the feet. Have you ever…roped anything?”
All she did was wink at me. “Let’s stop talking and do some roping.”
I fell in love with her in that moment.
“This is gonna be interesting,” Ty said with a hearty laugh. My father also smiled, but when I met his gaze, he simply gave me a knowing nod.
“Ready?” I asked Timberlynn.
“Ready!” she called back. The excitement in her voice made me chuckle. Ty was right…it was going to be interesting, indeed.
I nodded, the steer took off, and I had his head roped in seconds. I watched as Timberlynn roped his back legs, turned Rosie, and faced me and Trigger. She had a huge damn smile on her face at her own success.
“Four-point-five seconds. Shit, son, she did better than Ty!” my father called out.
“You better marry that girl, Tanner!” one of the ranch hands yelled as Timberlynn looked at me, beaming.
“Give it slack, Timberlynn!” Ty called, and when she did, I did the same, letting the steer get free.
I rode over to her and shook my head. “Someone has been keeping secrets.”
With a casual shrug, she replied, “Don’t we all have hidden secrets and talents, Mr. Shaw?”
That made my body react. “You didn’t tell me you knew how to rope, Timber. I think I just fell in love with you, and apparently we now need to wed.”
She laughed, then stared at me for a moment. I watched her bite into her lip as she looked up at me through those beautiful eyelashes of hers. “I do believe you’ve said that once already, about falling in love, at least.”
I nodded. “I believe I did.”
With a quick glance around, she focused back on me. “I’ve never done that before in my life. But I did practice at the stables I learned to ride in. They had a mechanical bull that they would let loose, and we would all take turns trying to rope its horns. I got pretty good at it.”
“I’m possibly looking for a new roping partner. Are you interested in the gig?”
“How much does it pay?” she teased.
My heart felt as if it slammed against my chest. “I’m sure we could negotiate something that would be mutually beneficial to us both.”
She blushed and looked around the corral as if only now remembering we were not alone. She chewed nervously on her lip and moved Rosie up next to Trigger. Both mares stared at each other in contempt, but neither moved. In a lower voice, Timberlynn said, “Tanner, I want you to know that I didn’t mean what I said last night. About what happened between us being a mistake.”
“Good, because I didn’t think it was a mistake. It was amazing, if you ask me.”
She pulled in her bottom lip but didn’t say anything.
“What about that other thing you said?”
She looked confused.
“About never wanting any sort of relationship with me.”
Before she could answer, my father rode up.
“Timberlynn, I’m always in need of some good ranch hands. When can you start?”
She laughed once again and shook her head. “As lovely as that sounds, Mr. Shaw, I’m going to have to pass.”
“No formal names, young lady, it’s Ty Senior.”
Timberlynn nodded. “Well, as lovely as that sounds, Ty Senior, I’m afraid I have some plans of my own I need to tend to.”
My father raised his brows. “A woman who knows how to ride, knows how to rope, and has a mind of her own. You will certainly make some lucky cowboy a very happy man someday.”
Timberlynn blushed again and stole a quick peek in my direction.
“Don’t you think, Tanner?” my father asked.
Without taking my eyes off of Timberlynn, I gave her a smile that I hoped like hell screamed how much I wanted her. “I do believe you’re right, Dad. A lucky man, indeed.”
Blayze came running out and up to Timberlynn. “Miss Timberlynn, I was wondering if I might be able to sit next to you at dinner tonight.”
I stared down at my nephew in utter disbelief. “Dude, you’re putting the moves on my girl?”
Timberlynn’s gaze shot back over to me, and I ignored the surprised look on her face.
Blayze nodded and looked thoughtful for a moment. “Uncle Tanner, I called dibs on dinner, you got a date with her the other day. Miss Timberlynn, dinner tonight?”
Timberlynn was clearly trying not to laugh and doing a pretty good job of holding it in.
“Damn, son, what are you doing?” Brock said as he walked over and picked up Blayze, making him laugh as he tossed him over his