Her Perfect Cowboy

by Trish Milburn

  Stunned, she turned halfway and motioned for him to come in. “I’ll be as quick as I can.”

  Once inside her bedroom, she closed the door and leaned against it. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined Liam showing up dressed more like Kevin and whisking her off to a fancy restaurant. It was a step closer to what she’d said she always wanted, and it freaked her out.

  After taking a few deep breaths, she crossed the room to her closet and shuffled through her array of choices. When she spotted a simple black dress with a black satin ribbon circling the waist, she pulled it from the closet. You couldn’t go wrong with a little black dress.

  She hurriedly changed and slipped on a pair of black satin Mary Janes and some onyx-and-diamond earrings she’d bought for herself to celebrate the opening of her store. It’d been a luxury she could ill afford at the time, but it had seemed important to mark the occasion with something a little more substantial than a celebratory piece of pie.

  As she placed her hand around the knob on her bedroom door, she stopped and considered the choice for her earrings. She didn’t wear them often, so why now? She had others that would go with the dress. It felt almost as if she were placing too much importance on this night, this date with Liam. She considered changing the earrings, then scolded herself for overthinking yet again.

  Liam was right. She had been working hard, and she deserved a night to enjoy herself. If it happened to be with the sexiest man she’d seen in, well, maybe forever, that was just the cherry on top. She opened the door and walked into the living room where Liam stood looking at the other pictures on her mantel.

  When he turned to look at her, something flickered in his eyes. She wasn’t so out of touch with the dating world that she couldn’t recognize male interest in a woman when she saw it. Her nerves threatened to derail her, but she gave them a mental slap and told them to leave her alone.

  “You look beautiful,” Liam said.

  “Thank you. And I should have said it before, but you look very handsome. I wouldn’t have guessed you had a suit stashed away in that RV.”

  “I didn’t.”

  He’d bought an entirely new outfit just to take her to dinner? Her heart fluttered in her chest, tempting her to believe that maybe this might be the beginning of more than just a friendly dinner.

  Liam extended his bent arm. “Shall we?”

  India stepped forward and took his arm until they reached the front door. He opened it for her then stood at the bottom of her front step as she locked up. He offered his hand to help her down a step she’d negotiated countless times.

  He smiled. “You never know when a high heel might rebel against you.”

  “And here you were being such a gentleman until now.”

  He laughed as he placed her hand in the crook of his arm and escorted her to his newly washed truck. It wasn’t an expensive foreign car or a limo, but she couldn’t have felt any more special if it had been.

  She marveled at this new side of Liam Parrish as he drove them east toward Austin. He was still as ruggedly handsome as ever, but there was no hint of the rodeo cowboy tonight. She was surprised to find that she missed that side of him a little while still being able to appreciate how nicely he cleaned up.

  As he guided the truck along the highway, she showed him some points of interest and he told her about some of his rodeo adventures.

  “Have you ever thought about quitting?”

  “There were a couple of times. Once when I got bucked off this horse named, appropriately, Mean As a Snake. Broke my arm in two places, and part of the bone came out the side of my arm.”

  “Ugh, that sounds horrible.”

  “Wasn’t my favorite day.”

  “So what was the other?”

  He didn’t immediately answer. She was beginning to think he wasn’t going to as they entered the edge of Austin, and he took a series of streets to get to the downtown area.

  “It was when I got Ginny.”

  “Got her?”

  She noticed a subtle tightening of his jaw.

  Liam took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I didn’t even know Charlotte was pregnant. Then one day she showed up at the rodeo in Cheyenne with this little bundle and thrust it at me along with legal paperwork naming me as the father and relinquishing all rights to Ginny.”

  India stared at Liam’s profile, stunned by his words. “She didn’t want her?”

  “No. She’d slept with me on a dare from some of her sorority friends. They’d driven up to Cheyenne from Denver as a joke, to see how many of them could ‘bang a rodeo cowboy’ in one night. I should have known better. She’d looked as out of place as a peacock on a chicken farm, not the kind of woman you’d expect to even see at a rodeo, let alone slumming with a cowboy.”

  “Don’t say that.”

  He glanced over at her. “That was her point of view. I knew that the moment she handed over Ginny as if she was no more than an annoyance she was glad to be rid of.”

  “That’s awful. I can’t imagine doing that.”

  “Most decent people couldn’t.” He pulled the truck into a parking space in a small lot next to a brick building.

  India looked up and saw the sign. “We’re going to Clementine’s?”

  “Yeah. I hope that’s okay.”

  “More than okay. They have some of the best food in the city.”

  “That’s what I heard.”

  As Liam got out of the truck and came around to her side, India felt as if her emotions had just taken a spin on a Tilt-a-Whirl. She went from nervous about the upcoming evening, to surprised by the effort Liam had evidently gone to in order to make the date a nice one, to aghast by the story Liam had told her about Ginny’s mother. How could a woman be so cold as to just hand off her newborn to a man she didn’t really know as if the baby were no more than a sandwich she didn’t want? India really hoped that Ginny didn’t know the full truth about her mother.

