Page 34 of Lost and Found Cowboy

“That’s sweet, but I’m not sure that takes the pressure off.”

He chuckled. “There’s no pressure. And I’m serious, we don’t have to do this at all. If this makes you uncomfortable, I’m happy to take you home. We can pick up a pizza on the way.”

The idea of going home, putting on comfy pants, and scarfing down a pizza did sound appealing.

She lifted her chin. “No. I can do this. I’m just being silly. Lyle always said I tended to be overdramatic.”

Mack’s easy expression darkened. “First of all, you need to stop giving two shits about what Lyle said about anything. That guy is a fool and an idiot and a few other choice words that I probably shouldn’t say in front of a lady. You’renotbeing silly.Oroverdramatic. You’re being honest. And real. And you have every right to feelwhateveryou’re feeling.”

“Thank you,” she whispered around the sudden lump in her throat. Apparently, therewerestill good men left in this world.

And if she could just get over herself, she could go out on a fake date with one of them.

“There’s one thing I know I can make better.” He reached over the seat, dug through a tool pouch, and came back with a small coil of thin wire in his hand and a pair of pliers. “Handme your purse. It won’t be perfect, but there’s not much either bailing wire or duct tape can’t fix.”

She laughed as she handed over her bag. “It’s an old purse anyway. So, anything you can do to hold it together until I get home will be great. I just wanted something smaller than my normal gigantic purse slash tote slash diaper bag.”

The purse, which now that she thought about it, was in the back of her closet because the strap had already been a little bit torn, had broken on the side with the buckle. Mack undid the buckle and tossed the broken section to the floor of the pickup, then poked the wire through the hole on the good part of the strap and looped it through the small ring on the side of the purse. Twisting the pieces of wire together, he cut off the excess and tucked the sharp edge and the remains of the torn strap into the bag.

“It’s not perfect, but it should do what you need it to.” He offered her a gentle smile as he handed back the mended purse. “Kind of like this date. If you still want to go on it…”

She smiled back as she nodded. “I do.”

His face broke into a happy grin. “Stay right there,” he said then got out of the truck and hurried around to open her door. He held out his hand to help her climb from the cab.

She’d finally settled on a flouncy light blue dress that hit her mid-thigh and had a wide, open neckline, a lower cut in the back, and small flutter sleeves. Digging out her curling iron, she’d even spent extra time creating big wavy curls that cascaded over her shoulders and back. She’d found a pair of navy-blue wedge-heeled sandals that she hadn’t worn in years and had even painted her toenails a bright watermelon pink.

By the time she’d left the house, she felt like a real person again for the first time in a long time, not just someone’s mom, and she had a smidge of confidence in the way she looked.

Mack, on the other hand, looked good enough to eat in faded jeans, his normal square-toed cowboy boots, his gray felt cowboy hat, and a fitted black snap-up western shirt that hugged his broad shoulders and had her thinking all sorts of naughty thoughts about yanking open those snaps and running her tongue over those rock hard abs he’d been flaunting the other day in the barn.

He placed his arm around her as they walked across the parking lot, and she inhaled the scent of him. His cologne was a mix of something woodsy, soft citrus, and sandalwood and threatened to send her into a swoon.

He leaned closer to her ear as they approached the restaurant door. “And just for the record, I think you’re pretty damn hot, too. Especially in that dress.”

A smile curved her lips. If she wasn’t careful, she could really fall for Mack Lassiter.

Or maybe she already had.

The hostess had satthem at a table by the window with a great view of the mountains, and things were going fine until Lorna spilled her water and it poured right into Mack’s lap. The guy seemed unfazed as he laughed it off, sopped it up with the extra napkins on the table, and signaled for the hostess to bring her another water.

“It feels like everyone is already staring at us,” she whispered. “Now I’ve drawn even more attention by being such a klutz. We’re supposed to be an established couple, but I don’t know how to stop acting like a nervous girl on a first date.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Mack said, reaching across the table to hold her hand. “We just need to think about how two people who reallywerea couple would act.”

She looked around the restaurant and nodded to a man and woman in their mid-forties who went to her church. “Well, the Nelsons have been married for like twenty years, so they’re a real couple, and they’re just ignoring each other and looking at their phones.”

Mack laughed. “I’m not sure that’s the best route to take. I don’t want you to seem bored with me already. How about instead, we stare into each other’s eyes and act like whatever we’re talking about is the most interesting conversation in the world?”

She let out a soft chuckle. He had an easy way of making her laugh. “I can do that.”

“And I’ll call you a cute pet name when the waitress comes back if you act like my conversation skills are so fascinating and witty that you can’t look away.”

She caught the waitress, a woman named Luciana, who’d been a few years ahead of her in school and usually ordered a Caramel Macchiato when she came into the coffee shop, approaching and let out a hearty laugh.

“Oh Mack, you tell the funniest stories,” she said, probably a bit too loudly.

“Thanks Sugar Muffin,” Mack said sweetly, then acted startled as the waitress appeared at his elbow.

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