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At first, jealousy tugged at my heart, thinking of Beau kissing someone else when I’d enjoyed flirting with him the other day. Then it evaporated when I realized that kiss was a long time ago. What I saw before me now was pure animosity.
“So, this feud has been going on for…”
“Years,” Landon said, selecting a bag of carrots. “Probably won’t stop any time soon either. Rory hates his guts.”
“And for good reason,” Rory said.
“Here we go again.” Beau sighed. “It was just a little kiss. Totally innocent.”
“What makes you think I’d want to kiss a disgusting, sweaty cowboy like you?” she shot back.
I wouldn’t mind.
I didn’t realize I’d spoken aloud until Beau slowly turned his head to look at me with an expression of interest.
“Really?”
I swallowed hard as heat flushed my cheeks. Beau angled his body fully toward me. I suddenly felt flustered and a little breathless under his gaze.
“See, Aurora?” Beau said. “That’s the proper way to accept an invitation.”
She huffed and crossed her arms.
“I hope you know what you’re getting into, Callie.”
Before I could respond, Landon cleared his throat. When I glanced at him, he had a ten-dollar bill extended in my direction and a bag of carrots tucked under his arm. For the first time since he’d approached my booth, he met my gaze. All the air seemed to punch out of my lungs at the sight of those gray, somber eyes watching me so studiously.
How did I get here?I wondered. In New York, I had to scrounge to find a man I was interested in. Now that I was back in Ash Ridge, I had two incredibly hot cowboys turning my stomach in endless somersaults and making me perpetually tongue-tied like a buffoon.
“Oh.” I was surprised that Landon had willingly chosen to purchase something from me. There were so many other booths and vendors he could have gone to instead. “Hold on, let me get you some change.”
“Keep it,” he grunted.
Then he disappeared beneath his hat brim again and turned away.
“But that’s nearly triple the cost—”
My protest faded. Landon had already melted into the milling crowd on the street.
“You have to forgive him,” Beau said. “A pretty lady like you gets him all tangled up in knots and he doesn’t know what to do with himself.”
I stowed the cash in my box, shaking my head.
“Now you’re just flattering me, Beau.”
“You deserve it.”
He reached over and hooked a finger beneath my chin, tilting my head up to look at him. Jesus, this man was magnetic. I went hot all over.
“I’d like to take you out to dinner. Sunday night, if that works for you. I could show you around Ash Ridge as promised.”
The flash of a pale cowboy hat in the distance drew my attention over Beau’s shoulder. Landon lingered at a booth full of saddles and bridles. The way his big hands moved over the leather, fondling an elegantly braided halter had me thinking of unholy things.
I tore my gaze away with a stab of guilt and frustration.
Why couldn’t I stop thinking about that damn cowboy? It was obvious he didn’t like me. That was clear when he called mecity girlwith so much disdain in his voice.
Meanwhile, Beau Collins was standing right here in front of me, flattering me with compliments and asking me out to dinner. Isn’t that what I’d been looking for ever since I left New York? I wanted a cowboy to sweep me off my feet. To whisper sweet nothings in my ear and kiss me good-night when he drove me home.
