Page 47 of The Cowboy’s Intriguing Love

They were quiet while they ate – except for the appreciative little noises that Shayna made that made him smile and shift in his seat at the same time.

When she’d finished, she let out a big sigh. “That was wonderful, thank you so much.”

He chuckled. “My pleasure. We’ll eat here again before we leave.” His smile faded.

“What’s wrong?”

He shook his head. “We only just got here, and I don’t want to think about leaving.”

“Then don’t. We’ll face goodbye when we have to – not before.”

“Hey, Shay?”

She turned to him with a smile. “Hi, Ty.”

He held her gaze. “It’s not going to be goodbye. At least, shit … it can be if you want, but I’m hoping it’ll only be asee ya later. And not much later. I’m going to get down there to see you again just as soon as I can.”

She nodded. “I hope so. I …” She lifted a shoulder. “We live a long, long way from each other, though.”

His heart sank. “Are you saying that you don’t think it’s worth it?”

“No! Oh my god, no, Ty! I think you’re totally worth it. I just … I don’t know how it’s going to work – but I want it to.”

“I do, too, sweetheart. We’ll figure it out.”

She dropped her gaze, and he hoped that she wasn’t already admitting defeat.

“What is it? You can tell me.”

When she looked up at him, she was smiling. “Can I steal some of your milkshake? I love the black and white; I couldn’t decide which to go for, and since you got my other favorite ...”

He laughed. “Have at it. I can never usually decide between chocolate and vanilla, and with the black and white I don’t have to. “And yours is just a black and white with strawberry, right?”

“Yep. Taste it and see what you think.”

When they were finished with everything, Shayna stuffed all the trash back into the bag and reached for the door handle.

“I’ll just go and throw …”

“Wait up.” He jumped out and went around to her door just as she was getting out. “I was going to take it,” he told her.

“This might take a lot of getting used to – you trying to do everything for me.”

He winked at her. “You’ll get there. What do you think, want to go for a bit of a walk?”

“I’d love to. After sitting on the plane and then sitting in your truck, I feel like I need to stretch my legs.”

He dumped the trash in a nearby trash can and then slung his arm around her shoulders as they walked.

“If you like, we can go up in the mountains and hike tomorrow. Or we can take a look around the city. Whatever you want.”

“I’d love to hike, but I’ve got Eli in the afternoon remember, and again Sunday lunchtime. I …”

“Is it bad that I totally forgot about that? We can stick close then, so that you’re not worried about getting there on time. Then, after you’re done, we can see what we want to do.”

“Thanks, Ty.”

They followed the trail up a little way, and she turned to look out at the lights twinkling in the valley below them as the dusk settled. He stood behind her and put his hands on her shoulders.

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