“Going back to Twin Oaks?”
“Not sure. Maybe I need to unwind first.” She couldn’t tell him, but she needed to get back on the job and finish what she’d started that morning. Still, Trey was a good source of information, as well as every other amazing thing.
He pulled his cell from his back pocket, checked it, and then set it on the center console. “Fire’s winding down. They’ll let me know if they need me.”
“I’m sure you’ve got cattle to wash or something.”
“Wash?” He laughed hard again.
“Something cowboyish.” She loved to hear him laugh in his deep, melodic voice. If he got any hotter, she ought to hang up her spurs—if she’d had any—and go home where she was safe. Everything about him was so sensual that he bypassed her brain and went straight to her damp, hot core. And when he touched her, she was absolutely lost to her cowboy firefighter.
“How about I do something cowboyish like take you to lunch?”
As if to give her no chance to make an excuse not to accept his invitation, her stomach rumbled in loud need. She abruptly felt as if she hadn’t eaten in a week.
“Guess that’d be a yes.” He glanced at her and grinned, causing laugh lines to radiate from the corners of his eyes. “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse—”
“I thought we were done with that old joke,” she teased.
“Never. It’s a classic.”
“True.”
With his hand on the key to start the truck, he stopped and looked at her with a serious glint in his eyes. “You do real well in an emergency.”
“If not for the aftermath, huh?”
“You’re right there when it counts. You’re the one who saw Mama Cat rescuing her kittens. I doubt if I’d have seen them. Like everybody else, I was focused on the fire.”
“Thank you. Still, you’re the one who crawled under the house and pulled the babies out. That was very brave.”
“Thanks. Guess we make a good team.”
She nodded, feeling warmth well up in her as she basked in his praise and appreciation. “But that doesn’t mean I’m going to be roping cows with you.”
“Never know.” He grinned as he started his pickup, the big engine turning over with a loud growl. “Chuckwagon Café okay?”
“Perfect. I’d like to see the place where you got that great barbeque.”
“And taste more of it?” He pulled out of the clinic parking lot and headed down Wildcat Road toward town.
“Or something just as good.”
“No place better for pecan pie.”
“Yum.” She was being self-indulgent and knew it. Still, she deserved a little reward after such an arduous time in Wildcat Bluff. And—she had to admit—lunch would give her a perfect opportunity to extract more information from Trey. She simply had to keep her eye on the goal and not get distracted by extraneous male attributes. Well, maybe not extraneous, but definitely distracting.
In Old Town, Christmas lights twinkled in store windows, on street lamps, and amid green holly bushes with red berries in planters on the boardwalk. Waylon and Willie sang Christmas songs outdoors through a loud sound system. Cars filled most available parking spots and shoppers laughed as they hurried in and out of stores.
Misty could imagine Old Town looking much like a scene out of Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” if there was a bit of snow. Even a drought and heat wave hadn’t dispelled the allure of seasonal festivities. She couldn’t explain it, but she felt more warmth for Christmas now than she had in a long time.
A spot opened up and Trey parked in front of Adelia’s Delights. Misty noticed the “CLOSED” sign still hung on the door, as well as one on the door to Morning’s Glory. She hoped they hadn’t lost too much business because of the house fire.
Trey picked up his phone, got out, and started around the front of his truck, tucking his cell into his back pocket.
She realized he was going to open her door in his gentlemanly way again. She wasn’t used to that type of behavior, but she was learning she wasn’t used to the cowboy way. Still, she was much too accustomed to doing for herself to stop now. She opened her door as he drew near and stepped out. In her hurry, she forgot she was high off the ground and needed to use the running board. She touched nothing but empty air, lost her balance, and fell forward against his hard chest.
“Easy there.” Trey wrapped his arms around her and let her slide down the long length of his body.
She couldn’t have been more embarrassed about forgetting that extra step. She immediately tried to push back, but she ended up with her palms pressed against the hard muscles of his chest. He smelled of smoke, leather, and dry grass, almost as if he’d ridden straight out of an ancient Comanche camp.
“No need to rush.” He stroked large hands up and down her back. “You okay?”