Page 18 of Mateo & Nicole
Why did he suddenly hate the way she said his name like that? Mateo fought the urge to drag a hand through his hair and insist she call him by his first name. That wouldn’t be wise at all.
“I was wondering if you needed anything from the city. You mentioned that you’d be putting a list of supplies together. Now that you’ve been here for a week?—”
Her expression brightened, and he found himself wanting to be the sole person who could do that to her. “Actually, yes.” She pulled back from the sink and wiped her hands on her aprons. “I have a list of things we need, but I’ll need to go with you. How long do you plan on being in the city? Do I have time to put together a quick lunch for the guys? Or will we be back in time?”
“There’s a chance we could get back in time, but that depends on you.”
She frowned.
“Your list. How big are we talking here?”
She smiled, and it felt like she could light the whole earth with it. “I already did some research. There’s a restaurant supply store in Colorado Springs that should have most, if not all, of the stuff I need. After that we can get the fresh produce from the local markets here.”
“Then I don’t see why we couldn’t make it back for a late lunch.”
“But Mom, I thought today you said you’d let me see some of the horses.” A small voice came from the corner of the room, and Mateo shifted his attention to the source. Paxton stood, frowning, his colored pictures in his hands.
Nikki gave him an apologetic smile. “I know, sweetie, but we talked about what it means for us to be here. This is my job?—”
Mateo moved past Nikki to crouch down in front of the boy like he had that first day they’d arrived. “Have you ever ridden a horse?”
Paxton shook his head, and Mateo fought the instinct to shoot his mother a surprised look. But he had to remind himself that, up until recently, she’d been living in the city. Why would she have any reason to take the kid riding?
He grinned at the boy and chucked him under the chin. “I’ll tell you what. After these errands, I’m more or less free today. I’ll take you to meet all the horses you want. Then maybe, if your mother is okay with it, we can go riding. How does that sound?”
“But he doesn’t know—” Nikki started to argue, but Mateo cut her off.
“Anyone living on a ranch should know the basics about riding and controlling a horse. As Paxton is currently a resident, it’d be my pleasure to teach him a thing or two about riding.”
Nikki’s hesitation cut at Mateo. Was she actually worried that he wouldn’t take care of her boy? Or was this something else? Her eyes found his, delving deeper, stirring a vulnerability within him. “I’m really busy, Mateo. I can’t be there to supervise.”
“Who said anything about you supervising? The kid can’t spend his last summer before kindergarten holed away in a kitchen coloring pictures. He should be out there in the world getting scraped up and learning what it means to be a cowboy.”
Pure and utter excitement filled the boy’s features. He looked up at his mother with a wistful kind of longing, and Nikki was clearly losing her will to fight him on this. When she heaved a sigh, both Mateo and Paxton grinned like they’d just won the lottery.
Mateo turned to Paxton and offered his fist. The kid bumped his against Mateo’s, and there was no missing the smile that tugged at the corners of Nikki’s lips.
Winning.
9
Nikki
While they were in front of her son, Mateo was all professional. Well, except for when he got all buddy-buddy with Paxton.
Nikki couldn’t drag her eyes away from them when that happened. The whole trip to the city and back, Mateo acted like the same guy she’d gotten to know a decade ago. He was all charm and smiles—and she wanted to hate it, but she couldn’t deny how good it felt to have the attention of a man like him, even if it wasn’t for romantic reasons.
She’d finished up a simple lunch for the men and wandered out to the corral where Mateo was yet again down on eye level with her son as he discussed the rules for riding. She couldn’t hear what Mateo was saying as his voice was too low, but based on how Paxton was drinking in every single word, she knew it was good.
Paxton nodded, and Mateo grinned at him. He was so good with her son that it made her heart twist in her chest. He would have been such a good father. It was a shame he’d never settled down with anyone after Caroline.
Mateo glanced in her direction, and their eyes locked. She stiffened under his stare. It didn’t matter how many times he looked at her like that; she couldn’t shake the way it sent goosebumps rippling beneath her skin.
In that second, time stood still. There was no other way to describe it. She couldn’t move, and all she thought about was the idea that he saw something special in her. Nikki couldn’t recall the last time someone looked at her like that.
No matter how much she tried to convince herself that there was nothing between them, in this moment, her heart refused to accept it.
Someone nudged her, and Nikki gasped as she turned to find Sophia standing beside her at the corral, watching Paxton’s riding lesson. She smiled serenely as she folded her arms atop the wooden fence pole. “Your kid is adorable,” Sophia said.
