The backdoor opened, and Jace walked in. “Hey,” he said.
“Hi.” Caytie couldn’t believe a man with dirt stains on his clothes could look so cute. Then she caught a whiff of him. “Ooh, you smell,” she said, dipping her chin down so the neckline of her T-shirt covered her nose.
“Thanks a lot. I missed you too.” He tossed his hat on the table and started toward the sink, slightly limping.
“Did you get hurt?”
“Moonshine stepped on my foot.” He winced as he washed his hands. “I was hoping for a little sympathy, maybe even a hug.”
“I’ll hug you after you shower.”
Jace dried his hands on a paper towel, and narrowed his eyes. “I think I need a hug right now.”
It was a tempting offer, but Caytie decided if and when she got close enough to hug Jace he wouldn’t smell like the barn.
“No thanks.”
The corner of his mouth lifted as he slowly walked toward her. “Come on, just one little hug.”
Laughing, Caytie shook her head and backed up against the countertop. “No. Go shower.”
Jace continued to press forward, a tiny smirk on his face. Caytie reached behind her and grabbed the can of Lysol, holding it up. “Take one more step and you’ll smell like…” She paused and glanced at the can. “…An Early Morning Breeze.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” he said, moving even closer.
“Wouldn’t I?” Caytie kept her finger poised on the trigger, waiting for his next move.
A hint of mischief glinted in his eyes before he rushed her and grabbed the can. She squealed as Jace held her with one arm while placing the spray can on the counter behind her.
“Let me go!” she said, trying not to laugh and breathe at the same time.
Jace circled his other arm around her, firmly holding in her in place. “Not until you apologize.”
Caytie squirmed and tried to push him away from her. “For what?”
“For saying I stink.”
In the process of trying to free herself, Caytie suddenly realized Jace didn’t smell that bad. Sure, the lingering odor of hay and the outdoors was there, but up close his tangy aftershave was the prevalent scent. That didn’t mean she wanted to hug him. His clothing was filthy, and she had on a light colored shirt.
“I’m sorry.” She gave up the fight to get away and glanced up at him. “Now can you let me go?”
He shook his head. “I still need a hug.”
“Doesn’t this count?”
A smile curved his lips. “Nope.” Then his eyes drifted to her mouth and a current of awareness crackled between them.
Suddenly she wanted a kiss from this cowboy more than she wanted a ticket to the premier of Marc-Jacob’s new line of bags and wallets.
He inched a little closer, making Caytie’s breath quicken. The back door banged open, and they heard the rhythmic thumping of Kellen’s crutches. Jace immediately released his hold on her and turned around just as Kellen entered the kitchen.
Silence greeted the younger man, and he must have sensed the obvious tension between Jace and Caytie. He glanced at both of them and grinned. “Did I just interrupt something?”
“No,” she and Jace said at the same time.
Kellen’s grin widened. “You sure?”
“Yes,” they both answered in unison.
Kellen started to laugh, and Jace let out a disgruntled breath of annoyance. “Did you need anything?”
“Yeah, a slice of Grandma’s peach pie before I head back to the arena.” His eyes lit with anticipation. “Some of the rodeo pageant girls are coming over to practice barrel racing, and they asked me to keep time.”
Caytie loved the changes in Kellen. In two weeks he had an appointment with a specialist in Billings to be fitted for his first prosthetic leg.
“Yeah?” Jace said wryly. “Then you might want to skip the peach pie and go take a shower, kid. I was just told how much I stink.”
Kellen’s forehead creased and he sniffed his shirt. “I think you’re right. You two have fun shopping.” He swung around on his crutches. “And whatever else you were doing before I came in.”
Jace laughed as Kellen exited the kitchen. He turned toward Caytie. “I’m going to grab a quick shower, and then we can leave.” He started to unbutton his shirt and sauntered past her. “By the way, Caytie, you still owe me a hug.”
