The Rancher and the Event Planner - By Cheryl Gorman Page 0,25
melt on her tongue. She’d spent the day in Dallas coordinating a list of changes the Senator insisted upon for the gala. Tomorrow would be another busy day and she was dead tired and starving. “Great meal, Linc.”
He gave her a quick nod. “Thanks.”
She wondered what it would have been like to be a member of a close, loving family. She could feel the love in the house, especially the love Rafe had for his daughter which made Molly a very sunny, stable little girl.
“JC?”
She looked over at Rafe whose gaze was pinned to her face. Good, maybe she was getting to him. Whenever she caught him looking at her, tingles scurried over her skin. “Yes?”
“Everything okay?”
“Sure, just thinking about tomorrow. Are you still going to pitch in and help paint the storefronts?”
“Yeah. But I bet you don’t last the day.”
“What do you mean?”
“Painting is hard work and it’s supposed to be a scorcher tomorrow.” He swept his gaze over her face and she felt it all the way to her toes. “You don’t want that fair skin of yours to burn.”
She sat up straight in her chair and leaned toward Rafe. “The only thing that’s going to get burned tomorrow is you when you lose the bet.”
She dug a twenty-dollar bill out of her pocket and laid it on the table. “Why not put your money where your mouth is?”
He pulled out some cash of his own. “You’re on, but I’ll sure hate taking your money.”
Linc laughed. “As much as I’m enjoying this, I’ve got some paperwork to do.” He stood and picked up his plate.
“I’ll do the dishes tonight,” JC said.
“Can’t say no to that.”
JC put away the leftovers, rinsed the plates and cutlery before loading everything into the dishwasher.
Just as she finished wiping down the stove and countertops, Linc came in and grabbed a beer from the fridge.
“Where’s Rafe?” JC asked as she started the dishwasher.
He grinned. “I heard Molly trying to talk him into playing Barbies with her.”
Later, when JC stepped into the family room Molly’s girlish laughter floated up from behind the sofa followed by Rafe’s deep voice saying, “Well, hello there, Barbie. Want to ride with me on old Dollar?”
Molly laughed again. Slowly, JC lowered one knee then the other to the sofa, rested her hands on the back and peeked over. She found father and daughter sprawled on the floor surrounded by doll clothes, a pile of Barbies in various states of undress, a Barbie car, Barbie’s dream house and an old stuffed horse with one eye missing and a stirrup ripped off its plastic saddle. Her heart melted. She would bet money that old horse was Rafe’s when he was a boy. Molly lay on her stomach and held her Barbie doll in one hand. “Yes. Can we go get some ice cream?”
Rafe lay on his side, his long legs spread out, socks on his feet. The jeans showcased his sexy rear end. His shoulders were broad and appeared strong, as if they could hold the weight of the world. He rested his head in one palm and with the other he held a Ken doll in his big, work-roughened hand. He moved the doll back and forth as if he were walking and shifted him closer to the Barbie Molly held. “Sure thing, Barbie. I know this great ice cream place.”
“Do you like sprinkles on your ice cream, Ken?”
“I love sprinkles. Dollar does too.”
Molly laughed. “Silly. Horses don’t eat ice cream.”
“Dollar does.”
JC laughed. “I like ice cream with sprinkles too.”
Two pairs of eyes fixed on her.
Molly grinned. “We’re playing Barbies.”
Heat burned up Rafe’s neck and over his cheeks until even his ears turned red.
JC smiled enjoying herself. “Yes, it looks like fun.”
Rafe avoided her gaze. She was fascinated by this other side of Rafe. She would never have imagined this rough, tough cowboy playing dolls with his little girl. “Can I play too?”
“Sure,” Molly said. She dug a doll out of the pile. “This is Chandra, Barbie’s friend. You can be her.” The doll’s long dark hair was in a tangle, the lower part of her body was twisted to the right and the upper part to the left. She was dressed in black pants and a bright pink top with a plastic silver necklace around her neck.
JC sat down behind the couch and took the doll. She straightened the doll’s body and held it so the doll’s bare feet touched the floor. “Can I go for ice cream too? If