“I never pegged you as a sweet talker, Braden Parker.”But she sounded pleased.
“I’m not.At all.”He ran his thumb over her knuckles.“But I do pride myself on telling the truth.And you are a beautiful woman.”Was he saying too much?He didn’t want to scare her off.But he also wanted her to know how he saw her.
Her laugh was nervous.“I hate to break it to you, but that, right there, was definitely sweet-talking.”
He shrugged.
“And, for the record, I think you’re a beautiful man.”She winced, then bit into her lower lip.“It sounded less corny in my head.”
He’d never been called beautiful before.Not once.“I liked hearing it.”He liked knowing she found him attractive.
“Braden.”She took a deep breath.“We should take this slowly, don’t you think?”
“I don’t know what to think.”He swallowed.“Other than I’m looking forward to more kissing tonight.”
“Oh.”She shrugged, squirmed in her seat, then fanned her face with the hand he wasn’t holding.“You aresoa sweet talker.”
His honesty rattled her.“Maggie, I’ll promise you something, here and now.”He leaned over the armrest between them.“I’ll always be honest with you.If I come on too strong, you tell me and I’ll try to tone it down.”
She was staring at his mouth, nibbling on her lower lip again.
“Okay?”He tilted her chin up.
“Okay.”She paused, scooted closer and pressed a kiss to his cheek.
He was smiling like a damn fool again.“Stay put.”He got out of the truck and came around to open the passenger door for her.
She took the hand he offered and stepped down.“What a gentleman.”
He touched the brim of his cowboy hat.“Yes, ma’am.”
She laughed.
Once inside the restaurant, he was glad they were seated in a table off to the side.While he didn’t mind folks seeing them out and about, he didn’t want anyone walking over and interrupting them.There was a lot he wanted to know about Maggie.Without the kids around, there was no off-limits topic or need to edit their conversation.After a quick scan of the menu, they ordered and sat staring at each other across the table.
“Is this strange for you?Or is it just me?”She turned her water glass in a circle.
“It’s not just you.”He grinned.“But it’s not bad strange.”
“No.”She shook her head.“Not at all.”
That was all it took to have him smiling—again.But she was smiling, too.
“So…” She took a deep breath.“How are things with Delilah?”
“Good.Really good.A lot of that is because of you and Cody.She’s still not a fan of Montana, but she doesn’t seem to hate it anymore.”
“It is a big change.Florida to Montana.”She stopped spinning her cup.“They’re pretty much polar opposites.”
“Phoebe, Delilah’s mom, loved Florida the way I love Montana.It was home.Which is one of the reasons we’d never have worked out.”He shrugged.
“Can I ask about her?”
He nodded.He had nothing to hide.If she had questions, he’d answer them.“We met in Florida, but it wasn’t a good fit for me.I was traveling for work then and when, we tried to do the long-distance thing, it didn’t last.”
“Long-distance relationships rarely do.”Maggie nodded, all sympathy.
“She got back together with her ex soon after we broke up, and I went on with my life.About six months ago, Phoebe called me out of the blue to tell me about Delilah.”
