And perhaps, in spite of himself, for some reason, he was still looking forward to dinner with the interesting creature.
4
“Howdy, y’all want some recommendations for the evening?”
Clancy looked up from his menu to their waitress, noting her overly exuberant smile and hungry expression as she eyed him. He was used to it at this point. Most women acted this way around him.
Most women.
All except Billie, who was hemming and hawing over her menu, her beautiful red hair bouncing as she cocked her head back and forth.
“I’ll just have the egg salad,” she said finally, handing her menu over to the waitress.
“Anything to drink?”
“Just water, thank you.”
Clancy cocked an eyebrow. “Egg salad and water? Why those two things?”
“Oh, they’re the least expensive,” Billie said with a shrug. “I wanted to get to know you better before I make any decisions. I also didn’t want to take advantage of you. After all, I wasn’t sure if this was a date… er, well, since you asked me out to eat.” She flushed bright red.
“No, no, I got this,” Clancy replied easily, chuckling. “Ain’t no way I’d ever ask a woman out to eat and then make her pay for herself.“ He looked up at the waitress. “I’ll have the pork chops, and she’ll have your finest ribeye, cooked to perfection.”
Billie’s eyes went wide at that. “No, you really don’t—”
“I insist.” He shot her a wink, then waved the waitress away.
“Wow, thanks,” she said. “I don’t eat out much or spend money on fripperies. It took most of my savings to get that coin. I’m hoping that I can use it to make the foremost Tucker Thompson museum in the US.”
“How many are there? Thompson museums, I mean.” He reached out and took his glass, bringing it up to his lips for a sip as he eyed the rest of the restaurant. It was quaint with small, gaudy chandeliers hanging here or there and booths with purple leather seats. Black carpet covered the whole main dining room.
“None. That’s why mine will be the premier,” Billie said proudly. “It will be the best because there’s only one.”
“Why do you think this guy needs a museum anyway? Seems to me all he did was go around shootin’ folks. After all, he was just a famous gunslinger.”
“No,” she retorted haughtily. “He was so much more than that.” She went red again. “But there’re some things I can’t say.”
Clancy studied her for a second, enjoying the way the evening light played over her sharp, beautiful features. She wasn’t just beautiful. She was obviously smart and incredibly tenacious.
He’d never heard of anyone outside of Dragonclaw that knew or believed so deeply in the Quickdraw Dragon.
“So what about you, mister?” Billie said, swirling the straw in her water with her pointer finger. “How are you related to him? And how did you end up at Dragonclaw?”
Clancy laughed and held up a finger. “Ah-ah-ah, clever darlin’, for the dinner, I’m happy to just give you my company. For more information, I need at least the hope of winnin’ that coin back.” He cocked his head to the side. “Besides, by the time I’m done tellin’ you about Tucker Thompson, you might not think he deserves a museum anymore. Did you think about that? It ain’t wise for people to get to know their heroes too deeply.”
She frowned and shook her head. “Gee whiz, no! Nothing you could say will change my mind.”
Clancy laughed inwardly, wondering if that could possibly be true. After all, he did happen to know quite a bit about Tucker Thompson.
Everything, in fact.
“Well, enough about Tucker, then,” he said, waving a hand. “Let’s hear about you.”
“Sure, I guess that’s fair.” She ran a hand through her hair for a second, thoughtful. “I’ve been runnin’ around that antiques shop ever since I could remember. It’s a family business. Just me and my pa now. My ma passed away some years ago.”
“I’m sorry.”
She shook her head, smiling. “That’s all right. My ma and pa raised me good, taught me to be strong. We didn’t have a lot, but I never wanted for love or affection.” She laughed. “And of course, we have Elmer.“
Clancy cocked an eyebrow. “Elmer?”
“Our pasture pal horse,” she explained. “But yeah, after my ma died, I decided to stay home and run the store with my pa. Been there ever since.”
Clancy liked listening to her. He liked how animated she was when she talked about her family and her shop. He would have listened to her talk about it all night.
“And what does your dad think about your Tucker obsession?” he asked, curious.
She was about to respond, but their food was delivered at that moment, and Clancy laughed inwardly as she stared down at the ribeye like it was a million-dollar bill and not some piece of meat.
Then she began to eat voraciously, and it was a few minutes before she got around to speaking again.
“My whole family loves him,” she said. “Even my aunts and uncles share an interest in him, but nothin’ quite like me.”
Damn, what exactly was going on with this family?
He leaned forward, resting his chin in his hand and eying her. “Okay, well, is there anything else in your life you love? Any suitors in the picture?”
He winced inwardly, wondering why in tarnation he was asking her about her dating life. It was probably just because, if she was coming back to the ranch, it would be good to know if she had a boyfriend or was dating anyone.
Yeah. Definitely that.
Her eyes went wide. “Good gosh, no. What would I want that for?” She shook her head solemnly. “They’ll just slow down my museum. I ain’t got time for love.”
Clancy could honestly think of a lot of things this woman would want a suitor for. Damn, she intrigued him with her soft-looking lips, fiery red curls, and eyes that lit up like fireflies when she was talking about her family or her museum or Thompson.
Her passion for knowledge and history seemed to be insatiable… albeit about a lost cause. It was still commendable, even if the subject of it was not.
Though, he couldn’t help but feel a little flattered.
“What?” he said, feigning surprise. “Beautiful woman like you? I’m sure just about every man in town’s gotten down on one knee and professed his undying affection for you.”
She laughed. “For your information, that ain’t ever happened. And if it had, I wouldn’t be aware of it. Too busy.”
“Well then, the men in your town are a bunch of fools,” he said, shrugging. “Their loss.”
“Hah, that’s very kind of you…” She trailed off, a blush covering her cheeks. “Clancy.”
His name on her lips sent an unexpected jolt through his body. As they ate dinner and chatted, he found himself even more entranced with her than he had been earlier today.
He’d never met a woman like her. Bold and brash and passionate and impervious. She kept him on his toes, and he kind of liked that about her.
In fact, as dinner went on, he found himself paying more and more attention to her, rather than the food.