was kind of adorable in her lack of subterfuge skills. If she had some shoelaces, she’d probably trip over them right now.
“It was nice to meet you, Mrs. Tate,” she said, not quite looking his mother in the eye either. Then she gave Mandy another quick hug and offered him a wave. “See you later, Brody. Or maybe not. See ya.” She turned and hurried away, and even though he couldn’t see her face, he was sure her cheeks were pink from a blush.
He didn’t realize a huge smile had broken on his face until he turned back to his mom, who was gazing at him with an amused and knowing grin.
“Don’t worry about Mandy,” she told him. “You can pick her up whenever you get around in the morning.” Her eyes practically twinkled as she tried to hold back a smile. “Hope you get caught up on all that work tonight.”
“Yeah, me too,” he mumbled over Mandy’s head as he gave his daughter a hug. “You did great tonight, squirt. Milo said he’d come find you later to tell you congratulations. Have fun with Gramps and Grandma. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“See ya, Dad.”
He gave his mother a quick hug. “Thanks, Mom,” he said quietly into her ear.
“See ya later, Son,” she told him as she squeezed him back. “Have fun.”
* * *
Elle paced the kitchen nervously as she ate way too big a slice of leftover cake—the leaded one—and listened for Brody’s truck. The cake was delicious, the Kahlua flavor even stronger the second day, and she could feel the tingle of the alcohol on her lips. She wasn’t much of a drinker, and she’d considered taking a shot of courage from the bottle of peppermint schnapps Bryn kept in the fridge. But that wouldn’t have been as decadent and delicious as this cake, she thought as she nervously dug into a second piece.
Her pulse quickened as she heard the rumble of a truck engine, and she reached up to smooth her hair. She’d gotten home fifteen minutes earlier and had fixed her hair, swiped on another coat of mascara, and dabbed a little perfume on her neck before she’d come into the kitchen and devoured the first piece of cake.
She looked down at herself to check her outfit. She’d bought this dress on a whim one day earlier this summer from the dress shop in town. It was feminine and cute, and when she put it on, she’d loved it more than she thought she would. The skirt was flowy, but the bodice was fitted and had an open neckline with small cap sleeves. She had on one of her good push-up bras and had undone the top button of her dress, exposing just the slightest hint of cleavage. She sucked in a breath and, in a moment of recklessness, impulsively undid another button. The extra flash of skin made her feel sexy and a little seductive, and was way racier than her normal buttoned-up business attire. But was it too obvious?
She reached back to button it. Leave it, her inner vixen ordered.
Blame it on the cake. A grin tugged at the corners of her mouth as she went out the door to meet Brody.
He’d already unloaded Shamus and was putting him in the corral. The other horses trotted over to the gate, either to greet their little buddy or to check if Brody had any sugar cubes for them. More than likely both.
The little colt wasn’t much bigger than Shamus, but he pranced around the mini-horse like he was excited to have him home.
“Hey, cowboy.” Elle tried to appear relaxed as she sauntered up to Brody, but her hands were shaking, and she was having trouble remembering how to breathe.
He turned from the horses and grinned at her, and it didn’t matter what she remembered because her breath left her completely. Something about that grin held both desire and a hint of promise. And dang if it didn’t have a bit of a wicked gleam to it as well, as if he were already imagining her undressed. Or maybe it was her imagining that. Either way, it had heat rising up her back, and she suddenly didn’t know where to put her hands.
She crossed her arms but realized too late, as she saw his gaze dip and his grin widen, that the motion only drew more attention to her breasts and the hint of lacy bra on display.
“Hey yourself,” he said. His eyes held her