Page 5 of The Cowboy's Temporary Solution

She's right, of course. Pretending to be in a relationship with a stranger I met not an hour ago is insane. Pretending to be in a relationship with Serenity, well, I can say for certain that's not something I'm likely to have a lot of trouble with. I just hope Seri can manage well enough to convince everyone she's really head over heels for a rough old geezer like me.

Lord knows she's outta my league, I think to myself as I carry our bags in one hand, with my other firmly wrapped around Seri's-- for show, of course-- as we make our way across the tarmac and into the single building that makes up the entirety of the Slow River Municipal Airport.

"So how in love are we supposed to be?" She squeezes my hand and asks the question with a bit of a giggle that has me looking forward to hearing it again.

Stopping in my tracks, I pull her back to me with a tug on our joined hands.

Seri pivots on the toe of her high heels, spinning in place before snapping back my way where she stops just shy of running into me, her hands resting against my chest and so close she has to crane her neck to look up at me.

Running my hands down her arms, I lean in close and answer her question-- not leaving a bit of room for confusion.

"Madly."

3

SERENITY

He leans down so he's eye-level with me, placing both his hands on my upper arms. Their warmth through my silk blouse has me paradoxically shivering. My nipples tightening as if I were standing on the sidewalk back home in January, not in a tiny airport baggage claim in August.

Ranger's face looms so close to mine that the brim of his hat bumps against my forehead. His eyes crinkle just slightly in an expression I can't name as he looks at me closely in silence for a beat.

I think he's going to kiss me.

A million thoughts race through my head. Kissing isn't something I have a lot of experience with. Kissing insanely sexy, older, cowboys I'm pretending to date, in public is something I havezeroexperience with and I'm under the impression that Ranger is experienced in ways I haven't even heard of yet.

Part of my brain is screaming that we're onlypretendingto be together. It's a panicky voice coming from somewhere far off in my brain. It sounds muffled, as if some other part of my brain is trying to shut it up.

Because--oh man-- does pretending to be Ranger's girlfriend mean there's going to be kissing? Will it mean there will bemorethan kissing?

My heart rate goes into double time and I suddenly have questions about our arrangement that have nothing to do with cataloging the details I'll need to know in order to convince his family and friends that we've really been in a relationship for weeks already.

"Madly,"Ranger answers my question with a trace of a smirk pulling at one corner of his mouth, but the single word sounds deadly serious.

For another beat of my heart, he hovers there, staring at me intently like he has more to say.

He doesn't kiss me, and he finally pulls away, standing back up to his full height and adjusting the weathered cowboy hat over his eyes before picking up our luggage in one hand and steering me through the building with one hand resting on my back between my shoulder blades.

This boyfriend thing is going to take some getting used to, but I can't pass up the chance to get an inside scoop on the families I'm here to research. That's the kind of thing that will convince my boss that I'm worth more as a field researcher than I am in the office.

After retrieving my large case from baggage claim, we head for the front of the building while Ranger tells me a bit more about himself, his family, his home town, and the reasons he's willing to go through with this whole fake girlfriend plan.

"Dad and I liked each other fine," he's saying as we head for the doors to the loading area, "we just didn't make the best co-workers. When I took the job in Houston, it led to a pretty big falling out between us and we didn't talk for a few years.

"Of course, Mom wasn't going to let that stand forever. She made sure we patched things up before it was too late...and I'm glad she did."

There's a stoic kind of grief in the man's voice when he talks about his father. It's obvious he thinks highly of his parents, but it's also apparent that he's made peace with losing his dad.

"So why didn't you come back till now?" I wonder aloud. "I mean, not even to visit? Your mom sounds like the kind of woman who would want you back for the holidays, at least."

In reply, I get a deep sort of laugh that's a bit more grunt than chuckle.

"Ma's gonna love you," he mumbles under his breath.

"Let's just say, there was some drama before I left town and I haven't been keen on revisiting it."

His phone dings in his back pocket before he can elaborate, and we come to a stop on the sidewalk outside the airport's single, small building while he checks the message.

The relaxed expression that's eased into his rugged features since I agreed to his offer tightens again, and he curses under his breath as he looks up from the screen to scan the parking lot.

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