* * *
DYLAN WALKED OUT the front door of the Circle M Ranch house, still contemplating the counsel from Shane McCabe.
As much as he hated having others meddle in his business, Emily’s father was right.
Emily might think she was a free spirit, but she was also vulnerable and traditional to the core.
A wild affair would never make her happy. Nor would deceiving her loved ones.
Not in the long term.
And for some reason he couldn’t figure, Dylan wanted to see the pretty brunette happy.
Which made what came next all the more unpalatable.
Striding toward Dylan, his arms full of Cowtown Diner goodies, was Xavier Shillingsworth. The teen flashed a pretentious smile his way. “Going the wrong way there, aren’t you, fella?”
There was no denying the snide undertone in his words. Or the resentment in Xavier’s gaze. Dylan paused on the wide front steps of the rustic fieldstone and cedar ranch house. He did not bother to smile back. “Excuse me?”
“Hired help comes and goes from the back, right?” Xavier sneered. “So...you should have gone in and out the back entrance.”
Dylan had suffered the taunts of the snotty rich from boyhood on. He knew he should let it go, straighten the brim of his hat, ignore the little twerp and keep moving. Yet something about the guy, and the situation, had him returning equably, “Ranchers go in the front.”
“And here I thought you were just another cowboy,” Xavier said, as Emily and her mother drove up in their respective vehicles.
Looking gorgeous and ready for a night out on the town, Emily was first to emerge.
Xavier shifted the stack of Cowtown Diner memorabilia in his arms and turned to face Emily. “Going to be joining us for dinner this evening?”
“Uh, no,” Emily murmured, appearing not the least bit disappointed about that.
Bypassing the teen completely, Emily walked up to Dylan and looked him straight in the eye. “May I have a word with you?”
Figuring he’d find out sooner than later why the feisty heiress was so piqued, Dylan shrugged. “Sure.” He ambled down the steps alongside Emily, as Greta McCabe emerged from her Mercedes.
“Nice to see you, Dylan,” Greta said pleasantly.
He briefly removed his hat in a gesture of respect. “Nice to see you, Mrs. McCabe.”
“Perhaps you’d like to join us for dinner this evening, Dylan?” Greta continued pleasantly. “Emily? You, too?”
Emily perked up.
Xavier looked totally ticked off.
Which in Dylan’s view, made it all worth it. “Don’t mind if I do,” he told Greta. It wouldn’t be the first time he had dined with the Laramie, Texas elite, but it would definitely be the most satisfying.
“Mind telling me what’s going on around here?” Emily asked, the moment her mother and Xavier Shillingsworth had disappeared inside the house, and shut the door behind them.
Dylan was getting a little tired of being a bit player in the McCabe family drama. He lounged against the rail edging the porch steps and folded his arms in front of him. “You’re going to have to be more specific if you want me to answer that.”
Emily wrapped her hand around his biceps and led him down the steps, across the yard, into the shade. “Fine. You want to cut to the chase, we’ll cut right to the chase.” She glared at him. “I heard you had a meeting with my father.”
Man, she had a temper! Dylan couldn’t help but grin. “Spies everywhere, hmm?” he teased.
Emily regarded him with greatly exaggerated patience. “My mother mentioned it in passing.”
Dylan clapped a hand over his heart, mimicking her damsel-on-high-alert attitude. “Then it was top secret!”
“I’m serious.” Emily stomped closer, the delicate daffodil scent of her freshly washed hair and skin teasing his senses. She’d changed out of her casual work clothes and slipped into a sexy lavender dress that clung nicely to her curves.
His eyes drifted to her feet. Instead of the usual boots, she had on a pair of open-toed sandals, perfect for the warm spring weather.
“What did he say to you?”
Lifting his gaze, Dylan resisted the urge to touch the silky dark strands spilling loosely over her slender shoulders. Instead, he concentrated on the determined pout of her soft, sensual lips before returning his attention to her eyes. “And this is your business because...?”
She tilted her head in a discerning manner. “I know it was about me.”
“Or...” He sidestepped the direct inquiry by producing the check from his shirt pocket. He waved it in front of her, like a matador taunting a bull. “Perhaps it was about...this?”
Emily exhaled loudly. “I know that’s what it was about officially, dummy.” Her pretty chin jutted out. “I also know he would not have missed an opportunity to privately tell you what he tells all the men I’m interested in.”
Dylan liked being lumped in with her other discarded suitors about as much as he liked being interrogated. He blinked in feigned surprise. “You’re interested in me?”
A flash of amusement sparkled in her eyes, then disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. “Ostensibly,” Emily admitted. “Not really.”
Dylan told himself that was irritation—not disappointment—he was feeling.
Emily paused and appeared to do a double take. “Are you interested in me?”
It was his turn to regard her with a droll expression. “What do you think?” he asked in a smart-alecky tone.
Her delicate dark eyebrows lifted. “That you are without a doubt the most infuriating man I have ever met.”
Dylan noted she had enunciated every word with perfect clarity. He lifted his hat in salute and resettled it on his head. “Thank you.”
Emily harrumphed. “It’s nothing to be proud of.”
“Maybe not in your opinion,” Dylan murmured, aware he was enjoying matching wits and wills with her more than he had enjoyed anything in a long time.
Emily shook her head as if that would get her back on track. “So, why are you suddenly so eager to have dinner with me and my family?”
Good question. It couldn’t be because he had started to feel protective of Emily, could it? He knew better than that. Rich heiresses were not allowed to fall for guys like him. And even if they bucked all propriety and followed their hearts, the misguided affair had little hope of lasting, because of family influence. In their case, they’d have to contend with Shane McCabe and all three of her overbearing brothers.
Aware she was still waiting for an explanation, Dylan said casually, “Maybe I’m in need of a good evening meal?”
“And maybe you’re trying to get under my skin?”
“Always an unexpected bonus.”
Silence fell between them.
Emily continued to study him beneath the fringe of dark lashes. “So you’re not going to tell me what my dad said to you in private?” she said eventually.
And give her even more reason to rebel against her family? For both their sakes, Dylan checked his own desire. “No.” He offered her his arm.