Page 83 of Huckleberry Hill
“Do you know if my dad is dating someone?” I blurted out. When he didn’t reply right away, I pushed on, “I used to go to the livestock auctions with Dad all the time. It was kind of our thing. Salem would stay home with Mom and Muddy . . . and even after Mom died, Salem would stay home and I’d go with Dad. He made the lamest excuse for why he didn’t want me to come this time. He said Muddy was slowing down and he wanted me to look after her.”
Declan let out a chuckle. “Muddy? Slowing down?”
“That’s what I’m saying. It was a flimsy argument. But I didn’t push him to take me.”
“Why not?”
When I remained silent, he pressed, “Hadley, why didn’t you insist on going?”
I groaned.
He smirked.
“You trapped me,” I muttered. “You trapped me into admitting the truth.”
“Which is what, exactly? That you can’t get enough of me. That you want to feel my huge di?—”
“Is it your mission in life to embarrass me?” I demanded with flaming cheeks.
“No, it’s my mission in life to get you to be honest. And for the sake of honesty, I’ll go first. If your dad is gone for a week, we have an entire week of you sleeping in my bed.”
“Sleeping, huh?”
“Among other things. Lots of other things.”
I couldn’t stop the shiver that raced down my spine. I swallowed and then unzipped my jacket.
“Can I take you to dinner tomorrow night?” Declan asked.
“Take me to dinner where? We live in a microscopic town and if we show up at one of the two restaurants that exist, it’ll be all over the news.”
“You think they’d print it in the Huckleberry Hill Crier?” Declan asked.
“I think I don’t want to draw attention to you and me.”
He grinned.
“What?” I asked with an eyeball.
“You said you and me. There’s a you and me.”
My lips quivered. “You’re impossible.”
“Impossible to ignore,” he quipped. “Well, if you won’t let me take you to dinner in town, that leaves one of two options.”
“Go on.”
“We drive separately to Silver Springs, meet at a restaurant, not drink too much because we have to drive back. Or . . .”
“Or?”
“Or you come to the guest house and let me cook for you. And then you let me take you to my bed again. And you spend the whole night with me this time.”
“You cook?” I asked in surprise.
“I’m fond of this thing called eating, so I learned how to take care of myself. Ergo, I cook.”
“You’re going to cook me dinner after a long, hard day on the ranch?” I asked.
