Putting the Heart Before the Horse

“Sounds exciting,” he said wryly.

“It wasn’t that bad, actually. I got to work on all kinds of different things—annual reports, blog posts, some community outreach stuff. It helped me learn versatility.”

“Here,” he said, cutting a piece of his pork chop and offering her his fork. “Do you want to try a bite of this?”

“Thanks.” His fingers brushed hers softly as she took the fork from him. The meat was tender and had a subtle, smoky flavor. “That’s really good.”

From the look on Josh’s face, he wouldn’t mind a taste of her either. Unless that was just wishful thinking, projecting her feelings on him. Maybe if she flirted a little bit, he’d flirt back, and she’d know for sure.

If only she had any idea how to actually flirt.

“Do you mind if I ask you why you signed up with Single and Serious? Or is that too personal for a first date?”

“Not at all,” he answered. “The town I live in is pretty small, and I realized about a year ago that I’d never find my mate there.”

Mate? Hope thought. Like soul mate? I guess that’s one way to say it. Maybe a little old-fashioned. Or a little...agricultural. He does live on a ranch, after all.

“Worked your way through all of the local girls?” she teased. Maybe teasing was close enough to flirting.

“You know it. Broke their hearts and then walked away into the sunset.”

God, the sight of his smile set off fireworks inside of her. It had to be unfair for a man to be that attractive.

He took a sip of his wine “All joking aside, I knew it wasn’t going to h

appen. And I was ready for it to happen. So I had to figure out a way to meet other women, and this seemed like a better idea than putting up a billboard on the highway.”

“My reasons are pretty similar,” she said. “Except I had to date half the guys in Chicago to realize that I wasn’t finding Mr. Right.”

“Well, whatever brought us here, I’m glad we got matched.”

Oh, no, Hope thought. He’s smiling again.

The smile transformed his face. Without it, he was handsome to the point of being unapproachable. When he smiled, the skin around his eyes crinkled, and that little bit of mischief drew her in. But no matter how much she was drawn to him, she needed to remember that they’d only just met. Just because she felt this incredible attraction, it didn’t take the place of actually getting to know him and figuring out if they were compatible long-term.

She contented herself with saying, “Me too.” He seemed to sense that she was pulling back a little, because he brought the conversation back to a more neutral subject.

“So what’s your favorite article that you’ve ever written?” he asked.

“Oh, that’s a hard choice.” She ran through a mental catalog of her work. “Maybe the one where I went to Iceland? Remember that crazy volcano that erupted a few years ago? Well, the name’s crazy, not the volcano. The volcano’s perfectly normal.”

“Just going about his business, sitting there, erupting every once in a while.” He grinned at her, his even white teeth flashing briefly, contrasting with his bronzed skin.

“Exactly,” she agreed, chuckling. “Though actually, it hadn’t erupted since sometime back in the nineteenth century. No one expected it to interfere with air travel like it did.”

“Was your article about that?”

“Some, but mostly it was a typical airline profile about where to go and what to see. The scenery is amazing, though. Glaciers and fjords, the Northern Lights, hot springs, waterfalls—” She caught herself before she listed every place she’d visited. “Well, it’s hard to talk about that part without sounding like a travel guide.”

“No, it sounds great. To visit places like that and really get to know them.”

“It’s definitely one of the best parts of my job,” she agreed. “You know I grew up on a ranch?”

“Yeah, I saw that in your profile.”

“I love being outdoors—like, really outdoors, wide open. It’s something I really miss when I’m in a city for a while.”

“That’s definitely something we have in common.”