Page 39 of His North Star
Seriously? I didn’t force him to talk about Lys. He was being totally unfair. Fine, I’d give him the highlights. “I’m selfish. I’m not adventurous. I’m content to stay in Whitefish the rest of my life. I don’t have many friends. My job is easy and requires no brain power. Lots of reasons.” And because Blake said so.
“None of those things are true. Well, except for staying in Whitefish, but I don’t see anything wrong with that.”
“Not everyone agrees with you.” I swiped under my eyes. “I really don’t want to keep talking about this. It’s upsetting the good mood we had going on.”
He pulled the truck off to the side of the road. My pulse quickened. “Hey,” I protested. “What are you doing?”
He shifted to park, unbuckled, then slid close to me. “I need you to look me in the eye.”
My pulse raced. What in the cosmos was he doing?
“You,” he said with emotion packed in every word, “are my most favorite person. You arenotlame. You are funny, smart, loyal, gorgeous, kind, and most importantly, you’remybest friend. Got it?”
Tears blurred my vision. “Got it,” I whispered, letting his words feed my heart and heal some of the festering cracks.
“Good.” He nodded once. He scooted back to the driver’s seat. After getting back on the road, he turned the volume up. Ty sang along, his rich baritone familiar and soothing.
Maybe a night with Ty was exactly what I needed after all.
CHAPTER 11
Forty minutes later, Ty sat atop Salted Peanut, ready for our one-hour trail ride. I wasn’t on my mare yet, as the ranch employees were helping other customers with their horses, so I asked Ty to pose while I snapped a photo.
“Are you printing the picture and hanging it in your apartment?” he teased.
“You wish,” I called back. “It’s to show James how hot my date was.”
His lips turned down on one side. “Now that’s just mean. Don’t make the man feel guilty because of his job.”
Ty’s words were an axe to my gut. Of course James would rather be here with me. It just sucked that we hadn’t been able to see one another for weeks.
“You’re right,” I said. “I’ll leave out how everyone won’t stop looking at you and only send him the picture as proof we came.” Which was true. Almost every female on the premises had done a double take when Ty walked by. He was the epitome of a hot, calendar-worthy cowboy. Thankfully, he was with me tonight.
“I’m sure he’d rather have a picture of you.” His bright smile contrasted with his tight eyes. What was that all about?
“But wouldn’t that do exactly what you just said we shouldn’t? Make him feel guilty he missed seeing me in all my Wrangler glory?” I turned my backside to him and wiggled my hips.
“You’re right.” His smile melted into a frown. “I’d rather he not get to see that.”
Rolling my eyes, I told him to keep smiling and took his picture. I checked it after, to make sure he hadn’t blinked. Too bad he and Lys weren’t still together. This photo was sure to cause palpitations. It almost did for me.
Braxton, a sixteen-year-old employee of the ranch, told me my horse was ready. I made my way to the mounting block and swung a leg into the saddle. I leaned forward to stroke Diamond Duchess’s neck. She whinnied in response.I feel ya, girl. It’d been too long since I’d ridden.
I led her toward Salted Peanut.
“Hold up,” Ty said, pulling his phone out of his shirt pocket. “I need a picture.”
I held still and posed with my fingers gripping the edge of my hat.
“Perfect. I want one more with your arm down,” Ty instructed.
After a few hundred shots were taken, I snapped, “Surely you have a decent one by now.”
He put his phone away. “I’m sure I do. But better safe than sorry.”
Gus, our guide, gave the group a few instructions before we finally started out on the path. Ty motioned for me to go ahead, and he fell in line behind me. The horses’ slow, steady prodding on the dirt path was music to my ears. I fought the urge to yell, “Hiya,” and take off on my own.
The green grass stretched ahead of us for miles. The massive trees swayed in the slight breeze, as if waving at us as we went past. I stood by my sentiment that going slow as molasses was boring, but at least I got a chance to take in my surroundings.
