Dating the Cowboy

by Ann B. Harrison

  It was hard for some people. Especially the introverts among them. But with Crease’s kind and gentle manner, they could brave it out to put his ideas into practice.

  If only Alice could be as confident in telling Crease what she really wanted. But that couldn’t happen. They had their plans, their own goals in life, and if she rocked the boat and tried to change their relationship, she risked losing it all. How many people had gone from friends to lovers and split after realizing they should’ve stayed friends? Seventy-nine percent, that was how many. It was less complicated and easier on the heartstrings not to try. It might work in romance novels, but in real life, things were different.

  But a girl could dream, right?

  Crease dropped a soft kiss on her hair. “What was that sigh for?”

  God, she was so obvious. She’d have to be more careful with her emotions. “Tired. It’s been a hectic week getting to this point.” She rubbed her cheek against his cotton shirt and closed her eyes. “I want to stay right here and sleep for a week.”

  *

  Crease knew the moment Alice fell asleep on his chest. Her breathing changed, her body slackened, and she melted against him. Now he could relax. He lifted his hand and stroked her hair from her cheek, tucked the wayward dark curls behind her ear. Such pretty little lobes with the sparkling diamond chip earrings he’d given her for graduation. She was finely put together. Alice had an almost fragile look about her, but there was nothing weak about this girl. She was all fire and passion, tucked away in a tiny body with a bubbly personality and a zest for life he longed to hang onto.

  He let his arm relax and she moved with it, her face more visible now. A trail of the most adorable freckles danced over her cheeks and the bridge of her nose, mostly buried under the black-framed glasses she wore. Crease pulled them off her nose and she screwed up her face. He placed them on the table and went back to taking in every detail of her face. He would miss her when she left for Seattle, perhaps more than he thought.

  He could never understand back then why she turned him down when he attempted to date her. Sure, he’d been a bit brash and full of himself, but he’d thought to go after what he wanted with confidence and style. Little did he know then that his style had come across as annoying and overconfident.

  It’d taken a few more failures to make him see that he needed to change his ways. Now that he was more comfortable in his own skin, he wished he could go back and start again with Alice. There wasn’t anyone he thought more perfect for him than her.

  Crease was starting to drift off himself when Alice reached up, slid her hands around the back of his neck, and swooped in for a kiss that rivaled any he’d had before. Lips locked, her fingers toying with the curls hugging the back of his head, Alice hung on for dear life and there was no way he could pull away. Her lips were all-consuming, hypnotizing him, demanding he take all he wanted.

  A car backfiring out on the street startled her and she broke away. Crease stared at her, his mouth open and eyes wide as the heat colored her cheeks.

  “Oh, Crease, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over me. One minute I was dreaming about some hot guy and then… then…”

  He swallowed. Had he ruined everything by not pushing her away?

  She didn’t seem to notice his discomfort. “Then I was hanging onto you as if it was my only hope.” She snorted. A cross between a laugh and a cry. “Please don’t take it personally. I didn’t mean it.”

  His lips turned down and for a moment, and he debated telling her what he really thought.

  Reason took over and a laugh ripped from his lips. “The look on your face.” He roared again and Alice pulled away and tried to cover her humiliation by tidying her hair.

  “Funny, ha-ha. So glad I amuse you.” She straightened her shirt and went to stand but he grabbed her hand and pulled her back onto the couch.

  “Sorry. You make it so easy to tease you.” He pulled her close again. “So tell me, who was this hot guy you dream about? Anyone I know?”

  Alice huffed. “Bit hard to see his face, but he had red hair and was my height.”

  Liar, liar, pants on fire. Her eyes darted around the room as they did when she was hiding something from him. Who had shaken her up so much?

  On second thought, he didn’t want to know.

  “That sucks. Never mind. If you want a date, you know all the tricks of the trade now. You can have any man you want, Alice, my love.”

