Roping the Cowboy Billionaire - Emmy Eugene Page 0,12

and biscuits while she bought her truck.

“I can see what you’re thinking,” Blaine said.

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah, and it’s not going to work.” He met her gaze with a very solid one of his own. “I’m coming with you to buy that truck, and I’m going to sleep on your couch again tonight too.”

Tam secretly rejoiced, though a skiff of anxiety skipped through her too. “Fine,” she said. “Just don’t complain to me about your back.” She pointed one finger at him. “I also want fried chicken for dinner, and guess what, Mister Money Bags? You’re buying.”

He burst out laughing, though Tam wasn’t sure what was so funny. She’d called him names like that for years. Decades.

He shook his head as he quieted, and when he looked at her again, his expression was soft and kind and all of the things that made Blaine so utterly perfect in Tam’s eyes. He reached across the desk and took her hand in his, slowly bringing it to his lips.

Her skin buzzed, and her stomach quaked. Her crush on Blaine had morphed into something else she couldn’t identify, but that she hoped would continue to mature.

“I like you, Tam,” he said, and those were the best words in the world in that moment.

“Good,” she said. “Because I like you too, and we need to get a few things straight about what’s happening here.”

5

Blaine swallowed nervously, but he knew exactly what Tam was talking about. “I’ve been giving off weird signals, right?”

“More like scrambled signals,” she said.

“Yeah.” He took another bite of his sandwich to give himself a minute to organize everything in his head. When he did, he swallowed and said, “I just needed some time to commit. But I’m ready to do that now.”

“Commit to what?”

“To taking our friendship to the next level.”

Tam’s eyebrows went up, though Blaine didn’t understand why she was surprised.

“You know how I am,” he said. “I have to go back and forth a thousand times before I take the first step.”

“Boy, do I know that,” Tam said dryly.

“Then you should know that once I’ve taken that step, there’s no going back.”

“I know,” she said, much quieter this time.

“Tam.” He waited for her to look fully at him, none of this flitting around thing she did with her eyes sometimes. “I’ve taken the step. I’m fully committed. I’m not going to go back and forth anymore.”

She nodded, though a healthy portion of fear rode in her eyes. He felt it stinging way down in his soul, and he had the sudden urge to offer up another prayer. Instead, her phone rang, a shrieking, piercing sound that made them both jump.

Her phone sat on the desk in front of her, and he looked at the screen. He saw Hayes’s name there about the same time Tam did. Her gaze flew back to his, and time froze.

Blaine wondered if she’d have ever confessed her feelings for him if her ex-boyfriend hadn’t been coming back into town. Would he have ever recognized his feelings for her? Would he have ever acted on them even if he had?

Her mouth moved, and he blinked. Time moved forward again. “Should I answer it?” she asked.

“Sure,” Blaine said. “You didn’t last time, so maybe see what he has to say.” Blaine already knew what Hayes Powell would say. He’d tell Tam how much he missed her, and that he was sorry. He’d talk her ear off about his amazing job in California, and in some strange way, he’d get into her good graces again, and ask her to dinner.

In less than ten minutes, Blaine thought. You wait and see. Ten bucks says he asks her out in under ten minutes.

He couldn’t really bet against himself, and he took another bite of his sandwich as she swiped on the call. Anything to make it look like he didn’t care that she spoke to her ex-fiancé.

“Hayes,” she said, plenty of venom in her voice. Maybe he’d lose his own bet.

His heart boomed in his chest in a strange way, because he’d just told her he was ready to take the first step to take their friendship to the next level. The very next thing she’d done was answer the call from Hayes.

“No,” she said, turning away from Blaine in such a familiar gesture that his chest squeezed. Someone had wrapped him in a rubber band and was twisting it tighter and tighter.

Tam reached up and tucked her hair, and though Blaine couldn’t see the smile on her face, he