Savage Cowboy (Whiskey Valley: Bryant Brothers)

His voice is husky. "You look beautiful, Amanda."

"Thank you," I stutter. "You look beautiful—I mean, handsome—too."

He just keeps smiling at me, and I gesture at the door. "Are you going to let me in?"

"Oh yeah," he says and pulls the door open for me. I get in, and he waits until I put the seatbelt on before he closes it behind me.

I watch as he walks around the truck and smiles at me through the windshield before getting in on the driver's side. He puts his left arm over the steering wheel and turns to me. "I'm not going to keep hiding this."

I shrug my shoulders. "It's one date, Chance."

He reaches across the console and grabs my clammy hand that's lying in my lap. He pulls it and wraps our hands around each other, letting it rest between us. “It's our first date. There's going to be more.”

His declaration has my heart racing the whole way into Jasper. It doesn’t take long to get there, and he holds my hand the whole entire way. He talks about the Double B Ranch and his brothers. It’s nice to hear about how close they are. Even though my brothers are overprotective, I’m close to them too. Guilt starts to rise up inside me. I know they’d be disappointed in me right now.

"So how did you become a bookstore owner?" he asks me, interrupting my thoughts.

I clear my throat. "When my mother passed a few years ago, my dad split the inheritance between my brothers and me. My brothers all reinvested into the family ranch, but my dad wouldn't let me. He knew my dreams, and he knew it didn't have anything to do with the ranch. So he encouraged me to use my part for the bookstore and the apartment."

I smile over at him. "It's probably the best thing I've ever done."

He looks at me skeptically. "I'm surprised a little bit. Your dad seems really protective of you. I figured he would want to keep you close."

I nod. "I was a little surprised, too, but he knew I wasn't happy. And I mean, let's face it. The bookstore's ten minutes away from my family's ranch. And I'm still in the small town of Whiskey Valley where everybody knows the McCoy family. I guess he thinks there's nothing to worry about with me being in town."

I settle back into my seat. Talking about the past and my mom always makes me sad. My mom was my best friend, and when she passed, life at the ranch was unbearable for me. I couldn’t get over it. When we get to the restaurant, I'm surprised that he had chosen an Italian restaurant.

He helps me out of the truck and holds my hand as we walk in. I look up at him. "I'm surprised that you didn't go to a steakhouse. You seem more a meat and potatoes kind of guy."

"I am, but I know you like Italian." We stop at the hostess stand, and Chance gives the hostess his name. The woman smiles and bats her eyes at him, and I can't stop my hand from tightening in his. He looks down at our intertwined hands and then gets a smirk on his face as he looks at me. He’s smug as if he realizes that I may be jealous.

I jut my chin in the air at him and turn away. When we're finally seated and the flirty hostess has walked away, Chance leans across the table. "I chose Italian because I know it's your favorite. I heard you tell Hailey at the bookstore. AND you have nothing to be jealous about. I only have eyes for you."

I ignore him and hold up the menu. I hate that he knows I’m jealous. I’m new to all this, and I have no experience guarding my thoughts and reactions. We order dinner, and it doesn’t take long for our salads to arrive. I had worried that we would not have anything to talk about, but we found out that we have a lot in common. We both like watching science fiction movies and reading books on history. Chance reaches across the table and holds on to my hand. "Maybe after dinner, we can go and catch the new science fiction movie at the theater."

It's on the tip of my tongue to say yes. I would love to be able to go to a movie with him. But already, I know I need to tell him no. I shake my head side to side. "I don't think that's a good idea." Instantly, I see the displeasure on his face. It’s obvious that he’s not told no a lot, probably not ever from a woman. As a matter of fact, women probably go out of their way to give him everything he wants.