Page 94 of Outlaw

He had a surprise forus.

Stammering, I told him we would go get dressed. He then told us to wait a minute and left the room for only a minute or two, then returned, carrying a large shopping bag that saidAriaton the front.

When he walked over to me, he held it out for me to take. “You will both need these.”

The “these” were cowboy boots. Mine were a Western style with pretty aqua-blue thread woven into the brown leather. Thesoles were the same blue as the thread. I was smiling so hard as I studied them that my cheeks actually hurt. I’d not had a pair of actual riding boots since I had been a kid. Since…my dad.

Stevie pulled out her box and opened them up before I could help her. She held up a brown-and-teal-blue leather boot and grinned. “I got boots too, Mommy!”

I knew he hadn’t gotten them because of me. There was no way that he’d ever remember it, but I’d once begged my dad for a pair of teal cowboy boots, like the ones Kimberly Brown had worn to school. He’d told me no. That work boots weren’t meant to be pretty and cowgirls didn’t care about silly things such as that.

Stevie stopped to show off her boots to both Jayda and Luther on our way out the front door with Linc. Once we reached his truck, he paused with his hand on the door handle.

“We aren’t leaving this property,” he told me. “It’s a dirt road, and I will be the only vehicle on it. Is it okay if she goes without her car seat?”

I had no idea how much property he and Luther had behind the tall privacy fence that enclosed the backyard. From the balcony in my bedroom, I could see the fields and trees beyond what I thought was the end of their property, but a row of what looked like pecan trees cut off my view from seeing any farther.

“Sure, that’ll be fine,” I told him.

The crooked smile he gave me sent off the wild beating of butterflies in my stomach who honestly had no shame. They had no pride. They were pathetic, and I couldn’t seem to control them.

He helped Stevie into the truck, and she bounced in the seat, excited about sitting in the front without a car seat.

“You like the boots?” he asked, turning back to me.

I nodded. “Yes, thank you. They’re beautiful.”

“And comfortable? Jayda told me the size you needed.”

“Yes.”

He looked down at them. “Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any in a teal blue that would work well for what you needed them for. This was as close as I could get. But I did get Stevie some, so I hoped that would make up for it.”

I stared at him. What did he mean by that? Because what I thought he meant would be…sweet. Possibly the most thoughtful thing anyone had ever done for me. It would also mean he…had thought about me. Made an effort to please me. None of those things seemed possible.

“Uh, these are great. And Stevie loves hers. She’s never had real boots.”

The corner of his lips quirked, and he tilted his head. The dark blue of his eyes seemed lighter in the sunshine, more like the sky than the deep ocean. “But are they what your eleven-year-old heart wanted, Ringlets?”

I blanched. My breathing hitched, and my mouth fell slightly open. He’d remembered? The reckless butterflies flapped their wings, as if to mock me and my doubt.

“You—you remember that?” The question was almost a whisper.

He smirked at me. The crinkles fanning the corners of his eyes were even sexy. “Of course I do. I had to spend twenty minutes just trying to get you to smile again. Not even the fact that I brought you two daisies helped.”

This was a memory. He didn’t mean anything by it.

I sucked in a breath, then let it out. “Dad wasn’t one for flashy things, and I was dramatic back then,” I said, trying to play it off.

If he thought I was reading anything into it, then he’d stop being nice. I’d already figured out he didn’t want me to think it was okay to cross any and all lines he had firmly set in place. Not that I would try.

When he held out a hand for me, my gaze dropped down to it as if I didn’t know what it was or what to do with it. Touching himwhen it wasn’t sexual felt foreign and forbidden.

“I’m just trying to help you up into the truck, Ringlets.” His deep drawl made warmth rush through my body.

I placed my hand over his, and that single touch of his skin on mine sent a shiver over me that I hoped I masked as I stepped up into the truck. Then, I quickly pulled my hand free and placed it in my lap. It was if he’d branded me.

We drove slowly back through his property as Stevie chatted about her new boots and being a big girl in the front seat while I worked on pulling myself together. The tingle that still covered my palm from his touch wasn’t much help.

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