Page 24 of A Cowboy's Trust
He jumped a little at the answer from the living room.
Tansy waved at him from where she was curled up on one side of the loveseat, the blanket that usually lived over the back of the chair wrapped around her shoulders and a book resting in her lap. “Only I was a butterfingers right after I got back from Buns and Roses. I dropped my cell phone into the watering trough in the barn.”
“Drat. Stick it in a bag of rice?”
“Of course. The universal solution to watery disasters.” Her grin was evil. “I just have to decide whether I throw the rice away afterward or use it.”
He shuddered.
Tansy outright laughed. “Sorry. I’m kidding. I promise to put the rice in the compost. But in the meantime, I’ve been having a tech-free day.”
“Sometimes that’s not a bad idea.” He tipped his head toward the door. “If you’re ready to go, we can head out now.”
She shot to her feet and threw off the soft beige blanket, revealing a crimson red sweater over formfitting black pants. “I am not yet starving, but I will be by the time we get there. Is everyone else meeting us at the restaurant?”
Jake froze in the middle of reaching for her coat.
He turned back to her. “Everyone else?”
“Petra and Aiden. Kevin. Declan. You know.” She slid her feet into a pair of high-top leather boots then stood, frowning back at him. “They’re not here. I assumed that they had things to do and were going straight to the restaurant.”
He hadn’t seen this one coming. “There’s no one else headed to the restaurant. Just us. Well, I assume there will be other peopleatthe restaurant, but nobody from High Water.”
It was her turn to freeze. She blinked, confusion slipping over her face before her cheeks flushed slightly. “Oh.”
If she’d said it with any sort of disgust, he would’ve changed tactics right then and there. But that single word, combined with her body language, were less about being uncomfortable that she was getting stuck alone with him for the night. More about being a little off balance in a good way about them being alone.
A sentiment he could understand completely because, again, he was far too old for the nerves kicking up a riot along his spine right now.
“I think we had a bit of a misunderstanding, but that’s okay. Let’s start again.” May as well do it the right way. Jake cleared his throat. “Tansy, I want to take you out on adateto celebrate your first successful weekend as head chef at the High Water Artists’ Retreat. Would you like to go to dinner with me?”
He stepped forward and held out a hand. Tansy stared at it for the longest time. His heart pounded so hard he was worried she’d be able to hear it.
“Okay. I’d like that.” She placed her fingers in his, lifted her gaze, and offered a sheepish smile. “How about that new Korean restaurant in Diamond Valley?”
For a guyshe’d thought was pretty easy to read and far too regimented, Jake Skye was zigzagging often enough to keep her on her toes.
He walked her to his truck and opened the passenger door. Tansy climbed in and got settled, running a hand over the soft leather interior. He started it, glancing over when she reached down beside the door to play with theadjust the seat backanddistance from the dashbuttons.
“Make yourself at home,” he said with amusement.
“I usually do.” Nice, automated controls. A newer vehicle than her’s, that’s for sure. Now she wondered. She leaned forward and checked the dashboard more closely. “Sweet.”
She stabbed the heated seat button for both of them, easing back into her chair and sighing as the cushioning beneath her butt warmed.
“Heated steering wheel as well,” Jake informed her. “In case your hands are cold.”
“You’re my chauffeur today. I have other ways of keeping my fingers toasty.” She raised her hands in front of her and showed them off. Mickey and Minnie Mouse grinned from the back of her mittens.
“Very chic.”
She examined him a little closer. “Not my usual style,” she confessed. “But Fern won them for me, so that makes them perfect.”
“She won them for you? Like at a fair ball toss? Which is totally rad except if she’s got some sort of guided missile program on her prosthesis that I don’t know about.”
A snort escaped before Tansy could stop it. “She’s right-handed, most of the time. And she would never dream of using mechanical advantage when it’s inappropriate. No, she won these beauties by knowing what was special about the wordscreeched.”
She didn’t have to wait long. Jake raised a brow at her as he took a quick glance. “And what is special about the wordscreeched?”
