Page 39 of Promise You Forever

He gives me a blinding smile. “You looked at me like I had grown two heads.”

“Wasn’t something I was used to.” And it’s definitely not something I’ve had over the past couple years.

“My truck, my rules.” He closes my door and walks around the front of the vehicle. “There’s a new restaurant in town if you want to try it. It has good bar food.”

“That sounds great.”

We’re seated in the corner booth which allows us to see a majority of the room, which means I don’t miss the looks of curiosity from other patrons. High Point is a small town, and at this time of year, it’s nearly all locals.

I look through the menu while Luke sips his bottle of Coors Light. Some things never change. Once I’ve decided what I want and the server takes our orders, I look up and notice Luke looking at me.

“I’m glad we’re doing this,” he says.

“What do you mean?”

“Working together.” He takes a drink, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallows. Why am I watching his throat move as he drinks? “There’s no one else I’d want to navigate all this with.”

“Yeah, I can’t imagine my parents would have been fun to work with had they been left the ranch.”

“I’m guessing it would have taken them all of two minutes to decide to sell.”

“For sure. My dad never felt fondly for the ranch.”

“Have you even heard from them?”

“No.” I lean back in my seat. “That’s not abnormal anymore. I’ve gone pretty much low contact with them since I no longer needed their financial support in college. Thank God for scholarships.” I raise my glass in a salute to the anonymous benefactors.

“Yep,” he raises his bottle but looks away from me. It’s strange because he generally has no problem looking at me, watching me. I feel his eyes on me when we’re acres apart, but now he’s uncomfortable? Weird.

I follow his gaze around the room wondering if there’s someone he wants to talk to. Maybe he sees someone he’s interested in dating. Maybe he is dating someone.

“Are you dating anyone?” The question flies from my lips before I think better of it.

His lips tilt up in a slow smile. “Why do you ask?”

“Just wondering if you saw someone. It was an inappropriate question, ignore me.”

“It’s not inappropriate.”

“It’s none of my business.”

“I haven’t dated anyone since you.”

“We didn’t date.” The denial is on my lips, but his words make my stupid, naive heart swoop.

He shrugs as he puts the bottle to his lips and takes a drink. “I think we were lying to ourselves about that.”

“So what’d you want to talk about regarding the ranch?” The subject change is neither smooth nor subtle, and the twinkle in his eye lets me know that he’s clocked my discomfort. I know he’ll bring this up again.

“What are your plans? Are you staying or going because there’s several things we could do, but that’s a deciding factor.”

“I’m going to stay. I’ve drafted a letter of resignation for the end of the year. I have enough saved to be able to live off of until the ranch starts bringing in income.”

He doesn’t try to hide the smile that takes over his face. His hand covers mine on the table, his thumb running over my knuckles. “I think that’s the best news you could have given me.”

“It’s not for you.” I tell myself to pull my hand away, but the caress of his calloused thumb hypnotizes me.

“It gives me hope. Together we can get the ranch back to making money instead of barely breaking even.”

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