Grumpy Cowboy (Single Dad Collection)

Sam watches us closely, glancing back and forth between the two of us as I smile, and Leah sticks out her tongue in a dramatic show of sass. I wave a hand in the space between us and give Joey a little push to move her toward Leah. “Ladies first.”

“Oh. Why, thank you,” Leah chirps happily. She’s super bubbly tonight, and I have a feeling it’s because she’s just happy to have us and her brother and a night out at her favorite restaurant all at the same time.

When we all get inside, I make quick work of letting the hostess know we’re ready to be seated, and she escorts us to a table toward the back of the restaurant that has leather-seated chairs and a crisp white tablecloth over its top.

Sam takes the seat on the opposite side, Leah and Joey take the seats across from each other, and I take the seat across from Sam.

I have a nearly blinding urge to stick my hand under the table and give Leah’s leg just the slightest of touches, but because of the company we keep, I don’t.

Sam, though—he smiles at me in a way that says he knows I want to.

“Is Sam short fer Samuel?” Joey asks, pulling Leah’s brother’s attention away from me, thankfully. I take the opportunity to look Leah up and down one more time, and I can tell you it doesn’t help the redistribution of my blood supply at all.

With a cute beachy wave in her hair and long, full eyelashes framing her sparkling blue eyes, she’s stunning. Add that to the way her dress hugs her sweet body in all the right places and she has me convinced I’ve never seen a more perfect package.

Luckily, Sam’s answer gives me something else to concentrate on, if only for a little while, because if left to my own devices, I’d be liable to jump across the table right here and pull Leah’s body flush against mine.

“Yes, it is, actually. How did you know?”

Joey laughs. “It was my great-great-great-grandfather’s name too. He’s the one who started our ranch.”

I knew that, Leah mouths teasingly, referring to knowledge she’s gained from the welcome speech she’s so fond of mocking.

“Well, that’s pretty awesome,” Sam replies. “I’ve never been too keen on my name, but now, maybe I’ll be able to associate it with a cool story. I mean, if you like living on a ranch, that is. I’ve never been to one myself.”

“You haven’t?” Joey asks, shock and awe in her tiny voice.

“Nope. I work in a boring, pointless job titled Corporate Analyst.”

I cringe—I can’t help it—and Sam notices. Thankfully, he doesn’t seem to take any offense to my clear contempt for the corporate world.

“I know. Sounds awful, doesn’t it?” he agrees with a chuckle instead.

I nod and shrug slightly, and he laughs even harder.

“Oh, come on,” Leah chastises. “You have a really important role, and you worked really hard to get where you are. Be proud of it.” Sam blushes as she adds, “I am.”

Then she turns to me with a cute smile. “We can’t all collect bull sperm for a living.”

At that, both Sam and I both burst out laughing.

“You should come visit sometime, Sam. We’re always looking for volunteers for collection.”

Leah laughs. “Okay, I admit it. It’s funnier when it’s someone other than me.”

I smirk. “I actually thought you handled yourself pretty well, darlin’. For what it’s worth.”

“You?” Sam asks, his eyes wide and his smile huge. “You? My sister? Leah Levee collected bull sperm?”

“I tried to collect bull sperm,” she says, but then she shakes her head and drops her face into her hands on a moan. “It’s a long story, really. Let’s not get into it now.”

It’s not the usual dinner conversation you’d hear at a nice restaurant in the middle of Salt Lake City, but it is what we need to break the ice. The rest of dinner is filled with laughter and joking and an overall sense of acceptance. I don’t feel like Sam’s watching me as much, and hell, maybe it’s because I’m not acting as suspicious.

Joey’s still tickled pink to be out to dinner like a real grown-up, and I’m still smitten with a woman I never expected to be, but all in all, it’s the breath of fresh air and relaxation we all needed after the way this week has gone.

Sam says his goodbyes first, heading back to his car with a wave and a promise to take time off from his job he hates to come visit the ranch one day, and Leah hangs back with Joey and me while we wait for the quick rain shower that just popped up to pass before making our way to my truck.

Leah frowns a little and then sighs, and suddenly, my good mood starts to take a bit of a nose dive. It doesn’t exactly sound like she’s gearing up to give me good news, and to be honest, I’m not really sure I wanna hear it.