Page 72 of A Montana Secret Admirer
Part of him was so tempted to ask her to come along with him. He wanted her to be there with him every step of the way. But how would that work? He didn’t know if she had a job or a plan for when the summer was over. That was the sort of thing he should have figured out by now.
Dang it! What was he doing?
Reese dug his hands into his hair as he stood on the front porch of the house she shared with his aunt, uncle, and cousins. He was here to ask her out on a date so they could forget about all the issues that hung over their heads like a storm cloud.
She’d be leaving back home, which wasn’t the end of the world. It wasn’t far enough that they couldn’t visit one another. There was a little bit of hope in that outcome, actually. But Serenity didn’t know about the opportunity that Bo had figured out for him—an opportunity that was too good to pass up.
Unless she asked him to stay.
He’d do that for her.
Deep in his soul, he knew he would drop everything if she asked him to. That was how deep his feelings had become. Was he a little crazy? Perhaps. But that was what love did to a person. He wanted Serenity in his life. He wanted her to come to him when she was stressed. He wanted her to lean on him when she had to make a hard decision. He wanted it all.
Every last little thing right up to her boys.
The molten heat in his chest seemed to vibrate with the acknowledgement that he would do anything for this family. Even if it meant putting his dreams on hold. He didn’t know when he’d get another chance at doing that training program, but he didn’t care anymore.
Tonight, he’d spend time with Serenity and tell her how he felt. He wouldn’t bring up the training. He’d just lay his heart out on the line and see if she could feel the same for him.
Before he could knock on the door, it swung open.
Serenity froze. Her eyes darted over her shoulder to where he could hear her boys talking to someone in the other room. Serenity looked breathless as she offered him an apologetic smile and shut the door as quietly as was humanly possible. Then she jerked her chin toward his waiting truck. “Let’s hurry before they notice I’m slipping out.”
He frowned. Did they not know she was spending time with him? “I thought you told them you were going on a date.” She’d said as much in the message to him not thirty minutes ago. He’d been thrilled, to say the least. The boys were finally getting bits and pieces of the truth.
She nodded, rushing past him. “I told them I was going on a date, but I didn’t tell them it was you.”
Reese nearly stumbled on the steps coming from the house. He wanted to ask her why she wouldn’t have just told them the whole truth, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so. She couldn’t be embarrassed. Boys were curious, and they surely must have asked. There was only one reason she might have kept it from them.
They didn’t like him.
Or maybe it was just Tegan. The kid had seemed more closed off lately.
Serenity made it to the truck before he had a chance to open the door for her. She climbed in, and her wide eyes stayed glued to the house as she fidgeted in her seat. She glanced back and forth from Reese to the house. And when he got inside, she motioned for him to get going.
The question was on the tip of his tongue.Why didn’t you tell them about me?But he wasn’t sure he wanted to know. Reesecleared his throat and did as she requested. They pulled onto the road, and he put all his concerns in the back of his mind. He didn’t need to worry about the training program, Serenity’s reasons for being secretive, or what would happen in a couple of weeks when the summer was over.
Right here, right now, he had Serenity all to himself, and he was going to make the most of it.
Reese stared across the table at Serenity. They’d gone to the best steak restaurant in town. The rustic decorations and the pictures of cowboys that covered the walls were a big draw not only for tourists, but for the locals, too. He’d never brought Serenity here, and while she was looking around with interest, she still appeared on edge, no matter how much she was trying to hide it.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to be happy.”
He looked up from his food with surprise at Serenity. They’d talked about everything, from what her hometown was like to how her boys were doing with their riding lessons. This was such a sharp change in subject that he hadn’t been expecting it at all. “Oh?”
She nodded, and the first hint of a genuine smile graced her lips. “I have.”
“And what did you discover?”
That smile widened, and he finally had a glimpse of the woman he’d quickly fallen in love with over the summer. He put his fork down and gave her his full attention. She absentmindedly traced a finger along the rim of her glass, dropping her attention to it instead of him. “I think that everyone has to decide what happiness means for them. No one knows what it could be.”
“True,” he murmured.
Her eyes lifted to him. “It could revolve around a place, people, a job, an experience…” Her voice trailed off, and he couldn’t help but think about how being with her was what made him the happiest of all. Maybe it wasn’t wise to put all his joy on an individual, but that was where he was at. Heck, he didn’t care about that training program nearly enough if he was willing to walk away from it if he had a chance to be with this woman. He’d find another way to do what he wanted with his life.
Reese swallowed hard and reached across the table to take her hand, the one that had been fiddling with the glass. “And what is it that makes you happy?”
Her eyes darted to him then away. The lighting was dim in the restaurant to add to the ambiance of the place, but he could see a faint blush creep across her features. This was it. She was finally going to admit what he knew to be true for a couple of months now. Theyhadbeen falling in love. And he could be the person to make her happy again.
