Page 35 of Mister Cowboy
The daughter of a politician and the son of a rancher. It seemed an unlikely pairing despite how different they’d both strived to be from their parents. Something about her desire to be different from the person she was expected to become resonated with him, even if that person wanted nothing to do with the lifestyle he was starting to find himself a part of. Fundraisers and social invitations nearly every week—it wasn’t why he’d worked so hard to own a successful company, but he’d always seen them as an added perk. Maybe it was because his social calendar had been so empty before.
Thinking of his calendar, he opened his schedule and checked his flight reservation and scanned ahead to see what other commitments he had this week—meetings on top of meetings on top of meetings until…
He smiled and grabbed his phone.
“Hello?” she answered, her voice muffled and sounding far away. “Shit,” she screeched and a loudclangfollowed, forcing him to pull the phone from his ear. “Hello?” she said again, her voice clearer.
He grinned as he pictured her fumbling about with her phone. “What’s going on over there, Miss Lyle?”
“Sorry, I dropped the phone.”
“I miss you.” The words tumbled from his lips without thinking, but he didn’t care. It was true. He’d missed her since the second he had left.
Her voice was playful as she responded. “It’s only been a few hours.”
“Your point?”
“It hasn’t been long enough for you to really miss me.”
“Untrue. I’m quite in tune with my feelings, and I fucking miss you.”
His honesty was rewarded with a light giggle that had his heart soaring.
“That isn’t why I’m calling, though. Have dinner with me Friday night when I get back. Technically, it’s dinner with me and a business partner, but I’d like you to come with me.”
“A business dinner?” Her hesitation was obvious, but he wasn’t easily deterred. There was no way he could go an entire week without seeing her and then fly back and sit through a dinner, all the while knowing she was across town. No. He’d never make it past dinner drinks.
“The dinner should only last a couple of hours, and then we can go wherever you’d like, do whatever you want. Just the two of us.”
The line was silent for a moment, and he pictured her chewing on her bottom lip or pacing her living room. “I don’t know anything about your business. Wouldn’t you rather take Tina or someone who works for you?”
Brecken’s thoughts drifted to Nadia. She’d accompanied him to nearly every dinner and event he’d attended since she started working for him last year. “No, I would rather take you, which is why I askedyou.”
“Who is the dinner with?”
“Martin, my lawyer, and his wife Sylvie. They’re nice. I think you’ll like them.”
“What if he asks me about your company. I know nothing about it.”
“Tell him that. It’s only dinner with a business partner and his wife, not a business dinner. We won’t bore you with work talk if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“You know that isn’t the issue.”
“Mmm,” he hummed his agreement. “I know you could never be bored with me.”
She laughed, and the tension over the phone eased. “All right.”
“You’ll come?” He smiled like an idiot and held back a fist pump. Even alone in his office, he knew he was too old and dorky to pull that move off.
“Yes, but on one condition.”
“Anything. You name it.”
The voice that answered was all business, negotiating her terms. “You stay at my apartment Friday night.”
“That’s it?”
“Mm-hmm.” Her voice sing-songed with trouble.
