Overprotective Cowboy - Elana Johnson Page 0,18

her again, and he really knew why Nate liked this cowboy hat. It was growing on Ted too.

Emma got in the truck, closed the door, and Jess eased away from the curb.

“What was that?” Nate asked.

“What?” Ted stood up, glad to be off the hard cement.

“She barely looked at me.” Nate watched him as they started back to his truck. “I think she has a crush on you.”

Ted scoffed. “You’re delusional.”

No one had ever had a crush on Ted before. Of course, he wouldn’t have known if they had. His focus before prison had been work, work, and more work. He hadn’t dated in years before he’d taken the fall at his firm, and he didn’t even know what flirting looked like or sounded like.

But he was pretty sure Emma hadn’t been doing it.

“Listen, I’m going to put some money in your account, Teddy,” he said. “And I don’t want you to argue with me about it.”

“I’ll pay you back,” Ted said. “Honestly.”

“I don’t care if you do or don’t,” Nate said. “I have plenty of money.”

Ted nodded, because Nate had told him that he had a lot in his bank account while they were in prison together, and Ted suspected Nate had gotten more from his brother. When Ward died, he’d left everything to Nate, and Ted knew he had a house in White Lake, a small town only twenty minutes from here.

Ted got set up at the bank, and he didn’t ask Nate how much money he’d put in his account. Nate went upstairs with a white-haired man for several minutes, and when he came down, he had a debit card with Ted’s name on it. The man really could work miracles, and Ted shook his head and clapped Nate on the back in a quick hug.

“Okay, clothes,” Nate said. “Groceries. Household stuff. We can get it all at Wal-Mart.”

“Deal,” Ted said, because he didn’t care what he wore to work. The only thing he didn’t want to get at Wal-Mart was shoes, because he’d already worked six hours on his feet that morning, and he now knew he needed decent footwear.

Hours later, Ted finally had everything he needed—except dinner.

“I know what you want,” Nate said, and he aimed the truck down the street away from the shoe store where they’d just bought a nice, sturdy pair of work boots, and a pair of running shoes, and a pair of cowboy boots. The last one was at Nate’s insistence, because he claimed if Ted would wear them every day, they’d become the most comfortable shoes he’d ever worn.

Trying them on in the store had felt like sticking his feet into a torture device, so Ted wasn’t sure how that would ever come true. But it was Nate’s money, and Ted just swiped the card.

“Burger Barn,” Ted said, his mouth watering. “I want to go there.”

“I know.” Nate grinned as he swung into the drive-through. “You’ve talked about this place since the day I met you.”

“I can’t believe there’s one here,” Ted said. “They’re not everywhere, you know.”

“So I’ve heard.” Nate rolled down his window to study the menu.

Ted looked at the one on his side of the stall, because he hadn’t been to Burger Barn in a very long time. They didn’t seem to have updated their menu, and he said, “I want combo number fourteen, with chicken strips and half and half fries. Huge Dr. Pepper.”

Nate put in their order, and only five or six minutes later, more food than the two of them could ever eat got delivered right to the truck. Ted once again marveled at the ease with which he could get things on the outside. He’d forgotten about this magical thing called fast food, and his mouth watered as he picked up a regular French fry and a sweet potato fry at the same time.

He closed his eyes and put them in his mouth, and Ted knew then that the stars had aligned.

They’d both eaten through most of their food before Nate asked, “So how do you know Emma?”

“What?” Ted asked. “I don’t know her.”

“Oh, please.” Nate threw him a sarcastic look. “I literally slept five feet from you for five years. I know something’s bothering you, and I think it’s her.”

“Maybe I’m just thinking maybe I have a shot with her, like you and Ginger.”

Nate blinked, clearly taken aback by that. “No, really.”

“So you don’t think I have a shot with her?” Ted enjoyed the heat as it filled Nate’s face.

“No, I