More Than A Cowboy Boxed Set

Chapter 2-2

I wasn’t out of the game that much to know he was fishing.

“I’m divorced,” I told him, making it clear, perhaps more to myself than Gray that Jack was long, long gone. I had every right to sit here with a hot guy and talk.

Gray knew he was caught and grinned sheepishly, little crinkles forming at the corners of his eyes. How could he look so forbidding and dangerous but be so… damn cute at the same time? “Good to know.”

I just looked at him, arched a brow.

“Oh, you’re waiting for me.” He pointed at himself, putting the fingers of his left hand on his chest, so I could see he wore no ring. “Single, never married.”

I nodded, reassured I wasn’t poaching on some woman’s territory. Not that I was doing any kind of poaching. I was having a conversation. That was all. I doubted he was going to grab me and press me up against the restaurant's wall for wild monkey s*x.

“Well?” He stretched his legs out in front of him as if he had all the time in the world. His doing this allowed me to notice how his jeans stretched taut over very muscular thighs. It was possible I could see an outline of his… oh crap.

Realizing I was ogling there, I looked up, his dark eyes held mine then roved over my face. Self-consciously, I smoothed down imaginary wrinkles in my yellow dress once again. I felt my cheeks heat. I hadn't checked out a guy's package in… well, forever.

“What am I looking for in a guy?” I repeated, trying to get my mind back on the conversation and out of the gutter. A personal trainer who dressed like a cowboy. You. I could totally be into you. Gray pushed every one of my hot buttons, but no way was I telling him that, for it would be mortifying to have it be officially one sided when he laughed at me and walked away.

“Yes.”

I gave a little shrug of indifference, my long hair shifting. I’d put clips in to hold it back from my face, but since my hair had never done anything I’d wanted of it my entire life, the soft waves were falling loose. “That’s easy. I’m not looking.”

It was the truth. I had no interest in finding a man. After Jack left town with his paralegal four years earlier, I’d been in single-mom mode. He’d not only divorced me but pretty much ditched his then-fourteen-year-old son as well. Dealing with Chris and his anger toward his father, high school, moving back in with my parents, college applications, life, work, I hadn’t lifted my head up to get some air let alone look around. Now, with Chris away for his first year of college, I had more time on my hands than I knew what to do with. I was, for the first time since I was nineteen, on my own. I was an empty nester, and that term meant old. Early bird specials and discount admission.

“Really?” He crossed his ankles. “I think you’re the only woman in the restaurant not on the prowl.”

“And Christy,” I added. My friend had prowled enough and found her man. “What about you?”

“I look,” he admitted. “I saw you, didn’t I?”

“You rescued me,” I countered. There was a big difference. Paul asked him to save me. He hadn’t sought me out on his own. Still, I could feel my cheeks flush, and I glanced away, uncomfortable with his words.

“I’m not looking either, but I’m not not looking as well.”

I paused, thought about that. “Surprisingly, I follow you.”

“Don’t you want your drink? It’s still pretty hot out.”

I glanced at the glass, the condensation beading and sliding down the sides. The air was still quite warm, even though it was well after eight. It was the throes of Indian summer, for the sharp bite of fall was usually in the air right about now.

“I don’t drink from glasses given to me by strangers.”

Oh my God. Had I said that out loud? I pinched my lips together, afraid something else horribly bad would pop out. I was a complete and total dumb-ass. I’d just baldly accused Gray, who’d only been nice to me, of drugging my drink with a date r**e drug.

Christy was right. I had zero skills in interacting with guys—I talked oysters with Bob/Bill, so maybe I was the dud not him—but too much experience with my job had made me jaded. I’d seen too much of the real world pass through the ER to make me wary, even in a small city like Brant Valley. It was a university town. Lots of twenty-somethings doing stupid things. Domestic violence. Car accidents. Drugs. Bad stuff happened everywhere. Besides, some people weren't nice. In fact, lots were downright cruel. I saw lives destroyed on a daily basis.

It had been almost twenty years since I’d dated. Hell, Jack and I had barely dated. We went from doing the whole college meet and hook-up thing to being surprise parents all in one year.

Regardless of my personal failings, I didn’t need to insult Gray, to think he’d do something awful just because it happened. I was such an i***t!

“Oh s**t,” I whispered. I shifted in my chair to face away from him. Tears burned the back of my eyes as the extent of my words sank in. He’d probably roll his eyes at how weird I was, consider me a psycho chick and leave. He could find a woman who offered a large amount of cleavage and a mile of exposed thigh who could have a normal conversation and wouldn’t think twice about accepting a drink from him.

“Hey. Hey, now,” Gray murmured, his tone almost soothing. “A beautiful woman like you is smart to have that rule.” I felt his fingers on my back, a gentle touch, and I startled.

