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He laughed. “My bet is still on.” He flashed her a grin. “One day out doing something fun with me.”
She scrunched her nose. “Be more specific.”
“How about hiking when the snow melts?” He looked thoughtful. “Ever been to West Fork Trail outside Sedona?”
“Nope.” She placed her second domino, an eleven-five. “But I’ve heard about it.”
“Then it’s settled, we’re going hiking.” He put a tile on the sidecar. “And tonight we’ll cook dinner together.” He winked. “But I’ll still do it shirtless.”
Charlee groaned.Me and my big mouth.
Since they were playing double twelves, it would be a relatively long game, but with Ace she knew it would be fun. She kinda hoped he would win, but she would never give up.But if I win, I can sit and watch him make dinner. All those hard muscles at work… The image of Ace standing shirtless in front of the stove was enough to make her face heat.
She looked at Ace to see him watching her.
“Your face is flushed.” He placed a tile down to start his train, instead of playing on the sidecar. “What are you thinking about?”
Her face warmed even more as she played a tile. He couldn’t tell that she’d been thinking about him in all his muscled glory. “Why are you always watching me?”
When she glanced up, he was smiling. “You’re so damned gorgeous, Charlee. How could I not look?”
She had to be bright red now, and she couldn’t think of anything to say.
“I like watching you.” Ace held her gaze. “You’re so beautiful, and you don’t even know it.”
“Stop it.” She gestured to his dominoes. “Your turn.”
She needed to change the subject. “How long have you owned your ranch?”
“After I graduated from the University of Arizona, I worked for seven years to save up enough to start ranching for myself.” Ace placed a tile. “When I had enough, I bought the land from a rancher who hit on bad times during the recession. The house and buildings were already on the property.”
“You’re around thirty-three or thirty-four now?”
“Thirty-three.” He nodded. “And you’ll be thirty this year.”
“Yep.” She had run out of tiles to play and she had to start drawing from the boneyard. “A new adventure is about to start.” She took a tile, looked at it then her train and the sidecar. She moved her train token to show she couldn’t find a play. “Pass.”
“A new adventure is a good way to put it.”
“I feel I get better with age.”
Ace laughed. “I’ve noticed.”
She met his gaze. “You feel the same way?”
“I’ve noticedyouget better and better.” He winked. “But yeah, I feel different as I get older. Once I hit thirty, I felt all grown up.”
Charlee couldn’t help but laugh. He certainlylookedall grown up. He’d filled out in the way a man did as he grew older, more mature and sexy. She hated to admit it, but she had noticed that hedid get better-looking every year that went by.
Stop thinking of him that way, damnit.
Ace played a tile on her train, since her passing gave him the opportunity. “I’m hoping the storm will let up,” he said.
Charlee glanced out the huge windows. “It’s almost a whiteout.”
“All the better to get locked away with you.”
She cut her gaze to him. “You really did orchestrate this whole thing.”
