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Cole snorted. “Trust me, that look wasn’t for you. And honestly, I had it coming. Imighthave taken a little longer than I should have in there once I saw you.” His big, easy grin reappeared. “Totally worth it, though.”
“I’m still not sure he would have asked me out, though.” I shrugged, not wanting to spend too much time on the topic. It was probably rude to talk about going on a date with the sheriff while I was still on a date with the deputy. Cole was the one who had brought it up, though, in fairness. “Anyway, I’m having a nice time with you, so it all worked out.”
“I’m glad,” he said. “Because I’m having a nice time, too. Prescott would have every reason to be a little jealous, though. Any guy would be lucky to go on a date with a girl like you—and Prescott and I just happen to have similar tastes in a lot of things.”
“In women, too?” I asked before I could even think to stop myself. I clapped a hand over my mouth, then shook my head. “Sorry, you don’t have to answer that. I don’t even know why I asked.”
“That’s okay.” His characteristic grin dimmed a little. “I’d be lying if I said this was the first time we’d both been interested in the same woman. Just like I’d be lying if I said it didn’t cause a little bit of friction between the two of us every now and then.” He wiped his mouth with his napkin and pushed his mostly empty plate aside. “No need to worry about that tonight, though. I don’t want you to feel weird about it. You and I can still have a good date tonight and the sheriff and I will still be buddies again in the morning.”
I nodded, though the look on his face made me wonder if it really was that simple. I tried to think of how I’d feel if Becca or Janessa and I were competing with each other for the same guy. How would it make me feel if the guy picked one of my friends over me?
I had a hard time imagining that I’d be too upset with them. We were still friends at the end of the day, just like Cole had said. And to give up one of my closest friendships over a guy?
No.
Just… no.
That wasn’t going to happen.
And since tonight was just a fun date—nothing major, nothing serious—I had to assume that Prescott and Cole would be able to get past it, too.
* * *
“Well, here we are,” Cole said, turning to me and smiling as we pulled up in front of Janessa’s big house. It was totally dark aside from the light in her second-floor bedroom, no doubt where she and Becca were waiting up for all the details of my date. “Thank you for tonight. I know it wasn’t much, but I had a really good time.”
I felt my face flush from the way he looked at me. His smile was wide and bright as always, but there was an intensity in his eyes that I hadn’t really seen before. Even in the darkness of his car, I could feel the way he was taking in every detail.
“I’m glad you asked me out,” I said. “I know I’m only in town for a couple of weeks, but… I hope we can do this again sometime.”
He nodded. “I hope so, too.”
Somehow during the short conversation, we’d inched closer together on the long bench seat of his pickup truck. He was still giving me that same intense look, and I knew he must be waiting for some kind of signal.
I unfastened my seatbelt, and instead of opening the door and getting out, I gave him the most obvious signal I could by smiling again and inching even closer to him.
And yeah, it definitely worked. His hand moved up behind me, gently reaching around the back of my neck and pulling me in closer until our lips finally met.
His kiss was surprisingly soft, even a little tentative at first. I opened my mouth to him, whimpering a little as his rough stubble brushed against my skin. God, it felt so good to be this close to him. I wanted to reach over and touch him, to see if his body was reacting the same way mine was.
But no.
Not tonight.
I wanted to save something for next time—and judging from the look in his eyes when our lips parted again, there would definitely be a next time.
Hopefully very soon.
“Thank you,” he said, making me blush all over again. “You’ve just made my night. My whole week, to be honest.”
I laughed, then winked as I opened the passenger door and climbed down out of the truck. “I’ll take that as a good sign. Don’t be a stranger, deputy.”
“Oh, you’ll be seeing more of me,” he said, grinning. “I can promise you that much.”
It was a promise that I truly hoped he intended to keep.
I waved goodbye and watched as his truck disappeared back down the driveway into the night. God, he was hot. And sweet. And…hot. I took a deep breath and smiled to myself. That date alone was enough to make this trip a memorable one.
And to think there was a chance the sheriff might have asked me out as well? Nobody would have believed it. I could hardly believe it myself.
