Page 81 of The Cowboy's Unlikely Love

Ashton tugged on her arm. “Come on. Let’s go say hi.”

She happily let him lead her – wondering what it was about Tanner that appealed to him so much. He was usually timid around strangers.

When Tanner reached them, he dropped his duffel bag on the tarmac and grinned at them.

“I made it. It’s good to see you.”

Ashton stared up at him with his mouth open.

She didn’t want to embarrass him, but she did want to introduce them properly. She was grateful to Tanner when he squatted down to get closer to Ashton’s eye level.

Her heart melted in her chest when he extended his hand to her son and said, “Hey, bud. I feel like we’re already friends since we talked on the phone. But I should still introduce myself properly; I’m Tanner.”

Everly’s hand came up to cover her heart as she watched the two of them shake hands. “I’m Ashton.”

Tanner winked at him. “I know. Is it okay if I say hello to your mom? I didn’t want to do that until we were properly acquainted.”

Ashton glanced up at her. She could see the wheels turning inside his head. After a moment, he nodded. “Yeah. You should.”

Everly closed her eyes when Tanner rested his hands on her shoulders and leaned in to kiss her cheek.

“I missed you,” he breathed next to her ear before straightening up again with a smile and saying in a louder voice, “It’s good to see you again. I’m glad we could make this work.”

“Me too.” She was still trying to take in the fact that he was actually here. “Do you need to do anything before we go? What about the pilot? Can we give him a ride anywhere?”

“He’s fine. He …” The way he hesitated made her a little nervous.

“Is everything okay?” she asked.

“Everything’s great.” He leaned in and pecked her cheek again. “Now that I’m here with you guys, everything’s awesome. I do have something I need to ask you but…”

Ashton picked up Tanner’s duffel bag. “I can go put this in the car.”

Tanner grinned as they watched him go. “He’s one smart cookie, isn’t he?”

“He is. He’s too smart for my own good. So, what did you want to ask?”

“I didn’t want to ask in front of him, because I think I know what his answer will be. And I don’t want to force your hand.”

“Ask me what?”

“If you guys want to come to the ranch for the weekend? I should have shot you a quick text to ask you before we took off. It was only when I got to the airport that my brother suggested I could bring you back there for the weekend.”

Everly just stared at him. “I … I don’t know. I …”

He ducked in and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “If you don’t want to, just say so. It’s fine. It was just with the way Ashton said he wanted to see Montana. I know that in the normal run of things, we wouldn’t be able to get him up there for a while with school and everything. Being able to borrow the jet like this…” He shrugged. “It’s totally up to you.”

She turned to look at Ashton, who was taking his time putting Tanner’s bag in the trunk. She knew that he would absolutely love it. To fly in a private jet? To get to see Montana – and meet a whole bunch of cowboys? How could she say no?

“We’d have to pack a bag. And would we be able to get back by Sunday evening? I have to get him ready for school on Monday.”

Tanner grinned. “That’s why Bear – the pilot – isn’t going anywhere just yet. I knew that you’d need to pack a bag if you wanted to come. And yeah, we’d get back here probably late Sunday afternoon.”

She swallowed. “He won’t know what to do with himself, he’ll be so freaking excited.”

Tanner grinned. “We can show him plenty to do. First, there’s the plane – I still think that’s kinda cool, never mind him. Then, when we get there, there’s so much for him to see and do. If he wants to do cowboys shit, there’s plenty of it. He can ride a horse. We can go to Yellowstone, if you guys want to do that.” He met her gaze and held it. “I’d really love to take you guys home with me.”

Her heart pounded. It felt like he was talking about more than the weekend. But no, she couldn’t let her mind go there. Justdealing with what it would take to go for the weekend was plenty enough for now.

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