Page 25 of Headstrong Cowboy
“You are too good to be true, Ryder Chamberlain.”From what she’d heard from Tilly about her dating adventures in the short time she’d been back in town, not all guys were like Ryder.Beau had been one of the good ones as well.
“I wouldn’t say that,” he said, a slight shadow crossing his eyes.What did that mean?Was he hiding something?Was it to do with his past?
Chrissy pushed those questions down.She could ask them later.“I should go and see if Tilly’s home.What time do you want to meet?”
“It’s four now.Will six thirty work for you, or do you need a little longer?”
One of the things Chrissy had perfected when she’d been working full-time was getting ready quickly.It would take her forty minutes tops to shower, get dressed, do her hair and put her makeup on.That was if Tilly was home.If not, then she’d have to make the trek to the farm, but even if she had to do that, she could be at the Graff by the appointed time easily.“Nope, six thirty is perfect.Meet you in the lobby again?”
“Yep.”Ryder lightly tugged on her hands that he was still holding, and she moved forward.“Can’t wait to see you,” he murmured before taking possession of her lips again.Every time they kissed, it got more and more intense.
The need for air broke them apart.“That’s quite the goodbye, cowboy.”She licked her lips, imprinting the kiss.Chrissy didn’t miss the moan her action pulled from Ryder.
“You’d better go before I do something I promised I wouldn’t.”
A surge of empowerment filled her veins, knowing that she could tempt Ryder to lose his control.Of course, her reaction to his comment was the opposite of how she’d reacted when he’d suggested it would be easy to lose her clothes.It was wrong of her to send him mixed signals.It wasn’t fair to him.“I’m sorry,” she lowered her gaze for a second before looking back at him.“I didn’t mean to do that.I don’t want to be the sort of girl who says one thing and does the opposite.This is all new territory for me.”
“Chrissy, stop.It’s fine.I know you’re not a tease.I know that everything you do is natural and not an act.I’m also not that sort of guy who leaps at the slightest opening of the door.We’re in this together.We’re equal.There’s no power imbalance here.”
“I know.I really do.”And she did.As she’d thought earlier, Ryder was one of the good guys, and she was beginning to think that he’d been sent here for her.
Chapter Twelve
Being nervous wasn’tRyder’s go-to emotion.When he’d been competing, he’d had an adrenaline burst before the gates opened and the bull leaped out.What he was feeling now was completely different.It wasn’t as if this was the first time he and Chrissy were going to be alone together.They’d been alone plenty of times.And it wasn’t the first time they’d had dinner as well.They’d already done that.
Yet, tonight felt different and maybe that’s because the parameters of their relationship had changed.He knew that they were going to be intimate, but he also knew that aspect of their relationship was going to be directed by Chrissy.
Her declaration that she’d married her high school sweetheart had given him a moment of mistrust, but he disregarded it quickly.If Chrissy was still married, there was no way she’d be with him.Kiss him.Or say she wanted more.She wasn’t that type of person.Not to mention he was sure Sunny would’ve said something.Or even Riley.Whatever had happened to her marriage, her husband wasn’t in the picture.
Giving himself one last look in the mirror, he smoothed down his hair, feeling a little naked and exposed that he wasn’t wearing his hat.Tonight, he’d decided he’d leave it in his room.It wasn’t as though hats were discouraged from being worn at the restaurant in the Graff.Far from it, as a lot of men wore their hats.Ryder just didn’t want to do that tonight.
From the first second he’d put on the beat-up cowboy hat he’d been given at the foster ranch, he’d felt like he belonged to something.He wasn’t a troublemaker...he was a junior cowhand.He had a level of importance.And as he’d gone up in the ranks, both at the ranch and in the rodeo circuit, his hats had got more expensive.As if they were a status symbol, when really they were just hats.
Not wearing it meant shedding a part of his past as that lost youth with no family.The kid who was too hard to deal with.He wasn’t that kid anymore, and he’d found that he wanted to show who he was to Chrissy.
Was that why he was more nervous about this date?
“It’s just drinks and dinner, something you’ve done a lot of times before tonight,” he muttered to his reflection.The pep talk didn’t do much in terms of settling his nerves, but he’d spoken the truth.After their dinner at the diner, tonight was going to be just as wonderful.And she might not even notice he didn’t have his hat on.
You planning on telling her about your interest in her family’s land?And why it’s so important to you?How you could be destroying her family legacy, the way it was taken from your family?
Ryder was getting sick of that little voice in his head, but he couldn’t deny that he needed to tell her.Explain his connection to the land and why it was important that he have it.Except he wanted tonight to be about them and getting to know each other a bit better.
After watching her do more runs again that afternoon, he wanted to ask her about why she hadn’t pursued a career in barrel racing.Of course, growing up, people competed in the rodeo for fun, but someone with the talent that Chrissy had didn’t do it for fun.Like him, they did it as a career.
Like always, any thoughts about rodeos caused the hollow feeling in his stomach to return.As he’d arrived back at the hotel this afternoon, he’d seen more evidence the town was gearing up for the first event that would be happening in just over a week.More and more storefronts had decorations and displays in their windows.He’d stopped in at Sage’s chocolate shop to get something for Chrissy, but the moment he’d seen the crowd and all the cowboy boot chocolates, he’d walked out.Such an irrational reaction to confectionary, but it had all been too much for him.
The sensible thing to do would be to leave town for the next week and a half and return when the rodeo was finished.Yet, he couldn’t make himself pack his bags and follow through on it.The pull of Chrissy was too strong to even contemplate leaving and not seeing her for so long.
What was going on with him?
Ryder shook his head and packed up his erratic thoughts into a box where he could deal with them later—much later.What he needed to do now was head downstairs and meet Chrissy.It wouldn’t be a good look if he was late.
Checking that he had everything he needed, he flicked the light off as he exited his room and made his way downstairs.Like always, the foyer was buzzing with people chatting and laughing.This time he didn’t see a former friend like he had their first night.And like the first night, his breath caught in his throat when he spied the woman who was taking up more and more of his thoughts, standing in the exact same place as she had been the night of their first dinner date.
He walked up to her, mesmerized by the sapphire blue of her dress.Her hair was curled around her face and her lips were shiny, and he wanted to taste them badly, but he wouldn’t.Not yet, anyway.Later.“We have to stop meeting like this,” he said as he kissed her cheek in greeting.
“We do.”She leaned back and looked him over.“You look dashing tonight.I like the ‘no hat’ look.Makes you look even more handsome.”
