His frown deepened. “The name sounds vaguely familiar but…” His voice trailed off, increasing her disappointment.
Double ouch.
She winced inwardly and thought about feeling sorry for herself when his next words stopped her burgeoning pity party in its tracks.
“Pretty sure I’d remember someone as beautiful as you.”
Well, dang.
To say she was shocked didn’t quite capture the ripples of disbelief rushing through Sadie. Her eyes widened so much it seemed they might pop out, and her mouth? Stupid thing hung open like a fish out of water.
“I…uh…thanks,” she managed to say, then laughed. “But I don’t think you thought that when we were in high school.”
The handsome guy went brows up again. “No way we went to school together.”
“Yes way,” she countered with a snort. “But I was a lowly freshman when you were a popular senior.”
And she’d been waiting to grow into her body while he was hot, and gorgeous…
A sexy grin spread across his face.
Her heart leaped, partly from attraction but mostly from mortification. “I said that out loud, didn’t I?”
His smile widened. “Affirmative.”
“Super.” She shook her head and laughed. “Well, my crush on you wasn’t really a secret in high school.”
Her friends had known, so had most of the school. Heck, even her cousin up in Michigan had known, mostly because Sadie and Harper had always confided in each other. They were more like sisters than cousins. Definitely best friends, and currently, she was working on getting Harper to move down to Harland.
“It was to me,” Dale said, bringing her mind back to their mortifying conversation.
The way he spoke, though, didn’t sound as if he was laughing at her. In fact, it held a hint of disappointment.
Of course, that couldn’t be right. She chalked it up to the shock of seeing him again and the way he’d snuck up on her.
“And I do remember you now.” He grinned. “You’reQuinny.”
This time, her heart didn’t rock, the sucker rolled straight into her ribs. She’d always hated that nickname, but hearing him say it in his deep, sexy tone sent goosebumps down her arms.
It was a whole lot of crazy.
So was the heat rushing up into her face. Dang. She hadn’t blushed since she was a teenager. As a matter of fact, the last time had been in his presence.
“Yep,” she said. “But I haven’t been called that since I graduated over a decade ago.”
Ranger chose that moment to rub against her legs.
Happy for the distraction, Sadie knelt in front of the cutie to scratch behind his ears. “Feeling better, buddy? Your dad said no snacking between meals, but all I have next door is cat food anyway.”
Ranger licked her nose.
Sadie smiled. “Thanks for understanding.”
“You kept him at your house last night?” Dale asked, squatting to pet Ranger, brushing her bare arm with his in the process.
Her pulse promptly broke into a crazy beat. Stupid thing.
“Yeah.” She nodded, silently scolding her body to get a grip. She was no longer a shy, inexperienced teenager. Besides, she was mad at him and his brother for not wanting the family ranch and breaking their dad’s heart.
