After the Storm: Clean Historical Western Cowboy Romance Novel (Dawson Chronicles Book 2) (7 page)

              “Thanks, Polly.  I’ll go put these in Ma’s office so they’re out of your way,” Renee said, hurrying off.

              Tim waited outside of Delaney’s for Renee, anticipation at seeing her again making him antsy.  He hadn’t talked to her since they’d gone to the Howler and he was anxious about her reaction to his remarks.  Then he saw her striding in his direction and he was mesmerized by her.  He walked towards her, smiling.

              “Fancy meeting you here, Miss Keller,” he said.

              She took the arm he offered her.  “Yes, what a strange coincidence.  I received a gorgeous arrangement of roses from someone with the initials of T.D.  I can’t imagine who that would be, can you?”

              “Doesn’t ring a bell, but as long as you’re here, will you do me the honor of dining with me?” he asked, glad to see that she was as playful with him as usual.

              He opened the door for her and they entered the restaurant.  She removed her coat, revealing a sapphire-blue dress that molded to her hourglass figure.  Tim looked at her so intently that he kept missing the hook on the coatrack as he tried to hang up her coat.  Finally, he paid attention to what he was doing and succeeded.

              They chose a table and he seated her.

              “I understand that congratulations are in order,” Tim said.  “I heard that you found an apartment.”

              “You must have talked to Sawyer,” she said, taking in how handsome he was in his black suit.  He was freshly shaven and his hair was nicely styled. 

              “Yeah.  I stopped in to see if he had some pictures developed that I had him to take,” Tim said.  “You look stunning, Renee.”

              Normally, she took compliments like that in stride, but for some reason, Tim’s flattering remark made her blush a little.  “Thank you.  And you look dashing.”

              He grinned.  “Thanks.  I’m glad you approve.”

              “I certainly do.  How is Kyle?  I’m sure you’re all so glad to have him home,” she said.

              “We are and he’s all in one piece.  He’s happy to be home, of course, but I think it’s gonna take him a little time to get used to everything again.  He said he didn’t sleep much last night,” Tim said.

              “It has to be hard,” Renee said.  “He’s used to artillery fire all around him and sleeping in a trench and eating meat from a can.  It’s going to take some adjustment.  But with all of his family and friends helping him, he’ll be all right.”

              Their waitress arrived and they gave her their order.

              “You should come see him tomorrow night.  He’ll be glad to see you and you can meet Art,” Tim said.  “He’s a nice guy.  I think he’s a little overwhelmed.”

              Renee chuckled.  “It’s no wonder.  It’s a whole other world for him, too.”

              “Jasmine has a crush on him,” Tim said.  “She keeps making Hunter sit somewhere else so Art can sit by her.”

              “That’s so sweet,” Renee said.  “And so was you sending me flowers.  Thank you so much.”

              “You’re welcome.”

              Being with Tim was always so easy, just like it was that evening.  There were never any awkward silences and they had plenty to laugh about.  He never failed to ask about her day and he was genuinely interested.

              As they finished dessert, Renee asked, “Would you like to see my humble abode?”

              “I’d love to.”

*****

              Renee let them in.  “I didn’t think about it being dark in here.  Well, at least it’s empty so there’s nothing to trip over.  It won’t be a long tour since there’re only the three rooms and a tiny water closet.”

              “There’s enough moonlight,” he said.  “The kitchen is a decent size.”

              “Yes.  I was surprised.  I was expecting it to barely have enough room to turn around in,” she said.  “And there’s a pantry, too.  I know that’s probably not very important to you, but it is to me.”

              He smiled.  “It would be if I was moving into my own place.  You have to have somewhere to put food.”

              “You’d have to know how to cook first,” she said.

              “I know how to cook.  I asked Cora to show me some things.”

              “Really?  I didn’t know that.”

              Tim said, “I’ll cook for you sometime.”

              “I accept,” Renee said. 

              They finished looking around.

              “It’s a nice apartment, Renee.  I’ll be happy help you paint,” he said.

              “You’re full of surprises.  I didn’t know you know how to paint, either,” she said.

              “Yep.  Construction, painting, wallpapering, all kinds of stuff like that,” Tim said.  He held out a hand to her.  “May I have the honor of having the first dance in your new home with you?”

              “I’d be delighted,” Renee said, moving into his arms.

              It didn’t matter that there was no music as they waltzed around the small parlor.  They could imagine the music in their heads and she followed his lead.  Watching Renee’s beautiful face in the moonlight, Tim thought he’d never get tired of looking at her.  She was graceful and her lush body in his arms tantalized his senses.

              After what seemed an appropriate length of time for a song, Tim halted.  “Thanks for the dance, honey.”

              “Thank you,” she said.

              Their eyes met and held.  Tim tipped her chin up a little, dipping his head to brush his lips against hers.  She didn’t pull away from him, so he did it again, only a little firmer this time.  Her lips were even softer than they looked and tasted of the wine they’d drunk at dinner.  He put his arms around her waist, pulling her closer.

              No one had ever kissed Renee like Tim did, so softly, and it was incredibly seductive.  He coaxed and asked instead of demanding.  She put her arms around his neck and he tightened his hold on her a little.  Still, he silently asked and she answered in the affirmative by becoming slightly more aggressive.

              Tim let her set the pace, willing to follow where she led.  Even as the kiss deepened, he took his time, enjoying every second of what he hoped would be the first of many kisses they would share.  It was clear that Renee was a very experienced kisser, which didn’t bother Tim at all—except that he wanted to be the only man she kissed from now on.