  She shrugged. “Don’t know if I want to date, to be honest. I still want my dream job and it’s not here, as much as I’m falling in love with the town. No point in getting involved with anyone and then leaving them pining for me. Besides, we’re supposed to be the item, remember?” She rested her head on his chest again.

  It was the champagne, Crease was sure of it. Every time they celebrated, it brought up things they’d both rather not deal with. “I swear I have to stop drinking this stuff. It confuses the issues in my head, and we can’t afford for that to happen.”

  “What would that do to our reputation if I started seeing someone under your nose?”

  The old fake relationship. He’d forgotten that for a moment. That kiss had blown it clean out of his mind. “True. It’s paying off too. I avoided dates tonight with the new crowd even though the hints came through thick and fast. Not sure if they understand it’s not ethical for me to date clients. We got more signups online and everyone thinks we’re so cute together. This is all working out well for us.”

  Alice chewed on her thumbnail until Crease flicked her hand.

  “Stop that. And before you squeal, you know you want me to break that habit.” He stared at her short nails and sighed, going back to the pretend dating conversation. “It’s not a big deal. Being such a big company, I bet they get loads of query letters.”

  He worried about her. He was the one who knew her better than anyone and understood the bouts of frustration that gripped her some days when doubt hung on her shoulders.

  “It is to me. I’ve put in so many applications to Zapper and I never hear anything. I don’t understand what I’m doing wrong. It’s like I’m not good enough for them.”

  He pushed her up and cupped her chin with his hand, running his thumb over her bottom lip. “Don’t ever think that. You know you’re perfect for them. You live and breathe data, and that’s what they’re built on. Look at the grades you got in college, for goodness’ sake. If that’s not good enough for Zapper, they don’t know what they’re doing. Seriously.”

  “I know you’re trying to make me feel better, and I do appreciate it. You know I do. I’m just having a moment because they haven’t replied – again!”

  Crease kissed her forehead and pulled her close. “Tell you what. Give it two more weeks. By then we should be seeing some results here from the data and the workshops, plus it will give you enough for a decent spreadsheet if you want to use it to show off. If it takes longer, so be it, although I can’t see it happening like that. But once you get your numbers, I’ll help with a new résumé and you can query them again. I wonder if we just need to apply the dating principles to your application to make it stand out more from the crowd?”

  She tilted her head back to meet his eyes and screwed her face up. “Really? You think that might help?”

  Crease shrugged. “What have we got to lose?”

  “You’re right. Absolutely nothing.”

  He nudged her off his knee. “I was also thinking of backing yourself in by finding common ground with people on sites like LinkedIn or Fiverr. You might be able to connect with other people that already work there or have in the past. Get some ideas of how to make your résumé stand out. Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want.” Crease shrugged. “Put yourself out there and see what comes back. Maybe word of mouth is the way to go. You have nothing to lose.”

  Her face lit up. “You’re right. I have a profile on LinkedIn, but I haven’t been very active. That might have to change.” She leaned in and kissed his cheek.
“Thank you, Crease. You always know what to say to make me feel better. I can find people who work at the company already and stalk them—but in a nice unstalkerish way, of course.” She winked at him over her shoulder as she walked away.

  Alice would know which LinkedIn members worked at Zapper within minutes once she put her mind to it. He was surprised she hadn’t already thought of it.

  But it was the least he could do, considering he felt guilty for dragging her to Marietta. “I think it’s time to hit the sack. The girls will be back in tomorrow afternoon to report in and see what you have to say, so we’re both going to be busy. I have a group of guys to see to first, plus a one-on-one with our most nervous client. It’s going to be a big day.”

  She stopped at her bedroom door and lifted her hands over her head, stretching out the kinks in her back. “Listen, about that kiss earlier.”

  Crease stood and patted her on the butt as he passed, nudging her to her own room. “Think nothing of it, Alice. I liked it. Night.” He wiggled his fingers and headed to his bedroom.

