Page 26 of The Cowboy's Surprise Return

“Is that what we’re calling it now?” Daisy-Mae exclaimed loudly. “‘Cause I need mine fixed, too.”

Cole chuckled as the room erupted with roars of laughter. A lot of women were trying to catch his attention, waving their numbers, and he was relieved he wasn’t the last man being auctioned off today. He had a feeling a feeding frenzy was about to happen.

“So?” Jackie murmured as they stepped aside and the auction resumed. She ran her palms down the thighs of her jeans. She looked nervous and wouldn’t quite meet his eyes. It was as though she’d read every thought running through his mind and feared he’d consume her.

“We meet again,” he said mildly. Jackie was especially sexy tonight, even though she’d dressed down, as if not wanting attention. Or maybe she was well aware of just how eye-catching her sweater was, hugging her curves. Her cheeks were lightly flushed, giving her a healthy glow, and her lips looked delectable.

He knew he wasn’t supposed to be wanting this, tempting fate and all that, but she’d gotten under his skin.

“I hear no hanky-panky is allowed,” she stated, a glimmer of challenge in her eyes. She was no longer afraid to look at him, flirt with him. The change was surprising, sending him off-kilter.

“That shouldn’t be a problem for us,” he said in a low voice. “We’ve both sworn off of that.”

“True. But what will we talk about if we aren’t giving each other goodbye kisses?”

Oh, she was a flirt. She could hook him without even trying.

“That could be a challenge,” he said gravely.

She smirked. “Maybe Karen has a book on conversation starters.”

Cole laughed, his desire to take Jackie by the hand and lead her home growing by the moment. Although seeing a woman at a nearby table leaning off her chair, trying to listen in, sobered him quickly. He cleared his throat and said to Jackie, “Meet at eight? Your house?”

“Sure, but I don’t have the tools we need to fix my bumper. Do you?”

“Why don’t you come by the ranch instead? We’ve probably got everything we’ll need. Are we replacing the bumper? I heard about your driving adventure from Henry.”

“Is he still moaning about that? I swerved to avoid hitting Bill, and crunched my bumper when we hit the ditch. I have it taped in place so it doesn’t drag, but I was hoping for something more permanent.”

“Mom’s having Clint over for supper again tonight,” Cole said, referring to the local mechanic, his mother’s new boyfriend.

It had been Clint Walker who’d phoned and asked him to come home, in an effort to win over Maria and show her how much he cared about her and her family. Cole thought that was pretty sweet. And he couldn’t help noting the affection they shared with each other, something that had been missing between his parents in recent years. What they’d had in the beginning had faded thanks to time and the effort of running a ranch and raising five boys. “I’ll ask his advice.”

“He said I might need a new one.”

“If we can’t take care of everything tomorrow,” Cole said, gliding his gaze over her face, “I take rain checks.”

“I like rain checks,” she whispered, her voice hoarse with what he recognized as longing. Her pulse throbbed under the thin skin of her throat, and she looked completely kissable.

For the second time that night Cole wondered why, when it came to Jackie, he was holding back and obeying his own rules.

4

On the morning of Valentine’s Day, Cole hustled to complete the ranch chores, along with Levi, Myles, Brant, Ryan’s hired stand-in, Blake, and the long-time hired hand, Hank, as well as Owen Lancaster, the newcomer. By the time the jobs were done, he still had an hour before Jackie was scheduled to arrive.

“Hey, you need help with that?” Cole asked Levi, hustling to lend a hand as his brother struggled to carry several long boards out of the riding stable to the ring. Apparently he wanted to get one more thing done before heading inside for breakfast. Or more likely he’d eaten before everyone, up well before dawn, as usual.

Owen came around the corner, saying, “I’ve got it.” He took the back end of Levi’s load before Cole could, instantly balancing the stack.

“Nah, I can step in,” Cole replied. “You’ve got to help Clara over at Derkson’s, don’t you?”

Owen hesitated, no doubt doing the mental math on how long it would take him to eat, then get over to the other ranch to help his auction winner for the day. He stumbled as Levi continued on with the load.

“I’ve got it,” Cole said, elbowing Owen out of the way and taking his end of the boards. “Jackie’s meeting me here. Plenty of time for me to help and still get breakfast. You go.”

“All right.”

“And remember, no hanky-panky.” He winked at Owen. At last night’s auction, the twenty-something man had been bid on by an older widow. It had been sweet how kind he’d been about spending Valentine’s Day with a woman nearing retirement. Owen had always been quiet, and he’d recently revealed a tender side that Cole figured the women of Sweetheart Creek would soon be swooning over.

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