Page 106 of The Cowboy’s Intriguing Love

“Me too, sweetheart, but not as much as I love you.”

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On the ride over to the bakery, Shayna was glad that Tanner was in the back seat and couldn’t see her face – she was sure that he’d be able to read in her eyes exactly what she and Ty had been doing just before they picked him up. Thankfully, he seemed oblivious.

“Any chance you guys want to come and keep me company at work tonight?”

Ty glanced over at her, and she gave him a puzzled look.

“He hasn’t told you?” Tanner asked. “I work behind the bar at the local resort. It’s called Chico.”

“Oh.” She remembered now; Ty had told her about the place – it was where he used to hang out and meet girls. She raised her eyebrows at him. She wouldn’t mind going; it felt like forever since she’d had a night out. She was usually behind the bar.

Ty took hold of her hand. “It’s up to you, sweetheart. You might need to be prepared for two nights in a row if we go tonight, though. The girls are threatening to drag you out tomorrow.”

Tanner laughed. “And you’re going to let them?”

Ty glowered at him in the rearview mirror.

Tanner leaned forward between their seats so that he could see Shay better. “It can be a bit of a cattle market in there. I reckon you’d have to beat guys off with a stick if …”

Ty squeezed her hand. “I’ll be right there. The girls hang out and do their thing, and Spider and Luke prop up the bar – Rocket, too, when they can talk Janey into going.”

“And Kolby, since Callie’s gotten more used to being here.”

“Maybe we should wait till tomorrow,” she suggested. She still had an assignment to finish, and if they were going out tomorrow night, she’d need to work on it tonight.

Ty nodded. “Works for me.”

Tanner blew out a sigh. “Looks like Ford might have been right.”

“About what?” she asked.

Ty laughed. “He told Tan that before you know it, he’s going to be the old geezer at the bar by himself.”

“Aww! I’m sure you’ll meet someone someday.”

Tanner laughed. “I meet lots of someones.”

“I think what Shay means is someone special.”

She nodded and Tanner sat back in his seat. “I didn’t think I wanted to but …” He laughed. “Seeing you guys together? You make it seem less scary.”

“Scary?” Shayna asked.

“Yeah. It’s … I dunno. It’s always seemed to me like a relationship is a lot of responsibility – you know, you have to make someone happy. You have to do what they want instead of what you want …”

She glanced over at Ty, wondering if he saw it that way. He shot her a quick smile before turning his attention back to the road. He surprised her when he spoke.

“I know what you mean, Tan. I used to think the same way but it’s not like that when you meet the right person.” He grinned. “It doesn’t feel like there’s a responsibility to make each other happy – it’s more like you make them happy just by being who you are. It’s not hard work, you want to do it.” He glanced over at her again. “At least, that’s how it is for me.”

“Me too,” she said. “And I don’t think it’s a case of giving up what you want in order to do what they want – more like deciding between you what will work for both of you. And when it’s the right person, it seems that you want to do a lot of the same things – and you want to support each other in doing your own thing, too.”

Tanner blew out a sigh. “I guess. I’m glad you guys have it figured out.”

Ty pulled into the parking lot at the bakery, and they all climbed out of the truck. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and Tanner came to her other side and slung his arm around her too.

It made her laugh. They were still laughing when Tanner opened the door, and they stepped inside. She was surprised to see the place was so crowded. The couple of times she’d been inhere, there had been a few customers, but nothing like this. The place was packed.

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