Page 32 of The Cowboy's Downfall
They’d agreed they weren’t public. But he could have at least acknowledged how good she looked too. Maybe undressed her a bit with his eyes. Instead, there’d been nothing. No reaction.
He was here with Dan and the other two Endeavour Ranch owners, Dallas Tucker and Ryan O’Connell, so that might explain it. Miles Decker and Levi Harrington were also with them. No wives were in sight.
Business meeting. Had to be.
Taryn spotted the men too. “There’s Dan and Nix.” She waved.
Dan smiled and waved back. Nix was deep in conversation with Miles and missed it.
The hostess escorted Shauna and the girls to their table. “Your waitress will be along shortly with the menus,” she said.
A few minutes later, while they were waiting, Dan came over. He leaned forward on the backs of Shauna’s and Taryn’s chairs.
“Don’t you ladies look lovely,” he said. “I’d ask you to join us, but we’re talking plans for the February rodeo, and you’d be bored.”
“Not me,” Taryn said. “I’m going to ride in that rodeo.”
While Shauna understood that Taryn was seeking attention, she had to quit making outrageous claims. She hadn’t been on the back of a mechanical bull yet, let alone one living and breathing. But Shauna bit back her frustration, because why ruin the evening when it had been going so well?
Dan tugged one of Taryn’s loose curls. “Maybe you wouldn’t be bored. But your sister and your friend would. You can talk about the rodeo all you want tomorrow night.” He turned his charm on Nora, sitting quietly with her hands in her lap. His smile worked on women from five years to ninety. “You’re welcome to come for movie night at the ranch, too.”
Nora seemed pleased by the invitation, but the reservation in her quiet thanks told Shauna that her hard-no dad would never agree, and she knew it.
The waitress brought their menus, and Dan returned to his table while they ordered drinks—mocktails, because this was ladies’ night out, and the other two ladies were under twenty-one. Shauna kept her back to the Endeavour table so she wouldn’t spend all of dinner staring at Nix. She’d have his full attention tomorrow. Tonight was about Taryn. And Nora.
Who Taryn was doing her best to impress. She’d identified the girl in school who maybe wasn’t the most popular, but who was the most liked by all, and whose friendship would go a long way toward making the next few months bearable. Nora’s default setting was kindness, and she brought out positive traits in Taryn that Taryn’s family rarely saw. Shauna got it. Family was the safe place where teens could act out their frustrations. It was still a relief to discover that Taryn knew how to behave around other people.
They’d ordered dessert when the Endeavour crew got up to leave. The crowd had thinned by now, leaving only two other occupied tables. Taryn looked past Shauna’s shoulder. Her eyes lit up, and Shauna’s meal took an unsettling turn in her stomach. Things had been going too well.
“Hi, Nix,” Taryn called out.
From the corner of her eye, Shauna watched him change direction. She fought for control of her face. He didn’t have a whole lot of choice but to stop by their table if he didn’t want to hurt Taryn’s feelings. He needed to work on that flaw. Hurt feelings might do Taryn some good. And not letting women control him might do Nix some good too. There was such a thing as takingMy mother raised a gentlemantoo much to heart.
“Evening, ladies,” he said.
His gaze passed over Shauna, made a brief acknowledgment of Nora, and then settled on Taryn. Shauna was so busy trying not to pay attention to Nix that it took her a moment to figure out how the situation must look to Nora, whose wide eyes, drifting between him and Taryn, contained a hearty dose of suspicion.
Taryn, outrageously flirting with him, and him doing his best not to notice, would make Shauna suspicious, too, if she didn’t know better. She had a wild thought and bit the inside of her lip, because laughing right now wouldn’t look weird at all.This must be what it felt like to run into your wife and your mistress at the same party.
Nix studied the door the way a drowning man eyed a life raft. “My ride’s waiting. Gotta run.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Taryn said, leaving out the part where a few dozen other teens would be seeing him too.
His eyes finally rested on Shauna. Heat rolled into them.
“Yep. See you,” he said.
He worked his way to the door, graceful hips avoiding contact with tables and chairs. He wore jeans the way another man might wear a three-thousand-dollar suit—as if they were made for him and he knew they made him look good. And to think that tomorrow night, for a few hours, he was all hers.
Tonight, however…
She had two teenagers with her, and anticipating an evening of sex with an incredibly hot cowboy was not the right direction for her thoughts to be taking.
They finished dessert. Shauna paid the bill. Outside, on the street, night had fallen, and despite the smattering of streetlights, the stars in the velvety sky were on full display. She took a deep breath and tipped her head back, allowing the air off the river to cool her warm skin. She liked Montana. Everything about it was bigger and better than anywhere else in the world—including its men.
The girls chattered as they walked the short distance to the car. Shauna had enjoyed the evening, but there was only so much she had in common with teenagers and she was ready for her part in it to end.
A small group of people spilled through the wide wooden doors of Lou’s Pub.
