The Cowboy's Summer Love (15 page)

Seeing Brice’s pickup in the parking lot, Travis helped Stephie out of his pickup and got more of an eyeful of her than he wanted. Why some women thought the less clothing they wore the more attractive they looked was beyond him. It attracted a certain type of man, for sure, but not the kind they always claimed they were looking for. He thought the girl looked cheap and tacky. Travis much preferred women who left a little something to the imagination.

Like Tess. There was a wealth of imagining and possibilities in that beautiful package.

Dragging his thoughts from a direction they shouldn’t go, Travis tried to stay far enough away from Stephie that she couldn’t grab onto his arm. It required maneuvers that were nearly military in their precision and stealth. Although Stephie was barely five feet tall, he decided her arms must be able to stretch to twice that length.

Going in the door of the restaurant, Travis looked around and spotted Brice sitting at a booth with a brunette across from him. If he didn’t know better, that rich, curly hair could belong on Tess’ lovely head.

Walking up to the booth, he nearly pushed Stephie at Brice when he stood up and greeted them. Stephie slid in the booth and turned a pouting face to Travis when Brice sat down beside her. Travis looked down into the shocked face of Tess and tried to hide his own surprise. She slid over to allow him to sit down. In fact, she slid so far over, he wondered how she could move, pressed against the wall like she was. This was ridiculous and he couldn’t wait to get Brice alone to find out what, exactly, he thought he was doing.

“Tess, this is Stephie. Stephie, this is my sister, Tess. She and Travis go way back,” Brice said, introducing the two women.

If Tess could have landed a kick on Brice’s shin with accuracy, she would have nailed him under the table. As it was, she heard him grunt and frown at Travis.

Looking at Travis, she realized he was recovering from the shock of seeing her as well. She was curious as to what her brother was plotting. When they sat down, he never mentioned having a date for dinner. And she found it quite strange that the date arrived with Travis. She thought she recognized the blond as one of the girls who’d been mooning after Travis for the last month or so, following him to every race and rodeo.

Suddenly, she wondered if Brice didn’t have something to do with that as well. How else would they know every place Travis was going to be unless someone was keeping them informed? Someone like Brice.

Narrowing her gaze, she caught his attention and gave him a look that made him squirm in his seat. Good. Let him stew for a while. She’d deal with him later.

Right now, she had to make it through this meal sitting next to Travis. She could smell his spicy aftershave and his unique manly scent. Out of the corner of her eye, she admired his square jaw and broad shoulders. The bright blue shirt he was wearing brought out the color in his eyes, but there was a lingering sadness about him. She wanted to reach out and take his hand, but kept hers firmly clasped in her lap.

“I’ve heard the pasta is really good.  Anyone planning to try the spaghetti?” Brice asked, trying to break through the tension surrounding the table.

“I can’t eat pasta and keep my figure. Maybe Tess will try it,” Stephie said with a haughty look Tess’ direction.

Tess repressed a sigh along with the desire to dump her iced tea down the front of the cracker-eating bottle-blonde across the table.

“I’m more of a steak girl, myself,” Tess said with a forced smile. If Brice thought this girl was serious dating material, she was going to have to smack him enough times to get his head back on straight.

“A woman after my own heart,” Travis said, smiling at Tess as he looked over the top of the menu in his hand.

“Well, maybe I should try the steak, too,” Stephie said, gazing in adoration at Travis.

Tess swallowed down an unladylike snort. If Stephie ate a steak, they’d have to take her to the hospital to have that skin-tight dress surgically removed before it cut off all circulation.

Travis must have sensed her thoughts, because he smirked and sent her a wink.

They suffered through dinner with Brice carrying most of the conversation. As soon as the check arrived, Brice said he’d take care of it, grabbed Stephie’s hand and dragged her out the door despite her protests to go home with Travis.

“Well, that was fun, wasn’t it?” Travis said, shifting to the other side of the booth so he could look at Tess while they talked.

“I think a root canal would qualify as more fun than that,” Tess said with the first real smile Travis had seen all evening. “When I get my hands on Brice…”

“You’ll have to get in line behind me,” Travis said, shaking his head. “When he asked me to pick up blondie and bring her in for this date, I thought he was nuts. I had to sit in the truck and listen to that annoying voice all the way here. And she doesn’t know how to keep her hands to herself. I can tell you right now, she is no lady.”

Tess laughed. “You mean you didn’t bring her on a date? You picked her up for Brice? What was in it for you?”

“Brice told me I needed to get out more and he had a date lined up for me this evening. I guess he didn’t mention that to you either,” Travis said, thinking that Brice really was a good friend. The one person he wanted to see more than anyone was sitting across from him, laughing and smiling.

“That Brice. He means well. At least I try to convince myself he does,” Tess said, toying with her glass of iced tea.

“Does this remind you of anything,” Travis asked, leaning back in the seat and feeling relaxed for the first time in days.

Tess looked at him and they both said “the prom.”