  He liked it! Well, that was a weird thing to say, but it might go some way to dismissing the guilt he felt. Deep down he wanted her to kiss him. He wanted way more, too, and this fake relationship was making it harder to keep his feelings to himself. The sooner they came clean to the town and she moved to Seattle, the better for his heart. Grumpy, he stumbled to bed.

  Chapter Seven

  The following morning Alice was already at her desk when Crease made it downstairs. The only way he knew she was already up were the dirty dishes in the kitchen sink and the coffeepot percolating. “You’re the early bird today.”

  She grinned. “I wanted to get a head start on those LinkedIn comments from last night. The way I figure it, if I don’t hurry up and make the effort, it’ll be too late. I’ll be an old lady looking for a retirement home instead of a job. No more dallying around. I need to make a move and do this.”

  Crease smiled and sat at his own desk. He brought up the latest profiles Alice had done and started reading them. Anything to keep himself focused and avoid thinking about her leaving.

  He was onto the second client’s data when Alice tapped her pen on the desk and nodded her head toward the door. “He looks like he’s about to run, Crease. Don’t let him go now that I’ve done his profile.”

  Nash Mitchell stood outside on the pavement, his Stetson in his hands, his face a mix of emotions.

  “Oh, crap.” Crease jumped up and strode outside to greet his client. “Nash. Come on in. I’ve been expecting you.”

  Nash ran his fingers around the brim of his hat and kept his gaze on the ground. “Look, Crease. I’m not sure this is going to work.”

  Crease put his hand on the man’s shoulder. “Let’s go down the road and grab a coffee. We can talk about it there if you’re more comfortable.”

  Nash nodded his head and stared at the pink and red hearts raining down the window. “Yeah, that might be best.” He slapped his hat on his head and hurried down the pavement as if being too close to anything remotely pink was going to bite him.

  Crease took big strides to keep up with him. He didn’t want to lose Nash as a client before he found him love. More because he hated to fail than the monetary side of things. “How are things out at the ranch? Keeping you busy, I guess?”

  “Yeah. Can’t complain.”

  Crease waved as they passed Sage’s chocolate shop. He’d stop and get some more of Alice’s favorite caramels on the way back if he had a chance. “Jethro tells me that the price of beef is going up every day. Guess that’s gotta make a difference to your bottom line.”

  “Makes up for the last year when things were a bit tough. Price of feed was up the year before, so this will help things along.” Nash paused outside the café. “Do you mind if we sit out here under the shade? Don’t want to go inside and have anyone’s ears flapping over our conversation.”

  “Sure. Whatever you’re comfortable with.” It was empty in the garden, and Crease followed his client to a corner table, feeling sorry for the man. “This is nice, actually, to get out of the office.”

  Nash put his hat on the ground and smoothed down his salt and pepper hair. “It’s going good for you then, this new venture?”

  “It is. We’ve had more signups than we thought we’d get. I’ve done my first group training for a group of ladies and we have the first men’s one today. Things are humming along nicely.” Crease ordered himself a coffee, waited until Nash placed his order and the waitress left them alone.

  “Tell me, did you give much thought to what we talked about?” Crease had laid out a brief plan for Nash to follow to help build his confidence and get him out in the public so he could meet people.

  “I’m trying, Crease. It’s hard, you know? This is not how I usually live.” He put his hands on the table. “I feel out of my element looking for women to date. Here I am, forty-eight years old and single. I have no idea how to approach a woman and I don’t like it.”

  Fair call. He heard that often. “Okay, tell me then, what do you feel comfortable doing in the public? What do you do know that involves people?”

  “You mean like coming to town, not at the ranch, right?”

  “Yes. Like today. What will you do before you go home? Groceries, fuel?”

  “Stop at the feed barn for cattle drench, the vet’s for an injection for my horse, and”—he dropped his head, looking at his hands—“stop at the library and swap my books.”

