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“Sounds good.” The call ended, and Nate re-pocketed his phone. Ginger stood from the stump as he neared, wearing a mask of apprehension on her face.
“What did he want?”
“Don’t you know calls with lawyers are privileged?” he teased.
Ginger’s smile broke through her anxiety, and she swatted at his chest. Nate dodged her futile attempt and instead took her into his arms. He’d never held her like this before, and he had absolutely no idea what he was doing, though he’d had girlfriends before.
Girlfriend.
Was that what Ginger was?
Nate’s hope shot toward the sky, and he gazed down at her, glad she wore a flirty smile on her face still. “I asked him to find Jane,” he said soberly. “He did, and she doesn’t want Connor. So he’s really mine. I’m going to adopt him.” Then maybe Connor could call him Dad instead of Uncle Nate.
“Well, I’m going to talk to him about adopting him,” Nate said. “See what he says.”
“He’s only four.”
“Doesn’t mean he can’t think.” Nate looked up and out over the ranch, a sigh of contentment moving through him. “I sure do like it here, Ginger. Thanks for taking me into the residential program.”
She leaned her head against his chest, inching closer to him. He thought he could stand there in the shade and hold her for a good long while, the scent of her flowery perfume filling his nose. “Of course,” she said. “I’m glad I took the gamble again.”
“Would you consider having more of us here?” he asked, his throat almost closing around the question.
“Depends.”
“On what?”
“On if I can get another guy like you.”
Nate shifted back and looked at her as warmth and excitement dove through him. “Is that right? I guess I’m pretty awesome.”
She giggled to go along with his chuckle, but neither of them continued on for very long.
“I know a guy,” Nate said, his throat so dry. He glanced down at her mouth, and he couldn’t look away. “He’d be great here.”
“I don’t want a guy just like you,” she whispered.
“I don’t want that either,” he said.
“Why?”
“Because then maybe you’d like him more than you like me.”
Ginger shook her head, a soft smile tracing its way across her mouth. Nate slid both hands up her arms to her face, cradling it in his palms. She stilled, and her eyes widened.
“I…can I kiss you?” he asked, his voice little more than a croak.
Ginger seemed to be moving in slow motion as she reached up and took off his cowboy hat. “You can, but not with this on. It’s one of the hazards of being a cowboy.”
“Noted,” he whispered as he lowered his head toward hers. The moment his lips touched hers caused an explosion of sparks to move through his bloodstream, and Nate knew then that there was nothing half so great as kissing Ginger Talbot.
