Page 19 of Midnight Surrounds Us

“It still surprises me how rigid these old cowboys can be. I didn’t grow up in that kind of environment, so I don’t really get it.”

“Growin’ up in it doesn’t make me understand it any better than you.”

“Alright, well, where are you takin’ her for dinner?”

“No clue. The only places I ever eat when I’m in Wisper are the coffee shop or the diner.”

Devo scoffed. “Absolutely not.”

“Okay, well what other options do I have? Aubrey never really liked big crowds or busy places, so a restaurant in Jackson is out. Maybe she’s different now, but she’s still quiet.”

“Ooo. That gives me an idea,” Devo said in her plotting-trouble, masked-marauder’s voice. “I’ll call you back. I need to do some recon, which just means I’m gonna make my fiancée tell me everything she knows about Aubrey.”

“Okay, but Devo—” Annnd she hung up on me.

Three hours later,when I pulled up in front of the little, beige, one-story house Aubrey lived in on Valley Drive, the porch light was off.

She was expecting me, so maybe she’d just forgotten to turn it on?

I stumbled over some cracked cement on the sidewalk outside her yard. Thankfully, her curtains were drawn, so hopefully she hadn’t seen me almost kiss the ground. I caught myself and checked my breath, and I made sure my shirt was still tucked in before I knocked twice on her front door.

When she opened it three seconds later, I was speechless. I couldn’t seem to draw enough air into my lungs to tell her how beautiful she looked.

She’d pulled her hair up into an elegant bun at the nape of her neck, but just as I’d requested when I called her two hours ago, she had dressed in jeans and a pretty pink shirt with frilly edges, with a little leather purse that crossed her chest but hung low by her hip. In case it got cold tonight, she had a hooded sweatshirt in her hand, and I’d brought blankets.

She looked me up and down. “I thought you said to dress casually?”

I looked at her legs in her jeans. So sexy with the bottoms cuffed short and those cute little slip-on shoes she liked to wear. The ones she had on tonight had blue and green books all over them.

“I did say that, and you did that.”

She scoffed and cocked her head to the side, her eyes sliding down my body again slowly. “Youdon’t look so casual.”

“What?” I said, looking down at my denim shirt, jeans, and boots. “Yeah I do. I wore jeans too.”

“Yeah, but you’reyou, and you wore a nice shirt. Even tucked it in. I feel underdressed. Hold on, I’ll go change.”

What the hell does “you’re you” mean?But before she could run away, I grabbed her hand and pulled her through the door, then shut it behind us and heard the automatic lock click into place.

Her irritation and the feel of her skin on mine made me feel at ease, so finally, I told her, “You look lovely,” as I led her around my truck parked by the curb in front of her house. “And what you’re wearin’ is perfect for what I’ve got planned. If it’ll make you feel more comfortable, I’ll untuck my shirt. I can even take it off. I’ve got a T-shirt underneath.”

She shrugged, but the apprehensive look on her face made my decision for me. Letting go of her hand, I untucked my button-down, unbuttoned it, and took it off, then untucked my T-shirt, and finally dragged my fingers through my hair to mess it up a bit. So much for fashion advice from Devo. Next time, I’d just listen to my own damn instincts. Aubrey wasn’t about fancy things. She never had been.

“There. Better?”

She nodded but she didn’t say anything, probably because she hadn’t yet looked away from my bicep. She seemed fixated on my tattoo peeking out beneath my sleeve.

I laughed under my breath but cleared my throat to hide it as I walked around to open her door, and she followed slowly.

“Hop in, milady.”

“Thanks,” she said as she stepped onto the running board, and I watched the way her ass filled out her jeans and imagined taking them off and finding home between her supple thighs, but then she slid into my front seat carefully, and my view was obscured.

Walking back around to my side, I had a hard time hiding my smile. She had no idea how many times I’d imagined her in my truck. And she looked good in it, too, like she belonged next to me.

Once my ass was firmly planted in the driver’s seat, she narrowed her eyes at me. “What? Why’re you smilin’ like that?”

“I’m happy you said yes.”

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