Page 57 of Wyoming Heart

“It’s hard being a male cowboy sometimes,” he teased. “I get my share of propositions and ‘feely’ women.”

Her lips fell apart. “Really?” she asked, and seemed genuinely curious.

He chuckled. “You aren’t worldly, are you?” he asked softly.

A little color heightened her cheekbones. She shrugged self-consciously. “I grew up in Catelow. We’ve got, what, a thousand souls living here? It’s like growing up in a goldfish bowl.” She sighed. “Everybody knew my mother and what she was. But a few people believed the lies she told about me. It’s been hard, from time to time, living down those lies.”

“My dad’s pretty much the same way,” he said quietly. “He was running around on my mother when she was dying.” His face hardened. “He’s never really stayed with one woman for long.”

“How old were you when your mother died?” she asked gently.

“I was five,” he said. “Not really old enough to understand that death was permanent. They said Mom went to live with the angels, and I thought that meant she was coming back to visit.”

She got a sad picture of his life. He hadn’t really known his mother, but he’d ended up with a stepmother that apparently none of the sons liked, and a father who cheated even on her. “You haven’t had it much better than I did,” she said absently.

He almost said that wealth made up for some of it, but that would be a mistake. He liked having her think he was just a cowboy. She was the first woman who’d ever liked the man instead of the wallet.

She wasn’t pretty, but there was a quality about her that drew him, like a moth to a flame. Ida was beautiful and fun and exciting. Mina was quiet and shy, but with hidden depths. He wanted to know what those depths were. She intrigued him.

“Since you have such a bad opinion of cowboys, I guess you wouldn’t want to date one of us,” he mused, watching the flush on her cheeks grow.

She drew in a breath. “You asking me out?” she said. It was pure bravado. She was going to cringe into a corner later.

He chuckled. “Yeah.”

Her eyes widened. She looked up at him with absolute wonder. “Really?”

“Why are you so surprised?”

“Well, I’m not pretty,” she said, stammering. “I’m not rich. I smell like cow manure a lot of the time...”

He laughed out loud. “You’re describing me, too, except the pretty part,” he returned.

She grinned. “In that case, yes. I’d go out with you.”

His heart jumped. He didn’t pause to consider the implications of that reaction. “Great. What do you want to do?”

“There’s not a lot to do in Catelow,” she began.

“There is in Lander,” he mused. “There’s a casino. It’s on the Wind River Indian Reservation. Plenty to see and do there, including tours of the area round it. Arts and crafts. Walking trails...”

“It sounds lovely,” she said. “I’ve never been inside a casino in my life. Although I’d really love to see the reservation.”

“I read up on it,” he said. And he had, during a business event nearby. “It’s home to the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes. Lots of history there.”

“I suppose it’s too early for any of the pow wows,” she said wistfully.

“Afraid so. They come later in the year.”

“When?” she asked huskily.

“Well, tomorrow’s Easter,” he began.

She nodded. “I go to church on Easter.”

He didn’t, but he wasn’t going to make an issue of it. “How about next Saturday?” he asked. He hesitated and his face tautened. “If you don’t have anything going with Jake McGuire that day.”

“I don’t,” she said quickly. It was much later that Jake was flying her to New York, but she wasn’t mentioning that. It was flattering to have Cort pay her any attention at all, especially since it was common knowledge that he was taking Ida Merridan around. “Ida won’t mind...?” she blurted out.

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