***
Caytie wouldn’t say the hour long ride to Billings was uncomfortable, especially since Jace didn’t seem to be at all affected by their almost kiss. She, however, felt an undercurrent of restlessness with each passing mile.
They talked mostly about the upcoming rodeo, and Jace explained each of the events to Caytie since she’d never been to a rodeo. All the while he talked, she thought about how good he smelled, and what it would be like to be kissed by him.
By the time they reached their destination, she was contemplating different ways to capture a certain cowboy’s attention.
“Before we hit the mall, I need to run into Walmart for Ilene,” Jace said, making a left turn. “She ordered a bunch of things online for Founder’s Day that were shipped to the store for pickup.”
“Okay.” Caytie wondered what she was supposed to do. She’d never been inside a Walmart, but was curious to look around. In school, she’d been fascinated to learn about the large corporation, and others like it, and the vast amount of employees they hired as buyers for their retail merchandising. Also, many of her classmates in school used the bigger discount stores as a secret weapon for putting together stylish outfits for their projects for a fraction of the cost.
As he pulled the truck into a parking space, Jace glanced over at her. “You coming in with me?”
It was silly to feel all fluttery inside by his simple invitation, but that’s exactly what happened to her. She smiled, and nodded her head. “Sure.”
The fluttery sensation increased when he smiled, and said, “Sit tight, and I’ll get the door for you.”
Edward never opened a car door for her. He usually left that up to the valet.
“Thank you,” Caytie said, as Jace held out his hand to help her down. She was disappointed when he dropped her hand as soon as her feet hit the pavement.
They walked into the store, their shoulders brushing every once in a while. Why was she so aware of him? It was like her senses were sharpened, and every nerve ending was attuned to Jace. She tried to see if she affected him the same way, but couldn’t detect anything significant.
The store was much bigger than she’d anticipated, and there were so many people. Jace grabbed a shopping cart. “We need to head to the back of the store.”
She followed close beside him as they passed by the women’s fashions. They were moving so fast she didn’t really have time to look at anything. Jace paused to let a mother and her three children cross in front of them.
As they proceeded forward, Caytie noticed an endcap of romance books. One particular book titled Winning the Cowboy’s Heart caught her eye. She only got a cursory glance of the cover, featuring a muscled cowboy with a hat that looked very much like the one Jace wore today.
At one time, reading romances with a bag of peanut M&M’s had been her escape. When she’d given up the chocolate candy, she’d also given up books. Maybe it was time to start reading again, especially if the book had tips for winning a cowboy.
Jace picked up several packages for Ilene and placed them in the cart. As they started back toward the front of the store, he said, “You might want to check out the jeans here. You may find something you like that won’t cost as much.”
Since Caytie’s uncle insisted on giving her his credit card to replace her jeans, she hadn’t wanted to spend very much money. Uncle George told her to get whatever she usually bought, but she doubted even the high-end stores at the mall would carry the clothing she typically purchased on Rodeo Drive.
“Good idea.”
Jace lifted a brow. “Really? You don’t mind shoppi
ng here?”
“Of course not.” Did he think she was that big of a snob?
“Okay.” He smiled and headed in the direction of the women’s clothing.
Jace made a brief detour when they passed the men’s section. He threw in several packages of white T-shirts and then added a few packages of socks.
Across the aisle were rows and rows of women’s lingerie. Caytie really wanted to look at a few things, since lingerie was sort of a weakness. She could spend hours in a certain store with the same name as the woman in love with Jace.
“Need anything?” Jace asked with a smirk.
“You wish.”
He laughed. “I’m just trying to help.”
“Men,” she said, shaking her head.
He laughed again as they continued on their way until they came to the juniors department. Caytie spied a rack of stylish jeans, and her girly-shopping instincts kicked in. She glanced over at Jace. “I might be a while.”
“I figured as much.” He took off his cowboy hat. “I’m gonna head up to the front of the store and get a haircut.”
