Page 62 of Belong With Me

“Get some Ariats like mine. They’re super comfy.” She kicked up one of her feet to show me the well-worn boots. The brown leather all scuffed from use.

“I’ll make sure to check them out,” I told her, not entirely sure they’d suit me. But I was more than willing to give them a shot. Everyone around here seemed to be wearing them, so they couldn’t be uncomfortable.

“Okay. Great. I’ll see you both later on then.” Grinning, she waved at us before bounding away.

A few seconds after we heard Mackenzie leave the stairs and the front door closed behind her, I felt a hot breath against my ear before his lips brushed against the lobe, sending goosebumps over my body. “Now, where were we?” he murmured, those hands of his tightening just a little.

I stepped away, breaking his hold, needing the space before I did something crazy like jump his bones right here and now. “Uh-uh, cowboy. We have boots to buy, and maybe some jeans too while I’m at it.” Looking at the grin on his face while he tipped his hat, it gave me another idea. Maybe I might even get a hat too. I smiled at the thought of how my momma would react to the sight of me wearing the full outfit, and non-designer too. Such a shame. Not.

“Oh, you can be sure that we aren’t finished. The moment I get you alone again we’re going to finish this conversation.” His head tilted and there was no missing that mischievous glint in his eyes. “Though I can’t promise there’ll be a lot of talking.”

Stopping at the doorway, I turned a little, giving him one of my most seductive smiles. “Oh, cowboy. If you’re lucky, we’re going to be doing so much more than talking.”

The smirk he gave me set my core on fire. “Oh, Sienna, you have no idea how much I love the sound of that.” I started to walk down the hallway before he scooped me up and escorted me down the stairs.

“Not on that ankle you don’t. These stairs are steep, and I don’t want you to fall down them.”

Batting my eyelashes at him, I continued our easy banter. “So, you’re taking me shopping, and you’re sweeping me off my feet now?”

“Prince Charming, I ain’t. I may be able to ride a horse off into the sunset, but any other life would be too stuffy for me. Give me wide open spaces and rodeos any day.”

“Rodeos,” I murmured. “Is your family competing this year?”

He nodded. “Yeah, Van, Colton, and I plan to do the local circuit.”

Something in my stomach unfurled and warmed, and the thought of him riding a bronco did things to my libido. I didn’t even attempt to tamp it down. “Do you do it for fun?” Then another thought entered my mind. “Isn’t it dangerous?”

“It pays well.” Clearing his throat, he quickly added, “But that’s neither here nor there.” He swiped the keys from the bowl in the entryway, then aimed us to his car. He deposited me softly by the passenger side as he unlocked it and opened the door for me. As he closed the door after I climbed in, I sensed that maybe I’d touched a nerve.

We sat in a small, but quaint cafe situated smack bang in the middle of town. Belle Springs really wasn’t that large, with only two bars in town, a café, and bakery. There were the essentials too of course, but nothing that screamed big city. He pointed at an old cinema that sat on the opposite side of the street from where we were seated. “That was open until about the fifties or sixties, but it closed down when they opened the drive-in on the edge of town.”

“A drive-in? I’ve never been to one before.” I sipped at the latte the waitress put in front of me, offering her a smile she didn’t notice. Not when she was too busy eyeing Ryder to take any notice of me.

“Maybe I’ll take you there one night.” Taking his drink in hand, he added, “Just you and me, darlin’.”

“Planning date number two already, huh?” I laughed and loved that he smiled at my question.

“You’ve paid for these drinks, and I may have taken you shopping, but you paid for it all. The least you can do is let me take you to the drive-in.” His eyes fixed on me over the rim of his mug.

“Don’t worry about it. I had fun this morning.” I wasn’t lying. I enjoyed myself too. As promised, he had taken me to the only shop in town that sold ‘working clothes’ as he called them. It was filled with racks and shelves of jeans and shirts, sweaters and vests. Everything a girl could want to work in comfort.

That didn’t include the entire wall of shoes. Holy heck, it was heaven and admittedly something completely unexpected. I had nabbed myself a pair of cowgirl boots like the girls, calf-hugging brown boots with feathery details on the sides. They were rather tight, but after adding some thick socks to my purchase, which I was advised I’d need, I planned on breaking them in as soon as my ankle agreed it was okay.

We shared some quiet time together, enjoying the hot beverages. Ryder introduced me to a couple of people who dropped by the table, however, I forgot most of their names as I concentrated on watching the man seated across from me. He was polite when he needed to be and shook hands and shared jokes with most people who stopped by.

Once he excused himself to look at something one of the men indicated was outside, I took some time and called Daddy to tell him about the situation.

It was not an overly fun conversation, but once it was done, Daddy didn’t sound like he wanted to keel over. He sounded excited at the prospect of me being relatively close at having the two remaining signatures on the contracts, even going so far as to mention that he had already picked out the next place he was going to send me.

I set the phone on the table and sipped the last remaining dregs of my now cold latte. I wasn’t at all excited about picking up and travelling to yet another place for the family business. In fact, I wasn’t even excited about packing up and returning home.

Not when Belle Springs was quickly becoming a place I could happily stay for a while longer.

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