Page 70 of Claiming Her Cowboy Kiss

She thought he might be laying on the accent pretty thick, but she didn’t call him on it. Feeling wild and a little bit out of her element, she took a step toward him. “Honey, if I’m goin’ to lunch with a cowboy, he better take me somewhere that has real food.”

Holly placed one hand against his chest, dang near swooned on the spot, and gave a little pat over his buttons.Pat, pat.She smiled for all she was worth and fell back to her car. “I better be getting back,” she said.

“Wait,” Silas said, and Holly turned in the doorway and looked back to him. She waited.

ChapterTwenty-Seven

Silas’s pulse beat at him, not through him. He couldn’t believe he’d stumbled upon the pretty Holly Stewart, napping in her car a mile from the entrance of her family ranch. Pretty wasn’t a strong enough word to describe her.

Gorgeous. Drop-dead gorgeous. Beautiful. Stunningly beautiful. Capable. Strong. Talented. Personable. Competent.

She’d pitched in and herded goats when the bulls had gotten out. His mouth still went dry when he conjured up the image of her in that slinky pencil skirt, those heels, and her sleeveless yellow blouse, barking orders at hoofed animals. They’d listened to her too, because everyone and every living creature listened to Holly.

From what he’d been able to gather over the past few weeks of working near her was that everyone respected her. She was smart, articulate, and everyone’s best friend. To find out she drove out here at lunchtime just to “get off the ranch” had surprised him. She acted like she loved it there. She probably did.

He knew that. He’d loved acting, but he hadn’t loved the hours sometimes. He hadn’t loved his directors sometimes. He hadn’t loved the person he’d become.

“I’m waiting,” Holly said now, plenty of teasing in her voice.

Silas grinned at her. “Sorry, I uh, lost my train of thought there.” She did that to him sometimes—most of the time—and he needed to pull himself together before he revealed how much he’d been thinking about her.

He’d gone out with a couple of other women from the ranch—both blondes—but neither of them interested him all that much. The woman who did currently stood in front of him, waiting.

“I don’t eat a cinnamon roll every day,” he said. If he did, he’d be sick all the time.

Her smile widened, and she really couldn’t use that against him. He was a real sucker for a pretty woman and her straight, white teeth as she smiled at him. “That’s great news.”

“Did you…?” He cleared his throat. “I mean, did you want to go to lunch together sometime?” He couldn’t believe he’d mentioned it the first time, and this was a downright ask. He’d asked her out.

Holly tilted her head and looked at him. Really looked. Silas wanted to puff out his chest and maybe flex his muscles. He told himself to just be himself, but he was still figuring that part out. “Depends,” she said.

“On where we go,” he said, chuckling. “Okay, okay. I get it. I’m pretty new to the area, but I’ve eaten at a few places now.” He let his gaze slide down her, taking in those amazing legs—especially in those shorts—and all her curves. “Let me see…” He acted like he was really trying to figure out where to take her.

This wasHolly Stewart, and the woman exuded confidence and sophistication. He couldn’t take her just anywhere. At the same time, it was a lunch date, not a dinner date. “I think you’d appreciate the barbecue pulled pork mac and cheese hand pies at PotPied.”

Holly started to laugh.

Silas continued, undaunted. “But they’re kind of messy, and PotPied isn’t exactly a great place for a first date.” He let the last word hang there, trying to see how Holly would react to it. Her dark eyes glinted with attraction, and Silas felt it winding through him too.

She wasn’t the first woman he’d been attracted to. She wasn’t the first to be attracted to him. Somehow, though, Silas felt something different when he looked at Holly. He wasn’t sure if it was because she was more mature than the women he usually dated, or if it was because he didn’t have to be someone he wasn’t when he was with her.

“Crisp’s,” he said. “I bet you love their salads, and they have one of the best Rueben’s I’ve ever eaten.”

Holly once again left her car door open and came toward him. “Crisp’s,” she said, scanning him down to his cowboy boots. They still felt a little bit wonky on his feet, but he didn’t move a muscle. Her eyes returned to his. “You said date.”

Silas cleared his throat, which laid out all of his nerves for her. He wanted to take it back, but at the same time, he didn’t. This was how normal men reacted to gorgeous women standing five feet from them as they asked them out. He should be nervous. He was extremely nervous.

“When a man asks a woman out for a meal, it’s usually classified as a date,” he said. “I’ve checked with Blake and Nash. There aren’t any rules against dating co-workers at the ranch.” He had checked, because he’d gone out with Hadley Esplin a couple of times, and then Jordan Taylor, a cowgirl who did horseback riding lessons four days a week.

Neither one of them made everything male inside him come alive.

Holly appraised him and said, “All right, Silas. We can call it a date and go to Crisp’s.”

“Great,” he croaked.

She turned and went back to her car. “You have my number,” she said as she got in the SUV. “Let’s chat and get something on the schedule.” She slammed the door before he could blurtwaitat her again.

Part of him wanted to, and another part told him tobe cool. Act cool. Let her go.

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