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“Mine weren’t either, at first. They wanted me to be a pageant queen, maybe follow in Dolly’s footsteps and become a professional cheerleader.”
“What made you pick rodeo?”
“It was more exciting, although the outfits are prettier in the pageants.”
“I like you in jeans and a buttoned-down shirt,” he said.
Pleasure flashed through her at the compliment and the appreciative gleam in his eyes.
“I liked you out of them too.”
Now his smile turned deliciously devilish.
With her packed schedule and how hard she was going to have to work to come out on top in this event, LeAnn didn’t have time for a boyfriend and all the nonsense that got crammed into a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. But she’d love to have someone to hang out with and maybe kiss good night. Her gaze dropped to his lips. Her eyelids grew heavy as she remembered feeling them slide over her body. And other things.
“Are you falling asleep on me?” Dylan asked. “Because I was going to ask if you wanted to go to a matinee.”
“I’d love that,” she said.
“When are the bulls going to get to Fort Worth?” she asked as he settled the check.
“They should be there by tomorrow night.” He looked up from signing the credit card slip. “Under no circumstances are you to get on one until I get there. I want to go over each of their strengths and weaknesses with you.”
“I promise,” she said, linking her arm through his as they walked out of the restaurant. It almost felt like they were on a date.
“What movie do you want to see?” she asked.
“Something to take my mind off of things.”
LeAnn suggested a new superhero movie and he agreed. “What’s on your mind?” she asked.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Okay.” She’d let him get away with it for right now, but she intended to circle back later. When they got to the movie theater, she insisted on buying the tickets, which made him scowl.
“I invited you. It’s only fair that I pay,” Dylan said.
That was ridiculous. Even if they were dating, she didn’t think that was a good way to do things. More often than not, Mick had been too broke to take her places so if she didn’t pay for both of them, they wound up at a bar looking for fans to buy them drinks. If they had budgeted better, they could have gone to more places by splitting the costs.
“You can get the popcorn,” she allowed. “Extra butter.”
“We just had lunch.”
“You can’t go to the movies and not have popcorn, Dylan. Everyone knows that.”
He shrugged, but bought two sodas as well.
While they were watching a superhero save the world, LeAnn enjoyed sitting next to him. If they had been dating, she would have leaned her head against his shoulder or encouraged him to put his arm around her so she could snuggle closer. She missed that intimacy. The best she could do was spread out in her seat so their arms and legs touched.
At the end of the movie, they still had half a bucket of popcorn left over, so they took it with them. He drove her back to where she had parked the Winnebago.
“Do you want to come in?” she asked. “I’ve got some board games we could play and then for dinner we could order pizza or I could grill some burgers.”
“I appreciate the offer,” he said, “but I’ve got a few things to do. I want to devote my day to the bulls tomorrow before getting on the road.”
“I’m happy to help,” she said, hoping she didn’t sound desperate.
“Keep loose. Do some more stretches. If you get bored, hit the mechanicals.”
