Page 56 of The Rancher's Unrequited Love

"I prefer...roguish."

God, he's impossible, and even worse, I'm having a hard time keeping myself from smiling.

"It's always easier to talk to strangers," he says suddenly. "Hasn't anyone ever told you that?"

I shake my head.

"It's true, though."

"Of course you'd say that."

"Come on," he says cajolingly. "What's there for you to lose?"

"A lot."

His brows shoot up, and I realize I've done it again. If there's anything I dread more than the C-word, then it's the E-word. There's nothing I find more appalling than beingemo,but...isn't that the whole point of this trip as well?

Eat Pray Loveis just one giant emo fest, and if I want to carve a path of self-discovery the way Julia Roberts did, then...

"I don't know what I want to do with my life," I blurt out.

"And you have a deadline for that?"

I expel a sound of frustration. "You know what I mean."

"And I think you also know what I mean," he says equably.

I suppose I do, but...it's different for him. One look at Wyoming Keanu, and I know he already has things figured out. He knows what he'll be doing until his 101st birthday, and while I'm happy for him, that just makes me feel like I suck even more. I don't even know what I'm going to do in the next hour—-

"Do you know Stan Lee?"

The question throws me for a loop, and I look at him, confused. "Not personally, no, but I knowofhim."

"Then there you go."

"I'm sorry, but you've totally lost me."

"Stan Lee was in his late thirties when he hit it big with Fantastic Four."

Hearing Wyoming Keanu use a Marvel analogy is just so unexpected I find myself fighting off another smile.

"And Vera Wang—-"

I can't help laughing now. "Seriously?"

"I'm not making any of this up—-"

"I k-know you're not, b-but..." I try to finish, but I'm laughing too hard to be coherent. This really isn't good, but I just can't help it. Wyoming Keanu almost seems to have a secret key to my funny bone, and I need to clear my throat several times before I can finally start speaking again. "I'm sorry. "I just never expected a macho guy like you to evenknowwho Vera Wang is."

A moment passes, and then he says, "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For thinking I'mmacho."

Oh my God, this guy is totally killing me with his lines, and that issonot good—-

"By the way..."

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