  Despite all her work with the BlueBelles classes, India had never really and truly pictured herself as a motherly type. But in this moment, she wanted very much to pull Ginny Parrish close and make her feel as if she were the most special little girl in the world.

  After they made their way inside and were seated at their table, India looked at the menu but had trouble focusing on the options. She kept thinking about what Liam had told her.

  “I shouldn’t have told you about Charlotte.”

  When she looked up from her menu, she noticed Liam watching her. “No, it’s okay. I...I just can’t wrap my head around it. Did she say why?”

  “It ‘wasn’t in her life plan.’”

  “Well, that’s a pitiful reason.” But was she much different? She’d resisted even admitting an attraction to Liam just because he didn’t fit perfectly into her life plan. She shook her head and consulted the menu again. Her dedication to hard work and long-held goals was not the same thing as handing off a baby like a baton in a relay race.

  After they ordered, India found herself at a loss for something to say. A flicker of panic lit inside her. How were they going to fill the coming hours before they returned to Blue Falls and she could retreat to the safety of her home?

  “Can I ask you something?” Liam asked.

  “Sure.”

  “Why the store full of fluffy stuff?”

  “Fluffy stuff?”

  “You know, female froufrou.”

  She smiled at his description, at the way he seemed to be at a loss for how to accurately describe Yesterwear. “What should I be selling instead, horse tack?”

  “I’m thinking that wouldn’t be a good fit.”

  She picked at the edge of the cloth napkin in her lap. “I’ve always liked watching old movies, seeing what the actresses wore. I guess I’m just fascinated with the styl
es of the past and how they can be applied to modern fashions.” When she saw the confused look on his face, she laughed. “Did you understand a word of what I just said?”

  “About half of it.”

  She needn’t have worried about how they’d fill the time while they ate. Stories about Ginny’s antics mixed with her own about how the BlueBelles classes came about entertained them both. What took the cake, however, was Liam’s tale about the time he made it to the National Finals Rodeo in Vegas and how a female Elvis impersonator had proposed to him.

  “Let’s just say she’d had more than a few drinks and she smelled like it, too.”

  India laughed so hard that she snorted, then covered her face in embarrassment. Of all the places to snort, she’d let loose in the restaurant where the governor of the great state of Texas was dining three tables away.

  Liam’s grin stretched from ear to ear, and she was glad to see it. Since he’d told her about Charlotte, she could tell those memories had been there on the periphery, though he’d done his best to hide that fact.

  After they finished dessert and Liam paid the bill, he guided her toward the door with the gentle placement of his hand at the small of her back.

  “Thanks for dinner, Liam. It was wonderful.”

  He gestured toward the park across the street. “Feel up to a short walk? The air’s more pleasant tonight than it’s been in a while.”

  “Okay.”

  A thrill went through her as he took her hand in his and led her across the street. He didn’t let go once they were in the park, on the path that led to the river. They passed other couples holding hands, and a flush of happiness filled India that she was in the company of such a handsome, nice man.

  “Do you mind if I ask you something else?” he asked as they reached the river. He guided her to a little gazebo that sat just above the rolling water.

  “Go ahead.”

  “The day you ran into me, you said you were going to cuss someone out. Who was it?”

  India retrieved her hand from his and walked to the edge of the gazebo. She placed her hands on the railing and looked out toward the rising moon and its reflection on the water. “My landlord.”

  “Upping the rent?”

  “No, she’s selling the building, and she didn’t tell me it was even on the market. I found out about it when the real estate agent brought potential buyers into my store to look around.”

  Liam moved next to her and leaned back against the railing. “Little lacking in the communication department.”

  India shook her head. “It’s more than that. I’ve been after Celene for months, nearly a year to lease out the space next door so I can expand. But she basically patted me on the head and told me to be grateful I even have what I do.”

  “If she wanted to sell, why didn’t she offer it to you?”

  “I’d like to say it was because she knew I wouldn’t qualify for that size of loan, but it’s more than that.” India stared at the moon on the water again, watching the ripples make it dance. “Celene Bramwell is a Class A snob. She comes from money, and she’s known me long enough to know that I don’t.”

  “Most people don’t.”

  “A fact that no doubt bugs Celene to no end.”

  “No offense to Blue Falls, but it seems like an odd place for someone that uppity to live.”

  “She came with her husband from Boston years ago. He passed away, but she never left. I’ve come to believe it’s because she likes to be a big fish in a little pond, a pond that she has every intention of remaking into her own little version of Boston.”

  “I would think she’d like a store like yours.”

  “Oh, she’s one of my best customers. I’m fine to help her when she’s trying on clothes and tossing aside half my stock when she’s done. I just shouldn’t dream so big as to want more.”

  Liam edged closer to her and placed his hand on hers. “India, what is it?”

  She looked down at his hand and resisted the urge to turn hers over and entwine her fingers with his. “It’s nothing. Sorry to be such a downer all of a sudden.”

  Liam lifted his other hand and cupped the side of her face. “It’s not nothing.”