Since no one asked her to the senior prom, Tess decided she would stay home. Her mother insisted she go and then told Brice he had to take her. Tess was convinced going with her younger brother would be a fate worse than death, but her mother wouldn’t take no for an answer.

When Brice and Tess arrived at the prom, the girl Brice had a huge crush on was there with Travis. Somehow, during the course of the evening, Brice ended up leaving with the girl and Travis spent the entire time dancing with Tess. Taking her home, she remembered how special he made her feel when he placed his hand on her cheek before giving her a soft kiss.

Travis remembered that night and how beautiful Tess looked in a dark red dress. He wanted to ask her to go with him to the prom, but was afraid she’d say no. When he heard Brice complaining that his mom was forcing him to take Tess, Travis immediately asked out the girl he knew Brice liked, planning to switch dates at the prom. That time, it worked perfectly.

After the dance, Travis drove Tess out to a ridge where they liked to ride their horses and they sat talking until it was past their curfew. He took her home, walked her to the door and gave her a quick kiss, afraid of who might be watching.

Now, sitting in the restaurant booth, laughing at the memory, Travis wished he would have just asked her to the dance and had the guts to kiss her the way he wanted to back then. The way he still wanted to kiss her.

“Do you think Brice really likes that girl?” Tess finally asked, dragging herself out of her musings of the past. She remembered thinking how lucky she was Brice left with Travis’ prom date and she got him to herself for the evening. When he gave her a quick kiss goodnight, she was over the moon. The only thing that could have made it better was if he had kissed her the way she always dreamed he would.

The way he had the other night at the fishing hole.

“I certainly hope not. She’s not someone I want to spend time around. I can’t really see Brice liking her long term, either,” Travis said.

They visited for another hour before Tess looked at her watch and gasped at the time.

“I really need to get home. I’ve got an early appointment in the morning,” Tess said, sliding out of the booth. Travis left a hefty tip on the table, settled his hat on his head and took Tess’ hand in his. She didn’t pull away, so he assumed that was a good sign.

Opening the pickup door for her, he helped her in then ran around to the driver’s side.

“Where to honeybee?” he asked, a wicked twinkle in his eye.

She cocked an eyebrow at him, but couldn’t contain her smile. She loved it when he called her honeybee.

“I think you know the place well,” she said, rattling off Denni’s address.

Travis started to drive out of the parking lot then slammed on the brakes.

“You’ve been hiding out at my mom’s house?” he asked, his eyes shooting hot blue sparks her direction.

“I haven’t been hiding. I just needed to be here in town for a while,” Tess said, digging in her purse for some imaginary item she couldn’t find.

“Well, isn’t that just dandy,” Travis said, shifting the truck into gear and driving to Denni’s. “Who else knew you were here?”

“Just Cady, maybe Lindsay.”

“So all you women have turned against me,” Travis said, giving Tess a wounded look. “You females stick together, don’t you?”

“Absolutely, and don’t forget it,” Tess said as he pulled up at the door and turned off the engine. She would have gotten out and run inside, but she knew he’d want to come in to see his mom.

Travis hurried around the truck and opened the door for her, taking her hand in his. Giving a quick knock to his mother’s front door, he opened it and escorted Tess inside.

“Denni, I’m home. I brought a friend along,” Tess called as she set her purse down.

Denni came out of the kitchen and beamed when she saw Travis. “Baby, what are you doing here?”

“Hi, Mama,” Travis said, kissing her cheek. “Brice lost his marbles, so I brought Tess home.”

“Lost his marbles, huh?” Denni said, sitting down on the couch and pulling Travis down beside her. “Sounds like another young man I know.”

“You must be referring to Trent,” Travis teased. Denni slapped his leg and smiled.

“You know who I mean. Now, tell me all about the new restaurant. Was the food good? What’s it like inside?”

Travis and Tess talked about the food, the service and the atmosphere. Tess started to yawn, so Travis got up and walked to the door. He gave Denni a kiss and a hug then asked Tess to walk out with him.

She did, clasping her hands around her arms, to keep Travis from holding them again. She didn’t think she could maintain her defenses if he intertwined their fingers one more time. Their hands fit so perfectly together, she didn’t want to think about not holding his forever.

“Thanks for bringing me home, Trav. I appreciate it,” Tess said walking him around to the driver’s side of the truck.

“Thanks for letting me,” Travis said, shoving his hands in his pockets to keep from touching her. “I, um, I’m glad to know you’re here with Mom. I was worried about you.”

“I appreciate that, but no need to worry about me. You know I’m tough and I can take care of myself,” Tess said, trying to tease a smile out of him.

“I know you can, but I still worry about you. And miss you.” Travis took her hand, kissing the palm before jumping in his truck and leaving her standing in the street, watching him drive away.

Why did he have to make it so hard to let him go?

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Brice talked Tess into going with him to the Triple T to help ride through the herds, making sure the cattle were doing fine in their summer pastures. He knew she wouldn’t say no because she loved any excuse to ride.

Arriving right after breakfast, Tess and Brice unloaded their horses from the horse trailer and joined the Triple T hands as well as the three Thompson brothers for the morning’s work.