Page 42 of The Cowboy Who Looked Again

So her joke tonight about the largeness of his family was in good fun. Yes, they could be a lot, but for a woman like Misty, they might just be exactly what she needed. Link had never viewed his enormous, loud, sometimes obnoxious family like that, but as Misty had talked over chili and cinnamon rolls last night, Link had felt how special they were.

He picked up a cookie. “Here goes nothing.” He bit into the cookie, realizing he should’ve spread the frosting out a little bit, because he hardly got any. The texture surprised him—this thing had actual cornmeal in it.

It wasn’t too sweet at all, and while his momma’s cornbread had kernels of real corn, this didn’t. It was almost like a sugar cookie with cornmeal, that delicious vanilla frosting, and honey.

He studied the cookie as he chewed, only switching his gaze to Misty when she asked, “Well?”

He swallowed and said, “I think that rivals cinnamon rolls dipped in chili.” He grinned at her while she giggled, then took another bite. “Yeah, this is great.”

“See? I knew you’d like them.” She lifted her cookie to take another bite too, but paused. “And hey, I think this is the first thing we both like.”

Link shook his head. “That can’t be true. Remember when we went on the starlight hike? We both liked that.”

“Food-wise, though,” she said.

“It can’t be,” he said. “You ate like, six cinnamon rolls last night.”

“But independent of the chili,” she said. “I just couldn’t bring myself to dunk it.”

“Next time,” he said like there really would be a next time. He wanted there to be a lot of next time’s with Misty. The next time he held her hand. The next serious conversation they had. The next time he kissed her.

“Hey, so I think I’m going to be moving soon,” he said.

Misty froze mid-chew. “What?” she asked around her mouth of cookie appetizer.

He grinned at her. “Is your heart beating hard?”

She stared back at him, those long, painted-black eyelashes blinking.

“If I’m not special, why do you care where I live?” he teased.

Misty thawed back to normal activity. “We’re going there?” She set down the second half of her cookie. “Already?”

“I kissed you before we even got out of your driveway,” he said. “So yeah. I’m going there already.”

Misty sighed like he was insufferable, and she reached up to push her hair back off her face. “Fine, Mister Glover. You’re special enough for me to care where you live.”

He leaned back in the booth and folded his arms, waiting for her to continue. When she didn’t, he said, “This is when you tell me something I won’t like.”

“You aren’t really moving soon,” she fired back.

“I am,” he said. “I’m getting a promotion on the ranch too. I’m going to be the junior foreman, and he gets his own house. I’m moving into the Top Cottage over the Fourth of July weekend.”

“Dang,” she said without missing a beat. “I was hoping we’d take our get-in-the-truck-and-drive road trip over the Fourth of July weekend. Now you’re moving?” She wrinkled her nose. “That’s a terrible time to move.”

Link had started up their game to see what she’d tell him, but she’d just twisted it all up. “You’d go on a road trip with me?”

“Maybe,” she said.

“What’s a cowboy got to do to get a yes to that question?”

Misty broke off a piece of her cookie and gave him a calculating look as she popped it into her mouth. “If I’m not special, why do you care if we go on a road trip together or not?”

Link grinned at her, though they both knew she’d just cheated in their little game. “Fine, Misty,” he said quietly as the waitress arrived at the end of the table to take their orders. He hadn’t even looked at the menu yet, and he picked it up as he added, “You’re special enough for me to want to lock myself in a truck with you and drive for a while.”

“Do you guys need another couple of minutes?” the waitress asked.

Link put down his menu. “Nope. She’s gonna order for both of us.”

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