“I live for it,” he countered.
Of course he did.
“I have some things to take care of this afternoon, but I will pick you up at eight. Does that give you enough time to close up for the night?”
“Yes, I will see you then. Oh, and Riley?”
“Yes?” he asked.
Deep breath. Tease him like he likes to tease you.
“You may not know this, but I don’t usually like to break the rules or blur the lines, but I’m willing to try.”
I walked back toward the pasture where Athena was waiting for me. I turned back around to look at Riley, and he was staring at me with the biggest smile. Those eyes were like a warm tropical ocean. I could see it, feel it all the way from here.
I was so screwed.
?
Riley was at my trailer at eight on the dot. He stared at me as I opened the door. His eyes took in my tight little black dress and my curled hair that I wore half up, half down. His eyes took me in, starting from my face, all the way down to my black high heels, then all the way back up to my face.
I turned hot under his gaze. It felt like lava flowing through my veins.
He looked sexy in a plaid shirt that was only buttoned to mid-chest. He had on jeans that showed off those thighs of his. He had on a clean pair of boots and a nice cowboy hat. I knew I teasingly called him a cowboy earlier, but damn. I wouldn’t be surprised if he got casted as a cowboy in a romantic comedy. He looked the part, and he did it so well.
“Wow,” Riley finally said.
“Is that a good wow?” I said.
I watched as his Adam’s apple bobbed.
“Let's put it this way. I am glad we are going out to announce that you are mine. If you were going as a single woman, I’d be throwing a lot of right hooks at a lot of horny dudes,” he said.
To announce that you are mine. Wow. Those words tore me in two.
I felt my face flush.
“Do you always look like this,” I asked, motioning to his outfit, “when you go out?”
“Usually, but I put in some extra effort tonight, for you.”
He winked.
My insides felt like they were boiling water. My face and neck turned beet red and started to sweat.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
Absolutely not. I wasn’t ready for the attention.
“Yes,” I said, slightly breathless. It wouldn’t be hard to pretend we were together. This chemistry that somehow formed between us, since he stopped being a massive jerk, would make it easy. When he looked like this, I found myself wishing we were really together, the past be damned. Then I quickly doused out that thought with some cold mental water. He insulted me for years and caused me so much pain. I didn’t want to be with someone like that, no matter how sexy they were.
He grabbed my hand and led me to his truck.
I had never ridden in it, and I had to admit, it was nice. The inside smelled like him. There was the hint of lingering alcohol, but I chose to ignore that. The cloth passenger seat was clean, thank god.
He drove us downtown, which took forty-five minutes. The farm really was in the middle of nowhere. I hadn’t been here in years, not since Kyle. He had been my boyfriend junior year, before Riley forced him to dump me. We passed the cafe that had been our favorite date place. I missed their pastries and hadn’t had the heart to go back there since Kyle and I split.
Riley parked the truck near the club and then told me to wait as he got out, ran around the front of the truck, and then opened the door and helped me out.
