Page 27 of A Jilted Bride for the Cowboy

“And the other guys did.”

“Yeah.”

Graham shook his head. How did a man embrace bravery, especially in relationships? “My loss.”

She tipped up her eyebrows.

Man, she was gorgeous. He sucked in a deep breath. “But, hey, we’re both here now.”

A smile twitched at her lips.

“So… this is me, thinking about making a move. Years after the fact.” What a dorky thing to say.

“This is me, observing your move. Seeing you.”

Now what was he supposed to do? Climb off his horse and kiss her? He might never make it back in Kennedy’s saddle. Besides, they weren’t at the kissing stage. They were barely at the acknowledging stage.

Graham cleared his throat. Wow, there was a lot of phlegm in there choking him off. “So… this is us.”

She grinned.

“And your parents are coming when?”

Her smile dimmed. “Next week, I think.”

Was he going to let them know what he thought of their daughter? Ugh. Time would tell.

Chapter Eight

Paisley glanced up as Cadence came in the door, and her eyes narrowed. “What happened on your ride?”

Cadence tried to wipe the smile off her face. Failed. “Why? What do you mean?”

“You look like the cat who caught the canary.”

“Yuck. Who wants to snare a scrawny bird?”

“The diversion isn’t working.”

Couldn’t blame a girl for trying. Cadence focused on toeing off her cowboy boots. Was she actually ready to let anyone know that she and Graham had sort of acknowledged a mutual attraction?

“Did he kiss you?”

Startled, Cadence whirled around. “What?”

“Graham. Did he kiss you?”

“At least you didn’t mean Weston.”

Paisley wrinkled her nose. “Nice try. To the best of my knowledge, you haven’t spent the past few weeks pretending you didn’t have a thing for Mr. Grumpy Cowboy.”

“Because I don’t?”

“Exactly!” Paisley offered three slow claps. “Now spill. I need the details.”

“There’s nothing to tell.”

“Why are you making this so difficult?”

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