Page 10 of A Gift for the Hopeful Cowboy

She grinned. That was one more reason to love Gerald. He never flinched.

“Thanks. I might not be back tonight, but the menu is all squared away and everyone finally arrived for their shift. I'd only be supervising anyway.”

“You never just supervise.” He gave her a pointed look over his glasses.

“You know what I mean.” Pippa laughed as she removed her apron and darted out the back door to the lot where all her employees parked.

She jumped in her car and sent up a little prayer that Rob would still be at the Burger and Shake. If he’d fibbed about heading there or gotten his food to go, she might have to track him down at her brother’s place—and that was the last place she wanted to be spotted after visiting yesterday.

She made some questionable driving decisions to get to the fast-food restaurant, but when she pulled into the parking lot, she was relieved to see Rob’s truck. It was one he’d borrowed from Brent until he could find one he liked enough to buy. On the side was a logo for Brent’s small ranch.

A mixture of relief and worry gripped her as she launched from her car and headed for the front entrance. The smell of greasy fries and burgers wafted through the air, making her stomach growl. She’d missed dinner—mostly because she’d planned on sampling the food before it went out to the customers tonight and she didn’t want to make herself sick.

Now that she was gone, she regretted her decision.

The door flew open and Pippa jumped backward to avoid being hit by it and the customer leaving. Rob stared at her, unblinking. He glanced at the parking lot, then back down at her.

“What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be at your restaurant.”

All she could offer was an embarrassed smile. “I… um...”

Why was it so hard to say it? Why couldn’t she just say she was sorry for teasing him? She’d been snotty around the other cowboys. She’d pushed back when he’d gotten defensive. It was her apology to make.

“You… what?”

She looked away as a new group of people entered the restaurant, forcing them to take a step to the side. Her focus landed on the bag of food in his hand. Her stomach gurgled louder this time, making for an even more embarrassing moment.

“I needed to talk to you.”

“Didn't we already talk today?” Disdain laced his words and his brows lowered. He was still upset. And why shouldn’t he be? She hadn’t told him most people wouldn't be wearing cowboy work clothes. She'd messed up there.

Pippa swallowed hard. “I need to tell you I’m… sorry. I shouldn’t have teased you. And I definitely shouldn’t have made things worse. I was…” She looked away again. “Honestly, it made me mad when you put down my customers and my restaurant.”

Pippa continued to stare at the ground where her black sneakers poked out from her black dress pants. She didn’t know what to expect from him. Too much time had come between them. Maybe one date was too much to ask. It was entirely possible they'd outgrown their ridiculous pact. They might have changed too much.

Her stomach gurgled again, drawing a chuckle from Rob and a startled look from Pippa. She stared at him, unsure if he was laughing at her or mocking her—because with Rob, those were two different things.

Rob heaved a breath and then lifted up his bag. “Well, I was going to drown my sorrows in three cheeseburgers and a large French fry, but?—”

“Three?” She choked. “You got three burgers? Do you realize how big the burgers are here?”

“In my defense, I haven’t eaten anything all day,” he shot back. “I was planning on going to my friend’s restaurant and trying all sorts of disgusting food fit for royalty.” This time, the playful sarcasm came through with each word he spoke. This was the Rob she knew and loved—the one who could keep her on her toes and knew where to draw the line in the sand.

Pippa snorted. “Well, the joke is on you, because the amount of food you would have bought to fill you up—seeing as you think you can handle three burgers—would have bankrupted you.”

He lifted a brow. “Oh, yeah? Where’s the friends and family discount?”

She crossed her arms with a smirk. “I don’t know how much you have in your bank account, but I would assume you might still need to wash dishes at the end of the night.”

Rob leaned forward, his nose nearly touching hers. “It would have been worth it,” he said.

Her heart leaped into her throat as her body reacted to his closeness. All the feelings of desire and passion were there like they had been when they were younger, but it was stronger somehow. He could kiss her right now and she wouldn’t resist.

In fact, she would have dived headfirst into that questionable decision.

Over the last several years, they’d gotten closer, though it was a long-distance friendship. There were things he knew about her that no one else did—not even Allie. Pippa had a connection with Rob that wasn’t going anywhere.

Now he was here, standing in front of her, and available… she wanted nothing more than to jump down that rabbit hole no matter what dangers it would present.

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