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“I have five brothers. We don’t really get along. You met Gunner and Ryker. Colton was here one night, but I’m not sure if you ever talked to him. My youngest brother is named Kash.” As expected, she reacted to that. “My brothers stole my phone at a wedding recently and downloaded a dating app and they built me a profile ...”
She took a step back, and something like fear crossed her face. He wanted to step closer, to comfort her, to tell her it was okay, that he wasn’t a crazy creep, but he also wanted to respect her space. “They built me a profile, and they gave me a fake name, and that fake name is Wolfgang.” He gave the words time to sink in. Saying them aloud made him feel even more horrible. “I never meant to deceive you. I didn’t know that you were May until you said something yesterday at the press conference.”
“What did I say?”
He didn’t want to get into that right now, so he dodged the question. “And then once I knew, I got all bent out of shape because you live in Nebraska. I’m sorry to be so sensitive or whatever, but I was hurt that this woman, May, who I had been growing quite attached to, didn’t actually live in South Dakota.” As he talked, she started toward him until she was right in front of him, with only the big bouquet of Goldenrod, wild bergamot, rubber rabbitbrush, and flame shield between them. Her gaze was unnerving. For some levity, he said, “I tied the bouquet together with Virginia creeper.” She giggled, but didn’t say anything. “I thought that was quite clever.”
She laughed. “Oh yeah? You were pretty proud of yourself?”
“Yeah, I was, which is good, because I haven’t been very proud of myself lately. I’m so sorry, Wynona.”
She kept staring at him. “I’m sorry ...” It seemed she had more to say, but he could understand her hesitancy. He had just dumped a lot on her.
He glanced at the trail. “Would you like to walk and talk?”
She nodded readily. “That’s a great idea. Moving helps me think.”
“Hey, me too.”
They started walking, and Sundance bounded around them like he’d been penned up for days.
They had walked in silence for quite some time, and Tucker was starting to fear they would get back to the vehicles before they finished this conversation. Finally, she said, “I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say. I’m thinking about all of the things that we talked about in that app, and it just didn’t seem like you.”
“I know,” he said quickly. “I’m sorry, I know that you liked Wolfgang a lot more than you like me. I’ll understand if you decide that you don’t want to deal with the combo.”
She laughed and quickly said, “Oh no. I like you too. I’ve liked you all along. In fact, I felt a little guilty about Wolfgang because I was feeling so attracted to you.” Her voice faded out at the end as if she were embarrassed with that admission.
“Hey! Me too!”
She giggled again. “So, we were both feeling guilty about cheating on our virtual chat boyfriend and girlfriend?”
Tucker held his arms out to both sides. “Welcome to the twenty-first century.”
She stopped and turned to him. “So what does this mean?”
“Good question. I can understand why you wouldn’t have an idea. I guess what I’m saying is, I’m sorry I’ve been such a pine cone, and I was wondering if I could take you out on a date.”
“Yeah,” she said before he had finished the question. “I would like that.”
She sounded surer than he thought she should. He stared at her, giving her time to back out. She mistook this staring as an invitation to come closer and suddenly her lips were on his, and he was terrifically surprised. This wasn’t like last time when they had barely brushed their lips together. This time, she was going for the gold, and after only a second of overwhelm, his lips figured out what to do, and he kissed her back, trying to tell her how much he admired her and wanted to know her, protect her, and take care of her, without using any words.
When she pulled away, he was sad.
“Wow,” she said. “I guess I wasn’t expecting that to be so spectacular.”
His cheeks grew warm.
“So about that date ...” she said, and his knees felt weak.
“Yeah?”
“I’m not sure if we’re going to have to come back out here tonight, so it’s kind of hard to schedule it.”
“Yeah. Maybe it needs to be a breakfast date.”
“Mmm,” she said flirtatiously. “I love breakfast.” They stared into each other’s eyes for several seconds before she added, “We should keep going.”
At first he thought she meant keep kissing, but then she started walking, and he followed her lead. She laughed and shook her head. “I can’t believe you picked me flowers.”
