She told herself that at least he admired her determination to learn how to make the repairs herself.
He might want to date her to get to know her, but what would he find—a woman who was so messed up she didn’t know what to do next with her life, still grieving past sorrows? How was that any fun for anybody?
She told herself to get under control. He didn’t need to know all her fears and doubts; this was supposed to be fun. And she was allowed to have fun.
Sometimes she didn’t need reminding, especially when his gaze roamed slowly down her body, making her feel like she wanted to straighten up and tuck loose strands of hair behind her ears—or maybe slouch bonelessly onto the nearest horizontal surface and pull him to her.
Okay, okay, this was enough togetherness for one day. The long morning of listening to his instructions while trying to keep from kissing him had taken its toll.
“Nate, you’ve done enough for one day. Surely you’re needed on the ranch.”
She was achy in muscles she hadn’t used in a while, while he looked fresh and fit.
“I guess my brother’s been taught enough of a lesson,” he said.
“Excuse me?”
Nate grinned and shrugged. “He was ribbing me last night. He’s got this leather-tooling hobby he does for fun, and has this stupid idea I don’t do enough for fun. So since he thinks I work too hard, I gave him my morning chores. I’m sure he’s sorry he ever opened his mouth.”
A cowboy who did leather tooling? she thought with curiosity. Now that couldn’t just be a coincidence.
“So I’m your new project to prove to your brother you’re not all about work?” she asked lightly, watching him wash up in the sink behind the bar.
“You’re a lot of things,” he mused, walking toward her. “But proving something to my brother? Naw, I’m hardly thinking about him when I’m looking at you.”
He pulled her into his arms and she came up against his body, feeling his arms around her, the heat of him seeping pleasantly into her. “You must like your women all dirty and perspiring.”
“Hmm.”
He kissed her then, leisurely, masterfully, until her heart was trembling along with her knees, making her grip his t-shirt to keep from collapsing.
He gave her another quick kiss, then grinned with satisfaction. “When are you free to go hiking?”
“I’m working for Monica tomorrow afternoon, but the following day it’s just the morning. How about after lunch?”
“It’s a date. How did your first day at the flower shop go?”
A handsome cowboy told me about his art and made me curious. “It was great. I’m a natural with customers,” she boasted, arching an eyebrow playfully. “Monica said I could bake for her. I’ll be going to the grocery store later today.”
“Good for you.” He leaned down over her. “Now don’t I get another reward for all my hard work today?”
And then he kissed her, and every thought, every trouble or apprehension, fled her mind.
When they both came up for air, he leaned his forehead against hers. “I’m not certain I can wait two days to see you.”
That made her feel wonderful—and uneasy all at the same time.
Chapter Fifteen
Emily spent the next two days in a fog of romance. Gorgeous cowboy Nate was desperate to date her. It made her want to hug herself and dance around her apartment. He was the perfect antidote to her low self-esteem after the way Greg had discarded her when she couldn’t give him a biological child. She was a woman in charge of her life, a woman who felt confident enough to date but didn’t need a man to be content.
By day, she plodded along ripping down damaged drywall or worked in the flower shop; in the evening, she baked for Monica, chocolate mousse cake one day, a peach cobbler the next. More furniture kept appearing—a plant in a lovely ceramic container from Monica in honor of her first day, the perfect decorative touch on the coffee table beneath her front window; a lamp to read by; then, to her surprise, a love seat that was well used but in good condition. She didn’t feel so . . . temporary anymore. Her brief sojourn in Valentine Valley was becoming part of her journey, not an ordeal she had to get through.
On the day of her afternoon hike with Nate, she attended the Music to Eat By program at the community center with Brooke and Monica. It was an old, converted, brick