Page 25 of Overdue for a Cowboy

“Mine too,” he said, tossing the stick again and leaning back against the bench.

She smiled as she noticed his lips were tinged just the slightest green.

He tilted his head. “What’s that smile about?”

“I just noticed your lips are kind of green, and I was wondering if I kissed you again, would you taste like the lime flavor of your popsicle.”

He offered her a lopsided grin. “Maybe. Or I might taste like a frog.”

She laughed then lifted her good shoulder in a shrug. “They say you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince.”

His expression darkened. “Sorry Maisie, but I’m no prince. And I’ll never be anyone’s happily ever after.” He pushed up from the bench and strode out to meet the dog, clipping his leash back to his collar.

Maisie’s brow furrowed as she stood, not sure what had just happened. But something had. One minute Dodge’s body was loose, relaxed as he leaned back and grinned at her, the next his shoulders were tense, and his lips were drawn out in the same tight line they’d been in after Jacob had left.

Dodge led the dog to the sidewalk then paused as he waited for Maisie to catch up. She fell into step next to him and neither one spoke as they walked the few blocks back to her house. His brows drew together as they climbed her porch steps, andhe tilted his head to the house next door. “I feel bad that your neighbor’s are talking about you. I would never want you to be the subject of any kind of rumor.”

She laughed as she pushed open the front door and led them inside. “Why not? I kind of love the idea. I never get to be the subject of rumors.” She waggled her eye brows at him. “It’s kind of exciting to think my neighbors are whispering about how that dull librarian is suddenly doing something scandalous.”

The tenseness of his mouth and shoulders eased again as he shook his head at her and let out soft chuckle. “You really do make me laugh. And I can’t imagine anyone thinking of you asdull.”

She pushed her shoulders back at the compliment. “Thank you. That’s nice of you to say, but it’s true. I do lead a pretty boring life. Other than work, I spend most of my time with a book and my cat.”

April chose that moment to saunter into the room and jump onto the back of the sofa. She lifted one paw and licked at it as she offered Maisie a look that clearly said the librarian was the boring one, certainly not her.

“I must lead a dull life too, then,” Dodge said. “Because I try to read every night before I go to bed, and I don’t think reading is boring at all.”

Her mind flashed to an image of Dodge in bed with a book…with her next to him. The idea of two people lying in bed reading next to each other might not be the sexiest fantasy to some, but the idea of it sent a thrill through her.

She turned away, hoping her cheeks weren’t pink, as she tucked her jacket into the closet then pushed the door closed and leanedher back against it. “So, what now? Do you want to watch a movie or something?” She loved the fact that he still hadn’t mentioned anything about going home, and she certainly wasn’t going to suggest the idea.

“Sure. I’m up for whatever.”

Whatever, huh?

She could certainly think of a few things that she was up for. And most of them involved getting naked with the cowboy. Her cheeks warmed again at the thought. Especially because sheneverthought things like that. But she’d never had the cowboy of her dreams standing in her living room before.

It’s not that she hadn’teverdated. And she had been with a few men, although not in a long time. But she’d never been the one to instigate any kind of intimacy. She felt inadequate and lacking the knowledge or experience in the games of seduction. Even thinking about trying made her want to giggle like a nervous girl in junior high school.

But she had tried with Dodge before. She’d brought up the first kiss and asked him if he wanted to do it again. And apparently, he did.

So, why not try it again?

She might not be very good at seduction or flirting or really any kind of sexual persuasion, but she had succeeded in getting him to kiss her the first time. Or the second time, because the first time didn’t really count. Well, it counted, but she just couldn’t fully remember it.

Gah. Just try again.

She sucked her bottom lip under her front teeth, a move she’d read about a million times in romance novels and offered him a small coy shrug. “Ya know, I think we were just starting to get the hang of that kissing thing. Since we were interrupted though, it seems like maybe we should try again, just to see if we might be able to improve.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “Do you think that earlier kissneededimprovement?”

She gave him what she hoped was a teasing grin. “I’m not sure. That’s why I think we need another go at it. You know, give it the old college try.”

The old college try?

What was she talking about? This wasn’t sexual persuasion. It wasdissuasion. She was supposed to draw him in with her flirty charm, not repel him with her goof-ball personality. Her brain was obviously not connecting to her mouth because she couldn’t seem to control the words coming out of it. And she was apparently theworstat flirting. It looked so easy on television.

“I don’t know why I said that,” she told him, looking everywhere but at his face. “I’m nervous. And obviously, I didn’t think that last kiss needed improvement. It was one of the top ten best kisses of my life. And now I’m babbling.”

---