that thing, and Tam knew better than to try to remove it from his head. She’d thought that would be a funny joke, but Blaine had disagreed. She’d learned that day never to touch a man’s cowboy hat unless she felt like losing a limb.
“You and me,” she said, rushing still. “It would be perfect. Hayes wouldn’t know the difference, because he was always saying you were getting in between us. He seriously thought we were having a fling on the side.” She knew she wasn’t winning him over, but she pressed on. “You could then get back out in the dating game. We go to dinner, women see you’re available and willing, and bam, when we break-up—after Hayes leaves town—you’re back on the market. It’ll be easy for you to get a date.”
He cocked his hip and squinted his eyes. With the folded arms, and the cowboy hat, he really had the disgusted, are-you-kidding-me look down just right. “This is a joke, right?” he asked.
“It’s not a joke,” she said, playfully pushing against his chest. He didn’t move an inch. “It’s an idea.”
“It’s a bad idea,” he grumbled, turning back to the ATV he’d obviously ridden out here.
“Why?” she asked. “You find me so disgusting you couldn’t hold my hand through a movie?”
“No,” he said.
“You hate my hair,” she said next. “It has been frizzing out a lot lately.”
He rolled his eyes, but he didn’t deny that her hair was too frizzy. She’d curled it that day, and that seemed to tame some of the poof.
“We won’t have to kiss or anything,” she said, watching him closely. She’d thought about kissing Blaine plenty of times in the past. She’d entertained a crush on the teenager for a full year, until he graduated, and she stayed in high school. Then again once she finished the farrier program and then a leatherworking course, specifically for making saddles. She’d returned to Dreamsville then, and Blaine was back in town too. He’d taken a few college courses but hadn’t graduated.
He didn’t need a degree to work on his family’s prestigious ranch and inherit a ton of money. Just how much, he’d never told her. He had a lot of brothers, and the most he’d said was, “It’s a lot, Tam. For all of us.”
“You said you didn’t want to let in someone new,” she said. “I’m not new.”
“These are really bad arguments,” he said.
“You wouldn’t even be letting me in. I’m already in.” She would never hurt him. “How hard can it be? We hold hands and go to dinner. We practically do that anyway.”
“We do not,” he said.
“I just had my arm laced through yours.” She mimicked him by cocking her hip and folding her arms. “We stand out here and watch the sun go down. Anyone passing by would think we were together.”
He looked at her then, and she saw the idea bubbling and brewing in his mind. Victory was close, and Tam just needed to close the deal.
“You definitely won’t get arrested for dating me,” she said. “It only has to look like dating on the outside.” She’d wanted him to ask her out on her thirtieth birthday too. They’d once made a pact with each other that if they didn’t have a significant other on her thirtieth birthday, he’d ask her out.
He’d obviously forgotten, because she’d gotten a deluxe set of mats for her car instead of an invitation to dinner. She’d said nothing, because Blaine obviously wasn’t interested in her romantically, just like he wasn’t now.
He was, however, her best friend, and she knew he’d do anything for her.
“I’ll plan everything,” she said. “I’ll pay for all of it. All you have to do is show up and look pretty on my arm.”
“I am not pretty,” he growled.
She laughed, because he sure was fun to tease. Cute when he was mad too, and Tam found herself crushing on him all over again. Her feelings seemed to resurface every five years or so, and that meant they were right on time.
When he didn’t relent with the glaring, she switched tactics. She issued a long sigh from her mouth and started back toward her truck. “All right,” she said. “You win. It was a bad idea.” She paused next to the quad. “I still have a few more weeks until Hayes comes into town. I’ll find someone else.”
She smiled and said, “See you in the morning,” before turning and walking away.
She’d just reached for the door handle on her nearly