Caytie stared as his wavy, dark hair, wishing she could run her fingers through it at least one time before he cut it off. She hoped he didn’t get a buzz like Kellen’s in the off chance she got to fulfill her fantasy.
“What?” he asked, putting his hat back on.
She blinked, feeling her face heat up. “Nothing.”
He lifted a brow. “I know you were thinking something.”
“Well.” Casually she lifted one shoulder up. “It’s just I kind of like your hair so don’t go too short.”
A sexy grin slowly crossed his handsome face. “Good to know.” He winked. “Have fun shopping and I’ll be back soon.”
She watched him walk—no, swagger—away, and quickly ducked her head when he turned around and caught her ogling him. That stupid fluttery feeling was back. Caytie heard him give a low chuckle, and she glanced back up and watched him until he was no longer in her sight.
Squeezing her eyes shut, she pursed her lips. She was shopping for clothes, not a man. She needed to remember that.
It didn’t take long for her focus to change from Jace to the task at hand. She found some cute things, and some of the pants rivaled the name brand jeans found in popular retail stores, but the prices were so cheap she had to look twice to make sure she read it correctly. The money allotted to her by Uncle George, along with some of her own money, would go along way.
Soon Caytie filled her cart with a variety of jeans, capris and even some fashionable tops she’d found. The store didn’t have any mannequins on display with ideas on what to pair together, but Caytie enjoyed the process of doing it herself. Like an artist visualizing his next masterpiece, she could see how to mix, match and layer each article of clothing. It was a challenge, but she was having a lot of fun. Even better, the frugal prices were like cheating on your diet and still losing weight.
When she was ready to try things on, Jace hadn’t returned yet so she made her way to the fitting rooms. On the way, she bypassed the endcap of romance novels. Impulsively, she quickly snatched the book with the muscled cowboy on the cover and hid it beneath the pile of clothing in her cart. It wasn’t really the type of story she liked to read, and she didn’t want Jace to see the book.
Selecting the maximum number of clothing allowed in the dressing room, she took her purse and the accompanying card from the attendant and left her cart in the employee’s safe keeping.
It was a good thing the clothes were so inexpensive, because Caytie found she liked most everything she tried on. She had on a cute top that she wanted to pair with a coral colored pair of capris she had in the shopping cart. Separating what she wanted to keep, she took the rest of the clothes to trade for more things to try on.
When she came out of the dressing room to make the exchange, she found Jace completely enthralled with Winning the Cowboy’s Heart, the romance novel she’d kept hidden under the clothes she’d already decided to buy. From the look of it, he’d either skipped ahead a few chapters or he was a very fast reader.
She cleared her throat to get his attention, but he ignored her. Embarrassed by the ridiculous title of the book, she closed the distance and tried to snatch it out of his hands. Jace calmly dodged her efforts and took his time finishing the page he was on.
With his lips turned up into a smirk, he looked up and met her gaze. “I didn’t know you were a reader.” His brown eyes sparked with humor.
“What? Did you think I hired someone to read to me?”
He lifted a brow. “Did you?”
“No.” She leaned forward and managed to grab the book out of his hand. “I like to read a variety of things. Right now I’m doing research.”
“Oh really,” he said with a hint of laughter. “Do tell.”
“Well,” she said with a nonchalant shrug. “Since I’ll be in Montana for a while I thought the book might offer an in-depth look into how cowboy’s think.”
Jace started to laugh. Hard.
Research? Really? What a stupid answer. She glared at him, irritated he thought this was so funny.
“I’m not touching that one,” he finally said when he’d composed himself.
Thank you. Now that she really looked at the cover, she noticed the cowboy had the lower three buttons of his shirt undone, revealing a six-pack set of abs.
She grabbed the coral colored capris and made a beeline for the fitting room. “I’ll be right back.”
“Hey, wait a sec,” he said, mirth still evident in his voice.
She stopped, let out a big breath and turned around. “What?”
