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“Me, too,” I say, thinking about my dad’s tie drawer again. I squeeze her to hang on to the present instead. “But when I pinky promise, it’s ironclad. You need me, I’ll come running. All you have to do is ask.”
“Same.”
Her words have a surprising effect on me. They wrap around my heart like a layer of protection I didn’t know I needed.
I kiss the top of her head. “I can’t think of a better crazy-ass woman to have on my side.”
Chapter One
PRESENT DAY
I never thoughtit possible to consider moving back into my childhood room at thirty-five years old a success story. But today, when I roll my things into the biggest room with the smallest closet at Moon Ridge Ranch, it feels like a goddamn victory. And the first thing I want to do now that I’m officially back in Starlight Canyon is get some comfort food.
I walk through the door at Creme de laCreme’s. Some things never change because the tinkle of the bell is just as welcoming and friendly as it’s always been. I’ve missed that sound. And I’ve missed what will follow. The simple pleasure of dessert and a strong brew to wash it down.
It doesn’t even cost a fucking fortune either like it did in LA. Eyeing the drinks board, I remark on everything being normal-people prices. That’s what I’ve missed about home. Salt-of-the-earth folks with nothing to prove. Just loving what they have. Being who they are.
Here, I can melt into the backdrop again. Sure, the women at the bars won’t treat me like your average cowboy, even though in my mind, I still very much am. But there are enough Tom, Dick, and Harrys that think I’m nothing special. To them, I’m just the Danes’ kid. And that’s plenty good enough for me. I sampled fame. I chewed on Hollywood attention. It doesn’t taste as good as home.
Sitting down at a two-top table, I take the laminated menu with today’s soup and sandwich specials in my hand, look at it but don’t read it. I tap it on the counter.
The doorbell jingles again, and I twist. No Logan yet. I check my watch, and it’s five minutes past the time we agreed to meet, so he’ll be another ten. I pull out my cell to check the news for my brother’s pro-football team.
Sometimes it sucks that our sports are on during the same season. But he’s a star. A fucking superstar. He’s getting amazing press as usual. I swipe over to a new screen to see how my fantasy football team is doing.Ah, crap. Can’t start with Schafer this week, he’s injured.
The restaurant door chimes in the background.
Hansen has a bye week.
Tinkle.
Damn… my players are dropping like flies…
Tinkle.
I’m deep in thought over how to rearrange my team this week when a gust of cold autumn air puffs at me along with the scent of a woman. An earthy, natural perfume. Roses and… patchouli? What’s that shit the hippie chicks wear? I’ve always hated heavy perfumes; all that artificial stuff isn’t for me, but this? It’s an invasive, provocative breeze going past me, and it piques my interest…
Keeping my head down, I dart my eyes up to see who the scent belongs to. I only catch her from the back side, and what a backside she has. Long, blonde hair reaches to nearly the small of her back. Her spine curves in sensually, her round ass stretches her back pockets, and her ass is so luscious I’d like to smack it like that Wrangler stamp she’s wearing. This woman is a sinful sight and should be against the law. She has her shapely, lean legs stuffed into a pair of cowboy boots. This tasty combination of a horse-riding cowgirl and the apple bottom of a pinup model has my cock swelling in my jeans.
Who. Is. She? Seems I’ve been away from this small town long enough for some serious eye candy to move in. I keep my head low, with my gaze fastened to her ass so tightly it’s going to hurt to pull it off.
Moving back to Starlight Canyon will not be good for my dating game. Not that I want it to be. Since splitting with my ex a year ago, I’m not ready for any level of commitment. And there won’t be a lot of women in this town I don’t already know. But maybe this peachy vixen is one of them… I shouldn’t be thinking this way. Getting involved with someone in the Canyon right now is a bad idea. The rumor mill will grind hard on it, and I’ve had enough of being featured on the front of tabloids.
The blonde bends down when she gets to the counter, leans on her elbows, and her hair falls down and hides herface with a veil of sunshine. She chats with the barista. It’s an innocent hello between two women who obviously know each other, but to me, it’s like she’s bent over to enhance my view. Her hips hitch upward invitingly, and her ass spreads just enough to keep me watching, every curve on full display. I imagine my hands hooking under the cradle of those immaculate hips and holding them steady…
“Can I help you?” A man’s voice pinches me.
I nearly flinch. If I was a flincher, I would have. My gaze climbs from a pair of well-used leather boots, traces dusty jeans and a Henley all the way up to Dashiell Hunter’s face. His expression is unmoving, but his eyes are expressive, darting from me to the ass I’ve been perving on and back again.
Shit. Has Dash actually gone and got a girlfriend? I’ve been ogling his woman?
I stand. “Fancy seeing you here.”
“I was thinking the same.” He offers his hand casually.
Maybe he didn’t catch me staring.
He takes it in his grip, grasps me with the appropriate level of firm, nothing threatening in the pressure. But he shakes my hand slowly and stares at me bone-deep. I swallow hard, considering maybe he noticed my shady activity after all. That’s the thing about Dash. He’s hard to read, and his gaze makes you feel very, very exposed.