I covered my face with my hand, willing him to go away. “I’m a little embarrassed over here,” I muttered. “I think my foot's still stuck in my mouth.”

A group of men, talking loud enough to indicate they’d had plenty to drink, came around the corner. I turned my head away even more, hoping none of them would notice me.

I heard Gray’s chair scrape on the concrete floor. “Hey, guys, find somewhere else to hang,” he said as he stood in front of me, his voice calm yet powerful. The men’s voices ceased immediately, and I had to turn and see what was going on. Gray stood and faced the group, hands on hips, shielding me from them. I couldn’t see his face, but the men didn’t argue, only stared at him for a moment and retreated with a, “Sure, dude. It's cool.”

I was able to take a brief moment and glance at Gray's butt, his broad shoulders, his entire back half I hadn’t been able to observe before. It was just as fine as his front.

Gray turned, glanced down at me, then pulled the chair back into place, although this time when he sat, he was several inches closer.

“Emory.” His voice made my name sound silky smooth.

I met his eyes. His head was c****d slightly to the side as if he were trying to read me. His dark eyes looked concerned yet didn’t lack in intensity.

“I’m sorry,” I admitted quickly, licking my lips which had suddenly become dry. “I'm such an i***t. I told you I don’t know how to do this.” My words were thick with emotion and extreme mortification.

“You were doing just fine.” He picked up the glass of water, took a big sip to prove he had no devious plans, then offered it to me. “Take the glass, Emory. It’s safe. I’m safe. I would never hurt you. I promise. But don't just take my word for it, ask Paul. Text him.”

“He gave me the thumbs-up sign, so I have to assume you’re not a dangerous criminal,” I replied.

“Dangerous, maybe, but not to you. Never with you. Text him later then, after the party. I want you to, so you aren’t afraid of me.”

Somehow, I knew he wasn’t as dangerous as he looked—tattoos, close cropped hair, scars. I was just naturally and ridiculously wary. If I were ever going to come out of my shell as Christy consistently prodded me about, I needed to start now. Gray wasn’t looking for something. Someone. He’d said as much. I’d seen him being friendly with Paul. He was just being friendly with me. I reached out and took the glass, our fingers brushing. The spark I felt at the slight touch had my eyes darting up to see if he felt it, too. For a brief moment, we both held the glass, the world around me focused solely on the smallest of connection.

“I’m not scared of you,” I told him, just before taking a sip of the cold water.

He c****d his brow and looked at me skeptically.

“Really, I’m not. Not scared, but you make me… nervous.” My fingers fidgeted, and I held my hand up to show him. “See?”

His look changed to one of surprise. “Nervous? Of me? Is it my boy-next-door good looks?” He knew he was intimidating and was mocking himself.

“Nervous enough to accuse you of Rufi-ing my drink.”

His broad smile had me smiling, too. How did he put me at ease when I should instead feel ridiculously embarrassed? “Can I have a chance to start over like you did?”

He nodded and crossed his blunt fingers over his chest. “Seems fair. We both get a redo.”

I took a deep breath, looked him straight in the eye and smiled. “Thank you, Gray, for the water.” I took a cold and refreshing sip. Stalled. He watched as I swallowed.

He cleared his throat. “You’re welcome.”

“How did you know I wasn’t drinking? Liquor, I mean.”

“The first time I saw you—I got here late because of a meeting—you were talking with the bartender. Pretty as a picture and making the guy smile. He nodded at something you said and made you a gin and tonic look-alike.”

That had been ten minutes or more before he came over and rescued me. Gray had been watching me longer than I’d thought. How had I missed seeing him earlier? He was impossible to miss; I responded to him in a way I'd never experienced before. It was almost visceral. Because of this... attraction, I didn’t know how to feel about that. Flattered?

“I had a glass of wine when I arrived, and I have to drive home,” I explained. “I’m somewhat of a lightweight, so I didn’t need any more. If I hold a glass of water, that really looks like just water, people ask me if I’m an alcoholic or they look at my stomach and wonder if I’m pregnant.”

His jaw clenched. “I stopped drinking when I was in training and never took it back up, but I don’t have people questioning me like that. Shitty double standard.”

I shrugged because there was nothing to add. It was a shitty double standard, but I was pleased to see he wasn’t happy about it. “Besides, if I drink too much at night, it’s hard to work out first thing in the morning.”

“You run?”

I rolled my eyes at the idea of running. As if. “Only if being chased.”

His eyes narrowed at the dark humor, clearly not amused. “The idea of you being followed is not funny.”

“Yeah, sorry,” I said, chagrined. Wow, he was protective, too. “No. I practice yoga.”

Interest lit his face. “Yoga? Really?”

I was waiting for him to say something about how flexible I was, but he didn’t.

“Yin? Vinyasa? Hot yoga?” he asked.

My mouth fell open, a little stunned he knew the various types. “You do yoga?”