Roping the Cowboy Billionaire - Emmy Eugene Page 0,14

hand on the small of her back. “Finish eating, Tam.” They moved back across the shed to his desk, and Tam sat down. He crouched next to her and asked, “Will you go to dinner with me tonight?”

A smile stamped itself on her face. “I’d like that.”

“Before the dealership?” he asked. “Or after?”

“Have you ever bought a truck, Blaine? It takes hours.”

“Maybe we can just look tonight.” He ran his fingertips up and down her forearm, his eyes trained on them instead of her beautiful face.

“You’ll have to drive me back and forth again,” she said.

“I’m okay with that,” he said.

“Okay,” she said. “Let’s look for trucks—just look. Then we can go to dinner.”

Blaine smiled, thinking this was a good first step down a path he was very uncertain about.

Tam put her hand under his chin and lifted his face to hers. “Hey,” she said softly. “It’s just me.”

“Yeah,” Blaine said, standing and taking his place behind the desk again. “I know.” He gave her a smile, but that was exactly the problem. It was her, and he was terrified of the outcome of this new, official relationship.

Blaine whistled as he parked in Tam’s driveway and got out of his truck. He’d picked up his whistling skill from his grandfather, a man who’d taught Blaine a lot of tricks around the ranch.

“Love you, Granddaddy,” he said, looking up into the cloudless sky. He liked to think of his granddaddy sipping lemonade and whistling like the birds up in heaven. “Would be nice if it wasn’t so humid though.” He cocked an eyebrow at the sky, as if the Lord cared that it was downright oppressive in Kentucky tonight.

He went up Tam’s front steps, his heartbeat knocking through his body now. He knocked loudly and tucked his hands in his pockets, glad he’d kept one eye on Spur the last couple of weeks. He now knew that women liked a man in a clean pair of boots—ones that had never seen work on the ranch. A cowboy hat he hadn’t been sweating in all day. And a little cologne Blaine had swiped from Spur’s dresser—aptly named after him.

Tam opened the door, and Blaine opened his mouth to say hi. Everything froze at the glorious sight of her standing there in that peaches-and-cream-colored dress. He scanned her down to her genuine leather boots—probably made from the finest leather she could find. They were dark brown and made her look country chic.

She’d put a curl in her hair and something red on her lips, and Blaine could barely breathe.

“What do you think?” she asked, grabbing onto a fistful of the fabric in her skirt.

Blaine blinked, closed his mouth, and cleared his throat. “I think.” He had to grind the emotion out again. “I think you look like a million bucks.”

She smiled and ducked her head, the hint of a blush creeping into her fair-skinned face.

“You ready?” he asked. “I could come in.”

“I’m ready.” She grabbed a purse that was clearly hanging by the door and stepped onto the front porch with him. “Are you really staying tonight?”

“I brought a camp cot,” he said. “Sleeping bag. It’s all in the back of my truck.”

“I really don’t need you to,” she said, glancing at him as they walked toward the stairs leading to the sidewalk.

Feeling flirtatious and bold, Blaine swept his hand along her waist before he took her hand in his. “Sometimes we don’t get what we want, you know?”

Tam looked at him, some anxiousness in her blue eyes. The makeup she’d put on somehow made them bluer, and Blaine hadn’t thought that possible. “My back did twinge a little today,” she admitted.

“I know,” Blaine said, looking out over the glorious Kentucky landscape in front of her house. She only lived maybe three-quarters of a mile from the ranch, but he had to go all the way down the road and back up a curve and past a couple of fields to get to her place. “I saw you limping on that last horse.”

Next to him, Tam stiffened, but her stride didn’t break. “I’m okay, Blaine,” she said.

“Don’t worry, baby,” he said easily. “I’m not going to take you back to the hospital.” He opened the passenger door for her and let her step past him. Her dress looked like it was made from crinkly cotton, and it had ruffles down the front of it. He wanted to know how that fabric felt against his skin, and after Tam had settled onto her seat,