  Crease didn’t see that coming. “You like to read, Nash? What are you reading now?”

  “Taylor Sheehan has a book club going at the library. She’s the librarian now. Pa always said I was wasting my time with my nose in a book, but I don’t care. I enjoy reading and it gives me a break from ranch work. Nothing wrong with it in my mind.”

  “I totally agree. I love reading, and not because I had to read for my degree at college. You know our mom was an avid romance reader, right?” Crease had very fond memories of his mom and her books.

  Nash lifted his head and gave the first genuine smile that day. “No, I didn’t know that.”

  “Didn’t you ever wonder where I got my name from? It’s not very common.”

  They paused their conversation, accepted their coffees, and thanked the waitress.

  “She named me after one of her favorite Regency characters, Lord Crease of Cumberland.” He sipped his coffee and tried not to react to the startled look Nash gave him. “I’m the last the person who’d diss anyone for reading. I kept all of her books and still read them to this day. Seriously, I did. But I love espionage too. It’s fun to get lost in books. They take you on a journey you didn’t know you wanted to take.”

  Nash agreed and seemed to open up now that Crease had validated his hobby. “I don’t get to the library often, but now and then I manage a night off. I enjoy talking about the story and listening to what other people thought of the book too. No good trying to discuss it with Pa or Leroy. They don’t read anything but the paper.”

  “Now that’s the kind of feedback I wanted to hear from you. Okay, so here’s what you’re going to do. Remember we discussed how you need to speak to more people to widen your circle? Alice thinks the perfect place for you to find your partner is somewhere quiet and cultured. Forget the hotel. Library, movies, musicals, or recitals are more your thing. Even opera—there isn’t much scope for that in Marietta but you could always make the trip to Bozeman if necessary. I hear they have local productions every now and then. I want you to talk to every single person in the book club meeting next time you meet. When’s that likely to happen?”

  “Tomorrow night.”

  “Good. Stick with the simple and short questions. Ask about parts of the book you enjoyed or found a bit controversial. Pretty sure you do that kind of thing anyway. Compliment men and women, and remember to grow your circle. Nobody said it will happen overnight, but if you don’t put yourself out there, you won’t find the woman of your dreams. You can d
o this, Nash. I have faith in you.”

  Nash snorted. “More than I do. Feel like a pretentious old fool if you want to know the truth.”

  “But you want someone to call your own, too. You have to work out what you want most. A partner or a solitary life. Simple as that.”

  “Been a bachelor for far too long for my liking. Sick of talking to my stupid brother every night, listening to him moan about every silly little thing.”

  “You guys still share a bunkhouse?”

  Nash shook his head. “No. He’s still in there. I moved into the big house once Pa got bad. He’s close to going to the nursing home. I’ll stay there, don’t want to leave it empty and sure as heck don’t want to share quarters with my annoying brother.”

  “Must be quite lonely not having someone special of your own.” Crease watched the emotions running through the other man’s eyes. He had to help him find a soul mate. It was why he was in Marietta, and something about Nash being so alone tugged at his heart. He could understand not having a significant female in his life because that was how Crease grew up. No mother or grandmother to guide him.

  “I guess.” He fiddled with the handle on his coffee cup. “Thing is, I like the quiet life too. Doubt I’m going to find anyone who wants to shut themselves off out there on that big old ranch.”

  So full of doubt. Crease couldn’t wait to see if Alice had it right with Nash, but she was rarely wrong. Hopefully, there was someone in Marietta who would fit the bill. “Now that, my friend, is where you’re wrong. I firmly believe there’s someone for everyone. You merely have to find them, and what better way than putting yourself out in public. Sorry to say, you won’t have ladies knocking down your door like the romance novels would have us believe. But, with the things I’ve told you and the profile Alice put together for you, I have every belief that you won’t be alone for too long.”

  Nash made a disparaging noise, but he didn’t put Crease off.