  She looked at him then, met his eyes in the faint light shed by the moon and the lampposts in the park. “You thought I was like Charlotte, but I’m not. She had money, didn’t she? Lots of it, I’m guessing. Well, I didn’t. I grew up with nothing. Everything I have, I’ve worked long and hard for. You asked me earlier why the froufrou. Because from my earliest memories, I’ve wanted to bring beauty into the world.”

  Liam’s hand slid up her jaw, and he caressed her cheek with his thumb. “There’s already beauty in the world. You just have to know where to look.”

  He lowered his lips toward hers, and India was so stunned that she couldn’t move. When his mouth captured hers in a soft, tender kiss, she didn’t immediately kiss him back. But one more careful movement of his lips against hers, and she was a goner. She lifted her hand to the back of his head and pulled him closer. Then she kissed him with all the desire she’d been trying to deny ever since he’d strolled through the front door of her store and turned her life upside down.

  Chapter Eleven

  Liam pulled India closer and ran his fingers through her long hair. She tasted of cinnamon apples from the tart she’d had for dessert. Her body fit so nicely against his, causing his heart rate to increase and other parts of him to sit up and take notice, too.

  He felt the moment she began to pull away even before she broke the kiss. She looked dazed and at a loss for what to do next. He knew exactly what he’d like to do next, but that wasn’t a good idea. Already, he’d done more than he’d intended. But he wasn’t sorry, not one bit.

  “Are you okay?”

  She nodded. “Yeah. I think I’m just way more tired than I thought. Been a long day.”

  He knew it was more than that by the way she refused to make eye contact. She was pulling inward, and he didn’t know if it was something he’d done, if he’d pushed her too far. If she hadn’t kissed him back the way she had, he might have believed she wasn’t interested in him. But you didn’t kiss someone like that if you didn’t want to. Unless, of course, he was a terrible kisser. Not that he’d ever had any complaints, not even from Charlotte.

  No, something else was going on and he was smart enough not to push for the answer, at least not now. Instead, he took her hand and led her from the gazebo back onto the path through the park.

  The drive back to Blue Falls was quiet, at times too quiet. But each time he tried to start a conversation, India would give only the bare minimum response and then go quiet again. He glanced over to see her leaning her head against the passenger window, so maybe she was simply tired as she claimed.

  He was almost glad when he finally pulled into her driveway. He wasn’t what you’d call a chatterbox, but he’d never been a fan of tense silence, either. After putting the truck in Park and cutting the engine, he reached for his door handle.

  “I had a nice time tonight,” India said, drawing his attention. Her hand was on her door handle, as well. She wasn’t going to let him walk her to the front door.

  Had he misjudged her interest earlier? Had she only been curious about kissing him and now she’d satisfied that curiosity? He didn’t like how that made him feel, and his hand tightened on his door handle.

  “I did, too.” What else was he supposed to say? How would she take it?

  Before he could answer his own questions, she opened her door.

  “Good night.”

  Resigned, he released his door. “Good night, India.”

  He started the truck and turned the lights back on, but he didn’t pull out of the driveway. Part of him wanted to jump out and race to her front porch before she could get inside,
pull her close and kiss her again, long and deep and thorough. But that obviously wasn’t what she wanted. Still, he couldn’t leave until he saw that she was safely inside. At the last moment before she slipped out of sight, she turned and waved. And then she was gone.

  For a few seconds, he couldn’t move. But finally, he put the truck in Reverse and backed out of the driveway. Glad that Ginny was spending the night with Mia, he drove slowly toward the fairgrounds with the window rolled down, hoping the wind would knock some sense into him. What was he doing getting involved with someone he’d probably never see again after the rodeo was over? Hell, that was more a move out of Charlotte’s playbook.

  No matter how much of a fool he told himself he was, he still couldn’t manage to stop thinking about India as he parked next to the RV then walked to the barn to check on the horses. When he finally stepped into the RV, it seemed incredibly empty. He sat on the edge of the bed and damned if he didn’t imagine India in it with him, her beautiful dark hair tousled and fanning out over his pillow as he made love to her.

  “Damn it,” he muttered and rubbed his hand over his face.

  He undressed, tossing the new suit he’d bought to impress her on the couch. He flopped back on the bed and stared at the ceiling, wondering what in the world he should do next. Did he even know what he wanted? He cursed himself for letting India get under his skin. Pretty sure he wasn’t going to come up with any answers tonight, he closed his eyes and tried to will himself to sleep. Maybe some magic would happen overnight and he’d have the answers he needed in the morning.

  * * *

  INDIA FELT AS IF SHE HADN’T slept in a month. She supposed that was what she got when she let down her guard and kissed Liam as if they had some kind of future together. They didn’t, and she had to nip whatever this was between them in the bud before her feelings deepened any further. She’d had quite enough heartbreak in her life, and she’d become an expert on making sure it didn’t happen again. And that meant no more kissing Liam, no matter how much she’d liked it.

  She hadn’t been at the shop five minutes when Skyler and Elissa showed up. Even though they had a scheduled meeting for last-minute details on the BlueBelles classes, one look at their faces told her that wasn’t the main topic on their minds.