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Flashing a bright smile, I let him draw me into his chest.
It’s the best kind of feeling. That I’m wanted.
“Taking off in the middle of the workday?” I palm his bearded cheek. “You surprise me more and more each day, Cowboy.”
His steel-blue eyes blaze. “Ruby Bloom, I could say the same thing about you.” He kisses the tip of my nose. “Let’s go live it up.”
“Ilike this bar,” Ruby says, her eager eyes glowing as she drops onto a stool at the high-top table.
I settle beside her. “Better than Nowhere?”
She gives a mock gasp before a teasing smile appears on her pretty face. “I don’t know. Will there be another handsome cowboy carrying me out of here tonight?”
Something sharp stabs me in the chest at the thought of Ruby in another man’s arms. “If you want to start another bar fight, sure.”
She props her chin in her palm and smiles. “Maybe I will, Cowboy.”
When she calls me “cowboy,” it’s like throwing an accelerant on my heart.
After a full day of showing Ruby around Resurrection—with a better attitude than I had the first time—I’ve taken her to the Neon Grizzly on Main Street. Though the bar is loud, it’s honky-tonk-lite, catering to a mix of tourists and locals. Muted TVs play country music videos, while servers wearing mechanic aprons fight their way through the crowd. It’s safer here. No fistfights.
What isn’t safe is what I’ve just done. Without meaning to, I’ve taken Ruby on a goddamn date.
All I could think about earlier today was seeing her. Helping her with her to-do list. Apologizing for scaring the shit out of her. Plus, I won’t lie. It feels great to take a break from the ranch, even for a night. I needed a day out, and she was the perfect person to distract me.
Only she’s not a distraction. She’s Ruby. The girl who twists me up inside every time I glimpse her gorgeous face.
It’s been a long time since I haven’t let the ranch fill my days with work from sunup to sundown. I’m busy, but these days, I’m never too busy for Ruby.
My stomach clenches as my eyes settle on her delicate profile. Her rose-gold hair’s wild around her. The purple strap of her sundress has slipped off her shoulder. She’s crossed her legs, causing the hem of her sundress to ride high, exposing the smooth underside of her thigh.
I scrub a hand over my beard, glancing down at my dirty blue-jean shirt and muddy boots. Damn if I don’t feel like a peasant sitting next to a princess. “I should have cleaned up,” I grumble.
“No,” she squeaks and then bites her lip. “I like you better like this.”
“How’s that?”
“Dirty.” A pink flush stains her cheeks. Damn, she looks cute.
The waitress appears, flapping an impatient hand. “Drinks?”
“You pick,” I tell Ruby. “It’s your night.”
She gasps. “How is that fair? You finally took a day off in what? A millennium?”
I smile at the truth of her words. “Something like that.”
“My night, huh?” Uncertainty fogs her face as her eyes scan the chalkboard menu. “How about ...a whisky pickleback shot and two beers.”
The waitress disappears.
I drum my hands on the table. “Now you’re speaking my language.”
“What? Rough and rowdy? Or grumpy and glowering?”
I laugh. Caught off guard by the sound, Ruby and I both jump.
Jesus. When was the last time I laughed like that?
