Page 58 of The Cowboy’s Intriguing Love

“You don’t like it?” He looked so disappointed that she felt bad.

“No – I mean yes, I do. I love it. It’s … that’s what my dad used to call me – busy bee – because I was always working away at something.”

He ran his hand over her hair. “Makes me feel better that it’s in your nature – that you’re not working your ass off purely out of necessity.”

“No, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if I didn’t have work, or study, or something.”

He winked. “I want to say that you could do me.”

“Except you already said that we can’t.”

“Not yet, but we will – and believe me, we’ll have some making up to do.”

A shiver ran down her spine as she nodded.

“But this isn’t getting your notes written up. But before I let you get back to it, I have to ask – do you mind me calling you the same thing that your dad used to?”

“No, I love it. It feels … special.”

“I’m glad. Obviously, I didn’t know, but …” he gave her a mysterious smile. “I like it.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You have something else to say, don’t you?”

He nodded happily. “I do but it can wait till later. You do what you need to do. When you’re finished, we can eat.”

She grinned. “Would you think that I’m a total pig if I say I’d like to go to In N Out again?”

“What I would think is that you really are my dream girl.”

She held his gaze for a long moment, and her heart felt like it filled up and overflowed when he nodded.

“But go on, we’re not going anywhere until you’ve done what you need to.”

~ ~ ~

“What do you think, do you want to go to the same one we went to last night or a different one?” Ty asked when they were in the truck.

“I really don’t mind.” He loved the way her cheeks flushed as she added, “I should maybe be more interested in exploring the city, but all I really care about is spending the time with you.”

He chuckled. “And getting your burger.”

“Yeah, that too, but you know what I mean.”

“I do. I feel the same way. I had all these ideas, depending on what you were interested in. I’d found a couple of different restaurants downtown. I’d looked up the details about the Tabernacle and the Capitol building in case you wanted to look at those. Looked up a couple of different hikes, but …”

“Shoot!”

“What? He shot her a worried glance.

“And here I am being Little Miss Boring, who only wants to eat fast food and from the same location each time. I … I’m not exactly exciting, am I?”

“Hey!” He reached across the console and took her hand. “I’m not saying that I wanted to do any of that stuff. I just wanted to have options for doing whatever you might want to. I love that you’re more interested in spending the time together than in what we might be doing. And not exciting? Are you crazy, girl? You’re the most exciting thing that’s ever happened to me.”

The shocked look on her face made him wonder if he’d said too much, but he relaxed when she squeezed his hand. “You mean that, don’t you?”

He nodded solemnly. “I do. You’ll get used to that about me – I don’t say stuff I don’t mean.”

“I’m glad. I’m starting to get the hang of it, and it makes life easier. I don’t have to wonder and guess.”

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