“Can I have the book back?”
If a little girl hadn’t walked in front of her, Caytie would’ve thrown the book at him. Instead, she spun on her heel and marched into the dressing room. She took as much time as she could, but finally changed into her own clothing when she heard the store attendant and Jace talking. The girl’s flirtatious comments made Caytie’s stomach knot up with an emotion she refused to call jealousy. When the girl offered Jace her phone number, Caytie swung open the door and stormed over to claim her man.
Chapter 18
Leaning against the countertop talking with the clerk, Jace saw Caytie burst out of the dressing room. Her ice blue eyes zeroed in on him as she marched toward him. She looked as mad as Rodney the rooster did when he thought someone was honing in on his territory.
That thought brought a smile to his face. “Everything okay?” he asked.
“Peachy.” She slapped down several articles of clothing, along with the hot romance book. “I won’t be purchasing these things,” she said to the attendant.
The young girl’s eyes widened and then darted over at Jace. She didn’t look as confident as she had when she gave him her phone number a few seconds ago. “Okay, ma’am,” she said, looking back at Caytie. “You can just leave what you don’t want, and I can put them away.”
“Thank you.” Caytie must have noticed the terrified look on the girl’s face. Her eyes softened. “I really appreciate your help.”
“Sure,” the girl said, accepting the plastic number card from Caytie. Her eyes flickered back to Jace. He gave her a friendly smile, one he hoped conveyed just that. First she was way too young. Second, he flat out wasn’t interested.
Caytie turned toward Jace. “I’m ready.”
“Great. Let’s go,” he said, eyeing the overloaded shopping cart.
To be honest, he was shocked she’d found anything to buy. He knew shopping at a discount store was substandard to the places she typically frequented in California. He’d looked up the brand name of the jeans she’d gotten manure all over, and had been stunned at the sticker price. Who would pay that kind of money for denim? But she had surprised him once again by not being the stuck up Beverly Hills socialite he’d pegged her for the first time he met her.
She pushed the cart out of the fitting area, and Jace followed behind her. On impulse, he quickly pal
med the romance book she’d first hidden and then abandoned. He’d be sure and sneak it into her room so she could finish her “research”.
While Caytie unloaded the contents of the shopping cart to the conveyer belt, Jace paid for the cheesy paperback without her seeing, along with the T-shirts and socks.
The clerk gave Caytie the total and while she paid for her purchases, Jace loaded the plastic sacks into the cart.
“I can’t believe this,” Caytie said studying her receipt. “I just bought all of this for half the cost of getting my hair done.”
Jace nearly choked. She spent four hundred dollars to get her hair done? He’d just paid twenty-five dollars for his haircut and that was after tipping the girl who cut it ten dollars.
“That must be some kind of haircut.”
She laughed softly. “Well, it usually involves more than a simple haircut.” She glanced over at him. “Speaking of haircuts. How did yours turn out?”
Jace took the hat off his freshly washed hair. Per his request, the stylist had only trimmed it, and then put some kind of product in it that smelled too girly for his liking. “What do you think?”
Caytie gave him that same heated look she’d given him when she told him not to go too short. “I like it.”
When she looked at him like that, it made it nearly impossible to keep his distance—something he’d been trying to do ever since he’d almost kissed her in the kitchen.
“That’s good.” He placed his hat back on his head. “Because it only cost me twenty-five bucks.”
He unlocked the truck and started to load her purchases in the backseat. “So, where we off to next? The mall?” The thought of trudging around the crowded shopping center so she could buy more clothing didn’t sound fun, but he’d made her a promise.
“Actually, I don’t need to go there anymore.”
Both his eyebrows shot up. “You’re kidding.”
“No.” She reached in the cart for one of Ilene’s packages. “But if you really want to go shopping I’ll be happy to go with you.”
Summer in Snow Valley (Snow Valley Romance Anthologies Book 2) Page 12
