Page 21 of Headstrong Cowboy
Why Eunice was doing what she was doing wasn’t his concern.All it meant was that he had to keep the knowledge to himself for a little longer.Keeping secrets wasn’t what he liked doing, but in this situation, his hands were tied.
He opened his door and stepped out.Ryder wanted to pull Chrissy close and kiss her, but he kept his hands to himself.“Hey, yourself.I came to see if I can tempt you to join me for lunch.Flo prepared a basket for us.”
Her smile dropped a little, and he had to stem the flow of disappointment from consuming him.“I would love to, but I’ve got to help Sunny with an order we got this morning.It’s a big one, and she can’t do it all herself.”
There was a hint of something in her voice...excitement...as if this order was a big deal.“That’s okay.I should’ve called and not just turned up.”
“No, I’m glad you came.”She reached out and placed her hand on his arm.Like every other time they’d touched, his skin tingled, and warmth chased away the lingering disappointment.“I, um, missed you.”
“You don’t sound sure of that,” he said, thrilled that she had been feeling the same way he had.But he’d purposely put some distance between them because what he’d been feeling for her had been too intense and it had been way too soon to feel that way about her.
Her answer was to lean up and press her lips against his, the action momentarily shocking him into stillness.As if she sensed his surprise, she went to pull back, but he hooked an arm around her and kept her close to his chest, taking over control of the kiss.
Her hands clutched the front of his shirt and as her mouth opened beneath his, he deepened the kiss, telling her without saying the words that he’d missed her too.
They broke apart, their breathing ragged as they still held onto each other.
“Wow, that was—” Chrissy shook her head as though trying to form words to express how mind-blowing the kiss had been.
At least, that was how he’d felt about it, so he hoped she did as well.
“I know.”
“I now wish we didn’t have this order so I could spend more time with you.”
“Would an extra set of hands be helpful or a hindrance?”The words popped out without him giving them much thought at all.Now that he’d said them, he found he actually meant them.He did want to help her, and he was sure that Flo had packed plenty of food that it could be shared between three people instead of two.
“To be honest, I’m not sure if I’m really helping Sunny or not.But she can’t do it all herself, even if she thinks she can, so yes, I accept your offer to help.”
Ryder wasn’t sure if this was a good idea or not, but if he got to spend more time with Chrissy, then that was a win for him.Besides, he was interested in seeing how a flower farm operated.Not that it was going to change his mind about buying the land.At least he knew that he would give the Bloom family a fair price, which may not be true about other offers they might receive.He was a far more motivated buyer than anyone else.And coming into winter wasn’t the best time to buy, but that didn’t matter to him.“Great, show me the way.”
He grabbed the picnic basket out of the truck and followed Chrissy into the building.Like previously, the scent of flowers hit him, but this time, it was a lot stronger.There were rows and rows of cut flowers on one table and on another one were boxes that he assumed the flowers would be stacked in, ready for transport to wherever they were destined to go.
“Sunny, I’ve brought us some more help,” Chrissy called out and walked over to the woman who was busy collecting up a bunch of red roses, their buds just starting to burst open.
“I don’t need help,” she grumbled without looking up.Her brown hair was pulled back into a messy bun, tendrils escaping around her face.He could see the family resemblance even without her looking directly at him.
“We’ve had this discussion, Sunshine.We’re helping.Now what can Ryder do?”
“How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me Sunshine?You know I don’t like it,” Sunny complained, but looked up to see who was joining them.“Who are you?”
Ryder controlled his smile at her snarkiness.“Ryder Chamberlain, ma’am.I’m here to help in any way you need it.Even if it’s just fetching you a drink and food.”He held up the basket, hoping that promise of sustenance would soften her feelings toward his presence.
“Fine, you can stay.But only because I recognize that basket as one from Main St.Diner and hope that Flo’s fried chicken is in it.”She picked up a box from the table and held it out.
He took it and looked at its contents.It was full of little plastic tubes, along with a clear bag, which he assumed were the toppers that went over the tubes.
“You can fill these with water,” Sunny stated.“Think you can handle that?”
He saw the challenge in her eye.She expected him to demand to do something different.Somethingmanly.But he was fine with this small task.“Pretty sure I can.”He pulled one of the tubes out and studied it.“Fill it up to here?”He indicated to the faint line marked on the inside.
“Yes, and then put the topper on,” Sunny said before turning back to what she was doing.
“I’ll take the basket from you and put the cold stuff into the fridge,” Chrissy murmured.
Ryder handed the picnic basket over, noting the glint of humor in her eyes.It was as though she’d enjoyed him sparring with her sister.Growing up in foster care, Ryder hadn’t allowed himself to get too attached to the other kids.It was easier that way.He didn’t get hurt if they ended up being adopted or moved to another home.In the end, anyone he got close to always left him, but he stayed, so it was easier to ignore them.
Even when he’d settled on the ranch, he kept mostly to himself.The fact he had no one he could call on, no one he was close to, hit him hard when he was injured.He hadn’t had any visitors after that night he’d been hurt and transported to the hospital.The guys he knew from the circuit had all moved on to the next rodeo.They’d wished him well, but that was about it.Ryder couldn’t blame them.If he’d been in their shoes, he’d have done the same thing.
