Good Enough (Meet Me in Montana #3) - Kelly Elliott Page 0,52
you around, beautiful.”
When he stepped away, I looked at Tanner and my smile faltered slightly. He looked furious as he glared at Dirk. When he let his gaze move over to me, he softened his expression, but I still couldn’t read it. He was totally emotionless now as he stared at me.
I turned and climbed up into the Ford F-250 truck. Kaylee hopped in and fired up the engine. “Damn it, I should have started it remotely. It’s freezing,” she said.
“It’s okay,” I said, needing the cold air to diffuse the instant rush of heat that enveloped me when I saw Tanner.
By the time we pulled out of the entrance to the ranch, the truck’s heater was blasting hot air, and I could breathe normally again.
“Do you want to talk about what’s happening with you and Tanner?”
“What?” I asked in a stunned voice as I looked at Kaylee.
She gave me an expression that said I wasn’t fooling anyone. “Timberlynn, please. From the first time the two of you saw each other, it’s been like a moth to a flame. Ty said he’s never seen Tanner so taken with anyone before. He thinks Tanner really likes you.”
I was positive my mouth dropped open. “Please, don’t be ridiculous! That’s insane.”
Ugh. I spat my words out way too fast because Kaylee looked at me and slightly frowned. “Why is that insane?”
“He’s a player, and from what I’ve heard, he likes to fuck them and leave them.”
Kaylee didn’t look back at me when she replied in an almost angry tone, “No, that would be Dirk who fucks them and leaves them. The rumors about Tanner are fabricated by girls who want to brag they’ve slept with him, or by those who wished they had.”
“How do you know it’s not true?” I asked bitterly.
This time she did look at me, and a quick smile flashed across her face. “Dear sweet cousin, be careful there, or I may just think I’ve hit a nerve.”
I sighed. “You haven’t hit anything.”
“You don’t like him, then?”
“Yes. No. I mean, I don’t…I don’t know what I feel toward Tanner, Kaylee.”
“Okay. Would it be so bad if you did like him?”
“Yes!” I practically shouted. “I can’t open myself up to someone like him. I just can’t. And I don’t want to.”
Silence filled the air between us when she didn’t respond. Outside, the fields flew past, covered in snow. Kaylee cleared her throat before she finally spoke. “Are you only interested in a quick fling with him, because I’m not so sure he’s on the same page, Timberlynn. I don’t want to see either one of you hurt.”
Frustration bubbled up inside of me and I turned to look at her. She had her eyes on the road in front of us, both hands on the steering wheel. “How exactly do you know what page he’s on, Kaylee? Has he told you he has feelings for me?”
“No.”
“Has he told his brothers?”
She shook her head and softly replied, “Not that I know of.”
“Then can we stop this conversation?”
“No.”
My eyes widened in shock. “What do you mean, no?”
“I mean, no, Timberlynn. Listen, I get the hurt and anger you have for your father and what that can do to you. Believe me, if anyone gets that, I do. But I’ve watched you put up a wall for fear of getting hurt again. Tanner isn’t going to hurt you.”
My body nearly shook with anger. “And you know this because you have a crystal ball that you can see the future with?”
She gave me a halfhearted chuckle. “No, I don’t, smartass. I’m simply saying that both Ty and Brock have noticed how he looks at you. How when you walk into the room he lights up. And did you not notice how insanely jealous he was just now when Dirk flirted with you?”
I rolled my eyes.
“Did something happen between the two of you last night? Stella swears she might have interrupted something between y’all.”
My cheeks heated, and I wanted to crawl under a rock. “Oh, perfect! Just freaking perfect. Oh my God. She thinks we were…”
“No!” Kaylee said, laughing again. “No, she simply sees the attraction as well and said Tanner came barreling downstairs from your room and declared he was going out. He didn’t come home last night, so she put two and two together. She figured y’all might have had an argument about something.”
I shrugged nonchalantly. “We were wrapping presents, that’s all. He mentioned something about his partner maybe not wanting to rope anymore, and