She narrowed her eyes. “Why are you here, anyway? Shouldn’t you be on your motivational speaking gig this week?” She’d seen his schedule, and between his speaking engagements and sponsorships, she wondered how he kept up. There were twenty-eight stops on his upcoming monthlong book tour, starting with her bookstore and taking him across the country with stops every other day, and some weeks there were daily signings, interviews, and television appearances. The man must run on all that testosterone billowing off him.
“So you did research me, quite extensively it seems.” His lips quirked up, giving him a boyish expression that looked really nice on him.
“Of course I did. Did you think I was lying?”
“No. I had a nice chat with your sisters, their husbands, and your mother, who are all lovely, by the way, and according to them, you are honest to a fault. I respect that in a woman. So tell me, Honest Amber, why were you the only bookseller who didn’t jump at the chance to host my signing? Did you read my book and hate it?”
“No. I really liked it. I mean, I don’t know much about football, or the best positions, but I just skipped those parts.”
He stepped closer, amusement and heat warring in his eyes. “I find hands-on experience is best when choosing positions.” He leaned closer, bringing a gust of his spicy, masculine scent. “I’ll be more than happy to help you discover which ones you like best.”
The air rushed from her lungs. She didn’t even know how to respond to that. His eyes drilled into her, and Reno whined, brushing against her leg. She petted him, trying futilely to calm herself down. He looked at Reno, and she braced herself for the questions that always came.
When his eyes met hers, they were filled with as much compassion as heat. “You okay?”
She nodded, wishing she were as sassy as her younger sisters Morgyn and Brindle, or as savvy as her older sisters, Grace and Pepper. She’d even take being snarky like Pepper’s twin, Sable. Being anyone else would be better than her suck-at-flirting, blush-like-a-teenager self.
“It’s him,” a female voice said loudly.
Dash’s eyes skirted to the right, the muscles in his jaw bunching at the sight of a group of women heading their way. Amber recognized them from Meadowside, the next town over, where her bookstore was located. Dash stepped back as they flocked to him, asking for his autograph as Sable’s voice rang out from the stage, congratulating Nick and Trixie on their engagement. Sable was the lead guitarist and singer in the band Surge, and they began playing one of Trixie’s favorite songs.
“Will you sign my address book?” A blonde shoved the address book at Dash and whipped a pen out of her purse.
Dash took them from her, but his eyes never left Amber as he said, “Sure. No problem. What’s your name?”
“I’m going to…” Amber pointed behind her, walking backward.
“Amber,” Dash said authoritatively, taking paper from another woman. “Save me a dance.”
Not only was he too darn aggressive, confident, and delicious for her, but women were pawing at him, and he looked all too comfortable with that, too. “I think your dance card is full. See you at the signing.” She made a beeline for the barn doors with Reno, but even the cool October air stinging her cheeks wasn’t enough to quell the heat thrumming through her.
Chapter Two
AMBER’S PHONE VIBRATED with another text from her mother as she turned down her parents’ street early Saturday morning. Her mother had been texting all morning, asking where she was and when she’d get there. Amber was an early bird, and she tried to have breakfast with her parents often. Her phone vibrated again, and she gripped the steering wheel tighter. Hold your horses. Sheesh.
Her childhood home came into view. Sable’s truck and Brindle’s car were parked out front. Amber let out an exasperated sound. That explains Mom’s urgent texts. She’d avoided her sisters’ calls last night, not wanting to face their inquisitions about Dash Pennington. Hopefully he’d already caught a flight back to his big-city life. That man had gotten under her skin, dazzling her with his captivating charm and seductive eyes. She’d spent a fitful night replaying their brief conversation more times than she cared to admit, and when she’d finally fallen asleep, he’d bloomed before her, beckoning her into an erotic dream. He was the reason she was later than usual this morning. She’d gone for a morning walk to try to clear her thoughts of him. It hadn’t helped, and even now, just thinking about him had her pulse quickening.
Reno perked up in the back seat, no doubt sensing the change in her energy.
That kind of excitement was the last thing she needed.
She parked on the street, curious about the black sedan parked behind Sable’s truck. Her mother trained service dogs, and she wondered if one of the families her new pups, Merle and Patsy, was meant for was visiting.
She and Reno headed up the long driveway to the side yard to take a peek, and she gazed out at the gazebo, overcome with happy memories of the many times she and Pepper, the sister whom she was most like, had spent reading there as young girls. She touched her seizure-alert necklace, which Pepper had developed and patented when she was in graduate school, and got a little choked up, as she always did when she thought about her scientist sister being so consumed with giving Amber a sense of peace, she’d spent years coming up with a way to help her. She tucked those feelings away, remembering how Axsel would join them in the gazebo and play his guitar, while Grace, the oldest, practiced cheering in the grass or was off doing who knew what, and Morgyn and Brindle, the only two siblings who had gotten their father’s fair hair and blue eyes, chatted endlessly about boys and clothes. Sable had almost never hung out with them. She was always tinkering with something in the barn, working on the old truck her father had given her at sixteen, or practicing with her band. It was no wonder she had become an auto mechanic and now owned her own shop.
Amber spotted her father heading up from the barn where her parents kept their horses and had facilities for the dogs. Merle and Patsy trotted happily beside him.
Reno’s tail wagged.
“Go play,” she said, releasing him from service.
He bounded across the yard, and all three fur babies tumbled in the grass. Amber waved to the fair-haired, patient and meticulous man who somehow had not only survived in a house bursting with estrogen but also always seemed to know exactly what each of his children needed. Amber had fond memories of taking secret walks with her father late at night when her sisters would sneak out to watch the Jericho brothers break horses before dawn. She had rarely joined them, and when she had, it was only because Brindle had been relentless in trying to include her in all of her rebellious fun. But most of the time, while her sisters were ogling shirtless cowboys at midnight rodeos, Amber and her father were taking moonlit walks, talking about her dreams of owning a bookstore and things she was going through with her friends. In the fall they’d collect acorns, and she’d keep them in jars with handwritten notes reminding her of the wisdom her father imparted during their walks. Her father still surprised her on occasion, showing up in the middle of the night for a talk and a stroll.
“How’s my princess?” Her father leaned down and kissed her cheek, his familiar, comforting scent embracing her.