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Man, he really loved her brain.
When they crested the hill, Noah tugged on his reins, and Outlaw’s hooves stilled. “Well, what do you think of Bluebonnet Creek?”
If her slack-jawed expression and wide eyes were any indication, she’d fallen as irrevocably in love with this spot as he had when Grandpa Whitlow had first brought him here.
Spring wildflowers created a rainbow of colors amongst the green that stretched from the trees on the right to the creek on the left.
“As a young boy, I loved those boulders over there.” He pointed to an area at his two o’clock, situated halfway between the tree line and the water. “I used to imagine cowboys or outlaws using the rocks for shelter so that they didn’t freeze.”
The spot fueled both a young boy’s imagination and a young man’s grief. He’d nearly lost his life there, trapped in the darkness that had haunted him since Amanda’s death. The beauty of the area and the joy it usually brought had turned against him that day. Surrounded by its charm and tranquility, he’d felt unworthy of such happiness. His grief had fed on those emotions, amplifying them until there’d been nothing but the void. Some days, he still felt degrees of that darkness, and it was never as stark and consuming as when he was happy.
As when he was with Emma.
“I need down,” she announced, repositioning her reins and preparing for dismount.
Noah beat her to the ground and rushed to her side in case she lost her balance, but she dismounted with the grace of someone who’d ridden all her life.
As she ran to the water, he tethered the horses in some shade near the creek so that they could rest, and when he turned back to Emma, she stood in the stream, her boots off and her pant legs rolled to mid-shin.
“Look, Noah. Tadpoles!” She exclaimed the last word with the same jubilation some women might shout,Diamonds! “Come into the water with me.”
After ditching his shoes and socks and rolling up his pant legs, he stepped into the cool water. When he reached her, he pulled her into a slow dance, and they swayed to the music of the birds and the wind rustling through the trees and tiptoeing through the flowers.
“I like dancing with you,” she said after a while, her eyes the color of the water.
“Likewise.” He drew their joined hands to his lips. “When we danced on our first date, I was utterly overwhelmed with you.”
“Same.”
“And speaking of dates, I want to take you out dancing again, this time to Veranda 62. They have a dance floor on the pier, and I want to dance with you on the water in the moonlight.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh, Noah, that’s too much. The prices are—”
“I don’t care about the prices. Iwantto take you out. I’m tired of hiding our relationship, but—no,however,” he swapped, using her word from when they’d first danced. “Before you say yes, there’s something you need to know.”
“Okay.” Her eyebrows drew together, and she stood straighter.
“I want to walk in the open with you, hand in hand, but you must understand what that’ll mean foryou. Your private life won’t be private anymore. The paparazzi love me, so they’ll dig on you simply because you’re with me. They’ll learn about your dad, Emma, and what he did to you.”
Her lips pursed, and a crease formed in the center of her forehead. “I hadn’t thought of that. There’s a lot in my past that hurts me. What if someone used it to hurt you?”
There she was again, thinking of how it would affect him and not just how it would affect her.
“Anyone who would dare useyourpast against me deserves the full wrath of my legal team, which, as you might know, is headed by an amazing lawyer.”
Her smile was quick and genuine. “Yeah, I heard she was pretty good.”
“Pretty good? She’s the best.” He pressed his lips to hers. “If I had a way of stopping the press’s prying, I would. I’d do anything except willingly give you up, which is about the only way I can think of that they’d leave you alone.”
“And I don’t want that.” She wrapped her arms around his neck, pushed onto her tiptoes. “I’m just starting to get used to the idea ofus.”
“What’s going on,Lady Boss? Why does it look like you’re about to be led to the gallows?”
Emma straightened in her office chair and lifted her head to face her secretary, and with the seriousness that befit the task at hand, said, “I have to go shopping again.”
“What kind of shopping are you talking about?” Gwen asked. “From the look on your face, I’m thinking caskets.”
“No, not caskets. Worse. Dresses.”
