Almost Fired by the Cowboy - Natalie Dean Page 0,71

gotten him into such a state. She’d always been called ugly when she was younger. Too tall to be feminine, too skinny to be a woman, and then too fat to be desirable. Her personality was too brash, and her frame was too broad, and her hair was too short.

But when Sal looked at her, all of those other people didn’t matter.

“I’m right there with you, mate.”

“Right.”

He sat back and looked at her. At least his breath was also rushed, his lips swollen slightly by their kissing. Nova wondered if she had stubble-burn on her cheeks or mouth. The idea made her toes curl happily in her work boots.

“Do you—” Sal started.

“Want to go on a date with me?” Nova blurted before he could finish whatever he was going to say.

Sal blinked at her a moment before a broad smile broke out across his face. “I was gonna suggest a walk to cool down, but I like your idea better.”

“Yeah, well,” Nova felt herself blushing, but she didn’t let that trip her up. “Why not both?”

23

Salvatore

Sal wiped his hands on the side of his pants, his stomach doing something aerobatic that he wasn’t exactly fond of. He’d stopped pacing the foyer for a moment but found himself doing that again after checking his phone.

He was off-kilter because Nova was the one who had arranged their whole date and was picking him up, but he was more than willing to go with her flow. Besides, it was kind of nice not to have to deal with the planning part. Goodness knew his head was plenty full of all the personal decisions he’d been coming to over the past two weeks.

Of course, Sal hadn’t done any of it for Nova, but he couldn’t lie that he was right pleased when she’d asked to kiss him, her eyes hazy and her tanned cheeks flushed pink. She’d looked so beautiful in that moment, so proud of him, and his heart had practically sung as their lips touched.

He wouldn’t mind kissing her again, that was for certain, but all in good time. He wasn’t in a rush.

…but he did wish Nova would hurry up and arrive.

It was awfully early, the sun still not due to set for a couple of hours, and it was right at four o’clock sharp when she pulled up to the front. Sal opened the door before she could even get fully out of her car, doing his best not to bound over to her.

“Oh, hey there,” she said, offering her arms up with a grin. Sal stepped into them and let her hug him, wrapping his own arms around her and giving her a quick hug. It didn’t last nearly as long as he would have liked, but when she stepped away, he took a moment to look her over.

She was wearing a dress, the first time that he had ever seen her in one. It was a pale blue gingham, kind of done in a retro style, shoulders bare so she could soak up the sun.

“You look good,” he said, swallowing hard. She just batted her lashes at him and then opened the back of her car. “Where are we going, by the way. Are you going to tell me yet?”

“Actually,” she backed out from where she’d bent into her car, pulling out a truly massive picnic basket complete with the checkered top. “I thought a summer-end picnic would be fun.”

Sal grinned at her. She was just so cute, standing there in her pretty dress, holding her basket. “That sounds amazing.”

She smiled back at him, and he realized that she was wearing makeup. Nothing too intense, but a dark eyeliner and pretty lipstick that drew his gaze down to her plush lips. He wondered, if he kissed her while she wore that, if he would end up with it smeared across his chin or if it was her face that would end up streaked with it.

Hmmm, he liked that idea more than he should, probably.

Then again, he was pretty excited for anything that led to kissing Nova, now that he knew the attraction between them was mutual.

Or at least he hoped it was. He didn’t imagine Nova was the type to kiss someone without any sort of feelings for them. And he certainly didn’t think she could kiss him like that if she wasn’t at least a little drawn to him.

“Alright, let’s walk then,” she said, holding her arm out for him to hook his through it.

Sal carried the