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Oh, great she was married. But she had not been wearing a wedding ring.
“No, I’m no longer married,” she said. “Things happen.”
Great, she was divorced. Maybe it was best if he didn’t ask her a lot of questions. The least amount he knew, the better.
“Any kids?”
“Oh, no,” she said. “How about you?”
“No, I’ve never married,” he said softly. “The war kind of ruined that for me.”
For a moment, her face looked stricken and then she picked up her tea and took a big gulp.
“So what do you do?” she asked.
“I’m a ranch hand,” he said. It wasn’t entirely the truth, but close enough. It was best they stay off really personal topics. The least amount she knew, the better too.
“Do you take care of cattle and horses?”
“Yes,” he said, thinking there was so much more to his job than just caring for the animals.
“Have you ever been in a rodeo?” she asked.
“Years ago,” he said. “But now I’m too old and I just can’t do it any longer.”
“How about family? Do you have a lot?”
“More family than I can handle,” he said. “Most of us live on our spread. It can get very involved, very quickly.”
He laughed. If the Burnett’s grew any larger, he feared they would have to buy another ranch. As it was, he expected his older brother Travis to announce his engagement any day, and his younger brother Tucker, the man’s business was growing by leaps and bounds.
When those two married, there was still a whole passel of cousins that were single. And supposedly a matchmaking ghost who was finding them all their spouses. Well, he didn’t believe in ghosts and she could find everyone else but him. He had no intentions of ever marrying, not while he suffered from this shit.
A band began to play in the bar. Sitting there across the table from her, it was all he could do to not just blurt out what he wanted from her. And if she agreed, to hell with food, they could just go to his room. But he knew that would probably send her running.
“Would you like to dance?”
A grin spread across her face. “I would love to.”
They rose from their table and made their way to the dance floor where a slow two-step was in progress. She moved into his arms and he breathed deeply of her female essence.
A woman always smelled so good, and Emily was no exception. The smell of flowers and something soft had him closing his eyes, wondering what it would be like to be with her and hoping that he’d get lucky tonight.
Oh, it had been so long. And just holding her felt so special. If only he could find someone to spend forever with. Someone who knew how to handle his episodes.
The feel of her in his arms, soft and moving against him, almost had him moaning.
This was what he needed. And hopefully after dinner, she would agree.
The music ended and they moved apart.
“Thank you,” he said. “It’s been so long and that was great.”
She took his hand and they walked back to the dining room. Their food had just come out of the kitchen and the waiter was busy setting everything up.
“Looks delicious,” she said.
“It is,” he responded and reached out and squeezed her hand. “Thank you for tonight. I would have been sitting here all alone, wishing I had a good-looking woman to talk to me. I’m really enjoying being with you.”
