Take the Reins (A Cowboy's Promise #2) - Megan Squires Page 0,27
that I don’t usually shower. I do. Often. It’s just that I smelled worse than a fat pig in a muddy barnyard after working with the horses earlier today. I was in desperate need of a good bathing.”
“It couldn’t have been that bad.” His chest vibrated with a laugh she could feel rumbling against her. “But I’ll take your word for it.”
How weird was it to be so close to a person that you could smell them? Breathe them in and out. Inhale. Exhale. Josie wondered if all couples did this or if they were just in this new phase of exploring one another, all the way down to their scents. It nearly had her dizzied.
“I was just thinking that you smelled good, too,” she admitted.
“I probably smell like a gingersnap. I’m kind of a messy baker and tend to get the ingredients all over me when I’m in the kitchen. I should’ve changed first.”
That did explain the spicy notes she’d picked up on. “There are much worse things than smelling like a cookie, Seth. Do you mind me asking what the whole deal with the cookies is, anyway? Why all the baking?”
“It’s something I used to do with Gramm back when she still lived at the ranch. You’ve heard the saying that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach?” Josie nodded, which prompted Seth to continue. “Well, Gramm used to say the way to a woman’s was through her sweet tooth. When I was in eighth grade, I had the biggest crush on this girl named Chrissy Denton. I tried all school year to get her to notice me, but it wasn’t until I showed up on Valentine’s Day with a dozen frosted, heart-shaped, sugar cookies that she paid me any attention.”
“The lengths a man will go to be noticed,” Josie interjected in jest.
“Right? But it worked. For a while, at least. But then summer break came and her family went on a big RV trip so I couldn’t really send her cookies or anything after that. Things just fizzled out from there.”
“So she only hung around for the sugary treats? You alone weren’t sweet enough? That’s really sad, Seth.”
“Well, when you say it like that, it is.”
“I’m only kidding…sort of.” Josie laughed but stopped suddenly, unable to keep from wincing.
“What’s wrong? You okay?”
She vigorously shook her arm with the cast as a pins and needles sensation shot clear up to her shoulder. “Dang thing keeps falling asleep. I’m telling you, three weeks cannot come soon enough.”
“I know you said you broke it in an accident, but do you mind me asking just how?”
“You can ask, but it’s not really anything I care to answer.”
Understanding clicked across Seth’s face, filling his chestnut eyes with a compassion Josie felt in the pit of her stomach. “Fair enough. We’re all allowed our secrets. I respect that.”
“It’s not so much a secret as it is a reminder. One I’d like to forget.”
Seth just nodded and didn’t press it further. Comfortable silence enveloped them while they continued playing the role of a couple in love cozied up by the fire.
She could see why he had picked this particular spot to occupy for the night. It was the best vantage point, by far. From this chair, one sweeping gaze could take in the entirety of the deck, the yard, the rolling foothills now highlighted by the burgeoning glow of the risen harvest moon. Seth was an observer. An introspective man. Quiet in confidence but a leader, nonetheless. If Josie was able to recognize this after only knowing the man a few short days, how could his family go an entire lifetime without that acknowledgment?
She understood not fitting in with your own kin, though. It had been that way for Josie, too. She loved her sisters—all three of them—but she wasn’t quite like them. Where they were flowers, Josie was a stubborn weed. Where they were graceful, Josie was undeniably awkward. Where they were kind, Josie was sometimes not so understanding. Her temper was short. Her opinions were strong. Her words were often spoken without fully thinking them through.
But her father had understood her. Or he had tried to, at least. And there was something to be said about a father’s approval. Josie knew Seth was ultimately after that. And it was why she had no hesitation in helping him achieve it.
“You about ready to call it a night?” Seth leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Josie to give one quick