Page 11 of Her Cowboy Hero
“OK then,” she says. “Just give me a minute to wash up.”
“I’ll wait outside,” I say, giving Wyatt a nod as I exit the building and place my hat back on my head. He grunts by way of acknowledgment, but at least he isn’t following me out trying to start something.
After a few minutes, she meets me out front, minus the coveralls and smelling like soap. She’s got those ass-hugging jeans of hers on again, and a black Harley Davidson T-shirt that stretches across her ample bosom and highlights her curves.
I open the passenger door to my truck, and she hops inside, worrying her lips as her eyes follow my movement. “Are you uncomfortable around me?” I ask when I start up the engine and pull back into the street.
“No,” she says, releasing a heavy breath. “I just...I don’t know how to do this.”
“Sit in a car instead of riding a bike?” I tease, flashing a smile her way. It causes her to laugh.
“No. I mean, I understand that you’re here because you’re interested in me. But I don’t know what to do about that, even how I’m supposed to act around you.”
“Same as you’d act around any other guy you’ve dated before.”
“That’s the thing,” she says, her fingers twisting together in her lap. “I’ve never dated anyone before. I’ve never… guys and me… we can be friends, but that’s about as far as it goes. I’m completely inexperienced.”
I try real hard not to react. It boggles my mind that a woman as beautiful and amazing as Harper could spend her life single. It seems wrong, but at the same time, it makes me feel about ten feet tall. I’m gonna be the first man to claim her.
“I know,” she says, looking out the window so I can’t see her face. “It’s embarrassing.”
“Have you considered that maybe you and I are the reason for that?”
She swings her gaze to mine. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that there’s something unique here. Something real. Maybe the reason you’ve never found another guy is because in your heart, you were waiting for this. And I know it sounds egotistical, but maybe you were waiting for me?”
“Maybe.” A smile curves up her plush lips and the bottom of my stomach does this weird fluttery thing. “I just don’t understand why you had to be so young.”
“Last I checked, the law that governs these things only specifies two consenting adults. Ain’t nothin’ wrong with either party being twelve years older than the other.”
“Jesus, Austin,” she breathes, shaking her head. “Do you have any idea how much that little town of ours is going to crucify us for this?”
I reach across the seat and take her hand in mine, wrapping our fingers together before I bring her knuckles to my lips and kiss them for the entire time it takes me to fill my lungs. “That little town of ours can go and fuck itself, Harper. Their small-minded judgment isn’t going to stop me from living my life the way I want, or from loving the woman I want to love. I won’t have it.”
Her whole body tightens. “You love me?”
Glancing her way, I give her the brightest of smiles. “Yeah,” I admit. “I love you, Harper. And I’m not quittin’ you either. So I suggest you get used to the idea real fast because the moment we get back to yours, I’m claimin’ you as mine.”
“What?” She looks around like she’s only just noticing that we’re back on the highway. “I thought we were going for a coffee?”
“We are,” I say, kissing her hand again. “We’re having coffee at breakfast tomorrow morning.”
