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Her heart was still reeling from the surprise of his arrival. She nibbled her lower lip and glanced toward the door. Perhaps she should have insisted she tag along with Shane. “I’m just waiting for my—” Date? Friend? What would she call Shane? “Mr. Owens is in a meeting with the owners of this place.”
The cowboy chuckled. “That would be my father.”
She lifted her brows. “Oh.” Shifting a little, edging closer toward the door, she mumbled, “Why aren’t you in that meeting?”
He wandered toward her, then stopped and leaned against a post a few feet away. “I prefer more hands-on work.” His eyes swept over her. “Mr. Owens… I take it he isn’t your husband.”
Eloise shook her head. “No. He’s not.”
“Boyfriend?”
She tilted her head, her eyes dancing with amusement. “Why do you ask?” She’d interacted with men like this back home. They all flirted until they found something or someone they found more interesting. They weren’tbad. In fact, she’d had several enjoyable dates with such men. Between Marc and Shane, she didn’t need another guy showing her interest.
He shrugged, his smile widening. “Depending on how long you’ll be in town, perhaps I could take you out for a drink.”
Funny how his request was the furthest thing from being appealing. “Thanks, but—”
Someone cleared his throat, and she turned to find Shane moving toward them. His soft, kind expression had been replaced by a hardened one and he had it locked on the cowboy. “Eloise, are you ready to go? I’m done here.”
The cowboy stepped forward, holding out his hand. “Mr. Owens, nice to see you again.”
Shane glanced at his offering, then back to the man’s face. “Chase.” He stopped when he reached Eloise’s side. Without preamble, he grabbed Eloise’s hand. His fingers laced between hers. A spark of something strange electrified her, traveling up her arm, but Shane’s grip made it difficult to pull away.
Chase dropped his hand to his side, but his easy smile remained. “I trust you had a good meeting? Was our proposal to your liking?”
“Unfortunately, I’ve decided to take my business elsewhere.”
Eloise’s eyes shot up to stare at Shane.What? Why would he do such a thing?
Chase seemed equally shocked. “My apologies. Was there something wrong with it?”
Shane glanced down at Eloise and his expression softened ever so slightly. “I’ve just decided to keep my business local.”
Her stomach knotted and twisted. Though not entirely unpleasant, it still threw her off. She couldn’t tear her gaze from him. There was no way he’d made this decision just because of her. That was a silly notion. But she liked to think that she was able to influence him a little.
She brought her free hand around and clasped it to the hand he held.
It was Chase’s turn to clear his throat. “Well, it’s obvious that the two of you have somewhere better to be. If you change your mind—”
“I won’t,” Shane murmured, not pulling his eyes away from her.
“I was talking to Eloise.”
This time Shane shot a dark look in Chase’s direction. The cowboy held up both hands and laughed. “It was nice seeing you again, Mr. Owens.” He retreated toward the barn entrance until he disappeared outside.
Eloise shook her head, biting back a laugh. “You have a lot of explaining to do.”
He shrugged. “You made a good point. And I started to wonder if I hadn’t considered all my options before settling, how things might differ.”
Her smile widened. “How very intelligent of you. But that’s not the only thing I was referring to.”
“Oh?” His cheek twitched. Oh, how she wanted to reach up and place her palm against that spot to soothe it.
She ignored the way that thought had come out of nowhere and instead lifted their hands. “This.”
His eyes darted to glance at their intertwined fingers, and his smile returned. “What about it?”
“Not exactly what I was expecting.”
