Page 65 of The Mountain Echoes
“Look, I’m not ready to sell and?—”
“Won’t even bring it up.” I lay my hat on my chest. “Hand to God!”
That makes her lips twitch.
“Do you even go to church?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She shoots me analmostamused look. “When does that happen?”
“Weddings and funerals.”
That makes heractuallysmile, but she folds her lips into a frown faster than a spooked Tate at the sound of a rattler.
“Okay. You can buy me a cup of coffee,” she relents.
I wave my hand toward Wild Coffee. She walks with me.
“How did your meeting at the bank go?” I ask casually.
“Better than I thought it would. Thank you.”
She’s so polite that it’s unnervingandannoying.
We sit at the window, next to one another, and Gina brings us two lattes. This is my fourth cup of coffee of the day. At this rate, I’m going to be vibrating like a fence post in a windstorm.
“How did you know I had a meeting at the bank?” She asks as she blows into her coffee.
“Saw you come out of there…plus, small town.”
“Right,” she mutters, her voice flat. “I forgot how quickly gossip travels here.”
“Faster than a jackrabbit with its tail on fire,” I agree.
That makes her chuckle.
I’m on a roll, making this woman relax with me.
She stares out of the window. I watch her. I see the weight she’s carrying, the exhaustion she’s pretending she’s not feeling. A lot has happened to her in a span of a few days.
“How are things at Longhorn?”
“I’m figurin’ it all out, slow and steady. But I don’t have the luxury ofslow and steady—and I sure as hell don’t have the money to go fast.”
I’m surprised at her candor.
“Can I help?” I ask.
She gives me a measured look. “Canyou?”
I grin. “May I help?”
She laughs this time. Her face transforms.
Fuck me!But she’s something else when her eyes light up. I feel it in my cock. I’m a man of forty, I’m way past the days when I get aroused in the company of a woman because I can smell her perfume.
“Howcan you help?” She takes a sip of her coffee.
