Page 47 of More Than a Good Friend

I swallow. “That dress. It’s...” I can’t compliment her because that might be bad right before she goes on a date. “It’s a pretty shade of blue.” I think that’s something a friend would say. “And here. It fell down next to your seat.”

She blinks and takes the earring without breaking eye contact. “Thanks. My date should be here any minute.”

“Okay. You know, sometime... if you want... we could go on a double date. Not with Regina or Lucy or anyone like that. I’d take someone nice.” What am I saying? I don’t want to date anyone else right now, and I sure as heck don’t know a lot of nice women who want to hang out with me just so that I can spend extra time with Goldie.

“That would be a lot of fun. We should do that.”

She knows all the ranch hands’ wives. I can’t ask any of them to be my date. This would be easier if I actually kept a little black book. Or remembered people’s names.

She inches closer, and I hold my breath. What is she doing? If she kisses me, I’m definitely going to ask her out. And that will be so awkward right before her date.

Her arms wrap around my neck and her lips get nowhere near mine. “Thanks for rushing over with this. I appreciate it so much.”

“I didn’t mind.” I hang on a second longer. Her hair smells like flowers or fruit. It’s a pretty smell. “Your hair smells nice. I like it.”

I’ve been known to score a phone number after thirty seconds of conversation. I can be smooth, but apparently not with Goldie.

Her rosy pink lips spread into a wide smile.

And if I don’t stop staring at them, it’s going to get weird. “I should go, I guess.”

“You’re welcome to watch a movie or whatever. Make yourself at home.” She points over her shoulder at the couch. “We probably won’t be out too long. I’m honestly not sure what to expect.”

I hang my hat by the door. “If you don’t mind, I think I will stay here for a bit.”

A car door slams outside, and I hurry to the door. “Oh, hi, Evan! You’re here. I’ll get Goldie.” I’m on my best behavior and being extra nice, but this guy needs to know that someone is paying attention. And if he hurts my Goldie, I’ll mess him up. “It’s good to see you again.”

Evan looks mildly annoyed that I’m here, and I get a spark of satisfaction from that.

As soon as they pull away, I head out. Sitting in her cabin won’t help me decide if I should ask her on a date.

I find Grayson and Tyler in the tool barn. This is perfect. I can talk to both of them at once.

Tyler waves as I walk up. “Hey, Dag.”

“Have a sec? I just need to know something.” I’m really trying to figure out this relationship stuff and these guys are pros. That seems a valid label for a married guy.

“What’s up?” Grayson hangs tools on the peg board wall because he’s organized like that.

“This question is for both of you. How did you know that you’d found the one?” I might be asking the wrong guys because they didn’t go out much before meeting their wives. Tyler did some, but Grayson hardly ever spoke to ladies.

Grayson grins. “Pretty sure I was a goner from the moment she kissed me.”

Tyler laughs. “You were a goner long before that. The way you looked at her when you carried her through that crowd made that abundantly clear.”

“You probably aren’t wrong. She had my heart doing backflips from the beginning.” Grayson crosses his arms. “What about you, Tyler?”

“There are two moments that snagged me. What really caught my attention was her licking my hand. That whole night, but—yeah. I liked that. And then there was a kiss in the rain. By then I already knew she was the one, but sometimes I still think about that kiss as I’m drifting off to sleep.”

“Thanks!” I have a pretty good idea of what to do. And it turns out Mason was on the right track.

Kissing is important for lasting relationships. It’s not just a thing for one-night stands.

The hard part now is waiting until she’s not dating that Evan guy anymore. Because kissing her while she’s dating is completely not going to happen. She’d be mad about that, and I’m not that kind of guy.

It’s only been a half hour, so I need something else to do to fill my time while Goldie is on her lunch date. And I’m hungry, so I climb into my truck and head to Mom’s. She always has food cooking.

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