              Slowly, he brought the kiss to an end and then just stood still.

              “Renee, can I tell you something?”  His voice had grown deeper with passion.

              “Of course,” she whispered, shaken.

              “That has to be the best first kiss I’ve ever had,” he said, opening his eyes.

              The smoky look in them set her pulse skipping along and she said, “Me, too.  I wasn’t expecting that.  I didn’t know what to expect, really, but not that.  I mean, I expected it to be good, but that was amazing, yes, amazing is a good word, or maybe powerful—I sound like Pa!”

              They laughed and Tim said, “Speaking of which.”

              She giggled while he grinned.

              “This isn’t meant to pressure you in any way, but I had a very nice conversation with your pa today and he said it would be all right if I dated you.  Like I said, I’m not forcing myself on you, I’m just letting you know that if you wanted to, there wouldn’t be an issue with your parents,” Tim said. 

              Renee couldn’t believe it at first, but then she remembered his comments about a man not letting anything stop him from seeing a woman if he was really interested in her.  He’d meant what he said, and he’d backed it up, too. 

              “You asked Pa for his permission to court me?”

              “That’s right.”

              She held his gaze.  “Why would you do that?”

              “Because you haven’t been out of my mind ever since we danced at Devon’s wedding.”

              Renee shook her head a little.  “Why didn’t you say anything?”

              “I’m not sure, really.  I think I wanted to get to know you better before I actually asked you out.  I guess I didn’t want there to be any pressure; you probably get that enough.  I wanted to be different than the other guys you’ve been out with,” he said.

              Tim was showing Renee that there was a whole other side to him besides the good-time cowboy.  “You certainly are different, and I mean that in a good way.  You’re always doing little things for me and you’re very gentlemanly.  And so much fun.  Of course all you Dwyers are, so I’m not surprised about that.”

              “Yeah, you’ve had enough adventures with Jr. and Skip,” Tim said.

              “I still can’t believe that Joey’s married,” she said.

              “Me, neither.”  He slid his arms around her waist again.  “So what do you think?  Would you like to be my little snuggle bunny?”

              “Snuggle bunny?” she asked, giggling.

              Tim grinned.  “It’s a little-known fact that snuggle bunny is an old Scottish term of endearment.”

              “Really?”

              “Really.  It’s from around 1680 or so.  Chester told me that a while back,” he said.

              “Snuggle bunny.  I like that.”  Renee wasn’t sure what to say.  “Can I think about it?”

              Tim was thrilled that she hadn’t said no.  He could be patient a while longer.  “Of course.  No pressure, remember?”

              “I remember.”

              “Well, I better get you home.  We both have work in the morning,” he said.  “How are those pillowcases coming along?”

              “Good,” she said, locking the door.

              It didn’t take long for him to drop Renee off and when he did, he only kissed her briefly, keeping things light and pressure-free.  He surprised himself by the level of restraint he was able to maintain around her.  Maybe it was just that he’d never cared about a woman so much.  He watched until she was inside before driving away, smiling as he relived their kiss.

*****

              “He wants me to be his snuggle bunny.”

              Marcus looked up from the newspaper article he was reading to see Renee closing the door to his office.  “Huh?”

              Renee had always felt comfortable talking to Marcus about anything.  He had a unique ability to put people to ease and he never gave the impression that he didn’t care.

              “Tim.  He asked me last night if I wanted to be his snuggle bunny.”

              Marcus laughed.  “I’ve never heard that expression.  It’s cute, though.”

              “He says it’s an old Scottish pet name.”

              “Ah.  I see,” Marcus said.  “And what did you say?”

              “That I’d think about it.”

              Her coy expression amused him.  “Playing hard to get, huh?”

              “No, not exactly.  I really did want to think about it a little.  He’s so different from other men.  He listens to me and he cares about what I think.”

              Marcus leaned back in his chair, propping his right ankle up on his opposite knee.  “That’s a good thing.  It shows that he really cares about you and that he’s not just lookin’ for a good time.”

              “What if I mess things up between us, Marcus?” Renee asked.  “I’m scared that I’ll lose him completely.”

              “Yeah, that’s a tough decision.  Trying to be both friends and lovers is hard unless your lover is also your best friend.  Like me and Claire,” he said.  “You’ll never know if you don’t take a risk.  Relationships can be risky, but in my opinion, you and Tim laid a little bit of a foundation, so it might not be as risky as two people who just start seeing each other romantically right away.”  He smiled.  “Do you
want
to be his snuggle bunny?”

              Renee giggled and blushed.  “Listen to me—and I hardly ever blush!”  She put her hands to her hot cheeks.

              Marcus’ warm laughter filled the office.  “I’d say that’s a yes.  Whenever a girl giggles and blushes, it means yes.”

              “He sent me the most beautiful red roses yesterday and he took me to dinner, too.”

              “Boy oh boy!  You better snap him up, girl.  Rope him and hog tie him before some other filly gets to him,” Marcus said.  “That’s what Seth would say.”

              She stomped her feet a little before getting up.  “I think I will!  Thanks, Marcus.  I don’t know what I’d do without you.” 

              “Anytime,” he said, smiling as she left.  “Snuggle bunny,” he mumbled and went back to reading his article.

*****

              On her lunch break, Renee popped in to see her mother.  They’d been working out their differences since the night they’d fought.