Page 7 of Christmas with the Cowgirl
“By what,” Riley said dryly, “a couple of hours?”
“A couple of years, actually.”Nic studied her for a moment, making Riley even more twitchy.“I swear, Riley, sometimes you act like you think you’re a hundred years old.”
“Sometimes I feel like it,” she admitted.“Not physically, but…”
“I should hope not,” Nic said.“You work as hard as any ranch hand, even though you don’t have to.”
“Because I don’t want to feel like that hundred-year-old.”
“So it’s just your love life you’ve written off?”
She was glad this was Nic, because she could feel her cheeks heat.At the same time, she wished it wasn’t too-smart, too-observant Nic, who never missed a thing.
“With my track record, it seems the wisest thing to do.”
Nic waved a hand dismissively.“Please.If we went just by that I would have blown Jackson off completely.”
Riley saw an out and grabbed it.“But instead you made him work hard for it.”
“Well, yes,” Nic said, grinning again.But again the grin faded as she looked across the table at Riley.“You don’t really think you’re too old to fall in love again, do you?”
“To fall, no.”She lowered her gaze to the nearly empty mug.“To make it work, probably.”
“Why?”
“What’s the phrase?Too old and set in my ways?”
“Good grief, girl.You talk like hitting forty means shopping for burial sites.”
“Hitting and passing,” Riley pointed out, but she was laughing now.
“You’re in better shape than half the twenty-somethings I know.”Nic raised a brow as she added, “And I’m pretty sure Miles noticed.”
“Please.Why would he?He works with people who make a career out of looking good.”
“Should I not point out how often you are indirectly helping them look good, and just move on to asking if you’re saying Jackson shouldn’t have noticed me?”
Horrified, Riley exclaimed, “No!Of course not.”
Nic smiled.“Point made.”
“You’re as beautiful as anything he left behind.”
“And so are you, Riley Garrett.And don’t you forget it just because you had a couple of narrow escapes.”This time Nic wiggled her eyebrows at her.“What was his name, when you were seventeen?”
Riley groaned.“Oh, gag.Allan Bennett.You remember that?You were only five.”
“I remember Mom saying you were much too good for him.And she was right.”
“Your mom is priceless.”Riley was laughing now.
At least she was until Nic gave her that look again and said, “I’m younger than Miles—does that mean we can’t be friends?”
“Of course not.”
Nic left it there, but with one of those arch looks of hers that said she expected you to figure out the motive behind it.
Of course, in this case it was pretty darned obvious.
