Page 30 of Her Three Rangers

“You mentioned it once or twice,” I answered, smiling and hoping that the heat I could feel rising in my cheeks looked more sexy than self-conscious. “But I still enjoy hearing it. You look…” I paused, taking a moment to appreciate the fine view in front of me. “You look really good, too. Really good.”

The cocky smile I’d been missing spread across his face. “You think so? I think we look pretty damn good together—your yellow dress and my blue shirt. Just saying…”

I laughed. I couldn’t argue with him, though. There had been more than a few people turn to look when we walked through the doors, and even now I could see the occasional woman turn to check him out.

He probably could have had any of them if he had wanted.

But he hadn’t even given them a second glance. I was actually more than a little surprised, given his habit of simultaneously flirting and being a smart-ass. It was hard to believe that he might only be acting that way with me.

Still, I was the only one in the room he was paying any attention to.

“This place has really good steak,” I said, glancing down at the menu when I belatedly realized I’d been staring right back at him. “I don’t come here very often, but every time I have, I’ve been pretty impressed.”

“Good,” he said, still grinning, still staring right at me. “I enjoy a good steak.”

I caught my breath and looked down again—hopefully before he could see me blush this time. Why did everything that came out of his mouth sound so sexy, but so dirty at the same time?

And why did it never fail to turn me on?

“I’m not even sure what I want yet, but I was thinking about maybe a salad?” I swallowed hard, feeling his eyes still on me even though I hadn’t looked back up to know for sure. “Or maybe the, um, chicken? Or a steak. The steak is good…”

He reached for my hand, bringing it to the middle of the table before covering it with his. “You said that already.”

“I-I did?” I looked back up to meet his stare. His eyes were dark brown, almost black, but there was a heat inside them that made them seem alive.

He nodded. “You did. But you don’t need to be nervous. I don’t put out on the first date.”

I blinked.

Then I laughed.

Then I laughed harder, a full, loud belly laugh that was definitely not appropriate for the first thirty minutes of a first date.

“I thought that might get you to loosen up a little.” He leaned in to brush his lips across my fingers before releasing my hand and sitting back in his chair with a smirk. “I mean, I might be willing to make an exception to that rule for you, but…”

I shook my head, still getting myself together after my outburst of laughter. I had to admit that I really did feel a lot less tense, though.

Just like I had to admit that even though he’d been joking—or mostly joking, at least—I still felt an electric jolt shoot straight through my body when his lips touched my skin.

“I get the feeling you break a lot of rules,” I said, finally.

“Maybe I do,” he replied, his grin growing even wider. “The question is—can I get you to break some of yours?”

This time I didn’t look away as the heat flooded my cheeks. “You already have.”

My date with Jaeger was still fresh in my mind two days later when Cody picked me up for our date, and I had to keep reminding myself not to try and compare the two.

Not only were both men so completely different that it wouldn’t have been fair to either of them, but the whole date was different.

Jaeger and I had gone out to have dinner in a nice, quiet restaurant. We had taken my car since I had straightened my hair and was wearing a dress that I didn’t want to have blow up over my head on the way there.

Today, though, I was riding on the back of Cody’s bike in a t-shirt and jeans, and we were on our way to the high school baseball game.

There were only so many things to do in Grey Ridge, and a girl can only go out for steak so many times in a week, so I felt like it would be fun to change things up a little for my second date.

Cody being the laid-back, easy-going guy that he was, of course didn’t mind when I suggested baseball for our time together.

“I guess I didn’t realize you were a sports fan,” he said, once we had made it to the field.

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