grill if you want to come out back with me.”
“Sure.”
“Great. How do you like your steak? Medium rare okay?”
“Is there any other way?” he asked.
“Nope.” I put them on and then took a seat to wait until time to turn them. I figured I might as well address the elephant in the room. Putting it off wasn't going to make it any easier. “So, about what I said, me telling the guys I mean. I didn't tell them it was you.”
“Yeah, I figured that out when I dropped the trailer off and showered. If you had told them it was me, they would have been waiting for me so they could harass me.”
“So they could talk you out of it, you mean.” He just shrugged and took a drink of the beer, so I continued. “Look, my family is here, and this is a small town. There’s no such thing as a secret in River Gorge. The only way you can come with me at Christmas is for people here to think we’re dating.”
“I told you in the beginning that I’m a shitty liar. I hate it. It’s one thing to pretend for a weekend, but to pretend every day, I don't think I can do it.”
I got up and turned the steaks, buying myself a chance to think. I needed him to agree to this. Especially after I told them I was seeing someone. I mean, I could tell them it already ended, but that just sounded more pathetic than being the guy who doesn't want a relationship.
“So don't lie,” I said. “We'll date. I'm not asking you to tell them it's anything serious or that we’re in love or anything. But if we’re going to seem natural together with our families, we do need to spend time together, so where's the lie?”
“I don't know—”
“Look, I didn't even tell them we were official or boyfriends or anything. I just said I was seeing someone. Really, where's the harm?”
6
Landon
Where's the harm? Right, I had a feeling some of the biggest disasters in history started with that question. Unfortunately, I didn't have an answer for him. “So for our friends, we don't have to pretend it’s serious. We can just say we're dating, which we will do?”
I watched as he pulled the steaks off. “Do you want to eat inside or out here?”
“Either is fine,” I said, not really caring.
“And yeah, you don't have to pretend this is some great love, just that we’re dating. And let's go inside. It'll probably cool off pretty good out here before we’re done.” I grabbed our drinks, and he carried the plate with the steaks. We went inside, and he set them on the bar next to the salad.
“Okay, but I have some conditions. First, while we’re doing