Page 6 of Pretend To Be My Cowboy
“Would you say it’s quaint?” Her sweet, soft voice interrupted his thoughts and he glanced over to see her watching him with an almost-grin. It was the look of someone about to laugh, ready to smile.
It eased the knotted tension in him faster than the sun melted butter.
“Quaint?” he echoed.
She nodded, tucking some of that long blonde hair behind her ear. “Yeah. Would you say it’s charming?”
“Uh…” He wasn’t nervous anymore, but he was speechless. He also felt like laughing. She wanted to know if Aspire was charming?
Shewas charming.
He swallowed down the stupid sentiment before it slipped out.
She leaned forward like she couldn’t sit still. The way the sunlight hit her through the windows, she fairly glowed with life beside him. Her skin was tanned olive and her sundress showed off a slim, athletic build. She didn’t seem to be wearing much makeup, if any, and her loose hair curled at the edges in a way that was natural and carefree.
“I guess what I’m asking is, would you say Aspire is moreChildren of the CornorSweet Home Alabama?”
He choked on a laugh again. Man, this woman was surprising.
He hadn’t known what to expect from Frank O’Sullivan’s daughters in Chicago. Truth be told, Nash and his family hadn’t even known Frankhaddaughters in Chicago. Which wasn’t all that odd since the man was hardly a chatterbox. His interactions with Nash and the other Donahues had been cut and dry. Business only. If the conversation ever veered into friendly, small-talk, Frank got twitchy and bugged out faster than a spooked stallion. Nash had always thought of him as an impossible mystery to solve.
But since he’d learned of the Chicago girls, Nash supposed some part of him suspected they’d be cold or mercenary or something. Not because they lived in the big city but because in all the years his family had lived next door to Frank’s property, he’d never seen them visit.
Emma arched her brows, her eyes dancing with mischievous laughter as she waited for him to respond.
“Truth be told, ma’am, I’ve never actually seen either of those.” He’d just thrown the ‘ma’am’ in there to watch her smile grow. “But I’ve heard enough about them to say it’s far more likeSweet Home Alabama.”
Her head fell back against the seat. “I knew it!”
He gave her a sidelong glance. “Why do I feel like there’s a story there?”
She rolled her head to the side to look at him. “My sister is a worrywart and she’s afraid for my life.”
“Ah.” To his own surprise he found himself saying, “I’m a little overprotective of my sister too, so I get that.”
She agreed with a nod. “It’s always been just the two of us, you know? I mean, as far as siblings go. We don’t have any cousins so I guess we got really good at taking care of each other.”
Just the two of them? He had a hundred questions come up with that casual remark, but he let it slide. She was actually making him enjoy this easy conversation and he wasn’t about to destroy it by asking nosy questions about her family.
Besides, she was asking him about his sister a second later, and she listened to his stories about growing up with a girl seven years younger than him with an interest that was flattering. When he told her about Casey’s upcoming wedding, she nearly shot out of her seat with excitement.
“My sister’s getting married too,” she said.
They went back and forth, sharing war stories about being a groomsman and maid of honor for siblings who were as exasperating as they were loveable.
By the time they reached the outskirts of town, Nash realized...he was having fun, which was only mildly alarming. More terrifying was the fact that they’d almost reached the ranch, and he still hadn’t learned anything relevant about what she and her sisters planned to do with the ranch now that they owned it.
At some point today, his dad would be grilling him on this topic and he needed to have some sort of answer. He couldn’t very well say that he never got a chance to ask because he was having too much fun telling Miss Emma, the kindergarten teacher, about the summer festival in downtown Aspire.
Nope. That would not fly.
His dad wouldn’t understand that making this woman light up with another bright smile or let out a peal of laughter had become his new favorite pastime. He didn’t even understand this new obsession himself.
It would pass, obviously. It was just attraction. A little crush, perhaps. She’d go back to the city and life would move on. And he’d be left with his well-intentioned family who only had two desires in life—to see him settled and married, preferably with a baby on the way ASAP, and to buy Frank O’Sullivan’s neighboring property.
Well, that second dream was their father’s desire. It was hisonlypriority at the moment. His father had been waiting years to get his hands on the O’Sullivan spread so they could expand the Donahue empire—his dad’s words, not his. And now the time had come. The chance was here.
Assuming, of course, that Frank O’Sullivan’s daughters had no interest in the ranch or this town.
