“At my cabin on Lake Buchanan,” he said carefully.
She looked around at the rural setting. “I thought we’d be going to something like a diner in Austin.”
“My omelettes are much better.”
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the crisp, clear air. “This is much nicer. No rowdy teenagers. No smokers in the next booth.”
“I’m glad you like it. The view is beautiful during the day.” Not that he’d bring her back here to see it, he reminded himself. Again, he felt a hollow ache when he realized he and Amy wouldn’t be dating. “My uncle used to bring me here when I was a kid. I bought it from him when he couldn’t keep it up any longer.”
“You’re a very nice man,” she said, her voice soft and throaty in the quiet, cold night.
Chills ran up his spine, but had nothing to do with the weather and everything to do with the woman standing before him. “Thank you, but my motives were also selfish. I love coming here to relax.”
Amy shrugged, hugging her arms around her. “Well, since I need to find another compliment you’ll accept, I could also mention that you’re a good dancer.”
“That one I’ll take, on the condition I have an equally talented partner,” he said, slipping his hand beneath her elbow as he guided her toward the cabin. “I’m also a damn good cook.”
“I’ll be the judge of that,” she said just before her tummy rumbled again.
Chapter Three
Amy watched the pale streak of lavender widen and turn to dusky pink as Gray pulled his Lexus to a stop in front of her house. Her brain told her she was a fully grown woman with every right to come home whenever she chose, but the little girl who’d grown up in Ranger Springs whispered that she was going to get in trouble. She half expected to see her father come out of the clinic with a cup of coffee in one hand and a disapproving frown on his face.
Not now, she reminded herself. As long as she was out “finding herself a man,” he’d probably offer them both a cup of coffee, a big grin on his lined, dear face.
“We managed to make a night and a morning of it,” she said softly after he’d turned off the engine and the quiet of dawn surrounded them. Omelettes had turned into coffee and more conversation in the cozy cabin, until suddenly they’d both realized the drive back to Ranger Springs was well over an hour—and dawn was approaching.
“Are you sorry?”
“No, not at all. I had a wonderful time.”
He reached for her hand and Amy’s heart began to race. “I’ve never taken anyone there before.”
“Then I’m honored.”
“I can’t take you there again.”
“I know,” she whispered. She actually felt an ache in the region of her heart, but she knew the condition wasn’t medical. No, this was much more emotional. Too emotional for either of them.
“I’ve told you my rule against dating anyone twice, but when I’m alone with you, the restriction sounds foolish.”
“It’s your life, Gray. You have to make your own rules.”
His fingers caressed the back of her hand. “But that’s just it, Amy. As far as my personal life goes, I feel like I’m not making my own rules. I’m marching to the drums of a certain two ladies.”
Amy smiled. She knew exactly what he meant. Her father was insistent, but she could tell him no. She didn’t have to worry about acceptance. Even if she didn’t settle down, her dad would still love her. Gray obviously wanted social acceptance, and wasn’t sure how his refusal to cooperate with Thelma and Joyce would be perceived by the citizens of Ranger Springs.
“Thelma and Joyce can be quite demanding,” Amy sympathized.
“Don’t I know it,” Gray said, shaking his head. “Sometimes I wish…”
“What?”
He paused, and she wondered if he would answer. Perhaps she shouldn’t have asked, but he was so easy to talk to.
“That I’d never put myself out there as someone looking for a date,” he finally said. “This all started when I needed to attend a function in San Antonio and made an innocent comment about being too busy with my business to ask anyone. Before I knew it, my social calendar was posted on the courthouse wall.”
Amy laughed at his exaggeration. “We don’t have a courthouse.”
“Then they probably had it printed as an insert to the menu at the Four Square Café. That seems to be where they do most of their plotting.”
Amy silently agreed. The local café had been a meeting place for two generations. “You make them sound diabolical.”
Gray shook his head. “No, really, they’re sweet, wonderful ladies. They’ve just taken me on as their favorite cause.”
“Well, now that I’m back in town, perhaps they’ll ease up on you. My father will no doubt be looking all over the place for someone to marry his little girl. I’m sure he’ll get Thelma and Joyce to help him.”
Amy didn’t mention that they’d probably already discussed her and Gray in the context of happily-ever-after. Gray apparently hadn’t taken their one date to that next, albeit huge, step. She wasn’t about to bring up that subject! Perhaps in this one case, ignorance of the degree of matchmaking was bliss.
Gray assumed a serious expression and brought her hand to his lips. “My sympathies,” he said, perfectly deadpan.
Amy laughed until tears came to her eyes. “Oh, Gray, you really are the perfect blind date. No wonder those ladies are so good at fixing you up.”
“I’m going to have to do something soon, because after tonight, no other date will measure up.”
Amy broke eye contact, embarrassed at his praise, even if he did tend to exaggerate. “Thank you. The feeling is mutual.”
Out on the road, a noisy truck rolled past. Amy glanced over her shoulder, then groaned as the vehicle slowed to a stop. Joyce’s nephew, Lester Boggs, peered through the rosy dawn at Gray’s Lexus. Even from a distance of several dozen yards, she imagined she could see his pig eyes squinting to see inside the car.
“We’ve been caught,” she whispered, turning back to Gray as the old pickup slowly rumbled past. Lester worked at the feed store. By lunchtime, everyone would know Gray was parked in her driveway at dawn.
Gray watched the truck drive away, his expression thoughtful. Pensive. She wondered what he might be thinking. Did he resent being “caught” in her driveway? Was he worried about his own reputation?
“Want to really give them something to talk about?” he finally asked.
“No!” Besides, Lester was already gone.
“You’re right. Kissing you would be a bad idea.”
Her eyes widened, her heart thumped in her chest, as he leaned closer. “A terrible idea.”
“One of the worst ones I’ve had in the past twelve hours or so.”
“You’re so right,” she barely managed to whisper before his lips covered hers.
She’d been kissed before. Dozens of times. Perhaps never under just these circumstances, though. That might account for the way her heart was racing, the way her mind spun out of control as his lips sealed over hers and his tongue swirled with wicked, dark promises. Or maybe she was just exhausted. That might account for how she felt dizzy and short of breath. But all she knew for sure was that kissing Grayson Phillips was the most exciting, the most risky, event