A dance? She nearly dropped the clipboard.
“With me, of course.” He raked a hand through his sandy-colored hair. “I mean, the other guys are goin’, too, but I want you to be my date.”
Bri cleared her throat. “I don’t think so.”
“You already have a date?”
“No, I won’t be going.”
Chuck drew his head back in surprise. “Everyone’s goin’. The dance is a big deal in Bridle.”
“I don’t like to dance,” she murmured as she ran a finger down the list of inventory items.
“Why not?”
“You won’t eat beets.”
He blinked. “So?”
“Well, why not?”
Chuck scratched his head and then set his hat back on. “Darlin’, there ain’t one blessed thing that dancin’ and beets have in common. And that’s a fact.”
Bri sighed and shook her head. So he was cute. Just not the sharpest tool in the shed. “Thank you for asking. But I won’t be going.”
“Come on, Brianna. Don’t say no yet. Think about it. The prettiest girl in the whole dang county can’t sit out the dance. It ain’t right.”
She blushed and bowed her head. “Get out of here and let me get my work done, or I won’t be going anywhere.”
“So, you’ll think about it?”
She still wouldn’t look up, but she heard the grin in his voice. “Goodbye, Chuck.”
“I’ll take that as a maybe.” He laughed. “See you later, darlin’.”
She kept her gaze on the clipboard until she was sure he’d left the stables, and then she sagged against the pole, tempted to slide down and crawl into a ball in the hay. It wasn’t bad enough that she had doubts about her place here at the Flying Ace, but others were talking about it, too.
Maybe she should go to the dance. Start circulating. Meet other ranchers. She’d learned enough about the business in the past year that she could get a job at another ranch. Bridle was a small, tight community, and the odds of a position being open were slim, but there were neighboring communities, and around here everything was done by word of mouth.
But a dance? The thought made her shudder.
Aunt Elaine hadn’t believed in any situation that allowed a boy and girl to get that close, and had forbidden Bri from attending any of the high-school dances. She’d snuck out once, on the pretense of going to the library, but the evening had been a nightmare.
Her clothes had been all wrong. She’d been woefully ignorant of the latest dance steps. Not that she’d been all that familiar with the old ones. All she knew was that dancing was not her cup of tea.
The clipboard slipped from her fingers and fell into the hay. She bent to retrieve it and when she came back up, she saw Rafe standing near the rear door. Not looking as if he’d just arrived.
Her pulse picked up speed and her hand automatically went to her hair. Her ponytail was a mess. “What are you doing here?”
His gaze followed the path Chuck had taken out of the stables. “I thought you had work to do.”
“I do. I—” She didn’t answer to him. “I thought you were going to the Desert Rose.”
“I’m taking one of the horses.”
She hid a smile, unable to picture him driving the pickup she’d offered. Even in jeans, a chambray shirt and boots, he looked different from the other guys around Bridle. More sophisticated. Worldly. Exotic.
Definitely more attractive.
No one else gave her that funny flutter in her tummy.
“Is everything all right?” He narrowed his gaze and then again looked toward the door by which Chuck had left.
“Fine.” She wondered how much he’d heard. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
“A woman such as yourself has many admirers. Sometimes their attention can seem overwhelming.”
“Admirers?” Her cheeks burned and she hugged the clipboard to her chest. “Don’t be silly.”
He frowned slightly. “You must not take these young men’s intentions lightly.”
Intentions? She wasn’t going to ask. “Help yourself to any of the horses. Cord favors Lightning, the tan gelding, when his horse is being groomed.”
Rafe stared at her, his dark eyes intense and probing, making her want to confess to sins she hadn’t even committed.
“I have to get back to work,” she said, and turned away from him. Nothing on the paper attached to the clipboard made sense anymore, but it gave her something to focus on.
“Brianna?”
“I’ll have something made for lunch around one. If I’m not around, check the refrigerator.”
He touched her arm and she stiffened. “Why are you so uneasy around me?”
“I’m not.” Heat climbed her neck, and when he urged her to turn around, she lowered her lashes.
“What am I to think but that Aliah has said unkind things about me?”
“That’s not true.” Her gaze flew to his face and she saw the amusement he couldn’t quite hide. “Okay, so you make me a little nervous. I don’t know why. Probably because I’d never met a sheikh before.”
“Now that you have, am I so different than any other man?”
“I guess not,” she said, lying through her teeth. He was different, all right. Taller, darker, more self-assured than any of the guys she knew. And when he smiled. Lord help her. Maybe it was a good thing he didn’t smile all that often.
“Tell me, who was that young man with whom you were speaking?”
“Chuck Williams. He works here.” She narrowed her gaze. “Why?”
“In your brother’s absence, I hope you feel free to come to me if you have any problems.”
She stared at him in disbelief. “I thought you said Cord was only teasing about asking you to watch over me?”
“I am an older brother. I would want someone to take care of Aliah in my absence. In effect, now that she has married, I have handed her over to Cord. It is not unusual for a brother to—”
She made a most unladylike sound of frustration, and then clamped her mouth shut when she realized what she’d done.
His eyebrows drew together in a slight frown. “You are upset.”
“Not really.” Embarrassed was more like it. Aunt Elaine would be mortified and furious at Bri’s manners. Of course, since leaving New Hampshire, Bri had changed in a lot of ways. Thanks to Cord, she had more freedom than she’d ever dreamed possible. “It’s just that—” She shook her head. “It’s not important. I apologize for overreacting.”
He stared at her, his dark eyes searching, and for a moment she feared he wouldn’t let the matter drop. Not that she had any intention of discussing the importance of her newfound independence. Such as it was. Here at the Flying Ace the crippling shyness that had stunted her social life seemed to ease. She felt safe here. At peace. But if she had to venture out into the world again…
She couldn’t even finish the thought.
“No need for an apology, I assure you.”
“You’re