He laughed. “My tone?”
“Yes, your tone. The tone that says women shouldn't go after what they want and try to get laid. Only men can do that.”
“Oh boy. Somebody is feisty today.”
“Yes, I am feisty. I guess you just bring that out in me.”
“Well, you're welcome. I just so happen to have a thing for feisty women.”
“Thank you.”
I couldn't stop grinning at the amusement in his voice. I loved that I could make him smile and that he wanted to keep me safe.
“So, you're going out tonight?” he asked.
“Yes. I said that already.”
“And where are you sleeping tonight?”
I rolled my eyes. “I happen to have my very own home. Where I sleep.”
“Do you?”
“I do.”
“That's a pity.”
“Oh, is it?”
“Yeah, I was really hoping maybe you could sleep with me tonight.”
“With you?”
“Yeah. You see, when two people are trying to make a baby together, there's this special thing they have to do. I don't know if you've ever heard about it.”
I loved it when he teased me. “Really? Tell me more about this special thing.”
“I really need to just show you. It’s very important and takes a lot of time and patience and preparation.”
“How much preparation?”
“Well, that depends on you.”
“I see. And to do this, we have to sleep over?”
“We don't have to sleep over, but it definitely is going to tire you out. It's only fair for you to have a place where you can safely sleep once you're done.”
“And you think that place should be your bed.”
“I do.”
“Why not mine?”
“You coming out to Wilde Horse Ranch is much less likely to cause gossip than for me to be sneaking out of your house at all hours of the night, even worse, first thing in the morning.”
“I guess you're right.”
Mav’s property was huge, and while his two brothers also lived on the ranch, their houses were spaced out with acres between them. And there would be no reason for anyone to come looking for me at his place.
“I guess I’ll see what time we finish up at the Spur.”
“And then?”
I couldn’t stop the grin on my lips. “If I'm feeling lonesome, I might stop by.”
“I’ll leave a light on for you.”
“What are you doing tonight?”
“Other than you?”
“Yes, other than me.”
“I am doing a whole lot of nothing. Just watching some old hockey games, trying to learn a little. Maybe relax. We had a long day today.”
“Did you? Do you want to tell me about it?”
“I guess it really has to do with picking up the slack for Luke. The asshole keeps trying to come in and work even though he's laid up. So we've had to manage him and delegate all his duties. I've taken on what I can and then put some other ranch hands on his jobs, but I think managing him is the hard part. He's real stubborn.”
“How's he healing up?”
“Pretty good, actually. Doc says it'll be a couple more weeks, and then he should be good as new.”
“Good. I'll be out there tomorrow to check on Turbo.”
“Oh, I know you will, because you'll be in my kitchen in the morning, and I'll be making you breakfast.”
I had to admit that sounded wonderful. I wanted to spend so much time with him. More than ever.
“Maybe I could cancel girls' night.”
He shook his head. “No, baby, don't you do that. You go spend time with your girls. I'm sure things are gonna change a whole lot for you soon. You should enjoy everything, soak it all up, so when life changes, you can look back and not feel like you missed anything.”
That caused a twinge in my chest. “All right. Do you want me to bring anything when I come over?”
“You will be just fine. Maybe you could wear another pair of those sexy lacy panties too.”
“Sure, I can do that for you. But you have to promise that you won't keep them because I am going to run out, and they aren't cheap.”
“No promises. I am not to be held responsible for what I do to your undergarments.”
I sighed. “Then you have to buy me some new ones to replace the pairs you've stolen. Yes, I know you took the other pair. The one that was hanging in my bathroom.”
He cleared his throat. “You can't blame me. Lace is my weakness.”
“I didn't say I blamed you. But I did say that you have to replace what you've taken. I don't even need to know what you do with them.”
His soft sexy laugh tightened things low in my belly. “All right, darlin’. I can't wait for tonight.”
“Neither can I.”
We hung up, and I tucked the phone into my back pocket. He didn’t even know he’d left me smiling and sighing. My head was still in the clouds when Sandy Ryker walked up to me, a twinkle in her bright blue eyes. “Clara Barnes, are you sweet on someone?”
“No,” I said, a bit too quickly.
“I do not for one second believe it when you tell me that. I have seen that look on each of my children's faces. Love has a look to it.”
“I am not in love.”
“Sure. Who are you just hanging up with then? Because I know it wasn't a business call, not with the face you were making.”
“It's no one. It's not important.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I'm sure.”
“Okay, you keep your secrets. Whoever he is, he’s making you happy. That was the face of someone talking to a person they wanted to hear from. I know love when I see it.”
I didn't know what to say to her, so I just nodded. She patted me on the hand and grinned before leaving me to my thoughts. Love? That was a word I didn’t like to use. So why did it feel right?
12
Clara
“There she is. I haven't seen you in so long, I thought maybe you had gotten lost in one of those mares that you're always sticking your arms up inside,” Jenna said as I approached the table she’d snagged for us at the Silver Spur.
She grinned at me and raised her hand to flag down a waitress, who came over with a smile on her face. “New uniforms, Josie?” I asked, eyeing her black T-shirt. It was tied on one side, and a horseshoe surrounded a boot with a spur on the front of the shirt which said, use your spurs across the chest.
She smiled and glanced over at the new bartender, a tall, broad-shouldered man with sandy blond hair and a killer smile. He wore a shirt that matched hers. “Yeah, Frankie brought them in. Since there are so many tourists coming to visit, she thought maybe we needed to spruce up the place a bit.”
Jenna pouted. “Boo. I don't like that. The Spur is a dive. It's always been a dive, and it always will be a dive. That's why it's so charming. Now you guys are ruining it.”
Josie laughed too. “Take it up with Frankie.” She looked at me. “What can I get for you?”