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Shocked by the question, I stared at her for a moment. I was about to answer when the fucking waiter showed up with our food.
Chapter Seven
MORGAN
The heat in Ryan’s eyes was unmistakable. He opened his mouth to reply to my very sexual question when the stupid waiter appeared. Ryan moved his hand and leaned back in his chair, looking as frustrated as I felt.
After setting our food down, the waiter looked from Ryan to me. “What else can I get you?”
A private room so I can jump the man sitting across from me, because if he keeps looking at me like he wants me for dessert, I’m going to explode.
Clearing my throat and pushing all naughty thoughts of dessert and Ryan from my head, I answered, “Nothing for me.”
“I’m good, thanks,” Ryan stated, his voice seeming a little strained. I smiled.
As we ate, Ryan started to talk about my father, the store, the ranch, Blayze…everything I’m sure he could think of to forget about the conversation we’d been having.
After finishing our meals and skipping dessert, Ryan picked up the check despite my insistence that I’d been the one to ask him to dinner.
“Thank you for dinner,” I said when Ryan placed his hand on my lower back and guided us through the restaurant. I’d seen my father do that to my mother countless times, as well as Blayze with Georgiana. And now I knew why it was written about in romance books. There was something about a man’s hand at the small of your back, gently guiding you through a room, that seemed so intimate. My insides were on fire from the simple gesture.
This must have been what it felt like when Mr. Darcy took Elizabeth’s hand and helped her into the carriage.
Ryan opened the passenger side of his truck, and when he took my hand to help me up, I gasped and froze. My gaze shot down to our hands, then back up to his eyes.
This man was my Darcy.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I, um…I…I remembered something, that’s all.”
His brows drew down a bit. “Is everything okay?”
Blinking a few times, I saw the concern not only etched on his face, but in his eyes as well. “Everything’s amazing.”
He smiled, looking relieved, and my bones felt like they’d turned to liquid. Oh dear God. I wasn’t simply crushing on Ryan Marshall. I was falling in love with him.
Gently pulling my hand from his, I got into the truck and focused on my breathing.
Ryan shut the door, then made his way to the driver’s side. He climbed up into his truck and said, “Home? Or is there anywhere else you’d like to go?”
“I’d say we should go play pool, but I’m afraid I’m a bit overdressed.”
Ryan gave me a look. “And I’m afraid I’d be put in jail for kicking everyone’s ass who dared to look at you in that dress.”
My heart jumped and my stomach fluttered all at once as I let out a nervous laugh and focused on the road ahead of us.
Make small talk, Morgan! Make small talk!
“Tell me more about the brewery,” I nearly shouted.
He cleared his throat. “Not really much else to tell. Right now, it’s a dream that I’m not sure I should pursue.”
“Why not?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I really love the ranch. When I was younger and my father made it clear he expected me to join the family business, it was something I wasn’t passionate about. But I think that’s because I didn’t want anyone to tell me what I had to do. Does that makes sense?”
I nodded. “It does. How did you meet…what was his name again?”
“Bradford. We met at a bar. He happened to sit down next to me and Blayze and made a comment about the beer on tap. We got to talking, and it turned out he enjoyed home-brewed beer. We all started to hang out, and he’s become pretty good friends with me and Blayze.”
“Is he from Hamilton?” I asked.
“Missoula. His parents moved here to be closer to his grandparents, since they’re getting older. Bradford came to visit, loved Hamilton, and thought it might be a great place to open a restaurant.”
“That’s kind of cool. What does he do now?”
“He’s a chef at Le Vacher.”
“Oh, the French restaurant in town? I called them to see about reservations, but they were booked for tonight.”
Ryan laughed. “If you’d told me, I would have called him. I bet he could’ve gotten a table for us.”
“My mom and Aunt Kaylee were talking about it the other day. They’ve been, and they said the food is amazing.”
“We can go to dinner again if you want. I’ll talk to Bradford about getting us a reservation.”
The idea of going out again with Ryan nearly made me as giddy as a damn schoolgirl. “I’d love that. Do you think maybe Blayze and Georgiana would want to join us?”
